"Better known as the “Jane Roe” in the landmark Supreme Court case
Roe v. Wade,
Norma McCorvey has led a conflicted life. Forty years ago, she was at the center of the court decision that famously legalized abortion. Today, she is a zealous anti-abortion
advocate." Why did McCorvey turn against the cause she once championed? Tracing the life of an
Accidental Activist.
Via
posted by zarq
on Jan 24, 2013 -
39 comments
Some critics have noted that there is no indication that those who had what Dr. Bouchard is calling an adverse response to exercise actually had more heart attacks or other bad health outcomes. But Dr. Bouchard said if people wanted to use changes in risk factors to infer that those who exercise are healthier, they could not then turn around and say there is no evidence of harm when the risk factor changes go in the wrong direction. "You can’t have it both ways," Dr. Bouchard said. (
SLNYT)
posted by Nomyte
on Jun 3, 2012 -
61 comments
Mass Effect 3, a
blockbuster video game (previously:
1,
2), and no stranger to controversy, is encountering controversy of a different sort over the series ending. Some fans feel it is incomplete and lacks closure, over 90% by some polls. It opens up interesting questions, such as: how are video games different than other media? Do consumers of video games have a reasonable right to ask for another ending, or is it akin to asking for modifications to the Mona Lisa? Many spoilers inside.
[more inside]
posted by brool
on Mar 17, 2012 -
260 comments
From 1935 to 1951, Time Magazine bridged the gap between print & radio news reporting and the new visual medium of film, with
March of Time: award-winning newsreel reports that were a combination of objective documentary, dramatized fiction and pro-American, anti-totalitarian propaganda. They “often
tackled subjects and themes that audiences weren’t used to seeing —
foreign affairs,
social trends, public-health issues — and did so with a combination of panache and subterfuge that today seems either absurd or visionary.”
(Previous two links have autoplaying video.) By 1937, the short films were being seen by as many as 26 million people every month and
may have helped steer public opinion on numerous issues,
including (
eventually) America’s
entry to WWII. Video samples are available at
Time.com, the
March of Time Facebook page and the entire collection is available online,
(free registration required) at
HBO Archives. [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Aug 22, 2011 -
8 comments
Andres Serrano (some NSWF images) has made controversial art for decades, with his piece
Piss Christ causing controversy shortly after it was created in 1987. In 1989, the photograph initiated
outrage against the National Endowment for the Arts because of "anti-Christian bigotry". Then the piece was physically attacked
two times in one weekend, when it was first shown in the
National Gallery of Victoria in 1997. In December 2010, the
Collection Lambert museum of contemporary art in Avignon, France opened
a show called "I Believe in Miracles" that includes pieces of minimal art, conceptual art and land art, and includes
Piss Christ. The photograph had been shown in France before without disturbance, and had been shown without incident in Collection Lambert for four months, but
around 1,000 protesters marched to the museum on Saturday, and on Sunday vandals succeeded in attacking the picture, breaking the plexiglass shield and slashing the photograph.
The museum is open again, and the damaged work is still on display.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Apr 19, 2011 -
143 comments
Last year, the unofficial Dean of the White House Press Corps,
Helen Thomas, spoke about the State of Israel on camera.
(Previously) Her
replies:
"Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," and that the Jews
"can go home" to
"Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else," sparked media
outrage, prompted her to issue an apology and
retire. After months of being out of the the public spotlight, she has now given
her first long-form interview, which will appear in the April issue of Playboy Magazine. In it, she explains what she meant, tells us how she would like to be remembered and expands upon her positions regarding Israel, Jewish political influence, Presidents Bush and Obama, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
posted by zarq
on Mar 22, 2011 -
224 comments
The credibility of
Skeptoid podcast creator, Brian Dunning, has come under fire from the Science Blog / Skeptic community after he posted a
questionable podcast regarding DDT. A comprehensive fact check in
two parts hit the web soon thereafter, followed by
other critiques - suggesting that Dunning's objectivity may be tainted by conservative / libertarian political leanings.
[more inside]
posted by jnnla
on Dec 22, 2010 -
37 comments
MAC Cosmetics and Rodarte partnered to create a makeup collection. Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the sisters behind Rodarte,
"were struck by the ethereal landscape and the impoverished factory workers floating to work at dawn in a sleepy, dreamlike state." People started
questioning the
sensitivity and
intelligence behind the naming, particularly a glittery pink nailpolish named Juarez.
[more inside]
posted by nadawi
on Aug 3, 2010 -
31 comments
Blood and Milk is the blog of international development worker and writer
Alanna Shaikh, who consults on global health development and writes for publications such as the
UN Dispatch. Her views, based both on her work in the field and her study & understanding of sociology, international relations, and other such subjects, tend to be contrary to most other opinions on international development:
voluntourism isn't helpful,
development work is mired in a culture of nice,
don't bother starting an NGO (or, if you will anyway,
here's how to succeed),
global health doesn't need innovation, and
microfinance is a disappointment. Also, here's
how to tell if your health project is doomed, and
Haiti doesn't need your shoes (some people
vehemently disagree). Educated well-researched iconoclast, or pessimistic Mary Contrary?
posted by divabat
on Feb 4, 2010 -
20 comments
From October 1972 to October 1973 a controversy over
Roald Dahl's
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory simmered in the pages of
The Horn Book. It began with an article, "McLuhan, Youth, and Literature", by
Eleanor Cameron, author of the
Mushroom Planet series for children and of
The Green and Burning Tree: On the Writing and Enjoyment of Children's Books. Spread out over the
October,
December, and
February issues, it tied the ideas of
Marshall McLuhan (
The Medium is the Massage) to the confection of
Charlie, calling it "one of the most tasteless books ever written for children":
"The more I think about Charlie and the character of Willy Wonka and his factory, the more I am reminded of McLuhan’s coolness, the basic nature of his observations, and the kinds of things that excite him. Certainly there are several interesting parallels between the point of view of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and McLuhan’s 'theatrical view of experience as a production or stunt,' as well as his enthusiastic conviction that every ill of mankind can easily be solved by subservience to the senses."
What followed was a knock-down, drag-out, letter-writing brouhaha, refereed by
Horn Book editor
Paul Heins, with librarians, parents, teachers,
Ursula K. Le Guin, and
Roald Dahl himself joining in, and it was one of the main causes of the book's
revision that year.
[more inside]
posted by ocherdraco
on Oct 15, 2009 -
68 comments
