oh zaporizhzhia—i don’t know (12. 322)

Following a telephone call with Putin ostensibly securing a ceasefire on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and rather unrelenting overtures for the embattled nation’s mineral wealth, Trump called Zelenskyy to dictate the terms and to introduce a new dimension to the deal, suggesting that the United States (as with Gaza now exploding back to a state of war) assume ownership of nuclear power plants. The proposal was met with surprise, Kyiv politely mooting the offer, saying that the reactors were state-owned and could not be privatised, having only discussed during the call the one facility under Russian control but again reenforcing the idea that American economic stakes are their best protection—as with his earlier bid for control of country’s rare Earth resources. American defence conglomerate Westinghouse was in talks, prior to the start of the war, but the deal has since fallen through.

9x9 (12. 297)

ei-ei-o: a comparison onomatopoetic words for animal sounds across different languages—via Waxy   

acrostic: textile company’s branding has the aesthetics of concrete poetry 

destiny narrative: an omnibus post on the horrors and avoidability of war  

analog society: a British group performs live mash-up of notionally similar songs 

tectonic independence: why Greenland is an island and Australia a continent—see also   

360: Manhattan’s only revolving restaurant to reopen  

telephone game: Russia demands details from US before agreeing to any ceasefire agreement in Ukraine   

cross-walk: mimes direct traffic in Bogotá   

an old error has more friends than a new truth: proverbs and idioms from around the world

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus more FOIA follies

seven years ago: raising awareness for prosthetic limbs, Japan’s residential towers plus more links to enjoy

eight years ago: provisions requiring employees submit to DNA screenings

nine years ago: what if the Singularity already happened, the doorway effect plus colourful ancient statuary

ten years ago: Disney reboots, even more links plus more made-up jobs

gambling with world war iii (12. 266)

Trump and friends met with his Ukrainian counterpart Zelenskyy in the White House for a contentious exchange played out live with JD Vance accusing Ukraine of a lack of gratitude for US help, with Trumpadmonishing that he should be thankful, ultimately saying that he “disrespected he United States of America in its cherished Oval Office,” cancelling a planned joint press conference and suggesting that there was no deal until Ukraine was ready for constructive conversation. For his part, demanding extra security protections for entering into this contract, again over crucial mineral resources which were not forthcoming, Zelenskyy repeated warnings that further alignment with Russia was equal to appeasement for Putin and that repercussions would come home to roost and corrected exaggerated claims about US aid in comparison to European contributions and solidarity. The US wants to solidify a negotiated peace with Russia in order to lift sanctions and justify its own expansionist agenda.

домовився про мир (12. 256)

On the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy has again rebuffed increasing overtures from Trump over a half-trillion dollar deal for mineral rights—first framed as protection money now demanded as pay back for monetary and materiel assistance provided by the preceding US administration that was never characterised other than a grant and not a loan to be repaid, which is far higher than what the US gave. At the same time Zelensky says, after being accused of being a dictator and forestalling elections by imposing martial law, he is willing to step down from the presidency for the sake of peace and/or NATO membership. The press conference was held hours after Russia launched, on the eve of the start of the war, the largest aerial barrage of drones and missiles yet on Kyiv and other major cities. Shuttle diplomacy continues with the UK and France travelling to Washington to secure Europe a seat at the table for any negotiations.  Ever with an eye towards the transactional, US envoys are hoping to have sanctions lifted and for American businesses able to resume operations in Russia.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: JAL’s travel pamphlets (with synchronoptica), cognitive offloading, spying vending machines plus placenames on Christmas Island

seven years ago: the side-by-side, flags per data plus the repeal of net neutrality

eight years ago: attacks on state marijuana laws, David Lynch’s doddles, mood-elevators, workforce disruptors plus assorted links to revisit

nine years ago: a wine bottle fire extinguisher, rotten boroughs plus the plant-fungal information super highway

ten years ago: David Bowie as the Elephant Man, more links to enjoy plus crusaders reach the Holy Land

a moderately successful comedian (12. 248)

After launching a litany of lies about his Ukrainian counterpart, including calling Zelenskyy a dictator and blaming him for starting the war (this reframing of reality echoes the mass amnesia of the first term, the insistence that the 2020 election was stolen, repackaging the January Sixth insurrection as a peaceful protest, etc, etc, and many believe or have moved on) and his bilateral talks with Putin to the exclusion of Ukraine and Europe and already conceding to Russia its objective—slights and insults bolstered by apologist that urge Zelenskyy to tone down his bad-mouthing and accept the altered deal for five-hundred billion dollars in mineral wealth not as protection money (much of the deposits that the US is eying are located in Russian-occupied territory) but rather as repayment for support already rendered—Trump has now issued an ultimatum to European leaders reportedly that unless they sign off to the terms of Ukraine’s “surrender” (not status quo ante bellum but rather to freeze fighting and ceded captured territory and abandon aspirations to join NATO and possibly the EU), the US will withdraw from the continent—see previously here and here. As insidious as the above capitulation is, Russia’s ultimate objective is to have the United States turn its back on Europe and render NATO meaningless or at least narrowed, which Trump also seems ready and willing to add to the bargain.

synchronoptica

one year ago: more on constrained writing (with synchronoptica), a banger from Phil Collins and Philip Baley, geometry teaching aids plus a banger from the Four Seasons

seven years ago: the Louvre apartments plus more Lunar New Year traditions

eight years ago: the subtextual meaning of fascinating plus a mall solicits for a writer-in-residence

nine years ago: remembrance and semiotics, laser-pointers a risk to aircraft plus fractals and Hilbert Curves

ten years ago: a new look for the blog, a vintage Greek map of North America plus sending forces vehicle tags

umfragefragebogen (12. 239)

Cut out of the negotiation process to end the war in Ukraine with American and Russian envoys preparingfor talks in Saudi Arabia, European leaders have scrambled to convene a separate emergency summit in Paris after the gulf between NATO partners became glaringly apparent during the Munich Security Conference. 

Hosted by French president Macron, it is hoped that those invited countries, those with significant militaries—the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain plus Denmark as representative of the Nordic and Baltic nations—will be able to overcome individual political pressures, with elections upcoming in Germany and elsewhere, and pledge to increase defence spending (another of Trump’s fetishes) and assemble a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire in order to demonstrate that they are invaluable stakeholders and partners in maintaining peace and buffering against Russian aggression. Whether such a resolution will gain them purchase in setting the treaty is uncertain, as is whether Trump would even weigh the outcome of such hasty alliances into his decision making process. For its part, a short survey was sent out by the US government to European allies asked which countries would be able to deploy troops to Ukraine and which would continue Russian sanctions. Diplomatic solutions are not usually confined to a filled-in form. Regardless if Trump is listening, Putin certainly is.

i think they have to make peace (12. 228)

Ahead of the weekend’s Munich Security Conference, NATO defence ministers came together in Brussels to express frustration following Trump’s announcement that after an hour and a half-long phone conversation with Vladimir Putin that he was ready to negotiate peace, completely sidelining Ukraine and European partner nations in the preamble to talks. US secretary of defence Hegseth defended the call to his counterparts, describing it as part of the pledge of the president to end the war in twenty-four hours and “certainly not a betrayal” of Kyiv, just days after telling the same group that Europe was no longer an American priority, upping their membership fees and Trump’s demand for a half-a-billion dollars worth of mining rights for rare earth elements in exchange for continued support, as a protective shield. Ukraine and Europe both refused to accept the outcome of bi-lateral negotiations for which they as stakeholders have no seat at the table. Though unclear if concessions to Russia were made, ancillary statements suggesting that the conflict would be frozen, with Russia retaining its captured territories, the restoration to pre-2014 borders seen as “unrealistic” as well as Ukraine’s ambition to join the pact. These details will possibly be expanded upon during the summit, marking nearly three years since the start of the invasion. Putin has also extended to Trump an invitation to come to Moscow in late Spring, some speculating to watch the 9 May Victory Day parade.

synchronoptica

one year ago: allegories of love (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: more links to enjoy, reforesting efforts, unpublished Foucault plus the Whitechapel Fatberg

eight years ago: US customs and border control can request passengers’ social media credentials, the alt-White House plus Apple’s internet café concept

nine years ago: Roman valentines, campus protests, piled pastures plus aggregate fruits

eleven years ago: an Autobahn bridge zoned for housing

politically conditioned funding (12. 181)

Pursuant to an executive order issued on his first day in office calling for a ninety-day pause in foreign development assistance pending a review of alignment with US policies and efficiencies, the Department of State head Marco Rubio notified diplomatic staff worldwide that there will be stoppage to all work, according to a leaked memo, affecting all development aid and military assistance—with certain carve-outs for Israel, Egypt and emergency food programmes. Heretofore, America has been the largest donor country of global support (not without serious missteps and certainly not the only country with such largess—see previously, see also), disbursing some sixty-eight billion dollars annually for a range of projects from access to clean water, infrastructure, population health and disease monitoring, educational outreach, disaster relief, sanitation and shelter and defence, and comes at a crucial juncture for Ukraine and during the surge for humanitarian assistance for Gaza after the ceasefire, as well as hunger crises in Africa and elsewhere. The “stop work” order further is not forwarding US geopolitical influence in abandoning its network of international partnership nor serving its commercial interest as the majority of goods and services financed are sourced from US suppliers.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus more lit crit terms

seven years ago: more links to enjoy, the hidden history of saffron cultivation plus early casualties of Trump’s policies

eight years ago: sophisticated gene therapies, alternate truths plus even more links

nine years ago: first flight of the Concorde plus the chemistry of body-wash

ten years ago: NPR’s Invisibilia podcast

11x11 (12. 172)

concrete feats: the landmark Våga Water Tower on coast Varberg, Sweden  

ſpy v ſpy: a look at the world of espionage in the Middle Ages—via the new Shelton wet/dry 

obelisks: researchers discover a new form of life with circular RNA—that appear less alive than viruses  

we were wrong that day—we broke the law: convicted January Sixth capitol rioter known as MAGA Granny rejects clemency offer  

winning odds: a collection of vintage Japanese lottery tickets  

cinematic universe: The Goonies and Back to the Future happened on the same day in 1985—via Kottke  

шрифт: foundry excavating Ukrainian fonts from the underground  

dark web: Trump has granted an unconditional pardon to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht 

red team: research students—under supervision recreate—viral pathogens identical to those that caused the 1918 influenza pandemic  

lexicon: a glossary of medieval words from Middle English whose meanings have shifted  

solar gate: 4D printed blinds mimic plants to open and close on their own

помаранчева революція (12.022)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 (Людмила Михайлівна Павличенко) 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

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

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.

synchronoptica

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 Rós, neighbourhood archaeology, Wedgwood heels plus more on gun violence in America

nine years ago: Max Richter’s Sleep

juuniküüditamine (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.

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.

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 eclipse  

phrixus 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

 synchronoptica

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