In the Year of the Pig is a documentary on the Vietnam war, produced and originally released in 1968 as the war raged. It begins with some background on the end of the French colonial period, then moves on to the American involvement. It features gripping historical footage from the war itself and from leading political players of the time. At the time of its release, a
New York Times review said "There are no frills and few ifs, ands or buts about the stinging, graphic and often frighteningly penetrating movie". It is highly recommended for anyone seeking to understand more of the history of the war. Viewable in its entirety
here.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Apr 21, 2013 -
27 comments
The Things They Leave Behind. "When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened 30 years ago, something unexpected happened: People started leaving things at the wall. One veteran has spent decades cataloging the letters, mementos, and other artifacts of loss — all 400,000 of them."
(Via.) [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Mar 15, 2013 -
26 comments
On July 17, 1945, the OSS Deer Team, led by Major A. K. Thomas, was parachuted in the jungle 200 km north of Hanoi, to make contact with a mysterious group of resistance fighters willing to help the US against the Japanese. They were greeted cordially by the group leader,
"Mr C. M. Hoo", a sick-looking older man, and his acolyte "Mr Van", a dapper man wearing a white linen suit and a black fedora (
and he did like his fedora). From mid-July to the Japanese capitulation, the Deer Team
trained Hoo's ragtag band, provided them with explosives and small arms and followed them during skirmishes. They also allegedly
saved Ho(o)'s life. Major Thomas'
full report on the Deer Mission (including the
FPP title and the line
Forget the Communist Bogy) is buried in the
1972 Hearings on the causes of the Vietnam war (see also
the same events according to Henri Prunier, last surviving member of the Deer Team).
[more inside]
posted by elgilito
on Mar 14, 2013 -
23 comments
DNA analysis has confirmed the
death, by poaching, of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam. This marks the official extinction of the Vietnamese subspecies of Javan rhinoceros. The entire species is now represented by just 35 individuals from the Indonesian subspecies, all of whom reside in Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia.
posted by Scientist
on Jan 16, 2013 -
52 comments
Western tourists (mostly female) visiting Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, and Bali) are
ending up dead,
likely poisoned. Local officials have blamed the use of the insecticide
DEET as an exotic ingredient in so-called "
Bucket Drinks", or the use of
Chlorpyrifos in hotel rooms. But
Deborah Blum, an author and poison expert,
doesn't buy into the insecticide theories offered by local officials.
She thinks this looks like targeted murders. Since writing about the poisonings, she says she's been contacted by people who claim
poisoning foreigners is common in 5-star hotels, and the police and owners cover it up.. A
Facebook group was formed not only so that world travelers could share safe travel tips, but also so that notice of the unexplained, and
often uninvestigated, deaths could be made public.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey
on Jan 9, 2013 -
75 comments
The first thing we learned about war re-enactment is that it's fucking terrifying having guns fired at you, even ones loaded with blanks. The second thing we learned is a common re-enactor's dilemma called "The G.I. Effect", which is basically that people playing Americans don't like to die. So sometimes they just don't.
It's Like Vietnam All Over Again, pt 1.
Part 2
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey
on Jan 4, 2013 -
61 comments
"
Honey laundering is a complex exercise that involves several players in the honey chain from apiary to wholesaler to retailer. In the case against ALW, evidence was presented to show the use of fake country-of-origin documents for shipments, replacement of labels on Chinese containers with fraudulent ones, switching of honey containers in a third country, and even the blending of Chinese honey with glucose syrup or honey from another country."
posted by vidur
on Dec 6, 2012 -
37 comments
The photograph of 9 year old
Phan Thi Kim Phuc (often referred to as the "napalm girl"), taken nearly 40 years ago on June 8th in 1972 by press photographer Nick Ut, won a Pulitzer Prize at the time and became one of the most important images from the Vietnam War era.
[more inside]
posted by HuronBob
on Jun 2, 2012 -
39 comments
The Art of Pho by award-winning British illustrator and animator Julian Hanshaw is a moving and surreal story in interactive animation about a creature named Little Blue and his relationship with Ho Chi Minh City. In Vietnam's bustling capital Little Blue learns to master the art of making Pho - Vietnam's ubiquitous national noodle dish.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Apr 16, 2012 -
11 comments
"
First Kill is a war documentary that explores the dark side of man and the psychology of soldiers at war. Vietnam veterans are interviewed about their experiences and what war does to the human mind and soul."
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posted by gman
on Feb 16, 2012 -
9 comments
78 78s - In Search Of Lost Time - is a streaming mix of beautiful 78s from around the world, collected and curated by Ian Nagoski. "I started sifting through boxes of junky old 78s that no one else wanted about 15 years ago, and almost right away, I made a rule: Anything that wasn't in English, buy it."
[more inside]
posted by carter
on Jan 29, 2012 -
15 comments
"Where I come from, a little patience at the crosswalk usually rewards me with a stoplight-induced pause in traffic, but here things are different. One had to simply cross, stride forward into the asphalt gauntlet with no fear, just faith that two intersecting streams of traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, would reconcile themselves. And they always did." Photographer
Rob Whitworth stitches together 10,000 images to bring you a very kinetic time-lapse video of
"Traffic in Frenetic HCMC, Vietnam." [
via]
posted by bayani
on Jan 6, 2012 -
15 comments
Captured: A Look Back at the Vietnam War on the 35th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. (The following photo collection contains some graphic violence and depictions of dead bodies.)
posted by docgonzo
on Apr 21, 2011 -
18 comments
Interactive map of international adoptions, from the superlative Schuster Institute
for Investigative Journalism. The site contains an amazing amount of information about corruption in international adoption in countries like
Nepal and
Vietnam.
posted by the young rope-rider
on Apr 19, 2011 -
18 comments
1699 US Military personnel are still considered as POW or MIA from the Viet Nam conflict, but one is finally coming home.
The remains of James Moreland are being returned to the US, and Kathy Strong, who's worn his POW/MIA bracelet since she was 12, can now, 38 years later,
take it off.
posted by tomswift
on Mar 7, 2011 -
37 comments
“No, no. Academia is now part of the real world. Everything goes.” Just before dawn, on August 24, 1970, Dwight and Karl Armstrong, Leo Burt, and David Fine
parked a van outside Sterling Hall at the University of Wisconsin. The van was filled with ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, and
when it blew, it killed
Robert Fassnacht, a young physicist working through the night. The Army Mathematics Research Center, the bombing's target, was untouched. The bombers, known as the "New Year's Gang," went underground, and enthusiasm for the radical movement in Madison was permanently dampened.
The University of Wisconsin collection of transcribed interviews about the Sterling Hall Bombing.
[more inside]
posted by escabeche
on Aug 21, 2010 -
32 comments
Asia Snapshots "is a blog that examines topics in Asia through the perspectives of interesting people interviewed by a group of bloggers in Mainland China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and more." Meet
Gao Qingrong and family, who along with seven other households are part of
an organic farm co-op in Anlong Village, Sichuan. Or there's
the tale of how one of the bloggers met Jun Jun, a male prostitute in Beijing; an encounter with
Silang Laji, a road maintenance worker in Kham, a Tibetan region of China; and
Gege, an enterprising journalist in Chengdu.
Via
posted by Abiezer
on Feb 28, 2010 -
4 comments
He was... "...the meanest, toughest, most ambitious S.O.B. I ever knew but he'll be a hell of a secretary of state." -- Richard Nixon
Alexander Meigs
Haig, Jr.,, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, who served US Presidents Nixon (as a military adviser, deputy assistant for national-security affairs, and chief of staff), Ford (chief of staff), and Reagan (secretary of state),
has died at the age of 85. Haig
commanded a batallion during the Vietnam War (where he was seriously wounded), managed the White House during the Watergate scandal that brought down President Nixon, and was himself a former Presidential candidate.
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Feb 20, 2010 -
40 comments
Earlier today, the first Viet Nam veteran ever elected to congress, died.
John Murtha (as of this past Saturday, Pennsylvania’s longest serving congressman) was the 19 term representative of Pennsylvania’s 12th district, most notably the home of
Johnstown, and which for most of his service included
Shanksville. He was a hawkish, conservative Democrat, infamous for his involvement in the
Abscam controversy, and most recently
the FBI’s inquiry into the lobbying firm PMA. He could be said to have been very representative, and certainly
very supportive of his blue collar district—
Pro-gun,
anti-abortion, and at first
a supporter of the invasion of Iraq, but eventually
one of its greatest critics. But that criticism came at
a price.
John Murtha was 77.
[more inside]
posted by Toekneesan
on Feb 8, 2010 -
35 comments
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today that William Calley spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus on Wednesday. During his remarks he apologized for his role in the My Lai massacre.
“There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai,” Calley said. “I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry.”
The Kiwanis gave him a standing ovation, the first time the club secretary recalls that happening. (
Previously)
posted by ob1quixote
on Aug 22, 2009 -
106 comments
