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So one has to be a trivia expert or Jeapordy master to be considered intelligent or demonstrate common sense? Intelligence is the ability to solve problems, not have every fact memorized. These types of questions serve no purpose, and have no bearing on one's ability to perform in the workplace. I used to ask obscure questions during the hiring process. After a year I realized they were a poor predictor of performance. In fact, my best employees were middle-ground students. B to C+ students make great employees. I hired some 4.0's in my days at the CPA firm who could not roll down a window without an instruction card. They could not articulate their position to the client. They could probably, however, recite at least three important tax law cases. I started hiring 3.0's with a sense of humor and humility and they cleaned up.
I bet you could not name 3 either. In fact, I would bet my life savings on it. I bet you could not name the Justices without using Google. In fact I'll send you a PM with my phone number, ask you a few similar questions; we'll see how quick you can anwer them on the fly. We'll post the results here for CD and allow them to form their own opinion. You up for it?
Obama is intelliegent, just misguided. McCain is intelliegent, just cavalier. Palin is intelligent, just insecure. Biden is a cheat and idiot. Read the 1984 NY Times story on his cheating at Syracuse and his poor academic performance. Palin has issues, but all are related to either lack of experience or insecurity. She is obviously intelligent. If you don't like her for her politics, it is your right to say so. To dismiss her based on her lack of trivia knowledge says more about your intelligence than it does about hers.
PS, I was a 3.4 student. Lots of A's, a few B's, and a few big fat F's in my first year that haunted me for four years! I did pass the little CPA test quite easily, though.
Dude, are you out of your mind?????? Sarah Palin is dumb. Just plain dumb. She had no clue about a the bail out and ended up equating that to freaking healthcare reform. I mean, come on. Core principals of accounting are pretty much debits/credits. Would you hire a CPA who could not give you an example of revenue or expense to run your company? Would you higher a CPA who openly tells you that they do not know much about the principles of debits/credits? A potential VP/President who has no idea about any of the landmark cases by the SC is just silly.
So to you, Palin = Gerald R. Ford and Ronald Reagan?
Not in the same league. I was pointing out that they all attended public universities. One constant attack against Palin is that she attended public colleges. Hell, Biden cheated his way through school, and was darn near expelled for it. Look it up!
None of us know how intelliegent she is. I stated that the fact that she stumbled on what most people attribute to trivia does not sway me. I recongize she is inexperienced. I also recognize she is under terrible pressure, and likley very insecure.
Is Obama an idiot because he can't remember the soldiers name on this wristband? Is he an idiot because without his teleprompter he is a deer in the headlights when giving a speach? Is he an idiot because he did not know the names of the former Soviet states 1 year ago? Because he thinks Ahmadinejad runs Iran? Because he stumbles on the difference between fusion and fission when discussing nuclear power? I can post a list all day long of stupid things he as said that by forum standards would disqualify him. We could spend years posting stupid things GW has said.
I stated that I thought Obama was intelligent. I just disagree with his views. I stated that in eight years he might be a great candidate. This assertion that because one does not know the answer to every question off the top of his head that he is a "moron" is childish.
Come on, put it in perspective. She has run Alaska for 2 years and by all accounts has done a good job in a male dominated state. She is not stupid.
Last edited by GOPATTA2D; 09-30-2008 at 02:49 PM..
Dude, are you out of your mind?????? Sarah Palin is dumb. Just plain dumb. She had no clue about a the bail out and ended up equating that to freaking healthcare reform. I mean, come on. Core principals of accounting are pretty much debits/credits. Would you hire a CPA who could not give you an example of revenue or expense to run your company? Would you higher a CPA who openly tells you that they do not know much about the principles of debits/credits? A potential VP/President who has no idea about any of the landmark cases by the SC is just silly.
Core principles are debits and credits? You know nothing about Accounting. Debits and credits are bookkeeping. Accounting is about the classification and presentation of all those debits and credits.
Bad analogy. I bet I could ask 100 CPA's three important tax rulings and only a few tax CPA's would know or care. The auditors would not give a darn, nor would the GAAP guys. Should we throw them out of our club?
I have hired candidates simply because they told me they did not know anything. They were honest.
Governing the whole of the United States of America takes a hell of a lot more than governing a state.
I concede. Based on the terrible job Clinton did with the same experience (even more when you count his tenure as Governor of Arkansas), you are correct.
Thank God she is only the VP candidate. Lets hope McCain lives.
Core principles are debits and credits? You know nothing about Accounting. Debits and credits are bookkeeping. Accounting is about the classification and presentation of all those debits and credits.
Bad analogy. I bet I could ask 100 CPA's three important tax rulings and only a few tax CPA's would know or care. The auditors would not give a darn, nor would the GAAP guys. Should we throw them out of our club?
I have hired candidates simply because they told me they did not know anything. They were honest.
Oop...I know this is about the Governor who has no idea what the Supreme court has done for the people and that a common technique of tuckering is getting it's fair share of abuse in your post - but, Senator Obama has repeatedly said the real leaders in Iran and folks have assumed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the the real power in Iran. He's not, the Clerics are.
So one has to be a trivia expert or Jeapordy master to be considered intelligent or demonstrate common sense? Intelligence is the ability to solve problems, not have every fact memorized. These types of questions serve no purpose, and have no bearing on one's ability to perform in the workplace. I used to ask obscure questions during the hiring process. After a year I realized they were a poor predictor of performance. In fact, my best employees were middle-ground students. B to C+ students make great employees. I hired some 4.0's in my days at the CPA firm who could not roll down a window without an instruction card. They could not articulate their position to the client. They could probably, however, recite at least three important tax law cases. I started hiring 3.0's with a sense of humor and humility and they cleaned up.
I bet you could not name 3 either. In fact, I would bet my life savings on it. I bet you could not name the Justices without using Google. In fact I'll send you a PM with my phone number, ask you a few similar questions; we'll see how quick you can anwer them on the fly. We'll post the results here for CD and allow them to form their own opinion. You up for it?
Obama is intelliegent, just misguided. McCain is intelliegent, just cavalier. Palin is intelligent, just insecure. Biden is a cheat and idiot. Read the 1984 NY Times story on his cheating at Syracuse and his poor academic performance. Palin has issues, but all are related to either lack of experience or insecurity. She is obviously intelligent. If you don't like her for her politics, it is your right to say so. To dismiss her based on her lack of trivia knowledge says more about your intelligence than it does about hers.
PS, I was a 3.4 student. Lots of A's, a few B's, and a few big fat F's in my first year that haunted me for four years! I did pass the little CPA test quite easily, though.
I never said it did, but the media wants us to think these trivia facts are important. I offered no commentary and was only curious if others could. To be honest, I named all the ones I could remember off the top of my head. I am not a lawyer and don't study USSC rulings like some do.
Was it a fair question for her? No. But was her answer telling? Yes. It indicates what she thinks is important to her. Make of that what you will, but I draw my own conclusions about that. In my own answers, I gave Roe V Wade, a social issue that I feel was unconstitutional, Brown v Board: another social issues that deals with racism, Lawrence v Texas: another social issue on sodomy laws, and Bush V Gore: one almost anyone with any following of the political realm should remember well whether Democrat or Republican.
As for the Justices, Scalia, Alito, Roberts, Ginsburg, Thomas, Stevens, Kennedy and two others I can't recall. But I'm sure you can draw conclusions as well from those I did name. Just don't ask me their first names.
I think we would both agree that critical thinking is far more important than memorization. That's the change we need to make in our educational system. I wonder if there's a USSC case about that?
Core principles are debits and credits?You know nothing about Accounting. Debits and credits are bookkeeping. Accounting is about the classification and presentation of all those debits and credits.
Bad analogy. I bet I could ask 100 CPA's three important tax rulings and only a few tax CPA's would know or care. The auditors would not give a darn, nor would the GAAP guys. Should we throw them out of our club?
I have hired candidates simply because they told me they did not know anything. They were honest.
Whoa! This is ridiculous. It's like saying cashflow is really not the core principle of finance. bookkeeping is procedural accounting just as forecasting is with finance. At the end of the day, debits/credits are always going to be the core principles of accounting just as cashflow is with finance. I mean, you can't talk about accounting w/o emphasizing debits/credits, just as with finance, you can't talk about it w/o emphasizing cashflow.
And why in the freaking world would you hire someone who admits not knowing anything, i mean, ANYTHING???
Whoa! This is ridiculous. It's like saying cashflow is really not the core principle of finance. bookkeeping is procedural accounting just as forecasting is with finance. At the end of the day, debits/credits are always going to be the core principles of accounting just as cashflow is with finance. I mean, you can't talk about accounting w/o emphasizing debits/credits, just as with finance, you can't talk about it w/o emphasizing cashflow.
And why in the freaking world would you hire someone who admits not knowing anything, i mean, ANYTHING???
Once again for you non-accountants: Bookeeping is not the same as accounting. I can talk accounting all day long and debits and credits do not enter into the equation. Download any 10K or 10Q and read it. You are mistaken. The results of all those debits and credits is rolled into the numbers presented.
Hiring kids fresh out of school was a fun job. All those fresh faces, so full of enthusiasm. The kids that were honest enough to tell you they did not know anything about Accounting (other than the book) were usually good hires. It was the know-it-alls you had to watch out for.
The fact is, any 21 year old with a degree in anything does not know anything about their chosen career path.
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Just don't ask me their first names. 
