day two hundred fifteen (13. 866)

Israel forces the closure of the UK consulate in occupied East Jerusalem over sanction threats directed at illegal settlements in the West Bank. Hurricane Isaiah takes a quarter of oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico off-line. Tankers, including those cleaving to the route off the coasts of Oman and Qatar, come under fire, slowing maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle again. Fighting rages between Yemeni regulars and rebels as Houthis launch deadly strikes at Saudi airports. Newly obtained footage reveals the extent of damage sustained to US bases across the Middle East as troops posture towards abandonment and retreat. Despite issuing new demands, including the possibility of compromise of nuclear enrichment, the American president declares he has no interest in making a deal with Tehran and orders the military to prepare to resume hostilities imminently.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica) plus cartoonist Rein Raamat

two years ago: boating on the Röblinsee 

three years ago: spiralling landscapes, vintage text book cover art plus LEGO art

four years ago: the cast of Star Trek in an energy company advert plus Saint Reparata

five years ago:  your daily demon: Raum, Baghdad’s House of Wisdom plus a bi-directional typeface

six years ago: more links to enjoy, Les Misérables (1985), poorly drawn animals plus Trump requires wildlife conservationist organisations to celebrate America’s hunting heritage

seven years ago: visualising Wikipedia updates in real time, Trump abruptly withdraws from the Syria-Turkish border, Call Me By Your Monet, The Million Eyes of Sumuru plus discouraging frivolous lawsuits in the Middle Ages

eight years ago: the degrading web plus calling attention to the problem of space junk

 

day two hundred twelve (13. 858)

The Revolutionary Guard command claims that US forces in the Persian Gulf have retreated to a distance of a thousand kilometres from Iran’s borders and that the amount of oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz under American naval escort is negligible, pledging that the water will remain closed until Washington satisfies the pre-conditions it agreed to. Israeli developers have diverted water from Palestinian farmers in the West Bank for a tourist attraction called “Herod’s Pools.” The head of the Yemeni government in Aden announces major escalation in fighting Houthi rebels to wrest back control of Bab al-Mandeb. US pulls out B-2 bombers stationed RAF Fairford following arrests in foiled terror plot. The US is closely monitoring a suspected case of the pneumonic plague after the death of a technician in a Siberian research laboratory, fearing a genetically modified strain of the bacteria has escaped containment and prompting travel restrictions. Brazil heads to a presidential run off with polling between challenger Flávio Bolsonaro and incumbent Lula too close to call. A Kelvin Wave caused by El Niño conditions creeps towards southern California and Alaska, expected to raise coastal sea-levels by half-a-metre with a single crest and trough.

synchronoptica

one year ago: graphic designer Mikro Ilić (with synchronotpica) plus assorted links worth the revisit

two years ago: circumambulation plus a houseboat on the Havel

three years ago: a hike through the vineyards of Escherndorf 

four years ago: the tarot of Austin Osman Spare, the world’s mass transit systems plus Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1996)

five years ago: more links to enjoy plus Tubular Bells

 

six years ago: Civilisation comes to American audiences (1970), Athens’ underground, the blessed Rosario Longo, a glass model of the coronavirus, IKEA’s back catalogue plus apologies in good standing

seven years ago: late Thursdays in Germany, more links to check out plus more poetic graffiti

 

eight years ago: an outstanding collection of vintage travel posters, legislating Scotland on maps plus more memorable fonts

 

 

day two hundred six (13. 840)

US troops completes its withdrawal of troops from Iraq after two decades. Frustrated that the White House press pool isn’t covering his daily activities non-stop, the American president has launched Trump TV, whilst tax-payer funded propaganda spots are aired on commercial networks, justified as public service announcements. Hegseth announces a further twenty percent reduction in generals and admirals. US tariffs on Canadian exports go into effect. Settlers attack villagers, burn homes in the occupied West Bank and IDF planes continue the bombardment of souther Lebanon. US fuel economy standards are considerably relaxed, in hopes of making new automobiles cheaper, more expensive to operate.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Chicago Tribute switches to standard spellings (with synchronoptica) plus more adventures in the Alsace

two years ago: sea birds in a hurricane plus a Schoolhouse Rock!-style explainer for Project 2025  

three years ago: another fiscal cliff edge for the US 

four years ago: the Mayak disaster (1957) 

five years ago: assorted links to revisit

six years ago: Star Trek tarot,  the Feast of the Archangels, the cartoons of R Cobb plus more links to revisit

seven years ago: more Theremin maestros plus more Middle English vulgarities

eight years ago: the Munich Agreement (1938) plus the Suprematism movement

 

day two hundred five (13. 839)

Iran denies a role in the apparent plot to bomb an airbase in England. Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran continue in New York via Qatari mediators with both sides rejecting reports of compromise—Iran not pausing its nuclear programme and the US not offering sanction relief. The Supreme Leader issues a statement reasserting that Iran is the sole custodian of the Strait of Hormuz. A comprehensive framework for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon stalls at the American department of state, whilst US senator Bernie Sanders calls for an end of military aid to Israel following the state banned Arab parties from elections, disenfranchising Palestinians and leaving them not representation in the Knesset. Netanyahu holds secret meetings with the United Arab Emirates. Russia strikes Ukraine Academy of Sciences as ten-thousand North Korean troops prepare to mobilise. Ebola cases surpass eight thousand in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Europe braces for the next energy shock as fuel prices continue to climb and the US diesel export ban looms. OpenAI scraps the release of its latest frontier model over safety concerns.

day two hundred four (13. 837)

Israeli attacks on Gaza intensify as settlers again storm the Al-Aqsa mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem. Trump’s Board of Peace excludes UNRWA from participation in any future rebuilding plans for Palestine, fulfilling a long-standing demand from Tel Aviv as the country’s far-right finance minister calls for all out war in the West Bank. Following Trump’s rejection of Tehran’s roadmap to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in seven days if Washington honours their promises and continues negotiations in good faith and awaiting reports from intermediaries rather than the American president’s verdict for an official response, Iran is securing alternative overland trade routes with Türkiye and through the Caspian Sea on its northern border. Renewed military action seems a distinct possibility, an inevitably as the US naval blockade of Iranian ports continue and the Islamic Republic claim the seizure of an American autonomous submarine. Five individuals are apprehended plotting a suspected terror attack on RAF Fairford, which hosts US airforce bombers engaged with attacking Iran—Tehran already citing third-country cooperatives as legitimate targets.

show dna (13. 834)

Though suspect of the network presently as a tool of state propaganda, we were intrigued by this gala group photo staged for the fiftieth anniversary of the Columbia Broadcasting System to spot the cross-overs and continuity of retained actors in recurring roles and cameos plus producers, directors and anchors.
The key was a bit morose, prompting one to consider the talents we have lost, though many are still with us, like Bill Macy, Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett, Lynda Carter, Julie Kavner (as Rhoda’s sister) and Ran Rather from CBS News. The last one made me wonder if one could use AI to generate a Sgt Pepper’s type template for any group photo (one can apparently, which takes away from the encomium) or if it was just a typo.  How many celebrities do you recognise?

day two hundred three (13. 833)

Though smacking somewhat of appeasement, Denmark’s placating of Trump’s ego with the signing ceremony of the Greenland treaty by granting the American president the arrangement that the US has always had since 1951—it is more masterful than at first glance, with one clause, easy to overlook—that it only remains valid if the US remains a member, albeit an unreliable one at present, in the NATO alliance. Reportedly Trump rejects the Iranian offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the US honours the conditions of the MoU, signed by Trump’s own hand at the Élysée Palace back in June, announcing bombing will likely resume in November. We think at least that is what he is saying as, despite a federal injunction against stripping CNN’s and other news outlets White House credentials, Trump is ignoring the order and his statement was unprofessionally captured by an aide under whirling helicopter blades, other agencies in the press pool refusing to cover the president in solidarity. Declaring Iranian airspace closed and diverting all civilian flights, the US is hopeful that Operation Economic Outcast will further squeeze the Islamic Republic into further concessions, and personally benefitting from the chaos jointly with Israel through markets manipulation and stock-flipping to the tune of a couple of billion dollars, the corrupt regime is not motivated for a swift end to the conflict. Rumours circulate in the US military regarding a possible to deployment to the Caribbean and presumably the invasion and annexation of Cuba, emerging just after Trump hosts Xi in Washington—suggesting that action on Taiwan might be imminent and one might be cover for another. We don’t suspect, however, that Trump could keep quiet about such a conspiracy. Denied by the courts his efforts to curtail voting-by-mail—though judges allow the sharing of registries with ICE and DHS to track down non-existent, non-citizen voter—we wonder what the October Surprise will be ahead of elections. To avoid War Powers Act limitations, Trump has already downgraded Iran to a forever conflict, Venezuela went too swiftly, but a hot war with Havana might, in the estimation of the administration qualify as a national emergency to suspend voting. Trump likes to cite Ukraine’s skipped elections, ignoring the fact that it is in their constitution, whilst the US has no such provisions. All of this is just speculation on the internet but in this dumb timeline, we wouldn’t be surprised if in the situation room, someone whispers to Trump, “Mister president, the Germans are on to us.” The US approves a four hundred million dollar weapons package for Ukraine, though no Patriot missiles for the batteries it has been licensed to build, and destroys another Russian oil refinery in Krasnodar, ignoring Trump’s earlier call for a ceasefire on agriculture and petroleum infrastructure.

day two hundred one (13. 827)

France pledges to send fighters to Saudi Arabia to help repel Houthi rebels as other members of the alliance, Türkiye and Pakistan, join for an emergency military planning meeting . US sanctions on the entire industry force Iran to cancel some international flights. Tehran’s hardliners express anger and disappointment with Araqchi over meeting directly with Witkoff to layout terms for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz while Pezeshkian says Iran wants America to return to the MoU before the midterm elections. Thousands of demonstrators protest the arrival of Netanyahu and the Israeli delegation in New York, calling for his arrest as a war criminal, causing the prime minister to fly home directly after his short speech to the UN. A judge orders that banned news outlets’ access to the White House to be restored as Trump hosts Xi for a lavish state dinner with tech CEOs.

day one hundred ninety-nine (13. 820)

As expected, previewed per a social media post, Trump’s remarks for the UNGA focused less on international issues and touted his domestic record of tremendous winning—tax cuts, the stock market buoyed by his manipulation, immigration enforcement—briefly making the rounds concerning the joint US-Israeli war of aggression on Iran, justifying it as a long ignored threat and promising to “drive them into Hell” if they don’t capitulate and make a deal, the continuing war Ukraine, pledging it will end, “I think, more quickly than people understand,” defending his actions in Latin America including his kidnapping of Nicólas Maduro and laying claim to Venezuela’s oil wealth, attacks on boats in the Caribbean, securing the border with Mexico and crippling embargo on Cuba (prompting the delegation to leave the floor in protest), his agreement with Denmark on Greenland (the signing ceremony follows shortly after his campaign speech), and the hemispheric bombast concluding with a rejection of “globalist scheme” to control AI with an impromptu and unbidden pitch to call the technology “super intelligence.” Trump declined to join former presidents at the quarter-century observance of the anniversary of 9/11 in NewYork City because he was told he could not make a campaign speech, and we wonder why he was given such a platform at the United Nations. The American president’s unquenchable thirst for attention which left several events without live-, mainstream coverage out of journalistic solidarity after banning three news outlets (wire-services pledging not to post pictures or footage until after midnight, hence the file photo of rants from 2018) from the White House acknowledges the presence of CNN cameras during his lengthy tirade, protesting that the network said that wouldn’t be covering him. The reporter responds that, “The United Nations allowed us in, sir.” He really takes the oxygen out of the room. Macron follows as significant sidebars proceed.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus Trump in talks with the Taliban

two years ago: Bilbo Baggins’ birthday, St Mauritius, first contact plus a presidential assassination attempt (1975)

three years ago: more links to enjoy plus a compact galactic grouping

four years ago: MERS-CoV (2012),  the premier of West Wing (1999), Putin addresses the public and announces a draft plus an early Hobbit computer game

five years ago: assorted links to revisit plus Fiddler on the Roof (1964)

six years ago: Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in state, the last day of summer, even more links plus dazzling skylines made of dot-stickers

seven years ago: exploring the Messel Pit plus a highly idiosyncratic language

eight years ago: rehabilitating coral ecosystems with electricity, an AI makes college course catalogues, typhoon naming conventions plus an M-class exoplanet

 

 

day one hundred ninety-six (13. 811)

Eleven percent of petrol stations in France have run out of fuel. The storage depot at the King Khalid International airport in Riyadh is in flames. Trump’s banishment of CNN and other news outlets is apparently linked to reporting that over-reliance on AI in military planning and picking targets (which resulted in the bombing of a school in Minab on the first day of the first day of the joint Israeli-US war of choice, killing one hundred fifty-six civilians, including one hundred twenty students) that nearly led to the American navy boarding a Chinese vessel in the Gulf, based off faulty intelligence that the ship was transporting equipment for a nuclear centrifuge. Trump again reminds the American public that price at the pump is a small one to pay to ensure that Tehran does not obtain a nuclear weapon as gas and diesel prices climb to new heights, the price not double than the already crippling cost because China tapped its reserves and curbed demand, for pragmatic reasons—and definitely not as a favour but perhaps as leverage, Xi scheduled to meet with the American president next week for a state dinner and trade talks. Cuba faces another nationwide blackout amid continued US blockade.

day one hundred ninety-five (13. 809)

Citing Patriot missile battery shortage, US NATO envoy tells allies to “dig deeper” and contribute more to the common cause. Days after opening a Chinese cyborg factory in the country, Serbia unveils an armed robot dog. South Korea decides there will be no deployment of troops to the Middle East. The Trump administration rejects UN allegations of war crimes and Israelis express displeasure over sanctions imposed by the UK, Canada, Australia and the EU over illegal settlements in the West Bank, continued deaths and demolition in Gaza. As air raid sirens go off in Riyadh and other areas of the kingdom, warning of drone strikes from the Houthis, the US appears to content to watch from the sidelines as the rebels take the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Denmark grants the US permanent control over the security of Greenland in an attempt to save it from annexation.  Trump bans news outlets CNN, Politico and MS Now from reporting on the White House.

talk of the town (13. 801)

For over a decade, David O has been blogging the Manhattan weekly from the beginning in 1925 on a schedule that mirrors when each issue would have gone to print, placing the current posts in the mid-1930s, we learn courtesy of MetaFilter. Though founded as a more sophis-ticated humour magazine originally, distinguished from cornier publications, with reviews and reportage about local happenings, it established itself as a preëminent forum for fiction, essays and long-read journalism after World War II, and has been lauded as an effective conduit for introducing a sizeable readership to modern literature. We didn’t have a stack of back issues at home—National Geographic, yes—but I know I had a subscription at one point and am drawn to any article that revisits an old catalogue or periodicals (I think it was The Awl, also based in New York City that had a regular segment about flipping through magazines from the early 1990s), but this guided tour of editions receding from living memory is even better than sifting through the archives, with context and a bit of history and contemporary analogues, like highlighting the first instance of the Medusa trope for its cartoons followed up with other artists carrying on the tradition through the decades. Scrolling along with Eustace Tilley (see above) a far better use of one’s time with more potential for serendipity than one’s social feeds.

day one hundred ninety-three (13. 799)

An explosive-laden Russian drone veers into Lithuanian airspace. Pentagon inspectors general warn that Operation Epic Fury has severely depleted munition stocks as US congress set to approve an arms package for Israel including forty-thousand heavy bombs. Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi drones launched toward the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. American Space Force admits to having weapons in orbit in violation of international agreements with fears of starting a new arms’ race.

twa 355 (13. 780)

Hijacked on this day in 1976, the domestic flight from LaGuardia to O’Hare in Chicago was taken by a group of five Fighters for Free Croatia to further the independence movement of the constituent state from Yugoslavia. Halfway into the flight, the hijackers stormed the cockpit and directed the plane to Montreal’s Mirabel airport, allowed to refuel after telling authorities that a bomb had been planted in a locker at New York’s Grand Central Station and issued instructions on how to locate and disarm it. Further the group group demanded an appeal for the movement be printed in major American newspapers. The plane was flown to Gander, Newfoundland where an air traffic controller negotiated for the release of thirty-five passengers. Refused permission to land by the UK government in London, the aircraft touched down in Keflavík before traveling to Paris where the hijackers surrendered after talks with US ambassador Kenneth Rush. America writer and activist Julienne Bušić, married to the operation’s mastermind Zvonko Bušić, was hugged by the pilot for her help in keeping the passengers calm during the whole ordeal. Although a New York police officer was killed attempting to dismantle rather than detonate the explosive device planted at the train terminal, the devices on board the airplane were discovered to be fakes. The group of five were sentenced to long terms in prison, minimum of thirty years, for conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy and for the death of the police officer (Julienne Bušić served her time in a correctional facility in Dublin, California along with cellmate Squeaky Fromme, whom was reassigned after several incidents of violence perpetrated by Fromme), though eventually all were remanded to parole in an independent Croatia.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica), a posturepedic bed, AI can’t do clocks plus Russian threatens Finland’s sovereignty 

two years ago: more links to enjoy

three years ago: even more assorted links  

four years ago: Hey Jude (1968), links to enjoy, more telling the bees plus more even more links to revisit

five years ago: St Aubert, the ecological importance of oyster-beds, comparable to coral reefs plus even more links worth revisiting

six years ago: the largest basilica in the world, artist Marianne von Werefkin, a devastating earthquake in Constantinople (1509), the original and the reprised Fresh Prince, burning skies plus Hongkonger neologisms

 

 

day one hundred eighty-six (13. 776)

Maritime drone wars between Russian and Ukraine disrupt Black Sea shipping. Immediately following the departure of US special envoys from the capital, Moscow orders heavy strikes on Kyiv. The US and Iran exchange fire over the Strait of Hormuz and the plan for the shipping corridor again disintegrates and tankers are sunk, sending oil prices over one hundred dollars per barrel. The Revolutionary Guard claiming hits on America naval destroyers and bases in Jordan after the destruction of eight of its commercial vessels. All member states of the EU issue condemnation of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

day one hundred eighty (13. 762)

Whilst the US secretary of state warns of more strikes as the fight over the Strait of Hormuz escalates, Trump says his renewed military campaign won’t last “too long.” Islamabad calls for more dialogue to ease regional tensions. Investor confidence in future performance frayed, the US bond market undergoes a major sell off affecting broader markets and pushing America towards a debt crisis. Republican senator Thom Tillis calls for the removal of secretary of war for creating a “leadership void” during the ongoing conflict with Iran—a war being fought without a chief of the navy and now army, adding the Pentagon director is inept and intimated by competence. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz seeks Trump’s backing for the forced resettlement of Gazans, tantamount to ethnic cleansing.

day one hundred seventy-five (13. 749)

The Revolutionary Guard reasserts that Iran retains firm control over the Strait of Hormuz, despite the American propaganda campaign to the contrary, crafted to deflate energy markets. The US continues its naval blockade of the gulf but diminished munition stocks remain a big concern regarding readiness on this and other fronts. The Supreme Leader, still not seen in public, bans “expressions of weakness” as harms to social cohesion as the IRGC fears more mass protests as the price of staple items double as the war drags on. Washington strikes a deal with Caracas that would secure American control over sixty-five billion barrels from Venezuela’s proven oil reserves. Trump noisily contemplates re-annexing formerly federated countries of the Marshall Islands and Micronesia, adding them to the list of US territories marked New—along with the Strait of Hormuz.

day one hundred seventy-four (13. 745)

Amid calls for Canadians to boycott US travel and exports, Trump signs an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, ignoring the indigenous monicker that predates both settlers and additionally EO aimed at securing America’s bulk-power system, declaring a national emergency to protect the electrical grid by prohibiting non-domestic equipment systems, just as he has restricted foreign built WiFi routers and robots. Moreover, Trump dismisses concerns over a Russian provocation on NATO territory. Moscow threatens the UK following Andy Burnham’s pledging to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles. After mediation from Qatar, Iran’s security chief drafts a list of conditions for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz—adding that the US must first take practical steps to fulfils demands before the waterway is cleared for maritime traffic.

day one hundred seventy-four (13. 743)

The Revolutionary Guard report that Tehran and Muscat have reached a deal on traffic control and revenue sharing for the Strait of Hormuz. A Kuwaiti oil tanker attempting to cross the waterway is fired upon and shipwrecked in the gulf. Crude prices, paradoxically, continue to edge lower despite the total stoppage of flow. US CIA director John Ratcliffe’s unannounced visit to Russia is reportedly to persuade Moscow to join in Operation Economic Outcast and the embargo against Iran (which the US has kept up for the last fifty year with only marginal measures to add)—but undisclosed objectives could be more sinister, like backstabbing Kyiv or requesting a disinformation campaign ahead of the elections or directed at Canadian separatists. Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman heads to Iran for peace talks as Netanyahu tells Trump diplomacy will not work with the Islamic Republic—Israel, with the backing of America, defaults to bellicosity towards its neighbours, never in position to have to play nice or negotiate. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, in defiance of seizure of facilities by Tel Aviv, says it is not giving up operations.

8x8 (13. 740)

and so on and so on and scooby-dooby-dooby: Kermit the Frog joins Dolly Parton for a 1987 appearance on her variety show, performing a duet of “Every Day People”  

young artists after siamesas 1960: US state department orders removal of woke Kehinde Wiley painting (previously) at the Dominican embassy  

pyramid of tirana: a survey of Albania’s built environment spanning sixty years—see previously  

ilulissat icefjord: bracing and heartbreaking timelapse of an iceberg collapsing and rolling over in west-central Greenland—see also 

synodical months: the cultural context of the upcoming August Sturgeon Moon—see previously   

restoration architecture: explore Copenhagen’s urban reform initiatives to conserve its landmarks for sustainable tourism whilst preserving the city’s heritage and character  

free press: Pentagon fires editor-in-chief, dismisses a reporter of independent military newspaper Stars & Stripes following an earlier overhaul to rid the publication of woke distractions 

imagination library: Dolly Parton, giver of books