5x5

a public servant’s heart: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s message to America 

seven up: pioneering documentarian and ethnographer Michael Apted has passed away, aged seventy-nine 

der nacht der kurzen finger: fact-checking and myth-busting the deplatforming of Trump 

thought forms: revisiting a 1901 Theosophist “record of clairvoyant investigation” as a lens for art history—see also  

weeping in the promised land: a new song from John Fogerty speaks to our times

7x7

zip-tie guy: as bad as this act of terrorism was, the Ku Klux Coup (see previously) could have turned out much worse  

election, objection, ambition, sedition: another pitch-perfect Randy Rainbow political parody 

regrets only: Trump’s final missive confirming he would not be attending Joe Biden’s inauguration—cornerstone to a peaceful transition of power—is interpreted as another way of casting aspersions on a legitimate election and gets his account suspended from Twitter—permanently  

privilege check: race and the cos-play veneer of the invasion combined with remorse over more heavy-handed tactics over the summer allowed them to organise and launch their raid unchecked—see previously  

us capitol police: encomnia for officer killed protecting senators and congress members from the Blue Lives Matter crowd  

jericho march: more Cos-Play with Evangelical Christians (previously) rallying in D.C. blowing shofars

no pension, no secret security detail, no travel allowance, no chance to hold high office again: a second impeachment has consequences even a few days out and Congress is moving swiftly to make it happen, nearly as fast as Mr Rainbow above or Lego

rats, ships—you know the drill

Two of the few remaining long-time Trump Cabinet Officials, Secretaries of Education and Transportation Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao (wife of Palpatine—previously, I look forward to having never to mention or think about these people again) found Trump’s role in encouraging violence and treason inflection points and have joined a dozen of other officials by resigning in protest, taking advantage seemingly on the radio silence imposed on Trump by social media. As calls for removal mounted, either by a second impeachment or the vice-president and the remaining Cabinet staff invoking Amendment XXV—addressing presidential succession and disability—to declare him unfit to govern, Trump reportedly has issued assurances for a peaceful transition of power but was otherwise quiet, preparing to award Presidential Medals of Freedom to three professional golfers, one posthumously. Senior security council members and the special envoy to Northern Ireland (former chief-of-staff) quit, possibly with many more to follow.

the thirty-seventh of december

Being quite chuffed with the results of the run-off elections in Georgia which takes control of the Senate out of the hands of the GOP under leadership of Kentucky Palpatine and making the chamber evenly split with Vice President Harris the deciding vote in case of a draw and just having finally watched a poignant, humorous send-off the past year with Death to 2020, seeing an armed mob of pro-Trump extremist storm the Capitol during the joint session of Congress to affirm the ballot results of the US Electoral College was a bit of whiplash. Incited by Trump’s urging a crowd of supporters to march on the legislator to oppose the certification process and reverse the results, the clashed with and overpowered police forces, four individuals dying during the violence, and broke into the chambers of the House and Senate. Representatives were evacuated but four hours later, the joint session was re-convened with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris declared victors in what is generally an anodyne and sedate formality—with objections and abstentions entertained in due process. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, overseeing the process along who had her office ransacked by an insurgent said, “We know that we’re in difficult times but little could we have imagined the assault that was on our democracy today. To those who strove to deter us from our responsibility, you have failed.” Most challenges failed to garner a champion and the votes stood, with the joint session adjourning for Arizona and Pennsylvania with the separate chambers debating the objection for an allotted two hours. Legislative business will continue overnight and into the morning until all the votes are certified.

8x8

ruminant digestive process: whilst bovine flatulence makes the headlines, burps are the chief source of methane and could be neutralised with a special mouth guard—via the New Shelton Wet/Dry  

caporegime: via ibīdem, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project names Jair Bolsonaro Corrupt Person of the Year, trouncing with a narrow margin Trump, Erdoğan and Netanyahu  

commander-in-cheat: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon won’t allow Trump to visit his golf course in Scotland during the pandemic lockdown to bow out of attending the inauguration in Washington, DC 

georgia on my mind: Reverend Warnock declared winner in Senate race and Democrats poised to take control of the Upper House  

grogu pains: The Mandalorian reimaged as 1990s sitcom  

die abenteur des prizen achmed: the incredible silhouette animation technique of Lotte Reiniger—more here  

population density: housing ten billion humans in one mega city could help vastly reduce our footprint, freeing up the remaining land mass for rewilding and argiculture 

all the trimmings: for this traditional day of ceremonially discarding the tree, ways to transform it into garnish and a tasty treat

i just want to find eleven-thousand seven hundred and eighty votes

In an extraordinary hour-long phone call over the weekend reminiscent of Trump’s earlier attempt to persuade the Ukrainian government to smear his political opponent with defamatory material discovered or manufactured regarding his son, Trump pressured the Georgian secretary of state to apply a new calculus to their method for tabulating the vote and overturn the narrow but solid and multiple times reconfirmed win for Joe Biden whose ticket carried the state. This behaviour, inappropriate and contemptible, is a low point in American democracy and warrants a second impeachment before Trump sets a new nadir.

the seditious dozen

A group of Republican senators and senators-elect with the backing of the vice-president have announced plans to reject electors from states that are considered “suspect” for having voted wrongly—unless Congress commits to creating a commission to investigate their baseless claims of voter fraud.

Having failed to achieve any the desired outcome in the court system full of judges appointed by the Trump administration, the incumbents seem to hope that this treasonous band of sycophants can delay, belay the inevitable. In a normally anodyne ceremony, the senate convenes to ratify the ballots of the Electoral College on 6 January. The senate, which voted to acquit Trump of high crimes and misdemeanours after the House impeached him, feels that this dopey cos-play coup will likely fail because of Democrat control of congress and the likelihood of the GOP losing their thin majority of senate seats as well in the Georgia run-off election.

7x7

3 a.m. eternal: the musical stylings of the KLF are finally available for streaming services—via Things Magazine  

paleofutures: the lunar Western Moon Zero Two takes place in 2021  

no show: Trump fails to appear at his Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve bash—guests entertained by Rudy Giuliani and Vanilla Ice 

not disappoint: a recommendation for a good polyglotinous language lover to follow, whose byline does rather suggest a crash blossom  

star wars—give me those star wars, nothing but star wars: the saga continues  

alla breve or cut for time: big, brute data analysis may finally resolve the controversy over Beethoven’s metronome and how the composer intended his works to be heard—via Strange Company

klanglandschaft: Swiss artist Zimoun engineers ambient soundscapes with everyday materials

8x8

persons of the year: more Year End lists from Miss Cellania—see previously  

75x75: seventy-five superlative photographs captured by as many photographers  

mys: the Swedish word without an exact translation compliments hygge when it comes to coping with the prospect of a long, dark winter  

benedict donald: more fine art work (see also)—suitable for framing  

the twenty most powerless: the disenfranchised and estranged of the art world 

she said see you later, boy: McSweeney‘s most read monologues, vignettes and confessionals of 2020  

dance, dance revolution: a dance number from a trio of Boston Dynamics robots—see previously  

refreshing your feed: fifty superlative podcasts according to The Atlantic—via Super Punch

house music

Carroll Righter (*1900 – †1988), celebrity astrologer and horoscope columnist from the early 1940s onward and advisor to Ronald and Nancy Reagan, released a series of albums in 1969 with each record dedicated to a different zodiacal sign (see also), promising that the instrumental arrangements were especially attuned to one’s personality and constitution and will help alleviate everyday problems and help one to overcome challenges. More to explore at Weird Universe at the link up top.

8x8

the santaland diaries: a holiday classic from David Sedaris 

by jove: more on the complex system of Jupiter and its moons—including Valetudo, which crosses between the prograde and retrograde orbitals—see previously  

mimicry and mutualism: the monkey slug caterpillar (Phobetron pithecium, the larva of the hag moth) that evolved to resemble a tarantula  

where do i begin: Erich Segal’s Love Story at fifty

posse commmutatus: a fresh tranche of pardons (previously) from the outgoing and impeached Trump is an assault and insult on justice 

tree fm: for those who can’t readily go forest bathing or hug a perennial friend, tune into the soundscape of woods around the world—via Things Magazine  

pork-barrel politics: Trump frames riders in COVID aid bill as disgraceful after seven months of contentious negotiation, demands revision 

suggested serving: wintry cocktail and hot toddy recipes from eastern Europe

7x7

mercury rising: surveying the lasting damage that the hottest year on record has brought  

guardians of the galaxy: Space Force (previously) service members receive a new title  

deluxe apartment in the sky: artist granted viewing of exclusive properties on Billionaires’ Row in Manhattan 

lp: a playlist of James Baldwin’s record collection  

🌊: the Great Wave off Kanagawa in Lego form 

 lassen sie mich also sagen, dass dies ernst ist—bitte nehmen sie das auch ernst: Angela Merkel’s March address and appeal on coronavirus lauded as Speech of the Year 

 heat gap: climatic gentrification across city districts leads to worse outcomes for the poorest residents

great aspostasy

Suspending the fact for a moment (which the author, a lapsed rapture-ready individual himself owes to straightaway) that much like malleability of horoscopes, prophesies about the End of Days can and have been applied to countless leaders, charismatic and otherwise, this analysis, coming to us by way of the illustrious Mx van Hoorn’s cabinet of hypertext curiosities—updated but not all the way up to the present and his loss reaffirmed in the courts and his minions rioting and rallying to overturn the outcome—and supposition whether American evangelicals might even be able to recognise the Anti-Christ were he to show up is an interesting one. 

Point for point, verse by verse the Trump administration is subjected to the predictions and again keeping in mind the caveats above and by the end, the correspondence is a bit unsettling—suggesting that they are following some ordained protocol, one which is arguably canon rather than fandom.  Insofar as God does not care to be dragged into this, it echoes the passage of the Grand Inquisitor from The Brothers Karamozov when Jesus returns to Seville during the Spanish Inquisition and is told in his cell prior to execution that he is no longer needed as the world is getting along fine without him.

laches

In an apparently unananmious and delightfully terse decision, the US Supreme Court, despite it being stacked with three justices appointed by Trump himself, rejected mounting efforts to reverse the results of the election outcome in the state of Pennsylvania.

A toady representative built his case on the specious argument that universal mail-in voting (enacted in 2019) defies constitutionality and therefore all ballots not cast in person and on the day of the election ought to be null and void. This decision—based on the title principle from the French legal concept of dilatoriness (laschesses), that is a lack of a lack of diligence in exercising a party’s right to challenge and failing to do so in a timely matter (changing the rules after the election prejudices the defence) is hopefully the last of a series of suites that either sought to throw out millions of votes or allow the state legislature to advance faithless electors to the collegium, which convenes on 14 December to cast their votes. Vigilantibus non dormientibus æquitas subvenit. Equity aids the vigilant, not the indolent.

8x8

three blind mice: researchers restore sight by reversing the epigenetic clock in laboratory animals, re-endowing youthful characteristics—via Marginal Revolution  

big drunk girl energy: the dumbest coup is still playing out in the courts  

a touch of cabin fever: this is what stir-crazy looks like—the Year on TikTok—via the morning news

manifest destiny: a scrollytelling art histories (previously) that recounts the mythology of North America—via Maps Mania  

alpenhorn: disappearing, defaced and duelling phallic totems in the mountains of Germany and Austria 

for the longest time: dispel the zoom and gloom with this quarantine rendition from the Phoenix Chamber Choir 

 home box office: Warner Brothers is simultaneously releasing its cinematic productions on subscription television for 2021—via Kottke  

oceanus procellarum: Chang’e probe (previously) has lifted off of the lunar surface and will return with the first samples of moon rocks since 1976—via Slashdot

number-one daughter

We thoroughly enjoyed reading more about how JarVanka—pre-emptively pardoned or otherwise—are not being welcomed as the social-climbing try-hards back to the  strata that the déclassé couple aspired to and felt entitled to, to a fault for years from the comedic stylings of the duo behind Good Liars, who are wisely already considering relocating once January twentieth arrives. Married to Slenderman? Yes.

dispositive motion

Language Logs directs us to an interesting and precise bit of legal terminology encountered and highlighted in the court opinion rejecting the Trump campaign’s baseless challenge to the state of Pennsylvania’s election tally: upon information and belief. Identifying a claim or accusation made not from firsthand knowledge or observation but rather via hearsay that the petitioner believes to be true, it is invoked chiefly in dealing with contempt of court and perjury under oath, protecting the maker of the statement from outright lying in the process of bringing frivolous or nuisance cases to trial. The patience of the law has its limits, however.

kiddie table

Without explanation or preparation, Trump hosted a press conference seated in the Oval Office at a tiny assistant desk (usually brought out for signing ceremonies when the crowd crushes in to capture the moment but now it just looks like the awful man-child doesn’t get to sit at the adult table) on Thanksgiving, berating reporters with his patently false narrative that the election was stolen from him, prompting several to comment that this was the “Four Seasons Total Landscaping” version of the Resolute Desk and how spot-on the scene juxtaposed with a 2017 throwback of a Saturday Night Live sketch with Trump portrayed throwing a similar tantrum. His vacuous message was lost among the strange optics, prompting follow-on ire against Twitter for amplifying what the wannabe dictator characterised as sedition.

6x6

surrogate: Trump issues pardon to former national security advisor Michael Flynn, who pled guilty twice to making false statements to the FBI involving his Russian connections 

thermochromic: windows go from transparent to tinted while generating electricity  

l’atlas: an intriguing new approach to mapping France’s natural glory—via Things Magazine 

 ♚: reimagining the Queen’s Gambit as a MS DOS PC game 

fry guys: one intrepid connoisseur revives a long lost recipe  

stonks: only pausing to take credit for and praise the teetering high of the Dow Jones, Trump presents a very abbreviated brief

straw-poll

As NPR reports, though rather burying the lede, impeached and ousted Trump will be performing the strange and storied ritual of pardoning a turkey (see previously) for Thanksgiving—sponsored by the anti-tofurky lobby—presenting a poll to the public asking whom out of Corn and Cob ought to be granted clemency. Though not one to eat his words, even over this bizarre and addle-brained tradition, there was a similar ballot in 2018—in the wake of the mid-term elections with the contest between Peas and Carrots—in which Trump attacked Carrots the turkey for refusing to concede despite having clearly lost. Fifty-six days, twenty-two hours.