NationStates Jolt Archive

I caught the end of Jeopardy (the game show) celebrity version tonight and it explained so much about the US to me. The "celebrities" consisted of some fashion designer, Soledad O'Brien - CNN's top rising news host/anchor, and Hank Shearer - a guys who does voices for a cartoon, The Simpsons. From the scores going into final jeopardy the most knowledgable of the lot was the guy who does cartoon voices, but given that this is celebrity jeopardy and the questions are absurdly easy to make the celebs look good I wasn't willing to draw any conclusions based upon which had a better knowledge of off-Braodway musicals until the final jeopardy question came up - category / The United Nations. Soledad O'Brien did not know that the United Kingdom was the smallest of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, but the guy who does voices for a cartoon did. Soledad O'Brien, who hosts CNN's premiere morning news show, didn't know the answer to a softball question about the UN, although to give her credit she at least named a permant member of the UN Security Council (France if you were wondering), one of the top people at a station dedicated to informing people was bewilderingly ignorant of either the realtive sizes of France and the UK or the membership of the UN Security Council. And the man with the most knowledge (per the Jeopardy scores), he does voices for a cartoon. Ah, the US in a nutshell.

I caught the end of Jeopardy (the game show) celebrity version tonight and it explained so much about the US to me. The "celebrities" consisted of some fashion designer, Soledad O'Brien - CNN's top rising news host/anchor, and Hank Shearer - a guys who does voices for a cartoon, The Simpsons. From the scores going into final jeopardy the most knowledgable of the lot was the guy who does cartoon voices, but given that this is celebrity jeopardy and the questions are absurdly easy to make the celebs look good I wasn't willing to draw any conclusions based upon which had a better knowledge of off-Braodway musicals until the final jeopardy question came up - category / The United Nations. Soledad O'Brien did not know that the United Kingdom was the smallest of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, but the guy who does voices for a cartoon did. Soledad O'Brien, who hosts CNN's premiere morning news show, didn't know the answer to a softball question about the UN, although to give her credit she at least named a permant member of the UN Security Council (France if you were wondering), one of the top people at a station dedicated to informing people was bewilderingly ignorant of either the realtive sizes of France and the UK or the membership of the UN Security Council. And the man with the most knowledge (per the Jeopardy scores), he does voices for a cartoon. Ah, the US in a nutshell.

That people who read off teleprompters do not have the same amount of knowledge pertaining to random facts than do comedic actors? What does that say about the US, exactly?

Ha. You understand nothing about either the US or Celebrity Jeopardy until you've seen Cheech Marin compete.

Comedians tend to be some of the most intelligent people.

Yes, an isolated jeapordy performance makes a definitive conclusion on the current US general state. I wonder what making such a pompous statement says about your country of origin?

What the hell is the point of this thread?

What the hell is the point of this thread?Does it need a point? It's NSG.

Does it need a point? It's NSG.

Ah. Damn!

O'Bien is not merely a pretty face, she has won awards for invesitgative journalism and is an interviewer of newsmakers, not merely a reader of script off a telepormpter. Even if she did just read script off a teleprompter, she would have to pretty thick not to have some of it sink in (she's been in the news biz for about 20 years). Her job is to ask important people probing questions to inform the public, Hank Shearer's job is to make funny voices for a cartoon. ( note Hank Schearer may also be a comedic actor, i know next to nothing about him except that his primary claim to beng a celebrity is that does cartoon voices.) Even accepting that the questions were random trivia (celebrity Jeopary has softball questions, basic info anyone over the age of 10 should be able to answer), O'Brien missed an easy question about the UN and Shearer didn't.

What does this say about the US? Well, that the people who are responsible for the news don't know much and the people who know more are doing cartoons.

Does it need a point? It's NSG.

Heh, this reminds me of that old Chinatown quote.:D "Forget it, Il Ruffio. It's NSG." :p

-snip-Soledad O'Brien, who hosts CNN's premiere morning news show -snip- one of the top people at a station dedicated to informing people

She's an anchor on American Morning, a program that's more entertainment than news, as are most of the morning "news" programs in the US.

What the hell is the point of this thread?

It looks to me like the point was to overstretch an apperance by an entertainer into an insult against the US, much as Red Letter pointed out.

If the OP is going to lambast others for their ignorance, they could at least get their names right...

Hank Shearer - a guys who does voices for a cartoon, The Simpsons.

Harry, perchance?

O'Bien is not merely a pretty face, she has won awards for invesitgative journalism and is an interviewer of newsmakers, not merely a reader of script off a telepormpter. Even if she did just read script off a teleprompter, she would have to pretty thick not to have some of it sink in (she's been in the news biz for about 20 years). Her job is to ask important people probing questions to inform the public

You do realise she came to CNN from the Today Show, and even worse excuse for news, right?

As for her awards, this is what her bio on CNN.com says:
She also won a local Emmy for her work as a co-host on Discovery Channel's The Know Zone. She has been named to PEOPLE magazine's "50 Most Beautiful" in 2001 and PEOPLE en Espanol's 50 most beautiful in 2004. O'Brien was also included in Crain's Business Reports' "40 under 40," Essence magazine's "40 under 40" and Black Enterprise "40 Under 40." O'Brien has been named several times to Irish American Magazine's "Top 100 Irish Americans." O'Brien earned the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award from the National Association of Minorities in Cable in 2006 and has received honorary degrees from Siena College and Mercy College.
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/obrien.soledad.html

I see no awards for investigative journalism there.

And the man with the most knowledge (per the Jeopardy scores), he does voices for a cartoon. Ah, the US in a nutshell.

You're saying 'the satirists know what is really going on' as your thumbnail sketch of life in the US?

*snip*

Not that it's relevant to your point, but I think you either mean Harry Shearer or Hank Azaria. As far as I know, there is no celebrity named Hank Shearer. :)

If the OP is going to lambast others for their ignorance, they could at least get their names right...

He's confusing him with Hank Azaria.

Hank Shearer's job is to make funny voices for a cartoon. ( note Hank Schearer may also be a comedic actor, i know next to nothing about him except that his primary claim to beng a celebrity is that does cartoon voices.) Even accepting that the questions were random trivia (celebrity Jeopary

...

What does this say about the US? Well, that the people who are responsible for the news don't know much and the people who know more are doing cartoons.

Harry Shearer also hosts talk radio shows specialising in political satire, and is a well respected comedic actor, both on TV and the big screen. This Is Spinal Tap, no? A Mighty Wind, no? Does the name Derek Smalls mean nothing to you?

She's an anchor on American Morning, a program that's more entertainment than news, as are most of the morning "news" programs in the US.Most news, not just morning news, in the US seems to be more entertaiinment than news, at least to me.

Nonetheless, the CNN morning show is supoosed to be the one focused on news instead of entertainment so O'Brien interviews El Baradei while other morning shows interview Ellen Degeneres. I have to wonder how probing and informative an interview can be when the interviewer is not very knowledgable, even if doing a softball interview of an actor with a new movie coming out.

If the OP is going to lambast others for their ignorance, they could at least get their names right...



Harry, perchance?
Hank is a form of Harry just as Peg is a form of Margret. I admit I am doubtless using it as his credits in The Simpsons come right after Hank Azaria's but Hank is a common form of Harry - perhaps more familar than I am entitled to use, but perfectly recognizable to most people.

[QUOTE=Squi]Most news, not just morning news, in the US seems to be more entertaiinment than news, at least to me.

There's a large element of that, yes, but it's the so called "breakfast shows" that are the softest, even on CNN.

[QUOTE=Squi]Nonetheless, the CNN morning show is supoosed to be the one focused on news instead of entertainment so O'Brien interviews El Baradei while other morning shows interview Ellen Degeneres.

This may be true, but it's still soft news. (And I must say the inversion of the programming on CNNj makes me happy - I get the harder news programs at a time when I can watch them.)

Harry Shearer also hosts talk radio shows specialising in political satire, and is a well respected comedic actor, both on TV and the big screen. This Is Spinal Tap, no? A Mighty Wind, no? Does the name Derek Smalls mean nothing to you?Ah, that Harry Shearer. I thought he looked familiar, but Jeopardy noted his claim to being a celebrity as being based upon his voicing for [i]The SImpsons{/i], not how I would charecterize Shearer.

Hank is a form of Harry just as Peg is a form of Margret. I admit I am doubtless using it as his credits in The Simpsons come right after Hank Azaria's but Hank is a common form of Harry - perhaps more familar than I am entitled to use, but perfectly recognizable to most people.

By this logic it would makes sense to list the last three UK PMs as Rita, Jack and Anto.

Ah, that Harry Shearer. I thought he looked familiar, but Jeopardy noted his claim to being a celebrity as being based upon his voicing for [i]The SImpsons{/i], not how I would charecterize Shearer.
I don't know The Simpsons is a fairly well known show that has been running for going on 17 years now, I think being a voice on it would be a pretty important part of ones career.

Hank is a form of Harry just as Peg is a form of Margret.

Hank is a form of Henry.

Hank is a form of Harry just as Peg is a form of Margret. I admit I am doubtless using it as his credits in The Simpsons come right after Hank Azaria's but Hank is a common form of Harry - perhaps more familar than I am entitled to use, but perfectly recognizable to most people.

Actually, they're both forms of "Henry," although nowadays quite a lot of Hanks and Harrys have "Hank" or "Harry" on their birth certificates.

And if you did intend to refer to Harry Shearer, I can't see how you could think he's most famous for his voice work on "The Simpsons." I would think most people would consider his brilliant improvisational work (a talent, incidentally, which typically requires quite an agile brain) with Christopher Guest a great deal more notable.

And if you did intend to refer to Harry Shearer, I can't see how you could think he's most famous for his voice work on "The Simpsons."

Celebrity and fame are very different things.

You're saying 'the satirists know what is really going on' as your thumbnail sketch of life in the US?

Yes. Moreso than the news people, or so it would seem.


As for her awards, this is what her bio on CNN.com says: Perhaps what awards CNN choses to highlight are symptomatic of an entertainment emphasis ont the part of the news media. She used to report on WBZ in Boston and won at least two awards back then for investigative journalism and earlier this year she was mentioned by name in an award by the Colmbia School of Journalism for broadcast excellence. (She has an unusual name and it is easy to remember.) Those are off the top of my head, and the fact that CNN choses instead to highlight her Emmy awards is intersting in its own light.

Yes. Moreso than the news people, or so it would seem.

Is a satirist who devotes much of their time and energy to commenting on the news not also a news person?

Celebrity and fame are very different things.

True enough. Still, it's not exactly as if "Spinal Tap" is an obscure movie no one's seen. :)

And if you did intend to refer to Harry Shearer, I can't see how you could think he's most famous for his voice work on "The Simpsons." I would think most people would consider his brilliant improvisational work (a talent, incidentally, which typically requires quite an agile brain) with Christopher Guest a great deal more notable.I agree wholeheartedly. I insist that my not recognizing the Harry Shearer on Jeopardy was the same Harry Shearer who was on SNL when it was great,was based upon his being presented as a voice actor on The Simpsons. Admittedly having a role in The Simpsons is an achievement, but certainly not what I would consider his defining one.

I agree wholeheartedly. I insist that my not recognizing the Harry Shearer on Jeopardy was the same Harry Shearer who was on SNL when it was great,was based upon his being presented as a voice actor on The Simpsons. Admittedly having a role in The Simpsons is an achievement, but certainly not what I would consider his defining one.

Fair enough. :) I suppose the folks at Jeopardy wanted to say something more descriptive than "actor," and figured "actor who can currently be heard every Sunday night at 8/7 central" sounded better than "actor who can be seen in late-night SNL reruns and assorted movies," even if the latter work is significantly more notable.

Is a satirist who devotes much of their time and energy to commenting on the news not also a news person?No. A news person is someone who's job it is primarily to report what is going on. A satirist is a news consumer who's primary job is to point out the absurdities of what is going on (and comment on them). A satirist should ignore that which is not absurd or otherwise worthy of satire, a newsperson should ignore that which is mundane or otherwise unworthy of being reported.

I would also not consider commentators (talking heads) to be news persons even when they are on "news" channels since they are consumers of news reportage who select portions of it to comment upon. Satirists of this type (Jon Stewart jumps to mind) are merely a subset of commentators upon the news, using a particular format (satire) to make thier commentary.

Soledad O'Brien did not know that the United Kingdom was the smallest of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, but the guy who does voices for a cartoon did.

Doesn't this information fall under the category of "useless trivia", suitable for a question in the game of Trivial Pursuit, but not elsewhere?

Wouldn't it be much better to have an understanding of what the UN Security Council is and what its responsibilities and powers are, than to name the smallest member of the team?

Doesn't this information fall under the category of "useless trivia", suitable for a question in the game of Trivial Pursuit, but not elsewhere?

Wouldn't it be much better to have an understanding of what the UN Security Council is and what its responsibilities and powers are, than to name the smallest member of the team?

No, because that falls into basic knowledge. If the Squi is saying this is indicative of the general state of U.S. education, then fine. If Squi refers to the celebrity Jeopardy episode as indicative of everything in the U.S., then this is simply wrong.

You know, a guy in my English class pointed out a very good reason why there aren't many good US politicians anymore.

The job sucks. At any given time, half of the country hates you, no matter what party you are (even worse for third-party members). The rest of the world will either hate you or ignore you. What kind of sane, intelligent person wants that?

Doesn't this information fall under the category of "useless trivia", suitable for a question in the game of Trivial Pursuit, but not elsewhere?

Wouldn't it be much better to have an understanding of what the UN Security Council is and what its responsibilities and powers are, than to name the smallest member of the team?
I don't consider knowing the 5 permanent memebrs of the UN security council to be useless trivia, nor that France (the largest country in Western Europe!) is larger than the UK to be useless trivia but instead basic knowledge. Trivia is knowing who won the Oscar for best spporting actress in 1956, something that will probaly never have an effect on your life. Are you sugesting that the UN Securitity council and it's permant members are small and insignificant? or that the fact that France's large size makes it a dominant power in Europe is insignificant ? Both of these pieces of basic knowledge are kind of important to understanding world politics, but perhaps politics outside the US are triviial to you? Regardless of why you consider this information to be trivia, they shouldn't be trivial to a news reporter at CNN.

You know, a guy in my English class pointed out a very good reason why there aren't many good US politicians anymore.

The job sucks. At any given time, half of the country hates you, no matter what party you are (even worse for third-party members). The rest of the world will either hate you or ignore you. What kind of sane, intelligent person wants that?

Easy.

Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

That people who read off teleprompters do not have the same amount of knowledge pertaining to random facts than do comedic actors? What does that say about the US, exactly?

That the people who are most moved to mock America are those who know most about it. Those who think they are getting information from the news are the reason that the first group are thus moved.

You watched "Celebrity Jeopardy" - what does that say about you?

:rolleyes:

I almost won the Jeopardy Teen Tournament, but my mom forgot to send back the application. :p

I almost won the Jeopardy Teen Tournament, but my mom forgot to send back the application. :p
Ya coulda bin a contender!! :eek:

http://www.moviewavs.com/0085934086/WAVS/Movies/On_The_Waterfront/watrfrnt.wav

You do realise she came to CNN from the Today Show, and even worse excuse for news, right?

As for her awards, this is what her bio on CNN.com says:

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/obrien.soledad.html

I see no awards for investigative journalism there.

Hey, why are you throwing facts into an argument on this forum? Shame on you!

Ha. You understand nothing about either the US or Celebrity Jeopardy until you've seen Cheech Marin compete.

That is when you realize that, truly, North American nations are the greatest in the world.

O'Bien is not merely a pretty face, she has won awards for invesitgative journalism and is an interviewer of newsmakers, not merely a reader of script off a telepormpter. Even if she did just read script off a teleprompter, she would have to pretty thick not to have some of it sink in (she's been in the news biz for about 20 years). Her job is to ask important people probing questions to inform the public, Hank Shearer's job is to make funny voices for a cartoon. ( note Hank Schearer may also be a comedic actor, i know next to nothing about him except that his primary claim to beng a celebrity is that does cartoon voices.) Even accepting that the questions were random trivia (celebrity Jeopary has softball questions, basic info anyone over the age of 10 should be able to answer), O'Brien missed an easy question about the UN and Shearer didn't.

What does this say about the US? Well, that the people who are responsible for the news don't know much and the people who know more are doing cartoons.
Quite a conclusion to draw from watching a game show that featured a guest from a failing news organization. Tell you what. I'll take you on head to head in any debate and I'm from the US. Oh, I didn't know that the UK was the smallest nation on the UN Security Council - but I'll still make you look stupid. ;)

You watched "Celebrity Jeopardy" - what does that say about you?

:rolleyes:

That he hasn't been soured on real Celebrity Jeopardy by watching the SNL skits of it? Trust me, when I heard Alex Trebek talking about how great it was to have celebrities on the show (I caught about the first five minutes of it from the other room) I thought, "I can't believe he's saying that." And I was disappointed Sean Connery wasn't ion it.

I caught the end of Jeopardy (the game show) celebrity version tonight and it explained so much about the US to me. The "celebrities" consisted of some fashion designer, Soledad O'Brien - CNN's top rising news host/anchor, and Hank Shearer - a guys who does voices for a cartoon, The Simpsons. From the scores going into final jeopardy the most knowledgable of the lot was the guy who does cartoon voices, but given that this is celebrity jeopardy and the questions are absurdly easy to make the celebs look good I wasn't willing to draw any conclusions based upon which had a better knowledge of off-Braodway musicals until the final jeopardy question came up - category / The United Nations. Soledad O'Brien did not know that the United Kingdom was the smallest of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, but the guy who does voices for a cartoon did. Soledad O'Brien, who hosts CNN's premiere morning news show, didn't know the answer to a softball question about the UN, although to give her credit she at least named a permant member of the UN Security Council (France if you were wondering), one of the top people at a station dedicated to informing people was bewilderingly ignorant of either the realtive sizes of France and the UK or the membership of the UN Security Council. And the man with the most knowledge (per the Jeopardy scores), he does voices for a cartoon. Ah, the US in a nutshell.
Harry Shearer doesn't just voice some characters on the Simpsons. He has a radio show on NPR called Le Show. It's not entertaining in the least, but he does cover the news from a fairly liberal point of view. He knows current events and international politics.

You watched "Celebrity Jeopardy" - what does that say about you?That I have eyes and pay attention to what is going on arround me. Very little actually can be said about me merely from my happening to catch the end of an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy, I was at work and went into the breakroom to use a table and the television was on Jeopardy which provides a little more that can be said about me, but not a whole lot.



Quite a conclusion to draw from watching a game show that featured a guest from a failing news organization. Tell you what. I'll take you on head to head in any debate and I'm from the US. Oh, I didn't know that the UK was the smallest nation on the UN Security Council - but I'll still make you look stupid. ;)FIrst the UK is not the smallest member of the UN Security Council - I believe that honor currently goes to Qatar, but I may be wrong - it is the smallest of the permanent 5 members. If the question were "which is the smallest member of the Security Council" I would be willing to overlook a lack of knowledge since 1/3rd of the membership changes annually and small countries tend to be overrepresented amongst the non-permanent members and the latest batch of countries was just elected to the Security Council a month ago to take thier seats next year, and keeping track of the non-permanent members is for most people a trivial occupation.

As for Soledad O'Brien, I used to catch her tagline on the Boston news regularily when she worked at WBZ (generally considered the best of the major news broadcasters in the region) and became aware of her then. Her name is memorable, and since I am a voracious reader and have a few friends in academic journalism, I have caught mentions of her for years in various publications such as the Columbia Journalism Review. She is not exactly an annonymous person in the world of journalism, she is one of the stars (at least in broadcast news).

As for CNN being failing - it seems that all the estabished news organizations in the US are in decline. However, CNN is still a top broadcast news source, whatever it's financial fortunes are. Regardless of who they are working for, a top newsperson involved in anything above the local level should have similar basic knowledge of the world, whether they work for CNN or The Des Moines Register.


I am not certain what geographical origin has to do with debating abilities, and no conculsion could be drawn from a debate between us about the realtionship of national origin and debating skills since I am born, raised, (mostly) educated, and currently residing in the US. Making me look stupid is entirely possible, I have a saying - "any day in which I do not give myself at least 3 reasons to doubt my own intelligence is one in which I have not attempted to do enough", I make myself look stupid all the time, so what is the big deal? Whenever you stretch yourself beyond an area which has become routine you run the risk of appearing stupid (as O'Brien did), I find that risk more appealing than the alternative of never stretching myself. (also see my failure earlier in this thread to recognize Harry Shearer, boy do I look stupid there.)


As for the conclusion I draw, well it is a pretty broad one to draw from one show, but fairly justifiable. Soledad O'Brien is not considered in journalism, as people have tried to paint her, to be a Ron Burgundy/Ted Baxter or a talk show host ala Regis Philbin (?spelling?), but as a role model for young reporters to aspire to. Think about it, someone who has dedicated the last 20 years or so of their life to reporting the news, who is one of the top news people at what is considered a top news outlet has less basic knowledge about the world than someone who does a weekly news satire, Le News, heard by less than 1% of the audience O'Brien has and has spent thier life doing comedy.

As a side note, I've often felt that universally (not just the US) the more one knows about the world the more one is drawn to comedy. When you objectively look at humanity, the is so much absurdity that the choice is to either learn to laugh at it or kill yourself in despair. Not the way I always feel, but a feeling I've often had.


Harry Shearer doesn't just voice some characters on the Simpsons. He has a radio show on NPR called Le Show. It's not entertaining in the least, but he does cover the news from a fairly liberal point of view. He knows current events and international politics. Aye, it has been pointed out that Harry Shearer is not just a guy who does commedic voices. Nonetheless, he is not a person who makes thier living off of reporting the news but is instead a person who works in comedy. It says more than a little about the nature of Celebrity that Harry Shearer was identified on the show solely by his work as a cartoon voice actor, but that is going far afield.

As for Le News, it is pretty much hit or miss - sometimes funny and sometimes not. Definetely a liberal slant, sometimes so liberal it seems to be accidentally a caricature of liberalism. I give it about a 40% entertaining value myself, I find about 40% of the material entertaining enough to listen to.

The fact that Harry Shearer makes his livelyhood from Commedy and is knowledgeable about current events and international politics just reinforces the conclusion I have drawn, "that the people who are responsible for the news don't know much and the people who know more are doing cartoons".

O'Bien is not merely a pretty face, she has won awards for invesitgative journalism and is an interviewer of newsmakers, not merely a reader of script off a telepormpter. Even if she did just read script off a teleprompter, she would have to pretty thick not to have some of it sink in (she's been in the news biz for about 20 years). Her job is to ask important people probing questions to inform the public, Hank Shearer's job is to make funny voices for a cartoon. ( note Hank Schearer may also be a comedic actor, i know next to nothing about him except that his primary claim to beng a celebrity is that does cartoon voices.) Even accepting that the questions were random trivia (celebrity Jeopary has softball questions, basic info anyone over the age of 10 should be able to answer), O'Brien missed an easy question about the UN and Shearer didn't.

What does this say about the US? Well, that the people who are responsible for the news don't know much and the people who know more are doing cartoons.


If this is your case against the US, its a sad one.

I cant imagine the despair you live with every day in your little utopia, knowing how much further down the totem pole you are, beneath the US.

Are you living off our scraps? Is that the source of the bitter impotence?

That I have eyes and pay attention to what is going on arround me. Very little actually can be said about me merely from my happening to catch the end of an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy, I was at work and went into the breakroom to use a table and the television was on Jeopardy which provides a little more that can be said about me, but not a whole lot.




And the lame attempt to back pedal-You simply caught the end of the show. Sure you did. And that few minutes inspired you to make your bold case on the state of intellectuals in the US.
Its a shame you need us for your entertainment on a break, too.

*snip*

I'll address the Soledad comments exclusively. Sory to ignore the rst of your blatant attempt to sound more educated than I suspect you are, but you opened this thread with such a ridiculous premise that it belies the post I'm responding to, particularily in light of the time spread between when I posted my response and when you responded back. Lot's o' time to research Soledad in there.

Anyhoo, Soledad is a talking pretty face. That's all she is and that's all she's expecte to be. Your post did nothing to back up your contention that she is somehow synonymous with professional journalism in the US. She doesn't even write her own copy or do her own research. She's good at what she does because she has a pretty face, a nice voice, a good vocabulary and people like her. She's not Mike wallace, the recently departed Ed Bradly, she's not even Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather or that other alien looking guy from the big three. There are a host of better informed and more popular journalists and even then to say you could judge the education level and/or intelligence of the American people based on one of their appearences on a game show is absurd.

As for your pointing out that the Security Council consists of more than it's fie permanent members, I am, of course, aware of that. Unlike many around here I don't go check Wiki before I post and take for granted that people will read a little between the lines of my posts. I think you're also aware that I meant the smallest of the five permanent members.

Ha. You understand nothing about either the US or Celebrity Jeopardy until you've seen Cheech Marin compete.

True. He pasted 'em when he was on. :D

What the hell is the point of this thread?

Just another pathetic attempt to malign the US. It's NSG, Ruffy. It happens all the time here. You know that.

If this is your case against the US, its a sad one.

I cant imagine the despair you live with every day in your little utopia, knowing how much further down the totem pole you are, beneath the US.

Are you living off our scraps? Is that the source of the bitter impotence?Why yes, I imagine it could be said that I live off the scraps of the US, and quite well thank you. I myself wouldn't consider myself as living of the scraps of others, but if you wish to consider it so feel free to. I am not particularily bitter about it though, in fact I find it quite comfortable and would rather maintain the fairly oppulent lifestyle I have than move elsewhere.

I am not quit certain how my utopia can be lower down the totem pole than the US as my utopia is an improved US. The comment is directed at the US because other nations are not identical to the US and the dataset (small as it is) is unique to the US. A similar situation may well exist in the rest of the world, although I doubt it.

I wouldn't call this a case against the US, it is instead an observation about the nature of the US. There is no criticism of the US in my conclusion or argument intended, any found in it comes from the reader and the readers implied beliefs about the US.

[quote=Carnivorous Lickers]And the lame attempt to back pedal-You simply caught the end of the show. Sure you did. And that few minutes inspired you to make your bold case on the state of intellectuals in the US.
Its a shame you need us for your entertainment on a break, too.[quote] why yes it did. A few minutes is enough (see my comments on O'Brien) to make a case about the state of intellectuals in the US. Actually there is a bit more to it than that, being a news consumer for years and watching the decline in quality of US news was a large factor in drawing the conclusion, the few minutes of jeopardy merely served to crystalize my position. If you have been a consistant news consumer for years, as I have, you will have most likely noticed a decline in the quality of US news (I do not have enough familiarity with other nations' news to render a judgement on them). Indeed this quality decline is easily explained from my conclusion. One can go a lot further with this and ponder the cause and effect of influences like Jon Stewart but that is a more cerebral exercise than I feel like making right now. Indeed Jon Stewart is a wonderful example of this phenomena, watch Jon Stewart be interviewed by a news person and see how much more knowledgable Stewart appears.

I wonder, are you a celebrity or associated with Jeopardy? How are you a member of the "us" which I must depend upon for entertainment? I don't depend upon you for entertainment regardless of which you are, I merely use you because you are convenient. Also I was not on break, i merely used the breakroom to fill out a report because there was a table there and it was convenient. I do a great many things a certain way because they are convenient, I find it most convenient. I also try not to assume things from a lack of knowledge but feel no need to present all the steps taken prior to coming to a final conclusion.

[QUOTE=Cluichstan;11950763


Just another pathetic attempt to malign the US. It's NSG, Ruffy. It happens all the time here. You know that.[/QUOTE]Malign the US? why do people assume this. Heck, from the recent responses you would think people here didn't know I am a US citizen. Understanding the US is not the same as hating the US.

Didn't your [insert wise person here] ever tell you? Don't judge a nation by its television game shows! :rolleyes:

Didn't your [insert wise person here] ever tell you? Don't judge a nation by its television game shows! :rolleyes:

you mean..........Japan isn't full of insane people covered in chocolate and mud trying to answer questions with electrodes attached to their ears?!

:eek: :(

the USA they building a car that what they are all about
just watch this clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM7I9IeT9gs

Malign the US? why do people assume this. Heck, from the recent responses you would think people here didn't know I am a US citizen. Understanding the US is not the same as hating the US.

What a lame cop out. Your obvious intent was to say that people in the US are uneducated based on the fact that a TV news personality didn't know who the smallest member of the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Saying that you simply meant that you understand the US but weren't trying to malign US citizens is like me saying that I found out you're a retard but that I simply meant that it makes sense now why you would post such an absurd premise.

you mean..........Japan isn't full of insane people covered in chocolate and mud trying to answer questions with electrodes attached to their ears?!

:eek: :(

Yeah- and now you understand Japan. The people are all into tentacles punishing and raping schoolgirls in uniform.

Why yes, I imagine it could be said that I live off the scraps of the US, and quite well thank you. I myself wouldn't consider myself as living of the scraps of others, but if you wish to consider it so feel free to. I am not particularily bitter about it though, in fact I find it quite comfortable and would rather maintain the fairly oppulent lifestyle I have than move elsewhere.

I am not quit certain how my utopia can be lower down the totem pole than the US as my utopia is an improved US. The comment is directed at the US because other nations are not identical to the US and the dataset (small as it is) is unique to the US. A similar situation may well exist in the rest of the world, although I doubt it.

I wouldn't call this a case against the US, it is instead an observation about the nature of the US. There is no criticism of the US in my conclusion or argument intended, any found in it comes from the reader and the readers implied beliefs about the US.

[quote=Carnivorous Lickers]And the lame attempt to back pedal-You simply caught the end of the show. Sure you did. And that few minutes inspired you to make your bold case on the state of intellectuals in the US.
Its a shame you need us for your entertainment on a break, too.[quote] why yes it did. A few minutes is enough (see my comments on O'Brien) to make a case about the state of intellectuals in the US. Actually there is a bit more to it than that, being a news consumer for years and watching the decline in quality of US news was a large factor in drawing the conclusion, the few minutes of jeopardy merely served to crystalize my position. If you have been a consistant news consumer for years, as I have, you will have most likely noticed a decline in the quality of US news (I do not have enough familiarity with other nations' news to render a judgement on them). Indeed this quality decline is easily explained from my conclusion. One can go a lot further with this and ponder the cause and effect of influences like Jon Stewart but that is a more cerebral exercise than I feel like making right now. Indeed Jon Stewart is a wonderful example of this phenomena, watch Jon Stewart be interviewed by a news person and see how much more knowledgable Stewart appears.

I wonder, are you a celebrity or associated with Jeopardy? How are you a member of the "us" which I must depend upon for entertainment? I don't depend upon you for entertainment regardless of which you are, I merely use you because you are convenient. Also I was not on break, i merely used the breakroom to fill out a report because there was a table there and it was convenient. I do a great many things a certain way because they are convenient, I find it most convenient. I also try not to assume things from a lack of knowledge but feel no need to present all the steps taken prior to coming to a final conclusion.


Save it for someone else, pippin.

You're your own worst enemy.

You defeated your own stupidity before you even ended your statement.

What a lame cop out. Your obvious intent was to say that people in the US are uneducated based on the fact that a TV news personality didn't know who the smallest member of the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Saying that you simply meant that you understand the US but weren't trying to malign US citizens is like me saying that I found out you're a retard but that I simply meant that it makes sense now why you would post such an absurd premise.Delay previous caused not by research but by sleep, current delay caused by my taking a shower.

How can I be maligning the education of people in the US when I am making a comparision of the chosed professions of people from the US based upon their exhibited knowledge? Education is not really a factor, I would not be upset if someone with Doctorates in Phyics and Biochemisty and Naval Archetecture were uninformed of the compostion of UN Security Council.(why would it matter to them, they may have been informed of the information some time in thier education but having that much specialized information in other fields would probably preclude the composition of the UNSC from being other than trivial knowledge for them.) If I were to say that no one in the US had knowledge of the UN security council membership it would be one thing, but I say that a top news person (more later) didn't have that knowledge (something rather relevant to thier job) and someone who works doing voices on a cartoon does.

How about this argument then (as strongly implied as the one you seem to have found): the people in the US are so educated about the world that even a guy who does voices for a cartoon knows trivia about the UN Security Council. Admittedly this argument is undercut by the revelation that the Harry Shearer who does cartoon voices is the Harry Shearer who does politcal satire, however that revelation comes later and supports the observation I have actually made.

I make no actual comment about the education of the US, however it does explain alot about the US that a top newsperson is less informed about the world than a comedian.


Anyhoo, Soledad is a talking pretty face. That's all she is and that's all she's expecte to be. Your post did nothing to back up your contention that she is somehow synonymous with professional journalism in the US. She doesn't even write her own copy or do her own research. She's good at what she does because she has a pretty face, a nice voice, a good vocabulary and people like her. She's not Mike wallace, the recently departed Ed Bradly, she's not even Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather or that other alien looking guy from the big three. There are a host of better informed and more popular journalists and even then to say you could judge the education level and/or intelligence of the American people based on one of their appearences on a game show is absurd. DO I ever say she is one a Wallace, Bradly, Jennings, Rather or Brokaw? no. what I do say is that she is one of the top newspeople, she occupies one of the top 20 chairs in US broadcast journalism. The fact that she occupies that chair despite not being a Brokaw &c is indicative of the nature of modern broadcast journalism. This same feature might be dicovered in the fact that her CNN bio mentions her winning an emmy for the same reportage that won a Peabody, not mentioned in the CNN bio (thanks to google for that little tidbbit). Wierd isn't it that CNN considers an emmy worth mentioning but not a Peabody. Winning a Peabody means that she is considered a top journalist, one of the best out there, among journalists.

As for the pretty face and that being all she is expected to be, well that is interesting. It is particularily interesting in light of the fact that while she is no Wallace &c she is one of the people who are being groomed as thier sucessors. Let us face it, the host of better informed journalists out there you mention are dying off, and the Katie Courics and Soledad O'Briens are replacing them. But all you expect of the sucessors of Bradley is that they have a pretty face and a nice voice. And CNN considers an Emmy worth mentioning for her but not a Peabody, so apparently they agree with you.

So she has a top position in the news, is being groomed as a sucessor to the Murrow legacy of reporting and is expected to be a pretty face and doesn't know basic facts about the world. This would seem to support my contention that the peopel who are responsible for the news don;t know much, wouldn't it?

Save it for someone else, pippin.

You're your own worst enemy.

You defeated your own stupidity before you even ended your statement.perhaps you could explain what you want me to save for someone else?