Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Yitzhak Rabin

2011-05-20T01:09:38Z

Jgustafson:

'''Yitzhak Rabin''' (יִצְחָק רַבִּין) (1922 - 1995) was the [[Israeli Labour Party|Labour]] Prime Minister of [[Israel]] from 1992-1995. He was instrumental in bringing about the [[Oslo Accords]] and due to their signing shared the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] with [[Shimon Peres]] and [[Yassir Arafat]]. He was assassinated in on November 4th, 1995 by a right-wing Jewish Israeli citizen because of his signing of the peace accords.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabin, Yitzhak}}

[[Category:Prime Ministers of Israel]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Peace]]

William Proxmire

2010-08-15T16:41:23Z

Jgustafson:

'''William Proxmire''' (1915-2005) was a [[liberal]] [[senator]] from [[Wisconsin]] serving from 1957 until 1989. His seat was previously held by [[Joseph McCarthy]]. He was a notable early opponent of the [[Vietnam War]], and was critical of what he considered wasteful military spending. In a similar vein he would issue ironic "Golden Fleece" Awards to scientific projects which he deemed a waste of taxpayer money, including to projects such as [[NASA]]'s search for extraterrestrial life. The longest campaign of his career was supporting the United States' ratification of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, for which he made over 3,000 speeches between 1967 and 1986. The convention was ratified in 1988 with reservations.

==References==
*http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000553
*Power, Samantha. '''A Problem from Hell': America and the Age of Genocide. '' Harper Perennial, 2002.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proxmire, William}}

[[Category:Former United States Senators]]

William Proxmire

2010-08-15T16:40:57Z

Jgustafson:

'''William Proxmire''' (1915-2005) was a [[liberal]] [[senator]] from [[Wisconsin]] serving from 1957 until 1989. His seat was previously held by [[Joseph McCarthy]]. He was a notable early opponent of the [[Vietnam War]], and was critical of what he considered wasteful military spending. In a similar vein he would issue ironic "Golden Fleece" Awards to scientific projects which he deemed a waste of taxpayer money, including to projects such as [[NASA]]'s search for extraterrestrial life. The longest campaign of his career was supporting the United States' ratification of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, for which he made over 3,000 speeches between 1967 and 1986. The convention was ratified in 1988 with reservations.

==References==
*http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000553
Power, Samantha. '''A Problem from Hell': America and the Age of Genocide. '' Harper Perennial, 2002.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proxmire, William}}

[[Category:Former United States Senators]]

Fyodor Dostoevsky

2010-07-27T01:11:21Z

Jgustafson:

'''Fyodor Dostoevsky''' (Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) (November 11 1821 – February 9 1881) is a Russian author famous for his lengthy novels about society, social mores, and morality in [[Tzar]]ist Russia. In his novels he explores human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual-Christian context of his contemporary Russian society. He is generally considered one of the greatest novelists in history. <ref>http://thisrecording.com/today/2009/8/3/in-which-these-are-the-100-greatest-writers-of-all-time.html</ref>

His major works include ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' and ''[[Crime and Punishment]]''. Though his works are not truly existentialist, they are dark and daunting as the main characters frequently search for an illusive meaning of life. The fact that a writer of such brilliance was able to be simultaneously pre-existentialist and Christian may suggest that the atheistic claims of today's existentialists are disingenuous. Noted scholar Walter Kaufmann called Part One of Dostoevsky's short novel ''Notes From Underground'' "the best overture for existentialism ever written." <ref>http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/exist.html</ref>

Like many intellectuals of his day who challenged the power and rights of the Tzar, Dostoevsky was exiled to [[Siberia]]. This 10 year experience would frame his views of the world, and change his writings from those of a young naive intellectual to the questing, challenging author he became.

[[Image:Fyodor Dostoevsky.jpg|right|thumb]]

His final work before his death, ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' is considered one of the greatest novels ever written, even from distant secularists like [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] and [[Sigmund Freud]]. In it, the character Ivan Karamazov states, "If there is [[Atheism|no immortality]], there is no virtue." Due mostly to this novel and ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'', Dostoevsky is often considered one of the greatest defenders of theism in all of literature.

== Works ==

* Poor Folk 1846
* The Double: A Petersburg Poem 1846
* Netochka Nezvanova 1849
* The Village of Stepanchikovo 1859
* The House of the Dead 1860
* The Insulted and Humiliated 1861
* A Nasty Story 1862
* Notes from Underground 1864
* Crime and Punishment 1866
* The Gambler 1867
* The Idiot 1869
* The Possessed 1872
* The Raw Youth 1875
* The Brothers Karamazov 1880
* A Writer's Diary (1873-1881)

== References ==

<references/>

== See also ==
*[[Leo Tolstoy]]

==External Links==

*[http://fyodordostoevsky.com/literary-works.php Major Literary Works of Dostoyevsky] List of Known works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Many available for free online.

==Further reading==
* Frank, Joseph. ''Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850-1859.'' (1983). 325 pp.
* Frank, Joseph. ''Dostoevsky: The Stir of Liberation: 1860-1865.'' (1986). 395 pp.
* Frank, Joseph. ''Dostoevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1865-1871.'' (1995). 528 pp.
* Griffiths, Frederick T. and Rabinowitz, Stanley J. ''Novel Epics: Gogol, Dostoevsky, and National Narrative.'' (1990). 184 pp.
* Leatherbarrow, W. J. ''Fedor Dostoevsky: A Reference Guide.'' (317) pp.
===Primary sources===
* Frank, Joseph and Goldstein, David I., eds. ''Selected Letters of Fyodor Dostoevsky.'' (1987). 545 pp

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dostoevsky, Fyodor}}

[[Category:Authors]]
[[category:Slavic Authors]]

The Simpsons

2009-10-06T01:36:45Z

Jgustafson:

'''''The Simpsons''''' is a satirical animated comedy series created by ''Life in Hell'' cartoonist [[Matt Groening]]. ''The Simpsons'' started on the ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]'' in 1987. In December 1989 the show debuted on the [[Fox Network]]. The show was also made into a feature-length movie, which was released on 27 July 2007.

''The Simpsons'' is the longest-running sitcom in the [[United States]], as well as the longest-running animated television series, and is viewed all over the world. It has won 23 Emmy Awards, and will begin its 20th season in fall of 2008.

==Family==
The show revolves around the fictional Simpsons family.

===Homer Jay Simpson===
The overweight, balding father of the family. Homer "works" as a safety inspector in the local nuclear power plant - where he usually sleeps, which gets him into trouble with his boss, Mr. Burns. However, many episodes ahve shown him performing a wide range of other jobs. Homer enjoys a diet mostly centered around donuts and "Duff" beer. Homer is by choice quite lazy but does get pushed into occasionally performing heroic acts for his family.

===Marge Simpson===
Marjorie "Marge" Bouvier Simpson is the mother of the family. Instantly recognizable thanks to her unfeasibly large blue beehive hairdo, Marge provides the foundation for the family. Her relationship with Homer is portrayed as a loving one but frequently exasperating due mostly to Homer's buffoonery. Marge is in many respects the prototypical suburban American mother, as she stays at home and takes care of the family while Homer works. On a few occasions Marge has gotten a job which was met with horrible results.

===Bartholomew "Bart" Simpson===
Their son Bart, the eldest child, is a troublemaker and self-proclaimed underachiever. Bart has a mixed relationship with his father. While sometimes harboring a very close relationship with his father, Bart's opinion of Homer is all over the radar, ranging from very affectionate love to deep frustration.

===Lisa Simpson===
The older daughter. Lisa is mostly concerned with being a good student, protecting the environment (although she is involved with other [[liberal]] causes at different points in the show's history), and playing the [[saxophone]]. Her high intelligence relative to the rest of her family often makes her feel isolated.

===Maggie Simpson===
A baby who does not talk.

==Themes==
While The Simpsons has many [[liberal]] themes the basis and morals of the show often portray family centered values in a warped sort of way and many episodes have a strong [[church]] focus. The show also has many episodes which focus on politics. The writers of the show come from both liberal and conservative backgrounds, and this is reflected through the portrayal of American politics on the show. The Springfield [[Republican Party]] is headed by the villainous Mr. Burns and meets in an old castle. Twice they have put forwards candidates for elections: Burns himself ran for governor of the anonymous state Springfield is in, though he eventually lost; while in a later episode Sideshow Bob, though twice convicted for attempted murder, becomes Mayor of Springfield. He is removed from office when it is discovered that he personally and secretly committed large scale voting fraud. Meanwhile, the Springfield Democratic party is led by Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby, who is portrayed as a promiscuous, unfaithful and corrupt politician, once admitting openly that he murdered his opponents. Quimby and his family are clearly modeled on the Kennedy family.

It's portrayal of religion and [[Christianity]] in particular is often given in the form of Ned Flanders, the Simpsons' next door neighbor. A devout Christian, Ned is sometimes overbearing in his faith, but he is consistently shown to be compassionate and decent. In the series' first few seasons Ned was generally loathed by Homer for the perceived (and often real) superiority of Ned's quality of life. Later episodes have shown the two to be quite close at times, with more than a few featuring mutual adventures. Ned's reception amongst Christians has generally been positive <ref> http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/february5/1.28.html </ref>.

==External Links==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/ IMDB Website]

[[category:Television Shows|Simpsons, The]]

The Simpsons

2009-10-06T01:34:33Z

Jgustafson:

'''''The Simpsons''''' is a satirical animated comedy series created by ''Life in Hell'' cartoonist [[Matt Groening]]. ''The Simpsons'' started on the ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]'' in 1987. In December 1989 the show debuted on the [[Fox Network]]. The show was also made into a feature-length movie, which was released on 27 July 2007.

''The Simpsons'' is the longest-running sitcom in the [[United States]], as well as the longest-running animated television series, and is viewed all over the world. It has won 23 Emmy Awards, and will begin its 20th season in fall of 2008.

==Family==
The show revolves around the fictional Simpsons family.

===Homer Jay Simpson===
The overweight, balding father of the family. Homer "works" as a safety inspector in the local nuclear power plant - where he usually sleeps, which gets him into trouble with his boss, Mr. Burns. However, many episodes ahve shown him performing a wide range of other jobs. Homer enjoys a diet mostly centered around donuts and "Duff" beer. Homer is by choice quite lazy but does get pushed into occasionally performing heroic acts for his family.

===Marge Simpson===
Marjorie "Marge" Bouvier Simpson is the mother of the family. Instantly recognizable thanks to her unfeasibly large blue beehive hairdo, Marge provides the foundation for the family. Her relationship with Homer is portrayed as a loving one but frequently exasperating due mostly to Homer's buffoonery. Marge is in many respects the prototypical suburban American mother, as she stays at home and takes care of the family while Homer works. On a few occasions Marge has gotten a job which was met with horrible results.

===Bartholomew "Bart" Simpson===
Their son Bart, the eldest child, is a troublemaker and self-proclaimed underachiever. Bart has a mixed relationship with his father. While sometimes harboring a very close relationship with his father, Bart's opinion of Homer is all over the radar, ranging from very affectionate love to deep frustration.

===Lisa Simpson===
The older daughter. Lisa is mostly concerned with being a good student, protecting the environment (although she is involved with other [[liberal]] causes at different points in the show's history), and playing the [[saxophone]]. Her high intelligence relative to the rest of her family often makes her feel isolated.

===Maggie Simpson===
A baby who does not talk.

==Themes==
While The Simpsons has many [[liberal]] themes the basis and morals of the show often portray family centered values in a warped sort of way and many episodes have a strong [[church]] focus. The show also has many episodes which focus on politics. The writers of the show come from both liberal and conservative backgrounds, and this is reflected through the portrayal of American politics on the show. The Springfield [[Republican Party]] is headed by the villainous Mr. Burns and meets in an old castle. Twice they have put forwards candidates for elections: Burns himself ran for governor of the anonymous state Springfield is in, though he eventually lost; while in a later episode Sideshow Bob, though twice convicted for attempted murder, becomes Mayor of Springfield. He is removed from office when it is discovered that he personally and secretly committed large scale voting fraud. Meanwhile, the Springfield Democratic party is led by Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby, who is portrayed as a promiscuous, unfaithful and corrupt politician, once admitting openly that he murdered his opponents. Quimby and his family are clearly modeled on the Kennedy family.

It's portrayal of religion and [[Christianity]] in particular is often given in the form of Ned Flanders, the Simpsons' next door neighbor. A devout Christian, Ned is sometimes overbearing in his faith, but he is consistently shown to be compassionate and decent. In the series' first few seasons Ned was generally loathed by Homer for the perceived (and often real) superiority of Ned's quality of life. Later episodes have shown the two to be quite close at times, with more than a few featuring mutual adventures. Ned's reception amongst Christians has generally been positive <ref> http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/february5/1.28.html <\ref>.

==External Links==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/ IMDB Website]

[[category:Television Shows|Simpsons, The]]

X-Men

2009-07-26T05:24:19Z

Jgustafson:

The X-Men are a team of [[comic book]] [[superhero|superheroes]] from the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] Universe. The team members are [[mutation|mutants]], each inborn with an ability that goes beyond what is humanly possible. In this way--being human but possessing abilities that go beyond the possible--mutants are unusual. Such mutants are subject to discrimination in the Marvel Universe, and as such must keep their status secret, but the founder of the team believes that peaceful coexistence is possible, and that mutants can use their powers to help all of humanity. Notably, their first mission was fighting Magneto, a mutant supremacist who believed that normal humanity's time had come and gone. The initial members were Charles Xavier (Professor X), a powerful telepath, who founded and funded the initial team under the guise of it being a "school for gifted youngsters"; Scott Summers (Cyclops), who can project bolts of force from his eyes; Henry McCoy (Beast), an immensely strong, agile, tough, and athletic man; Robert Drake (Iceman), able to generate cold from his body; Warren Worthington III (Angel), possessed of feathered wings and with different enough physiology to let him fly using them; and Jean Grey (Marvel Girl), who possesses telekinetic ability. Perhaps the most notable member of the team is not a student at the school; it is Wolverine (Logan), a mutant with enhanced strength, speed, and instincts, known for flashing claws made from a near-indestructible adamantium skeleton when he is angry. Many stories within the comics explore Wolverine's history and psychology.

Since the comic's first issue in 1963, the roster of the team has changed. Characters have left, joined up, changed their code names, switched sides, died, been resurrected, and developed new powers or new ways to use them. The current roster actually consists of several teams, as many more mutants have been found all over the world and many have joined or created teams with deep ties to the X-Men.

Being created in the '60s, the comic was deliberately written to be a metaphor for the social issues of the time, such as discrimination, specifically racism (despite the entire team being composed of caucasians). Since then, the themes of the various titles with the "X" brand have been expanded to be a metaphor for tolerance and acceptance in general--for other races, for other modes of belief, and other sexual orientations.

While the books' premise does not require evolution to be factual -- mutations are known to occur -- the premise is explored in a way that assumes it is. A storyline in the early 2000s suggested that "regular" humanity, ''homo sapiens sapiens'', would be extinct within a century, replaced entirely with the mutant species ''homo sapiens superior''. Since then, a new event decimated the mutant population and prevented the mutant gene--the "x-factor"--from being passed on to new children, meaning it would be mutants going extinct within a generation, but this is unlikely to last, as some of the effects of the event are already "wearing off" or have otherwise been rectified.

The X-Men franchise has spawned a series of succesful movies in the 2000s and is still popular today.

[[category:superheroes]]
[[category:comic Characters]]
[[category:entertainment]]

Nineteen Eighty-Four

2009-07-17T23:54:43Z

Jgustafson:

[[Image:1984first.jpg|right|thumb|First edition of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' published in Britain, 1949.]]
'''''Nineteen Eighty-Four''''' (also '''''1984''''') <ref>The title is spelled out, in words, in the original 1949 editions, both as published in England by Secker and Warburg[http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=87&ti=76,87&Search%5FArg=Orwell%2C%20George&Search%5FCode=NAME%5F&CNT=25&PID=11284&SEQ=20070323140446&SID=1] and in the United States by Harcourt, Brace[http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=86&ti=76,86&Search%5FArg=Orwell%2C%20George&Search%5FCode=NAME%5F&CNT=25&PID=11284&SEQ=20070323140446&SID=1]. It is sometimes presented numerically, in digits – '''''1984''''', in modern reprints and derivative works such as screenplays.</ref>
is a novel by [[George Orwell]] about the excesses of [[totalitarian]] regimes and specifically of [[Stalinist]] [[communism]].
The book's original title was ''The Last Man in Europe'', but it was changed at the publisher's suggestion. <ref>It is often suggested that "eighty-four" is a reversal of "forty-eight", the year in which the book was written, but this has never been confirmed.</ref>

Orwell was influenced by Jack London's novel ''[[The Iron Heel]]'', and Yevgeny Zamyatin's ''We''. The ideas of the American [[conservative]] James Burnham were especially influential in shaping the political situation described in the book.

Though Orwell was deeply critical of communism, 1984 is not meant to be taken as a condemnation of all left-of-center ideologies, as evidenced by a quote from one of his essays: "My recent novel [Nineteen Eighty-Four] is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or on the [[British Labour Party]] (of which I am a supporter) but as a show-up of the perversions ... which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism. ...The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasize that the English-speaking races are not innately better than anyone else and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere."<ref>''The Collected Essays: Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 4,'' p. 546 </ref>

== Plot Summary ==
In the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four, individual, free nations no longer exist; the world has been divided up into three massive empire-states: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. [[Christianity]] has been stamped out and an amoral, [[liberal]] [[paganism]] has become the ruling ideology.

Oceania is, roughly, the English-speaking world: the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Britain]], [[Australia]], and [[South Africa]]. It is perpetually at war with either Eurasia or Eastasia, and allied with the other. The book describes a hyper-[[liberal]] dystopia where the government, known as the Party, monitors and controls nearly all aspects of every individual's life. Extreme [[liberal]] fanaticism and ignorance are promoted by Oceania through relentless [[propaganda]]. This is practiced to the point that citizens unthinkingly (or, in Newspeak, use ''bellyfeel'') accept everything said and done by the Party, and hate everything associated with the empire-state which happens to the enemy at the moment. It is later revealed that in reality all three empire-states have the same government and are essentially identical in their pursuit of a [[liberal]], [[pagan]] social system.

The [[protagonist]], Winston Smith, works in the Ministry of Truth, a department of the Oceanian government altering records to fit the Party's current version of history. However, Smith gradually grows to disagree with the Party and what it stands for. Julia, a woman who also works in the Ministry of Truth, becomes Winston's lover, and after meeting in several different places, they finally rent an upstairs room in a prole shop. However, the owner of the shop turns out to be an agent of the Thought Police and Winston and Julia are captured by the thought police right in their room, brought to the Ministry of Love, and tortured to the point where they once again love the Party.

Much of the novel is taken up with discussions of the nature of power and societal control, and words and mottoes from the novel – "[[doublethink]]", "We have always been at war with Eastasia", "the memory hole" and many more – have become standard shorthand in political discussions, while terms such as "thought police", "Room 101" and "[[Big Brother]]" have entered the language.

== Background of Novel ==
The environmental background to the action of the story is a satirical portrayal of late-1940s London, a city where war damage was still very evident, and rationing and shortages a way of life. The Ministry of Truth, as described by Orwell in the novel, is based upon the Senate House building of London University, at the time one of the tallest buildings in the capital, and home during the Second World War to the Ministry of Information.

== Governmental Structure ==

The structure of government in Oceania is sharply pyramidal; the mythical, probably non-existent Big Brother rests forever at the top of the pyramid, followed by the tiny Inner Party made up of only 1 million people. Then follows the larger Outer Party, and lastly the "proles," or the Proletariat, who make up, according to the novel, 95 percent of the population. Since Big Brother is probably only a personification of government, it is really the Inner Party which rules Oceania, making it an oligarchy. Goldstein's book refers to the system as "Oligarchical Collectivism." [[Conservative]] commentators have noted that the system Orwell describes seems like a parody of the worst aspects of [[liberalism]].

The government is horribly inefficient in all things except constant and oppressive surveillance over Party members. The proles are considered mindless and unimportant, and so are allowed to go free, kept occupied by trashy entertainment known as ''prolefeed.''

There are four "ministries" or sections of government: the Ministry of Truth, which primarily rewrites history (and in which Winston, the story's protagonist, is employed); the Ministry of Plenty, which squanders resources; the Ministry of Peace, which fuels the perpetual war with Eastasia or Eurasia by using these resources for war purposes; and finally the Ministry of Love, where Party enemies, usually those guilty of ''thoughtcrime,'' are tortured and brainwashed into loving the Party before eventually being killed. The novel describes the Ministry of Love as the most terrifying, as it has no windows and is surrounded by barbed wire and gorilla-like guards with truncheons. Note that all of these names are heavily ironic: the Ministry of Truth spreads lies, the Ministry of Plenty rations food and drink, the Ministry of Peace conducts perpetual war, and the Ministry of Love deals with those who don't love Big Brother.

==Online version==
*[http://orwell.ru/library/novels/1984/ Orwell library]

==Notes and references==
<references/>

== See also ==

*[[Mystery:Did George Orwell Become a Conservative?]]

[[Category:Novels]]

Nineteen Eighty-Four

2009-07-17T23:53:37Z

Jgustafson:

[[Image:1984first.jpg|right|thumb|First edition of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' published in Britain, 1949.]]
'''''Nineteen Eighty-Four''''' (also '''''1984''''') <ref>The title is spelled out, in words, in the original 1949 editions, both as published in England by Secker and Warburg[http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=87&ti=76,87&Search%5FArg=Orwell%2C%20George&Search%5FCode=NAME%5F&CNT=25&PID=11284&SEQ=20070323140446&SID=1] and in the United States by Harcourt, Brace[http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=86&ti=76,86&Search%5FArg=Orwell%2C%20George&Search%5FCode=NAME%5F&CNT=25&PID=11284&SEQ=20070323140446&SID=1]. It is sometimes presented numerically, in digits – '''''1984''''', in modern reprints and derivative works such as screenplays.</ref>
is a novel by [[George Orwell]] about the excesses of [[totalitarian]] regimes and specifically of [[Stalinist]] [[communism]].
The book's original title was ''The Last Man in Europe'', but it was changed at the publisher's suggestion. <ref>It is often suggested that "eighty-four" is a reversal of "forty-eight", the year in which the book was written, but this has never been confirmed.</ref>

Orwell was influenced by Jack London's novel ''[[The Iron Heel]]'', and Yevgeny Zamyatin's ''We''. The ideas of the American [[conservative]] James Burnham were especially influential in shaping the political situation described in the book.

Though Orwell was deeply critical of communism, 1984 is not meant to be taken as a condemnation of all left-of-center ideologies, as evidenced by a quote from one of his essays: "My recent novel [Nineteen Eighty-Four] is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or on the [[British Labour Party]] (of which I am a supporter) but as a show-up of the perversions ... which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism. ...The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasize that the English-speaking races are not innately better than anyone else and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere."<ref>''The Collected Essays: Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 4,'' p. 546 <\ref>

== Plot Summary ==
In the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four, individual, free nations no longer exist; the world has been divided up into three massive empire-states: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. [[Christianity]] has been stamped out and an amoral, [[liberal]] [[paganism]] has become the ruling ideology.

Oceania is, roughly, the English-speaking world: the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Britain]], [[Australia]], and [[South Africa]]. It is perpetually at war with either Eurasia or Eastasia, and allied with the other. The book describes a hyper-[[liberal]] dystopia where the government, known as the Party, monitors and controls nearly all aspects of every individual's life. Extreme [[liberal]] fanaticism and ignorance are promoted by Oceania through relentless [[propaganda]]. This is practiced to the point that citizens unthinkingly (or, in Newspeak, use ''bellyfeel'') accept everything said and done by the Party, and hate everything associated with the empire-state which happens to the enemy at the moment. It is later revealed that in reality all three empire-states have the same government and are essentially identical in their pursuit of a [[liberal]], [[pagan]] social system.

The [[protagonist]], Winston Smith, works in the Ministry of Truth, a department of the Oceanian government altering records to fit the Party's current version of history. However, Smith gradually grows to disagree with the Party and what it stands for. Julia, a woman who also works in the Ministry of Truth, becomes Winston's lover, and after meeting in several different places, they finally rent an upstairs room in a prole shop. However, the owner of the shop turns out to be an agent of the Thought Police and Winston and Julia are captured by the thought police right in their room, brought to the Ministry of Love, and tortured to the point where they once again love the Party.

Much of the novel is taken up with discussions of the nature of power and societal control, and words and mottoes from the novel – "[[doublethink]]", "We have always been at war with Eastasia", "the memory hole" and many more – have become standard shorthand in political discussions, while terms such as "thought police", "Room 101" and "[[Big Brother]]" have entered the language.

== Background of Novel ==
The environmental background to the action of the story is a satirical portrayal of late-1940s London, a city where war damage was still very evident, and rationing and shortages a way of life. The Ministry of Truth, as described by Orwell in the novel, is based upon the Senate House building of London University, at the time one of the tallest buildings in the capital, and home during the Second World War to the Ministry of Information.

== Governmental Structure ==

The structure of government in Oceania is sharply pyramidal; the mythical, probably non-existent Big Brother rests forever at the top of the pyramid, followed by the tiny Inner Party made up of only 1 million people. Then follows the larger Outer Party, and lastly the "proles," or the Proletariat, who make up, according to the novel, 95 percent of the population. Since Big Brother is probably only a personification of government, it is really the Inner Party which rules Oceania, making it an oligarchy. Goldstein's book refers to the system as "Oligarchical Collectivism." [[Conservative]] commentators have noted that the system Orwell describes seems like a parody of the worst aspects of [[liberalism]].

The government is horribly inefficient in all things except constant and oppressive surveillance over Party members. The proles are considered mindless and unimportant, and so are allowed to go free, kept occupied by trashy entertainment known as ''prolefeed.''

There are four "ministries" or sections of government: the Ministry of Truth, which primarily rewrites history (and in which Winston, the story's protagonist, is employed); the Ministry of Plenty, which squanders resources; the Ministry of Peace, which fuels the perpetual war with Eastasia or Eurasia by using these resources for war purposes; and finally the Ministry of Love, where Party enemies, usually those guilty of ''thoughtcrime,'' are tortured and brainwashed into loving the Party before eventually being killed. The novel describes the Ministry of Love as the most terrifying, as it has no windows and is surrounded by barbed wire and gorilla-like guards with truncheons. Note that all of these names are heavily ironic: the Ministry of Truth spreads lies, the Ministry of Plenty rations food and drink, the Ministry of Peace conducts perpetual war, and the Ministry of Love deals with those who don't love Big Brother.

==Online version==
*[http://orwell.ru/library/novels/1984/ Orwell library]

==Notes and references==
<references/>

== See also ==

*[[Mystery:Did George Orwell Become a Conservative?]]

[[Category:Novels]]

Edward M. Kennedy

2009-06-27T20:00:45Z

Jgustafson:

{{Officeholder
|name=Edward M. Kennedy
|image=Tedkennedy.jpg
|party=[[Democrat]]
|spouse=Joan Bennett Kennedy (1958-1982) Victoria Reggie Kennedy
|religion=Roman Catholic
|offices=
{{Officeholder/senator
|state=Massachusetts
|terms=November 7, 1962 – Present
|preceded=Benjamin A. Smith
|former=n
|succeeded=
}}
}}

'''Edward Moore ("Ted" or "Teddy") Kennedy''', born February 22, 1932 (age {{age|1932|2|22}}), is the second longest-serving [[United States|U.S.]] [[Senator]], a [[Democrat]] from [[Massachusetts]]. His family has been a major part of the Democratic Party for almost 50 years, beginning with his older brothers President [[John F. Kennedy]] (assassinated in 1963) and [[Robert F. Kennedy]] (assassinated in 1968). Ted Kennedy was long assumed to become the Democratic nominee for president himself, but the [[Chappaquiddick]] scandal in 1969 caused him to delay his candidacy until 1980, when he was unable to overcome the power of incumbency enjoyed by Democratic President [[Jimmy Carter]]. Kennedy is sometimes referred to as the [[Chappaquiddick|Hero of Chappaquiddick]]<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453846/posts</ref>

Ted Kennedy has always represented the most [[liberal]] side of the Democratic Party, from support for taxpayer-funded [[abortion]] to [[same-sex marriage]]. Senator [[Robert Byrd]] defeated him for a leadership position (Majority Whip) in the Senate in 1971 and Kennedy has never served as Majority Leader.<ref>http://www.notablebiographies.com/Jo-Ki/Kennedy-Edward.html</ref> His political power behind the scenes is undisputed.

Kennedy has garnered the nickname "Lion of the Senate" for his long and vigorous career in public service. He has earned the respect and friendship of many senators on both sides of the aisle. Senator [[Orrin Hatch]] (R-Utah) has said "he's like a brother to me,"<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/the-lion-of-the-senate_b_103322.html</ref> while [[John McCain]] has said that he has "the highest respect for him," calling him a "skillful, fair, and generous partner" in the times they have worked together<ref>http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1807447,00.html</ref>.

After being expelled from Harvard for cheating on exam, he served two years in the [[United States Army]] and subsequently graduated from Harvard in 1956.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kennedys/timeline/timeline2.html</ref> He graduated from the University of Virginia law school in 1959. He is the father of Congressman [[Patrick J. Kennedy]].

==Chappaquiddick Scandal==
On July 18, 1969, Senator Kennedy drove away from a party on the island of Martha's Vineyard with an attractive young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne. In what he later described as an accident, Kennedy made an unusual turn and then drove his vehicle off a bridge connecting [[Chappaquiddick]] Island to Martha's Vineyard. The car landed in a pond, where Kopechne then drowned. Kennedy did not report the incident to the police until the next morning, and his statement then was implausible to many Americans.

This death became a national scandal and hurt Kennedy's image. He entered a plea of guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury, but did not serve any time in jail in a sentence criticized for its leniency towards a member of a prominent family. In an additional criticized decision, no autopsy was performed on Kopechne despite the presence of illegality and unanswered questions about her death.

==Presidential Campaign==
Kennedy was frequently mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 1972 and 1976. However, he chose not to run due to his controversial past and claimed to have family concerns after his two brothers were assassinated. But in 1980 he decided to challenge incumbent President [[Jimmy Carter]] for the Democratic nomination. Though Carter was unpopular, Kennedy failed in his effort to supplant him as the party's nominee.<ref>http://www.politicalbase.com/people/ted-kennedy/2888/</ref>

==U.S. Senate==
Kennedy has gained a reputation as a very [[liberal]] Senator, even further to the left than most Democrats. He has a [[pro-choice]] voting record.<ref>http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Ted_Kennedy_Abortion.htm</ref> He voted against confirming [[Samuel Alito]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] and was in the minority of his own party to vote against confirming [[John Roberts]] to the Court. On [[immigration]] Kennedy has been a strong supporter of amnesty for [[illegal aliens]].<ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/1/25/131758.shtml</ref> He voted against the war in [[Iraq]]<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8I0G3JG0&show_article=1</ref> and is also one of only five Senators who say they support same-sex marriage<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/05/06/democrats_platform_shouldnt_back_gay_marriage_kerry_says/</ref>.

In addition to many other bills, Kennedy played a key role in the crafting the language in the [[No Child Left Behind]] Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), a massive [[education]] bill signed into law by Republican President [[George W. Bush]].<ref>http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/bill-clinton-bl.html</ref>

He is currently Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,<ref>http://help.senate.gov/About.html</ref> where the first bill he pushed through was an increase in the minimum wage by $2.10, to $7.25.<ref>http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070525/news_1n25minwage.html</ref>

Kennedy and [[John McCain]] collaborated in writing much of the 2007 immigration bill, which failed by two votes for [[cloture]] despite support by President [[George W. Bush]]. <ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/02/28/kennedy_mccain_try_again_on_immigration/</ref>

On May 20, 2008, Kennedy was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which has since been operated upon, and which will receive chemotherapy and radiation treatments in the future.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/20/kennedy.tumor/index.html</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External link==
*[http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/chappaquiddick.htm FBI FOIA Investigation on Chappaquiddick]

{{liberalism}}
{{DEFAULTSORT: Kennedy, Ted}}
[[Category:United States Senators]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category: Liberals]]
[[Category: 110th United States Congress]]

Edward M. Kennedy

2009-06-27T19:59:44Z

Jgustafson:

{{Officeholder
|name=Edward M. Kennedy
|image=Tedkennedy.jpg
|party=[[Democrat]]
|spouse=Joan Bennett Kennedy (1958-1982) Victoria Reggie Kennedy
|religion=Roman Catholic
|offices=
{{Officeholder/senator
|state=Massachusetts
|terms=November 7, 1962 – Present
|preceded=Benjamin A. Smith
|former=n
|succeeded=
}}
}}

'''Edward Moore ("Ted" or "Teddy") Kennedy''', born February 22, 1932 (age {{age|1932|2|22}}), is the second longest-serving [[United States|U.S.]] [[Senator]], a [[Democrat]] from [[Massachusetts]]. His family has been a major part of the Democratic Party for almost 50 years, beginning with his older brothers President [[John F. Kennedy]] (assassinated in 1963) and [[Robert F. Kennedy]] (assassinated in 1968). Ted Kennedy was long assumed to become the Democratic nominee for president himself, but the [[Chappaquiddick]] scandal in 1969 caused him to delay his candidacy until 1980, when he was unable to overcome the power of incumbency enjoyed by Democratic President [[Jimmy Carter]]. Kennedy is sometimes referred to as the [[Chappaquiddick|Hero of Chappaquiddick]]<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453846/posts</ref>

Ted Kennedy has always represented the most [[liberal]] side of the Democratic Party, from support for taxpayer-funded [[abortion]] to [[same-sex marriage]]. Senator [[Robert Byrd]] defeated him for a leadership position (Majority Whip) in the Senate in 1971 and Kennedy has never served as Majority Leader.<ref>http://www.notablebiographies.com/Jo-Ki/Kennedy-Edward.html</ref> His political power behind the scenes is undisputed.

Kennedy has garnered the nickname "Lion of the Senate" for his long and vigorous career in public service. He has earned the respect and friendship of many senators on both sides of the aisle. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has said "he's like a brother to me,"<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/the-lion-of-the-senate_b_103322.html</ref> while [[John McCain]] has said that he has "the highest respect for him," calling him a "skillful, fair, and generous partner" in the times they have worked together<ref>http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1807447,00.html</ref>.

After being expelled from Harvard for cheating on exam, he served two years in the [[United States Army]] and subsequently graduated from Harvard in 1956.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kennedys/timeline/timeline2.html</ref> He graduated from the University of Virginia law school in 1959. He is the father of Congressman [[Patrick J. Kennedy]].

==Chappaquiddick Scandal==
On July 18, 1969, Senator Kennedy drove away from a party on the island of Martha's Vineyard with an attractive young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne. In what he later described as an accident, Kennedy made an unusual turn and then drove his vehicle off a bridge connecting [[Chappaquiddick]] Island to Martha's Vineyard. The car landed in a pond, where Kopechne then drowned. Kennedy did not report the incident to the police until the next morning, and his statement then was implausible to many Americans.

This death became a national scandal and hurt Kennedy's image. He entered a plea of guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury, but did not serve any time in jail in a sentence criticized for its leniency towards a member of a prominent family. In an additional criticized decision, no autopsy was performed on Kopechne despite the presence of illegality and unanswered questions about her death.

==Presidential Campaign==
Kennedy was frequently mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 1972 and 1976. However, he chose not to run due to his controversial past and claimed to have family concerns after his two brothers were assassinated. But in 1980 he decided to challenge incumbent President [[Jimmy Carter]] for the Democratic nomination. Though Carter was unpopular, Kennedy failed in his effort to supplant him as the party's nominee.<ref>http://www.politicalbase.com/people/ted-kennedy/2888/</ref>

==U.S. Senate==
Kennedy has gained a reputation as a very [[liberal]] Senator, even further to the left than most Democrats. He has a [[pro-choice]] voting record.<ref>http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Ted_Kennedy_Abortion.htm</ref> He voted against confirming [[Samuel Alito]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] and was in the minority of his own party to vote against confirming [[John Roberts]] to the Court. On [[immigration]] Kennedy has been a strong supporter of amnesty for [[illegal aliens]].<ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/1/25/131758.shtml</ref> He voted against the war in [[Iraq]]<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8I0G3JG0&show_article=1</ref> and is also one of only five Senators who say they support same-sex marriage<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/05/06/democrats_platform_shouldnt_back_gay_marriage_kerry_says/</ref>.

In addition to many other bills, Kennedy played a key role in the crafting the language in the [[No Child Left Behind]] Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), a massive [[education]] bill signed into law by Republican President [[George W. Bush]].<ref>http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/bill-clinton-bl.html</ref>

He is currently Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,<ref>http://help.senate.gov/About.html</ref> where the first bill he pushed through was an increase in the minimum wage by $2.10, to $7.25.<ref>http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070525/news_1n25minwage.html</ref>

Kennedy and [[John McCain]] collaborated in writing much of the 2007 immigration bill, which failed by two votes for [[cloture]] despite support by President [[George W. Bush]]. <ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/02/28/kennedy_mccain_try_again_on_immigration/</ref>

On May 20, 2008, Kennedy was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which has since been operated upon, and which will receive chemotherapy and radiation treatments in the future.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/20/kennedy.tumor/index.html</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External link==
*[http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/chappaquiddick.htm FBI FOIA Investigation on Chappaquiddick]

{{liberalism}}
{{DEFAULTSORT: Kennedy, Ted}}
[[Category:United States Senators]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category: Liberals]]
[[Category: 110th United States Congress]]

Tom Coburn

2009-05-29T22:14:36Z

Jgustafson:

{{Officeholder
|name=Tom Coburn
|image=Coburn.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Carolyn Coburn
|religion=Baptist
|offices=
{{Officeholder/senator
|state=Oklahoma
|terms=January 3, 2005 – Present
|preceded=Don Nickles
|former=n
|succeeded=
}}
{{Officeholder/representative
|state=Oklahoma
|district=2nd
|terms=January 4, 1995 – January 3, 2001
|preceded=Mike Synar
|former=n
|succeeded=Brad Carson
}}
}}

The Honorable '''Tom Coburn''', M.D., born March 14, 1948 (age {{age|1948|3|14}}), is a [[Republican]] [[United States]] Senator from [[Oklahoma]].

== Background Information ==
"In 1970, Dr. Coburn graduated with an accounting degree from Oklahoma State University. One of the Top Ten seniors in the School of Business, Dr. Coburn served as president of the College of Business Student Council.

From 1970 to 1978, Dr. Coburn served as manufacturing manager at the Ophthalmic Division of Coburn Optical Industries in Colonial Heights, Virginia. Under his leadership, the Virginia division of Coburn Optical grew from 13 employees to more than 350 and captured 35 percent of the U.S. market.

After the family business was sold, Dr. Coburn changed the course of his life by returning to school to become a physician. Again he emerged as a leader, becoming president of his class at the University of Oklahoma Medical School where he graduated in 1983. He then did his internship in general surgery at St. Anthony's Hospital in Oklahoma City and family practice residency at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith.

Dr. Coburn returned to Muskogee where he specializes in family medicine, obstetrics and the treatment of allergies. Dr. Coburn and his associates serve more than 15,000 patients for whom he has personally delivered more than 4,000 babies.

Dr. Coburn also is a two-time cancer survivor.

Dr. Coburn and his wife, Carolyn, a former Miss Oklahoma, were married in 1968 and have three children and four grandchildren. They are members of Muskogee's New Community Church."<ref>http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorCoburn.Biography</ref>

Dr. Coburn is a personal friend of United States President [[Barack Obama]], though both acknowledge their polar opposition in most political matters <ref>http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/the-president-has-a-friend--on-right-flank-2009-05-06.html</ref>. Their friendship began while Obama was in the Senate and has continued into his presidency.

== A Citizen Legislator ==

"Dr. Coburn represented Oklahoma's Second Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 1995 through 2001. He was first elected in 1994, then re-elected in 1996 and 1998, becoming the first Republican to hold the seat for consecutive terms. Dr. Coburn retired from Congress in 2001, fulfilling his pledge to serve no more than three terms in the House." <ref>http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorCoburn.Biography</ref>

When Coburn was first elected in to the House of Representatives in 1994, the year of the Republican Revolution he stated from the beginning that he would only serve three terms (if he was re-elected each time). Coburn believes in the idea of a term limited citizen legislator. In other words, a citizen who serves in Congress for several years and then goes home to live under the laws they have helped to create.

== Coburn's Activities in the House ==

"During his tenure in the House, Dr. Coburn wrote and passed far-reaching legislation. These include laws to expand seniors' health care options, to protect access to home health care in rural areas and to allow Americans to access cheaper medications from Canada and other nations. Dr. Coburn also wrote a law intended to prevent baby AIDS. The Wall Street Journal said about the law, "In 10 long years of AIDS politics and funding, this is actually the first legislation to pass in this country that will rescue babies." He also wrote a law to renew and reform federal AIDS care programs.

During his three terms in the House, Dr. Coburn also played an influential role in reforming welfare and other federal entitlement programs. He led efforts to balance the budget, offering countless amendments to trim the bloated federal budget." <ref>http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorCoburn.Biography</ref>
== The Interlude ==

"In 2002, President George Bush chose Dr. Coburn to serve as co-chair of the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA)."<ref>http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorCoburn.Biography</ref>

== The Road to the Senate ==

In 2004, however, Coburn decided to return to public life and ran for and won a seat as a United States Senator from Oklahoma. In keeping with the idea of the citizen legislator, Coburn has promised to serve only two terms in the Senate.<ref>http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorCoburn.Biography</ref>

== Coburn's Earmark Fight ==
In an article entitled, "Week of July 18, 2007," columnist Robert D. Novak discussed the continuing anti-earmakr fight by several member of the Upper and Lower Houses of Congress, Tom Cobunr among them.

"Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) will continue in the Senate the anti-earmark fight that Representatives Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) have been fighting in the House. Two Senate amendments to the Defense bill will target an earmark by one of Flake's favorite targets, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), and a Nebraska defense company. Two other amendments will require a competition to determine the best rifle for U.S. soldiers and require competitive contract processes for winning earmarked Defense money. Coburn leads the charge in stripping individual earmarks, while DeMint pushes for new transparency rules."<ref>http://www.www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21588</ref>

On his website, Coburn also provides an explanation of why he is fighting against earmarks in addition to a scorecard of what he has done during the 109th and 110th Congresses.

"I ran for the Senate, in part, to reduce wasteful Washington, D.C. spending, reprioritize spending to ensure essential needs are not compromised by parochial political interests and to reform the way our government spends money. Our national debt now surpasses $8.7 trillion, important programs like Social Security and Medicare are in danger of bankruptcy, our nation is fighting a global War on Terror and we still are paying for costs associated with the most expensive natural disaster in our nation’s history.

Every family in America must make decisions that require prioritizing and financial restraint to meet their financial situation and expect the government to do the same. But politicians in Washington have for too long avoided making tough decisions and have prioritized their next election over the next generation. Clearly this in not the time for business as usual in Washington and the borrow and spend mentality must come to an end if we are to ensure that the next generation of Americans inherit the same standard of living and that our seniors can enjoy financial security during their retirement years.

The following is a summary of the amendments I have offered on the Senate floor to reduce wasteful Washington spending and to reform the budget process. While many of these amendments have been unsuccessful — often losing in lopsided votes — I believe it is important not to be discouraged and to continue to press for change and fiscal responsibility in Washington. The future of our country, after all, depends upon it." <ref>http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ConstituentServices.PorkBusters</ref>

== Coburn's Senate Activities ==

"Dr. Coburn's priorities in the Senate include reducing wasteful spending, balancing the budget, improving health care access and affordability, protecting the sanctity of all human life - including the unborn - and representing traditional, Oklahoma values. As a citizen legislator, Dr. Coburn has pledged to serve no more than two terms in the Senate and to continue to care for patients. He is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Indian Affairs Committee and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions." <ref>http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorCoburn.Biography</ref>

==External Links==
*[http://coburn.senate.gov/public/ Official Website]
*[http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Tom_Coburn.htm Coburn On the Issues]
==References==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT: Coburn, Tom}}
[[Category:United States Senators]]

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category: 110th United States Congress]]

South Park

2009-05-26T00:05:50Z

Jgustafson: /* Kyle Broflovski */

[[Image:Southparkseason10opening.png|right|thumb|300px]]
'''''South Park''''' is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning animated cartoon series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone that is shown on American cable network [[Comedy Central]]. It is controversial due to its use of vulgar and obscene language, biting humor, and questionable depictions of religion and other respected institutions. Shows have touched on [[Catholic|Catholicism]], [[Islam]], [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Mormonism]], [[Judaism]], [[Scientology]], and made jokes about [[Jesus]], [[Moses]], [[Muhammad]] and other religious leaders. Parker and Stone describe themselves as "equal opportunity offenders" and some episodes have made fun of liberal causes, particularly environmentalism and support for legalized [[abortion]]. Other episodes have ridiculed the anti-immigration movement and other conservative causes. Despite this, the show usually does not outrightly condemn any social group; to date, only [[Atheism|atheists]], [[terrorism|terrorists]] and pedophiles have been given such treatment by the show. While [[Scientology]] itself has been heavily mocked, the creators have expressed sympathy for those who have been drawn into it. Because of this criticism of Scientology, [[Isaac Hayes]], who played the singing, promiscuous cafeteria chef, left the show in 2006.<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2008/08/south_park_scie.html</ref> (Hayes died in 2008.)

Of the 1999 ''South Park'' movie, movie reviewer [[Roger Ebert]] said "The film is rated R instead of NC-17 only because it's a cartoon, I suspect; even so, the [[MPAA]] has a lot of 'splaining to do," meaning presumably that Ebert believes it should have been rated NC-17. "Waves of four-letter words roll out over the audience," he says. Parker and Stone have stated that they pressured the MPAA into giving the film an 'R' rating, as it had been given an NC-17 rating three times previously despite minor edits. <ref>http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0001322.cfm</ref>

A frequent criticism of ''South Park'' is that it indulges in shock for shock's sake. Ebert says of the film, "All it lacks is a point to its message. What is it saying? That movies have gone too far, or that protests against movies have gone too far? It is a sign of our times that I cannot tell. Perhaps it's simply anarchistic, and feels that if it throws enough shocking material at the wall, some of it will stick. A lot of the movie offended me." However, he acknowledges, "I laughed. I did not always feel proud of myself while I was laughing, however.... No target is too low, no attitude too mean or hurtful, no image too unthinkable."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990630/REVIEWS/906300301/1023</ref>

A month later, Ebert modified his opinion: "I gave 'South Park' a marginal thumbs down (2.5 stars) because of what I called the movie's mean spirit, but I did like its intelligence and energy, and as the smoke clears from the summer of 1999 it's clear to me that this was a movie that took chances and made scathing criticisms of the broken-down [[MPAA rating system]]. I got carried away by my immediate reaction; but at least I was right when I called it 'the most slashing political commentary of the year'."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990829/ANSWERMAN/908290306</ref>

''South Park'' has been praised for its often blunt [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] viewpoints on many political, moral, and social issues of the day. For example, in "Chinpokomon" (a satire of the Pokemon craze), the boys learn that blindly following a trend can be dangerous, and that it's best to just be yourself. In "Super Best Friends," we discover that [[Jesus]], [[Muhammad]], [[Buddha]], [[Moses]], [[Joseph Smith]], and [[Krishna]] are all friends, even though countries have gone to war over them.

There is a form of anti-censorship, libertarian-leaning conservatism known as "South Park Republicans" and "South Park Conservatives." The creators are uneasy about stating their political views (even hesitating to declare themselves libertarians) <ref>Charlie Rose interview, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqtLudQtIGs </ref>, though they note that of all the different groups they mock, [[Hollywood values|Hollywood Liberals]] display the most indignance. <ref> Interview on The Hour, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyVm4Rr2eo </ref> Matt Stone has stated, "I hate conservatives, but I really (expletive) hate liberals." <ref>http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_rp-hate_conservatives.htm</ref>

==Main Characters==

The vast majority of episodes focus on four native South Park boys in the third and later fourth grade, often referred to as just "the boys":

===Stan Marsh===
Stan is voiced by co-creator Trey Parker and is more or less a filter for his personality and experiences. Though possessing a foul mouth and other shortcomings that typify his age, Stan is basically a good kid, with above-average intelligence and a strong sense of morality. He is the best friend of Kyle Broflovski, a good friend of Kenny McCormick, and about the closest thing to a friend that Eric Cartman can ever expect to have. He comes from a typical middle-class household. His father Randy is a geologist and his mother Sharon is a stay-at-home mom. Typical of the adult characters on South Park, both parents are frequently irrational, but they are also shown to genuinely love their son.

===Kyle Broflovski===
What Trey Parker is to Stan, co-creator Matt Stone is to Kyle. Similar to Stan in many ways, Kyle is arguably more intelligent and moral than Stan. His father Gerald is a lawyer, and his mother is a stay-at-home mom prone to moral outrage and stereotypical "Jewish mother" mannerisms. He and his family are [[Jewish]], though religion does not seem to play a major role in Kyle's day-to-day life. Kyle will commonly give the moral of an episode at the end, often with the prelude "you know, I learned something today." In the season 13 episode "Margaritaville" this tendency was brought to messianic proportions, where he is depicted as a "[[prophet]]" of the economy by telling residents that the economy is an abstract concept created by people, not a vengeful entity, and that it requires faith to function. The town council (an impromptu collection of adults led by Randy Marsh, who claims that America has angered the economy) hears of this "young Jew spreading heresy about the economy" and sets up a [[Judas]] figure (obviously, Cartman) to capture him. Kyle evades capture and instead uses a credit card with no spending limit to write off the debts of the other South Park residents.

===Kenny McCormick===
Originally more of a gimmick character, Kenny was killed in every episode of seasons 1-5, and then died "permanently" at the end of 5. This "permanent death" lasted until season 7, at which point he became a regular character who still died occasionally, though as before with no consequence to future episodes. Between season 5 and 7, Kenny's soul was "trapped in Cartman's body" after Eric Cartman confused his ashes with hot chocolate. After drinking these ashes, Cartman began having Kenny's memories and speaking his statements. Kenny is considerably poorer than the other boys, with a run-down house governed by parents who frequently abuse alcohol and engage in domestic violence. Despite this he gets along fine with his better-off friends and does not in general get made fun of for his poverty (except by Eric Cartman). He is "voiced" by Matt Stone, though this is of little consequence as everything he says is mumbled incomprehensibly from an over-sized orange parka. The other characters, however, seem to understand him. For the 1999 movie, Kenny removed his parka, revealing his face and blonde hair color, to say "Goodbye, you guys" (this line was voiced by [[Mike Judge]], creator of [[Beavis & Butt-head]] and [[King of the Hill]]). In one episode written after the movie, Kenny's legible speech and face appeared again, though he was wearing different clothes, and it was not obvious that he was Kenny until he had died.

===Eric Cartman===
Often just called "Cartman," he is arguably the main character of the show. He is obese, bigoted, narcissistic, and generally sociopathic; he was originally conceived as an eight-year-old version of Archie Bunker from [[All in the Family]]. He is very antagonistic towards Kyle, largely because of Kyle's ethnicity. (Cartman is anti-Semitic and admires [[Adolph Hitler]].) Fights between the two, usually stemming from mocking each character's respective obesity and ethnicity, have become a centerpiece of the show. Ironically, however, each has saved the other's life twice. All three of the other boys are open about their dislike for Cartman, but they still usually refer to him as their friend. Cartman has been shown to be extremely intelligent and manipulative, and he has a dark charisma that makes him a natural leader of the boys in times of adventure. Cartman's sociopathy has been traced to his upbringing by a single mother, Lianne. Lianne encourages Eric's obesity, and treats him like a friend instead of a son, thus not disciplining him. Lianne, a "crack whore" in the show, was also the name of Trey's former fiancee who Trey saw cheating with another man.

===Leopold "Butters" Stotch===
Though not originally a main character, Butters has seen considerable airtime since season 5 and is often considered the "breakout character" of the show. He is kind, wholesome, and trusting to a fault - in other words, he is basically the opposite of Cartman, and many episodes have been devoted to the relationship between the two. His parents are [[mentally ill]], with his father showing obsessive-compulsive behavior and mother having issues with anxiety and panic. Butters' mother attempted to kill him in one episode. During season 6 when Kenny was absent, Butters briefly filled in as the fourth boy. This eventually fell through, but he has been shown to have a friendly relationship with the other boys since then.

==References==

<references/>

== External Links ==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/ IMDB Website]
[[Category: Television Shows]]
* [http://www.southparkstudios.com South Park Official Website]

Bill Maher

2009-04-09T01:59:11Z

Jgustafson: /* Political claims and statements */

'''Bill Maher''' is arguably a [[Socialism|socialist]], certainly an [[agnostic]] and [[liberal]] comedian, actor, writer, producer, and [[Democratic Party]] activist. He is most notable as the former host of ''Politically Incorrect'', which aired on the Comedy Central television network and later on the [[ABC|American Broadcasting Company]]. Maher is also currently the host of ''[[Real Time|Real Time with Bill Maher]]'' on [[HBO]].

== Television shows & Other Media ==

ABC decided not to renew Maher's contract for ''Politically Incorrect'' in 2002 after he agreed with a point posed by conservative commentator and guest [[Dinesh D'Souza]] that the terrorists in the September 11, 2001 attacks should not be called cowards. Maher expanded on his point, saying "We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly." <ref>[http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=14941]</ref>

In the aftermath of the attacks, the remark made him too controversial for some of the show's most prominent advertisers. Companies including FedEx and Sears Roebuck pulled their advertisements from the show, causing it to become unprofitable. The show was subsequently canceled on June 16, 2002.

Maher's comment accusing America of cowardice followed another controversial comment he made on ''Politically Incorrect'' where he compared mentally handicapped children to dogs:
{{cquote|But I've often said that if I had — I have two dogs — if I had two retarded children, I'd be a hero. And yet the dogs, which are pretty much the same thing. What? They're sweet. They're loving. They're kind, but they don't mentally advance at all ... Dogs are like retarded children.}}

ABC was still dealing with the fallout from this statement when it decided not to renew Maher's contract.

In 2003, Maher became the host of ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' on the HBO cable television network, a debate show somewhat similar to ''Politically Incorrect'', but with a narrower selection of guests.

== Political claims and statements ==

Despite claims of being a [[Libertarianism|libertarian]], his views are more line with totalitarian-[[socialism]]. In fact, most of his views are in direct opposition to libertarian ideology, such as his strong support of government regulation of corporations, foreign aid, public schooling, a ban on homeschooling, campaign finance restrictions, radical environmental laws, affirmative action, minimum wage laws, absolute gun control, support for the [[United Nations]], income redistribution through higher taxation, government funding for abortion, and support for [[Ralph Nader]] in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. He has even praised Janet Reno and the ATF for its action in the massacre in Waco, Texas.

Some of his other stances on issues related to personal pleasure such as legalizing drugs, gambling, and prostitution are however libertarian in outlook. Maher has been described in libertarian and [[conservative]] chatrooms as "a tax and spend politically correct liberal who's a-okay with the Leviathan state as long as he gets his Hustler, his hookers and his hash."{{fact}}

Maher was formerly involved in a relationship with model Nancy Johnson a.k.a. "Coco Johnsen". However, Ms. Johnson ended it and in November of 2004 sued Maher for palimony amid allegations of verbal and physical abuse.<ref>[http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1111041coco1.html]</ref> Maher said that he never promised to marry her and that the claims of abuse were a money making scam.<ref>[http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-1-2004-62384.asp]</ref>

Somewhat anachronistically, he voted for [[Bob Dole]] in the 1996 Presidential election, calling him an "old-fashioned" Republican. He is also a personal friend of [[Ann Coulter]], despite (or perhaps because of) their widely divergent views. She was a frequent guest on ''Politically Incorrect.''

==Victory: Begins at Home==
Not surprisingly, the [[New York Times]] raved about his 2003 overtly anti-Catholic, one-man broadway show "Victory: Begins at Home".<ref> [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/295903/Bill-Maher-Victory-Begins-at-Home/overview NYTIMES review]</ref><ref> http://www.catholicleague.org/annualreport.php?year=2003&id=80</ref>

==Religulous==
In 2008, Maher starred in a spoof [[documentary]] movie called ''[[Religulous]]''. It was directed by [[Larry Charles]] (who also directed ''[[Borat]]''). The film derives its name from a combination of the words "religion" and "ridiculous"<ref>[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/14/lkl.01.html CNN LARRY KING LIVE, Interview With Bill Maher, aired August 14, 2007 - 21:00ET]</ref>. Originally destined for an [[Easter]] 2008 release, the film had a limited theater-release in [[October]] 2008 after being first shown at the [[Toronto]] International Film Festival in early [[September]] 2008<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/releaseinfo IMDb: Release dates for ''Religulous'']</ref>.

The film criticizes [[religion]], particularly Christianity and to a lesser extent Judaism and Islam. To Maher, radical Islam and its hate-filled terrorism has no difference from regular religious worship, as he blends pictures of the attack on the World Trade center with a benediction by the Pope and Jews praying at the Wailing Wall at the very end of the movie.

In the film, Maher explains his stance on religion as he interviews the faithful from mainstream religions as well as from many lesser known [[cult]]s.

Some individuals featured in the film<ref>[http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?ID=707111610451386 RELIGULOUS: A Conversation with Bill Maher and Larry Charles]</ref> include:
*[[Judaism|Hasidic]] scholars
*[[Jesus]] impersonators
*[[Messianic_Judaism|Messianic Jews]]
*[[Islam|Muslims]]
*[[Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints#Polygamy|Polygamists]]
*[[Satanism|Satanists]]
*[[Young Earth Creationism|Creationists]]
*Recreational users of [[cannabis]]
*A US senator who believes in the "[[Rapture]]"
*[[Raelism|Rael]]

===Box office performance===
The film made $3.5 million in its opening weekend<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=religulous.htm</ref> in a limited release, surpassing expectations. It never did break out though after that and appears to be heading for a total gross of about $13 million.

===Controversy===
The already controversial film gained increased notoriety on the morning of 30th September 2008 when Bill Maher made an appearance on the View to promote ''Religulous''. Maher frivolously suggested during the interview that anyone who hears the "voice" of God should check themselves in to a psychiatric hospital.<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/sherri-shepherd-bill-mahe_n_130581.html</ref>

== External links ==
* [http://dir.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2001/08/01/maher/index.html Is Bill Maher a libertarian? by Dann Halem]
*[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18224 Bill Maher Owes Another Apology] - A war veteran responds to Maher's anti-military comments
*[http://www.aim.org/aim_column/A3735_0_3_0_C/ Is Bill Maher the Jane Fonda of the Iraq War?] - Another response to Maher's anti-military comments
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/author/bill-maher/ What Liberals Say - Bill Maher], [[Accuracy In Media]]
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/ ''Religulous''] at IMDB.com

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, Bill}}
[[Category:Liberal Activists|Maher, Bill]]
[[Category:Comedians]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Agnostics]]

{{Liberalism}}

Benito Mussolini

2009-03-23T19:26:51Z

Jgustafson:

'''Benito Andrea Amilcare Mussolini''' was a journalist and politician from [[Italy]]. Self-proclaimed "socialist heretic", he was nominated prime minister by Vittorio Emanuele III di Savoia, King of Italy, in the time of [[World War II]]. He was head of one of the strong forms of government seen in Europe in this time. He created the political structure Fasci Italiani di Combatimento, which is what later would be known as [[Fascism]], a term which was later used to describe the merging of government and corporation. He was responsible for several war crimes in [[Ethiopia]] and [[Yugoslavia]].

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Mussolini.gif|150px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: red no-repeat scroll top left;"|Benito Mussolini
|-
|Born
|July 29, 1883
|-
|Died
|April 28, 1945
|-
|}

==Early Life==
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born July 29, 1883 and died April 28, 1945. Mussolini was born in the north Italian town of Pergine Valsugana in the northern Italian province of Trento. His father was a cobbler and his mother a washerwoman. The Mussolinis were a relatively poor family in comparison with the majority of their neighbors and it is believed that Mussolini was ridiculed by his peers at Valsugana Elementary School due to his shabby clothes and dirty appearance. Many historians attribute Mussolini's aggressive nature to this mistreatment. His father was a socialist and raised Mussolini as a socialist. He was named after Mexican president [[Benito Juarez]]. At the age of 12 Benito was sent to an Italian military academy in Turin where he completed his secondary education. Mussolini graduated from school in 1901 and then went on to study at the University of Rome where he completed a degree in Social Sciences. It was during his university days that Mussolini first became exposed to politics. It is reported that Mussolini would spend long afternoons in the university library reading the memoirs of various European kings and other books about political ideologies. At one time he was the editor of "Avanti" (a self declared socialist paper).
==Benito Mussolini and Atheism==
In his work entitled Mussolini Denis Mack Smith wrote the following:
{{cquote|From his father he [Mussolini] had learnt to be a thoroughgoing anti-clerical. He proclaimed himself to be an [[Atheism|atheist]] and several times tried to shock an audience by calling on God to strike him dead. He forcibly denounced those socialists who thought religion a matter for individual conscience or had their children baptised. [In Mussolini's opinion] Science had proved that God did not exist and the Jesus of history was an ignorant Jew whose family thought him mad, and who was a pigmy compared to the Buddha. Religion, he said, was a disease of the psyche, an epidemic to be cured by psychiatrists, and Christianity in particular was vitiated by preaching the senseless virtues of resignation and cowardice, whereas the new socialist morality should celebrate violence and rebellion."<ref>"Mussolini", by Denis Mack Smith, Vintage Books, 1983, page 8.</ref>}}

Though privately hostile to the [[Roman Catholic Church]], Mussolini oversaw the [[Lateran Treaties]] in 1929, which recognized the independence of the Vatican and even contained a provision that outlawed any display of disrespect for the [[Pope]].

==Break with Socialism==
He graudally began to have a falling out with his fellow socialists. His final break with socialism came during World War 1, since he changed his former position of neutrality and supported Italy's involvement in the war. He then grew to despise socialism. By February 1918, he was calling for the emergence of a leader "ruthless and energetic enough to make a clean sweep." In May, he hinted in a speech in Bologna that he might be that leader.

==Rise to Power==
In 1923 after rising through the ranks Mussolini became the elected member for Tuscany in the Italian Parliament. In 1927 he took over from Mario Felloni as the leader of Cullo Cappelli who were the opposition. Leading up to the 1928 election Mussolini began to begin his campaign. During this time Italy was in an economic slump and the Italian public were not satisfied with the president of the time, Francisco Delosini and his Treasurer Guido Michenelli's management of the federal budget. Mussolini preyed on this dissatisfaction and promised to eliminate all debt within the government. In 1922, Mussolini was invited by King Vittorio Emanuele III to form a new Italian government. A law passed on Christmas Eve 1925 changed Mussolini's title from "president of the Council of Ministers" (prime minister) to "head of the government." He was no longer responsible to Parliament, and could only be removed by the king.

==Alliance with Hitler==
In 1931 Mussolini first came into contact with [[Adolf Hitler]] at a meeting of European leaders, and an alliance was formed. For the rest of the 1930's Mussolini began to recklessly spend Italy's money on obsolete arms which he planned to issue to the army if Hitler ever attempted to take over Europe.

==World War II==
In September 1939 when [[England]] and [[France]] declared war on [[Germany]] after Hitler invaded [[Poland]], Mussolini announced that Italy would join Germany in the war effort against the allied forces. He waited however, until after France had surrendered before invading southern France and officially entering the war. During World War 2, he increased his military, limited free speech and pushed his political views on all of his countrymen even more so.

===Mussolini Deposed===
When the [[Allies]] invaded the Italian island of [[Sicily]] in 1943, King [[Vittorio Emmanuel III]] panicked at the thought of an Allied invasion of the Italian mainland. He immediately stripped Mussolini of his power and ordered Mussolini to be arrested.

===Reinstatement===
He was rescued through covert operations by German special forces (most notably [[Otto Skorzeny]]) without a single casualty occurring during the rescue operation. Mussolini was then installed as the head of the German puppet state, Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI) based at Salo in northern Italy - hence its alternative name of the Salo Republic.

===Capture and Death===
Mussolini was later recaptured at the end of the war by partisans. He and his mistress were shot and hanged upside down.

== War crimes ==
Mussolini is responsible for several war crimes during the Italian occupation of Abyssinia (today Ethiopia) and Yugoslavia.

During the second [[Italo-Abyssinian war]], Italian troops commited atrocites such as the use of mustard gas, the bombing of Red Cross hospitals and ambulances, the execution of captured prisoners without trial, the [[Graziani massacre]], the killings at Däbrä Libanos monastery, and the shooting of "witch-doctors" accused of prophesying the end of fascist rule.<ref>Richard Pankhurst, ''Addis Ababa University'', Italian Fascist war crimes in Ethiopia ([http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/northeast_african_studies/v006/6.1pankhurst.html])</ref>

During the Italian occupation of Yugoslavia in WWII, Italian troops used draconian measures to intimidate the native Slavic population into silence, such as summary executions, hostage-taking, reprisals, internments and the burning of houses and villages.<ref>An independent report on Italo-Slovenian relationships in the 1941-1945 period ([http://www.kozina.com/premik/poreng4.htm])</ref>

Many historians consider both of the forementioned an attempt of [[genocide]].

==Family Members==
His legacy is continued by his neo-fascist granddaughter Alessandra Mussolini, who is a current member of the European Parliament. His daughter-in-law, Anna Maria Scicolone, was the sister of actress [[Sophia Loren]].

==See Also==
* [[Margherita Grassini]]

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==

*[http://www.nndb.com/people/468/000045333/ Benito Mussolini] NNDB.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mussolini, Benito}}

[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Mass Murderers]]
[[Category:Italian People]]

South Park

2009-02-26T06:15:11Z

Jgustafson:

[[Image:Southparkseason10opening.png|right|thumb|300px]]
'''''South Park''''' is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning animated cartoon series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone that is shown on American cable network [[Comedy Central]]. It is controversial due to its use of vulgar and obscene language, biting humor, and questionable depictions of religion and other respected institutions. Shows have touched on [[Catholic|Catholicism]], [[Islam]], [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Mormonism]], [[Judaism]], [[Scientology]], and made jokes about [[Jesus]], [[Moses]], [[Muhammad]] and other religious leaders. Parker and Stone describe themselves as "equal opportunity offenders" and some episodes have made fun of liberal causes, particularly environmentalism and support for legalized [[abortion]]. Other episodes have ridiculed the anti-immigration movement and other conservative causes. Despite this, the show usually does not outrightly condemn any social group; to date, only [[Atheism|atheists]], [[terrorism|terrorists]] and pedophiles have been given such treatment by the show. While [[Scientology]] itself has been heavily mocked, the creators have expressed sympathy for those who have been drawn into it. Because of this criticism of Scientology, [[Isaac Hayes]], who played the singing, promiscuous cafeteria chef, left the show in 2006.<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2008/08/south_park_scie.html</ref> (Hayes died in 2008.)

Of the 1999 ''South Park'' movie, movie reviewer [[Roger Ebert]] said "The film is rated R instead of NC-17 only because it's a cartoon, I suspect; even so, the [[MPAA]] has a lot of 'splaining to do," meaning presumably that Ebert believes it should have been rated NC-17. "Waves of four-letter words roll out over the audience," he says. Parker and Stone have stated that they pressured the MPAA into giving the film an 'R' rating, as it had been given an NC-17 rating three times previously despite minor edits. <ref>http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0001322.cfm</ref>

A frequent criticism of ''South Park'' is that it indulges in shock for shock's sake. Ebert says of the film, "All it lacks is a point to its message. What is it saying? That movies have gone too far, or that protests against movies have gone too far? It is a sign of our times that I cannot tell. Perhaps it's simply anarchistic, and feels that if it throws enough shocking material at the wall, some of it will stick. A lot of the movie offended me." However, he acknowledges, "I laughed. I did not always feel proud of myself while I was laughing, however.... No target is too low, no attitude too mean or hurtful, no image too unthinkable."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990630/REVIEWS/906300301/1023</ref>

A month later, Ebert modified his opinion: "I gave 'South Park' a marginal thumbs down (2.5 stars) because of what I called the movie's mean spirit, but I did like its intelligence and energy, and as the smoke clears from the summer of 1999 it's clear to me that this was a movie that took chances and made scathing criticisms of the broken-down [[MPAA rating system]]. I got carried away by my immediate reaction; but at least I was right when I called it 'the most slashing political commentary of the year'."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990829/ANSWERMAN/908290306</ref>

''South Park'' has been praised for its often blunt [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] viewpoints on many political, moral, and social issues of the day. For example, in "Chinpokomon" (a satire of the Pokemon craze), the boys learn that blindly following a trend can be dangerous, and that it's best to just be yourself. In "Super Best Friends," we discover that [[Jesus]], [[Muhammad]], [[Buddha]], [[Moses]], [[Joseph Smith]], and [[Krishna]] are all friends, even though countries have gone to war over them.

There is a form of anti-censorship, libertarian-leaning conservatism known as "South Park Republicans" and "South Park Conservatives." The creators are uneasy about stating their political views (even hesitating to declare themselves libertarians) <ref>Charlie Rose interview, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqtLudQtIGs </ref>, though they note that of all the different groups they mock, [[Hollywood values|Hollywood Liberals]] display the most indignance. <ref> Interview on The Hour, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyVm4Rr2eo </ref> Matt Stone has stated, "I hate conservatives, but I really (expletive) hate liberals." <ref>http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_rp-hate_conservatives.htm</ref>

==Main Characters==

The vast majority of episodes focus on four native South Park boys in the third and later fourth grade, often referred to as just "the boys":

===Stan Marsh===
Stan is voiced by co-creator Trey Parker and is more or less a filter for his personality and experiences. Though possessing a foul mouth and other shortcomings that typify his age, Stan is basically a good kid, with above-average intelligence and a strong sense of morality. He is the best friend of Kyle Broflovski, a good friend of Kenny McCormick, and about the closest thing to a friend that Eric Cartman can ever expect to have. He comes from a typical middle-class household. His father Randy is a geologist and his mother Sharon is a stay-at-home mom. Typical of the adult characters on South Park, both parents are frequently irrational, but they are also shown to genuinely love their son.

===Kyle Broflovski===
What Trey Parker is to Stan, co-creator Matt Stone is to Kyle. Similar to Stan in many ways, Kyle is arguably more intelligent and moral than Stan. His father Gerald is a lawyer, and his mother is a stay-at-home mom prone to moral outrage and stereotypical "Jewish mother" mannerisms. He and his family are [[Jewish]], though religion does not seem to play a major role in Kyle's day-to-day life. Kyle will commonly give the moral of an episode at the end, often with the prelude "you know, I learned something today."

===Kenny McCormick===
Originally more of a gimmick character, Kenny was killed in every episode of seasons 1-5, and then died "permanently" at the end of 5. This "permanent death" lasted until season 7, at which point he became a regular character who still died occasionally, though as before with no consequence to future episodes. Between season 5 and 7, Kenny's soul was "trapped in Cartman's body" after Eric Cartman confused his ashes with hot chocolate. After drinking these ashes, Cartman began having Kenny's memories and speaking his statements. Kenny is considerably poorer than the other boys, with a run-down house governed by parents who frequently abuse alcohol and engage in domestic violence. Despite this he gets along fine with his better-off friends and does not in general get made fun of for his poverty (except by Eric Cartman). He is "voiced" by Matt Stone, though this is of little consequence as everything he says is mumbled incomprehensibly from an over-sized orange parka. The other characters, however, seem to understand him. For the 1999 movie, Kenny removed his parka, revealing his face and blonde hair color, to say "Goodbye, you guys" (this line was voiced by [[Mike Judge]], creator of [[Beavis & Butt-head]] and [[King of the Hill]]). In one episode written after the movie, Kenny's legible speech and face appeared again, though he was wearing different clothes, and it was not obvious that he was Kenny until he had died.

===Eric Cartman===
Often just called "Cartman," he is arguably the main character of the show. He is obese, bigoted, narcissistic, and generally sociopathic; he was originally conceived as an eight-year-old version of Archie Bunker from [[All in the Family]]. He is very antagonistic towards Kyle, largely because of Kyle's ethnicity. (Cartman is anti-Semitic and admires [[Adolph Hitler]].) Fights between the two, usually stemming from mocking each character's respective obesity and ethnicity, have become a centerpiece of the show. Ironically, however, each has saved the other's life twice. All three of the other boys are open about their dislike for Cartman, but they still usually refer to him as their friend. Cartman has been shown to be extremely intelligent and manipulative, and he has a dark charisma that makes him a natural leader of the boys in times of adventure. Cartman's sociopathy has been traced to his upbringing by a single mother, Lianne. Lianne encourages Eric's obesity, and treats him like a friend instead of a son, thus not disciplining him. Lianne, a "crack whore" in the show, was also the name of Trey's former fiancee who Trey saw cheating with another man.

===Leopold "Butters" Stotch===
Though not originally a main character, Butters has seen considerable airtime since season 5 and is often considered the "breakout character" of the show. Parker and Stone have both stated that he is one of their "top 3 favorite characters." He is kind, wholesome, and trusting to a fault - in other words, he is basically the opposite of Cartman, and many episodes have been devoted to the relationship between the two. His parents are [[mentally ill]], with his father showing obsessive-compulsive behavior and mother having issues with anxiety and panic. Butters' mother attempted to kill him in one episode. During season 6 when Kenny was absent, Butters briefly filled in as the fourth boy. This eventually fell through, but he has been shown to have a friendly relationship with the other boys since then.

Butters' main quirk is his alter ego, Professor Chaos, who came into being after he was rejected from the boys' circle. Professor Chaos is modeled after an isolated super-villain seeking to wreak havoc on a world that has rejected him, although his schemes are utterly harmless. Other quirks of Butters include: a talent for dancing (mainly tap, as revealed in the season 8 episode "You Got F'ed in the A"), a savant-like ability to do basic arithmetic on large numbers, and [[conservative]] political views (in season 12 he is shown to be a supporter of [[John McCain]]).

==References==

<references/>

== External Links ==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/ IMDB Website]
[[Category: Television Shows]]
* [http://www.southparkstudios.com South Park Official Website]

South Park

2009-02-06T21:16:47Z

Jgustafson:

[[Image:Southparkseason10opening.png|right|thumb|300px]]
'''''South Park''''' is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning animated cartoon series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone that is shown on American cable network [[Comedy Central]]. It is controversial due to its use of vulgar and obscene language, biting humor, and questionable depictions of religion and other respected institutions. Shows have touched on [[Catholic|Catholicism]], [[Islam]], [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Mormonism]], [[Judaism]], [[Scientology]], and made jokes about [[Jesus]], [[Moses]], [[Muhammad]] and other religious leaders. Parker and Stone describe themselves as "equal opportunity offenders" and some episodes have made fun of liberal causes, particularly environmentalism and support for legalized [[abortion]]. Other episodes have ridiculed the anti-immigration movement and other conservative causes. Despite this, the show usually does not outrightly condemn any social group; to date, only [[Atheism|atheists]], [[terrorism|terrorists]] and pedophiles have been given such treatment by the show. While [[Scientology]] itself has been heavily mocked, the creators have expressed sympathy for those who have been drawn into it. Because of this criticism of Scientology, [[Isaac Hayes]], who played the singing, promiscuous cafeteria chef, left the show in 2006.<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2008/08/south_park_scie.html</ref> (Hayes died in 2008.)

Of the 1999 ''South Park'' movie, movie reviewer [[Roger Ebert]] said "The film is rated R instead of NC-17 only because it's a cartoon, I suspect; even so, the [[MPAA]] has a lot of 'splaining to do," meaning presumably that Ebert believes it should have been rated NC-17. "Waves of four-letter words roll out over the audience," he says. Parker and Stone have stated that they pressured the MPAA into giving the film an 'R' rating, as it had been given an NC-17 rating three times previously despite minor edits. <ref>http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0001322.cfm</ref>

A frequent criticism of ''South Park'' is that it indulges in shock for shock's sake. Ebert says of the film, "All it lacks is a point to its message. What is it saying? That movies have gone too far, or that protests against movies have gone too far? It is a sign of our times that I cannot tell. Perhaps it's simply anarchistic, and feels that if it throws enough shocking material at the wall, some of it will stick. A lot of the movie offended me." However, he acknowledges, "I laughed. I did not always feel proud of myself while I was laughing, however.... No target is too low, no attitude too mean or hurtful, no image too unthinkable."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990630/REVIEWS/906300301/1023</ref>

A month later, Ebert modified his opinion: "I gave 'South Park' a marginal thumbs down (2.5 stars) because of what I called the movie's mean spirit, but I did like its intelligence and energy, and as the smoke clears from the summer of 1999 it's clear to me that this was a movie that took chances and made scathing criticisms of the broken-down [[MPAA rating system]]. I got carried away by my immediate reaction; but at least I was right when I called it 'the most slashing political commentary of the year'."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990829/ANSWERMAN/908290306</ref>

''South Park'' has been praised for its often blunt [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] viewpoints on many political, moral, and social issues of the day. For example, in "Chinpokomon" (a satire of the Pokemon craze), the boys learn that blindly following a trend can be dangerous, and that it's best to just be yourself. In "Super Best Friends," we discover that [[Jesus]], [[Muhammad]], [[Buddha]], [[Moses]], [[Joseph Smith]], and [[Krishna]] are all friends, even though countries have gone to war over them.

There is a form of anti-censorship, libertarian-leaning conservatism known as "South Park Republicans" and "South Park Conservatives." The creators are uneasy about stating their political views (even hesitating to declare themselves libertarians) <ref>Charlie Rose interview, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqtLudQtIGs </ref>, though they note that of all the different groups they mock, [[Hollywood values|Hollywood Liberals]] display the most indignance. <ref> Interview on The Hour, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyVm4Rr2eo </ref> Matt Stone has stated, "I hate conservatives, but I really (expletive) hate liberals." <ref>http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_rp-hate_conservatives.htm</ref>

==Main Characters==

The vast majority of episodes focus on four native South Park boys in the third and later fourth grade, often referred to as just "the boys":

===Stan Marsh===
Stan is voiced by co-creator Trey Parker and is more or less a filter for his personality and experiences. Though possessing a foul mouth and other shortcomings that typify his age, Stan is basically a good kid, with above-average intelligence and a strong sense of morality. He is the best friend of Kyle Broflovski, a good friend of Kenny McCormick, and about the closest thing to a friend that Eric Cartman can ever expect to have. He comes from a typical middle-class household. His father Randy is a geologist and his mother Sharon is a stay-at-home mom. Typical of the adult characters on South Park, both parents are frequently irrational, but they are also shown to genuinely love their son.

===Kyle Broflovski===
What Trey Parker is to Stan, co-creator Matt Stone is to Kyle. Similar to Stan in many ways, Kyle is arguably more intelligent and moral than Stan. His father Gerald is a lawyer, and his mother is a stay-at-home mom prone to moral outrage and stereotypical "Jewish mother" mannerisms. He and his family are [[Jewish]], though religion does not seem to play a major role in Kyle's day-to-day life. Kyle will commonly give the moral of an episode at the end, often with the prelude "you know, I learned something today."

===Kenny McCormick===
Originally more of a gimmick character, Kenny was killed in every episode of seasons 1-5, and then died "permanently" at the end of 5. This "permanent death" lasted until season 7, at which point he became a regular character who still died occasionally, though as before with no consequence to future episodes. Kenny considerably poorer than the other boys, with a run-down house governed by parents who frequently abuse alcohol and engage in domestic violence. Despite this he gets along fine with his better-off friends and does not in general get made fun of for his poverty (except by Eric Cartman). He is "voiced" by Matt Stone, though this is of little consequence as everything he says is mumbled incomprehensibly from an over-sized orange parka. The other characters, however, seem to understand him.

===Eric Cartman===
Often just called "Cartman," he is arguably the main character of the show. He is obese, bigoted, narcissistic, and generally sociopathic; he was originally conceived as an eight-year-old version of Archie Bunker from [[All in the Family]]. He is very antagonistic towards Kyle, largely because of Kyle's ethnicity. Fights between the two have become a centerpiece of the show, although ironically, each has saved the other's life twice. All three of the other boys are open about their dislike for Cartman, but they still usually refer to him as their friend. Cartman has been shown to be extremely intelligent and manipulative, and he has a dark charisma that makes him a natural leader of the boys in times of adventure. Cartman's sociopathy has been traced to his upbringing by a single mother, Luanne, who treats him like a friend instead of a son and thus does not discipline him.

===Leopald "Butters" Stotch===
Though not originally a main character, Butters has seen considerable airtime since season 5 and is often considered the "breakout character" of the show. He is kind, wholesome, and trusting to a fault - in other words, he is basically the opposite of Cartman, and many episodes have been devoted to the relationship between the two. During season 6 when Kenny was absent, Butters briefly filled in as the fourth boy. This eventually fell through, but he has been shown to have a friendly relationship with the other boys since then.

==References==

<references/>

== External Links ==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/ IMDB Website]
[[Category: Television Shows]]
* [http://www.southparkstudios.com South Park Official Website]

South Park

2008-12-06T21:00:23Z

Jgustafson:

[[Image:Southparkseason10opening.png|right|thumb|300px]]
'''''South Park''''' is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning animated cartoon series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone that is controversial due to its use of vulgar and obscene language, biting humor, and questionable depictions of religion and other respected institutions. Shows have touched on [[Catholic|Catholicism]], [[Islam]], [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Mormonism]], [[Judaism]], [[Scientology]], and made jokes about [[Jesus]], [[Moses]], [[Muhammad]] and other religious leaders. Parker and Stone describe themselves as "equal opportunity offenders" and some episodes have made fun of liberal causes, particularly environmentalism. Other episodes have ridiculed the anti-immigration movement and other conservative causes. Despite this, the show usually does not outrightly condemn any social group; to date, only [[Atheism|atheists]], [[terrorism|terrorists]] and pedophiles have been given such treatment by the show (while Scientology itself has been heavily mocked, the creators have expressed sympathy for those who have been drawn into it).

Of the 1999 ''South Park'' movie, movie reviewer [[Roger Ebert]] said "The film is rated R instead of NC-17 only because it's a cartoon, I suspect; even so, the MPAA has a lot of 'splaining to do," meaning presumably that Ebert believes it should have been rated NC-17. "Waves of four-letter words roll out over the audience," he says.

A frequent criticism of ''South Park'' is that it indulges in shock for shock's sake. Ebert says of the film, "All it lacks is a point to its message. What is it saying? That movies have gone too far, or that protests against movies have gone too far? It is a sign of our times that I cannot tell. Perhaps it's simply anarchistic, and feels that if it throws enough shocking material at the wall, some of it will stick. A lot of the movie offended me." However, he acknowledges, "I laughed. I did not always feel proud of myself while I was laughing, however.... No target is too low, no attitude too mean or hurtful, no image too unthinkable."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990630/REVIEWS/906300301/1023</ref>

A month later, Ebert modified his opinion: "I gave 'South Park' a marginal thumbs down (2.5 stars) because of what I called the movie's mean spirit, but I did like its intelligence and energy, and as the smoke clears from the summer of 1999 it's clear to me that this was a movie that took chances and made scathing criticisms of the broken-down [[MPAA rating system]]. I got carried away by my immediate reaction; but at least I was right when I called it 'the most slashing political commentary of the year'."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990829/ANSWERMAN/908290306</ref>

''South Park'' has been praised for its often blunt [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] viewpoints on many political, moral, and social issues of the day. For example, in "Chinpokomon" (a satire of the Pokemon craze,) the boys learn that blindly following a trend can be dangerous, and that it's best to just be yourself. In "Super Best Friends," we discover that [[Jesus]], [[Mohammad]], [[Buddha]], [[Moses]], [[Joseph Smith]], and [[Krishna]] are all friends, even though countries have gone to war over them.

There is a form of anti-censorship conservatives known as "South Park Republicans" and "South Park Conservatives". The creators are uneasy about stating their political views (even hesitating to declare themselves libertarians) <ref>Charlie Rose interview, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqtLudQtIGs </ref>, though they note that of all the different groups they mock, [[Hollywood Liberals]] display the most indignance. <ref> Interview on The Hour, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyVm4Rr2eo <\ref>

==References==

<references/>

== External Links ==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/ IMDB Website]
[[Category: Television Shows]]
* [http://www.southparkstudios.com South Park Official Website]

South Park

2008-12-06T20:56:27Z

Jgustafson:

[[Image:Southparkseason10opening.png|right|thumb|300px]]
'''''South Park''''' is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning animated cartoon series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone that is controversial due to its use of vulgar and obscene language, biting humor, and questionable depictions of religion and other respected institutions. Shows have touched on [[Catholic|Catholicism]], [[Islam]], [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Mormonism]], [[Judaism]], [[Scientology]], and made jokes about [[Jesus]], [[Moses]], [[Muhammad]] and other religious leaders. Parker and Stone describe themselves as "equal opportunity offenders" and some episodes have made fun of liberal causes, particularly environmentalism. Other episodes have ridiculed the anti-immigration movement and other conservative causes. Despite this, the show usually does not outrightly condemn any social group; to date, only [[Atheism|atheists]], [[terrorism|terrorists]] and pedophiles have been given such treatment by the show (while Scientology itself has been heavily mocked, the creators have expressed sympathy for those who have been drawn into it).

Of the 1999 ''South Park'' movie, movie reviewer [[Roger Ebert]] said "The film is rated R instead of NC-17 only because it's a cartoon, I suspect; even so, the MPAA has a lot of 'splaining to do," meaning presumably that Ebert believes it should have been rated NC-17. "Waves of four-letter words roll out over the audience," he says.

A frequent criticism of ''South Park'' is that it indulges in shock for shock's sake. Ebert says of the film, "All it lacks is a point to its message. What is it saying? That movies have gone too far, or that protests against movies have gone too far? It is a sign of our times that I cannot tell. Perhaps it's simply anarchistic, and feels that if it throws enough shocking material at the wall, some of it will stick. A lot of the movie offended me." However, he acknowledges, "I laughed. I did not always feel proud of myself while I was laughing, however.... No target is too low, no attitude too mean or hurtful, no image too unthinkable."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990630/REVIEWS/906300301/1023</ref>

A month later, Ebert modified his opinion: "I gave 'South Park' a marginal thumbs down (2.5 stars) because of what I called the movie's mean spirit, but I did like its intelligence and energy, and as the smoke clears from the summer of 1999 it's clear to me that this was a movie that took chances and made scathing criticisms of the broken-down [[MPAA rating system]]. I got carried away by my immediate reaction; but at least I was right when I called it 'the most slashing political commentary of the year'."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990829/ANSWERMAN/908290306</ref>

''South Park'' has been praised for its often blunt [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] viewpoints on many political, moral, and social issues of the day. For example, in "Chinpokomon" (a satire of the Pokemon craze,) the boys learn that blindly following a trend can be dangerous, and that it's best to just be yourself. In "Super Best Friends," we discover that [[Jesus]], [[Mohammad]], [[Buddha]], [[Moses]], [[Joseph Smith]], and [[Krishna]] are all friends, even though countries have gone to war over them.

There is a form of anti-censorship conservatives known as "South Park Republicans" and "South Park Conservatives". The creators are uneasy about stating their political views (even hesitating to declare themselves libertarians) <ref>Charlie Rose interview, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqtLudQtIGs </ref>, though they note that of all the different groups they mock, [[Hollywood Liberals]] display the most indignance. <ref> Interview on The Hour, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyVm4Rr2eo <\ref>

==References==

<references/>

== External Links ==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/ IMDB Website]
[[Category: Television Shows]]
* [http://www.southparkstudios.com South Park Official Website]

Best Friends Forever

2008-06-04T17:50:31Z

Jgustafson:

{{merge|friendship}}

The intent of '''Best Friends Forever''' as a concept is the solidification of a partnership between two people who mutually identify the other as the person who will be their most valued friend throughout the rest of their life. In principle, the concept seems sound and affirming, but in practice it has never worked, as the Best Friends Forever commitment tends to be entered into prematurely - by grade school students, typically females.

=Usage, in Language=

The set of people who consider enter into a Best Friends Forever partnership are colloquially referred to as '''BFFs'''. For usage in everyday language, you might referred to one person as "the BFF" of another. "Joanna is Susan's BFF." To refer to the set of Joanna and Susan, you could offer than "Joanna and Susan are BFFs."

=BFFs in the Media=

==Books==

Author Carly Warner published a book, [http://books.google.com/books?id=kOAq8shZ7GkC&dq=best+friends+forever&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=fxR2al3eCV&sig=_VRUpEjNbmZ525hXVlA-CFXkHTg#PPP1,M1 ''Best Friends Forever''], in 2000. The book features quotes on friendships from various celebrities and is targeted towards a child's audience to help promote the value of best friend forever-friendships. Celebrities featured in the book include renowned liberal Leonardo DiCaprio, former host of The View Lisa Ling, and Australian tennis star Patrick Rafter.

==Television==

One of the most popular online references to Best Friends Forever is a reference to a [[South Park]] episode of the same name. Despite the episode's title, the show did not deal with (or promote) the idea of best friend forever friendships. Premiering a short time after the Terry Schiavo controversy, the episode focused on one of the four young protagonists, Kenny, who was put into a persistent vegitative state, one of the many obvious parallels to the Schiavo controversy. Though satirical, the episode's ultimate message was that, whether or not people in such states should be kept on life support, it should be a private matter. Their harshest criticism, in effect, was towards the media.
The episode was awarded an Emmy by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

=Influence=

The concept of best friends forever has been used as a means of promoting valuable commitments amongst young adults, placing healthy, platonic commitments are the forefront of social activities which can often be clouded by pressures which lead to sinful alternatives. BFF commitments, while largely unsuccessful because of the young age at which entrants begin the union, can be seen as an alternative to adolescent dating and premarital sex.

[[Category:Terms]]

Noam Chomsky

2008-05-08T06:24:39Z

Jgustafson:

[[Image:Chomsky3.gif|right|thumb|130px]]
'''Noam Avram Chomsky''' (born December 7, 1928) is a linguist who is best known for his writings on politics. He is an institute professor & professor of linguistics (Emeritus) at the [[MIT|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) <ref>http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/chomsky/index.html</ref>.
He has always been very critical of [[America]]n and [[Israel]]i foreign policy and sympathizes with [[Palestine|Palestinians]] and has shown support for the terrorist organization [[Hezbollah]]<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1151</ref>. He has also been criticized for [[anti-Semitism]].

His opponents accuse him of expressing admiration for governmental systems such as the Soviet Union, Chinese and Cambodian governments which are characterized by central control, xenophobia, and rejection of free expression. Chomsky counters that he is merely pointing out the West's own crimes and not condoning authoritarian governments that the West opposes. Chomsky identifies himself as a libertarian socialist who is opposed to both neoliberalism and authoritarianism. <ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19446</ref>

== Background ==
Chomsky was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of William Chomsky, a [[Russian]] immigrant, and Elsie Simonofsky Chomsky. His parents both practiced Judaism. His father taught [[Hebrew]], and published a scholarly edition of a medieval Hebrew grammar.<ref>http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/chomsky_noam.html</ref>. He received his education at the [[University of Pennsylvania]] where he studied linguistics, mathematics, and philosophy, and eventually earned his [[Ph. D.]] in 1955. Since then, he has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds the Ferrari P. Ward Chair of Modern Language and Linguistics.

== Anti-Semitism ==
Chomsky has been criticized for [[anti-Semitism]].<ref>http://www.jbooks.com/interviews/index/IP_Dershowitz.htm</ref><ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15381</ref>. In addition to his support for Hezbollah, He has stated that Jews are "the most privileged and influential part of the population", and that "Anti-Semitism is no longer a problem. It's raised, but it's raised because privileged people want to make sure they have total control, not just 98% control"<ref>http://www.variant.randomstate.org/16texts/Chomsky.html</ref>. His statements show striking similarities with classic anti-Semitism.

Chomsky has also been a vocal supporter of controversial author Norman Finkelstein, author of ''The Holocaust Industry'', who has argued that claims of anti-Semitism are used to silence critics of Israel and that the Holocaust is exploited by some Jewish institutions for their own gain.<ref>[http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=311000&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news University denies tenure to Holocaust academic], ''Mail & Guardian'', 12 June 2007.</ref>

==Chomsky's Criticisms of the West==
Chomsky is one of the most vocal critics of the [[United States]] foreign policy. Some of his criticisms are:
#The overthrow of democratic and secular leader [[Mohammed Mossadegh]] in Iran and replacement with the Shah, a brutal dictator in 1953 (Done by the US and the UK)
#The overthrow of social democrat Jacobo Arbenz in [[Guatemala]] in 1954
#The overthrow of democratic socialist Salvador Allende in Chile on 9/11 in 1973
#The Dirty War against the Sandinista government in [[Nicaragua]] in the 1980s
#The backing of a brutal military dictatorship in [[El Salvador]] during the same time period
#Selling weapons to a terror-state ([[Iran]]) to fund another terrorist group (The Contras). (See [[Iran-Contra Affair]])
#Selling weapons of mass destruction to [[Saddam Hussein]] during the Iran-Iraq war.
#Supporting the mujahideen which later became al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1980s
#Invading [[Iraq]] in 2003 despite lack of support from the [[UN]]
#Blatant Support of [[Israel]] which Chomsky believes is a terror state despite his [[Jew]]ish ethnicity
(Source: Hegemony or Survival)

Many of his critics claim that Chomsky's books are riddled with factual inaccuracies <ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/200chomskylies.pdf</ref>.

==Linguistic Works==

===Generative Grammar===
Noam Chomsky advocates the view that the human brain has innate ability to generate grammatical sentences, thus all utterances which is deemed sensical to the speaker is necessarily grammatical, and the only role the linguist should play is to decipher its grammatical structure. This view has been criticized by many linguists as [[nihilism|nihilistic]] in that it rejects the notion of ungrammatical sentences. Noam Chomsky also pointed to instances of infants utter grammatical sentence fragments they have not been taught before as evidence for Generative Grammar.

===Universal Grammar===
Noam Chomsky also proposed the theory that a kind of universal grammar, a grammar that underlies all human languages, is hard-wired in the human brain. Thus all human languages are fundamentally the same, with only superficial differences. This theory of universal grammar has been criticized by linguist Geoffrey Sampson as being not falsifiable, arguing that the grammatical generalizations made are simply observations about existing languages and not predictions about what is possible in a language. To this day, the search for such universal grammar has been fruitless.

For decades, Noam Chomsky and his followers have been trying to make sense of sentences such as:
<blockquote>
''Who will be easy for us to get his mother to talk to?''
</blockquote>
which are deemed to be ungrammatical by a lot of linguists; by using techniques such as linking theory, anti-c-command requirement, A-positions, Bijection Principle, weakest crossover configurations, bound variable anaphora, asymmetric linking, licensing conditions, index of a pronoun, null operator analysis, variable binding, configurational conditions, inappropriate and appropriate antecedents, etc.

== See Also ==
*[http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/chomsky/publications.html List of Chomsky's Publications]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8pxyAWTBk Chomsky Speaks about American Politics] Chomsky believes the Democrats and Republicans are a single entity
*[http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1136# Video of Noam Chomsky with Hezbollah Leaders in Lebanon]
*[http://www.paulbogdanor.com/chomskyhoax.html The Chomsky Hoax] by Paul Bogdanor
*[http://www.grsampson.net/AGwg.html Grammar Without Grammaticality] by Geoffrey Sampson
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23543 Chomsky's New Blood Libel] by Alan Dershowitz
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXMZZCvFtlw Chomsky on Middle East Television] Chomsky speaks about American Imperialism

==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chomsky, Noam}}
[[category:scientists]]
[[Category:Political People]]
[[category:authors]]
[[Category:Liberal Activists]]
[[Category:Writers]]

Characters in Harry Potter

2008-04-24T04:33:26Z

Jgustafson:

The characters in the fictional universe of [[J.K. Rowling]]'s Harry Potter series are both numerous and varied in skill, background and ideology. Below is a list of the main people encountered in the books.

==Main Characters==

===Harry Potter===

'''Harry Potter''' is the protagonist of the series, a young wizard who is studying magic at [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|Hogwarts]].

===Hermione Granger===

'''Hermione Granger''' is one of Harry's two closest friends and a student in the [[Gryffindor]] house. She is portrayed as remarkably studious, relying on books and knowledge over instinct. She is played in the movies by Emma Watson.

===Ron Weasley===

'''Ron Weasley''' is one of Harry's two closest friends, and is in the Gryffindor House. He is portrayed as a brave and noble character, however constantly feels overshadowed by Harry's fame and success, leading to a split between the two. They reconcile towards the end of the last book, and remain friends into adulthood. In the movies he is played by Rupert Grint.

===Voldemort===

'''Voldemort''' is the evil Dark Lord and principle antagonist. Like Harry, he went to [[Hogwarts]], unlike Harry he was in Slytherin House. He took possession of a teacher named [[Quirrell]] in the first book in order to steal the sorcerer's stone. In the second book the memory of Voldemort's sixteen year old self, Tom Riddle, unleashes a giant serpent monster on Hogwarts. In the first books of the series he schemes to be resurrected and regain his former power, something which is achieved in the fourth book. He begins building his empire in the final books, however at the height of his new power is slayed by Harry during an epic battle at Hogwarts.

==Secondary Characters==

===Dudley Dursley===

'''Dudley Dursley''' is a cousin of Harry Potter an one of the initial antagonists. He is portrayed as being a sadistic and spoiled bully, who together with his gang victimise a number of children their age, particularly Harry. He does show irregular displays of fear and empathy, and redeems himself at the end of the series by changing his attitude and expressing love towards his cousin.

===Petunia Dursley===

'''Petunia Dursley''' is the aunt and guardian of Harry Potter. Her jealousy of her sister's magic abilities is reflected in the hostile attitude she shows towards her niece in contrast to the loving and over caring relationship with her son.

===Vernon Dursley===

'''Vernon Dursley''' is the uncle and guardian of Harry Potter. He is the owner of a large drill company and, like his wife, displays hostility towards his niece and amorosity towards his son.

===Filius Flitwick===

'''Filius Flitwick''' is head of Ravenclaw House teacher of charms at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An old and short man, he has to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk, however his magical powers are expansive.

===Neville Longbottom===

'''Neville Longbottom''' is in Gryffindor house at Hogwarts. He is a nice boy but is bullied and made fun of by some of the other characters, especially his classmate Draco Malfoy and his sinister teacher Professor Severus Snape. Eventually in the series it is discovered that Lord Voldemort murdered his parents. Neville appears slow, but is actually intelligent. He is great at herbology.

===Draco Malfoy===

'''Draco Malfoy''' is Harry's chief nemesis at their wizard school Hogwarts. He is a villain and a ruthless bully. He comes from a rich family. His father is a supporter of the evil Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents. Draco's favorite teacher is the sinister Severus Snape, who also hates Harry. Draco fights Harry in the battle of Hogwarts in the last book but Harry saves his life from a fire. Draco's first name is Latin for dragon, while his last name is from French "mal foi", literally "bad faith" or "evil faith". His father is named Lucius, which derives from Lucifer, another name for the devil. In the film adaptations of the books Draco Malfoy is played by Tom Felton.

===Lucius Malfoy===

'''Lucius Malfoy''' is a villain and a supporter of the Dark Lord Voldemort, and the father of Harry's classmate and enemy Draco Malfoy. In the Harry Potter films, he is portrayed by Jason Isaacs.

===Minerva McGonagall===

'''Minerva McGonagall''' is the assistant headmistress of Hogwarts. She is head of Gryffindor house and transfiguration teacher. She is usually rather strict but but fair, and is occasionally seen bending the rules in order to achieve a just outcome.

===Pansy Parkinson===

'''Pansy Parkinson''' is a Slytherin student at Hogwarts, who often displays a bullying nature. In the movies she is played by Genivieve Gaunt.

===Professor Quirrell===

'''Professor Quirrell''' is a character in ''[[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone]]'' by [[JK Rowling]]. He speaks in a stutter, and has a timid personality. He also wears a turban. Harry and his friends believe that the sinister Professor [[Severus Snape]] is bullying Quirrell in order to get the Sorcerer's Stone and hand it to the Dark Lord [[Voldemort]].

However when Harry gets past Hagrid's monster and the spells blocking the stone to head Snape off he is surprised to meet Quirrell there, not Snape. Quirrell admits to Harry that he is the person who was trying to give the stone to Voldemort not Snape. He then takes his turban off and reveals that the spirit of Voldemort is on the back of his head and possesses his body. Harry kills Quirrell and Voldemort flees. Harry wakes up the next morning with [[Dumbledore]] in the hospital wing.

===Severus Snape===

'''Severus Snape''' is a Hogwarts teacher. He teaches potions but wants to become Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Snape is also head of Slytherin House, one of the four Hogwarts houses in the series. Snape is a ruthless bully as teacher and hates Harry Potter. He shows favoritism, consistently undermining efforts of students from other houses in his classes while consistently supporting efforts of students from his own house. His favorite student is Harry's nemesis Draco Malfoy. At the end of the series he is murdered by Voldemort.

Though his unsavory qualities are stressed through the majority of the series, Snape is depicted especially in the fifth and seventh books as a sympathetic and even tragic character. It is revealed in the fifth book that he was bullied constantly by James Potter, Harry's father whom Harry had previously thought could do no wrong, and there are hints in the fifth and seventh books that he had a terrible upbringing.

In the seventh book, Snape is arguably the most heroic secondary character. It is shown that, though he was never able to reconcile his intense dislike of James Potter, and he never truly reconciles with Harry, he had consistently put his own life in considerable danger to protect Harry and Hogwarts in general. At the end of book 7, an older Harry says to his son, Albus Severus, that Snape was "probably the bravest man [I] ever knew."

JK Rowling has said that Snape is based on a cruel teacher she had and is intended to illustrate the fact that many teachers abuse their power, which Snape does. He is played in the movies by Alan Rickman.

===Madam Sprout===

'''Madam Sprout''' is the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, and also head of the Hufflepuff house.

[[Category:Harry Potter Universe]]

Frank Zappa

2008-03-30T23:14:21Z

Jgustafson:

'''Frank Zappa''' (1940-1993) was an [[avant-garde]] [[rock]] musician, [[guitar]] player, and [[composer]]. His music spanned a wide range of genres, though he is perhaps best known for his distinctive guitar-driven jams. Social satire also played a central role in nearly all of his music.

A self described "practical conservative," Zappa was a libertarian politically and came close to running on the [[Libertarian Party]] ticket in the [[1988 Presidential Election]]. He was critical of anything he considered conformist, from [[organized religion]] to the [[hippie]] culture that was ascendant around the same time his music began to be. He is also notable for his staunch opposition to [[illegal drugs]], which he maintained throughout his life (though, being a libertarian, he still considered [[drug legalization]] a necessary policy).
== See also ==

* [[PMRC]]

== Links ==

* [http://www.zappa.com/ Official site]

[[Category:Musicians|Zappa, Frank]]

Frank Zappa

2008-03-30T23:13:03Z

Jgustafson:

'''Frank Zappa''' (1940-1993) was an [[avant-garde]] [[rock]] musician, [[guitar]] player, and [[composer]]. His music spanned a wide range of genres, though he is perhaps best known for his distinctive guitar-driven jams. Social satire also played a central role in nearly all of his music.

A self described "practical conservative," Zappa was a libertarian politically and came close to running on the [[Libertarian Party]] ticket in the [[1988 Presidential Election]]. He was critical of anything he considered conformist, from [[organized religion]] to the [[hippie]] culture that was ascendant around the same time his music began to be. He is also notable for his staunch opposition to [[illegal drugs]], which he maintained throughout his life (though, being a libertarian, this was something he maintained mostly for the sake of himself and his various bandmates).

== See also ==

* [[PMRC]]

== Links ==

* [http://www.zappa.com/ Official site]

[[Category:Musicians|Zappa, Frank]]