if art-nouveau and haight-ashbury had a baby or minis by max

Dangerous Minds curates a fabulous tribute to the haute coutre of prodigious and unsinkable (trends and fashions have regrettably moved on but this artist has remained active) Peter Max. Only knowing the Max license for his graphic arts, I was amazed to see this spread—much more at the link, and learn that there’s a whole syndicate of products, clocks, stamps, presidential portraits and even sliced-bread, that Max lent his name and signature style to, which compliment the causes that he has championed.

5x5

turing compleat: two chat-bots chat each other up

field-shower: a wand for washing your dog from all angles at once

spoonerism and bowdlerize: unsung holidays and observances in July

sabbatic goat: Satanic Temple of Detroit to unveil its massive Baphomet (whom the Knights Templar, Masons and the Cathars were accused of worshipping incidentally) statue later this month and take it on the road

driving that train: the Pope will chew coca leaves on his visit to Bolivia to show his support for defusing the mission-spill of the war on drugs

choose wisely

While out on loan, the Nanteos Cup, conflated for around the past century with the Holy Grail, the was stolen last summer but is now returned almost one year later, reports the intrepid Atlas Obscura.
The wooden drinking vessel is reputed to contain a sliver of the True Cross and is imbued with miraculous healing properties and the Welsh Nanteos estate, which it’s named for, will lend it out freely to the sick in hopes of curing them. The Sturm und Drang of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle and Parsifal at the turn of the century was what benighted the cup and made it one more of the several hundred candidates (literal and abstract) found in Europe. Whatever the origin, it is nonetheless quite a treasured cup and a quite massive sting operation was launched in Wales, which led to its recovery, concluding with a shadowy, midnight hand-off.

eine milliarde dollar

As Germany pauses to recognise sixty years since its ascension into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the country’s ministry of defence is pledging to take on a more active role.

Acknowledging that security requires investment, although Germany insofar as being a reliable dues-paying member, protecting national interests could never be called a moocher, Germany will raise its pooled contribution to a billion euro annually, a round two percent of its gross-national output. It’s nothing to slouch at—the sum—of course, and it’s a matter of debate whether NATO remains divisive in a constructive way, but it does seem like a small ransom to bolster native industry, relatively. German maintains a separate, standing peace with the Bundeswehr as do most other coalition members, but such a budgeted outlay (notwithstanding collateral, hidden costs) makes me think of Doctor Evil from Austin Powers initially under-bidding his demands, embarrassingly, and only later to set a price more commiserate with the world after learning of the exponential inflation that had transpired. I suppose that such a commitment, no matter how it’s parsed, would play the same to the German public.