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

Anybody watch it? Most of it was touching stories about people who died in the attacks. Clint Eastwood was a little annoying towards the end talking about "we need to do like our parents and grandparents did [wink wink]." Were they just raising money for charity, or raising support for the war?

i saw the first half hour. The sentiment just didn't reach me.

Just questions...

How far is this war on terrorism a 'television event' and what does that mean... Does TV reflect or shape the national mood?

*imagining all the people watching the TV.*

Does anyone have a clear idea about what this event is raising money for? I went to the website of the September 11 Fund, who are running the charity appeal, and they don't seem at all clear about what they are going to do with the money. The site states that the Fund is intended to help the families of people affected by the terror attacks, and their communities. They haven't yet decided how they're going to split it up - but looking at the list of $1m+ corporate sponsors, and the amounts reportedly being taken by the telethon, that's gonna be a lot per affected person, even if the lines are drawn pretty wide.

I just heard somebody on the radio talking about how there would be additional cases of alcoholism and post traumatic stress disorder to deal with, so perhaps they'll be funding healthcare in New York State with it...

Sorry - I know it's a well meaning event, and there are a lot of bereaved and damaged people who will need help. But there seems a strange irony in raising funds for NYC, when the threatened military action means that 5.5m Afghans are soon to face starvation since the aid agencies have been forced to withdraw.

MH.

Marcus,

In the hurried and stumbling delivery of some of the live speeches, they mentioned that 100% of the money will be going to United Way. I think they were trying to say that it's not a scam charity where half the money goes to administrators. So they were trying to say that it's affiliated with United Way, or the money will be distributed by United Way?

If you go to the website, tributetoheroes dot something, it is very short with no links to more information. The point of it is only to take donations, so at the bottom there is one link for "click here to donate" and a postal address where you can mail your donations. The copyright at the bottom says, "Joint Network Benefit Inc."

I'm not trying to put down the telethon overall. For the most part, they talked about stories of victims and survivors, cops and firefighters, etc. But it strayed a little when Clint talked about the "conflict," after all those emotional appeals about the victims.

Meanwhile, Bill Maher was villified for a careless remark he made on Politically Incorrect, and all the sponsors backed out (maybe only for a day or two?). He said something about shooting missiles from 50 miles away is "cowardly," not a very direct kind of fighting. I think he was trying to get at the idea of "stealth war" that some people have dubbed Clinton's military actions. Heavy with bombings, light on ground forces, and the U.S. public hardly notices that we're doing anything. But the way it came out sounded like Maher was calling the U.S. military "cowardly."

In the days that followed, Maher said that he was thankful ABC was willing to air his show even when all the sponsors pulled out. He made it sound like they were being pro-free speech, but the whole thing doesn't bode well for the anti-war viewpoint being aired on tv. (In fact, he seemed to be giving a thumbs-up to military action lately.)

In these "sensitive times," we all have to support the president (smile and nod or else shut up).