pdvsa (13. 047)

Founded on this day in 1976 in concert with the nationalisation of the oil industry and the take over of more than thirty foreign operations, including Exxon, Mobil and Gulf, the state owned Petróleos de Venezuela (Sociedad Anónima, a limited public company) manages the largest hydrocarbon reserve in the world and oversees day-to-day of the fifth biggest exporter of petroleum, formalised as a promise of the ongoing social movement of the Bolivarian Revolution begun by Hugo Chávez and continued by his successor Nicolás Maduro as a stand against neo-colonialism, record profits generated during the OPEC embargo by Middle East producers from three years earlier. Although many cite focus on political programmes to the detriment of technical know-how and inefficiencies in extraction and refining—as well as fostering endemic corruption—the accusations do seem rather pedestrian and rather like a projection for those excluded from exploiting this resource and relentless attempts to thwart the enterprise with sanctions and diplomatic isolation. 

synchronoptica 

one year ago: a Parisien pocket interpreter, more future forecasts, Public Domain Day plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: a tribute to celebrity deaths (with synchronopticæ) plus cinema and literature set in 2024

nine years ago: New Year’s salutations, more Public Domain Day, the International Date Line, seed banking, vintage disruptive technology plus the Japanese art of not sleeping

ten years ago: more New Year’s greetings, more links to enjoy plus more on animal cognition

eleven years ago: a past year pop-quiz, the Eurasian Economic Union plus the power of admitting contraction

twelve years ago: pig dogs plus the Order of the Ursulines

thirteen years ago: a 1987 retrospective plus guided by an occult hand

fifteen years ago: champagne and krimskoye 

mmxxv (13. 042)

As this year draws to a close and we look forward to 2026, we take the time agin to reflect on a selection of some of the things and events that took place during the past twelve months. Thanks as always for visiting. We’ve made it through another wild year together.

 january: a vehicle ramming attack kills ten and injures dozens in central New Orleans.  After a five year deal expires without renewal, Russian gas can no longer be piped through Ukraine to the EU as the continent braces for a cold winter.  After a decade as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau announces he will step aside.  An earthquake strikes the holy city of Shigatse in Tibet.  Wind-swept wildfires devastate southern California.  Joe Biden and others eulogise Jimmy Carter for his state funeral.  After the US supreme court rejects a petition to delay sentencing over his hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, Trump becomes a convicted felon, although given an unqualified discharge by the presiding judge and will serve no time.  Sunset Boulevard is unrecognisable after being engulfed by wildfires.  Israel and Hamas appear close to reaching a truce to bring about a permanent ceasefire.  Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth faces a gruelling nomination hearing in congress for role of secretary of defence.  Donald Trump is inaugurated for a second time and unleashes a flurry of executive orders, including a hiring freeze, immediate rescinding of Biden era policies, removal of DEI initiatives within the federal government and contracting partners, declaring that there are two genders only, issuing a blanket pardon to the January Sixth rioters in an attempt to reframe and rewrite history, freezing virtually all foreign aid, closing the borders and vowing to unleash agents to facilitate mass-deportations.  Cabinet nominees are approved by the US senate, including, narrowly—Trump’s pick to head the Department of Defence.  Trump proposes that Gaza be depopulated of Palestinians and urges neighbouring Egypt and Jordan to take in all displaced individuals.  A scrappy open-source AI developed in China on a shoe-string budget knock a trillion dollar hole in the grift-cum-technofedualism markets in the US.  Prolific blog commentator and good soul XOXOXOBruce (see more here and here) has passed away.  A passenger plane collides with a Blackhawk helicopter over Washington, DC, killing all, including members from American and Russian figure skating teams.  Iconic entertainer Marianne Faithfull passes away, aged 78. Mexico, Canada and China hit back against US tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.  The government of El Salvador agrees to allow the US to offshore its most dangerous incarcerated population.  A deadly shooting occurs at a continuing education centre in Örebro.  Trump meets with Netayahu and offers to own the Gaza Strip and redevelop it, expelling the Palestinian population.

february: Novelist Tom Robbins dead, aged 92.  Relenting on implementing tariffs for Mexico and Canada after security promises already underway, Trump shocks the markets by imposing a twenty-five percent duty on all aluminium and steel globally.  Trump orders federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against disgraced New York City mayor Eric Adams after repeated attempts to curry favour with the president.  The Aga Khan passes away, aged 88. Boycotts to protest inflation and A ramming attacked is perpetrated in München, ploughing into a crowd of union protesters, a day ahead of the Munich Security Conference.  Pope Francis is hospitalised with double pneumonia, his prognosis for recovery guarded.   Veteran actor Gene Hackman found dead, aged 95, at home along with his wife and dog.

march: By executive order, Trump makes English the official language of the United States.  Israel blocks humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, demanding that Hamas abide by changed conditions dictated by the US, leading by mid-month to a resumption in airstrikes on the territory.  Rosenstolz singer AnNa R passes away, aged 55.  A French politician calls for the return of the Statue of Liberty.  After rejecting a previously brokered US peace deal, during a telephone call with Trump, Putin signals he will agree to a thirty-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure.  Boxer and entrepreneur George Foreman passes away, aged 76.  Germany’s marked fiscal pivot to embrace debt and invest in defence stunned fellow EU members.  Trump’s commerce secretary proposes cutting the social security safety net for seniors and the disabled.  Arrest and detention of Erdoğan rival and Istanbul mayor ignites protests in Türkiye.  Wildfires ravage South Korea.  A coalition of the willing convene in Paris in solidarity with Ukraine, fearful of the outcome of a US-brokered deal with Russia.  Thousands dead and many more displaced after an earthquake ravages Myanmar.  Globally, thousands participate in Tesla Takedown protests against Musk.  Far-right French politician Marine Le Pen banned from public office after being found guilty for misappropriating EU funds.

april: Despite millions in campaign donations, Musk and conservatives were unable to flip the state supreme court in Washington.  New Jersey Democrat Corey Booker spoke in the Senate, rebuking the Trump administration for a record twenty-five hours and five minutes, beating Strom Thurmond’s filibuster against integration and equal rights.   Actor Val Kilmer dead at age 65.  Israeli defence forces annex huge swaths of the Gaza Strip.  Foregoing over two billion dollars in federdal funding, Harvard refuses to give in to Trump demands.  Katy Perry and an all-female crew travel briefly to the edge of space.  The world mourns Pope Francis.  The US threatens to walk away from the Ukraine-Russia peace deal it brokered.  As a rebuke to Trumpism, Canada elects another liberal government with Mark Carney as Prime Minister.

may: The US Department of Homeland Security is planning to remove illegal migrants to Libya.  The College of Cardinals elect the first American pope, Leo XIV.  India and Pakistan exchange violent skirmishes over the disputed territories of Kashmir and Jammu.  Austria wins the Eurovision song contest.  A tall ship from the Mexican navy collides with the Brooklyn bridge during manoeuvrers.  Romanian elects a centrist, pro-EU mathematician for president in a surprise turn-out.  Former US president Joe Biden diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.  UK, France and Canada sharply criticise Israel for its continued assault on Gaza and blockade of humanitarian aid, suspending trade talks and recalling diplomatic staff.  Veteran actor George Wendt passed away, aged 76. King Charles delivers a speech of solidarity from the throne in Canada to open parliament.  Trump blasts Putin for escalation of fighting in Ukraine.

june: In planning for eighteen-months, Ukraine carries out surprise drone attack on Russian bombers in five regions.  Trump rescinds nomination of private astronaut to head NASA after apparent falling out with Elon Musk, who recommended the nominee for the job.  Trump federalises the California national guard against the will of the state’s governor to suppress protests against ICE raids.  The Israeli defence forces seise a Gaza-bound cargo ship of humanitarian aid with activist Greta Thunberg onboard.  A London-bound plane crashes shortly after departure from Ahmedabad with a sole survivor. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys passes away, aged 82.  Israel launches air strikes against Iran’s nuclear processing facilities, killing the commander of the Revolutionary Guard. The US bombs three Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities.  In the last week before recess, the US supreme court delivers Trump several judicial victories. Veteran journalist and moderator Bill Moyers has died.  Israeli attacks on Gaza humanitarian assistance sites markedly intensify.  

july: The US congress narrowly passes Trump’s domestic policy agenda.  Flash flooding in Texas Hill Country claims dozens, including many from a summer camp for girls.  Russian transport minister found dead hours after his dismissal ostensibly for his failure to secure Moscow from Ukrainian drone attacks.  Trump announces twenty-fiver percent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, as the administration pushes for ninety trade deals in ninety days.  Trump disavows MAGA supporters who demand the release of the Epstein files. Israel launches airstrikes on Damascus to defend Druze communities living on the border of the Golan Heights.  UK government resolves to lower voting age to sixteen.  The US senate approves rescission bill to defund public broadcasting in America and eliminate billions in foreign aid.  Iconic rocker Ozzy Osboure has died, aged 76.  The famine in Gaza worsens as hundreds have been killed just queuing for aid.  France resolves to acknowledge Palestinian statehood.  Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan passed away, aged 71.  The EU negotiates a last minute trade and tariff deal with Trump, giving Europe worse than nothing but perhaps preserving global security and stability in Ukraine.  Contrary to assurances that the Qatari gift of Air Force one would not be for the Trump’s personal use post-presidency, the secretary of defence accepted the gift, explicitly calling it not a bribe.  Trump admits his friendship with Epstein came to an end because Epstein was stealing employees from his pleasure spa.  

august: Trump’s redacted name appears in the Epstein files.  Microsoft joins Invidia as the first firms to reach a four trillion dollar market valuation.  Global stocks are shocked by tariff deadline with few deals.  Trump fires government statistician after poor jobs-growth report, revising downward previous months’ estimates.   Sabre-rattling, two nuclear submarines move within striking distance of Russian.  Netanyahu announces plans to take over Gaza City whilst Trump again threatens to federalise Washington, DC. Astronaut and Apollo XIII commander Jim Lovell dies, aged 97.  Putin has a summit with Trump in Alaska, followed by a meeting in Washington, DC between Trump and Zelenskyy with several European leaders also inviting themselves.  Texas and California commence with their redistricting war to gerrymander the mid-terms.  The Florida department of transportation removes the rainbow crosswalk memorial of the Orlando Pulse nightclub massacre.  Rumours of the death of Trump are trending.  The White House announces intent to end mail-ballots and allow only in-person voting.  Israeli attacks aided by the US kill Houthi prime minister in Yemen.  Modi and Xi meet with Putin as counterbalance to western hegemony.

september: A devastating earthquake hits Afghanistan.  Google emerges more or less unscathed from a landmark anti-trust case.  Chaos at the US Centres for Disease control prompts many states to do their own research.  Celebrated fashion designed Giorgio Armani dead, aged 91.  Over a dozen killed in a tragic funicular accident in Lisbon.  The US targets an alleged Venezuelan drug-boat and deploys warships to the Caribbean.  Israeli Defence Forces order the complete evacuation of Gaza City. Right wing influencer and conservative activist Charles Kirk is assassinated during a speaking event at a college campus in Utah.  Actor, activist and director Robert Redford passed away, aged 89. Donald Trump arrives in London for his second state visit.  The GOP are exploiting the death of Charlie Kirk to silence dissent. Portugal, the UK, Canada and Australia recognise Palestinian statehood, ahead of the UN General Assembly—with host nation refusing to issue visas to the country’s delegation to attend (the first time the US has barred entry since 1998 and banning PLO head Yasser Arafat, which prompted the UN to change the venue to Geneva).  Trump gives a rambling and dangerous speech falsely linking acetaminophen, childhood vaccinations with autism.  Erik Adams drops his re-election bid to be mayor of New York City.

october: At an impasse, the US government shuts down.  Renowned primatologist and wildlife advocate Jane Goodall passes away, aged 91. Veteran UK actor Patricia Routledge dies, aged 96.  Hamas and Israel reach a tentative ceasefire days after the second anniversary of the the beginning of the war.  Gazans begin returning home, joy amid sorrow and destruction as the Israeli army pulls back.  Actor Diana Keaton has died, aged 79.  Trump misappropriates funds to make military pay-day during the shutdown.  Hamas begins releasing the remaining Israeli hostages.  Elite universities in the US choose to forego federal funding rather than submit to conditions on research and hiring practises.  The US CIA begin covert operations to overthrow the government of Venezuela.  Every major US media outlet surrendered their Pentagon press credentials rather than sign a pledge to only report on approved releases. Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton indicted for mishandling of classified information.  NPR founding reporter and anchor Susan Stamberg passed away, age 87.  Partial demolition begins on the East Wing of the White House to construct Trump’s ballroom.  The Japanese parliament elects its first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.  Charles III and Pope Leo XIV pray together in the Sistine Chapel.  Against America’s peace agenda, the Knesset votes to annex the West Bank.  Leftwing candidate Catherine Connolly wins Ireland’s presidency.  Veteran television star June Lockhart passes away, aged 100.  Fawlty Towers actor Prunella Scales dies, aged 93. US government shutdown surpasses Trump’s old record for the longest in history.  Dick Cheney dies, aged 84.  Zohran Mamdani wins mayorship of New York City.

november: Redistricting efforts in Texas ahead of US mid-term elections are ruled to be unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. The US federal government reopens after an unprecedented shut-down as Democrats fold.  A violent civil war continues to rage in Nigeria.  COP 30 begins in Brazil.  Tech businesses and telecoms shed tens of thousands of employees.  In response to a cadre of congressional representatives urging service members not to obey illegal orders, Trump cries sedition and threatens them with execution.  US leaks a twenty-eight point peace plan for Ukraine and Russia. Marjorie Taylor Greene announces she will leave the US congress in January after a public falling out with Trump.  Flames engulf a residential apartment block in Hong Kong.  The pope makes his first trip abroad, visiting Türkiye and Lebanon.  With war in Venezuela imminent, closing the country’s airspace, Trump pardons notorious Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, commuting his sentence in a US federal prison after smuggling weapons and four hundred tonnes of cocaine into the country.  A deadly fire in a Hong Kong housing estate kills scores.

december: Playwright Tom Stoppard passes away, aged 88.  Influential architect Frank Gehry has died, aged 96.  Australia launches a world first social media ban for young people.  The US military seizes a Venezuelan oil tanker, escalating tensions.  Articles of impeachment are forwarded for both secretary of war and RFK, Jr.  Indiana state lawmakers reject Trump’s redistricting plans to gerrymander Democrats out of existence.  A gunman kills a dozen individuals gathering at Australia’s Bondi beach for Hanukkah celebrations.  Actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer-Reiner are found murdered—with the couple’s son arrested as the the prime suspect.  The US justice department releases a heavily redacted version of the Epstein files.  Singer, songwriter Chris Rea, performer behind “Driving Home for Christmas” dies, aged 74.  Brigitte Bardo has died, aged 91.  Trump announces ground strikes in Venezuela.  Xi announces intent to reunite Taiwan in New Year’s Eve address.

recourse to the method (13. 030)

Though upon reflection both family members and insurgents conclude it would have been better had the ruling couple been executed by revolutionary forces when they attempted to flee Bucharest three days earlier rather than suffer the additional indignity of a drumhead court-martial and show trial, those that called to order the extraordinary military tribunal on this day in 1989 at Târgoviște to try Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu deemed the proceedings necessary to legitimise the coup and rule out the possibility a resurgence by their sympathisers. Not at liberty to pick their own legal defence, the appointed lawyers eventually siding with the prosecution before judgment and sentencing that took only about and hour with the verdict a foregone conclusion, the deposed general secretary of the Communist party of Romania and his wife maintained their innocence and that the Romanian Revolution was a Soviet plot against them and called the trial unconstitutional. The Ceaușescus were charged with genocide with over sixty-thousand victims (unclear due to the summary nature and without prior formal investigation or discovery, if the crime was levied for his twenty-four year reign or for suppressing the recent uprising), using the military to subvert the power of the state and people, destruction of public property, self-enrichment and undermining the national economy and attempting to escape justice by trying to flee the country—with over a billion dollars held in foreign bank accounts. Arguing that only the National Assembly could remove him from power, the dictatorship came to an end when the couple were brought before a firing squad, Ceaușescu reportedly humming a few bars from the Internationale as he was gunned down. Whilst not conducted in a public forum, the entire trial and execution was filmed, though camera crews weren’t quick enough to capture the shooting—footage and images were circulated in the press two days later.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the murder of Kitty Genovese (with synchronopticæ), a walk to the tripoint of three German states plus the president-elect’s overtures for the Panama Canal

three years ago: the first Nativity scene

four years ago: a white Christmas, the launch of the JWST, Gorbachev resigns (1991) plus the shorthand of Charles Dickens

five years ago: a Christmas greeting, The Stone Tape Theory plus artist Desireless 

six years ago: a celestial season’s greetings, Unword of the Year, AI carols plus more yule-log

seven years ago: more seasonal salutations, even more yule-log plus Martian rovers

operation golden dynamite (13. 000)

Though absent from the traditional pre-ceremony press conference with the prize to accepted on her behalf, awarded in absentia, Nobel peace laureate María Corina Machado (previously) did make it safely to Oslo thanks to a fraught extraction mission, codenamed with the above for the medallion and Alfred Nobel’s explosive legacy, carried out in large part by members of the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation, a group of US military veterans and expatriates that have pulled off hundreds of such operations globally. In hiding for years, the team deemed it was too risky to travel overland for the opposition leader and decided, with only a week to plan and despite the presence of the US navy off the coast and the targeting of supposed drug-trafficking boats entering international waters, to take a sea-route and rendezvous with a larger ship in the Caribbean. Secreted into the United States, a flight originating in Bangor, Maine brought her to the Norwegian capital in time for breakfast with St Lucy.

the festival of reason (12. 870)

On this feast of Saint Monitor, fifth century bishop of Orléans of whom nothing is known, Pope Leo I, also active during the mid-four-hundreds, called the Great and a diplomat perhaps best remembered for his embassy with Attila the Hun that successfully persuaded him to turn back his armies and not invade Italy, and many others, revolutionary France declared a national Fête de la Raison on this day in 1793 (An II, 20. Brumaire), organised by humanist philosopher Antoine-François Momoro under the Cult of Reason, as a state-sponsored atheistic religion to replace the Catholic church (a policy of agnosticism and god-building or la construction de dieu as a surrogate as opposed to outright abolition), which was seen as a major catalyst for the uprising, arguing that deifications of such ideas as liberty and truth diminished the autonomy and self-determination of the individual. Former houses of worship were transformed into Temples of Reason, stripped of icons and idols—the largest event hosted in Notre Dame in Paris. Women dressed in togas and tricolour sashes of the republic tended a symbolic flame on the altar representing the values of the First Republic. Described by detractors with the lurid hallmarks of Roman excess and misplaced ritual, the holiday did not see a repeat, supplanted with the rival tradition, slightly more deistic and promoted by jurist and statesman Maximilien Robespierre with the Cult of the Supreme Being. Both sects were banned by Napoleon Bonaparte with the Law on Cults of 18 Germinal, Year X—re-privileging the old order.

familiar in his mouth as household words (12. 821)

Occurring on this day (the feast of St Crispin’s) in 1415 in the fields in the fields outside of Azincourt in north France, the decisive and surprise English victory, out-numbered by troops of the opposition marked a turning point in the Hundred Years’ War (Guerre de Cent Ans), humiliating France and boosting the morale of England, leading to the latter’s dominance in the protracted conflict over the duchy of Aquitaine and French throne (see previously here and here) for the next fourteen years—until English defeat during the Siege of Orléans. Henry V re-invaded France in the spring of the same year after negotiations with French court fell apart, with the English king asserting his claim to the kingdom of France through his great-grandfather Edward III—arguably the heir through his mother, Isabella, sister of the last Capetian monarch, Charles IV, but French Salic Law excluded matrilineal succession. For the past couple of iterations of this dispute, the English king would relent and back off the claim provided the French acknowledged English dominion over Aquitaine, Calais and other territories. Henry, however, demanded in exchange for renouncing the crown, a generous dowery for his marriage to Charles VI’s daughter, Catherine of Valois, a literal king’s ransom (payment in arrears for the release of John II—Jean le Bon—held as a hostage in London a century before) and in addition to the settled lands, Anjou, Brittany and Normandy as well. Although France was ready to make some concessions to the deal, it proved to be too bad of a bargain, especially since England had little to leverage—other than squandering peace and stability—and a series of pitched battles commenced, stretching out, with periods of interruption due to plague and other factors, for a hundred and sixteen years. Despite the ultimate loss of continental territory and the rejection of a joint monarchy that saw the rejection of all things French and vice versa (English becoming the official language and French no longer used in court and the classroom), the monarchy of England and Great Britain styled themselves sovereigns of France until 1802, the end of the French Revolution.

kvennafrídagurinn (12. 817)

On this day in 1975, Icelandic women—some ninety percent of the demographic that makes up half of the population, went on strike for twenty-four hours for a showing of the indispensable place of women for the economy and society, organisers touting the action to protest wage disparity (a pay-gap of around sixty-percent less compared to male coworkers in the same profession) and unfair employment practises as Women’s Day Off. Participants called out of their jobs outside the home and also refused to do the added tasks of housekeeping or activities associated with child-rearing, many husbands having to do these chores for the first time. Whilst the international attention for the demonstration prompted legislative reforms and equal rights, the struggle continues half a century on and there have been other mass walk-outs (see also) and on the Friday closest to the anniversary, women are dismissed early, incrementally later commensurate with the progress made towards their goals from 14:05, 14:08, 14:25 and most recently 14:38 to quit at a time when they could have earned their daily wage had they been paid the same as men—the World Economic Forum’s global gender-gap index rating Iceland the most egalitarian country for the past sixteen years. Much more from Reykjavík Grapevine at the link up top.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronopticæ)

thirteen years ago: all the gold in Fort Knox plus the Stammtisch

fourteen years ago: the Phonetic Major System for better memorisation

fifteen years ago: impressions of Ireland

no kings ii (12. 806)

In more than two-thousand seven-hundred rallies across the country—with support from international affiliates—more than seven million protesters took part in the redux demonstrations against the unitary executive of Donald Trump and his blatantly magisterial policies that undermine democracy and the rule of rule and proxy warfare conducted conducted on American streets with assaults against immigrants and unbidden occupation that verges on martial law. Since June’s demonstrations, prompted by Trump’s full authoritarian military birthday parade, the organisers have only been able to add to their agenda with retributive arrests against political opposition (in line with Stalinist era tactics and maxim, “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime”), threats of more violence against Democratic strongholds, aggressive gerrymandering, undermining federal services, virtual parliamentary suspension, abandonment of public health, science-based medicine and environmental regulations, the shutdown of the federal government and regime change in Venezuela. The assembly was peaceful and no arrests were made in Washington, DC or New York City as participants were engaged in the highest form of patriotism against their traitorous government.

9x9 (12. 784)

readme.txt: an experiment to assess whether AI can parse the drastic downfall of the United States and pen near-term speculative fiction that forecasts the next four years based on the daily news cycle—via Web Curios  

citation needed: famous cognitive truisms that fail replication 

take the a-train: a data-driven tribute to the New York City subway  

peso convertible: despite US government shutdown impasse and soaring inflation, the US is bailing out the Argentinian economy  

out of all the clergy, why did ice target the hot priest: minister scoured with pepper ball ammunition rebukes US administration’s narrative about lawlessness in Chicago  

dead reckoning: quantum sensing of the magnetic field of the Earth’s core could prove to be a more reliable method of aerial navigation in the age of GPS spoofing and jamming, see also—Via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest  

rezagado: Trump suggests ejecting Spain from NATO for their failure to show commitment snail’s pace: a sculptural statement on the frenetic everyday  

coo-coo-ca-choo: birds across all species seem to understand the universal cry of warning of predatory nesters  

babystar: a cautionary influencer tale with echos of The Truman Show

we have always been at war with portlandia (12. 782)

Checking in on the war-zone in the Oregon city, we find the antics of peaceful protestors have been quite withering for the narrative that the Trump administration is trying to push with selective and many times false footage claiming to be facing down an Antifa army with a force majeure of images circulating showing that grave threat to be joyful resistance to protect people in their community from being expelled or disappeared and their third amendment rights to not be compelled to suffer or quarter cosplay soldiers shipped into their town unwelcome.

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

[image or embed]

— The Daily Show (@thedailyshow.com) October 9, 2025 at 10:23 PM

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: punting along the Wolblitz (with synchronopticæ) 

thirteen years ago: bulletin boards plus a visit to Kelheim

seventeen years ago: reflections on Iceland’s insolvency 

television dreams of tomorrow—we’re not the one you’re meant to follow (12. 747)

On this day in 2004, Green Day released their seventh studio album—their first in four years—American Idiot, an overtly political and socially critical record, the tracks, especially the title one, expresses the disillusionment and decent of a generation whose prospects were informed by 9/11 and the resulting forever wars. A telling of the gospel of Jesus of Suburbia, a precarious working-class anti-hero figure, the suite of songs were put together as a concept album for a punk rock opera, taking inspiration from Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Charting worldwide, it was also against the media apparatus, which in the band’s view had crossed from journalism to sensationalism and reality TV, glorified violence of combat in Iraq intercut with advertisements. An enduring protest song, lyrics have been subtly updated from redneck to “I’m not a part of the [MAGA/ELON] agenda” and “subliminal mind-Trump America.” Wake me up when September ends.

10x10 (12. 746)

the dominator model continues to run the world: Lydia Lunch’s timeless feminist manifesto 

jut: a new way to measure the magnitude and magnificence of mountains—via Metafilter  

and i’m floating in the most peculiar way: a cover of Major Tom by Magdalena Bay—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links  

bequest: an assortment of old customs and curious donations and charities 

red noise: the French musical underground’s decade of synths and situationists—via { feuilleton }  

𒀾: writing lessons in Cuneiform  

being of sound minds and body: collection of captivating wills and last testaments—via Strange Company  

you’ve really made the grade: a scroll through the archives of David Bowie  

pathfinder: a look into the inner-workings of Google Maps  

me and bobbie mckee: the forgotten inspiration for the gender-swapping ballad of Kris Kristofferson and Janis Joplin—see previously

synchronoptica

one year ago: Weird Al parodies Bob Dylan with palindromes (with synchronopticæ) plus more gerrymandering

twelve years ago: a possible clue to hidden Nazi loot hidden on sheet music 

fourteen years ago: the Pope comes home to Germany 

fifteen years ago: GMO salmon 

7x7 (12. 731)

life is too short to not say exactly what you mean all the time: folk singer Jessie Welles (previously) on one’s calling and being candid in trying times 

post-parade afterglow: clips of Chinese soldiers returning home with identical tan-lines from drilling in the helmets in the sun for the event commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War II  

crash blossoms: Tropic Storm Gabrielle Spaghetti Models as Hurricane Chances Increase and other headlines 

bijin-ga: a selection of Japanese prints featuring cats and butterflies eau de eight-bit: fragrances inspired by classic home computers 

analyst call: Trump urges US Securities and Exchange Commission to eliminate quarterly reporting requirements for businesses, afraid of how markets will react to the knock on effects of tariffs of 

brahmins and buddhists: an exploration of a right-wing ideologue and influencer who brought yoga to the West

11x11 (12. 724)

out damn spot: the attempted erasure of a Banksy mural shows one cannot scrub away complicity in genocide  

free return trajectory: acting NASA administrator faces the space press on getting intriguing rock samples from Mars to Earth for further study 

canonically accurate: Spirit Halloween corrects the spelling on their Betelgeuse prop sign—see previously here and here 

jawsome: the promotional hyping of some thing as “awe dropping” connotes rather the opposite for me     

maternity ward: track new website launches by category in real-time—a lot of click-bait landing sites being cloned badly by AI but some genuine births as well—via Web Curios  

goodbye computer: a sad little send off from April Clucks about a machine she adored until they became unlovable

me＇te.o.ra: ambient music generated by local weather conditions—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest, which also features a defence of the em-dash 

midway: the aesthetics of arcade game marquees 

cornutam: Moses’ depiction in art as having horns is a mistranslation from the Vulgate perpetuated by centuries of tradition

an asymmetrical curiosity: physicists construct a tangible demonstration of time-crystals  

what sophistry is this: at the advice of legal counsel, Jezebel pulls an article from early in the week about hiring some Etsy witches to curse a right wing influencers and conservative activist—see previously, see also

gen z protests (12. 712)

Following large scale demonstrations organised by students and young people ignited initially by a ban on social media platforms—which are a lifeline and a way to keep families in touch for a generation of people who left the country because of poor job prospects at home to work under inhuman conditions in the Middle East—and articulated into a general grievance against political corruption and mismanagement, the prime minister, K P Sharma Oli (के.पी. शर्मा ओली), and many cabinet members resigned and fled Kathmandu today as the parliament building and other government offices and residences burned. Last Thursday’s ordered shutdown of Facebook, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Reddit, YouTube and others (TikTok faced a six month ban in Nepal—to preserve social harmony—until lifted last August, stirring similar reactions) cited the companies’ failure to comply with the new registration requirements of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology—with critics of the move citing the embarrassment of government officials over posts that revealed rank nepotism and their lavish lifestyles. Although the government voted to rescind the ban yesterday, the restoration of social media did not quell the discontent or violent clashes. The military has imposed martial law and is enforcing a curfew. The prime ministers of Japan and France also resigned today—but for different reasons, namely a crisis in confidence from their respective parties and a collapse in tenuous collations, strained to the breaking point.

if you’re pushing slop or eating it, you wouldn’t read it anyway—you’d ask a bot for a summary and forget what i told you, then proceed with your day, unchanged by word you did not read and ideas you did not consider (12. 678)

Via JWZ, we really enjoyed this considered and thoroughgoing declaration by an inveterate and unapologetic AI hater, Anthony Moser, that rehashes the litany of remonstrances (already well established) and shames us for collectively embracing the rude technology uncritically and enthusiastically. Overhyped and oversold, AI peddlers are not condemned by their failures and shortcomings but rather by their veiled promises not for innovation or utopia but rather a new class of unthinking individuals enslaved to simulacra that do what they’ve determined is an acceptable surrogate for the reasoning and deciding. Bespoke human content indeed, it was hard to find a single line to pull as it all flows together, concluding with the author’s conversion, radicalisation sourced in doing things that are particularly and uniqueness human, adding, “The machine is disgusting and we should break it. The people who build it are vapid sh*t-eating cannibals glorifying ignorance. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.” It is very Butlerian jihad and post-post-truth, I wonder how we might engage this technology, and how the trajectory itself would have developed, if realities weren’t splintered and tribal.

most sacred and cherished symbol (12. 673)

Though just another feckless executive order and virtue signalling (plus a distraction) to his base—as President Bartlett said there’s no epidemic of flag-burning in protest after entertainer Penn Jillette stirred controversy with sleight of hand trick and asks deputy chief of staff, “What if we burned a flag, not in protest, but in celebration of the very freedoms that allow us to burn a flag—the freedoms that everyone who has ever worked in this magnificent building has pledged to preserve and protect?”—and against the 1989 landmark supreme court decision that affirmed such actions as protected speech under the first amendment, the Trump administration has directed officials in the justice department to prosecute flag burning in a way that does not violate the constitution, directing the attorney general to prioritise laws against desecration in connection with other crimes to allow for revocation of visas and deportation of foreign nationals, promising jail time for the offence and suggesting loss of citizenship. Describing the act as “uniquely offensive and provocative,” Trump has always had a particular preoccupation with such acts (see above case protecting “fighting words”)—whilst rubbish the principles behind it—and when a regime tells one what flags cannot be burned, it will next tell one which flags cannot be waved. Creeping—nay galloping—despotism aside, those who insist a symbol is sacrosanct and inviolable also keep it off their crappy merchandise. “Did you go to law school?” “No, clown school.”

diesel and dust (12. 662)

Released on this day in 1987, the sixth studio album from Midnight Oil is a concept record on the themes of environmental degradation and the struggles of Indigenous Australians, critically acclaimed and ranked amongst the best compilations of the 80s since its premiere. Drawing their inspiration from several months of touring the outback and playing in venues for remote Aboriginal communities—criticised by some as a one-off publicity stunt rather than a genuine effort to highlight lack of opportunity and low living standards leading to poor outcomes, the band decided to redouble their efforts to champion recognition and reconciliation. The chart topping single below is an indictment about how populations were subject to forced-removal and sparked a global discussion about land-rights and reframing narratives—with colonisers not the only one who get to write history, reprised several times with the expanded message of the impending climate catastrophe.

*     *     *     *     * 

synchronoptica

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

twelve years ago: Snowden’s time in Hong Kong, Bitcoin and Germany plus cult sites of the Theban Legion 

thirteen years ago: artist Laurtis Andersen Ring 

fourteen years ago: mythical creatures and Addler stones 

gao and gulag (12. 607)

Trump is trying to cement case for ousting the chairman of the US federal reserve and install a more plaint comptroller who will lower interest rates according to the president’s will and make the trillions added to America’s debt slightly cheaper to borrow, advised that he can only dismiss the head of the independent central bank—whom Trump appointed during his first term—for cause, Trump is attempting to to cast budget overruns on the renovation of the reserve’s headquarters on Jerome Powell personally as an instance of fraud, waste and abuse. Sanguinely, Powell replied, in the this publicity stunt and set-up (see previously) that the cost of construction has sharply increased due to tariffs and that his figures were manifestly incorrect. Ahead of a meeting of the board’s policymakers to set the benchmark rate, it appears that the Fed will leave the percentage unchanged out of prudence in a chaotic environment, and having a central bank that is politically and economically aligned with the administration could very easily backfire, making investors and foreign holders wary about buying bonds and cause maintaining and taking on extra debt much more expense as well as further exacerbate inflation for consumers. Meanwhile, Trump has issued another executive order, which may be the most chilling yet—and that’s saying a lot for the catalogue of horrors already unleashed: Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets. The EO proposes to end “endemic vagrancy” by encouraging the civil commitment of unhoused individuals deemed to have an incapacitating mental illness that precludes self-care, ostensibly revamping the asylum-system but not in a Victorian fashion of disappearing undesirables in an environment that normalises undesirable behaviour but rather as work-camps (Arbeit macht Frei), like his Alligator Alcatraz—and reopening the Alcatraz actual. Not only are most Americans living in a very precarious paycheque-to-paycheque situation, not homeless by the grace of their inferiors, I suspect that after the initial roundups, foreign-looking individuals, protestors, dissidents—all in the estimation of the police-state—and the securely housed with assets to confiscate will follow soon after. We’ve seen this before. The order further goes on to detail how federal grants to cities will be prioritised that enforce prohibitions on illicit drug-use, urban camping, squatting and programmes to register and track the location of sex offenders. Wrecking the economy and tanking the job market—as outlined above—seem a perfect first step to create a sizeable population of malcontents.

⚐ (12. 589)

Reminiscent of the flag of South Vietnam, carrying nuanced meanings for the diaspora outside the communist nation and sadly coopted with little context by some pro-Trump elements, we learn via Web Curios that there’s a comparable battle over the flag of Iran. While the official tricolour adopted after the Iranian revolution of 1979 bearing the emblem in the centre with the name of God stylised as both a sword and a tulip, symbolising bravery and martyrdom. Other groups outside of Iran prefer the older banner of the deposed Shah, the personal flag of the Pahlavi dynasty with the ancient symbols of the Sun and Lion that goes back to Byzantine times, both in the pro-monarchy movement and those protesting the current regime as authoritarian as more inclusive. The older flag’s association with conservative monarchists movements and regime change moreover apparently informed Israel’s decision to name its war the with country Rising Lion. Yet other groups are partial to the three coloured bands with no shield as a way to acknowledge diversity of political allegiances and was historically championed by pro-constitutional, democratic counter-revolutionaries before outside intervention. The pictured further alternative is charged with the slogan Woman Life Freedom that emerged out of the 2022 protests that arose after Kurdish Mahsa Zhina Amini died in the custody of the Guidance Patrol, the religious morality police for not conforming to government standards of modesty in dress, with the message rendered in the same early Persian script, Kufic—cuneiform adapted to Arabic letters, that embroiders the official flag’s fimbriation as the takbīr (تَكْبِير ).