January 22, 2003

Bigotry of a Teachers Union

Bigotry of a Teachers Union The New Jersey Education Association, a Teachers Union, has a website that contains brochures called "Getting Involved in Your Child's School." It comes in three versions: English, Spanish, and African-American. [more inside]
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 11:49 PM PST - 58 comments

Bill Mauldin, Cartoonist

Cartoonist Bill Mauldin Dead at 81. Mauldin was the creator of the every-GIs Willie and Joe during WWII and twice won the Pulitzer Prize.
posted by turbodog at 11:23 PM PST - 11 comments

The tardblog

The tardblog is both funny, witty and entertaining but at the same time makes you feel dirty for reading it. Equally loved and hated by her readers, "Riti Sped" and her adventures as a special needs teacher are fascinating.
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 8:50 PM PST - 53 comments

Van Gogh's Letters,

Van Gogh's Letters unabridged & annotated. Searchable by topic or keyword.
posted by jragon at 7:59 PM PST - 12 comments

X-Men declared nonhuman

Judge rules: X-Men are not human. Prof. Xavier could not be reached for comment.
posted by Tlogmer at 7:29 PM PST - 19 comments

Serratia Marcesens and Project 112

Project 112 was a secret, cold-war era project to determine vulnerabilities of US warships to various chemical and biological attacks. While lots is known about what happened, there's still a lot of information that hasn't been released yet. In the early 1950s, the US Army sprayed the bacteria Serratia Marcesens over San Francisco. While the government thought that it was safe, many people ended up checking into the hospital. One elderly man even died as a result of the US testing chemical and biological agents against it's own citizens.
posted by manero at 6:41 PM PST - 4 comments

Are you ready?

On Saturday owners of .org domains will have a new registry, the Public Interest Registry. After winning the .org registry away from Verisign, PIR (a creation of the Internet Society (ISOC)) promises to be more responsive to the non-commercial needs of Internet users, which is ostensibly what the .org is all about. Info from ISOC on the bid and other related items here, some grumbling about ISOC's methods by the losing bidders here. Will .org return to its roots with this change, or business as usual?
posted by WolfDaddy at 5:47 PM PST - 16 comments

New Yorker fiction

Back in the time of which I am speaking, due to our Coordinators had mandated us, we had all seen that educational video of "It's Yours to Do With What You Like!" in which teens like ourselfs speak on the healthy benefits of getting off by oneself and doing what one feels like in terms of self-touching, which what we learned from that video was, there is nothing wrong with self-touching, because love is a mystery but the mechanics of love need not be, so go off alone, see what is up, with you and your relation to your own gonads, and the main thing is, just have fun, feeling no shame!"
posted by semmi at 5:11 PM PST - 21 comments

2001 explained.

The most incredible use of Flash I've seen...so far. This site explains 2001: A Space Odyssey in a way that wouldn't have been possible before the Internet. I highly recommend broadband for full enjoyment, however. Sighted by the Presurfer.
posted by Lynsey at 5:08 PM PST - 42 comments

Virtual Journalist

Virtual Journalist, experience the challenges of working in the liberal media. Fun but the politics are a bit heavy handed. [flash required]
posted by bobo123 at 5:01 PM PST - 5 comments

Is there Life on Mars?

Is there Life on Mars? As NASA announce a nuclear-powered Mars and beyond project, British scientists are looking forward to the launch of the Beagle 2 which will search for signs of life on the Red Planet. Is this the return of the Space Race in a new form? And will they find any sign of life?
posted by anyanka at 4:36 PM PST - 3 comments

Easy Money

Easy Money. "My basic theory can be summed up in the following few words: "In that part of this world that we are unable to experience, 'True Suction' does exist." "I will pay two thousand dollars to the first person that proves the basis of this (my theory) is wrong... Also, to show how certain I am that this is right, I will pay one thousand dollars to the first person that can prove any one, or more, of the fifteen following statements is false. If you earn the reward I will pay it". I like #15: ""Every person living on this planet has been alive, at the very least, for several million years". Get some.
posted by Mack Twain at 4:17 PM PST - 35 comments

Snooker legend dies

Snooker legend dies A very sad day for snooker lovers. Bill Werbeniuk, the only man to split his trousers on live television during a professional snooker match, has died. And he liked a pint or thirty.
posted by skellum at 3:49 PM PST - 22 comments

Hilary Rosen resigns from RIAA

Bye Bye Ms. Rosen. Hilary Rosen announces a decision to depart the RIAA. Is it REALLY about her children or does the RIAA want to soften it's image. Rosen's tendency to polarize the situation with hard-hitting threats like this may have finally broken the camels back. As a friend said - "Things for RIAAare just going to get worse as music sales decrease, piracy increases, and responses to it alienate listeners of all stripes, who just want to hear some tunes, man."
posted by bkdelong at 3:16 PM PST - 26 comments

Wow... your friend seems kind of weird...

"Today I'm Having Lunch With My Friend." A game anyone can play, centered around eating lunch with a total stranger. A minimum of rules... an ambiguous and open ended "goal." (more inside)
posted by cadastral at 2:42 PM PST - 18 comments

We can be summed up in one word

We can be summed up in one word Absolutely the most amazing movie I have ever seen, beyond my expectations (WARNING this is a movie link .mov file with sound, size 6.91MB but it's worth it) Whoever did this, did an excellent job ! Bravo !
posted by bureaustyle at 2:03 PM PST - 29 comments

Metafilter Choice Music Awards

Place your vote for the ten most popular albums of all time . You can choose up to 10 albums placing a vote for your most favorite to your least favorite. Right now "Disintegration" by The Cure is number one.
posted by oh posey at 1:33 PM PST - 28 comments

The bombing of Switzerland

The bombing of Switzerland. This morning, CBC Radio 1's "The Current" covered the last year's friendly fire incident in Afghanistan. In the course of the programme one of the interviewees mentioned a part of the history of WW2 that I'd never heard of before - the repeated bombing of Swiss towns and cities by the USAF, which escalated to the point where the Swiss shot down a US bomber and forced down more. Will the USAF ever be able to eliminate the problem of friendly fire, and is it a uniquely American one?
posted by pascal at 1:20 PM PST - 19 comments

Harry Potter X

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's MDMA Police uncover ecstasy ring in UK targeting children by stamping the image of Harry Potter on the pills. Wonder if Rowling will work X into the next story line? Don't know whether to laugh or cry.
posted by xmutex at 11:42 AM PST - 25 comments

London Vs. The Smog Monster

50 years ago last month, a dark cloud settled in over London. And stayed for four days. This fog, which was brought on by a lethal combination of high pressure, near freezing temperatures and London's pervasive coal burning, starting killing things. At first, the animals at a cattle show, then the elderly, or those prone to resperatory disease. By the end, over 4,000 people had died. Strangely, to this day the disaster retains a low profile, unlike more glamorous disasters such as the Titanic, or Bhopal. Stranger still, is that unlike those others, while the fog was at its most deadly, few realized there was even an epidemic occurring, with most viewing it as, at worst, a mild nuisance.
posted by jonson at 11:38 AM PST - 22 comments

Obesity Suit Against McDonald's Dismissed

Obesity Suit Against McDonald's Dismissed... well there goes my plans for a new house.
posted by darian at 11:24 AM PST - 39 comments

women on the pill

The Pill changes women's taste in men. Women on the pill prefer masculine men for marriage and sensitive guys for flings. Women not on the pill prefer the opposite, according to a recent British study. Researchers don't know why but "Where a woman chooses her partner while she is on the pill, and then comes off it to have a child, she may find she is married to the wrong man."
posted by stbalbach at 10:22 AM PST - 47 comments

my band name's better than your band name

Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia... BBC Radio1 clowns/idiots Mark and Lard have an ongoing quest to find the worst band name ever. Personally I think some of the bands in the poll have the best names. What makes a crap band name? Something unimaginative like The Michael Schenker Group? Something crass like Speculum Fight or Alien Porno Midgets? What, for that matter, makes a good name? Do tell.
posted by nylon at 9:52 AM PST - 84 comments

It is important to look for other disorders which may be present ...

ODD. Indeed.
posted by magullo at 9:22 AM PST - 55 comments

Tracking your tires

Michelin plans to embed trackable microchips in tires. The US tire manufacturer has begun testing electronic transponders that are "strictly for identification and tracking. " Congress passed the TREAD Act (Transportation, Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation) in response to the massive recall of Firestone tires on Ford Explorers and requires tire makers to more closely track their tires. Is this a legitimate use of technology, or does it present another opportunity to erode privacy? [Via /.]
posted by maniactown at 9:13 AM PST - 24 comments

Genomic Art.

Genomic Art. This lies somewhere on an interface between science and art that most never suspected existed. Check out the gallery.
Oh, and don't forget to visit the Randolph Y. Teasely Hospital - Dwayne Medical Center and it's current projects: male pregnancy, designer babies and Clyven, the world's first talking transgenic mouse.
posted by talos at 8:38 AM PST - 3 comments

Who would you kill?

Who Would you Kill? The current show in danger of losing a character is Sex and The City Gosh, where would you start? Who on your favorite TV shows would you kill off?
posted by answergrape at 8:29 AM PST - 47 comments

Could you hum it for me

Thanks Again, Frauhofer! "Software developed by Germany's Fraunhofer Institut, the creators of the MP3 ... called "Query by Humming," -- a type of melody recognition software program that identifies a song by title and composer based on a person humming a few bars into a microphone." Sure, it'll put quaint sites like this out of business, but think of the fun you'll have walking by your co-workers cubicle only to hear them furtively humming into their PC so that it can search for that pesky tune they can't get out of their head. (This technology sounds familiar, so advanced apologies for a double post. I did a search, really.)
posted by chandy72 at 8:08 AM PST - 4 comments

Navajo Code Talkers

You've probably heard of the WWII Navajo "code talkers" who managed to baffle crack Japanese cryptanalysts and were credited with enabling US success at Iwo Jima. Civil engineer, journalist and photographer Philip Johnston was the determined mind behind the "windtalkers". The son of missionaries, Johnston grew up on a Navajo reservation and was one of only a handful of outsiders fluent in the Navajo language. A bit of his background is included this article, and you can read a complete history of his plan, view an archive of photos by Johnston, and see copies of his enlistment application letter to the Marine Corps commandant, as well as a recommendation letter from the Commanding General. (more inside...)
posted by taz at 6:54 AM PST - 13 comments

Alties - Alternative Movie Awards

1st Annual Alties - AlterNet, the champion of indie journalism, has entered the movie award business. This "celebration of film and film culture" is accepting nominations in 15 different categories (including "Reinvention of the Chick Flick," "The Doobie Award" and "Best "Feel Bad" Movie of the Year") until February 10 and voting begins on February 14. Could this really be "your chance to think about and discuss your favorite movies and what they really mean" or will Chicago end up snagging "Best Soundscape"?
posted by boost ventilator at 6:46 AM PST - 2 comments

95-year old WTC concept

Gaudi's Grand Hotel During his life, Barcelona’s “bauharoque” architect Antonin Gaudí pioneered imaginative structures with Moorish spires and whimsy likened to Dr Seuss. (Counter to popular myth, however, the word “gaudy” is not among his legacy.) Several of his works broke his patrons’ budgets and remain unfinished. Now, Boston artist-architect Paul Laffoley is attempting to revive Gaudi’s dramatic 1908 New York City concept and give it a second chance—at the WTC site for which it may originally have been commissioned. His thesis is both an intriguing history walk and a cloying, self-ingratiating, told-you-so piece.
posted by skyboy at 6:28 AM PST - 14 comments

Email as the new foreplay

Email as the new foreplay E-mail conversations between men and women have a way of turning flirtatious far more rapidly than do their telephonic equivalents. People are less inhibited in e-mail: It's why flameouts happen so quickly. One cannot temper anger or dismay with tone and body language (and those awful emoticons don't come close to substituting for the human face). It's easier to be brave when talking to a screen. Not that we MeFiers would know anything about flameouts.
posted by orange swan at 6:23 AM PST - 21 comments

...then the conversational terrorists have already won.

Conversational Terrorism Protect yourself from responding to or using these rhetorical cheats. (via the lovely boingboing)
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:13 AM PST - 31 comments

America airbrushes Abbey Road

America removes offending cancer stick from Sir Paul's hand. Smoking is bad, bad, bad! Cigarette photoshopped out of cover of Abbey Road (original) . Open speculation on what's next, but meanwhile if this leaves you jonesing for the real thing, check out this page of Beatles' bootleg covers, including behind the scenes Abbey Road. (Features not one but *two* Beatles smoking, imagine that)
posted by jeremias at 5:28 AM PST - 29 comments

Front-line troops disproportionately white

Front-line troops disproportionately white, not black. While blacks are 20% of the military -- compared with 12% of the U.S. population -- they make up a far smaller percentage of troops in combat jobs on the front line. In a host of high-risk slots -- from Army commandos to Navy and Air Force fighter pilots -- blacks constitute less than 5% of the force, statistics show. Blacks, especially in the enlisted ranks, tend to be disproportionately drawn to non-combat fields such as unit administration and communications. ''If anybody should be complaining about battlefield deaths, it is poor, rural whites,'' says Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University in Illinois.
posted by dagny at 4:34 AM PST - 48 comments

The Growth of the United States

The Growth of the United States: a ten-minute, animated atlas (via The Noodle Incident).
posted by timeistight at 2:15 AM PST - 18 comments

War pills

Want war without remorse? Take only as directed.
posted by LouReedsSon at 1:26 AM PST - 24 comments

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