Friday Fun: 1940 Comes Alive

The Denver Post has a webpage with dozens and dozens of these pictures, very rare color photos that capture both urban and rural life in the 1940's
Check out many, many more at THIS LINK.

First, since this is Friday, we need to find a few Beer joints:

"Juke Joint" Melrose Louisiana 1940


"Juke Joint" Florida 1941


Cascade Idaho


Carnival barker


1943 women railroad workers


Washington D.C.


Montana shepherd and dog

"The Bourne Identity" Fight Scenes

I thought I'd lighten things up a little, so here's a collection of the fight scenes from "The Bourne Identity", which I watched the other night.
-I know, I know, it's been out for a while, but I never watched the entire movie. I did see the made-for-TV version with Richard Chamberlin years ago however.
The fight scenes are refreshingly realistic, with the possible exception of Bourne (Matt Damon) riding a dead guy's body down three stories, shooting another guy in mid air.
Lots of joint locks, dislocations, knee-breaking. Good stuff. I like how he uses the Bic pen to Gak the hit man's knife hand - cool use of improvised weapons. The fight with the hit man was a little too much for my wife however. I thought she got over that with all the stabbings, shootings and throat-slitting when we watched "Deadwood" and "Rome".
Anyway, it got me thinking about the fighting system and training. Here's what Wikipedia says about it:

"Damon, who had never played such a physically demanding role, insisted on performing many of the stunts himself. With stunt choreographer Nick Powell and trainer Jeff Imada, he underwent three months of extensive training in stunt work, the use of weapons, boxing, and eskrima. He eventually performed a significant number of the film's stunts himself, including hand-to-hand combat and climbing the safe house walls near the film's conclusion.[5]"

Damon's trainer, Jeff Imada is credited with acting in or directing fight scenes in over 100 movies:

Jeff Imada (born June 17, 1955) is an American martial artist, stuntman, director, and actor from California. He has performed stunts in over 100 movies and television programs and authored one of the first books published in the US about the balisong knife.
(snip)
He was also a close friend to Brandon Lee with whom he studied Jeet Kune Do under the tutelage of Dan Inosanto. He was the primary fight choreographer on Lee's final film, The Crow.[1]
Imada has authored two books on the history and use of the Balisong knife.[2][3] The Balisong Manual was one of the first books published in the US about this unusual knife.

B.P., Libyan Oil And The Lockerbie Bombing

Well,well.
Oil well.
In August 2009, I wrote "The Lockerbie Bombing: What Really Happened".
People were outraged that Libyan agent Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the accused Lockerbie bomber, was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds due to his cancer.
Now, with the eyes of the world on British Petroleum due to the huge oil blow-out in the gulf, it appears that a deal may have been cut to release Al Megrahi to fast-track a $968 million-dollar oil deal between B.P. and Libya.
But nobody is peeling the onion layers back far enough to understand what really happened. So, here is the repost of my August '09 story about Dr. Richard Fuisz, a CIA confidant I had contact with many years ago:

The Lockerbie Bombing: What Really Happened

Today's news is overflowing with outrage due to the release of the Libyan agent that allegedly was responsible for the bombing of Pan-Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Interviews with family members still grieving for those who were killed are sincere and heartfelt.
But their anger towards Libya and British authorities are misplaced.
******
In 1994 I was writing for "The Portland Free Press", a small alternative newspaper Edited by researcher Ace Hayes. At the time, I was running a series on military C-130 aircraft destined for duty as Forest Service airtankers that were diverted to use by a group of shady CIA contractors. A source had described to me how money connected to the operation was being run through a bank called "Congress Financial", which was a CIA front company.
I received an unsolicited phone call from the secretary of a man named Dr. Richard Fuisz, and I returned the call. Fuisz confirmed the information about Congress Financial, and told me he had called to see if I would run a story about his knowledge of the sale of huge Terex trucks that had been converted to missile launchers and sold to Iraq shortly before the first Gulf War. He had personally toured the assembly plant in Motherwell, Scotland and officials described that it was a joint operation by the CIA and British Intelligence. Fuisz ran afoul of U.S. authorities when he tried to take the story to "60 Minutes". He had been hounded by private security firms, and had even had a personal meeting with President Bill Clinton to remedy the situation. His hope was to try to get the story in print, and I ran the article.
At the time, I realized that Dr. Fuisz was well-connected, but I had no idea that he was an agent for the CIA himself.
The Lockerbie Connection
At the same time Fuisz was feeding me information on the Terex Iraqi missile launchers, he was in contact with another Portland resident, Susan Lindauer. Lindauer was a press aide for then-Congressman (now Senator) Ron Wyden, and it's my guess that Lindauer may have given Fuisz my article referencing Congress Financial.
It was Lindauer's connection to Fuisz that got her in hot water when she was arrested for being an agent of the Iraqi government, which she denied. She had met with Iraqi diplomats before Bush invaded Iraq, but claimed it was on official business. Lindauer was also the cousin of former White House Chief-of-Staff Andrew Card. A deposition by Lindauer described how she was working with Fuisz, and that Fuisz knew from his Intelligence work in the Middle East that the Lockerbie bombing was actually the work of Syrians. From "The Sunday Herald" of Scotland, May 28 2000:

"Congressional aide Lindauer, who was involved in early negotiations over the Lockerbie trial, claims Fuisz made "unequivocal statements to me that he has first-hand knowledge about the Lockerbie case". In her affidavit, she goes on: "Dr Fuisz has told me that he can identify who orchestrated and executed the bombing. Dr Fuisz has said that he can confirm absolutely that no Libyan national was involved in planning or executing the bombing of Pan Am 103, either in any technical or advisory capacity whatsoever."
Fuisz's statements to Lindauer support the claims of the two Libyan accused who are to incriminate a number of terrorist organizations, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, which had strong links to Syria and Iran.
Lindauer said Fuisz told her he could provide information on Middle Eastern terrorists, and referred to Lockerbie as an "example of an unsolved bombing case that he said he has the immediate capability to resolve".
The Assassination of The Mckee Team
In a forgotten but incredibly revealing 1992 article, Time Magazine pieces together the story that contains clues to what actually happened.
On board the flight of Pan-Am 103 was an elite counter-terrorism team led by Major Charles Mckee. They were operating out of Germany and had been tasked to locating hostages in Lebanon. What they stumbled across was a parallel operation that was connected to none other than Col. Oliver North. North it appears, was in league with Syrian Drug runners (no surprise), presumably in an effort to secure information on the hostages also. North was allegedly allowing the Syrians to use a protected DEA drug pipeline run through the airlines in Europe. In the wreckage of the crash, investigators recovered Heroin and $500,000 in cash. The cash may have been in the hands of Mckee, to pay off informants. Mckee was upset and had contacted his superiors when he found the iceberg-tip of Norths operation, believing it may have compromised his own team. Mckee was on the verge of exposing the underbelly of North's shady dealings and the root of the entire Iran-Contra affair. According to the investigators hired by Pan-Am (Interfor, led by an ex-Mossad agent) the Mossad had warned of a possible airline bombing. The warning was ignored. The Mckee team, which was about to blow the whistle on the Iran-Contra scandal and North's complicity in drug running, was assassinated in the bombing.
Dr. Fuisz, who was placed under a gag-order never spoke to me after the Terex missile-launcher story. He places the blame on the Syrians, who got a pass if they would support Iraq War efforts. The blame shifted to Libya.
Susan Lindauer, the former Congressional Aide who was working with Fuisz, was placed in a mental institution on a U.S. Military Base and force-fed medication to shut her up. She recently appeared on "The Thom Hartmann Radio Show", once again explaining her story.

And today we watch as the accused Libyan agent, dying of cancer, is released from prison for humanitarian reasons.

Read This 1992 Time Magazine Story, before it disappears...

The Sunday Herald "CIA Witness Gagged by U.S. Government"

***UPDATE***
Lawyers for the accused bomber and British authorities are prepared to name the identity of the true bomber. They say he is an American/Syrian who was working as an American Double Agent.
Read the story here

And this:
Diplomats pulled off plane due to U.S. knowledge of bomb, students took their place.

So listen up kids. This is what's called "Realpolitik".
US agents were working with middle-eastern agents during the Iran-Contra affair.
They knew there was a bomb threat on the plane. The target may have been the Mackee team. It appears they let it happen.
Libyan Al Megrahi was probably a "patsy", the "Oswald" of Lockerbie.
And the Bush administration re-opened diplomatic relations with Libya so B.P. could get their oil deal.

Review: Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals

Perhaps the single most mysterious endeavour of man is identifying the true history of classical Chinese Martial Arts.
OK, maybe particle physics, gravity and understanding women rate pretty high also.
- But in their book "Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals - A Historical Survey", Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo have peeled back the veil and peered into the murky legends as well as the actual people and events concerning Chinese Martial Arts.
Kennedy and Guo place significant emphasis on the quality of translation in evaluating ancient training manuals. Interestingly, they suggest some of the most useful and informative resources on the subject come from modern and even (gasp) -Western authors.
Kennedy and Guo painstakingly deconstruct martial myths and piece back together a rational history not only of masters and training manuals, but of the very culture itself. They rely heavily on the few legitimate martial historians of the time, best represented by a man named Tang Hao. Here's an example:

"Tang Hao's commitment to, as he phrased it, "attacking the lineage myths: distinguishing real and fake" is perhaps best demonstrated with his academic work on the origins of Taiji. Regrettably, his myth busting was largely ignored and his calls for a more realistic approach to the historiography of the various Chinese martial arts systems seem to have fallen on deaf ears."

In fact, the authors state that various martial clans plotted to attack Tang Hao, perhaps assassinate him because of his methodology and myth-busting. There is no evidence that ever happened however.
The second part of the book profiles various masters, and the training manuals they produced.
"Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals" has become a personal favorite of mine. I appreciate the straightforward reporting and the authors opinions.
For people interested in the diversity of Chinese Martial Arts and the history and culture of the time, this is the book for you.

You can find this book and hundreds of other martial arts titles at the website for Blue Snake Books

Friday Fun: SuperHeroes, And No Nookie For NASA

Hmmm...
OK, so around the country a whole bunch of comic book nerds are becoming actual pretend SuperHeroes. Much like millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) they rely on their wits and gadgets to rescue citizens from bandits and other Jokers.
From "Wired":
"The four members of the Initiative –a reference to Tony Stark’s post-Civil War, pre-Secret Invasion efforts to put a superhero squad in each of the 50 states? — act like bodybuilders with a purpose. And then they pack (non-lethal) heat.
Initiative member Z brandishes “giant ax handles bound with duck tape” and a cane that doubles as a club. He’s also got — in reserve — a legally dubious arsenal that includes ninja throwing stars and what author Tea Krulos describes as “stun knuckles (that make a loud zapping sound), throwing knives and spiky hand guards that look like something Genghis Khan would brawl in.” A battle ax appears to be merely for display.
The team’s gadget whiz, who goes by the unfortunate name Victim, is testing out some polycarbonate squares for durability against knives. Because being a hero means you’re going to get stabbed."
Here's one of these guys:

Good luck with that.

****************

And this from The Huffington Post:

Sex Banned Aboard International Space Station

"You can forget joining the 200-mile high club.
NASA commander Alan Poindexter told a reporter who asked about "the consequences if astronauts boldly went where probably no others have been" that sexual intercourse is not permitted aboard the International Space Station.
"We are professionals," Poindexter said.
"We treat each other with respect and we have a great working relationship. Personal relationships are not [...] an issue," he explained. "We don't have them and we won't."
The question about sexual relations in space came after an April mission that put a record four women in orbit--the most women in space ever. Three women aboard the Discovery joined another women and four men aboard the International Space Station."

Somebody better tell this robot:

Martial Addiction

Old Guy Xingyi

Hi, my name is D.R.
-(Hi D.R.!)
I'm addicted to Xingyi.
That's why I entered the 12-Animal, 5-Element form program.
I know I've had bad habits.
But I can get better every day in every way.

It started when I had my first taste of Tai Chi Chuan.
Sure, all the cool guys were doing Karate, I tried it and used it for years.
I was a glutton for punishment.
I often found myself on the floor.
I had injuries I couldn't explain.
I thought I could get by just using Karate.

But I had never tried the Chinese stuff.
A guy offered me a little Tai Chi Chuan.
He said I already used Karate, and I wouldn't get hooked.
And that's when I got in deep.
There was so much resource material, and I wanted to sample all the varieties.
I tried Bagua, and found my life spinning in circles.
Finally, I got in with a group of guys in the city. They were messing around with Xingyi.
I thought; "Hey, all the guys are doing it".
And before I knew it, I was chasing the Xingyi Dragon and had the Xingyi Monkey on my back.
I often find myself really drawing inward and doing some Xingyi all alone.
I mainly use it for maintenance now, but every so-often I really cut loose with friends.

So, I'm here to discuss my addiction, and hear the stories of other martial addicts-
And seek serenity in the Martial Arts...

The Coconut Revolution; A Must See

You may need to scroll the tracking arrow to the right to start the movie

This is the story of Bougainville, the home of a modern eco-revolution, a real life "Avatar" story.
Like most of us, I had never heard of Bougainville Island, which is (or was) part of Papua New Guinea in the Soloman Islands chain. Bougainville was variously occupied by the Germans, Japanese, Australia, and has been the front of a hard-fought guerrilla war. In the 1970's a London-based company began mining copper in huge open-pit mines which destroyed the jungle and poisoned the rivers. The mining company extracted an estimated three billion dollars in minerals while leaving the local population in poverty and ruins. In 1988 Francis Ona began the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), initially stealing large amounts of explosives from the mine and blowing up the power grid. Using bows, arrows and slingshots the BRA gradually began to defeat the national army, seizing weapons and eventually becoming heavily armed. The mine closed, but an embargo of supplies was forced on the island. Here's where the real story begins:
The people of the BRA became the most resourceful people on the planet. Using anything they could salvage from the old mine complex, they made their own guns and tools. They built hydroelectric plants for power, they made their own medicine and grew huge gardens. They even made fuel for their vehicles out of coconut oil.
This documentary, "The Coconut Revolution" is a testament to the ingenuity of man and the spirit of oppressed people that used natural resources to defeat a modern army.
It's fifty minutes long, but I hope everyone that reads this will sit down with their favorite beverage and watch and learn.

For more information on Bougainville Island and the Eco-Revolution, Here's the Wikipedia page.