day two hundred two (13. 830)

Tusk offers financial incentives to Trump to expand American military presence in Poland. Pezeshkian offers to dilute its stockpiles of enriched uranium and allow international inspectors into Iran if the US returns to the conditions of the MoU, Tehran presenting a seven-day roadmap to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Clashes continue between the Saudis and Houthis. Israel bulldozes more villages in southern Lebanon. The US continues to mull an export ban on diesel fuel. German Bundestag agrees to cut fuel taxes.

8x8 (13. 824)

claudefishing: AI slop is a new kind of creative poverty  

saint-pierre-et-miquleon: Mark Carney meets with Emmanuel Macron on the small French overseas territorial collective, which once toyed with the idea of joining the United States, just off the coast of Newfoundland  

soundscape: avian vocalisations can boost one’s mood but the positive effects are negated by traffic noise  

an imperfect analogy: what lessons nuclear proliferation treaties have for AI containment  

jefferies tubes: the first physical model of the Enterprise finds a home at the MIT museum  

old dog, new tricks: OK Go’s “White Knuckles” video sixteen yearrs on—see previously  

apostolic journey: the Pope’s upcoming to France includes a stop in Metz to pay tribute to Robert Schuman, one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union  

sunshine superman: understanding intention, agnosticism and the new uncanny valley

 synchronoptica

one year ago: a thwarted assassination attempt led to an involuntary outing (with synchronoptica), carbon-dating plus Donald in Mathmagic Land (1961)

two years ago: the Tanaka Memorial of 1927  

three years ago: a musical montage from DJ Earworm, an exhibition of antique home entertainment, assorted links to revisit plus The Love Boat (1977)

four years ago: more links to enjoy,  Our Lady of Mercy plus even more links

five years ago: assorted links to revisit plus punctuation appreciation day

six years ago: Pope Liberius, more links worth revisiting plus the 1976 Swine Flu outbreak

seven years ago: Trump pressures Ukrainian authorities for dirt on his apparent political opponent, more synthetic models, UK courts rule that the suspension of Parliament was an abuse of power plus variations on Misirlou

eight years ago: an atlas of remote islands, theatrics trumps discourse, and more and more links plus twenty-seven songs about the twenty-seven amendments to the US constitution

 

day one hundred ninety-eight (13. 818)

Lawmakers is Iran draft legislation to pull the country out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty whilst issuing stark warnings to the US following Trump’s prognosis of options available for ending the conflict are either total obliteration, economic rot or reaching a deal that suggest a fresh wave of military strikes. Tehran promises to retaliate “without limitations,” the Revolutionary Guard saying that the USA lacks the courage and resolve to defeat the Islamic Republic and the world will be “astounded” by Iran’s new weapons. Just as the White House East Wing renovations and the ballroom were a cover for an apocalypse grade bunker, the American president reveals that he plans for his triumphal arch in the capital to host a den of snipers and drones—ostensibly for defensive purposes but likely to quell riots. Trump sanctions the entire staff AfD secures a bald majority in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern but has no options of forming a state government. IDF carry out strikes in Lebanon’s Tyre district and enter Syria. European jet fuel imports fall by half with serious shortages expected.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica), American Idiot plus a banger from Earth, Wind & Fire

two years ago: Weird Al parodies Bob Dylan with palindromes plus more gerrymandering 

three year ago: grieving the loss of dark skies 

four years ago:  Ba-Dee-Ya, Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible, more on the US Space Force plus a collection of manhole covers

five years ago: an advertisement for Ivermectin 

six years ago:  the Order of the Smile, The Hobbit (1937), the legacy of colonial goods stores, alternative chess plus wide-scale money laundering

seven years ago: The Far Side returns plus more Earth, Wind and Fire

eight years ago: assorted links to revisit, a sexy Handmaiden costume for Halloween plus Dial-a-Song

 

day one hundred ninety (13. 789)

As deadly Russian strikes hit all corners of Ukraine, Zelenskyy offers to meet with Putin at the upcoming G20 conference to be held in Miami. Moscow disinters the remains of a fourteenth century sainted warrior prince Dmitry Donskoi, who expelled Mongol-Tartar forces from western Russian, and distributes the relics to all corners of the country to boost the war effort. Iraq seizes an Iranian drone launching platform used to disable the Saudi East-West pipeline. The US navy attacks an Iranian commercial vessel near Qeshm Island, killing one crew member. Yemeni government forces exchange fire with the Houthi in attempt to wrest back control of the Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint in the Red Sea, the rebels having taken the strategically important island of Perim. A parliamentary spokesperson says that the Islamic Republic will withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and revise the doctrine for its programme accordingly. Tehran and Muscat reach agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz but there will be no action taken until the US proves that it will comply with the terms of the MOU. Visiting the taoiseach, Trump advocates for a united Ireland.  The IDF continues to shell southern Lebanon. A documentary on Israel’s use if artificial intelligence to target Palestinians in Gaza receives a twenty-five minute long at its debut at the Venice Film Festival. Anthropic restricts Iran’s use of Claude under the aegis of Operation Economic Outcast, saying it used the chatbot to spread propaganda and spy on dissidents.

day one hundred eighty-two (13. 767)

The Norwegian Sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, announces it will divest itself of US treasury holdings as the American debt crisis presents as a more and more likely scenario. Diesel in the States surpasses the brief previous record high after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian strikes hit Ukrainian security services headquarters in Kyiv—prompting Washington to dispatch its favoured fail-sons, Kushner and Witkoff, to Moscow to de-escalate the situation and propose a peace deal. Sea drone warfare intensifies in the Black Sea. After expropriating Venezuela’s oil, Trump returns to the Donroe Doctrine of hemispheric dominance, resuming attacks on fishing boats with chatter about an assault on Cuba. Argentina sanctions oil production in the Falklands, proposing a Hong Kong-style handover of the UK territory. The Pentagon subjects fifty staff members to polygraph tests over supposed leaks concerning the progress of the war in Iran. Seventeen tankers assemble on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz to attempt passage under US naval escort. The American president repeats the threat from July to strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain (Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La) the site of the heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The administration is pressuring Turkish banks to join Operation Economic Outcast, insisting this request is not a judgment on the NATO ally.

day one hundred seventy-one (13. 735)

Though the admission by Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian that his country was facing financial hardships might be seen as weakness and a sign that the US economic pressure campaign is working, it is only an honest expression of the realities of war and a stark counter point to Trump’s attitude—far from affirming it—that dismisses the pains of Americans and insists that expensive gas is a small price to buy to ensure Tehran never obtains a nuclear weapon. In his overtures to North Korea, Pyongyang so far giving the American president the cold shoulder, Trump disclosed the amount of warheads the country has, fifty-seven, and thus an arms race for the atomically ambitious to achieve that floor in order to have a deterrent against the US and Trump’s largess. After a month’s long deployment detour US refuelling planes leave Bulgaria after other NATO countries refused them quarter to persecute the war in Iran—and following explicit threats from Tehran. Pakistan’s army chief is flying to Iran in hopes of breaking the impasse in talks as the Islamic Republic threats maritime traffic passing the Strait of Hormuz with fines and detention, vowing that the war will not be settled under the aggressors’ conditions.

day one hundred sixty-nine (13. 726)

Trump says that he already considers the Strait of Hormuz part of the US as the world balks against the America president’s push for all nations to join in on imposing economic sanctions on Iran or face severe consequences—Iran calling it a global “declaration of war” and undermining sovereignty. Trump further requests another meeting with Kim Jong Un though Pyongyang denies that there are any talks of talks scheduled. A special UN rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories condemns the IDF as “most immoral” following the latest killings in the West Bank by violent settlers and the killing of police officers in Gaza. Houthis claim more drone hits on Saudi oil facilities and airports. Though no oil tankers have transited the Persian gulf in days, the US spins a counter-narrative, suggesting either wholesale detachment from reality or shuttling a shadow fleet. The Panama Canal limits traffic due to low water levels caused by El Niño as inland shipping across Europe falters due to drought conditions.   As Canada refuses to acquiesce to all of Trump’s trade demands, the US re-imposes a fifty-percent tariff on exports, Trump opines that Iran is desperate for a deal but not the right deal just yet.

there will come soft rains (13. 687)

Notwithstanding a 1997 retcon of the author’s canon that advanced the future time settings by thirty-one years, unconvinced of his prescience, the title of Ray Bradbury’s 1950 short story is taken from a poem by Sarah Teasdale published at the end of World War I and the beginning of the influenza pandemic of 1918, takes place on this day. It chronicles a lone automated home that by chance survived the destruction of Allendale California in a nuclear attack. Daily routines continue with robots attending to household chores and meal preparation, acknowledging their former residents and masters though they mistake their presence for silhouettes burnt on to the walls by the atomic blast. The absent family’s pet dog, starving is blocked from entering the kitchen whilst the systems are whirring away, eventually dying of hunger and exhaustion before being unceremoniously incinerated by the clean-up module. The house recites a selection of the hostess’ favourite poetry, choosing the above. Later an errant wind gust blows a branch through the kitchen windows, causing a fire that the robots are unable to extinguish with the house itself consumed, save for a single wall and an automated clock, registering the date and time.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: a UFO sighting in Scotland (with synchronoptica), UNESCO status for Neapolitan pizza, battling gerrymandering with gerrymandering plus a celebrity sea anemone 

 

two years ago: Trump refuses to debate Harris plus assorted links to revisit

 

three years ago: more links to enjoy plus Sir Arthur Conan Doyle channels a dead president

 

four years ago: the invention of champagne, the Zone of Avoidance plus even more links worth revisiting

 

five years ago: an ingenious Cold War bugging device, the Lady of Elx, a series of tubes plus con-man affiliates

 

six years ago: the Feast of Saint Sezni, more miniatures from Tatsuya Tanaka plus White House press corps journalist Helen Thomas

day one-hundred forty (13. 647)

Kyiv and Washington reach a bilateral defence agreement allowing the export of Ukrainian drone technology to the US. American legislators withhold additional funding for hugely unpopular and illegal war in Iran as worldwide alerts go out for Americans aboard and concerns grow over cyber sabotage. Washington and Riyadh sign a nuclear partnership deal to build the kingdom’s energy infrastructure (to include domestic enrichment) with US contracts amid the escalating conflict with Tehran. Yemen’s Ansar Allah—also known as the Houthis—fire on ships transiting from the Red Sea via the Bab al-Mandab strait, as the Hormuz remains closed, Trump promising that for every shot fired at a tanker, the US will bomb a bridge or power plant, to include those “located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran.”

day one-hundred thirty-nine (13. 644)

Saying that the US is not yet done with air strikes on Iran, Trump condemns government officials as “savages” after the latest execution of political protestors. Tehran warns Bulgaria against allowing America to use its bases for staging. US forces have their sites set on Pickaxe Mountain (Kuh-e Kolang), a secretive bunker believed to house centrifuges near the Natanz nuclear facility, destroyed in last summers campaign. Several tankers headed to Saudi ports made u-turns in the Red Sea after warnings from the Houthis. Lebanon hails the US-brokered agreement with Israel but clashes with Hezbollah still continue with no timeframe for IDF to withdraw from southern Beirut. Secretary of war Hegseth gives a rather low estimate for the costs of the Iranian conflict at thirty eight billion as he requests additional funding from the senate.

9x9 (13. 621)

space jam: erythrulose, a simple sugar found in raspberries and fake-tan lotion, detected in an interstellar cloud  

vindolandia: a Roman “genius”—a familiar and household spirit sculpture discovered at Hadrian’s Wall  

the kingdom of hyrule: hand-drawn maps of the The Legend of Zelda, the land inspired by the Kyoto countryside, with a bestiary of monsters 

our lives are woven together in a fabric—but the connections that make society strong also make it vulnerable: the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on the legacy and lessons of Threads—via tmn  

médicos sin fronteras: US launches a global pressure campaign against Cuba’s last lifelines, exporting expert physicians 

the escherian stairwell: the invented legend of an impossible campus architectural feature and a perpetual downward loop 

clipart.studio: make and share cut-out collages from the Internet Archive’s magazine collection—via Waxy  

the lore of the rings: science is only beginning to appreciate the richness of the archives inside trees  

pop iii: astronomers scan the skies for elusive non-metallic behemoths, the first stars in the Cosmos

day one-hundred twenty-eight (13. 603)

Speaking at the NATO summit, Trump says that the US is preparing to launch a heavy assault on Iran—“I’ll give a little warning: we are going to hit them hard tonight”—after declaring that the truce was over and suggesting that return to war is imminent, the military conducting further strikes to “degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation.” Despite disparaging comments by Trump “not wanting to deal with them,” the US president adds that negotiations will continue. The US president further suggests that they might seize Kharg Island with Iranian forces already retaliating. As hopes dim that the MOU could lead to permanent peace in the region, oil prices soar and world stock markets tumble.  Although the NATO meeting could have gone worse for the alliance, with Trump airing old grievance, repeating demands for Greenland and stopping all trade with Spain, he did not denounce Article V, the pledge for mutual protection and was cordial with Zelenskyy, even granting the license to Ukraine to build its own Patriot missile systems.

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.

day one-hundred thirteen (13. 543)

Keir Starmer tenders his resignation as prime minister and leader of Labour, following a series of political crises and rifts internal to the party over economic and immigration policy and election strategy after the success of conservative Reform UK in the general election. Starmer is expected to be replaced by Andy Burnham before the end of parliament’s summer recess. The Iran delegation leave Switzerland after a day of productive talks, with a sixty day waiver on oil sanctions granted and agreeing with the US in principle to a roadmap for peace, allowing the IAEA to inspect its nuclear facilities. With secretary of state, Rubio headed to the region to allay security fears, it remains unclear what US vice president Vance and special envoy Witkoff and Kushner have accomplished, the president’s son-in-law preoccupied with massive demonstrations in Albania over a planned property development deal that would damage fragile swampland and corruption in the government that acquiesced to this project in the first place. Sticking-points regarding Iranian restitution and possible conditions being placed on unfrozen assets also remain—though the negotiations have settled on an island of optimism that a final peace settlement could be in place by February.

day one-hundred twelve (13. 541)

Despite yesterday’s indefinite postponement and Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz over deadly strikes in Lebanon (American forces in the region dispute this claim saying ship traffic continues to flow), diplomatic delegations scrambled to reach Lucerne to begin formal talks. Trump publically admits that the US is is four-weeks away from an even more debilitating oil shock. The US team consisting of the same ineffectual members, Vance, Witkoff and Kushner, dispatched in a succession of negotiations that quickly spiralled into war is in attendance. Israel announced it refuses to withdraw from its security zone south of Beirut, neither side directly represented in the talks. Discussions are expected to carry on for days with side sessions addressing maritime security, but the main focus is on the sticking points of deescalation and Iran’s nuclear programme—the proposal presently being to not allow inspectors and to dilute the existing stockpile to well below weapon-grade. Fuel sales are suspended in Crimea after a wave of attacks by Ukraine on the illegally annexed territory.

day one-hundred nine (13. 528)

Israel cuts diplomatic ties with the EU after a report is published equating Israeli settlement policy with apartheid South Africa over its illegal practise of home building in the West Bank and continued demolition in Gaza and Lebanon. Amid dissatisfaction with Trump’s grand deal with Tehran, secretary of war Hegseth threatens renewed strikes if Iran does not uphold its end of the bargain, which seemingly concedes more than it was asking for, leaving room for negotiation on its arsenal of ballistic missiles and nuclear programmes. According to Pakistani intermediaries, the formal signing ceremony in Lucerne is canceled due to Trump’s and Pezeshkian’s digital accord, the Supreme Leader offering he had authorised the agreement despite reservations after assurances that Iran’s interests would be safeguarded, stating that the position of the enemy were not necessarily acceptable. US vice president Vance, whom my or may not travel to Switzerland over the weekend to begin negotiations, states that the sixty-day ceasefire begins now, defending the settlement as in the best interest of the American people, as Trump calls sceptics either jealous or stupid.

day one-hundred eight (13. 525)

As the G7 summit concludes, Trump lashed out at a media reports of the publication of a leaked copy of the MOU furnished by CNN—telling world leaders that Obama bribed his way to secure the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the 2015 plan these governments supported and were not pleased with the unilateral and ultimately violent withdrawal from) in order to deflect from the fourteen-point memo’s commitment for restitution and relief from sanctions, squandering whatever political capital and goodwill he had accrued by retreating from the war he started, spending unaccounted billions and causing the death of thousands to not achieve the objectives cited for the conflict—chiefly preventing Iran from building atomic weapons, which it was not doing in the first place but definitely sees the need for now. Rather than apologising or offering thanks to allies and mediators for their patience and suffering, Trump only strangely A much worse and more brittle settlement than the JCPOA, the White House had pledged to release the details prior to Friday’s signing ceremony at the Bürgenstock Resort above Lake Lucerne—the Qatari-owned property chosen for its remoteness—but we are unlikely now to get much of a preview, if privy to the terms at all, I thought though the leak prompted a partial read-out. Threatening to return to bombing if Tehran backslides, Trump admonished them to “behave,” repeating a line from early failed negotiations headed by the US vice president, “if it works out, I’m going to take the credit—if not, I am blaming JD,” Trump suggests he might he stick around to sign himself with Iranian counterpart Pezeshkian (update: which they did). Meanwhile, Hezbollah and the IDF continue to clash in Beirut (Netanyahu says he has not seen the document and has not asked); the IAEA approaches Kazakstan to potentially store Iran’s supply of enriched uranium as negotiations continue, though Iran now pledges to destroy its stockpiles through dilution—this truce only extends the ceasefire for sixty days—and the first tankers leave Iranian ports, the US blockade suspended.

days eighty-four and five (13. 460)

Insisting that he does not make bad deals, Trump has issued a non-update on the progress of peace negotiations with Iran, again calling out disparaging and doubtful reports to the contrary as unpatriotic and subversive.  Premature news hailed the settlement as a settled matter with an attendant and designed market rally, yet little has emerged from Pakistan’s intermediary shuttle diplomacy other than Trump trying to distinguish his concept of a deal as superior to what Tehran and Obama achieved. With the US still intransigent about unfreezing Iranian assets, reparations in exchange for a supposed longer moratorium on nuclear research and development—only amounting to a further sixty day extension to the ceasefire, something which no one wants.

day eighty-one (13. 448)

With the White House press secretary on maternity leave, the last couple of press conferences have been hosted by secretary of state Rubio and the latest by US vice president, both contenders as Trump’s successor—the president being coy about whom he’ll endorse or anoint—and Vance addressed journalists about the state of the war, reiterating that Tehran’s relinquishment of its atomic ambitions is the core condition of negotiations to achieve a lasting peace—with all other details up for debate. Certainly if Iran was not already seeking to establish a nuclear deterrent, the joint US-Israeli war of aggression persuaded them such counter-measures are worth pursuing, the vice president saying that any leniency would set off a regional arms race and that the US is ready to restart its military campaign should further talks fail with a weekend deadline to come to terms. Supposedly deferring to other gulf states in waivering the resumption of strikes increasing looks like an offramp as the conflict approaches its third month. NATO command says that a potential mission in the Strait of Hormuz would be a political decision on the part of alliance members follow a meeting of G7 finance ministers urging action.  Putin meets with Xi in a mirror image of Trump’s visit.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to enjoy (with synchronopticæ) 

twelve years ago: honey-traps plus quantitative easing

thirteen years ago: preparing for a return trip to Switzerland plus top toponymy 

fourteen years ago: castle ruins as a conference venue plus shadow social networks

fifteen years ago: German jobs report 

day seventy-nine (13. 441)

According to Amnesty International, the Iranian regime has executed a record number of dissidents this year, using the war as cover for sham trials of protesters. Saudi Arabia incepts drones coming from Iranian territory, whilst a strike seems to have started a fire at a nuclear power plant in the Emirates, in possible retribution for hosting secret meetings with Israeli leadership. Trump is losing patience as hardliners in Tehran look to sabotage any deal with the US, the fragile ceasefire unravelling. Waivers on Russian oil at sea are allowed to expire with American sanctions reimposed. Hezbollah deploys wired, fibre optic drones against the IDF, impervious to jamming and detection.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a revivalist Rosicrucian (with synchronopticæ) plus NYC’s Subway Sun

twelve years ago: ocular floaters, chameleon ivy plus outrageous baby names

thirteen years ago: German breads 

fourteen years ago: more on Greek sovereign debt 

fifteen years ago: know your allergens plus translations needing a second opinion  

seventeen years ago: moving house and home