Thursday, October 16, 2014
Week 6-Doc week
As discussed in class, you will have an extension to continue listening to your global news radio station.
This week we will try a different format. You will select a documentary from the link below and watch it on your own time.
Then you will prepare a movie review for the class to read. Don't just summarize the movie itself, but present the issue to the class. How did it make you feel? Do we all need to act on this information immediately? OR is this more of an eye opener that changes the way you think about things. (I never knew that before, I'll never look at it the same way again.)
How does this impact different people from different parts of the world.
You will need to include a reference - this week one only - from a source that supports what the documentary is trying to expose.
Have fun!
http://www.filmsforaction.org/walloffilms/
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I'll take Inside Job
ReplyDeleteFat, sick and nearly dead
ReplyDeleteIll take Blackfish
ReplyDeletePunishment is claimed by Brooke.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlackfish is claimed by Sara
ReplyDeleteThe War You Don't See
ReplyDeleteI hereby claim super size me
ReplyDeleteDeliver Us From Evil
ReplyDeleteJack takes Plasticized
ReplyDeleteCountdown to Zero
ReplyDeleteI claim Dirty Wars
ReplyDeleteVegucated
ReplyDeleteI claim "The Invisible War"
ReplyDeleteThis is my weekly post
ReplyDeleteSo for this week it was documentaries, so I chose "Plasticized" a 2011 film about plastic waste in the Oceans. This film made me think about how different parts of the world manage their waste. At one point in the movie one of the explorers said that one place he visited had a huge hole in the ground that waste was dumped down in the middle of the street. As well as thousands of water bottles along the beach too. That was this places dump. Although I do not swim in Oceans, I was pretty repulsed by the site of so much plastic in the water. As said in the movie it looked like Confetti but made of plastic (throwing that on New Year’s Eve, Ouch!). If you thought it was just bad on the eyes, it affects all Ocean life too, numerous animals were photographed at the end, ones being caught in plastic and worse. Most of the plastic has degraded small enough that the fish are swallowing it and it gets caught in their systems killing them. I think the world as a whole needs to think more before they do something, if we recycled more and wasted less, we would have less pollution. I think everything companies sell that is plastic, if it breaks we return it and it gets recycled and reproduced again, perhaps by law, to save Oceans and ourselves. Most would say that having that as a law would be a stupid idea but I think nothing would be wasted and we would have way less pollution. If you thought it was just one or two Oceans, it's not, it's all of them, the explorers proved this that at each of the Coasts plastics can be found. When I mentioned it was just little pieces it wasn't, there was much larger pieces of plastic found. This opened my eyes, I never really thought about how polluted the Oceans are, I always thought of lands and landfills filling up. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 80 percent of marine litter comes from the land1. If you watched this and thought plastic is the only problem, it’s not, it’s just one of many that we need to fix, not just for the animals but for ourselves too.
I think if we all cared a little more about the environment and everywhere around the world followed similar guidelines about waste management, we would live in a much better world.
1http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/plastic-ocean/
http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/plasticized_feature_documentary_film/
What A Way To Go: Life at the End of Empire is a cynical yet realistic interpretation of the state of civilization in which we live. It follows Tim Bennett, a “middle class white guy” as he comes to grips with how “Empire” (powerful members of society) has managed to separate humanity from nature and how as a result we now live in an unsustainable civilization. He touches on topics such as capitalism, population, extinction, lifestyle, and the way these are all leading to irreversible climate change. The overall theme of the documentary is not that there will be consequences if we don't act now, but instead that the time for action was 30 years ago, and now thanks to humanity's natural tendency to be short-sighted we are stuck with only being able to make the best of a bad situation, which according to Tim Bennett, calls for a "return to nature" where we abolish the concepts of capitalism and economic growth in order to live life the way nature intended.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who occasionally idealizes anarchism (thank the Sex Pistols for that one), I am completely for the idea of rethinking society. Capitalism by nature is unsustainable. An ever expanding market which results in larger cities, more consumerism, and more production generates far too much pollution. This problem can’t be solved by laws and regulations because the politicians are getting their funding from the people causing the problems, which causes extreme bias in the lawmaking process. Even our modern focus on expanding cities needs to end. Cities can be defined by their inability to feed themselves, and relying on outside food sources. These farms are running out of space thanks to the rapid growth of cities and have to rely on unnatural farming techniques that have unknown impacts. The most environmentally friendly way for us to feed ourselves would be to return to our hunter-gatherer roots, or more realistically grow our own food. It is becoming more and more apparent that we only have a finite amount of space on this planet, and if try to claim too much of it as our own it won’t result in the end of the Earth, but instead in the potential end of human life. In order to give ourselves the best chance of surviving this climate crisis we need to make radical changes in our civilization, and do as much as we can to return to our natural state of being.
video link: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/what_a_way_to_go_life_at_the_end_of_empire/
additional source:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/feb/02/energy.comment
This is my weekly post
ReplyDeleteEmpire: Social networks, Social Revolution
This documentary in particular covers the ideology that social networking is of importance to the world. By watching this film, my eyes have been opened to how technology and social networking can really influence our society. Simply by 'trending hashtags' you can follow any act of terrorism, religious feuds, protests or war updates that are posted onto twitter. It is impressive how quickly social networking sites can document a society's breakdown. The speeds that knowledge can travel now globally is a remarkable accomplishment in the development of technology.
Social networking is arguably a great source to keep up to date with the latest news in the world to the minute, using Egypt as an example (as used in the film) it is absolutely incredible how 1 woman alone, could show the world what was really happening by simply uploading a video. Yes, technology has its disadvantages, as does everything, but social networking, on a global scale is vital for communication and truth. False information is everywhere, however, the things that count, like video proof of unaggravated police violence and protesting overpowers in importance, therefore making social media an important tool. If someone wants to spread harmful information, social media is only one of many tools to do so.
This is my weekly post. This week I chose to watch the documentary “Inside Job” which focuses on the financial crisis in the late 2000’s. The film focuses on the bank practices that led to the recession. The documentary has 5 parts and interviews many of the top people involved with creating the crisis. The first part outlines the financial history going into the 2000’s, the second part focused on the bubble between 2001-2007 and the housing market was booming. While that was happening the ratio of money borrowed vs. the banks own assets reached ridiculous levels. There was also a thing called a CDS which is a credit default swap that the film focused on heavily. This meant that the people could bet on collateralized debt obligations that they didn’t own. This led to people cheating the system. One of the best examples the film brings up is a company called Goldman-Sachs betting against bad CDO’s telling investors they were good. Part 3 focuses on the crash itself, and the levels of foreclosure in the US and the overall consequences. Part 4 was very interesting to me because the majority of the people who caused this recession, walked away with their money, no losses to themselves. To close it out the film focuses on the aftermath, the Obama administration was supposed to fix the issues however the financial reforms were weak, and trust is still questionable in the system.
ReplyDeleteNow for my personal thoughts on the documentary. I thought it was very well put together, and my favorite part of the film was in part 4, where they focused on the accountability of those involved. Most top executives declined to speak in the movie however the people who did decide to speak were pressured very hard, some became very agitated. Before watching the film, I didn’t know exactly how much responsibility the banks had, and how close many of them went bankrupt. And then the government stepped in and bailed them out, and that wasn’t fee for the taxpayer. While taxes were skyrocketing, people were losing jobs, while some IT jobs were being created, many manufacturing jobs were starting to go under. The craziest thing about this film for me was easily the difference between income levels, the income inequality in the US was reaching unprecedented levels. America was home to the poorest of the poor, and also the richest people in the world. Some of whom were a big part of creating the recession. This is not a pressing issue anymore as we have moved on and most economies have started to climb back to normal. This event is now in the past but now we need to beware of the warning signs of a recession so that it doesn’t happen again. What I can say is this changed the way many looked at the world, this recession didn’t just hit in North America, it hit everyone who was connected to the US, so as people lost jobs, people lost money, so in tern people didn’t buy products, and those products were imported from places like China. So then the Chinese then started losing their jobs and it affected their overall economy. So it truly did have a huge impact on our world. I encourage you to all have a look at this documentary, it can be found on Netflix or through the link below.
Sources:
Film: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/inside_job_2010/
Other source: http://www.american.com/archive/2010/december/how-government-failure-caused-the-great-recession
This is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteThe documentary I chose to review for this week is titled “The Invisible War”. The documentary is about rape and sexual assault in the United States Military, as well as the way that they deal with the crimes perpetuated against their soldiers during their duties, and the effects that the assaults and the military intervention have on the victims and the perpetrators of the sex crimes.
Some statistics that were included in the documentary really shocked me. Figures like: over 20% of women in the military have reported a sexual assault, but many more assaults go unreported, and men entering service are 15% more likely to have sexual assault in their background than a similar composition of civilian men.
The documentary also emphasizes that not all of the sexual assaults that occur in the military are perpetuated against women, in fact, because of the ratio of women vs. men in the military, the sex crimes perpetuated against either gender are relatively even. It also states that the victim is almost always punished when they bring their assaults to their superiors. Many victims have been charged with adultery if their attacker was married, and oftentimes the attackers do not receive any form of punishment.
After making the film, the producer, Kirby Dick, said he became convinced that “sexual assault in the military is the most underreported significant crime in the country.”(1)
I personally believe that rape and sexual assault in the military is a widespread issue and needs to be dealt with immediately.
It seems that the United States military has the highest rate of sexual assault, or at least, the United States military is the one that is most commonly investigated and reported.
The truth is that if people in the military are willing to rape their fellow soldiers, then what is to stop them from raping people in the country that they are fighting in? I believe that more complex laws need to be set in place and followed in the case of rape in the military, as well as rape in combat and war-torn countries.
Source 1: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/invisible-war-documentary-examines-rape-in-the-military/2012/06/21/gJQAcGqhtV_story.html
Graham takes Unmanned: America's drone wars.
ReplyDeleteThis is my weekly post.
ReplyDeleteThe documentary I picked was Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, which follows Joe Cross as he does a 60 day juice cleanse in an attempt to lose weight (he begins at 310 lbs) and reverse his rare autoimmune disease. He travels across the U.S with a juicer in the back of his car, buying local fruits and vegetables, while talking to people he passes about their diets and their opinions on juice cleanses. Throughout the documentary, he consumes nothing other than fresh organic fruit and vegetable juices and loses over 100lbs and completely eliminates the large variety of prescription medicine he had previously had to take every day by reversing the effects of his autoimmune disease.
The documentary made me feel that more people should be exposed to the all round health benefits of a healthier and more plant based diet. Travelling through the U.S, he stops to talk to people about the way they eat and how it affects them. Most people admit that they don't eat well (mainly fast, convenient foods) and feel that they need to lose weight, but they all say that going without meat, dairy, and also without solid foods, is an extreme and unhealthy lifestyle. To this, Joe Cross replies that his lifestyle of obesity, overeating and taking large doses of various prescriptions to live, should also be considered extreme.
People all over the world suffer from various health issues that they try to cure by taking prescription drugs, but continuing to feed themselves unhealthy foods that fail to give them the nutrients they need. Joe Cross preaches though the film that bodies are meant to heal from the inside out. By feeding ourselves with healthy foods full of nutrients and vitamins, our bodies can for the most part, take care of themselves. I think that people around the world need to look to their diets to change the way they feel and to reverse and prevent disease and sickness. Dr. Furhmann, featured in many nutrition documentaries, believes that people's main diets should be of vegetables, fruits and grains, with dairy and meats making up a very small percentage of diet. Through this, he has helped many people cure various illnesses that their prescription medicines could not. Rather than believing that minimizing meat and dairy consumption is unnatural or unhealthy, I think that the research and results to do with the health benefits of healthy diets should be more accepted in society, and be considered a clinical method of preventing and healing sickness.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-bartolotto/plant-based-diet_b_3807973.html
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ReplyDeleteThe documentary The War You Don't See gave a powerful message of the influence media has over war. Not just on how we see war but in the game of war itself. The film, directed and narrated by british journalist John Pilger, shows how war has grown to the point were journalist now play a key role and now civilians are the main victims. The film really showed how, as consumers of media we need to question where information comes from and what reaction they are trying to get from us.
The documentary started with a quote from a meeting between the British Prime Minister, David George and the Editor of the Guardian newspaper during WWI, where the PM was quoted saying, "If people really knew the truth, the war would be stopped tomorrow, but of course they don't know and can't know." This really shocked me because we rely on newspapers and TV reports to give us news because not all of us can visit first had the event being reported on, yet we are being told lies, half truths and sometimes propaganda.
When Britain needed America to fight with them in the World Wars, they began using the media as a resource for their fight. They needed to sell the war to the american people and thus they played on emotions, unconscious urges, and ultimately, they scared the people. It was no longer about the facts. they used an image and linked it with an idea. They separated symbols from what they meant and took facts away. They manipulated the public opinion. This was happening in WWI yet it happens now as well, we just need to be aware of it. The image of the Twin Towers being attacked was linked with Saddam Hussein and all of a sudden we had one very angry country wanting retaliation regardless of whether that link was true. The media formed the opinion of the nation that pushed for war.
The documentary pointed out that media can actually be the cause of a nation going to war. The Cold War was kept alive primarily due to propaganda of fear.
The interviews with reporters or the journalist themselves was very shocking as they acknowledged that they rarely challenge reports and they by not doing this it can in fact spur on attacks. They also acknowledged that they often report claims when they realize they were false they apologize later. The problem with that, in my opinion, is that in between the initial report and the apology a lot of people are being dubbed and believing false ideas, basing opinions on them and changing views on subject based on that false claim. One reporter stated that lying in politics and government is a crime on a large scale and the journalists who blindly report on these lies are ultimately accomplices.
Continued...
DeleteNot only does media play a role in war but it also effects how we see the war. This was such a powerful part of the film. It really showed the influence the government has over what is shown or said. Even in 'free' countries like Britain, Canada, and America. Much like we talk about in class, those who hold the information, those that control it, control the war. The government wants to make sure they can control the information that is shown. This really frustrates me. Although things might not be shown due to the brutality of it, I still do not want to be held in the dark and told only one side of a story when it comes to war. Yet this is what happens. Because this film was made in 2010, they talked mostly about America in Iraq and how the Government embeds reporters with the troops. That gives the military the full power to control everything that reporter sees, hears, when they see things, and how they report things. Due to this, viewers at home saw footage of made for TV moments, and everything from the POV of the soldiers and never civilians.
What was not reported on was the the facts that would cause a country to question it's actions. As a result of the invasion of Iraq 740 000 women are widows and 4.5 million people were forced from their homes; refugees in there own land. Yet none of this was reported.
Journalists who reuse to go along with the army and go independently are often those who report the real unbiased news.
One independent film maker spoke about his experience in a war zone, seeing what military groups do, and how civilians are now the major victims of war, yet we don't hear of it.
In WWI the percentage of casualties that were civilians was at 10% now with Iraq it is up to 90%, we don't really hear of that. That to me is shocking and an unacceptable number. It is horrifyingly wrong to justify killing that many innocent people just to continue fighting. When we do hear of civilian killings we are very desensitized, we don't see pictures or faces, nor do we hear the names. It would be crazy impactful if they read out the names of the civilians who had been killed by our army along with the names of our dead.
Continued...One point that really clicked for me was the reporting of victims deaths, how the media categorizes worthy (people killed by people we don't like, or american people killed) and unworthy victims (ones we kill, that we downplay their deaths). This can be seen a lot in our media. We all have read all the names of the children and teachers killed in the SandyHook shooting, and it caused uproars. Yet we don't make a fuss when we hear about the mass amount of children being killed by American troops. We just hear the numbers of casualties but aren't spurred to act. Although we should mourn for those killed in SandyHook, we really need to realize that the media has categorized our minds to think less of some killings and more of others. Those victims are not part of our memorials because they are not allowed in our memories due to the way the war is portrayed to us through media.
DeleteMy question throughout the film was why are more journalists not showing what is really happening? Why are they not portraying war the way it is? The reasoning was explained by a former British Government official who worked with public relations. He said that fear is a big deal in journalism and government and news companies will not give journalists information if they publicly criticize or question the facts given. The government will "freeze them out'. Journalists would be rewarded for supporting the one view point and ignored if they don't. This is ridiculous to me. we should be told the truth about what is happening and journalist should have a code to live up to, to show the truth as it is.
To me this documentary really is an eye opener into how much of out information is, not just biased, but controlled. Especially relating to war and the action that military take. I think we really need to be careful where we get information and that the only real way to fully grasp the situation and find out what is happening is to go there and do the reporting first hand. Since most of us can't do that, we need to be very careful and never take things at face value simply because someone in power says it is so.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703428604575419580947722558
ReplyDeleteThis is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteI watched the documentary “Science VS Denial: A Burning Question: Propaganda & The Denial Of Climate Change” (2012) which discusses the conflicting views of the public. Scientists have been studying the issue of climate change for over a hundred years, climate being an idea that was once originally thought to be static. With so much research surrounding the topic it is hard to understand how many people believe it is all a hoax. The media plays a large role in the helping the public form opinions on global warming and climate change. But unfortunately the media often focuses on the very few mistakes that climate scientists make, which puts the whole issue under scrutiny. I think it is important we stop discussing climate change as if it were a myth and start focusing on the facts. Humans and our output of CO2 and pollution induce the current warming of the planet; we are causing an imbalance in the natural carbon levels. and this heat is also being absorbed by the oceans warming our waters and in turn melting the glaciers. Often in global warming campaigns you can see animals losing their habitats etc. but it is also important to remember that climate change poses a very big threat to the human race as well. I think it is vital that the media should show both sides of the argument and implore the public to do their own research and come to their own conclusions about the topic.
Video Source: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/a-burning-question-propaganda-and-the-denial-of-climate-change-2012/
Additional Source: http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
I watched the documentary “Dirty Wars” which focuses on the war crimes committed by the US military and government. Investigative Journalist Jeremy Schall travels to Yemen, Afghanistan, and Somalia, countries where the military has taken action on the War on terrorism. Upon his investigation, he finds numerous accounts of cover-up stories made by the US government and military.
ReplyDeleteSome of these cover-ups are pretty shocking. One instance included the death of five, non-terrorist civilians, two of which were pregnant, and one a police commander. The police commander was trained and aided by the US government/military, and received numerous awards from them. What shocked me is that to try and cover it all up, they went to the bodies of the recently murdered and took the bullets out of their bodies. This, along with many other raids, was led by a secretive special operation task force known as JSOC (1).
Who are JSOC? Basically they are Obama’s secret task force capable of taking out whoever he pleases, without needing to be indicted for a crime (2). This happened to an American citizen named Anwar al-Awlaki, who had been indicted for no crime, but was condemned for propagandizing for al-Qaida, was assassinated by the JSOC force in 2011, along with his son two weeks later (2). The issue here is where is the justice behind killing someone with a drone for committing no crime? Furthermore, what about his son? On the grounds of being a potential terrorist later on in his career?
This film causes a number of haunting questions regarding freedom, democracy, and justice. It broadened my perspective about what really goes with the government, along with my opinion towards the government and military. I feel as citizens in a democratic civilization, we should be given the right to know what really goes on with the governments “dirty” acts and what the military is actually doing to harmless citizens.
Sources
1 - http://dirtywars.org/the-film
2- http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/03/jsoc-obama-secret-assassins
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ReplyDeleteI watched the documentary Super Size Me. In this documentary Morgan Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald’s fast food, three meals a day, for a month. He does this to show the growing issues of obesity. This documentary made me feel physically ill. This is something that must be acted upon. Morgan focuses on obesity in America but after some research I’ve learned that obesity is rapidly becoming a world issue, “The most comprehensive study on obesity ever conducted reveals that obesity rates have risen everywhere in the world for the last 30 years and that some of the most dramatic increases are being seen in children and adolescents.” (source). This is a shocking statistic. This shows a serious drop in the quality of food world wide. Fast food is becoming common place all over the world and it is causing widespread health issues starting with our youth. The children are our future, unless they never make it there. This could very well lead to changes in the shapes of population pyramids around the world, giving them a majority of elderly and with population decreasing with age.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/action-urged-on-worldwide-obesity-crisis/article18901162/
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ReplyDeleteSince this week is a documentary week I have chosen to review Blackfish, which is a documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Blackfish tackles the issue of the captivity of killer whales at Sea World and uncovering the truth behind the horrors the company continues to cover up.
First of all, I find it personally disgusting to take a wild animal out of its natural habitat and force it into captivity. Not only were these powerful, dangerous animals taken out of the wild and forced into captivity, they were forced to perform shows so that greedy human beings could make a profit. Not one single employee of Sea World was willing to give an interview for the documentary, probably because talking about the fatal attacks that happened at their place of employment wouldn't sit well with their employers or create a good image for Sea World. Instead, the majority of subjects and testifiers are ex trainers of this horrific company who were fed up with the carelessness they witnessed and were willing to speak up. Sea World is repeatedly described as a very cult like environment who has been doing nothing to assist in the prevention of further attacks. Tilikum, a 12,000 pound killer whale has apparently already killed three people with the most talked about death occurring in 2010.
Many aspects of this documentary are eye opening and in my opinion, very disturbing. The first thing I can't believe is the fact that Sea World has made zero attempt to change their ways after the deaths of multiple trainers nor have they apologized for these events. Everything that has happened has been swept under the rug or denied in order to protect their reputation which I find morally unjust, like we are talking life and death where they are responsible. The second thing I found extremely heart-wrenching and disturbing while watching this documentary is the fact that blackfish shows actual footage of these fatal attacks and also attacks with lucky survivors. Although I found this difficult to watch at times, I feel like it was definitely an important part of Blackfish as it displayed the brutality of these whales in captivity and shows that this is a huge problem that is not being addressed properly.
"It was such a bloodcurdling scream, she knew she was going to die" reports John Hargrove on overhearing a sea world trainer attack. I strongly think action needs to be taken over this issue immediately. It frustrates me to know that these poor whales are being stuck in captivity, which is heart breaking to watch knowing they just want to be free, but also the fact that deaths are happening because of this exploration of these wild animals. With Sea World doing nothing to fix the current flaws in their corporation I feel it is a responsibility to people everywhere to stop supporting the company and to stop visiting Sea World. In my opinion, why would anyone in there right mind want to go see an animal being forced into being an entertained when really it just wants to be free. I definitely recommend this documentary as it opened my eyes to the horrors taking place at Sea World although I feel as though they should have also focused on the mistreatment of all the other animals at sea world and not just the orcas. The amount of stuff that large corporations get away with that are not things that should be overlooked is absurd and hopefully with be brought to attention from this documentary and many others.
Source 1: http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/blackfish-documentary-exposes-seaworld/
Source 2: http://www.thewrap.com/blackfish-oscars-john-hargrove-seaworld-trainer/
Countdown to Zero
ReplyDeleteThis is my weekly post
The documentary that I chose to review is “Countdown to Zero”. This film presents a convincing argument for the complete abolition of nuclear arms. It features experts in nuclear technology and politicians alike, all coming together to discuss the ramifications of possessing nuclear weapons.
Before I saw the documentary, I knew very little about the politics of nuclear weapons. There are 9 countries that have active nuclear warheads; Russia has the most, with approximately 8,500 (1). The United States, coming in second with 5,500 nuclear weapons, has enough power to blow up the planet approximately five times over (2). Globally, there are approximately 23,000 nuclear weapons; more than enough to devastate the entire planet.
The film outlines the possible nuclear catastrophes that could happen. Failed diplomacy catalyzing war is one obvious way for a nuclear disaster to take place. Another possible event that could take place is nuclear technology falling into the hands of terrorist organizations. What shocked me was how easy it is to acquire nuclear materials; many nuclear facilities, especially ones in Russia, are poorly regulated. This has allowed workers to, on many occasions, steal materials such as highly enriched uranium. The film also points out that it is surprisingly easy to smuggle such materials amongst everyday goods.
The documentary also points out that something as simple as an accident could spark a nuclear attack. The film outlines an instance in 1995, when the United States launched a rocket to study the Northern Lights. The United States informed Russia that the rocket would be launched, but someone in Moscow forgot to pass the word on to their superiors. Russia, in response, almost retaliated with a nuclear attack; war was only narrowly avoided because Boris Yeltsin, the President at the time, was skeptical of the military’s claim.
This documentary informed me on the issue of nuclear weapons and left me rather disturbed; I now realize the fragility of the peace that we live in. Before watching the film, I was against nuclear weapons, but now I wholeheartedly agree; in order to ensure a peaceful future, it is imperative for nuclear arms to be abolished. At the end of World War II, the world saw the devastation that nuclear weapons caused in Hiroshima and Nagasaki; approximately 225, 000 people were injured or killed (3). The only way to prevent further events like this is to completely rid the world of nuclear arms. We are headed in the right direction; treaties such as Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) have been signed to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and work towards “general and complete disarmament”(4). Despite these efforts, we still have a long way to go to ensure a more peaceful future for the international community.
I’ll leave you with a John F. Kennedy quote that is referred to many times in the documentary;
“Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable. Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.”
Source 1: http://web.net/~cnanw/a3.htm
Source 2 : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-margolis/do-we-really-need-to-blow_b_491367.html
Source 3 : http://www.nti.org/threats/nuclear/
Source 4 : http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/200708230009.html
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ReplyDeleteFor my documentary I chose to watch "Dawn to Death: The Dolphins of Taiji".In this documentary it followed a crew of people who had set up hidden cameras around a common area of dolphin migration and an area where these dolphins are being herded and then murdered on a daily basis. I was completely shocked by this video which showcased the brutal and inhumane killings of innocent dolphins and whales in Taiji. This video was extremely graphic and not for the weak at heart (ie me).
I think the media mainly focuses on showing people what pollution and environmental factors have to do with the death of these beautiful creatures and choose to have a veil of ignorance over these man made problems that happen everyday from September to May where over 20,000 dolphins are slaughtered in countries like Japan.(1) People can't fix a problem if they aren't even aware what that problem is and that's why i strongly believe that the media needs to pay more attention to problems like this and shift the focus on what is presented to people so awareness can be made and changes can start to happen.
I am going to further continue researching this problem and see what changes can be made because this is a completely awful thing that is happening everyday that people need to open their eyes to.
Sources
1. http://www.opsociety.org/issues/dolphin-slaughter-in-taiji
2. http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/dawn_to_death_the_dolphins_of_taiji/
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ReplyDeleteThe documentary that I chose to watch was called "Vegucated" and it was about adopting a vegan lifestyle.
As stated in this film, a vegan is someone who eats an entirely plant-based diet with no fish, meat, poultry, dairy or eggs. Vegans also do not wear any clothing that is made from animals and they do not use products that were tested on animals. The general thesis of this documentary was that veganism is not only healthier for our bodies but also for the environment. Also, as plant-based foods increase in a persons diet, diseases such as cancer and heart disease decrease drastically. Because the nutrient:calorie ratio is so high, it is said that it is impossible to be overweight while consuming a plant-based diet even if you overeat. A good example of the health benefits to veganism was a lady named Julia Spagnoli who is a survivor of 3 heart attacks! She has lost 80 pounds since becoming a vegan and no longer has heart troubles.
The narrator interviewed 25 people and selected 3 people of different age, gender and ethnicities to become vegan for 6 weeks. These 3 people all had their individual challenges to becoming vegan but all had the same desires of loosing weight, looking good and feeling healthy.All 3 people chosen consumed a dominantly animal-based diet and did not go a day without eating an animal bi-product. These people were taken to get basic medical tests before and after. After 6 weeks, all 3 had lost weight, their blood pressure had decreased as well as their cholesterol.
There were a lot of disturbing images and facts in this film especially when it went into detail about the conditions of the animals in the slaughterhouses. In the past 50 years, the world's meat consumption increased 5 FOLD!!! This called for the need of larger industrialized farms instead of smaller family-run farms. However; with this industrializing came ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS living conditions for these animals. Something that especially shocked me was that the Dairy cows are forced to produce 340% more milk today than in 1950! The milk production starts after the cow gives birth, however; her calf is taken away from her after 48 hours so that the milk can go to humans instead of being used to nurture the baby. The cow is then re-impregnated by artificial insemination and this continues until she is killed for hamburger meat. More of the same mistreatment happen with every animal and for all of the injuries, infections and CASTRATIONS that occur with these animals, NO ANAESTHETICS or antibiotics are given to these animals. In some instances for the Beef cattle, the castration occurs by rubber band until the blood flow is completely cut off and the appendage just FALLS OFF.
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Along with this neglect of the animals, the mass production and consumption of animal products is damaging the environment. It is stated that farm animals contribute more (18%) to global warming than the ENTIRE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR (13%). Also, to accommodate for the increasing demand of mean (specifically beef), we have cut down 70% of the rainforests in the Amazon to use for cattle grazing and feed. An interesting statistic said (loosely quoted) that "Switching from a normal diet to a vegan diet would be more environmentally productive than switching from a normal, gas-powered car to a hybrid car.
DeleteI really enjoyed the fact that along with stating the rather gruesome details as to why we should all become vegan, it also stated just how simple it was. This film was shot in New York and in that city alone there are something like 126 vegan/vegetarian restaurants! It also reminded us that "normal" foods such as Oreos, Teddy Grahams and even pancake mix were still vegan options. There are also many different kinds of tofu ,which substitutes for meat (e.x Tofu dogs, "Tofurkey" etc.) as well as soy, almond and many other kinds of dairy substitutions.
I have already adapted a mostly vegetarian diet with the exception of fish and chicken, but it made me wonder about whether or not I would be able to become vegan (for very obvious reasons I may add!). I 300% recommend this to all of you! If not to become vegan, just watch it to become aware of what is really happening with the food you are eating!