Posted on 11/11/2004 7:11:43 AM PST by presidio9
Women like men, and men like cars.
''Hmm, it says here that women think George Clooney has more sex appeal than a Ferrari. Maybe that's because women don't know how to drive a Ferrari,'' said Torsten Kadletz, a used-car dealer unafraid of feminists. He was studying a recent German magazine survey that asked men and women how they'd rather spend a weekend: with a fuel-injected sports car or an air-brushed celebrity.
Few things are more invigorating to the German man than a clear windshield, a palm on the gearshift and miles of open autobahn. In 12 pages of statistics leavened with pictures of half-dressed women draped over expensive upholstery, Men's Car magazine sought to find out where cars and lust intersect. The survey of 2,253 German men and women ages 20 to 50 gauged preference and performance, both on the road and in the bedroom.
Such a study is more than a bit of marketing whimsy in a land where cars are an enduring national pride. The sleek designs and meticulous mechanics of the German-made Mercedes, BMW and Audi have for generations been among the country's finer exports. Cars are studied and shined, engine pings and fan belt squeaks are not tolerated, and Sunday afternoon in the fast lane -- where speeds can reach 140 mph -- is no place for the meek. ''Germans buy cars with passion and love,'' Kadletz said.
FREQUENCY OF SEX
And, perhaps, with a bit of hanky-panky in mind. Men who drive BMWs have more sex per week -- 2.2 times -- than anyone polled. (But are they happy? Apparently, yes.) Guys driving Porsches may have more money, but their cars get more action than their libidos. Porsche drivers have sex 1.4 times a week -- lower than everyone else polled, including guys who drive Fords, Opels and Minis.
''I was surprised that Porsche came in last place,'' said Frank Hofmann, editor of Men's Car. ``I'm driving a Porsche myself, and damn, I didn't want the worst sex life in Germany. But then I discovered that the average Porsche owner is 55 years old. So, 1.4 times of sex a week is OK.''
The study found that sometimes people are like the cars they drive. Take the Volvo. Reliable and stuffed with air bags, the Volvo is marketed as an achievement in perseverance that will always get you there. And so will the Volvo owner. Men with Volvos have longer sex -- 7.3 minutes a session -- than any other driver, especially those Casanovas with Italian cars who clock a mere 4.9 minutes per session.
longjack
.Today in America we celebrate the holiday of Veteran's Day. I am sure that I am not only American who might find your opinion offensive. But having some experience with you I now recognize it for what it is: ignorance. Ignorance that springs from allowing emotion to confront an irrefutable truth. Case in point: "America no longer produces the most dominant athletes in the world because, while the still dominate the Olympics, they most recently dominated them slightly less than they had in the past.
The Normandy Invasion was what put the Germans on the defensive in WWII. Period. Confirm this information in any history book. And the German soldiers were effective at killing in the same sense that the Iraqis are effective today: They were fighting a retreating guerilla war. It is much easier to kill the enemy when he has to come looking for you. That fact alone was the reason German casualties were so high at Stalingrad. Russian weapons technology was a joke. I always thought that the idea that German history books on WWII were heavily censored was a myth.
America is certainly made up of individuals, but since America consistenly produces the finest examples of humanity, it is logical to extrapolate that America is the best at producing the best.
I didn't address the point at all; you were discussing it with someone else, not me. But since you brought it up I'll give you my take: Nowhere in the history of the world has both the concept and practice of individualism been more prominent than in the United States of America, and that's precisely why we're the greatest country (producing the greatest individuals) that ever was.
hehehe...probably true.
"Men can get sex from women anytime, anywhere with anyone they want."
***
SOME men can, I suppose. But not most.
I heard 42.564% of all statistics are made up.
Red6
Most of Americans have at least some European blood in them, including black Americans. So what's your point about "importing Europeans"?
1 - "the average Porsche owner is 55 years old."
uip
Back in the 60's and 70's when Porsche's were still 'affordable', each one came with a beautiful blond in the passenger seat, as standard equipment.
"There´s nothing wrong in being proud of the achievements of your country, but there is a fault in thinking your 'race' is a better."
***
Total non-sequitur. Saying American men are better has nothing to do with race because there is no American "race". And, again, most of us are of European ancestry anyway. I think he's saying we're the product of a better culture and attitude, something I'm sure Europe is never guilty of claiming. HA!
It´s that "American men" can´t be that good if many of its greatest persons were born and raised in other countries. It proves your claim wrong, that Americans have a better culture and attitude.
Ah yes, the fashion that crosses all borders. At last, something we all have in common.
Ah yes, the fashion that crosses all borders. At last, something we all have in common.
You stepped into this discussion, therefore I concluded that you challenged my point about "American men".
While I don´t argue with you that America has promoted individualism like no other country before, and that it has brought many great inventors, sportsmen, politicians, I can´t say that there haven´t been equally great and even better people in other nations. For me, no nation can claim it´s the "greatest on earth" because being great, good, the best, etc is an attribute for the individual. Saying that America is the greatest country means that every American takes pride in it, even though he/she has contributed NOTHING for the fame of the individuals. One can say that America is a great country, but I would never accept the claim that there is such thing like a "greatest country". You got it?
So you claim that "finest examples of humanity" can not come from other countries, since those are "produced" in America? Is there a factory for that? And what´s with all those great examples who immigrated to the US? Those were surely "produced" somewhere else.
Call me ignorant, however, for me, your stance is arrogant.
I´m not sure whether the history books must confirm your thesis of the best nation, but if so, it explains your lack of knowledge. The truth about WW2 is, that the German army was on retreat since January 1943 in the East. It was not the weapons technology of the Soviets, it was the huge amounts of amunition and number of soldiers who outnumbered the Germans. That´s also the reason why the Red Army had so many casualties: they were not effective, but they were many!
Oh, and off topic: I wouldn´t call the Iraqi terrorists effective.
"America was not the decisive factor in the war against Germany in WW2 - unlike WW1. Stalingrad - and no other event - broke the Wehrmacht. And don´t underestimate the fights that were bought from 1939-1944... even in the last months the German army was quite "successful" in killing the enemy (I could remind you of the battle of Hürtgenwald: 55,000 dead GI´s compared to 15,000 Germans). But we shouldn´t go into details, my point is, that the performance of the individual matters, and nothing else."
FIRST, those casualty numbers are disputed. Some say 33,000 American KIA vs. 28,000 Germans. Probably, given the nature of the terrain (heavily forested hills) and how dug-in the Germans were, it's closer to your estimate, but...
SECOND, the attacking army always loses more men than the defenders, which is why conventional military wisdom throughout the world says that to attack a fortified position you must outnumber the defenders by 2 to 1 at an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM. Moreoever, Germany, with the exception of the Bulge, was almost always fighting the Americans as dug-in defenders, not attackers.
Germany had a great army that could fight like demons but so did America.
As for the "performance of the individual" that's true as far as it goes, but individual performance is worthless, and even destructive if the individual is performing AS an individual and not part of a team.
"Saying that America is the greatest country means that every American takes pride in it, even though he/she has contributed NOTHING for the fame of the individuals."
I GUESS YOU'RE TRYING TO SAY that losers always try to attach themselves to winners even in the most tangential and ultimately meaningless ways, but while that is true, it is also irrelevant to the point.
***
One can say that America is a great country, but I would never accept the claim that there is such thing like a "greatest country". You got it?
***
If there is no such thing as a "greatest country" then there is no such thing as a "great country". Both require an ability to measure countries against each other and one is going to have the highest "score".
We have the best record on first refining, then spreading human rights, humanitarian aid, and -- most of all -- political and economic freedom throughout the world. Our record is not flawless in that regard but even so, whoever is second to America under these criteria is really a distant 40th.
If that isn't the measure of a great country, then you're right, there is no such thing. What other measure is there? Who makes the best cars or food or has the best weather is rather petty by comparison...
If you wanted to say that there is a greatest country, you should point out the measures, right, you did so. But I say one cannot compare nations in regard to finding acountry with the highest score. I do think that one can compare countries into classes (like great, valuable and non-valuable countries), e.g. say that Tunisia or Albania are no great countries, because they have and never had much to contribute to the advance of humanity. But since one has to put in different factors in the measures, like size, number of inhabitants, raw materials, inventions, circumstances of inventions, etc saying that one country is greater than other great countries is pure arrogance and does more harm (-> the individual feeling superior even though he isn´t) than use. I cannot create a fair list which shows the "greatest nation", can you? There is no "greatest nation" because it´s impossible to do such a list. You may have categories, but that´s all. Continuing to say that American men are the best men is therefore arrogance, and nothing else.
Twice in my dull life
women have offered themselves
to me in exchange
for products. One girl
wanted a high-fashion watch,
the other, a car . . .
"I cannot create a fair list which shows the "greatest nation", can you? There is no "greatest nation" because it´s impossible to do such a list. You may have categories, but that´s all. Continuing to say that American men are the best men is therefore arrogance, and nothing else."
***
I still stand by what I said. Exporting political and economic freedom and a respect for human rights is the one and only measure of what makes a country great. It's true that countries with larger populations are generally going to have a larger effects -- but by my criteria every country has the potential to be great, even Luxembourg or any other tiny country you can think of.
Not being a woman, I have no comment on which "men" are better.
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