day one hundred seventy (13. 729)

Iran doubles the bounty on US soldiers for women who kill or capture them un the event of a ground invasion. NATO is said to be exploring options to ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. As countries around the world shrug off Trump call for solidarity and economic warfare, the American president, cryptically and confusedly, suggests that the US military could be enlisted—somehow—to offset loses in the bond markets, global skepticism in the future solvency in the country that makes it more expensive to finance its debt, possibly intimating that the armed forces could become mercenaries for hire for third-party conflicts. The US only other option for leverage against Iran, having painted itself into a corner, would be to sanction Chinese banks and small, independent “teapot” refineries that import Iranian oil, but ahead of Xi’s planned state visit to the US, it does not seem like a palatable course of action—strong-arming has gotten them nowhere. France pledges delivery of air interceptors to Ukraine after deadly waves of Russian attacks. Canada hits America with a retaliatory tariffs as trade war escalates. Washington removes Syria from its list of states sponsoring terrorism after fifty years following a congressional review and hints that Damascus might play along with the embargo against Tehran.

9x9 (13. 725)

⛒: the mostly true story of hobo code—see previously here and here  

bury the axis: an independent 1943 anti-fascist stop-motion film   

blackball: a variation on the grandfather paradox with billiards  

cow comes: roundly ridiculed Niu Lai (牛来) becomes a box-office hit  

home taping is killing music: the banality of streaming and the lost joy of music piracy—via Things Magazine—see previously  

diesel dazzle: GM archives reveal costume designs from the Golden Age of industrial musicals—see previously  

casserole culture: Melissa Joseph’s woollen impressions of Midwestern niceties 

lampchop after dark: ventriloquist Shari Lewis‘ raunchier days on the comedy circuit  

hailing frequency: a 1951 prototype beeper in the form of a wearable garter buzzer

synchronoptica

one year ago: a banger from Midnight Oil (with synchronoptica) plus the Dumbarton Oaks conference (1944)

two years ago: assorted links to revisit 

three years ago: Cars by Gary Numan

four years ago: the rules of chess, more links to enjoy plus a banger from Oasis

five years ago: rude toponyms plus The Baltics are Waking Up (1991) 

six years ago: limited patronage, Comrade Gulliver, antique ballots, Italy’s Hundred Horse Chestnut plus vintage Japanese boxed meal wrappers

day one hundred sixty-six (13. 720)

Contradicting the characterization of his own special envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner that „robust“ talks are continuing, Trump declares that there are no more negotiations with Tehran happening—adding, contrary to reality, that the Strait of Hormuz is open and operational under US control. The fallout from the American withdrawal from the Pacific is perceived as an abandonment of Taiwan and South Korea with no action needed on the part of Beijing and Pyongyang. The resupply issues facing the carrier group the USS Abraham Lincoln were exacerbated, it is revealed, due to secretary of war Hegseth‘s wanting to hide the extent of destruction to naval stations in the region from the public. The UAE suspends all commercial trade with Iran over alleged missile strikes. Concurrently, Abu Dhabi hosts a security conference with US secretary of state Rubio, against Tehran‘s repeated warnings to gulf neighbors not to cooperate with Washington lest be treated as collaborators.

nru ≫ nro (13. 690)

Following moves by the Czech Republic, Swaziland and Turkey to change their exonyms to Czechia, Eswatini and Türkiye respectively, the world’s third smallest country, the remote Pacific atoll, facing an existential threat over climate change and rising ocean levels, has announced it will be henceforth called Naoero after a popular referendum. Whilst ditching the colonial name of Pleasant Island when Great Britain allowed the German Empire to annex it as part of the Marshall Islands Protectorate, its endonym was restored, though in sort of a backhanded, paternalistic manner by ethnographer and linguist Paul Hambruch who gave it the folk-etymology as a contraction of the phrase a-nuau-a-a-ororo, supposedly, “I go to the beach.” After the British retook the phosphate-rich island following the end of World War I to be administered by Australia, the name Nauru stuck but as a pronunciation of convenience since the native name was difficult for foreigners to say. The twelve thousand residents of the parliamentary republic is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the International Monetary Fund. Mineral resources mostly exhausted—which destroyed all arable land and all food is currently imported, Naoero has earned a significant portion of its revenue by alternating recognition for the ROC and the PRC under the One-China Policy, as well as the breakaway regions of Georgia of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and from housing refugees awaiting immigration requests for Australia and New Zealand to be processed.

not for all the tea in china (13. 679)

Whilst some are uncommon lexical fossils, some three dozen Chinese terms for teas have been formally made part of the English corpus, language of course reflecting discernment revealing historic attitudes ranging from admiration, appropriation to derision. Bohea and Keemun have been borrowed directly from their regional provenance as well as descriptive words for different styles like oolong (烏龍) and congou, and souchong developed and cultivated in the Wuyi mountains of northern Fujian—green, white, black all coming from the same tea leaves, just dried and cured with different processes which affect the taste. The etymologies of some terms are more abstract, such as “pekoe” for grading leaves, with the Western tea trade’s standards—ostensibly from a word meaning downy and referring the quality of a leaf freshly emerged for the bud and suitable for the highest quality brew—it may have been invented by nineteenth century magnate Sir Thomas Lipton with his premium “orange pekoe” (something that did not exist in Chinese tea culture) in deference to the House of Orange-Nassau and the more established Dutch East India Company who first introduced the beverage to Europe, and then there’s the unfortunate pantomime stock character Widow Twankey. A corruption of the tea export hub of the district of Tuxni (屯溪) in Anhui province that had an unfair reputation of producing lower quality tea leaves, older, courser, raggedy and became associated with something past its prime with a stereotyped staple role in musical stage comedies that would make Mickey Rooney’s part in Breakfast at Tiffany’s seem mild in comparison, an eccentric matronly figure, usually played by a male actor in drag, running a Chinese laundry. One would like to report such depictions did not linger but the 1861 routine lasted through the vaudeville era in the 1930s and the Widow Twankey was revived in the third season of Kevin Sorbo’s Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as a recurring character—played by Michael Hurst—Iolaus, Hercules’ charioteer in that series as well as on Xena: Warrior Princess, in drag and conflating several mythological tradition as the original was Aladdin’s mother somehow. Fortunately other tea-terminology, not the reserve of experts and connoisseurs, is transmitted accurately and with respect though the business of trade was anything but.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Helsinki Accords (with synchronoptica), more synthetic geology plus the playfulness of AI

two years ago: Ford is prepped for his new role,  the samplers of Lorina Buwler plus cartographic innovations

three years ago: Dune published (1965), assorted links worth revisiting plus the case against Trump

four years ago: a taxonomical exploration plus MST3K on Hercules Unchained

five years ago: the debut of MTV (1981), more on hyperinflation, the biblically nameless, more Universal Everything plus a prime pollinator

six years ago: Lammas Day, Deadmau5 and the Neptunes plus facial masks inspired by mass-transit upholstery patterns

day one-hundred forty-six (13. 669)

Following an impassioned appeal by Zelenskyy, who was in Washington for the funeral of Lindsey Graham (as was Netanyahu), the US senate passes landmark sanctions on Russia. American and Saudi forces launch strikes against Iranian affiliated targets in Iraq. Ukraine hits more Russian bound Iranian cargo ships in the Caspian Sea, calling them indirect combatants. China is accused of supplying Iran with shoulder fired missile launchers. US Central Command announces joint AI working group in partnership with the UAE, the task force called Talon Synapse aimed at integrating artificial intelligence in military applications and cyber security. Negotiations still stalled with Trump claiming some “good” talks, the US president threatens Tehran with a fresh wave of strikes on civilian infrastructure if no deal is reached. 

9x9 (13. 646)

free play: the false nostalgia of the child-rearing in the 1980s 

it ends: capitalising on the popularity of liminal spaces, we discover the next trend, being trapped on an infinite trail  

eco chamber: the personal library of semiotician, philosopher and author Umberto Eco (previously) opens to the public in his Tuscan villa  

from the prepare-for-everything-to-get-very-stupid-and-xenophobic-department: USA to enforce same protectionist, nativist policies exercised in the Tik-Tok ban for open-source AI 

war & cheese: stalled European Union sanctions package for Russia exposes persistent divisions in the Bloc—see also 

the cemeteries are full of indispensable people: the dash to fill an America-shaped void  

hot merfolk summer: besting one’s holiday hashtags aspirations with Miss Margaret Morris’ choreography   

end of the road: uncelebrated termini and the Roman god of boundaries  

unquantified self movement: bucking the trend of maxxing and wellness-optimisation

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 

bodega cat (13. 579)

Enjoying the correspondence between these two disparate posts, we couldn’t resist combining them as a celebration of our feline companions first with this project by Marcel Heijnen to document the gradual disappearance of “shop cats” in Shanghai as traditional stores are replaced through gentrification with modern, hermetically sealed retail spaces twinned with the early 1980s phenomenon of the Nameneko cats of photographer Saturo Tsuda. Hugely popular at the time, these cats were dressed and set in dioramas depicting high school gangsters—banchō (番長, male delinquents) and sukeban (スケ番, female delinquents) who rebelled against authority, smoking in the boys’ room and with subversive tailoring of their school uniforms. Hang in there baby. Much more at the links above.

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

9x9 (13. 533)

biometrics: the after effects of gamification of physical activity—sometimes I want to launch my pedometer and everything else into the Sun 

sovereign wealth fund: Bernie Sanders’ proposal to cede control and profits of AI to the American public  

cinecope: an archive of rare and rarefied films—via Web Curios  

battle of the bit: an authoritative archive of chiptune and MIDI renditions  

otome: the rise of synthetic, choose-your-own-adventure romance  

a privet matter: a farmer hacks down China’s lonely tree—see also here and here  

chromacity: the colours on the spectrum that your screens cannot deliver—via MetaFilter  

a show of hands: designing more finger-friendly haptics for our devices—plus dispelling old myths, via Waxy  

dark flow: how your scrolling addiction was built off casino gambling

intersentential meshing (13. 501)

Though noticing how autocomplete, auto-suggests has creepingly over the last few years began to offer a host of emoji when typing in a term, particularly with nationalities, showing a flag and also associated cuisine that kind of is off-putting and verges to the the level of ethnic stereotype (Italy gives you 🇮🇹 plus 🍝) and code-switching with a German computer set to English where to summon an symbol “music” won’t pull up 🎶 but rather “Noten” nor “hole” for 🕳️ but “Loch,” we haven’t fully considered how the visual lexicon becomes argot in other languages. In Chinese texting, it’s sometimes used to stay under the radar for shadowbanned words that might result in one’s profile being flagged—as with 🍉 for 🇵🇸—there’s a lot of use of homophony, entendre and euphemism driven by Latin character pinyin input for Chinese logograms. Horse (馬, Mǎ), for example, though tonally distinct shares a range of similarly pronounced words—making 🐴 good for anything from mother to mosaic. In the pictured example, the pill emoji has become a popular, though possibly inscrutable for some, shorthand way of expressing that something is doomed for failure. What other idiosyncratic but widely accepted uses can you think of? More from Sixth Tone at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: smoke-filled rooms (with synchronopticæ),  protesting ICE raids in Los Angeles plus a segregationist is compelled to stand down (1963)

twelve years ago: driving in Italy plus the refugee crisis at the US southern border

thirteen years ago: mobile spywear 

fourteen years ago: the legacy of toxic waste plus a recipe for asparagus pasta

fifteen years ago: the punishment not fitting the crime 

6x6 (13. 496)

epistolary: a profile of one of China’s last working Qiaopi writers (侨批) who sends letters and remittances to relatives overseas 

robert tyzyczhowzswiski is asking the court to change his cognomen: the trials and tribulations of legal stenographers—see also  

gonzo and camilla: revisiting emperor Honorius, chicken fancier  

inter esperantistoj; the undying dream of the universal language—see previously—via Web Curios  

post-hoc rationalisation: more lawyers get in trouble for reliance on AI 

fountain of knowledge: Japanese quiz culture was shaped by the post-war US occupation

day seventy-seven (13. 435)

Returning from Beijing with little apparent progress of AI integration, the question of support for Taiwan or Middle East peace, and still haunted or harnessed with the spectre of not being concerned about the worsening economic welfare of the American people in pursuit of a war only speciously connected with their security, Trump’s threats to recommence military operations has Iranians on edge—the chief outcome of the meeting in China being the reaffirmation that Trump is an agent of chaos and Xi heading the more competent, staid and predictable superpower. Meanwhile, the administration appears to make good on its announcement to withdraw American troops and mid-range missiles stationed in Europe, the redeployments already seemingly underway in Bavaria and the deployment of a brigade level combat unit to Poland halted as the threat of Russia on NATO’s eastern flank remains.

 

synchronoptica 

one year ago: a catalogue of non-synonymous phrases (with synchronopticæ) plus a baffling online oracle

fourteen years ago: Iceland’s Kitchenware Revolution

fifteen years ago: a Eurovision watch-party plus America loosing its competitive edge

day seventy-six (13. 432)

Taking a pragmatic approach to the region, China lobbies for a lasting ceasefire for the region and oppose the militarisation of the Strait of Hormuz as the Beijing trip concludes. Trump expresses more frustration with Tehran but seems to soften on demands regarding taking the stockpiles of enriched uranium, as the vote on the war powers act, which would require the president to withdraw forces from the Persian gulf, fails to pass the lower house of congress by a single vote. Taipei takes silence as the best possible outcome following private talks between Xi and the US president. The only clear winners were the entourage of business executives, including the family syndicate, who secured investment deals in microchips and aerospace, with no indication that China, which purchases ninety-percent of Iranian petroleum exports, would alter its arrangement. Twice this week, Venezuela has been referred to as America’s fifty-first state, with Caracas rather nonplussed at this announcement. Renewed negotiation between Israel and Lebannon will begin over the weekend, despite intense fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah.

synchronoptica

one year ago: pigeon bells (with synchronopticæ), the Volstead Act of 1925, assorted links to enjoy plus an ancient Roman mosaic

thirteen years ago: search results and word association 

fourteen years ago: bank bailouts plus continued opposition to increasing farm yields with GMOs

day seventy-five (13. 430)

Trump’s high-stakes meeting with Xi ends after two hours with the US president preparing to depart for home, Trump characterising their relationship as “better than ever” following bilateral talks. Concerns that America would abandon Taiwan appear to be unfounded with that sticking point papered over for now as the Chinese leader, citing the Thucydides Trap, used to describe US-China relations and the fear of being displaced by an emerging power, like the Greeks to the Spartans, should be avoided and work towards becoming “partners and not rivals.” It is unclear what concrete outcomes were achieved. Vice president Vance announces that progress has been made in negotiations with Iran but is yet unclear if Tehran’s concessions will satisfy Trump’s red lines on Iranian nuclear ambitions. Fifteen ships carrying humanitarian aid have been allowed to pass through the US naval blockade of the Persian gulf after a month of the sea embargo being in operation. The almost complete internet blackout in the country reaches its seventh fifth day as the government names Mohammad Reza Aref new cyberspace policy chief.  Continued attacks in Lebanon has reportedly increased support for Hezbollah.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the latest mashup from DJ Earworm (with synchronopticæ) plus night fishing for distant broadcasts 

thirteen years ago: the origins of the peace symbol,  the magic roundabout plus a collection of food and drink patron saints

hairsplitting (13. 429)

US secretary of state Marco Rubio was able to accompany Trump on his brief visit to Beijing despite being under sanctions from China—a manoeuvre more favoured by the Americans to confer status non gratis to critics—thanks to, we learn via Super Punch, to a diplomatic workaround put in place shortly after Trump’s return to the presidency and installing Rubio in his cabinet. As a senator, the Cuban-American who staunchly opposes Communism, Rubio had a long track record of stances against China, including speaking out against posture in Hong Kong and legislation that condemning allegations of slave labour and oppression of the Uyghur population and reaffirming US quasi-support for Taiwanese self-governance, garnering his ban as a possible contender for high office. Though the embargo still stands against 馬可·安東尼奧·鲁比奥 (Mǎkě Āndōngníào Lǔ Bǐào) for his words and deeds, according to the embassy, a slight linguistic, tonal shift, with a different character to transliterate lu (from 卢 to 鲁, reflecting his policy shift away from human rights issues and full alignment with Trump and possible heir apparent)—was enough to grant him entry for officials, whereas the slightest discrepancy between what’s presented one’s identity documents and voter registration rolls would merit disenfranchisement if not arrest (see also, see previously). Trump himself is referred to variously as telangpu or chuanpu by the state and in the media.  Moreover, Rubio was also seen lounging on Air Force One’s redeye flight in the track suit worn by Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro after the US kidnapped him—steal his look. Despite the urgent focus on trade, AI-dominance and a peace settlement in the Middle East, the US softening its support for Taiwan, major producer of the advanced chips needed for advancing artificial intelligence, seems to be the objective, changing the official language from America “not supporting” Taipei independence to “opposing” it.

day seventy-four (13. 425)

As figures for the cost of the war so far are revised modestly upwards, Trump tells reporters that the financial situation of the American people is not a factor in his strategy with Iran just before embarking on a trip to Beijing to meet with his Chinese counterpart to discuss trade and a durable peace plan for the Middle East (though downplaying the need for help from China and its influence in global affairs)—the projected two-hundred billion dollar price tag of Bush II’s Iraqi adventure quickly overshot the mark and ended up costing around five trillion and it was this two-decade long quagmire that many economists and historians attribute to the cause for the US loss of productivity and its competitive edge, ceding output and innovation that allowed for the ascendency of China. Oil is expected to remain over a hundred dollars per barrel for the remainder of the year with derivatives including fertiliser remaining prohibitively expensive for farmers. Trump also reaffirmed he is considering resuming major combat operations over Tehran’s unwillingness to accept the terms of the US deal. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been conducting covert, undeclared attacks on Iran, and Israel, keeping up its assault on Hezbollah elements in Lebanon, have reservations about the US negotiating position, worried that Trump will strike a bad deal with the Revolutionary Guard, as Pakistan’s role as intermediary faces criticism for strategic opportunism rather than being an honest broker in mediation by some.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Episcopal church breaks with the US government over immigration policy (with synchronopticæ) plus Qatar gifts Trump an airplane

 

thirteen years ago: darlings of oblivion plus delving into ASMR 

 

fourteen years ago: Mothers’ Day greetings plus fruit of the vine

 

fifteen years ago: White House agrees to stop staging photo ops plus a hot air balloon lift off

 

sixteen years ago: German Fathers’ Day 

but all of those points don’t matter compared to allowing nuclear power to be in the hands of such volatile, difficult, unpredictable people (13. 344)

Making a bad situation of his own creation far worse, following the failure (by design) of the peace summit hosted by Pakistan, American president Trump lightly elaborated on his plan to simultaneously open the Strait of Hormuz with a coalition from the NATO countries he has disparaged, led by the UK—which Trump said earlier has no navy—and to blockade it, stopping any ships from entering or exiting the vital waterway and further placing an interdict on all vessels in international waters that had paid a toll to the Iranian government for passage. The threat, which is not conducive to further talks (Tehran had no pretensions that a treaty would be reached in a day, Obama’s 2015 nuclear settlement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA—nullified by Trump, took twenty months of negotiations during times of relatively less tension and not twenty hours under duress), would reignite hostilities should Iran remain obdurate over US demands or intervene militarily should US ships try to enter the strait and, if carried out, would embargo tankers from France, Japan, the Philippines, India, South Korea and China that have successfully obtained passage, likely already subject to US sanctions for the breach and with attendant economic consequences, affecting global supplies of not only oil and natural gas but also helium for semi-conductors and phosphate, urea and sulfur for agriculute. After walking back from the brink of destroying the entire culture, from an individual lobbying for the Nobel Peace prize not too long ago, Trump again reiterated his options of targeting civilian energy infrastructure and wantonly commit war crimes.

9x9 (13. 291)

crepuscular rays: the phenomena of sun pillars explained  

an exercise in attention: cultivating contemplation through a defence of pet portraiture  

关税: Trump’s reciprocal tariffs have failed against the Chinese export economy  

por la paz y justicia: Spain’s defiance and criticism under US duress is a template for the rest of European, allies threatened with sanction and invasion

the day of the locust: the Simpsons’ patriarch is taken from the protagonist of Nathanael West’s 1939 novel about Hollywood society with a cast of stock characters  

odonymy: UK regionalism for alleyways—see previously, see also  

смертономика: thanatology and Russia’s resistance to sanction  

dinergoth: the post-subcultural mainstream and the weirding of middle of the road America as a coping mechanism  

aurora borealis shining down in dallas: nineteenth century physicist Karl Lemström’s attempts to produce the Northern Lights on demand—see also