Sexual Assault In The U.S. Military is the focus of a serious contender for Best Documentary Feature at this year's Academy Awards.
The Invisible War is a groundbreaking investigative doc that sheds light on the under-reported epidemic of
sexual abuse against female members of the military, as well as the lack of punitive action in these crimes: of the 8 percent of sexual assault cases that are prosecuted in the military, only 2 percent result in convictions.
A female soldier in a combat zone is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.
By
official estimates from The Department of Defense,
19,000 violent sexual crimes occurred in the military in 2011 alone. Sexual assault is
grossly under-reported in the military. In 2011,
3,191 assaults were reported when its likely that somewhere between 19,000 and 22,000 assaults occurred.
The women in the film speak about the physical and mental abuse they underwent while serving in the military - and about the the lawsuit they joined and the verdict in which their experiences were labeled "occupational hazards".
The film is already garnering much attention, especially as front-running Oscar Nominee -
and lawmakers are taking notice. [more inside]
posted by fantodstic
on Feb 19, 2013 -
46 comments
State of America from Julian Montague: I was recently commissioned to create a series of prints for Print Collection.com. The series
depicts the surprisingly diverse and slightly strange official insignia of the American states.
There are 50 (18x24 inch) prints in the series (titled State of America), including birds, mammals,
grains, fossils, minerals, insects and more.
posted by OmieWise
on Jan 7, 2013 -
12 comments
North Americans may have noticed that
U-Haul trucks and trailers are emblazoned with colorful
SuperGraphics. First created in 1988 (
previously), the mobile gallery now comprises 206 images. Most U.S states and Canadian territories and provinces are now honored by multiple designs, as are
the U.S. armed forces and 9/11. The classic
America and Canada's Moving Adventure series, seen on trucks and
trailers, features an iconic image for each state, province and territory. The
Venture Across America and Canada series, begun in 1997, presents
"carefully researched rare findings, little-known facts and mysteries," exploring science and nature, technology and history. At the U-Haul website, the "Learn More" link on each Venture SuperGraphic page leads to a surprisingly exhaustive discussion of the subject of each graphic.
[more inside]
posted by BrashTech
on Jul 22, 2012 -
30 comments
The ‘white’ slave children of New Orleans:
Almost immediately after the law came into practice, Northerners and abolitionists set up relief organisations, which battled to establish schools and provide other forms of support – but their resources were limited. They soon discovered it was near-impossible to find sympathy and support in a war-torn and racially-prejudiced county.
posted by nickyskye
on Mar 4, 2012 -
11 comments
'Illinois wants Amazon to collect 6.25 percent sales tax and send it back to the state.' Amazon fights back. Under current law, only companies with a physical presence in the state have to do this, but the new bill declares that even having affiliates in Illinois counts as "presence." 'An e-mail sent from the company to all of its Illinois affiliates this morning warns that, should Illinois Governor Pat Quinn sign a just-passed tax bill, Amazon is cutting off every affiliate in Illinois.
"We regret to inform you that the Illinois state legislature has passed an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that, if signed by Governor Quinn, would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with Illinois-based Associates," said the e-mail.'
[more inside]
posted by VikingSword
on Jan 7, 2011 -
149 comments
Postcards From Hell — For the last half-decade, the
Fund for Peace, working with Foreign Policy, has been putting together the
Failed States Index (the 2010 version is out), using a battery of indicators to determine how stable—or unstable—a country is. But as the photos here demonstrate, sometimes the best test is the simplest one: You'll only know a failed state when you see it.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Jun 25, 2010 -
16 comments
Today is the first day of summer, and for many Americans that means taking a road trip with the family. For Barry Stiefer, it means visiting all
50 states (48 by car), while only taking one week of vacation time.
[more inside]
posted by 2bucksplus
on Jun 21, 2010 -
69 comments
Prelude to Federation - Like a neocolonial
SEZ (or
TAZ)
Paul Romer,
not to be confused with
David,
posits "less developed countries contract with capitalist nations to set up Hong Kong's for them... that we rethink sovereignty (respect borders, but maybe import administrative control); rethink citizenship (support residency, but maybe import voice in political affairs); and rethink scale (instead of focusing on nations, focus on cities—on city states like Hong Kong and Singapore)." cf.
neocameralism [
1,
2,
3]
[more inside]
posted by kliuless
on May 21, 2009 -
16 comments
The Western States Trail Ride, more commonly known as the
Tevis Cup, is an equestrian competition held annually in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. It begins near Squaw Valley, and ends in Auburn - a distance of 100 miles, to be covered in under 24 hours.
[more inside]
posted by po
on Oct 23, 2007 -
10 comments
Don't click this link yet. Think about all 50 United States, and then, when you're ready, click the link. It goes to an ajaxified quiz page, with a timer set to 10 minutes which starts counting down on page load, and a form entry field where you start typing the names of the states. When you get one right it automatically moves to a spontaneously generating list at to the bottom of the page. If the ten minutes elapse & you fail to name all fifty, the ones that you missed are revealed. Okay, now go.
posted by jonson
on Mar 2, 2007 -
235 comments
Twenty-one years ago today a plane crashed in Gander, Newfoundland. The flight carried
American soldiers heading home for the holidays, returning from a mission in the
Sinai. Called
the worst aviation disaster on Canadian soil, the crash killed the
248 soldiers and 8 crew members aboard. On December 16th, mere days after the crash, President Ronald Reagan gave a
speech at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, to comfort the victims' families.
As time passed, however, some of the families demanded answers from the US Government regarding the circumstances of the crash. In 1989, Robin Tallon, member of congress from South Carolina, assisted the families' by bringing the matter before
Congress - and also sending a letter to then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney (scroll down page). In 1992, a
Time Magazine article addressed forensic evidence which supported the idea of an on-board explosion prior to impact, as well as the flight's connections to
Iran Contra and the terrorist group Islamic Jihad. This article also discusses the
book written on the crash by Les Filotas, a dissenting member of the air safety board. The question was brought forth again in 1993, with
a bill introduced requesting that a commission be formed to further investigate the circumstances of the crash.
As with any disaster with unanswered questions,
conspiracy theories abound.
To this day, many of the questions surrounding Flight 1285
remain unanswered. While the crash may never be fully explained, one certainty remains - for the families whose loved ones never came home for Christmas, the
twelfth day of the twelfth month will
never be forgotten.
posted by SassHat
on Dec 12, 2006 -
22 comments
Temples of democracy A long time ago, Matt apparently
stated that state capitols look phallic in order to advertise that the Man does business there. Now you can judge for yourself. Here are all 50 capitol buildings, including artistic renderings, photos and histories. And
Alaska's is decidedly non-phallic--the same goes for the proposed Gehry-like
giant air conditioner-esque one too. And get a load of
North Dakota's Ed Wood-ish house chamber.
So . . . what makes a good capitol building (or state house or what have you) to you? (For the record, I favor the more capitol-ey capitol, the traditional; like those of California, Mississippi, Colorado, Missouri and Wisconsin, etc. Then there's the impressive simplicity of the Jefferson-designed
Virginia capitol. But I also like
Oregon's art deco capitol, from what I see in the photos.)
posted by raysmj
on Jan 26, 2006 -
40 comments
Where are the areas in the United States with highest marijuana use? Where are the areas with the lowest? A different kind of red versus blue. But wait, there's
more, especially if you would prefer to be binge drinking to wash away those lonesome blues. And a
list of information broken down by drug, if your fix is more obscure.
posted by nervousfritz
on Jun 17, 2005 -
48 comments
