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

It's been good to hear Channel Four recently, who have repeatedly described US and UK propoganda as propoganda.

Did anyone see that John Simpson documentary about Afganistan and the US involvement over the past few years? I missed it, everyone i know says it was fantastic, a real revelation, but can't remember the details.

If anyone can, post 'em up will you?

I saw that one.

The whole 'my enemy's enemy is my friend' aspect.

Unfortunately I was also cooking at the time, so I remember very little.

It was very revealing, as you say

Most of us here from the UK are intelligent enough to have read the newspapers and made up our own minds about the situation. Government progaganda will have a limited effect on me, and I don't see why people are getting so worked up about it. It's hardly strident and jingoistic to the extent that people are beginning to find it offensive (such as that experienced during the Falklands conflict).

Suggested Media Studies Essay Topic: "Compare and contrast the public approach taken by Blair and Thatcher during the Afghan and Falklands conflicts."

But don't forget the papers are full of propaganda too - we have an incredibly staid right wing press here in the UK, and the fact that the most radical paper we have in wide circulation is the Guardian is shocking. Not that it's a bad paper, but it's so middle of the road it's embarassing that there's no left wing paper to stand beside it.

And the Morning Star, tiny as it is,knows it's place, and is too concerned with Railtrack and the Aerospace sackings to think about the rest of the world too much.

I suppose that the correct response is not to worry too much about the tabloids and their pernicious effect upon the 'weak minded', but to decide for oneself whether the justifications given by the protagonists in this conflict are reasonable. I don't believe Tony Blair to be a dupe, and if he says he's seen convincing evidence against bin Laden I'm inclined to take him at his word. I can't see what advantage he'd gain in this case from pretending that there is a case for retaliation when there is none. He didn't have the huge unpopularity that Thatcher had when war broke out.

And yes, we don't have enough left-wing newspapers, or intelligent right-wing ones for that matter. Being a lefty myself, I used to take the Torygraph so I could have a good argument with the views put forward, but I found them rather facile and easy to counter to the extent that I thought that the editors were in the ingrained habit of advnacing 'straw men'.

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma School officials remove "God
Bless America" signs from schools in fear that someone
might be offended.

Channel 12 News in Long Island, New York, orders flags
removed from the newsroom and red, white, and blue ribbons
removed from the lapels of reporters. Why? Management did
not want to appear biased and felt that our nations flag
might give the appearance that "they lean one way or another".

Berkeley, California bans U.S. Flags from being displayed on
city fire trucks because they didn't want to offend anyone
in the community.

In an "act of tolerance" the head of the public library at
Florida Gulf Coast University ordered all "Proud to be an
American" signs removed so as to not offend international
students.

I, for one, am quite disturbed by these actions of so-called
American citizens; and I am tired of this nation worrying
about whether or not we are offending some individual or
their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11,
we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of
Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely
settled in New York and Washington D.C. when the "politically
correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that
our patriotism was offending others.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against
anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. In
fact, our country's population is almost entirely comprised of
descendants of immigrants; however, there are a few things that those who
have recently come to our country, and apparently some native Americans, need
to understand.

First of all, it is not our responsibility to continually try
not to offend you in any way. This idea of America being a
multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our
sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have
our own culture, our own society, our own language, and our
own lifestyle. This culture, called the "American Way" has
been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and
victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. Our
forefathers fought, bled, and died at places such as Bunker Hill, Antietam,
San Juan, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Vietnam.

We speak English, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese,
Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to
become part of our society - learn our language!
"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some
off-the-wall, Christian, Right Wing, political slogan - it
is our national motto. It is engraved in stone in the House
of Representatives in our Capitol and it is printed on our
currency. We adopted this motto because Christian men and
women, on Christian principles, founded this nation; and
this is clearly documented throughout our history. If it is
appropriate for our motto to be inscribed in the halls of our
highest level of Government, then it is certainly appropriate
to display it on the walls of our schools.

God is in our pledge, our National Anthem, nearly every
patriotic song, and in our founding documents. We honor His
birth, death, and resurrection as holidays, and we turn to
Him in prayer in times of crisis. If God offends you, then
I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new
home, because God is part of our culture and we are proud
to have Him.

We are proud of our heritage and those who have so
honorably defended our freedoms. We celebrate
Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Flag Day.
We have parades, picnics, and barbecues where we proudly
wave our flag. As an American, I have the right to wave my
flag, sing my national anthem, quote my national motto, and cite my pledge
whenever and wherever I choose. If the Stars and Stripes offend you, or you
don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another
part of this planet.

The American culture is our way of life, our heritage, and we
are proud of it. We are happy with our culture and have no
desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things
where you came from. We are Americans, like it or not, this
is our country, our land, and our lifestyle.

Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express
his opinion about our government, culture, or society, and we
will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are
done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our
pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly
encourage you take advantage of one other great American
freedom, the right to leave.

Interesting subject title OBL.

What prompted you to choose such an acronym

As this is an open forum, we must expect somecommentary by ethnocentric xenophobes, however distasteful it is.
OBL, your post is not helpful, particularly the references to religion and the (somewhat gratuitous) mention of language. The intolerance expressed here is rather troubling, given recent events.

Yeah, so what you think, sucka?

In addition to what I just told you? I think you need diction lessons.

Sorry I'm just trying to have a sense of humour about all of this. You guys are silly, and way too serious. You need to chill out and think about why you're bashing the US. We're bound to have problems, being as big and powerful as we are (not trying to sound pompous, but when you've got so many people with so many varied interests, you can't please everyone), but there's no reason to bash the entire US, especially at a time like this. I don't agree with everything in that posting, btw, I just wanted to get something stirred up. I just wanted to bring some new blood into a dead horse. That reminds me, remind me to tell you about Secratariat sometime, you know, the horse...Alas, I digress.

Bling bling, we got the cheese...America's off the chain, fool

I've never tried laughing about war...

*tries*

Nope, can't do it.

I wonder where people think I'm from once they assume I'm not American.

I don't think he was laughing about war...it sounds like he was laughing at anti-american sentiments...just a thought.

Well anti-American sentiments or not, the 'whole affair' didn't seem too humourous to me. But I'll test that theory again:

*tries*

Nope, still can't do it.

This immediate forum situation is humorous to me. Open your eyes. The conversation has lost its point in this room. All anyone here does is wait for someone to insult their nationality. I would like to see real discussions like... what SHOULD be done, legally and morally... people should be uniting right now, not arguing. we all have a common purpose in life, to live. To live a life without threat of dying the next day on my way to or at work. No one here ever discusses the pro points of the US discussions. All you ever do is aim directly for the bad. If America had not anything in this situation, I feel confident all you people would be insulting us for that. Your thoughts and plans are ineffective, "talk it out", "give them what they want"... why? so they can do it again next year on the anniversary? There is always a time for action, the degree of action is what should be controlled, and I think the American Govt. has done a damn good job of controlling itself. There are certain nations on this planet that if they had the ability to, they would wipe the US off the globe, they would not stop to talk to us!

The remarks saying this is a religious war are prepostorous. Never had I in my month long, non-stop viewing of CNN and other news stations have I ever heard that this was a war against Islam or Muslims. They are (Taliban/ Al Quieda / bin Laden) making this a religious war. The "Jihad" is what made it that.

If you are an American with anti-government/american views, shame on you. Why are you here. You (the citizens) put this Government in power. They are not Dictators or Tyrants as we have seen in other "modern" nations. They are a Government of people voted for by the people ruling a country with open doors to the world (too open if you ask me). Immigrants can come here and live, freely religous, and get government money until they can carry themselves... before you argue, I personally know quite a few. What other nation is this possible. And what if we "stick our nose" into other countries business by going in and helping them. Who else will? Or would you prefer for them to be murdered, oppressed, uneducated, and dying?

These are just my opinions... take them with a grain of salt... I know you will... either that or just argue like always instead of looking for something positive.

You are blinded by the light that is trying to lead you to your goal.

Instead of rambling on continually about how stupid we all are on this forum, why not go to the talking point and find a forum talking about what to do? This was a focused forum and hundreds of posts ahve been made. This kind of high-headed criticism only serves to make these forums lively again - in the wrong kind of way.

Whoami?

*has sip of *

Ok, I'll try laughing at the forum:

*tries*

Nope, still can't do it.

"OBL, your post is not helpful, particularly the references to religion and the (somewhat gratuitous) mention of language. The intolerance expressed here is rather troubling, given recent events."

I do not think it is to much to ask that if you are to become an American citizen for you to learn English. I would not expect to be able to cope if I were to transfer to live with African Clicker tribes, if I could not click, nor Japan if I could not speak Japanese. Think of simple things like health care, any service, and basic everyday acts. Come on!