I emailed the author of the article: So you don't care what a kilogram is or if it changes because you do pounds and ounces? Would you mind telling me just what exactly a pound or an ounce is? They are both defined in terms of metric units, just like all of the other colloquial units you defend so ardently. If the kilogram doubled or disappeared, as you said, so would the pound. All you are really doing when you use pounds is measuring in multiples of 453.59 grams, and why anyone would want to do that is beyond me.
"Soft drinks and car engines come in liters, whatever that means..." Wow. Just announce to the world that you have been living under a rock for the past decade. If you would like to get a slightly more educated perspective on units of measure, read "The Parable of the Light Bulb" at www.aros.net/~cos/parable.htm. It is two pages and includes an explanation of the parable. By the way, work is underway to redefine the kilogram to make its definition permanent and unchanging, just like the other units were redefined. The metric system is actually extremely stable, especially compared to the colloquial units in common use in the U.S. Did you know that the inch was changed in 1959, and with it the yard, mile, foot, gallon, pint, cup, quart, fluid ounce, square mile, acre, etc.? Carl Sorenson P.S. The earth's circumference is 40,000 km, not 24854.847689493358784697367374533 miles.
