Metric system & John Quincy Adams

From Futility Closet:

"Decimal arithmetic is a contrivance of man for computing numbers, and not a property of time, space, or matter. It belongs essentially to the keeping of accounts, but is merely an incident to the transactions of trade. Nature has no partiality for the number 10; and the attempt to shackle her freedom with them [decimal gradations], will for ever prove abortive."

– John Quincy Adams, recommending against the metric system in 1821, as reported in Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, May 15, 1852

So the Klown started thinking -- Jeesh -- how did that great thinker become presidink? So I started with the googling -- trying to show he was a lib. The closest I came was this:

"Adams served in Congress for the next 17 years, earning a reputation as the most passionate and respected liberal voice in Washington. Defying the many ironies of his life, Adams fulfilled his pledge to die in the line of duty when he suffered a fatal stroke on the floor of the House in 1848. " From here:

And then I found this interesting stuff.

You think the picture this year looks confusing?

In 1824, four candidates received Electoral Votes. Andrew Jackson received 41% of the popular vote and about 38% of the Electoral Votes, but that was not enough. So pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment, the election was thrown into the House of Representatives. There were 24 states, and each delegation had to cast one vote. 13 of the 24 voted for John Quincy Adams, who had received about 30% of both the popular vote and the Electoral Votes. Adams therefore was named President on February 9, 1825.

The previous few years, when James Monroe was President, had seen a one-party government in the United States, as the Federalist Party had dissolved, leaving only the Democratic-Republican Party. This was a time known as the "Era of Good Feeling." But in the 1824 election, the Democratic-Republican Party splintered. Four candidates sought the presidency -- Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William Crawford and Henry Clay. The faction led by Andrew Jackson would evolve into the Democratic Party, while the factions led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay would become the National Republican Party and later the Whig Party.

This election is the only time since the passage of the Twelfth Amendment in which the presidential election was thrown into the House of Representatives, as no candidate received a majority of the electoral vote. This presidential election was also the only one in which the candidate receiving the most electoral votes did not become president (because a majority, not just a plurality, is required to win). It is also often said to be the first election in which the president did not win the popular vote, although the popular vote was not measured nationwide. At that time, several states did not conduct a popular vote, allowing their state legislature to choose their electors. More here:

Anyway -- Boy was he wrong about the metric system. The reason the US doesn't convert to the metric system? We have to wait until the average intelligence of the population exceeds that of a grape.

Actually, some of the "coversion" is being made without the "consent" of anyone -- it just makes so much more sense. They need to start making speed-limit signs with both numbers on them for a few years -- then they can drop the MPH later by saying it's not necessary.

If I owned a gas station, I'd start selling it by the liter -- sounds so much cheaper -- and if you sold it just a little cheaper, people would say to their friends "I don't care if he's selling liters, it's cheaper."