Vladimir Putin Would Totally Kick Your Ass

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Yep, that’s our favorite despot Vladimir Putin getting shown who’s boss by an opponent half his size. But don’t be fooled: Putin is a badass, and he wants you to know it. We’ve all seen the pictures of him fly-fishing with his shirt off and, more recently, of him taking aim at a wild boar and saving an imperiled group of scientists. The macho media campaign continues with this latest installment. In honor of his birthday, Putin has released a 75-minute DVD called Learning Judo with Vladimir Putin. It follows a 2004 book the Russian president (then prime minister) co-authored with judo partner Vasily Shestakov. “The book sold very well, and I think there will be a big demand for this film,” Shestakov told the The Times (London). “Putin demonstrates five or six moves from the book, and he also explains his philosophy and outlook on judo… He is a very successful master, a 6th Dan, and he gives very clear demonstrations of technique, of movement and grip. Russia lost a great judo player, but found a great leader.”

As for Putin, one of the things that attracts him to judo is the premium placed on softness and finesse. “The name of the sport, ‘the gentle way,’ reveals the fundamental principle—an opportunity to gain the upper hand by soft but effective actions,” he says in the video.

Makes you wonder what Georgia’s Mikheil Saakashvili would say about that. As The Times points out, Putin is probably the “only world leader who is as skilled at self-defence as his bodyguards.” But maybe not for long: last month, Putin told a French newspaper that Nicolas Sarkozy expressed an interest in judo. “We have decided to do some training together,” he said. Oh, how I would love to see that.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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