MetaFilter posts tagged with america

America's 10 Worst Prisons

zarq — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:15:31 -0800

"'If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.' So goes the old saying. Yet conditions in some American facilities are so obscene that they amount to a form of extrajudicial punishment." Mother Jones is profiling "America's 10 Worst Prisons." Facilities were chosen for the list based on "...three years of research, correspondence with prisoners, and interviews with reform advocates." The List 1: ADX (federal supermax: "A federal isolation facility that's "pretty close" to hell.") 2: Allan B. Polunsky Unit (Texas: "'The hardest place to do time in Texas'—and then you die.") 3: Tent City Jail (Phoenix: Feds say notorious facility has a 'pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos.') 4: Orleans Parish (Louisiana: "'A violent and dangerous institution,' says the Justice Department.") 5: LA County Jail (Los Angeles: "And you thought the Rodney King beating was bad?") 6: Pelican Bay (California: "Where a Christmas card might land you in the hole.") 7: Julia Tutwiler (Alabama: "Prisoners fear 'that it's not safe to take a shower, that it's not safe to go to sleep...that you can be manipulated into sexual favors, it's really horrific.'") 8: Reeves Country Detention Complex (Texas: "An overcrowded, understaffed lockup—with health care bad enough to spark riots.") 9: Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility (Mississippi: "'A picture of such horror as should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized world.'") 10: Riker's Island (New York City: "New York City lockup has a "deeply entrenched" pattern of violence by guards, lawsuit claims.") The piece will conclude tomorrow with a list of "Dishonorable Mentions." Accompanying Articles (Some are older pieces covering the same topic) * Maps: Solitary Confinement, State by State: "An exclusive review of how state prisons use isolation to discipline inmates and weed out gang members." * God's Own Warden: "If you ever find yourself inside Louisiana's Angola prison, Burl Cain will make sure you find Jesus—or regret ever crossing his path." * The Silent Treatment: "Imagine serving decades in prison for a crime your sibling framed you for. Now imagine doing it while profoundly deaf." * Solitary in Iran Nearly Broke Me. Then I Went Inside America's Prisons: "We throw thousands of men in the hole for the books they read, the company they keep, the beliefs they hold. Here's why." (Previously on Mefi) * Life in the Hole: Inside a Solitary Cell: "A guided tour of the seven-by-eleven-foot space where inmates spend 23 hours a day."

Doctor Who?

zarq — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:35:26 -0800

BBC America has shipped the ‘Doctor Who’ Season 7B Blu-Ray/DVD set early to those who pre-ordered it. Only one problem: it includes the season finale, which airs next week. The BBC confirms on Facebook (where people are having fun in the comments,) and Steven Moffat has promised that if fans keep spoilers off the net, they'll release a special video featuring the 10th and 11th Doctors after the finale airs. More from Bleeding Cool. This article contains minor spoilers, and links to larger ones. Meanwhile, the BBC has released a prequel video to next week's finale: She Said, He Said.

"If people were more concerned, I wouldn’t have to be there."

zarq — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:29:45 -0800

Her encampment is 'an old patio umbrella draped in a white plastic sheet secured with binder clips. It is flanked by two large boards with messages in capital letters: BAN ALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS OR HAVE A NICE DOOMSDAY and LIVE BY THE BOMB, DIE BY THE BOMB. This rudimentary shelter has been positioned outside the White House for more than three decades. It is a monument itself now, widely considered the longest-running act of political protest in the United States, and this woman, Concepcion Picciotto — Connie, as she’s known to many — is its longest-running caretaker.' Accompanying Photos: Keeping a Vigil From 1988, Toledo Magazine: A Life of Protest

The Mothership Connection

Artw — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:51:05 -0800

Minister Faust explains the meaning of George Clinton's Mothership

"I am always the last person to eat."

reenum — Wed, 01 May 2013 18:34:41 -0800

David Arenberg on being the only Jewish inmate in a state prison.

Coming soon to a theatre near you... OBAMA.

modernnomad — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:43:16 -0800

Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of a lifetime...

The Day Care Dilemma

zarq — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:30:27 -0800

"Trusting your child with someone else is one of the hardest things that a parent has to do — and in the United States, it’s harder still, because American day care is a mess. About 8.2 million kids—about 40 percent of children under five — spend at least part of their week in the care of somebody other than a parent. Most of them are in centers, although a sizable minority attend home day cares.... In other countries, such services are subsidized and well-regulated. In the United States, despite the fact that work and family life has changed profoundly in recent decades, we lack anything resembling an actual child care system. Excellent day cares are available, of course, if you have the money to pay for them and the luck to secure a spot. But the overall quality is wildly uneven and barely monitored, and at the lower end, it’s Dickensian."

The Japanese Version

Monsieur Caution — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 20:19:13 -0800

In the late '80s, documentarians Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker spent six months in Tokyo looking at how symbols and imagery familiar to Americans had been appropriated and given new significance in Japan. Though more than 20 years old, the resulting video remains popular in undergraduate courses across the social sciences and humanities in part because it's so entertaining.

Viewing guide distributed with the video.
Transcript of the video.
Viewing notes from Anthro 254 at Yale.
Critical commentary by a prof of Japanese history at Columbia.
Source for the DVD.

U.S. Customs and Patriarchal Protection

jaduncan — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 10:57:54 -0800

Sexism at the border: A personal account. "For me, carrying my own condoms (in purses, wallets, camera bags; everywhere) is a routine act towards safer sex. For someone else with the power to not only deny passage but judge, moralize and intimidate, it has become enough evidence to put a woman through hell. My story has brought a number of women out of the woodwork stating that they have had similar experiences." [h/t Alex Grossman]

North Korea Sets April 10th Deadline

Artw — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 21:38:16 -0800

North Korea has warned foreign embassies in Pyongyang that it cannot guarantee their safety from the threat of conflict after 10 April, and has advised them to consider pulling their staff out of the capital. This follows North Korea blocking South Korean Workers from the Kaesong industrial complex - a sign that this might be more material than the usual posturing, warning that a 'moment of explosion' is nearing and moving missiles with "considerable range" to its east coast. Though the US is playing down the threat and the UK and Russia have no plans of moving their diplomats the possibility of an accident or miscalculation leading to war looms. North Korea has earned the reprobation of Russia and Fidel Castro in recent days and even longtime supporter China is beginning to lose patience with it - something some say is not before time.

"I couldn't afford for Carpentersville to become Detroit"

reenum — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:30:45 -0800

Tom Roeser was unhappy about the decline of his town, Carpentersville, IL. So he decided to do something about it. Roeser bought some foreclosed properties, renovated them, and then rented them out for below market value.

"I thought I was the only gay person in the world for a long time."

zarq — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:19:04 -0800

The county where no one's gay. The 2010 Census of Franklin County Mississippi shows no same sex couples. (pdf). CNN videographer Brandon Ancil and human rights columnist John D. Sutter tried to determine if the census was wrong, and see if they could find gay men and women willing to speak about "what keeps them hidden." Video

Sightseer Americanus in its natural habitat

scody — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:29:12 -0800

You've probably seen Woman with Scarf at Inspiration Point, Yosemite National Park. But you may not have realized it's just the most famous image of the entire Sightseer Series, created by photographer Roger Minick over more than 30 years.

Good photos of cool rich midcentury Americans on yachts in New England.

maiamaia — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:47:45 -0800

Good photos of cool rich midcentury Americans on yachts in New England.

"There was no return from apostasy."

zarq — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:11:10 -0800

Leaving the Witness. "In one of the most restrictive, totalitarian countries in the world, for the first time in my life, I had the freedom to think." The author is Amber Scorah.

In Kansas City, they wouldn't let him back on the bus.

dry white toast — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:29:47 -0800

The trip was fine. I've never seen that part of the country from the highway before. There just were a few incidents on my way home that chipped away at my resistance. I really do try to remember how incredibly fortunate I am. I really do. I just can get worn down.

Freddie DeBoer messed up his airline reservation for a conference in Vegas, so ended up taking a bus home to Indiana. He meditates on the people he encountered on his trip in his blog.

Bright Futures

Artw — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:59:12 -0800

Steubenville and the misplaced sympathy for Jane Doe's rapists

The American Mind

the man of twists and turns — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:06:54 -0800

The Historian Garry Wills Has Written Better Than Anybody Else About Modern America

On Chicago Public Schools Censoring Persepolis's Images of Torture

Artw — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 15:25:25 -0800

Suffice it to say, Persepolis is quite a work. It’s a testament to the power of the graphic novel. The art’s simple linework helps the story feel unpretentious and direct. Persepolis was adapted as a 2007 French animated film, written and directed by Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. Among other honors, it was nominated for an Academy Award. Why would someone want to ban such a book?

Slavery in the new world from Africa to the Americas.

daisyk — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:04:58 -0800

The blog US Slave collects long-form articles on every aspect of the history of slavery, primarily focussing on African slaves in the USA and their descendents. Among the content there is this biography of Ota Benga, the Congolese Pygmy man who was put on display in the monkey house at the Bronx Zoo, and several posts about Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman, the so-called Hottentot Venus. Among the hundreds of posts are this one about the 1848 slave escape from Washington, D.C. on the schooner Pearl; the forgotten story of Native American slavery; and an article on how the island of Diego Garcia was 'sanitised' of its inhabitants by the British government in the 1960s (not really related to slavery, but worth reading). There is also a three-post series on currencies exchanged for slaves: manillas, trade beads, cowrie shells. Don't forget to scroll to the bottom of the page for a large collection of links to slave narratives and books on slavery, all in the public domain and available online.

Cinema Verite

(Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 05:33:56 -0800

How Americans live today. A video report describing the living conditions of modern Americans.

Come! We must find the pin head!

unliteral — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 17:23:11 -0800

A Mind Reader, A Pin Head, and a Fool; The Story of "Professor" Johnstone's Visit to Wind Cave [previously].

When they [the search party] arrived in that portion of the cave two members of the party were insensible. I was raving and Moore was the only man in his right mind. He had me down on the floor of the cave, my throat clutched with his hand while in the other hand he held a Colt revolver. We had had nothing to eat for five (sic) days and four nights. McDonald dies soon after that, one of the party was adjudged insane and taken to the asylum. I was almost blind and it was necessary to have an operation performed on my eyes.

Breaking A Legacy of Silence

empath — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:14:19 -0800

"An April 17, 1981, a CIA cable[pdf] described an army massacre at Cocob, near Nebaj in the Ixil Indian territory, because the population was believed to support leftist guerrillas. A CIA source reported that “the social population appeared to fully support the guerrillas” and “the soldiers were forced to fire at anything that moved.” The CIA cable added that “the Guatemalan authorities admitted that ‘many civilians’ were killed in Cocob, many of whom undoubtedly were non-combatants.” In May 1981, despite these ongoing atrocities, Reagan dispatched Walters to tell the Guatemalan leaders that the new U.S. administration wanted to lift the human rights embargoes on military equipment that former President Jimmy Carter and Congress had imposed."

The Guatemala Documentation Project, part of the National Security Archive, collects information about the decades long civil war in Guatemala, including State Department documents that point to Washington's complicity in massacres, assassinations and human rights violations.

The gun of the fearful

Artw — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:51:08 -0800

The AR-15 is more than a gun. It's a gadget. It's an addiction and the future of firearms manufactures. It's the most wanted gun in America and more than anything it is a symbol of the cycle of fear that drives assault weapon sales.

echoes

kliuless — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 10:40:34 -0800

A brief history of the Chinese growth model [note: not so brief] - "the Chinese development model is an old one, and can trace its roots at least as far back as the 'American System' of the 1820s and 1830s. This 'system' was itself based primarily on the works of the brilliant first US Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton..."

The American System was developed in opposition to the then-dominant economic theories of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, in part because classic British economic theory seemed to imply that reductions in wages were positive for economic growth by making manufacturing more competitive in the international markets. A main focus of the American System, however, was... Sustaining high wages... thereby both driving productivity growth and creating a large domestic consumption market for American producers...

First U.S. Bank Regulations May Look Strikingly Familiar - "One hundred fifty years ago, the U.S. was two years into a brutal Civil War. The financial cost left the federal government under enormous stress, leading to a result no one had imagined: the first modern system of bank regulation." more from Echoes: -Why the Founding Fathers Loved the National Debt -Piracy and Fraud Propelled the U.S. Industrial Revolution -The British Bank That Forever Altered the U.S. Economy -Founding Father of the Quants Was Revolutionary Marxist also btw... Casualties of Credit: The English Financial Revolution, 1620-1720

Modern credit, developed during the financial revolution of 1620–1720, laid the foundation for England's political, military, and economic dominance in the eighteenth century. Possessed of a generally circulating credit currency, a modern national debt, and sophisticated financial markets, England developed a fiscal-military state that instilled fear in its foes and facilitated the first industrial revolution. Yet a number of casualties followed in the wake of this new system of credit. Not only was it precarious and prone to accidents, but it depended on trust, public opinion, and ultimately violence.

Economic Development in the Americas since 1500: Endowments and Institutions

Relative to the baseline provided by Canada and the Northern United States, the most important institutional divergences of the Caribbean and Latin America that they see come in the areas of suffrage, education, and land policy... institutional trajectories once embarked upon became very difficult to change... The political power of the entrenched and unequal elite simply turned out to be too great. This is a brilliant book, an example of what economic historians do best--better than non-economic historians, and better than non-historical economists.