Beginning on this day in 2004, the series of protests (see also) lasting two months and one day called the Orange Revolution (Pomarancheva revoliutsiia, the colour of the campaign of Western-oriented Viktor Yushchenko and adopted by his supporters) caused political upheaval and reform and was sparked by the outcome of a presidential run-off perceived to be marred with fraud, corruption and voter intimidation, which favoured Russia-aligned candidate Victor Yanukovich. The Ukrainian Supreme Court was swayed by the acts of non-violent civil disobedience and general disruption, backed by international observers that questioned the election’s validity and annulled the results of the initial second round and ordered new voting, under close scrutiny, which were judged free and fair and ultimately installed Yushchenko in office with a “public inauguration on 23 January 2005.
Friday, 22 November 2024
Thursday, 21 November 2024
11x11 (12. 020)
enemy of the people: veteran journalists expect Trump to go after the press by every possible means
net elevation: calculate the differential between the birth place and the death place of the good and the great—via Waxy
panda diplomacy: Russia donates seventy animals to North Korean zoo with a plane sanctioned by the US normally dispatched to Syria—via Super Punch
jellyfish dream theatre: a visit to the Kamo Aquarium in Yamagata prefecture, home to the largest collection of medusazoa
cryptobro: investigating undisclosed financial interest in various schemes, BBC trolled by Paul Logan impersonator
icc: the International Criminal Court has issued warrants for the Israeli president, former defence secretary and Hamas’ military leader on charges of war crimes
ai pimping: the growing industry of machine-generated influences
exclusive gladiator experience: AirBNB’s booking at the Colosseum incites outrage
test-fire: in response to strikes with Western missile systems, Putin orders the firing of experimental hyper-sonic armament deep into Ukraine
allotted to companionship: a look at how a certain demographic spent their time in the 1930s as compared to today—via tmn
grim meat-hook future: resistance to Trump’s authoritarian regime could result in a military coup—read the comments
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus a lost demo tape rediscovered decades later
seven years ago: endangered elements plus more links to enjoy
eight years ago: more fun with shadows plus Eigengrau and colour perception
nine years ago: Alan Moore’s Star Wars
ten years ago: ransomware plus dialect and distinction
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
day 1000 (12. 015)
Addressing a special session of the EU parliament to mark a thousand days since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Europe to “push harder” against Putin’s aggression, adding that Russian resources, will and patience was not inexhaustible and there comes a breaking point and have to pursue a “just peace.” The speech and grim milestone come a day after Joe Biden lifted sanctions on the use of US-supplied long-range missile systems outside of Ukraine’s own borders, the approval following incursions into the Kursk region and the expected response by Russian and North Korean troops.
Sunday, 8 September 2024
tsardom (11. 823)
Unveiled on this day in 1862 to commemorate the thousand-year anniversary of the arrival of of the Varangian viking conquerors from Sweden in the Kievan Rus’, traditionally taken as the starting point of statehood, the hundred-ton bronze monument, the Millennium of Russia, in the kremlin of Novgorod is a fifteen metre high globus cruciger atop a bell-shaped pedestal, representing the history and culture of the empire. One-hundred twenty-nine figures line the middle and bottom levels and uniquely for an official state work include academics, writers and artists along with rulers, heroes, military commanders and men of enlightenment, but conspicuously absent is Ivan the Terrible (though is wife Anastasia Romanovna is present) for his pillage and massacre of the city founded by Prince Rurik in the ninth century. The monument was captured and dismantled by the Nazis during World War II but Novgorod was recaptured by the Red Army before transportation to Germany could be arranged and restored the work and put it back on display in 1944. Since 1988, among the signals of easing official atheistic policy, the celebration of this state baptism was the first national observance with a religious character.
Tuesday, 3 September 2024
petrolgrad (11. 813)
On his first visit to a signatory member of the International Criminal Court since the issuing of a warrant for his arrest in 2022 for war crimes—specifically the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to be raised by Russian families—Vladimir Putin is flagrantly testing the limits of the infra-national judicial body’s jurisdiction by his welcome in Ulaanbaatar. Although there is no framework to enforce compliance, state parties like Mongolia are expected to uphold the court’s pre-trial rulings and detain those summoned. Kyiv is urging compliance as well as several protests organised locally. Putin’s presence is for among other things to promote the building of a new pipeline to China, called the Power of Siberia 2, to make up for lost sales to Europe following the boycott of Russian oil.
Tuesday, 27 August 2024
lady death (11. 795)
Arriving in Washington, DC on this day in 1942 as a part of a tour of the US, Canada and the UK to encourage the Allies to open up a second front against Nazi Germany, at the invitation of Eleanor Roosevelt, Lyudmila Pavlichenko (ะัะดะผะธะปะฐ ะะธั
ะฐะนะปัะฒะฝะฐ ะะฐะฒะปะธัะตะฝะบะพ) of Odesa became the first official Soviet guest in the White House. Credited with killing three-hundred nine Axis soldiers—likely an undercount as confirmed kills required a witness and included thirty-six enemy snipers—after being retired after a blow from shrapnel, Pavlichenko was reassigned as a trainer and propagandist for the Red Army. Not particularly fond of her new role as a diplomat, shy and quiet and only wanting to get on with beating the fascists, Pavlichenko complained that she was not taken seriously by the press, but her blunt responses to sexist questions were well received by the public. Calling on Chicago with the First Lady, citing her credentials, she chided, “Don’t you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?”
synchronoptica
one year ago: the Guinness World Records (with synchronoptica)
eight years ago: ghost malls plus duped by Brexit
nine years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus the oracle of Delphi
ten years ago: work-life balance plus Austria hosts the Bilderberg conference
eleven years ago: social media and credit scores
Saturday, 10 August 2024
8x8 (11. 755)
hillbilly eulogy: the producer’s apparent misjudgement in adapting JD Vance’s memoir—and suggestion that Ron Howard might be playing the long-game to torpedo the MAGA ticket’s chances of ever returning to power—via Miss Cellania
feint and parry: Ukrainian incursions into Russian territory catches Moscow off guard
rarissima: bibliolyte, a destroyer of books, and other bookish terms
veepstakes: the question of casting the nominees on the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live—see previously
grit and glitter: new Museum of London logo of a pooing pigeon is dividing opinions—via Strange Company—see previously
schrimp jesus: the origins and drivers (including Meta’s own incentives) of Facebook AI slop—see previously
human shields: Israeli air strike on Gaza school sheltering the displaced leaves almost one hundred dead—the IDF claiming the building was being used by Hamas agents
tim walz will teach you how to parallel park: the VP pick’s Midwestern dad energy plus the not so Midwestern origins of ope
Friday, 21 June 2024
dmz (11. 643)
Unnerved by just concluded two-state visit by the Russian president to strengthen alliances with North Korea and Vietnam and fears that the pact may see flows of munitions not only for Russia to continue to prosecute its invasion and occupation of Ukraine but also concerns that Seoul’s neighbour would be receiving technical assistance in developing its nuclear and aerospace programmes and emboldened border incursions, South Korea is considering augmenting its support to the beleaguered nation with lethal weapons, which it has so far not provided. As counter-programming to the recently held gathering in Switzerland of eighty nations reaffirming their commitment for Ukraine support and condemnation of Putin’s war, the Russian leader re-emphasised that materiel aid for Ukraine makes other countries direct belligerents and reserves the right to do the same against the West and its allies.
one year ago: the US supreme court sets benchmarks for obscenity (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting
six years ago: regional linguistic delicacies plus RIP Koko the Gorilla
seven years ago: soylent, structural fungi plus procrastination and motivation
eight years ago: Sigur Rรณs, neighbourhood archaeology, Wedgwood heels plus more on gun violence in America
nine years ago: Max Richter’s Sleep
Friday, 14 June 2024
juunikรผรผditamine (11. 629)
Commemorated on this day by the Baltic countries as a memorial to mass deportations of tens of thousands of individuals in 1941 from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and the western territories of modern-day Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Belarus, the eviction orders were executed covertly by the USSR Interior People’s Commissariat with the aim of removing “socially foreign elements” and resettling them in the interior of the Soviet Union. Occupied and annexed a year earlier following the Molotov-Ribbetrop Pact which defined Nazi Germany’s and Soviet Red Army’s spheres of influence, targeted nationalities were displaced under pro-Soviet puppet-governments and the colonisation proceeded. The relocation occurring just before the Nazi incursion into Soviet territory, deportees were characterised as counter-revolutionaries but not collaborators and their removal, rather than strengthening their newly expanded front buffered with ethic Russian in-migration, was seen to remove dissidents and create cheap labour in interior gulags. A programme of limited repatriation was begun under Khrushchev as part of De-Stanlinisation reforms but an estimated sixty percent or more had perished during exile and none deemed nationalists or non-white were allowed to return with those who were facing discrimination by the newly aligned majority.
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
drawn apart (11. 607)
Although perhaps more famous for his depictions of the Risorgimento (the Unification of Italy in 1861), the Swiss-born painter and lithographer Carlo Bossoli also became popular particularly in Britain for his historic scenes of Crimea due to public interest in the war. Working out of Odesa, Bossoli documented several places that reverberate over the last two centuries and are familiar to those following the current conflict, like this painting of Snake Island. London printing house Vincent Brooks, Day & Son published a series of fifty-two choice images and commissioned the artist for coverage of other ongoing battles. More scenes from RFEL at the link up top.
Sunday, 3 March 2024
8x8 (11. 396)
a bridge too far: German authorities pledge investigation into embarrassing leak of confidential military talks about Ukrainian aid
heteronyms: the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa with seventy pen-names
solar symbology: a survey of the various cartographic representations of North America’s upcoming total eclipsephrixus and helle: newly excavated fresco in Pompeii retells the myth of the Golden Fleece
re:design: Jason Kottke unveils his new website with fresh 2024 energy—maybe we could all use a face-lift
replevin: Trump fraudulently overvalued his Scottish golf course and resort by £200 000 000—see previously
club remix: annual competition that invites doctoral candidates to dance their dissertation
airdrop: US begins aid delivery to a beleaguered Gazan population on the verge of famine
one year ago: TIME magazine (1923) plus assorted links to revisit
two years ago: more links to enjoy plus the largest capacity cargo plane
three years ago: more links worth the revisit, an artist’s message to get vaccinated plus Rocket Man (1972)
four years ago: the French version of the Dallas theme, Super Tuesday, Nigerian contributions to English plus more on the Human Interference Task Force
five years ago: graphic designer Alvin Lustig, Apollo IX (1969), an example of Celtic Revival architecture, McLaren’s Imperial Cheddar Club Cheese plus artist Pokey LaFarge
Sunday, 18 February 2024
ัะตะฒะพะปัััั ะณัะดะฝะพััั (11. 359)
At the end of the Euromaidan protests, a series of demonstrations and civil unrest beginning the previous November in response to the president’s sudden reversal on signing the European Union-Ukraine Association Agreement—instead against the Verkhova Rada choosing to forge closer ties with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union—and against government corruption and abuse of power, the Revolution of Dignity began on this day in Kyiv in 2014 with violent clashes between authorities and the opposition. Five days of rallying resulted in the ousting of Viktor Yanukovich and the restoration of the amendments to the constitution put in place a decade earlier (won during the Orange Revolution, installing a parliamentary system that put checks on the office of the presidency). Having fled the city for Kharkiv, a majority of the rada voted to remove Yanukovych from office on 22 February and free political prisoners, and in absentia, Yanukovych appealed to Russia for help in this “coup” and reinstall him. Within a few days, Russia deployed peacekeeping troops to Crimea, occupying the peninsula and eventually annexing it and stoking secession in regions in the south and east of the country.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the King Biscuit Flour Hour (1973), assorted links to revisit using the seas to pull carbon from the air
two years ago: more links to enjoy, a collection of dynamic historical maps plus more time-slice photography
three years ago: a tour of North Korea, ditches and retaining walls plus therblig units
four years ago: corporate Christian America, the art collective Inges Idee plus RIP Andrew Weatherall
five years ago: a stellar eclipse, more official state crap, Minnie Pearl, Petri dish lamps plus the Know-Nothing’s first political convention
Saturday, 30 December 2023
mmxxiii (11. 224)
As this calendar draws to a close and we look forward to 2024, we again
take time to reflect on a selection of some of the things and events
that took place during the past year. Thanks as always for visiting. We’ve made it
through another wild year together.
january: Hundred of thousands pay their respects, attend funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, presided over by his predecessor in Vatican City. Supporters of defeated president Jair Bolsanaro stormed the capitol in Brasilia. Caches of official records and classified files have been discovered mishandled and stored in offices used by Joe Biden after his vice-presidency. Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck passes away, aged 78. Lisa Marie Presley, artist and singer, has died, aged 54. Wracked with successive and endemic problems, Haiti descends into anarchy after the last of its elected officials depart the country. Singer David Crosby has passed away, aged 81. Jacinda Arden steps down as Prime Minister of New Zealand. US and Germany agree to send tanks to Ukraine. A group of five police officers in Memphis, Tennessee brutally murder Tyre Nichols with no justifiable provocation. After speaking out against the criminalisation of same-sex partnerships and denial of basic civil rights, the Pope will journey to South Sudan, joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the head of the Church of Scotland for a dialogue with local church leaders preaching a gospel of intolerance. Lisa Loring, the original Wednesday Addams, passes away, aged 64.
february: After announcing that conflict with China was on the near horizon, the US acquires additional bases in the Philippines to encircle its rival and potential adversary. Just days ahead of US Secretary of State’s visit to Beijing, NORAD announces the detection of a Chinese spy balloon over western America, prompting Blinkin to cancel his trip. Fashion designer and perfumier Paco Rabane passes away, aged 88. The EU holds a summit in Kyiv on Ukraine’s bid for membership. Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf passes away, aged 77, after contending with a long illness. A powerful earthquake on the border of Syria and Tรผrkiye claims over five thousand lives, the death toll soon quadrupling. Songwriter Burt Bacharach passes away, aged 94. Facing a series of crises and increasing pressure from the war in neighbouring Ukraine, the government of Moldova is dissolved. Top-tier Czech footballer Jakub Jankto comes out as homosexual, the first professional player to do so. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon surprises her party by announcing her departure with no clear successor. Actor Raquel Welch passes away, aged 82. North Korea resumes missile tests in the Pacific and the US warns that China may attempt to arm Russia and delegates at the Munich Security Conference urge immediate fortification of Ukraine in order to prevent imminent defeat. Stand-up comedian and tv detective Richard Belzer dies, aged 78. Humanitarian and former US president Jimmy Carter enters hospice care. Just ahead of the one year anniversary of the start of the invasion, Joe Biden makes a surprise visit to Kyiv. Tech companies and media outlets continue tranche after tranche of staff layoffs. US House Speaker gives previously unreleased trove of January Sixth insurrection footage to conservative pundit Tucker Carlson. The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks its one year anniversary.
march: Evidence emerges that Ukrainian saboteurs were responsible for the underwater explosions that ruptured the NordStream I pipeline though questions remain. In the second largest bank collapse in the history of the US and the first of its kind since the 2008 crash, the Silicone Valley Bank servicing tech-sector start-up has become insolvent and went into government receivership. Thousands of civil servants in France go on strike in protest of legislation to raise retirement age. After Manhattan district attorney investigation into Trump directing hush-money to Stormy Daniels, US presidential candidate announces that he expects to be arrested and calls for protests. Mounting evidence seems to vilify suggestions that COVID originated from a lab leak in Wuhan. Despite attempts to contain the contagion, the fall out from the crisis with California fintech institutions cause havoc with banking stocks worldwide. UBS absorbs a beleaguered Credit Suisse. Xi and Putin enter an apparent entente against American influence. UN warns that time has run out on combating runaway climate change. Deadly, hour-long tornado strikes ravage rural Mississippi and Alabama. Intel Corp founder and thinker behind the eponymous law about the exponential improvement of technology Alan Moore passes away, aged 94.
april: Trump arraigned in the Manhattan district court over falsifying business records pursuant to hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels. A US federal judge in Texas suspends the 2000 approval by the country’s food and drug regulatory body on the safety of an abortion pill, restricting its use. Demanding stricter gun-laws in the wake of another school and church mass-shooting, the Tennessee state legislator expel two Black lawmakers for their stance. Preoccupied with filibusters over trans-rights, the Nebraska state senate fails to pass a single law in this year’s legislative session. Tory ministers begin to walk-back plans for a full-scale repeal of EU regulations following an inter-party revolt against the post-Brexit arrangement. Phasing out of nuclear energy entirely, Germany closes its final remaining reactors. Revival military leaders have brought Sudan to the brink of civil war as factions of the regular army face the paramilitary rapid response force in Khartoum. More media organizations fold as ad revenue dries up and newsrooms turn to AI to generate copy, like BuzzFeed and Vice being the two latest to declare bankruptcy and curtail operations. Comedian and creator of Dame Edna Barry Humphries has passed away, aged 89. Civil rights activist and entertainer Harry Belafonte dies, aged 96. Joe Biden declares his party’s candidacy for a second term for president of the United States.
may: Gordon Lightfoot, folk legend, dies, aged 84. The WHO declares the global COVID-19 health emergency over. Charles III and Camilla are enthroned during a lavish ceremony in London. A jury finds Donald Trump guilty on the charge of sexual abuse and battery, labelling him a predator and pest. Elon Musk appoints a former television advertising executive as head of Twitter as he announces plans to transform the ailing social network into a multi-purpose app similar to China’s WeChat. Harry and Meghan are recklessly pursued by paparazzi in New York—with strong echoes of the death of his mum’s fatal encounter. China begins to call in loans to some of the world’s most impoverished countries after making them dependent on cheap credit. Tina Turner passed away peacefully, aged 83, in her home outside of Zurich—Simply the Best. Florida governor Ron DeSantis announces his presidential candidacy on Twitter.
june: The death toll of a catastrophic train crash in India approaches three hundred with countless more injured. After months of drama and tension, the US raises its debt ceiling to avoid default. A dam breach, blamed on Russia, causes massive flooding along the Dnipro river and forces tens of thousands to
evacuate. Astrud Gilberto, the Queen of Bossa Nova, and original singer of the infinitely covered ‘Girl from Ipanema,’ has passed away, aged 83. Wildfires rage in Canada, smoke enveloping the Eastern Seaboard. The awaited Ukraine counteroffensive begins. Four children who survived an airplane crash in the jungles are Columbia are found alive having survived the forty day ordeal. Donald Trump is indicted on federal charges for retention of classified documents imperilling US national security. Boris Johnson quits Parliament ahead of an official rebuke from the House of Commons over Partygate. Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber and CIA UK Ultra test subject, is dead, aged 81. Media tycoon and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi passes away, aged 86. NATO holds large scale military exercises in Germany. The whistleblower and leaker behind the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, passes away, aged 92. A submersible taking a compliment of five tourist to the wreck of the Titanic is lost. Mercenary Wagner Group turns critical of the invasion of Ukraine and stages a mutiny after announced take-over by the Russian defence ministry, occupying Rostov-on-Don and proposing a march on Moscow, reaching half-way to the capital before a truce is negotiated by the Belarusian president. France riots over the death of a teenager after being shot by a police officer. US Supreme Court overturns affirmative action in college admissions, student loan forgiveness and LGBTQI+ anti-discrimination laws, though at least on the last case, it looks as if evidence was fabricated.
july: Joseph Pedott, marketing virtuoso, passed away, aged 91. Israel conducts a major military raid into a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin. Despite warnings from humanitarians and a ban in place for their use by over a hundred countries, the US is sending surplus cluster-bombs from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts to Ukraine. Catastrophic flooding devastates Vermont and other parts of New England. Hollywood’s Screen Actors Guild joins the writers’ strike. Jane Birkin, singer, activist and French icon, dies aged 76. Crooner Tony Bennett passes away, aged 96. After months of media hype and anticipation, the Barbieheimer phenomenon comes to cinemas. Singer Sinรฉad O’Connor has died, aged 56—nothing compares 2 u. Hunter Biden appears before court on charges of tax evasion and illegal gun-ownership, days after boudoir photos of him enter the congressional record, possibly in violation of laws against revenge porn. The Nigeria government falls to a military coup d’etat with the president taken into custody. Paul Reubens, the actor who portrayed Pee-Wee Herman, passed away aged 70, after a private bout with cancer. Voyager 2 after two weeks of radio silence has re-established contact with Earth.
august: Donald Trump is indicted for his role in fanning the flames that culminated in the January Sixth raid on the Capitol and attempts to over turn the 2020 election. Wildfires devastate the Hawaiian island of Maui and the town of Yellowknife is evacuated as forests are engulfed in Canada. A rare hurricane, the first in eighty years, passes over Baja California, causing flooding and heavy rains, a year’s worth in a single day. Ex-Wagner chief and senior leadership perish in an airplane crash. Indian lands a probe at the lunar south pole. Trump is arrested, booked and released on bail after in Fulton County Georgia. Long-time US game show host Bob Barker dies, aged 99 (playing by Price-is-Right rules until the end). An unprecedented hurricane strikes Florida’s Big Bend region between the panhandle and peninsula. “Margaritaville” singer Jimmy Buffett passes away, aged 76.
september: Drought and wildfires are followed by flooding in Greece. An earthquake strikes the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco, killing hundreds and destroying parts of Marrakesh. Rupert Murdoch steps down from News Corp. Fighting erupts in Nagorno-Karabakh, the breakaway region of Azerbaijan. After more than five months, the Hollywood Writers’ Guild reaches a deal with the studio and ends its strike. In solidarity with striking autoworkers, US president Joe Biden joins the picket line, the first for a sitting holder of the high office. As counter-programming to the second Republican debate, Trump also makes an appearance with union workers.
october: Hamas and other terror groups launch a surprise attack on Israel, causing Tel Aviv to declare war against Gaza with thousands killed on both sides. Earthquakes in Afghanistan leaves over a thousand dead. An eastern Pacific tropical cyclone devastates Acapulco with hundreds killed and many more displaced.
november: Three-hundred thousand marched for peace in Palestine through London during Armistice Day celebrations after earlier rallies drawing in huge numbers to urge Israel enact a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. Pope Francis dismisses an ultra conservative bishop in Texas who criticised the pontiff's more progressive stance on non-gender-conforming members of the Church. OpenAI’s board of directors have ousted founder and CEO Sam Altman, the chief representative of the chatbot revolution and proponent for regulatory framework, for his lack of candour and transparency. Microsoft immediately hired Altman and fellow defectors. Humanitarian and former US First Lady Rosalynn Carter passes away. Rightwing populist Geert Wilders wins a controlling share of the Netherlands’ parliament. A temporary cease-fire is called in Gaza to allow the release of hostages and more humanitarian aid to enter the beleaguered city. Henry Kissinger dead at one-hundred.
december: Fabulist and fraudster George Santos expelled from the US congress. Israel renews attacks on Palestine after a temporary truce. Legendary television producer Norman Lear passes away at 101. Israeli forces extend attacks in southern Gaza, where many fled to avoid the violence. Ousted US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy tenders his retirement from Congress, leaving the Republicans a controlling majority of only two seats. The EU enacts the world’s first comprehensive AI regulatory framework. A volcanic eruption occurs on the Icelandic Reykjanes peninsula with Sundhnรบkagรญgar dumping lava and prompting evacuations. Trump confidant and former New York City mayor Rudi Guliani declares bankrupcy after being ordered to pay nearly one hundred-fifty million dollars in restitution for libelling Georgia election workers. Houthi pirates attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea cause transportation to round the Cape of Good Hope. A mass shooting in Prague leaves fifteen individuals dead. Missing Russian opposition figure Alexei Nalvalny emerges, detained in a penal colony above the Arctic Circle. A heavy barrage of missiles hit Kyiv as US financial and materiel backing driess up.Veteran German parliamentarian Wolfgang Schรคuble passes away, aged 81. Jacques Delors, statesman who helped shaped the European Union dead at 98. Entertainer Tommy Smothers dies at 86. Israeli bombardment of Gaza continues, with the death toll of civilians surpassing twenty-thousand.
Monday, 17 July 2023
tรชte de pont (10. 891)
Within hours of the announcement that a deal brokered by Tรผrkiye that would allow vital Ukrainian grain shipments would be allowed to resume from Black Sea ports, forces attacked (sabotaged for the second time) the bridge linking the Russian mainland to the peninsula illegally annexed by Russian in 2014, prompting the Kremlin to call off the deal and continue its naval blockade. The overland corridor across the Kerch straits which allows would-be vacation-goers to bypass most of the war zone is also, according to Ukrainian military intelligence, a logistics hub for moving men and materiel deeper into Ukrainian territory and the multi-billion dollar, nineteen kilometres long bridge was considered a prestige project. The EU and UN accuse Russia of weaponising food staples as the embargo will only exacerbate shortage and inflation in developing nations dependent on these exports.
Monday, 10 July 2023
7x7 (10. 871)
terracotta army: new excavations in Shaanxi reveal the site contains more than the familiar infantry unit—see previously
mizhuvkhamy: a group of Ukrainians documenting the graffiti left by Russian occupiers for future research on the invasionjazz kissas: the ambient sounds of Japan’s listening cafรฉs—see also
i never thought i’d be cheering for zuckerberg: in response to the runaway success of Instagram’s Twitter mode, Elon Musk threatens to sue, resorts to name-calling
adequacy decision: EU rules that Big Data has sufficient controls in place, with the US to monitor compliance, to allow transfer to US servers
vilnius: developments to watch during this week’s NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital
dromolaxia vizatzia: Bronze Age tombs of unknown rulers discovered in Cyprus
Sunday, 9 July 2023
6x6 (10. 869)
kherson herbarium: botanists risked their lives in war-torn Ukraine to save a unique plant collection—see also
public access: cute stuffed animals jam to vintage records at Otto’s Shrunken Head Tiki Bar & Lounge
mctrains: a look at the fast food giant’s failed venturesfรถhnkrankheit: alpine downdrafts attributed to outbreaks of madness—via Strange Company
msg sphere: a colossal orb covers an events venue in Las Vegas
weedwork: a tour of the first cannabis coworking space in New York City
synchronoptica
one year ago: Tron (1982), the first animated adaptation of The Hobbit, Chroegraphy for Copy Machine (1991), the Charles Bridge of Prague (1357) plus assorted links to revisit
two years ago: past life regression for pets, the presidency of Millard Fillmore plus transiting through Denmark
three years ago: more adventures along the Moselle plus independence for the Republic of Palau (1981)
four years ago: electromagnetic pulse experiments (1961) plus the minimal republics of Rubรฉn Martรญn de Lucas
five years ago: spider ballooning, salterns from above, the Brexit Bulldog resigns plus artist Joshua Reynolds
Sunday, 25 June 2023
ะฒะพัััะฐะฝะธะต (10. 832)
More than half-way to the capital under lockdown and preparing for a siege with the whereabouts of Putin unknown, a negotiated truce brokered by Alexander Lukashenko at the behest of the Russian president saw Wagner group boss call off the march to Moscow with blanket amnesty for the mercenaries who participated in the insurrection (with the option of enlisting in the regular army) and the boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s exile to Belarus, facing no criminal charges. Praised for his efforts in preserving peace within the federation, Lukashenko can possibly use the de-escalation as a bargaining chip to forestall the its planned annexation by Russia and prevent deployment of Belarusian armed forces in the Ukrainian occupation and the abrupt turn of events leaves more unresolved, particularly the standing of Russian leadership, brought to the brink by the tantalising promise of rebellion.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit
two years ago: jimoto—local favour, weird vintage McDonald’s commercials plus word jazz on colours
three years ago: more on exonyms and demonyms, Rhode Island’s name gets less racist, Blade Runner (1982), butterfly spotting plus returning the Lamentation of Christ
four years ago: the first Rainbow Flag flown (1978) plus Dutch bicycle culture
five years ago: cutting off Qatar, a trip to Urspringen plus the adventuresome Piccard brothers
Saturday, 24 June 2023
ะผััะตะถ (10. 830)
Mercenary forces of the Wagner group have mutinied following escalating tensions between the organisation’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the Russian Ministry of Defence, with allegations that corruption and incompetency has squandered initial successes in the invasion of Ukraine and talk of the MoD nationalising these soldiers-of-fortune after rather unrestrained criticism which dismissed Russian pretexts for occupation as only benefiting the parasitical elites who depend on the grace and favour of Putin to retain their standing. Wagner troops captured Rostov-on-Don, the command and control centre in the occupied Donbas region and have crossed over into Russian-proper territory, reportedly marching onward to Moscow. Characterising the oligarchs and the extreme inequality between the comfortably oblivious and those families sending their sons to fight and die for an illegal and pointless war as a prelude to the social unrest that sparked the 1917 revolution against the aristocracy, Prigozhin apparently brought the wrath of the Russian army on one unit, firing missiles at a camp of Wagner troops—though this open provocation quickly transformed into a rallying point with a column advancing first to the southern city of Voronezh. In response, Chechnya has mobilised its military against the attempted coup in order to “preserve Russian unity” and the Kremlin has increased security. Events are unfolding at an unprecedented speed and some voices are pronouncing the beginnings of if not a civil war then surely a severe blow to Putin’s hold on power.
Thursday, 25 May 2023
8x8 (10. 765)
simply the best: tributes pour in from around the world for the Queen of Rock and Roll, Tina Turner—previously
fabric swatches meticulously arranged: piecing together the mystery of the dress diary of Missus Anne Sykes—via Nag of the Lake
midnight train: routes of Europe’s overnighters—see previously—via Kottke
pasteurised prepared cheese product: attempts at rehabilitating the impoverished state of American caseiculture
cotton tree: Sierra Leone’s iconic landmark brought down by a heavy storm
ะบะพะฝัะตะฟััะฐะปัะฝัะน ะบะพะฝัะตัะฒะฐัะธะทะผ: chief of Russian mercenary forces, retreating from Bakhmut, says that the offensive in Ukraine has backfired
chintzy: a history of the calico, block printed textile
hollywood babylon: occultist and underground maker of experimental short films, Kenneth Anger has passed away—see previously
Wednesday, 3 May 2023
no-fly zone (10. 716)
Responding to accusations from the Kremlin that Ukraine carried out alleged drone strikes overnight to assassinate the leader of the Russian Federation with “We don’t attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory,” Volodymyr Zelensky frames the attack as a false-flag operation and a pretence for retaliation. Unverified footage being circulated appears to the aftermath of a thwarted operation, with no casualties and Putin being absent from the capitol compound at the time, both straining credulity and calling into question the degree of protection that Mr Putin really is afforded and whether the security theatre is commensurate with the apparent paranoia. The culmination of a recent series of sabotage blamed on Ukraine, the Russian government is labelling the “Kyiv regime” as terrorists to be eliminated.