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Review of Team America World Police
The movie is essentially a parody of your standard summer blockbuster. In this case we have "Team America", the stereotypical hodge podge band of freedom fighters brought together to kick ass (not surprisingly) for America and for Freedom. It turns out that marionettes are the ideal vehicle for such a film: the summer blockbuster genre has at its very core the super huge special effect. A parody would be hard pressed to convincingly duplicate these effects. But these are puppets. So the effects are supposed to look silly. And this is fortunate: the film takes constant blissful pleasure in the blockbuster tradition of demolishing national monuments, from the Eiffel tower to Mount Rushmore.
Our team of freedom fighters hits all the standard cliche's: we lose a member, find a replacement, who gets jaded and ultimately must come to terms with his feelings about his job while the team comes to accept the new guy.
Of course, there is some sort of a plot as well. In South Park the movie, Parker used Saddam Hussein as his evil joke. This time it's Kim Jong-il. He's really no different than Saddam was last time around. Just a ludicrous bad guy. In this case he's busy masterminding a stupid plot where he unifies the hollywood liberals and various terrorist organization as part of your standard wreck the world plan. It's thin, but no thinner than what it parodies.
I think my general concern going into this movie was the politics. The movie could very easily get mired down in preaching a point. But thankfully it never really does that. It simultaneously makes fun of liberal hollywood actors, and the rah rah 'Go America' right wing stereotype. But the movie isn't really picking sides: it's more about parodying the genre of summer blockbuster then it is about right vs left or war vs peace. Thats a good thing. Parker has proven time and time again that he can make simple points very well. South Park has addressed countless social issues over the years, and the feature film really took issues like censorship and parenting in a very meaningful way. Team America doesn't spend much time trying to seriously address the issues. It's just simple fun.
The other major concern that I harbored was that the marionette jokes would run thin. As I said before, the use of marionettes works great for mocking special effects, but the film easily could have constantly referred back to the fact that we are watching puppets. There are only a few jokes like that. Since they are used so sparingly, they make it all the more amusing when it happens. And there's a lot of hilarity to be derived from puppet sex when the film is pretending to be serious about it.
Like all of Parker's movies, they come out guns blazing, and 30 minutes in, I find myself needing a commercial break. The jokes are constant and funny. Maybe too funny. By the middle of the film you see something funny but are so desensitized that it's tough to muster another laugh. Of course then they turn around and beat you over the head with something new.
It's also worth noting that the facial puppetteering is really cool. Everyone involved should be really proud of themselves for pulling off something so visually unique.
I really enjoyed the film. I went in with high hopes and was pleased to have them all met. Even my wife, who is quite sick of South Park and wasn't looking forward to watching this at all came out absolutely giddy with laughter.
If you're a South Park fan, you'll love this movie. If you're a fan of summer blockbusters, and can tolerate the language, you'll love this movie. If you're a prude, watch something else. As for me, this is the first movie in months that I decided to buy the DVD before it was over.
Team America
http://www.busyweather.com/
Maybe to funny.
You were doing so well...
...we got a movie based on politics that really doesn't have a bias or an op-ed piece, and just around Election Day. It's just a movie making fun of everyday politics and the current events that we face. Sometimes we just have to look at what's going on and laugh instead of picking sides and blaming people for it.
Ask and Discuss your HTML and other web dev stuff
I'm looking forward to see this... I want to see how much lampooning of the hollywood actors and the real-world political figures is done. I hope most people mocked in the movie at least laugh at themselves...
Julie Moult is an idiot.
Because it involves dissent and most of slashdot's readers are young and idealistic.
What does this have to do with Bashing Microsoft or sloberring over Open Sores? In other words... OFF TOPIC!! Try again Taco
If anyone has the chance, check out "Cannibal: The Musical", by Trey and Matt. It's surprisingly good...VERY catchy music numbers ("Let's Build a Snowman!" and "A Schplodoinkel Day" (?) are two faves). It drags a bit in parts, but you can always turn on the drunken commentary for those sections.
Salon has an interview with Tray and Matt about this where they talk about their intent and how people react to the movie.
"Nothing to see here. Move Along."
The movie was that bad, huh?
Jon Katz, where are you??
Sean Penn's a bit peeved.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
I wasn't desensitized; I just thought the first half of the movie was funnier than the second half. There were some good moments here and there later in the movie, but the first half had the whole audience laughing hysterically at least once a minute.
(Slight spoiler, I guess...) I think they overestimated the staying power of the "Hollywood stars are actually conniving villains" joke. The incongruity was funny at first, but the film repeated the same basic gag over and over with only slight variations and it got tiresome.
However, I'm glad I stayed till the end of the credits.
Kim Jong-Il's deadly panthers! (oooh, scary!)
The new guy's panic signal.
The stretch Lamborghini!
It's...inebidable.
The opening scene with the marionette's marionettes,
The new guy's terrorist disguise.
The psychic team member. "I sense I'm attracted to him."
The 'love' scene.
Team America's theme song.
Freedom costs a buck-oh-five.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess Parker & Stone are gay, because they sure do seem obsessed by cock.
Oh Ha Ha Ha.
Look at me!
I'm so witty! I say "open sores" instead of "open source". I'm making a clever joke about the quality of open source programs. Boy am I clever! I think I'll go upstairs and eat dinner with my mommy and daddy now.
Seems pretty slow... does she like having a link in the review?
An entire sentence is devoted to the plot and characters. The rest is rambling about how funny it was, and some irrelevant nonsense about the South Park movie. So Taco liked the movie. Thanks for sharing.
;P
On a side note, Taco must be pissed off at his wife. Why else would he give her a Slashdotting?
Writhe your naked ass to the mindless groove.
Play video game? You're a nerd.
Watch edgy-movies? Nerd.
Vote? TOTAL Nerd!
I suggest you read Slashdot
You know it has to be good when you can see the wires :D
PRINT "Signature line broken."
GOTO 1
Oh my God, CmdrTaco! You Slashdotted your wife! You bastard! ;-)
And insanely liberal.
Thanks for the positive review. I've been listening to Trey and Matt talk about the movie on Comedy Central (among other places) and they seemed to downplay expectations for it (e.g. "It's hard to parody a Bruckheimer film and make a goodmovie). First show Friday for me!
I too saw it last weekend, I thought it was hilarious, and the theme song deserves an Oscar (see my sig for the jist of it).
in bed.
Sumitting your "wife's" website address in a /. link, without having the deciency to use a sevice such as coral.
Hehe, we slashdotted his wife. He'll never know who the real father is.
I believe I speak for my fellow prudes everywhere when I say I'm offended.
I haven't seen the movie, mind you, but I did read the review.
Is there no shame left? These are our children who are watching these sorts of things.
sigs, as if you care.
Shouldn't you mention that you were paid for this review? (I dunno if it was free tickets or paid advertising, but it was a 'forced' review).
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Listen, we are the consumers, they feed, we eat. Just another way to give your tithe to the Church of Hollywood.
"The spirit of the American is suspected to be timid, imitative, tame--the scholar decent, indolent, complaisant. The mind of our country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself. Without action, the scholar is not yet man."
-Emerson
Watching TechTV on Saturdays got me hooked on The ThunderBirds, and the same reportedly inspired Parker/Stone to make this flick. It looks just as fun, if not more so, than the original.
Can't wait!
It's good that people understand that this movie is in full support of America's efforts in Iraq. Although it is a comedy and it pokes fun at everyone who needs poking, it clearly lays a hand off of our commander in chef.
It does have a little Dick Cheney in it, but that's it.
So lazy... you should have put the rating! LoL...
-1, gratiutous use of the word "neo-insert_whatever_you're_trying_to_insult". You fail it.
... apparently completely incapable of understanding satire, parody, OR irony.
Unless Drudge made that thing up.
Slashdot.
Julie Moult is an idiot.
I'm a big fan of Fireball XL5, Thuderbirds, Stingray, Capt. Scarlet, Supercar, etc. so the marionette aspect totally worked for me.
My only problem with the movie was seen as a strength in the review, where he said:
The movie could very easily get mired down in preaching a point. But thankfully it never really does that. It simultaneously makes fun of liberal hollywood actors, and the rah rah 'Go America' right wing stereotype.
The problem is, I see our political system in a greater crisis than simpletons like the makers of this movie. Their whole political consciousness is like "there are dicks and assholes, and we need the dicks because of the assholes." Which, of course, is errant nonsense. True we need "cops" to put "bad guys" behind bars, but invading other countries on lies, stripping away civil liberties, and skewing the tax code to favour the welathy and bankrupt the treasury is not excusable.
So, by playing both sides, all they do is come down on the side of the Powers That Be, who, at this time are corrupt, murderous plutocrats who are (as Bush stated some time ago, but not in so many words) bent on a unipolar global hegemony.
So, I found the politics offensive, but no more so than any other typical hollywood crapola film. And it is *extremely* funny, so I would give it a B-. DEFINITELY worth seeing, but to be soon forgotten due to the cluelessness of the poltical stance of the makers.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Because it is marionette technology...
Dang! And I was getting comfortable with all that wireless technology.
"Kittens give Morbo gas!"
After the success of World Police, get ready for the sequel!
Team America: Grammar Patrol!!
Rated R for Retarded...
Where a group of lurky nerds troll Internet forums around the world constantly correcting spelling mistakes and bad grammar and denouncing it as the bane of the universe!!
Friends don't let Friends use Internet Explorer.
n/t
Next thread down.. (why is this on Slashdot?)
You've got to be kidding me. Every other post I see in a political thread here, it's Libertarian this, Libertarian that...
Man...that almost sounds really hot and dirty.
I think Rob was a bit angry at his wife, so he wanted us to /. her website.
Without a proper flamewar, Anonymous was undecided on what shell to run.
This movie almost got an NC-17 for having simulated oral sex between the marionettes.
Feel free to read my thoughts and pseudo-legal analysis on the subject.
I actually ended up endorsing a different position than I expected going in. However, my argument would be different if I viewed "as indirect censorship the government's long standing threat of the forced general labeling of movies absent industry self-regulation" (to quote myself).
- Neil Wehneman
My legal education, in nifty podcast format
you're a weiner.
he's sleeping on the couch tonite!
"I'm so sick of this 'cool neo-libertarian crap.' You get to whine about taxes, blame everything on the two party system, and then still be about legalizing drugs and being pro-gun."
;)
Yeah, people who are so serious about liberty as to be fanatical about it are stupid! That Kim Jong-Il sure showed those libertarians a thing or two when he abolished the ownership society and created the ultimate complete welfare state.
But seriously, I'm not sure you understand what libertarian means. You (a "liberal", obviously) seem to think it's some kind of right extremist movement. Conservatives, on the other hand, think it's some kind of wacky leftist movement. But it's neither. If you can't handle our crazy, freedom-loving ways, just ignore us and we'll try not to bother you at parties.
Why is the parent modded troll again? This movie has nothing to do with tech news, software or anything remotely "nerdy". It's like every other episode of SouthPark, except with puppets. Hell, where's the review of SpongeBob Squarepants then? We'll accept that as a frontpage story, right?? Right???
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Do you mean the people that were devastatingly on target about the idiocy of trying to conquer Iraq, long before it happened, long before perps began to admit failure?
Do you mean the Governorship thief that inspires rewriting the Constitution for foreigners with Nazi ties, so they can be President?
Tired cliches indeed.
You'd think he'd have the ability to host her site on a Slashdot server...
...30 minutes in, I find myself needing a comercial break. The jokes are constant and funny. Maybe to funny. By the middle of the film you see something funny but are so desensitized that it's tough to muster another laugh...
I've had my belly muscles hurting and my bladder nearly busting from laughter and never found myself 'desensitized' by humor. Perhaps you just didn't find things truly funny and group laughing wore off. I like the south park guys, but sometimes they beat a joke past death.
...but not over anything having to do with the movie.
Your kids were going to go looking on the internet for puppet sex anyway! You might as well have had the chance to influence their thinking about it before they did! Now you have a bunch of intraverted puppet fettish perverts on your hands. Lawsuit!
Slashdot in 5 Paragraphs
Gen. Tommy Franks says if the US are hit with a DVD, the Constitution will likely be discarded for a military gov't.
A Michael Moore DVD or Swift Boat Veterans? Personally, I hope the Canadians invade.
This movie has nothing to do with tech news, software or anything remotely "nerdy".
This has a lot to do with Thunderbirds and is therefore very nerdy indeed.
You can't take the sky from me...
That reading /. will mush your brain, as will watching puppets satire life. Not to be too political, but did the puppets stop any terrorists from committing their destructive acts, or did the landmarks all that got blown up.
Wait, Wait, its the credits on 9/11, it was all a reality movie, everybody is all right......
Team America: World Police, is this a joke or what?, it might be funny for the North Americans, but not for me, or any other citizen of the world. So is the content of this movie making fun of the title or actually representing it?
You don't make a plural with an apostrophe!
To find and fix the many other problems, run the spelling and grammar checker in Word.
How ya like dat?
instead of planning on your government to care for you.
No, I don't harbor any such illusions, that's why I carry a cyanide pill around with me. If things get bad, I can save myself the suffering.
He'd already flubbed "commercial" by that point.
But what the hey. It's not like he's paid to do this or anything.
Oh, wait...
Peter
As for myself, I'm a bit suprised that no one so far has really jumped on how they poked fun at the Hollywood actors. Seriously, those people have wanted us to know how they feel about issues like the environment, taxes, and war, but really, what should I think about what George Clooney thinks about anythiing other than acting?
I would mod Team America +1 insightful for the way they had George Clooney and Company (Film Actors Guild) decide that they were going to have the world governed according to their principles and for Alec Baldwin's speach to the UN members gathered at Pyongyang.
Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
I am not a fan of South Park - I find it crude and not at all funny. I grew up with Thunderbirds and Fireball XL-5, and every teaser and trailer I have seen of this movie looks ABSA-FUCKING-LUTELY HILARIOUS!!!
I'm going to see this movie, first one in a long time (as most HW crapola is a waste of time and money). Who knows, I may actually learn how to properly do the Marionette Position.
Sigh...
Well, I guess it's back to the Weather Channel for me.
Perfect, man. Just perfect. Well said.
America! Fuck yeah!
Freedom cost a buck-o-five
Arab disguise
I promise I'll never die
Puppet Love
Puke
I just want to say Pearl Harbor sucked just a little bit more than I miss you
Trust
Panthers
You had me at "dicks fuck assholes"
Matt Damon
maybe you should take a look at Barlett and Steele's new book on health care in the US. not only do we spend more, we live shorter lives, get sicker, and actually have wait times for most procedures within a statistically insignificant margin of Canada and much of western Europe. Whatever might have been good about the US health care system, say 20 years ago, has faded in the stupid experiment of a "free market" running health care. Result? 10-20% of expenditure is spent on bureaucracy (contrast with "bureaucratic government" running Medicare at 2-3% of expenditure), and the most senior physicians are just quitting the insurance scene entirely. The fundamental problem is that a free market system works when "selling more" makes sense according to some metric. But "selling more" health care is the opposite of what just about everybody wants from a medical system, and so it starts to break down. Add in the fact that "choice" is virtually incomprehensible in a system where employers pick insurance schemes and most consumers don't know even basic medical facts.
The real truth is that FDR's welfare state was a band aid to avoid a revolution that was brewing in American society during his term as president. Unlike the systems initiated in Europe, which were put in place as a result of direct protest by unions and other non-capital-owning organizations. FDR headed off the fears of the capital owners of the US by instituting a minimal welfare state that did enough to ease the worst fears of the poor, but little more.
And as for your 43% gains this year, lucky you. Just glad you weren't retiring in a period that saw persistent declines in stock values, let alone right after a massive drop like '87 or the tech bubble blowout.
Am I the only one that's scared of marionettes, claymation and midgets?
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD
The American taxpayer will appreciate your sacrifice as well :)
Tip: the almond taste of the cyanide should go well with a sweet wine such as a port.
I've been looking forward to seeing this movie since Columbine, and I better start this review by putting my cards on the table: I'm a fan of South Park, the TV show and the movie, especially in our post-Columbine world where young geeks are not allowed to express themselves fully in a high school setting. In fact, I've seen Orgazmo and Cannibal the Musical simply because they were about Columbine. I was skeptical about a Columbine movie, but I went in with realistic expectations.
The Right Reverend K. Reid Wightman,
Orgasmo! Their best film of all. Not available on DVD yet though (Some rumor of "soon")
Contrary to popular belief, coding is not all free blow-jobs and beer. Those things cost MONEY!
Yeah, the New Deal was such a failure. Things like:
- Establishment of a minimum wage.
- Abolishment of child labor.
- Creation of civil and public works to build up our road systems, national parks, public schools hospitals, dams, runways, etc.
- Establishment of the SEC and rules for publicly traded companies to abide by for the benefit of investors.
- Formation of the FDIC to insure bank deposits, thereby restoring trust in the nations banks.
Social Security may not provide the best investment return you're hoping for, but it has allowed millions of Americans the ability to retire with some sense of stability. And unemployment insurance gives out of work Americans the ability to keep on their feet while they seek new jobs.
Of course there are people who game the system, and the challengs is how to get them to realize that they'll be much better off working for a living rather than just taking in an unemployment check every month. But I think the problem of poor people gaming the system is nothing compared to that of rich people who game the system and don't pay their fair share of taxes.
Without these social benefit programs, the number of people living on the streets would be far, far greater than it is now and our country's status in the world would be far, far lower. I'm more than happy to pay the $500 or so a month to keep that from happening while at the same time ensuring that no matter what happens to my personal investments, I'll still have a nice income waiting for me when I retire.
In a civilized society, the good of the many outweigh the good of the few. It may be overplayed, but it's true.
+1 Insightful, -1 Troll. What can I say, I'm an Insightful Troll.
Your whole review is spent incensing the movie. As much as I like South Park, I'm skeptical, The reviews over at Rottentomatoes.com paint a differente picture...
Deliberately took a friend who has never seen South Park. She thought the movie was painfully funny.
When I first saw the trailer for the movie, I thought it was crap. I figured it was my political bias talking, so I decided to only watch the parts of the trailer that were just funny (and it was still crap). For a last measure I ignored any words shown in the trailer and muted the sound to get rid of any political bias, and unfortunately...it was still crap.
Why did I think it was crap? Why would I even stoop so low as to disregard a motion picture with only one vulgar word? It couldn't be politics -- I got rid of those. Was it the dialogue? Nope, I muted the sound. Oh wait, I figured it out: puppetry is dead.
Sorry Trey. Sorry Matt. But it looks like you've got nothing but another cheap quick-to-video cult hit on your hands. I would've loved to see the movie if you had chosen some form of expression that's only fit for beaming to the Satellite of Love. Honestly...if you had just put yourselves in the movie like in "Orgasmo", I would've been in line by now.
Yeah yeah... so I misspelled too. Big fucking deal. I'm not an editor for a damn shit.
Profit seeking behavior is bad in doctors. Typically, there should be a lot of general practitioners to take care of the masses. There should be a proportionate amount of specialists since there aren't that many sick people within those specialties.
However, general practitioners make no money because of HMOs and stuff. So everyone goes into specialization. Then costs go up since we have to go to specialists.
A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
Kenseyan economics (controlling fiscal and monetary policy) as FDR did by increasing the amount of government supplied employment was popular to many people because of the fact that they were able to work for their subsistence and feel some accomplishment to it. It restored dignity to a lot of hard working Americans who simply lost their livelyhood from the excesses of the American wealthy. Remember. This was a time where people were destroying products in order to increase the scarcity of them so they could demand a higher price. Whether there was an alternative to this public works welfare state will never be known. Like today, Americans wanted some financial stability.
Focusing on history, the Civil Rights movement was not a movement of the welfare state. This was the misguided policy of LBJ. He chose to do the politically convenient thing by supplying money on "the dole" instead of supplying less money to political activism in the inner city. This was mostly done in Chicago to help the political machine of the democrats continue uncontested. THis was also a way to help out farmers who would have had to produce less and so fall out of economy of scale. The food stamp program helps more than poor folk. It also helps 'family farms' and other corporations that depend on agricultural subsidys and outright payment.
The government supplied spending is well and alive in the Industrial Military complex which receives hundreds of billions of dollars in govt. contracts each year. Govt. supplied spending can also be seen in purchasing stadiums for sports team owners (which always costs the city and the taxpayers money), tax breaks for companies who move into town on the promise of jobs, take millions of dollars in tax breaks, then move out without fulfilling their end of the agreeement. Medicine and Welfare programs take up a small percentage of American money but people still insist on demonizing everyone on it.
I understand that we can't be expected to think of anyone other than ourselves: I respect that right. But we shouldn't throw up straw men just to defend our selfishness. Welfare recipients are not nor ever have come close to breaking the American bank. Giving up too much power to folks already in power always does. What America needs to guard against is abuse of power and position and not chase after those who don't even have the capacity to defend themselves.
http://cincyboys.blogspot.com/ Everything Cincinnati. Including the word 'Finnih'
Dare not post with my screenname, though. God forbid anybody discuss flaws in system. All's well.
I think CmdrTaco's wifes website got slashdotted. Or at least I'm not getting to it. On another note, when will slashdot every get lampooned? I wonder, if we trash talked Parker and Stone enough if they'd make fun of us one day...
Oops, how did this get here?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
I think you mean Orgazmo, and Amazon has a few copies left: Amazon Link.
I'm 25, I can take some risks, but you should be slowly reducing your portfolio risk 10-20 years before your target retirement date. Let's take Joe Sixpack who contributed to a DJIA indexed fund from from 1983-2003, for every dollar he put in on the high day in 83 (1287.20), had more than quadrupled even on the worst day in '03 when this market bottomed out (7524.06), and if he held on to the end of the year, it had multiplied 7x (10453.92).
Anyone else care to figure out how long it would take to quadruple your money with a 5% t-bill?
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
Parker has proven time and time again that he can make simple points very well.
Is that supposed to be an example of "damning with faint praise," or is that actually meant as a compliment?
So... does that make us extremist centrists?
Is Zapp Brannigan going to come after us?
I would hardly call the current US healthcare system an experiment in free markets. It is the non-"free market" aspects of the current healthcare system that are causing it to suck so bad. Luckily it's in the process of correcting itself as best it can in spite of government interference. When healthcare ultimately does operate as a smooth free market, Doctors will have suffered a significant loss in their pay compared to how things used to be, insurance companies won't get to do the evil things they currently do, and everyone will actually be able to afford decent healthcare. Insurance will be for traumatic events and serious illness, and will be unneccesary for routine medical treatment, which will be affordable.
11*43+456^2
One of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Nothing is sacred and its beautiful. My head actually started hurting I was laughing so hard.
Abandon all hope ye who enter here...
"If you're a prude, watch something else."
Um... yeah. Regarding a movie that has been in the press over it's rating of NC-17 or R-- wow-- thanks-- good advice.
This review sucks. Are you still in high school?
It seems like you must be.
Like I said, a short term solution, which frankly, saved our asses when it came time to meet the whermacht and build the bomb, but it needed to end, if not during the war, soon afterwards.
As for government sponsored stadiums, don't vote for politicians who approve that shit. Works on the national level too, ie, I'm not voting for Kerry b/c I don't see him reducing the welfare state, Bush's Med Savings Accounts will IMHO.
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
I also got a chance to see the sneak preview of the movie. It marries the same cute + profane approach as South Park, although the subject matter and characters are entirely different.
The puppetry was charming and fun, especially near the beginning when you first see the puppet's facial expressions and learn the limits of their movements.
As I suppose should be expected, the lecherous Stone and Parker are infatuated with the profane and vulgar. This can be quite funny at times, but it can also be tedious. As on South Park, it's hit and miss.
Ultimately the movie is entertaining, and they do a good job of parodying action-movie. But they never rise above them. In a different life they could have been writing generic action movie scripts.
Why is it ok for Trey and Matt to make social/political commentary but not for the actors they make fun of?
Good review. I just saw it, and have to admit it had a lot of very funny moments. There was a lull in the middle that was very boring - the movie could have probably been about 30 minutes shorter. I sort of feel like when matt stone and trey parker are given more than an hour to make a story they start to lose focus.
Another thing that really bothered me about the movie was the politics. Yes, they made fun of everyone (in their normal fashion), but the anti war on terror side truly got torn apart with very little explanation as to what was wrong with their point. I guess you don't watch their movies for the intellectual discussion, but it can be bothersome when they try to take a side on something as complicated as politics. I loved the no-holds-barred take on hollywood however.
Yes, yes you are...
Thanks again.
(Watch The Fucking Movie)
You'll see what Penn is referring to.
Establishment of a minimum wage
Which is why your shoes and clothes are made in China, so I don't want to hear about the perils of outsourcing and "The destruction of the American Manufacturing"
Abolishment of child labor.
Which is why I worked "off the books" from the time I was 12 during the summer. It kept me and my cousins out of the farm field too.
Creation of civil and public works to build up our road systems, national parks, public schools hospitals, dams, runways
No problem there, we had cheap labor, and we had to fight a 2 front war that FDR was planning for from 35 on.
Establishment of the SEC and rules for publicly traded companies to abide by for the benefit of investors.
Again no complaints
Formation of the FDIC to insure bank deposits, thereby restoring trust in the nations banks.
No complaints there either
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
If you are a fan of South Park you've probably already heard variations of almost all the jokes.
I thought a lot of it was just being offensive to be offensive, but it didn't go far enough.
The movie was impressive in terms of construction and the marionette, jokes were classic.
Libertarians are young Republicans who haven't yet bought on to the social aspects of conservatism. Usually after a few too many beers or a little too many drugs, Libertarians burn out on their socially liberal views and become full blown Republicans. There is nothing really new in this. Combine an out for yourself (f**k everyone else) attitude with youth and you get Libertarianism combine it with middle aged burnout and you get George Bush.
They just can't have a slashdot topic icon like democrats and republicans do because Slashdot is helping to reinforce our failed two-party system. Isn't it time that, in light of this discrimination, the "Your Rights Online" section get erased? It's obvious no one here actually cares.
If guns kill people, then CmdrTaco's keyboard misspells words.
I SO want the soundtrack to this movie. Every song was absolutely perfect.
If my enemy's enemy is my friend, what happens if my enemy is his own worst enemy?
I saw this at a sneak preview Saturday night. It was by far one of the funniest movies I've seen in years. My friend and I laughed through most of it -- as did the rest of the theater. I should warn that it is horribly offensive and crude. It makes fun of pretty much everyone. Therefore: If you can't take a joke and laugh at yourself don't see it. If you can take a hit of satire and laugh at just how absurd the world is then this is perfect.
No one's ever accused someone of being a "South Park Liberal."
Like all good satirists, Matt and Trey take shots at both sides of the political spectrum. However I can't help but notice that the overall bent of their philosophy is somewhat conservative -- or at least non-liberal.
In Team America they satirize the "pro-America" folks as well-intentioned, though a touch careless or unaware of the side-effects of their actions. Fair enough. But they skewer the left-wing forces mercilessly -- all the movie was really missing was a Mecha-Streisand.
IMNSHO, those who review Matt and Trey's work and say that they're taking shots at both sides equally are *deluding* themselves -- perhaps trying unconsciously to explain away their popularity as something other than a blasting of the Liberal idiots who make up a large amount of the chattering classes.
They come down HARD on the Left Wing, and are damn funny as a result.
Exactly. I am so sick of whining right-wingers who scream "Liberal!" if someone isn't waving the fucking flag. Fuck off, all of you.
This, I think, is part of the problem. In order to operate in a libertarian, free society, people must be educated. Your post, at least as far as the basic premise that I understand (reducing risk in anticipation of retirement), is logically sound. But beyond that.. wtf is a DJIA fund? What are the formulas you're using to manipulate these numbers, and why do they work like they do? The average American doesn't know (and thinks they don't need to know) the answers to these questions. Not that everyone should be an expert on everything, but at the same time they should at least have a basic comprehension of what effects their actions may have.
A philosophical truism, constantly repeated, is that liberty comes with a steep price. Part of that price is understanding what's going on around you. I believe that most of the readers of this site would agree with me when I say mainstream America doesn't really have such an understanding, and that is a major roadblock to libertarian ideals. I support those libertarian ideals fully, but this country (and indeed this world) is far from what it should be.
In response to the parent/grandparent post, I don't really plan to draw Social Security benefits or partake of many of the wondrous reforms that the almighty FDR came up with. I look and see that my grandfather worked in the construction industry until he was at least 75, with precious little help from Social Security then or now. I look and see what the idea of employment by the government has become... a gigantic bureaucracy that is more often frustrating instead of helpful. I especially see things like, for example, the military-industrial complex (which FDR's little war gave a huge boost to) that leeches money out of the American piggy bank and wonder what these "liberal reforms," noble in intent, have really turned into.
As far as minimum wage jobs go, I will subsistence farm before I will take any job I could get around my area at the government-guaranteed minimum salary. I'll be able to support myself and likely feel fulfilled in my work. Maybe if more people got that idea, this whole gigantic stupid American culture of consumerism would collapse in on itself. Call me idealistic if you want, but I have to ask... what hath God (or deified politicians) wrought?
Wow. That went far offtopic. Oh well.
http://www.tristanelliott.com/
you quote "the south park guys" like thats their nickname or some shit, ive always heard them referred to as "the creators of southpark" or "trey parker and matt stone" or "matt stone and trey parker" or "trey stone and matt parker" or "matt trey and parker stone" or "mattress porker" but never ever ever have i ever heard them referred to as "the south park guys".
i am convinced that "/.ers" are homosexuals and imma make that my "sig"
if you're 25 and computing financial plans in this way, you're taking more risk than you indicate.
dollar-cost averaging certain reduces risk, but it doesn't lead to the result you suggest. the way you suggest looking at a 20 year investment is completely unrealistic. Over 20 years, Joe probably saw his income vary dramatically, hopefully increasing but not necessarily. The amount that Joe and his employer invested (or could have invested) would likely have broadly followed his income level, and as result, the total situation is probably rear-end loaded. if joe or his employer had taken more direct control of the investment (i.e. not merely used mutual funds) there is every chance that he actually lost money outright in investments that bottomed out completely over the 20 years.
if investing in an index fund is broadly accepted as the best long term strategy for a retirement investment, then pension fund managers will be doing that soon, and probably leveraging cost reductions that Joe couldn't accomplish himself.
finally, yes, i accept the risk reduction strategy. the problem is not that collective (private or government administered) pension funds don't work, its that they have typically been robbed to pay for other things, and when a crunch has hit, they jst plead a shortfall. see many recent large corporate stories for examples just as messed up as the story with social security.
and more generally: when people form groupings of some kind in order to get something done (trash collection, policing, road maintainance, etc.), part of the premise is that its inefficient for each individual to have to build expertise in every domain of life that might affect them. pension plans (private or government administered) reflect this idea - Joe shouldn't need to become an expert in personal retirement investing anymore than he should have to become an expert in driveway pouring or stud construction skills. He might choose to do so, but thats a different story. When Joe puts his trust in an institution (a mutual fund, social security, a 401(k) plan), its reasonable for him to expect to see this understanding honored. What has happened over the last 20-30 years (at least) is an erosion in this, to the point where many people feel that they cannot trust such arrangements and need to manage things all themselves.
I write this before having watching it, but I believe that this is the Thunderbirds movie that should have been...
Are you INSANE?!
...number of brain cells..."?
Just wondering.
Steve Perry!
100% Insightful
hilarious movie. the theme song alone makes the movie. i expected more realistic puppetry, but they use the puppets very well, using it to launch comedy on it's own. see it
sig - .
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You forgot INTELLIGENCE . . . that was definitely one of the best characters!
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From AICN can be seen here.
Social Security may not provide the best investment return you're hoping for, but it has allowed millions of Americans the ability to retire with some sense of stability.
Social security is not an "investment" it's a pyramid scheme. Or if you want to be less harsh, you could think of it as a pension fund with 0% return, where distributions are outpacing funding. Why not give people the freedom to invest money how they choose is tax deductable funds? Heck, even government backed savings bond would be a better investment than social security. Just imagine all the elimination of overhead?
no matter what happens to my personal investments, I'll still have a nice income waiting for me when I retire.
Oh really? Are you so certain that social security will still be around when you retire? They continue raising the minimum retirement age. For me, I'm looking at 45+ years into the future! There is zero guarantee that anything even remotely resembling social security will exist by the year 2050.
I'd rather invest the money myself thank you. I'm responsibly enough that I understand risk and proper investment allocation. Social security (for retirement, and for people who make a certain $$ a year) is nothing but a safety net for people who are financially irresponsible.
My goodness, how quickly we sell out...
You appear to have used to many o's in the word No! Tisk, tisk, tisk.
Sig
Nothing like puppets to make American bigotry, racism, redbaiting, and imperialism more palatable.
Who has North Korea bombed lately? Who has Cuba invaded? Who is the real aggressor hiding behind the mantra of "self-defense" and "national security?"
Most professional movie reviews are lame attempts by the reviewer to find something nice to say to reward the company that gave them free tickets and is advertising in their newspaper/magazine/TV station.
News for movie buffs. Stuff that doesn't matter. Hope this doesn't become a trend, no matter how many movies people get 'invited' into by movie studios. Yes, the same studios that are trying to prevent use of file-sharing networks.
Did anyone see Kenny? He was here a minute ago.
This has to be a troll, or flamebait...
The ENTIRE point of the film is to use an old, antiquated technique to represent the latest style of blockbuster.
It's funny. If you can't see it as funny then fine, stay at home, but there are many of us who will go and enjoy this. (for me, whenever it finally appears in Australia)
Works on the national level too, ie, I'm not voting for Kerry b/c I don't see him reducing the welfare state
As opposed to Bush and the Republican-dominated congress, which passed Medicare prescription drug coverage to the tune of an estimated $534 billion?
The medical savings accounts strike me as yet another overly complicated government scheme. We need simpler rules, not more complicated ones, but Bush et al have cut taxes without regards to simplifying the rules, and realistically that's the only time you can simplify.
Oh, and cutting taxes without cutting spending is just borrowing money in everyone's name and doling it out in unequal amounts. Cutting *spending* is the real need; do that and cutting taxes will follow.
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
Yeah, I simplified that down, but I got tired of hearing "I lost a million on Yahoo (or VA Linux) stock", it never happened. Now if you were stupid enough to buy 1 million of VA stock at $250 and dumped at delisting, yeah, you lost a mil, but show me who actually did that.
As for pension raiding, the fund managers were just following the example set by their federal government, and got about the same pusnishment as pols who get caught with a hand in the cookie jar.
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
>I'll be thinking of you as I celebrate the re-election of George Bush three weeks from now.
Christ man, you'd celebrate that? I mean Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned, but celebrating a Bush victory is just over the top. Did you know that he invaded another country and lied about the reasons for it? Are you paying any attention at all?
The mashochism in this country is just unbelievable. The whole world weeps and you celebrate because you enjoy suffering. Thanks. Go sit in some ashes.
Social security is not an "investment" it's a pyramid scheme. Or if you want to be less harsh, you could think of it as a pension fund with 0% return, where distributions are outpacing funding.
While I'm not a fan of Social Security, many people are better off with a forced savings are 0% as they don't have the discipline to put away their own money for retirement. Of course, this does hurt those who do have the will power to invest smartly.
This goes hand in hand with pay as you go tax system. If the government didn't take the taxes out of each paycheck, many people would be panicking because they didn't save enough for the lump sum tax payment on April.
It's good thing that we don't have Socialists on power, since they will raid your retirement fund (via extra high taxes on withdraws, and you can kiss Roth IRAs goodbye) to pay for the retirement of those people who blew their money away on excessive houses, SUVs, drugs, Evercrack accounts, etc.
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It just seems ironic that two guys whose bread and butter is political statements would go on to make a film parodying those who make political statements.
While I agree on the basic tenets of libertarianism, let's face it: its pie-in-the-sky bullshit. Corporations have broken the trust too many times, at too high a price, to allow themselves to govern themselves. The human cost is too momenumental.
There are some things that government can and does do better than private business. Such as: infrastructure. Infrastructure can include bridges and roads, but should also include health infrastrucutre and education infrastructure.
Its not socialist to want a single payer insurance system, similar to Canada's or Europe's - its common sense. Our health care system sucks. COBRA payments for a single adult usually consume an entire week's worth of unemployment, and unemployment usually is less than half of a former wage, meaning that two weeks of unemployment is already spent on rent.
The real problem is class conflict. The middle class's frustration and anger is pointed at the poor - we see them getting the social programs that we don't qualify for. Its never pointed at the rich, as they enjoy the benefits of our tax dollars in other ways - but don't contribute themselves.
My problem with subsidized housing is that I don't qualify for it. I used to get pissed at people choosing not to work during a boom, to use what income they earned as disposable income when I spent most of my post-tax dollars on necessities - necessities that cost more as a result of others receiving them for less than they are worth.
Truth be told, Americans are fucked. Middle class, urban and suburban youth are completely fucked. We are at the wrong end of a real estate boom, making home ownership nearly impossible, we are saddled with ridiculous levels of debt for college, and preyed upon by scumbags from Citibank, to sign up for easy credit when we are in college.
Yet we believe it is the way it is because if it were the way it is in Europe, we would pay higher taxes. That's complete bullshit. Europeans pay very similar levels of tax, but they enjoy more benefits. Young people don't have to worry about how to afford college - about taking part time jobs while in school - they just have to worry about doing well in school. When they leave, they can take an entry level job that doesn't pay well, because they can enjoy subsidized housing, until they move up the ladder - without an 800lb gorilla on their back (college loans).
We are so fucked. All our money goes to an inefficient corporate monster known as the military industrial complex - that failed to protect us on September 11th, and failed to find the people responsible - and so far has managed to increase the risk Americans face abroad by lacking any self control, and applying brutality, torture and possibly murder to our enemies - enemies that easily created by our hamhanded approach to world dominance.
Just as paving a highway makes it easier to conduct business where that highway leads, so does providing health care and free education. An educated workforce is a productive workforce, that fully utilizes its intelligence, to help build the industries that build America. A healthy workforce is more productive, and regular checkups and preventative medicine leads to longer, happier lives.
But enough of my anti-libertarian rant. The issue here is two hypocrites who can dish it out pretty good. Where do they get off? I support their right to freedom of speech - especially when I disagree with it. I think they are stupid to paint tobacco companies as reasonable, and think they are stupid for "rah-rahing" the war in Iraq. But I don't go around mocking them for expressing their political views. That's America. This bullshit of personal attacks and saying that disagreeing with our government is supporting terrorism is playing right into the hands of the fascist plutocrats on Wall Street, who pull the strin
wtf?
Social Security may not provide the best investment return you're hoping for, but it has allowed millions of Americans the ability to retire with some sense of stability.
If you honestly believe that Social Security will allow you to reitre with some sense of stability, you need to start asking seniors if Social Security allowed them to retire with stability. Why do you think that people put money into 401ks and various IRAs if Social Security was such a great thing?
But I think the problem of poor people gaming the system is nothing compared to that of rich people who game the system and don't pay their fair share of taxes.
First of all, I came from a poor family and let me tell you this; the poor pay very little or no tax at all. In somecases, the poor actually get money via various tax credits. As for the rich, unless they are comitting a tax fraud, they are paying their fair share. It's just that they have the money to hire CPAs and tax lawyers to maximize their tax savings. I'm taking tax classes now and I learned many tax tips that even the middle class can use to maximize their tax savings. Of course, it's a lot easier to complain on Slashdot than educating yourself.
Without these social benefit programs, the number of people living on the streets would be far, far greater than it is now and our country's status in the world would be far, far lower.
That wouldn't be such a bad thing, as too many people are racking up debt unwisely and need a swift kick to the rear instead of constantly looking toward the government to bail them out.
In a civilized society, the good of the many outweigh the good of the few. It may be overplayed, but it's true.
Sure, in socialist/communist world, everyone would be equal, equally poor. Unless you happend to be a party memeber, in which case, you'll be fat and happy.
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Schwarzy is a nazi? wha wha wha WHHHHA?
Cool now we know how to solve the illegal Mexican immigration problem. I want to move to Cali so I can get a job in a guard tower.
Hiel Bush, 1,000 points of light, and the new world order. Can I have my official party membership card now?
Schwarzenegger has no Nazi ties other than his father.
Schwarzenegger can't shrug off his 1986 toast as a momentary gaffe. There was a long-standing relationship that continued well past the time when the full extent of Waldheim's association with Nazi atrocities had been documented. A more complete renunciation will be necessary.
Moreover, your insinuation that he "stole" the Governorship shows you to be a partisan hack and a sore loser, with contempt for the judgment of your fellow citizens.
Diebold
Hatch
I'll be thinking of you as I celebrate the re-election of George Bush three weeks from now.
You should look into the history of the Bush family and their Nazi involvement. Seriously. If you really care about America it is your patriotic duty.
Odd, http://fixingamerica.org/ DNS is broken, use http://209.150.130.116/ for now.
One more thing to add...
If you were to put away $500 into a tax deferred account earning 10% a year, you'll be retiring in 30 years with $1,130,243.96 in your retirement account.
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The review keeps talking abot Parker as responsible for the film. Aren't Parker and Stone equal partners? Does CmdrTaco know something I don't??
If you really care about America it is your patriotic duty.
.
Gack! It's going to be a real drag when soreheads like you are fuming around trying to create a shitstorm, a few weeks from now, after Dubya is re-elected.
At least Kerry will soon be getting as much air time as Dukakis. .
"What's the frequency Kenneth?"
Hey, give 'em a break, they're just playing it clever.
Last time I checked some polls, Bush or Kerry managed to put only their nose in front of the other, and it isn't clear whose nose is first. With just a couple of weeks to go, you (as a movie maker) wouldn't want to be on the losing side, would you?
Although I do suspect a large majority of movie makers, actors and other artistic types to be in the winning camp (that is, Kerry's). Just my humble, totally unbiased opinion...
and actually have wait times for most procedures within a statistically insignificant margin of Canada and much of western Europe.
I guess you haven't seen this report. And it's also interesting that how you bash the "free market" running the health care, yet fail to mention the malpractice suit crisis here in the U.S.
Whatever might have been good about the US health care system, say 20 years ago, has faded in the stupid experiment of a "free market" running health care.
As far as I remember, whenever I needed to see my doctor, I can usually see him on the same or next day. I'm satisfied with my doctor, and if I'm not, there are host of other doctors that I can switch to. And when my wife's slutty friend got knocked up, she didn't have any problems getting medical care and Medicaid even picked up the whole tab.
And as for your 43% gains this year, lucky you. Just glad you weren't retiring in a period that saw persistent declines in stock values, let alone right after a massive drop like '87 or the tech bubble blowout.
If you put all your retirment funds into tech stocks, you got what you deserved. And there is a reason why many financial experts recommend that you should put 30% of your funds into bonds, with that perchange increasing as you get near retirment, as bonds usually go up when the stocks go down, thus providing a "buffer" for your investment account.
I conclusion, it doesn't make sense that everyone needs to suffer because you have a shitty doctor or due to your lack of investment knowledge.
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In their video for "Three Little Pigs,"
"And the moral of the story is, ' A band with no talent can easily amuse idiots with a stupid, puppet show."
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
Happens all the time. It's particularly prevelant these days since the country has become very polarized politically (which has happened before). Many people have a very us vs. them mentality in politics, so their views have strong influence on what they like or don't like.
This was very evident with Fahrenheit 9/11. There were few middle-of-the road reactions to it. Nearly everyone I know who saw it either loved it or hated it. When asked why, it always came down to what was being said and implied in the movie. Never heard anything about the acting, the cinematography, etc, etc, it was always about the message. Also, the opinions were predictable. The Republicans hated it, the Democrats loved it.
Well this tells me that people aren't actually commenting on the movie itself, but the politics behind it. Those who's politics agree with the movie, love it because it agrees with them and people like being told they are right. Those who's politics disagree, hate it because they see it as being a wrong and a lie.
I imagine this is similar. The grandparent is lying, or deciving himself that he set aside his politics. The move has some message, either stated or implied, real or fictitious, that he just hates and doesn't agree with. That ruins it for him.
Of course people don't usually want to admit to that, so it's gets caged in stuff like this. It's just like how most of the extreme liberals and conservatives I know declare themselves to be moderates. People don't like admitting their views are extreme.
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Besides they lied about how much it will cost, and their own people who studied it were censored because their #s were unacceptably high. You're living in a dreamworld Neo...
"...national monuments, from the Eiffel tower to Mount Rushmore."
You forget to read the newspaper one day, and France invades the U.S.A. Typical.
It's going to be a real drag when soreheads like you are fuming around trying to create a shitstorm, a few weeks from now, after Dubya is re-elected.
Dumya the chickenhawk was elected? Yet another chump.
It's really sad to see so many uninformed loud mouths trying to responding to rational thought and factual basis with bar fly babbling.
An embarrassment to our military. An embarrassment to our history. An embarrassment to our future.
Why must you spit on the legacy of WWII soldiers so?
Trash that dumbass qt player from apple, install k-lite mega codec pack with qt alternative: google for k-lite mega codec.
Preserve old classics: copy your collection onto all hard drives.
Like he really had time to check the latest polls before he made the movie...
Like what I said? You might like my music
Which sadly translates into extreme-right poltics, kids loving things like "the ownership society," failing or refusing to understand what FDR did, etc.
This is pretty bad because people who would like to keep things like social security and the SEC alive. Its natural to dismiss authority in the form of the two political parties, but if GenY and GenX think far-right politics with a close relationship with the GOP is good for them, then they are only fooling and hurting themselves.
Oh well, back to fart jokes and celebity bashing. Didnt both these guys receive federal aid when they went to college? Arent they both Hollywood celebrities as much as anyone else? I mean, they arent like indie rockers who shun the mainstream, they show up at all sorts of fancy galas, events, awards ceremonies, etc. Can you smell the H word? I can.
I'm so sick of this "cool neo-libertarian crap." You get to whine about taxes, blame everything on the two party system, and then still be about legalizing drugs and being pro-gun. The best part is you just memorize a couple lines and you seem like a bright guy at parties. Sure beats donating to the ACLU or being associated with liberal 'girly men.' And of course none of this will be put into practice so no one can call you on your ideological BS. Nothing like complaining with no plan to do something about it.
This is how the interview ends btw, for you non-subscribers:
Stone: Stay home.
Parker: Don't vote!
Stone: And it's no big deal. If you don't want to vote, you don't have to. Fuck that vote or die shit. I hate that.
(if we had less of this in Florida in 2000, things would be very, very different)
...I hate everybody equally!"
It's also worth noting that the facial puppetteering is really cool. Everyone involved should be really proud of themselves for pulling off something so visually unique.
It strikes me it pays much homage to the work of Gerry Anderson from Stingray , through Thunderbirds, to Terrahawks.
In fact Team America is more of a homage to Gerry Anderson than the US live action remake of Thunderbirds.
Quote 1:
"if you're a South Park fan, you'll love this movie. If you're a fan of summer blockbusters, and can tolerate the language, you'll love this movie. If you're a prude, watch something else."
"Can I finish? Hello? C-can I finish? The United States has graphic violence on television all the time. We cant believe that a movie with some foul language would piss you off so much."
Why not give people the freedom to invest money how they choose is tax deductable funds?
Well, back when I did economics at college one of the reasons give for not doing as you suggested is that many people won't. Which leads to the next point.
Social security (for retirement, and for people who make a certain $$ a year) is nothing but a safety net for people who are financially irresponsible.
I agree, and yet I'm in favour of social security. The alternative is what? You let people live (and die) in poverty becuase they were irresponsible? That seems to me rather... barbaric. The waste and the cost are the price society pays for some humanitarianism.
You can try an target welfare better, but that requires things like means testing and more money spent on running the system, you trade one inefficiency for another.
Poverty also has other social costs, crime, disease etc, but it would be naive to suggest welfare stops those, at best it may reduce them a little.
The efficient welfare state that only aids the 'deserving' is impossible. So a society has to decide, shoulder the costs, or throw the irresponsible and unfortunate to the wolves.
The comma between 'stupid' and 'puppet' is superfluous.
Oh, and moderators, to make this post on-topic, I ask for links to a cross-platform-viewable trailer to this movie.
Lemon curry???
There are actually 2 versions depending on who is ahead.
+1 Post-Columbine!
I've been looking forward to seeing this movie since my dog learned to catch the frisbee, and I better start this review by putting my cards on the table: I'm a fan of dogs, I like to groom dogs, especially in my post-Slashdot world where young geeks won't let me express myself fully about Columbine without acting like we're in a high school setting. In fact, I've seen my dogs Orgazmo and Cannibal bark and growl simply beacause of slashdotters bashing me for talking about Columbine. I was skeptical about the movie theater letting me bring my dog, but I went in with realistic expectations.
Spelling matters.
Please use the coralized links for the movies and save these guys some bandwidth.)
Stills from Steve Kubby's site.
Video and back story
"Libertarian's Ad Takes Cues From 'South Park'" (The Sacramento Bee - October 30, 1998)
"Two Libertarians' 'animated' work for liberty"(LP News May 1999)
Coralized links to the movies:
faster than a modem
modem
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity but they've always worked for me" - HST
Au contraire, I often find myself laughing at Libertarians.
Laughter is the first refuge of those with nothing intelligent to say. It's not that you think Libertarians' arguments are funny, but probably more because coming up with a rational defense or critique is hard, and you find mockery to be so much more pleasing than dignifying someone you hate with your intelligence.
I don't make the rules. I just make fun of them.
...but all I hear is BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH!!
Tyler: You don't know where ive been, Lou. YOU DONT KNOW WHERE IVE BEEN!!
Does this help?
Let's al raze are grasses two Tacho!.
You are an embarassment to nobody, since you're an A.C. and thus are nobody.
But it's fine to appropriate heated rhetoric.
Thank goodness that's all you represent.
"What's the frequency Kenneth?"
Also, to answer another comment about it only being available in quicktime, since the trailer is being downloaded from a site in the apple.com domain, this is a no-brainer. Would you expect a file from microsoft to use anything but Windows Media Player format, or from real to use anything but real media, or a site from macromedia ...
The lessons of history teach us - if they teach us anything - that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.
quicktime alternative.
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
-----------------------
You are what you think.
Thunderbirds are GO!
-- Game Developers: Stop porting badly-textured games from crappy console systems!
I guess you haven't seen this report.
I took a look. It sounds bad. Its also utterly anecdotal. Each time you point to such a report, I could point you to reports on people bankrupted by the US health care system, or reports on people who couldn't get the correct care. What does it prove? Only a systemic analysis makes sense in the end, and when they are done (as in Barlett and Steele's book), the difference in waiting times between the US and Canada overall is remarkably small. Especially given how often people in the US bring up wait times in Canada as a reason to avoid a Canadian-ish system.And it's also interesting that how you bash the "free market" running the health care, yet fail to mention the malpractice suit crisis here in the U.S.
The link you provided for the malpractice situation makes it reasonably clear that if there is a clear culprit for the rise in premiums paid by doctors, it would lie in the insurance industry rather than anywhere else. Actual case filings are down, awards are down, yet premiums continue to rise. Where are the alternative insurance companies to offer more realistic rates? They seem strangely absent.
As far as I remember, whenever I needed to see my doctor, I can usually see him on the same or next day. I'm satisfied with my doctor, and if I'm not, there are host of other doctors that I can switch to. And when my wife's slutty friend got knocked up, she didn't have any problems getting medical care and Medicaid even picked up the whole tab.
My doctor no longer accepts the insurance I (used) to have. Do I switch? My doctor is no longer on the list of PPO's for my insurance scheme. Do I switch? And is Medicaid (socialized medicine as it exists in the US today) a good thing or a bad thing? If its a good thing, why is it good only as a safety net? And more to the point, what is good about a system that requires so much expenditure on bureaucracy as the current private insurance scheme does? Americans seem to put a lot of emphasis on the "choice" issue, yet very few actually switch doctors (see Barlett & Steele) and there are really no proposals to modify this.
I actually like B&S's analysis and comparison with the Federal Reserve. They suggest a similar "apolitical" agency to administer a single insurance scheme, noting that despite minor niggles with the FR, most people think it works rather well and is generally free of politically driven decisions. In their proposal, individuals are still free to supplement the coverage offered by that agency with offerings from private insurers if they wish to and are able to.
No, I want to see the same movie directed by the creators of The Simposns.
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And at least Baghdad Bob didn't find it necessary to use expletives to make his point.
>this is the first movie in months that I decided to >buy the DVD before it was over
;-)
wow, those XVID-AC3 Telesync operators work so fast these days!
As bad as Drudge may be, he's never been caught pulling a Dan Rather or Jayson Blair.
Damn liberal :)
Social security (for retirement, and for people who make a certain $$ a year) is nothing but a safety net for people who are financially irresponsible.
Perhaps so, but are you saying "financial irresponsibility" should be a death-penalty offense? I'm in grad school and so is my wife. We make just enough to pay the mortgage and bills, put food on the table (and in the kibble bowl for our pooches) and enjoy a few, small luxuries (e.g. going out to eat two or three times a month).
According to the government's statistics on the income distribution here in America, we're not in poverty -- but it sure feels like it when we have to fret over the budget each and every month to ensure that no checks bounce. Where, pray tell, are we to scrape together some extra money to invest for our retirement? Sure, we'll be making more in a few years, but "the magic of compound interest" works best the earlier you start. Plus, at some point we'd like to do something radical like, I don't know -- have kids. We, like many Americans, are living from hand to mouth, barely scraping by -- and we're nowhere near the bottom!
Personally, I'd rather have the government use some collective bargaining leverage to bring down the price of healthcare, get the catastrophic cases out of the system that drives our premiums and do something about the god-damned deficit.
Maybe Drudge even asked leading questions of Penn's 92-year-old grandmother - she might have even said, "Yes, Sean thinks exactly that of the South Park whippersnappers!"
GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!
it rules!
Team America! Fuck Yeah!
No reference in your review that Team America is a take-off on the old "Thunderbirds" TV series? :-(
It might not be preferable if 70% of the American population lost all their retirement savings in the next stock market crash. But of course, now with the new economy, we'll never see another crash, so it's safe now...
Just glad you weren't retiring in a period that saw persistent declines in stock values, let alone right after a massive drop like '87 or the tech bubble blowout.
That's stupid. You make a switch out of equities and into bonds during a good period 5-10 years before retirement.
I thought the guy that directed the "Matrix" was asked to direct this movie and the guys were VERY suprised when he accepted. Although i could be wrong.
*--- Sometimes a majority only means that all the fools are on the same side. ---*
not just yet...the s.s. surplus is what's funding the gummint's deficit spending: there is no "lockbox", all fica receipts go into the general fund, and are basically replaced with a federal iou:-p
the shit's gonna hit the fan when the boomers start to retire, realsoonnow...
Y'see, the system was designed to be robust. That's why it's a "representative republic" instead of a direct democracy. That's why there are three branches set at odds with each other. The guys who wrote it up were assuming that the only way to keep a few people from screwing all the rest was to give everybody a chance to take some part in it with lots of opposition and lots of ways to block each other from overstepping their proper limits.
By voting, you're providing that necessary opposition, the much-needed buffer to thwart extremist control-freaks. So, VOTE. Figure out who you'll vote for later however you want but the more votes, the better.
and if you lived in Japan, where stocks declined for 10 straight years, what would you have done then?
Man, that gave me the worst friggin nightmares. I was familiar with cartoon characters speaking in human voices and understood that they were fictional. I think what bugged me was these Humpty Dumpties were clearly biological, and maybe I might run into one in the woods. My parents spent what seemed like hours, explaining what was going on and how these things were actually normal safe humans.
But still I wonder, what the hell kind of human thinks of something like that? I still question the characterization that such people are or were "safe".
WWJD for a Klondike Bar?
I doubt if Drudge's claim to have a copyright on a letter Sean Penn wrote will hold up in court.
Canada has as much of an irrational fear of a "two tier health system" as the US has of any sort of universal single payer health care though. The Canadian system is surprisingly effective (just compare the numbers and outcomes to the US as you've done), but their unwillingness to allow a parallel private healthcare system to take some of the load of the public system is problematic.
Public healthcare systems around the world are under strain, and many are moving to having a paralell private system particularly for expensive non-vital treatments and surgeries.
The US however, seems to have constructed the worst of all possible worlds, and is caught in some hopeless no man's land with government money being thron into the black hole of propping up a mostly private system (which of course only inflates the price of the private system). I can't believe Americans aren't desperately keen for a total ground up overhaul of they're health system - it is a disaster.
Jedidiah.
Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
What happens over the next 20 years when the baby boomers have to live on their stock portfolios, and are no longer throwing their upper-middle management salaries at anything listed by their mutual find company websites?
The correct answer is...we don't know. I would not be suprised to find out that there will be a hard sell-side imbalance which could cause a market stagnation or decline over an extended period of time. The "overvalulation" is, in part, due to the hoards of money people are putting into the system. In a carefully balanced system, relatively small perturbations can mkae significant changes.
That said, most of my money is in the S&P, with a bit in mid-caps since I'm out a couple of decades from real retirement. Personally, I tend to be a large-cap value-guy, since most large, stable companies will eventually pull out of a slump given decent management, but are unlikely to really take a dive with even medeocre guidance. I invest in the indexes because they're low cost and require no oversight on my part.
Of course, I just moved to a less expensive house with a (much) smaller mortgage, have money put away for my daughters college (thanks in large part to generous grandparents and a tax-free 529 savings plan), and don't carry any other debt.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
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Wow, really? So can you tell me where I can find one of these 10% interest accounts?
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
What does it prove? Only a systemic analysis makes sense in the end, and when they are done (as in Barlett and Steele's book), the difference in waiting times between the US and Canada overall is remarkably small. Especially given how often people in the US bring up wait times in Canada as a reason to avoid a Canadian-ish system.
The B&S book sounds interesting, I'll have to pick that up someday. As for Canada, I found another poll that 49% of Canadians are for two tier system where you can pay extra to get faster medical care so I still do believe that there is a noticable gap. As for the MRI example in the report, Canada as around 1 MRI machine per 8 million people where as U.S. has one per 2 million. That means that wait time for MRI scan in the U.S. is shorter, but the cost is more expensive as more cost of the MRI machine is passed on to the patients. So you can have a cheaper medcial care, or faster medcial care, but not both.
The link you provided for the malpractice situation makes it reasonably clear that if there is a clear culprit for the rise in premiums paid by doctors, it would lie in the insurance industry rather than anywhere else. Actual case filings are down, awards are down, yet premiums continue to rise
I'm not saying that insurance industry is innocent. However, I don't recall countries with socialised medical care having malpractice suit probelms as U.S. does. That point I'm trying to make is that higher liabiliy you have, higher your premium gets. If you don't believe me, try doubling the coverage on your car insurance and see if the premium stays the same.
My doctor no longer accepts the insurance I (used) to have. Do I switch? My doctor is no longer on the list of PPO's for my insurance scheme. Do I switch? And is Medicaid (socialized medicine as it exists in the US today) a good thing or a bad thing? If its a good thing, why is it good only as a safety net?
That's a tough call. You can either switch, stay and more pay out of your pocket (I'm not sure about your PPO plan, but ours allow you to see out of network doctors, at higher cost), or ask your doctor if he's willing to accept the insurance. As for Medicaid, I believe that it is a bandaid that helps the needy, but does nothing for the middleclass. And as for the switch issue, Americans can consider cheaper HMO plan if they don't switch doctors often.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
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I saw this film last weekend and never got the summer blockbuster thing. I saw it as parodying America--we rush in without thinking, blow things up, wreck the place, then say we've made the world safer. It parodys actors to the extreme: just because they make big bucks and are always on the covers of tabloids, somehow they're better equipped than politicians to work towards peaceful international solutions. And its parodys of the puppets tend to be funniest of all.
I do agree Parker and Stone let loose on everyone. The right wing, the left wing, terrorists, and puppets are all fair game. But I don't think blowing up Mt. Rushmore was parodying summer blockbusters. It was a statement that the current U.S. extreme mindsets (liberal and conservative) are doing more to destroy the ideals of the founding fathers than any terrorists ever could.
Who knows, maybe I'm just reading in more than is really there. But I think Parker is a damn smart guy who hides his commentary in humor extremely well.
Oh, and the puppets and the sets were incredible. No wonder they got so burned out making this--it's artwork in and of itself.
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Yes, but both sides concur that you are wacky extremists. How can such broad, bi-partisan agreement be wrong? :-)
and where would one find one of these accounts?
Are there any that guarantee the %10?
A blog about stuff.
I don't know if your comment is a troll, or if you just don't understand satire. If anything, the idea of Hollywood liberals teaming up with North Korea is a left-wing bias. The idea of satire is to push the position of one side to such an extreme as to expose it for the farce it is. In this case, the position is the right wing position that liberals are unamerican. Pushing this idea to the extreme, it is logical to assume that North Korea would try to recruit unamerican Americans. A similar satire of the left wing would be the south park episode where Christopher Reeve is cracking open fetuses and sucking out the insides for a cure. They are not suggesting that embryonic stem-cell research is murder (a right wing position), but rather they are exposing how laughable the right wing position is. I agree that Stone and Parker have a bias, but I don't think it's either right or left wings. Their bias is that both sides (Liberal and Conservative) are composed primarily of idiots. Their more important bias is that both sides can be quite amusing. I think they are out to entertain first. Education on political philosophies is a distant distant 23rd.
If the movie portrayed the Liberals as the only idiots in the movie, you'd be justified in lableing the film "right-wing". But, if the movie takes shots at both left and right-wing camps, then the 'bias' is balanced, and in effect, eliminated.
"Creativity is allowing ones self to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep" - Scott Adams
Wow, really? So can you tell me where I can find one of these 10% interest accounts?
S&P 500 has a historic return of over 10%, not to mention that index funds usually also have the lowest expense ratio.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
As stated before, S&P 500 had a historic return of over 10%. If you want guarantees, put your money on savings and CDs, but they are only guaranteed up to 100,000 (FDIC insurance) and their meager returns make them unsuitable for retirement purposes.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
So... What happens when you vote and it turns out that the guy you voted for does terrible things. Just going out and voting doesn't stop the "extremist control-freaks", you may just be voting for one. I believe that this year 95% of all presidential votes will go to a candidate in good favor with aforementioned "extremist control-freaks". Recall howard dean. He suffered an assasination of image/character that had very little to do with his politics. The result people who once thought it would be good to vote for him started shopping for other candidates because they just thought he couldn't win. The result? He couldn't win. Many of these voters were under informed so they couldn't stick to a meaningful decision because one wasn't made.
Uninformed votes dillute the effectiveness of informed votes by adding an almost random property to it. These votes can change because someone on CNN says things aren't looking good for candidate X.
I've seen it.
I've been a candidate.
And I've seen that some of it can be helped by different election methods
Actually, it was the Associated Press.
Thank goodness that's all you represent.
Unable to post anything of substance. Siding with unpatriotic evil. You like representing French sympathizers, 'bob beta'?
Truly, I was amazed at the amount of vitriol that got dumped on the movie industry, and particularly the F.A.G.s...er actors. Which reminds me... were those puppets that got devoured by the Evil Panthers of Kim-Il-Jung stuffed with liver, or not?
Great men are almost always bad men--Lord Acton's Corollary
Not trolling, but can one of you get a full time job while the other finishes school? When party A gets done and into the workforce, party B goes back to school, sounds simple enough to me.
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
Here's the title of the current story there:
;)
"Found: Long Lost Artowrk Discovered in Closet Excavation"
"Artowrk?" They're clearly two of a kind
Social security [...] is nothing but a safety net for people who are financially irresponsible.
So it is, but that "nothing" is extremely important, because most Americans are financially irresponsible. Most think that 15% is a reasonable long-run expectation of average equity return. The Economist claims that recent home buyers in San Francisco think that house prices will rise on average 12-16% per annum over the next decade. The financial press was running a filler piece a few days ago, "25 fascinating facts about debt" (see http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/041006/13873_1.html.) To me, the most interesting of the 25 was this: the net worth of the average 50 year old, counting his home equity, is less than $40,000.
Do you grasp yet that social security is as important for you as it is for the financially irresponsible masses? What do you think would be the social consequences if a large fraction of Americans were unable to afford food and shelter? Existing examples are not far to seek. You would need to pay hundreds of billions in taxes for men with guns to protect your property. You would live in constant fear of being kidnapped. The universal franchise would be a distant memory.
"The good reader is a rarer swan than the good writer."
I disagree. Just because you didn't sell the stock at the high, then reinvest doesn't mean that your net worth wasn't up 1Mil, then back down 1Mil. "Paper gains" are real, and can easily be converted to cash, so "paper losses" are just as real. My net worth really is over 2 million less than it was a couple/few years ago... (sigh...)
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Invested in less regulated economies? Besides, it remains to be seen what kind of return you will get from the Japanese national pension program anyway...you might be better with money in the Nikkei index...
t io n.htm
http://www.globalaging.org/pension/world/corrup
Japan Today, August 11, 2003
Since Japan's Social Insurance Agency took over the task of collecting national pension insurance premiums in April of last year, its account receivable has increased by 200 billion yen.
The national pension insurance fund is now facing a dangerous financial crisis...Currently, workers have to pay 13.58% of their annual income. During the review done in 2000, the MHWL announced that premium payments would have to be increased to 19.8% in 2025 in order to keep the system healthy. However, the ministry has found that this was too optimistic. Based on the latest population data, the ministry estimates that it should be raised to 22.4% in 2025, and if Japanese families continue to have fewer children, it will have to be raised to 24.8%.
Count on people to demand that others act altruistically while selfishly covering their own butts, and you'll have a system that will work with real human beings running it.
"The media" that you blame for your own defeat is just some more ordinary people who have worked real hard at publishing their opinions. Nobody's being forced to believe them. Yeah sure, they're rich... but have you ever noticed how easy it is to become un-rich? Give 'em a little credit for the fact that they're doing something with their cash instead of blowing it.
Likewise, you can publish your opinions to the ignorant masses too. It's a free country, but that doesn't mean you're going to get everything you want for free. So you foot the bill to "inform" all these people of your virtues and some joker comes along and says to them, "You don't know what these other guys stand for, you uninformed mob, so you shouldn't vote." Down the hole goes your support.
The gains are only real if you convert to cash. You didn't pay capital gains taxes on that stock as it climbed unless you turned it into cash, right? Until then, it was a couple of 1's and 0's in a stock account somewhere, nothing more, nothing less.
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
My old man saw combat in World War II, pal. You don't have the right to speak for him or any other World War II veterans.
He's 110% for Bush and he would punch you in the snot locker if he heard you say such a ridiculous thing.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.
I say again, blaming the son for the sins of the father is unworthy of a civilized person, and comparable to medieval or Nazi theories of collective Jewish guilt.
And if you are going to bring up W's grandfather Prescott Bush, where is your condemnation of Ted Kennedy, whose father was an open anti-Semite and admirer of Hitler.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.
Yup. Though I think Bush is too liberal, he's better than the alternative.
Did you know that he invaded another country and lied about the reasons for it? Are you paying any attention at all?
Yah whatever. Did you know that Michael Moore movie is out on DVD now? Go watch it a few hundred times with your cock in your hand, OK? The grown-ups are busy protecting your stupid ungrateful ass.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.
Yeah, and my 'cash' isn't a bunch of paper in my mattress (which in an of itself is worthless), it's a bunch of 0's and 1's in a bank account somewhere. Since I had a margin account, when those 0's and 1's were in my stock account, I could write a check and buy stuff. That's wealth. My house is less 'cash' than that, but are you claiming it's not wealth?
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Ah, but here you are making certain dicisions in life that put you in financial debt. It should not be a burden to the rest of society that you made those choices.
I'm in grad school and so is my wife.
Do you both have to be in grad school? Do you know how few % of the U.S. population have graduate degrees? My father dropped out of grad school so he could support his family, so if you're able to do that, good for you, but don't complain about poverty since you probably have a choice about that.
(and in the kibble bowl for our pooches)
(e.g. going out to eat two or three times a month).
How much do you spend owning pets? Eating out three times a month?
I've chosen not to have pets or eat out that regularly because I realize that it's more important to me save money up for a house.
My conclusion is this: people need to make sound financial choices. If they make poor choices, it shouldn't be up to some goverment agency to bail them out.