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

That is fabulous, Dmitri! Thanks.

Oh my. I definitely have to share that with my staff.

jzzy, I don't understand the moderation rules at the moment. They seem to be getting more strict. You should get an e-mail explaining the problem.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Jzzy, your story appears to be up on your PS. Try submitting it to the AWW, and see what happens.

Thanks Dmitri and nice song, I really enjoyed it.
At the time my story was moderated, I wasn't trying to submit I was just updating my entry.

The moderators are being very careful these days. It's a bit frustrating when we don't know what we've written that has caused the problem. Bad language, politically incorrect words, things that might be libelous, giving too much personal information, that sort of thing will always send up red flags.

This is why I am not going to write a journal entry about Juan Williams and NPR, although I am boiling mad.

I will also refrain from commenting on people who break into other people's houses and steal kittens...

Hi jzzy,

Did your story have a couple of swear words that may have tripped the secondary filter? The entry is back now, unfortunately, you may find that each time you edit it the story will be hidden for a short time while the moderators check it.

Also, there is a silly little gremlin in the works with does the same thing, only without any naughty words being present. I can only suggest you be very patient with it.

lil xx

Talking of gremlins.... I wish they would fix the one which misses out the last LED, so you can see over the page!

I am also annoyed over the Juan Williams situation. All I want to say is that this pretty much proves the point, doesn't it? There can't be honest discussion of certain issues.

Yes, and this is getting worrisome.

Williams is a respected journalist. Only a few weeks ago, I saw him in a panel discussion on CSPAN, with the Congressional Black Caucus. He's been a Washington analyst for a very long time.

I didn't find his remarks particulary offensive. He was using the context of irrational responses and gave an example from his own experience. I must say, the last time I flew home from London, I was in a similar situation and also felt uneasy, recognizing that it was foolish to respond that way.

Awk. I like Juan Williams. I've always found him reasonable and fair in his reporting and commentary.

Oh, one other thing. NPR isn't going to get a renewal membership from me this year.

Me, too. This worries me, because not too long ago, a government official was let go for a similar reason - expressing openly an honest opinion that she had later revised.

How else do you model good behaviour and get the public to follow your reasoning to a healthier viewpoint?

I had a similar feeling when writing the EG entry I've got in PR. It's about 'Gentleman's Agreement', the 1946 book and 1947 film that dealt with antisemitism.

If I'd used very many quotes from that book - which was frank, honest, and a bestseller - the entry would have been unpublishable.

I am with you completely on this issue, Dmitri. It is more than disturbing. How are we supposed to solve problems, change people's opinions if we can't discuss them openly and honestly? Do people think that if we don't talk about our feelings and reactions, they don't exist?

I'm also deeply disappointed that this action is exactly what NPR is accused of so often by the right. It makes it look like they are little more than a mouthpiece for knee-jerk liberals and shouldn't be given tax dollars for this reason.

They were no curse words. Thank you all for helping.

I agree with you Hypatia. If we can't talk about our concerns without people getting their undies in a bunch then we have a major problem. How is that Howard Stern can say whatever he feels like about all the different races but he still has his job. And yet Juan only says what he feels, no matter how it was perceived, gets fired. Where as I don't agree with his remarks, I don't believe he should have lost his job over it.

Only Williams knows exactly what he meant. What I thought he was trying to illustrate is that the climate right now is poisoned and has made even him uneasy. He is so not a racist. I'm definitely not a racist and had a similar, fleeting reaction. To me, the question is that if people who wouldn't otherwise give something a second thought have a fleeting moment of wondering if fellow passengers are ok, then what on earth are the actual racists feeling?

Actually, Juan Williams' remarks started a conversation at my house. Neither Elektra nor I would be in the least disconcerted to find ourselves sharing a plane or other public conveyance with a person in clerical, ethnic, or religious dress. But then, we aren't most people. When we lived in Cologne, only one of the neighbours in our hallway *wasn't* Muslim. We shared a telephone with the Anti-Khomeini faction across the hall. This terrified my middle-aged German business students, when they called and got an answering machine message in Farsi. (At three a.m., Farsi on the phone to Teheran sounds just like that Three Stooges routine about 'ma-ha, ah-ha', and I only know two sentences in Farsi.)

When we lived in Greece, it was normal to see Orthodox priests with full beards, large pectoral crosses, and what we call 'mushroom hats' everywhere. (In Greece, they say if you see one first thing in the morning, you should immediately touch red for good luck.)

It never bothered us to be in the company of religiously-dressed people, such as the mothers of our Pomaki students, who wore headscarfs and taffeta coats in public. (I figured if they weren't offended by me in jeans and t-shirt, I should return the favour. They looked much nicer than I did.)

After all, anybody who's up to something underhanded would hardly advertise, would they? I'd recommend becoming suspicious of men in suits...

Aha. A true story:

Back in the 1960s, my dad was on a business trip to Gary, IN. Gary had a really bad reputation as a dangerous place, so his contact at the steel company's Gary branch told him to take the limo to Hotel X and wait in the lobby to be picked up. My dad, a country boy who is never happy downtown, complied.

There were only two men in the lobby - my dad and another man, both about 40, both in grey suits with utilitarian brogan shoes. Both looking around nervously.

My dad almost jumped out of his skin (as he told it) when the other man approached him and demanded ID.

Other man=house detective. My dad=suspicious-acting nervous person.

From what I've read about this, NPR had been uncomfortable with his position with Fox for some time even to the point of requesting that he no longer be referred to as an "NPR analyst". This may be more a matter of the straw and the camel's back. I agree that his statements taken alone do not warrant dismissal.

A few hours ago, Cynthia Tucker tweeted the following:
"Note to Juan Williams' fans: His 1st amendment rights are intact. He just won't be paid for them"

I REALLY wish someone had said the same thing to "Dr." Laura Schlessinger when she quit Larry King claiming her 1st amendment rights had been violated.

To clarify my reaction, the three men were indeed wearing regular street clothes. Not suits, but not obvious clerical garb, either.

Once on the subway a fellow passenger was wearing full purdah and I remember thinking that I hoped it was actually a woman. Again, a momentary thought that once recognized went away. I didn't get off the train to avoid her.

Does fear, whether or not it is rational, make a person evil? There are those who would take my admission as proof that I am a horrible person. To me the evil person is the one who deliberately cultivates fear in others for political purposes.

Fear-mongering is quite the rage today, innit?