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Is that a fact? Would this go under "Foreign aid"? Because last I heard, U.S. ranks almost last in terms of foreign aid in terms of GDP, with most of it going to Israel.
Here is a somewhat old, but relevant study. (Not relevant to TFA, mind, but to this rather OT thread.)

They generally know very little about how the money are allocated.
In a similar study about foreign aid, the majority of people believed the US gave over 1% of the national budget in foreign aid. (against an actual 0.17%) [source]
I'd like to decry their apathy and ignorance, but I myself know very little about my own country's budget allocations.

It's a pretty huge disparity, though. Did they really believe everything else had to manage with the remaining 43%? I'll bet a survey with more items would show the average citizen of USA believe the national budget allocations adds up to a lot more than 100%. Does anyone know the real/perceived numbers for other science/research?

we aren't doing it too. Remember the 2001 spy plane incident? If we have spy planes flying around, you bet we have hackers on their networks. The NSA, CIA, and military fund hacking think tanks and advanced CS research, and classify math. The military is probably downplaying China's attacks because China downplays theirs. Also, because releasing just about any information about what was cracked, what was actually a honey pot, etc., would compromise operations.

If the Chinese are such great people and trustworthy business partners, then why would they steal a W88?

The Chinese are large, powerful, and Machiavellian. China has no qualms in pushing us to the brink of war if it suits their desires.

I expect my government to be extremely cautious in dealing with China. They are the most dangerous situation we face today - our Arabic problems are a sideshow by comparison.

Which get their international news from international sources. Even my local paper has stories like how some guy in Latvia was injured when a bicycle fell off the back of a truck.

It doesn't matter if the 4 or 5 megaconglomerates "get news from international sources" when they wind up filtering what they present to the US public. Since the 9/11 attack and our time of "unity and support" and the combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, they simply have not been carring "UnAmerican" views unfavorable to the US or the administration or Bush. When they do carry critical views they tend to softpeddle it.

The effect was extremely intense just after 9/11 and has diminished since then, but it is hardly gone.

Properly done research does not start with an assumption.

What makes you claim it was improper or that it started with an assumption? Just because you don't like the results it must be biased?

The paper I linked, "The seperate realities of Bush and Kerry supporters", was a conclusion paper that naturally popped out of about the highest quality academic research you can get. They did an impeccible survey, and when they did an after-the-fact breakdown by self-reported presidential prefference the results were blatant.

Furthermore, this study polarizes its population into the two main political groups first

False.

rather than comparing the entire population and breaking it down into different sets of groups to find trends later.

That is exactly what they did.

You can find the primary survey here. You will see that is a well designed and scientific survey. In this case the subject was extracting general public views on and perceptions of the Iraq events. Note that the survey participants have been taught and experienced in reading and properly answering this sort of survey.

It was preformed by an acedemic institution the highest quality survey population and controls. They have a lot invested in that standardized and properly controlled survey population - they set up the survey population with free internet access and a TV-based survey computer. Providing internet access and specialized computer hardware to about a thousand people in a nationwide standardized population is no small task. They and preform a large number of surveys on that control population.

They have preformed studies on the Amercian public's oppinions and perceptions on countless international issues. View them here. Everything from attitutudes and perceptions on global warming to international trade to the UN to human rights to China to biotechnology to North Korea to Africa and more. And many of the recent studies have naturally focused on the most pressing modern international issues - the war in Afghanistan and in Iraq and Terrorism and WMD's.

As their focus is attitudes and perceptions, they also focus on the media involvement in forming those views.

This source is as good as it gets. You just didn't like the result and found it easier to assume it was a partisan gimmick. It isn't.

The researchers asked questions skewed towards the viewpoint that they supported, and asked hypothetical questions that have no useful purpose outside of supporting their beliefs.

The questions were designed to extract the public's beliefs and perceptions. Even if you want to claim the questians were designed with premeditated bias, you still cannot dispute the extreme disparity of the results along the lines of self-described presidential prefferences. Self described Bush supporters and self described Kerry supporters tend to have extremely different views.

These questions are phrased in a way that assumes that one side has an incorrect view. The paper is peppered with vitriolic statements which declare that one side is wrong.

HELLO!!!!! Some beliefs are in fact f

Here in the US, we have Alabama to New York. We don't ditch the problems of the poor and undesirable south.

The US does not donate. They are sold. You are wrong.

Any western country would be terrorized by the Arabs.

The US government is an order of magnitude less corrupt than any other on the planet. An order of magnitude. Its far from perfect, but this is a crock. Sponsoring terrorism?

we are a gentle giant taking a lot more punches that we EVER had to

And when was the last time you were invaded on actual US territory? By Britain, well over a century ago. You, your parents, your grandparents, and their parents don't know the fucking meaning of war, LOL.

Most people who come to live, come to stay, forever, and try to get their families here as well.

I stayed in America for a month, honestly considering moving there, and the experience turned me off completely. You're like a bunch of fucking monkeys throwing shit at each other, the most uncivilised Western country I've been to.

I'm not going to bother following this thread any more, because it's clear by my needing to provide links for basic statistics that you are completely uneducated on the topics you're trying to discuss.

I will, however, without your permission, forward your posts, as one of the best examples of why the world laughs at America. Thank you for this entertainment factor. Enjoy your week.