bergstadt bamberg (13. 398)

Called the Frankonian Rome for its seven hill, each crowned with a church, we made our way into town via a short bus ride—a first for the dogs who handled it pretty well—hoping that the holiday crowd would have dissipated somewhat, but the the city was full and lots was going on for a fair-weather weekend. 

There is an absolute embarrassment of sites to see in the Old Town, so we had to limit ourselves to a nice stroll in the Alt Stadt and ended up at old brewery, treated to another live band, this time a klezmer group with clarinets and accordion. A quick tour, even a whistle-stop one of the main attractions along the canals, also with comparisons to another Italian jewel with Klein Venedig, do not do it justice. We did manage however to pay some homage to the Altes Rathaus, designed in the mid-eighteenth century to mark the boundary between the hilly part of the town and the collection of islands in the Regnitz that coincides with the limits of the bishopric and secular district of the town, legend holding that the ecclesiastics were to stingy to afford the citizenry land for a town hall, so an artificial island was improvised, Venice-style.

 

day sixty-three (13. 397)

Quipping that the US is “sort a like pirates” after the seizure of more Iranian cargo ships and commenting that the US may take over Cuba on the way back from the Persian Gulf, Trump is briefed on Tehran’s new fourteen point peace proposal proffered to end a suggested extension of the ceasefire for a full two months and although now the recalcitrant party, considers it progress—though with the same breath, says that Iran has not suffered enough economically and insists on addressing their atomic ambitions as a prerequisite for any further negotiations. Although probably just a bargaining chip to apply more leverage on Berlin and NATO over trade deals and another instance of TACO, Trump further clarified that the redeployment of five thousand troops from Germany will focus on the Stryker brigade stationed in the Oberplfalz near the village of Vilseck. Someone should remind Trump (or not) it was Obama who closed Heidelberg, Würzburg, Bamberg, etc, and how a withdrawal planned during his first term went no where.  German defence minister Wadephul says that such a withdrawal was assumed and chancellor Merz insists that his relationship with the US president is the same it was a week prior to the announced reduction.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a visit to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (with synchronopticæ)

thirteen years ago: recreating the first web page 

fourteen years ago: a treasury of bookplates 

fifteen years ago: the capture and assassination of bin Laden plus Walpurgisnacht

sixteen years ago: more special houseplants 

day sixty-two (13. 395)

As Trump argues that the war powers resolution up for debate in congress as the conflict enters its second month and sixty day deadline for re-authorisation from the legislature is an unconstitutional check on his powers, the US president elaborates and expounds on his call for removal and redeployment of US troops from bases in Germany, citing five thousand. NATO is seeking an explanation as warnings come for Spain and Italy for their reluctance.

Someone should remind him—or not—that it was Obama who closed the bases in Heidelberg, Würzburg, Bamberg and Schweinfurt. Trump also adds it is treasonous to suggest that America is not winning. US marine corps personnel associates complain of threatening text messages from the supposedly eliminated Iranian navy Meanwhile with tacit confirmation that the new Ayatollah was injured and disfigured in the attack at the beginning of the fighting that killed his extended family, the supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei reasserts his control, calling Iran a military power to be reckoned with in a Labour Day (also defiantly, Teachers’ Day) message. Despite the ceasefire, more die in Lebanon as collateral from Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a return to the Tauber river valley (with synchronopticæ)

twelve years ago: more calendric conventions 

thirteen years ago: axis mundi plus a paperback library

fourteen years ago: US-German relations plus May Day vs Americanization Day 

sixteen years ago: returning from Istanbul 

day sixty-one (13. 393)

Following chancellor Merz’ criticism of the administration for its lack of strategy and saying it was being humiliated by Iran, Trump is mulling on reducing the number of the some thirty-six thousand US troops station in Germany, whilst still entertaining the prospect of leaving the NATO alliance entirely over its unwillingness to be drawn into the war with Iran. 

Oil prices rise to above $125 per barrel on news that naval blockade could continue for months with no renewed negotiations on the horizon and Tehran saying it can withstand the US economic pressure campaign. Growth in the EU is surprisingly resilliant and stronger than expected despite the conflict and supply chain disruptions. IDF attacks continue in southern Lebanon and Israel seizes a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid destined for Gaza in international waters.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Folkish Observer (with synchronopticæ) plus creating a data panopticon 

twelve years ago: US army updates allowable hairstyles plus the American Foreign Service

thirteen years ago: attuned cocktails plus new and novel punctuation

7x7 (13. 890)

crash blossoms: mentalist MC of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner guessed the name of expectant press secretary’s baby’s name seconds before shooting—via Super Punch 

akte x: a German expression to file something away, to bring a matter to conclusion from the Latin ad ācta  

a show of swords: direct democracy on display in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden  

cartel: the United Arab Emirates to quit OPEC after a sixty year membership  

euromaxxing: Hungary’s turn around—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

clausal stacking tolerance: a new test to parse the limits of lexical ambiguity—see previously

lihop, mihop: the language of manufactured crises and phoney outrage (now and then), the tone set by an individual vying for the Nobel Peace Prize yet threatening to destroy civilisations and celebrated the deaths of Rob Reiner and Robert Muller

day fifty-six (13. 380)

For some time we’ve been dealing with Schrödinger’s Strait, is it open or is it closed, and the on-again, off-again peace talks—which Tehran denies requesting and remains insistent that there will be no direct negotiations under duress, the blockade of the blockade. The Trump administration is sending Kushner and Witkoff without Vance to Pakistan, whilst the latest situation report from the US secretary of war says that limited transit is occurring through the Strait of Hormuz but at risk due to Iran’s threatening of vessels and the uncertainty of the sea mines, reiterating that American force are poised to resume their air campaign at a moment’s notice.  US secretary of state is drafting more sanctions against Iranian economic interest, and meanwhile, though other European leaders are not bought in and call the proposal premature, Chancellor Merz has suggested the easing of the overall embargo as a peace offering (see previous post). 

Switzerland reopens its embassy—which has served to represent American interests since 1979 when relations were broken off—in Tehran in anticipation of supporting renewed diplomatic initiatives. Despite there being no mechanism for giving demerits to members of the transatlantic defensive alliance, a leaked memorandum is exploring ways to kick Spain out of NATO for refusing to allow the US to use its bases to prosecute its war of choice and disparages other members generally. The memo also attacks the UK for its lack of enthusiasm and again brings up its decision on Diego Garcia. Claiming to have killed six terrorist fighters in southern Lebanon, Israel is accusing Hezbollah of sabotaging the fragile truce.

synchronoptica

one year ago: US products get a tariff label in Canadian markets (with synchronopticæ), celebrities in cars plus artificial intelligence literacy

fifteen years ago: post-war Trümmelbergen plus foot mittens

nichts besonders (13. 363)

Having also covered the etymology and evolution of the semi-fantastical coinage of the term invented by the author of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, we thoroughly enjoyed this examination of the trademarking and corporatisation of the made-up word sonder, a sort of trendy afterlife and meta-reading of the linguistic lacuna defined as the “realisation that each random passerby is the main character of their own story—living a life just as vivid and complex as your own, while you are just an extra in the background,” an important lesson to be sure and a check on ego-centrism but also with a bit of sinister connotations both historical and possibly hijacked, as with these other startup ventures with the pedigree of another made-up thing in the unicorn, as the spotlight syndrome and non-playable characters. The emergent brandscape includes Sonder breweries as well as job-placement services and a capital investment fund, and any number of accommodations, cafes and restaurants all in varying states of solvency. The title is from the German phrase for “nothing special”—a response to what’s going on—and with sonderbar as an adjective conveying strange or remarkable, there is an endless amount of taverns and clubs in the Sprachraum that have taken advantage of that code-switching, though not subject to copyright as a vocabulary item. Maybe one should have added diacriticals with heavy metal ümlauts to register it as IP.

9x9 (13. 340)

sen̓áḵw: the return of a Squamish Nation village exempt from zoning laws and an elegant solution to Vancouver’s housing shortage—first heard on NPR  

patience: a meditation on Solitaire—see previously  

tanker war: veterans of the 1981-1988 Persian Gulf crisis share flash-back inducing parallels  

granny shelf: an appreciation of the overlooked products in one’s grocery aisle—via Web Curios  

rückenfigur: a retrospective exhibition of Expressionist artist Gabriele Münter  

season ticket: brilliant vintage bus passes of the Milwaukee metro  

easter armistice: attacks continue as thirty-six hour truce for the Orthodox holiday between Ukraine and Russia approaches  

phreak box: an emulation of tones that hacked payphones—via Kottke—see previously  

diego garcia: US opposition forces UK to abandon plans to return the Chagos islands to Mauritius

störmthaler see iii (13.223)

Returning to Leipziger Neuseeland for the long Easter weekend and staying at a familiar campsite on the shore of an artificial lake created from the former open-cast lignite mine of Epsenhain. 

 Revisiting a seafood restaurant in the Kahnsdorfer lagoon, we got to see the serving-robot in action (see above)—though mainly a extra tray and probably a more ubiquitous feature in most gastronomical venues, in was pretty good at avoiding obstacles like the diners and other waitstaff—as well as the largest windpark in Germany straddling farmland on the Autobahn from Saxon-Anhalt to Saxony and adjacent the largest photovoltaic array in the shadows of the former cooling towers of Kernkraftwerk Lippendorf. 

We also explored the towns of Borsdorf and Panitzch on the Partheau, historically serving as toll stations along the main route from Leipzig to Dresden and presently part of the city’s Green Ring, a corridor to encourage biking from the suburbs and wetland reclamation project to mitigate flooding.

10x10 (13. 316)

carry on patriots: US secretary of war Hegseth nullifies probe into unauthorised helicopter fly-by and salute of Kid Rock  

feiqian: centuries old networks of underground banking provide the freedom from government oversight and privacy that crypto has failed to deliver  

road-trip: after a two year hiatus, Tom Scott returns to YouTube  

der orchideengarten: the first horror and sci-fi magazine—see previously 

the c-word: US scientists are speaking in code, the so-called “climate hushing” to continue their research 

general ledger accounting codes: an appreciation of Excel and how the spreadsheet reshaped business  

laudatio canis: a late fifteenth century testimonial about the virtues of dog-ownership—see previously  

mergers and acquisitions: Larry Ellison’s Oracle lays of thirty thousand workers in a cold-call dismissal after Paramount takeover of Warner Brothers leaves parent company in debt and without backers  

påskekrim: the Norwegian tradition of settling back with crime novels over the Easter holidays  

send in the flying monkeys: a music video with elements of Monty Python and Hieronymus Bosch that addresses the current US state of the union

7x7 (13. 311)

jack-in-the-box: a list of restaurant franchises nominatively housed in unusual structures by order of appeal of the dining experience in said edifice 

: – ): this generation will never the struggle of emoticons—see previously  

smelting operations: with the world’s supply of aluminium stuck in the Persian Gulf and major production facilities disabled, automakers are cutting production of electric cars 

fallout boy: Trump’s East Wing ballroom to act as shed atop of a war-graded military bunker  

fahr’n, fahr’n, fahr’n auf der autobahn: Kraftwerk’s pioneering electronic music masterpiece in full—see previously  

as slow as possible: Pippin Bar assesses attention span with meditative remakes of classic arcade games—via Waxy  

smoke ‘em if you got ‘em: startups hope to put biometric age-verification technology in flavoured vape cartridges

7x7 (13. 300)

reverse game theory: a novel approach to the housing crisis—via Damn Interesting 

twen: the publications of art director Willy Fleckhaus  

whoami.wiki: a scrapbook and photo album in the form of a personal Wikipedia built with the help of AI  

i’d never lend my name to an inferior product: Trump’s signature to appear on hundred dollar bills, a first for a sitting US president  

return of the king: Stephen Colbert co-authoring a Lord of the Rings movie, possibly featuring the character of Tom Bombadil  

the red book of bath: a unique civil administration almanac—via Strange Company  

laissez-faire: a modest proposal from John Maynard Keynes to solve unemploymentby burying money under landfills

day twenty-six (13. 293)

Despite the reported delivery of a fifteen-point plan through Pakistani surrogates and claims that the US has won the war with negotiations ongoing and major concessions on the part of Iran—without elaboration but implied it was related to oil and gas shipments and Tehran abandoning its nuclear ambitions—though doubts persist whether any dialogue has occurred and whether Iran would be receptive to any deal, Trump tempered his victory during the swearing in ceremony his new of homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, with the aside that Hegseth and Joint Chief Of Staff were disappointed to broker a ceasefire rather than continuing the destruction, by announcing the deployment of a thousand more troops to the region while airstrikes intensified on US bases in the theatre. At an event marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the office of the foreign ministry, German president and former Bundesminister des Auswärtigen Frank-Walter Steinmeier reaffirmed that the joint Israeli-American attacks on Iran and Lebanon violate international law and constitute war crimes, questioning the value of diplomacy and foreign policy when bad actors rubbish order and norms. Israel solidifies its hold on a buffer zone thirty kilometres inland from the current border between the countries and is poised for long-term occupation, presenting the question of sovereignty for Lebanon separate from Hezbollah into an existential crisis. Contrary to assurances, an errant missile hits the Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr as a military spokesman mocks the American administration’s attempt to control the narrative as a profound strategic failure, chiding them for disguising failure and the inability to extricate themselves from this mess as a truce and they are negotiating with imaginary interlocutors, insisting Tehran has been given no terms and would never capitulate to a hollow superpower.

cipheritis (13. 203)

An alleged mental disorder, reportedly diagnosed by German physicians, though with no clinical description and a paucity of case studies, zero stroke dysfunction was experienced by patients during the period of hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic (see previously here and here) with otherwise well-balanced individuals compelled to write out unending strings of zeros (see also here and here, also called ciphers after the Arabic root) as a coping mechanism for the rapid and exponential increasing of prices and depreciation of paper marks when the buying-power of one’s wages became essentially worthless by the end of one’s shift. Most common among those working in finance, accounting and sales, sufferers also had a tendency to retreat into complicated mental computations whose solutions were logarithmically fleeting.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a catalogue of historic dice and card games (with synchronopticæ) plus Germany votes

twelve years ago: more secession sessions, Kurt Vonnegut’s story shapes plus more on the mysterious Voynich manuscript

thirteen years ago: external threats, UK creditworthiness downgraded plus grammar and financial readiness

fourteen years ago: au revoir mademoiselle plus reforming the German welfare system

fifteen years ago: budget crunch in Wisconsin 

sixteen years ago: church elections 

seventeen years ago: ornate spam 

grönland (13. 197)

Via Miss Cellania, we learn about Adolf Hitler’s obsession with the acquisition of Greenland, corresponding to our own times and stemming from—ironically as their trajectory deviated very much ideologically—with the adventures of polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen. Already by April of 1934, the Nazi government undertook a survey of the polar island, inventorying the inhabitants, livestock and mineral resources—not rare earths, which whilst present remain inaccessible and have as yet never been mined—like cryolite, essential to aluminium production, as part of an overarching programme to turn-inward and make the Reich self-sufficient and not rely on outside sources and imposed restrictive bars on trade for any non-domestic staples, launching their own whaling fleets, staking claims on Antartica coinciding with territorial expansion in central Europe for the economic interests of Greater Germany. The US, however, had been monitoring these ambitions as well and in 1941, after the Nazi takeover of Denmark, the government-in-exile negotiated with the Americans, eager to protect their access and maintain wartime productions, allowing their presence as a deterrent and endowing the American ambassador in Godthaab (see previously here and here) with plenipotentiary powers as the representative of Free Denmark, a regimental fiction parallel to the one of Vichy France endorsed by Britain, with the arrangement reaffirmed after the war under the auspices of NATO. More from the Atlantic at the link above.

a child of europe (13. 180)

Although greeted with relief and applause, mounting the low-bar of last year’s gathering which seemed like the nadir of transatlantic relations with much transpiring in the intervening twelve months, the tone of the speech delivered by US secretary of state Marco Rubio on the second day of the Munich Security Conference was hardly conciliatory and sent the telegraphed the same message of no partnership among equals but rather an alliance framed in Trump’s vision and terms. Saying the president did not want a weakened continent saddled with guilt and shame, Rubio went on, “We in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline”—seeking not to cause division but to revitalise and renew civilisation, stoking old tropes of racisms and xenophobia and replacement. “What we want is a reinvigorated alliance that recognises that what has ailed our societies is not just a set of bad policies but a malaise of hopelessness and complacency”—citing as among those shared historic missteps for which now the US has made amends was the “climate cult,” prioritising the welfare state over national defence, globalisation and a belief in staid institutions no longer fit for purpose, with a final plug for Trump’s Board of Peace as a more effective and agile replacement for the United Nations. These are hardly soothing words.

destot’s space (13. 179)

In a round-about vocabulary lesson (courtesy of Curious Notions—such a journey down rabbitholes is referred to as a desire path as a metaphorical extension of an unplanned trail caused by foot-traffic as a shorter route, and now one can better document those strayings in Wikipedia at least—though often not short-cuts), we learn that the eponymous anatomical feature of the human wrist is named for the Lyonnaise sculptor, anatomist and pioneering radiologist Étienne Destot. Within months after Röntgen announced his discovery of clinical uses for x-rays, our good doctor was taking thousands of diagnostic radiographs of patients (see also) to develop better treatment strategies and in many cases eliminating red herrings to tackle true ailments.  Destot’s enthusiastic adoption of the new technology, however, led to severe radiation damage in his hands, forcing him to abandon his work and his eventual death. The namesake void the doctor identified through crisper x-ray imaging of the hands between the hamate and lunate bones is not chiefly cited in medical literature, but rather for discussing the critical historicism of Jesus, proposing that this was the site of the stigmata during the Crucifixion—the study, quest (quête) as an academic effort started by contemporary Alsatian physician and fellow multi-hyphenate Albert Schweitzer. For his contributions to medical science and lab safety, Destot is commemorated along with the Curies, inscribed on the Monument to the X-Ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations on the campus of Sankt Georg Hospital in Hamburg along with some one hundred sixty other doctors, chemists, physicists, technicians and assistants who sacrificed their lives in the advancement of medical science commissioned by the Deutsche Röntgengesellschaft in 1936. The memorial was expanded in 1959 to include the names of many of the victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

under destruction (13. 173)

The annual Munich Security Conference (previously), hosted in the city’s Hotel Bayerischer Hof, attendees fresh from informal talks held at the castle Alden Biesen in Belgium’s Limburg province, opens today with remarks from former German ambassador to the US and MSC chair Wolfgang Ischinger and Bavaria leader Markus Söder, warming up with a bit of a quip, exclaiming what happens in Davos doesn’t need to stay in Davos and donning a pair of aviator style sunglasses like those sported by Emmanuel Macron, but the comic relief quickly turned more serious in the milieu of “global insecurity” and challenged trans-Atlantic ties, stressing allies should be accorded respect and treated as partners—though pointedly welcoming the American delegation and US secretary of state, slated to address the conference on Saturday. To attempt to set the tone, Chancellor Merz followed (unusual for German leadership to deliver the keynote address), remarking that he though the titular motto was a bit grim but the situation needs to be put in even harsher terms, declaring that the world order no longer exists—rebuking US criticism of Europe and reinforcing the call to rebalance their relationship and move forward from its “self-inflicted” dependency, “Our holiday from world history is over.”

9x9 (13. 165)

shoulder angel: the Scottish philosopher teaching one AI model morals—via Marginal Revolution 

pdf forensics: a case study of the sanitisation and hidden data through the Epstein files—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

individual neutral athletes: a historic look of Russia at the Games 

secretz de l’histoire naturelle: a late fifteenth century illustrated guide to exotic, far-flung lands  

the ents showing up to take down isengard: more reflections on Bad Bunny and friends Super Bowl half-time show 

volunteer army: the recruitment call enlisting anonymous editors to stave off AI from Wikipedia—via LitHub  

herren-t-shirt olympisches erbe der olympischen spiele in berlin: commemorative apparel from the 1936 Games from the official shop is met with backlash 

it’s the people’s house and it’s also the presidents home, so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the white house: annual bipartisan meeting of US governors called off when Trump excludes Democratic state leaders 

human prerogative: on the imitation game, all exercises—even the boring ones—having value and why computers can’t surprise

synchronoptica

one year ago: US to stop minting pennies (with synchronopticæ) plus DOGE and the Deep State

twelve years ago: the Atlantis Haus 

fifteen years ago: Egypt in media res

 

rede an den kleinen mann (13. 144)

Having a passing familiarity with one of the more radical and controversial figures in the field of psychiatry, Wilhelm Reich, we were rather absorbed with his 1945 illustrated essay, Listen, Little Man!—call-out quotations limned by cartoonist William Steig (best known for his 1990 children’s book Shrek! and the basis of the animated movies) a personal friend and originally self-published by Reich’s Orgon Press. Aligned with overarching philosophy that neuroticism, self-destructive behaviours and fascism were rooted in sexual frustrations, the tract, translated with multiple reprintings and influencing the likes of Saul Bellow, William S Burroughs and Norman Mailer and Joan Didion among others as writers of creative non-fiction, documents the evolution of a psychoanalytical session from the point of view of the derided therapist, Reich himself as a stand-in for the whole backlash against the industry and skepticism towards expertise in general, from bemused naïvety, amazement to panic and horror about how resistant the patient can be to being disabused, esteeming his enemies and persecuting allies, becoming crueler than through grievance than the power structure one hopes to supplant. Much more to discover at the links above.