Franklin D. Roosevelt's The Great Arsenal of Democracy

"No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it." (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

By December of 1940, when the world was at war, President Roosevelt had already delivered dozens of fireside chats.  This speech however was different.  He talked about a world crisis and how the United States would have to be courageous and realistic.  He talked about the alliance of the Soviet Union, Germany and Japan.  He reminded the American people that they could not bury their heads in the sand.  The president pointed out that a hundred years before, the Monroe Doctrine had been drafted in response to another European alliance that threatened the existence of the United States.

"Let us not blind ourselves to the fact that the very forces which have crushed, undermined and corrupted so many others are already within our gates."  The President pointed out that some thought the United States was safe even if Britain fell.  However, the Atlantic Ocean was no longer the obstacle it once was.  Planes could fly from the British Isles to New England and back without refueling.  

President Roosevelt condemned Nazi Germany for its tyranny over Europe.  He said that a dictatorship like Germany could not reconcile itself with a democracy.  He called on America:  "We must be the great arsenal of democracy."  Here is an excerpt from President Roosevelt's speech:

"The experience of the past two years has proven beyond doubt that no nation can appease the Nazis.  No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it.  There can be no appeasement with ruthlessness.  There can be no reasoning with an incendiary bomb.  We know now that a nation can have peace with the Nazis only at the price of total surrender.  Even the people of Italy have been forced to become accomplices of the Nazis; but at this moment they do not know how soon they will be embraced to death by their allies."  

President Roosevelt's words were prophetic.  On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese and the United States finally entered the Second World War.  In October of 1943, Italy was "embraced to death" by Germany and switched sides in the war.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/FDRfiresidechat2.jpg

Fumio Demura Inspiration for Karate Kid's Mr. Miyagi

He graced the cover of over 50 magazines around the world.  He was world champion at 18 years of age.  He revolutionized the sport of karate.  He inspired the character Mr. Miyagi.

Born and raised in Japan, Fumio Demura quickly acquired a black belt in karate.  He won the world karate championship at 18 and the All Japan Karate Championship in 1961.  In 1965, he was invited to move to the United States to teach karate full time.  It was in Orange County, California that he started training actor Steven Seagal in martial arts.

In the 1980's, he started training actor Pat Morita, the actor who would play the bonsai-trimming Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid.  Demura served as Morita's stunt double in the film, as well as three sequels.  He went on to train many others in martial arts.  The karate master authored a book on the subject called Nunchaku.

Note:  Currently, a documentary is being filmed titled The Real Miyagi:  The Man Behind It All (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fumio-demura-the-real-miyagi#/story).

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fumio-demura-the-real-miyagi#/story

Truman Capote`s The Duke in his Domain

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT09hSi1SKpRjmbOd7y1Tqfab7nZrHkURjPrlTdH_3hPbj111Nz

In 1957, Marlon Brando was staying at the Miyako Hotel in Japan with his entourage, his father Marlon Senior, a secretary and a writing companion.  Truman Capote was charged with interviewing him for The New Yorker.  Brando, at the height of his fame, was in Japan to film Sayonara.  Brando brought his entourage with him:  his father, Marlon Senior, his secretary and his writing companion.  According to someone in the entertainment business, the film company foot the bill because this picture just had to have a star.  Sequestered in his hotel room, the famous actor had to don a disguise just to go out in public.  Such was not always the case.

Ten years earlier, Truman Capote had first interviewed Brando on the set of the play A Streetcar Named Desire.  He was just starting to make a name for himself.  In his blue jeans and his white t-shirt he looked a lot like James Dean.  Both played the role of the rebel:  they rode motorcycles, played the bongo drums and dressed rowdy.  Brando sported a Charles Atlas figure at the time.  When not rehearsing for A Streetcar Named Desire he could be found in the basement boxing.  It was there that he broke his nose.  Irene Selznick said the injury gave him sex appeal.  He looked too beautiful before.

According to Brando, he didn`t always want to be a star.  But after two months of doing A Streetcar Named Desire, he heard the roar -- and he was hooked.  He started to dream of being the next Spencer Tracy or Cary Grant.  His star rose rather quickly with parts in movies like Viva Zapata!, The Wild One, Julius Caesar, On the Waterfront and Guys and Dolls.  He could account for a movie`s success at the box office, regardless of the quality of the film, according to an industry expert.

But as Marlon Brandon complained to Truman Capote in the Miyako Hotel, Too much success can ruin you as surely as too much failure.  He struggled with excess:  he smoked too many cigarettes and overindulged in food.  Even though he was on a diet, he ordered beefsteak and French-fried potatoes and spaghetti from room service when Truman Capote interviewed him.  Brandon wanted to get married and start a family, but admitted that he had trust issues.  He seemed to have an affinity for children, showing a special interest in the Japanese children he met while on location.

After the interview, Truman Capote walked the streets of the Japanese city.  It was so late that the cabanas were shuttered and the only people out were the drunks and the red light ladies and a ragged musician.  All of a sudden the writer spotted Brandon, 60 feet tall, splashed on a billboard for The Teahouse of August Moon.  It was a spectacular ending to a first rate piece.

Can You Haiku?

For the next couple of weeks, I am going to study a different type of poem each day.  Today I am focussing on the haiku.  Originating in Japan, a haiku often discusses subjects from nature:  seasons, months, animals, insects, even a blade of grass.  Notsume Soseki, the Charles Dickens of Japan wrote many poems, including the following haiku:

Over the wintry forest 

winds howl in rage

with no leaves to blow.

Haiku poems must be 17 syllables in length.  The first line is 5 syllables, the second is 7 syllables and the third is five.  It does not have to rhyme.  Punctuation is up to the poet.  The following poem, written by Charlotte Puddifoot, won first prize in a haiku contest last year:  

Dainty daffodil

your golden trumpet fanfares

the dawning of spring.

A haiku which ends with a surprising twist is considered very effective:

Crystal flakes

Hang on pine branches

Torn leaves fall.

Here is my first attempt at a haiku, Strawberries, written for an online poetry course several summers ago:

Red, ripe and ready,

Waiting to be picked today

In a plastic bowl.

Now it's your turn to try your hand at a haiku.  Although they are quite short, they are deceivingly difficult to write.  Measure your words carefully.  Every syllable counts!

Note:  For more tips, read http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/rules-for-writing-haiku.html.

http://brainlesionandme.com/2012/04/06/hawmc-day-6-health-haiku/