Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (Redux)

Last week I tackled the Ashley Judd suggestion from GritFX girl Manz. This week, it’s a two-part Bacon-thon, with the first suggestion – Zac Efron - coming from Rosidah (check out her blog Music of my Life). I thought this was gonna be a tough one, but thanks to Zac’s appearance in 2007’s Hairspray, it proved not too difficult after all.

Zac Efron was in Hairspray with Michelle Pfeiffer; Ms Pfeiffer starred in The Witches Of Eastwick with Jack Nicholson; Jack had that memorable performance in A Few Good Men alongside the Baconmeister.


The second name to link to Bacon via six degrees came from Russ (check out his excellent photography at Russ’ Photo Blog), who made the seemingly unrelated suggestion of eccentric physicist Richard Feynman. It turned out (to my surprise) that Feynman had actually appeared in a 1980 film called Anti-Clock. And so, from there, the game was on.

Richard Feynman was in Anti-Clock with a guy named Sebastian Saville; Saville appeared in one other film before this, Libel with Wilfred Hyde-White; Wilfred Hyde-White was in The Toy with Richard Pryor; Richard Pryor appeared in Lost Highway with Balthazar Getty; Balthazar was a cast member of Where The Day Takes You with Sean Astin; Sean Astin was in White Water Summer with the Bacon.


And that’s exactly six degrees. Thanks for that one Russ – a nice challenge.

Of course, if anyone can link these suggestions in fewer moves, let me know. Suggestions for future Six Degrees posts here on the GritBLOG are also most welcome.

by Wadrick Jones

Check out Kevin Bacon's charity website based on the "six degrees" concept at:
SixDegrees.org

Next Week: Jason Mewes

WADRICK’S THIRTY SECOND FILM REVIEWS

Quarantine (2008)
Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Steve Harris, Johnathon Schaech, Greg Germann & Rade Serbedzija.
Written by John Erick Dowdle & Drew Dowdle.
Directed by John Erick Dowdle.

Here we go again with yet another Hollywood remake of a foreign horror film, this time the superior Spanish production [REC]. On one seemingly uneventful evening, a young reporter and her cameraman are shooting a piece on a brigade of firefighters. When they receive a call to attend a disturbance at an apartment building, they discover some crazy shenanigans inside from one rabid tenant. Soon, the building is quarantined and it becomes clear that there is a virus loose, turning the tenants into ravenous, bloodthirsty zombie-like creatures. Because, you know, gone are the days when a movie virus meant certain death – it’s now a one-way ticket to flesh-eating town. Anyway, filmed entirely from the point of view of the cameraman, Quarantine follows the chaos and disintegration of the inhabitants of the apartment building as the virus claims victim after victim, and any attempt at escape is met with deadly force from the authorities staged outside. Not without its genuinely freaky moments, Quarantine is nonetheless just another addition to this faux-reality sub-genre that has reached its zenith and now, unfortunately, fails to convince.

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Babylon A.D (2008)
Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Mark Strong, Charlotte Rampling & Gerard Depardieu.
Written by Mathieu Kassovitz & Eric Besnard.
Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz.

The worst decision a director can make is to cast Vin Diesel in his or her film. And director Mathieu Kassovitz said as much after completing Babylon A.D – the film based on the novel Babylon Babies by Maurice Georges Dantec. When a director speaks so openly of such matters, it does not bode well for the actual film – and this is the case with Babylon A.D. In an apocalyptic future, a mercenary is hired by a Russian gangster to transport a young woman named Aurora across Europe to America. Pregnant, Aurora is part of an elaborate plan to bring forth a spiritual awakening by a religious sect known as The Noelites. Babylon A.D is an example of a bad film that could have been great. Not only is it let down by a dull, emotionless performance from Diesel, it suffers at the hands of some poor writing. But at times, it displays the kind of production design and direction that suggests a classic of the genre. Unfortunately, as a complete entity, the film never really works, feeling akin to the hobo cousin of Alfonso Cuaron’s modern classic Children Of Men.

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Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (2008)
Bill Nighy, Michael Sheen, Rhona Mitra, Kevin Grevioux, Steve Mackintosh.
Written by Len Wiseman & Danny McBride.
Directed by Patrick Tatopoulos.

The third film in the Underworld franchise is a prequel, tracing the events that lead to the ages-long feud between werewolf and vampire. Lucien, the first werewolf to ever take human form (known as Lycans), is in love with the vampire Sonja, a forbidden liaison that eventually incurs the wrath of Sonja’s father Viktor (Nighy). Locked away and marked for death, Lucien escapes, setting loose his Lycan buddies and gathering an army for a violent assault on the vampire lair. The story told here was explained briefly in the first Underworld film, and it was a tale that deserved to be told in it’s own right. Unfortunately for its audience, Rise Of The Lycans barely delivers, revealing little depth and feeling drastically half-baked. The film is a definite improvement on the horrendous Underworld 2, and benefits from actor Sheen reprising his role as Lucien from the original film. But what had potential to be a great series of films has become as disappointingly dreary as the vampire way of life.

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RATINGS CHART...

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If you want to watch any trailers/scenes from films reviewed by Wadrick, visit the GritHouse – the GritFX YouTube Channel – and check out Wadrick's Playlist.

Golden Oldies...

"Golden Oldies..." is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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I've been so busy this week that I didn't even think about my camera, let alone pick it up and snap some photos.

Therefore, this weeks camera critter post is a selection of critter photos taken on various occasions - before digital cameras. On each occasion, I had to capture what I saw with one frame of film... the cows took off on a stampede; the spider ran into the darkness; and the pelicans and gulls dispersed incredibly quickly.

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (Redux)

So let’s play. Everyone knows this game – it became a phenomenon – even if you’re not a movie fan. The gist is that Kevin Bacon can be linked to any actor or actress in Hollywood through the philosophy of “six degrees of separation”, which maintains that everyone on the planet is one step away from each person they know, and two steps away from each person known by one of the people they know. At the most, we are all six steps away from everyone on the planet. I’m not sure I believe this to be true, but it has been proven time and again that it sure does apply to Kevin Bacon (although better examples of actors/actresses in the movie biz have been proven). So I’ll attempt to go as far as I can linking mainstream and obscure actors and actresses to the Bacon.

This week’s starting point (provided by GritFX guru Manz) is Ashley Judd, star of such films as Kiss The Girls and the recent Bug. Obviously, the point is to link Ms Judd to Bacon in as few steps as possible and to not exceed six steps (or degrees). And frankly Manz, this is an easy one…

Ashley Judd was in Double Jeopardy with Tommy Lee Jones; Tommy Lee was in JFK with the Bacon.


Anyone one out there who wishes to provide me with a starting point (the more obscure actor/actress the better), leave your suggestions in the comments box.

See you all next week.

by Wadrick Jones

Check out Kevin Bacon's charity website based on the "six degrees" concept at:
SixDegrees.org

What We Can’t See Can’t Hurt Us

In a recent interview with Good magazine online, noted futurist Ray Kurzweil spoke of nanotechnology and it’s wildest applications. He noted that virtual reality in the near future could be given a tremendous boost through the use of nanotechnology. Instead of utilising some kind of device (ie; a bulbous headset as seen in many Hollywood science-fiction films), “nanobots” could be directly injected into the brain, fooling the neurons into believing that the recipient was indeed travelling to some exotic locale, when in reality, their physical being was still in the comfort of their own home, slothing in their favourite armchair clutching a beer.

Whilst this all sounds like something lifted straight from the mind of Philip K. Dick, the rise of nanotechnology since the 1980s has been profound. It has scared many and, reluctant to applaud this seemingly wonderous scientific advancement, have been vocal critics of the lack of oversight and non-existant research into the potential hazards of the technology. For nanotech concerns the study of materials on such a mindbogglingly small scale (in comparison, on the nanoscale, one nanometre is one billionth of a metre – or the size of a marble to that of the Earth) that the established properties of said materials begin to get fuzzy. For example, at such a scale where gravity is no longer relevant and where molecules can be manipulated into self-assembly, it would seem obtuse to not give serious consideration to all possible risks. But instead, the pursuit of the control of matter on the atomic scale and creation of nano-machines has proceded unfettered, appearing to be lead by the ironic assertion that what we can’t see can’t hurt us.

It is believed that nanotech will one day render us all immortal, our bodies cursing with miniature robots repairing the inevitable decay of species. It has been reported (although, to this author’s knowledge, not substantiated) that certain corporations are already using nanobots, in particular, European food processors. Nanobots were reportedly added to processed foods, acting to preserve food in packaging for far longer periods than what is currently achievable. However, since the naked eye cannot see these nanobots, where do they go once the package of food is opened and consumed. Can they feasibly find new material in the garbage bin and begin to reassemble into a new machine with a new modus operandi? Considering the ramifications of interaction between nanomaterials and biomaterials are unknown, it seems pertinent to examine these issues before we are faced with strange biological, ecological and environmental dilemmas.


by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

Decoy’s Completely Biased Non-Definitive Guide To Music

Lush - Spooky (1992)

Remember Lush? Like many bands of the early 90s, Lush became kind of big and also a bit dwarfed by the explosion of the alternate music scene, which gave rise to countless new bands vying for a piece of the booming major-label pre-internet spotlight. Some bands got a bit overlooked in the process. Anyway. Lush produced some damn good music and a couple of really cool albums. This was their first (studio album). And throughout ’92 and ’93, my good friend and I ate it up in heaped spoonfuls right along with our daily dose of Nirvana and Sonic Youth and Mudhoney etc. Spooky somehow fit right in with our existing tastes, and it didn’t hurt that it sported two enigmatic front-women: Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson. Along with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, the ‘shoegaze’ scene had a messy, sullied sound that was somehow more feminine than the muscular distorted guitars of America. It was the UK yin, to the US yang. It was smooth distortion, but not in the reductive clinical sense of the later pop-punk (Blink 182) sound, which was a tone I found one-dimensional. The shoegaze scene was still a nice wild sound that meshed with the vocals producing hypnotic hybrids that were dense and layered and roomy. Lush’s songs were large, solid blocks of travelling harmony. At faster tempos, their sound had an effect of propulsion. Slower tempos were a swirling ebb that could take you far away from shore like an unseen tidal rip. It was produced by Robin Guthrie (of Cocteau Twins) and he presented their sound well. It may sound a tad dated in stylistic terms, but it still manages to rise above a lot of the other bands that were making music at that time (surprisingly, I find grunge to be a genre that hasn’t aged as well as I would’ve thought - but give it time I guess, it’ll come around again). Lush released two more albums, Split (1994) and Lovelife (1996) and then disbanded after the tragic suicide of their drummer Chris Acland in 1996. So when I need my fix of melodic-pop wrapped in flowering flanger-pedals, I can always rely on the metallic buzz of Spooky. It’s lush.

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Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head (2008)

Whatever Scarlett did was gonna polarise people. Before anyone heard a note, some were gonna love it and others were gonna hate it. If she went the obvious pop route she would have been ridiculed as just another ambitious celebrity cashing in on herself. ‘What’s next, a perfume or a lingerie line?’ But no one expected this - a covers album. And of all the artists to cover…Tom Waits (?!) That’s pretty ballsy. How does one improve on, or take his songs in new directions? Can it even be done? The answer is yes (kind of). This album endeavours to render his songs in an expansive (Daniel Lanois-like) soundscape. Plus she’s got some cool guests - namely Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and David Andrew Sitek (TV on the Radio) handling guitar and production duties, and David Bowie adding vocals on two tracks. Pretty cool. Now, Scarlett’s not the greatest singer in the world. But it plays to her brusque strengths, and somehow works to create a damn good album. I like that she’s not afraid to have her voice lost in the atmospheric mix - and everything is serving the whole. When I first heard Scarlett was coming out with an album, I (unfairly but justifiably) thought: ‘How boring’. But I like that it confounds expectation - from the outset. The first song, “Fawn”, is an instrumental, and it serves to acclimatise you to the world you’re about to enter into. One could even expect Nick Cave or Cat Power to start singing. The sound is ragged and textured, yet delicate at the same time. We hear Scarlett for the first time on “Town with No Cheer” and she laments the song through a lovely crash of fatalistic sounds. And it just continues to surprise you with “Falling Down”, “Fannin’ Street”, “Song for Jo” and by the time you get to the music-box lullaby of “I Wish I Was in New Orleans” you’re thinking: This is pretty f&#king cool. As it starts, “No One Knows I’m Gone” sounds like (The Velvet Underground’s) “Venus in Furs” - and that’s never a bad direction to take things. The album is an acquired taste perhaps, but that’s only because they’re trying to do something different. (It’s certainly ambitious, but I wouldn’t say pretentious.) And the album deserved more attention and praise for that alone.

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Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Flaunt It (1986)

Science-Fiction, Blade Runner, A Clockwork Orange, Star Wars, Red Dawn, Nuclear War, guns, rockets, bombs, Robots, Toys, Sex, fake ads between songs, crazy wild-haired cyber-punk dudes - this had everything a thirteen year old boy could want in 1987. I remember getting it on vinyl, and feeling like I was somehow cooler for having it. (I still have it.) The large-size art work and inner sleeve were amazing. There were photos of strange exotic people who looked like they’d walked right out of Mos Eisley spaceport. There were lyrics and symbols and assorted English and Kanji text. There were faint diagrams of assembly instructions for what looked like transformer robots printed beneath the words. And their words actually made sense to a thirteen year old. The first thing you hear is: ‘I wanna be a star!’ - which speaks to a teenager, instantly. And I made mad little mind-movie narratives for all their songs with lyrics like: ‘The US bombs cruising overhead/ There goes my love rocket red’, and ‘I'm a Custom Kar Kommando/ And she she she can she can’, and ‘Star Wars Western USA…Ultra Venus USA…Rockit Miss USA’, and ‘I’m a space cowboy/ I’m a 21st century whoopee boy!’. I totally understood that. I related to those guys as only a thirteen year old can - the magical age when the irrational becomes rational, when dreams and reality are inseparable. When truth and lies are both necessary. And so these guys became my band. It was like my own secret sci-fi world, where I knew all the characters, all the plots, all the tricks and all the action. And you don’t deconstruct anything at that age. You have no sense of history. You have no cultural reference points. You don’t really think about the fact their songs “Love Missile F1-11” and “Atari Baby” sound like Chuck Berry riffs and Doo-Wop played on keyboards. Like rockabilly techno. Like space-age Elvis. As a kid, you just dig it. In 1987, I had never heard Kraftwerk, or Suicide, or Tangerine Dream, or Eno. Looking back now, this album was incredibly important for me, I think it subconsciously primed me for the discovery of all that music later on in life. It prepared me for life as a 21st Century Boy.

By Decoy Spoon

If you want to hear/see any of the music reviewed by Decoy, visit the GritHouse – the GritFX YouTube Channel – and check out Decoy’s Playlist of music videos.

Meet the Neighbours...

"Meet the Neighbours..." is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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With all the trees that surround us, we hear these neighbours more than we see them. This week when we saw they were up at the fence, Dave & I took the opportunity to take some photos. They were more than happy to smile for the camera...

Seeds Of Life

In February 2008, on the remote Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the North Pole, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was officially opened. The underground installation was drilled from permafrost and took less than a year to build. Otherwise known as the “Doomsday Vault”, it aimed to house nearly three million varieties of seeds from across the globe, and was promoted as a humanitarian cause. Through the collection and copying of seeds, the vault officially provided protection of what amounts to the planet’s lifeblood in the event of a global catastrophe. But considering that seeds of plants are already stored in various gene banks across the globe, there were immediate questions raised as to another explanation for the Norwegian installation.

The official position is that the vault was the undertaking of the Norwegian government, yet most of the funding came from outside sources. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spearheaded the project, and under the auspices of the Global Crop Diversity Trust – an independent organization – will direct and maintain the vault. Of course, there is a ‘conspiracy theory’ here if one wishes to find one. Considering that funding for the vault also came from such organizations as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Monsanto corporation, questions were obviously raised as to other possible explanations for the construction of the vault by many online researchers.

For example, the idea that the vault was built in case of a global catastrophe wiping out the planet’s seed banks, prompted many to ask if the wealthy elite knew something we didn’t? Was it simply their personal insurance policy? Or was it yet another move towards complete control of the planet through subjugation of the world’s food supply? It is no secret that many wealthy families have private underground installations that have the sole purpose of housing their rich bones during a nuclear or biological disaster - so is the seed vault simply an extension of this sub-surface agenda? Many also point to the actions of corporations like Monsanto - and other “Doomsday Vault” sponsors such as DuPont – who have spent billions on seed research, especially genetically modified organisms (this is another story altogether!), rendering the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to defy the philanthropic nature as advertised.

The vault is surely an impressive structure. Blast-proof doors guard the entrance, with state-of-the-art security and steel-reinforced concrete one metre thick protecting the precious seeds held within. But its purpose for what appears to be the benefit of a few rather than the entire globe, has done nothing but increase its infamy, even in the face of such plaudits from everyone from National Geographic to the UN.

For more on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and its history, I urge any interested person to read the excellent article by F.William Engdahl here:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529


by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

WADRICK’S THIRTY SECOND FILM REVIEWS (the 1990s)

The Fifth Element (1997)
Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Milla Jovovich, Ian Holm, Chris Tucker, Luke Perry.
Written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen.
Directed by Luc Besson.

Korben Dallas, a jaded NYC cab driver (Willis) in the distant future, unwillingly becomes the guardian of a strange young woman who just may hold the key to the fate of mankind. Aided by two bumbling monks and pursued by the alien henchmen of the ruthless Zorg (a crazed Oldman), Dallas must retrieve four ancient stones (representing the four elements) before an evil planet collides with Earth. This cartoon-ish film is one big barrel of fun, sporting a set of colourfully unique visuals (along with some amazing costumes designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier), and a cast privy to the films’ adolescent nature. And it is this ‘element’ that provides the joy of this sci-fi comedy, for it never takes itself seriously and never meanders. Even Jovovich (one of the worst actresses in the biz) seems totally in her ‘element’ here (can I use the word ‘element’ again in this review?!), primarily because she has little dialogue and the dialogue she does have is mostly alien gibberish. Apparently conceived by writer/director Besson when he was a teen, this infectious film may drag on a little too long but is still one of the most entertaining and best-loved films of the 1990s.

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Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Jonathan Pryce and Kevin Spacey.
Written by David Mamet.
Directed by James Foley.

You need brass balls to sell real estate, an uptown motivator tells the disparate bunch of loser salesmen at the beginning of Glengarry Glen Ross, initiating a night of desperation in an attempt to keep themselves employed. Mamet’s adaptation of his own play is a brilliant examination of desperate men and con artists, and the actions wrought by a need for survival and the pursuits of greed. Profane and incisive, Glengarry Glen Ross is the kind of drama that actors salivate for. The cast is simply superb – from Spacey’s ice-cold office manager to Pacino’s slick and smarmy hotshot – but ultimately, this is Lemmon’s film and he lends one of the best performances of his legendary career as the veteran salesman Shelley “Machine” Levene. The film uses rainfall as an aesthetic the way David Fincher’s Se7en did a few years later, and even though many critics have voiced the opinion that this film is nothing more than a photographed play, the material is too strong for that to really be a consideration.

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In The Name Of The Father (1993)
Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Emma Thompson, John Lynch & Corin Redgrave.
Written by Jim Sheridan & Terry George.
Directed by Jim Sheridan.

Powerful film based on the true story of Gerry Conlon who, along with friends and family, was falsely accused of the Guildford Pub bombing in London and sentenced to life in prison. Forced to share a cell with his father, the pair must examine their own relationship. When the identities of the real perpetrators of the bombing are revealed to police, the information is withheld and it’s then up to a feisty young female barrister to help clear their names. In The Name Of The Father is one of those rare films that truly stir the raw human emotions of its’ audience, persuading anger, sadness, compassion and victorious joy in equal amounts. Postlethwaite and Day-Lewis are incredible in difficult roles as father and son, and Emma Thompson is tremendous, especially during the final reel in the powerhouse courtroom scenes. Co-writer/Director Sheridan (My Left Foot) delivers a perfect example of how to tell a great story on film, avoiding the clichés that are all too obvious in the majority of films based on true events. One of the best of the decade.

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RATINGS CHART...

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If you want to watch any trailers/scenes from films reviewed by Wadrick, visit the GritHouse – the GritFX YouTube Channel – and check out Wadrick's Playlist.

Who Says All Elephants Have Great Memories?

"Who Says All Elephants Have Great Memories?" is this week's "Camera Critters" post. If you want to participate, click on the image above.

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While having an Easter lunch with my family today, my brother shared some photos of the Bangkok Elephant Campaign which he initiated & conceived to bring attention to the treatment of the elephants in Bangkok. The messages in the murals were written by Jasun Vare (my brother), with each concept developed with Jasun's creative partner Scott Hitchcock, who is also a street artist.

Various artists from around the world (Japan, Australia, Sweden, Thailand, Malaysia, England) came on board producing what I think is an amazing set of artworks; which communicate a poignant message.

The campaign has been supported by WSPA (World Society for Protection of Animals) along with the elephant nature park and rescue foundation.

My kudos to all of those involved!!

Click on each image and take a closer look...

The GritHouse Presents…

GritFX filmmaker and resident movie nut Will Thame (aka Wadrick Jones) has uploaded a new short film to The GritHouse – The GritFX YouTube Channel. Will’s new short animation, entitled “The Rookie – Part One” (Part Two will be complete in a week or two, according to Will), is basically an ode to (or a plagiarism of) every cop film ever made - only this time animated in Lego!

Watch it now at The GritHouse. For all of you lazy bastards who can’t be bothered visiting The GritHouse, here’s an embedded file.



Will has also updated The GritHouse to include playlists associated with Decoy Spoon’s music reviews and Wadrick’s film reviews. If you wish to check out any music videos of the artists Decoy reviews, or watch any trailers/scenes from films reviewed by Wadrick, The GritHouse is your baby.

The Black Death Revisited

A few weeks ago, the story broke on a number of alternative news websites regarding the contamination of flu vaccine, which was sent to numerous countries in Europe. A sub-contractor in the Czech Republic discovered the ‘glitch’ when ferrets injected with what was believed to be a regular flu vaccine died, which should not happen. It was then revealed that Baxter Pharmaceuticals in Austria had somehow mixed live H5N1 virus (otherwise known as the human form of “avian flu” or “bird flu”) with H5N3 - the human flu virus. However, they maintained that none of the contaminated vaccines reached the public.

As many online researchers pointed out, this was a mistake that should not have happened. All laboratories dealing with infectious agents adhere to certain biosafety protocols that prevent the contamination of one virus by another, especially when the viruses are not in the same classification. Anyone who has read The Hot Zone or seen the film Outbreak would be well aware of this. The idea that this could happen in a major pharmaceutical companies’ lab is unthinkable and downright frightening. Representatives from Baxter have shrugged the incident aside, stating in no uncertain terms that it was ‘just one of those things’. And whilst the European media have covered the story to some degree (with the most vehement criticism coming from the Czech’s), the story has received no attention by the American corporate media.

H5N1 is not easily transmitted between humans but it is extremely virulent. 60% of all recorded cases of “bird flu” in humans have resulted in death, but only through contact with infected poultry and the like. H5N3, as we all know, is highly contagious, and many have pointed out in great detail how a mix of these two viruses could have created a new strain contracted like the common flu. This process, known as “re-assortment”, would of course have had the potential to provoke a pandemic of global magnitude. For Baxter to, as one researcher put it, essentially offer the excuse of “oops!” in regards this incident is unconscionable.

Vaccines have a long history of contamination. There is growing evidence that certain vaccines are responsible for the growth of a number of diseases and illnesses throughout the 20th century. Some time ago, information revealed that polio vaccines administered to millions of people, beginning in 1955, were contaminated with the simian virus SV-40. Due to the success of the polio vaccine, when it was discovered that SV-40 caused cancer in animals (and indeed in humans), the information was not brought to the attention of the public and inoculation programs continued. It is now an established fact that SV-40 hides in DNA, and can be passed down through generations. Many believe this is the root cause of the astronomical rise in all forms of cancer in the last fifty years.

One of the more radical theories regarding vaccine contamination concerns HIV/AIDS. In the late 1970s, the World Health Organization advertised for homosexual men in New York and San Francisco to take part in an inoculation program using an experimental vaccine for the prevention of hepatitis. At the same time, the WHO conducted an identical trial on the African continent. A few years later, the first cases of HIV/AIDS were reported amongst gay men in New York and San Francisco, and then in the populations of Africa, bringing the disease to worldwide attention. Originally, HIV/AIDS was considered the “gay disease” as nearly all cases were confined to the homosexual community. To some researchers, this is a clear indication that the hepatitis vaccine administered by the WHO in the 1970s was tainted with the virus. Many claim HIV/AIDS was created in a laboratory, whilst others, feeling the ill content of that theory, believe HIV/AIDS occurs naturally in monkeys but was deliberately inserted into the WHO’s vaccines. The established doctrine of the cross-species contamination and subsequent spread of the virus is, admittedly, flimsy at best.

But why would an organization such as the WHO or a pharmaceutical company want to willing infect people with life-threatening disease? Aside from monetary gain, conspiracy researchers point to a long-held belief in a true ruling elite (the mega-wealthy of this world), apart from government and superseding it, with an agenda of global population reduction. There is much circumstantial evidence for this belief, that a ‘new world order’ is being driven into acceptance through various orchestrated incidents that serve the interests of the few. A new world order in this sense refers to a ruling elite and servile population of one class, not too far removed from certain kingdoms and empires of antiquity. With this comes the idea of culling the human species to a more acceptable and eco-friendly size. The question arises then as to whether the recent vaccine contamination by Baxter Pharmaceuticals was a deliberate effort to kick-start this agenda? Or was it, as Baxter maintains, simply a matter of human error?

by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)


Sources:
http://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/live-avian-flu-virus-placed-in-baxter-vaccine-materials-sent-to-18-countries/

http://thejournal.parker-joseph.co.uk/blog/_archives/2009/3/6/4113594.html

Read: “In The Name Of Science” by Andrew Goliszek

Happy Birthday To Us!

GritFX is officially one year old today! Can’t believe it? Nah, neither can we. To celebrate this “momentous” event, we are giving one lucky GritBlog reader the chance to win $10,000 cash! The first caller through on the Toll Free number listed below will win the prize!

OK…that was just a lame attempt at an April Fool’s Day gag. There is no ten grand and no Toll Free number. But we are one year old today – that is no joke. We would dearly love to thank all our loyal readers and community members of the GritBlog, those who have left comments for our writers, those who have entered our competitions and those who have purchased one of our T-Shirts. We’d be nothing without you guys, so thanks a bunch!