MetaFilter

Pregnant in America. A trailer from a documentary ("coming 2007") about contemporary US birth practices, which may not be best practices. The politics make for interesting reading. See also: Monty Python's The Miracle of Birth.
posted by kmennie at 11:32 PM PST - 46 comments

A teenage girl was stoned to death for loving the wrong boy. Du’a Khalil Aswad, a 17-year old Yezidi girl who lived in Northern Iraq, fell in love with a Sunni Muslim boy, and possibly converted to Islam. For this she was stoned to death in a public "honour killing" which was recorded on video and spread on the internet (warning: graphic and disturbing. YouTube took theirs down.) 23 Yezidis have been killed in retaliation. [Via Disinformation.]
posted by homunculus at 11:13 PM PST - 266 comments

David Bowie: Cracked Actor – a BBC documentary circa 1974. One|Two|Three|Four|Five (53 minutes)
posted by miss lynnster at 11:01 PM PST - 16 comments

Audits of the Conventional Wisdom "MIT's Center for International Studies tours the horizon of conventional wisdoms that animate U.S. foreign policy, and puts them to the test of data and history."
posted by Abiezer at 10:58 PM PST - 11 comments

Meet Jules, a new humanoid robot from Hanson Robotics, the folks who built the Einstein and Phillip K. Dick robots, (the latter's head went missing a while back.) Jules loves you, as much as his newfangled software will allow. He also seems a little awkward and angst ridden for a robot, but it's not his fault; it must be the designers who made his software.
posted by Blingo at 2:26 PM PST - 58 comments

The crackdown on fashion in Iran is not limited to just women. You're under scrutiny as a man if you look "too western." Meanwhile, in the west, retailers are realizing there's a demographic they can market to even if it might be an affront to French fashion. If you're not a Muslim, what are your rights in an Islamic state?
posted by Eekacat at 1:56 PM PST - 45 comments

Feeding Desire: The Tools of the Table [click on "visit the website"] is an amazing illustrated history of utensils over the past 600 years. If you prefer history to design, look at the California Academy of Science's collection and learn more of the history of the knife, fork, spoon (and more spoons!), and chopsticks. Not covered in these collections are the awesome cutlery/gun combinations of the 1700s, or how to identify the bewildering array of specialized silverware there is out there. Don't forget your bacon forks and cake breakers!.
posted by blahblahblah at 1:43 PM PST - 16 comments

The Walter Pennino Photo Collection of the Occupation of Japan. Eighty photographs of Japan under Allied occupation taken around 1948, from children enjoying a picture-card show, to fishermen, to repatriated soldiers. (Follow the "pic index" link on the front page to see the thumbnail images.)
posted by sudasana at 1:35 PM PST - 14 comments

Watch your favorite novel! More and more novelists are creating videos of their books. Even Hemingway is getting in on it.
posted by CameraObscura at 1:08 PM PST - 2 comments

Tag-clouds for the first debates of the Democratic and Republican primaries. via the kreat orange satan
posted by geos at 12:28 PM PST - 28 comments

Another mysterios creature from the deep. But this time it's not super creepy.
posted by delmoi at 11:16 AM PST - 50 comments

Knowing that Sputnick went up in 1957, when would you guess the first photo from space was taken? If your answer is "more than 10 years earlier", you'd be right. (Previously 1 and 2)
posted by DU at 10:13 AM PST - 46 comments

Cpl. Matt Sanchez is the BFF of Ann Coulter and gay porn consumers. "Former journalist" Charles Wilson has launched an exhaustive site all about him and his alter ego, Rod Majors. Check out his biography, a filmography, an "evidence locker," a discussion forum, articles, forums posts, and transcripts of radio interviews. This is the most comprehsenive site about this dude the world will ever need.
posted by sneakin at 9:45 AM PST - 183 comments

Orson Whales, book/video/audio mash of the novel Moby Dick, Orson Welles from an Italian movie, Led Zeppelin and original artwork by Alex Itn. See also Ulysees.
posted by stbalbach at 8:11 AM PST - 27 comments

The World's Most Unbelievable Invention Pursuing the demand for fresh eggs, Chinese manufacturers have come across the most amazing solution: man-made chicken eggs. More here.
posted by parmanparman at 7:44 AM PST - 51 comments

A retired construction guy with a large property was bulldozing a new driveway and noticed some shiny rocks. He excavated carefully, revealing an entire forest of upright, undisturbed petrified trees (photo gallery). Soon he began cataloging and selling pieces to museums but has since stopped. More about his find. (via girlhacker)
posted by mathowie at 7:13 AM PST - 29 comments

2BR02B is a short story by the late Kurt Vonnegut (so it goes) from 1962, brought to you now by Project Gutenberg.
posted by buriednexttoyou at 6:58 AM PST - 17 comments

Letter to [AT&T CEO] Ed Whitacre. "Perhaps the generous compensation package is in appreciation of all the fine lobbying efforts your team has conducted in Washington to preserve the incumbent footprint and defend yourself against innovation. If that is indeed the rationale for your pay package, then you deserve it. AT&T has shown true excellence in lobbying. Your team knows how to preserve the system.

Here's what I really think of this pay package: It's a farce. It's a symbol that the pure arrogance and imperial management style of incumbent telcos is here to say. It's proof that your company is focused more on maintaining the status quo and maximizing executive pay, than on innovation and the creation of shareholder value."
posted by ZenMasterThis at 5:32 AM PST - 49 comments

The folks down at the Pakistan Ordnance Factory [youtube: 6'40] would like to show you how they make some of their machine guns, mortar bombs (in a surprising range of bright, cheerful colors), tank and anti-tank ammo ("capable of defeating the toughest armor in the battlefield!"), aircraft and anti-aircraft ammunition, and so much more. "P.O.F. products are in service with over 40 countries around the globe, with an ever-expanding market!"
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:03 AM PST - 17 comments

Karen Dalton - It Hurts Me, Too
Tim Buckley - Sally Go 'Round The Roses
Tim Hardin - If I Were A Carpenter
See also
The Other Side Of Greenwich Village 60's Folk Scene - Part 1
and Part 2  
more within
posted by y2karl at 2:09 AM PST - 47 comments

So, how is that whole Iraq thing working out for you, Tony? What's going on with Scotland? Is the rise of the SNP your party's fault? Are they laying the groundwork for Scottish independence?
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:07 AM PST - 81 comments

Them dirty l.....ls ! Some students examined six months worth, or 115 episodes, of some very well know "show" using propaganda analysis techniques made popular after World War I. The IU researchers found that the host called a person or a group a derogatory name once every 6.8 seconds, on average. Who's this sizzling firecracker ? We make audience , you decide ! Link to full paper.
posted by elpapacito at 1:57 AM PST - 31 comments

Glass Art : A site with thousands of images of glass art objects.
posted by dhruva at 12:31 AM PST - 8 comments