12/8    Partha, I'd be interested to know how you do on this:
        http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
        I bet you're in the 90% or above...
        \_ That's not a very hard quiz. I'm not particularly big on politics
           or econ, and I managed 30/33.
        \- i got 30/33 too. #33 is not a good question.
           the puritan question is also kind of iffy [the were
           looking for increased freedom to practice, complete
           freedom, i suppose not. but just to label a pretty disparate
           group with the "teh believed in sinfulness and not dancing
           isnt a good answer, especially in the american civics
           context, where the focus should be on free exercise].
           i legitmately got the lincoln-douglas one wrong.
           i knew there was an active debate on the compromises
           about adding new states but i thought the debate between
           then was more philosophical. why didnt you just wall this
           if directed at me.
        \- i got 30/33 too. i misreaad 33 reading deficit for debt.
           the actual answer is not very good. the puritan question
           is also kind of iffy [they were looking for increased
           freedom to practice, complete freedom, i suppose not. but
           just to label a pretty disparate group with the "they
           believed in sinfulness and not dancing" isnt a good answer,
           especially in the american civics context, where the focus
           should be on free exercise].  i legitmately got the
           lincoln-douglas one wrong.  i knew there was an active
           debate on the compromises about adding new states but i
           thought the debate between then was more philosophical. why
           didnt you just wall this if directed at me.
           thought the debate between L&D was more philosophical.
           why didnt you just wall this if directed at me. --psb
           \_ And yet, you're not a citizen, right?  Good job, psb,
              though truthfully I expected you to do well.  You
              didn't seem to be on wall at the time.
              \_ Yet, not a citizen? I thought that tends to work in his favor.
                 \- it's not a matter of citizenship, it's i havent taken
                    a us history class in 20yrs and am not interested in
                    us history [i am interested in 20cent history and
                    con law]. like i dont remember exactly who the
                    the con law]. like i dont remember exactly who the
                    anti-federalists were, although that was a guessable
                    question.
        \_ I got 100% right. -ausman
        \_ I got only got #8 wrong.  I would have gotten that if I'd
           thought about it longer. (Roosevelt/SCOTUS threaten q.)
           The Puritan question seemed poorly written and #33 is a silly
           trick question.  (I still got those right though.)
           \_ How is 33 a trick question.  A lot of people don't understand
              the difference between debt and deficit spending.
              \- because tax per person is not really meaningful concept.
                 secondly, it assumes there is history ... i.e. there
                 could be debt from past years but doesnt include say
                 non-tax sources of govt income, govt expenses on
                 non-citizens ... saying $3bh of aid to israel is
                 non-citizens ... saying $3bn of aid to israel is
                 $10 of spending on each person (in america) is kind
                 of silly. whereas one of the core national income accounting
                 identity does start with aggregate govt revenue and
                 agg govt spending.
                 what would you pay to see sarah palin take this quiz
                 in front of you? i might pay $100.
                 \_ I would pay $100 if she had to take it 'cold' with
                    no fore-warning and had never taken it before....
        \_ I also got 30/33, but I did have to make some educated guesses.
           For example, I could not have answered the Lincoln/Doglus one
           without the multiple-choice format.
           \_ That's all fine and well, but I think the funny/sad part here is
              they claim that "college educators" only score 55% on average.
              \_ It is sad that they make that claim, it kind of destroys
                 their credibility.
                 \_ Does it? I'm not so sure. I find it plausible, depending
                    on how they define "college educators" (what colleges,
                    what subjects, etc.).
                    \_ I personally know four "college educators" and I can
                       ask them all to take this test and tell you how they
                       did, if you like. Of course, all but one is a Cal Grad
                       (and the one that is not is a UCLA grad) so perhaps this
                       is too much of a self-selected sample. I would be
                       astonished if any of them got under 90%.
        \_ I think whether you take the quiz fast or slow (untimed) may make
           a couple of point difference.
        \_ 28/33 -- I would have gotten 33 but I read it too fast