one-trick pony (12. 056)

After threatening Mexico, Canada and China with punishing tariffs less for economic reasons but rather to staunch the flow of illegal immigration and illicit drugs—Trudeau as a seeming by-stander had an emergency dinner-date with Trump for damage control to which Trump offered an easy way out, to unify with American, politely declining, I wish the prime-minister had spit in his face—Trump is now threatening the BRICS nations with hundred percent export levies should they continue to entertain the idea of de-dollarisation and choose the path of less dependence to trade, hypothetically, in another reserve currency or pursue their own monetary union. Certain members of this cohort, whether or not contemplating an alternative (see also) whose negotiations would extend beyond current regimes, have already been effectively pushed out thanks to sanctions and manipulation that leverages American interests and priorities.

a/res/3236 (12. 021)

On this day in 1974 during the General Assembly, the United Nations adopted a resolution recognising and reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination (after the 1917 and 1948 agreements) “without external interference; the right to national independence and sovereignty and the inalienable right of return to homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted.” Simultaneously, the UN officially regarded the Palestine Liberation Organisation as a representative of the Palestinian people and granted observer status.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Freigeld, money with an expiration date (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: DC’s Bible museum, dismantling net neutrality plus UK water utilities employ dowsing

eight years ago: Xerox and zines, a forthcoming Dune remake, an experimental electromagentic propulsion drive plus Trump’s dictatorial tendencies

nine years ago: the Parable of the Puddle plus assorted links worth revisiting

eleven years ago: the Noun Project

 

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

salacious crumb (12. 007)

On Life Day no less, we get the perfect allegory for Elon Musk’s parasitic and co-morbid relationship with Donald Trump, a cantankerous, destructive, nit-picking lizard-monkey to his host, a minor boss in the Hutt family crime syndicate, with further news of Musk outsourcing decisions to popular vote on his social media platform, a self-selecting “wretched hive of scum and villainy—we must be cautious”—although Nazi bar is a more succinct way of putting it, as well as using his promised position within the coming administration to badger and berate foreign governments (the latest target is Italy’s judiciary after attacking the UK’s migrant policy months earlier) whom feel more obliged to respond rather than ignoring the trolls. Vox populi, vox Dei is something not best left up to American public, as evidenced by last week’s election and we wonder how long this symbiotic arrangement can last, given both have huge egos, easily bruised.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus Osama bin Laden on TikTok

seven years ago: a virtual cocktail, a record-setting auction for an alleged Da Vinci plus a kitty takes over Times Square

eight years ago: more links to enjoy plus Google’s Quick Draw

nine years ago: optimal seating arrangements plus solidarity with France

ten years ago: lore and language 

oder-neisse line (12. 001)

Pending since 1945—though the matter had been de facto settled between the communist governments of East Germany and Poland as the line of demarcation of the Soviet zone of occupation since 1950, West Germany, regarded as the only legal successor state to the Reich did not recognise the DDR’s diplomatic self-determination and insisted that the border treaty could only be ratified by a future reunited Germany—the agreement was signed by German and Polish foreign ministers on this day in 1990, as a stipulation to the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany as a pre-condition for full sovereignty. The treaty reaffirmed the boundaries of the Zgorzelec agreement of 1950 and pledged mutual respect for each others territorial integrity.

9x9 (11. 997)

dr tj eckleburg: how The Great Gatsby influenced Robert Moses and transformed New York City  

tether: although the material technology is not quite there for a terrestrial one, a lunar space elevator might be feasible  

ssccatagapp: Russia moves to ban all content deemed to promote a childless-lifestyle—via tmn  

cleromancy: spiritual taverns that combine tarot and I Ching with cocktails are seeing growing popularity in China 

jeu de puce: fleas, chips and other observations on the 9ᵉ édition du Dictionnaire de l’Académie française just published 

talking head: Pentagon and US allies in shock over Trump’s intent to nominate a Fox News commentator as secretary of defence 

sobriquet: the twenty-eight European cities claiming to be Venice of the North—see also—via Messy Nessy Chic 

collectives: a series of aerial photographs of junkyards and graveyards neatly organised by Cássio Campos Vasconcellos—via Things Magazine  

a remembrance of things past: Proust and The Breakfast Club

synchronoptica

one year ago: a medieval large language model (with synchronoptica),  a new family of goblin spiders, a novel way to hack light pollution plus block printing personal narratives

seven years ago: tariffs on Chinese aluminium, revolutionary terrariums plus using AI to minimise road-kill, disruption to migration

eight years ago: RIP Leonard Cohen

nine years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus emoji syntax across different platforms

ten years ago: more on the spread of Indo-European languages

ny-21 (11. 993)

With control of the House of Congress yet to be called, and removing the New York representative from the legislative body (as one cannot work for two branches of government at the same time) narrows the Republicans’ narrow control further, Trump announces one of his first cabinet picks (amid a lot of speculation) as Elise Stefanik in the role of US ambassador to the United Nations (a position formerly held by Nikki Haley). Though with little foreign policy experience and given her spot on congressional committees after the GOP stripped Liz Cheney of her membership for being critical of Trump, Ms Stefanik has been a vocal supporter of the administration (if inconsistent but ultimately blamed Nancy Pelosi for the January Sixth Capitol Attack) and Israel and played a high-profile part in hearings that led to the resignations of several American university presidents for their stance on campus protests and unrest in support of the Palestinian people.

the grudge (11. 990)

Of course the best revenge would be having a successful final term, maintaining the strong economy that he inherited and not starting World War III, but as to forgive and forget does not seem to be in Trump’s quiver, allies and opponents alike are expecting a wave of retribution and recrimination for those who crossed him whilst out of power, making good on his platform’s appeal to the aggrieved. The scope and scale of his quid pro quo may hinge upon his selection to lead the Department of Justice and could be more muted than expected—with no guardrails in the government to stop or discourage him there is still thankfully the self-limiting factor of Trump’s own attention span and bandwidth and penchant to discard loyalists. Advisors are split on how his campaign of vengeance might detract from other policy initiatives (such as they are: immigration, tariffs and tax-cuts, without mentioning cultural and values issues) while other proxies are intent on keeping him on task and moving forward with punishing his adversaries.

transition team (11. 982)

Now is the time of monsters. Our collective amnesia for Trump’s first four years is slowing receding with this preview of cabinet officials and principals who might serve in the next administration—and who might return (see previously here and here)—who were and will be wholly antithetical to their departments if not dismantling them altogether. We’ve already discussed the sine cure, grace-and-favour posts for Musk and RFK, Jr, and then there’s returning favourites Mike Pompeo is in the running for heading the Department of Defence as well as Richard Grenell for Secretary of State and former US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan, architect of the child separation policy, might be reinstated to his former job. Former campaign manager Susie Wiles is slated to become Trump’s Chief of Staff, breaking the glass ceiling as a woman has never held that role, having left her previous position at the White House as director of scheduling for failing to pass a background investigation necessary to obtain a security clearance (an arduous and meddlesome obstacle that the administration wants to get rid of too by taking the FBI out of the vetting process) in 2017 and was reportedly one of the individuals that Trump showed the classified materials that he unlawfully retained after leaving office.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Frankenstein’s reading list (with synchronoptica) plus a very special episode of Star Trek: TOS

seven years ago: a social media fake news experiment backfires

eight years ago: a retrospective of the 2016 US presidential campaign, the musical stylings of Jean-Jacques Perrey plus a ramen-scented bubble-bath

nine years ago: assorted links worth the revisit 

eleven years ago: more fallout from Edward Snowden, the wealth-gap in America plus The Addams Family in living colour

ampelkoaltion (11. 978)

In a press conference, German chancellor Scholtz dismissed his Finance Minster Christian Linder (of the pro-business, laissez-faire Free Democrats—FDP, the yellow party, forming a coalition government along with the SPD—Social Democrats, red, and the Green Party) for being impossible to work with and hindering reforms meant to jump-start the country’s flagging economy, depressed by inflation and the war in Ukraine. Visibly upset and unable to contain his frustration, Scholtz’ made his decision despite appeals for the governing group to remain resolute and unified in the face of Trump’s re-election and will lead to a confidence vote as early as mid-January with the possibility of snap elections in March.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: Enceladus, an exoplanet from 1917, US weapons sales plus Berlin’s beer brush tower

nine years ago: experiencing the forest as animals do, Frtiz Haber’s dreadful excellence plus how blood influences the brain

ten years ago: the fall of the Berlin Wall plus more linguistic studies

twelve years ago: Obama reelected plus more arithromania

free and fair (11. 977)

Amid reckoning, quarterbacking and finger-pointing, supporters of Kamala Harris mourning her campaign’s loss following her sobering concession speech. Urging her voters never to give up, the harrowing hours between the closing of the polls, watching the precincts’ returns and ultimately the race going to Trump, resistance seemed to yield to reflection—as a collective amnesia waxed and waned about the consequences of elections, simultaneously forgetting and embracing the regression, chaos of the first Trump administration and the way it has hollowed out democracy and transformed the Republican party (the Democrats to held hostage to an extent to candidates not necessarily of their choosing) and returning to old grievances, distrust, deflection and xenophobia that never went away. It is a bleak time for the US and the world—the people of Palestine and Lebanon and Ukraine besieged and posed to be fully abandoned, America abrogating its responsibilities for environmental stewardship and of course emboldening other aspiring authoritarian regimes—and the best we can do right now is to be mindful of those in the most precarious situation right now subject to Trump’s policy agenda: the opposition, minorities, migrants and any of othered by allowing others to define us and write our narrative.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a collection of consumer electronics catalogues (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: clockwise and counter-clockwise, mail-order meals plus therapeutic quilting

eight years ago: a shire to defeated campaigns

nine years ago: six degrees of separation plus assorted links to revisit

ten years ago: Kowloon Walled-City

stratocracy (11. 971)

Coming into force six months later as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution of 1890, the current supreme law of Japan was promulgated on this day in 1946, drafted primarily by American civilian officials of the occupation after the country’s unconditional surrender. The document provides for certain fundamental human rights and the supremacy of the parliament (the national Diet, favouring the British model though eliminating peerage with the upper house, like the House of Lords, formerly restricted to the nobility), reducing the role of the emperor to a symbolic head of state with only a ceremonial role. Also referred to as the Peace Constitution (Heiwa-Kenpō, 平和憲法), its composition was supervised by Douglas MacArthur with input from Japanese scholars and subject matter experts, Article 9 renounces the country’s right towage war or raise armies despite its military capabilities and sending forces in presence of a substantial American military presence. Sovereignty restored in 1952, attempts for further revision were frustrated over a number of legal hurdles and the requirements for change built into the system.

the balfour agreement (11. 959)

In anticipation of control of Mandatory Palestine from the Ottoman Empire as a result of ongoing negotiation and with the express understanding that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities,” the British government proclaimed its support of a “national home for the Jewish people” in a missive from Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfoud to Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild on this day in 1917. The pledge to this community leader appeared in the press a week later. First drafted three years earlier to secure Jewish support in a wider war by appealing to ambitions for statehood, an exploratory committee was launched by Sir Mark Sykes (see above) but without consultation with the local Palestinian population. Although Israel did come into existence until after World War II concluded (the term used, “national home” was intentionally ambiguous and had no basis in international law, unclear how it might manifest, as a republic, a territory within the mandate or a spiritual centre), the declaration of support (with approval from the US and other Allies) strengthened the movement and has led to one of the most intractable geopolitical situations of the twentieth century and beyond.

berlin-krise (11. 924)

Instigated by a relatively routine control stop that quickly escalated into an international incident following the construction of the Berlin Wall and increased tension among the occupying forces, culminating with the partition of the city and the Soviets seeking a separate peace with East Germany. Resulting with the standoff between Russian and American tanks eventually withdrawn in stalemate five days later, the crisis was sparked on this evening in 1961 when US Deputy Chief of Mission in West Berlin, Edward Allan Lightner, Jr and his wife were asked to present their identifications at Checkpoint Charlie en route to attend an opera in East Berlin. Refusing to comply (Khrushchev had relented on earlier demands of restricted movement of the Allies) and thought their USAREUR plated vehicle was sufficient proof for passage. In response to this dispute, US president JFK recalled Lucius Clay from retirement as a show of American resolve, dispatching several armoured vehicles to the crossing along with a retinue of troops and a military police escort for the Lightners. A plan by the Americans to bulldoze the inchoate wall was countermanded, but there was a face-off nonetheless, which in addition to the tanks included US soldiers armed with Davy Crockett guns, an over the shoulder personnel launcher for tactical nuclear warheads. Under terms negotiated by spy, diplomat and back-channel contact Georgi Bolshakov, both sides stood down. Bolshakov later helped dispel thoughts that Khrushchev and the USSR conspired in the assassination of Kennedy for the public, his brother RFK and widow.

.io (11. 915)

Since 1968, the UK and US have operated a joint military base, Diego Garcia, on the Chagos Islands—with the official demonym of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT, also previously known as the Oil Islands)—and Mauritius (which gained independence from the UK the same year after being ceded as a French colony to Britain under the terms of the 1814 Treaty of Paris) has claimed the archipelago as its own, supported by a ruling of the International Court of Justice to end decolonisation. After more than half a century, the UK conceded and in exchange for a ninety-nine year lease on the military base has handed over sovereignty to Mauritius earlier this month. And while a significant move for justice and reconciliation, these developments—not tracked by the tech world—have an equally sizeable impact on the internet with repatriation, we learn via Web Curious. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which issues top-level country domains will remove the suffix, IO, not allowing any new registration under that code (like with the governing body for emoji no longer accepting submissions for flags) and begin the process of retiring existing ones: github, twitch, et al. At a time when domain names can be a considerable portion of a country’s economy (see also) and how many have hitched their identity to a particular brand and legacy with an expectation of permanence, it’s pretty consequential—and of course not without protocol and precedent, albeit established in times when the online world did not play such an overwhelming part of our lives, geopolitically or otherwise. Granted less than a year earlier, the Soviet Union .su domain was replaced with .ru with understanding it would eventually be shutdown in 1991—but the former’s transformation into an unpoliced space and refuge of the dark web convinced authorities that regulations needed to be in place and enforced regarding transition and closure. The 1992 dissolution of Yugoslavia was arguably a better managed affair, with the ISO and IANA having learned from their previous experience, with .yu splintering into its successors .me and .rs respectively.

frostbite falls (11. 907)

The fictional terra nullius, an island in the middle of the Lake of the Woods (Pikwedina Sagainan) neither claimed by the US or Canada since conditions there were said to be inhospitable to human life, of Moosylvania is governed by presumed namesake Bullwinkle J Moose. In the finale of the first run of the series, an insidious plot to destroy the island by Fearless Leader was foiled by the duo’s ingenuity, and in hopes of getting the show renewed for syndication, Rocky and Bullwinkle producer Jay Ward dispatched an assistant to Minnesota to purchase an uninhabited island on the cross-border lake suitable as a stand-in and then launched a campaign to petition for statehood. A publicity team gathered sufficient signatures across America and Ward and associates arranged for an audience with president John F Kennedy on this day in 1962. Arriving however just as the Cuban Missile Crisis began (see also here and here), they were escorted off the premises of the White House at gun-point.

synchronoptica

one year ago: e-textiles (with synchronoptica) plus Don’t Look Now

 

seven years ago: rehabilitating cephalopods, occupational gender equity in Russia plus translating IKEA accessory names

 

eight years ago: denim televisions, Brexit and Marmite shortages plus clowns try to improve their public image

 

nine years ago: assorted links to revisit plus drone wars

 

twelve years ago: ISPs policing IPs

and that my friend is only the beginning of how this makes america great—you’ll be so overwhelmed with all the winning that you won’t know what you’ve lost until it’s too— (11. 882)

Via Memo of the Air, we are directed towards this rather brilliant reminder of the illiberal horrors contained in Project 2025—which Trump disavows though his agenda fits the blueprint point-for-point—as an homage to Schoolhouse Rock, which despite reaching the series fifth decade, the 1950s that it would transport back the United States to is far darker, distant and regressive. For the rest of the world, enduring America’s seemingly endless whinging about its democracy is taxing, and it will be over within weeks—either with the country crowing with pride as the untoppled beacon for freedom, when even at the best of times its record is not so perfect, or else an insular and fascist theocracy with the hollow procedural trappings of free elections—but either way, America will throw its weight around and have serious consequences globally, impacting everyone. The lyrics (though missing some major curtailments of rights and norms, like support for the arts, banning pornography, support for veterans, etc but I guess the song would never end otherwise) helping cite the pages where each proposal appears and has the coda of how to overcome this bleak future. Draping the Statue of Liberty in a Handmaid’s costume was a nice touch too.

sword of damocles (11. 869)

On this day in 1961, US president John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered his address to the UN General Assembly, amidst the recent and unexpected death of Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld and anxiety over posturing and sabre-rattling over the paused negotiations towards disarmament. In his forty-five minute exhortation, Kennedy praises the intra-national organisation and challenges the bipolar world to turn an arms race into a race for peace:

But to give this organisation [the Troika, the principals, the US, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, on nuclear test bans] three drivers—to permit each Great Power to decide its own case, would entrench the Cold War in the headquarters of peace. Whatever advantages such a plan may hold out to my own country, as one of the great powers, we reject it. For we far prefer world law, in the age of self-determination, to world war, in the age of mass extermination.

Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable. Every man, woman, and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, or miscalculation, or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.

Men no longer debate whether armaments are a symptom or a cause of tension. The mere existence of modern weapons—ten million times more powerful than any that the world has ever seen, and only minutes away from any target on earth—is a source of horror, and discord, and distrust. Men no longer maintain that disarmament must await the settlement of all disputes—for disarmament must be a part of any permanent settlement. And man may no longer pretend that the quest for disarmament is a sign of weakness—for in a spiralling arms race, a nation’s security may be shrinking, even as its arms increase.

For fifteen years, this organisation has sought the reduction and destruction of arms. Now that goal is no longer a dream—it is a practical matter of life or death. The risks inherent in disarmament pale in comparison to the risks inherent in an unlimited arms race.

Listen to or watch the entire stirring speech at the link above. We think the rhetoric could also speak to contemporary events and the climate catastrophe, also hanging by a thread over us all and severed by wilful ignorance, neglect and misinformation.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: a blogoversary of note (with synchronoptica) plus some ruinous remixes

seven years ago: right wing elements gain influence in the Bundestag plus film cuts mimic visual perception

eight years ago: Idiocracy was not supposed to be prophetic plus phantom islands

nine years ago: data-plans and Roman calendars plus innovations in 3D printing

ten years ago: an early version of the Line (with greenhouses), Roman emperor Caracalla plus a graffiti gallery

the tanaka memorial (11. 868)

First introduced to English readership on this day in 1931 in the Shanghai journal China Critic, the alleged Imperial Japanese strategic plan supposedly authored by Baron Tanaka Giichi in 1927 for Emperor Hirohito was summarised with the postulates that: 

• In order to take over the world, one must take over Asia 
• In order to take over Asia, one must take over China 
• In order to take over China, one must take over Manchuria and Mongolia 
• Success in conquering China will cause the rest of Eastern Asia and Oceania to surrender 

Despite occasional citation in some Chinese school textbooks to this day, most scholarship now regards the memorial (Tanaka Jōsōbun, 田中上奏文) as inauthentic but a potent anti-Japanese piece of propaganda forged by either the Communist Party or Kuomintang nationalists to forward their own ends but the prevailing consensus during the 1930s and 1940s was that the document was genuine and reflected ambitions of the Imperial government, equated to Hitler’s Mein Kampf by the West, conflated with real war time slogans like Hakkō ichiu (八紘一宇, “eight crown cords, one roof”—or roughly, “All the world under one roof,” understood as a manifest destiny to unify the eight corners of the planet rather than the sanctioned translation of universal brotherhood) and the plot (the sequential steps often projected out to the conquest of Siberia and the Soviet Union—the Soviets also suspected to have fabricated and leaked the plan to instigate conflicts in that theatre to advance their own interests, establishment of bases in the Pacific and the take over of the United States) of several American propaganda films, like Frank Capra’s War Department commissioned Know Your Enemy: Japan and the 1945 James Cagney dramatisation Blood on the Sun exploited the purported document (no original was ever sourced) as a MacGuffin. Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard, elaborating the conspiracy as the “Tenyaka Memorial” an international effort for global domination devolved to a network of pharmaceutical companies, psychiatrists and banks, believed himself to be personally targeted and cited that persecution as one of the principle drivers of the church and its operations.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the remixes of DJ Earworm (with synchronoptica), early home entertainment, assorted links worth revisiting plus The Love Boat

seven years ago: voting in Germany

eight years ago: commemorative Agatha Christie stamps, early Neuralink trials plus pigeon-texting

nine years ago: more links to enjoy plus emissions scandals

ten years ago: cash is king plus delivery by drone

blue line, red line (11. 855)

In a statement delivered amid the sonic booms of Israeli fighter jets conducting mock air raids in the skies over Beirut and actual strikes on the southern border, Hizbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah addressed for the first time publicly the coordinated denotations of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies Tuesday and Wednesday that killed three dozen supposed operatives and seriously maimed thousands as low-tech communication devices exploded in orchestra after receiving the trigger signal at the same time. Israeli intelligence manufactured and distributed the rigged handheld pagers through a series of Taiwanese and Hungarian shell companies beginning in 2022 once it surmised that Hizbollah were avoiding cell phones for fear that their messages could be intercepted, and whilst this surprise simultaneous assault is arguably more targeted and discriminating than the bloodshed in Gaza, the injuries sustained happened in public, in the markets and in traffic and not on individuals actively carrying out the business of the organisation, in violation of the on prohibition on landmines and similar traps, causing mass panic and overwhelming Lebanon’s and Syria’s emergency care infrastructure. Potentially six thousand of people could have been killed all at once in this unprecedent attack. Nasrallah called the sabotage an act of war, vowing to keep fighting until aggression in Palestine ends. Though not acting during the immediate chaos, Israel is committing to this “new phase” of the war in order to return settlers to the north of the country on the countries’ disputed border region and the occupied Golan Heights.