The looming dark clouds ...

There are somethings that I would way prefer that I did not ever know.  But, the cosmos couldn't care.

It was a pleasant evening when the friend and I walked up to the bridge over the river.  Spring time in the valley is simply beautiful.  But, then so is the summer.  And the fall too.  Anyway, it was a pleasant evening.  We stood looking at the river.  It just flows. Couldn't care for anything as it rushes to join the mighty ocean.

Which is when I spotted it.  A Nazi swastika etched on the bench.  Not very big.  Small or large, well, it is awful.  And, even stranger were the numbers that were fainter.  "1488."  1488?  What did that mean?

I checked with Google.  It led me to the Anti-Defamation League website:

1488 is a combination of two popular white supremacist numeric symbols. The first symbol is 14, which is shorthand for the "14 Words" slogan: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." The second is 88, which stands for "Heil Hitler" (H being the 8th letter of the alphabet). Together, the numbers form a general endorsement of white supremacy and its beliefs. As such, they are ubiquitous within the white supremacist movement

I did not need to know that.  Damn the person who had etched that on the bench!

The ADL adds this:

Some white supremacists will even price racist merchandise, such as t-shirts or compact discs, for $14.88.

How sick is that!

This graffiti is recent, I would think, because that is a spot that I frequent and I am usually observant of the places and people in my life.  My mind wants to jump to conclusions that it might have been after the visit of the hate-spewing fascist candidate for the White House; but, I have no evidence, of course.

A tad too unnerving given that only a couple of days earlier we had watched "Look Who's Back" (the  German title is "Er Ist Wieder Da")

Before shooting the dramatic film, [the director, David Wnednt] took the actor who plays Hitler all over Germany, dressed as Hitler and in character, to find out. The result is a mockumentary that makes you laugh and then it makes you feel uncomfortable that you're laughing. 

People knew that it was an actor.  Yet:

Oliver Masucci, the actor who plays Hitler, spent nearly a year traveling around Germany completely in character. He said it was a disturbing experience.
"The first thing they did was take selfies. I took about 25,0000 selfies. First [people] laughed and asked why I was dressed as Hitler," Masucci said.
He explained that he was Hitler and told them he was shooting a movie so people could tell him what they really think about today's Germany. "Then people started to talk to me. This was really awful."
Masucci says Germans told him they thought democracy wasn't working, that Germany needed another strongman, that refugees should be sent home and the unemployed should be put in labor camps.

Democracy not working. Needs a strongman. Refugees should be sent home. Sounds familiar as the hate-spewing fascist candidate's platform as well?

Meanwhile, this Slate essay argues that Trump is "the most prominent Aryan warrior of the modern age":

Trump’s vulgar, unvarnished manner of speaking and his penchant for favoring extreme measures—the very characteristics deemed unpresidential and dangerous by his critics—are seen as not only refreshing but also as essential for the rebirth of the Aryan nation-state. When Trump calls Hispanic immigrants “criminals, drug dealers, rapists,” and vows to “take our country back” from those “taking our jobs” and “taking our money,” white nationalists hear Trump telling the same uncomfortable truths about the sorry state of white society they have voiced for decades. Every time he eggs followers on to forcefully confront detractors or swears to “take out the families” of terrorists, he projects a muscular approach to protecting the white republic. 

Back to the Hitler movie; the director, David Wnednt, adds:

It was just normal people who elected [the Nazis], normal people who followed orders, and normal people who could've stopped him. And that didn't happen

It starts with a swastika and 1488 etched on a bench on a bridge over a river :(  Here is to hoping that we will end it all before it even takes hold.

Hitler as an avatar of Vishnu? WTF!?

Understanding this cosmos will be quite a challenge for me.

That realization did not result from any Sunday morning meditation.  Instead, it was from reading.  Let me explain--after all, you want to know whether the title of this post was merely to catch your attention or whether there is real content about it, right?

One of the sites in my newsfeed is "Secular Right."  Yes, it is exactly what it means--that site features news and commentaries from the right side of the political spectrum but without (and often against) religion.  The report did not interest me.  But, boy am I glad that scrolled down to read the comment that sounded sarcastic:

Good to know. As I worship Adolf Hitler as an avatar of Vishnu, I look forward to prosecuting those who blaspheme my lord and fuhrer.

A hyperlink in the comment.  I moved the mouse over the link to see what the URL was--often trolls leave comments with links that are nothing but malware and virus.  Not in this case--it was a redirect to Wikipedia. So, of course, I clicked on it, which is when I was shocked to read about Savitri Devi:

Born as Maximiani Julia Portas in 1905,^[4] Savitri Devi was the daughter of Maxim Portas, a French citizen of Greek and Italian ancestry and an Englishwoman, Julia Portas (née Nash).

Say what?  Something new every single day; I don't know how people can ever feel like they are bored!

And that was merely the beginning of the path down the rabbit hole.

n 1932, she travelled to India in search of a living pagan Aryan culture. Formally adhering to Hinduism, she took the name Savitri Devi ("Sun-rays Goddess" in Sanskrit). She volunteered at the Hindu Mission as an advocate against Judeo-Christianity,^[7] and wrote A Warning to the Hindus to offer her support for Hindu nationalism and independence, and to rally resistance to the spread of Christianity and Islam in India.^[2] During the 1930s she distributed pro-Axis propaganda and engaged in intelligence gathering on the British in India.^[4]In the late 1930s, through her personal contacts, she enabled Subhas Chandra Bose (leader during World War II of the Axis-affiliated Indian National Army), to make contact with representatives of the Empire of Japan.^[11]

Are you kidding me?  What a crazy story!  And then she marries "Asit Krishna Mukherji, a Bengali Brahmin with National Socialist views who edited the pro-German newspaper New Mercury."  Truth is certainly stranger than fiction!

Of course, I wondered whether Wikipedia might have been hijacked in this by some troll.  So, the Doubting Thomas that I am, I Googled, which led me to this:

Regardless of the tenuous link between the ancient Indians and the Germans (and the pseudo-science related to the study of the Aryans), Maximiani bought the dubious theories wholeheartedly. She viewed Hinduism and Nazism as one in the same, with no inherent contradictions.
Indeed, like Hitler (and the ancient Hindus), she espoused the beauty and values of the natural world, championing ecology, vegetarianism, animal rights and (above all) pagan mysticism.

And then another reference.

A recently released biography, Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth and Neo Nazism by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, reveals how the lady adopted India as her home. Till her death in 1982, she used this base to propagate a Neo-Nazi cult and keep the torch of Nazism burning in Europe and the USA. She was even hailed as 'Hitler's guru' by neo-Nazi publishers, Samisdat.

Holy shit!

She left for India in 1932 to search for the roots of the Aryan civilisation. She regarded Hinduism as the only living Aryan heritage in the modern world and was convinced that only Hinduism could take on and oppose the Judaeo-Christian heritage. Soon, she adopted the name Savitri Devi which would make her famous in neo-Nazi circles.
... By the late 1930s, she was involved with Hindu nationalist movements like the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - then growing rapidly to counter Muslim ascendancy. 

OMG!  How did I not know about this bizarre story all these years?

I have noted before the creepy fascination in India for Hitler even after WW II--from books being sold on sidewalks, to politicians drawing inspiration from the mad man.  There is even Hitler ice cream in India!

Source

Another article adds this:

This love of Hitler is further reinforced by a resistance to social progression. "There's the aspiring middle class, the bourgeoisie, the petit bourgeoisie," Ghosh explained, of which she estimates there are approximately 250 million. "And that group doesn't like the chaotic facets of Indian society. Things like lower [Hindu] castes demanding rights, gay parades, women campaigning for gender equality, things that are upsetting the traditional order of things." Indians resisting these changes have a profound desire for strong leadership, particularly of a kind which centers around conformity.

If even this small part of human behavior is so difficult to comprehend, forget understanding the cosmos!

Bal Thackeray, Hitler's admirer in India and SS chief, dies.

Even as a teenager, I never liked Bal Thackeray.

Over the more than three decades that I have known of Thackeray, I have only wondered how much life will be better without thugs like him!

Thackeray personified most of the vile of politics and politicians at that time.  He was against the non-Marathi population migrating to Maharashtra, especially to Bombay.  He favored bullying, brought commerce to a stop whenever he felt the need to do so, made Muslims feel unwanted and unsafe, and ... well, there is a lot one can add to this list.  A pompous, arrogant, SOB Thackeray was:

[His] “Maharashtra First” agenda often translated into extreme pro-Hindu, anti-migrant policies that saw Shiv Sena over the years mount numerous campaigns against Muslims and those flocking to Mumbai from other parts of India in search of jobs and a better life.
Shiv Sena’s repeated threats to shut down Bollywood productions if they didn’t hire more locals were often seen by his many critics as little more than a shakedown.
Analysts said his attacks on "outsiders" and minorities had a certain resonance among urban middle-class Mumbai voters even as he imprinted a negative legacy on one of the world’s great cities. “He was a bundle of extreme, even brazen contradictions,” said Dileep Padgaonkar, a consulting editor with the Times of India newspaper. “He destroyed the cosmopolitan ethos of Mumbai.”

While I don't have any evidence to cite--at least, not now--I don't think it was a mere coincidence that Thackeray's outfit was called Shiv Sena, which was often shortened to SS.

Yes, for those of us who shudder at the horrors that the Nazi SS carried out, we will cringe even more at how much Thackeray was a fan of the mustached monster that Adolf Hitler was. In noting his demise, this news report underscores Thackeray's fascination for the Nazi leader, and his preference for anti-democratic actions:

The murder of Krishna Desai, a Communist Party leader in Parel, sent a chill of terror through the city and the party succeeded in setting up Sena unions everywhere, often supported by employers who were only too glad to have someone on their side.
“In December 1967, the CPI headquarters of Mumbai at Dalvi Building in Parel, which is situated in the very midst of the textile area, was savagely attacked by SS hoodlums and almost destroyed. Organised attempts were made to break up Communist public meetings and several leaders and activists of both the CPI and the CPI(M) were physically assaulted. The climax was reached on June 6, 1970, when armed goondas of the SS murdered the sitting MLA of the CPI, Krishna Desai. Krishna Desai was a popular and militant mass leader in the textile belt and had been elected municipal corporator four times before he was elected to the state assembly in 1967. This was the first major political assassination in Mumbai since Independence, and it sent shock waves through the city and State. The leadership of the entire opposition along with thousands of incensed workers, marched in Krishna Desai’s funeral procession. Opposition leaders directly accused the Shiv Sena and the Congress State government in general, and Bal Thackeray and Vasantrao Naik in particular, of being hand in glove in the perpetration of this heinous crime.” 

But, Thackeray gained power and prestige, like mafia dons and third-rate politicians often do.  It is no surprise that the leaders of the Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, have nothing but the highest praise for the deceased destroyer of good:

It is rare that I have seen in these 65 years of independent India a political leader who has left such a deep and abiding imprint on the country’s events as Balasaheb Thackeray. Uncompromising in his patriotism, he possessed remarkable qualities of leadership and abundance of attributes of head and heart,” [Advani] said.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said “Balasaheb Thackeray was an epitome of courage and valour. He was full of life. He fought like a warrior. I’ve lost someone who always guided me.”

Yes, of course, a warrior who guided Modi, whose wish is to become India's prime minister.  If that happens, I hope the US government doesn't grant Modi visa to enter this country, and treats him like how we treat Ahmadinejad.

Oh well ... Thackeray, to paraphrase Shakespeare, "is an honorable man;. So are they all, all honorable men."

Hitler in Chennai's Pondy Bazaar :(

If only I had the camera with me!

Back in the USA, I didn't pack my nail cutter--damn the TSA for messing me up!  And so I ventured out for a casual walk up to Pondy Bazaar, confident that I will have plenty to choose from.

So, there I was slowly walking, trying to simultaneously look at the storefronts and the path ahead of me.

I noticed a small book stall.  I have this Pavlovian reaction when I see books: I have to scan the titles.  Especially at small stalls on the pavement.

And, there in that stall it was: Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler.

It was a jolt to see Hitler's book on display.

But, I was equally delighted that India is free enough a country that such a book can be sold openly.

Now completely under the spell of curiosity, I stopped to take a look at other titles next to it.

I don't think the book stall owner had any editorial message in how he had organized the display, but it was quite creepy that on one side of Mein Kampf was some book by Rajneesh (Osho) with a portrait oh his on the cover.  And on the other was Nandan Nilekani's Imagining India.

Anyway, lesson learnt: my camera is my American Express card and I should never leave home without it!

Oh, yeah, I got myself a nail cutter.  I asked the guy if it is a good one.

"Yes, sir.  Good brand. From Korea."

Thankfully, it is not from North Korea :)

Ganesh v. Hitler. Fight canceled, already?

Have we forgotten how to have a good laugh? (ht)

Ganesh Versus the Third Reich is yet to open at the Melbourne Festival, but news of its storyline has caused consternation among the Indian community.

In the play, which has been described by its producers as rambunctious fable brimming with humour, the elephant-headed Hindu god rampages through Germany on a quest to reclaim the ancient Hindu symbol of goodwill from the Nazis.

What is the big deal?  Laugh it off, folks.

BTW, there is a difference between the Hindu and Nazi swastikas:

Hitler's ball(s)

Hitler — has only got one ball,
Göring — has two, but very small;
Himmler is very sim'lar,
And Göbbels has no balls at all

Funny, eh :)
Here is the rest of the story .... (ht)

American History X on FX: bad timing

So, here I am flicking TV on a Friday evening, and FX has American History X. It is a fantastic movie, but the worst time to feature it on television, with race being a huge factor in the elections, which is only 25 days away.
Bad, bad, scheduling.
I don't mean that they intentionally scheduled it this way, but the TV folks have a responsibility that they have conveniently overlooked.