What you’re looking at here is a store in Ahmedabad, India called “Hitler,” which apparently sells Superman t-shirts and other clothing. (Do you think Hitler dotted his I’s with a swastika like that? It makes him seem so cheerleaderish!). Anyway, if you’ve read this site before, you may have noticed other stories about that part of the world and their strange obsession with Hitler, as illustrated by the Bollywood movie, You think it was that Downfall meme or Cats that Look Like Hitler that did it?

The owner of the clothing outlet in Ahmedabad claims it’s merely a “nickname given to one of the proprietors’ grandfathers.”
“Hitler was a nickname given to my business partner Manish Chandani’s grandfather because of his strict nature. Frankly, till the time we applied for the trademark permission, I had only heard that Hitler was a strict man,” Rajesh Shah who owns the shop told The Times of India daily.

Yes, strict, that’s one way to put it. He wouldn’t let the Jews go out without arm bands (“you’ll catch your death of cold!”) and he always made them shower before supper! …What? Too soon? C’mon, I used a soft J.

Shah complains he had to spend Rs 40,000 on the banner, and says he won’t change the name unless he is compensated.
Some members of the Jewish community claim the proprietors know what Hitler’s name stands for. “They had researched well, right from the clothes the dictator wore to his cufflinks. We had suggested a separate design, but the proprietors claimed that the name brings good business since its launch a week back.” [RT]

I don’t know, it’s not that bad a name. I mean, it’s not like they’re selling tolerance. Say what you will about the Nazis, they were nothing if not snappy dressers. That said, if the Jews of Ahmedabad wanted to, I don’t know, hold some kind of “night of broken glass” where they smash the shop’s window, I don’t think anyone would blame them. Which would be a first.

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Here’s the video that got Hank Williams Jr. “fired” (I didn’t realize he was still employed). “Obama! Biden! The Three Stooges!” Williams replied. “That’s only two,” Steve Doocy pointed out. Hahahahahahahahaha. “Hank Williams Jr., who knows a little about politics too.” Um, no. To quote Brendan from the Frotcast: “All my rowdy friends are here with a rope!” |RollingStone|

MORNING LINKS
What They Did This Summer: A Look In Pictures At The NBA’s Stars During The Lockout |With Leather|

Arrested Development Cast Reuniting for 10 More Shows & A Movie (No, Seriously This Time) |Film Drunk|

This week’s Frotcast has Joe King’s stand up. If you don’t listen, you’ll never know what “if that falcon tells you to make come, you damn well better fill his dish” means. |Frotcast 67|

I like this Battleship Shots idea way better than the Battleship movie idea. |AfternoonSnoozeButton|

New Book: Diddy Had Tupac Killed, Suge Knight Had Biggie Killed |UPROXX|

Aussie Sets New Land Speed Record For Motorized Couches |Gamma Squad|

Kenan Thompson Is Marrying This. |Warming Glow|

I don’t know what the hell this girl was doing, but her little brother is a star. |GorillaMask|

Doug Hutchison must really like tits if he’s willing to put up with this terrifying, dead-eyed freakshow. |TheSuperficial|

Oh look, I found a picture of your mom. |Videogum|

5 People Older Than Andy Rooney. |ScreenJunkies|

Twin Peaks as an Atari game. |MentalFloss|

Meet the new Muppet, “food insecure Muppet.” Uh, what? |TheDailyWhat|

I know this isn’t the preferred nomenclature, but this Chinaman has two faces. |Buzzfeed|

High School Football Player Quits Team to Become Cheerleader |Brobible|

The 20 Most Successful Christian-Themed Films of All Time |Pajiba|

The top 5 office pet peeves. |HolyTaco|

A Collection of Awesome Masked Characters in Movies |Unreality|

Nominate for Comments of the Week. Subscribe to Frotcast iTunes. Like dick pics? Follow me on Twitter.

Punk rockers like Sid Vicious have been wearing Nazi stuff for shock value since the 70s, but no one seems to remember that, at least if the degree of solemnity with which everyone wrote up the story about Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier declaring himself a Nazi at Cannes is any indication.  The incident in question took place during the Melancholia press conference, which you can watch here, if you don’t mind sitting through a boring, 40-minute movie press conference.  My stars, you don’t think the guy who films talking foxes, sex scenes between retarded people, and genital mutilation was being deliberately provocative, do you?  Goodness, we should hold a tolerance rally.  Here’s Ebert’s account of the event:

Von Trier’s detour began when he was asked about his use of German romantic music in his score. In the film “Melancholia,” Kirsten Dunst plays a bride who is supposed to be happy on her wedding day, but her depression makes her unravel and unable to keep up her happy face. While this is taking place, the planet Melancholia is hurtling toward the earth, rendering life pointless. As the character says, life is pointless and the earth is evil, we don’t need to grieve for it. Von Trier speculated that he had gone overboard in his use of Wagner, then said he had an interest in Nazi things.
He said he grew up thinking he was a Jew, and he was very happy to be a Jew. Then he discovered he was a Nazi, and that also gave him some pleasure. “Yes, I am a Nazi!”, he declared.
While his cast (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Udo Kier and John Hurt) looked on in horror, Kirsten Dunst tapped him on the shoulder and whispered to him to moderate his comments. He looked at her in confusion and said, “But this has a point, it will be okay.”
Then he proceeded to dig himself in deeper, saying that he understood Hitler, and that he could sympathize with his being down in that bunker toward the end. He continued, “Well that doesn’t mean I have anything against Jews, except Susanne Bier (Danish filmmaker, “In a Better World”).
“Well, Israel is a pain in the ass …
“Okay, I am a Nazi…
“Nazis tend to do things on a grander scale…
“Perhaps we can have a Final Solution for journalists….”
With that moderator Henri Behar called a halt to the conference because it was clear at that point that Von Trier just could not stop himself.
It is widely known that Von Trier suffers from bouts of depression, and “Melancholia” obviously reflected his state of mind. Ironically, before the declaration about Hitler and Nazism, Von Trier looked happier and more relaxed than he had at any of his previous press conferences at Cannes.

It seems that perhaps the director of Antichrist was just playing… (*sunglasses*) …Devil’s advocate. (*YEAAAAAAAH…*) (*fox bites off penis*).

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Christian Dior head fashion designer John Galliano was arrested Thursday night in Paris for allegedly making anti-semitic remarks, which is illegal there (grrr, fight Fascism with Fascism!).  Later, in what they claim was a separate incident, The Sun obtained video of a drunken Galliano at the same cafe, telling some women “I love Hitler.”  Natalie Portman had been the spokesperson for Dior perfume, saying as recently as December:

“One of the things that’s been so nice is that Dior made all of the shoes for me with no animals and no leather or anything because I don’t wear any leather… They remade all my shoes so I can wear Dior shoes without taking lives.”

UPDATE: Here’s what Galliano said precipitating his arrest, according to the report:

In her statement to police, Bloch, who is not Jewish, alleged that Galliano screamed at her, “Dirty Jew face, you should be dead,” and told her to “shut your mouth, dirty bitch, I can’t stand your dirty whore voice.” As for Virgitti, who is of Asian descent, Bloch says Galliano yelled, “You f*cking Asian bastard, I’ll kill you!” He then returned his attention to Bloch. “You’re so ugly I can’t bear looking at you. You’re wearing cheap boots, cheap thigh boots. You’ve got no hair, your eyebrows are ugly, you’re ugly, you’re nothing but a whore.” And for his finale, Bloch — whom witnesses reported initially mistook Galliano for a homeless person, perhaps angering him — says Galliano yelled, “I am the designer John Galliano!” and struck a pose. [NYDailyNews]

Once Portman had seen the tapes, she released the predictable statement:

“I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano’s comments that surfaced today. In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way. I hope at the very least, these terrible comments remind us to reflect and act upon combating these still-existing prejudices that are the opposite of all that is beautiful.” [NYTimes]

“As a proud Jew whose real last name is ‘Hershlag’, who took a less-Jewy sounding name, I condemn these remarks…”  Sorry, couldn’t resist.  Anyway, Galliano has since been fired:

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After the jump, James Nguyen tells you how to enter the Birdemic Demand It Contest.  Me, I just love this screencap.

DAILY CIRCLE JERK LINKS

• Today’s Uproxx feature brought to you by fat guys with expensive knives. |Uproxx|
• The math of predicting divorces. (Worth a click solely for the cat-related banner pic). |GammaSquad|
• This one-year-old girl can snowboard. I dunno, I still prefer ladies who “ski”, gnome sayin? (*taps nostril, hip thrusts*). |WithLeather|
• Here are two pilots, one from Will Arnett and the creator of Arrested Development, the other from Paul Reiser.  Guess which one is NBC.  Side note — Worse show, Mad About You or Caroline in the City? |WarmingGlow|
• Smoking Section: Reflection Eternal. |SmokingSection|
• The Tarantula Hawk is a giant wasp that eats tarantulas. You know what they say, the enemy of my enemy is OH MY GOD KILL IT WITH FIRE. |Urlesque|
• New Miss USA knows her way around a stripper pole. |Guyism|
• My ex-classmate James Franco returning toe General Hospital.  |TVSquad|
• 300 producers planning Julius Caesar trilogy.  I’d settle for another season of Rome. |InsideMovies|
• Bret Michaels wore his bandanna throughout his hospital stay. “If I’m going out, I want to go out rockin’”.  |Fark|
• The five most popular celebrities you’ve never heard of. |Pajiba|
• Michael Jai White was on the Adam Carolla podcast and it was awesome. |AdamCarolla|
• 10 awesome covered comics. |ComicsAlliance|

As promised, Jesus (maybe?) and Hitler.

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