leave the driving to us

Informed via Slashdot that Estonia from 1 July on will make its public mass-transit services essentially fare-free throughout the country—following similar though not encompassing schemes in Paris and Wales—I was relieved to learn that others, even politicians and city-planners, also realise that the future of driver-less, chauffeured transportation has always been with us, even if collective solutions are not as sleek and smug as reinventing the wheel.
Tallinn too has been addressing last-mile conundrums with automated mini-buses to supplement its network as well. Implementation is surprisingly inexpensive, even factoring in on the lost revenue (which might for a time be recouped from tourists), whose blow is dulled by the fact that one can eliminate the administrative cost of managing ticket sales and inspections—not to mention reduced air-pollution, less congestion and increased mobility and self-determination for an ageing rural population.

rallye und rhön-zügle

For certain holiday week-ends, the historic train station in the town of Fladungen (where we’ve often visited in the past for their now discontinued classic car shows but worth a visit any time) will reanimate its fleet (two) of steam locomotives (built in 1924 by the firm Krauss-Maffei in Munich and the only ones of their kind still in operation) and antique Reichsbahn passenger cars for fun little short-haul whistle-stop tours.
We boarded for a journey to Ostheim and back, a stretch of road that we were familiar with but never quite from this perspective and pace, plus it was interesting to see the feats of practised engineering and mechanical dexterity that went into pulling of the operation and prompted one to reflect on what a revolutionary marvel that such an engine would have been when it first went into service.
It was a funny coincidence that we were best acquainted with Fladungen through an auto show that was no longer held and went next to see an assortment of classic cars reach the finish line (we were not sure who was in the pole-position but I guess it just counted if one could finish intact) and present themselves for inspection in the Kurpark of Bad Kissingen down the road a bit.
The storied spa town has been hosting the Sachs Franken Classic since 2000 in conjunction with Bad Kissingen’s twelve hundredth year since its first documented mentioned and the race, sponsored by ZF (Zahnradfabrik—Gear Factory—but also a mostly-owned subsidiary of Zeppelin Foundation, a manufacturer of automotive parts) runs through the region’s forests and vineyards, and it was inspiring in both instances that with maintenance and care such artefacts can remain active parts of the community.

diploma mills

Though not expressly a campaign promise, to undermine yet another aspect of the legacy of President Obama Trump halted the wide-ranging investigation instigated by his predecessor into the predatory practises of for-profit colleges, universities and trade-schools.
Not only will the dead-end schools that offer worthless degrees, engender no sense of collegiality and charge exorbitant, indenturing tuition fees deferred through federal loan programmes (which are no longer tax deductible) that’s essentially a subsidy for the private school industry—like giant retailors who profit through corporate welfare, paying their employees less than a living wage and relying on government aid to keep labour-costs artificially low, their being allowed to continue defrauding the government takes important funding away from struggling public schools and other cultural and educational programmes—not to mention inflating a market bubble whose inevitable implosion is to no one’s benefit.

pfingsten

Today is the Feast of the Pentecost (Pfingsten, previously)—coming ten days after the Feast of the Assumption (Christi Himmelfahrt, a Thursday observance that’s translated into Fathers’ Day in Germany and a long weekend)—which marks what many to believe is the foundational moment of the Church when the Holy Ghost again descends and speaks to His followers.
We have in our front garden what are known as Pfingstrosen (peony in English and named for Paeon the hapless physician’s apprentice of Asclepius who had a bit of an ego problem and did not want to see the student surpassing the teacher, and was turned into a flower by Zeus to protect him from the healer’s wrath) because they bloom around the time of movable feast—too soon but maybe they’ll open up later today.
This year Pentecost—from the Greek for the fifty(ish) day after Passover—coincides with the saint day of Lucifer of Cagliari, a fourth century bishop of Sardinia, who as a staunch orthodox and fighter against Arianism would be pleased to see that the tripartite being of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost has endured—rather than the heretical belief that Jesus was God’s son and not eternal and coterminous with the divine. While many appreciated Lucifer’s fervent support for one, united theological front, others regarded him as an abrasive bully who did not allow freedom in interpretation. Enjoying fine strawberries on Pfingsten, which we’ll do later, is said to signal a good year for wine.

star-bellied sneetch

I’d venture that the internet will already have moved beyond this one virulent moment to the next that that makes us reinstate our tribalism and appeal to objective reality, and perhaps the Yanny/Laurel debate (more on auditory hallucinations here) is like anything else in wide circulation and is meant to glean data off us dum-dums, but it probably does bear repeating what we know of the architecture of choice and anticipation (more on suggestibility here) that might limn our decisions in one seemingly irreconcilable way over another.
Our perceptions and memories can drive wedges between groups of people who process the same ploy or appeal in vastly different ways—usually without great consequence like that dress (plus the science behind it) or how one remembers the Berenstein Bears (called the Mandela Affect), but rather than make us cower in doubt of the sturdiness of our senses, we should rather be willing to question our basic assumptions and cultivate more empathy—especially when the stakes are complex and demand attention and effort. One can hear either Yanny or Laurel because the synthesised voice is saying both and neither and one should not let illusion assume and assign membership, including one’s own affiliation.