Homer Simpsons the greatest american- what's wrong with Brits?

[Guest]

Originally posted by MRT144
everyone forgets fienman

who? do you mean Richard Feynman?
Great guy definetly
Greatest? I don't know...
Although it doesn't mean anything so why not him right...

[Dis]

Didn't one of them use direct current, and the other alternating current?

What's the big deal? What did Edison do specifically?

[JohnT]

Edison invented (I listed some of these above):

Motion pictures
Recorded music (plus the means to play it back)
Electric lights
Stock ticker
A bunch of inventions regarding batteries, including the nickel-alkaline battery, galvanic batteries, rechargable batteries, a battery powered by heat, voltaic batteries, alkaline batteries
Miner's safety lamps
The telephone dial tone (really! Patent# 203,017)
Paraffin paper
discovered the "Edison effect."

http://www.tomedison.org/invent.html

http://www.tomedison.org/patent.html

[JohnT]

Edison was DC, btw.

[Dis]

no I meant, what bad things did he do? He doesn't seem to get much respect for all he's done on this forum at least.

[JohnT]

Edison conducted a smear campaign against Tesla and the AC system, even going so far as to invent the AC electric chair. He also tried to eliminate the word "electrocute" from our language, rather saying that things got "Westinghoused."

Here's a site (done by a HS student) that does a pretty good job explaining the issue: http://www.leyada.jlm.k12.il/proj/edsntsla/hist1.htm

[Dis]

yeah I remembered the AC DC debate.

I guess it was a little more than a debate

And he did a good thing by using AC power for the electric chair. That is a far better way to kill a person. Although eliminating the word electrocute seems kind of dumb.

[gsmoove23]

What about Henry Clay, the Great Compromiser? I know compromise isn't very popular but if not for him the Union might have fallen apart long before the civil war. He definately deserves a place on the list.

As for Homer Simpson, just consider it a vote for Matt Groening.

Where's Jimmy Carter too?

[Dis]

Jimmy Carter?

well actually you have a point. The stuff he's done since his presidency is very commendable. He's a good man.

[Drogue]

You do a poll based on a BBC poll, yet don't include the option that one by a country mile Just because you don't think Homer should be, the fact that 47% of that poll voted for it means it should be included

[TCO]

washington. kicked Redcoat ass. With a little help from the Frogs.

[Dis]

Homer is not a real american person. 'nuff said

[Vince278]

These polls have the same fatal flaw: people confuse popularity with greatness. I see it as a Rorshach test for the way people think.
The Princess Diana was very popular around the world and a great humanitarian but when it comes to real greatness she is not in the same league as Queens Elizabeth I and Victoria. Even as a humanitarian it would be hard for man or woman to top Mother Teresa.
Of course, greatness and popularity is relative.

[Drogue]

I voted for FDR. Although FDRs new deal was genius, and got America out of a hell of a bad time.

I voted for Homer on that poll, not taking the piss. Partly because of the other characters, and partly because Homer is a great, down to earth guy. I would judge this not by their actions, but by who they are, what sort of person they are. Homer is a great guy. Yeh he's stupid, but he means well. I would rather have voted for Matt Groening, but Homer is a great man IMHO. That he is not a human doesn't matter. I just vote as if he is him.

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Dissident
Jimmy Carter?

well actually you have a point. The stuff he's done since his presidency is very commendable. He's a good man.

Are you kidding me. It was the only time in our history when people were swimming the Rio Grande in the other direction.