MetaFilter

The Final Verdict. Mother Teresa will be beatified today. While the media mostly uncritically reproduced even the wildest claims about her life and work, Calcutta-born writer Aroup Chatterjee has the hard facts on her case. Unlike Christopher Hitchens' polemic "The Missionary Position", Chatterjee's book is full of citations and paints a grim picture of the "gutter saint". The entire book, sans pictures, is available for free online. The reality: Aside from her fanatical opposition to abortion, condoms and the pill, which dominated much of her life since the 1970s, her order's activities often did more harm than help, it celebrates pain and suffering to an absurd extent, and was not involved at all in the major crises and disasters of the subcontinent. If you don't have time to read 400 pages, the Wikipedia article about her gives a much more balanced picture than most media reports.
posted by Eloquence at 9:11 PM PST - 63 comments

pornocombo... a musical combination of sex and graphicism [note: flash, nsfw]
posted by crunchland at 7:10 PM PST - 6 comments

Trading with the Enemy (Prescott Bush was a bad man) - The mainstream press decides to bring up the Bush/Nazi connection - Newly declassified documents shed new light on the shady beginnings of the Bush family's dynastic wealth: through GW Bush's grandfather Prescott Bush's work as a director of a US bank which was both controlled by the German industrialist Thyssen (who played a key role in bankrolling Hitler's rise to power) and which continued to launder Thyssen Group profits after the US declaration of war against Germany. But if you've been reading Metafilter closely, you would have known the facts almost a year ago. ( * executes clannish, self/Metafilter congratulatory victory jig * ). Will the mainstream press pick up the trail of the story, to the US government secret importation of Nazi scientists immediately after WW2? (don't hold yr. breath)
posted by troutfishing at 6:00 PM PST - 60 comments

David Blaine has a day or so left to complete his latest stunt. While most of us can do basic cigarette tricks, it takes a special kind of person to want to hypnotize another. Even more special is one who gives up studying the art of magic to study transcendental meditation and was convinced that he could levitate.
posted by keli at 4:00 PM PST - 16 comments

Not in Iraq or in Afghanistan, but right here at home. The forgotten front in the War on Terror™? Agents found an underground bunker, thousands of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of pounds of gunpowder and manuals on guerrilla warfare, "booby traps" and explosives....
posted by amberglow at 3:25 PM PST - 30 comments

Iraqi Daily: Saddam Ordered Training of Al-Qa'ida Members The White House had claimed a connection between Osama's terror organization and Saddam. No such connection thus far has been established and as a result the anti-Bush folks have accused the White House of fabrication (to put it kindly). This piece, translated from an independent Iraq newspaper, indicates a strong connection between Saddam and Osama Bin Laden.
posted by Postroad at 2:29 PM PST - 22 comments

World solar challenge 2003. Darwin to Adelaide 19 - 28 October. Check out the route. Meet the teams. Have a look at the Green Fleet class as well, where technology meets reality. I won't be able to watch the race but have high hopes for next year's Olympics.
posted by ginz at 8:03 AM PST - 5 comments

Independent film festivals often see a wide group of styles brought together and none more eclectic than the films being broadcast through the Iconscious Film Festival - "A diverse audio/visual festival featuring online events and live screenings of work from a selection of artists and film makers. A lucid optical experience brought electronically to unsuspecting net users and clubgoers worldwide." Pick of the bunch is probably Ben Milner's No Soul Journey whilst Vector(Remix) is strangely compelling. Real Player required.
posted by Kiell at 12:25 AM PST - 1 comments