The Road to Guantamo

Starring: Farhad Harun, Arfan Usman, Rizwan Ahmed, Waqar Siddiqi, Shahid Iqbal Directed by: Michael Winterbottom, Mat Whitecross 95 minutes, UK (2006), In this compelling docudrama by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross.



The 'Tipton Three' narrate their own experiences in America's controversial offshore detention camp The Road To Guantánamo opens with archive footage of George W Bush, flanked by a stern-faced Tony Blair, declaring his certain knowledge that all the detainees held in Guantánamo are "bad people". Everything that follows is designed to turn these words inside out, as three young British Muslims tell the story of how they came to be in US custody at Guantánamo for over two years, and discuss the Kafkaesque horrors that awaited them there, until finally they were released without charge or apology. The title may evoke the Bing Crosby and Bob Hope 'Road' movies of the 1940s, travel-themed musical comedies with a vaguely racist depiction of non-Americans.

But the exotic journey embarked upon by the so-called 'Tipton Three' was to take them into areas that were politically incorrect in an altogether different way. It would be easy to criticise The Road to Guantánamo for being one-sided (it is), and for failing to contextualise the conduct of the US (there is not even a passing mention of 9/11), but such objections miss the point. Many times Bush, Blair and other politicians have used their considerable public platforms to present a similarly partisan, at times even subsequently discredited justification for different aspects of their 'War on Terror', including the unlimited detention without trial of men like the Tipton Three. The trio, and the more than 800 prisoners who remain at America's Cuban base, were not able to communicate their version of events to a lawyer or judge, let alone to the outside world. The Road To Guantánamo gives them their day in court, and the story these "bad people" tell is one that well deserves a hearing

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Cosmic Time

Throughout history, one thing has never changed - time. It is something we rely on to plan our lives, and it is consistent, regular and ceaseless. But is it? High in the Alps, Michio Kaku of City University of New York, encounters a mystery - tiny particles called muons which shouldn't exist. They don't last long enough to be detected on Earth - and yet here they are. The answer to this mystery lies in one of the greatest discoveries of all time - Einstein's theory of relativity. The faster you travel, the slower time ticks. So time is not fixed at all.

Watch Video Documentary - Cosmic Time

Watch demonstration video of Time Dilation

Scientific Documentaries

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Conspiracy - Who Really Runs the World

Channel 4 produced documentary on conspiracy theories, covering 9/11, 7/7, UFOs and the death of Princess Diana. This documentary takes a fresh look at four differing conspiracy theories, The documentary explores the role of the media in turning what were once fringe opinions into a belief system that has become integral to world events.

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Second Viewing Option; Google Video - Conspiracy - Who Really Runs the World

Blue Planet - Coral Seas

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Coral Seas
Broadcast 17 October 2001, the next instalment is about coral reefs, which are so crowded that they play host to a perpetual battle for space, even among the coral itself. It starts life as a larva that becomes a polyp. Having multiplied, it hardens into a limestone skeleton and grows to form a reef. As the community flourishes, animals develop relationships with one another and such a place can feature a huge variety of ocean life. Although corals feed nocturnally on plankton, sunlight is vital because even though they are animals, each contains millions of single-celled algae. This in turn is the favoured sustenance of the humphead parrotfish, whose jaws are so powerful that it erodes much of the reef into fine sand. Algae also grows on the top of the reef and a battle for grazing rights between shoals of powder blue and convict tangs is shown, the former being initially overwhelmed by the latter's weight of numbers before regaining the upper hand. The night-time hunting of a marbled ray alerts other predators and a group of whitetip reef sharks moves in, from which few are safe. Several breeding strategies are examined, including the acrobatic habits of brown surgeonfish and the colourful courtship of the flamboyant cuttlefish. Humpback whales are visitors to the reef and males establish their seniority by the loudness and strength of their song. Being fixed to the seabed, corals must synchronise their reproduction with lunar phases and the rising spring temperatures.

Watch Blue Planet - Coral Seas

About Blue Planet Series;

The series took almost five years to make, involving nearly 200 filming locations. The fact that most of the ocean environment remains a mystery presented the production team with many challenges. Besides witnessing animal behaviour for the first time, the crew also observed some that were new to science. The producers were helped by marine scientists all over the world with state of the art equipment.

Blue whales — whose migration routes were previously unknown — were located by air, after some of the animals had been given temporary radio tags. The camera team spent three years on standby, using a microlight to land on the water nearby when they finally caught up with the creatures in the Gulf of California. The open ocean proved more difficult and over 400 days were invested in often unsuccessful filming trips. After six weeks, the crew chanced upon a school of spinner dolphins, which in turn led them to a shoal of tuna. Off Mexico, the behaviour of a flock of frigatebirds guided the cameramen to a group of sailfish and marlin: the fastest inhabitants of the sea. Near the coast of Natal in South Africa, the team spent two seasons attempting to film the annual sardine run, a huge congregation of predators such as sharks and dolphins that assembles to feast on the migrating fish by corralling them into 'bait balls'. Meanwhile, in Monterey Bay, orca were documented trapping grey whales and killing a calf. Filming in the deep ocean required the use of special submersibles. One of them enabled the crew to dive over a mile into the San Diego trench, where the carcass of a 40-ton grey whale had been placed to attract a large variety of scavengers.[4]

Upon its first transmission on BBC One, over 12 million people watched the series and it regularly achieved an audience share of over 30%.

Link; Wikipedia

Planet Earth - Jungles

This instalment of Planet Earth examines jungles and tropical rainforests. These environments occupy only 3% of the land yet are home to over half of the world's species. New Guinea is inhabited by almost 40 kinds of birds of paradise, which avoid conflict with each other by living in different parts of the island. Some of their elaborate courtship displays are shown. Within the dense forest canopy, sunlight is prized, and the death of a tree triggers a race by saplings to fill the vacant space. Figs are a widespread and popular food, and as many as 44 types of bird and monkey have been observed picking from a single tree. The sounds of the jungle throughout the day are explored, from the early morning calls of siamangs and orangutans to the nocturnal cacophony of courting tree frogs.

The importance of fungi to the rainforest is illustrated by a sequence of them fruiting, including a parasite called cordyceps. The mutual benefits of the relationship between carnivorous pitcher plants and red crab spiders is also discussed. In the Congo, roaming forest elephants are shown reaching a clearing to feed on essential clay minerals within the mud. Finally, chimpanzees are one of the few jungle animals able to traverse both the forest floor and the canopy in search of food. In Uganda, members of a 150-strong community of the primates mount a raid into neighbouring territory in order to gain control of it. Planet Earth Diaries looks at filming displaying birds of paradise, focusing mainly on the filming of the six-plumed bird of paradise

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Link; Wikipedia

Planet Earth - Shallow Seas

Shallow Seas - Episode Nine of the Planet Earth series by Sir David Attenborough
This programme is devoted to the Shallow Seas that fringe the world's continents. Although they constitute 8% of the oceans, they contain most marine life. As humpback whales return to breeding grounds in the tropics, a mother and its calf are followed. While the latter takes in up to 500 litres of milk a day, its parent will starve until it travels back to the poles to feed — and it must do this while it still has sufficient energy left for the journey. The coral reefs of Indonesia are home to the biggest variety of ocean dwellers. Examples include banded sea kraits, which ally themselves with goatfish and trevally in order to hunt. In Western Australia, dolphins 'hydroplane' in the shallowest waters to catch a meal, while in Bahrain, 100,000 Socotra cormorants rely on shamals that blow sand grains into the nearby Persian Gulf, transforming it into a rich fishing ground.



The appearance of algae in the spring starts a food chain that leads to an abundant harvest, and sea lions and dusky dolphins are among those taking advantage of it. In Southern Africa, as chokka squid are preyed on by short-tail stingray, the Cape fur seals that share the waters are hunted by the world's largest predatory fish: the great white shark. On Marion Island in the Indian Ocean, a group of king penguins must cross a beach occupied by fur seals that do not hesitate to attack them. Planet Earth Diaries shows the difficulties of filming the one-second strike of a great white shark, filmed by Simon King

Watch Documentary - Planet Earth - Shallow Seas

Planet Earth is a 2006 television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Four years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC, and also the first to be filmed in high definition. The series was co-produced by the Discovery Channel and NHK in association with CBC, and was described by its makers as "the definitive look at the diversity of our planet".

Planet Earth was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One in March 2006, and premiered one year later in the USA on the Discovery Channel. By June 2007, it had been shown in 130 countries worldwide. The original BBC version was narrated by David Attenborough and produced by Alastair Fothergill. For Discovery, the executive producer was Maureen Lemire, with Sigourney Weaver's voiceover replacing Attenborough.

The series comprises eleven episodes, each of which features a global overview of a different habitat on Earth. At the end of each fifty-minute episode, a ten-minute featurette takes a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of filming the series.
Link; Wikipedia

Planet Earth - From Pole to Pole

Watch Documentary; Planet Earth - From Pole to Pole

Planet Earth is a 2006 television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Four years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC, and also the first to be filmed in high definition. The series was co-produced by the Discovery Channel and NHK in association with CBC, and was described by its makers as "the definitive look at the diversity of our planet".

Planet Earth was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One in March 2006, and premiered one year later in the USA on the Discovery Channel. By June 2007, it had been shown in 130 countries worldwide. The original BBC version was narrated by David Attenborough and produced by Alastair Fothergill. For Discovery, the executive producer was Maureen Lemire, with Sigourney Weaver's voiceover replacing Attenborough.

Second Viewing Option

The series comprises eleven episodes, each of which features a global overview of a different habitat on Earth. At the end of each fifty-minute episode, a ten-minute featurette takes a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of filming the series.

About Sir David Attenborough;
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (pronounced /ˈætənb(ə)rə/) OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS (born 8 May 1926 in London, England) is a broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the respected face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years. He is best known for writing and presenting the nine "Life" series, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, which collectively form a comprehensive survey of all terrestrial life. He is also a former senior manager at the BBC, having served as controller of BBC Two and director of programming for BBC Television in the 1960s and 1970s. He is the younger brother of director, producer and actor Richard Attenborough.
Links;
Wikipedia - Planet Earth
Wikipedia - Sir David Attenborough

The Girl Who Makes Miracles

Documentary on religious Miracle of Stigmata - The Girl Who Makes Miracles
At the age of 3 Audrey Marie Santo fell into a swimming pool. After failed attempts to bring her back, she fell into a coma-like state referred to as akinetic mutism. Audrey was raised as a Catholic, and in her bedroom there are numerous icons and statues of the saints and the Virgin. On her return from hospital the statues began to weep, and the unexplainable religious phenomena of the stigmata appeared on her body.



Seventeen years after her accident, Audrey is still in a coma, still stigmatic, and the statues continue to weep. On the last Monday of each month from 1 to 4pm a select group of fifty or so terminally ill people are led away from a larger crowd of pilgrims to cluster around Audrey. They have come because they believe that she is a real stigmatic, that she displays a regular and spontaneous manifestation of bloody wounds which imitate the five crucifixion wounds of Christ. They have heard that blood seeps from Audrey’s wounds and then stops, with the wounds healing and disappearing.

They have also heard that the statues of Christ surrounding her weep oil; that traces of human blood have been discovered in communion wine and the Tabernacle; and that churchmen have witnessed the holy bread bleeding.

Watch Documentary; The Girl Who Makes Miracles

Every month, thousands of people come, from all over the world, to this ordinary suburban house in the middle of America, in search of a miracle.



They have heard stories of statues in the house weeping oil and bleeding real human blood. They believe these are signs of a powerful religious presence. They have been told that this is a place where people come to be cured of cancers and other life-threatening illnesses and that the provider of these miracles is a modern-day faith healer and one of the most vivid embodiments of God in recent memory.
Indeed, there have been some 150 case of miracle healings in the last 19 years, as well as thousand more that are unconfirmed.

The extraordinary thing is that all of these people believe that the cure they are seeking rests in the hands of a young woman who has been in a coma for nineteen years. This is Audrey Marie Santo and many believe that a brief five minute blessing in her presence can offer them the miracle cure that conventional medicine is unable to provide.

On the 9th of August 1987, Linda Santo's three year old daughter was playing in the back yard of their home in Worcester, Massachusetts. Just after 3PM, Linda discovered Audrey unconscious in the swimming pool. The little girl was rushed to hospital, but fell into a deep coma and never regained consciousness.
Audrey was diagnosed with akinetic mutism. Her body functions enough to keep her alive but she doesn't respond to any external stimuli and her brain is irreversibly damaged. The doctors recommended that she should be interned in a nursing home, where she wasn't expected to live for more than a few weeks.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Linda devotes het life to caring for Audrey herself, and returned to the family home.

Sustained by her Catholic faith, she searched for other, less scientific, answers to her daughter's critical illness. A search which took her 4,000 miles away to the religious shrine of Medjugorje where she hoped she would find a miracle cure for Audrey.

The trip would turn out to be a defining moment for both Linda and her daughter, for it was at the shrine of Medjugorje that Audrey is believed to have received a message from the Virgin Mary. Apparently, Audrey became animated, she began moving, she appeared to be trying to speak, but the moment passed.

This bizarre incident would, seemingly, provide the catalyst for a series of remarkable events. Linda believes that her daughters improvement and subsequent heart attack was a sign from God. A choice of her own life or a life helping others. She chose to become, what the Catholic Church refer to as, a victim soul.

So marked the beginning of a story that would see Audrey Marie Santo become one of the most famous miracle workers in the world.

Dr John W. Harding, the family physician, observed "It is very special that she is now 21 years old. She has gone 18 years without a bedsore, She has health problems, being on a ventilator most of the time and having to receive G-tube feeding. She can't swallow her own saliva so relies on continuous suction. She has developed diabetes and has severe scoliosis which has compressed one lung. With all of this, it's a bit of a miracle she is here at all".

CREDITS: All of the above information came from the UK Channel 5 "Extraordinary People" series of television documentaries.
www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk

Aleister Crowley – The Wickedest Man in the World

Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley (pronounced /ˈkroʊli/), (October 12, 1875 – December 1, 1947), was an English occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, possible spy and yogi. He was an influential member of occult organizations, including the Golden Dawn, the A∴A∴, and Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), and is known today for his magical writings, especially The Book of the Law, the central sacred text of Thelema. He gained notoriety during his lifetime, was dubbed "The Wickedest Man In the World" and was often attacked by the media.

Crowley was also a chess player, painter, astrologer, hedonist, bisexual, drug experimenter, and social critic.

Links;
Wikipedia - Aleister Crowley – The Wickedest Man in the World

Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversation

Documentary on Medical Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversation

Overview

"Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation" is a multimedia campaign created by the ACLU of Washington State including hours of online video, an interactive game, and a downloadable booklet.
License Usage

ACLU of Washington chose a BY-NC-ND license.
Motivations

ACLU of Washington was alerted to Creative Commons by their Internet Operations Manager, who is active in the Free Culture movement. Adoption of this open license allowed their supporters to rip and distribute DVDs, as well as feature the digital video on their sites. Hempfest Seattle featured all the videos and extended interviews on their website, which resulted in thousands of people who would not have come to the campaign website seeing and promoting the video.
Media

See http://www.marijuanaconversation.org

When We were Pirates

When We were Pirates - reality adventure Documentary
After the months following 9/11 two Americans and two Norwegians travel to Bangladesh to begin an incredible journey. Born from the mind of a young adventurer, Daniel Casanova, these twenty-two year olds set out to build a traditional sailboat to sail 7,000 miles to Australia. The shoestring would-be adventurers settle down in Cox’s Bazar, a sleepy third-world fishing town and begin their preparation. The crew struggles with language barriers and bargaining as they soon realize the odds maybe stacked against them. Weather, un-reliable carpenters and deportations soon plague the crew.

They become integrated amongst the fisherman/pirate community and soon become close with their ‘boat guy’ Kamal. He becomes their confidant and warns them of impending danger – police, pirates, etc. With the USA at the brink of war they set sail for Australia. When We Were Pirates is an inspiring tale of four young men overcoming hardship for the pursuit of a dream. Riddled with humor and drama the film is set in the most corrupt and wettest country in the world.

History - Special : Return Of The Pirates

Haunted History: Caribbean

National Geographic: The Pirate Code - Real Pirates

The Golden Age of Caribbean Pirates

When Food Kills

When Food Kills (Journeyman Pictures)

A documentary about the dangers of Food with Children.
It’s every parent’s worry that their child might eat something and get ill or even be lamed or die from an allergic reaction to the food or some ingredient in it with the dramatic increase in new products and synthetic additives, Food allergies are ever increasing and the number of children affected has more than doubled in the past ten years.

This documentary deals with the increasing danger of food allergies in Humans.
Synopsis (amazon.com)
It started out as just a normal day for Sophia Neou. Her seven year old son was at play camp; fun and games were the order of the day. Then she received a phone call from a teacher crying, telling her “He’s turning blue and has stopped breathing.” The paramedic witnessed his rapid decline. “He developed shortness of breath. He got very anxious and then his airways started to swell and that’s when he passed out.” When the helicopter arrived William was within 30 seconds of dying but they managed to bring him back.
Food, Inc. The Future of Food Fast Food Nation Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern: Collection 1

Great Natural Wonders of the World

A Documentary with David Attenborough

Our earth is an extraordinary planet, not just because of the almost infinite variety of life that is supported on it, but also because its very fabric, the surface of the earth itself, is so great in variation. In this program, a global journey in search of the greatest natural wonders of the world is undertaken.

Long ago, the surface of the earth was a ball of burning fire. This was the raw material from which the face of our planet was created. Then over an immense length of time, the earth’s crust was shaped and reshaped by the forces of nature.

Its’ rocks have been carved by the powers of the elements, and by that great leveler, time itself. What we see around us today is the result of these unrelenting processes of natural erosion, a dramatic story of continuous change. The world we see now is the result of monumental changes that are barely detectable in our own brief lives.

Taxi to the Dark Side

Taxi to the Dark Side is a 2007 Academy Award-nominated documentary film directed by American filmmaker Alex Gibney. The film focuses around the controversial death in custody of an Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar. Dilawar was beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in extrajudicial detention at the Bagram Air Base.
Taxi to the Dark Side also goes on to examine America's policy on torture and interrogation in general, specifically the CIA's use of torture and their research into sensory deprivation. There is description of the opposition to the use of torture from its political and military opponents, as well as the defence of such methods.

The attempts by Congress to uphold the standards of the Geneva Convention forbidding torture; and the popularisation of the use of torture techniques in shows such as 24. The film is said to be the first film to contain images taken within Bagram Air Base. On November 19, 2007, Taxi to the Dark Side was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of 15 films on its documentary feature Oscar shortlist, and was ultimately one of five films nominated for a prize in the "Best Documentary Feature" category.

Watch Documentary; Taxi to the Dark Side

Zeitgeist the Movie

Remastered Final edition of the Top Anti-Conspiracy Documentary
Length; 2:02:15

Watch ZEITGEIST, The Movie - Remastered / Final Edition - Full Production. What does Christianity, 911 and The Federal Reserve all have in common?

Architects of Control

Architects of Control" - Program One

Michael Tsarion's new documentary "Architects of Control" - Program One
This documentary video (part one of a multi episode production),is an exposé attempting to expose the World Government elite's war on Human consciousness using mind control methods.
The first part explores humankinds future and the posthuman world. Will the perfect human be a dumbed down, regimented inhabitant of a cyber purgatory created by unseen elites? Will the children of tomorrow be smiling depressives of a technocratic dystopia?....

The Obama Deception

The Obama Deception is a hard-hitting documentary film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people.
The Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order. He is being pushed as savior in an attempt to con the American people into accepting global slavery.
We have reached a critical juncture in the New World Order's plans. It's not about Left or Right: it's about a One World Government. The international banks plan to loot the people of the United States and turn them into slaves on a Global Plantation.
Covered in this film: who Obama works for, what lies he has told, and his real agenda. If you want to know the facts and cut through all the hype, this is the film for you.

Watch the Obama Deception and learn how:

Obama is continuing the process of transforming America into something that resembles Nazi Germany, with forced National Service, domestic civilian spies, warrantless wiretaps, the destruction of the Second Amendment, FEMA camps and Martial Law.
Obama's handlers are openly announcing the creation of a new Bank of the World that will dominate every nation on earth through carbon taxes and military force.
International bankers purposefully engineered the worldwide financial meltdown to bankrupt the nations of the planet and bring in World Government.
Obama plans to loot the middle class, destroy pensions and federalize the states so that the population is completely dependent on the Central Government.
The Elite are using Obama to pacify the public so they can usher in the North American Union by stealth, launch a new Cold War and continue the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Obama Deception (HD quality)