watch interviews with u.s. human rights activists on brave nation. unter ihnen auch pete seeger - ab 1. Juni 2008

und wohl auch ein wenig werbung für the nation. einfach klicken! ach ja, obliterate heisst einfach nur: Auslöschen!

statt abba lieber john cassavetes. gloria etwa, sein film aus dem jahr 1980, mit der grossartigen gena rowlands und relevanter filmmusik. man/frau muss kinder nicht unbedingt mögen, um sie zu beschützen.

(...) als ch gerade einem japaner das bajonett mitsamt der scheide abnahm, bemerkte ich einen marineinfanteristen, der etwas hinter sich herschleifte, was ich zunächst für eine leiche hielt. aber der japaner war nicht tot. er war am rücken schwer verwundet und konnte seine arme nicht bewegen. im mund des japaners glänzten große, goldüberkronte zähne und der mann, der ihn gefangen nahm, wollte sie haben. er setzte mit der messerspitze unten an einem zahn an und schlug mit der handläche auf den griff. weil der japaner um sich trat und zappelte, rutschte das messer ab und drang tief in den mund des opfers ein. darauf hin verfluchte der marineinfanterist den japaner und schlitzte ihm das gesicht von einem ohr zum anderen auf. ich schrie: mach dem elend dieses mannes ein ende. zur antwort wurde auch ich beschimpft. ein anderer marineinfanterist kam hinzu, schoss dem feindlichen soldaten eine kugel ins hirn und beendete so seinen todeskampf. der plünderer brummte nur und fuhr ungerührt fort, seine beute zu sichern (...)

erinnerungen von eugene sledge in der 9. folge von ken burns beindruckender serie über den zweiten weltkrieg, gesehen aus der sicht der einwohner von vier amerikanischen provinzstädten. nun auf arte in 11 teilen. die relevanz für heute und morgen ist unübersehbar. es geht nicht um schuld oder gerechtigkeit: es geht um die dynamik von kriegen: dort und zuhause. kaum moral, und das ist gut so. was der regisseur zu seinem film zu sagen hat, findet sich auch in einem interview bei open source.

sauseschritt a ja immer eine schwäche für das kaputte leben gehabt, wahrscheinlich auch deshalb, weil es wahrer ist als die (nicht einmal mehr oberflächlich) heile welt. bringing out the dead macht es wieder deutlich: es ist nicht leicht, das alles zu ertragen, doch alles ist besser, als die augen zu schließen:

(...) saving someones life is like falling in love. the best drug in the world. for days, sometimes for weeks afterwards you walk the street, making infinite whatever you see. once, for a few weeks, I could not feel the earth. everything I touched bcame lighter. horns played in my shoes, flowers fell from my pockets. you wonder if you become a moral as you saved your own life as well. god has passed through you, why deny it, and for a moment there, god was you. taking credits when things go right, doesn´t work the other way. when things go wrong, spreading the blame is an essential medical surviving tune. the elevator broke down, the boy friend was crazy. i shouldn´t called him sick, the tube wouldn´t go in. the god of hellfire is not a role that anyone wants to play (...)

after a while i could understand that my role was less about saving lives than about bearing witness (...)

wie doof wahlwerbung auch in den usa sein kann, zeigt dieses joint enterprise der kennedy - obama achse. ich besonders frau kennedys coming out (I feel the same excitement) und obamas abschliessenden satz: (...) I am barak obama and I approve this message (...) no na!!!!!

you never heard of junot diaz ? you maybe european and this would be an excuse. nevertheless its worth reading his novel the brief wonderous life of oscar wao, which was published in september 2007. diaz is us-american and immigrated from the dominican republic when he was six years old. he became widely known by his collection of short stories about growing up on his old home island and in the u.s. this book is called drown and was published in 1996. he currently teaches at the massechusets institute of technology (mit).

it may be also be a good idea to listen to what mr. diaz has to say about identities of immigrants and the new phenomenon of cross-boarder movement. radioopensource published an interview with him (three parts) which can be downloaded from the open source website. junot diaz on us immigration:

(...) you could ban all immigration, and anyone who comes over here and gets caught the punishment is death, immediate death. and you could say: if you help an immigrant you can get in prison for twenty years. and you know what? the problem may not go away. the reality on the ground is how do you legislate against a wave? (...) you can´t legislate against that. you have to accept. guys, why don´t we stop legislate against the wave coming in and not try to figure out how to make that wave work in a way which preserves everything we do believe in this society and we admire without diminishing us and dehumanising other people. this country can´t run without immigrants, this country is de facto powered by illegal immigrant work (...)

vor 40 jahren begründete der film die reifeprüfung die karriere von dustin hoffman und stand am anfang einer reihe von filmen, die die sozialisation der generation der sogenannten 68er begleitete. thema: widerstand gegen das establishment (wie abgeschmackt das heute klingt!). anläßlich der wiederauflage der reifeprüfung auf dvd (für die jüngsten unter uns: dustin hoffman, anne bancroft, simon&garfunkel) bringt freshair eine themensendung (ENG), als podcast downloadbar.

dazu ein bemerkenswerter kommentar (ENG) des filmkritikers john powers (vogue). mrs. robinson wird rehabilitiert: ich denke, das hat sie sich wirklich verdient! sauseschritt transkribiert als serviceleistung für seine treuen leser/innen:

(...) it was easy for many of us to project our own vague feelings of alienation on rebellion lane, because the rebellion did not make any demands, didn´t confer any responsibilities, didn´t proof irrevocable. their rebel attitudes do often look dangerous or apocalyptic but in their way they prooved as safely suburban as we were all rebelling against. small wonder that so many iconoclastic young boomers like ben and alaine would turn into middle aged bourgeois bohemiens. I now grasp that the real outcast is of course mrs. robinson in an area before women´s lib tries to escape the velvet prison of housewiferey in ways that boys like me found very scary. although she is by far the film´s most interesting character I pick her over benjamin and alaine anytime (...) maybe so, but today she is the character who feels the most daring, the most unconventional and the most human, she is the real rebel without a cause. I know I am saying this 40 years too late, but here is to you, mrs. robinson. (...)

die brandneue dvd ist bei amazon erhältlich.

whenever sauseschritt needs to breathe fresh air with regard to us-politics, he loads down the fresh air podcast, presented by npr (national public radio). this time, in a crowded metro, full of desparate and violent passengers, an interview with brian de palma on his new movie redacted. sauseschritt really gets used to terry gross' voice and giggles. thanks for letting us listen to another america, terry!

here is more about redacted on rottentomatoes followed by an interview with brian de palma. we also got the background for de palma´s fictionalized documentary on bbc news.

a fistful of euros currently posted a book review on torture condoned by the us administration:

(...) Administration of Torture starts with an intriguing introduction in which ACLU lawyers Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh build their case that the current US Administration did condone torture, that the abuse of prisoners was indeed systemic, that senior government officials, like Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, were personally involved, probably for the first time in US history, in determining which interrogation techniques were to be used and that those techniques were possibly illegal and even unconstitutional bordering on war crimes.

The text of the introduction in which these allegations are made, 52 pages long, is corroborated by over 300 footnotes pointing directly to official documents that are reproduced in the book over 374 pages. The true scope of the enormous investigative work done by Jaffer and Singh becomes clear when you know that over 100,000 of these official pages have been released to the ACLU and its partners under the Freedom of Information Act. (...)