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

Well done to those who DID go and vote in the American elections-you can now claim that at least you tried to do something about the situation.If whoever is talking to you is complaining about who achieved the presidency then just say you voted for the other chap.If they are praising them agree and say you voted for them.I know this works because I never ever met anyone who ever claimed to have voted for Maggy Thatcher's Government.It's a great way to avoid a political
argument with workmates.

What would be the point in avoiding political arguments? They always make the day go with a swing.

My, my, my!!! you have all been having such fun while i've been away!!! it took me a few hours to catch up.

First of all, bravo, i have really enjoyed the discussions that have been going on, sorry to have missed out on them. To Bucksaws,(about 70 or so posts ago) you said you wondered what we thought of Canadians. I shamefully admit that with a smile on my face and a chuckle my first reaction was that we didn't really think of you at all Seriously, upon thinking it out, i guess what i really meant was that we don't think negatively of you. While i don't live near a canadian border, i've always been fascinated with the idea that it's a different COUNTRY. I've been to Windsor a few times, other than visiting the mall and discovering that Chicken McNuggets are made with REAL chicken up there, there wasn't really much to do. I wish I knew some canadians who could tell me more about some of the things to do there. Maybe another forum? Hope you aren't offended, I didn't mean anything by my first reaction.

To Magrat Garlick (about 40 posts ago) and others, I would love to debate gun control and the death penalty, and i intend to check out the other forums, but not today, i have only a few more minutes today, will have to put on my to do list.

For anyone else who is curious here it is. I'm in the midwestern US, in a suburb of St. Louis, MO. Unlike Atlanta (earlier post) our local news does cover many of the surrounding areas, including metro-east (Illinois, a whole other state!). they also cover world news, altho it is usually just tidbits, and unfortunately i don't normally keep up with world news as i do not have the time to devote to it, but i don't devote alot of time to local news either. i keep up with what i can, and what is right in my face.

on the election bit, yes i did go and vote, and dragged my husband along altho they were saying there was a line over an hour long to vote and he didn't want to go. i punched my ballot like a dutiful little american, and am enthralled by the outcome. if you don't think your one vote counts, how would you like to be the vote in florida that decides it? very thrilling, can't wait for the conclusion. also missouri made history this election by electing a deceased candidate to senate. (GO MEL!!!)

lastly, to the republican conservative that doesn't want others to vote (sorry, ive forgotten your name, no offence) i thought (or have always felt) that it was the other way around.... that most of the country was the religious, conservative, anti-liberal republicans and i was the lone democrat, drowning in a republican sea. (still feel that way, even after this election).

luv you all

broelan

Now this is an interesting article....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1015000/1015153.stm

Clive

I think that's a good idea. Actually our school here won a big prize for their web page on the election last year. Bill Gates actually came and presented it to them.

What children should definitely learn is to think for themselves and make their own opinions - I am sure a lot just do what their Mums or Dads do - or what their peers do, without researching the background for themselves.

But, as has been said further up, the person who can convince the masses with an argument in their favour, or with a promise of more money and less taxes, however impossible to put into practice, in big letters and words of no more than three letters, will get in.

yes, very interesting, actually i believe i will add the site to my homepage for news to check out daily (my effort to become more worldly).

The education bit actually surprised me, as we are led to believe that our education is lacking in so many areas, it was a shocker to discover we have one of the most respected educational systems in the world!

as i was driving home last night i was pondering this whole discussion and came to a few conclusions. when i first posed the question i was one of those americans who was "stepping into the world for the first time" and discovering that there was a slight anti-american sentiment that i had not been previously aware of, as was mentioned in a previous post. i asked "what is wrong with americans" because i really wanted to know why this prejudice existed.

of course we have a lot of pride in being american, but it never occured to us that we might have too much pride. actually it never occured to most of us that others wouldn't have as much pride in their own countries (except of course, canadians ).

i guess the BIG conclusion that i arrived at yesterday evening was this: it's not that i have a prejudice against others who are different than me, be they brits, asians, canadians, africans, african-americans, aussies, or anyone else i'm leaving out; it's more the idea that everyone else intimidates the hell out of me. i have a great curiousity about other races/nationalities, but i'm intimidated by their differentness, i don't want to make a grave error that makes everyone else think what stupid people white american females are. it is basically a lack of education of other cultures, but i'm afraid that there is something fundamentally missing that i should know and am afraid of making a fool of myself as a representative of my demographic by saying or doing the wrong thing.

for instance: why is black peoples hair different? i know because it grows that way, but how is it different from my hair? and different from other peoples? what is the advantage of having a king or queen instead of a democratic rule? is it different, or is royalty just a figurehead? why do europeans drink their beer warm? (eeewwwww!) why does foreign (to include more than just europe) television look so low-budget compared to american? doesn't everyone have access to the same technology? what's a potnoodle? do europeans have the same fascinations with their celebritites that americans do with their own? why is everyone so critical of hollywood? it's just entertainment. do brits use the metric system or the english system? what's a chitlin? why do people in the south like grits? do they really, or is that just something they include on northern menus so we know we're getting "authentic southern cooking"? why aren't there any mexicans on this forum? and why does everyone think negatively of them (mexicans)?

do you see where i'm getting? are these things i should have been made aware of in kindergarten or was i told and just forgot? do others feel the same way about their ignorance of other cultures?

could we maybe convert this to a question and answer forum culture to culture? anyone can ask any question and anyone else with an answer feel free to answer? or should we start something else somewhere with a less misleading, more inviting title?

sorry to get carried away there, i get going and forget to stop. i promise to make my postings shorter.....

see, it's working already

>lastly, to the republican conservative that doesn't want others to vote (sorry, ive forgotten your name, no offence) i thought (or have always felt) that it was the other way around.... that most of the country was the religious, conservative, anti-liberal republicans and i was the lone democrat, drowning in a republican sea. (still feel that way, even after this election).<

I'm not terribly concerned if the apathetic people who don't vote are Republicans or Democrats. They shouldn't be encouraged to vote because they don't care, and they don't follow politics. I suspect that most are liberals, or addicted to liberal policies.

I want my vote to count as much as possible. I'd rather not have it drowned out by a bunch of apapthtic morons who had to be reminded to vote.

>lastly, to the republican conservative that doesn't want others to vote (sorry, ive forgotten your name, no offence) i thought (or have always felt) that it was the other way around.... that most of the country was the religious, conservative, anti-liberal republicans and i was the lone democrat, drowning in a republican sea. (still feel that way, even after this election).<

I'm not terribly concerned if the apathetic people who don't vote are Republicans or Democrats. They shouldn't be encouraged to vote because they don't care, and they don't follow politics. I suspect that most are liberals, or addicted to liberal policies.

I want my vote to count as much as possible. I'd rather not have it drowned out by a bunch of apapthtic morons who had to be reminded to vote.

brolean, you don't want to know about grits.

I really believe that we all have a tendency to credit the other main party with the allegiance of all the stupid people! Two-bit reckons the uneducated proletariat must all be liberals [Europeans: that is, in American conservative thinking, a bad thing to be]. And I confess, I imagine the uneducated to be gun-loving anti-abortion anti-feminist isolationist luddites.

I'm sure we are both wrong in part. I'm sure both parties should take credit for their share of the mob.

And I don't think broelan would want to eat a chittlin' (chitterling) if she saw one uncleaned (or cleaned, for that matter). No two Americans are alike; I vote as an Independant because I find things screwy in both parties. I am a pacifist, but I grew up hunting in the country so I have guns. Anyway, that's no matter. I don't choose to think that ANYbody in ANY walk of life is stupid. That doesn't help understanding on any level.

So make it compulsory to vote, and make the first entry on the list "None of the above." If this entry wins, the ballot is declared void and all parties must field new candidates. That should prove salutory!

Broelan: I think it is very brave of you to admit that there are things you don't know and to say so. Not many people (American or not) would have the guts to do that. I, for one, can't think of anything I wouldn't dare ask off hand, but then, worse still, I probably think I know them and don't need to ask. I find that very embarassing ... e.g. when someone asks a question or making a statment that obviously displays their ignorance, but they don't know it's ignorance. I respect anyone asking a question when they realise that it is something they do not know and wish to find out.

There is nothing wrong with not knowing things on computers. Ten years ago most of the people who would now laugh at a beginner's questions didn't know the answers themselves. But do they now know things that the "asker" knows? He might be an expert on gourmet cookery, chess, railways or nuclear physics. But the computer person wouldn't like being laughed at if he asked a question on those subjects, would he?

To your questions:


for instance: why is black peoples hair different? i know because it grows that way,
but how is it different from my hair? and different from other peoples?

I don't know either and would be interested if someone could tell me. Also Asian people's hair. According to a friend of mine who lived in Korea for some time, not only do they all have the same colour and style, but they don't seem to go grey, either.

what is the advantage of having a king or queen instead of a democratic rule? is it different, or is
royalty just a figurehead?

Royalty is a figurehead. But not "just a figurehead" - I would say. This is subjective.

why do europeans drink their beer warm? (eeewwwww!)

They don't! The Germans (I live in Germany) also laugh at the English way of drinking beer unchilled. So do the French (see "Asterix in Britain")

why does foreign (to include more than just europe) television look so low-budget
compared to american? doesn't everyone have access to the same technology?

The TV system is different. You have Secam , we have PAL (except the French, who have Secam, too). You can tell if a film is old and analogue or digitally filmed. If you film a scene in a street in Europe, you film it in a street, not in a studio reproduction of a street. So that includes dirt, rubbish, holes in roads, chewing gum and drains. Films made in Czechoslovakia (when that country existed) or any of the ex-Warsaw Pact countries come over very grey and colourless on our screens, too. Partly because the places were like that, partly because of the quality of the films. I guess. But I'm no expert.

what's a potnoodle?

No idea. I thought it was American.

do europeans have the same fascinations with their celebritites
that americans do with their own?

Yes definitely.

why is everyone so critical of hollywood? it's just
entertainment.

Because it warps the real stories which would have made just as good a film without being Americanised.

do brits use the metric system or the english system?

Both. They are trying to change, and are teaching the metric system at school, but road signs are still in miles and food in supermarkets is marked with both.

what's a chitlin? that one's answered above.

why do people in the south like grits? do they really, or is that just something they
include on northern menus so we know we're getting "authentic southern cooking"?

this phenomenon can be applied everywhere. I often see cookbooks in Germany with "typical" English food which I would never eat. And in my English cookbooks there are recipes for "German" food which no one I know in Germany would ever eat. I once read on the back of a Cornflakes packet in France the following suggestion for a "typically British breakfast": " Sprinkle cornflakes on a plate, lightly fry some bacon and a couple of eggs and place these on the cornflakes". I was surprised they didn't suggest pouring a cup of tea over it all!

(Cornflakes at that time (1976) were a complete novelty in France. I'm not even sure they've caught on yet)

why aren't there any mexicans on this forum? and why does everyone think negatively
of them (mexicans)?

I never think of Mexicans at all. How do you know there aren't any here?

*tries search for "Mexico" in Search bar* ....

Result:
A192782; Mexico City, Mexico; Edited; 84%
A220348; Tequila; Edited; 49%
A154441;100% Agave Tequila - Mexico's National Drink; 45%
A119288; Mexico City; 45%
A372412;Mexico!;
A115471;Cueva de Villa Luz, Tapijulapa, Tabasco, Mexico; 40%
A38044;MEXICO; 38%
A338744; Drinks in Acapulco / Mexico;38%
A178715;United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru...33%
A288812; Mexico

Now I have to just see if the authors are from Mexico themselves.


****

And here's an e-mail I received this morning, I hope you find it amusing and are not offended:
(I've already posted it to another forum - apologies to anyone who has already read it there)

NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE

To the citizens of the United States of America, In the light of your
failure to elect a President of the USA and thus to
govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your
independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties
over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which
she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The rt. hon. Tony Blair, MP
for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a
world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without
the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.
A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you
noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following
rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be
amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. Generally, you
should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary".

Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as
"like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of
communication. Look up "interspersed".

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know
on your behalf.

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australasian accents.
It really isn't that hard.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as
the good guys.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The
Queen",but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to
get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one
kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very
good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside
your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football.
You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper
football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is
a difficult game.

Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is
similar to American "football", but does not involve
stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body
armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US rugby
sevens side by 2005.

7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons
if they give you any merde. The 98.85% of you who were not aware that
there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The
Russians have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "s**t".

8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 8th will be a new
national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive
Day".

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for
your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we
mean.

10. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

Thank you for your cooperation.

*******

So now I will make a resolution to think up a question every day like yours, broelan, because it is a very praiseworthy thing to do. Maybe you can answer them for me? Thank you for waking me up to my own insularity.

the e-mail is priceless! i love it! i'm going to copy it to send to a friend with whom i've been having an ongoing republican/democratic debate.

one question tho, if we claim to be american by default, an accident of birth if you will, will you let us celebrate Indecisive Day with you?

thanks, needed the smile...

Expressive, if not particularly articulate

Yes, I agree it doesn't bear closer scrutiny, but it was obviously an impromptu thing and quite fun. I particularly take offense at the "play with the girls" bit - girls' football isnt' sissy.

There is a mixed team of Americans and Europeans at my work, with a couple of South Africans for good measure, so there is plenty of scope for seeing different nationalities at play.

One of the Americans is incapable of thinking that there is anything wrong with America, and he is actually quite rude to other people about their countries. For example he was slagging off the quality of Swedish Medicine to some Swedes, and completely ignored the fact that it is free. He is loud, and brash, arrogant and boring. (He can also be quite good company, and he has a fun wife).

The South Africans love their country, and miss it dreadfully.

The Brits are very aware of the faults in the UK, it isn't that we don't love the UK, it is that we can see the problems here, and don't pretend that they don't exist.

The rest of the Europeans? Quietly proud of their countries.

And the other 8 or so Americans? Courteous, and also quietly proud, (and currently deeply embarrased about the election) but completely drowned out by Mr Loud.

So one American is giving the others a bad name, through arogance and volume. Incidentally, I think he is probably quite insecure and is seeking recognition most of the time.

Vive la Difference!

>why do europeans drink their beer warm? (eeewwwww!)

I think it is only the British that like their beer at room temperature. Even there, Lager is always drunk chilled. The number of people who like un-chilled beer is rapidly diminishing. Red wine is drunk at room temperature. It should not seem that strange that beer is too! The beer in question is brown ale or stout porter. Both of these are quite strong tasting, particulary compared with American beer. Chilling the beer kills the taste. Another thing to consider is that it is much warmer in America than in Britain.

>why does foreign (to include more than just europe) television look so low-budget compared to american?

doesn't everyone have access to the same technology? Americans use an old TV system called NTSC which is actually very much inferior to the ones used in Europe (SECAM and PAL). But a lot more money is put into making the programs, so they may look more polished.

>what's a potnoodle?

Noodles is sauce in a small plastic pot. This can be microwaved and eaten as an instant meal.

>do europeans have the same fascinations with their celebritites that americans do with their own?

In Britain, it it the same as in America, but more so. The newspapers will go to any lengths to get pics of celebrities in embarassing positions, such as invading the cubicle of a public toilets to photograph a celebrity without his wig. In some European countries, the privacy of the celebrities is respected. For example in Sweden it is illegal to photograph the royal family except when invited.

>do brits use the metric system or the english system?

British government tried to change over to metric but failed. A whole generation grew up learning metres and centimetres in school, only to find that everyone else still uses feet and inches. All road signs are in miles and yards.

>what's a chitlin?

some sort of internal organ, normally served in a sausage.

>why aren't there any mexicans on this forum? and why does everyone think negatively of them (mexicans)?

Americans means people from USA to most of us. Even Canadians who insist they are Americans too will use the word Americans to refer to the folks down south. Mexicans in general speak Spanish and are a very poor country, so many Mexicans who live in the USA are poor and uneducated.

>do you see where i'm getting? are these things i should have been made aware of in kindergarten or was i told and just forgot? do others feel the same way about their ignorance of other cultures?

Unfortunately, these are the things that are not taught in school. Visiting foreign countries is the best way of finding them out. Most people in Britain go abroad for their summer holidays, so they do encounter different cultures to some extent. Bigger countries (in area) tend to allow more opportunities for holidaying at home, so people rarely encounter foreign cultures.

In Norway, I think it's safe to say the King is merely a figurehead. Today I read The CrownPrince got engaged yesterday. When the King heard, he approached our PrimeMinister and asked his permission to bless his own son on his engagement. The request was discussed proforma in the Norwegian Senate (it's not really a senate, but I have no idea what to call it... It's a house of elected representatives) and the permission was given. Then (and only then) could the King congratulate his own son. The King doesn't hold power.