TOP GEAR in Argentina

I still think they knew. Only problem is that this time around they met people who didn't take it as a joke and oh well, now some back peddling.

The sad thing is that the footage might not be good enough to turn into a full episode?
 
CHILENO said:
People from US: what you think about a "911haha" number plate? how you feel about that? throwing rocks will be the least you will do, probably invade some other country or so
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I would think it much worse than the Falklands plate. There's a difference between celebrating your country's victory in a war to reclaim its territory and celebrating a terrorist attack whose only objective was to kill innocent civilians. In any case, I don't think the TG team were doing the former and I believe their side of the story.

British/Columbian said:
So? Are you suggesting your history classes didn't gloss over the warts and embarrassments in your country's military history? Like when you declared war on the remaining British North American colony (re:Canada) in 1812, which only resulted in your White House being burned to the ground and actually losing the war?
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No, they didn't. The War of 1812 was discussed at length in our history books. Mind you, I went to school in California and God knows what sort of textbooks they use in states like Texas. Most educated Americans are quite aware that the British burnt down the White House in the War of 1812, but no one is resentful about it, because the war otherwise didn't leave much of an impact, and it didn't prevent Britain from enjoying its current "special relationship" with the US.
 
CHILENO said:
I really understand how the argentinian people feels about this, they still feel the Fawklands or "Malvinas" (how they call it) are argentinian, when you enter to argentina in every border pass there's a big sign wich says "Las Malvinas son argentinas" and they always says they will be back.
In Argentina there is a deep anti-england feel, still 32 years after. In fact they blame Chile for help UK with intel information during the conflict.

Probably the number plate is the original and wasn't bad intention in that but I think BBC people are clever enough to see the problem before going there, specially to the southern part of the country. I really dont believe they wasn't notice.

I'm chilean with england and german roots and I'm married with an argentinian living in Chile, now I will have to hide to watch TG...

PS: People from US: what you think about a "911haha" number plate? how you feel about that? throwing rocks will be the least you will do, probably invade some other country or so
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There is no excuse for mob violence, Mobs can get bad, VERY bad. Would you be as understanding if one of the Top Gear crew had been killed of even seriously injured?
Also as an American I would hope my fellow citizens would be more sensible.
 
... if anyone wrote 911haha on their plate I would assume they want to insult drivers of rear-engined vehicles...
 
Luca said:
I still think they knew. Only problem is that this time around they met people who didn't take it as a joke and oh well, now some back peddling.
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Exactly and they was just gonna poke some fun and they underestimated the (over)reaction of the Argentinians.
 
Stunning. Who would have thought that? Though a year ago or so, I've heard from St.Helena that there was new tension about Falkland, so maybe there are politics involved?! Anyways:
post-23187-Dwayne-The-Rock-Johnson-Clappi-UqCk.gif
 
There is no way that the TG team didn't realise the implications of using a car with that plate. The car was chosen specifically for it's plate!
What are the mathematical chances of choosing that specific car out of the 32 million registered in the UK, to be taken to that island; with that history?
It's a "no brainer" as they say.
 
What are the "mathematical chances" of winning the lottery or getting hit by lightning? Low odds don't imply that it's impossible. If you want to be butthurt about this, you are possibly in the wrong community.
 
Xaromir said:
What are the "mathematical chances" of winning the lottery or getting hit by lightning? Low odds don't imply that it's impossible. If you want to be butthurt about this, you are possibly in the wrong community.
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Hi, sorry, clearly I misunderstood the purpose of fora, which is to give an informed opinion (or at least an honest one?) to a discussion; not just graze with the herd?
Just for clarification sake, the chances of winning the lottery (jackpot) are only 1 in 13.986 million as opposed to the base figure of 1 in 32 million starting figure for this car being there by chance and that's before extrapolating the geographic choice and adding it in to the equation. This would take the chances of it happening into the 1 in 100's of millions bracket.
However, I can, if you wish; just bleat along with the rest and say " bloody Argies, of course it wasn't intentional!" How's that?
 
It more and more looks like Argentina is trying to take political profit from this unfortunate incident and the more I follow it, the more I believe that the Top Gear team might have indeed been set up down there.

I don't know if there has been an official statement from the British goverment yet, but the BBC made it very clear in their statement.

The Falkland War of 1982 started as a distraction from internal Argentinian problems of the military dictatorship they had back then. And now that Argentinia is in trouble again, they probably try to use the sensitive subject again for their own purposes. I'm not saying I feel sorry for Clarkson and Co., because they had it coming sooner or later. But in my book throwing stones at people and threaten them with a mob is still a little bit more severe than any kind of joke - intentional or not.

I would have expected such reaction from fundamental muslims who react to funny remarks about their religion. But from a country like Argentina? About a ridiculous micro-war that ended 32 years ago? I'd like to consider them more sophisticated than that...
 
MacGuffin said:
I would have expected such reaction from fundamental muslims who react to funny remarks about their religion. But from a country like Argentina? About a ridiculous micro-war that ended 32 years ago? I'd like to consider them more sophisticated than that...
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Precisely - I don't believe that the incident could have been planned at all (I tax and register vehicles as part of my job), but can understand why the Argentines got upset and therefore within their rights to remove TG's permission to film. It's how the local authorities behaved after that decision that I have the most beef with. By all means let the team have time to pack up their stuff unmolested and then escort them to the border/airport and allow them to leave the country. What you don't do is send 38 or so unarmed civilians out into the night knowing that there is a large mob hell bent on violence waiting for them. That is not the behaviour of a civilised society.
 
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Cam man said:
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Do you have information unknown to us, the press and possibly the BBC higher-ups? Or do you just absorb the same second-hand "may or may not be true" information everyone else (on either side of the public discussion) bases their opinion on? You are taking sides like everyone else. I think you are trying to troll.
 
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British/Columbian said:
So? Are you suggesting your history classes didn't gloss over the warts and embarrassments in your country's military history?
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I never said or implied anything of the sort. I was simply asking a question. Which, last time I checked, was not against the rules of these boards.

And yes, we did go over the War of 1812. :p But US history textbooks are generally biased in this country's favour.
 
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