Hosted in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia and remarkably the only international meeting chaired by Ronald Reagan during his administration, the ninth annual summit of the Group of Seven—an informal gathering of the richest, industrialised countries—opened on this day in 1983, running through 30 May, 
and was attended by French president Franรงois Mitterrand, West Germany Chancellor Helmut Kohl—their predecessors having first proposed such a forum in 1975—the Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the Italian Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani, the Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, the Prime Minister of the UK Margaret Thatcher, plus the president of the European Commission, Luxembourgish statesman Gaston Thorn. Though normally reserved as a venue for resolving and harmonising trade and monetary policy amongst members, Reagan shifted the focus to missile deployment in Europe aimed to encourage the Soviet Union to return to disarmament negotiations in Geneva. Having met with Thatcher for bilateral consultations ahead of the summit, the UK and the US wanted support from the G-7 to affirm NATO’s stance on basing Pershing II rockets in Turkey and West Germany, pressing others for agreement despite the objections of Mitterrand and Trudeau, this concord was considered essential for Reagan’s first encounter with Gorbachev for talks two years later.
Sunday, 28 May 2023
williamsburg, as a site, was the site of the first representative assembly and the second university in the colonies which then became the united states–it has been a particularly appropriate place in which to rededicate ourselves to these principles (10. 772)
Friday, 19 May 2023
9x9 (10. 752)
x-date: unless a compromise is found to work with the statutory debt ceiling, the US could default on paying its bills and unleash chaos in global financial markets
the house of mouse: Disney is cancelling plans for a billion dollar Florida annex—and shuttering its immersive Star Wars experience resort hotel—in an ongoing feud with the state’s arch-conservative governor
garbage patch kids: creepy dolls being washed ashore are auctioned off to benefit marine habitats—see also superimposition: researchers at the Zurich Institute of Technology create the world’s largest ‘Schrรถdinger’s Cat”
the great silence: we are probably not alone in the Universe but we might as well be—see previously
random access memory: previously unreleased tracks from retired duo Daft Punk
interior design: browser-based application to create and share voxel rooms, via Waxy—see previously
byte-dance: American state of Montana passes a ban of the social media platform TikTok over conflated fears of violations of users privacy
seat at the table: G7 summit hosted in Hiroshima—with nuclear deterrence on the agenda
Tuesday, 9 May 2023
9x9 (10. 728)
daily double: Jeopardy! had a all-fonts category with answers in the typefaces they were looking for as the question—via Kottke
on the eighth day: a 1984 BBC documentary on nuclear winter preparedness—see previously
a la carte: a century of cultural changes captured in restaurant menus—see previously
ใซใฏใใซ: an award-winning small Tokyo ex-urb defined Japanese cocktail culture
that’s so fetch: tech retreats from the Metaverse to the new hotness
exciton condensates: physicists find a link between photosynthesis and strange states of matter
cabin crew: the argot of airplane travel
mutually assured destruction: new analysis of the same Cold War
grundvig: font-founder Reinadlo Camejo transforms a Copenhagen church into a typeface
Thursday, 27 April 2023
atomgrad (10. 701)
A closed town founded in 1970 to serve the neighbouring Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station but not restricted like other cities and a showcase of Soviet engineering and innovation, Prypriat (ะัะธ́ะฟสผััั) was evacuated on this day in 1986 following the disaster and has remained, within the exclusion zone, a time capsule slowly being reclaimed by nature and a draw for urban explorers. One particular attraction is the amusement park, slated for a grand opening for May Day celebrations in a state of abandon and ruin, with the iconic ferris wheel (ะััะณะพะฒะพะน ะพะฑะทะพั, circular overview) photographed as a symbol of the catastrophe and the delayed announcement of the danger, a population of some fifty thousand imperilled by high radition exposure for over thirty-six hours since the initial fire and steam explosion.
Monday, 24 April 2023
forschungensreaktor haigerloch (10. 695)
The nuclear test facility, the final experiment of Uranprojekt of Nazi Germany, discovered the day previously by the US and the British Special Forces unit Alsos, created as mission under the aegis of the Manhattan Project to coordinate foreign intelligence on atomic research and activity—a heavy water nuclear pile, housed in a cliff cellar used for beer storage and obscured by a castle chapel and disguised as a spelunking centre near Tรผbingen was brought offline on this day in 1945 during the last phase of War World II and dismantled, with the attendant scientists and materials brought back to America as part of Operation Paperclip. 
Under the direction of Werner Heisenberg, the aim of the undertaking was to harness the power of nuclear fission, though the research never moved beyond the experimental stage and later assessments concluded that critical mass would have required a set-up one and a half times larger, for weaponisation or as a practical output of energy. Crossing the front with the 7th Army, Alsos members moved over the Rhein and apprehended physicist remaining at research facilities, a cyclotron, in Heidelberg, and scoured the region for other trials to forestall capture by the advancing Soviet army and eventual French occupying force, whose arrival the same day prompted assessors to downplay its significance and immediately disassemble the laboratory and remove the contents to Munich, headquarters of the American Zone. Heisenberg and the other internees learned of the bombardment of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August and expressed gratitude that their tests were a failure and would have never produced such a weapon but rather a power-plant. Since 1980, the site has hosted a museum on nuclear reactors with the original five cubes of uranium on display.
Monday, 17 April 2023
isar 2 (10. 679)
Just hours after Germany took its last remaining three operating nuclear reactors offline after a brief
Wednesday, 8 March 2023
let us pray for the salvation of all of those who live in totalitarian darkness (10. 598)
Once again as our faithful chronicler informs, on this day in 1983 Ronald Reagan in a speech during the height of the Cold War and the Soviet-Afghan conflict delivered before the conference of the National 
Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida characterised the Soviet Union (see previously) as an “evil empire” and “focus of evil in the modern world,” roundly rejecting prevailing geopolitical opinion that both the West and the East were responsible for the escalating clash of ideologies and reframing the arms-race as a battle between the forces of righteousness and malevolence. Referencing ongoing talks of anti-nuclear proliferation treaties, Reagan urged the audience to “beware the temptation of pride—the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault”—that to call the escalating push for tactical readiness a misunderstanding that can be resolved through negotiations was to remove oneself “from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil.” Five years later during a visit with General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, Reagan recanted his words to a reporter, saying it was from “another time, another era” as a disarmament detente was building.
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
7x7 (10. 578)
for love of the glove: a revival of the unauthorised musical biography about the King of Pop
frogmorton house: a tiny home built for a resident amphibian
davy and goliath: smaller AIs recom-mendations on how to hack a more dominant one—see previously from AI Weirdness
girl with the pearl earring: whilst the original is on loan as part of a comprehensive Vermeer exhibition, the Mauitshuis is displaying a set of reinterpretations—see previously
steak & ale: the Midcentury Medieval aesthetic—via Messy Nessy Chic
diamonds are forever: tiny spherical chambers could help harness the power of the sun—see also
zone improvement plan: more on the Swinging Six and Mister Zip—via Weird Universe
Wednesday, 15 February 2023
tonight on amerika (10. 549)
As our faithful chronicler informs, the miniseries starring Mariel Hemingway, Sam Neill and Kris Kristofferson about the US after a bloodless coup engineered by the Soviet Union (set a decade on) was first broadcast on this day in 1987 over the course of a week—see also here and here. Implicated that America and other client states succumbed to Soviet control following an electromagnetic pulse weapon that destroyed the power grid and economic independence by targeting emerging reliance on computers, the show that inspired an even more patriotic novelisation was characterised both as hawkish hysteria and alternately as an indictment of the UN as an instrument of a one world government and damaging to relations recently improved under Glasnost. Highly divisive, Moscow threatened to close network ABC’s Russia news bureau over its airing and in response (and I remember watching this) The Discovery Channel ran sixty-six hours of counter-programming of Soviet television, including live shows.
Thursday, 9 February 2023
stardust (10. 536)
We are directed to an awe-inspiring data-visualisation from a Wikipedia contributor who colour-codes the periodic table to trace the Elements back to their source in nucleosynthesis, citing data compiled by a professional astrophysicist who in turn quotes Carl Sagan: “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apples were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
Sunday, 29 January 2023
gentlemen—there’s no fighting in the war room (10. 508)
Starring George C Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens and Peter Sellers in multiple roles, Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War bleak satire—previously—Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. An air command’s executive officer tries to countermand a first strike being ordered by General Ripper on the pretext that Soviets have been fluoridating US water supplies in order to dilute the “precious bodily fluids” of Americans but fails, setting off a course of events that led to the USSR deploying its heretofore undisclosed doomsday machine, which as the president’s science advisor, ex-German Nazi Dr Strangelove would only be an effective deterrent if everyone knew about it.
Saturday, 21 January 2023
7x7 (10. 484)
between two ferns: chats with “historical figures” have been regrettable—see previously
this concludes our broadcasting day: an alternate HBO signoff announcement (see previously) emerges
nuscale for scale: US authorities approve design for the first generation of small, modular reactors
all things bright and beautiful: a compelling argument to enjoy the All Creatures Great and Small reboot
circular sun house: Frank Lloyd Wright’s final completed project (see also) on the edge of the Phoenix Mountains Nature Preserve goes on the market
closed captioning: as a bilingual family, we always relied on subtitles and appreciated this primer on why we’re not alone
content mill: CNET magazine suspends automated articles after an embarrassing disclosure
Friday, 30 December 2022
mmxxii (10. 369)
As this calendar year draws to a close and we look forward with anticipation to 2023, we again take time to reflect on a selection of some of the events that took place in 2022. Thanks as always for visiting. We’ve made it through another wild year together, and we’ll see this next one through together as well.
january: Violent protests erupt in Almaty in response to the Kazakh government ending fuel subsidies and lift price caps on petrol and heating oil, prompting a coalition of former-Soviet military forces to intervene. The US reflects on the one year anniversary of the Capitol insurrection and the fragile state of democracy.
Legendary actor Sidney Portier passed away, aged 94, as did singer Ronnie Spector (*1943). Tragically, seventeen individuals are killed in an apartment fire in the Bronx. Disturbingly the US Supreme Court blocks vaccination mandates for private companies-upholding the requirement for public sector workers. Two Democratic senators-who derailed president Biden’s Build Back Better plan-are also opposed to changing legislative rules to overturn the filibuster, allowing Republicans to block the enactment of a voter-rights protection bill. There are widespread calls for the resignation of Boris Johnson over revelations of work-dos during strict lockdown. The Queen strips Prince Andrew of his titles and military leadership roles over his association with sex pest Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual assault. Russia seems poised to re-invade Ukraine, first undermining their cyber capabilities. The Pacific island group volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haสปapai erupted violently, triggering tsunami waves halfway across the world in California and Nova Scotia. Performer Meatloaf has passed away, aged seventy-four as did comedian and actor Louie Anderson at sixty-eight. Zen Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh who protested the Vietnam War and introduced mindfulness to the West dies aged ninety-five.february: The leader of a defeated though resurgent ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quarshi, is killed in a US airstrike in Syria.
march: Numerous Western companies suspend operations in Russia as sanctions intensify. Shelling of civilian targets across Ukraine shows no signs of abating though the invasion has not been the easy and instant take-over that was apparently expected.
april: The US Senate, after much acrimony, confirms Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Though vice president Harris would have been the tie-breaker in the case of a fifty-fifty split, no Black woman in this forum had the chance to vote. Viktor Orbรกn with fourth consecutive term as leader of Hungary.
may: A leaked draft opinion from US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito suggests that the court is poised to over-turn the 1973 precedent that affords women access to abortion.
june: the UK and the Commonwealth celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
july: Russia takes control of the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. Yet another mass shooting occurs in the US, this time at an Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb.
august: In the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and intensifying incursions from mainland China, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is killed by a blade-wielding drone in Afghanistan. The conservative state of Kansas rejects a referendum to outlaw all abortions. The FBI conducts a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate for mishandled government documents. The US congress passes Joe Biden’s Build Back Better act.
october: A hurricane batters Puerto Rico and Cuba, Florida and South Carolina. Putin annexes four more regions in Ukraine though the hold is tenuous. Coolio and Loretta Lynn pass away. A mass shooting, knife attack takes place at a nursery in Thailand with two dozen children killed. Joseph Biden pardons all of some six-thousand individuals charged with marijuana possession on the federal level. Rhetoric over the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia is increasing.
november: World leaders gather in Sharm el-Sheikh for COP27. Ukrainian cities contend with power blackouts after Russia targets the country’s infrastructure. Founding father of election science Sir David Butler passes away, aged 98. The anticipated repudiation of the US Democratic party failed to materialize, counter to polling and pundits’ expectations with those Republican candidates aligned with Donald Trump underperforming and falling short in the broad sense, holding the GOP bastions of Florida and Texas. The UN announces the world population is at eight billion.
december: Chinese authorities begin relaxing COVID prevention measures in response to protests. The G7 nations and the European Union try to enforce further sanctions against Russia by banning oil shipments by sea and placing an upwards price cap per barrel. In response to massive protests, Iran disbands its morality police.
Monday, 12 December 2022
³h (10. 380)
Via Slashdot, we learn that ahead of an expected official announcement reports are coming from three insiders at Lawrence Livermore National labs 
that researchers have attained a net positive energy gain using an experimental arrangement known as inertial confinement fusion (previously)—pelting a cloud of hydrogen plasma with a laser to trigger the reaction. In what may prove to be the first successful proof-of-concept demonstration, the prospect of limitless nuclear energy without hazardous byproducts—especially during a time of power poverty and when finding non-polluting sources are urgently needed—is a tantalising one, and the attendant caveats, seem to hardly dampen the excitement of this first step.
Thursday, 10 November 2022
my teenage fall out queen (10. 290)
Whilst a tad kitschy, we have to give George McKelvey’s 1964 scopitone video (see also) ‘Radiation Baby’ compliments on being so acutely self-aware of its lampooning those typical morbid teen tragedy genre of the decade. Particularly parodying Sonny Bono for his—justifiably—doomsaying protest songs, McKelvey was also a member of the influential comedy improv troupe, the Committee, based in San Francisco.
Monday, 7 November 2022
able archer (10. 279)
The third of the annual NATO command post exercise to train Western Europe units for escalating nuclear conflict and prompted by intelligence that suggested under code-name Operation RYaN (ะ ะฏะ, “Nuclear 
Missile Attack,” ะ ะฐะบะตัะฝะพ ะฏะดะตัะฝะพะต ะะฐะฟะฐะดะตะฝะธะต) a coordinated campaign to monitor decision-makers in government and military hierarchies for the intent to launch a first strike against the Soviet Union and a string of infiltration maneuvers on both sides to see to what extent that spies could penetrate the opposing sides’ defences before detection, the war game, began on this day in 1983. The added sense of realism to the execution with coded communiques and radio black-outs in light of increased rhetoric from Ronald Reagan (sabre-rattling that was taken with dread earnestness) and the scheduled delivery of additional missiles for staging in the theatre, reportedly caused some in Soviet leadership to believe that Able Archer 83 was a ruse de guerre to distract from actual preparations and placed units in Poland and East Germany on high alert and began priming their fuses. Tensions as high as during the Cuban Missile Crisis two decades earlier, the Chief of Staff for the US Air Force in Europe convinced Washington not to respond in kind, de-escalating the situation by the end of the simulation.
Thursday, 27 October 2022
stay tuned to 6-40 and 12-40 on your dial—now back to clutch cargo (10. 251)
Preceded by an episode of the multi-chapter 1939 serial The Phantom Creeps starring Bela Lugosi, the main feature getting the MST3K treatment, Rocket Attack U.S.A., aired for the first time on this day in 1990. The 1958 propaganda movie also marketed as Five Minutes to Zero by Barry Mahon—later of adult film fame—follows spy John Manston as he infiltrates the Soviet Union but is ultimately unsuccessful at preventing a nuclear attack (premised on telemetry gathered by Sputnik), with New York City destroyed. The dialogue throughout is hilarious arch and earned it cult-status even before being rediscovered by the mad scientists of Deep 13 and captors on the Satellite of Love. “This is my skull—stick around to see how that happened.”
Tuesday, 11 October 2022
four-minute warning (10. 214)
The always excellent Maps Mania directs our attention to comprehensive map of eleven hundred declassified US nuclear targets in Eastern Europe and the USSR (see also) from a circa 1956 study of the Strategic Air Command. Clicking on any push-pin allows one to explore the potential damage done by the warhead of one’s choice–I could not press denotate even out of curiousity. The Soviets and confederates have not reciprocated with the same sort of list.
Saturday, 1 October 2022
the new people (10. 183)
Produced for a single season and clocking in at forty-five minutes per episode (a rarity for regularly-scheduled programming), the 1969 Aaron Spelling and Larry Gordon collaboration for the ABC network 
was developed by Rod Serling (under the pseudonym John Phillips—see previously) and centres around the struggle for survival of a group of American college freshman returning from a trip in Southeast Asia (to present as goodwill ambassadors during Vietnam) whose plane crashes on a deserted island in the Pacific, which had been slated and provisioned for a nuclear-test that never took place. Foreshadowing the later ABC series Lost, it explores rather melodramatically the premise of Lord of the Flies, killing off all of the adults and letting the young fend for themselves—plus the counterculture adage of the time not to trust anyone over thirty—and is echoed in Logan’s Run and the Star Trek episode “Miri.” Here is the pilot with the full series available online:
Thursday, 29 September 2022
the mayak disaster (10. 177)
Referred to as the Kyshtym incident in contemporary sources since the above site as part of Chelyabinsk-40 did not appear on maps until 1994 and the closest known village was chosen as the namesake, the catastrophic explosion of a plutonium production facility and nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, occurring on this day in 1957, released twice the amount of radiation than Chernobyl but due to the subsequent coverup (the full scale of the disaster was not disclosed until 1982) and isolation of the site—around ten thousand workers and residents of twenty-two surrounding villages had to be evacuated.
