YouTube Digger

Our month of madness and mania would not be complete withut a peek into the world’s most famous asylum — Bethlehem Royal Hospital, better known as Bedlam (and, yes, the source for our word “bedlam”.)

Trying to treat the insane is baffling today — but imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago. Thousands of years ago, the insane would have either perished at the mouths of sabre-toothed tigers or risen to become the undisputed leader of their tribe. But hundred of years ago began the notion that everyone deserves some sort of care and that everyone can be cured.

Unfortunately, what came up was arguably not much better than letting get a person tough it out in the woods. It’s because of Bedlam that anyone is terrified of being diagnosed as having a metal illness like depression because they were scared of getting tossed in a modern equivielent of Bedlam. But there’s a big difference between a person with major depression — who still has a grip on reality — and someone who thinks the neighbor’s dog is the Devil.

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In the first part of our look at YouTube’s look at Rasputin (the Mad Monk of Russia — not to be confused with the horrible Eddie Murphy character Rasputina), we focused mainly on how this charismatic and crazy character was portrayed in the movies. But what we do we know about the real guy? Quite a bit. People apparently loved to write about him when they met him. Rasputin was a guy you either loved or hated. There wasn’t any middle ground with him.

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Just in case you didn’t aleady know, it’s Martin Luther King, Jr Day. Yes, that’s why the mail didn’t come today, so please stop calling the post office wondering if your local mail carrier is slacking on the job. Many schools and businesses have off, but not entirely to just kick back. Many people across America, including President-Elect Obama, have taken some time out of their day off to devote it to a day of service.

I went to a Christian school which had a lovely (white) history teacher who told us all about how not only that my Native American ancestors were going to burn in hell for devil worship, but that MLK did not deserve any of the respect he was getting because he cheated on his wife and we all know what the Bible says about that. Happy MLK Day, Mr. B! Hope you are having a miserable time!
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Seven years ago the worst terrorist attack to ever take place on American soil happened in my back yard.  I watched firsthand the horrific scene that most only saw as surreal images on a television screen and that day is one that I will never be able to erase from my memory.  Today the Digger takes a look back at that day in history with a special collection of video clips that signify both the pain and the healing that our country is still experiencing seven years later.

Please understand that the video clips in today’s post may contain graphic images that are not suitable for all viewers.

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On this day in 1955, the perpetual phenomenon known as Disneyland was opened to the public.

Through the magic of television, the progress of the park’s historic building was revealed to an awe-struck viewing audience.

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