jumping jehoshaphat

As if it weren’t inflammatory enough for the United States to unilaterally declare Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel and symbolically transform its consulate into an embassy, the controversial recognition is being aired by the United Nations’ General Assembly, who’ve resolved to put the decision to a vote—mostly likely of condemnation, that’s only baiting the UN into the hands of thugs and bullies.
Trump’s fawning ombudsman, and not for the first time, has pledged to take careful note of how each member votes and suggests that not only will the United States begrudge those who cross it foreign aid (which of course is not a charitable contribution but something that the US does to further its own interests, which includes regional stability) but that sovereign states might consider showing their solidarity by moving their respective diplomatic missions to Jerusalem as well. While I am confident that this effort to strong-arm the international community to legitimise Trump’s ill-conceived statecraft, it’s painfully awkward that his narcissism has brought us here and some administrations (either opportunistic or stymied) may have excised their option to voice dissent.

standseilbahn

Residents of the car-free Alpine village of Stoos are now able to make the steep but direct, time-saving descent into the valley and the town of Schwyz in central Switzerland. Construction and planning of this stretch of funicular railway took over fourteen years and there are special gyroscopic carriages on the locomotive to ensure that passengers remain at a comfortable, upright position even when the gradient surpasses ninety degrees. Be sure to check out the link above for more information and some video footage of what must be a thrilling ride.

yearbook

Though perhaps not the finest, challenging or most emotionally-wrenching moments of the past year, we did appreciate this curated gallery of photographs from the Atlantic that truly lives up to the label of the most 2017 images ever. There’s been a lot this year we could really do with less of in the next. There are certainly some iconic—rather unforgettable moments and movements captured here. What else would you include? If you we making a time-capsule to explain this time to future generations, what says 2017 like nothing else?

opinion polling

First spotted on Boing Boing where one can find other vexillographic specimens which do seem to be uniquely designed according to ones answers but I am unsure how true to heraldic principles the elements are, Politiscales presents users with a battery of one hundred and seventeen questions (rather long for a survey but it is comprehensive and you get a sense of commitment to plough through) and at the end, analyses one’s political leanings, rating one’s outlooks on globalism versus nativism, revolution versus reformism, etc. I could not tell if afterwards whether or not one could tweak their scores and have a slightly different flag and national motto assigned to them. You should give it a whirl and share your results. I don’t know if I’m satisfied with mine—it does not seem particularly woke nor the banner of a vaguely Jesus-y bon vivant that I might be described as. I think I’ll give it another go and attend more closely to the questions and think about how views-expressed can be reified as a standard-bearer.