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09 Mar 07 - 01:04 PM (#1991665) Subject: BS: old - but irresistable From: Lox the most powerful electorate in the world |
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09 Mar 07 - 01:21 PM (#1991684) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Ebbie Appalling - but two thoughts: #1- how many people did they NOT show? #2- has this been done with other countries' man on the street? |
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09 Mar 07 - 01:21 PM (#1991686) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: GUEST,meself I watched this just long enough to get the idea. You could make the same sort of thing in any country in the world, I imagine. Course, it might take you a little longer in some countries to get as many clueless answers, but you could still get them. |
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09 Mar 07 - 01:22 PM (#1991690) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: GUEST,saulgoldie We're in bigger trouble than we care to know. And it is later than we think. |
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09 Mar 07 - 01:30 PM (#1991704) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Jerry Rasmussen And when I read the title of this thread, I thought you were talking about me... :-) Jerry |
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09 Mar 07 - 01:43 PM (#1991719) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Donuel Why did the Cheney administration even think they needed sophistcated propoganda to pursue the "war on terror"? how about "There they are - GET EM ! |
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09 Mar 07 - 02:12 PM (#1991740) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: RangerSteve I guess we're a popular target. I've dealt with foreign tourists on my job, and believe me, they are just as clueless about us as the people shown on the video are about them. And some of them are British, just like the people who made the video. Like all reality videos, this was probably rigged. |
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09 Mar 07 - 02:18 PM (#1991747) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Scoville Okay, so they showed the same for ignorami over and over. Big deal. How many people did they have to interview to find them? You could pull the same stunt in any country. And "United States of America" is a bit cop-out answer for a country that begins with U. Technically, Mexico is the United States of Mexico, too (well, Estados Unidos de México). And we refer to ourselves as Americans, beginning with "A", so it wouldn't have been most peoples' first thought. (Uganda, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan, if you want my answers.) |
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09 Mar 07 - 02:45 PM (#1991765) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Ebbie Uraguay and Uganda were mine too. The US didn't come to mind- if the question was 'begins with A', I would undoubtedly have said America, and qualified it a moment later. |
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09 Mar 07 - 03:06 PM (#1991784) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Scoville Duh, that was four. I can spell, I just seem not to be able to type today. My elementary school teachers would not have accepted "U.S.A" as an answer for that question, but it's ambiguous at best. |
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09 Mar 07 - 04:31 PM (#1991885) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: skipy we'er all doomed! Skipy |
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09 Mar 07 - 04:39 PM (#1991891) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Richard Bridge How many of the people on screen were Sacha Baron Cohen in disguise? |
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09 Mar 07 - 04:47 PM (#1991901) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Rapparee How much was the film edited? Where was it shot? Clueless people abound everywhere. |
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09 Mar 07 - 04:56 PM (#1991912) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: skipy Not on mudcat, they don't! Skipy |
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09 Mar 07 - 04:58 PM (#1991919) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Richard Bridge Well, now, spell irresistible (clue, don't read the thread title). |
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09 Mar 07 - 05:10 PM (#1991932) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: katlaughing Jay Leno has a segment on like this every once in awhile. It's called "Jay Walking." And, now there is the new game show hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, "Are you smarter than a fifth-grader?" ONe of the recent questions on it was the same as on this video, "how many sides to a triangle." |
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09 Mar 07 - 05:17 PM (#1991938) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Bill D Even though they didn't show the people who got RIGHT answers, it sure makes me worry...'cause some of those folks vote! |
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09 Mar 07 - 05:28 PM (#1991956) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: GUEST,lox "And some of them are British, just like the people who made the video". Ok LOL |
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09 Mar 07 - 06:04 PM (#1991997) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Leadfingers Except that the video was made by New Zealanders !!! |
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09 Mar 07 - 09:46 PM (#1992171) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: GUEST,Observer The scary part to me is that the votes cast by those folks interviewed count the same as the votes from someone who could accurately answer every question. |
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09 Mar 07 - 10:48 PM (#1992217) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: mack/misophist 20 years ago I asked the waiter in a restaurant about green peppercorns. It was the first time I had ever seen them. Before answering, he delicately asked if I had ever heard of Madagasgar (the place most of them come from). He assured me it was a common question and that most who asked had never heard of Madagascar or Zanzibar. We suck at geography. And history and math and civics, etc. |
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10 Mar 07 - 09:21 PM (#1993104) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Stilly River Sage I agree with RangerSteve. There are a lot of clueless people out there, but they aren't all Americans. It's amazing what you can do when you edit a piece like this, like remove all of the correct answers. SRS |
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10 Mar 07 - 11:16 PM (#1993149) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Janie Naw, Bill--I bet none of those people do vote. Less than 50% of us do, remember? (and that may be a good thing after all:^) Janie |
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11 Mar 07 - 01:14 AM (#1993182) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Peace I just watched it. Too bad they didn't ask all those questions of George W Bush. Now, THAT would have been informative. |
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11 Mar 07 - 08:41 AM (#1993343) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistible From: The Fooles Troupe "How many people did they have to interview to find them? You could pull the same stunt in any country." Aussie comic group "The Chaser" - they have a website - did some ABC TV shows - one of their segments was this sort of thing - they interviewed Americans - must have been a good 'expenses paid' way to travel to the USA - you don't get quite the same sort of 'idiots on the street' in Australia, well most of the time... or is that just the way the TV stations here edit things... |
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09 Oct 07 - 12:11 AM (#2167013) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Amos IN SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO ALL THE GIRLS WE'VE LOVED BEFORE .. 2007 Ursula Andress is now 70 Julie Andrews is now 71 Ann-Margret is now 65 Carroll Baker is now 75 Brigette Bardot is now 72 Leslie Caron is now 75 Julie Christie is now 65 Joan Collins is now 73 Doris Day is now 82 Barbara Eden is now 72 Annette Funicello is now 64 Kathryn Grayson is now 84 Lena Horne is now 89 Deborah Kerr is now 95 Gina Lollobrigida is now 79 Sophia Loren is now 72 Rita Moreno is now 75 Julie Newmar is now 73 Kim Novak is now 73 Debra Padget is now 73 Patti Page is now 79 Jane Powell is now 77 Debbie Reynolds is now 74 Jane Russell is now 85 Jean Simmons is now 77 Elke Sommer is now 66 Kay Starr is now 84 Stella Stevens is now 69 Gale Storm is now 84 JillSt. John is now 66 Shirley Temple is now 78 Mamie Van Doren is now 75 Rachel Welch is now 67 Esther Williams is now 83 UNBELIEVEABLE, HOW IN THE WORLD DID WE ALL GET THIS OLD??? |
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09 Oct 07 - 03:57 AM (#2167059) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: akenaton It's in the interests of the system to maintain a high level of ignorance.......Just take a look at your news media. An electorate who are prepared to tolerate living in a society without a National health service, National minimum wage, and rulled by a corporate one party system designed to keep them from addressing their real and pressing problems.....can't be too bright.........Ake |
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09 Oct 07 - 04:13 AM (#2167067) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: JohnInKansas ALL THE GIRLS WE'VE LOVED BEFORE ???? All 'bout the right age for an ol' geezer like me. Send 'em ALL around. We'll have a nice cup o' tea and talk about old times until we all fall asleep. John |
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09 Oct 07 - 07:36 AM (#2167145) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Wolfgang The thought that such a "survey" is not valid without a comparison is correct. But such surveys have been done and find the US population at the bottom of "Western countries" Comparative study About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn't even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean's location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent. Wolfgang |
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09 Oct 07 - 08:56 AM (#2167190) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Amos Obviously they didn't survey Californians. We are born knowing where the Pacific Ocean is. A |
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09 Oct 07 - 10:03 AM (#2167229) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Peace And the Sierras, too. |
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09 Oct 07 - 10:41 AM (#2167249) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: heric and that's all we need to know! |
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09 Oct 07 - 10:52 AM (#2167254) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Bill D You sure they know the NAME of the ocean? Or anything that borders it except California? Maybe all they know is where the beach is. |
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09 Oct 07 - 12:44 PM (#2167326) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: PoppaGator YouTube also has an "answer" video to this one, featuring British idiots. I hate to admit it, but the UK effort is quite obviously even more rigged than the US-based original, in terms of editing out all the right answers that must have been filmed. An even smaller number of subjects are shown repeatedly, in rotation, and (most tellingly) they had to include several minor children, each giving multiple wrong answers, to fill up the three-and-a-half minutes. One of the pre-teen boys was asked "who is the British Prime Minister," and the answer he gave ~ supposedly "wrong" ~ was shown in the subtitles as "Tony Blare." Since the kids was answering verbally, he can hardly be held responsible for the editors' spelling error. (Of course, we don't know when filming took place, so Mr. Blair may or may not still have been in office; but even if Tony Blair were the recently ousted ex-PM, it's not such a terribly ignorant answer for a twelve-year-old.) Sad to say, huge numbers of everyday Americans are incredibly ignorant. I suppose it's because we can afford to be. Jay Leno's regular feature showing this type of person-on-the-street quiz is normally shot at a shopping mall or some kind of relatively upscale downtown street ~ not in a poverty-striken "underclass" neighborhood, where lack of education/erudition might be understandable. These blissfully ignorant fools are generally affluent, living the good life, fat and happy and completely uninterested in learning anything they don't feel that they "need" to know. I remember reading recently that some frighteningly large percentage of Americans can't find Chicago on a map. It occurred to me at the time that most of them could probably afford to fly to Chicago, that many have probably done so, and still they haven't the slightest inclination to know where they're traveling. Let the pilot worry about that... I'm sure that most of the ignoramuses we see in these film clips are supported by a family breadwinner who does have some idea about the world around him/her. But for each such informed citizen, there are probably multiple dependants who have no interest in learning anything except which credit card is not yet maxed out. |
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09 Oct 07 - 07:31 PM (#2167634) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Ebbie An electorate who are prepared to tolerate living in a society without a National health service, National minimum wage, and rulled by a corporate one party system designed to keep them from addressing their real and pressing problems.....can't be too bright.........Ake So what's your excuse? |
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09 Oct 07 - 07:44 PM (#2167641) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: bobad Sad to say but,IMO, Ake's right. |
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09 Oct 07 - 08:09 PM (#2167656) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: akenaton Oh I'm not excusing you Ebbie...You must get off your arses and start changing your society. And scampering off to vote for Hillary the Hawk...because she's a winner, wont do at all... Bobad......You must be the "exception that proves the rule"...:0) |
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09 Oct 07 - 09:49 PM (#2167711) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Don Firth It would be interesting to see a "General Knowledge" test, covering ALL of the subjects that I was required to study in the public school system (public schools in the United States are not the same as public schools in Great Britain--you knew that, didn't you? Do you know what the difference is?) and had to pass tests on to graduate. I started the first grade in 1937 and graduated from high school in 1949. I would be interested in seeing a demographic breakdown (including age, which would indicate when the respondent went to school), to see which age and regional groups know what. I'm betting that it would be a real indictment of what the American educational system has become in recent decades. Who are the Senators from your state? How many of them are there? Can you name the Congressional Representative from your legislative district? Can you name your state attorney-general? Without taking out your voter registration card, what are your district and precinct numbers? Where is Patagonia? In World War II, American troops fought in French Indo-China. What is French Indo-China known as now? I remember reading a newspaper article in the late 1950s about a general knowledge test given to college graduates. 4% of them were unable to name the current president of the United States (Eisenhower). I thought that was pretty pathetic back then! I wonder what percentage of Americans could answer that correctly now? The current president, I mean!! Don Firth |
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10 Oct 07 - 09:48 AM (#2167992) Subject: RE: BS: old - but irresistable From: Donuel My neighbors are not oblivious to their own ignorance. They know what they think they need to know and that is all they know. Everthing they do to others is based on the knowledge they hold inviolate which is mainly religious, racist and tribal. They are careful not to engage people who are outspoken and brand that person as one who never shuts the fuck up. These are middle class Americans who live in half a million dollar homes and vote against their own economic self interest and may in fact lose their homes in the 7 million home forclosure crisis that is loomng over the next 3 years. Some of them are just trying to go with the flow but many of them are more interested in keeping up with the Jones' than developing a cosmopolitan base of knowledge. C'est la vie. |