derek | Shared With: Everyone - Feb 19 2006 | frontline, pbs, methamphetamine, drugs, tv
Watched this last night -- remarkable. Incredibly informative and really well presented. I had no idea how bad this was. Just one of the many standout statistics -- 50% of foster children in Oregon are there because of meth use.
Quoted: Speed. Meth. Glass. On the street, methamphetamine has many names. What started as a fad among motorcycle gangs in the 1970s has become big business, largely due to the efforts of two Mexican drug runners who began smuggling ephedrine -- the same chemical used to make over-the-counter cold remedies -- into California by the ton. Hundreds of illegal meth labs are now operating in the western United States, and the effects are sweeping the nation. From coast to coast, meth abuse is on the rise, but who's responsible? Is the government doing enough to crack down on this latest drug craze? On January 31, in a reporting partnership with The Oregonian, FRONTLINE investigates America's addiction to meth and exposes the inherent conflict between the illegal drug trade and the legitimate three-billion-dollar cold remedy business.
derek | Shared With: Everyone - Apr 18 2006 | frontline, tv, china
Quoted: On June 5, 1989, one day after Chinese troops expelled thousands of demonstrators from Tiananmen Square in Beijing, a solitary, unarmed protester stood his ground before a column of tanks advancing down the Avenue of Eternal Peace. Captured by Western photographers watching nearby, this extraordinary confrontation became an icon of the fight for freedom around the world. On April 11, veteran filmmaker Antony Thomas investigates the mystery of the tank man -- his identity, his fate, and his significance for the Chinese leadership. The search for the tank man reveals China's startling social compact -- its embrace of capitalism while dissent is squashed -- designed to stifle the nationwide unrest of 1989. This policy has allowed educated elites and entrepreneurs to profit handsomely, while the majority of Chinese still face brutal working conditions and low wages, and all Chinese must endure strict political and social controls. Some of these controls regulate speech on the Internet -- and have generated criticism over the involvement of major U.S. corporations such as Yahoo!, Cisco, Microsoft, and Google.
- derek | Shared With: Everyone - Mar 31 2006 | frontline, social experiments
Very interesting Frontline documentary, circa 1985. The teacher separated children based on eye color to teach them about discrimination.
Quoted: On the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in April 1968, Jane Elliott's third graders from the small, all-white town of Riceville, Iowa, ...
- derek | Shared With: Everyone - Mar 31 2006 | frontline, social experiments, news
This is reminiscient of the famous Frontline experiment, where children were introduced to discrimination using the color of their eyes. Certainly less controversial, and from the sounds of it, better executed.
derek | Shared With: Everyone - Nov 09 2005 | frontline, abortion, pbs, roe vs. wade
Watched this tonight -- pretty interesting. I definitely learned a few things. Not as interesting as "The Jesus Factor", which was the last one this producer did, but good nonetheless.
Quoted: Today, the headlines are filled with speculation about changes in the U.S. Supreme Court and what those changes might mean for abortion -- an issue that has divided the country for over 30 years. But while the spotlight is on Washington, there is an equally significant story playing out in local communities. Pro-life advocates have waged a successful campaign to limit access to abortion by spearheading legislation at the state leve. By using state laws to regulate and limit abortion and by creating their own clinics to offer alternatives to women, they have changed the facts on the ground. On Nov. 8, FRONTLINE investigates the steady decline in the number of physicians and clinics performing abortions and focuses on local political battles in states like Mississippi, where only a single abortion clinic performs the controversial procedure.
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