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

Homer understands the truly important things in life

Thanks zoomer.

Homer will probably make it on the US ballot.

Defeating Sideshow Bob in the primary election, of course, while Bob shouts, "You'll live to regret this!"

I'd settle for Homer, given that the US is currently being run by Dick 'Monty Burns' Cheney

Hi. I didn't know this thread was here. No time to read the whole backlog, sad to say. Are there really more than 5,000 posts' worth of things that are wrong with Americans? Or are there only a couple of things wrong, which needed 2,500 posts each to deal with? (Okay, there are other possibilities.)

George W. Bush is probably not the dumbest person we could have gotten as a president, but he's the dumbest one that had a chance of actually being elected. Even his father is fed up with some of the things George Jr. has done.

Then there's health care, or the lack of it. Sadly, in the recession we have just had, a fair number of companies have dropped health care coverage for their employees. Maybe they'll get them back after the economy turns around, or maybe they won't.

Nonresident aliens who commit felonies are much more likely to be deported to their countries of origin now.

I have not yet seen any efforts to get library borrowing records by local law-enforcement officials. The database that our network uses keeps no borrowing records on a book once the book has been returned.

Have these things already been covered?

Yes I am a UK citizen.
I personally feel "at war". Do you believe U.S. citizens feel "at war" even if you personally do not.

I do feel at war, Oetzi. So do many other Americans that I know. We have soldiers in other countries, and some of them are getting blown up and shot at. Sounds like war to me.

I'm glad I'm not alone. Thank you for you reply.

I am indead another North American who cannot digest her home culture. I was raised in a sanitary enviroment where I was taught that Patriotism is consistent with buying things from BIG corporations. All of my holidays require me to go to the stores and pick up the next useless gadget for my loved ones. I am surrounded by unhealthy humans who overconsume, destroy the enviroment, think arrogance is a jealous term used by "outsiders", use freedom as a justification for an occupational war, AND we learn incorrect accounts of history in our schools!! Most of us are raised to go to work- to make money- to but a house- to have children- who can go to work- to make money- blah blah blah. You get the point I am sure. I for one, am an outsider in my own country because I choose to disagree with the establishment and fight for ecological and human equality. I am all too familiar with what is wrong with my country- and like many of the voices you never here- we are screaming to change it! Have faith that our government is never going to allow you to hear us- but we won't quit yelling. ")

YAY!

I echo abbi's sentiment, well said adelle!

Yes folks I know and sympathise with your point of view. There are certainly alternatives. But the vast majority of folks are not mature enough to accept change.

The worry is instability. Pointless believing that corporations and the wealth created for the few will give up the inherent power they have.

But as of 2004 the poulation of this planet is divided into those who live and those who die. Lots of positions in between too. But a "black and white" answer must be centuries away. I'm sorry.

I am a UK/EU citizen by the way.

I have to listen to statements like Adelle's all the time. I've been hearing it repeatedly for 5+ years now.

Here's some observations:
1) People who claim to be kept quiet, and not given freedom of speech by the US govt (within the US) do not hesitate to use the EXACT same tactics:
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V123/N18/_Jeff_Duri.18l.html
This letter describes how a group of liberal protestors interupted a libertarian meeting, shouting and screaming to prevent them from talking. The letter is written by the liberal protestor, proud of his achievement.

2) The same people don't want equality, they want superiority - for their own group. A women's group on campus made a giant paper mache penis, and then had celebration in which they either smashed or burned it. Can you imagine the reaction if the genders in that situation were reversed?

So please, keep fighting adelle. It's the nature of the world that people will fight for their own individual agenda; just don't try to tell me that you're fighting the good fight for MY sake.

dave

Indeed Dave

I deperately tried to agitate the local feminine community for last years "International Women's Day". I had no luck whatsoever. They were all out at work, mostly "A" & "B" jobs too, and there was zero response. I suppose this is what they call "postmodernism".

Bring back the days when "The women's Institute" was the farthest horizon. And when a farmer's wife would rather open her legs than her purse. Rock On Oetzi!

Oetzi, to paraphrase someone, I respect your right to say what you say but what- you've got a death wish?
We all suffer from extremism here it seems, but that doesn't detract from the good things that the more moderate trends have created whether or not they lean a bit left or right, religious or athiest, male or female.

Zoomer...I'm with you
But I get frustrated brother.
I was born too late.
The condom machines have to be recharged
twice per day in the women's rooms these days.
Im a fading star brother that'a all.

How do you know about the condom machine Oetzi?

Now, *THAT* is funny!

Well, we have an overdeveloped sense of the omnipotence of the United States federal government. Yes, I would have to say that a lot of the legislation enacted in the name of "security" after 9-11 is very very scary. I just don't believe that the feds have the ability to actually pull off all of the Big Brother like activity that they are now authorized to do. Remember, the big stink in the US right now is all about the "massive security failure that allowed 9-11 to happen." Seems that several different field offices of several different agencies had intel that when pieced together with the benefit of hindsight predicted the attack.
There is so much information passing over so many desks so rapidly from what the FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, DEA ad infinium collect every day that the biggest problem we face is actually piecing the pattern out of the jigsaw. Even if the FBI was to run monitoring software that could scan every library card to weed out the people checking out "Easy Nuclear Weapons From Household Detergents" from "Fuzzy Wuzzy's Big Adventure" it would take a consistent pattern before you would raise a flag. Unfortunately I find it difficult to get the Feds to actually process my paycheck correctly each month, let alone sift through the rather significant number of books checked out nationwide every day.
As far as internet monitoring goes, the technology is there and is not used, seems there are too many jurisdictional contradictions. The Department of Defence developed an excellent monitoring system and is powerless to use it. They discovered that there was no way to NOT monitor Americans and that would violate federal law regarding the US military not being able to operate inside the US.
The biggest danger that the American public faces is its own apathy. The Democratic Party can cry all term long about the election having been "stolen" it doesn’t mater. The voter turnout was so low to begin with it is not as if the American people had actually elected anyone. I have been a staunch supporter of the rights of the individual for years. I have recently begun to question why should the individual be granted rights without taking the responsibilities that go with them. Too many of us are more concerned with popular entertainment than what the people that we put (or failed to voice an opinion on) in office are planning. We live in the most bureaucratic, regulated and cumbersomely official society ever, yet we ask every year for even more regulations.

It is as if all we really want is to be told what to do and sit back for another force feeding of "reality TV" which has to be the biggest social blight ever, yet at the same time the most powerful "opiate of the masses" ever.

O.O. you should have been at the Boulder Library a couple of years ago.

There were paper mache penis (have no experience in this - what's the plural? peni,penises ,or still penis?)hanging all over like feastive strings of light on a Christmas tree.

People wanted to censor the peni.....
but it did not happen.
So there's a little Merry Christmas for you.