no laughing matter

former soviet republic kazakhstan is not happy with sasha baron cohen's borat, threatening legal action. i understand the disdain for stereotypical, negative jokes at the expense of a group of people

Cohen's earlier jokes about the Central Asian state include claims that the people would shoot a dog and then have a party, and that local wine was made from fermented horse urine.

the foreign minister's rhetoric may be a bit overheated

"We do not rule out that Mr. Cohen is serving someone's political order designed to present Kazakhstan and its people in a derogatory way," Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news briefing.

while that may be a bit much, i don't necessarily like the idea of someone profiting by denigrating another (the basis for my hatred of shows like punk'd)

¶ - nitish @ 2:44 PM