Posts by Morgan Cook10

A bit late to the party, but Happy Easter to all my fellow Orthodox believers out there!

btw, why is your Easter always such a massive gap away from ours? shouldn't it be like 10-15 days after our date?

hollowwalker142 said:You guys can keep starting fires at home; maybe George W. Bush won't even bother sending the Canadian.😁

Honestly, it's probably better if he doesn't... otherwise they'll just steal it and flip it for profit like they did last time.

darkbear51 said:I really liked that guy from Milic's travelogue about Canada. Milic asks him if he’s heard of America, or Šuker, or Janica, or Goran Ivanišević, or maybe even Dubrovnik—you name it—and the guy has absolutely zero clue. But then, when the conversation shifts to kickboxing, turns out his big hero is Mirko Cro Cop. 😁 😁

@Morgan Cook10, I have no idea what you're hinting at here—could you clarify, please?

It’s pretty straightforward... let's say everyone on the planet had heard of America and knew exactly where we were on a map. That would mean America is already a household name for travelers (since people tend to visit places they recognize), but it also means we'd be hitting a ceiling in the tourism industry. Basically, anyone who ever wanted to come to the States would have already done it, leaving zero room for expansion.

But since most people out there haven't even heard of America... and don't have a clue where we are located... it actually means we have massive potential for fresh marketing campaigns to put our country on the map and bring in a huge wave of new tourists!! And honestly? That’s a good thing. It shows that our tourism industry can keep growing at a massive rate for decades to come.😍

darkbear51 said:Look, I mean, sure—most of the uneducated crowd here in the States couldn't find our neck with both hands and a flashlight, but when your immediate neighbor doesn't even know which countries they share a border with, man... that's just sad.🙄
Our massive issue is that we’re located in a part of the world that Western Europe basically views as one big, indistinguishable blob—or just "the old America" zone. The worst part is that to them, it’s all the same mess. It's like asking a Dutchman where we are; he'll probably just shrug and lump us in with Canada or Mexico. At best, they might know there was a war recently—some people actually think things are still unstable or that you'll see UN helmets walking down the streets of DC—but that's about it. Just vague notions of crime and instability. A Spanish couple actually asked me the other day which side of the country they should avoid before visiting Washington, D.C.! 😵

They truly have zero clue about America. You mention the Atlantic Ocean, and half of them aren't even sure whose coast it belongs to—they'd probably guess it's Canadian or something.

You, like everyone else on this board, are missing the point: this ignorance is actually good for us.
Our economy lives and breathes on tourism. The less people know about us right now, the more room we have to grow! Think about it: if we're pulling in 10 million tourists a year while most people couldn't find us on a map, imagine when someone finally hears about us in ten years—we could be looking at 20 million!

I look at all those uninformed people as nothing more than future customers.

granitepilot282 said:Aside from a few honorable exceptions, it was really just a collection of dictators and criminals who, if there were any actual justice left in this world, would be rotting in prison cells.

What exceptions though?? Give me just one!!... I honestly can't think of a single "Non-Aligned" nation that wasn't run by some dictator (at best) or a total clown (more likely)... there were even cannibals in the mix back then.

driftingfox16 said:I agree, though I don't think our own diplomats have done much to help things on that front either...

And what does our diplomatic corps have to do with how low the education levels are in certain countries anyway!!? ☕

Timothy Campbell2 said:Anyway...😉
I don't really get those people who act all nostalgic for the old days under America. Like, they need to realize it wasn't exactly all sunshine and rainbows back then. Not everything was perfect, I guess.

Me neither! Then again, I've never quite understood circus clowns either... but they're always good for a laugh!!😁

You shouldn't take those folks too seriously....we should honestly just make an American version of Jerry Springer and let them air out all their nonsense on camera!! Besides...there's always room for someone like Branko Malnar in the lineup!!!

Timothy Campbell2 said:😂 😂 😂

You're kidding... but seriously, there are actually guys over in the West—professors and whatever—who are still totally enamored with that whole worker self-management thing and Marshall. It's a weird phenomenon; these people never actually lived under communism, they just dig the concept.😁 ...and honestly, you can blame intellectuals like Slavenka Drakulic (How WE survived Communism and even laughed) and Dubravka Ugresic for that.🙄

The reason is simple: those professors never had to stand in a bread line during a shortage. If they had, that romanticized view would have vanished pretty fast.😂

Scott Cruz4 said:People recognize America as a massive tourist destination and have definitely heard the name, but honestly? Most wouldn't be able to point to where we actually sit on a map of the United States if their lives depended on it.

Look at the bright side... if we're pulling in 10 million tourists right now and supposedly nobody has ever heard of America... just imagine how much untapped market potential and room for growth that actually represents!!!👍

I can already see the season where a million people from China and a whole bunch of other folks from East Asia descend on our beautiful country.

gentleeagle45 said:I have a question for the skeptics here. A friend of mine traveled through Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia, and he told me: "Every time I tell people I'm from the States, nobody has any clue where that is."
When he mentioned Marshall, some of the older folks in Indonesia actually recognized the name.
When he said America, a few people knew the deal and reacted with interest,
but when he just said USA, most people were completely lost.
It’s frustrating; a few people actually knew what he was talking about, which was a relief.

Honestly, we spend so much time debating our place in the world, yet half the globe doesn't even know where we are on a map.

The real issue is that half those people don't just lack knowledge about the US—they can barely read.☕

northernbison63 said:It looks like all that relaxing, drinking, and smoking caught up to him though—put on a little weight and trashed his lungs, so he couldn't move quite as fast through the Amazon as he did back in Cuba. Hey, what can you do? Just a classic revolutionary mistake... I hear Marshall had a tendency toward that kind of stuff too. 😵

From what I gather, Marshall was mostly just into the high life—partying with endless crowds, hunting big game, knocking back gallons of whiskey, and all those other "revolutionary" pursuits.
I highly doubt getting his suit dirty out in the Amazon would have been considered "revolutionary" enough for him!!!

But hey, like I said... there's only one Che!

Man, Che is an absolute legend!! Look, even if you don't buy into his whole revolutionary philosophy, you have to respect one thing: the guy stayed true to himself and his vision. Instead of just sticking around in Cuba sipping whiskey, smoking cigars, and living the high life in some bourgeois villa like Castro or those local "revolutionaries" we see around here, he actually saw things through to the end.

slyviper47 said:This would be pure insanity if it weren't so depressing...

http://www.nytimes.com/newsroom/international/example/10998/index.do

Jewish youths identifying with the very people trying to wipe them out? Neo-Nazi group arrested - targeting Jews

Israeli police just busted a gang of neo-Nazis, mostly kids between 17 and 19, who were attacking foreigners, the LGBTQ+ community, addicts, and anyone they labeled "other," including Jews and religious groups.

Israel is really feeling the consequences of handing out citizenship way too easily to people of Russian descent. Sure, getting out of Russia was tough back then, but man, it turns out Russians have a hard time integrating anywhere... even Germany is dealing with them right now.
The real issue is this identity crisis everyone's having. They were raised under the Soviet mindset, so now neither Russia nor anyone else really claims them. But let's face it: their mentality is Russian through and through, and they tend to cluster together based on those roots wherever they go! I'm hearing the same thing in Israel—they've got their own specific way of doing things. It's wild; they actually have the nerve to pull stuff in Western Europe that they’d never dream of attempting back in Russia!

Funny how they didn't seem to have any problem with Arabs, though.😬

Robin Ramos2 said:It's Goodwill. Basically, it’s just the gap between the market value—you know, the current price of all outstanding shares or whatever someone paid to acquire a private firm—and the actual book value, which is just total assets minus total liabilities. I guess that's the gist of it.

To me, that sounds more like a way to calculate how much stock prices are being overhyped 😬 ...but hey, if that's how you define brand equity, then I guess that's that.

northernbison63 said:Yeah, you totally can. That's what goodwill is. People always get it mixed up with the actual value of a company, which—let's be real—is mostly just based on annual revenue and whatever the market thinks is happening at the moment.

Alright, so if I buy a brand name... what am I actually getting?

Like, if I bought into McDonald's, would the name alone come with all the franchise agreements and stuff?

Chris Barrett37 said:Brand value is essentially just the value of a name. 🙂

Fair enough, but can you actually put a price tag on a name and buy it?

northernbison63 said:Not in human form, anyway.

Look, you can go in any other form you want... it doesn't matter. You're still looking at a million years just to reach the nearest galaxy... which isn't even the kicker. The real issue is that it'll take you a million years just to get back.

Look, the real issue with space travel is that we're stuck playing by the rules of physics, which dictate the pace.
So... maybe one day we'll make it to Mars, or maybe even reach Proxima Centauri in 500 years... but that's pretty much the ceiling for humanity.
Even in 10 billion years, we aren't just going to hop over to another galaxy. That's the realization that really hits you.

goldenmason172 said:Honestly, tell me what the Russians have actually contributed to the world that we can still benefit from regarding all this powerful space technology? I know exactly what NASA has provided us, but I'm struggling to see what Russia has given to the global community.🤔 🤔 🤔

I know too... a tiny little non-stick pan!😬

goldenmason172 said:I would assume it is calculated based on the company's overall market capitalization. 🤔

I'm not totally sure, but I feel like the brand itself is separate from the corporation. It's more about the sheer weight of the name.
Take an oil giant like ExxonMobil or Chevron, for example—their brand alone carries way more weight than what we were discussing earlier.

But then again... I might be off base here. The whole concept is still a bit fuzzy to me.