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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.
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.
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.
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! ;-)
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!
Heh, the sarcasm will probably sail over their heads too. ;)
Julie Moult is an idiot.
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.
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!
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!
-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.
Next thread down.. (why is this on Slashdot?)
Sumitting your "wife's" website address in a /. link, without having the deciency to use a sevice such as coral.
Guess who's not getting lucky tonight...
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
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
"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.
...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
CmdrTaco's Wives Boyfriend?
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...
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?
Wait, yes it is...most of the mods are as clueless as you.
Sleep is futile.
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???
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
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!
For the same reason The Simpsons, Futurama, and South Park (among others, though my memory is lapsing right now) are 'nerdy'.
Look at the number of +3 to +5 "Funny" posts in the comments of every article and you find at least one South Park reference and at least one Simpsons reference.
All are shows that mostly only nerds get the humor of. Sure, you have the overt dick and fart jokes, but there's an underlying substance. Nerds 'get it', while the people who are pleased by dick and fart jokes help to keep the series(es?) popular.
Team America, I gather, is about the same, if, like everyone says, it's just like an episode of South Park. Thus, two levels of humor, one nerdy, one pedestrian, and thus newsworthy for nerds.
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.
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/
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?
CmdrTaco's Wives Boyfriend?
;-)
I thought he lived in Michigan, not Utah
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...
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
You know what is funny? I point out, in a discussion of kerry's tax plan, that he pays less than 13% in federal taxes and I get modded down to -1 in about 5 minutes.
I post this, which has no redeaming value, and it hasn't been moded down yet. Why is it so hard for people to mod like they should? The names of those that mod a message should show up so we can see who is doing it.
Thanks again.
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.
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.
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.
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 - .
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
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.
Man, that sounds like the attitude people have against cartoons. Whoops! I mean, "Anime".
Democrats or Republicans. They are both taking us to the same place and they are not afraid of us anymore.
Netcraft confirms it...
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.
I post this, which has no redeaming value, and it hasn't been moded down yet. Why is it so hard for people to mod like they should?
Because many on Slashdot believe that they are the center of the world and you are wrong if you disagree with them.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
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
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
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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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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"...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.
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
Oh, you mean like the dumb asses who say Microsloth, Micro$oft, or Windoze? Yeah, that's just a terribly clever way to joke about the quality of Microsoft software.
Who am I to try to restate something Penny Arcade stated so perfectly?
penny-arcade.com
...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.
Funny because some people were claiming that these two characters were republicans. There is a whole "Southpark Republican" sort of movement out there.
:)
In sort, I just don't give a shit what their politics are, even though I am a pinko commie bastart I tend to enjoy their work. Although sometimes when I read some of their interviews they just come accross as being plain retarded, and it seems hard to associate some of their productions with their every day personas. But my guess it is that their inverviews are just designed to piss off whoever happens to be reading them.
Bottom line, don't take what people say too seriously. Even if they make damn funny stuff...
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.
Oh, and moderators, to make this post on-topic, I ask for links to a cross-platform-viewable trailer to this movie.
Lemon curry???
Speaking as a lifelong Social Libertarian (you know Anarchist, without the punk) I'm sick of American so called 'libertarianism' as well.
Yeh, get rid of Government and have less laws, but can we keep that bit about property law enforcement, oh and Corporate Law, we like that too. But all the other laws, yeh we hate them.
There are actually 2 versions depending on who is ahead.
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.
Didnt both these guys receive federal aid when they went to college?
Uh - keep in mind that college wouldn't be nearly as expensive if nobody could receive federal aid. If the Federal government would allow anybody to borrow $100,000 per year as long as it was spent on tuition, then you'd see college prices raise to $110,000 next week. Under this kind of system it is perfectly reasonable to be against federal aid and yet freely accept it for oneself. Banning it would only work if it were banned uniformly, causing colleges to find ways to cut costs...
The fact is that I don't agree with all the positions of any of the parties. However, for me the Libertarians tend to have the most reasonable positions on the issues that matter to me. I wouldn't assume that if they were elected their first order of business would be to impose total anarchy during week one.
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
You know I'm laughing at you right now. I swear Libertarians bite easier than any other political grouping.
You know what is funny? I point out, in a discussion of kerry's tax plan, that he pays less than 13% in federal taxes and I get modded down to -1 in about 5 minutes.
I don't know why that happenned or how you phrased your comment, but I can think of one situation where it would be appropriate.
If you used that fact to try and demonstrate that Kerry's tax plan is designed to help the rich, and so he's no better than Bush in that respect, then I think it would be justifiable although a response would have been more appropriate. He pays that little because he is rich, and that is who Bush's policies help the most. If Kerry is actually honest about rolling back the tax cut for the richest people, then he literally is putting his money where his mouth is which would be a strong demonstation of this thing called integrity.
That said, again, I have no idea if that is relevant to the situation.
Which sadly translates into extreme-right poltics, kids loving things like "the ownership society," failing or refusing to understand what FDR did, etc.
Failing to understand what FDR did? What are you referring to?
Slowing down the recovery from the Great Depression?
Removing our right to plan our own retirement by saddling us with a vicious ponzi scheme masquerading as a "retirement plan"?
Bullying and threatening the Supreme Court to get his schemes declared constitutional?
Inflicting more than 100 new bureaucracies on the American people?
Using the FCC to silence his opposition?
Arresting and imprisoning people for owning gold?
Or doing everything in his power to get us involved in a war to distract the people from his failed policies?
Does this help?
Here's the context that gad zuki! left out:
[snip]
Stone: And the whole voting thing. All we ever said was that we thought that uninformed people should not vote -- on either side of the political spectrum. It doesn't matter who you're gonna vote for. If you really don't know who you're gonna vote for, or are uninformed, or haven't really thought about it? Just stay home. Don't let people fucking shame you into going to the polls.
Parker: If you have absolutely no idea, fuck it.
Stone: If you really don't know or you're just going to vote for George Bush because he's already in office, or you're gonna vote for John Kerry because he's on the cover of Rolling Stone, don't do that. That's lame. Just stay home. That's all we ever said.
[/snip]
I've heard some talk on NPR about this, about how MTV is running ads about voting like they are shaving cream commercials. I'm all for "get out the vote" campaigns, but I personally feel like being educated on the candidates and issues is important too.
Do we really want people who don't feel like learning about the candidates and issues voting on these things? I've voted in every election since 1988, and when I hit something on a ballot that I don't know anything about (usually local races that I have not followed), I don't vote. I don't think this is such a heinous idea - that you should only cast informed votes...
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?"
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.
Your entire argument amounts to one big ad-hominem attack. If you're going to assert "libertarian==extreme right", you'd better give us some facts.
As for not understanding history, most of the libertarians I know became libertarians by reading an awful lot of history and economics. I'd be happy to debate FDR's record. Why stop there, let's talk about *really* terrible US presidents - how about Lincoln?
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." - Lord Acton
Would you rather people say "cute" little puns like Microshat, or would you rather an obnoxious pre-amble that spans 30 pages just to express an opinion?
;-)
It's not stupid if it's an opinion, and if your opinion puts people down.. keep it to yourself... Well unless it's funny.. then it's ok
And just for the record.. Microsoft does suck. If you don't think so, you need to read more, and use their software more.
---- How absolute the knave is! We must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us. -Shakespeare
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.
I shine a flashlight at your property
No initiation of force, unless of course it turns into repeated harrassment. Your other examples are really asking the same question.
Ha, this is too funny. 10 minutes after explaining why statists can't understand the philosophy of liberty, I get modded down as flamebait.
Eliminate those who question the established conformity -- don't even let them get a word in. What a typical statist behavior!
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NO WE DON'T!!!
er...wait...
Damn.
That? That was a pigeon.
We don't have much choice. 60% of Americans still think Saddam had something to do with 9/11. If you didn't allow the grossly uninformed and ignorant to vote, percentage turnout would be in the single digits.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
The answer is not to tell them to stay home, it's to encourage them to become informed voters.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
I call bullshit. Federally backed low interest loans may in fact allow more people to go to school and increasing demand for education and allowing schools to charge more and provide more.
That said, I don't think the limiting factor on the cost of higher education is how much money the federal government is giving out. In fact, less than half of students get any form of loan at all, let alone federal. The average loan? 5K. With tuiton running 25K \ year some places, it just isn't all getting paid for by the government.
That, and people aren't that dumb. We do get ourselves into more debt than we can handle, but who is really going to put themselves into 450K of debt for a college education in the states? You'd see tons of people going overseas and others not going to school. The demand would be low enough the universities would have to lower prices.
-----
Oh, and both of these guys dropped out of college as well and did quite well for themselves on their own.
Ignorance breeds ignorance. Pick up a newspaper. Go online to each of their websites. Listen to NPR.
There is a frickin reason why we have a vote so that we (partly anyway in the representational democracy) can have a direct effect on the course of our nation. Whether you like it or not, that is everyone's job. Not just a few "elite" people who know the issues. I find it incredibly sad that anyone would think this way.
Sig it.
For that matter, most voters don't want to be informed - the worst thing to happen would be if you discovered your candidate was bad for the job. Bush could eat live babies at the debate and I still have friends that would comment on how John Kerry is a joke since he has a dark tan.
Of course, in this election where it's so close, this is why people like Sean Penn are getting pissed at Parker & Stone - they need uninformed and undecided voters to come to the Kerry camp so their candidate can win (since I think very few undecided voters will vote for Bush if they vote at all).
Schnapple
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...
Considering that the Drudge report is consistantly known for unsubstanciated and poorly researched rumors, I'd say that Rather did a 'Drudge' not the other way around. What Jayson Blair did was just plain and simple make stuff up, if he included an Alien or two his stories would have been perfect for a super market tabloid.
The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
> Ignorance breeds ignorance. Pick up a newspaper. Go online to each of their websites. Listen to NPR.
Ummm, if you're speaking to me (you did reply to my post), you're preaching to the choir. I do all of those things, thank you very much. (Did you notice I said I have voted in every election since 1988 - that was the year I turned 18.)
I can't believe that I have to say the common sense thing here, but given the replies, I guess I do. Here it is: The best option is to be an informed voter.
Barring that, if you're not going to be informed, if you're going to simply watch ads on MTV and not probe a little deeper then perhaps you shouldn't vote. (And you should take it more seriously, but whatever.) On issues that you're not familiar with, I would not encourage you to vote on those issues in an uninformed way. What are going to do, pick people whose names look nice on the ballot?! Vote for an issue because "42" is your favorite number? If you are uninformed, how are you going pick?!
> Whether you like it or not, that is everyone's job. Not just a few "elite" people who know the issues. I find it incredibly sad that anyone would think this way.
I find it sad to encourage uniformed people to make random choices on a ballot. I didn't say anything about elitism so I don't know where that comment came from. More power to anyone feels "informed enough", I encourage them to vote! It's a simple statement.
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. ---*
Force is not empathy. Voluntary charity is empathy. This is just another example of typical statist mindset: force is the only solution they can possibly concieve. That's what we're taught by big government, isn't it? Since I oppose the concept of forced support for welfare, I must be well off, right? I have never been well off, and probably never will. But that's irrelevant to the discussion. The discussion is force, and why you think you are justified in the use of force to get your way.
Did you know that the average US citizen pays nearly 50% of their yearly earnings to government through federal, state, and local taxes combined? Let's put 2 and 2 together. Can you see why the average US citizen is reluctant to give to charity?
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
You are still missing my point. I agree that an informed voter is key and was not attacking you in anyway. I admire your dedication, but what I was getting at is that: it is blatantly wrong to tell people not to vote because they are uninformed. Tell them, instead, to do what I suggested. Read up on the candidate (newspaper) and debate it with friends. Encourage them to become part of the process. There is still tons of time left to do so. Telling them to NOT vote, will only discourage and portray the "Maybe next time" attitude.
Sig it.
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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And if they choose to ignore your suggestion and vote anyway, despite knowing little or nothing about the issues, 'cuz MTV said it was a cool idea? Because these are the kinds of people the grandparent was referring to. Again: Try to become informed on the issues and the candidates. However, if you're not going to do this, *don't vote*.
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.
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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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Even if you could break it down into a simple percentage like this, it's not such an easy line to draw. Then there is the difference between being informed and simply believing yourself to be informed. What if you're only 10% informed, but you believe it's closer to 90%? Or vice versa?
Further complicating it is the fact that different people do not agree on what the truth is. So a person might be considered 75% informed according to the conservative interpretation of reality, but only 25% informed according to the liberal interpretation. (And even "conservative" vs. "liberal" is not an either/or distinction.) Nobody really knows how informed they are according to the objective truth.
Personally, I would rather see someone going to the polls as an "uninformed" voter than as a dittohead. Because I believe that MISinformed is much worse than UNinformed. But that's just me. Another person might feel the same way about voters who follow Michael Moore.
Finally, I think people tend to lose sight of the real cause and effect on this issue. It isn't just that people stay home from the polls because they're uninformed, and don't know who they would vote for. The converse is equally true: a person who has already decided not to vote isn't going to bother paying attention to the campaigns. What would be the point?
If you succeed in convincing an uninformed person to vote, then you also succeed in getting them to think about HOW they're going to vote. It seems to me that such a person will be more likely to watch the debates, pay attention to the news, etc. than they were before. In other words, merely deciding to vote will indirectly make them become better informed.
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.
The state he lives in gives people the option to pay a higher tax rate if they want.
He didn't check that box nor has he sent in any extra to the IRS or the US National Debt Relief Office.
Remember, rules are for the little people
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.
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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.
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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
Once we all realize that we are all interdependent, and start acting accordingly, we can start to get rid of some of these institutions. Though we might still find some of these systems to be beneficial in achieving certain goals (like having a healthcare "system").
So basically, I agree with your points, but I don't think society is ready. Until it is, I think a little socialism can fill the gaps.
"Did you know that the average US citizen pays nearly 50% of their yearly earnings to government through federal, state, and local taxes combined?"
I'm, not sure what "average" citizen this is, but I lose about 30% of my income to taxes. I file singly and make a professional level salary. Considering what I get in return, this does not seem onerous.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
Actually, it was the Associated Press.
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.
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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.
Funny that you put "elite" in quotes, as no one actually said, or even implied, that only elite people knew the issues.
The following sentence is true. The preceding sentence was false.
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.
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Obviously no evidence - it hasn't been tried.
As far as argument goes - look at what has happened to housing prices with the advent of the two-income family. Prices have been bid up, and now you almost need two incomes just to own a home of any kind in many areas (that is to say, anyplace that has jobs).
Prices are a function of supply and demand. The supply of college education is limited relative to its demand at current prices, hence the trending increase in prices. If you were to give everybody money, demand would incresae further, and so prices would continue to rise until demand started to fall again.
Picture a game of monopoly. At the beginning of the game, properties sell for face value or even less - since nobody has money. On the other hand, if you are down to three people left and they've racked up $10,000 each, then those same prices sell for far more. There is a limited supply, and inflation has decreased the value of money. Student loans are essentially a form of inflation since they are easy to obtain.
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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You know I'm laughing at you right now. I swear Libertarians bite easier than any other
...
political grouping.
We do not!
D'oh
Ceci n'est pas un sig.