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

A Perfect Circle released a new album to coincide with the US election. It's mostly covers of well know 'political' tunes. The highlight for me is the cover of Lennon's 'Imagine', one of the songs it could be said it was more ambitious to try a do a reworking of, sadly for a musical group that has achieved so much with their previous artist endeavors, it does feel like a rushed exercise, but the msg for freedom and free choice and against war and the neo-cons does come through clearly...

I voted for Kerry.



Sorry... I tried, really I did.

Erm, I was holding you personally responsible for the election of a Christian findermentalist puppet of the neo-cons.

I saw Eminem's latest video release on TV today: an orgy of anti-Bush propaganda, urging all the ghetto youth and wannabe ghetto youth to get out there and vote Lefty.

It was a damn close call, though, wasn't it! Damn close.

Can't say much atttention to Eminem since 'Stan'.

Not as close as it could have been. It didn't really feel like the Democrats wanted to win. It seemed like what support they mustered was from people that wanted Bush out.

I don't recall hearing 'Stan'. Is that the one that made people think he was homophobic?

I heard a rumour that pro-Bush election-rigging occurred in the states where voting took the form of colouring-in those little squares for computers to read. (Can't remember what the dratted things are called.)

No Stan was the one featuring Dido and was about an obsessed fan.

Argh, I don't know how the US election can be a described as 'free and fair'.

Oh yes, I have seen Stan. You didn't like that one, then?

It can't, basically.

It wasn't fair. It's like fox news calling their coverage "fair and balanced". It doesn't happen and the electoral college is for s**t.

There's an electoral college?? Is that where people learn how to be spin doctors?

no, it's this stupid thing where each state has a certain number of votes it can issue for their choice for president, normally it's based on total popular vote, and some states even split the votes. well the last two elections it's been for s**t.

It was invented when the US had no transportation infrastructure outside of the horse.

Is it the same thing as Britain's proportional representation? Is it down to how many seats each of the parties has in a given state?

Well, I don't know how that works, but this is based on population and such, each state automatically gets two because each state has two senators in congress, the rest of the number is based on population.

*Puts on government hat*

It's based on how many representatives a state has in Congress. The minimum is threee- two senators for every state, and the number of House of Representatives members is based on population, which is taken every ten years during the census.

*removes hat*

It's not actually a Democracy. It's a Republic. Recite the pledge of allegiance. We don't have direct control, we have those we select to represent us who have direct control. Not that they even read half of the bills they pass!
"Democracy is just another way to oppress the minority."

Ah, that's good to see. People should be wearing more hats.

People actually die in this country for the want of wearing a hat.

?
I know I'm in another country, on another continent, but HUH?!
I am wearing a beret right now. White, woolen, given to me by my brother about 10 years ago.

I'm wearing my light blue bandana does that count as a hat??? They tell me in school it does, but I think they're lying...

"I know I'm in another country, on another continent, but HUH?!"

Basically most people in the UK rarely wear hats now days, You get chavs wearing baseball caps, you get hats at weddings or the races. But most people don't really bother to wear hats to keep their heads warm in winter, and we get such sharp cold-snaps and wind-chill etc in the UK come winter that people get fatal blood clots and stuff because of not taking the cold weather sriously enough. More people die as a result of the cold weather in the UK than do in Scandanavia for example.

"I am wearing a beret right now. White, woolen, given to me by my brother about 10 years ago."

Don't go outside in it, you might get shot for being a Frog.

"I'm wearing my light blue bandana does that count as a hat??? They tell me in school it does, but I think they're lying..."

No it doesn't count as a hat, it's a form of head-dress though...