From Hitler to Mother Teresa: 6 Degrees of
Empathy
Simon Baron-Cohen proposes that evil can be is more
scientifically defined as an absence of empathy, made worse
by negative parental and societal factors, with a genetic
component.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/science/14scibks.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha210

You have been awarded 1 Power Point for fixing the embed code for Dead Pool video The Adventures of Baron Munchausen: the best part (?). Thank you for helping maintain VideoSift's reliability.

Ha! Maybe I'll re-watch it as well! My first guess was that they were in the big fish, but Eric Idle looks too young for that. Another thought is that it is from the play in the 'real world.' Backstage or something. It's definitely a scene with Sarah Polley... oh well. Hopefully we find out soon!
In reply to this comment by arvana:
Unfortunately I can't remember either! Guess I'll have to watch the whole movie again and see if I recognize the screenshot.

In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
*dead. Unfortunately I can't tell which part of the movie this clip is from to find a backup

Unfortunately I can't remember either! Guess I'll have to watch the whole movie again and see if I recognize the screenshot.

In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
*dead. Unfortunately I can't tell which part of the movie this clip is from to find a backup

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

The robber barons of America's past abused power in a way far more like what Stewart is whining about here. They ran roughshod over people, and there were no laws to stop them. A good thing happened, and the people forced government to pass laws that allowed government to regulate such abuses. It was a good thing.

Yes, so let's do that again. We just need to roll back the robber barons' acquisition of government. They took it over in the immediate aftermath of the progressive era in the early 20th century -- by 1929 they basically ran Washington, just like now.

Back then, people demanded a New Deal, and got one. We had an era of real growth, where the resulting prosperity was relatively equally shared. The rising tide really did raise all boats. Not because businesses were more kindhearted, but because we had strong unions, and regulators who saw their job as actually regulating business.

Then Ronald Reagan came along, and it became Mourning in America. Unions got systematically broken up and destroyed. Business was welcomed into Washington with open arms, and allowed to write regulation. An anti-Fed objectivist became chairman of the Fed. Taxes for the rich were slashed, so were benefits to the poor. Everyone (who matters) wins!

Now we're getting a Great Depression of our own, and it looks like instead of us getting a New Deal, the robber barons are. More union busting, more tax cuts for the rich, more deregulation, and all so we can "compete" with authoritarian dictatorships that run sweatshops, by setting up our own here at home.

The real issue is that no matter how much chaff guys like Stewart fill the discussion with - the cost of doing business in the US is higher than almost anywhere else. This high cost causes businesses to go to places where they can get a higher benefit to cost. The company I work for would love to do more business locally, but getting the exact same stuff from a US location costs millions more than getting the stuff from China. So we have a plant in China because it is bucoup cheaper.

The fact that GE (and others) get their taxes down to 0% (or -60% whatever) is not a problem indemic to corporations. Companies do nothing more than attempt to get the lowest operating cost they can got, which results in the highest profits. There's nothing wrong with that. A company that manages to get a -60% tax rate is doing nothing but playing the game well with the board that we're all on.

The real problem is GOVERNMENT - particularly the Federal government. The robber barons of America's past abused power in a way far more like what Stewart is whining about here. They ran roughshod over people, and there were no laws to stop them. A good thing happened, and the people forced government to pass laws that allowed government to regulate such abuses. It was a good thing.

But as with all human endeavors, a the pendulum once it starts swinging in a direction tends to keep going way past the point where it was prudent or useful. Government now has so much power that it is in a position where it is literally PICKING winners and losers in the marketplace.

It is no accident that GE is getting such sweetheart deals. They donated to the right people, and support the 'right' political things (green energy, Obama, etc...) so they have been rewarded by their political allies. It is modern-day corporate patronage in full nakedness. GM is another example. They're playing money out to the right people, and so they get billions in government money despite the fact that not a single citizen VOTED for them to get so much as a red penny.

Companies aren't stupid. They know all too well that in today's environment a profitable year, a good quarterly report, or the ability to expand operations is more dependant on the whims of politicians than any other concern. Obama yesterday gave the corn growers of the US about the biggest gift they've ever had, while at the same time stomping on oil, coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuel companies. That wasn't a COMPANY issue. That is GOVERNMENT entering the mix and picking and choosing who succeeds and who fails.

The only way this kind of outragousness is ever going to end is if you weaken government's power to write tax code. What good does fixing the tax code do when the same government can change it tomorrow to make it so a favored political donor doesn't have to follow it?

Problem is not companies and big profits. Problem is GOVERNMENT. As with so many other problems, the solution is severely weaken government power.

Jesus QM, my mind is just brimming with the list of ideas that have, "worked in the past".

This is just one issue out of many, but the Wisconsin union thing is just bullshit. You've just aligned yourself against firefighters, policemen, and now farmers by taking that position. In fact, the only people you're really siding with seem to be a handful of the governor's friends who are mostly from places way nicer for a rich person to live than Wisconsin.

People have a right to have an organization to protect them, even from the state. (which I realize, yes, is redundant) And the facts are now out. The state of Wisconsin pays a small amount of accrued interest on retirement accounts for teachers. And even then, that's only if they're wrong in calculating the promised interest that the state accountants estimate. College educated public employees make an average of 25% less than their private sector counter-parts. And on the whole public employees in general make around 6% less than private sector workers in the state.

So the state all in all, is doing a pretty good job already at keeping the teacher's union at bay. And for what? A tiny amount of the state's budget. I know you said in an earlier post that liberals view things in terms of rich vs poor and you view them in terms of wrong vs right. Quite frankly, I don't really see the difference. Even the robber barons that built the railroads paid more into the system than their modern, self-important venture capitalists do now-a-days. Sheesh.

Moore - despite his rampant hypocrisy - makes a valid point in the sense that capitalism has become corrupted. Back in the late 19th and early 20th century the robber barons controlled government, and made laws so they could do whatever they wanted. Then the progressive movement worked to establish a vertical wall around powerful centralized government as a means of countering crony capitalism's unholy domination of the weak federal government. Also, they established & promoted unions as a means of increasing worker power and bettering their conditions.

But as with anything, incresed power in a sector of society results in corruption. Unions were rapidly overtaken with corrupt leaders. The more powerful federal government VERY quickly became corrupt and open to bribery, graft, waste, and 'outside-in' crony capitalism in collusion with unions. We are in a position today where the federal government has become so powerful, so corrupt, and so out of touch that it is as bad as the robber barons ever were.

Corrupt corporations & industries know where the power is, and smear money around Washington to get laws that favor their objectives. Without the corrupt federal government, the repeal of Glass-Steagall would have been impossible, and America could have entirely avoided the housing bubble and resulting collapse. Without corrupt unions and their evil alliances with government, we could have entirely avoided all these "unfunded liabilities" that are crushing our budgets.

Moore is right. We aren't broke. There is 4 trillion dollars we the people can take away from the corrupt federal government. There is also as mucha s 16 trillion dollars we can take away from lousy contracts with corrupt unions. We can balance our budgets in a year by cutting federal spending so that it is ONLY allowed for consitutionally mandated functions like defense. We can balance state budges by voiding every single union contract ever written, eliminating preposterous 'for life' benefits, and starting over with logical, limited, VOTER APPROVED contracts where unions are taken out of the equation completely.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'mtv' to 'mtv movie awards, 2007, will ferrell, sacha baron cohen' - edited by Stingray

Palin's list of targeted Democrats: Ann Kirkpatrick (Arizona), Harry E. Mitchell (Arizona), Gabrielle Giffords (Arizona), John Salazar (Colorado), Betsy Markey (Colorado). Allen Boyd (Florida), Suzanne M. Kosmas (Florida), Baron P. Hill (Indiana), Earl Pomeroy (Alabama), Charlie Wilson (Ohio), John Boccieri (Ohio), Kathy Dahlkemper (Pennsylvania), Christopher Carney (Pennsylvania), John M. Spratt, Jr. (South Carolina), Tom Perriello (Virginia), Alan B. Mollohan (West Virginia), and Nick J. Rahall II (West Virginia).

Interesting page on her website.: http://giffords.house.gov/2010/10/us-rep-gabrielle-giffords-calls-for-foreclosure-moratorium.shtml

This might not be related, but consider other people who have stood up to banks: Rod Blagojevich, Eliot Spitzer, Julian Assange, Paul Wellstone.

It would be interesting to compare the rest of the targets on Sarah Palin's hit list: Ann Kirkpatrick (Arizona), Harry E. Mitchell (Arizona), Gabrielle Giffords (Arizona), John Salazar (Colorado), Betsy Markey (Colorado). Allen Boyd (Florida), Suzanne M. Kosmas (Florida), Baron P. Hill (Indiana), Earl Pomeroy (Alabama), Charlie Wilson (Ohio), John Boccieri (Ohio), Kathy Dahlkemper (Pennsylvania), Christopher Carney (Pennsylvania), John M. Spratt, Jr. (South Carolina), Tom Perriello (Virginia), Alan B. Mollohan (West Virginia), and Nick J. Rahall II (West Virginia).

[edit: These people were targeted because of healthcare politics and geographic vulnerability and the shooter seems to be a lone nutjob. I'm withdrawing my conspiracy theory.]

Interesting page on her website.: http://giffords.house.gov/2010/10/us-rep-gabrielle-giffords-calls-for-foreclosure-moratorium.shtml

Other people who have stood up to banks: Rod Blagojevich, Eliot Spitzer, Julian Assange, Paul Wellstone.

It would be interesting to compare and contrast the rest of the targets on Sarah Palin's hit list: http://i.imgur.com/gs0t7.jpg

Targeted Democrats: Ann Kirkpatrick (Arizona), Harry E. Mitchell (Arizona), Gabrielle Giffords (Arizona), John Salazar (Colorado), Betsy Markey (Colorado). Allen Boyd (Florida), Suzanne M. Kosmas (Florida), Baron P. Hill (Indiana), Earl Pomeroy (Alabama), Charlie Wilson (Ohio), John Boccieri (Ohio), Kathy Dahlkemper (Pennsylvania), Christopher Carney (Pennsylvania), John M. Spratt, Jr. (South Carolina), Tom Perriello (Virginia), Alan B. Mollohan (West Virginia), and Nick J. Rahall II (West Virginia).

[edit: These people were targeted because of healthcare politics and geographic vulnerability and the shooter seems to be a lone nutjob. I'm withdrawing my bank conspiracy theory.]

Gorillaman,

You have never lived in a society that didn't have a constitution and a bill of rights. You have never lived in a society without labor protections, food and safety protections, health protections and environmental protections. You have never lived in a society that did not have democratic foundations. Democracy has been so successful in improving the general quality of life, that you take its many accomplishments for granted.

You don't seem to understand either concept, democracy or fascism, which is likely due to current corporate media narratives that attempt to link the two. Does it not arouse your suspicion that this line of thought is being pushed on you by the people at the top? Do you not see any ulterior motives? Do you understand that governments in pre-democratic times were generally plutocracies? Kings. Barons. Lords. Dictators. Czars. Do you understand that over the last few decades, our democracy, while under the influence of anti-democratic rhetoric and neo-liberal deregulation, has been steadily shifting towards plutocracy, and that the underclasses have taken many steps down the road to serfdom the neo-liberalism was supposed to prevent? Democracy, though not perfect, has been a successful challenger to plutocracy, which is why so many dollars are being spent to subvert, stifle and eliminate it. Do you really want to return to pre-democratic times? Your media sources do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

I love some of Gilliam's work (Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, Time Bandits), like some of it (The Fisher King, Baron Munchausen) and really disliked one enough to stop watching it (Brothers Grimm).

I love some of Kubrik's work (Full Metal Jacket, Clockwork Orange) like some of it (2001), hate others (Eye's Wide Shut)

I love some of Speilberg's work (Indiana Jones 1-3, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, Minority Report, Hook, 'Poltergeist' as he pretty much directed it), like some of it (Close Encounters, ET, Always), but there's nothing I have seen of his that I hate, in fact the closest I've got is with AI, even though I loved to death some of the decayed robot stuff. (Indiana Jones was close to me hating it, but really only the end really shits me)

I love Speilberg's work as he has quite the diverse catalogue and really hits it out of the park more often than not.

Maybe the fact that I don't really hate any of his work demonstrates that he is 'safe' and doesn't challenge you.

I have not seen the entire catalogue of any of these directors, but they are all superb, all different and all have made amazing contributions to the artform of cinema.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

At least forcing corporations to have to take that extra step by bribing the government slows them down a little. Deregulation just cuts out the middle man.
Corporations will do what they please with or without a corrupt government standing in its way. The only way to break the cycle would be major campaign finance reform and the reversal of the mind-bogglingly corrupt and unethical 5 to 4 Supreme Court ruling that gives corporations unlimited, anonymous influence over our electoral process.


Doesn't that just place the power into the hands of people who can throw you in jail though? I mean, a robber baron might be able to rip you off, but he can't lock you up...or fine you for not buying his product. Governments tend to be one of the main factors in companies abilities to gain captured audiences as well. Like what I consider the first big monopoly of a non-natural resource was the East India Company, which was a government sanctioned monopoly. In our current day, some of the most power forces on the planet started as government sanctioned monopolies..and some still are; the cable and phone companies. Sure they got broken up once or twice, but states and municipalities still make it illegal in many areas to run new cable. As a result, their power blossomed into the media super giants that control a great deal of the worlds information. That power is slowly being undermined by things like NPR, Real News Network, and various other small label news outlets.

My main point is that government intervention has the guise of being the only solution to social problems of domination by wealth. But in reality, you are only trading domination of wealth for domination of liberty AND wealth...over time. The entropy of that system is worse than of us getting pissed at the railroads, and either using and developing new technology or bocotting, ect.