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

Lil and Scandrea: I have already e-mailed Jimster to say that Buckie needs to be put on premod, at the very least, before he gets h2g2 sued - for example, by calling someone a 'hooker' simply because he doesn't like what she writes, like he did today.

The Eds conceded that there had been a problem, but so far don't seem to have done much about it. If you'd like to back me up - and I would appreciate it - the address is [email protected] .

I back you up on that- I've been the target of abuse too on that thread. Already unsubbed once

Give me some time to think up a nice way of putting in words what a he's being, and I'll send it off ASAP!

Thanks, Scandrea.

I think that what annoys me most is his overt contempt for h2g2. He came here to publicise a smear campaign, and now his main purpose seems to be to abuse everyone else on the site.

Moving off Bush and Kerry for a bit, I had the pleasure of hearing Ralph Nader speak this weekend. Ralph came to my town of Missoula, Montana and spoke to an overflow, standing-room-only crowd of 800 people on the University of Montana campus.

His initial speech was quite stirring--he knew some of the local issues and worked those beautifully into his discussion of larger issues on the national and global level. His main foe: Corporate America and its control of Bush, Kerry and the American electoral process. However, there were many in the crowd who were Kerry voters. During the Q & A period they heckled him into discussing the Republican efforts to get him onto the ballot in many states (he claims it is only Democrats up to this dirty trick) and mentioning that Terry McAuliffe from the Kerry campaign has offered Nader a Cabinet position in a Kerry Administration. Nader has refused a position, saying that his hands will be tied by Corporate-owned bigwigs in the Democratic party and he won't be able to exercise the power he wants. One heckler after this revelation said that Nader's campaign is really not about change but about his ego. Many in the crowd became antagonistic after a volunteer in Nader's campaign took the podium and tried to call on various audience members to donate anywhere from $1000 to $100--this volunteer went on a few beats too long, and people wanted Nader back up there to answer questions.

I came away from his speech with this impression: vote Kerry. Nader said that in those states that are solidly Republican or Democrat, his supporters and supporters of change in general should vote their conscience and vote for Nader. In those states that could go either way--the "battleground states"--people should vote for Kerry because Nader's primary goal this election is to remove Bush from office. Yes, he wants a piece of the electoral pie to send a message to the Democratic Party that it should not pander to Corporate America at the expense of citizes, but he knows that Kerry can be changed on many issues. As Nader said: "he can be flipped." Now, if that's the case, why not vote for Kerry anyway? A vote for Nader might send a message, but if Ralph himself recognizes the need to get rid of Bush then we should all concentrate our efforts and vote for John Kerry and John Edwards.

I am on the horns of a dilemna. I would dearly love to order the Kitty Kelley Book for the library. But I refused to buy 'Unfit for Command'. I can't be perceived to be biased. I would also like to buy 'Bushworld' by Maureen Dowd. And 'Intelligence Matters'by Bob Graham came out today. So, do I buy 'Unfit for Command' so I can buy the others? Or do I stick to my guns about it and skip the anti-Bush books as well? I could add the Pat Buchanan book or the Tommy Franks book to add balance.

Rats. I'm going to have to buy the swiftboat vets book.

If I were you, Hypatia, I would buy the Kelley, Graham, Buchanan and Franks books and steer clear of the S**t Vets.

I say wait until someone requests "Unfit" and buy the others as they will most likely be read more.

GDZ has a good point, Hypatia. I seem to remember that a while back you said that you'd gone and purchased Ann Coulter because you wanted to be seen as being balanced, but that her book hadn't been checked out very often compared to what? Al Franken or something like that.

So until someone asks, don't get it.

FG,

I don't think Nader's only goal is to remove Bush from office, although he is firmly opposed to many of the actions of that administration. Nader is running to draw attention to his issues (such as reducing corporate influence on our government, repealing the Patriot Act, and ending the illegal occupation of Iraq) which are not being addressed by either of the major political parties.

I think most people who support Ralph Nader won't vote for Kerry/Edwards because they don't feel the Kerry/Edwards ticket represents their intrests. If I vote for Kerry just to get rid of Bush, it's as if I'm saying I agree with Kerry's positions on the issues and approve of his actions.

respectfully,
Don

Just in case you didn't know. Europe are backing Kerry.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1252447,00.html

That includes half of Britiains conservative voters and over half of Labour.

This includes some post conference bounce even here.

Shame we don't have a vote.

Here's some more good news - Kerry still ahead in swing states!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1299538,00.html

I have never been so genuinely frightened about the outcome of an election.

I just had this conversation with a few of my classmates. If you-know-who gets reelected, we're looking for graduate schools in Canada. And I'm taking my draft-age brother with me!

It's a shame it is coming to that. But if Shrub is re-elected he will have most of Europe against him. And Canada appears to be filling up with this disheartened disillusioned American young. Way to go Double

It looks like all of my brothers are safe from the draft, my youngest brother is 26.

A staff member just made a chilling observation. Bush apparently believes that we are living in the 'End Times'. So what is to keep him from trying to facilitate it? Maybe he thinks he has been put into office by God to fight the Antichrist and fulfill some divine purpose.

Just thought I'd share. No point in worrying all by myself.

This week's Newsweek electoral vote count is the sme as last week's. 180 for Bush; 199 for Kerry; 159 too close to call.

So, if he believes the apocalypse is imminent, why would he be concerned about the environment? Or massive budget deficits? Or long range planning? Or whether the rest of the world has a negative opinion of him and the US? There will be a mighty cleansing. All the infidels will be cast into hell. Jesus will return and magically create a paradise on earth for all true believers and they will live in bliss eternally.

Now, where is that red 'Do Not Push' button?

Don, while I agree that the issues Nader is addressing that Kerry and Shrub aren't are important, the fact remains that Nader has a snowball's chance in hell of being elected, and I for one would rather have Kerry in office than Shrub.

I happen to live right up the road from Peter Camejo, his running mate, and I like the guy. He's done a lot of thinking about the way the world should work, etc. But I disagree with him that the way to go about making those changes is to completely challenge the status quo. My suggestion would be to try to get into power through the existing structure, and THEN make changes. But that's just me.

What gets me about Shrub's belief that the Rapture is imminent is that he believes that HE will be one of the chosen. How can he and Dickie really believe that their actions are godly?

Don, removing Bush from office isn't Nader's only goal. However, I'm going by what I heard him say in person three days ago--it *is* an important goal for him, even in an election where he himself is a candidate. He made it plain that as a whole, the American electorate should not vote "least worst", that is the least worst of two bad candidates, but he did say that in those states where it is too close to call people should vote for Kerry.

But how are they to determine that? We're watching Poll Wars now.