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

Well, don't say I didn't warn you!

the adams apple comment at the end is what really killed me, that and the "there is a spectre haunting europe" bit....If anyone else were the subject of this, I'd be appalled, but for Axis Annie, I'm willing to make the exception.

Actually U1, you're *talking* to three people from that country, although one is an expat elsewhere.

I believe many people outside of the US follow it's politics closely and most seem to be critical. I imagine that's because of the huge influence the USA has on other countries and the widespread availability of it's media (including rotweilers).

Since the first two orders of business for governments that want some form of totalitarianism is control of the media and universities (even if partial), Fox and the *Neoconning* of post secondary education are both sources for concern.

I'm reading that right now, Rev, so far so funny... Interesting!

Greetings to all of you. I have been following this conversation with
interest. One of the reasons I use use this forum is to find out what the citizens of others countries think of the goings on in the usa and to engage in a free and open discussion of the issues that concern us all. Therefore, I do not think Brown Shirts are on the American horizon, unless they are Chinese. I do have great concern for this country. I have concerns about some of the recent laws that have been passed to 'fight terrorism'. I have concerns about so much religeous activity and talk in the upper echelons of the goverement, the religeous right influence, I guess.

However, what concerns me most is the tremendous amount of money and influence in corporate American and in national politecs. Whoever controls the money is going to control the politics of the country. Too many think the companies they run aare their private piggy banks, along the way, trashing employes, pension plans and anything else that gets in their way.

America's election are too long and require too much money, money controlled by corporate America. Who controls the money controls America. And in my opinion, there are no morals left in corporate America or National Politics. And the proof is in the papers and in the news every day. My apoligizes for this one long winded tirade.

isolated incident or the shape of things to come?

'A high school student's class project on freedoms in the U.S. attracted Secret Service agents to his school this week.

The agents visited Currituck County High School Tuesday after receiving a report that a student had created potentially threatening photographs of President Bush.

Sandy Kinzel, a school spokeswoman, said the Secret Service questioned the student about a photograph he had taken for a class project on freedoms. In the student's photograph, a photograph of Bush is shown fastened to a wall with a thumbtack. Over the picture of Bush is a "thumbs-down" sign. The thumbtack in the photo was apparently placed somewhere on Bush's head, Kinzel said.

Concerned that the thumbtack might represent a potential threat to the president, the company that developed the student's film notified authorities.'

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/12732441.htm

this kind of thing has been going on for five years now, maybe more.
I posted this link over on the Chief Gordon thread, but it bears repeating here
http://kevinswoodshed.blogspot.com/2005/10/friendly-skies-thank-god-for-airline.html
there's a link there to a story about a woman who was thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight for wearing a satirical T-Shirt with a picture of President Bush. This shirt apparently was considered a security threat.

I understood that the shirt was considered offensive because of the (misspelled) cuss word.

Frankly, I'm a little annoyed when I see people wearing stupid shirts with things like swearing on them. But, I'm not going to say anything about it. Unless they're in my house. And, of course, an airplane is not a public place.

I suspect that the incident had less to do with the satirical nature of the shirt and more to do with the fact that it said in very large letters 'Meet the F@kkers'.

Ahktually old legume, the offending word may not have been misspelled:

*The shirt had pictures of members of the Bush Administration, and a phrase based on the movie "Meet the Fockers," but with one crucial vowel changed.*

Oh. I thought the movie was 'Meet the Fokkers'. I don't get to the cinema much.

But does an offensive term on a t-shirt really constitute a "security threat"?

a) perhaps if the wearer becomes belligerant (I'm not saying she did, because . . .)

b) where did the idea of 'security threat' come from? It's not in the piece to which you linked, as far as Firefox and I can find.

Perhaps if the fockers are the kind of fockers that the fockers in the focking White House are.