| User | Comment |
|---|
jettles   | | posted 12-Aug-2008 11:53am |
sad and my first thought is that people couldn't be that stupid..... but we have all seen the you tube video's of americans who have no idea who WE are at war with or where that might be so i do believe it but it is frightening! |
| Enheduanna | | posted 12-Aug-2008 12:17pm |
Did anyone actually think that? Besides small children? |
bill    | | posted 12-Aug-2008 12:52pm |
bemused, jaded, apethetic |
Galomorro   | | posted 12-Aug-2008 1:15pm |
I doubt if anyone could possibly be that stupid. Unless maybe a little kid. |
| Maarten | | posted 12-Aug-2008 3:08pm |
I can't say I'm surprised. |
| Melf | | posted 12-Aug-2008 3:41pm |
Disgusted. |
| Cain | | posted 12-Aug-2008 5:09pm |
Slightly disappointed.
I bet it's a relief for them when they're put right though. |
| kirst | | posted 12-Aug-2008 7:52pm |
Other; Embarrassed that people here are so ignorant. I shouldn't be surprised, though. Can't tell you how many times Americans have asked me "Do you speak Japanese?" after I mention that we live in Hong Kong. |
LindaH  | | posted 12-Aug-2008 8:23pm |
I'm not surprised. It seems like a lot of people go through life just existing, not bothering to learn much, only wanting to be entertained. They just aren't paying attention. |
| Frostbrand | | posted 12-Aug-2008 8:52pm |
It just goes to show what 8 years of Republican rule gets you. |
| Pomeranian | | posted 13-Aug-2008 4:52am |
Incredulous; really? *sticks head in sand* |
| JessicaWoman99 | | posted 13-Aug-2008 8:08pm |
But President George Bush should keep his nose out of this and leave the Russians alone Iraq has been more than the U.S. ever needed and America does not need a war with Russia Bush is a brainless jerk of any President the old goat has done enough damage in Washington already shame on Bush |
| Kristal_Rose | | posted 14-Aug-2008 4:37am |
Are you serious? At first I thought the survey author was a bit deranged in imagining that the US controlled former USSR Georgia.
People should take care. Hopefully things will turn around fo the better here in the US, but it only took the USSR two years to collapse over no worse situation, and Russia and Georgia fighting is not unlike New York and Florida going to war with each other. I can't actually imagine that would happen here, but other problems there like mafia corporations could happen, almost is happening, though in unchecked big busines sophisitication. |
| cloudhugger | | posted 14-Aug-2008 8:06am |
sad, embarrassed for them |
| cloudhugger | | posted 14-Aug-2008 8:08am |
some of these answers make me want to stick my head in the sand |
| icurok | | posted 14-Aug-2008 8:19am |
Doesn't surprise me in the least. |
| Irene007 | | posted 15-Aug-2008 9:15am |
 Unsurprised
There are dummies all around the world... |
| Irene007 | | posted 15-Aug-2008 9:21am |
I just had a guy from Dallas cut me out and stop communicating because I said that women in Dallas are mostly fake. All that big money affords them the treatment to keep them young and beautiful... He got bent out of shape, didn't like the comment against his state and his country. Jerk! I wonder what he'd think if he saw this survey.... |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 15-Aug-2008 6:59pm |
From the U.S. of Texas? I get the feeling there are lot of such types out there.
I don't know about the fake part, but hey, if there's nothing else to do out there. I'm sure there are lot more fakes in California, and no one goes thinking of th TG's as fakes, but here it's probably more like dressing well on the side than something to live for. On the other hand, I've never been to Texas. I'm in no position to say anything, really.
Maybe he was bent out of shape because he used to be one of those young beautiful women, or maybe you got him wanting one. Heck, if it werent for your Black Jack Shellac accent, you could be one yourself. |
| cantilever | | posted 16-Aug-2008 7:21pm |
sad - a reflection of the educational standards and perhaps the myopia/xenophobia of a segment of American society. |
| JohnCD | | posted 16-Aug-2008 7:52pm |
Other than small children, I hope nobody actually thought that. |
| Iseult | | posted 16-Aug-2008 9:36pm |
Not surprised. |
| Crayons | | posted 17-Aug-2008 12:02am |
I had no clue any of this was going on and if I heard this I would have thought that. Wheeeeeeeeee. |
| Gomezy3k | | posted 17-Aug-2008 10:32am |
Products of our Liberal education system where learning is NOT encouraged and brainwashing is. We no longer study geography, civics, government or any other useful things... Now all that is taught are the wacko ideas of far left liberal teachers and how to pass the required proficiency tests so the schools can get money... The kids are taught not to think and just follow along like sheeple.... |
| Frostbrand | | (reply to Gomezy3k) posted 17-Aug-2008 11:47am |
> Products of our Liberal education system where
> learning is NOT encouraged and brainwashing is.
You used the wrong word. It's Conservative underfunding and undermining of education.
> We no longer study geography, civics, government
> or any other useful things...
Because of the Right Wing, who spent years telling us civics classes were "Communist."
> Now all that is
> taught are the wacko ideas of far left liberal
> teachers and how to pass the required proficiency
> tests so the schools can get money...
NCLB was a Right Wing policy. Unless you think Bush is a Liberal, which tells me that maybe nobody told you not to drink Draino.
> The kids
> are taught not to think and just follow along
> like sheeple....
Again, it's not Liberals who did that. Why do you people have to lie all the time? |
| Irene007 |
Black Jack Shellac accent? You calling me French?!? My darling Kristal, I don't have an accent YOU do!  |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 18-Aug-2008 4:04pm |
Not put to use much lately. Is that a bear on your head? |
| Irene007 |
Naw, just my hair blowing in the wind... Should I change my avatar? |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 19-Aug-2008 3:18am |
No, I quite like it, ..kinda Fleetwood Mac goth and bear shaman witchy. I've considered just posting a pic of myself, but the animated avatar seems cool, if not outdated, and something I don't have time to create something similar for these days. |
| Irene007 |
"Fleetwood Mac goth and bear shaman witchy" All that sounds pretty dated too!
I like your mushrooms...  |
| Matty | | posted 27-Aug-2008 1:26pm |
Villified, because of course, only Americans are this stupid.  |
| southernyankee | | posted 30-Aug-2008 1:53am |
sad / apatheic |
| southernyankee | | (reply to Irene007) posted 30-Aug-2008 1:59am |
"I just had a guy from Dallas cut me out and stop communicating because I said that women in Dallas are mostly fake."
???  ??? I've never heard that sterotype before. When I think of fake, snobs, gold-digging women, I usually think of California. |
| southernyankee |
|
| Kristal_Rose |
Interesting stuff. |
| Irene007 |
Well, they're pretty close to each other. I remembered a documentary about the elite in Dallas and the afternoon tea some women's organization had; there wasn't a pair of jeans in sight, everyone was dressed to the nines. All that money makes for nicer looking women... Or all that money draws the nicer looking women; hence insincere love, either way it's fake.
|
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 31-Aug-2008 9:03pm |
Not wearing jeans implies being fake? |
| Irene007 |
Of course not silly! But meeting for tea in the afternoon for all us regular people only requires jeans unless you like to dress up but the majority will be dressed casually to meet with friends. These women's tea parties were more like debutant balls! |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 1-Sep-2008 8:13pm |
I dress up for anything other than a regular friend, and have never owned a pair of blue jeans (though I have both olive and raspberry jeans I wear a lot).
and these poor women are probably desperate to make any casual occasion feel like an event.
I once got talked into buying charity tickets for a policemans ball. I was told it would be casual, and wore a black dress shirt and nice black jeans (in a guys role at the time). Basically I was dressed appropriately classy for sidewalk jazz cafes. When I got there though I found that everyone was wearing 'casual' tuxedos, not formal tuxedos. I was very irritated at the gal selling tickets. |
| Irene007 |
 That reminds me of a story with my husband and his then co-worker/brother-in-law (he married my sister). Steve (my brother-in-law) worked in the shop and never dressed up, Ben was on the road and did so all the time. When one of their ex-coworker invited all of us to some due that his local hall was having so we could get together, Ben asked Steve how he should dress and Steve told him to be casual. When we got to the place (I was dressed up of course) we see Steven in black pressed pants, white shirt and suspenders. Ben told him that he thought it was casual and Steve reassured him telling him that it would be OK if he's just wearing jeans but Ben was a bit of a peacock and it bothered him no end not to be dressed for the occasion. He let it be known... So when he got up to use the bathroom, Steve told us all to point at Ben when he came out and snicker. Just as he came out, crossing the dance floor to join our table; the lights go up (they were about to announce something) and he sees us all pointing and snickering at him. He knew Steve was up to it! He just bent down in laughter! It was funny - I guess you had to be there! |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 2-Sep-2008 5:14am |
When I went to that ball, I asked one of the guys there (in a tux) 'Hey, I was told this was going to be casual', to which he replied 'This is casual !' My reaction wavered between between lowly depression and FU. If I had more moxy or time to acclimatize to matters, I would have thought 'Hell with this I paid for a ticket, Im going to have good time here', but instead I was thinking I don't belong with these people I disdain and went back home, contemplating the bout of inflated ego I had had when buying the tickets in the first place.
As far as the pointing thing goes, I once burst into a school wering a martian terrorist costume which obstructed my senses, forcing my way through dozens of adolescents chanting 'Geek - geek - geek !' My friends had set me up to kidnap a teachers stuffed animal, I arrived late, after the release bell, and the students had all been informed of my impending arrival. |
| Irene007 |
You should have stayed and had a good time - that's what Ben did anyway and we sure did have a good time even if he wasn't dressed for the occasion. People are people, not clothing...
So who busted your bubble for the kidnap? |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 3-Sep-2008 7:11am |
The friends who set me up, of course. It was an open campus with dividers between rooms open to the center, where I was to run through 'before' school was out. I was now a HS freshman and got out a bit earlier, but alas, not early enough, and the combo of loose and informed students did not work out well for me. |
| Irene007 |
I hate when that happens! |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 3-Sep-2008 4:46pm |
I've always been late. I made it in time for a CT scan this morning though, but even that was rescheduled and involved alternative juggling to get a blood test yesterday (for which I was also too late). |
| southernyankee | | (reply to Irene007) posted 3-Sep-2008 5:16pm |
Well, I haven't met many people from Dallas so I wouldn't know. I've just never heard of that sterotype being applied to people in Dallas. That would be more of a rich / suburban LA kind of thing. |
| southernyankee | | (reply to Irene007) posted 3-Sep-2008 5:17pm |
Didn't you once mention that you hated going dressed in regular jeans? |
| moviesnob |
I live in Dallas. I think the snobby elite is the same here as it is in any big city - you look in the right places and you'll find it. I've definitely met my share of "Dallas girls," but there's lots of genuine woman as well. YMMV, depending on where you look. |
| Irene007 |
Is everything ok? |
| Irene007 |
There's lots of money in them there hills! Anyway, stereotyping is never very good is it? |
| Irene007 |
It depends what the situation is - I'm not likely to dress up to go to the hardware store in 5 inch heels and skirt when I'm buying lumber the build a fence.... |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 4-Sep-2008 3:42pm |
I don't know yet. The CT scan is for next week's doctor. I think I have a jaw infected by dental work overloading my lymph node. Something lumpy and painful is in my neck. The severity ebbs and flows daily or weekly, which makes me hopeful it's not cancer. The lymph system in that area is a valve for returning loose liquid to the jugular vein, so (like everything else in our body I suppose) a potentially intricate mechanism to sufficiently repair if damaged. It doesn't do much for my already stressed air of enthusiasm. You've seen my place before. I'm putting my projects on hold for two months to clear some space for working. Every sheet of paper or piece of hardware up to the ceiling belongs to a project or collection of rarities except for my wardrobe. |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 4-Sep-2008 3:45pm |
Missing out on that 5" skirt discount, are you? |
| Irene007 |
I think you need a bigger place Kristal! Let me know what happens with the doc, ok? |
| Irene007 |
|
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to Irene007) posted 5-Sep-2008 2:24am |
Yep yep. Alas, to get a bigger place, which I sure would prefer, requires my first making money from the projects cluttering up the place now. |
| Irene007 |
Get to it!!  |
| docgbrown |
Makes me want to enact a minimum test standard before allowing people to vote |
| docgbrown | | (reply to kirst) posted 8-Sep-2008 3:30am |
> Other; Embarrassed that people here are so ignorant. I shouldn't
> be surprised, though. Can't tell you how many times Americans have
> asked me "Do you speak Japanese?" after I mention that we live in
> Hong Kong.
HA! You had me laughing out loud with that one!
|
| docgbrown |
> NCLB was a Right Wing policy. Unless you think Bush is a Liberal,
> which tells me that maybe nobody told you not to drink Draino.
Not to argue with your point but, for the record; to extreme conservatives, Bush Jr. (and McCain for that matter) is not recognized as a conservative. He and McCain are viewed as Lieberman Democrat equivalents in their own (Republican) party (Lieberman votes with Republicans a lot in the U.S. Senate). Extreme conservatives feel W. Bush moved up in Texas politics by stealing the Texas Democrats' party platform and ‘out-Democrating’ them and have been disenfranchised by his middle-leaning policies and decisions since. |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to docgbrown) posted 8-Sep-2008 5:33am |
What, for instance, is considered Democrat about his (Bush's) platform? |
| kirst | | (reply to docgbrown) posted 8-Sep-2008 5:52am |
It happens a lot... |
| docgbrown |
Bush worked with Ted Kennedy (D) to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, which increased education spending by over $20 billion and legislated a massive new federal intrusion into local schools. He took over Joe Lieberman's (D) proposal to create a gigantic new federal bureaucracy, the Department of Homeland Security. Bush practically abandoned free trade in favor of a hodgepodge of interest-group-pleasing tariffs. And after initially spouting against it, Bush signed the Sarbanes (D) - Oxley (R) bill with embarrassing eagerness in the wake of the Enron debacle, putting in place a phonebook-sized stack of new business regulations (even though conservatives always want less business regulations). He enraged Right-winger when he signed the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill, a bęte noir of conservatives for years. His Medicare prescription-drug bill was the biggest new entitlement program since the Great Society and caused a lot of Republicans to pull their hair out and look enviously to the Libertarians. He initially put a hold on a wide range of last-minute executive orders from the Clinton administration, but after a few months of "study" allowed nearly all of them to stand. And he has increased domestic discretionary spending at a higher rate than any president since LBJ. While he cut taxes, cutting taxes without cutting spending doesn't do the conservative cause any good and got them mad at him there too. To conservatives, Bush’s record makes all the combined social spending under the last two Democratic presidents look paltry by comparison. Under this ‘Republican’ we have seen more socialism than any modern Democrat could expect to get away with all of which violates conservative core principles and cause many of them to disown Bush Jr. |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to docgbrown) posted 14-Sep-2008 1:18am |
I don't about Democrats, but Progressives aren't happy about No Child Left Behind, particularly the military referrals part.
Homeland Security - A bureaucracy perhaps, but again nothing favored by liberals.
"interest-group-pleasing tariffs" - Republicans and Democrats trade places on that one, but generally yeah, Republicans are affliated with unrestricted business.
"Sarbanes (D) - Oxley (R) bill" - In my (Democrat) opinion, the only good piece of legislation he ever passed. It was rather surprising that he of all people would make individuals accountable for corporate crimes.
"McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill" - I'm unaware of that one. What's it about?
"His Medicare prescription-drug bill" - Anyone in office except a libertarian would have done that today.
"And he has increased domestic 'discretionary' spending" - that seems more a hierarchical Republican thing to do than a democratic people's representatives thing to do.
"cutting taxes without cutting spending doesn't do the conservative cause any good" - It doesnt do any cause too good to ring everything up on credit. Supposedly he did it to eliminate war resistance by the non-peace resistors, those who would complain because of the expense they would have felt (and still will, now that it's too late to do anything).
Socialism is what most people want, and for good reason as long as the wealth remains so concentrated. Unless voting comes down to money (election propoganda) rather than native opinions, any president is going to pass more socialism if he wants to stay in office. The difference between Republicans and Democrats is who pays for it. The Republicans seemingly would prefer to create a two class system, CEO's and socialists (ownership society), and the Democrats would like it to be all one socialist class working with a sliding scale.
Finally, both parties are addressing helping out small business owners. I haven't heard a specific plan from the Republicans though, which makes me doubtful of them. If small businesses (like myself) are exempt from capital gains, they can afford to hire more employees. On the other hand CEO's typically make 400 times more than their lowest employees, so the tax law only makes practical sense for struggling businesses, not huge corporations.
I don't expect vast social economic differences between parties. Rather it's the ideological differeces I expect to play out. Republicans seem to stand for insider aristocratic privelege, and Democrats for popular equality. Democrats would have created a public oversight bureacracy to hand out miltary contracts instead of just giving them to KBR/Haliburton. It probably wouldn't cost the public any more or less in the log run (competitive bids vs. cost of bureaucracy), but at least it'd be more fair. With Democrats in office, it's expected that reps are accountable to their constituency, not the president, when it comes time to pass expensive bills. That 'Patriot Act' was just as much about forcing house members into the 'You are either for or against us' paradigm. Democrats try not to do that sort of tactic. Alas, they seem to do as much private business, but not in such secrecy. That wire tapping act was actually Clinton's doing, part of the '96 telecom act. Bush makes the news more because he tries to hide things in the first place. |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to docgbrown) posted 14-Sep-2008 1:47am |
> Makes me want to enact a minimum test standard before allowing people
> to vote
I've long had that idea. I'd put everything up to popular vote by anyone in the affected context who could demonstrate balanced competence. If for instance you wished to vote on dumping nuclear waste in duck ponds, when at the polling booth you would have to answer a random questionnaire composed by all opposing positions, demonstrating things like your knowledge of costs of alternative programs, the environmental harm, cost of other energy sources quantities of greenlands remaining, etc. If a lobby group wished to get out the vote, they would have to send out unbiased info packets to get their voters to qualify to vote.
In the case of things like presidential elections, opposing parties may require voters to know either their positions, or those of the opponents (the factual dirt).
Of course no one has time to do their homework on everything, so my answer to that is to allow vote deffering. On the nuclear dumping issue, one might defer their vote to The Tree Conservancy (who can pass the issues test), pass the judges on to The League of Woman Voters, pass their civil measures on to their favorite City Councilman or consumer advocates group, and just vote personally on the offices they have studied. Bureacracy always has a way of getting out of hand though. Such a system would invite a prequalifying test just to defer your votes, as Greenpeace and the Heartland institute would be quite at odds with each other. Before The Hearland Institute let you defer your vote to Greenpeace, they would want you to know we have projected oil for many years to come. Before Greenpeace let you defor you votes to The Heartland Institute, they would want you to know that Hearlands projections do not include increased oil demand by China or India.
Oh, part of this system would involve doing away with direct congressiona votes and replacing those with popular qualified votes too, adjusted by state allotments. Even then though, one could defer their vote to any congressperson, but anyone they wanted, leceted or not, agency or not. You could defer your votes in matters to Gore Vidal or Rush Limbaugh if you wanted to, and that's probably what would happen.
Media would play an evn increased role, but at least all votes would be managed by people who know all sides of an issue. From what I hear, some of those congressman may be less likely to pass balanced vote-qualifying tests than informed citizens. |
| docgbrown |
Ok It sounds as though you are well read on current politics. I can't say that I agree with you on what most people want or expect but I like and respect that you have put great thought into it. Again, I don't mean to beat a dead horse but Bush and McCain are not seen by true conservatives by extreme conservatives just as Michael Moore believes ALL of the broadcast news media are biased too far to the right. "NCLB was a Right Wing policy. Unless you think Bush is a Liberal, which tells me that maybe nobody told you not to drink Draino." To each of us, those not with us are often seen as 'extreme' and those whose leanings are closer to our own are seen as 'moderate.' It is just human nature. I have no interest in debating policy or political details. I just wanted to point out this area of human nature so that you could make a more informed decision on how hard you wanted to slam a responder. Peace |
| docgbrown |
It sounds as though we need the Kristal Rose–docgbrown bill introduced to congress. |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to docgbrown) posted 17-Sep-2008 3:19am |
It wasn't a slam so much as informing you that whatever Bush or McCain are, liberal democrats have no affinity to it either. Plus, I was hoping to draw out more on how you defined Republicans for Bush and McCain to not be amongst them. |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to docgbrown) posted 17-Sep-2008 3:29am |
No rep would vote for it unless they wanted to rebuild a vote-deferral constitiuency, or give up being a rep and become consumer advocates. |
| docgbrown |
Fair enough |
| docgbrown |
Perhaps, but we will never know until we run it up the flag pole |
| Kristal_Rose | | (reply to docgbrown) posted 21-Sep-2008 1:22am |
It's my plan to make enough money to back political ideas. Just coming up with them isn't enough. Alas, the project I've been working two years on, a digital thermin, has just become someone elses top ten iPhone application. I was close to completion myself. Fortunately that's not the only project I was working on. |
| docgbrown |
Cool |
