Earlier today Nojo shared with us the news that 26% of Americans do not know that the US declared independence from England – I was surprised the number was so low.

Similarly, I’d be surprised if one in ten Americans could locate Uruguay on a world map, let alone properly spell or pronounce the name of the country of 3 million. I can attest it’s a great country with beautiful beaches off the beaten path.

Our World Cup Hottie, Andres Scotti, might at least get some of the world population paying more attention to the small South American country.

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“There’s good news for American education. About three-quarters of residents — 74% — know the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776. The bad news for the academic system — 26% do not. This 26% includes one-fifth who are unsure and 6% who thought the U.S. separated from another nation.” [Marist Poll]

Woody Allen’s six favorite Woody Allen movies: Purple Rose of Cairo, Match Point, Bullets Over Broadway, Zelig, Husbands and Wives, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. “There are a few better than others, half a dozen,” he says, “but it’s a surprising paucity of worthwhile celluloid.” [New York, via Kottke]

Michael Steele, Thursday:

This was a war of Obama’s choosing. This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in… If he’s such a student of history, has he not understood that you know that’s the one thing you don’t do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? All right, because everyone who has tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed.

Michael Steele, December 2009:

I am glad the president will finally provide General McChrystal with the troops he needs… If the president remains committed to this crucial fight, Republicans — and the American people — will stand with him.

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One of the strangest teabagger issues this year — which is quite an accomplishment, considering — has been the disdain for the Seventeenth Amendment.

You know the one — actually, you don’t. It’s not the Fourteenth, which you would expect a bunch of fucking retard racists to oppose. It’s not even the Sixteenth, which provided black helicopters to the IRS, soon as black helicopters were invented.

No, it’s #17 on America’s Top 27, the one that undermined our entire system of government: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years.”

That’s right, comrade: Direct election of senators.

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Sadly, this wingnut will probably win the election – she’s running in Arizona:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqnjzONrPiA

Sorry to go all Towleroad on you, but we’re rolling the odometer on Stinque Post #3000, and the gag doesn’t work with Stormy.