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

here's hoping "offensive/homophobic/racist/misogynous etc." will be among the things we all 'lose in the fire' at some point

What's confusing- and irritating- is that some genuinely racist, homophobic and mysogynist postings are allowed to remain on this site, unchallenged, with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Less offensive stuff is removed. I had a posting removed once for using the word "ass", while someone else was allowed to use truly crass words for both male and female genitalia- words I'd be fired on the spot for speaking at the office- without even using asterisks!

i'm amazed this kind of people show up here - and stay

luckily most of them don't

Yes, that's true. There are far, far many more perfectly nice people like the ones in this converstation.

Yes, we're all nice, perfectly or otherwise. It's those people out there who worry me. They're just bizarre sometimes.

I'd agree we're all nice on here...but we do get cross & try & express that (despite les filthers) if anyone seems to be unpleasantly phobic about peoples race, creed, sexual preferences etc.

As to the 'Asian' thing, i am probably half Indian, half Irish, but brought up as English. If push came to shove; i'd probably think of myself as Irish, but had no difficulty fitting into Pakistani society. I also would see the term 'Asian' as meaning the Far East (far from where??,), not India, Pakistan etc. So, technically i am part W!

The French i have known have varied, one i lived with for a year didn't shower for the entire time,or brush his teeth, i managed to wash his hair twice under protest, but he did keep his hands & naughty bits very clean, his principle being "who is interested if i have clean elbows or not/washing takes natural oil from the skin"

Another one bathed fanatically & required vast quantities of products to do so.

The German guy i live with now showers every day, but doesn't use soap, just water & is fussy about washing after naughty stuff.

None of these men smelled bad; so, goes to show, different strokes for different folks!

Not seen any overt signs of racism here in this small Irish town; nor homophobia, nor anti-mainstream at all; it may be very different in big towns like Dublin though.

zdt

Canberra's pretty good at avoiding that sort of thing too. It's a small city, small enough that ethnic ghettoes haven't been able to form at all (350,000 people and 200 ethnic groups, apparently) and there's also a few thousand foreign diplomats roaming around the place. Caucasians form a majority, but within that racial group there's no truly dominant ethnic group, so in a sense everyone's in a minority.

i am half danish, half german and half polish (the latter accounts for my overweight) and it is essential for me to shower at least every morning

Doesn't that dissolve the polish?

zdt

if it would i would shower thrice a day

Now you tell me. I've spent so long in the shower, hoping to dissolve the excess...

Excess? Excess poles?Sounds like a Woody Allen joke. Which reminds me:

Q: 'Why do budgerigars do well in life?'

A: 'Because they suck seed'



zdt

*struggles desperately with self in a bid not to make a truly crass comment*

*struggles some more*

I have a feeling we've thought up a very similar crass comment, Ivan. But I'm much too ladylike to say such things.

So has everyone seen this headline by now?

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/mps-call-for-jobs-blow.5919884.jp

finally somebody supports my views

Oh dear. What a naughty sub-editor they must have in Peterborough.

PC; 'ladylike'????

The red tape stuff gets to me i must say, for instance, there's a scheme here called 'REPS', Rural Environmental Protection Scheme, where small farmers with diverse wildlife habitats qualify for a (very!) small grant to maintain the wild areas, encourage birds etc.

P is in the scheme & today there's a letter (in very poor handwriting) saying he hasn't declared a tiny bit of land about 5 metres square so will lose the grant if he "doesn't consult his planner"

Luckily he will be back from Norway before the time limit & has a planner friend; the land is 'commonage' though, so now he will have to hassle all the neighbours also.

Send us a spare kanga Ivan; we will place it in that area & then qualify for 'rare species in Ireland' grant!

zdt

A *handwritten* letter? That doesn't sound right, somehow.