This is a recording of a talk given in 1956 on the brainwashing of American POWs during the Korean War. The talk itself is fascinating (and scary). It's just over an hour long, and I've included a professionally made transcript. It's worth listening to though, so don't just read it.

Introductory Remarks (excerpt):

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Major William E. Mayer, noted Army psychiatrist attached to Brook Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, gave the following address to the officers and supervisors of the San Francisco Naval Shipyard in the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory on the 4th of October 1956. In his introduction, Major Mayer pointed out that during the past 40 years the Communists have gained absolute control over one person in three of the world's population, roughly 900 million people. This control has been gained, in part, by the well known devices of war, purges, Siberian work camps, mass executions, etc. However, more significant is the fact that for every person brought under the Russian banner by violence, many hundreds have been controlled without violence. And yet, this control has been absolute.”

Major Mayer (excerpt):

“Now this weapon has the same general characteristics of any other weapon, be it a nuclear device or be it a shotgun. In the first place, it can be dissected, analyzed, taken apart, laid out on a table, understood. As long as you understand it's a weapon and go about it. And we've been attempting to do this even since before the first prisoner got back from Korea. Secondly, once we understand this or any other new weapon, we start contriving defenses. We have in the services something called the Code of Conduct, one of the most widely misunderstood, underrated documents in history. We have attempted other things in our training to serve as defenses against what we understand about the Communist's best weapon. Finally, we can usually come up with better weapons. And in this case we've got one already made.”

The Good Witch's Garden aka The Good Witch 2 is a follow-on continuing the story of Cassandra Nightingale in The Good Witch. An enchanting property draws the attention of everyone in town, as well as that of a stranger who claims to own it. A charmer's string of lies will show everyone else the meaning of a true friend. Stars Catherine Bell (JAG, Army Wives) as Cassandra Nightingale.

A mysterious woman comes in to town and inhabits the local haunted mansion, making everyone wonder if she's a witch or "The Grey Lady". Stars Catherine Bell (JAG, Army Wives) as Cassandra Nightingale.

The main reason to watch this is if you are a Sarah Carter fan (of Smallville fame) and would like to watch her dance in a gentlemen's club. She co-stars with Chelsea Hobbs.

Jane McCoy, a recent college graduate, much to her parent's dismay, decides to scrap her plans for law school to pursue an acting career full-time. Struggling to make ends meet, she meets a confident and persuasive friend who shows her the way to make extra money go-go dancing. What starts as just an "easy money" job, however, rapidly becomes an all-consuming activity that slowly pulls Jane from her acting classes, her relationships with her boyfriend and family, and, most importantly, from her true self.

“In the 23rd century, the survivors of a holocaust now live within a domed city that is sealed off from the outside world. In the domed city, men and women live in a society where you can only live until you are 30-years old (due to population control and limited resources), the people have two choices: They can either take part in a extermination ceremony called "Carousel" where they are promised of being reborn or they can go on the run and escape to outside the domed city. Logan 5 is a Sandman, a elite policeman whose job is terminate all "Runners" who refuse to be exterminated on Carousel and escape to outside the city. When Logan finds a symbol, the computer that controls all life in the city, gives Logan a undercover assignment to find and destroy a mysterious place called Sanctuary by posing as a runner, by removing the last four years of his life from his life crystal.”

Stars Michael York, Jenny Agutter, along with a very young Farrah Fawcett.

Amazon reviewer: “You've heard Ken Nordine before, his immediate baritone resonating like the voice of God in countless radio and TV commercials, hawking everything from Taster's Choice to Murine. In the late 1950s, though, Nordine created "word jazz"--a combination of storytelling, sound painting, and pre-beat improvisation--as a less commercial, more personal outlet for his natural speaking talents.”

A young woman deals with her abandonment issues by reconnecting with her estranged dad, a contract killer who recruits her into his line of work.

As one reviewer on IMDB wrote: “I was immediately absorbed in the movie and truly enjoyed it to the end! ... Tim Mattheson and Shiri Appleby showed an excellent connection as dad and daughter. The supporting cast helped me to feel as though I had been watching them all together in a continuing series forever! ... I think USA really dropped the ball when they didn't continue on with this show. ...This would have made an excellent addition to their line-up.”

From IMDB: “This coming of age drama is about four friends living on an island who meet on the beach. As they discover sex and each other they are at times brave, kind and considerate. However at other times a darker side to their nature appears and they are cowardly, selfish and cruel.”

Never released on DVD or Laserdisc, I recently acquired a decent 1985 VHS copy of this movie. It stars a very young Barbara Hershey, along with Richard Thomas and Bruce Davison. Catherine Burns also stars, and received an Oscar nomination for her performance.

Roger Ebert had this to say: “As Last Summer opens we are introduced to three affluent teen-agers, two boys and a girl, who are spending the summer on Fire Island with their parents. Sandy, the girl, is more familiar and experienced with sex than the boys, or so she would have them believe. The two boys are, naturally, unsure of themselves. They are not men and yet must be concerned with manhood. In the hot sun, during the long summer, the three friends circle the knowledge of sex like skittish colts. But the movie is not really about them. It is about Rhoda, a plump and painfully idealistic girl from Ohio, who is also staying on the island. She forces herself into the group, her loneliness overcoming her shyness. And although she seems the most insecure of them all, she is the only one who knows her own mind and whose decisions are not determined by insecurity...”

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling as the Filthy 3D Jokeman. As seen on the Howard Stern Radio Show, this is 50 minutes of the funniest animated stand up comedy ever.