MetaFilter posts tagged with controversy

Spertus Museum pulls plug on controversial map exhibit

hydrophonic — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:08:28 -0800

The Spertus Museum/Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies has just canceled Imaginary Coordinates due to complaints that some of the artwork (NSFW: nudity, disturbing imagery) in the exhibit had an anti-Israeli slant. This comes less than a year after the opening of their much-heralded new building. The show, which was part of Festival of Maps Chicago, was first shut down a few weeks after it opened in May, then retooled and reopened with limited access by guided tour only. Spertus has purged information about the exhibit from their website, but you can still catch a video tour produced by the museum (exhibit tour starts at about 1:40).

Rethinking Literacy

divabat — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:49:19 -0800

The Dark Side of Literacy - Indian education reform organization Shikshantar, who aims to encourage concepts of "Swaraj", or self-rule in local education, argues that current education and literacy models do not take into account local cultures and languages and gives too much credit to the Western alphabet. They also argue that there are many serious flaws in what they describe as UNESCO's campaign of "McEducation For All".

An Affair to Remember

Four-Eyed Girl — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:34:44 -0800

She was 82. He was 95. They had dementia. They fell in love. And then they started having sex.

Earthquake fashion shoot

Sitegeist — Sat, 24 May 2008 08:11:09 -0800

The editors of the Chinese lifestyle magazine New Travel Weekly thought it might be a good idea to shoot a fashion spread in the rubble of the Sichuan earthquake. The editors have now been sacked and the magazine is undergoing rectification.

Cliff Richard and General Franco: the 1968 Eurovision mystery

nthdegx — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:34:58 -0800

It's the story that has Britain in uproar*: Cliff Richard and General Franco: the 1968 Eurovision mystery. Did General Franco scupper the judging? Exhibit A: Cliff's UK entry, Congratulations. Exhibit 2: Spain's winning entry by Massiel, La la la. For added measure, exhibit iv: here's Cliff's 1973 entry, which believe it or not also did not win, Power to all our Friends (though Cliff's spectacular moves should not sway your opinion on the controversy* in any way). [*not really].

'There is no such thing as polywater because if there were, there would also be an animal which didn't need to eat food. It would just drink water and excrete polywater' - Richard Feynman

Large Marge — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:34:51 -0800

If you were doing research in the 60s, You might've heard of Polywater, A form of water that exhibited wide variety of interesting characteristics and existed under identical conditions to that of normal water. Eventually debunked, none the less is a fascinating story. Naturally one draws parallels to Vonnegut's ice nine, but did you know there actually is an ice nine? In fact, there's twelve to sixteen types of ice, depending on your opinion. More recently, computer simulations have indicated water may structure itself into icosahedra, which, incredibly, is the platonic solid (described over 2000 years ago!) representing the element water! And if you don't know what an icosahedron is, I bet you've used one before. One of the most ubiquitous, and arguably most important, substances in our lives, our understanding of water is far from complete.

Is Tiger Woods Bad for the Environment?

netbros — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:48:59 -0800

Are golf courses bad or good for the environment? Chances are the answer you give depends on whether you are actively involved with the game. Representing anti-golf we have the Organic Consumers Association, the Journal of Pesticide Reform (pdf), and the Global Anti-Golf Movement. Speaking on behalf of golf course management the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (pdf) and the United States Golf Association. A group of leading golf and environmental organizations have jointly developed Environmental Principles for Golf Courses in the United States.

Have you ever TRIED to fuck a grapefruit?

wendell — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:07 -0800

I knew that sooner or later, the backlash to xkcd would begin, but I never expected it would start over.... fruit... R. Stevens, that old Diesel Sweetie, is the first to respond.... Now, a very well-interfaced polling device is put online for your fruit opinions...Vote for the fruit of your choice... but vote! Anybody can make an X/Y chart... as this response found @reddit proves... (the poster says... "Um... the grapefruit drew it. I just uploaded it for him." and "Please also keep in mind that the grapefruit has an axe to grind.")

To be standing by the flag not feeling shameful, racist or partial.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:21:08 -0800

Morrissey makes some controversial remarks to the NME. Defensive explanations by the interviewer, attempts at defusing the situation and threats of legal action ensue, as does satire.

We finally really did it.

Camofrog — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:04:33 -0800

First cloning of monkey embryo raises hope of a great leap in medical science. A team at the Oregon National Primate Research Center (itself no stranger to controversy) cloned embryos from Semos — a nine-year-old rhesus macaque named after the ape overlord in Planet of the Apes — then extracted stem cells from the embryos. We've heard similar claims before and they turned out to be a hoax. But this time it looks like the real deal. First FPP, please have mercy ...