AMERICA TO INVADE AUSTRALIA NEXT

[sayjann]

thanks Bust............

gave me a good chuckle about how 'SOME' Americans are so ignorant about the World..........

 

but the Yanks are welcome to your silly Country........

we got rid of our Crims 2 Centuries ago and have kept trying to cut it loose ever since,but to no avail.

the Republicans still can't dislodge the Monarchists.........

 

perhaps us English can start all over again and transport all our unwanted all over again?.............want some nice neighbours?...............

 

i'll join up if they want to invade France............... :chili:

[gobbledonk]

Thanks Sayjann - we can rely on you to re-open old wounds whenever Oz-Pom relations are at an all-time high ::

 

Whilst we are on the topic of 'undeisrables', you can repatriate the sawnoff would-be Paras that seem to have decided anyone over 5'3" tall is a threat to their manhood. I dont know what it is, but we seem to have a few of 'em in every pub in Brissie these days ....

[Flashermac]

Maybe it's time to send some white folks back to England to repopulate the endangered species!

[Mentors]

Give the USA back to their Natives - Sitting Bull Jr. for President!

[sayjann]

our secet plan is outed.............

first we send the undesirables to populate Pattaya and then send them further afield.

damn..........the Queensland Warrior has found us out.......

[kamui]

Acutally this video is old news:

 

Young Americans Geographically Illiterate, Survey Suggests

John Roach

for National Geographic News

May 2, 2006

 

Young adults in the United States fail to understand the world and their place in it, according to a survey-based report on geographic literacy released today.

 

Take Iraq, for example. Despite nearly constant news coverage since the war there began in 2003, 63 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 failed to correctly locate the country on a map of the Middle East. Seventy percent could not find Iran or Israel.

 

Nine in ten couldn't find Afghanistan on a map of Asia.

 

And 54 percent were unaware that Sudan is a country in Africa.

 

Remember the December 2004 tsunami and the widespread images of devastation in Indonesia?

 

Three-quarters of respondents failed to find that country on a map. And three-quarters were unaware that a majority of Indonesia's population is Muslim, making it the largest Muslim country in the world.

 

"Young Americans just don't seem to have much interest in the world outside of the U.S.," said David Rutherford, a specialist in geography education at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)

 

New York City-based Roper Public Affairs conducted the survey for the National Geographic Society. In total, Roper carried out 510 interviews between December 17, 2005, and January 20, 2006.

 

The average respondent answered 54 percent of the questions correctly. (See how you compare: Test yourself with questions from the survey.)

 

"Alarming," "Discouraging" Results

 

"The Roper poll is alarming, as it has been continuously for the past several years," said Douglas Richardson, executive director of the Association of American Geographers in Washington, D.C.

 

Richardson added that geographic knowledge is essential for survival in our rapidly globalizing world, a notion that is beginning to gain traction at the university level, where enrollment in geography classes is up.

 

"We need to really now catch up in offering the foundation for students in geography in the middle schools and the high schools," he said.

 

Survey results published in 2002 were also disappointing.

 

The 2002 project also surveyed 18- to 24-year-olds in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and Great Britain. The U.S. trailed every other country in that survey, except Mexico, which did only slightly worse. (See the 2002 results.)

 

"It's discouraging that so many young Americans have so little understanding of the world," said Robert Pastor, vice president of international affairs at American University in Washington, D.C.

 

Geography Schmeography?

 

Even for U.S. geography, the survey results are just as dismal.

 

Half could not find New York State on a map of the United States.

 

A third of the respondents could not find Louisiana, and 48 percent couldn't locate Mississippi on a map of the United States, even though Hurricane Katrina put these southeastern states in the spotlight in 2005.

 

Many young Americans also lack basic map-reading skills.

 

Told they could escape an approaching hurricane by evacuating to the northwest, only two-thirds could indicate which way northwest is on a map.

 

Perhaps even more worrisome is the finding that few U.S. young adults seem to care.

 

Fewer than three in ten think it's absolutely necessary to know where countries in the news are located. Only 14 percent believe speaking another language fluently is a necessary skill.

 

Fewer than one in five young Americans own a world map.

 

This geographic ineptitude was further emphasized when young Americans were asked questions on how the United States fits into the wider world.

 

Three in ten respondents put the U.S. population between one and two billion (it's just under 300 million, according the U.S. Census Bureau). Seventy-four percent said English is the most commonly spoken native language in the world (it's Mandarin Chinese).

 

Although 73 percent knew the U.S. is the world's largest consumer of oil, nearly as many (71 percent) did not know that the U.S. is also the world's largest exporter of goods and services, when measured in terms of monetary value; half think it's China.

 

And what about India, which features prominently in the job-outsourcing debate? Forty-seven percent of young Americans were unable to locate where their jobs may go on a map of Asia.

 

Rutherford, who is also a graduate of the Ph.D. program in geographic education at Texas State University in San Marcos, said improving the geographic literacy of tomorrow's leaders is crucial.

 

"In our country?where the decisions we make on a daily basis have far-reaching ramifications?it is profoundly important for our people to have a better grasp of geographic literacy," he said.

 

Geography's Place

 

According to Richardson, of the Association of American Geographers, enrollment in geography courses at the university level is increasing. This indicates that "geography is assuming a more central place in our society."

 

Part of the upswing in enrollment is driven by increased use of technology, such as geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS). In addition, rapid globalization is forcing students to open their eyes to the rest of the world, he says.

 

On a positive note, since 2002 the percentage of young Americans who use the Internet for news has more than doubled from 11 percent to 27 percent. Respondents who use the Internet were found to do better on the survey than those who do not.

 

To further increase geographic literacy at the middle and high school level, the National Geographic Society today announced the launch of a public-engagement campaign called My Wonderful World.

 

Anchored by a Web site, the campaign provides resources to parents and teachers to help children learn about their world.

 

And improving student engagement and interest seems to lead to improved knowledge, according to the Roper survey.

 

"The good news," American University's Pastor said, "is education, travel, and language matter. The young people who have more education, who have traveled outside the country, and who can speak a second language are more likely to answer more questions on the geography survey correctly."

 

"So it shows Americans are educable, and the only question is whether American teachers will do more to interest their students in more education, language, and study-abroad activities."

 

 

 

National Geographics

[kamui]

This survey makes it understandable that it was nearly impossible to explain an average American the situation of Berlin during the Cold War.

That Germany

a.) was split in two parts and that

b.) Berlin was split also and that

c.) West Berlin was located in East Germany, but was part of West Germany.

 

Today most of them would bomb South Korea, since they have no idea that North Korea is the evil state. ::

[bust]

kamui said:

Acutally this video is old news:

 

The show went off the air in 2003 so this particular video was made before then. http://www.cnnnn.com/

[Kite_Flyer]

Have to say that the comment "I didn't realise that North Korea was so much bigger than South Korea" (or words to that effect) was, apart from being a mind-boggling display of ignorance, actually rather funny. Made me laugh (OK and cringe at the same time) anyway.

[Flashermac]

Meanwhile, in the enlightened old mother country ...

 

 

 

Brits fail geography test - spectacularly

27 March, 2006

 

 

We travel abroad in our millions every year - just a shame we haven't a clue where we're going.

 

According to a new survey from online travel firm Ugogo.co.uk, six out of 10 Brits were unable to pinpoint on a map where they went on holiday last year.

 

Our general geographical knowledge was no better.

 

Asked about specific destinations, 35% thought Singapore is in China, with only 12% realising it's an independent country.

 

Almost three out of 10 thought New Zealand is an island belonging to Australia while only a pitiful 8% of the 2038 people quizzed could name the countries of Scandinavia.

 

And it got worse.

 

More than 50% hadn't a clue where Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Geneva and Brussels could be found while respondents could name an average of only 1.2 German cities.

 

Chris Hilton from Ugogo said: "We thought we'd survey people to see whether they care about the abundance of attractions on their doorstep. We can only hope that although there are many people who don't, there are many more who do."

 

 

www.travelmole.com