centre to centre-right (13. 346)

Fears that there would be no peaceful transition of power dissipating when the incumbent conceded defeat rather soon after polls closed and results came in and congratulated his challenger in the incoming prime minister Péter Magyar, Viktor Orbán and his Russian-aligned Fidesz party lost control of Hungary after a reign of sixteen years by a landslide with the voters turn-out the highest it had been since the fall of Communism in the early 1990s. The victory of Magyar’s Tisza movement, possibly securing a supermajority in parliament, whilst still socially conservative, is seen as a rebuke to far-right parties in Europe and aims for greater integration into the EU and signals cooperation with EU priorities, including aid for Ukraine and mutual defence, economically, militarily and environmentally and away from the regressive policies of illiberal democracy. JD Vance’s Thursday night political stumping for Orbán did not translate to a positive outcome and may be a preview of what’s to come for MAGA in the States.

day forty-three (13. 339)

Fresh from a campaign rally in Hungary in support of the reelection of the incumbent, Viktor Orbán—accusing the EU of election interference by withholding funds to the country over its affinity for Russian and regressive civil-rights policies whilst the US vice president tells Hungarians who to vote for and indicting Ukraine without evidence or context in meddling in the 2024 American election, JD Vance and delegation arrives in Pakistan. Flanked by the same tired crew of incompetents, Witkoff and Kushner who’ve managed to torpedo every other round of negotiations including the one resulting in all out warfare, Vance warns Iran not “to play”—given a real poisoned chalice in his first high profile, high stakes assignment to either concede to Tehran’s terms to preserve the fragile ceasefire or resist and provoke a resumption of the fighting, US assets with their finger on the trigger already for a very domestically unpopular and illegal conflict of their own making. Israeli Operation Eternal Darkness continues indiscriminate bombing raids on Lebanon and only a slow trickle of ships, thirteen mostly dry cargo ships and empty tankers returning to port for reloading, have passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

synchronoptica

one year ago: digital preservation jumpers (with synchronopticæ), the art of basket weaving plus emoji as autobiographical vocabulary

fourteen years ago: beer-brewing season, unlucky thirteen plus extraordinary rendition

fifteen years ago: the Libyan revolution 

sixteen years ago: a tragic aviation accident in Poland 

advanced avionics (13. 337)

Appearing on German broadcaster RTL (Radio Télévision Luxembourg, the cosmopolitan media group founded as Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion as one of the first private programmers in 1931 and representative of the broader spirit of transnational cooperation) on this day in 1976, Belgian prime minister Leo Tindemans (to the right of Helmut Schmidt and Luxembourg PM Gaston Thorn), previously charged with defining what the European Union was to be as a political entity with his eponymous report that helped to guide the formation of the EU and its institutions, defended the country’s decision to purchase US fighter jets rather than French Dassault Mirages, in the context of forming a common defensive strategy for the continent. Despite what was interpreted as a slight by the domestic aerospace industry at the time, later that year Tindemans was awarded the international Charlemagne prize for his contributions towards unity, economic integration and the strengthening of citizen rights.

day thirty-seven (13. 322)

Slovakia joins Hungary demanding that the EU lift sanctions on Russian fuel as Tehran dismisses Trump’s deadline as more empty bluster and buffing. After a two day extraction mission, the US rescues the surviving crew member from a downed jet deep within Iranian territory. Trump issues an abuse and sacrilegious laden missive, promising again to unleash holy hell, first reserved for power plants, then civilian infrastructure on day two, “Praise be to Allah“ if Iran fails to open up the Strait of Hormuz, which the US insists it does not want or need. Israeli-American airstrikes hit petrochemical facilities in Iran, as counterattacks continue to bring refinery operations offline in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait. Israeli bombardment in Beirut’s suburbs depopulate the south as residents flee the fighting.

day thirty-three (13. 313)

Projecting a timeline of two to three weeks for ending the war—or at least US operations, Trump dictates that the responsibility of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is left to the countries that rely on it and not for America to police. After the conflict is concluded, the US secretary of state says that the relationship with NATO will need to be reevaluated after partner states after their reluctance to join in prosecuting this illegal war, notably Spain refusing access to Rota and Lages Field and latest Italy not allowing refuelling of US aircraft on Sigonella. Trump says either those nations come and take the oil—or buy American as more troops enter the theatre, promising withdrawal with or without a deal. The United Arab Emirates may do exactly that, with reports it is planning to open the strait by force. Drone assaults continue in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and a western journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad. Beirut remains under fire.  Israeli airstrikes target more Iranian nuclear facilities and a munitions depot in Isfahan and wide scale bombardment of Tehran as the country marks 12. Farvardin, Islamic Republic Day, proclaimed in 1979 after the revolution.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the US bicentennial train tour (with synchronopticæ), a marathon filibuster plus assorted links to revisit

twelve years ago: Springtime in Wiesbaden 

thirteen years ago: a walk around Leipzig, a Russian Orthodox church, news digest plus prospecting for frozen methane

fourteen years ago: modifying crops to keep up with climate change, Easter decorations plus new utopias

fifteen years ago: censoring the Simpsons 

day twenty-six (13. 293)

Despite the reported delivery of a fifteen-point plan through Pakistani surrogates and claims that the US has won the war with negotiations ongoing and major concessions on the part of Iran—without elaboration but implied it was related to oil and gas shipments and Tehran abandoning its nuclear ambitions—though doubts persist whether any dialogue has occurred and whether Iran would be receptive to any deal, Trump tempered his victory during the swearing in ceremony his new of homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, with the aside that Hegseth and Joint Chief Of Staff were disappointed to broker a ceasefire rather than continuing the destruction, by announcing the deployment of a thousand more troops to the region while airstrikes intensified on US bases in the theatre. At an event marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the office of the foreign ministry, German president and former Bundesminister des Auswärtigen Frank-Walter Steinmeier reaffirmed that the joint Israeli-American attacks on Iran and Lebanon violate international law and constitute war crimes, questioning the value of diplomacy and foreign policy when bad actors rubbish order and norms. Israel solidifies its hold on a buffer zone thirty kilometres inland from the current border between the countries and is poised for long-term occupation, presenting the question of sovereignty for Lebanon separate from Hezbollah into an existential crisis. Contrary to assurances, an errant missile hits the Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr as a military spokesman mocks the American administration’s attempt to control the narrative as a profound strategic failure, chiding them for disguising failure and the inability to extricate themselves from this mess as a truce and they are negotiating with imaginary interlocutors, insisting Tehran has been given no terms and would never capitulate to a hollow superpower.

9x9 (13. 291)

crepuscular rays: the phenomena of sun pillars explained  

an exercise in attention: cultivating contemplation through a defence of pet portraiture  

关税: Trump’s reciprocal tariffs have failed against the Chinese export economy  

por la paz y justicia: Spain’s defiance and criticism under US duress is a template for the rest of European, allies threatened with sanction and invasion

the day of the locust: the Simpsons’ patriarch is taken from the protagonist of Nathanael West’s 1939 novel about Hollywood society with a cast of stock characters  

odonymy: UK regionalism for alleyways—see previously, see also  

смертономика: thanatology and Russia’s resistance to sanction  

dinergoth: the post-subcultural mainstream and the weirding of middle of the road America as a coping mechanism  

aurora borealis shining down in dallas: nineteenth century physicist Karl Lemström’s attempts to produce the Northern Lights on demand—see also

odni (12. 273)

As the Trump administration tries to pull in allies into his illegal war on Iran, the director of the US national counterterrorism centre—under the cabinet office of the director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Joseph Clay Kent dramatically tendered his resignation, unable to in “good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran” as it posed no imminent threat and was manifest that the conflict was prompted due to pressure from Israel, lobbyists and the echo chamber of media outlets. Offered without real evidence though likely true, the combat veteran, former CIA paramilitary operative and widower who lost his wife in a suicide bombing in Syria, the former congressional candidate and stalwart Trump loyalist’s departure is ringed with previously controversial and false stances, including ties to white-nationalists during his legislative tenure (ultimately costing Kent the election), support for the narrative of the stolen election, vaccine denialism and framing the capitol insurrection as a peaceful protest. Whilst unclear if this act signals any further splintering within the administration, Kent not seen as a major player within the cabinet and given a plumb sinecure posting after his defeat, such words certainly do not further ingratiate Trump’s cause to allies, whom he simultaneously discounted as superfluous and mistaken for joining in on the offensive.

day eighteen (13. 272)

Shocked and angered by the perceived ingratitude on the part of Asian and European allies not thanking the US for intervention in the Middle East and unwillingness to join the crusade, Trump says he will soon announce those nations that will help open the Strait of Hormuz, also telling reporters he expects operations to be wrapped up soon.

Not consulted prior and with no clear strategic objectives, Germany—whom the US has suggested should take up the mantle for leadership of the alliance in a couple of years from America—states that this adventure is not NATO’s war and the EU, particularly condemning the Israeli ground invasion in southern Lebanon not wanting to be drawn into a wider conflict and are working to de-escalate the situation. The US Green Zone surrounding the Baghdad embassy came under more attacks as Trump again expressed surprise over the blowback of his magnanimous act of aggression. Meanwhile, Donald Trump says he expects to have “the honour of taking Cuba” as his oil blockage plunges the country into darkness.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: alien enemies (with sychronopticæ) plus more autopen controversy 

thirteen years ago: unexpected snow, the art of Keith Haring, antennas and broadcasting towers plus mesh-worm probes

fourteen years ago: the Obamas in Sgt Pepper-style, mass-surveillance at the pump plus a possible link between carbon-dioxide and obesity

fifteen years ago: automated skulduggery 

transneft (13. 204)

Whilst the EU has an embargo on the importation of Russia oil and gas since its invasion of Ukraine, landlocked Slovakia and Hungary have been granted a special carve-out to continue to receive fuel transiting through the besieged country from Tarastan via the Druzhba (Дружба, “friendship”) pipeline operating since 1964 in the spirit of mutual assistance for Eastern European satellites. Subject to frequent sabotage since the invasion, the latest supply disruption happening at the end of January, resulting from what Kiev maintains to be the result of a Russian drone attack on a pumping substation straining already tense relations among the neighbouring countries, the members Slovakia and Hungary accusing Ukraine of delaying repairs and the latter suspending electricity delivery and both vetoing materiel and financial aid and the prospect of future EU membership. Whilst putting pressure on Ukraine for resolution and restart the flow of oil from this principal artery, there was no justification for long-term exceptions to the sanctions and stalling Ukraine’s assistance or accession to the Bloc, logistic alternatives through Czechia possible. Now on the eve of the war entering its fifth year, facilities have been struck again—Moscow citing debris from a UAV attack, making the situation and unanimous support an even more fraught prospect.

a child of europe (13. 180)

Although greeted with relief and applause, mounting the low-bar of last year’s gathering which seemed like the nadir of transatlantic relations with much transpiring in the intervening twelve months, the tone of the speech delivered by US secretary of state Marco Rubio on the second day of the Munich Security Conference was hardly conciliatory and sent the telegraphed the same message of no partnership among equals but rather an alliance framed in Trump’s vision and terms. Saying the president did not want a weakened continent saddled with guilt and shame, Rubio went on, “We in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline”—seeking not to cause division but to revitalise and renew civilisation, stoking old tropes of racisms and xenophobia and replacement. “What we want is a reinvigorated alliance that recognises that what has ailed our societies is not just a set of bad policies but a malaise of hopelessness and complacency”—citing as among those shared historic missteps for which now the US has made amends was the “climate cult,” prioritising the welfare state over national defence, globalisation and a belief in staid institutions no longer fit for purpose, with a final plug for Trump’s Board of Peace as a more effective and agile replacement for the United Nations. These are hardly soothing words.

under destruction (13. 173)

The annual Munich Security Conference (previously), hosted in the city’s Hotel Bayerischer Hof, attendees fresh from informal talks held at the castle Alden Biesen in Belgium’s Limburg province, opens today with remarks from former German ambassador to the US and MSC chair Wolfgang Ischinger and Bavaria leader Markus Söder, warming up with a bit of a quip, exclaiming what happens in Davos doesn’t need to stay in Davos and donning a pair of aviator style sunglasses like those sported by Emmanuel Macron, but the comic relief quickly turned more serious in the milieu of “global insecurity” and challenged trans-Atlantic ties, stressing allies should be accorded respect and treated as partners—though pointedly welcoming the American delegation and US secretary of state, slated to address the conference on Saturday. To attempt to set the tone, Chancellor Merz followed (unusual for German leadership to deliver the keynote address), remarking that he though the titular motto was a bit grim but the situation needs to be put in even harsher terms, declaring that the world order no longer exists—rebuking US criticism of Europe and reinforcing the call to rebalance their relationship and move forward from its “self-inflicted” dependency, “Our holiday from world history is over.”

two turntables and a microphone (13. 128)

At times frustrated by the requirement for unanimity on decisions—though consensus-building is laudable—France and Germany have invited the key economies of Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland into an as yet informal club designated as the E6 to allow for a more agile response to geoeconomic threats without sacrificing the spirit of the experiment or devolving/evolving into a United States of Europe with this two-speed proposal. This small-group chat has precedence in the eurozone and the Schengen area and is configured to forward trans-national objectives with buy-in from all members, particularly to criticism the that the institution is ossified and inefficient amid the rise of nationalist in-turning at the expense of those relegated to being middle-powers.

hands off kalaallit nunaat (13. 098)

In response to the limited deployments of eight European and NATO partner nations over Trump’s continued threats and overtures to annex Greenland in Operation Arctic Endurance and Trump’s retaliatory levee of an additional ten percent tariffs on the participants and any country opposing the US ownership of the semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, a three-hour emergency meeting was held in Brussels with strong rebukes for America’s behaviour, igniting yet other trade war when the aggressor has full-access to the strategic island in the north Atlantic. The EU, UK and Canada were united in solidarity and refused to be blackmailed further—the extra punitive tariffs on top of the not insignificant ones of ten percent for the UK and Canada and fifteen percent for the rest of Europe from a deal reached in July now void, demonstrating that they were not wrong to roll-over on this earlier appeasement plan. Russia, which stands to benefit from the turmoil in the trans-Atlantic alliance surely pleased its agent is doing its bidding, even called out the US for its double standard over sovereignty. Macron and several other EU leaders have advocated utilising the so called “trade bazooka,” the untested Anti-Coercion Instrument that bypasses the required unanimity on negotiations for the infra-national bloc and makes available an arsenal of countermeasures to deploy including sanctions, embargoes, boycotts, reciprocal tariffs and procurement, with some ninety-three billion euro in leverage on stand-by, not to be bullied into submission by dumping US debt holdings, some nine trillion in bonds and equity. Canada, meanwhile, freshly returned from China with new trade deals, announced it will open an embassy in Nuuk.

mmxxv (13. 042)

As this year draws to a close and we look forward to 2026, we take the time agin to reflect on a selection of some of the things and events that took place during the past twelve months. Thanks as always for visiting. We’ve made it through another wild year together.

 january: a vehicle ramming attack kills ten and injures dozens in central New Orleans.  After a five year deal expires without renewal, Russian gas can no longer be piped through Ukraine to the EU as the continent braces for a cold winter.  After a decade as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau announces he will step aside.  An earthquake strikes the holy city of Shigatse in Tibet.  Wind-swept wildfires devastate southern California.  Joe Biden and others eulogise Jimmy Carter for his state funeral.  After the US supreme court rejects a petition to delay sentencing over his hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, Trump becomes a convicted felon, although given an unqualified discharge by the presiding judge and will serve no time.  Sunset Boulevard is unrecognisable after being engulfed by wildfires.  Israel and Hamas appear close to reaching a truce to bring about a permanent ceasefire.  Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth faces a gruelling nomination hearing in congress for role of secretary of defence.  Donald Trump is inaugurated for a second time and unleashes a flurry of executive orders, including a hiring freeze, immediate rescinding of Biden era policies, removal of DEI initiatives within the federal government and contracting partners, declaring that there are two genders only, issuing a blanket pardon to the January Sixth rioters in an attempt to reframe and rewrite history, freezing virtually all foreign aid, closing the borders and vowing to unleash agents to facilitate mass-deportations.  Cabinet nominees are approved by the US senate, including, narrowly—Trump’s pick to head the Department of Defence.  Trump proposes that Gaza be depopulated of Palestinians and urges neighbouring Egypt and Jordan to take in all displaced individuals.  A scrappy open-source AI developed in China on a shoe-string budget knock a trillion dollar hole in the grift-cum-technofedualism markets in the US.  Prolific blog commentator and good soul XOXOXOBruce (see more here and here) has passed away.  A passenger plane collides with a Blackhawk helicopter over Washington, DC, killing all, including members from American and Russian figure skating teams.  Iconic entertainer Marianne Faithfull passes away, aged 78. Mexico, Canada and China hit back against US tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.  The government of El Salvador agrees to allow the US to offshore its most dangerous incarcerated population.  A deadly shooting occurs at a continuing education centre in Örebro.  Trump meets with Netayahu and offers to own the Gaza Strip and redevelop it, expelling the Palestinian population.

february: Novelist Tom Robbins dead, aged 92.  Relenting on implementing tariffs for Mexico and Canada after security promises already underway, Trump shocks the markets by imposing a twenty-five percent duty on all aluminium and steel globally.  Trump orders federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against disgraced New York City mayor Eric Adams after repeated attempts to curry favour with the president.  The Aga Khan passes away, aged 88. Boycotts to protest inflation and A ramming attacked is perpetrated in München, ploughing into a crowd of union protesters, a day ahead of the Munich Security Conference.  Pope Francis is hospitalised with double pneumonia, his prognosis for recovery guarded.   Veteran actor Gene Hackman found dead, aged 95, at home along with his wife and dog.

march: By executive order, Trump makes English the official language of the United States.  Israel blocks humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, demanding that Hamas abide by changed conditions dictated by the US, leading by mid-month to a resumption in airstrikes on the territory.  Rosenstolz singer AnNa R passes away, aged 55.  A French politician calls for the return of the Statue of Liberty.  After rejecting a previously brokered US peace deal, during a telephone call with Trump, Putin signals he will agree to a thirty-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure.  Boxer and entrepreneur George Foreman passes away, aged 76.  Germany’s marked fiscal pivot to embrace debt and invest in defence stunned fellow EU members.  Trump’s commerce secretary proposes cutting the social security safety net for seniors and the disabled.  Arrest and detention of Erdoğan rival and Istanbul mayor ignites protests in Türkiye.  Wildfires ravage South Korea.  A coalition of the willing convene in Paris in solidarity with Ukraine, fearful of the outcome of a US-brokered deal with Russia.  Thousands dead and many more displaced after an earthquake ravages Myanmar.  Globally, thousands participate in Tesla Takedown protests against Musk.  Far-right French politician Marine Le Pen banned from public office after being found guilty for misappropriating EU funds.

april: Despite millions in campaign donations, Musk and conservatives were unable to flip the state supreme court in Washington.  New Jersey Democrat Corey Booker spoke in the Senate, rebuking the Trump administration for a record twenty-five hours and five minutes, beating Strom Thurmond’s filibuster against integration and equal rights.   Actor Val Kilmer dead at age 65.  Israeli defence forces annex huge swaths of the Gaza Strip.  Foregoing over two billion dollars in federdal funding, Harvard refuses to give in to Trump demands.  Katy Perry and an all-female crew travel briefly to the edge of space.  The world mourns Pope Francis.  The US threatens to walk away from the Ukraine-Russia peace deal it brokered.  As a rebuke to Trumpism, Canada elects another liberal government with Mark Carney as Prime Minister.

may: The US Department of Homeland Security is planning to remove illegal migrants to Libya.  The College of Cardinals elect the first American pope, Leo XIV.  India and Pakistan exchange violent skirmishes over the disputed territories of Kashmir and Jammu.  Austria wins the Eurovision song contest.  A tall ship from the Mexican navy collides with the Brooklyn bridge during manoeuvrers.  Romanian elects a centrist, pro-EU mathematician for president in a surprise turn-out.  Former US president Joe Biden diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.  UK, France and Canada sharply criticise Israel for its continued assault on Gaza and blockade of humanitarian aid, suspending trade talks and recalling diplomatic staff.  Veteran actor George Wendt passed away, aged 76. King Charles delivers a speech of solidarity from the throne in Canada to open parliament.  Trump blasts Putin for escalation of fighting in Ukraine.

june: In planning for eighteen-months, Ukraine carries out surprise drone attack on Russian bombers in five regions.  Trump rescinds nomination of private astronaut to head NASA after apparent falling out with Elon Musk, who recommended the nominee for the job.  Trump federalises the California national guard against the will of the state’s governor to suppress protests against ICE raids.  The Israeli defence forces seise a Gaza-bound cargo ship of humanitarian aid with activist Greta Thunberg onboard.  A London-bound plane crashes shortly after departure from Ahmedabad with a sole survivor. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys passes away, aged 82.  Israel launches air strikes against Iran’s nuclear processing facilities, killing the commander of the Revolutionary Guard. The US bombs three Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities.  In the last week before recess, the US supreme court delivers Trump several judicial victories. Veteran journalist and moderator Bill Moyers has died.  Israeli attacks on Gaza humanitarian assistance sites markedly intensify.  

july: The US congress narrowly passes Trump’s domestic policy agenda.  Flash flooding in Texas Hill Country claims dozens, including many from a summer camp for girls.  Russian transport minister found dead hours after his dismissal ostensibly for his failure to secure Moscow from Ukrainian drone attacks.  Trump announces twenty-fiver percent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, as the administration pushes for ninety trade deals in ninety days.  Trump disavows MAGA supporters who demand the release of the Epstein files. Israel launches airstrikes on Damascus to defend Druze communities living on the border of the Golan Heights.  UK government resolves to lower voting age to sixteen.  The US senate approves rescission bill to defund public broadcasting in America and eliminate billions in foreign aid.  Iconic rocker Ozzy Osboure has died, aged 76.  The famine in Gaza worsens as hundreds have been killed just queuing for aid.  France resolves to acknowledge Palestinian statehood.  Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan passed away, aged 71.  The EU negotiates a last minute trade and tariff deal with Trump, giving Europe worse than nothing but perhaps preserving global security and stability in Ukraine.  Contrary to assurances that the Qatari gift of Air Force one would not be for the Trump’s personal use post-presidency, the secretary of defence accepted the gift, explicitly calling it not a bribe.  Trump admits his friendship with Epstein came to an end because Epstein was stealing employees from his pleasure spa.  

august: Trump’s redacted name appears in the Epstein files.  Microsoft joins Invidia as the first firms to reach a four trillion dollar market valuation.  Global stocks are shocked by tariff deadline with few deals.  Trump fires government statistician after poor jobs-growth report, revising downward previous months’ estimates.   Sabre-rattling, two nuclear submarines move within striking distance of Russian.  Netanyahu announces plans to take over Gaza City whilst Trump again threatens to federalise Washington, DC. Astronaut and Apollo XIII commander Jim Lovell dies, aged 97.  Putin has a summit with Trump in Alaska, followed by a meeting in Washington, DC between Trump and Zelenskyy with several European leaders also inviting themselves.  Texas and California commence with their redistricting war to gerrymander the mid-terms.  The Florida department of transportation removes the rainbow crosswalk memorial of the Orlando Pulse nightclub massacre.  Rumours of the death of Trump are trending.  The White House announces intent to end mail-ballots and allow only in-person voting.  Israeli attacks aided by the US kill Houthi prime minister in Yemen.  Modi and Xi meet with Putin as counterbalance to western hegemony.

september: A devastating earthquake hits Afghanistan.  Google emerges more or less unscathed from a landmark anti-trust case.  Chaos at the US Centres for Disease control prompts many states to do their own research.  Celebrated fashion designed Giorgio Armani dead, aged 91.  Over a dozen killed in a tragic funicular accident in Lisbon.  The US targets an alleged Venezuelan drug-boat and deploys warships to the Caribbean.  Israeli Defence Forces order the complete evacuation of Gaza City. Right wing influencer and conservative activist Charles Kirk is assassinated during a speaking event at a college campus in Utah.  Actor, activist and director Robert Redford passed away, aged 89. Donald Trump arrives in London for his second state visit.  The GOP are exploiting the death of Charlie Kirk to silence dissent. Portugal, the UK, Canada and Australia recognise Palestinian statehood, ahead of the UN General Assembly—with host nation refusing to issue visas to the country’s delegation to attend (the first time the US has barred entry since 1998 and banning PLO head Yasser Arafat, which prompted the UN to change the venue to Geneva).  Trump gives a rambling and dangerous speech falsely linking acetaminophen, childhood vaccinations with autism.  Erik Adams drops his re-election bid to be mayor of New York City.

october: At an impasse, the US government shuts down.  Renowned primatologist and wildlife advocate Jane Goodall passes away, aged 91. Veteran UK actor Patricia Routledge dies, aged 96.  Hamas and Israel reach a tentative ceasefire days after the second anniversary of the the beginning of the war.  Gazans begin returning home, joy amid sorrow and destruction as the Israeli army pulls back.  Actor Diana Keaton has died, aged 79.  Trump misappropriates funds to make military pay-day during the shutdown.  Hamas begins releasing the remaining Israeli hostages.  Elite universities in the US choose to forego federal funding rather than submit to conditions on research and hiring practises.  The US CIA begin covert operations to overthrow the government of Venezuela.  Every major US media outlet surrendered their Pentagon press credentials rather than sign a pledge to only report on approved releases. Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton indicted for mishandling of classified information.  NPR founding reporter and anchor Susan Stamberg passed away, age 87.  Partial demolition begins on the East Wing of the White House to construct Trump’s ballroom.  The Japanese parliament elects its first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.  Charles III and Pope Leo XIV pray together in the Sistine Chapel.  Against America’s peace agenda, the Knesset votes to annex the West Bank.  Leftwing candidate Catherine Connolly wins Ireland’s presidency.  Veteran television star June Lockhart passes away, aged 100.  Fawlty Towers actor Prunella Scales dies, aged 93. US government shutdown surpasses Trump’s old record for the longest in history.  Dick Cheney dies, aged 84.  Zohran Mamdani wins mayorship of New York City.

november: Redistricting efforts in Texas ahead of US mid-term elections are ruled to be unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. The US federal government reopens after an unprecedented shut-down as Democrats fold.  A violent civil war continues to rage in Nigeria.  COP 30 begins in Brazil.  Tech businesses and telecoms shed tens of thousands of employees.  In response to a cadre of congressional representatives urging service members not to obey illegal orders, Trump cries sedition and threatens them with execution.  US leaks a twenty-eight point peace plan for Ukraine and Russia. Marjorie Taylor Greene announces she will leave the US congress in January after a public falling out with Trump.  Flames engulf a residential apartment block in Hong Kong.  The pope makes his first trip abroad, visiting Türkiye and Lebanon.  With war in Venezuela imminent, closing the country’s airspace, Trump pardons notorious Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, commuting his sentence in a US federal prison after smuggling weapons and four hundred tonnes of cocaine into the country.  A deadly fire in a Hong Kong housing estate kills scores.

december: Playwright Tom Stoppard passes away, aged 88.  Influential architect Frank Gehry has died, aged 96.  Australia launches a world first social media ban for young people.  The US military seizes a Venezuelan oil tanker, escalating tensions.  Articles of impeachment are forwarded for both secretary of war and RFK, Jr.  Indiana state lawmakers reject Trump’s redistricting plans to gerrymander Democrats out of existence.  A gunman kills a dozen individuals gathering at Australia’s Bondi beach for Hanukkah celebrations.  Actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer-Reiner are found murdered—with the couple’s son arrested as the the prime suspect.  The US justice department releases a heavily redacted version of the Epstein files.  Singer, songwriter Chris Rea, performer behind “Driving Home for Christmas” dies, aged 74.  Brigitte Bardo has died, aged 91.  Trump announces ground strikes in Venezuela.  Xi announces intent to reunite Taiwan in New Year’s Eve address.

9x9 (13. 027)

pot to kettle: US bans Europeans who encouraged social media to suppress American points of view—see also, whilst the Heritage Foundation openly calls for the dissolution of the European Union  

sight unseen: a collection of the best video essays of 2025  

winter tarotscope: a collective reading for the coming season from AX Mina  

first and main: store front churches as captured by Rob Stephenson—via Messy Nessy Chic with a lot more to explore including more on glass models of deep sea creatures  

x-mas post: holiday greeting cards to Paul Rand (previously) from other designers, artists and architects  

commodorchestra: Linus Åkesson (previously) performs an ambitious chip-tune arrangement of Boléro (see also) on an assortment of homemade eight-bit instruments 

exhibit a: a simple copy-and-paste undoes redactions to some of the Epstein files  

the address is cbs: the censored reporting on the infamous CECOT prison removed from 60 Minutes was bootlegged by international broadcasts—via Super Punch

synchronoptica

one year ago: the first wholly electronic television transmission (with synchronopticæ), the Bohemian John Phillips Souza plus a Christmas pause 

fourteen years ago: a Star Wars Nativity scene 

fifteen years ago: Christmas Eve greetings 

sixteen years ago: zodiacal mugs 

seventeen years ago: miscellany from Wikipedia 

i changed, you’re not (12. 656)

Following Trump’s rather hollow and anti-climatic summit with Putin in Alaska, European leaders upend their summer schedules—including holiday-making—to rush, realising the stakes and how there are moments when history pauses and looks at us dead in the eye and asks do we know what is happening, to Washington to lend moral and materiel support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, hoping to avoid the previous melt-down in the Oval Office and stop the US administration from further undermining the continent’s security signalled by Trump’s vacillation over the peace process with a ceasefire no longer a prerequisite for negotiations and that a treaty can be struck simply by ceding Russia the Donbass, capitulating to a one-sided deal with Ukraine demilitarised and Russian subject to no further sanctions. This time, appearing in formal apparel, the same conservative reporter who questioned his usual attire of military fatigues complemented the Ukrainian president on his suit, to which Zelenskyy quipped that the journalist was wearing the same outfit as last time. Already, however, Trump is apparently rehashing tired stab-in-the-back conspiracies about a stolen election and mail-in ballot fraud, a sentiment echoed by Putin as well as citing the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the biggest geopolitical betrayal of all time, on display by foreign minister Lavrov’s CCCP sweatshirt at the prior meeting.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a philosophical cartoon (with synchronoptiæ) plus amplified contagion

twelve years ago: landscaping inspirations plus freelance hotels

thirteen years ago: WWII week: Nacht und Nebel plus international traffic signs

fifteen years ago: weather control machines 

sixteen years ago: blogging non-sequitirs  

8x8 (12. 618)

eight limes, no more: a list is a map, a compass, a prayer—via MetaFilter  

ключевская сопка: volcanic eruption in Russia’s far east sets off earthquake and tsunami warnings  

windrunner: turbine manufacturer—in defiance of Trump’s claim that windmills are killing us—building world’s largest aircraft (see also) to transport huge blades to remote wind-farms  

foredone: useless etymology and some very cromulent words

twin primes: pairs that only are separated by an even number in between grow rarer as one looks at greater ranges of values but no one knows if they run out altogether  

evrópusambandið: Iceland considering resuming accession talks with the supranational body  

this guy is taking people from the spa: Trump reveals to press-pool that falling out with Epstein was over him stealing staff  

an oral history of atlantis: a conversation about metafiction with author Ed Park

handelsbilanz (12. 615)

Aside from getting an ostensibly raw and lopsided tariff deal out of Trump—though far from finalised and terms and conditions could always change—using trade as foreign policy tool, a particularly blunt and inappropriate instrument as Trump as done in order to bypass more traditional channels, the EU’s capitulation has proved to be not only a disappointment among academics and the press but also leaders and is representing a split in solidarity in the already fractious bloc, with many regarding the submission as a concession to German industry at the expense of the agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors. The onerous commitment riding on the deal to purchase over a trillion dollars in US energy and weapons is an assurance that Brussels can not compel members to do—so there’s that Ausfahrt, and moreover very little of these burgeoning conflicts address the consumers’ role in the opening of markets, who do indeed collectively punch their own weight—with the notable exception of Canada, also under threat of annexation. Flooded with cheaper, lower quality American goods, shoppers can still choose to boycott them and retailers will no longer stock them. Individuals can also forgo an albeit more entrenched and harder to avoid US dominance on financial and internet services—which for the American rentier economy—would send an even bigger message though a bit of inconvenience and creative work-arounds, refraining from using credit cards and payment clearing houses and American internet companies.

synchronoptica

one year ago: JD Vance’s sofa memoirs (with synchronopticæ), nobody reads ads, twirling towards freedom, a phoney controversy over the Olympics opening ceremony plus Friday Night Videos (1983)

twelve years ago: derivative blockbusters, stormy weather plus a visit to Gelnhausen

fifteen years ago: smoking ban in Bavaria plus word clouds as CVs

tilting at windmills (12. 613)

Although failing to secure a ten percent flat tariff on European as the UK had reached—despite Brussels’ belief it could achieve the same nuisance levy—and following the capitulation of NATO members to increase defence-spending to five percent of their domestic output with commitments to purchase US armaments as well as American fossil fuels, the EU’s very asymmetrical appeasement of Trump is seemingly not to win a trade war, the terms keep shifting and preciously little surety has been accomplished with questions remaining on pharmaceuticals, steel and the tech and financial services hegemony. This undignified negotiation seems only to privilege German manufacturing above, though markets are open to cheaper US imports, accepted without pushback avoids more escalation—one should stay up to bullies however, particularly when there’s no substance nor compulsion behind his policies and posture, but maybe to suffer humiliation in order to preserve the global order is a small price to pay—economically the announcement affects little in the end other than temporarily enriching the petrostate and weapons manufacturers with the commitments—and Trump has already significantly advanced his deadline for new Russian sanctions and is showing daylight between himself and Netanyahu. Such men, small and common, cannot be trusted or invested with such sweeping powers, however.  They’re killing the beauty of our scenery—our plains, and I’m not talking about airplanes—they won’t let you bury the propellers.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a history of Elvis-officiated weddings (with synchronopticæ)

fifteen years ago: contentious Olympic venues and the keyholders of the internet