Dorothy Day on Work

From 1953...

There may be talk of better standards of living, every worker with his car, and owning his own home, but still this comfort depends on a wage, a boss, on War. Our whole modern economy is based on preparation for war and that is one of the great modern arguments for poverty. If the comfort one has gained has resulted in the death of thousands in Korea and other parts of the world, then that comfort will be have to be atoned for. the argument now is that there is no civilian population, that all are involved in the war (misnamed defense) effort. If you work in a textile mill making cloth, or in a factory making dungarees or blankets, it is still tied up with war. If one raises food or irrigates to raise food, one may be feeding troops or liberating others to serve as troops. If you ride a bus you are paying taxes. Whatever you buy is taxed so you are supporting the state in the war which is "the health of the state."

Nothing has changed...

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I Am Atemi

Bernie Lau often quotes OSensei as saying aikido is 80% atemi.  I'd like to see a citation, because I doubt it.  It is either a bad translation or apocryphal.  Aikido comes from kendo, and even the kendo dudes say striking is 1/3rd of kendo (the sword has three business sides to be used in equal measure).

Of course atemi is a settled part of aikido, but how does a conscientious objector practice atemi-free aikido?  How to have a martial art in which there is not atemi?

As I was listening to John Kanetomi instruct on atemi this morning, he noted that you have to "sell" the strike, convince the opponent he will get hit, even if you do not.  That is one way.  There is another that I like, and that is to be the atemi.

You must make your opponent believe they will connect, hit you.  So there is a strike, but it is their strike.  And the more energy with which they strike, the harder they fall.  Now, a good atemi saps energy from the opponent, part of the point, and to not zap energy first with atemi is to assure the opponent hits the ground all the harder. And since few know how to fall or roll properly, the fact is atemi-less aikido may in fact be more dangerous for the opponent.

To avoid this, you practice after throwing to not let go, pulling in, and hard slamming your opponent to save the opponent from injury or death.    It will hurt very much, and disincline an opponent for another ride.  Aikido without atemi.

You are not sapping their energy at the beginning when they are attacking you and you are striking them, you are sapping their energy at the end when you are saving them.  If you strike an opponent, you use up some of your energy.  If your opponent hits the ground, the rotation of the earth will sap the energy of the attacker.  When an opponent meets the energy of the earth's rotation, he realizes there is a whole lot more where that came from.

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Shoji Seki Sensei, 8th Dan

More aikido as a martial art, this sensei has that Tohei hop and extension you do not see taught very often...  very nice stuff...

 

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Window Cleaner ... Who Was In a Bad Mood That Day...

A bank robber gets challenged by a pissed-off window cleaner...

http://bcove.me/d6ca4ubv

The gun was fake, but the report says the robber got life for armed robbery.  The gun was fake, so it wasn't armed robbery. I dunno...  seems harsh...

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Security Theatre

I get searched when I travel.  Every single blog post, email, web search and what I type is recorded by the USA Stasi.  For my security.

Those responsible for security missed:

1. A crazed kid who announced and executed a half dozen others at UCSB.

2. Two malcontents so odious they were even thrown off the Bundy Ranch, who in turn executed two cops.

3. The Fall of Mosul and Tikrit.

All a surprise.  But they know all about me.

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Irony v Coincidence

People often misuse the term irony when they are referring to mere coincidence, a sort of grade inflation as to experiences.

Now this may seem like a coincidence, an ad and an article, but the ads are pushed to article content, so take a look.  We have an article about the USA defeat in Iraq, the beneficiaries of ten years of USA training and equipping running away and leaving the military equipment, such as humvees, behind.

And what ad is served up on this article... ?  Why Lockheed offering Humvees, to be recommended in the pursuit of national defense, putatively.

Now that is irony.

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Viet Nam and Iraq

Now that the adversaries of the USGovernnent are sweeping down from the North even, can anyone name a single way in which Iraq differs from Viet Nam in genesis, duration and denouement?

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