Open Thread: Sweet Little Old Samurai Senior Edition

Posted Tue, 06/24/2008 - 08:58 by Open Thread
When it comes to motivational training, some people turn to cutesy little posters, games of office-funded paintball or outdoor challenge experiences to help people get in touch, in tune, focused and motivated to perform. The Italian military in Livorno has its own unique method: it trains soldiers in martial arts by pitting them against 77 year old Keiko Wakabayshi, who kicks their collective ass daily. According to an article in The UK Telegraph Online by Nick Allen (last updated: 7:42PM BST 23/06/2008), the "Samurai Granny" is a master of "an array of martial arts disciplines including jujitsu, jojitso, kenjitso, judo, kendo and karate." It remains to be seen if Miss Wakabayshi would be willing to come to the US to train other senior citizens who would like to speak to Congress and with our Executive Branch about prescription drugs, healthcare, Social Security and Medicaid. Somehow, I'd find it hard to believe that either Congress or our CiC would want to stand toe-to-toe with with her or any senior who she may have potentiall trained. We might get a lot more work done that way. This is an Open Thread.

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jimstaro's picture

Things About To Explode

by jimstaro - 06/24/2008 - 10:07
As to our Justice department, or so it's called: Report Sees Illegal Hiring Practices at Justice Dept.
Justice Department officials over the last six years illegally used “political or ideological” factors to hire new lawyers into an elite recruitment program, tapping law school graduates with conservative credentials over those with liberal-sounding resumes, a new report found Tuesday.
Tell the world: My America Doesn't Torture!

"that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic">

jimstaro's picture

And Here's A Great Idea

by jimstaro - 06/24/2008 - 10:09
They're the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco, but don't let the serious name fool you. The group's intentions are in the gutter: They want to rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant come January, when the next president is sworn in.
But if communities want to honor? our supreme leader! once he's out? I would suggest that they use lower case letters in his name, the less than little man he is! Tell the world: My America Doesn't Torture!

"that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic">

jimstaro's picture

"Blood and Oil"

by jimstaro - 06/24/2008 - 12:59
The notion that oil motivates America's military engagements in the Middle East has long been dismissed as nonsense or mere conspiracy theory. Blood and Oil, a new documentary based on the critically-acclaimed work of Nation magazine defense correspondent Michael T. Klare, challenges this conventional wisdom to correct the historical record. The film unearths declassified documents and highlights forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines to show how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years – rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable. In the end, Blood and Oil calls for a radical re-thinking of US energy policy, warning that unless we change direction, we stand to be drawn into one oil war after another as the global hunt for diminishing world petroleum supplies accelerates.
"Blood and Oil" is a very, very well made film that will show you something new even if you already know that - as Dubya admits - the United States is addicted to oil, even if you know the deal that FDR cut with the king of Saudi Arabia on February 14, 1945 (and have already seen the film footage of them meeting on a US ship accompanied by the king's slaves and astrologers), even if you know the openly oily basis of the Truman Doctrine, the Eisenhower Doctrine, the Nixon Doctrine, the Carter Doctrine, and Reagan's Persian Gulf policies, the origins of Centcom, and the oily panic of Bush I (who finally established that the policy of blood for oil would be hushed up and disguised by phony war justifications), even if you know that Bush I's reneging on his promise to leave Saudi Arabia after driving the Iraqis out of Kuwait turned Osama bin Laden into an enemy of the United States, even if you've followed the crimes of Cheney-Bush and the establishment of Africom, even if you have been screaming against war for oil since before Shock and Awe. Get this film and host an event showing it!
View the trailer and find out more Tell the world: My America Doesn't Torture!

"that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic">

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