Slavery: A 21st Century Evil - Prison slaves

Over the past 20 years China has become the world's biggest exporter of consumer goods. But behind this apparent success story is a dark secret - millions of men and women locked up in prisons and forced into intensive manual labour.

(Official Movie) THRIVE: What On Earth Will It Take?

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Own THRIVE on DVD with 50+ minutes of bonus features:
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If you value what is presented in this movie, please go to http://thrivemovement.com/ where you can support Thrive Movement by making a donation. You will also find more in-depth information on each of the subjects discussed in the movie, learn about Critical Mass initiatives supported by Thrive, and connect with others who are waking up and taking action.

Film Synopsis:
THRIVE is an unconventional documentary that lifts the veil on what's REALLY going on in our world by following the money upstream -- uncovering the global consolidation of power in nearly every aspect of our lives. Weaving together breakthroughs in science, consciousness and activism, THRIVE offers real solutions, empowering us with unprecedented and bold strategies for reclaiming our lives and our future.

How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth?

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Food for thought...

To honour the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin

"Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life" is a documentary about Charles Darwin and his revolutionary theory of evolution through natural selection, produced by the BBC to mark the bicentenary of Darwin's birth. It is part of the BBC Darwin Season. The presenter, David Attenborough, outlines the development of the theory by Darwin through his observations of animals and plants in nature and in the domesticated state, visiting sites important in Darwin's own life, including Down House, Cambridge University and the Natural History Museum, and using archive footage from Attenborough's many nature documentaries for the BBC. He reviews the development of the theory since its beginnings, and its revolutionary impact on the way in which humans view themselves - not as having dominion over the animals as the Bible says, but being an animal and controlled by the same forces that control the other animals.

Gender Puzzle

Are we on the cusp of discovering what determines gender? The old mantra - all girls have XX chromosomes and all boys have XY - is no longer reliable. Scientists are now looking beyond chromosomes to "brain sex" and the role of newly discovered genes. By studying transsexuals and people on the gender extremes, they believe they can unlock the gender puzzle. This high-quality documentary looks at the new and challenging science of gender.

Tom Lehrer - National Brotherhood Week

PBS - An Inside Job

"Watch this preview of "An Inside Job," Exposé: America's Investigative Reports, on PBS.

"Dogs used to intimidate prisoners. Troubling accounts of inadequate health care, medical emergencies ignored, even unexplained deaths. Immigrants held, sometimes without access to lawyers.

"That's what NPR reporter Daniel Zwerdling discovered when he investigated the treatment of immigrant detainees. But this shocking prison story wasn't from Abu Ghraib in Iraq or even Gitmo, it was from prisons right here at home.

"For more than ten years, U.S. law has stated that non-citizens -- both legal and illegal -- with criminal records must face deportation, even if they've already served time for their crime. While waiting for deportation, they are held in detention centers inside the U.S. Using sources "on the inside", Zwerdling revealed cases in which detainees in such centers were being abused by prison guards, attacked by dogs, and even dying while awaiting deportation.

"And watch the full episode when it premieres online, Wednesday, August 22, at 12 noon ET. (Or check your local listings for broadcast dates on PBS nationwide, beginning Friday, August 24.)

"View the entire show at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/expose/watch/...

"For web-exclusive video and audio features, and to stream other episodes in the series, go to http://www.pbs.org/expose"

OGM Foods

A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash

Your House Without You

"In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity's impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us.

"In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; what of our everyday stuff may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe.

"Visit www.worldwithoutus.com."

Sweet Misery - A Poisoned World

"Excellent documentary showing how dangerous artificial sweetner Aspartame is. From its history, to its effects this video is enough to shock anyone into really looking at there food labels next time they shop. Aspartame is a toxic food that came into the world as an investment by Donald Rumsfeld, while ignoring the deadly effects the tests showed. Take a good look at this video, it could save lives."

The Seroxat scandal

Note that the documentary begins 2 minutes and 51 seconds into the video.

Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids

"Oscar winner -- best documentary (2005)Amidst the apparent growing prosperity of India, there is a dark underbelly of poverty of another side of the nation that is little known. This film is a chronicle of filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman's efforts to show that world of Calcutta's red light district. To do that, they inspired a special group of children of the prostitutes of the area to photograph the most reluctant subjects of it. As the kids excel in their new found art, the filmmakers struggle to help them have a chance for a better life away from the miserable poverty that threatens to crush their dreams."

Rageh Omaar - Child Slavery

"Around 8.4 million children around the world are enslaved today. Now, in a remarkable journey across three continents, five of them tell their stories. This documentary is presented by reporter Rageh Omaar."

Magic Weed: The History Of Cannabis

"Outstanding documentary tracing the 10,000 year old global history of cannabis and hemp plus a host of extras including 'A Day With Howard Marks' PLUS a bonus 5 track Ozric Tentacles CD. The plant's extraordinary story, myths and facts are told through a series of archive footage sequences, which are combined with modern day interviews with leading advocates in the cannabis and hemp movement.

"The Magic Weed examines the origins of the plant in China, its part in medicine, clothing, war and feed stock, as well as its recreational and spiritual usage. It follows the cannabis trail across time and continents exposing the conspiracy behind the banning of hemp and cannabis production in America during the 1920s."

















"The legal history of marijuana in the United States mainly involves the 20th and 21st centuries. In the 1800s, marijuana (also referred to as cannabis) was legal in most states, as hemp to make items such as rope, sails, and clothes, and was used for medicinal purposes; however, after the Mexican Revolution of 1910, a flood of Mexicans immigrated to the United States and introduced recreational marijuana use.

"A public misconception that Mexicans and other minorities committed violent crimes while under the influence of marijuana, which caused many states to criminalize marijuana, was promoted by Harry J. Anslinger's media interviews, faulty studies, and propaganda films that claimed marijuana caused violent, erratic, and overly sexual behavior.

"In the 1930s, marijuana was targeted on a federal level with the passage of the Uniform State Narcotic Act, the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, and the creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. DuPont and William Randolph Hearst played a role in the criminalization of marijuana, as hemp was threatening their company's respective products.

"In the 1950s, strict mandatory sentencing laws substantially increased federal penalties for marijuana possession, but were removed in the 1970s. However, in the 1980s, mandatory sentencing laws where reinstated for large-scale marijuana distribution, three strikes laws were enacted and applied to marijuana possession, and the death sentence was enabled for marijuana drug kingpins."

















"Botanists have determined that Cannabis is native to central Asia, possibly extending southward into the Himalayas. Evidence of the inhalation of cannabis smoke can be found as far back as the Neolithic age, as indicated by charred Cannabis seeds found in a ritual brazier at an ancient burial site in present day Romania. The most famous users of cannabis were the ancient Hindus of India and Nepal, and the Hashshashins (hashish eaters) of present day Syria. The herb was called ganjika in Sanskrit (ganja in modern Indian and Nepali languages). The ancient drug soma, mentioned in the Vedas as a sacred intoxicating hallucinogen, was sometimes associated with cannabis.

"Cannabis was also known to the Assyrians, who discovered its psychoactive properties through the Aryans. Using it in some religious ceremonies, they called it qunubu or the drug for sadness. Cannabis was also introduced by the Aryans to the Scythians and Thracians/Dacians, whose shamans (the kapnobatai - "those who walk on smoke/clouds") burned cannabis flowers to induce a state of trance. Members of the cult of Dionysus, believed to have originated in Thrace, are also thought to have inhaled cannabis smoke.

"Cannabis has an ancient history of ritual use and is found in pharmacological cults around the world. Hemp seeds discovered by archaeologists at Pazyryk suggest early ceremonial practices by the Scythians occurred during the 5th to 2nd century BCE, confirming previous historical reports by Herodotus. Some historians and etymologists have claimed that cannabis was used as a religious sacrament by ancient Jews, early Christians and Muslims of the Sufi order."

Hospital Serial Killers

"Doctors and nurses who murder their patients. And we're not talking malpractice or mercy killings. Thousands of patients have been killed in recent decades. Beatrice Yorker, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Cal State LA, discusses a study on serial killers operating in healthcare settings."