Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Medical Aspects of Nuclear Radiation

Part 1


Part 2


A better quality version of this propaganda film can be downloaded here...

'The Medical Aspects of Nuclear Radiation' - Civil Defense Film on DVD. Enjoy the wonderful vintage animation used to illustrate the manner in which radioactive particles penetrate all manner of objects. Step back in time and gain perspective on how people were instructed to conduct themselves in the event of a nuclear attack. Watch as the use of a geiger counter is demonstrated for the purposes of determining radiation levels. Originally commissioned in 1950 by The Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, 'The Medical Aspects of Nuclear Radiation' is an important part of world history. Great for home-schoolers or in the classroom! Arrange a viewing for students and use this film as a tool to begin a discussion regarding these new concerns during the dawn of the nuclear age. Great for the classroom, family gatherings, informal get-togethers or any occassion, The Medical Aspects of Nuclear Radiation on DVD is sure to provide endless hours of viewing pleasure! Enjoy this educational and fascinating documentary film on your DVD player in the comfort of your living room.


Yes, hours of viewing pleasure watching this 20 minute propaganda film. Thank you, Amazon, for that helpful description.

So we are heading into blatant lies and criminal misrepresentations with this U.S. Air Force sponsored documentary from the 1950's. I am thankful that it is a lot more difficult to peddle such misinformation now about topical subjects without creating an enormous public debate.

Still, if you gloss over the fact that this documentary was created to misinform the public about the dangers of nuclear warfare so as to increase the governments chances of reelection whilst building up an Earth annihilating arsenal, then there is plenty of material to laugh at.



Behold as the film explains that radiation only kills 15% of the victims, so why concern yourself with it? You are much more likely to perish from incineration, thermal burns, or being crushed to death in the building you are cowering in. Phew, that's a load off my mind. The film compares radiation sickness to snakebites, and explains that it does not matter if all your hair falls out, you can always wear a toupee. It explains the supposed ease of recovery from radiation poisoning through simple medical procedures, immediately followed up by footage of the destroyed Nagasaki hospitals in the wake of the city's destruction in 1945. There is radiation in the sun and the glowing hand of your wristwatch, and the radiation from nuclear warfare is no different... apparently.

Overall a pretty obvious example of the need to think critically when watching any documentary, whether you agree with it's premise or not. For a great documentary talking about the effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, acquire the HBO film, White light, Black rain.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Possessed


POSSESSED from Martin Hampton on Vimeo.

A shorter documentary this week, looking at the households of four people suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

'POSSESSED' enters the complicated worlds of four hoarders; people whose lives are dominated by their relationship to possessions. The film questions whether hoarding is a symptom of mental illness or a revolt against the material recklessness of consumerism. When does collecting become hoarding and why do possessions exert such an influence on our lives?

Made during a Visual Anthropology Masters at Goldsmiths College London last year. Winner of the Silver Egg at Emir Kusturica's Kustendorf Film Festival, 2008 and Winner at BLIFF 2008, (Banja Luka International Film Festival bliff.net ).

This is a very common and growing problem. If you know anyone who is clearly a hoarder, please try to show them this film. I would be very interested to know how they respond. A feature of the disorder is that people often deny there is a problem. When they finally do realise they are in trouble they tend to think they have a unique problem which leads to a feeling of shame, isolation and despair. It's a very complex problem without a quick fix, but with care and understanding it is possible to get on top of it. I've seen it done.


I find it hard to throw things away, and definitely hoard cd's, clothes and dodgy books, but I also hoard my income for overseas travel so that counters these tendency's a lot. Saying that, the examples shown here are extreme and, apart from the first case, 'Control', destructive and debilitating.

It is strange to see how self aware these individuals are about their hoarding, that they can discuss and acknowledge it and yet there is a mental block that stops them from following thought with action. The reason I admire this film is that it really makes me think about my own mental blocks, all the things I can acknowledge about my own home and yet fail to do anything about. It's nobodies business but my own whether I have half a bookshelf full of VHS tapes but no functioning video tape player. Will I ever buy another player to watch these again? Never. And yet something in my brain will not let me part with the 'David Carradine kung-fu workout' video. The mind is an incredible, enigmatic, thing.

One of the many splendid things about traveling is separating yourself from your possessions for an extended period, living just with the contents of your backpack. Every time I are reminded that what you can live without is virtually limitless, both from the temporary Zen lifestyle, and the lives I witness in countries far less well off than my own. I know all this, and yet when I return the VHS's remain. Will you excuse me please, while I take 'Breakdance USA', the showcase of the newest dance sensation sweeping the world (1983), over the road to the op shop bin...

Friday, February 6, 2009

Cult Killer: The Rick Rodriguez Story



Video taken from this site...

The incredibly sad story of the life of Ricky Rodriguez, heir of the Children of God cult, murderer and suicide victim.

On January 7, 2005, Rick Rodriguez slit the throat of his former nanny and then, on a lonely desert highway, killed himself.

Hours earlier he'd videoed his suicide note, the rambling 60-minute tape giving a remarkable insight into a deeply damaged life. Broadcast for the first time on television, it also lifts the lid on one of the most notorious religious cults to emerge from 1960s American counter-culture.

Aged 29, Rick was heir apparent to one of the most outrageous sects in America. Founded by Rick's adoptive father David Berg, The Family, formerly The Children Of God, promoted a bizarre blend of messianic Christianity and free love.

However, the truth was a sorry tale of physical, sexual and psychological abuse.

Raised to be crown prince of the cult, Rick was a guinea pig in his father's quest to break almost every religious and societal taboo. But five years [earlier] the leader-in-waiting broke with the cult, and with other ex-members became a vocal opponent.

Increasingly desperate and angry about his childhood, Rick's thoughts turned to revenge. In his video he loads bullets into his gun while vowing terrible violence on those who abused him, in particular his mother who, after Berg's death, took control of the sect.

Despite the savagery of his end, his friends (including two British members of the cult), family and wife say Rick was no psycho but a gentle and caring person driven to violence by his dark past.

In Cutting Edge, those closest to him recount the story of a man seemingly doomed from childhood.


Be sure to watch this documentary with an old CRT monitor so you wont be so out of pocket when you kick the screen in in frustration.

The suicide note video that Ricky leaves is really the backbone of the documentary. Without it you would still have a horrific story, but the lucid, coherent manner in which Ricky discusses his plan to murder his mother, King Peter, and finally himself, is unbelievably chilling.




The documentary also talks about the Story of Davidito ,the cults 762-page book detailing Ricky's childhood within the Children of God. 2700 copies were printed and distributed to Family Homes around the world. It is worth reading the dislaimer on the hyperlinked page before clicking on any of the pictures.

Finally, although not a believer in fate, the feeling of Ricky being doomed from the moment he was born is palpable. David Berg and Ricky's mother declared him a divine prince from the moment he was born, destined to lead the Children of God through the biblical end-time. The aforementioned book of his life was read around the world. Through no fault of his own, he was seen, and promoted, to be the natural successor to lead the family. After he left the baggage was still with him. Who else would or could bring the Children of God, now lead by his mother, to justice?

An article in the New York Times, talking about the suicide video, said "he said he saw himself as a vigilante avenging children like him and his sisters who had been subject to rapes and beatings." "There's this need that I have," he said. "It's not a want. It's a need for revenge. It's a need for justice, because I can't go on like this." It makes me think of the words of Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Weinberg, who once said "With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil — that takes religion."