It has been suggested that Noocracy be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2011.

Aristocracy (Greek ἀριστοκρατία aristokratía, from ἄριστος aristos "excellent," and κράτος kratos "power"), is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule.^[1] The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best".^[2] In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy. In later times, aristocracy was usually seen as rule by a privileged group (the aristocratic class), and contrasted with democracy.^[1]

Concept[link]

The concept evolved in Ancient Greece, whereby a council of famous citizens was commonly used and contrasted with "direct monarchy" in which an individual king held the power. The Greeks did not like the concept of monarchy, and as their democratic system fell, aristocracy was upheld.^[1]

In Rome, the Republic consisted of an aristocracy as well as consuls, a senate, and a tribal assembly. Later, aristocracies primarily consisted of an elite aristocratic class, privileged by birth and often by wealth. Since the French Revolution, aristocracy has generally been contrasted with democracy, in which all citizens hold some form of political power. However this distinction is often oversimplified.

In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes describes an aristocracy as a commonwealth in which the representative of the citizens is an assembly by part. Simply put, a government when only a certain part of the general public can represent the public.

Modern depictions of aristocracy regard it not as a legitimate aristocracy (rule by the best) but rather as a plutocracy (rule by the wealthy).

Advocates of aristocracy[link]

• John Calvin
• G. K. Chesterton
• Julius Evola
• Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer
• Heraclitus
• D. H. Lawrence
• Joseph de Maistre
• Charles Maurras
• John Maynard Keynes^{[citation needed]}
• Arthur Moeller van den Bruck
• Friedrich Nietzsche
• José Ortega y Gasset
• Plato
• Oswald Spengler
• Alexis de Tocqueville
• Theodor Herzl
• Charles Baudelaire

See also[link]

conservatism portal

• Gentry
• Nobility
• Old Money

Notes[link]

References[link]

• History, John Cannon (Editor), Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-19-866176-4

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

Gilbert Gottfried
Gottfried at the Writers Guild of America East Solidarity Rally in Washington Square in 2007
Born	(1955-02-28) February 28, 1955 (age 57) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, film, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1980–present
Genres	Satire, crude humor, blue comedy, improvisational comedy, black comedy, insult comedy
Subject(s)	Religion, race relations, racism, pop culture, sex
Spouse	Dara Kravitz (2007–present)
Notable works and roles	Saturday Night Live Comedy Central Roasts Host of USA Up All Night Mr. Peabody in Problem Child Iago in Aladdin Digit in Cyberchase Aflac Duck in the Aflac commercials

Gilbert Gottfried (born February 28, 1955) is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice.^[1] He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin (1992), and co-starred in the Problem Child movies. He is also known for voicing Digit in the children's cartoon/educational math-based show Cyberchase, the Aflac duck until 2011 and Marley the alligator in Winnie the Pooh.

Early life[link]

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1955, Gottfried is the youngest of three children.^[2][3]

Career[link]

Early career (1980–1994)[link]

At age fifteen, Gilbert Gottfried began doing amateur stand-up in New York City and, after a few years, became known^{[by whom?]} as "the comedian's comedian."^[4] In 1980, the popular NBC late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live was being retooled with a new staff and new comedians; the producers noticed Gottfried and hired him as a cast member. During the 1980–1981 season, Gottfried's persona in SNL sketches was very different from his later characterization: he rarely (if ever) spoke in his trademark screeching, obnoxious voice and never squinted. During his 12-episode stint, he was given very little airtime and seldom used in sketches. Gottfried recalls a low point was having to play a corpse in a sketch about a sports organist hired to play inappropriate music at a funeral. Despite this, he had one recurring character (Leo Waxman, husband to Denny Dillon's Pinky Waxman on the recurring talk show sketch, "What's It All About?") and two celebrity impersonations: David A. Stockman and controversial film director Roman Polanski.

Although not a regular, he also appeared in the short-lived 1992 TV series The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys and voiced crazed dentist "Dr. Bender" and his son Wendell on the show The Fairly OddParents and the voice of Jerry the Belly Button Elf on Ren and Stimpy. He is notably known for his voice-overs as ducks or other birds—when asked how he prepared for his role of Iago in Aladdin, he said "I did the whole DeNiro thing. I moved to South America! I lived in the trees!" He was the host of the Saturday edition of USA Up All Night. Rhonda Shear hosted the Friday version.

Voice acting, television and films (1999–2001)[link]

Gottfried at the 1991 Emmy Awards

He also appeared as a semi-regular in the most recent version of Hollywood Squares. He is best remembered for a 1999 episode in which a single round of play took up the entire half-hour. The contestants had each won four stars/squares, leaving Gottfried as the last square available. Because either player could win upon capturing Gottfried's square, they could not win on their competitor's wrong response and had to win it themselves. The contestants alternated agreeing or disagreeing about whether Gottfried was bluffing an answer—and missed six consecutive tries. Five of those times he admonished the contestant with an increasingly incredulous "YOU FOOL!", mimicking Penn Jillette and his partner Teller. The seventh time he and the contestant agreed, and they finally won the square and the game. This segment has been featured on game show blooper programs and it is popular on YouTube.

Gottfried has provided the voice of the duck in the AFLAC commercials and Digit in the math-mystery cartoon Cyberchase on PBS Kids GO!, as well as the magical imp Mr. Mxyzptlk on Superman: The Animated Series. He also played a nasty wisecracking criminal genius named "Nick-Nack" who used toys to commit crimes on two episodes of the TV series Superboy (he also co-wrote an issue of the tie-in Superboy: The Comic Book which featured the origin of his character, Nick-Nack). Gottfried made regular appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Recent work (2004–present)[link]

In 2004 Comedy Central featured his stand up material for an animated series called Shorties Watchin' Shorties.^[5] Gottfried was part of an online advertising campaign for Microsoft's Office XP software, showing, in a series of Flash-animated cartoons, that the Clippy office assistant would be removed. In 2006, Gottfried topped the Boston Phoenix's tongue-in-cheek list of the world's 100 Unsexiest Men. In April 2006, Gottfried performed with the University of Pennsylvania's Mask and Wig Club in their annual Intercollegiate Comedy Festival. Also in 2006, he made an appearance on the Let's Make a Deal portion of Gameshow Marathon (as a baby in a large high chair, he says "Hey Ricki, I think I need my diaper changed!"), and in the Dodge Viper in the big deal (where he tells the contestants "What were you thinking?!" because neither one picked it). He also guest-starred in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy as Santa Claus in the one-hour Christmas Special. He voiced Rick Platypus in an episode of My Gym Partner's a Monkey entitled "That Darn Platypus". Furthermore, Gottfried appeared as Peter's horse in an episode of Family Guy entitled "Boys Do Cry". He also guest-starred in Hannah Montana as Barny Bittmen. In January 2009, Gottfried worked again with David Faustino for an episode of Faustino's show Star-ving.^[6] In 2011, Gottfried appeared in the episode "Lost Traveler" on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Leo Gerber, a sarcastic computer professional working for the NYPD's Technical Assistance Response Unit, which producer Warren Leight said could become a recurring character.^[7]

Controversy[link]

9/11 joke[link]

During his monologue at a Friars Club roast of Hugh Hefner three weeks after the September 11 attacks, Gottfried joked that he had intended to catch a plane, but couldn't get a direct flight because "they said they have to stop at the Empire State Building first." This was one of the first public examples of 9/11 humor. Audience members responded with hisses and a cry of "Too soon!". Gottfried then abandoned his prepared remarks and launched into the venerable Aristocrats joke, winning back the audience.^[8] Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza used Gottfried's monologue as a segment in their 2005 film, The Aristocrats.^[9]

Japanese tsunami jokes[link]

In March 2011, Gottfried made jokes on his Twitter account in reference to the earthquake disaster in Japan. He later deleted the tweets and apologized. Aflac, which does 75% of its business in Japan, dismissed Gottfried on March 14, 2011 and announced a casting call for his replacement as the voice of its duck mascot.^[10] He was replaced by Daniel McKeague on April 26, 2011.^[11]

Filmography[link]

• Saturday Night Live: various sketches (1980–1981)
• Beverly Hills Cop II: Sidney Bernstein (1987)
• Hot to Trot: Dentist (1988)
• The Adventures of Ford Fairlane: Johnny Crunch (1990)
• Look Who's Talking Too: Joey (1990)
• Superboy: Nick-Nack (1990)
• Problem Child: Mr. Peabody (1990)
• Problem Child 2: Mr. Peabody (1991)
• Night Court (TV series): as Oscar Brown (1991)
• Aladdin: Iago the Parrot (voice) (1992)
• Highway to Hell: Hitler (1992)
• Bonkers: Two-Bits (1993–1995)
• Problem Child (TV series): Mr. Peabody (1993)
• The Return of Jafar: Iago the Parrot (voice) (1994)
• Thumbelina: Berkeley Beetle (voice) (1994)
• Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas: Burt Banner (1994)
• Double Dragon (1994)
• Beavis and Butthead: Gus Baker (1994)
• "The Ren and Stimpy Show" Jerry the Bellybutton Elf/ Porkchop Monster (voice) (1994)
• Duckman: (recurring role) Art DeSalvo (1994–1997)
• Married... With Children: Ship Happens: Part 2 (1995)
• Adventures in Wonderland (TV series) : Mike McNasty (1995)
• Problem Child 3: Junior in Love: Dr. Peabody (1995)
• The Cosby Show patient (1987)
• Bump in the Night: Stink Bug (1995)
• Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat: Additional Characters (1995–1996)
• Aladdin (TV series): Iago the Parrot (1994–1995)
• Aladdin and the King of Thieves: Iago the Parrot (1996)
• Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Roy (1996)
• In the House: Mr. Comstock (1996)
• Superman: The Animated Series: Mr Mxyzptlk (1996–2000)
• Adventures from the Book of Virtues (1996)
• Big Bag (Troubles the Cat segment) (1996)
• Def Jam's How to Be a Player (1997)
• Bear in the Big Blue House: Large Possum (voice) (1997)
• Noddy: Jack Frost (1998)
• Hercules: Cilon (1998)
• Dr. Dolittle: Compulsive Dog (voice) (1998)
• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (TV series): As himself in episodes 503 and 506 (1999)
• Clerks: The Animated Series: the voice of Jerry Seinfeld and Patrick Swayze (2000)
• Mad TV: special appearance, one episode (1997)
• Timon & Pumbaa (TV series): The Woodpecker
• Fairly Odd Parents: Dr. Bender/Wendel (2001–2005)
• Disney's House of Mouse and Mickey's House of Villains: Iago the Parrot
• Kingdom Hearts: Iago the Parrot (2002)
• Kingdom Hearts II: Iago the Parrot (2006)
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – Season 3, Episode: Last Laugh:Comic (2003)
• Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Duck (2004)
• Celebrity Deathmatch :As himself in episode Gottfried in the Arena
• Cyberchase: Digit and Widget (2002–present)
• The Aristocrats (2005)
• Back by Midnight (2002): Security Guard
• Becker: A plastic surgeon
• Meet Wally Sparks: Harry Karp
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: various sketches
• Son of the Beach: Noccus Johnstein in both "Chip's A Goy" and Hamm Stroker's Suck My Blood:(2002)
• VH1's Celebrity Paranormal Project and I Love Toys
• Billy and Mandy Save Christmas: Santa Claus (voice)
• Farce of the Penguins: "I'm Freezing My Nuts Off" penguin (voice) (2007)
• Family Guy: Peter's horse (voice)
• My Gym Partner's a Monkey: Rick Platypus (voice)
• El Tigre:The Adventures of Manny Rivera: El Cerdo (voice)
• Hannah Montana Season 2 Episode "(We're So Sorry) Uncle Earl": Barney Bitman (2008)
• VH1's I Love the New Millennium 4 Episodes (2008)
• The Emperor's New School 2.season 11 Episodes (12.03.2007)
• The Comedy Central Roast: Bob Saget (2008)
• The Replacements: Himself (2008)
• Back at the Barnyard: Barn Buddy (2008)
• Gilbert Gottfried: Dirty Jokes (1 hour Showtime Special) (2008) – live stand-up performance in Manhattan, NY. Gottfried promises 'the dirtiest joke ever told'
• The Lindabury Story (2009)
• The View – Horny the Dwarf (Joy's Month in ReView)
• The Weird Al Show: himself
• Pyramid: Himself (Celebrity Guest)
• Hollywood Squares: Himself (Regular)
• The Comedy Central Roast: Joan Rivers (2009)
• Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy Himself (2009)
• Back at the Barnyard: Security System (2009)
• Jack and the Beanstalk (2010 Film): Grayson (2010)
• 'Til Death Guest starred as Tommy (2010)
• Stripperland (2010)
• The Comedy Central Roast: David Hasselhoff (2010)
• Robotomy: Tickle Me Psycho (2010)
• The Comedy Central Roast: Donald Trump (2011)
• Law & Order: SVU (2011)
• Winnie the Pooh: Marley the friendly alligator (2011)

Commercials[link]

• Aflac: Voice of the Aflac Duck (2000–2011)
• ShoeDini (voiceover): The ShoeDini is, as he describes it in the commercial, "a shoe horn on a stick."
• Public Service Announcement: He is the voice of Seymour Smoke, the talking smoke detector.
• Voiced the talking shadow puppet mascot in a series of Subway commercials in 2000.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Gilbert Gottfried at the Internet Movie Database
• The Official Site of Gilbert Gottfried

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2008)

Annie Mac
Annie Mac DJing in Brighton
Birth name	Annie MacManus
Born	(1978-07-18) July 18, 1978 (age 33) Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Show	Annie Mac
Station(s)	BBC Radio 1
Time slot	7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Friday
Show	Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac (Co-presented with Nick Grimshaw)
Station(s)	BBC Radio 1
Time slot	10:00pm - Midnight Sunday
Style	Dance & Entertainment
Country	Ireland/United Kingdom
Website	anniemacpresents.com

Annie Mac (born Annie MacManus; 18 July 1978 in Dublin) is an Irish DJ and television presenter who hosts an eponymous electronic dance music show on BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom which airs at 7:00 pm on Friday evenings as well as a Sunday evening show alongside co-presenter Nick Grimshaw.

Personal life[link]

Annie Mac was born in Dublin, Ireland. She studied English Literature at Queens University, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Annie lives in London with her boyfriend, fellow club and Radio 1 DJ, Toddla T.^[1] Her brother, Davey McManus, was the lead singer and guitarist in The Crocketts.

Career[link]

Annie currently hosts a number of shows on Radio 1. Her main show, Annie Mac's Mash Up, airs 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Friday nights. She also hosted BBC Switch with Nick Grimshaw on Sunday evenings from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm until 21 March 2010. After this date they moved to 10:00pm - midnight with a new show simply called Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac. She is currently one of only two presenters on the station to present shows in both the specialist and entertainment sector, the other being Huw Stephens.

A popular feature of Annie Mac's Mash Up is the Annie Mac Mini Mix, an opportunity to showcase various DJs ability to produce a five minute mix with other DJs. The Mini mix was also a feature of her previous show on a Thursday night. As well as her own Friday show, Annie also covers for other Radio 1 shows. She is a regular stand in for Zane Lowe's show. In 2009 Annie won the Best female award at the drum and bass awards for her contribution to the promotion of this genre of music.

Annie makes regular appearances as a feature presenter on BBC Two's The Culture Show, giving her opinions on the latest music offerings.^[2] She appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in January 2006 and she co-presented Top Of The Pops on 18 June 2006 with Reggie Yates and on 11 July 2006 with Rufus Hound in a T in the Park special. Annie has also filled in for Zane Lowe on his Gonzo show on MTV2. She regularly DJs at clubs such as Fabric London, Moles Club in Bath, Digital in Brighton and university venues such as Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and Aston University. She also recently appeared on ITV Comedy, FM, as herself.

On 18 February 2007 BBC Radio 1 launched their first video podcast or vodcast. It featured Annie on a backstage tour around the Radio 1 buildings. This has since been stopped, however there is now a podcast of the Mini Mix.

She has also presented Other Voices for RTÉ Two.^[3]

In September 2009, Mac released her first compilation album, Annie Mac Presents, followed in the two years since by Annie Mac Presents 2010 and Annie Mac Presents 2011.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Annie Mac at BBC Programmes
• Nick Grimshaw & Annie Mac at BBC Programmes
• Annie Mac on Twitter
• Annie Mac on Myspace
• Annie Mac's channel on YouTube
• More Than The Music - Annie Mac (Tess Askew)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. It includes attribution to IMDb, which may not be a reliable source for biographical information. Please help by adding additional, reliable sources for verification. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2008)

Jeff Rense is an American conspiracy theorist and radio talk-show host of the Jeff Rense Program, broadcast on US satellite radio via Republic Broadcasting Network (RBN) and Internet radio.^[1]

Rense's radio program and website, Rense.com, cover subjects such as 9/11 conspiracy theories,^[2] UFO reporting, paranormal phenomena, Holocaust denial,^[3] Zionism, tracking of new diseases and possible resultant pandemics, environmental concerns (see chemtrails), animal rights, possible evidence of advanced ancient technology, geopolitical developments and emergent energy technologies, complementary and alternative medicine among other subjects.

Rense's show has been accused of being among "conspiracy-oriented Internet radio shows that often feature antisemites and extremists" by the Anti-Defamation League.^[4]

Biographical information[link]

Rense was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Southern California. Rense worked as a television news reporter, producer and anchor for Santa Barbara's ABC affiliate, KEYT-TV. He performed the same duties for two TV stations in the Northwest in the early to mid-1980s, chiefly Oregon NBC affiliate KOBI-TV, where he spent several years. He left the business after jobs in Oregon and at a Las Vegas, Nevada television stations. Later, Rense returned to Santa Barbara and opened several "All About Pets" stores, which he sold in the early-1990s. Rense hosts a web site on the music and life of tenor Mario Lanza. In 2007, 3 CDs of rare recordings of Mario Lanza's were released which Rense produced.^[5]

Radio show[link]

Rense first tried his hand at radio while an education major at the University of California Santa Barbara. Sometime in 1994 Rense decided to self-finance his own radio show and approached Santa Barbara radio station KTMS with his idea for a talk radio show. The web stream radio show was originally known as "Sightings on the Radio", by agreement with actor/producer Henry Winkler, who was producing the syndicated television show "Sightings" (TV series 1992–1997).^[6] The radio show was web broadcast at the web address www.sightings.com. About the year 2000, all reference to "Sightings" was dropped, and the new web site www.rense.com was introduced. The show is broadcast live over radio networks, satellite radio and the internet.

The show was originally distributed by Premiere Radio Networks, but was dropped in the late 1990s. Genesis Communications Network took over distribution at that time, and carried the show through August 2009, at which point he pulled the show from the network after he accused fellow GCN host Alex Jones of terrorizing his family.^[7] Rense is currently broadcasting via the similarly themed Republic Broadcasting Network.

Show topics & previous guests[link]

Two recurring themes on the Rense show are a general mistrust of the establishment (ranging from the right-wing to President Barack Obama), and a range of theories about who was behind the September 11 attacks on the New York World Trade Center in 2001. Regular guests include conspiracy theorists, geopolitical experts, ufologists, and have included Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, The Political Cesspool host James Edwards, Jordan Maxwell, and Devvy Kidd. One of Rense's favourite guests is paranormal expert Brad Steiger, who is also a personal friend of Rense. Rense has also interviewed controversial South African journalist Jani Allan^[8] and ex-Zimbabwean Jan Lamprecht, who became a regular commentator.^{[citation needed]}

Books[link]

Rense authored the 1997 book "AIDS Exposed" (BioAlert press, ISBN 0-9648989-0-X).^[9]

Notes[link]

1. ^ James B., Meigs (2006). "The Conspiracy Industry". Popular Mechanics. Hearst Communications, Inc.. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4199607.html. Retrieved 2007-02-14. 
2. ^ http://www.adl.org/terrorism_america/
3. ^ http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/4199607.html?page=4
4. ^ "Ted Pike/National Prayer Network - Affiliations". Anti-Demafation League. http://www.adl.org/Learn/Ext_US/pike/affiliations.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=2&item=tp. "[Pike] has been a guest on the Tennessee-based radio show, "The Political Cesspool," on which neo-Nazis and white supremacists regularly appear. Additionally, Pike has appeared on conspiracy-oriented Internet radio shows that often feature anti-Semites and extremists, including the “Jeff Rense Program”" 
5. ^ Mario Lanza
6. ^ "Sightings" (1992)
7. ^ http://www.dailypaul.com/node/88061
8. ^ http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20040620111324523C719376
9. ^ Willamette Week | “THE TRUTH IS UP THERE” | September 26th, 2001

References[link]

• Silva, Veronica C. "Cyberspace: Host to Host". BusinessWorld (Philippines). 4 September 1997. p. 18.

External links[link]

• Jeff Rense Program - Official site, Rense.com.