Hannah Arendt, a film by Margarethe Von Trotta

From iconoclast to icon, Hannah Arendt was an unyielding political theorist who experienced detention in a wartime prison camp in Europe, but escaped to the US. Von Trotta's film portrays the critical era in the writer's life when she covered the trial of Nazi official  Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. Arendt, who had written a landmark study on totalitarianism, noted the 'banality of evil' reflected in Eichmann's burying himself in bureaucratic practice and loyalty to his country. However Arendt noted that this failure or refusal to think, only act, was a pattern of behavior potentially not limited only to the Nazis or that era although wartime Germany took it to fantastic and murderous  extremes. The film studies the enormous controversy generated when Arendt discussed in her essays the complicity of some Jewish officials, to this reader wittingly or unwittingly, which contributed to the rise and maintaining of Nazi power. 

"under conditions of tyranny it is far easier to act than to think." -Hannah Arendt

Played by Barbara Sukowa, the film is a powerful and wrenching emotional study of a woman thinker and writer who struggled to understand to interpret and to analyze the difficulty and deeply rooted reality of power relations in the world. It may not be as rewarding experience as reading her work but it is a fascinating and engaging introduction to a major figure in 20th century philosophy and political theory. A portrait of an interesting woman in a complex time this is easily one of the  best international films of the year to be released here and well worth seeing.

In New York City, now playing at the Film Forum. A Zeitgeist film release.

More on the author here http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/arendt.html

Text of The Origins of Totalitarianism

 http://archive.org/stream/originsoftotalit00aren/originsoftotalit00aren_djvu.txt

Excerpts from The New Yorker of Arendt's coverage of the Eichmann trial

 http://m.newyorker.com/online/blogs/backissues/2010/04/eighty-five-from-the-archive-hannah-arendt.html

--Anthony Napoli

Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

American Hypocrisy: Cool for Cash, Not for Security

Once again the overripe hoopla on all sides regarding the NSA data mining makes one wonder, why is it ok for Facebook or Google to reap billions from tracking our Internet comings and goings, yet the US government, which as we see of late in The IRS scandal is not exactly operating with "schutzstaffel"(SS) efficiency is berated for at least taking what appear to be prudent steps to gather the potential data which could help to not only track terrorists and enemies domestic and foreign, but could also strive to prevent attacks. 

The Obama administration is not building a totalitarian state. Richard Nixon went much further with much less high tech wherewithal in his efforts to stifle dissent. Barack Obama may not be the ultimate President if such a President has ever existed. From the view point if history they may be viewed as worthy or not worthy for the office. But in the day to day operation if government all they can do us endeavor to protect and to serve and to take the steps that its office provides. While journalists who are not responsible for protecting our citizenry may judge BO badly at the moment it is only history who will judge whether these current actions are prudent it not.That's what he is there for He is criticized as being an ineffective leader until he exerts leadership and then he is criticized as bring dictatorial. Relax, America. We have plenty of real not imaginary enemies out there without creating a domestic "pile on" before knowing if this program could in fact lead to better security. We already give Mark Z. and his strata of technoplutocrats plenty of leeway with our lives, reputations and secrets.

--Anthony Napoli 

Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

Fighting on the Border

Photo by Danielle Moghadam

On a field trip to Druse villages in the north, witnessing

fighting between Syrian rebels and Syrian government soldiers

on the border of Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights.

The U.S. Government is Listening? Who isn't? The Paradox of Freedom

The Guardian's article revealing widespread recording of domestic and international Verizon communications by the US National Security Agency sets all sorts of alarms blaring. But in the Age of Information where every mouse click is not only recorded but monitored and sold for advertising and marketing purposes by Google et al, is it any surprise when the US government which has an obligation to provide security and battle terrorism would have no alternative to do same?

While one may presume that Alex Jones at InfoWars and others may see a different game afoot, where terrorism is a false front, an illusion like the Moon landing perhaps albeit a more deadly one intended to provide the government with a wedge to create a totalitarian state, sober, rational realistic citizens must regard that the government while an imperfect institution is obliged to make every effort to protect and to take the initiative wherever possible.

Failure to do so would be the true failure of government to provide the basic service necessary which is to protect and defend democracy and the freedoms we ultimately cherish, however paradoxical those efforts may be.

The Guardian article here

http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order

--Anthony Napoli,Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

Roses in June from the Waldorf Court Garden

Born in the (40s, 50s, 60s): Depression and Suicide Rates Climb

The Washington Post looks at climbing suicide rates among the post-WW 2 baby boom generations and tries to assess why, here

The article also suggests: "Perhaps a little more adversity in youth could have helped prepare them for the inevitable indignities of aging, Knight suggested, adding that “the earlier-born cohorts are sort of tougher in the face of stress.” Despite the hardships of life in the first half of the 20th century, he said, older generations didn’t have the same kind of concept of being stressed out.


"Older generations also had clearer milestones for success. “They won the Great War, they saved the world,” said David Jobes, a professor of psychology at Catholic University and a clinician at the Washington Psychological Center in Friendship Heights."

"Baby boomers, on the other hand, have struggled more with existential questions of purpose and meaning. Growing up in a post-Freudian society, they were raised with a new vocabulary of emotional awareness and an emphasis on self-actualization."

Here at DITHOB, it seems often overlooked that the self-actualization issues that the baby boom generation is often tagged with doesn't fairly reflect the chaos and struggles for equality in the Civil Rights movement, feminism, and political activism that is reflected in the shifting political landscapes over the past several decades. Not only was it a question of the baby boom generation being at the front lines of these social and political movements, but we also have grown up as part of the social fabric of this era, and dealt with the political, economic and social struggles that made racial and sexual equality a reality for the most part in day-to-day life. At the same time, we grew up in the transition to modernity, or post-modernity, from manual typewriters to smartphones and personal computers, and have been forced to struggle with changes and adaptations that our parents never knew and our children, growing up in the post-modern era, don't understand. Hang in there, baby boomers. If it hasn't been an easy ride, we are still part of the "warp and woof" that tried to bring equality, progress and new ideas in the American social experiment into every day life.
-Anthony Napoli, Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

Where to find help:


American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: www.afsp.org

National Alliance on Mental Illness: www.nami.org

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Signs & Symbols: Adorable 'Cheerios' Ad Sparks Racist Backlash

A Cheerios commercial featuring an interracial couple sparked such a vicious racism-fuelled backlash on YouTube that the comments section on the video had to be shut down.


The ad, featuring cute interactions between parents and their daughter was posted on May 28, has been viewed more than 260,000 times and received more than 3,000 likes.

But soon after its posting, the comments section was flooded with racist references to Nazis and "racial genocide", according to Adweek.

According to the NY Post, an online commenter observed on Reddit "So, about 50 years we'll see our first commercial with same sex parents... Progress!"

'Love, It's the Wind': Obscure Boomer Music for a Thursday

The Wind (written by Bob Bruno) performed by Circus Maximus, an obscure gem from 1967.

Circus Maximum, recorded on the Vanguard label, featured Bob Bruno, Jerry Jeff Walker, David Scherstrom, Gary White and Peter Troutner. Despite the jazzy, psychedelic roots of the band, Bruno gravitated toward jazz, Jerry Jeff was gravitating toward folk on his way to pure country, so the group broke up in 1968. More on the band here

The Global Web: Air Travel and the Dynamics of Human Geography

Michael Markieta's images depicting flight paths across the planet.

There are currently more than 58,000 flight paths criss-crossing the globe, but each individual airport services only a limited number of others.

The busiest airports by continent [measured by number of direct-flight destinations] include Sao Paulo, Beijing, Sydney, Frankfurt, Cairo and Atlanta

Five interesting interpretations (from aviation, philosophical, design, environment and art perspectives) here

Remember

The Ultimate Human Digital Divide

 "..information and information technologies will never allow us to escape  the demands of our bodies,our institutions and the times in which we find ourselves." From Counterculture to Cyberculture" by Fred Turner

"Things Have Changed"

'Laydeeeee!' : The Clown Comes Home -- Jerry Lewis Takes Cannes

Agnes C. Poirier in the NY Times on  "Most Americans don’t realize that for the French, Mr. Lewis represents an American archetype, a handsome clown and histrionic child. The American film director Jonathan Nossiter told me, “It’s very comforting for them to believe that an American genius, by necessity, is monstrously puerile in front of the camera and an idiot savant behind it.” Mr. Lewis also offers complexity and powerful combinations of opposites: he is both a child throwing tantrums and an auteur creating a world of his own. He was a handsome man who kept wanting to play the ugly guy, first beside his sidekick Dean Martin, and then afterward in his solo career. He has also been a depressive clown, à la Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati.  Jerry Lewis is an auteur the way François Truffaut defined it."

Full article here

Bob Dylan's 'Blind Willie McTell': Thirty Years On

In May 1983, Bob Dylan at the piano accompanied by Mark Knopfler on guitar recorded "Blind Willie McTell" during the sessions for the album Infidels. Considering it an unfinished work, Dylan left it off of that album and it did not surface as a recording until a decade later with the official release on the The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991. The melody is loosely based on "St. James Infirmary Blues". For the song, Dylan, seated at the piano and accompanied by Mark Knopfler on the twelve-string acoustic guitar, sings a series of plaintive verses depicting allegorical scenes which reflect on the history of American music and slavery. Each verse ends with the same refrain: "Nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell".

It is an awesome song, particularly the original bare bones version, haunting, poetic, and passionate. Dylan acknowledged that he began playing it  at shows after hearing the Band's performance. The above performance was a more recent, expanded version. While I still prefer the original, stripped down version, it is terrific to hear and see the song performed by its composer, a song that remains enigmatic, perhaps surreal, but that deserves a place among his more remarkable compositions.

More on the song here

Not the original but a more spare, piano based version here

And a 2013 version here from Akron, Ohio here


--Anthony Napoli

'Do You Hear Me, Commander Chris?' Space is Definitely The Place

Commander Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut performed this music video of David Bowie's aboard the International Space Station, the first created in outer space.

The lyrics were somewhat altered; most notably the ending was replaced. Hadfield announced the video on his twitter account writing "With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World." David Bowie was also thanked in the ending creditsThe video led Bowie to respond, tweeting back to Hadfield "Hallo Spaceboy".

The original single by David Bowie, 1969

Background on the song here

And Commander Hadfield's return to Earth earlier today here

Cdr. hadfield's performace with Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies and a children's choir here