RIP The Apostrophe
Well, maybe not yet. But that’s what’s happening in Birmingham, England, where, after years of sliding down a slippery slope of non-use on street signs, the apostrophe has been banned altogether.
Councilor Martin Mullaney, who heads the city’s transport scrutiny committee, said he decided to act after yet another interminable debate into whether “Kings Heath,” a Birmingham suburb, should be rewritten with an apostrophe.
[...]
“Apostrophes denote possessions that are no longer accurate, and are not needed,” he said. “More importantly, they confuse people. If I want to go to a restaurant, I don’t want to have an A-level (high school diploma) in English to find it.”
Frankly, this is an outrage. How dare the country that originated our language mess with the Queen’s English like this! And, yes, I’m keeping that apostrophe in “Queen’s”. So the thinking is that we’re not supposed to recognize that “King’s Heath”, for example, was once owned by the monarchy? Worst of all, we’re being told that people are just too stupid to know the proper use of grammar, so let’s just give up. In New York City’s flower district I once passed a store selling “flower’s”. And I am sometimes referred to as Colme’s. People need education, not capitulation. Thankfully, those with respect for the English language agree with me.
In her best-selling book “Eats, Shoots and Leaves,” Lynne Truss recorded her fury at the title of the Hugh Grant-Sandra Bullock comedy “Two Weeks Notice,” insisting it should be “Two Weeks’ Notice.”
“Those spineless types who talk about abolishing the apostrophe are missing the point, and the pun is very much intended,” she wrote.
If you agree with her you’re right. That’s as opposed to your right, which is a dangerous political place to be.
I’re right!
February 9th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
So…………………
While I agree that the removal of the apostrophe is indeed a mistake……………..
It hasn’t been the most notable of mistakes recently……………….
February 9th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
TREES
apparently you missed when GW admitted a mistake by saying “mission accomplished”? And admitting a mistake in government policy is completely different than saying “I screwed up” when I picked this bonehead for my team.
While I whole-heartedly agree it’s refreshing having an elected official take responsibility (Barney Franks…are you taking notes on this one?), this author needs to have another slice of reality pie and stop taking up valuable space in a newspaper that could be used for other, more intellectually stimulating subjects.
Alan…you did it again with yet another irrelevant post. Must be a slow day on the Repub side if you’re populating your website with this drivel.
February 9th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
After GWB it’s not a huge suprise that the world would want to dumb it down a bit. God forbid we’d expect people to hold themselves to a higher standard. I guess that would mean having self esteem and a drive to be taken seriously in the world. It would be horrible if you read someone’s post on here and they knew the difference between their, there, and they’re. It’s just hard to take something of this magnitude seriously.
February 9th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
You’se deserve’s a series of bravo’s, Colme’s, for pointing out whats become commonly-made mistake’s. (hee hee hee)
I’ll never forget being “corrected” by a poster about the difference between “it’s” and “its.” It was really pathetic how he or she was insisting “it’s” was possessive.
Spelling and grammar are extremely important. Diagramming sentences has become a lost art.
February 9th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
“If you agree with her you’re right. That’s as opposed to your right, which is a dangerous political place to be.”
Very clever, Alan. I’m in total agreement of keeping apostrophes where they should be and keeping them out of where they should not be. You know, conservatives would probably tend to respect the English language MORE. Actually, I’m kidding; it’s probably not a political thing.
Later, Alan Colme’s of Fox New’s!
February 9th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
This story’s familiar. I wonder why that is. Huh.
February 9th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
“If you agree with her you’re right.”
No, not really.
What you are is in tune with generally accepted mainstream English. That will inevitably change, because language changes, it grows and evolves, and inevitably today’s “mainstream” becomes tomorrow’s “old hat.”
February 9th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
It amazes me that after starting a war no-one else wanted, ignoring the warning signs of the economy, letting 4000 young Americans die for a lost cause, cutting funding to women’s equality programs/native Americans/libraries…isolating the US as the bully on the world block…creating the biigest Al Quada membership drive in history, ETC ETC ETC….
…Someone can still come on here and say that he “admitted” his mistakes when he said that “mission accomplished” was a mistake!?
Unbelieveable!
LOL
Anyway, dropping the ‘ from signs has been done for years up here in the frozen north…it takes up sign space, confuses the tourists, and there is no stencil for an apostrophe…
I live about 10 miles from world famous “Peggys Cove”
February 9th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
It amazes ME that someone can’t read…
I said it was admission of A MISTAKE.
February 9th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
What amazes me is that people appear to believe that presidents, politics and wars have some bearing on a thread about the apostrophe.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I am a big fan of the apostrophe, although I have, more or less, stopped using contractions. I do not know why; anti-laziness, I guess. Contractions do appear to be lazy. I think I like the way it sounds to speak without contractions.
I am also a fan of using, where appropriate, hyphens and dashes. They are not the most common punctuation marks, however, and are often misused, so using them effectively and appropriate tingles the grammar node in my brain.
The one type of punctuation that I rarely use is the ellipses. They are overused and used incorrectly in what I would somewhat-irresponsibly guess to be 90% of instances.
February 9th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I…only…use…ellipses…because…they…give…me…something…to…do…while…I’m…thinking…of…what…to…say…
February 10th, 2009 at 2:16 am
Too bad – I happen to use a lot of contractions.
ole!
February 10th, 2009 at 2:32 am
I am not a fan of hyphens, least of all when used to substite for commas. As for when to use contractions, it has long been my understanding that one needs avoid the use of contractions when addressing one person, or only a few people at most. When several people are in the audience, then it is acceptable to use contractions more freely.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:09 am
Let’s rest aside, the contractions, hyphens and commas and just….communicate!
February 10th, 2009 at 3:28 am
“” said it was admission of A MISTAKE.”"
And I pointed out that with all the things this cretin has done to damage America…the ONLY things he admits he did wrong were
1) allow the ‘mission accomplished’ sign.
2) not land airforce one in New Orleans
Stop defending this idiot. Let him sleep it off back in Texas….
YEEEHAAAA!
good job Brownie!…
February 10th, 2009 at 3:28 am
Brownie…???? I was one of them …once upon a time???
February 10th, 2009 at 3:39 am
This is what you get with politicians. They are a bunch of mindless boneheads. I remember several years ago there were a few tragedies with young children falling headfirst into five gallon buckets with water in them and drowning. That is tragic in and of itself. But, along came some do gooder politician who said something must be done about those unfortunate accidents. So what does he propose? He proposed that the manufacturers of buckets such as these manufacture these buckets with holes in them so that these tragities would not happen again.
Politicians sure are a bunch of dim-wits.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:06 am
FROSTY,
It amazes me that after starting a war no-one else wanted, ignoring the warning signs of the economy, letting 4000 young Americans die for a lost cause, cutting funding to women’s equality programs/native Americans/libraries…isolating the US as the bully on the world block…creating the biigest Al Quada membership drive in history, ETC ETC ETC….
Since you’re so keen on spouting off incorrect facts, let’s examine each “accusation” one by one, then:
Starting a war noone else wanted: Untrue, again. 21 non-U.S. military forces contributing armed forces to the Coalition in Iraq. These 21 countries were: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
Ignoring the warning signs of the economy: what, exactly are you talking about? for 6 years, the Busy admin claimed economic growth. Funny how you only focus on the last two years (when the dems were in control, by the way). I have constantly said everyone was to blame, dems and repubs.
Letting 4000 young Americans die for a lost cause: you mean like freeing Iraqi people from a murderous dictator who managed to kill hundreds of thousands of his own people? That lost cause?
cutting funding to women’s equality programs/native Americans/libraries: you’ll have to explain this to me as this is a first heard for me.
isolating the US as the bully on the world block: we’re doing great things for the people in Iraq…and that has made us a “bully” to the entire world? Do you remember anything of the Clinton years and all of his foreign policy blunders?
creating the biigest Al Quada membership drive in history, ETC ETC ETC: Steven Harper is responsible…how ’bout that? If we’re going to just blame one man, then my vote goes to your prime minister as you have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We all know, intimately, that you are vehemently anti-American, anti-Bush, but what I honestly don’t get is why you never get any anti-Canada rhetoric thrown back at you.
I’ll give you a hint: Canada? What’s a Canada? A senator once said “Canada is like the estranged cousin at a family reunion that noone seems to remember…just smile, nod, pat him on his head…and send him on his way.” Congratulations FROSTY, you’re the butt of America’s jokes. You must be so proud.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Yeah, Frosty! Don’t you get it yet? We’re supposed to congratulate ourselves for building roads, schools, etc., for a country that STILL HATES US.
I do have a non-snotty question about the economy, though.
9/11 hit, and the economy tanked. It wasn’t much recovered from the dot-com bubble-burst, either.
I look around my locale, and I haven’t seen a lot of new development, new businesses, increases in salaries, spending, or infrastructure.
Yet, I look at the stock market, and I see crazy growth. Thanks to the real-estate bubble. (Oddly, my mutual fund never recovered.)
When did the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street happen, in terms of prosperity? Why do we call a diminishing middle class, limited manufacturing opportunities, overseas business relocations, and stock manipulations all characteristic of a “good economy?”
February 10th, 2009 at 10:28 am
SARAH,
Doing something good for people that “hate us” (not really sure where you get this information) is a lot more rewarding than doing good for those who love us, maybe not on an immediate economic or political level, but definitely on a personal and moral level. I can’t remember who said it, but the saying goes something like, love your enemies and they will learn to love you.
Isn’t that what being a “citizen of the world” is all about? Helping those who can’t help themselves?
February 10th, 2009 at 10:56 am
I guess I was distracted by Katrina, the mounting nat’l debt and collapsing infrastructure in our own country.
I figured the increasing membership roster of Al Quaeda would provide some indication of the Iraqi people’s ambivalence toward us.
Not to diminish the schools, roads, hospitals, etc., over there. I guess I wish they’d just take advantage of their own resources to do it all. They have oil over there, don’t they? Seems I heard a rumor somewhere.
Where do we take our do-gooding-by-force next? Venezuela? How about Africa? Or just part of Africa? Do we take on Pakistan?
You think conservatives are screaming about taxes NOW…
February 10th, 2009 at 11:46 am
“”Congratulations FROSTY, you’re the butt of America’s jokes. “”
I’m glad you have time for humour, Jared, that’s good news indeed! Laugh with me/ laugh at me, I always say…
;-)
I must admit, faced with an imminent resession, spiralling unemployment, a doubling (under W Bush’s
policies) of your wealthy elite at the expense of your disappearing middle class….a drop from the world’s only superpower to China’s biggest pawn shop customer…
personally I’d find it hard to laugh TOO hard, lol.
It’s funny how you seem to be the only one that thinks Bush did fine with the economy, and fought a noble war where 1,000,000 innocents died. Keep laughing, Jared, the special bus will be here soon buddy!
And I’m afraid the old right wing trick off “your wit’ us, or agin’ us” isn’t gonna fly here on Liberalland, mate…Everyone here, except apparently you, knows full well that my beef has been with the Bush administration and their disasterous policies, as well as some poor US policy in the past. I have no quarrel with the nation of America herself, so saying I am “Anti-American” is a waste of your breath….although I see this said daily by conservativesto anyone that DARES criticise poor policy…one reason it is hard to take you folks seriously, lol!
“Anti-American, Anti-Semite, Anti-Jemima”…you right-wingers are so predictable, it’s a bit sad.
Defending the Iraq war? Are you kidding me?
You actually think you’re seen as some altruistic ‘liberator’ by the world?! When Saddam was just ONE of MANY brutal dictators? You ARE kidding, right?
And if you don’t know about the cuts Dubya made to education/ libraries etc…perhaps it’s time to put down the Field and Stream and the bible, and pick up a newspaper….
;-)
February 10th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
FROSTY,
The US isn’t the only nation in the world facing a recession, or are already in a recession. And the unemployment still isn’t as high as it was when Reagan took over from Carter. You “left-wingers” have the propensity of employing the constant “doom and gloom” in every debate isn’t helping matters at all. Not giving americans “hope” the nation will ever come out of this (insert current political playfield here) “crisis” is typical of the left wing.
http://alsblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/has-us-middle-class-income-stagnated-over-the-past-30-years/
Stop listening to the left-wing propagandists like Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann and do you own research.
There you go again, claiming that 1M have died as a result of the US war on terrorism. Give me the underlying studies that indicate the US is responsible for 1M people’s deaths.
I have yet to hear you say anything positive about the US…as a matter of fact, the only thing that spews forth from your moosemilk stained finger-tips are anti-American statements, including anti-US Gov’t statements; anti-US TV statements, anti-US foreign aid statements, etc, etc, etc…therefore, leading me to the belief you are anti-American. I’d love for you to prove me wrong on this account.
I never said that America was seen as the great liberator…I just disagreed with you that the entire globe sees America as the “bully”. You have your opinion on how the world sees the US (apparently at the behest of the MSM), and I have mine. Only, I’d be willing to bet I’m a bit closer to the truth than you.
So, now I’m one of those gun-totin’, bible-thumpin right wingers who have antipathy for those not like me? Great play on words…get your own quote.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
SARAH,
That’s assuming the only people being recruited by Al Queda are Iraqis. I doubt that, very much.
You’re talking about a nation that has been under the heel of a tyrant for 20+ years before we liberated them. The infrastructure, from what I’ve read, was horribly outdated, non-working, etc. The Iraqi gov is helping the US in the reconstruction effort, but there’s no denying the lack of technological advancements the US has that the Iraqi’s don’t.
Do gooding by force…that’s good. So, it’s only by force we should help those in need? “Take this bag of rice, or else!” Or, “Take this welfare check, food stamps and gov’t subsidized housing, or else!”
Back to Katrina again? How in the world would you have prepared, in advance, for the worst natural disaster in US history? How would you have executed an understaffed, underfunded emergency action plan to combat the effects of Katrina? My point is: there was no way the US gov’t could have anticipated having to evacuate one of La’s most populated cities. I’d be willing to bet good money the same thing would happen if we had to evacuate, say, Los Angeles.
Where’s the blame for Ray Nagin? He was the mayor of N.O. prior to Katrina. He didn’t do his job, but nobody’s pointing fingers at him…as a matter of fact, he was able to deflect responsibility so well he was re-elected! Where’s the justice in that?
February 10th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
JARED,
Why do you care so much about the Iraq people? And don’t give me this “golly, I just care about ALL people” crap. I know a place in East St. Louis who could use more than just your caring.
And what don’t you get about the concept of “do-gooding by force?” That’s why you’re justifying the war, right? That we fought it to “liberate” the Iraqi people!
No, believe me, neocons would never DREAM of do-gooding by force here in America. As I pointed out with Katrina, we had to FORCE neocons to do good in their OWN country.
(You apparently didn’t read the same news pointing out the U.S. gov’t KNEW something like this would happen in New Orleans. And don’t get me started on natural disasters– FEMA was extremely helpful in ‘93, under the Clinton administration, it was BUSH who broke it by putting it under his crony-laden Homeland Suck-urity).
Incredible the capacity for neocons to console themselves with words like, “Well, I very much doubt that IRAQIS are the ones signing up for Al Quaeda. Surely, we’re so wonderful, they’d never do such a thing.”
February 10th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
SARAH,
A bit of tenseness in your typing?
Isn’t every person’s responsibility to care for all people? You’re a liberal, right? And you don’t believe this to be the case?
And I am not justifying the war in Iraq as “do-gooding”. However, you can’t deny the need for the people of Iraq to experience and know “freedom”.
Katrina, again…there’s no way you can possibly compare the flood of ‘93 to katrina? Or, if you DO want to compare…the US gov’t knew about the imminent failure of more than 1000 levees during a flood, but didn’t do anything about it. So much for your argument.
As far as the Iraqi/Al Queda connection – YOU are the one who insinuated only Iraqis are signing up in droves for Al Queda. I merely pointed out I didn’t think that was entirely the case…Incredible the capacity of libs to console themselves by twisting words around to make their argument.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
The reason for going into Iraq AND the insurgency was most likely due to the privatization laws L Paul Bremer tried to enact that The Economist calls “the wish-list of foreign investors.” (“ Let’s All Go to the Yard Sale: Iraq’s Economic Liberalization,” September 27, 2003).
The Coalition Provisional Authority restructured Iraq’s economy. (See “World Bank Brings Market Fundamentalism to Iraq,” Economic Justice News, September 2004) Paul Bremer passed a series of Executive Orders (without any accountability to Iraqi people) that, among other things:
- Laid off 500,000 government workers – 400,000 of them employees of the Iraqi Armed Forces – in a country with a workforce of 6.5 million. This lay-off thus represented nearly 8% of the workforce.
- Changed laws governing foreign investment to “make Iraq one of the most liberalised economies in the developing world and go beyond even the laws in many rich countries,” according to the Financial Times. (CPA Order No. 39)
- Made it illegal for Iraqi farmers to plant saved seeds and to exchange knowledge freely. Now they are allowed to plant only “protected” crop varieties which remain the property of the multinational seed companies. Previously, the Iraqi constitution did not allow patenting of plants. The CPA, however, changed the law to allow “intellectual property” control over plant varieties. (CPA Order No. 81)
Collectively, these laws represent what The Economist calls “the wish-list of foreign investors.” (“ Let’s All Go to the Yard Sale: Iraq’s Economic Liberalization,” September 27, 2003).
February 10th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
OLD LEFTY
zzzzzzzzzz
February 10th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Facts are always boring, better to ignore them.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
OLD LEFTY…
Your opinions of why we went into Iraq aren’t intriguing to me as I’m not into believing in conspiracy theories.
February 10th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
JaredfromTexas,
The Letter to Bill Clinton in 1999 asking him to invade Iraq is not a conspiracy theory, nor is the fact that Paul O’Neill said all they talked about from day one was invading Iraq.
The CPA was also not conspiracy theory.
But I guess if you are more into believing in fairy tales….by all means, carry on with your, they only thought of it after 9/11, “freedom” talk.
February 10th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Jared: “A bit of tenseness in your typing?”
Do you mean “tension?” Or “intensity?” I don’t recognize your made-up word “tenseness.” But if you’re implying that you’re getting to me, well, if that’s what tickles your pickle, then whatever.
Jared: “Isn’t every person’s responsibility to care for all people? You’re a liberal, right? And you don’t believe this to be the case?”
Actually, I’m moderate. And, I’m just saying I’m having a hard time believing a neocon’s newfound sense of altruism, when they propose to abolish abortion while kicking welfare out from under single moms. I’m having a hard time believing you care for all people, when you have plenty of people in your own back yard who need caring. What, you think you’re too good to care for fellow Americans? They should be punished for not being as smart and strong as you are? Who’s being so caring now?
Anyway, I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t give a rat’s ass about Iraqis. Or Africans. Or Chinese souls or peaceful villagers who are subsisting in South America, contributing little to the greenhouse effect and minding their own business. Besides, Darfur and Indonesia are just about as bad, if not worse, than Iraq so again– do you propose invading even more countries for more forced do-gooding? How much more in taxes do you want to spend to pay for the rest of the world? (Or are we only concerned with countries that have oil?)
Jared: “And I am not justifying the war in Iraq as “do-gooding”. However, you can’t deny the need for the people of Iraq to experience and know “freedom”. ”
I can and I will. I have just that much selfish conservativism left in me. Especially when families are living in rusted out school buses in my county. And you’re absolutely justifying forced do-gooding when you say, “You’re talking about a nation that has been under the heel of a tyrant for 20+ years before we liberated them.” The WMD’s didn’t work, so the neocons are trying to go all weepy and give-y.
Jared: “Katrina, again…there’s no way you can possibly compare the flood of ‘93 to katrina? Or, if you DO want to compare…the US gov’t knew about the imminent failure of more than 1000 levees during a flood, but didn’t do anything about it. So much for your argument.”
The FEMA response, as I said, was orderly, methodical, and uh…responsive. People were rescued. We weren’t drowning in excuses.
Let me ask you this, Jared. If your house is engulfed in flames, and you go to a neighbor’s to call for help, does the fire department ask, “Well…You want to try to put it out yourself first?…Well, try that, and if it doesn’t work, call us if you need more aid…”
February 10th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
“”Your opinions of why we went into Iraq aren’t intriguing to me as I’m not into believing in conspiracy theories.”"
?
I’m sure OL is flattered that you consider the reporting of the Financial Times and The Economist to be his or her’s “opinion”…
It also not a conspiracy theory that Alan Greenspan himself said last year:
“”I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” “”
Jared, buddy, use your powers for good, and realize that the world isn’t as black and white, good v evil as you learned…… :-)
…there are many many shades of grey in this life, and yes, even in your mighty nation…
Stop defending Bush, it’s not possible to love America and still defend this cretin…
February 10th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
“Isn’t every person’s responsibility to care for all people? You’re a liberal, right? –Jared.”
Well the question is, am I or am I not my brother’s keeper? Answer for yourself, by all means.
Bottom line is if we want to be the savior of he world we need to invade about a half dozen nations starting right now to ‘fix the world.’ If this is our national strategy then we must commit fully and resign ourselves to the utter and complete failure of America just as Rome did.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,
Regardless of the TRUTH of the matter, I find it interesting that I have yet to meet a person under 30 outside of the US who thinks it was about anything BUT oil.
Mission accomplished?
February 10th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
great job, Brownie!
February 10th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
SARAH,
I’ve made up words, just as you have : “tense-y”, “give-y”…talk about the the plank in your own eye…
Let’s talk about the facts of Katrina: everyone in the city was warned to leave the city prior to Katrina hitting NO. most people blew it off as either over-exaggeration by the Gov’t or had no way of getting out of the city (Ray Nagin????). In the days after Katrina hit, the gov’t’s focus was on “rescue” and not on sustainment. (Don’t tell me you’re one of those institutional racism people?)
In the weeks following, the people of NO were given PLENTY of items necessary to survive short-term…however, what they received and what they were expecting to receive were two completely different things. Hotels were ordered to give rooms to evacuees, the US Military provided meals, and FEMA even handed out credit cards (that were promptly spent on material goods, instead of necessities). I’m not trying to make excuses for FEMA as, you’re right, they could have done better. But from the other side of the fence, the people of NO were given every opportunity to help themselves, both prior to the flooding and after, but didn’t. reference Biloxi, MS.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
ERIC,
According to Pres Obama…we are ALL our brother’s keeper. Did you forget about that little nugget?
February 10th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Regardless of the TRUTH of the matter, I find it interesting that I have yet to meet a person under 30 outside of the US who thinks it was about anything BUT oil.
Mission accomplished?
Posted by Um Cara
Most people outside of America don’t understand what the hell is going on in America…that’s why I don’t get too upset when citizens in other countries think they “hate” us.
They just don’t understand, just like I really don’t understand what is going on in Canada, because I don’t live there.
All most people really have is a broad caricature of other countries in their minds.
Why would everyone under 30 outside of the US think that the war was for anything other than oil??? because that’s what they heard once on the TV and they figure it’s true.
February 11th, 2009 at 3:02 am
GuidoVanHorn,
I think more people outside the US actually do know more about the US than we know about other couintries.
They know more about the trade agreements that we are signatory to, they know more about our role and the workings of the IMF, the WTO and the World Bank than we do, AND they know more about the history of the US in world affairs than we do.
Actually the first time I heard that the ceo of Viacom, Sumnar Redstone stated that Republicans are better for his industry than Democrats was in the Asian Wall Street Journal.
February 11th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
OLD LEFTY,
I’d also like to think inhabitants of other countries know much of the US; however citing foreign journalism reports as evidence doesn’t quite instill a whole lot of confidence and isn’t indicative of what the population does or doesn’t know, IMO.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I would think a lot of what folks in other countries believe is the “real U.S” comes from pop culture.
Oy
February 11th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I’ll agree that other countries pay more attention to the U.S. than we do with other countries. But it doesn’t mean they understand anything.
I lived in Brasil for a while and through my experience, Brazilians talk alot about the U.S. but really don’t understand us. All of their ideas are very broad strokes and comes from a decidedly distorted point of view.
So even though they consume more of the U.S. news than we consume of Brasil news…they still have no effing idea who we are.
February 12th, 2009 at 3:54 am