summum bonum (13. 658)

Via a losing lawsuit against the Utah state liquor board (see also)—with no official roles of membership kept, the syncretic church that combines Gnostic beliefs with ancient Egyptian polytheism estimates its adherents at a quarter of a million by volume of wine bottles sold—we are introduced to the religious movement founded in 1975 by Claude “Corky” Nowell after an encounter with supernatural beings described as “Summa Individuals.” Unlike sacramental wine, authorities in Nowell’s home town of Salt Lake City, ruled that the “nectar” had too high of a proof—despite the fact, as Nowell argued, it had been produced in a pyramid and was imbued with sacred messages, resonances that impart different spiritual concepts, which aid in meditative practise, the eleven percent alcohol content said to cross the blood-brain barrier and led to enlightenment. Though contracted out to California producers for since 1983 until 2008, Summum’s “publication” branch ultimately prevailed and obtained a winery license, becoming the first federally bonded vintner in the state. Drawing from early twentieth century writings on neo-alchemy and spiritualism, Nowell, also known as Summun Bonum—after Cicero’s concept of the highest good—Amon Ra and later Chucky Ra, founded the movement to share his gift of revelation, arguing that the only path to knowledge lay in revelatory experience and not through intellect or obedience. The church also practises mummification as a way to guide one’s essence post-death to a higher plane—offering this service to any who seek it for spiritual reasons, and pets, with a suggested donation.  The founders mummy is inside the pyramid.  Following its precept that “The voice of wisdom is silent except to the open mind,” Summum has reinterpreted the Ten Commandments as the Seven Aphorisms, believing humanity has evolved since the time of Bible enough for a more sophisticated reading—which the movement also unsuccessfully lobbied to be publicly displayed along side Mosaic law, maybe Summum will win in the end on this case too. As above, so below.

line of succession (13. 638)

Based on the novel of the same name by Irving Wallace with screenplay by Rod Serling (previously), the Paramount release starring James Earl Jones, Burgess Meredith and Barbara Rush, the political drama debuted in US theatres on this day in 1972. The first in an aspirational cinematic trope of casting distinguished Black actors as the American president, taking place thirty-six years before the real world occurrence, Jones portraying Douglass Dilman, interviewed just prior to the inauguration of Barack Obama expressed disappointment in the project that he wished what was originally slated as a made-for-tv movie had been given more thought and budget to fully realise its significance, as president pro tempore of the US senate is elevated to high office, as also the first unelected individual, nor in capacity of the vice-presidency, through a series of unforeseen events. This secondary plot point foreshadowing the elevation of Gerald Ford in lease than two years after the film’s premiere. In attendance at a summit in Frankfurt in West Germany, the president and house speaker are killed in a building collapse. Suffering from a terminal illness that was heretofore undisclosed to the public, the vice president—played by Lew Ayres, Dr Kildare and the protagonist German Solider of All Quiet on the Western Front, refuses the job, with the secretary of state, played by William Windom (district attorney Horace Gilmer in To Kill a Mockingbird and with reoccurring roles on Murder, She Wrote and Commodore Matt Decker on Star Trek, voicing Uncle Chuck in Sonic the Hedgehog), dispelling the popular but false belief that his cabinet position makes him the designated survivor. These seeming allies do not set up Dilman for success and conspire to make his shortcomings and scandals overtures to the party and electorate to strengthen their campaigns. The promotional taglines were “It took an accident to make this man President of the United States. What they do to him now won’t be an accident, “The First Black President of the United States. First They Swore Him In. Then They Swore to Get Him,” and “Fate thrust him into the biggest job in the world...President of the United States. Now he wonders if he's big enough to do it.”

day one-hundred thirty-three (13. 622)

Facing international backlash, just like over his arbitrary and vacillating tariff regime, Trump walked back his plan to impose twenty percent transit fees on all cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz, turning to investment deals in the gulf to help offset costs of policing the waterways. US strikes continue with explosions reported on Qeshm Island and the deployment of submarine drones—threatening to bomb bridges, highways and power plants over stalled talks, whilst Iran continues aerial assaults against Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. New sanctions against the Iranian shadow financial network by America are announced. The governor of South Carolina appoints Lindsay Graham’s sister to serve out his term as the governor of Kentucky demands an in person interview with Mitch McConnell and a medical assessment, wanting to make his own appointment should McConnell be unable to return to the senate chamber.

day one-hundred thirty-three (13. 619)

Claiming that the strait separating the Persia from the Omani gulf is open and will “remain” so “with or without Iran,” Trump announced that the USA will reinstate the IRANIAN BLOCKADE and issues assurances that all other countries will have fair and open use of the vital waterway, with the USA henceforth known as the “‘The GUARDIANS OF THE HORMUZ,’ but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World.” Not only is Trump ignorant of the fact that his actions have caused the regional and global turmoil and an insult to the gulf partner nations hosting American military bases under attack, the transit fees are more than ten times higher than the tolls Tehran charged and the US has pronounced a toll on international waters to be illegal under international law. Iran’s foreign ministry announces that diplomacy has failed and is under no obligation to adhere to the framework of the MOU after the blatant violations of the US. Following the unexpected death of senate colleague Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell supposedly issues a statement as a sign of life, complete with a still photograph showing him reclining in his hospital bed, his wife at his side and reading the sports section of today’s Washington Post, like how a kidnapper would send a date-stamped ransom picture with the hostage holding up a newspaper.

count binface (13. 611)

Regretful that UK politics has been forced to the back of the queue lately what with everything else going on the world, I was a bit grateful to find entree with British scriptwriter, comedian and so called novelty candidate—though in the tradition of Lord Buckethead and Screaming Lord Sutch, dismissed at one’s peril, Jonathan David Harvey—standing against Boris Johnson multiple times for different offices (under his previous persona), Liz Truss, Andy Burham (centre) and now running against Nigel Farage in the by-election of the parliamentary constituency of the Reform UK leader, Clacton-on-Sea in Essex. Self-described as an intergalactic space warrior and commander of the Recyclons (like a Dr Who baddie but with the best intentions, championing true social reform, environmental stewardship and returning broadcast teletext), Binface chiefly campaigns to increase voter engagement and is not a serious contender for party leadership, though managing to unseat a candidate from their home county, he would certainty put the breaks on the career progression of his opponent. Facing controversy over his finances and allegations of taking ￡5 000 000 bribe, Farage “resigned” to contest the results before voting—technically a member of the House of Commons cannot resign, they can only face indignity, death or defeat, though a longstanding legal fiction, Farage was appointed as the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, a procedural device to circumvent this restriction, by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Appointment to a crown office disqualifies one from membership in Parliament, and this limbo usually is intended only for those tendering their resignations and not a staging area for a comeback.

9x9 (13. 600)

we don’t need anybody’s help but before i asked they said they wouldn’t be there: Trump airs classic grievances upon his arrival for the NATO summit in Ankara 

artisanal work culture: beekeeping, baking and candlestick-making as rebellion and a shift to the approach of skilled trade  

you don’t have to blog like me: just write  

project 2029: the crusade against the annoyance economy   

cheddaring: a cheese heist and other organised food crimes  

confessions of a dachsund: these videos were a little less David Attenborough and a little more Baby Reindeer  

rollerena: NYC’s queer fairy godmother  

doomjobbing: an employment system trusted by no one 

bel:usa: America out of the World Cup play-offs after excoriating defeat by Belgium

bicentenary (13. 588)

Culminating on this day in 1976, a decade in planning and preceded by numerous events, both sanctioned and unsanctioned by the US government including the Boston Oil Party, when objects symbolising the petroleum industry were tossed in the city’s harbour to promote environmental justice and declare independence from polluting corporations and Richard Nixon was hanged in effigy, elected representatives reenacted the first Continental Congress, a state visit by the Queen, the Freedom Train made a circuit of the nation and a time-capsule opened, America celebrated its the beginning of its third century, focused on themes of renewal and rebirth, recently have endure the Watergate scandal and the Fall of Saigon. The logo was designed by Bruce Blackburn, who also modernised the NASA insignia (see also here and here). The bicentennial parade in Philadelphia was lead by grand marshal Johnny Cash and the US space agency unveiled its first test vehicle in its line of space shuttles—originally to be christened the Constitution in honour of the anniversary but renamed Enterprise due to popular demand.   Fifty years on, the holiday will probably be marked with the end of the fourteenth and seventeenth amendments, reversing birth-right citizenship and direct voting for senatorial representation.

synchronoptica

one year ago: another cosmic interloper (with synchronoptica) plus One Big Beautiful Bill 

two years ago:  the introduction of the Caesar salad (1925) plus the waterfalls of Mount Cuvignone

three years ago: David Bowie’s Station to Station, My Country ’Tis of Thee plus forgotten American mascots

four years ago: an ancient nebula 

five years ago: occupied Austria plus local flora 

six years ago: American Top 40 (1970), Nixon’s Honor America Day plus the superlative of free

9x9 (13. 585)

hospitalithings: a quiet, meticulous observation of common objects found in lodgings—via Nag on the Lake  

aka vlogging: Hank Green interviews Ze Frank (previously) about the YouTube format he pioneered, advising discomfort to put ideas out into the world—via Waxy  

yes, yes, very good—thank you for self-identifying as a short-sighted rube and saving us the trouble: the US constitution us for simple folk still burdened by the belief that words have meaning  

llog: Victor Henry Mair, sinologist and frequent Language Log contributor has passed away, aged 83  

new posting: an interactive map charting the careers of civil servants managing the bureaucracy of the British Empire—via Map Mania  

alignment chart: a cross-over of Chekhov’s Gun, Schrödinger’s Cat, Occam’s Razor and Murphy’s Law

in an instant: the last Polaroid factory in the world is in the Dutch town of Enschede 

bilberry buns: a Polish pastry gets its own holiday  

ozzy’s ozzy is a unique case: observations from a celebrity impersonator cruise—via Kottke 

from vanity to insanity (13. 582)

The preliminary findings of a Democrat-led House subcommittee have been published in a report that the Trump administration staged a hostile takeover of America’s semiquincentennary celebration to promote political ideology, self-enriching pet projects, the harvesting voter data and white Christian nationalism through a shadow corporation embedded within the Nation Parks Foundation, which hijacked the agenda from the independent, non-partisan and non-profit commission established by congress in 2016 to plan and execute the event. Charted as a wholly owned subsidiary under the parks foundation charity for public remove, Trump’s Freedom 250 sustained a relentless pressure campaign against America250 to hijack the anniversary for personal enrichment through transparent fraud and dissimilitude and selling access to the president, his Praetorian guard given a bonus in lieu of overtime with crypto-coins issued by the family crime syndicate and the same firm that organised the January Sixth rally being awarded contracts for July Fourth related events. Meanwhile, after the supreme court affirmed birthright citizenship, the acting attorney general directed prosecutors and law enforcement officers to monitor pregnant non-citizens and to try to prevent them from giving birth on US soil and whilst attending the opening of the Teddy Roosevelt presidential library (skipping Obama’s) quizzed the AI-generated hologram of Old Rough and Ready about the Panama Canal and lied to the press, whom had just witnessed the exchange, about how it went.

day one-hundred twenty-one (13. 576)

The Qatari foreign ministry confirms that no high-level meeting between US and Iranian officials is scheduled to take place in Doha over the coming days despite the arrival of envoys Kushner and Witkoff, Tehran saying it is currently not negotiating with Washington in any capacity and will not resume talks until violence ends in Lebanon. Concerned over increased executions has prompted French lawmakers to sponsor individual death-row political prisoners, whilst German intelligence services find that Iran is spying on opposition activists domestically.

birthright citizens’ brigade (13. 573)

On the final day of the judicial session before summer recess, the US supreme court, in a six to three ruling delivered a sharp rebuke to Trump’s long-standing interpretation of the constitution, rejecting the executive order issued on the first day of his second term which sought to bar citizenship, against the guarantees of the XIV. amendment, for babies born on US territory of parents in the country without legal status or who are living or working here only temporarily. Chief justice John Roberts, writing the majority opinion, contended that the legislation adopted during reconstruction after the civil war purposefully defined citizenship broadly as a buffer against those who wanted a more limited and narrow standard of who counts, and does not apply only to recently the emancipated enslaved and their descendants according to legal norms and precedent that have held for over one hundred sixty years since its enactment. The only substantive legal challenge, the court cited, reaffirmed this understanding with the 1898 case of Wong Kim Ark, a young cook in Chinatown born and raised in San Francisco, to Chinese immigrant parents—who were undocumented as no documentation was required at the time. Ark’s parents eventually returned to China with their son visiting them and denied reentry upon his return to California on the grounds Ark was not a citizen, a claim disputed all the way up to the supreme court with Ark winning his appeal at another juncture in history when sentiment against outsiders was very high and the Chinese exclusion act just coming into force. The amendment itself was in reproach to the odious Dred Scot decision that said persons of African heritage could not be citizens, vacating the previous ruling and denying it was “blood and not soil” that make an American. Conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch filed dissenting opinions, premised mostly on the argument that children of foreigners have split and competing allegiances.  The court should not be given much credit, however, for siding on justice in this instant with all the other regressive stances they have affirmed lately.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Quiberon peninsula (with synchronoptica)

two years ago: the Holy Mountain of Varese

three years ago: US supreme court nullifies Biden student loan forgiveness plan plus the Night of the Long Knives (1934)

four years ago: International Asteroid Day, Snake Island, documenta 5 plus assorted links to revisit

five years ago: more links to enjoy plus leap seconds 

six years ago: France’s video-text service, Wuthering Heights, a Dadaist art exhibition (1920) plus a failed world car prototype

9x9 (13. 570)

general magic: an ambitious project to create the smart phone (see below) in the early 1990s failed over lack of constraint and too much freedom, not lack of vision, talent or technology

odyssey: charting the great journeys of fiction—see also  

humphrey’ executor: US supreme court strikes down federal laws that prevent the president from firing heads of (some) independent agencies—see previously  

don’t swear jerry—and don’t bleed in the sink, i’ve just cleaned it: actor and comedian Penelope Keith has died, aged 89  

🧸: Nuigurumi Jinja (Plushie Shire) dedicated in northern Kyoto for honouring beloved stuffed animals—see also here and here 

keedoozle: the grocery store vending machine of the 1930s 

 île de peliz: the solitary natural islet of Lake Geneva, with room for a plane tree  

hypergraphia: history’s most prolific writers 

how about this: 1960s housewife and the pocket phone of the future

synchronoptica

one year ago:  a walk along the beach at Gârves (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: a visit to the Rocco di Caldè 

three years ago: animatronic Trump, an updated We Didn’t Start the Fire plus US supreme court strikes down affirmative action for college admissions

four years ago: goodwill ambassador Samantha Reed Smith 

five years ago: cartoonist Thornton Hee plus a record-setting Van Gogh auction (1987)

six years ago: Quo Vadis,  the feast of SS Peter and Paul, the debut of the iPhone (2007), a chiptune classic, exotic crisps plus Japanese train station jingles

spoiler candidate (13. 568)

Reminiscent of the 2021 general elections in the Duma with an incumbent facing two similarly named individuals, Alaska Public Media is reporting on the decision vacated and reversed by the state’s superior court that allows retired Petersburg (see above) school teacher Dan Sullivan to stand in the race for US senator as challenger to office holder Dan Sullivan. Both registered to the Republican party, with only different middle initials, the Alaska Division of Elections originally decided that the candidate’s bid did not meet good-faith criteria and was designed to misguide voters (intimating that Sullivan prime, with a nearly identical campaign website, was a sock-puppet sponsored by Democrats) but absent proof and a lack of objective standards for political scruples, the judge was compelled to void the board’s determination and let both Sullivans be on the ballot. The opposition denies recruiting the retiree for the midterm elections with control of congress at stake and the GOP seemingly poised to forfeit their vanishingly narrow majority.

drawn & quarterly (13. 567)

As an encore to his ambitious 2020 treatment of the US constitution, as a demonstration of the power of comics and cartoons to help make the unreadable more approachable and engaging, through a host of classic characters and styles, artist R Sikoryak publishes his Declaration / Emancipation Illustrated just in time for America’s semiquincentennial, addressing the country’s two foundational documents in the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Emancipation Proclamation (1863). More from Print magazine at the link above, including an interview with the author.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Château de Suscinio (with synchronoptica) plus an ensemble of monumental burial mounds

two years ago: a visit to the Borromean islands 

three years ago: assorted links to enjoy plus Dark Side of the Moon x Wizard of Oz

four years ago: more links worth the revisit plus bombshell testimony for January Sixth hearing

five years ago: the Body Language Academy, the International Criminal Court (1993), more pageantry from Weird Universe plus practical stenography

six years ago: Goldman Sans, a masculinity simulator, Martian meteors plus a complete catalogue of one’s stuff

9x9 (13. 563)

pennsylvania dutch: an ethnographic profile of the Deitsch speaking Amish—see also  

it’s 1100 pm—do you know where your ai agent is: Janelle Shane (previously) on agentic artificial intelligence, vibe-coding and the need for guardrails  

hunshandake sandy land: battling creeping desertification with an army of chickens 

ethnic cleansing: US supreme court rules that the country can refuse asylum-seekers at the border and can begin the deportation of Syrian and Haitian refugees under temporary protected status        

⚙️⚙️⚙️🦑⚙️⚙️⚙️: manoeuvre your marine mollusc through an environment resembling dungeon levels from Zelda with Bubble Bobble type puzzles—via MetaFilter  

rainbow plaques: an alternative to Blue historical markers appear across London, honouring LGTBQ+  personages

final descent: the iconic airliner, the Boeing 747, is being phased out 

jerry’s world: a map of an imaginary land limned over decades using a deck of cards for procedural generation—see also  

despicable me: the influence of Minionese on the slang of Gen Alpha—see previously

day one-hundred fourteen (13. 549)

US senate narrowly votes to halt conflict in Iran without congressional authorisation, though Trump is expected to veto the war powers resolution. The US president announces that IAEA nuclear inspectors will go to Iran at “an appropriate time”—Tehran countering the claims on commitments made earlier by Trump and Vance, whilst secretary of state Rubio maintains that Hormuz must remain toll-free as UN takes action to evacuate sailors stranded in the Strait. Russia puts the annexed territory of Crimea under lockdown as a swarm of drones approaches. Belarus strives to remain neutral after Kiev issues an ultimatum and warms of consequences.

you made this? (13. 530)

Knowing it was ongoing project, I was not completely surprised to see references to John Koenig’s Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows circulating on the internet but we did not realise that the revival was not due to a reissue or a follow up edition by the author but rather an act of wholesale plagiarism. Whilst nonsensically including the entire text of the book and all his neologisms for universally felt emotions that we don’t have the words to express (not the best marketing strategy to sell a book), the slick impostor website, which includes blurbs and a biography and links to purchase the dictionary, absent were any of the illustrations to accompany the definitions, instead replaced with unpolished AI-generated images and a feature to gin up a new sorrow with the help of GPT-4—which seemed pretty off-brand for the writer and the attempt to limn lacunas of human experience. Every submitted sorrow is a bit rubbish and unneeded with fussy and overcomplicated etymologies and pronunciation guides (see also). Andy Baio of Waxy got in touch with Koenig and tracks down the mystery of this unauthorised “tribute” site. Vibe coded, I suspected that this might have been a case of spontaneous generation but arguably more tragic, malicious and pervasive, the bootleg site siphoning off profits from another’s creativity is a marketing agency feeling entitled. There ought to be a word for this sad state.

10x10 (13. 523)

nine days in june: landmark US supreme court decisions of years past and upcoming cases during this busy time of the year  

mcmodernslopecore: AI-generated architecture—via Miss Cellania  

photovoltaic: a brief tutorial on how solar panels work—via Kottke  

linguist fingerprints: every AI talks with an accent  

i am not on harry mudd’s client list—stop talking about it, i don’t even know him: the Federation’s war with the Romulans was a total success 

defender of the realm: profiles of medieval warrior women  

dialog society: a trove of leaked documents reveals the activities of Peter Thiel’s secretive cult, prepping for WWIII with a breeding programme—see previously  

spacex: a plan to deploy a million satellites in Earth orbit would ruin the night sky for everyone  

parc güell: Antoni Gaudí’s 1926 failed housing estate has become one of Barcelona’s public spaces  

51st state: rural Illinois citizens petition to eject Chicago and split into two polities—see also 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the G7 in Alberta and the Israeli-Iran war (with synchronoptica) plus the Trump phone 

two years ago: a synthesiser performance piece , OJ Simpson flees police (1994) plus tragic children’s names

three years ago: NASCAR celebrates Pride plus a werewolf exorcism (1983)

four years ago: Star Trek: TAS retcon, the Watergate break-in (1972) plus assorted links to revisit

five years ago: Iceland reforms its naming rules, ASCII standards published (1963), the musical stylings of the Sons of Kemet plus calendrical dating formats

six years ago: US supreme court erodes the Civil Rights Act, the East German uprising of 1953, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls plus Trump sues to stop publication of a tell-all exposé

bechbretha (13. 506)

The codex of customary law, fénechas, in medieval Ireland included quite a sophisticated and substantial register of “bee-judgments,” as apiculture was recognised on par with other forms of animal husbandry, requiring regulation and legislation. The concept of justice under Brehon legal traditions privileged the restorative, remunerative and rectifying behaviour over the punitive and provided a framework for the plaintiff and defendant to work out compensation for injuries sustained—whether from an errant sting or bee-trespass, supposedly pilfering a neighbour’s nectar, or stolen hives. More from The Conversation at the link above.

public law 119-98 (13. 503)

Concluding a record-breaking agency shutdown of one hundred fifteen days, with lawmakers withholding money from immigration and customs enforcement hoping to pressure the weaponised bureau to reform after the death of two American citizens, congress, by the slimmest of margins along party lines voted to fund ICE and its parent department of Homeland Security. Arguably worse and further reaching than the Democrats securing no concessions to curb the agency’s thuggery and predatory practises, however, is the way the legislation was passed: with negotiations deadlocked, the GOP moved to sideline the Democrats entirely, bypassing the usual funding process of annual appropriations that require department heads to submit their yearly budget request and argue it before the competent congressional committee—a process that guarantees more oversight on the part of lawmakers—and giving DHS a three-year budget package that will last through the end of Trump’s term, seventy-billion dollars, through a process called reconciliation, an expedited parliamentary procedure used primarily safeguard presidential policy priorities, like the Big Beautiful Bill or Biden’s environmental laws or domestic microchip production, but not to fund government programmes out of cycle from being dismantled by the opposition. The Secure America Act was sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham and signed by Trump immediately upon passage. With only a vanishingly small majority in the House and Senate, more departments and activities favoured by Trump—or the next administration—under this precedent could turn to reconciliation to keep budgets unbeholden going forward and nullify the minority’s ability to leverage influence through a lapse of appropriations.