Issues with your account? Bug us in the Discord!
The americans have done it again..!
Demolished Man
Trainee
in Zocalo v2.0
Just read this on a swedish newspaper website:
"Trodde att Norge har egen sol
Midnattssolen sken över det amerikanska paret, som ilsknade till. - Vi reste inte till Norge för att se vår egen sol, klagade de. Guiden på Hurtigrutten försökte förgäves förklara hur det låg till, skriver Stavanger-Avisen.
Det amerikanska paret krävde att få tillbaka pengarna de betalat för båtresan längs den norska kusten.
–Vi lurades att tro att ni hade en egen sol i Norge. Det är rena lurendrejeriet."
What the article says is basically:
An american couple went to Norway to see "The Midninght sun" For you who doesn't know what it is it's the phenomenon when the Earth's central axis leans and the sun never sets beyond the polar circle.
So far all well and good but the couple actually thought that Norway had its own sun and are now demanding a refund from the travel agency despite severl attempts to explain the situation.
"We were fooled into thinking that Norway had its own sun. It is a real ripoff"
Thoughts, comments?
:shadow1:
"Trodde att Norge har egen sol
Midnattssolen sken över det amerikanska paret, som ilsknade till. - Vi reste inte till Norge för att se vår egen sol, klagade de. Guiden på Hurtigrutten försökte förgäves förklara hur det låg till, skriver Stavanger-Avisen.
Det amerikanska paret krävde att få tillbaka pengarna de betalat för båtresan längs den norska kusten.
–Vi lurades att tro att ni hade en egen sol i Norge. Det är rena lurendrejeriet."
What the article says is basically:
An american couple went to Norway to see "The Midninght sun" For you who doesn't know what it is it's the phenomenon when the Earth's central axis leans and the sun never sets beyond the polar circle.
So far all well and good but the couple actually thought that Norway had its own sun and are now demanding a refund from the travel agency despite severl attempts to explain the situation.
"We were fooled into thinking that Norway had its own sun. It is a real ripoff"
Thoughts, comments?
:shadow1:
Comments
BY GODS! You mustn't let them breed!
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Lord Refa [/i]
[B]Kill them. Castrate them atleast..
BY GODS! You mustn't let them breed! [/B][/QUOTE]
Right on! :D
:shadow1:
Surly nobody is that thick, must be a hoax?
Personally if I was going to go see the midnight sun, I'll go to Finland and watch the Midnight Hawks.
[B]Can you provide an online source? This sounds too stupid to be true. [/B][/QUOTE]
I work as a cashier.. and every day I see positive proof of that news. It might be hoax/joke, but what's really scary, is that it damn likely could be true...
I've had some American pals agree with me ! :)
But there are some that are to stupid to even leave their own town....
[B]:eek: There can't possibly be someone that stupid... [/B][/QUOTE]
Nah, they just think they can sue for anything. Or threaten to....
Sad thing is, in the US they might win a false advertising suit...
Follow this link: [URL=http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/telegram/0,1082,63785459_852__,00.html]Source[/URL]
It's in swedish but compare the text to my post...
Granted, it's not the most reliable of the swedish newspapers but still...
:shadow1:
[B]one thing Ive noted... which may just be anecdotal but it seems only the 'bad' yanks travel... in other words the USA exports all its dickheads and the good ones stay home..:)
I've had some American pals agree with me ! :) [/B][/QUOTE]That seems about right to me, and the reason for that is probably related to the thread about Finnish military service. :D
[B]and every day I see positive proof of that news.[/B][/QUOTE]
Yep, it's very easy to find proof which leads to thinking that average human isn't smarter than ameba.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by shadow boxer [/i]
[B] in other words the USA exports all its dickheads...[/B][/QUOTE]Could you export them to Siberia?
Is the US population full of retards that dont know shit about other places in the world?
[B]Is the US population full of retards that dont know shit about other places in the world? [/B][/QUOTE]...
...
...
...Duh.
[B]Is the US population full of retards that dont know shit about other places in the world? [/B][/QUOTE]
You only just figured this out? Seriously. I saw a documentary about american tourists in NZ once. It was halirious.
[B]This reminds me.... Back in the 70s Americans where coming to Ontario thinking that they can go skiing in the middle of summer......
Is the US population full of retards that dont know shit about other places in the world? [/B][/QUOTE]
We're just as retarded as everyone else in the world.
[B]Is the US population full of retards that dont know shit about other places in the world? [/B][/QUOTE]
Sadly, we even have the type that don't know shit about the rest of the USA either...
:rolleyes:
[B]
Is the US population full of retards that dont know shit about other places in the world? [/B][/QUOTE]
Only those that went to public school!
Homeschoolers = teh win! :D
seriously...the answer is yes.
And my answer is also true in many many places.
The US school system as it stands, is utterly useless.
Quite literally the kids have more power then the teacher. Ergo, the teacher has no power over the students other then failing them, in which case they get in trouble for having students fail the class, which lowers the schools letter grade, which lowers it's funding.
to get more funding, schools label every kid they can ADD. Thus, their grades don't count, and they get more funding. They also are put on Ridalin, which is one NASTY drug. I've seen it turn reguler smart children into absolute vegtibles. Thus, they don't learn. They know their hometown, and thats it. I think it was 20% of kids in florida didn't know what ocean the beach they visited was. Hows THAT for sad?
Bah...well that turned into a rant. Anyhoo, Biggles, I WANT THAT VIDEO!!!!
Edit: I should mention that there ARE kids that learn in Public schools, they are the nerds/geeks that do assignments that are not required.
There are also SOME good schools left. Few, but some. The kids that make it out of public school with brains are the people that are going somewhere.
I can share MANY stories of the highschoolers on my Golf Team...most were idiots. One wasn't, he was an Eagle Scout, etc. Managed to be well liked to, quite a feat.
Anyhoo, the best quote that comes to mind from my Golf teammates was in reference to collage. They asked me if I was going. My answer was of course, Yes.
They thought I was stupid for wanting four more years of school. :eek:
The only thing going through my mind was "Yep. But you'll be taking out my garbage..."
*sigh*
[B]Only those that went to public school!
Homeschoolers = teh win! :D
seriously...the answer is yes.
And my answer is also true in many many places.
The US school system as it stands, is utterly useless.[/quote][/b]
You know, one day, someone is going to say that to my publicly-educated face, I'd I'm going to hit them. And then I'll explain, using a great many polysyllabic words, exactly how I feel about such generalization.
[quote][b]Quite literally the kids have more power then the teacher.[/quote][/b]
While I have seen this happen, can you tell me with a straight face that it would help if these kids were home-schooled? If so, there are a few recent statements by one Bill Cosby I'd like you to have a look at.
The only thing I see possible is that the kid would have more power than the parents, and that would not be much better.
[b][quote]Ergo, the teacher has no power over the students other then failing them, in which case they get in trouble for having students fail the class, which lowers the schools letter grade, which lowers it's funding.[/quote][/b]
Which is part of the reason I'm against standardized tests like the FCAT (a rather poorly designed reading-and-math skills test here in Florida that has basically subsumed much of the educational curricula in the state. Bastards.), and the evil that is school vouchers.
[quote][b]Edit: I should mention that there ARE kids that learn in Public schools, they are the nerds/geeks that do assignments that are not required.[/quote][/b]
Thank you for that characterization. I now resent your views even more. Does the term "Left-handed compliment" mean anything to you?
[quote][b]There are also SOME good schools left. Few, but some. The kids that make it out of public school with brains are the people that are going somewhere. [/quote][/b]
As opposed to the ones with C averages, who go into the People's House.
[quote][b]I can share MANY stories of the highschoolers on my Golf Team...most were idiots. One wasn't, he was an Eagle Scout, etc. Managed to be well liked to, quite a feat.[/quote][/b]
I can share many stories of people who are idiots. All sorts of people. Young, old, American, foreign. The school system is not (solely) responsible fore turning people into idiots, nor is it the dark, satanic factory turning bright-eyed youngsters into morons and criminals.
[quote][b]Anyhoo, the best quote that comes to mind from my Golf teammates was in reference to collage. They asked me if I was going. My answer was of course, Yes.
They thought I was stupid for wanting four more years of school. :eek: [/quote][/b]
Frankly, I think you're stupid for writing off the public school system like you just did, but that's neither here nor there.
[quote][b]The only thing going through my mind was "Yep. But you'll be taking out my garbage..."
*sigh* [/B][/QUOTE]
This will probably endanger my standing as a bleeding-heart liberal but, well, somebody has to.
Now, as said, it is my firm belief that if you find a stupid kid, seven times out of ten, when you follow him home, you'll find a stupid parent. The other times, they're overworked, or inexperienced at parenting, or simply uncaring. Values, good and bad, start at home, and if you think shipping poor students back to mom and dad and telling them that its a family matter, or, for that matter, giving them vouchers (paid for by my tax dollars, by the way) and sending them to the nearest private school is going to help one lick, you are just wrong.
Now, I won't deny the educational system in this country has problems, and I'd be the first in line to suggest reform. But mindlessly trashing the whole works isn't going to help anything. I have had some wonderful teachers and learned quite a bit in my publicly-schooled years, and I won't abide them being insulted like that.
I would like to say one last thing, though, pointed out to me by a teacher of mine who came here from another country. The American public school system, when it works right, has one important advantage over much of the rest of the world: Generalization. Our schools have rather limited amounts of specialist education until relatively late, whereas many countries tend toward specialization far earlier in the educational process, which has negative effects of flexibility and general well-roundedness. And, frankly, the best leaders are the generalists. By being a jack-of-all-trades, their subordinates don't have to worry about them only being proficient in their field of expertise.
And, as (in my not at all humble (in this case) opinion) a budding Renaissance Man, you can be damned sure I appreciate learning some of everything, rather than a lot of one thing.
[B]You only just figured this out? Seriously. I saw a documentary about american tourists in NZ once. It was halirious. [/B][/QUOTE]
The Canadian equivalent: [URL=http://home.comcast.net/~wwwstephen/americans/]Talking To Americans[/URL]
This was CBC's most popular "documentary" for quite a while. Watch a clip or two, Rick Mercer is hilarious :D
-Φ
Yes, if the kids has parents that pay attention, etc, the kid will be forced to do better. HOWEVER, I've seen kids with good parents that fit into the other catagory more often then not. The public school system, as it stands, does NOT work.
[quote]While I have seen this happen, can you tell me with a straight face that it would help if these kids were home-schooled? If so, there are a few recent statements by one Bill Cosby I'd like you to have a look at.
The only thing I see possible is that the kid would have more power than the parents, and that would not be much better.[/quote]
You have no idea how wrong you are, do you? :) I've seen, on numerous ocations, kids go from half goth back talking resentful hateful jerks to models of scociety in less then a year when taken out of school and homeschooled. It a kid refuses to do work from a teacher, they get and F and move on the the next grade.
They refuse to do it for a parent, They get their ass smacked into next month and buckle down and do it.
This of course, implys that the PARENTS are actually teaching the kid, and not just buying course videos like Ebeka...
[quote]Frankly, I think you're stupid for writing off the public school system like you just did, but that's neither here nor there.[/quote]
I write it off because I've seen what it does to most kids. Those that come out of public schools with an education have my utmost respect. Either that they got lucky and were in a good school...which is hard to find in the USA these days. The teachers will be the first to agree with me. (And YES, I have asked. TYVM)
As for your closing statements, You learned because you wanted to. If you can tell me that more then 50% of your classmates WANTED to learn, then you were in a good school.
Next up, someone is going to say I have no idea what I'm talking about....Let me put it this way. My Mom was the County Coordinater for homeschoolers. As in, almost every kid that was yanked out of school's parents called my mom to learn how to start homeschooling. I've learned alot about school through those phone calls, and through my own personal "visits" to schools.
You want school reform? Give the teachers the power back, KILL STATEWIDE STANDARDIZED TESTS (FCAT, ISAT, etc) AND SCHOOL GRADES. THEY ARE HELL SPAWN. and I gurentee results within a year, nationwide.
What will this do you ask?
1: Student misbehaves, student gets a physical reason to study. In the 70's the kids that misbehaved were spanked, properly that is. When properly spanked, or otherwise physically disiplined, the kids listen, and respect the person carrying out the punishment. It sounds contradicatry, but it isn't. It won't work on highschoolers that have gotten away with their BS since they were five, but overall, it will.
2: The teacher has established power now, now they can teach. With Standardized test like the bloody FCAT gone, the teacher can actually teach the kids something BESIDES the freaking test. Currently the teacher spends about 95% of their time teaching the bloody test. Meaning that some kids get left in the dust because they don't understand something ("I'm sorry Timmy, moving on") and some are so sick and tired of hearing the same shit over and over that they stop listning, are told to pay attention, are labeled ADD turn into recluses, tell the school system to fuck off and become your standard troubled teen thats later in life thinks there's two suns orbiting earth and they can sue for faulty advertising. Kill the test, and the teacher is free to advance the smart kids, and work mano e mano with the kids who need the help.
Now, thats whats wrong with schools in the US, a small part anyway, but here is why Homeschooling works. And yes, it DOES work, homeschoolers are the most sought after by colleges for a reason...
First off, the kid learns as soon as they are ready to learn. As soon as they get a concept down, they can advance. They couldn't do this in schools, and suddenly, the kids begining to enjoy learning. Believe it or not, it works out 9 times out of ten where the kid starts doing all their own work. They learn more, faster, and enjoy doing it.
Second, the kids have contact with Adults. Honestly, even in college there are so few kids that know how to communicate with their professors or people a mear 5 years older then them it's pathetic. I've yet to meet a homeschooler with this issue. In the real world, communication is a big thing, specifically being able to communicate with adults, as guess what? They are going to be your bosses.
And the first question most people ask me is "What about scocilisation?"
GAH I get tired of that question....usually it comes from someone I've been yakking up a storm with for the past 45 minutes and then they ask about scocilization?!? Let me put it this way: On campus EVERY teacher on campus knows my first name, even if they haven't had me. All in a positive way I might add. I know almost every kid there, and yes, I *Gasp* have no difficultly making friends. Yes, my spelling is horrible as far as any of you can tell. If I stopped typing as fast as I can and bothered to proof read anything, you wouldn't see any typos though.
I can't wait until the public school system dies in the US. It's absolutly useless and I firmly believe that more often then naught, it does more damage then good. There are exceptions (Yes, DoM, your included, but take were you are today and add 5 years knowledge and you'd be where you would be if homeschooled. Unless you can honsestly tell me you were NEVER bored with learning the same thing twice, or learning material that appears on a test and never again) and even entire states where the school systems are very good. But generally speaking, the US school system sucks.
I'm not saying that all public schools here are worthless (any more than A# is); there are some good schools (and school districts) out there. The problem is that they are the exception, not the rule, and that has to change.
Keep in mind, too, that education (or the lack of it) has nothing to do with one's intelligence/stupidity; "educated idiots" are all too common in all parts of the world (especially in governments;) :D ).
On the subject of "ugly/stupid American tourists":D : So what else is new? We may have more idiots than any other Western nation, but that's largely because our population is greater than that of most countries (over 273 million people, according to the 2001 census). Keep in mind, too, that idiots will [I]always[/I] stand out in a crowd (for obvious reasons); for every "idiot American" tourist you see, there will probably be 5-10 "quiet Americans" who will do nothing to attract attention to themselves and who will be quickly forgotten by most of the locals (needless to say, I'm in that category:) ). I'm sure if you go to Spain, France or Italy, for example, and were to ask, you'd hear plenty of stories about "stupid Brits", "stupid Germans", "stupid [insert nationality here]". We're hardly the only nation with a stupid tourist population; we just have more of 'em.:rolleyes:
Ill be the first to admit that, but is it completely worthless, no, I doubt that very much. I moved around a LOT as a kid, I actually went to 9 different schools in 4 states, but somehow my parents always found the decent schools to go to.
Teachers were always quick to label me as a fast learner and I was always in accelerated groups. In second grade they even wanted to move me to third but my parents worried about me being the little uber geek in a class of kids all older than me. Yet still I was in advanced groups and such. Most high schools now have college prep courses and try to steer those kids capable into them.
Even now that I am a parent and have school age kids of my own I can see that schools still have their uses. My son, who will be a first grader this year, was very quickly put into accelerated reading groups in his kidnergarden class last year. By the end of the year he was reading chapter books for 2nd graders. I would like to think that alot of that is the type of toys I let my kids play with. Those leap pad toys are really very good. At 2 and half my daughter would sing her abc's, and now at almost 4, she can read several words, recognizes all of her letters and points out signs of interest to her.
I generally think that kids as a whole are smarter now than when I was that young. I do remember being in accelerated reading in Kidnergarden but I dont think I was reading books for second graders.
I will say this though. At some point in school I got lazy. Either as a lack of interest or in a desire to go out and do something that I considered fun. Basically, I just did not do homework. Not all the time mind you, I obviously did the 40% of your grade big projects, but as a whole, I rarely did homework at home. I was usually out somewhere with friends, playing on a nintendo or trying to get in my girlfriends pants, all much more interesting to me than homework. This is not to say I stopped learning though, just about every report card I got in high school said something to the effect of "*** is very smart, but he just doesnt do his homework". I would ace just about every test, no problem learning the information, it was just the homework I felt was boring.
Ill admit to my lazyness holding me back. Come the end of high school when I took my ACT's I scored a 31 on them, a few colleges called me and offered me partial scholarships based on those alone, but most said a full ride would have been granted had my grades just been a little higher. I could not afford college so I went the millitary route instead.
Id also like to say one thing about your statement A###, you talk about how homeschooling gets you better prepared to talk to adults. How? Anyone can talk to their parents, and its usually not that hard, but when you are sheltered in your house being schooled by a parent, you dont exactly have a lot of contact with other people, right? That being said, for me having been to so many schools I was always able to make friends right away and I had no problems talking to teachers or other adults at alll.
In fact a few of the teachers still remember me at my old high school for things I had done in school and after (the benefit of two younger siblings I suppose). Several of those teachers I now consider friends. Teachers that did make a difference, that got me interested in something. I attribute most of who I am today to my high school science teachers, chemistry , computers and phisics to be specific. They got me really interested in what I was doing, and that interest has continued. Now I fix MRI scanners that use a combination of all 3.
public school is not a complete waste, but alot of the problems with public school is environment. a kid who is told he is stupid and will never amount to much is a lot less likely to suceed that one who has positive reinforcement. Sometimes its not bad parents just busy parents. Like the mother of the 6 year old whose son brought a revolver to a Detroit school and shot another 6 year old. Im sure she loved her son, but thanks to Michigans work program this single mother had to be bussed to work 60 miles every morning and was working 2 minimum wage jobs to pay back the state for the welfare she was on. Gone from 5am till after 9pm she relied on family to help her and there was no help to be found.
oh, and you find stupid people everywhere, like someone else said, there just appears to be more stupid americans because there are so many. Tour china a bit, find some stupid chinese there has to be millions of them, since there are billions of them.
but how many kids do?
I think I'm on the wrong forum to argue american schools though. :) being a fan of B5 denotes a certain amount of intelligenece right off the bat...meaning I'll be arguing with people that survived public school intact...:D :D ;)
I loved public school personally, at least up to grade 6, but I must admit a big factor for that was my school required every student's family to donate 30 hours of their time per month. It could be in helping students learn in the classroom, or typing up kids stories and "publishing" them in little books, or in organizing field trips. As my dad said: it was the programme for students with hyperactive parents :p It worked for me and my brother, but it wouldn't work for everyone. Personally I think the programme should be expanded (there was always a waiting list for entry) as a public school option, but certainly not the norm. Thirty hours a month is a lot, and it's more demanding on the teacher to be able to organize all that help.
So what's the answer? No idea. I don't personally know american schools, but my suggestion would be to look at what works there and what works in other countries public systems, not turn to alternates right away.
As to other issues that have been raised:
Spaking. No, never, no. It may work on some kids, but you're also going to end up with some kids who don't want to go to school out of fear. If I were a parent I would refuse to send my kid to a school where spanking was alowed. I wouldn't want to trust my kid's physical well being to the teacher like that, and I wouldn't want my kid associating giving pain with power. Ever.
Standardized testing. I'm with A# on that one for the reason's he stated. Nuke them all, they're evil, usless, and stupid. And far far to stressful for what little good they might do.
And as a last note, I always liked the quote: "Never let schooling get in the way of education." If people want to learn, really learn, there's more places than school.
That's it for random thoughts :)
-Φ
in all seriousness, I dont want some teacher or principle to spank my kid.
[B]
Spaking. No, never, no. It may work on some kids, but you're also going to end up with some kids who don't want to go to school out of fear. If I were a parent I would refuse to send my kid to a school where spanking was alowed. I wouldn't want to trust my kid's physical well being to the teacher like that, and I wouldn't want my kid associating giving pain with power. Ever.
-Φ [/B][/QUOTE]
Fear...of...what exactly?
"MOMMY MOMMY NOOO!!! I beat op Johnny last week and the Principal Spanked me! I don't wanna gooo!"
If the kid behaves, theres nothing to worry about. Note I mentioned [i]properly[/i] spanked. meaning They did something that deserved it, kid was told what they did wrong, spanked, told again what they did wrong, and not to do it again, and sent on their way.
Full of useless questions, and typically quite hard.
The schools are graded by how well the students proform on these tests. Thus, the teachers are basically given two months out of the year to teach, and the rest of the year is spent prepareing JUST for the test.
Also, while googling up that information (and I'm vaguely shocked that my spellchecker let "googling" go by without protest), I found [url=http://www.kimberlyswygert.com]this[/url] blog, which seems to have quite a bit of stuff dealing with What's Wrong With Education In America. Might be worth a gander.
There are also less crappy standardized tests, like the SAT, but lets not deal with those because it weakens the overall point. And I seem to have a knack for them, and I'd rather not say anything that'll piss the SAT people off, since it can get you scholarships and other cool stuff if you do well.