Geography 101
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Comments
Bush's no child left behind strategy is in trouble if these people are an example. They must have been asleep in geography 101
Posted by: anon | October 6, 2005 8:47 PM
Wow. That one is scary, although I should know better. I mean, that's freaking Australia. It is scary to see people who I know think something is a little wrong cast aside their doubts so easily. I think that says a lot about how we have ended up in the situation we are in.
Posted by: ERTBen | October 6, 2005 8:49 PM
Sweet Zombie Jesus!
....sure, they aren't depicting all the people who didn't identify Australia as Iran, but it's still pretty bad that there were that many who did.
Posted by: anon | October 6, 2005 8:54 PM
This seems kind of fake... I mean why would -all- of the people pick Australia for all of the different countries that are potential targets... seems pretty unlikely to me......
Posted by: insurrection | October 6, 2005 8:58 PM
I'm going to have to guess the map was mislabeled.
Let's make Australia a big glass crater, just to be sure.
Posted by: ComposerNate | October 6, 2005 9:03 PM
The method is that they interview people all day and then cherry pick the best for the video. It is the same method Jay Leno uses in his jay-walking segment. The fact that they find as many idiots as they do is still quite remarkable.
Posted by: Norm | October 6, 2005 9:05 PM
i don't care how manipulated this stuff is in editing it will still give me nightmares...
I don't know weather to laugh, cry , or run away....
Posted by: anon | October 6, 2005 9:10 PM
come on guys, this is a spoof. Plain and simple. How are we to know that those are real vox pops on the street? They could be manipulated just as well.
Until someone shows me proof those people are real, I don't believe it. But a hilarious skit nonetheless.
Posted by: Thomas | October 6, 2005 9:16 PM
I love Australian Fries.
Posted by: anon | October 6, 2005 9:18 PM
it's not manipulated. every time they gave a response, someone would label australia as the country that they said. this is from CNNNN, which is an australian news satire show, sort of like australia's daily show. that's why they always use it on the map :) they're hoping that someone will realise that they're sticking a pin in australia, not iran. unfortunately, they didn't.
Posted by: Andrew | October 6, 2005 9:18 PM
yes, the map was mislabelled. look closer
Posted by: anon | October 6, 2005 9:20 PM
And when you realize that all those people wanted THE "country" invaded or nuked, but they're not having the faintest idea as to where it is! Leaving aside the ignorance that we all share in, to some degree, this neverheless shows the underlying propaganda at its best.
Posted by: rope | October 6, 2005 9:54 PM
Wow. Just... wow.
Posted by: Michael Leza | October 6, 2005 10:20 PM
They had 3 or 4 cards and each one had Australia labeled as "Iran" or "Korea" or something else. People chose on name alone, not thinking that something was strange when they did the pointing.
CNNNN: We report, you believe.
http://www.cnnnn.com/
Posted by: Ando | October 6, 2005 10:23 PM
WoW
Posted by: Ed | October 6, 2005 10:55 PM
It's more widespread than one might think. National Geographic did a study a couple of years ago:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foundation/pdf/NGS-Roper-GeoLitReport2002.pdf
They asked the same questions to 18-24 year olds in about ten different countries, and, here's a hint, we didn't come in first.
Posted by: anon | October 6, 2005 11:16 PM
As a New Zealander, I find this REALLY scary. Up until now, the only thing I thought protected us was our isolation and the fact that 99% of the US don't know where the hell we are. It never occurred to me to worry about the possibility ignorant Yanks might mistake us for the bad guys.
Posted by: NZer | October 7, 2005 12:37 AM
yes, Its CNNNN, the Chaser crew. Theyre Australias version of The Onion actuall. They do similar stuff. I dont care, so long as its satirical and makes me laugh. Notice that everytime they say "France" or "Iran", Australia is labelled that country. Many say that they set these up deliberately, but they are done well. Australians like to laugh at the "ignorance" of Americans, so this stuff is good cannon fodder. They had a different skit, same vox pop style, asking people "name a country starting with U?". Of course, no guess United States of America. America is technically wrong, as Chile & Canada are also 'America', but no one got the USA in the USA. Another one they did, which I am sure will give people reading this a kick, they asked "Do you believe in the right to bear arms?" yes "Do you believe in Iraqis right to bear arms?" ....yyyyeeesss.... "Do you believe they have to right to bear arms & shoot Americans?" ......(no comment)
That sort of thing. Given that Australians also believe USAians have 'no sense of humour', this feeds that belief too. Which is not true, as I was born in Reno, and moved here to Sydney when I was 2. But anyway, it is funny. Taking the piss out of something, appropriately, is always good for a laugh.
Posted by: anon | October 7, 2005 12:52 AM
Most American public schools are garbage because Republicans don't want to fund them, religious nut jobs keep trying to make Jesus the center of everything, teachers' unions fight increased standards, and parents can't be bothered to care about their children's education. Worse yet when ever some tries to force higher standards on our underachieving school system it is decried as bureaucratic heavy handedness.
Republicans by and large are the cause of this problem. They're the ones who starve schools for cash will demanding a pork laddened half a trillion dollar per year defense budget, they're the ones who prevent nationwide education standards from being enacted, and they're the ones who always keep trying to pass of creationism/"Intelligent Design" as a pseudo-science. Not that the retards care; they can't even find their own city on a map much less follow politics.
Posted by: anon | October 7, 2005 12:58 AM
It's CNNN, a spoof Aussie show. Still funny stuff but not worth merit in a debate or relevance.
Posted by: anon | October 7, 2005 1:54 AM
I'm gonna go cry myself to sleep right now.
Posted by: CAstudent | October 7, 2005 2:13 AM
errrrm...
do i REALLY live in a country where these folks VOTE??? Weep.
Posted by: craig | October 7, 2005 6:35 AM
Fake map or not, the rule is that smart people do not stop to talk to guys with cameras on the street.
Posted by: fleece | October 7, 2005 7:35 AM
I now know why Bush is in office.. I will be over at the conesession stand stuffing my face with Milkduds and crying.
Posted by: anon | October 7, 2005 8:20 AM
Poor Australia. First the imperialists dump cantankerous convicts on their soil; next it'll be something a little more explosive.
Posted by: anon | October 7, 2005 8:21 AM
Brilliant. Reminds me of Rick Mercer's bit Talking to Americans.
Posted by: Ray | October 7, 2005 8:38 AM
Exactly Ray - I was just going to say that.
Posted by: no14 | October 7, 2005 9:27 AM
Hehe.
Posted by: Patrick | October 7, 2005 10:34 AM
Hurray, we got a vote. Brazil should be next...
Let's remember that the fact that Australia was mislabled does not excuse all that got it wrong, that is a continent size country.
I wonder how many would pin the US if it was mislabled... not few I guess.
Geting your geography wrong was not the worse part, being quick to name a next country for the war on terror... that is scary.
Posted by: Fespa | October 7, 2005 11:21 AM
They should try this game with George W.
Ten bucks says he can't place North Korea, the Ukraine, or any other newsworthy country that doesn't happen to be sitting on a sea of oil.
Then again, I love Australia, so I don't want to go giving Bush any ideas about nuking it away.
This clip is hilariously depressing, but in no way surprising.
Posted by: Gillian | October 7, 2005 11:30 AM
Yanks a lot, Norm!
War on terra? War on homo: in his speech yesterday, Bush declared Iraq the "central front of the war on humanity".
There is a part of this man's mind that recognizes the irony very well. even if his people don't: Bush's America is an integral part of the Earth's immune system, it's very heart. The U.S. is not a nation of no-bodies, it's a nation of anti-bodies. When Bush's war on humanity is done, terra will be safe afterall.
The great apes will escape extinction (the non-human ones I mean). They will Yank you from the bottoms of their hearts.
Or is U.S. hegemony humanity's auto-immune disease? Call it "macaroni".
Posted by: 20-sesquial terra | October 7, 2005 11:58 AM
Who cares if they are using the cherry picking method to weed out the stupid people! The very fact that one person thought Australia was Iran (even if it was mislabeled) is an embarassment to the United States of America. It goes a long long long way to show just what is happening in the country. It's the small things that mean the most. So this is huge.
Posted by: john | October 7, 2005 12:26 PM
Thanks for the link anon http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foundation/pdf/NGS-Roper-GeoLitReport2002.pdf Feels god to know that we top som charts. And all you USAmericans dont be sad, atleast you beat mexico! John Cleeses idea is starting to sound good: http://www.stephaniemiller.com/declarationofrevocation.htm
Posted by: Swed | October 7, 2005 12:39 PM
assume it was australia's video-version of the onion, it wasn't parodying by much. u.s. soldiers are routinely sent to places they never heard of before. obscure places like mesopotamia, and afghanistan. in Borders, music from new guinea is filed under "africa".
Posted by: 12-d japason | October 7, 2005 1:14 PM
Holy shit that's scary.
Posted by: Agi T. Prop | October 7, 2005 2:18 PM
Shit! Those guys are ignoramuses: they left out Venezuela.
Ignorami.
Posted by: 12-d japason | October 7, 2005 2:25 PM
Common Anything CNN and FOX and NBC and CBS says must be taken as laughter. i mean common, they dont give news anymore, they give product. Have a laught. what do expect from Country with a president who can't spell Afghanistan and thinks of iraq as iran. sorry for sarcasm but again evrryone should laught and not feel sorry for 99.99 of the earth population who consider to be the lowest of all HOMOsepian. Funny
Posted by: Homer | October 7, 2005 7:43 PM
Oh my f*ing god!
No need to wonder any longer how or why Bush was re-elected.
Posted by: Ori G | October 7, 2005 7:46 PM
Here's more:
http://abc.net.au/cnnnn/video/ep07_stupidyankees.ram
Posted by: Christopher | October 8, 2005 3:35 AM
Oh, man. All I can do is cry.
Posted by: Pica | October 8, 2005 10:41 AM
Eurasia or Eastasia? Or was it Eurasia? Well whatever...as long as it's THEM.
Posted by: Christopher H | October 8, 2005 12:23 PM
Where is my passport?
Posted by: talib | October 8, 2005 6:24 PM
I wonder why that one guy mentioned Italy as the next target. What on earth is he on?
At least this explains why most people on this planet think the US a biger threat for the world than Al Qaida or North Korea..
Posted by: Simon | October 9, 2005 7:07 AM
Political Science by Randy Newman
No one likes us-I don't know why We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try But all around, even our old friends put us down Let's drop the big one and see what happens
We give them money-but are they grateful? No, they're spiteful and they're hateful They don't respect us-so let's surprise them We'll drop the big one and pulverize them
Asia's crowded and Europe's too old Africa is far too hot And Canada's too cold And South America stole our name Let's drop the big one There'll be no one left to blame us
We'll save Australia Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo We'll build an All American amusement park there They got surfin', too
Boom goes London and boom Paree More room for you and more room for me And every city the whole world round Will just be another American town Oh, how peaceful it will be We'll set everybody free You'll wear a Japanese kimono And there'll be Italian shoes for me
They all hate us anyhow So let's drop the big one now Let's drop the big one now
Posted by: nzlemming | October 9, 2005 3:01 PM
Actually, this isn't that surprising. I remember reading about a very high statistic (something like 80%) of US college graduates being unable to locate the US on an unlabelled, unbordered world map.
Posted by: anon | October 10, 2005 6:29 PM
Guys, I don't want to be rude, I love America but if you don't take interest in the rest of the world, the rest of the world will lose any interest they may have on you.
Posted by: Anil | October 11, 2005 10:08 AM
This is a sad indictment on our educational system. Twenty years ago everybody would have known that that big continent at the bottom right is Uruguay, no matter what label they put on it.
Posted by: anon | October 13, 2005 3:15 AM
This is horrifying sad...you label Australia as Iran and they are misled...And then you expect these people to choose a decent President for a Super Power? C'mon, wake up. There is more in the world than 'Oil' and 'Terrorists'.
Posted by: aLi_R | October 13, 2005 12:36 PM