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BS: Americans are truly stupid
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 10 Jan 11 - 08:29 AM On this site there is some related information on science awareness, with comparisons:Public Knowledge About S&T |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Steve Shaw Date: 09 Jan 11 - 03:34 PM What's the matter Shaw? Nobody bothering to listen to you whine about the injustices of your religion anymore? Heheh. Sorry if my popping up makes you feel uncomfortable, young man (it should). Care to defend your assertion that you know of people who haven't even been tried yet but who should be executed anyway? Or to defend the death penalty anyway? I won't be holding my breath. Careful what you try to get away with! And if you can tell me what religion I belong to I promise to look it up. Tee hee! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 09 Jan 11 - 01:00 PM Tid bits from the site I link below: "Canada and the USA have a unique friendship, similar democratic and historic roots." ""The relationship between the United States and Canada is the closest and most extensive in the world. It is reflected in the staggering volume of bilateral trade--the equivalent of $1.5 billion a day in goods--as well as in people-to-people contact. About 300,000 people cross the shared border every day". ""The U.S. and Canada share the world's largest and most comprehensive trading relationship, which supports millions of jobs in each country."" ""Canada is the leading export market for 36 of the 50 U.S. States, and ranked in the top three for another 10 States. In fact, Canada is a larger market for U.S. goods than all 27 countries of the European Community combined, whose population is more than 15 times that of Canada."" ""The U.S. and Canada enjoy the largest energy trade relationship in the world. Canada is the single largest foreign supplier of energy to the U.S.--providing 17% of U.S. oil imports and 18% of U.S. natural gas demand."" If you ask most USA citizens about (aka, aboot) Canada, most know little. Most know more about countries that are trivial, when it comes to USA daily relationships/interests. I was once asked in Boston if Nova Scotia, east coast Canada is ""above the tree line"", (BTW, Boston is very close to Nova Scotia latitude-wise). A recent episode of CSI Miami referred to a "Glacier Park" being in Nova Scotia? LOL Now, isn't it just stoopid/stupid, of citizens of the USA? Or, are Canadians just lucky about that? Canada-USA, a huge relationship |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: kendall Date: 09 Jan 11 - 12:58 PM It is written that everything carries the seeds of its own destruction. Might ours be greed? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: josepp Date: 09 Jan 11 - 12:14 PM Even worse, when Chysler announces they are closing a plant down and then the workers there find out it's because they are actually moving it overseas, that makes it hard to want to buy American too. I believe the most patriotic buy for a car is the Honda Accord made in Ohio from 70% American parts. Yet, I know people who turn livid when you tell them that. It has a Japanese name therefore it's bad. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: kendall Date: 09 Jan 11 - 11:47 AM On the matter of the companies shipping jobs out of the country and foreign goods coming in; Some years ago there was a survey that showed the Toyota cars that were assembled in America were every bit as good as the ones that were made in Japan. This proved that it is not the American worker, but the designers of our cars that are responsible for the junk they produced in the 80s. We had a Hundai with which we had no trouble at all. We traded for a Chevy Impala and here is what we have seen so far: Traction control died. Water pump died, both head gaskets crapped out, this is a common flaw in GM cars, and when I shift from reverse to drive, even with a delay, it slams into forward. They say it doesn't, and as long as it's under warranty I say fine, you fix it. The factory warranty expires in December and I don't know if I want to keep it after I have to pay for all repairs. So, GM has head gasket problems, ($1500.00 if it is out of warranty) Chrysler had transmission problems for years and won't admit it, Ford had power steering problems, unless they have cured it. Tell me what is the advantage in buying American? I prefer to buy American when I can, but I have a hard time with the aforementioned problems with American goods. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Slag Date: 09 Jan 11 - 04:56 AM Uh, Ebbie, you might want to go back and read my post. That is NOT what said. If you want to take off on the typo "kow" for "know" I have no defense against that: guilty as charged, TYPO! :P And Ed T, How do I know you aren't stupid? I have read enough of your posts! You are a very bright and informed fellow. And correct, I have not mastered the backward "R" on this keyboard. I thought about using the cyrillic alphabet but I don't know how to make it come out in the reply box. I'm too lazy and unmotivated to learn that little skill although it would have been some sort of minor coup to have done so. Therefore I am willfully ignorant and that is really stupid! Donuel, thank you! Very cogent and sensitive. Best post in the thread. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: josepp Date: 08 Jan 11 - 10:45 PM What's the matter Shaw? Nobody bothering to listen to you whine about the injustices of your religion anymore? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 11 - 08:49 PM Executing people makes a country very stupid. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: josepp Date: 08 Jan 11 - 03:19 PM I thought it was hilarious how fast Congress put Toyota on the hotseat over a bunch of allegations I am still not convinced ever had anything to back them up but how many years has it been since contractors looted the American taxpayers in Iraq of billions while untold thousands of Iraqis and Americans like died or were horribly mained? And how many of them have been put on that hotseat much less been sent to prison where they belong. Some should convicted of treason and executed, quite frankly. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: ollaimh Date: 08 Jan 11 - 02:54 PM you have to keep the masses ignorant to keep them going over seas to fight wars for profit. if you ruin thier job hopes at home and then convince them the join up for wars to profit hasliburton oil and becktel to name a few it enriches who? follow the money. if the trillions lost in iraq had been invested in development and infrastructure for alternative energy average americans would be free of dependance on foreign energy and have jobs to boot, but that would be "big governemt" and socialism. all thw while putting the nations wealth into wall street bail outs and massive military over spending isn't socialist big government> people have to be kept ignorant and rewarded for ignorance to make the oil companies and other military industrialist complex rich and keep average joes poor afraid and compliant. chriss hedges calls it inverted totalitarianism, i prefer corporate totalitarianism, how many out there have lost personal freedoms in this system--almost everybody, right down to seattle northwest folklife buskers on a recent thread. they are losong their constitutional rights to a corporate "folk group" running the festival. this is happening in all walks of life ignorance is good for the rich and powerfull as milan kundera said "the struggle to remember IS the strugglkel against tyrany' |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 07 Jan 11 - 09:44 AM Donuel -That was nice and thoughtful. As to kid toy marketing, directed at parents, I remember a comedian had a related, but funny comment. The comedian said, what's with the "Kids eat free" advertisements I see at food shops? This is nothing new. Kids have always eaten free. It's the parents that pay:) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ebbie Date: 07 Jan 11 - 03:27 AM Remind me not to post when I'm irritated. This post: "...it never occurred to me that Toys Are Us was had such a clever marketing ploy. But do tell me when children were NOT popular among children." should have read: "...it never occurred to me that Toys Are Us had such a clever marketing ploy. But do tell me when dinosaurs were NOT popular among children." Back in the moment: Frankly, I thought that Toys R Us was doing a takeoff on a common assertion, and inverted the R as an attention getting device. Like a bee farm I once knew- they kept their big roadside sign proclaiming HONEY! upside down. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Donuel Date: 07 Jan 11 - 02:08 AM Most things are ill thought out at the beginning. It is our job to give and by giving find meaning to improve each other. They say there is no cure for stupid but the word itself is often said when the word ignorance is usually the better choice. A well thought out thread might begin with the title, "What can we teach each other?" The athiest can teach the religious that we all hold life sacred, and that even a benificent all seeing God is no substitute for another flesh and blood person to joyously share life, be they family or a stranger. The religious can teach the athiest that brotherhood is easily shared when a common framework is understood. The suffering teaches us that our need to feel empathy is fullfilled by sharing moments as time goes by. We can teach the suffering that their pain uncovers deeper levels of life and the human experience. The homeless can teach people with homes that they have a heart and soul, they have plans and that they simply do not have a home. The conservatives can teach liberals of their need to feel a respect for thier families is threatened by people who arrogantly feel that they know better or feel they know more. Be they humble or well to do they want to preserve the things that may have worked well for their families. Liberals can teach conservatives that they do not think conservatives are fools but rather they are being fooled by large corporations that may feign compassion but treuly only care for their own bottom line. Men can teach women that they want to feel they are needed. Women can teach men how they best feel needed and loved. The ignorant teach us what it is they need to know. The well educated can teach how and where to learn. The hateful can not be tought until they find and feel the love they are missing. The vengenful can learn that their true enemy is the fear that entered their life. The prophets can learn that no one can handle the full blown truth of the future. Cognitive dissonance overwhelms people to the point they can not bear to think of the future if it is too challenging. Those who seek guidance can teach prophets that they want certain mysteries to remain mysterious. The young can teach the old that giving is a reward. The old can teach the young to guard against theolest tricks in the book. The talented can teach us how to sing a song. We can teach them how it makes us feel. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Don Firth Date: 06 Jan 11 - 11:32 PM The idea, as expressed in the thread title, is most ill thought out on a number of levels. Considering that we're talking about over 300 million individual people here, a blanket statement like that demonstrates more of an emotional state on the part of the original poster than any use of intellect. It demonstrates a form of lazy, collectivist thinking on a par with "All Indians walk in a single file. At least the one I saw did." I recall an acquaintance of mine some time back bemoaning the idea that "There are no more Renaissance men around, people with really wide knowledge. You know, people who had read just about every book there was, and who thought deeply about things." I pondered this for awhile and it occurred to me that in this modern age, it would be pretty difficult to be a Renaissance man in the same manner as someone in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. For one thing, there weren't that many books back then. And how many tens of thousands of books printed per year these days? Impossible to read all the books there are. For another, not all that many people, including many aristocrats who could afford books, were literate. So Renaissance men were really few and far between. And these days, it's pretty difficult, even for a very well educated person (who continues to read constantly after graduating summa cum laude from a good university), to know something about everything. So, with all due respect to Wynton Marsalis, for a person who is up on early music, classical music, opera, contemporary musicals, and, yes, even folk music, not to be familiar with Charlie Parker hardly means that "Americans are truly stupid." To say so would be truly stu— Oh, well! Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Donuel Date: 06 Jan 11 - 11:14 PM Liberals are stupid regarding the use of the Japanese model of responding to econmoic collapse. Conservatives are stupid regarding their disbelief in climate change as taught by Fox news and big oil. Which is worse? It doesn't matter since we are basicly well beyond the tipping point for the climate as well as our attempt to unravel the 140 trillion dollar wall st. ponzi scheme, 70 trillion dollars of which belongs to the USA alone. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: framus Date: 06 Jan 11 - 11:09 PM Bloody colonials. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ebbie Date: 06 Jan 11 - 10:48 PM "Gee, Ed T, Do you really not get that Toy's R Us is a clever little way to show that they are all about the children who just might be the ones with the incorrect spelling and the backward "R"? Do you not get that? And also that when that store came on the scene, dinosaurs were a popular thing among children? I would include myself in that crowd. Thus they get a double meaning out of the "R Us" part of the name. Come on Ed T, I kow YOU aren't stupid." Slag Golly gee, it appears that you are really up there with the intellkshuls, Slag. For sure you know a whole lot more than stupid me. For instance, it never occurred to me that Toys Are Us was had such a clever marketing ploy. But do tell me when children were NOT popular among children. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 06 Jan 11 - 10:25 PM Slag, we know the parents buy the kids (the little tots) the toys, not vice versa. The marketing would be directed at them, of course, Are you say'in they are stupid? (I note you have not mastered the art of typing the arse backeard R:) "Come on Ed T, I kow YOU aren't stupid." So, where's your evidence to that statement? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Bobert Date: 06 Jan 11 - 07:52 PM Entirely correct, Doug Saum... Daddy Bush perfected the art of puttin' down folks who bothered to get education and we've had it ever since... So now we have an entire generation of kids who think education is for "sissies and queers"... Problem is that the rst of the world doesn't have this problem and we are about to have out lunch money stolen by people who fully understand the link between education and the ability of a country to compete... Take away the US's nuclear arsenal and we'd be, ahhhhhh, in the words of the prophet... ...fucked!!! B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Slag Date: 06 Jan 11 - 05:33 PM Gee, Ed T, Do you really not get that Toy's R Us is a clever little way to show that they are all about the children who just might be the ones with the incorrect spelling and the backward "R"? Do you not get that? And also that when that store came on the scene, dinosaurs were a popular thing among children? I would include myself in that crowd. Thus they get a double meaning out of the "R Us" part of the name. Come on Ed T, I kow YOU aren't stupid. Mousethief, I just asked a question. There are ignoramouses on both sides of that question. PS No need to bother with the "ignoramouses". There is already another thread to that effect. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: GUEST,Doug Saum Date: 06 Jan 11 - 01:31 PM I think it is more true that Americans seem "ignorant" [stupidity implies an intrinsic deficiency of intellectual ability] because the mechanisms of social control - especially including that FOXY Australian billionaire's propaganda machine - make it hip to be a no-nothing. As an American I can assure you that we face plenty of ignorance in our public discourse almost always designed to promote greed and demogoguery, but rest assured that there is a significant population of American readers who are, unexpectedly, pragmatic idealists. They are endlessly lampooned by selfish interests that time will show to be enemies of the people's best interests. DOug Saum |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: mousethief Date: 06 Jan 11 - 11:49 AM ElvisPitt: I don't think the problem is what we're doing to the children, but what they are doing to themselves by making learning and education "uncool" and in effect opting out of knowledge and thinking ability. Although doubtless many get this from their parents. (Why can't they choose THAT to rebel against?!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Greg F. Date: 06 Jan 11 - 09:27 AM there is an intellectual ridiculing (with perhaps more sophistication) the kids in shop class,... Not THIS intellectual- and I recommend Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford (2009) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 06 Jan 11 - 09:21 AM I found this article interesting: Valuing education |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 06 Jan 11 - 08:15 AM (BTW, I don't recall ever calling someone stupid, let alone all the people in any country)...except, possibly while intending humour:) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 06 Jan 11 - 08:14 AM There is many conflicting definitions for Stoopid in Urban dictionary, and it is hard slugging to read,(though I find some sections humourous). The US "urban" word Stoopid (if it is a word) may be considered more negative than positive...but IMO, much better than stupid, would it not. It even looks stupid? A few I was thinking of earlier: Stoopid: Someone, or something that is hilarious or silly without it having to be an insult. Extremely funny though absurd. To be really cool or awesome. (BTW, I don't recall ever calling someone stupid, let alone all the people in any country) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: mousethief Date: 05 Jan 11 - 11:26 PM Urban dictionary definitions of stoopid (first page only; couldn't be arsed to flip the page):
Hmm. On the whole it's not terribly positive, but I guess one of the meanings is good and one is sort of half-n-half. 1.5 for 7 for an average of .214. Not bad for a National League pitcher. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 05 Jan 11 - 09:58 PM mousethief :) Stoopid does not = stupid in the US of A urban underground. Check it out in the much revered USA Urban Dictionary...it could even be a compliment. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: frogprince Date: 05 Jan 11 - 09:57 PM My income's not just modest, it's flat-out embarassed. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 05 Jan 11 - 09:54 PM I failed the arse-backwards section of spelling class in the school I attended. It was a correspondence course from Kwik Copy school of spelling. Never could pick up on the concept of arse-backwards Mass Marketing either. Guess that's why I have a modest income:) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Jeri Date: 05 Jan 11 - 09:45 PM I detect some undiscovered irony in Ed T's post. We can spell Я correctly, even if it's backwards. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: mousethief Date: 05 Jan 11 - 09:32 PM Slag: I am impressed by the self-proclaimed intelligencia's propensity to designate their particular political view and bias the "correct" one and any other point of view "stoopid". Any logicians out their care to take a stab at which informal fallacy is being committed by said elitests? It rather depends on whether they're right or not. What's the fallacy of determining somebody's wrong before even considering their arguments? Ah yes, poisoning the well. Ed T: If Americans aren't stoopid, how do you explain "Toys 'R Us", a Kids toy company whose name I can't even accurately type on my keyboard? Look, your inability to type accurately doesn't say anything about how stupid Americans are. :P But seriously it's just a silly advertising prank. Since when do we expect genius from advertising? Advertisers win Clios, not Nobels. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 05 Jan 11 - 09:26 PM Is it political? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: gnu Date: 05 Jan 11 - 07:53 PM Well, God Bless America. Call that stupid if ya want but I think that would be stupid. At least from a historical viewpoint over the past 70 years in the Western World. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: DougR Date: 05 Jan 11 - 07:45 PM So the intelligence of the American people is judged by whether or not one knows who Charlie Parker is. Very astute. DougR |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ed T Date: 05 Jan 11 - 06:20 PM If Americans aren't stoopid, how do you explain "Toys 'R Us", a Kids toy company whose name I can't even accurately type on my keyboard? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Slag Date: 05 Jan 11 - 06:17 PM Right Bobert, except when it was someone else. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Bobert Date: 05 Jan 11 - 12:23 PM Geeze, Brucie... I thought it was Mamie that was under Eisenhower;~) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Bill D Date: 05 Jan 11 - 12:03 PM Jeri makes a good point... the internet, aided by Google....makes it easy for stupid people to congregate. Of course, it also makes it easy for SMART people to congregate. The difficulty is that, with Google, it also makes it easy for stupid people to find and invade congregations of smart people. ..add your own corollaries .... (for the stupid people, that means 'related rules derived logically from the original rule') |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Donuel Date: 05 Jan 11 - 11:42 AM not sort sighted SHORT SIGHTED |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Jeri Date: 05 Jan 11 - 11:34 AM EVERYBODY is stupid sometimes, and frequently it has to do with the Internet. U.S. Americans also tend to coordinate our "stupid" to election time. Some of you citizens of other countries have been catching up in the politically stupid department though. The most stupid of all are the ones who slap labels on entire nationalities, races, sexes, religions or generally, lumps of people. Of course, when a person's bitching about his own particular lump, as I believe josepp was, it's different than bitching about someone else's. When I was in the UK, our briefing upon arrival included something about the habit of making jokes about the royal family. They told us the British people loved to do it, but as American outsiders, DO NOT DARE TO DO IT. It's mostly common sense... one would think. Some of the stupid among us have gone there, but this is, after all, the Internet. Anyway, I think it comes down to survival. When times are hard, people tend to learn to settle for what's available. When times get better, they dream about possibilities. It's hard to see possibilities when life sucks, but some folks do that, because that's part of surviving too. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Donuel Date: 05 Jan 11 - 11:05 AM America is full of shanty towns. Even NYC is mostly a ninteeth century town with a bit of the 20th century. ITs not that Americans are not modern of forward thinking enough to be a modern country but it is a corporate culture focused on sort sighted profits in lieu of any future develpment of infrastructure. The most modern thing about America now are the Interstate highways... and that is a result of Eisenhower! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: GUEST,999 Date: 05 Jan 11 - 10:42 AM ``What took you so long to work this out? - we Aussies have known this since WWII, when the Yanks were 'Over paid, over sexed, and over here'!`` If I recall correctly, that was attributed as exchange between a British soldier and an American soldier. The American said, ``Yes, and you are under paid, under sexed and under Eisenhower!`` /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// As to my American cousins, they do about as well as other nationalities when it comes to those questions concerning their own countries. A similar sample of the one posted at the top has been floating around the internet for over 15 years. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: artbrooks Date: 05 Jan 11 - 09:45 AM Do any of you "experts" think that this is all new, that it has all happened since we (most of us) got old enough to be curmudgeons? Each generation, at some point, comes to the conclusion that the world is going to hell, and can come up with facts and statistics to prove their point. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Kweku Date: 05 Jan 11 - 08:20 AM Josepp, I may not agree with you on the title of your thread, maybe some Americans and indeed the general world population are indeed stupid beyond redemption. I have lived in Ghana all my life and i can tell you that we are also suffering from this so-called information age where people know nothing. the most unfortunate aspect is that most teachers are more useless than their students. But unfortunately the current world economic system is pushing students in Africa to just grab a certificate for employment and forget about everything else. we have so-called graduates who do not even know how to write official letters. this information age is no-information age at all and it is a world full of stupid minds. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ebbie Date: 05 Jan 11 - 03:16 AM sheesh Guest from sanity, who appointed you arbiter? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Slag Date: 05 Jan 11 - 01:54 AM By weight, Kendall, by feel. You really didn't get that? I am impressed by the self-proclaimed intelligencia's propensity to designate their particular political view and bias the "correct" one and any other point of view "stoopid". Any logicians out their care to take a stab at which informal fallacy is being committed by said elitests? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity Date: 05 Jan 11 - 01:34 AM Ebbie and Bobert: "Bobert has it about right, Kendall- Dad would probably have said something to the effect that the world's troubles started when people became so proud they tried to play God." You two have finally got one right!!...Take a bow!! In the beginning God created man in His own image...and ever since, man has been trying to return the favor! GfS P.S. (Unless you're Steve Shaw..nothing exists!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Americans are truly stupid From: Ebbie Date: 04 Jan 11 - 11:36 PM "Ebbie, what do you suppose your Father would have said if you had asked him how many Farmers would it take to put a man on the moon?" Kendall Bobert has it about right, Kendall- Dad would probably have said something to the effect that the world's troubles started when people became so proud they tried to play God. On the other hand, in his defense, Dad got a lot less bellicose and sure of his opinions as he got older. Even though most of us didn't turn out the way he'd hoped and anticipated, he was very proud of his kids. He often asked us questions about technology and modern thinking and I sometimes heard him quoting things we told him. He was a nicer man when he was old, mostly because he was less fearful, I think. |
