h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Congratulations paulie on getting this into the edited guide.

No doubt you will be distressed by the serious typo at the start of the second paragraph which is copied and pasted here:


"...before the any white came men to the country."


You may want to point this error out quickly and have the editorial team make the correction before it discourages too many readers.

It was a long and difficult but necessary trip to get your entry to this stage. You had to make a lot of changes and compromises throughout the Peer Review process.

Happily, the history of that struggle and the conversations surrounding it are preserved in the link provided in "CAC 24.10.02" available at A856541 where we promoted your entry under its original and much better title "Monumental Arrogance" complete with your perfectly acceptable version of the screwed up sentence in question.

peace
~jwf~ for <./>AGGGAG</.>CAC

Hmmm... I noticed that too rightaway. Terrible for the poor English readers.

Thought maybe I, was talking like Lakota it English translated literally she. To me makes sense perfect it. Wonder why is that I? >> Laughing now! ~jwf~, laugh you too, okay? << &;D

~jwf~

Great article. Not that I'd like this nation dissolved necessarily, but I love the bit about "this land, currently known as the United States of America..." Implies that there have been other names for the land, and that this one might not be the last.

thanks jwf, I'll see if I can figure out how to get somebody to fix that. Judging by the lack of control I actually had in the subediting process I'm not all that confindent I will be listened to. At any rate it feels good to have gotten this far with it. Thanks to everybody who helped along the way.

Sorry for that typo, Paulie - fixed now. I've also amended some of the other bits you seemed to have issues with, which I hope is okay. An excellent entry by the way, and it's been fascinating to read Rita's comments in the Conversations for this entry too. Thanks to both of you!

Jimster

thank you so much. I know it may seem like trivial little things, but I have come to think of this thing almost like a child. I do appreciate your understanding.

I'm glad your concerns have been addressed. It's good to know that the editors will respond reasonably.

It really is good to see a reasonable response from editors. That is after all what they are being paid for. And their employer, the BBC, has a long record of being reasonable. Seldom great but always 'reasonable'.

But more importantly, it's good to see the way researchers responded to a thorny subject. I was surprised to see so much passing academic curiosity from those who live in Europe. And delighted to see aboriginals coming forth from several corners to make use of this wonderful platform to increase awareness of the injustices they continue to suffer.


I don't know which is better. I guess it's all good.

~jwf~

I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only did Jimster take care of the issue that was most disturbing to me, he also went back through the discussions and made other changes I had wanted. thanks again Jimster

But you are right of course, the most important outcome is the discussion. I think it relates on a world wide basis really. Even though what we are discussing here is the treatment in a very narrow scope of some of America's indigidous people, the concept holds ture wherever you apply it. While it might not be immediately obvious how the knowledge will come in handy, certainly it is an exercise in "what if" for all of us. What if it were me on the recieving end of such oppression? What if I were such an oppressor? Maybe all of us are one or the other or both and just don't realize it.

I think you hit the nail on the head there Paulie. We are all complicit in the events of the world around around us as long as we choose to remain ignorant or after the veil of ignorance is lifted to remain silent. or anyone who would like to know the bloody recent history of South Dakota I recommend Peter Mathiessen's book "In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse." There was a new gold rush in the 1960's, but for other minerals including uranium to fuel the cold war and nuclear power plants. In the process a civil war broke out at Pine Ridge that ended only after AIM leaders were intimidated, incarcerated, and murdered. It's not cheery but very enlightening.
Ssubnel

I agree with you, and someday I will write an entry about Mr. Peltier too. But when you get into that arena things get so personal, so many feelings come into play. I suppose it was my intent to remanin factual and detached and thus have the facts speak for themselves. Of course that's impossible, always has been, but I keep on trying. I hope you will look at the entry I am working on now when you get a chance. Maybe you can help me hammer it into some sort of sensible shape. I can absorb all these facts myself, and realize that I need to do something for my own part in it, but I can't seem to organize them in a way that draws many others into the conversation.

A905483