kvennafrídagurinn (12. 817)

On this day in 1975, Icelandic women—some ninety percent of the demographic that makes up half of the population, went on strike for twenty-four hours for a showing of the indispensable place of women for the economy and society, organisers touting the action to protest wage disparity (a pay-gap of around sixty-percent less compared to male coworkers in the same profession) and unfair employment practises as Women’s Day Off. Participants called out of their jobs outside the home and also refused to do the added tasks of housekeeping or activities associated with child-rearing, many husbands having to do these chores for the first time. Whilst the international attention for the demonstration prompted legislative reforms and equal rights, the struggle continues half a century on and there have been other mass walk-outs (see also) and on the Friday closest to the anniversary, women are dismissed early, incrementally later commensurate with the progress made towards their goals from 14:05, 14:08, 14:25 and most recently 14:38 to quit at a time when they could have earned their daily wage had they been paid the same as men—the World Economic Forum’s global gender-gap index rating Iceland the most egalitarian country for the past sixteen years. Much more from Reykjavík Grapevine at the link up top.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronopticæ)

thirteen years ago: all the gold in Fort Knox plus the Stammtisch

fourteen years ago: the Phonetic Major System for better memorisation

fifteen years ago: impressions of Ireland

8x8 (12. 813)

vampira: the obscure made-for-television title by George Moorse with a atmospheric score by Tangerine Dream 

concrete progress: a demonstration project for turning the rubble of war torn Ukraine into cement 

overton window: a measured approach to AI—via Kottke—see also  

spoiler-alert: William Castle’s Homicidal, a hammy, gimmicky film capitalising on the success of Psycho, gets reviewed by Poseidon’s Underworld

 
atira asteroids: a constellation of interior-Earth objects in our orbit and hidden by solar glare are uncomfortably close—via Damn Interesting 

it’s awfully strange to make a decision where i’m paying myself—but i was damaged very great and any money i would get i would give to charity: Grifter-in-Chief demands two-hundred and thirty million dollars in restitution from the US department of justice for past convictions  

billionaires’ row: a supertall residential tower on Manhattan’s Park Avenue is riddled with stress-fractures that may lead to its condemnation

the vampyre: Lord Byron’s unremembered manservant who invented the modern form of the genre—via Miss Cellania

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ) plus the Berlin Crisis of 1961

fourteen years ago: exploring the past with the Retronaut

project west ford (12. 812)

Though we’ve wrote quite a few times on the rather audious joint US Airforce-Massachusetts Institute of Technology mission (see previously here and here) to ensure the continuity of communications in the era before satellites in case of Soviet sabotage on underseas cables by seeding the upper atmosphere with a half a million copper dipoles to create an artificial ionosphere, the natural but unpredictable one being the primary sounding board for international correspondence via shortwave, we think the story bares repeating on the anniversary not of the deployment of the payload of “Westford needles” but rather on date that the first abortive experiment failed in 1961. After the initial set-back, it’s amazing that there was another trial.  Hundreds of thousands of tiny copper pins, thinner than a human hair (scaled to amplify target signals) in orbit would, as the theory went, would form a ring to collective provide passive support to a parabolic transmission dish located on the grounds of MIT’s multidisciplinary observatory. Carried aloft in tandem with the launch of a MiDAS 4 satellite the diodes failed to disperse. A second attempt in May the following year was successful. Though unknown at the time how quickly the needles would deorbit and that the debris field was temporary and diminishingly small, the secret experiment enraged the international community and although the fears of the a catastrophic grounding were unfounded, Project West Ford did prompt an inclusion of a consultation provision in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

synchronoptica

one year ago: airport geolocation codes and shared abbreviations (with synchronopticæ) plus Musk selling votes

thirteen years ago: a visit to Sigmaringen

fourteen years ago: Eurozone crisis talks plus more on digital rights management

sixteen years ago: diploma mills 

seventeen years ago: nostalgia and intellectual property 

 

no kings ii (12. 806)

In more than two-thousand seven-hundred rallies across the country—with support from international affiliates—more than seven million protesters took part in the redux demonstrations against the unitary executive of Donald Trump and his blatantly magisterial policies that undermine democracy and the rule of rule and proxy warfare conducted conducted on American streets with assaults against immigrants and unbidden occupation that verges on martial law. Since June’s demonstrations, prompted by Trump’s full authoritarian military birthday parade, the organisers have only been able to add to their agenda with retributive arrests against political opposition (in line with Stalinist era tactics and maxim, “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime”), threats of more violence against Democratic strongholds, aggressive gerrymandering, undermining federal services, virtual parliamentary suspension, abandonment of public health, science-based medicine and environmental regulations, the shutdown of the federal government and regime change in Venezuela. The assembly was peaceful and no arrests were made in Washington, DC or New York City as participants were engaged in the highest form of patriotism against their traitorous government.

first instance, last resort (12. 804)

As promised in his campaign focused on retribution for his political critics and opponents, Trump’s weaponisation of the US justice system seems nearly complete with the most chilling headlines going to the recent string of indictments of former FBI director James Comey, New York attorney general Letitia James who led a fraud investigation against the president during the interregnum and most recently former national security adviser John Bolton for mishandling of classified material (the accusations admissions to the letter), we would be ill-disposed to not recognise the scope of the miscarriage of the law is not limited to personal attacks but is also manifest in the dismantling of the separation of powers among the coequal branches of the federal government in the recision and reprogramming of funds, cowing courts into submission to facilitate the illegal firings and shutterings of congressionally mandated agencies, and abusing the power of the pardon to rewrite the history of the January Sixth insurrection and attack on the US capitol and just now the commutation of the prison sentence of George Santos, disgraced New York Republican ejected from the House of Representatives by his own caucus.  The art deco sculpture to the left in the great hall of the Robert F Kennedy, Senior DOJ headquarters is the Spirit of Justice, infamously given a modesty smock in 2002 by then attorney general John Ashcroft to cover her exposed breast.  Her companion across the aisel, scantily clad in only a loin cloth, is called the Majesty of Justice.     

synchronoptica

one year ago: animated artefacts (with synchronopticæ) plus a collection of apotropaic plants 

fourteen years ago: swapping allegiances to shore up economies 

sixteen years ago: stoking the hearth 

10x10 (12. 801)

press credentials: all major US media outlets surrender their badges granting them access to the Pentagon rather than consent to only reporting on approved releases—see previously  

pomalo: embracing the unhurried lifestyle of the Dalmatian coast 

🚀: a huge archive of international space agency logos and patches, including private and fictional ones—via Kottke 

my my my my michell: a tribute to Joe Don Baker 

dear new york: an installation featuring the city’s denizens in Grand Central Station  

doxxing and the doxxed: a roundup of hateful boosterism from American Republican youth organisations  

un embarras du choix: perhaps options and avenues are a poor surrogate for being free 

farshoring: Luxembourg’s role as a space hub allows prospectors to claim asteroids—though profits may never pan out  

κόπος: Greek parliament passes thirteen-hour work days amidst strikes and labour shortages  

reframing: an exhibit inspired by WEB Du Bois’ infographic “data portraits”

continuing resolution (12. 793)

In order to dull the pain or inconvenience that the average member of the American public associates with the furlough and partial government shutdown and avoid the optics of service members in uniform queuing at food pantries on pay-day, the administration has proposed, akin to the rescission-process from earlier in the year, re-programming funds already committed, still in defiance of authorisations, to other projects, like army research and development or monies generated from sources outside the process of congressional appropriations, so air-traffic controllers, airport security agents and soldiers do not miss their next pay cheque. Whereas travel disruptions may be more relatable than the potential for mutiny over breach of contract, both are still within the realm of possibilities. Despite having virtually insurmountable control over the three branches of the federal government, Republicans persist in blaming the closure on Democrats—though perceptions are changing and the public and the federal workforce, in many cases not working or deemed essential and working for the promise of delayed pay, seeming more tenuous, know that the layoffs and evisceration of programmes were planned well in advance of the 30 September deadline and are something that the GOP would have carried out regardless.

synchronoptica

one year ago: university commas (with synchronopticæ), Peabody visual aides, an out-of-season bloom plus Dungeons & Dragons as group therapy

fifteen years ago: tabloid news 

sixteen years ago: the most beautiful object in the world 

we now return to regularly scheduled programming already in progress (12. 776)

For the first time in television history in the United States on this day in 1975, the three major television networks declined a request to interrupt broadcasts and pre-empt their line-up for a speech delivered by the American president. Gerald Ford’s nationwide address was only carried by ABC and was a relatively anodyne presentation regarding fiscal discipline for an economy just emerging from a recession, laying the blame of inflation and job scarcity squarely on an “overzealous bureaucracy” and urged congress to make federal tax reductions permanent to encourage hiring with a commensurate cut to government spending, threatening to veto any legislation passed in in keeping with a balanced budget. This decision by TV executives was seen as the first challenge to the use of the bully pulpit of the president and the reach of high office to the public ear. The next day, congress and the senate overturned Ford’s veto by an overwhelming margin bi-partisan support to extend federal school lunch and nutrition programmes.

synchronoptica

one year ago: more adventures on the Mecklinburgischer Seeplate (with synchronopticæ)

thirteen years ago: the Venetian independence movement, more flea market finds plus twinned-towns

fourteen years ago: computer lab plus thirty-one days of Halloween

fifteen years ago: customary Nobel cool-off period 

lapse in appropriations (12. 769)

Whilst most attention was focused on Trump’s upstaging of the some eight hundred top generals and admirals from American military outposts from all over the world at great expense and distraction summoned to be presented a speech on warrior ethos that could have frankly been an email or at most a TEAMS virtual meeting only to then be lectured by the commander in chief regarding physical fitness of the force, woke- and fat-shaming the US military into a plaything exclusively by and for white, straight males with liberal bastions declared as training grounds, the federal government entered a shutdown after successive refusal by the Republicans to entertain negotiations over extending healthcare subsidies and defunding public broadcasting. The standoff preceded by congress blocking the swearing in of a Democratic representative from Arizona for fear of loosing the GOP‘s narrow margin and compelling the release of the Epstein files, replacing the official portrait of Joe Biden in the White House gallery with a crude picture of an auto-pen and continuing the violent vitriol against the radical left—out-of-office auto-replies are to specifically blame the opposition for the closure and lapse in nonessential services–a clear violation of the Hatch Act. The last significant shutdown lasting more than a few hours was during Trump’s first term in 2018 and 2019 when the government closed for thirty-five days

mittelwihr, ostheim, beblenheim (12. 763)

Heading back to Alsace after several years for a camping holiday—the last of the season we think—we noticed that the city limit signs were no longer bilingual, reflecting the German and Swiss cultural influences on this region in la Grand Est on the upper Rhein (Rhine, Rhin) but rather in French with a sub-caption acknowledging the Alsatian dialect (im Elsàss, from the German Elsaß—strongly informed by the neighbouring Swabian way of speaking) with Saint Hippolyte rendered as Sàmpìlt, for example.

First conquered by Caesar, a subject of the Holy Roman Empire, in the Realm of the Franks, traded to the Carolingians as part of Lotharingia, annexed by the kingdoms of France and Germany and later ceded to the Deutsche Reich before returning to France after World War II, this land protected by the Vosges mountains, making conditions ideal for wining and mining, has retained its character and charm and has been relatively nonplussed over all these changes, becoming a model of religious tolerance during the Reformation, unlike the rest of France and embracing a mosaic of Catholic and Protestant congregations within the same communities, the central governments of neither ruling powers wanting to impose a faith or language for fear of antagonising the population.

Though not the most flattering of terms, the Latin form of the name of Alsace entered legalese in English courts in the seventeenth century (stemming from dated perceptions at the time) as Alsatia, referring to a lawless place or one under no judicial oversight, and in extended use sanctuary and a customary marketplace protected by tradition and the independence of patrons.

  

synchronoptica

one year ago: hotel darkrooms for hobbyist photographers (with synchronopticæ), a very short papacy plus Dawn: A Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1976) 

fourteen years ago: Das Boot 

fifteen years ago: substituting the flag of Chile for the flag of Texas

seventeen years ago: lost and found

 

fe-fi-fo-furlough (12. 758)

After cancelling a meeting with Democrat leadership from the house and senate, saying there was nothing to discuss with the opposition party over the impending shut-down of the federal government, making the lapse in appropriations seem inevitable—though the drama has become almost an annual occurrence. A memo circulated by the Office of Management and Budget, however, seems to raise the stakes and change the calculus significantly: directing federal agencies to not only prepare furlough notices for non-essential employees but also prepare reduction-in-force (layoff) plans for those discretionary programmes not deemed consistent with Trump’s priorities, thus eliminating more of the federal workforce in the event of closure, leveraging the Democrats to vote to keep the government open without entertaining any concessions to the other party. For their part, the Democrats in congress recognise this new intimidation tactic, having averted a shutdown in March arguing at the time that that would have unleashed the administration to do even greater damage to the civil service, but after rescissions and clawing back funds already obligated and voted on—realising that the GOP will do whatever it is ordered—seem to have come to the conclusion that closure is only way forward. We’ll see how this standoff plays out in the next few days.

welcome to the jungle (12. 753)

If Upton Sinclair’ original 1906 novelisation of the inhumane conditions in the meatpacking industry (see previously here and here) wasn’t already enough to turn one vegetarian and co-champion for struggling immigrants and reform of the social safety net in the US, this brief from 99% Invisible should do the trick, showing that precious little has changed in the intervening century, including the tarnished American Dream, and has taken a turn for the worse with consolidation and workers even more disposable.

8x8 (12. 751)

crybaby: the myth of the maternal instinct and what infant distress tells us 

i’ve been waiting twenty years for this meeting: Trump issues dangerous medical advice, linking acetaminophen, childhood vaccines with autism  

interflug: vintage Eastern European destination labels 

filtered for birdsong and catnip: the animal internet and archaeo-acoustics  

my dinner with skinner: the Steamed Hams version of My Dinner with Andre—see previously, see also—via Meta Filter 

novelisation: retro book jackets from modern classic cinema—see previously   

justice serviced: Trump ramps up pressure to pursue political enemies through a weaponised department  

non-linear vocal phenomenon: the distracting power of baby cries and dog barks may be overrated

synchronoptica

one year ago: a 1974 tour of Fort Knox (with synchronopticæ) plus assorted links to revisit 

thirteen years ago: a ban on GMO crops in Europe, charted flights plus a superb dragonfly

fourteen years ago: faster-than-light physics 

fifteen years ago: the unbearable whiteness of anti-intellectualism 

10x10 (12. 746)

the dominator model continues to run the world: Lydia Lunch’s timeless feminist manifesto 

jut: a new way to measure the magnitude and magnificence of mountains—via Metafilter  

and i’m floating in the most peculiar way: a cover of Major Tom by Magdalena Bay—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links  

bequest: an assortment of old customs and curious donations and charities 

red noise: the French musical underground’s decade of synths and situationists—via { feuilleton }  

𒀾: writing lessons in Cuneiform  

being of sound minds and body: collection of captivating wills and last testaments—via Strange Company  

you’ve really made the grade: a scroll through the archives of David Bowie  

pathfinder: a look into the inner-workings of Google Maps  

me and bobbie mckee: the forgotten inspiration for the gender-swapping ballad of Kris Kristofferson and Janis Joplin—see previously

synchronoptica

one year ago: Weird Al parodies Bob Dylan with palindromes (with synchronopticæ) plus more gerrymandering

twelve years ago: a possible clue to hidden Nazi loot hidden on sheet music 

fourteen years ago: the Pope comes home to Germany 

fifteen years ago: GMO salmon 

9x9 (12. 742)

admissible evidence: AI translations of animal vocalisations in the court room and other assorted legal stupidity  

mulholland drive: the Mid-Century Modern estate of David Lynch (previously) in the Hollywood Hill is up for sale  

happy blogoversary: Damn Interesting turns twenty 

õhuruum: more incursions of Russian fighter jets into NATO airspace, this time over Estonia—see previously  

⠝⠕⠍⠕⠎: overcoming wartime injuries that took both his sight and hands, a Greek youth taught himself to read Braille with his tongue and became a lawyer 

ministry of public enlightenment and propaganda: from the wires, 4 February 1939  

phlegmatic: the ancient origins of personality typing  

yawaraka jazz: an individual in Japan expertly DJs their collection of vintage vinyls with no commercial interruptions—via Web Curios 

feme covert, feme sole: Brigitte Macron, wife of the French president and whole human being in her own right, has agreed to provide scientific evidence to a US court to prove that she is biologically female from birth—via the New Shelton wet/dry

pious fictions (12. 737)

McSweeney’s Internet Tendency contributor Carlos Greaves shares an uncharacteristically sobering flowchart, decision-tree on telling the difference between a lone wolf and a coordinated effort by the radical left. The parallel construction triangulates with a lecture series by tech oligarch Peter Thiel embracing the language of the apocalypse—rebuffing, redirecting worries over AI godhead with talks that appeal to particularly American obsessions of naming the Antichrist and belief in angels and demons (environmental activist Greta Thunberg is a favourite target of the influential billionaire for the Great Satan—in the parlance and policing of y’all Qaeda) and the censoring of media outlets with producer son David of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison looking to acquire CNN after taking over Paramount-Skydance with consequences already apparent, Trump’s Federal Communications Commission bullying ABC-Disney into cancelling another popular late night talk show critical of the administration, the divestiture of US TikTok to a MAGA cadre to transform it into a propaganda mill far worse than any hand wringing over China, and the Washington Post dismissing a veteran journalist for reporting the news and calling out sophistry.

i’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife (12. 725)

Released on this day in 2013, the debut single from Irish singer-songwriter Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (professionally known by the mononym Hozier) is a soulful hymn that uses religious terminology to describe a forbidden relationship as an invective against discrimination with attendant shame and trauma promulgated by the Catholic Church. With the help of the music video that is somewhat of a departure lyricly and the recently introduced platforms of Shazam (as a cataloguer and registry to discover new songs) and Spotify, it became an international chart-topper, spending a then record twenty-three consecutive weeks at the top, tying with Imagine Dragons’ 2012 Radioactive. Written and demo recording made in the attic of his parents’ home in County Wicklow, it caught the attention of an independent label and turned the artist’s career prospects around. Hozier’s body of works all share social conscious themes and both his songs and continued advocacy have a strong message of justice and champion the poor and marginalised.

the first fifty years (12. 713)

As a humiliating way for Tiffany, Erik and Don Junior to find out that their father sends out birthday cards, coinciding with a speech delivered at the Museum of the Bible in which Trump rather heinously downplayed domestic violence, saying “crime would be down a hundred percent if law enforcement did not count “things that take place in a home” (without even quoting verses that might back up his argument, only wanting to brag about his invasion of problem cities) and House speaker retracting his claim that Trump was a deep-cover FBI informant, the bipartisan congressional oversight committee released several documents from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein after issuing to the executor a legal summons, including in all lewd detail, the birthday book inscribed by Trump and others. Bank records were also obtained. Republicans accuse Democrats of putting politics above the welfare of survivors, refusing to acknowledge any were victimised by Trump, even as a photograph of Epstein presenting an oversized novelty cheque to Trump implying that the future US president sold him a young girl for $22, 500.

separation board (12. 709)

On the fiftieth anniversary of the expose by TIME magazine on decorated veteran Leonard Matlovich who outed himself in protest of the US military’s ban on gay and lesbian service members, the Trump administration has moved forward with its efforts to remove transgender soldiers with a disqualifying medical discharge of gender dysphoria, reversing a 2016 decision that lifted a previous ban. Between the first and second administrations, several policy and posture changes occurred and the paper trail, attestations and doctor’s visits, directed at the time, are now being used as an incriminating paper-trail to push more out as the rules change again.

9x9 (12. 704)

the free encyclopaedia: why Wikipedia works—see more 

steeple with tyneham: 1970 reportage on the ghost village taken over by the Ministry of Defence in 1943 as a firing range  

john deere: venerable American agricultural equipment manufacturer struggling with tariff chaos, decreased demand for US crops  

primary residence: investigators find several Trump cabinet officials guilty of the same mortgage fraud leveraged against his enemies—see previously   

the fyurry byerds of the night: Ze Frank (previously) on bats  

fifty basis points: the US Fed signals it will cut interest rates due to successive poor jobs reports 

homeland security: Seoul sends diplomats to a Hyundai, LG factory in Georgia after immigration raids which saw the arrest of nearly five hundred workers, ICE dismissing claims that such actions deter foreign investments   

città dei balocchi: the abandoned Las Vegas of Italy  

gptzero: Wikipedia style guide that outs AI agents

synchronoptica

one year ago: a electromechanical rotor cipher (with synchronopticæ), the ugly, car-centric focus of American urban planning plus assorted links worth revisiting

twelve years ago: mapping US/Soviet bases in divided Germany, proposals for a permanent venue for the Olympics plus an act of bioterrorism by sabotaging harvests

thirteen years ago: some castles of Berlin-Brandenburg, visions of the Apocalypse plus honest book covers

fourteen years ago: the EU economy and the single currency plus facial-recognition and dragnet surveillance