Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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I wasn't aware that the Mediterranean and Baltic were inland Sea's.

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Nit. I started out thinking about the Black sea, and then I figured the Mediterranean and Baltic seas had to be included as well, but forgot to remove the "inland" part...

Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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and "good" involvement (i.e. economic assistance, food, water, missions , schools, etc) in other countries and that I think is generally not acknowledged by Europeans.

[/ QUOTE ] It's probably generally not acknowledged by Europeans that missions are "good" [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

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I would agree with that. But apart from the religious aspect, many missions provide vital humanitarian resources like orphanages, hospitals, etc.

Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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Well, bedreviter (Norwegian for Besserwisser for those interested!) obviously botched the numbers, since the poll reported 70% voting for left-leaning parties, not on SV alone (basically filthy communists). If you look closer at the numbers you'll notice that SV is massively overrepresented in that 70% number though. The poll reveals that SV would gotten about 25% of the journailst vote, which is 3 times as high as in the general populace. AP, Norway's biggest political party (socialist leaning), would have gotten around 42% of the vote. Higher than what they would score among the general populace (about 1/3), but nowhere near as severe as the discrepancy for SV.

[/ QUOTE ] You're not doing much better than bedreviter. The poll is from 2003. In 2003 SV had support from about 20% of the population (I refer to the second link I posted above). So 20% in the general population, 25% among journalists. Hardly anything to make a big fuss about.

Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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In 2003 SV had support from about 20% of the population (I refer to the second link I posted above). So 20% in the general population, 25% among journalists. Hardly anything to make a big fuss about.

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Uh, the numbers I based my calculations on were from 2006 (link). What you've basically done is to pick the one period where SV actually had major support and based your numbers on that. IIRC SV was not above 10% in any period in 2006.

EDIT: And feel free to explain why 42% of journalists would vote for AP and basically none for FRP when the voter demographics for those two parties are extremely similar in the general populace.

Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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In 2003 SV had support from about 20% of the population (I refer to the second link I posted above). So 20% in the general population, 25% among journalists. Hardly anything to make a big fuss about.

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Uh, the numbers I based my calculations on were from 2006 (link). What you've basically done is to pick the one period where SV actually had major support and based your numbers on that. IIRC SV was not above 10% in any period in 2006.

EDIT: And feel free to explain why 42% of journalists would vote for AP and basically none for FRP when the voter demographics for those two parties are extremely similar in the general populace.

[/ QUOTE ] Damn. Sorry. I'm wrong here. A little peculiar that the general public have changed their minds since 2003, when the differences were not that notable, while journalists haven't.

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EDIT: And feel free to explain why 42% of journalists would vote for AP and basically none for FRP when the voter demographics for those two parties are extremely similar in the general populace.

[/ QUOTE ] Ok i looked at the poll you referred to. AP had 45% of the uneducated vote and 30% of the highly educated vote. FRP had 27% of the uneducated vote and 11% of the highly educated vote. 30/45 = 0.67 11/27 = 0.41

Age is another factor that can explain part of this. FRP has a lower portion than of their supporters than AP among people aged 22-59, and this is probably where you find the journalists [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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I wasn't aware that the Mediterranean and Baltic were inland Sea's.

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Nit. I started out thinking about the Black sea, and then I figured the Mediterranean and Baltic seas had to be included as well, but forgot to remove the "inland" part...

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The Black Sea isn't an inland sea either.

I think that most Americans believe that Norwegians don't know much about geography. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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I wasn't aware that the Mediterranean and Baltic were inland Sea's.

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Nit. I started out thinking about the Black sea, and then I figured the Mediterranean and Baltic seas had to be included as well, but forgot to remove the "inland" part...

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The Black Sea isn't an inland sea either.

I think that most Americans believe that Norwegians don't know much about geography. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea

"The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and the Anatolian peninsula (Turkey) and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits."

We know a little.. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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I wasn't aware that the Mediterranean and Baltic were inland Sea's.

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Nit. I started out thinking about the Black sea, and then I figured the Mediterranean and Baltic seas had to be included as well, but forgot to remove the "inland" part...

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The Black Sea isn't an inland sea either.

I think that most Americans believe that Norwegians don't know much about geography. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea

"The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and the Anatolian peninsula (Turkey) and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits."

We know a little.. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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I can sail a boat from Miami to Odesa.

Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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I don't have numbers at hand to back this up, but I am pretty sure that Europeans are increasing their productivity each year faster than Americans are, despite these laws.

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That's not true.

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/commen...uropean_p.html

Of course, that only matters if you find productivity rates to be of particular importance (they're not).

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How are productivity rates not particularly important? Increasing productivity is the best indicator of an increase in standard of living in a market economy.

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Productivity is important, but comparing it between countries is a little dicey. If a country has laws or cultural norms that limit the number of hours worked, then a rational company will make sure that the least productive hours, tasks, etc., are the ones cut out. That will drive up average productivity even if the workers are equally productive.

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That's a good point and I don't disagree with you. I think productivity is very important for a country's well being which is why I took issue with the first comment but in cases like France with a 9% unemployment rate and a 20% unemployment rate for those under 25 (This part is of crucial importance) their productivity does need to be looked at through the context of their economy as a whole.

Re: How do Americans view Europeans?
 

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I think that due to the greater variation of education systems in America (I personally was home schooled) that our top 10% might exceed Europe's top 10%, but our bottom 33% is below most of Europe's bottom 33% (depending on country).


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Compared to Norway i think this is spot on. I feel like the norwegian education system concentrates on the weaker students and this leads to a better bottom of the class and a weaker top
To me it seems like the American system in general creates bigger winners but also bigger losers than the more sosialist system in Norway.