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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Luckily, the world has heard the call. We understand that "the children of the US America are in deep trouble. Because some people out there don't have maps. Such as South Africa."
Someone has generously set up a blog entirely devoted to providing maps, gratis, to help this desperate shortage, knowing that with enough map access, maybe we can solve this dreadful problem of US finding. Such as.
http://mapsforus.org/
That's the sound of me banging my old, brunette, northern head against the wall.
Pageants are freak shows.
They're completely anachronistic and hypocritical, and they've outlived any usefulness they ever had.
Some gals are gorgeous AND smart AND only enter for the prize money, but they're the biggest freaks there.
Anyone who pays any attention for any amount of time to any pageant EVER will have more than enough to point & laugh at - or vomit in horror over, depending on taste.
There's no longer any escape from the fact that we are long, long, long past the days when there was any facade of class or intelligence required of our national "ideal" young woman.
Individually, we all may still wish to see it, but Britney Spears & Paris Hilton are "celebrities."
That means that in some definition of the word, they are "celebrated."
Hot young blondes can not know the difference between chicken and fish and be "celebrated" for it.
We all know this, and we reap what we sow.
So the idea that a pretty young blonde who is potentially dumb as a box of hammers could be named third in line to be crowned our "ideal" of womanhood cannot be shocking in the slightest to anyone who's ever seen a computer or a television.
If a pageant is to reflect its culture, then ours can't reasonably claim to care a whit about self-confidence, poise, public speaking skills, knowledge of current events, or personality.
Pageants reward what "we" want to see, and "we've" proven that we don't give a crap about whether or not our young ladies are well-rounded.
So leave the poor girl alone.
Being an idiot won't stop her from being famous, so let's stop shaming her for it.
In point of fact, she's just really dumb. That's it that's all.
Socialized all her life to rely on being girlie to get by, learning stuff about "US Americans" and "The Iraq" is really just a useless skill she doesn't need.
There's no agenda here, political or otherwise, she's just dumb.
>The giddy thrill over Miss South Carolina recalls a similar outbreak of hilarity earlier this summer over the horribly botched train wreck interview of Holly Hunter conducted by young, blond, female entertainment news anchor Merry Miller. "Look at the stupid chick! Whee! Yuk-yuk!"<
Miller (on a lesser scale) is symptomatic of the unthinking lazy journalists who have let the Bushies run roughshod without investigation or accountability. For Christ's sake, how hard could it be to do what was essentially a softball interview? Jeez, shouldn't an entertainment reporter at least be able to do the basics? And people are also sick of not-even-up-to-the-game types like Couric being passed off as if they are the second coming of Edward Murrow. No sympathy here.
From 2006, sponsored by National Geographic (it's a PDF file):
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/pdf/FINALReport2006GeogLitsurvey.pdf
I take back what I said about Alaska and Hawaii, at least based on this survey. The overall score had 94% of people being able to find the US on a map, but the map that they have in this survey only shows the continental US as a potential answer (from what I can see.)
I think it was the one from 1998 that had the AK/HI conundrum, I'll see if I can find that one.
Didn't he not know the name of Pakistan's leader? Didn't he not know the terms Sunni and Shiite until *after* we attacked Iraq? Unlike the President, Upton has no power at all and her stupidity (or just plain silliness) really has no ramifications at all. Remember, the President was elected IN SPITE of the fact that he is a bit dense. Yes, that's right, the fact that he didn't know these things turned out to be an *asset*. Twice. John Kerry's fluency in French turned out to be a *liability*.
We are a country of idiots and Upton's performance was a reflection on us all.
I laughed because she really couldn't have answered the question more brilliantly if she'd tried. Or, you know, had a brain. Also, any statement that begins with "I personally believe" is automatically hilarious.
about 30 years ago i gave an answer that was about that nonsensical to a question i was blindsided with at the followup interview to the written foreign service exam (something about "playing the china card" which, at the time, i had only the sketchiest idea of.) i'm sure the interviewers, with their professionally expressionless faces, split their sides once i left the room. and i wasn't 18. or blonde. or that pretty.
I'm ashamed to say that I saw the whole segment, live (that's what flipping on a Friday night will get you).
First, 3 out of the 5 finalists were atrocious. How did they all make it presumably through many local and state competitions to the national one with such bad public speaking skills? Many used the word "like" over and over, did the valley-girl uptalk thing, and generally didn't make sense. There is such a thing as preparation, and they clearly didn't do it.
Second, if you don't hear the question the first time, you ask for it to be repeated. Standard interviewing strategy.
Third, as my roommate put it, she's only gotten away with being this dumb for so long because she's so pretty. Start putting a premium on smarts rather than beauty and she'll hit the books.
Fourth, it's too bad she lives in the Internet age. Pageant contestants have said dumb stuff for a long time. But presumably she knew she was going on national tv, and that the Internet exists, so whatever she says when she puts herself into the spotlight is fair game.
Rugh.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
