NationStates Jolt Archive

When asked why 20% of Americans couldn't locate the United States on a map, Miss Teen South Carolina replied with a well-thought out answer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fboortz%2Ecom%2Fmore%2Fvideo%2F2007%5Fteen%5Fusa%5Fblonde%2Ehtml)...Not.

Seriously...What did she say? Whatever it was, it's a good thing she's pretty.

When asked why 20% of Americans couldn't locate the United States on a map, Miss Teen South Carolina replied with a well-thought out answer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fboortz%2Ecom%2Fmore%2Fvideo%2F2007%5Fteen%5Fusa%5Fblonde%2Ehtml)...Not.

Seriously...What did she say? Whatever it was, it's a good thing she's pretty.

Wow.

......just wow.

RUN RUN!

Your IQ will shrink if you listen to her!

Why South Africa, of all places?

What was that thing about Asia? And why was Slater so thankful?

You can see the host an inch away from literally laughing in her face.

The general South arn't the brightest apples in the barrel.

It's like every blonde joke ever told was rolled into one human being.

I'd still do her.

So the Iraqi education is supposed to help the US education which is supposed to help the Iraqi education which is supposed to help the South African education which is supposed to help with the US education that helps the Iraqi Education help the US help the South African...

...wtf?

what the hell?

there isn't any amount of pretty that can make up for that.

"in the Iraq......and um.......uh...some people don't have maps"

What?!

Let me guess...she's part of that 20%?

Actually, I'd be surprised if she could find South Carolina on a map of South Carolina.

She's attractive?

Oh come on she's Miss Teen Georgia (Or was it South Carolina?) what answer do you expect from her? Want her to pontificate on the generally low educational standards, the island mentality of the US in regards to world affairs and general indifference to anything beyond their own state?


I started watching that video this morning, and stopped just before she spoke. I decided it wasn't worth the massive brain trauma.

I bet South Africans could find North America on a map before Miss South Carolina could.

She's attractive?

only until she opens her mouth.........(although I didn't find her too attractive anyway, but since I am a straight female I assume my opinion doesn't matter much)

only until she opens her mouth.........(although I didn't find her too attractive anyway, but since I am a straight female I assume my opinion doesn't matter much)

Meh i'm not a big fan of the generic blonde barbie look

only until she opens her mouth.........(although I didn't find her too attractive anyway, but since I am a straight female I assume my opinion doesn't matter much)
She's not particularly attractive before she opened her mouth.

Meh i'm not a big fan of the generic blonde barbie look

plastic makes me puke.

I have a thing for Asian people though, the blonde barbies are much too pale for me......I like olive skin.

Thats a "teen"? For the love of Jaysus...if that one is under 17 its no wonder the jails over there are full....

Though seriously, let this be a warning on the dangers of crack LSD-cocaine to you all.

When asked why 20% of Americans couldn't locate the United States on a map, Miss Teen South Carolina replied with a well-thought out answer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fboortz%2Ecom%2Fmore%2Fvideo%2F2007%5Fteen%5Fusa%5Fblonde%2Ehtml)...Not.

Seriously...What did she say? Whatever it was, it's a good thing she's pretty.

I couldn't make head or tail of that.

ouch!

but did anyone seriously expect to find intellectual substance in a beauty pageant?

I've heard rumours that she was the brains behind the Iraq war.

ouch!

but did anyone seriously expect to find intellectual substance in a beauty pageant?

My cousin is Miss Northern Ireland and she's studying to become a vet. I think people are a bit harsh on those that take part

That's just......my brain is crying right now.

This is why you don't let just anyone speak, America. The stupid ones make you look well... stupid. :) This is why you let your comedians talk; at least if they say something stupid it's funny.

When asked why 20% of Americans couldn't locate the United States on a map, Miss Teen South Carolina replied with a well-thought out answer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fboortz%2Ecom%2Fmore%2Fvideo%2F2007%5Fteen%5Fusa%5Fblonde%2Ehtml)...Not.

Seriously...What did she say? Whatever it was, it's a good thing she's pretty.

:/ that was unfortunate

That's why she should have had her mouth filled with something else.

And it's usually coming up. ;)

This is why you don't let just anyone speak, America. The stupid ones make you look well... stupid. :) This is why you let your comedians talk; at least if they say something stupid it's funny.

That's why she should have had her mouth filled with something else.

LMFAO This is funny as hell.

Lmao wtf was that? Sounds like she is high, assuming she isn't, that is terrifying.

But damn...

Seriously...What did she say?
She started out normally (I guess), trying to say that some Americans don't look at maps often enough, and so they're unfamiliar with how to read one. It's not a very good answer, but it wasn't a very good question*.
I don't know what happened that caused her to suddenly veer off into Crazytown and start talking about Iraq and South Africa.

*In fact, it was a pretty shitty question. Here, you've got 30 seconds and no prep time to explain to a few million people why they can't find their own goddamn country on a map. Oh, and you have to keep it perky and end on an uplifting note, because God knows you can't just go with the obvious answer that 20% of Americans polled might have just been retarded and/or blind.

http://www.blogueisso.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/spartaa.jpg

Everyone should have this map on their wall. *nod*

When asked why 20% of Americans couldn't locate the United States on a map, Miss Teen South Carolina replied with a well-thought out answer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fboortz%2Ecom%2Fmore%2Fvideo%2F2007%5Fteen%5Fusa%5Fblonde%2Ehtml)...Not.

Seriously...What did she say? Whatever it was, it's a good thing she's pretty.

A rebuttal to Miss Teen South Carolina:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PDKcX0Ji90

:)

She started out normally (I guess), trying to say that some Americans don't look at maps often enough, and so they're unfamiliar with how to read one. It's not a very good answer, but it wasn't a very good question*.
I don't know what happened that caused her to suddenly veer off into Crazytown and start talking about Iraq and South Africa.

*In fact, it was a pretty shitty question. Here, you've got 30 seconds and no prep time to explain to a few million people why they can't find their own goddamn country on a map. Oh, and you have to keep it perky and end on an uplifting note, because God knows you can't just go with the obvious answer that 20% of Americans polled might have just been retarded and/or blind.

Hopefully she's a good fuck.

She started out normally (I guess), trying to say that some Americans don't look at maps often enough, and so they're unfamiliar with how to read one. It's not a very good answer, but it wasn't a very good question*.
I don't know what happened that caused her to suddenly veer off into Crazytown and start talking about Iraq and South Africa.

*In fact, it was a pretty shitty question. Here, you've got 30 seconds and no prep time to explain to a few million people why they can't find their own goddamn country on a map. Oh, and you have to keep it perky and end on an uplifting note, because God knows you can't just go with the obvious answer that 20% of Americans polled might have just been retarded and/or blind.
But how hard is it to prepare a little blurb on improving education and launch into it when the time is right?

I was waiting for a plea to promote world peace through better cartography...Excuse the big words any future Miss Teen USAs out there.

She's attractive?

Not to me, but I've been criticized often for my inability to see faux-blonde Stepford chicks as attractive.

There's got to be something going on in the mind of the body that I am attracted to in any way beyond a reptile-brain, "let's fuck it", base caveman level. And at 37, that level doesn't scan with me anymore. Mind you, I'm not slagging anyone else for thinking she's hot.

My cousin is Miss Northern Ireland and she's studying to become a vet. I think people are a bit harsh on those that take part

Doesn't this post answer itself? Miss Northern Ireland is going to be in a different league than Miss South Carolina.

In all fairness, I agree with the person who posted the crappiness of the question. With 30 seconds and no warning, a scathing -- yet perky! -- assessment of the sorry state of US public education would be pretty damned tough for William F. Buckley, let alone a teenager who's in full pageant mode (obsessed about everything from her weight to her pores).

I used to be a complete anti-pageant crusader until I realized that there's no taxpayer money going into them, and that, in a free country, those willing to fund and organize beauty pageants have the right to do so, and those participating are not always complete airheads (I've known a Miss Washington and a few other municipal pageant winners, all of them very bright...as well as smokin' hot). So I say it beats dancing on the pole for g-string tips, and if it helps you get to college, then good on ya.

Also, the desire to have her answer be upbeat and non-cynical probably forced that verbal diarrhea out of the girl's mouth. You want to be positive about something that it's damned hard to be positive about, and you have to do it in front of a live and television audience and a lot is hanging on your answer...the references to South Africa and Iraq were probably subconscious responses to her conscious mind screaming "FOR F**K'S SAKE, SAY SOMETHING!"

I doubt, with all those strictures in place and in that situation that any of us could have done that much better. I'd like to ask her that question in an unstressed setting, or better yet, have her write a short-answer mini-essay in order to determine if she's really as vapid as all that.

The general South arn't the brightest apples in the barrel.

When Jeff Foxworthy makes redneck jokes, he's a comedian. When you make an ass of yourself with these sorts of idiotic generalizations, you're a troll.

Try running head-first into a concrete wall sometime, and see if you can knock some sense into yourself.

I'd still do her.

Your poor brain.:(

I bet she's a Liberal.

I bet she's a Liberal.

Obviously. Duh.

I bet she's a Liberal.

From South Carolina AND in the pageant community? You'd lose that bet, if she has any legitimate political leanings at all.

I bet she's a Liberal.
Only to the extent that she probably wants to be nice to other people and she probably wants life to be fair -- regardless of whether that's a good idea or a bad one.

From South Carolina AND in the pageant community? You'd lose that bet, if she has any legitimate political leanings at all.

The majority of teenagers here in America don't care much for politics, they mostly just believe whatever their parents believe, and debates don't go much beyond "Your stupid!" and "You hate America!"

In any case, I think she just blanked out and started mumbling stuff, I mean after the first part, it really made no sense.

I'd still do her.

ditto - I would not let it matter that she is completely stupid

The majority of teenagers here in America don't care much for politics, they mostly just believe whatever their parents believe, and debates don't go much beyond "Your stupid!" and "You hate America!"

In any case, I think she just blanked out and started mumbling stuff, I mean after the first part, it really made no sense.

Yeah. I got my own political leanings, and I know a guy who says he's a Republican.

That's the Iraq, bitches.

When Jeff Foxworthy makes redneck jokes, he's a comedian. When you make an ass of yourself with these sorts of idiotic generalizations, you're a troll.

Try running head-first into a concrete wall sometime, and see if you can knock some sense into yourself.
Nothing about pots and kettles here.

The fact remains that the South is at the bottom of the education ladder. South Carolina isn't at the very bottom I know, but I'm not sure it is very far up.

only until she opens her mouth.........(although I didn't find her too attractive anyway, but since I am a straight female I assume my opinion doesn't matter much)

I don't know.

Down our way, the phrase would be "I wouldn't touch it with yours, mate".

She looks kind of like an inflatable love doll. Ironically, the inflatable love doll would probably give a better answer.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Nothing about pots and kettles here.

The fact remains that the South is at the bottom of the education ladder. South Carolina isn't at the very bottom I know, but I'm not sure it is very far up.

Feh. I live in Massachusetts, and according to my science teacher, a native of SC, we're way behind them in science. They get weekly science lessons in kindergarten, for Christ's sake.

She's attractive?

Meh. She's alright.

Thick as though. That was painfully trippy to listen to, although that could be a post-Reading hangover....:p

Try running head-first into a concrete wall sometime, and see if you can knock some sense into yourself.

Wow. Things have changed on NS, and not for the better.

Advocating running headfirst into a wall is now acceptable moderation for an opinion you don't agree with?

Wow. Things have changed on NS, and not for the better.

Advocating running headfirst into a wall is now acceptable moderation for an opinion you don't agree with?

It wasn't moderation, because he didn't leave it with a mod sig.

Your poor brain.:(

Lower your standards, improve your average.

A rebuttal to Miss Teen South Carolina:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PDKcX0Ji90

:)


ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Wow. Things have changed on NS, and not for the better.

Advocating running headfirst into a wall is now acceptable moderation for an opinion you don't agree with?

Don't sweat it - I've never observed Frisbee to be much more mature than your average beauty queen. Chances are he is over-sensitive to this because he is;
a) From South Carolina
b) A beauty queen
c) A beauty queen from South Carolina who thinks the world needs more maps.
d) not allowed to debate in NS general forums as a mod so he releases his frustrations in sad little insults just daring anyone to call him on it.

My money is on 'C' - is it too late to add a poll?

It wasn't moderation, because he didn't leave it with a mod sig.

I'm kind of thinking it might be considered inappropriate even from mere civvies. From a Mod, who should know better...? Even 'out-of-character'?

But how hard is it to prepare a little blurb on improving education and launch into it when the time is right?
I dunno, never having been put on the spot on national television, and I sincerely doubt that anybody else on this thread does either. Least of all the neanderthals who seem to think that fumbling a single question reduces her to a mere sex object.

I'm kind of thinking it might be considered inappropriate even from mere civvies. From a Mod, who should know better...? Even 'out-of-character'?

"Try running head first into a wall..." is a common phrase, not much meaning in it.

I dunno, never having been put on the spot on national television, and I sincerely doubt that anybody else on this thread does either. Least of all the neanderthals who seem to think that fumbling a single question reduces her to a mere sex object.

Reduces?

I'm pretty sure I suggested 'sex object' would be a promotion.

I dunno, never having been put on the spot on national television, and I sincerely doubt that anybody else on this thread does either. Least of all the neanderthals who seem to think that fumbling a single question reduces her to a mere sex object.

As much as you have a point, she quite clearly is a fuckwit. In fact, I'd be prepared to put mony on it being so.

"Try running head first into a wall..." is a common phrase, not much meaning in it.

Being a common phrase and having no meaning... matters how?

If I told someone on the forum to 'go fuck themselves', would its character as a common, intrinsically nonsensical, phrase make it acceptable?

but don't even TRY telling someone to fuk a wall headfirst themself!

but don't even TRY telling someone to fuk a wall headfirst themself!

Ooh, I like that actually...

She was almost as bad as the idiot bush rambling on the radio about Al "Fink" Gonzo

Being a common phrase and having no meaning... matters how?

If I told someone on the forum to 'go fuck themselves', would its character as a common, intrinsically nonsensical, phrase make it acceptable?

It is no more offensive then saying "knock some sense into you", except slightly more elaborated.

I understand.

The U.S needs to learn were our country is and help teach Iraq and South Africa. Except replace all of my words with nonsensical words lumped together.

It is no more offensive then saying "knock some sense into you", accept slightly more elaborated.

And, if I thought the comment you just posted was inane, and said I thought I should knock some sense into you?

And, if I thought the comment you just posted was inane, and said I thought I should knock some sense into you?

huh?

huh?

Good point, well made.

I can't argue with that.

huh?

In other words: It's aggressive and borders threatening behaviour.

In other words: It's aggressive and borders threatening behaviour.

Or - in beauty queen language - it is mean.. and mean people should be nice - because if Iraq were in South Africa the nice people would make mean maps...

Good point, well made.

I can't argue with that.

:rolleyes: By huh, I meant I didn't understand that sentance.

Dude... wait, what? :confused:

She's dumber than... I don't know WHAT. She's just dumb. Plain and simple. :confused:

In all fairness, I agree with the person who posted the crappiness of the question. With 30 seconds and no warning, a scathing -- yet perky! -- assessment of the sorry state of US public education would be pretty damned tough for William F. Buckley, let alone a teenager who's in full pageant mode (obsessed about everything from her weight to her pores).

I used to be a complete anti-pageant crusader until I realized that there's no taxpayer money going into them, and that, in a free country, those willing to fund and organize beauty pageants have the right to do so, and those participating are not always complete airheads (I've known a Miss Washington and a few other municipal pageant winners, all of them very bright...as well as smokin' hot). So I say it beats dancing on the pole for g-string tips, and if it helps you get to college, then good on ya.

Also, the desire to have her answer be upbeat and non-cynical probably forced that verbal diarrhea out of the girl's mouth. You want to be positive about something that it's damned hard to be positive about, and you have to do it in front of a live and television audience and a lot is hanging on your answer...the references to South Africa and Iraq were probably subconscious responses to her conscious mind screaming "FOR F**K'S SAKE, SAY SOMETHING!"

I doubt, with all those strictures in place and in that situation that any of us could have done that much better. I'd like to ask her that question in an unstressed setting, or better yet, have her write a short-answer mini-essay in order to determine if she's really as vapid as all that.

I re-posted the above to support the below.

I dunno, never having been put on the spot on national television, and I sincerely doubt that anybody else on this thread does either. Least of all the neanderthals who seem to think that fumbling a single question reduces her to a mere sex object.

I'm not saying the girl is a Rhodes scholar, but rather that she's young and human and under a lot of stress.

Hey wait! She's not the actual Miss Teen USA is she? In most cases her response would pretty much end her chances of winning no? Beauty pageants aren't that bad are they?

a) From South Carolina
b) A beauty queen
c) A beauty queen from South Carolina who thinks the world needs more maps.
d) not allowed to debate in NS general forums as a mod so he releases his frustrations in sad little insults just daring anyone to call him on it.

a) From North Carolina,
b) not bloody likely. I'd post pics, but that would be against site policy.
c) more maps would be good. Clearly there are some Southern teens who would benefit.
d) allowing debate is fine. So is calling an idiotic misconception an idiotic misconception.

In fact, I work with brilliant scientists from North Carolina on a daily basis. I also interact with a few idiots who have trouble grasping the concept of scratching off a lottery ticket. The percentages seem to be about the same as when I worked in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Oregon, Massachusetts, and the United Kingdom.

Anyone who comes out with a jackass remark about how Southerners are inherently stupid deserves the bitch-slap coming his way. I'm just happy to help deliver it.
I've never observed Frisbee to be much more mature than your average beauty queen.
Gosh, thanks. Looking over your post history, I'm humbled by your wisdom. Guess I need to sprinkle a few more 'lol's and 'biotch's in my responses to meet the standard you've set. Well argued.

Nothing about pots and kettles here.

The fact remains that the South is at the bottom of the education ladder. South Carolina isn't at the very bottom I know, but I'm not sure it is very far up.

Then source it. Otherwise, it's just hot air and flamebaiting, don't you know.

Idiots exist everywhere, and the thing is, there are surprisingly few people who are class-A idiots all teh way around the panoply of human experience. That is to say that the young pageant hopeful in the OP video might be a natural talent at dance or have high-level cognition when not under the spotlight.

Having moved to North Dakota from Seattle two years ago, I can tell you that there are just as many slow-witted folks here as there was in my beloved city. They're just slow-witted in different ways and about different things. I wouldn't ask a typical Seattleite questions about hunting, farming, ranching or plains lore, just as I wouldn't ask a North Dakotan about salmon or blackberries, Boeing, urban life or Northwestern lore -- both situations would likely produce answers that made the answerer look like an idiot to those asking.

Sure, Miss Teen SC probably should have had a few stock answers ready for general subjects, but that question was fairly specific, and once again, pressure can make a fool of anyone.

Not a GREAT question to have to answer, certainly, but most certainly the SORT of question for which these girls prepare. They need to be able to say something about education, politics, drugs, guns, etc. All the big, hot button type issues.

Why she was unable to come up with "That statistic reflects the current problems with our educational system, problems that I hope to be able to highlight and help solve as Miss Teen USA" or some other equally fluffy but at least coherent drivel is the question. This is the kind of thing they drill and practice. "Drugs are a large problem in this country and part of my platform as Miss Teen USA will be to talk to kids that I meet and tell them why I think that they would be better off in this world if they stayed clean and sober." "As Miss Teen USA, I would like to make sure that gun safety is an issue that more people are aware of. Guns in the wrong hands, for instance those of children, can cause endless pain and suffering, but educating people about gun safety can help end that problem."

It is all the same sort of answer, just plug in the issue. You don't even need a real answer, or any sort of actual plan... and even if you don't really answer the question ("WHY do you think this is so?") you are saying something that sounds good.

It is a shame that this girl choked.

a) From North Carolina,
b) not bloody likely. I'd post pics, but that would be against site policy.
c) more maps would be good. Clearly there are some Southern teens who would benefit.
d) allowing debate is fine. So is calling an idiotic misconception an idiotic misconception.

In fact, I work with brilliant scientists from North Carolina on a daily basis. I also interact with a few idiots who have trouble grasping the concept of scratching off a lottery ticket. The percentages seem to be about the same as when I worked in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Oregon, Massachusetts, and the United Kingdom.

Anyone who comes out with a jackass remark about how Southerners are inherently stupid deserves the bitch-slap coming his way. I'm just happy to help deliver it.

Gosh, thanks. Looking over your post history, I'm humbled by your wisdom. Guess I need to sprinkle a few more 'lol's and 'biotch's in my responses to meet the standard you've set. Well argued.
Then might I with a much cleaner overall record point out that you are, in fact, performing the very behavior that is modded?

While I agree that people shouldn't just label Southerners as idiots wholesale, you're not exactly responding well to it. I would suggest perhaps responding with an "I disagree, and here's why" post rather than an inflammatory post.

Not a GREAT question to have to answer, certainly, but most certainly the SORT of question for which these girls prepare. They need to be able to say something about education, politics, drugs, guns, etc. All the big, hot button type issues.

Why she was unable to come up with "That statistic reflects the current problems with our educational system, problems that I hope to be able to highlight and help solve as Miss Teen USA" or some other equally fluffy but at least coherent drivel is the question. This is the kind of thing they drill and practice. "Drugs are a large problem in this country and part of my platform as Miss Teen USA will be to talk to kids that I meet and tell them why I think that they would be better off in this world if they stayed clean and sober." "As Miss Teen USA, I would like to make sure that gun safety is an issue that more people are aware of. Guns in the wrong hands, for instance those of children, can cause endless pain and suffering, but educating people about gun safety can help end that problem."

It is all the same sort of answer, just plug in the issue. You don't even need a real answer, or any sort of actual plan... and even if you don't really answer the question ("WHY do you think this is so?") you are saying something that sounds good.

It is a shame that this girl choked.

Well said, and agreed, for the most part. She did choke, and most of us would have to admit that we have, too. The shame comes from when and where it happened. Perhaps the working of the question was just unusual enough to confuse her "pageant stock question Mad-Libs" program.

Haha, she's made of fail.

South Africa? WTF?

Wow, I couldn't watch all of that, though the idea that 1 in 5 of us can't find the USA on a map is pretty depressing in itself. Makes you want to hide your face from the outside world.

Wow, I couldn't watch all of that, though the idea that 1 in 5 of us can't find the USA on a map is pretty depressing in itself. Makes you want to hide your face from the outside world.

Think like a pageant queen - I would have answered that it's a wonder of modern education that 4 out of 5 people CAN find the USA on a map and if we can just get that other 1, which could be a baby or a senile old grandpa, why that's would be smashing.

Poor girl, she fluffed it but I remember Tony Blair completely fluffing an answer during the Labour leadership contest - the problem with these things is that people are too prepped so a kind of cross-wiring happens when they're nervous.

Then source it. Otherwise, it's just hot air and flamebaiting, don't you know.

http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm

In defence of Miss Upton, a burst of Googling did not turn up any surveys that supported the question's premise that 20% of Americans can't find America. A survey by National Geographic in 2002 found that just 11% of young people couldn't spot the US on a globe. And a 2006 survey [pdf] by the same organisation found that a perfectly respectable 94% of 18-24 year-olds could pick the US on a world map.

Link (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2007/08/27/now_where_is_america_anyway.html)

Don't beat yourself up America :)

http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm

Well, let's see. Virginia is sixth smartest. Maryland is 18th. Missouri is 22. North Carolina is 23. Texas is dead center at 25. South Carolina is just about middle of the pack at 26. Delaware at 28, Florida at 29, Tennessee at 30,Kentucky at 31, Arkansas at 32, Oklahoma at 36, West Virginia at 37, Georgia at 41, Louisiana at 44, Alabama at 45, Mississippi at 48.

You do realize that five are average or above, and most of the others are clumped not too far below the average?

So pretty much, you're basing your opinion on six states out of seventeen? FOUR of which are in the bottom ten of "worst states in the US for education?"

Think like a pageant queen - I would have answered that it's a wonder of modern education that 4 out of 5 people CAN find the USA on a map and if we can just get that other 1, which could be a baby or a senile old grandpa, why that's would be smashing.

Poor girl, she fluffed it but I remember Tony Blair completely fluffing an answer during the Labour leadership contest - the problem with these things is that people are too prepped so a kind of cross-wiring happens when they're nervous.


I suppose it is better messing up that way then going in the other direction by turning blunt and saying that 1 in 5 Americans are just stupid. :p

Well, let's see. Virginia is sixth smartest. Maryland is 18th. Missouri is 22. North Carolina is 23. Texas is dead center at 25. South Carolina is just about middle of the pack at 26. Delaware at 28, Florida at 29, Tennessee at 30,Kentucky at 31, Arkansas at 32, West Virginia at 37, Georgia at 41, Louisiana at 44, Alabama at 45, Mississippi at 48.

You do realize that five are average or above, and most of the others are clumped not too far below the average?

So pretty much, you're basing your opinion on five states?

And their methods of measuring this is based on what, precisely?

Kat - it has Factors (http://www.morganquitno.com/edfact06.htm) right there.

Kat - it has Factors (http://www.morganquitno.com/edfact06.htm) right there.

Which we of course can't see the data on without buying the book.

Wow, I couldn't watch all of that, though the idea that 1 in 5 of us can't find the USA on a map is pretty depressing in itself. Makes you want to hide your face from the outside world.

Uh...isn't that why we don't do well in geography in the first place?

Link (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2007/08/27/now_where_is_america_anyway.html)

Don't beat yourself up America :)

Hah. So the question was loaded -- overstating the problem by a factor of two. Seems the contestants aren't the only people who crack under pressure.

Which we of course can't see the data on without buying the book.

...not that it detracts from your original point anyway :)

Poor girl - 2 million+ views on Youtube, national coverage and worldwide message board opinions.

At least she came in 3rd.

http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm
The 10 "dumbest" states:
40. Oregon
41. Georgia
42. Hawaii
43. New Mexico
44. Louisiana
45. Alabama
46. Alaska
47. California
48. Mississippi
49. Nevada
50. Arizona

Yeah: Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico and Alaska, states so Southern I do believe I can smell grits just reading their names.
Or is that the smell of fresh bullshit? To be honest, they both taste more or less the same.

The 10 "dumbest" states:
40. Oregon
41. Georgia
42. Hawaii
43. New Mexico
44. Louisiana
45. Alabama
46. Alaska
47. California
48. Mississippi
49. Nevada
50. Arizona

Yeah: Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico and Alaska, states so Southern I do believe I can smell grits just reading their names.
Or is that the smell of fresh bullshit? To be honest, they both taste more or less the same.

That's 11 states - mathematics seems to be a problem as well :)

The 10 "dumbest" states:
40. Oregon
41. Georgia
42. Hawaii
43. New Mexico
44. Louisiana
45. Alabama
46. Alaska
47. California
48. Mississippi
49. Nevada
50. Arizona

Yeah: Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico and Alaska, states so Southern I do believe I can smell grits just reading their names.
Or is that the smell of fresh bullshit? To be honest, they both taste more or less the same.

Which is why such lists are really irrelevant to any kind of discussion of reality. A state's education level is only a function of the sum of its school districts, and then the schools within those districts. From the state level on down, variances in funding and staffing mean that several excellent districts can be overbalanced by many mediocre ones, and likewise schools within any given district.

That's 11 states - mathematics seems to be a problem as well :)
No, it's 10 states and one territory. I'll be damned before I acknowledge Hawaii's admittance into the Union!

Yeah: Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico and Alaska, states so Southern I do believe I can smell grits just reading their names.
Or is that the smell of fresh bullshit? To be honest, they both taste more or less the same.

I suspect you're either cooking your grits wrong, or bulls near you are eating entirely too much of them. :p

Uh...isn't that why we don't do well in geography in the first place?

Hardly makes it less depressing. I was annoyed enough when i found out that people in fucking college didn't know where all the U.S. states were or where the "big" (well known) countries like Britain and France were. Ugh.

Hardly makes it less depressing. I was annoyed enough when i found out that people in fucking college didn't know where all the U.S. states were or where the "big" (well known) countries like Britain and France were. Ugh.

Hint: Britain and France are across the Atlantic in that lost continent called Europe. ;)

Point is, his own source doesn't even support his statement that "the South is dumb".

That's 11 states - mathematics seems to be a problem as well :)

Mathematics was factored!

No, it's 10 states and one territory. I'll be damned before I acknowledge Hawaii's admittance into the Union!

In Soviet Hawaii, nion admits U

I could barely understand her because of her heavy accent, but I got the whole "her-being-an-idiot" gist... Or is it jist? I'm an idiot...

This is why I advocate for the creation of breeding licences - so we could revoke hers. Or, had they been created earlier, we could have revoked her parents' licences and prevented the massive brain hemorrhage that occurred when I listened to Miss South Carolina's mind-numbingly asinine drivel.

Hopefully she's a good fuck.
She probably wouldn't be able to locate the package? :p

The 10 "dumbest" states:
40. Oregon
41. Georgia
42. Hawaii
43. New Mexico
44. Louisiana
45. Alabama
46. Alaska
47. California
48. Mississippi
49. Nevada
50. Arizona

Yeah: Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico and Alaska, states so Southern I do believe I can smell grits just reading their names.
Or is that the smell of fresh bullshit? To be honest, they both taste more or less the same.

Hey hey hey now, there's a reason it's called Southern California.

Also we do have quite a few rednecks. Well, pseudo-rednecks. I think real rednecks get insulted at the pretense of California self-proclaimed rednecks.

She probably wouldn't be able to locate the package? :p

Near South Africa.

Near South Africa.
:D

Still got a way to go to beat Miss Alabama's (in 1994) answer to the question, "If you could live forever, would you want to, and why?"
"I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever."

If you listen carefully, it sounds like she says "Osama"????

If you listen carefully, it sounds like she says "Osama"????
ohhh...maybe she's an al Qaeda operative and is sending secret instructions to Osama.
Obviously they're planning to bomb South Africa next.

c) more maps would be good. Clearly there are some Southern teens who would benefit.


Do you really think more maps would be the answer? In a country where a significant portion of the populace put religious belief over certifiable fact? Where for a time period well past the birth of aeronautics and the beginnings of space travel, some of them believed the world was flat?

No, I don't think the answer is more maps. The answer is grabbing the anti-knowledge culture in many schools (see who gets idolized and who gets reviled), by the scruff of the neck, and subjecting it to complete reconditioning. And when I mean complete, I mean Goebbels class propaganda and restructuring of the education system. But gearing them towards actual knowledge than couch potatoism.

Not a GREAT question to have to answer, certainly, but most certainly the SORT of question for which these girls prepare. They need to be able to say something about education, politics, drugs, guns, etc. All the big, hot button type issues.

Why she was unable to come up with "That statistic reflects the current problems with our educational system, problems that I hope to be able to highlight and help solve as Miss Teen USA" or some other equally fluffy but at least coherent drivel is the question. This is the kind of thing they drill and practice. "Drugs are a large problem in this country and part of my platform as Miss Teen USA will be to talk to kids that I meet and tell them why I think that they would be better off in this world if they stayed clean and sober." "As Miss Teen USA, I would like to make sure that gun safety is an issue that more people are aware of. Guns in the wrong hands, for instance those of children, can cause endless pain and suffering, but educating people about gun safety can help end that problem."

It is all the same sort of answer, just plug in the issue. You don't even need a real answer, or any sort of actual plan... and even if you don't really answer the question ("WHY do you think this is so?") you are saying something that sounds good.

It is a shame that this girl choked.

The real question is, why the hell do they even think that they can make any difference, at all, with their 'position'. They have zero power, influential and actual, and nobody really gives a damn what they think, do, or say.

Honestly, there is no bigger joke than Miss America saying "I will do such and such when I am Miss America.", when infact they don't do jack, diddly, and shit, or even try to.

The real question is, why the hell do they even think that they can make any difference, at all, with their 'position'. They have zero power, influential and actual, and nobody really gives a damn what they think, do, or say.

Honestly, there is no bigger joke than Miss America saying "I will do such and such when I am Miss America.", when infact they don't do jack, diddly, and shit, or even try to.
That's not true. They open shopping malls, wave at people, smile incessantly and give spotty teenagers who can't get porn something to whack off over.

Lolz. WHY did she bring up Iraq, South Africa, and, if I'm not mistaken, Osama? That's a pretty big choke. HOW will giving South Africans and Iraqis maps help us find the US on a map. I once had trouble finding the US on a map of the solar system. Damn planet was facing the wrong way. On another solar system map, the moon was in the way. Sometimes, finding the US is hard when the moon gets in the way.

20% of Americans can't find America on a map. I'm guessing they asked four adults and a blind infant. Hey, 1 is 20% of 5.

That's not true. They open shopping malls, wave at people, smile incessantly and give spotty teenagers who can't get porn something to whack off over.
and from that launching pad they can begin their attempted conquest of the earth.... as have all their hive sisters before them. its a slow process of trial and error, but the beauty contest scenerio has eventually brought the ant wymyn to power on hundreds of worlds, many of which are inhabited by creatures signifigantly smarter than humans.

Try running head-first into a concrete wall sometime, and see if you can knock some sense into yourself.

I gotta say, I tip my hat to you Frisbee. You are my hero now. :)



As for the blonde, eh. What do you expect? They tend to their looks, they have no prep time, yada yada yada. Its been explained to death.

The majority of teenagers here in America don't care much for politics, they mostly just believe whatever their parents believe, and debates don't go much beyond "Your stupid!" and "You hate America!"

In any case, I think she just blanked out and started mumbling stuff, I mean after the first part, it really made no sense.

the majority of females don't even vote. Of the ones that do, most vote the way their husbands/boyfreinds do. and generally, anyone that gets involved in pageants won't vote when they grow up anyway.

Feh. I live in Massachusetts, and according to my science teacher, a native of SC, we're way behind them in science. They get weekly science lessons in kindergarten, for Christ's sake.

I highly doubt that building stills could be considered science. Besides, you should have asked why she wound up leaving sc.

I re-posted the above to support the below.



I'm not saying the girl is a Rhodes scholar, but rather that she's young and human and under a lot of stress.

If she can't handle stress, then WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING UP THERE.

I re-posted the above to support the below.



I'm not saying the girl is a Rhodes scholar, but rather that she's young and human and under a lot of stress.

If she can't handle stress, then WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING UP THERE.

I re-posted the above to support the below.



I'm not saying the girl is a Rhodes scholar, but rather that she's young and human and under a lot of stress.

If she can't handle stress, then WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING UP THERE.

A recent survey in Belgium detected that 1 out of 4 teenagers didn’t know that the Earth is rotating…

There's something going wrong...I guess...

RUN RUN!

Your IQ will shrink if you listen to her!

Exactly! And that's quite scary a 5th of Americans don't even know where they live....

any bets the vetting proccess for participants filtered out any kind of "politically dangerious" origeonal and intelligent thought?

any bets that if she had tried to say anything intelligent she wouldn't have been disqualified and her pretty little ass hustled out of there in blinkin eye blink?

these things ARE run by the corporatocracy to support THIER values.

of course they give us dumb. they WANT us dumb, just smart enough to make good mules but dumb enough to keep lining their pockets.

what the hell did you EXPECT?

=^^=
.../\...

a) From North Carolina,
b) not bloody likely. I'd post pics, but that would be against site policy.
c) more maps would be good. Clearly there are some Southern teens who would benefit.
d) allowing debate is fine. So is calling an idiotic misconception an idiotic misconception.

In fact, I work with brilliant scientists from North Carolina on a daily basis. I also interact with a few idiots who have trouble grasping the concept of scratching off a lottery ticket. The percentages seem to be about the same as when I worked in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Oregon, Massachusetts, and the United Kingdom.

Anyone who comes out with a jackass remark about how Southerners are inherently stupid deserves the bitch-slap coming his way. I'm just happy to help deliver it.

Gosh, thanks. Looking over your post history, I'm humbled by your wisdom. Guess I need to sprinkle a few more 'lol's and 'biotch's in my responses to meet the standard you've set. Well argued.

LOL BIOTCH!!!

You flatter me when I was trying to flatter you! I simply emulated your stylish cheap-shot posting style. Really - nobody does it better than you biotch! LOL.

I also am a southerner - in fact I'm so far south I'm almost north (Flori-duh). One thing I've learned is Southern hospitality - you could stand some re-education in that regard. When ya'll start treating people here with respect instead of cheapshots you can say you're a southerner - till then you are just a snowbird wannabe.

Do you really think more maps would be the answer? In a country where a significant portion of the populace put religious belief over certifiable fact? Where for a time period well past the birth of aeronautics and the beginnings of space travel, some of them believed the world was flat?

-heh. Come on - give Frisbee a break - he was trying to be snarky - and did a fair job of it.

Thats painful, lol. Made no sense and just seems to prove so many stereotypes right..

It is a shame that this girl choked.

Yup.
You'd think, looking the way she does, she'd have learned to swallow by now.

I also am a southerner - in fact I'm so far south I'm almost north (Flori-duh). One thing I've learned is Southern hospitality - you could stand some re-education in that regard. When ya'll start treating people here with respect instead of cheapshots you can say you're a southerner - till then you are just a snowbird wannabe.

Sez the guy from God's Waiting Room? :eek:

I wish I could get on TV and be an idiot. Then I can do talk show rounds like this girl. First stop, Today.

She's going to have to fix that southern drawl if she wants to get any better.

I wish I could get on TV and be an idiot. Then I can do talk show rounds like this girl. First stop, Today.

Next stop... tomorrow!

Do you really think more maps would be the answer? In a country where a significant portion of the populace put religious belief over certifiable fact? Where for a time period well past the birth of aeronautics and the beginnings of space travel, some of them believed the world was flat?

No, I don't think the answer is more maps. The answer is grabbing the anti-knowledge culture in many schools (see who gets idolized and who gets reviled), by the scruff of the neck, and subjecting it to complete reconditioning. And when I mean complete, I mean Goebbels class propaganda and restructuring of the education system. But gearing them towards actual knowledge than couch potatoism.

I'm just curious as to WHERE you get your information?

Additionally, your generalizations are hurting my brain.

However, I will agree that the education system needs a lot of work. One must keep in mind however that there's always going to be some problem or another in each country that may not be reciprocated in another country, if at all.

IE: The African continent suffers high levels of sexual disease infections, whereas the North American continent suffers a much less extreme situation in this regard. Get the idea?

We all have faults. Live with it. Change what you can, accept what you can't.

Just for kicks, follow the map to figure out how Miss South Carolina answered the question...
http://www.morningtoast.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/missmap.gif

I highly doubt that building stills could be considered science. Besides, you should have asked why she wound up leaving sc.

Oh, BS.

Well, let's see. Virginia is sixth smartest. Maryland is 18th. Missouri is 22. North Carolina is 23. Texas is dead center at 25. South Carolina is just about middle of the pack at 26. Delaware at 28, Florida at 29, Tennessee at 30,Kentucky at 31, Arkansas at 32, Oklahoma at 36, West Virginia at 37, Georgia at 41, Louisiana at 44, Alabama at 45, Mississippi at 48.

You do realize that five are average or above, and most of the others are clumped not too far below the average?

So pretty much, you're basing your opinion on six states out of seventeen? FOUR of which are in the bottom ten of "worst states in the US for education?"

Pantless is no doubt upset by the fact that I live in a southern state that is in the top ten smartest US states.

Pantless is no doubt upset by the fact that I live in a southern state that is in the top ten smartest US states.
DK no doubt suffers from delusions of grandeur.

Pantless is no doubt upset by the fact that I live in a southern state that is in the top ten smartest US states.
be in the top 3 if you moved.

DK no doubt suffers from delusions of grandeur.

It's not a delusion if it's supported by your link.

be in the top 3 if you moved.

If we went by county, I believe I'm in the top 3.

When Jeff Foxworthy makes redneck jokes, he's a comedian. When you make an ass of yourself with these sorts of idiotic generalizations, you're a troll.

Try running head-first into a concrete wall sometime, and see if you can knock some sense into yourself.

Thank you Fris.

How did this turn into yet another DK/TPH pissing match thread?

She's attractive?
Yootopia sez no.



Oh also, that's maybe the funniest thing I've ever seen.

It's not a delusion if it's supported by your link.
Your off the mark. You assume any of my posts had anything to do with you. Pretentious much?

All I have to do is post, you know, and it happens.
It's a shame. Both of you should really know better by now, especially TPH.

How did this turn into yet another DK/TPH pissing match thread?

All I have to do is post, you know, and it happens.

All I have to do is post, you know, and it happens.

I'd utilize the ignore list if I were you.

All I have to do is post, you know, and it happens.

Hey yeah that's true. Provoke people and they get provoked!

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13004805&postcount=129

You're such a prognosticator. It's incredible how you can predict things like that. You must be highly telepathic, in addition to being a great american hero.

When asked why 20% of Americans couldn't locate the United States on a map, Miss Teen South Carolina replied with a well-thought out answer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fboortz%2Ecom%2Fmore%2Fvideo%2F2007%5Fteen%5Fusa%5Fblonde%2Ehtml)...Not.

Seriously...What did she say? Whatever it was, it's a good thing she's pretty.

WTF! how did "1/5 Americans can't find USA on a map" turn into "let's educate South Africans"

Did she even understand what the question was?

Meh. I'm not surprised. She probably isn't very bright to begin with and then she's asked to come up with a cheery answer to a question most Americans just don't think about very much.

I'm just curious as to WHERE you get your information?

Additionally, your generalizations are hurting my brain.

However, I will agree that the education system needs a lot of work. One must keep in mind however that there's always going to be some problem or another in each country that may not be reciprocated in another country, if at all.

IE: The African continent suffers high levels of sexual disease infections, whereas the North American continent suffers a much less extreme situation in this regard. Get the idea?

We all have faults. Live with it. Change what you can, accept what you can't.


http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm

There are idiots everywhere, my friend. Some bigger than others. Not sure how big it is, but there are some who still believe that yes, the earth is flat.

http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm

There are idiots everywhere, my friend. Some bigger than others. Not sure how big it is, but there are some who still believe that yes, the earth is flat.

Why do people keep on bringing up a parody as an example of stupidty? Surely there are much better examples that are actually true?

http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm

There are idiots everywhere, my friend. Some bigger than others. Not sure how big it is, but there are some who still believe that yes, the earth is flat.

Did you even read that link? One of their arguments for a "flat earth" is as follows:

Once again, picture in your mind a round world. Now imagine that there are two people on this world, one at each pole. For the person at the top of the world, (the North Pole), gravity is pulling him down, towards the South Pole. But for the person at the South Pole, shouldn't gravity pull him down as well? What keeps our person at the South Pole from falling completely off the face of the "globe"?

Ok...gravity in space is nearly nonexistent save for what the stars and their orbits hold. Thus, like a droplet of water it will form a glob roughly like that of a sphere. Earth's gravity is strong enough apart from the sun's own that it will pull objects within range to itself from every direction.

Hence, the aforementioned argument is invalid.

And, it is clear from the writing of the mission statement alone that this whole site is a parody, clearly not indicative of an actual society.

However, I am only human, I have limited knowledge. There may actually be such a society. In which case, I pity them.

And that's no parody either.

Did you even read that link? One of their arguments for a "flat earth" is as follows:



Ok...gravity in space is nearly nonexistent save for what the stars and their orbits hold. Thus, like a droplet of water it will form a glob roughly like that of a sphere. Earth's gravity is strong enough apart from the sun's own that it will pull objects within range to itself from every direction.

Hence, the aforementioned argument is invalid.

And, it is clear from the writing of the mission statement alone that this whole site is a parody, clearly not indicative of an actual society.

However, I am only human, I have limited knowledge. There may actually be such a society. In which case, I pity them.

And that's no parody either.


Oh they're very real:
http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Society