Money Talks

Thank you to Holly Mosher for allowing me to post this important documentary on my site. What is this documentary about? In the words of the film's makers...




Money Talks exposes the questionable tactics that big drug companies use to make record profits by playing with the safety of our family's health care. Using misleading advertising, attractive "drug reps" who wine and dine doctors and other unethical practices, the drug industry makes billions of dollars every year selling us unsafe, unnecessary and overpriced drugs. If you want to protect the people you love from their dangerous practices that compromise the safety and quality of our health care, Money Talks is a must-see film.

Click here to visit the official website. If you a sympathetic to the filmaker's cause you may like to consider supporting them by buying the DVD.

If Drugs Were Legal

Evidence from Switzerland suggests that prescribing heroin can reduce crime and increase levels of employment among addicts. While still illegal in the UK, cannabis was downgraded to a category C drug in January 2004. Would drug legalisation really reduce crime overall, and would it make drug use any safer?

This documentary examines the existing problems with drug prohibition and hears the arguments in favour of legalisation. Based on rigorous research and interviews with experts, the programme hears the arguments for leaving the most dangerous drug of all - crack cocaine - illegal, and examines how a legal and regulated system of drugs would work.

Homeopathy: The Test

Homeopathy was pioneered over 200 years ago. Practitioners and patients are convinced it has the power to heal. Today, some of the most famous and influential people in the world, including pop stars, politicians, footballers and even Prince Charles, all use homeopathic remedies. Yet according to traditional science, they are wasting their money.




The Challenge
Sceptic James Randi is so convinced that homeopathy will not work, that he has offered $1m to anyone who can provide convincing evidence of its effects. For the first time in the programme's history, Horizon conducts its own scientific experiment, to try and win his money. If they succeed, they will not only be $1m richer - they will also force scientists to rethink some of their fundamental beliefs.

Homeopathy and conventional science
The basic principle of homeopathy is that like cures like: that an ailment can be cured by small quantities of substances which produce the same symptoms. For example, it is believed that onions, which produce streaming, itchy eyes, can be used to relieve the symptoms of hay fever.

However, many of the ingredients of homeopathic cures are poisonous if taken in large enough quantities. So homeopaths dilute the substances they are using in water or alcohol. This is where scientists become sceptical - because homeopathic solutions are diluted so many times they are unlikely to contain any of the original ingredients at all.

Yet many of the people who take homeopathic medicines are convinced that they work. Has science missed something, or could there be a more conventional explanation?

The Placebo Effect
The placebo effect is a well-documented medical phenomenon. Often, a patient taking pills will feel better, regardless of what the pills contain, simply because they believe the pills will work. Doctors studying the placebo effect have noticed that large pills work better than small pills, and that coloured pills work better than white ones.

Could the beneficial effects of homeopathy be entirely due to the placebo effect? If so, then homeopathy ought not to work on babies or animals, who have no knowledge that they are taking a medicine. Yet many people are convinced that it does.

Can science prove that homeopathy works?
In 1988, Jacques Benveniste was studying how allergies affected the body. He focussed on a type of blood cell known as a basophil, which activates when it comes into contact with a substance you're allergic to.

As part of his research, Benveniste experimented with very dilute solutions. To his surprise, his research showed that even when the allergic substance was diluted down to homeopathic quantities, it could still trigger a reaction in the basophils. Was this the scientific proof that homeopathic medicines could have a measurable effect on the body?

The memory of water
In an attempt to explain his results, Benveniste suggested a startling new theory. He proposed that water had the power to 'remember' substances that had been dissolved in it. This startling new idea would force scientists to rethink many fundamental ideas about how liquids behave.

Unsurprisingly, the scientific community greeted this idea with scepticism. The then editor of Nature, Sir John Maddox, agreed to publish Benveniste's paper - but on one condition. Benveniste must open his laboratory to a team of independent referees, who would evaluate his techniques.

Narcotics: Pit of Despair (1967)

Now, I don't want people accusing me of making light of drugs and the problems and devestation they can bring into some people's lives...but this documentary is pretty QUIRKY!!!




John, a clean-cut high school senior, is targeted by Pete, a low-life drug dealer, as his next victim. Inviting John to a party, Pete introduces him to big-breasted Helen. Told to "blast off for Kicksville" by smoking a joint, John proceeds to do just that. He is immediately turned into a marijuana addict, and shortly thereafter starts shooting up heroin.

As quanit as this blast from the past is, it's interesting to note that many governments around the world still think that exaggerating the realities in an attempt to strike fear into the minds of their youth is still the best way to dissuade them from drug experimentation.




At the beginning, this film is actually closer the real facts than the false propaganda peddeled by many governments. This dedication to reality, however, very quickly is replaced with wild fabrications...well worth a watch!

Buy this classic documentary on DVD...

Bigger Stronger Faster

Bigger, Stronger, Faster is a 2008 documentary film directed by Christopher Bell about the use of anabolic steroids as performance-enhancing drugs in the United States.




In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs? Director Christopher Bell explores America's win-at-all-cost culture by examining how his two brothers became members of the steroid-subculture in an effort to realize their American dream.




The documentary examines the steroid use of the director Christopher Bell and his two brothers who all grew up idolizing Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan, and Sylvester Stallone, and also features professional athletes, medical experts, fitness center members, and US Congressman talking about the issue of anabolic steroids.

PLAY INSTRUCTIONS

1. Click on the play icon on screen...a pop-up will open for poker or dating...close this and get rid of it.
2. Click on the play button at the bottom of the player and film will start to play.
3. ...enjoy!!!

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The Hemp Revolution

This documentary covers a whole lot of ground. It deals with every historical and contemporary aspect of hemp usage and cultivation (mainly in the U.S.), which turns out to be a lot. From describing the production of a fibre much more durable and economic than wood, the documentary discusses hemps multilateral uses as e.g. food products, as a non-polluting fuel and as a pharmaceutical product with much less griveous sideeffects than chemical pharmaceutical products.




The film also investigates why America went from a country which produced vast quantities of the non-narcotic industrial hemp, to the complete ban on hemp production in 1938. This story in particular is interesting, and it points out that the large oilbased industries actually had a key role in the aforementioned ban. Food for thought! The conclusion of the documentary could be that hemp may prove to be a valid alternative to both oil and wood in the future.




The documentary explores the hemp plant’s (Cannabis Sativa’s) fascinating history, its thousands of uses, the economic and cultural forces behind its prohibition, and its modern potential to solve major environmental problems.

PART ONE

Indeed Hemp, together with the biotechnologies presented in this film, could revolutionise the planet with a shift from the present unsustainable petro-chemical based economy to a sustainable plant-based economy. This highly profitable crop provides paper, textiles, composit materials, fuel, nutritious protein, valuable oil, and a useful medicine... if only it were legal...

PART TWO

Well received in theatres around the world, this Australian film also examines the history and controversy around the drug marijuana, the current “war on drugs” and alternative policy options.

Buy the DVD today...

Super High Me

Super High Me is a 2008 documentary about the effects of smoking marijuana non-stop for 30 days. The documentary stars comedian Doug Benson. The documentary's name is a play on the documentary Super Size Me.




Super High Me documents Benson not consuming marijuana for 30 days and then smoking and otherwise consuming cannabis every day for 30 days in a row. Benson claims that Super High Me is "Super Size Me with weed instead of McDonalds". To make sure alcohol wouldn't affect the results, he didn't drink for the two months he filmed the documentary.




The film also includes interviews with marijuana activists, dispensary owners, politicians and patients who comprise the medical marijuana movement. Benson claims that he tells kids "you should not smoke pot until you become a professional comedian".

The DVD was released on April 20, 2008. Benson took various tests to gauge his physical and mental health both after 30 days of not using pot and after doing so for 30 days straight. Benson's physician concluded that Benson's health was unaffected by his use of cannabis. Benson did gain 8 pounds during his high month, and his sperm count actually increased and he scored seven times better on an ESP test (Seven versus one correct guesses out of 25). His overall score on an SAT test increased, though his math score was slightly lower.

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Definition of Stupid

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Bumfights - A Video Too Far

Sicko

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Sicko - Michael Moore

This documentary shows that fifty million Americans are uninsured, and those who are covered (whom Moore states at the beginning are what the film is about rather than the uninsured) are subject to becoming victims of insurance company fraud and red tape, with real case costs shown ranging from loss of fingertips or coverage to loss of life.

Interviews are conducted with both people who have been denied care who thought they had adequate coverage as well as former employees of insurance companies who describe cost-cutting initiatives that encourage bonuses for insurance company physicians to deny medical treatments for policy holders. Moving to Canada, Moore then describes the case of Tommy Douglas, who was voted the Greatest Canadian in 2004 for his contributions to the Canadian health system, and interviews a microsurgeon and people waiting in the emergency room of a Canadian public hospital.

The history of health care debate in the U.S. is explained, with the stance against universal health care systems set against the backdrop of 1950s-style anti-communist propaganda. A 1960s record distributed by the American Medical Association and narrated by Ronald Reagan is cited, which claimed universal health care could lead to communism. Moore cites examples such as the American police, fire service, postal service, public education and community libraries, which are said to be "socialized" services and have not led to communism.

Further evidence of the origins of the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 are presented using a taped conversation between John Ehrlichman and President Richard Nixon on February 17, 1971; Ehrlichman is heard telling Nixon that "...the less care they give them, the more money they make", a plan that Nixon remarked "appeals to me". This led to the expansion of the modern HMO-based health care system. Connections are highlighted between Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the lobbying arm of the largest drug companies in the United States, lobbying groups in Washington D.C., and the United States Congress. Hillary Clinton, who once championed the Clinton health care plan, is cited as the Senate's second-highest recipient of health care industry campaign donations.

Moving to the United Kingdom, another country with a comprehensive free healthcare system (the National Health Service), Moore interviews patients and inquires about in-hospital expenses incurred by patients, only to be told laughingly that there are no out-of-pocket payments. Moore visits a UK pharmacy, where pharmaceuticals are free of charge for persons under 16 or over 60, and subsidized in most cases for everyone else; only a fixed amount of £6.65 per prescription is charged (about $13 U.S.), irrespective of cost to the NHS. Further, NHS hospitals employ a cashier, part of whose job is to reimburse low-income patients for their out-of-pocket travel costs to the hospital. Interviews include an NHS general practitioner, an American woman residing in London, and Tony Benn, a Labour politician and former Member of Parliament. Benn compares any attempt to dismantle the NHS with reversing women's suffrage and says it would result in a revolution.

In France, Moore interviews the head of obstetrics and gynaecology in a French hospital, and a group of Americans living in France. He also rides with "SOS Médecins", a 24-hour French medical service that provides house calls by physicians. The French government provides social services such as day care for $1 an hour and neonatal support that includes cooking, cleaning, and laundry services for new mothers.

Click here for the 'Sicko' latest news

Buy this documentary on DVD...

The Truth About Vitamins Documentary

As we see in this documentary, popping vitamins is a billion dollar industry. Australians alone spend $800 million dollars on complementary medicines every year.

Vitamin C, the most popular of them all
Nearly 40 years ago, one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century and double Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling, revolutionised the way people thought about vitamins. He claimed that by taking huge doses of vitamin C you could prevent or even cure the common cold.

He predicted that if everybody followed his advice, the common cold could even be eradicated. Many scientists dismissed his theory as quackery, but the public loved it and it helped launch a huge industry. But the latest evidence shows the great man was mistaken. Vitamin C can help you once have got a cold, but for most people it does nothing to prevent you from catching one in the first place.

Even if large doses of vitamin C do not prevent the common cold, some claim that it can still offer a more profound benefit. It is one of a group of vitamins called anti-oxidants that some believe can prevent illnesses such as cancer, Alzheimer's and heart disease.

Too much of a good thing?
In 2004, scientists in the United States claimed that people could be missing any of the potential benefits of taking one of the world's most popular anti-oxidant vitamin supplements, vitamin E, because their bodies might not be absorbing it. But our own investigation suggested that the American scientists' conclusion could be mistaken.

While most safety experts believe that vitamins C and E can be taken safely even in quite large doses, there is worrying evidence that one form of another common vitamin, vitamin A, could be linked to osteoporosis, a debilitating bone disease.

If the theory is right it means that a person's diet, or some supplements that they take every day to improve their health, could actually be slowly and silently weakening their bones

Nearly all of us have taken vitamins, but you could be getting too much of a good thing. In fact, what you think is good for you could actually be seriously bad for your health.

In this half hour documentary, we name the vitamin pill medical trials have shown weakens bones in men and women...and may even fuel deadly cancer.

Could the vitamin revolution that's saved so many be turning against us?

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