Civic Literacy Test
M C Hamster
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
--
M C Hamster "Big Wheel Keep on Turning" -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
Lisa Ann
news:k94ei4t2m6kdrc0ag...@4ax.com...
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
I scored 31 out of 33. Not too shabby.
Lisa Ann
Boron Elgar
<davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
I got 30 of 33.
And I think some of the questions were biased.
Boron
Opus the Penguin
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
I got them all right, plus I got the extra credit question.[1]
[1] They misquoted the Gettysburg Address. I was able to supply the
correct wording.
--
Opus the Penguin
You know, this may actually be the most magnificient piece of
insignificance I've ever seen. - Lisa Ann
Peter Ward
>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
I got 26 right - not too bad for a Brit considering I'm inadequately
educated in US history, uninterested in US politics, and think
economics is largely a load of bollocks. Above average, anyway.
I like the way Q8 gave you the answer to Q2, but I'd already got that
right anyway.
Multiple choice is easy.
--
Peter
I'm an alien
email: home at peteward dot gotadsl dot co dot uk
I've listened to Morrisey, and heavens knows I'm miserable now.
- Slidge
M C Hamster
<opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
>
>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>
>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>>
>
>I got them all right.
Yeah, I figured you'd claim that.
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
M C Hamster wrote:
>
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
I'm not convinced that wasn't a bit of a push poll, at least a
couple of the questions. In any case, it claimed that I got all of
them correct except the one asking about the Lincoln Douglas
debates. I said that it was about the morality of slavery but they
say it was about the expansion of slavery into new states.
Obviously those were the two options. I thought that it couldn't be
all about expansion of slavery because I thought that morality of
mattered more. Clearly it was about slavery expansion on some level
though because various compromises had been made and were creating
havoc as the US was growing larger. But what is the point of not
expanding slavery into new states if there is nothing morally wrong
with slavery?
--
Q: What did one piece of a stained glass window that had fallen out
on the street and been retrieved by a stained glass window
repairman and put back into its stained glass window say to another
piece of the stained glass window after it had been carefully
soldered in place by the stained glass repairman?
A: Foiled again!
Sean Houtman
@news.datemas.de:
Me too, I got one wrong because I really didn't know why Lincoln and
Douglas were debating, and I misread the one about government spending and
taxes.
Sean
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
Opus the Penguin
> On Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:31:22 +0000 (UTC), Opus the Penguin
> <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
>>
>>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>>
>>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I
>>> should have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions
>>> that I got wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back
>>> then.
>>>
>>
>>I got them all right.
>
> Yeah, I figured you'd claim that.
>
What's that supposed to mean?
--
Opus the Penguin
I vehemently believe in both sides of the argument. - Greg Goss
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
Opus the Penguin wrote:
>
> M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
>
> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> > http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >
> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
> >
>
> I got them all right, plus I got the extra credit question.[1]
>
What do you think about the Lincoln Douglas debates? I'd recently
looked at the wiki page and I've now read it again and even this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln-Douglas_debates_of_1858#The_Debates
#begin quote
The main theme of the debates was slavery, especially the issue of
slavery's expansion into the territories.
#end quote
I still don't buy that morality didn't matter. Like I said, what is
the point of banning something that isn't wrong in the first place?
To reach into states and say they must do something if there isn't
a strong and defining moral issue seems like a violation of states'
rights. I think that morality had to be the underlying issue. And
if you don't like morality, what the country wanted for itself.
I suppose you could ban illegal drugs because they are dangerous or
nuclear bombs for another level of danger, maybe owning a nuclear
bomb isn't immoral, maybe it is, maybe you can ban slavery for
purely utilitarian reasons. I just can't believe that was true of
the US Civil War. All that for simply a Pareto improvement? It's
not even clear that that is true since the farmers might not view
not having the slaves as better. Mr Plausable should comment.
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
Opus the Penguin wrote:
>
> M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
>
> > On Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:31:22 +0000 (UTC), Opus the Penguin
> > <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >>M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
> >>
> >>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >>>
> >>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I
> >>> should have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions
> >>> that I got wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back
> >>> then.
> >>>
> >>
> >>I got them all right.
> >
> > Yeah, I figured you'd claim that.
> >
>
> What's that supposed to mean?
>
He figured that if he posted his scores, someone would claim to
have done better. Al Franken got a perfect SAT math score, didn't
he?
Les Albert
<opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
>
>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>
>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>I got them all right, plus I got the extra credit question.[1]
>[1] They misquoted the Gettysburg Address. I was able to supply the
>correct wording.
I got them all correct, plus the extra credit question, PLUS double
total score for the essay question, "Why I like living in America".
Les
Peter Boulding
wrote in <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0ag...@4ax.com>:
>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
I answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %. Not bad, I think, for a Limey.
--
Regards, Peter Boulding
p...@UNSPAMpboulding.co.uk (to e-mail, remove "UNSPAM")
Fractal music & images: http://www.pboulding.co.uk/ and
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=794240&content=music
Opus the Penguin
Grrrrrrr.... I knew I should've done the essay.
--
Opus the Penguin
I made it up, based on something I read somewhere. - Pushmi-Pullyu
Peter Ward
>On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net>
>wrote in <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0ag...@4ax.com>:
>
>>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>
>>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
>I answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %. Not bad, I think, for a Limey.
Ooh, you only beat me by one, and you take far, far more interest in
US affairs than I do.
<Sub-Lieutenant Leslie Phillips>
I /am/ proud!
</S-LLP>
--
Peter
I'm an alien
email: home at peteward dot gotadsl dot co dot uk
Who gives a shit about wars, or about how long they last? Apostrophes, on the other hand, are important.
- Peter Boulding
Reunite Gondwanaland (Mary Shafer)
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
That wasn't an honest test. The last part was an attempt to push
someone's brand of economic theory.
Mary "No wonder some people failed"
--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer
We didn't just do weird stuff at Dryden, we wrote reports about it.
reunite....@gmail.com or mil...@qnet.com
Visit my blog at http://thedigitalknitter.blogspot.com/
Peter Ward
wrote:
>On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
><davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>
>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
>That wasn't an honest test. The last part was an attempt to push
>someone's brand of economic theory.
I'm glad you said that. I was of the opinion that the economics
questions were flaky.
--
Peter
I'm an alien
email: home at peteward dot gotadsl dot co dot uk
Religion is religion. What did you expect?
- Paul Ciszek
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
"Reunite Gondwanaland (Mary Shafer)" wrote:
>
> On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
> <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> > http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >
> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> That wasn't an honest test. The last part was an attempt to push
> someone's brand of economic theory.
>
> Mary "No wonder some people failed"
>
I think that's been noted by many people including me. You'll
agree, I expect, that there were enough questions that were not
really that biased or absurd that getting the sorts of scores that
are claimed by the test givers is difficult to imagine.
art...@yahoo.com
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
How the hell did I get a 29? I don't know any of this shit.
Artyw "process of elimination" 2
Lars Eighner
lovely and talented M C Hamster broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
32 out of 33, but I think some of the "right" answers to the economic
questions are wrong.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
Nothing wrong here a MacArthur grant wouldn't cure.
Heather
<davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
I scored 27 which surprised me since I have never made any effort to
learn about US civics or history and I doubt I would score any better
on a similar test relating to Australia.
--
Heather
jeffinputnam
Question #8 - C. appoint additional Supreme Court justices who shared
his views
The way I read it, FDR would appoint *additional* Supreme.... and I
thought there's a limit on how many could be there.
Question #13 - E. certain permanent moral and political truths are
accessible to human reason
That's Aristotle and those guys...
J
plausible prose man
Okay, you're an idiot.
plausible prose man
M C Hamster wrote:
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> wrong.
Yeah, well, I got a 32 out of 33, and I'm still not sure I'm really
wrong about the one about spending and taxes.
>Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
And which certainly kept you out of the college of your choice, eh?
plausible prose man
> On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster <davol...@speakeasy.nospam.net>
> wrote in <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0agsgctcaffc15j0s...@4ax.com>:
>
> >This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> >I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> >have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> >wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> I answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %. Not bad, I think, for a Limey.
Especially given how bad your educational system is compared to ours.
plausible prose man
> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> That wasn't an honest test.
You're remarkably dull sometimes for a person who can build an
airplane, which I suspect is considerably more complicated than a
toaster.
>The last part was an attempt to push
> someone's brand of economic theory.
There were only three economics questions, they were very definitely
the sort of thing that would come up in a civics class, especially of
your generation, and largely uncontroversial within the discipline.
plausible prose man
> In our last episode, <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0agsgctcaffc15j0s...@4ax.com>, the
> lovely and talented M C Hamster broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> 32 out of 33,
I hate you, Harvey Milk-man
> but I think some of the "right" answers to the economic
> questions are wrong.
Really? Because centrally planned economys really do outperform freer
markets? Because free trade leads to a decline in prosperity? Sure,
which is why Cuba is an economic powerhouse, eh?
Yeah, go fuck yourself on your way to stand in line for cheese, you
unemployable pornographer. Go, um..."teach the controversy."
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
How could that be given I scored the same on this test as you did?
Rick B.
news:Xns9B5D8E77188DD...@66.175.223.2:
32 of 33--whiffed on Lincoln-Douglas.
Mark Steese
news:slrngieep3....@debranded.larseighner.com:
> In our last episode, <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0ag...@4ax.com>, the
> lovely and talented M C Hamster broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> 32 out of 33, but I think some of the "right" answers to the economic
> questions are wrong.
32 out of 33 here, too, and I'm deeply suspicious of the one they claim I
got 'wrong.'
--
Mark Steese
=======================
The disturbed eyes rise,
furtive, foiled, dissatisfied
from meditation on the true
and insignificant.
plausible prose man
Ah, well, this week's test is how many verses of "Good Ship Venus"
you can put across.
> A: Foiled again!
art...@yahoo.com
> On Nov 21, 5:50 pm, Lars Eighner <use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>
> > In our last episode, <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0agsgctcaffc15j0s...@4ax.com>, the
> > lovely and talented M C Hamster broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
> > > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> > >http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> > > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> > > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> > > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> > 32 out of 33,
>
> I hate you, Harvey Milk-man
>
> > but I think some of the "right" answers to the economic
> > questions are wrong.
>
> Really? Because centrally planned economys really do outperform freer
> markets? Because free trade leads to a decline in prosperity? Sure,
> which is why Cuba is an economic powerhouse, eh?
They might not be "Wrong" but the answers would be harder to find on
Wiki than the answers to the questions on history and government. And
if it's not in Wiki, I don't need to hear it.
Lars Eighner
<5df67ae6-f4d2-4ed2...@t11g2000yqg.googlegroups.com>, the
lovely and talented plausible prose man broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
> On Nov 21, 5:50 pm, Lars Eighner <use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>> In our last episode, <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0agsgctcaffc15j0s...@4ax.com>, the
>> lovely and talented M C Hamster broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>>
>> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> >http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>>
>> 32 out of 33,
> I hate you, Harvey Milk-man
>> but I think some of the "right" answers to the economic
>> questions are wrong.
> Really? Because centrally planned economys really do outperform freer
> markets?
Because we have a very real present example that market economies fail
miserably.
> Because free trade leads to a decline in prosperity?
Open a newspaper, read today's headlines.
> Sure, which is why Cuba is an economic powerhouse, eh?
Economic systems are not a magic wand that can transform an area's natural
assets. Yes, by comparison to other Caribbean nations, Cuba is an economic
powerhouse. It is really funny that you defend free trade and market
economies, but point to a country that is not allowed to compete.
> Yeah, go fuck yourself on your way to stand in line for cheese, you
> unemployable pornographer. Go, um..."teach the controversy."
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals;
we know now that it is bad economics" -- Franklin D. Roosevelt
plausible prose man
> lovely and talented plausible prose man broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
>
>
> > On Nov 21, 5:50 pm, Lars Eighner <use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
> >> In our last episode, <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0agsgctcaffc15j0s...@4ax.com>, the
> >> lovely and talented M C Hamster broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
> >> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >> >http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> >> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> >> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> >> 32 out of 33,
> > I hate you, Harvey Milk-man
> >> but I think some of the "right" answers to the economic
> >> questions are wrong.
> > Really? Because centrally planned economys really do outperform freer
> > markets?
>
> Because we have a very real present example that market economies fail
> miserably.
Well, sure, the housing thing isn't nearly as robust as it was before
well-intentioned, and of couse the out-and-out corrupt, decided to
mandate a relaxation of credit standards, but, shit, we sure have a
ways to go before we're as fucking miserable poor as, say, North
Korea, or Korea, or China, or any of the centrally planned economys,
huh?
>
> > Because free trade leads to a decline in prosperity?
>
> Open a newspaper, read today's headlines.
Free trade does not, and indeed cannot, lead to a decline in
prosperity.
> > Sure, which is why Cuba is an economic powerhouse, eh?
>
> Economic systems are not a magic wand that can transform an area's natural
> assets.
Yes they are, actually. Look how rich in natural resources, say, the
nations of Africa are. Look how poor they are.
> Yes, by comparison to other Caribbean nations, Cuba is an economic
> powerhouse.
Oh, dear heavens...oh, I'm just laughing till my sides hurt at you.
> It is really funny that you defend free trade and market
> economies, but point to a country that is not allowed to compete.
Right, in other words, I defend how well something works by
contrasting how successful countries are that are organized along
those lines with countries that are not organized along those lines.
plausible prose man
> Lars Eighner <use...@larseighner.com> wrote innews:slrngieep3....@debranded.larseighner.com:
>
> > In our last episode, <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0agsgctcaffc15j0s...@4ax.com>, the
> > lovely and talented M C Hamster broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
> >> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> >> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> >> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> >> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> > 32 out of 33, but I think some of the "right" answers to the economic
> > questions are wrong.
>
> 32 out of 33 here, too, and I'm deeply suspicious of the one they claim I
> got 'wrong.'
> --
> Mark Steese
Which one is that, Mark?
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
I should manage a somewhat more earthy tone.
Don K
news:Xns9B5DC8C3B...@130.133.1.4...
Me too. I didn't know my amendment numbers, and I should have guessed
that Aquinas wouldn't think that truth is relative to time and place.
Don
Lars Eighner
<e80cec14-c73b-4e6e...@s20g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>, the
You have a poor grasp of history if you blame the economic system for the
situation in these countries.
>>
>> > Because free trade leads to a decline in prosperity?
>>
>> Open a newspaper, read today's headlines.
> Free trade does not, and indeed cannot, lead to a decline in
> prosperity.
Pure nonsense. Evidently your economic view is a religion because you are
blind to real-world evidence.
>> > Sure, which is why Cuba is an economic powerhouse, eh?
>>
>> Economic systems are not a magic wand that can transform an area's natural
>> assets.
> Yes they are, actually. Look how rich in natural resources, say, the
> nations of Africa are. Look how poor they are.
As if america were doing so well less than 50 years after independence.
>> Yes, by comparison to other Caribbean nations, Cuba is an economic
>> powerhouse.
> Oh, dear heavens...oh, I'm just laughing till my sides hurt at you.
So you you'll be moving to Haiti any day now.
>> It is really funny that you defend free trade and market
>> economies, but point to a country that is not allowed to compete.
> Right, in other words, I defend how well something works by
> contrasting how successful countries are that are organized along
> those lines with countries that are not organized along those lines.
Somehow 'embargo' seems to you to be 'free trade.'
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
...and don't read the FAQ or lurk or anything. Just start a flamewar with
the first nitwit whose post you read. --Huey's strategy for Usenet success
Reunite Gondwanaland (Mary Shafer)
to Vote on the 5th of November )" <tributyl...@yahoo.co.uk>
wrote:
> "Reunite Gondwanaland (Mary Shafer)" wrote:
> >
> > On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
> > <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
> >
> > > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> > > http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> > >
> > > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> > > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> > > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
> >
> > That wasn't an honest test. The last part was an attempt to push
> > someone's brand of economic theory.
> >
> > Mary "No wonder some people failed"
> >
> I think that's been noted by many people including me. You'll
> agree, I expect, that there were enough questions that were not
> really that biased or absurd that getting the sorts of scores that
> are claimed by the test givers is difficult to imagine.
I don't remember Aquinas coming up in my civics classes, and the exact
subject of the Lincoln-Douglas debates hadn't survived the decades
since the classes, but, yeah, I was surprised at the scores they
claimed. However, you and I, like the rest of afca, aren't
representative of the general population. As a result, we may not be
very good at judging it.
Mary "Current TV suggests I overestimate its taste"
Heather
wrote:
And what were economics questions doing on the quiz anyway?
Particularly since I disagree with at least some of the answers.
--
Heather
plausible prose man
Remarkably, there's a strong correlation between a nation's economic
system and how prosperous it is. A discussion of the subject with
anyone who thinks otherwise is like talking about biology with Opus.
> >> > Because free trade leads to a decline in prosperity?
>
> >> Open a newspaper, read today's headlines.
> > Free trade does not, and indeed cannot, lead to a decline in
> > prosperity.
>
> Pure nonsense.
Lars, I could double your net worth with a trip the grocery.
> Evidently your economic view is a religion because you are
> blind to real-world evidence.
Speaking of real world evidence, given that the biggest asset you own
is likely a forty pound bag of dog food, why would I even care what
you think?
> >> > Sure, which is why Cuba is an economic powerhouse, eh?
>
> >> Economic systems are not a magic wand that can transform an area's natural
> >> assets.
> > Yes they are, actually. Look how rich in natural resources, say, the
> > nations of Africa are. Look how poor they are.
>
> As if america were doing so well less than 50 years after independence.
Well, yes indeed it was, to hear that Frenchy fellow speak on it. Of
course, America didn't immediately install an authoritarian
kleptocracy, so...
> >> Yes, by comparison to other Caribbean nations, Cuba is an economic
> >> powerhouse.
> > Oh, dear heavens...oh, I'm just laughing till my sides hurt at you.
>
> So you you'll be moving to Haiti any day now.
Not if Bermuda's open that day.
> >> It is really funny that you defend free trade and market
> >> economies, but point to a country that is not allowed to compete.
> > Right, in other words, I defend how well something works by
> > contrasting how successful countries are that are organized along
> > those lines with countries that are not organized along those lines.
>
> Somehow 'embargo' seems to you to be 'free trade.'
No, embargo is the opposite of free trade. If free trade causes a
decline in prosperity, an embargo should cause an improvement. What
are the real world effects of free trade and embargo? Answer
correctly, and I'll buy you a flat of tuna tins, and a huge bag of dog
food.
plausible prose man
I think you could wiki up "public good" and "deficiet spending" and
"free trade" easily enough.
>And
> if it's not in Wiki, I don't need to hear it.
I agree.
Jim Prescott
Same score and error for me.
There were 5 I wasn't sure of (including the one I got wrong).
--
Jim Prescott - Computing and Networking Group j...@seas.rochester.edu
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Rochester, NY
Blinky the Shark
> Lisa Ann wrote:
>> "M C Hamster" <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote in message
>> news:k94ei4t2m6kdrc0ag...@4ax.com...
>>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>>
>>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I
>>> should have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4
>>> questions that I got wrong. Which is what I told the SAT
>>> people, way back then.
>>>
>>
>> I scored 31 out of 33. Not too shabby.
>>
>> Lisa Ann
>>
>>
> Yeah, here too. I missed:
>
> Question #8 - C. appoint additional Supreme Court justices who
> shared his views
>
> The way I read it, FDR would appoint *additional* Supreme....
> and I thought there's a limit on how many could be there.
That *was* his plan.
--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Blinky: http://blinkynet.net
Invisible Lurker
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
100 percent. Helps to be a former economics major with
long experience in historiography
--
Invisible Lurker
http://ansaman.posterous.com/
Invisible Lurker
See wikipedia on FDR's "packing the court."
M C Hamster
>
>
>Opus the Penguin wrote:
>>
>> M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
>>
>> > On Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:31:22 +0000 (UTC), Opus the Penguin
>> > <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >>M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> >>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>> >>>
>> >>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I
>> >>> should have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions
>> >>> that I got wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back
>> >>> then.
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>I got them all right.
>> >
>> > Yeah, I figured you'd claim that.
>> >
>>
>> What's that supposed to mean?
>>
>He figured that if he posted his scores, someone would claim to
>have done better. Al Franken got a perfect SAT math score, didn't
>he?
Nah, I was just pokin' fun at Opus. He always seems to score 100% on
these things. I just thought I'd suggest that he's fudging the truth,
but I'm sure he's not actually doing so.
--
M C Hamster "Big Wheel Keep on Turning" -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
Veronique
> Nah, I was just pokin' fun at Opus. He always seems to score 100% on
> these things. I just thought I'd suggest that he's fudging the truth,
> but I'm sure he's not actually doing so.
Mmm, fudgy fudgy truth!
V.
--
Veronique Chez Sheep
M C Hamster
>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
Somebody explain to me why Hamilton was a "Federalist", in that he
believed in a strong central government and establishment of a
National Bank etc.... but why today, a candidate like Palin says she's
a "Federalist" because she believes the individual states should have
great freedom to establish their own laws independently from what the
federal government wants.
When did that term's meaning change to mean the complete opposite of
what it meant before? And don't try, through some convoluted
argument, to say that they are consistent. They're not; Hamilton
wanted a strong central government, and today's so-called Federalists
want a weak central government.
Jim Prescott
Invisible Lurker <ans...@gmail.com> wrote:
>100 percent. Helps to be a former economics major with
>long experience in historiography
In general or just today?
Greg Goss
>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
I got 31 out of 33, and I'm not even a resident.
Missed Gettysburg (Perhaps because "The world will little note, nor
long remember what we say here") and the definition of "Public Good".
--
It's a little-known fact that every Canadian citizen is born with a
sharp, serrated edge somewhere on their body as protection
from polar bears and enraged Quebecois (J Jacques 2006)
Greg Goss
>M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
>
>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>
>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>>
>
>I got them all right, plus I got the extra credit question.[1]
>
>
>
>[1] They misquoted the Gettysburg Address. I was able to supply the
>correct wording.
The "correct" wording?
From wiki:
"Despite the speech's prominent place in the history and popular
culture of the United States, the exact wording of the speech is
disputed. The five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address differ
in a number of details and also differ from contemporary newspaper
reprints of the speech."
actually at nostradamus.net
>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
I got 31 right, missing . . .
Question #11 - A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the
Bill of Rights
Question #33 - D. tax per person equals government spending per person
Veronique
> On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
>
> >This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> >I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> >have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> >wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> Somebody explain to me why Hamilton was a "Federalist", in that he
> believed in a strong central government and establishment of a
> National Bank etc.... but why today, a candidate like Palin says she's
> a "Federalist" because she believes the individual states should have
> great freedom to establish their own laws independently from what the
> federal government wants.
>
> When did that term's meaning change to mean the complete opposite of
> what it meant before? And don't try, through some convoluted
> argument, to say that they are consistent. They're not; Hamilton
> wanted a strong central government, and today's so-called Federalists
> want a weak central government.
If Palin's a Federalist, it means they want no central government and
the freedom to secede...
actually at nostradamus.net
Shafer)" <reunite....@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
><davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>
>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
>That wasn't an honest test. The last part was an attempt to push
>someone's brand of economic theory.
>
>Mary "No wonder some people failed"
Whoops. I thought the point was to figure out the answer that the
test-giver wanted to hear.
Jerry Bauer
<tributyl...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Opus the Penguin wrote:
> >
> > M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
> >
> > > On Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:31:22 +0000 (UTC), Opus the Penguin
> > > <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >>M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> > >>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> > >>>
> > >>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I
> > >>> should have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions
> > >>> that I got wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back
> > >>> then.
> > >>>
> > >>
> > >>I got them all right.
> > >
> > > Yeah, I figured you'd claim that.
> > >
> >
> > What's that supposed to mean?
> >
> He figured that if he posted his scores, someone would claim to
> have done better. Al Franken got a perfect SAT math score, didn't
> he?
For the record, I got 100%.
And a perfect SAT math score. I missed one on the SAT math level II.
--
Jerry Randal Bauer
actually at nostradamus.net
wrote:
Math level II? Do you mean the National Curriculum assessment?
Jerry Bauer
> Math level II? Do you mean the National Curriculum assessment?
No, I mean SAT math level II, in 1970.
The report threw me, at first. It said, "m 2790" (or something like
that -- I don't remember the actual score). The highest possible was
800, so 2790 seemed like an error, or a *really* good score.
--
Jerry Randal Bauer
Mitch
wrote:
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile,
"You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 %"
'L,L, and p of h' oops.
-Mitch ( I get a lump in my throat whenever I hear the SSB...my eyes
tear up...what a waste of such promise...all you Bush suck ups
smearing anyone who disagrees with you, I love this country more than
you can ever understand because I know what "life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness" really means. Fuck you all and may whatever god
rules this universe give you what you really deserve...amen}.
actually at nostradamus.net
wrote:
>actually at nostradamus.net <n...@example.com> wrote:
I actually didn't know about the SAT Subject Tests. Live and learn.
Hank Gillette
M C Hamster <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>
> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
I got them all right, except the last one, which I think was ambiguous.
As an aside, I didn't take civics in high school.
I'm wondering how a question about the beliefs of Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle, and Aquinas has anything to do with American civics.
I also think that the question:
"Which of the following fiscal policy combinations would a government
most likely follow to stimulate economic activity when the economy is in
a severe recession?"
should have included the answer:
"Flop around like chickens with their heads cut off."
--
Hank Gillette
"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now
that it is bad economics" -- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Hank Gillette
Boron Elgar <boron...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> And I think some of the questions were biased.
I thought so, too.
Wikipedia says, "The group is known for having distinctly American
Conservative views."
Invisible Lurker
> In article <wuMVk.68534$De7....@bignews7.bellsouth.net>,
> Invisible Lurker <ans...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> 100 percent. Helps to be a former economics major with
>> long experience in historiography
>
> In general or just today?
Doesn't hurt at all. Makes life a lot more interesting and there
is always a library of books I can read with enough background
information to really enjoy.
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
Lars Eighner wrote:
>
> In our last episode,
> <e80cec14-c73b-4e6e...@s20g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>, the
> lovely and talented plausible prose man broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
> >> Because we have a very real present example that market economies fail
> >> miserably.
>
> > Well, sure, the housing thing isn't nearly as robust as it was before
> > well-intentioned, and of couse the out-and-out corrupt, decided to
> > mandate a relaxation of credit standards, but, shit, we sure have a
> > ways to go before we're as fucking miserable poor as, say, North
> > Korea, or Korea, or China, or any of the centrally planned economys,
> > huh?
>
> You have a poor grasp of history if you blame the economic system for the
> situation in these countries.
>
It turns out that capitalism is the economic version of democracy.
It all turns on something called freedom. Ironically, Liberals
don't seem to know what that is.
> >>
> >> > Because free trade leads to a decline in prosperity?
> >>
> >> Open a newspaper, read today's headlines.
>
> > Free trade does not, and indeed cannot, lead to a decline in
> > prosperity.
>
> Pure nonsense. Evidently your economic view is a religion because you are
> blind to real-world evidence.
>
Free trade didn't cause the housing bubble.
> >> > Sure, which is why Cuba is an economic powerhouse, eh?
> >>
> >> Economic systems are not a magic wand that can transform an area's natural
> >> assets.
>
> > Yes they are, actually. Look how rich in natural resources, say, the
> > nations of Africa are. Look how poor they are.
>
> As if america were doing so well less than 50 years after independence.
>
Africa is a hell hole. It's been that way since, since for as long
as I can remember. When was America a hell hole?
> >> Yes, by comparison to other Caribbean nations, Cuba is an economic
> >> powerhouse.
>
> > Oh, dear heavens...oh, I'm just laughing till my sides hurt at you.
>
> So you you'll be moving to Haiti any day now.
>
What is wrong with Haiti? I'm sure it's not something simple that
you can just blame on Bush. I think it is a crisis of their
democracy. Until a society accepts that the other side can win an
election and have their chance for their term in office to do their
best without being physically attacked, democracy can't work. Haiti
hasn't got that.
> >> It is really funny that you defend free trade and market
> >> economies, but point to a country that is not allowed to compete.
>
> > Right, in other words, I defend how well something works by
> > contrasting how successful countries are that are organized along
> > those lines with countries that are not organized along those lines.
>
> Somehow 'embargo' seems to you to be 'free trade.'
>
So Coober is stuck in the 50s because the US has a trade embargo on
them? Why can't they trade with France or something?
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
My explanation was nicer.
--
Q: What did one piece of a stained glass window that had fallen out
on the street and been retrieved by a stained glass window
repairman and put back into its stained glass window say to another
piece of the stained glass window after it had been carefully
soldered in place by the stained glass repairman?
A: Foiled again!
Lars Eighner
lovely and talented Blinky the Shark broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
> jeffinputnam wrote:
>> Lisa Ann wrote:
>>> "M C Hamster" <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote in message
>>> news:k94ei4t2m6kdrc0ag...@4ax.com...
>>>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>>>
>>>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I
>>>> should have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4
>>>> questions that I got wrong. Which is what I told the SAT
>>>> people, way back then.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I scored 31 out of 33. Not too shabby.
>>>
>>> Lisa Ann
>>>
>>>
>> Yeah, here too. I missed:
>>
>> Question #8 - C. appoint additional Supreme Court justices who
>> shared his views
>>
>> The way I read it, FDR would appoint *additional* Supreme....
>> and I thought there's a limit on how many could be there.
> That *was* his plan.
Yes. Of course that was a little misleading because he couldn't do it by
himself. The size of the court is set by Congress. Democrats had control
of Congress. Congress would have had to create the additional
seats---something that was plausible enough then (and will be again in
January) to make a credible threat. As it happened, the Court was
miraculously inspired to rethink its position on a number of key recovery
issues.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
My favorite St Patrick's Day was always in Chinatown in San Francisco, watching
the old Chinese guys drinking green beer and eating green bagels.--Rich Clancey
Lars Eighner
lovely and talented M C Hamster broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
> On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net>
>wrote:
>>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>
>>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
> Somebody explain to me why Hamilton was a "Federalist", in that he
> believed in a strong central government and establishment of a
> National Bank etc.... but why today, a candidate like Palin says she's
> a "Federalist" because she believes the individual states should have
> great freedom to establish their own laws independently from what the
> federal government wants.
Well, you seem to have overlooked the fact that Palin is a moron.
> When did that term's meaning change to mean the complete opposite of
> what it meant before? And don't try, through some convoluted
> argument, to say that they are consistent. They're not; Hamilton
> wanted a strong central government, and today's so-called Federalists
> want a weak central government.
Well, you seem to have overlooked the fact that today's so-called
Federalists are morons.
However, they do want a strong central government when Republicans are in
power. They want limited government when Democrats are in power.
Sort of like Ashcroft as Bush's AG asking for anti-terrorist measures that
Sen. Ashcroft had led the charge to defeat when Clinton was president.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
Nothing wrong here a MacArthur grant wouldn't cure.
Lars Eighner
lovely and talented actually at nostradamus.net broadcast on
alt.fan.cecil-adams:
Yeah. #33 is the one I missed. I went with 0 debt, although I knew that
wasn't right --- would have been if it was 0 deficit. The officially
correct answer presupposes that taxes are the only source of revenue ---
which is not strictly true.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
The odds of me ever buying another Volkswagen hover somewhere below the odds
of Alan and Shawn joining together in the bonds of holy matrimony.--Greg Goss
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
Invisible Lurker wrote:
>
> M C Hamster said:
> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> > http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >
> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> 100 percent. Helps to be a former economics major with
> long experience in historiography
>
Pretty much everyone in this group is getting almost all the
questions right and the questions they get wrong are often
questionably presented. What does this mean when the people who did
the poll claim that most folks they ask these questions of are
stupid and don't get them correct? Are they just lying? Are they
insane? Is this newsgroup atypical? Are the stupid people around
here not telling what they really got?
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
Invisible Lurker wrote:
>
> Jim Prescott said:
> > In article <wuMVk.68534$De7....@bignews7.bellsouth.net>,
> > Invisible Lurker <ans...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> 100 percent. Helps to be a former economics major with
> >> long experience in historiography
> >
> > In general or just today?
>
> Doesn't hurt at all. Makes life a lot more interesting and there
> is always a library of books I can read with enough background
> information to really enjoy.
>
As opposed to people who found Charlotte's Web a fun read?
So I've shot down the second part. How does your major make life in
general more interesting? I would think you'd find some of the
stuff from Lars giggly.
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
Lars Eighner wrote:
>
> In our last episode, <vq5fi45g7kmtjnpdf...@4ax.com>, the
> lovely and talented M C Hamster broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
> > On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net>
> >wrote:
>
> >>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >>
> >>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> >>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> >>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> > Somebody explain to me why Hamilton was a "Federalist", in that he
> > believed in a strong central government and establishment of a
> > National Bank etc.... but why today, a candidate like Palin says she's
> > a "Federalist" because she believes the individual states should have
> > great freedom to establish their own laws independently from what the
> > federal government wants.
>
> Well, you seem to have overlooked the fact that Palin is a moron.
>
So after leaving the Alaska Leaving the USA Party, Palin ran on the
REpublican ticket and then after losing has now decided that she's
a Federalist? I find all this very difficult to believe and doubt
that you have any sort of cite to back it up.
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
Greg Goss wrote:
>
> M C Hamster <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
> >This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >
> >I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> >have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> >wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> I got 31 out of 33, and I'm not even a resident.
>
In case you didn't know, the questions are easy. I thought before
taking it that they'd ask how many bullet holes there were in that
flag that Key wrote the national anthem while gazing at. But it
wasn't that sort of quiz.
> Missed Gettysburg (Perhaps because "The world will little note, nor
> long remember what we say here") and the definition of "Public Good".
>
Is there anything about Canada worth mentioning?
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
33 is a question that can be figured out by simply reading and
using knowledge that even a moron would have. We shouldn't discount
the possibly that you got other questions correct by luck.
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
Lars Eighner wrote:
>
> In our last episode, <138fi4d9e7c43fl1j...@4ax.com>, the
> lovely and talented actually at nostradamus.net broadcast on
> alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
> > On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
> ><davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
> >>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >>
> >>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> >>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> >>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> > I got 31 right, missing . . .
>
> > Question #11 - A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the
> > Bill of Rights
>
> > Question #33 - D. tax per person equals government spending per person
>
> Yeah. #33 is the one I missed.
>
The question is impossible to miss unless you were looking at a
cute broad at the time.
> I went with 0 debt, although I knew that
> wasn't right --- would have been if it was 0 deficit. The officially
> correct answer presupposes that taxes are the only source of revenue ---
> which is not strictly true.
>
Readers might ask what other revenue the government gets. I mean
what revenue is not "taxes". [Watch for word games in the
response.]
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
Hank Gillette wrote:
>
> In article <k94ei4t2m6kdrc0ag...@4ax.com>,
> M C Hamster <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> > http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >
> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
> I got them all right, except the last one, which I think was ambiguous.
> As an aside, I didn't take civics in high school.
>
> I'm wondering how a question about the beliefs of Socrates, Plato,
> Aristotle, and Aquinas has anything to do with American civics.
>
America can trace itself back to Europe and therefore to the
peoples of Europe and the "West". This certainly includes the first
who thought that democracy might be an idea, Greece. Western
Civilization certainly includes the folks who are mentioned supra.
It should be noted that they were pretty much fascists. I think
that's the question's point.
> I also think that the question:
>
> "Which of the following fiscal policy combinations would a government
> most likely follow to stimulate economic activity when the economy is in
> a severe recession?"
>
> should have included the answer:
>
> "Flop around like chickens with their heads cut off."
>
You've found the bane of multiple guess tests.
Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
What happened to you?
Opus the Penguin
> Nah, I was just pokin' fun at Opus. He always seems to score 100% on
> these things.
Not to my recollection. I often score well, but there are usually a
handful that score better.
--
Opus the Penguin
Any dog that won't eat ice cream or chips is up to something. - Roger
Gary
Opus the Penguin
> Opus the Penguin <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>M C Hamster (davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net) wrote:
>>
>>> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>>
>>> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I
>>> should have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions
>>> that I got wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back
>>> then.
>>>
>>
>>I got them all right, plus I got the extra credit question.[1]
>>
>>
>>
>>[1] They misquoted the Gettysburg Address. I was able to supply
>>the correct wording.
>
> The "correct" wording?
>
Yes.
> From wiki:
>
> "Despite the speech's prominent place in the history and popular
> culture of the United States, the exact wording of the speech is
> disputed. The five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address
> differ in a number of details and also differ from contemporary
> newspaper reprints of the speech."
I didn't know that, but it turns out I'm probably right anyway. Is
this one of those things where I had a justified true belief that
might not have been classed as knowledge? Anyway, the discussion of
the discrepancies does not suggest there is any dispute about the
line quoted in the test.
They say "Government of the people, for the people, by the people".
The correct line (in all extant versions of the G.A., I believe) is
"government of the people, by the people, and for the people."
Lars Eighner
talented Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
No, when she was still running for VP she said she was a Federalist to Katie
Couric. Well, sort of. Very clearly, she doesn't know what federalist
means.
"I'm in that sense a federalist, where I believe that states should
have more say in the laws of their lands and individual areas," she
added.
Did I mention Palin is a moron? Oh, please, please, please let her run in
2012. Please let the godnut Republicans keep control of the party and keep
the paleoconservatives and libertarians locked out.
> I find all this very difficult to believe and doubt that you have any sort
> of cite to back it up.
It was on the AP wire Oct. 1, but I don't have flash or broadband so
YouTubing that segment of Couric interview is beyond my means. Apparently
this was just a bit before she couldn't thing of a Supreme Court decision
she disagreed with. She'll get back to you on that.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
Lars Eighner
talented Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
> Lars Eighner wrote:
Licenses and document fees aren't taxes. Leases and royalities on public
lands aren't taxes. There is a word for the excess amount that the mint
charges for coins of precious metals which I can't remember --- that's not a
tax. Fine, forfitures, escheat --- none are taxes, nor is interest on
deposits or for that matter, the interest on owed taxes (or other debts) is
not itself a tax.
The word games will come in trying to make any of those things taxes.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
Join the Locovore movement:
Eat only crazy stuff!
Lars Eighner
talented Bill Bonde { Remember, Remember, to Vote on the 5th of November )
broadcast on alt.fan.cecil-adams:
"that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,
neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding,
nor yet favor to to men of skil; but ---"
Opps, I'm out of here. Opus is up, and this is his corner.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
I used to think that some days Maury was scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Now I know Maury's barrel doesn't have a bottom.
Greg Goss
<tributyl...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>Invisible Lurker wrote:
>>
>> M C Hamster said:
>> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> > http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>> >
>> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>>
>> 100 percent. Helps to be a former economics major with
>> long experience in historiography
>>
>Pretty much everyone in this group is getting almost all the
>questions right and the questions they get wrong are often
>questionably presented. What does this mean when the people who did
>the poll claim that most folks they ask these questions of are
>stupid and don't get them correct? Are they just lying? Are they
>insane? Is this newsgroup atypical? Are the stupid people around
>here not telling what they really got?
This newsgroup is a firehose of ideas blasted out at high pressure and
high volume. Only a small percentage of the public can keep up with
enough of it to make it worth the bother, and for those, the act of
keeping up sharpens the mind. A lot of cliques are convinced that
they are smarter and better grounded than "the great unwashed". I
don't know whether the fact that I believe the same of us means
anything.
I don't think we have any particularly stupid people. The horrifying
thought about society in general is that even the two people we relish
despising are probably well above average intelligence.
--
It's a little-known fact that every Canadian citizen is born with a
sharp, serrated edge somewhere on their body as protection
from polar bears and enraged Quebecois (J Jacques 2006)
Greg Goss
>On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
><davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
>>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>
>>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
>Somebody explain to me why Hamilton was a "Federalist", in that he
>believed in a strong central government and establishment of a
>National Bank etc.... but why today, a candidate like Palin says she's
>a "Federalist" because she believes the individual states should have
>great freedom to establish their own laws independently from what the
>federal government wants.
>
>When did that term's meaning change to mean the complete opposite of
>what it meant before? And don't try, through some convoluted
>argument, to say that they are consistent. They're not; Hamilton
>wanted a strong central government, and today's so-called Federalists
>want a weak central government.
If one person says perfection is "30" in an era when normal was "10",
and someone else says perfection is "30" in an era when normal is
"70", are they disagreeing with each other? The US at the moment has
a strongly centralized government, with a national court that is
willing to agree that growing something in your backyard for your own
use in accordance to state law is an "interstate commerce" concern.
Rick B.
news:ti8fi453k2ruo32f3...@4ax.com:
> On Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:12:12 -0800, "Reunite Gondwanaland (Mary
> Shafer)" <reunite....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>That wasn't an honest test. The last part was an attempt to push
>>someone's brand of economic theory.
>>
>>Mary "No wonder some people failed"
>
> Whoops. I thought the point was to figure out the answer that the
> test-giver wanted to hear.
The point of all tests, really.
Rick B.
news:slrngifrue...@debranded.larseighner.com:
> There is a word for the excess amount that the mint charges for coins of
> precious metals which I can't remember --- that's not a tax.
I think you're going for "seigniorage," although the US Mint's use of the
term is different--they apply it to the profit from making circulating
coinage.
Boron Elgar
Shafer)" <reunite....@gmail.com> wrote:
>I don't remember Aquinas coming up in my civics classes, and the exact
>subject of the Lincoln-Douglas debates hadn't survived the decades
>since the classes, but, yeah, I was surprised at the scores they
>claimed. However, you and I, like the rest of afca, aren't
>representative of the general population. As a result, we may not be
>very good at judging it.
>
>Mary "Current TV suggests I overestimate its taste"
It only takes a bit shrewdness to look at the multiple choice answers
from questions with the sort of bias that this test has and figure out
what its writers intend to be correct answers.
Boron
Jerry Bauer
I got a job, got married, bought a house, had a couple of kids, etc.
Why, was something supposed to happen?
Boron Elgar
<use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>In our last episode, <138fi4d9e7c43fl1j...@4ax.com>, the
>lovely and talented actually at nostradamus.net broadcast on
>alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
>> On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
>><davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
>>>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>>
>>>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>>>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>>>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
>> I got 31 right, missing . . .
>
>> Question #11 - A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the
>> Bill of Rights
>
>> Question #33 - D. tax per person equals government spending per person
>
>Yeah. #33 is the one I missed. I went with 0 debt, although I knew that
>wasn't right --- would have been if it was 0 deficit. The officially
>correct answer presupposes that taxes are the only source of revenue ---
>which is not strictly true.
I bombed on that one, too. Considering how many of us missed it, I'd
say that the teacher never told us that would be on the test.
Boron
Peter Ward
That one was both simple and self-evident:
33) If taxes equal government spending, then:
D. tax per person equals government spending per person - That's just
a restatement of the question (dividing both terms by population) so
must be the right answer.
--
Peter
I'm an alien
email: home at peteward dot gotadsl dot co dot uk
All cats are, in a very real sense, in the kitchen meowing for food even when they appear to be somewhere else.
M C Hamster
wrote:
Why didn't you get a MacArthur genius grant? Or did you?
--
M C Hamster "Big Wheel Keep on Turning" -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
M C Hamster
>
>
Wait, you guys. If I'm understanding this, you're both of the belief
that nowadays, being a "Federalist" means you are in favor of a strong
national government that in general takes pre-eminence over states'
rights, like was true historically. That's not true. Palin wasn't
being a moron in calling herself a Federalist, according to the usage
of the term; conservatives these days all call themselves
Federalists. And see, that's completely opposite of how I understood
the term in the early years of this country. (It's why I got the
question about the "anti-Federalists" wrong, because I figured that an
anti-Federalist must be in favor a strong national government, not the
opposite, even though I was pretty sure I remembered that Hamilton was
a federalist and the term itself logically suggests that a federalist
favors the federal government. Yes, I'm whining about this.)
Today's "Federalist Society", for instance, is a prominent and very
conservative (and libertarian, they say) organization. Judge
Antonin Scalia is a member and a strong advocate, 'nuff said.
OK, here's what Wikipedia says about "Federalism": "In contemporary
usage, as articulated by President Bush's 'New Federalism',
federalists advocate the principle of greater regional autonomy within
the United States - usually by allowing individual states to set their
own agendas and determine the handling of issues,rather than trying to
impose a nationally uniform solution."
OK, now you'll agree that this definition of Federalism is basically
180 degrees from the historical one and the M-W definition of
"Federalism", which is "someone favoring a strong centralized national
government".
Here's the wikipedia article on "New Federalism":
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Federalism.
OK, so "New Federalism" is "the transfer of certain powers from the
United States federal government to the US states" and thus the
"restoration to the states of some of the autonomy and power which
they lost to the federal government as a consequence of President
Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and federal civil rights laws of the
1960."
So the conservatives took the well-established term "Federalism",
meaning a strong central government, and simply hijacked it to mean
the complete opposite. Gee, have they ever done something similar
with any other political terms?
It looks like Reagan did it. Of course.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalism_in_the_United_States
So, Palin wasn't in error; she only one of a score of Republicans who
nowadays call themselves "Federalists". It came up repeatedly in the
debates, and each of them jumped on top of the others to declare
themselves most ardently to be a "Federalist". Not a "new
Federalist", or a "neo-Federalist", but a "Federalist", in every case
meaning they advocated states rights and autonomy in establishing
laws.
It's not clear what kind of doublethink allowed the conservatives to
hijack this term, but it's the only reason I got that damned question
wrong. Those bastards, I hate them.
M C Hamster
<use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>In our last episode, <138fi4d9e7c43fl1j...@4ax.com>, the
>lovely and talented actually at nostradamus.net broadcast on
>alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
>> On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
>><davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
>>>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>>
>>>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>>>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>>>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
>> I got 31 right, missing . . .
>
>> Question #11 - A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the
>> Bill of Rights
>
>> Question #33 - D. tax per person equals government spending per person
>
>Yeah. #33 is the one I missed. I went with 0 debt, although I knew that
>wasn't right --- would have been if it was 0 deficit. The officially
>correct answer presupposes that taxes are the only source of revenue ---
>which is not strictly true.
Exactly. D is wrong too; there's interest to pay on the national
debt. I figured these morons used debt and deficit interchangeably,
in error, and that debt was correct.
The other one I got wrong was about the Public Good, but it's because
I didn't really read all the answers, just one that seemed totally
satisfactory, that it's made by the government rather than citizens.
And I got that one about the anti-Federalists wrong, which I'm
counting as 100% the fault of Reagan and the "if I say purple is
green, then it's green" Republicans, per my comments elsewhere in this
thread. That one is NOT MY FAULT.
Opus the Penguin
> "that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,
> neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of
> understanding, nor yet favor to to men of skil; but ---"
>
> Opps, I'm out of here. Opus is up, and this is his corner.
Well, first we need George Orwell's translation of that passage into
modern English: "Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena
compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive
activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate
capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must
invariably be taken into account."
There! Isn't that better?
--
Opus the Penguin
I made it up, based on something I read somewhere. - Pushmi-Pullyu
M C Hamster
>
>
>Lars Eighner wrote:
>>
>> In our last episode, <138fi4d9e7c43fl1j...@4ax.com>, the
>> lovely and talented actually at nostradamus.net broadcast on
>> alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>>
>> > On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
>> ><davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>>
>> >>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> >>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>> >>
>> >>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> >>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> >>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>>
>> > I got 31 right, missing . . .
>>
>> > Question #11 - A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the
>> > Bill of Rights
>>
>> > Question #33 - D. tax per person equals government spending per person
>>
>> Yeah. #33 is the one I missed.
>>
>The question is impossible to miss unless you were looking at a
>cute broad at the time.
>
The government receives all sorts of income that is not from taxes, as
Lars mentions. Most notably, they receive large amounts of interest
from foreign investors.
Of course, these days we pay even more interest to other countries so
that we have a net national debt, but our national income does NOT
derive solely from taxes.
So D is an incorrect answer to that question, and one that I quickly
eliminated as wrong, and only if you were looking at a cute picture of
Ronald Reagan at the time would you choose that answer.
M C Hamster
>
>
>Invisible Lurker wrote:
>>
>> M C Hamster said:
>> > This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>> > http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>> >
>> > I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>> > have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>> > wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>>
>> 100 percent. Helps to be a former economics major with
>> long experience in historiography
>>
>Pretty much everyone in this group is getting almost all the
>questions right and the questions they get wrong are often
>questionably presented. What does this mean when the people who did
>the poll claim that most folks they ask these questions of are
>stupid and don't get them correct? Are they just lying? Are they
>insane? Is this newsgroup atypical? Are the stupid people around
>here not telling what they really got?
It's kind of hard to believe the average score is as low as they
present, but this is a little Mensa group we have here. With all that
that implies.
Dover Beach
news:1iqslu3.172ye1f7z5cjkN%use...@bauerstar.com:
I didn't get anything close to a perfect score on the math SAT, and I got
a job, got married, and bought a house, but I didn't have any kids. Hmmm.
--
Dover
D.F. Manno
jeffinputnam <jeffin...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yeah, here too. I missed:
>
> Question #8 - C. appoint additional Supreme Court justices who shared
> his views
>
> The way I read it, FDR would appoint *additional* Supreme.... and I
> thought there's a limit on how many could be there.
There is, but it's only set by law, not the Constitution. FDR proposed
changing the law to add one justice for each sitting justice over age 70
1/2. This would have given him six new appointments to the court, for a
total of 15 justices.
Historically the court has had as few as five justices and as many as
10. Its membership has been set at nine since 1869.
--
D.F. Manno | dfm...@mail.com
This time _we_ won. This time _you_ get over it.
D.F. Manno
Sean Houtman <gromm...@aol.com> wrote:
> "Lisa Ann" <lisa...@stalnaker.com> wrote:
> > "M C Hamster" <davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
> >
> >> This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
> >> http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
> >>
> >> I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
> >> have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
> >> wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
> >
> > I scored 31 out of 33. Not too shabby.
>
> Me too, I got one wrong because I really didn't know why Lincoln and
> Douglas were debating, and I misread the one about government spending and
> taxes.
Leroy.
M C Hamster
>That one was both simple and self-evident:
>
>33) If taxes equal government spending, then:
>
>D. tax per person equals government spending per person - That's just
>a restatement of the question (dividing both terms by population) so
>must be the right answer.
That's precisely what made it shunworthy.
Rick B.
> In our last episode, <138fi4d9e7c43fl1j...@4ax.com>, the
> lovely and talented actually at nostradamus.net broadcast on
> alt.fan.cecil-adams:
>
>> On 21 Nov 2008 13:59:20 -0600, M C Hamster
>><davo...@speakeasy.nospam.net> wrote:
>
>>>This is a 33-question test on US Civics and history:
>>>http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
>>>
>>>I scored 29 of 33 which is around the 98th percentile, but I should
>>>have done better, as I actually knew 2 of the 4 questions that I got
>>>wrong. Which is what I told the SAT people, way back then.
>
>> I got 31 right, missing . . .
>
>> Question #11 - A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the
>> Bill of Rights
>
>> Question #33 - D. tax per person equals government spending per person
>
> Yeah. #33 is the one I missed. I went with 0 debt, although I knew that
> wasn't right --- would have been if it was 0 deficit. The officially
> correct answer presupposes that taxes are the only source of revenue ---
> which is not strictly true.
Ah, but it says "*If* taxes equal government spending". The government
could be running a surplus equal to its non-tax revenue.