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

About the music : over here in Belgium, it was mentioned on the radio that a specific list of songs were not going to be played for a while in America and several other countries, but that we are not going to participate in this stupidity. Yesterday morning I heard 'Aeroplane' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and was told that this song is also on the list... "Music is my aeroplane..." If everybody was convinced of such a peaceful notion, then nothing would ever have happened... I heard 'Imagine' is also on the list! How far can you go??

Maybe it's about time to start burning books again, since some of them might have contents that might be hard for some people right now! (yes, this last bit IS ironic!)

h³

I live in the states and haven't heard such a thing. If it was a isolated event... I suspect that it would have soon changed becasue it is such a silly idea to not play songs or show books. It sounds a bit like Nazism.

There *is* a list of songs that a particular network thinks would be inappropriate to play at the moment; some of the list makes sense and some of it doesn't.

No, America is not censoring what it's people can and can't listen to. One part of America is trying not to upset anyone and is being ultra-careful. It's a little early to break out the comparisons with facism.

Oh, and a question: why would Rage Against The Machine be so objectionable? Do they have any leanings towards Islam?

Loony

LOL. NZ is 1/100 the population size of the US and 1/1000 the size of China. I wonder how my small state (which by the way is bigger than all of NZ) would rank. Very few stresses have ever been put on your government and population to really test civil liberties.

PS If NZ were to every be seriously attacked by another country to gain your land, natural minerals etc ... who would defend you? I think you would see the US Navy leading the pack

I don't think the US would be in much of a hurry to defend NZ.

I hope the UK would but given New Zealand's regrettable expertise at Rugby I'm not entirely sure .

Let's not start this "but we'd help you" arguement. New Zealand's record speaks for itself; it is unlikely to ever be a target and it is unlikely to find itself centre stage of something like Sept 11th simply because it's foreign policy is not designed to annoy people. The Kiwis are way too small to throw their weight about on the international stage and expect it to count too much. Instead, they seem to prefer to lead by example.

Wasn't it New Zealand's non-nuclear policy that prevented US warships from using NZ's ports? Go Kiwis!

Good Point about NZ!

Norway roughly about the same size has considerable international clout for peacemaking. They lead by example as well!

NZ is bigger than most people realise. Its land mass is similar to Great Britain or Japan Contrary to those countries, our population is tiny.

On the world stage, similar to the Scandinavian countries, NZ often fights above its weight. Our armed forces were involved in virtually every 20th Century skirmish. From the Boer War to East Timor.

New Zealander Mike Moore is currently the top dog in the WTO. Another Kiwi (McKinnon) is British Commmonwealth Secretary General.

The US and UK didn't say much in the 80s when the French Government carried out a terrorist act in Auckland harbour. The Froggies blew up a Greenpeace boat. One guy died.

I'm not sure you want to be bringing attention to New Zealand's role in East Timor. Didn't NZ (along with Aus, UK and USA) support the military coup which brought Suharto to power? That was an example of many countries coming together to further their national/business interests without a thought for the hundreds of thousands who would die.

which state are you from, Listener?

Perhaps little facts like the USA having either the largest (or the second largest, along with Australia) number of nearly extinct languages in the world (around 150) go some way to explaining one of the reasonst that people despise Americans from the States. Some of these languages are only spoken by one or two people. It is of course, a country of imigrants as well, but I think it speaks volumes of the US's past explotation and decimation of peoples and cultures. Food for thought.

I am studying in the US, but I grew up in Zimbabwe was born in South Africa (two countries with their own past and present history of extreme oppression and exploitation)

P.S. I don't think anybody has particularly vehement feelings towards Canadians or Mexicans in general.

Andy, NZ and Australia are carrying out peace-keeping duties in East Timor at the request of the United Nations.

The colonial powers in Indonesia included France and Portugal. I guess NZ and Australia didn't feel up to declaring war on them during the time you mention

And never forget the Dutch, as I just did

Minnesota

I don't know, ask Californians and Texans about the Mexicans...
And I think Canadian are their own worst enemy with all the fighting over their language...

As a matter of fact I'm sure blacks, latino's and even native americans consider America the home of the brave. Don't get me wrong we have work to do especially regarding native americans.
You mention how you didn't see blacks etc at some convention, but maybe they just weren't interested in whatever it was. You are making assumptions and that's it.
I was just in Spain for 3 weeks and you know I didn't see many blacks anywhere so am I to assume they have them locked up somewhere out of the public eye? I don't think so.
If life here is so bad for latino's then why do they come here in droves? Too many people still try and hold us accountable for slavery and other past transgressions of our fore fathers and while we do address many issues nobody is ever satisfied. I don't see any body coming down on the Spanish for wiping out whole races of people in Central and South America.

Bottom line is we are an easy target for criticism basically because of who we are and what we represent. In a free society one is able to voice his criticism and we welcome it with open eyes and ears, but when you kill enough people to make up a small town you better be ready for a fight.

Fair enough, but a fight against who?

Looks like Afganistan is the current whipping boy but if any innocent civilians are killed would America not then be as bad as the terrorists.

My fingers are crossed for large amounts of caution and maybe even a bit of rational thinking.

'I don't think the US would be in much of a hurry to defend NZ.'

I believe are bound to defend it by treaty. I think it's under SEATO. By virtue of it being a western 'democracy', I think you'd be assured that we would defend it. We're far more inclined to take care of nations who are similar (no offense intended) to us.

Australia have a treaty with you (ANZUS) and no doubt you would come to our aid as well, to defend your listening bases if nothing else.

However it wouldn't be worth the paper it was written on if the US were also under attack at the same time.

Rather unpredictable isn't it. The Taliban are asked to turn him over, and suprisingly this Bin man vanishes. "Bin who?" - "Why don't you go and ask them over there if they've seen this guy.. never heard of him.. maybe he's hiding there. Go and bomb them instead, or spray them with those chemicals and germs you've been developing and stockpiling for a rainy day, or something. Not us. Go away."

This is getting too much like bad TV. But it is available on cable, satellite and high definition digital TV, soon on DVD too - The medium defining wot Culchur iz toodey hear. (Sorry Marshall M. of the "medium is the message" fame, I had to use "New English")

Well Listener it IS a a bit like nazism, and it´s not an isolated event it´s happening all over the western world.Scary isn´t it?