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

Hi,

I must explain: I've just come by with another Vogon's ship, and don't know much about your history. I did learn about your last events, though, and feel very sorry for those beings who perished in flames.

However, the outright pretence of the so called Americans for being loved by everybody else, and their sincere bewilderment at the fact that not everybody feels just like that (especially those other beings referred to as Arabs), both make me rather curious.

So, please, fair Earthlings, tell me why I should love Americans more than the rest of you.

tjapljap

P.S. This text was generated by an automatic translation device. Please excuse some slips of the pen: it's learning fast.

You've made a common mistake that we Earthlings make all the time. It's called a sweeping generalization. It infers that a certain group of people share one or more common characteristics (usually negative).Americans make that mistake, as do many other earthlings.
I suppose it's part of human nature, but it's wrong and we should guard against it, especially at a time when emotions are running high ( like now ).

Why should people love Americans?
Because Americans are Human Beings.

Should people love Americans more than any other nation?
No - that would be unconstitutional "we hold it self evident... that all men are created equal"



a human being called Ben

Hi!

Sweeping generalization, you say. As far as I can interpret the still imperfect backward translation, we don't do such a thing once we're some 200 our years old. I, must admit, am well beyond that point.

So, you say that only some Americans naively await to be loved by everyone else, and only some of them are wondering why this isn't the case. They must have their reasons. What are they? Do these sets overlap?

tjapljap

Hi,

> Because Americans are Human Beings.

Is it a reason for being loved? I always thought that this is just about enough for being treated fairly, politely, friendly, but neutrally.

Love must be won, or so it goes at ours.

> "we hold it self evident... that all men are created equal"

Sorry, as far as I know (both my translation device and myself are learning fast, beware) that phrase actually meant white, Anglo-Saxon, well-off men. Women, Indians, Mexicans, blacks, and many other human beings were excluded.

Isn't it another sweeping generalization that you do?

tjapljap

Since I was the one to drop you here, Ipromise to pick you up very soon.. There is no need to stay here and your translation devices malfunction. There aren't any human beings on earth; there are ignorant, selfish ,spectacle-loving,hypocritic apes.

Maybe it's time to move to Sandraginus 5.Leave them apes alone...

No reason at all to love all Americans sight unseen. Also, no reason to hate them. I'd be happy with not being hated.

(Dear Vogon: Waay back when, people pretended to be aliens while writing Guide articles. It got old, real fast.)

nice..really. I see you have lots of hope for the planet. and that my vorgon friend is a sweeping fgenroliseation, you will never see another that good.
yes there are people like that, but it may suprise you to learn that NOT EVRYBODY IS LIKE THAT we dont all like or want to be the center of attenchanwe arnt all hypocritacal, or at least not all of the time becase it is verry hard never to be hipocritacal ever in your life,
oh and by the way, we are all equil, depending on who you are, becase some people dont treat evryone as equil, and others think that bewcase they are black (only an example so dont take it the wrong way) they should get spechal treatment, you are not going to convince me that some black people have never said raceism just becase they diddent get a job even though the other person hired was better for it.

"Love must be won, or so it goes at ours"

Ah that conditional love stuff - the quickest and simplest way to f**k up a person's brains.

a human being called Ben

Dear Vogon Z and other beings!

In case you didn't notice, we passed a friendly monitoring around the time our friend Vogon promised to take me back (thanks, by the way, I know your love for poetry): someone complained that we were violating the Rules.

To the honor of the reviewer, and to the joy of us all, I hope, no material harmful to the House was found in these pages. So, our political correctenss bears a Seal of Approval now.

tjapljap

Bin Laden and US worked together. Now let me know who has made Bin Laden Hero not of the Muslim world but for the WHOLE WORLD? Who is INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST? AMERICA; who produce/develop and supply dangerous weapons through out the world, and declares some of them freedom fighters and others terrorist?? Dual policy!!! I doubt very much that Bin Laden is really a practicing Muslim and did something for the Muslims and Muslim World. To my best knowledge he is the worst enemy of Iraq (Sadaam Hussain). This seems purely American game, they are completely in touch with Osama who is still working for them. To justify the world America is doing hell. He actually wanted to destroy Asia region that is thickly populated and for that it needs reason and justification which America is trying to fulfill with the names of Bin Laden and Taliban. (No conservation, no table talk then what TERRORISM!!!).

Things are not to forget, how America involved Afghanistan to break the then superpower USSR. Talibaan are the same (same area, same body, same faith, same minds and thought), what new. The NEW thing is America's NEW GAME PLAN to destroy Asia and particularly CHINA and coming superpower.

Bin Laden and US worked together. Now let me know who has made Bin Laden Hero not of the Muslim world but for the WHOLE WORLD? Who is INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST? AMERICA; who produce/develop and supply dangerous weapons through out the world, and declares some of them freedom fighters and others terrorist?? Dual policy!!! I doubt very much that Bin Laden is really a practicing Muslim and did something for the Muslims and Muslim World. To my best knowledge he is the worst enemy of Iraq (Sadaam Hussain). This seems purely American game, they are completely in touch with Osama who is still working for them. To justify the world America is doing hell. He actually wanted to destroy Asia region that is thickly populated and for that it needs reason and justification which America is trying to fulfill with the names of Bin Laden and Taliban. (No conservation, no table talk then what TERRORISM!!!).

Things are not to forget, how America involved Afghanistan to break the then superpower USSR. Talibaan are the same (same area, same body, same faith, same minds and thought), what new. The NEW thing is America's NEW GAME PLAN to destroy Asia and particularly CHINA and coming superpower.

lol

Sure go ahead, laugh and close your eyes to the truth. What researcher 18... write may be a little far fetched but it is a FACT that the US trained Bin Laden in terrorist tactics.

Incidently, I don't believe he's responsible because I think he would claim responsability for it. He claimed the Oklahoma bombings so why would he hesistate to claim this one ? It's not like it'll increase the heat on him because he's been US public enemy nr. 1 since Oklahoma.

Yeah, well, it's also a fact that America armed Saddam Hussein. We did a *lot* of stupid things in the 1980s, and we paid for it in the 1990s.

As for taking credit for the attack... doesn't it just suck when you pull off a major terrorist coup, then you can't take credit for it lest you get nuked. Absent claims of credit, we'll have to fall back on evidence. And so far, evidence points to Mr. bin Laden.

Get Nuked ? Damn I'm glad you're not president.... That would be the most disproportionate response ever...

As for evidence, I have a hard time believing all this "evidence"... it all looks to convenient... see "the joy of being wagged" thread...

yes of corse. and when they had the perfect chance to go to war with china to get there top secrate spy plane back they diddent. I wunder why..could it because that is just another conspiracy thery. yes they did arm binladin, and yes they also armed saddam husaine, hell britten even sold him there desert uniforms. but that does not mean he is working for them. there is no proof eather way so unless you have any that is just pure sepulation and you know it.

I grant you the point about evidence. I think the American government and most of the public would be satisfied if it simply got a chance to *present* its evidence in a court of law, with the defendant in attendance. An American court would be preferable, since the crimes took place in American airspace. But I'd be happy if he were tried in the Hague under U.S. federal law.

But justice is not the entire point. There's also safety, i.e. the need to prevent future attacks. Osama bin Laden is capable of making future attacks, and has threatened as much. He must be neutralized. It's that simple.

Hi all
Why should people love Americans? Now this thread is a difficult one.

But there is this idea that OBL is guilty. Watching Q&A moments back, it hits me that there is actually no evidence worth talking about. A phone call to report that the "operation" was succesful. To OBL? Why, who didnt know by then that the murders had been accomplished?

If a villager like OBL can outsmart the US (inhabited by Americans), who was suggesting that they should have gone to war with China? By the way as I see it (from this hard chair), the US can only make noise ABOUT war. They know not what war is. They will carefull pick on a weak opponent and "galvanise" the "free" world behind it. But when big boys like China grab their plane, they even pay the bill for their spy plane being dismantled! makes me wanna laugh but how can I when they want to strangle Afganistan now. The enemy number 1.

Anyway, we all know how bullies behave. Let them stand on Afghani soil and taste a little war. Somali was a picnic.

Why should people love Americans? There is whole load of reasons. The recent events though are not part of that list.

NB:WHO IS BENEFITING FROM THE SEPT 11TH TRAGEDY??

As I understand it - and I may be wrong - OBL is a member of one of the leading and richest Saudi families, and he walked out taking his proportion of their money with him. I is this money which he is using to fund separate terrorist groups elsewhere.

Not your average villager then.

But you do ask a very interesting question - who benefits?

a human being (and really a villager) called Ben