sotu (13. 208)

Speaking for nearly two hours and maintaining a triumphant tone despite economic and geopolitical realities and protests within the chamber from Democrats and their eventual walk-out en mass, Trump’s record-setting for the longest state of the union address claimed that he had successfully rebuilt the country that his predecessor, Joe Biden, had managed to destroy in four short years—“a turnaround for the ages”—with a series of surprise cameos supposedly representing the American spirit. “Our country is winning again—in fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it.” The refreshingly succinct rebuttal, the official response delivered by the opposition in a tradition going back to 1966, was delivered from a television studio offsite by newly elected Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger, simply asking, “Is the president working for you?” The only disappointment counter to his narrative that was mentioned was the recent decision of the supreme court that ruled that most of Trump’s tariff regime was illegal with the war in Ukraine only garnered a passing acknowledgment without recognition of the four-year anniversary and no reference was made of the Minnesota ICE protests and deaths, nor the Epstein files nor Greenland, nor Cuba though there was much sabre-rattling over Iran and having “received” Venezuelan oil, further glutting global oversupply. Read more fact-checking (also here) of what was said from NPR at the link up top.

trade wars are good and easy to win (13.202)

Quite a bit of turmoil has visited not only world stock markets in the fallout of the US supreme court decision ruling many of the duties imposed by Trump to be void and illegal but also on the numerous trade deals that have been negotiated. In many cases, concessions have been made by foreign governments to unpopular with citizens and compromising environmental standards and safety regulation, allowing cheap American goods to flood their markets in order to maintain access and stay in Trump’s good graces with industry paying much tribute and making long term reshoring plans and now many leaders and businesses seem poised to tear up these negotiation. Some caution however remains, especially for domestic corporations with government contracts who could be punished in other ways for reneging on their end of the inimical bargains or for even asking about refunds (having to sue, the US government could argue that businesses have no standing and did not suffer because of them because they passed off expenses to the consumer, effectively admitting it was a tax all along) and whilst individual nations are better situated to ignore future threats, Trump has not relented on his tariffs but doubled-down across the board, imposing a ten percent flat rate on all imports before raising it the maximum fifteen percent the next day, demonstrating, perhaps speciously as their legality is also in question (for those countries like the UK and Vietnam that fought hard for ten percent, it is a real insult not to have those terms honoured, particularly in comparison to China who offered no concessions and only had to endure punishing rates for a few chaotic months), that he has other tools at his disposal. Members of the GOP, aware of the court’s reserved skepticism for the authority of the president to levy tariffs at a whim for months, had hoped eying the mid-term elections falling at the time these new blanket duties are set to expire might have offered them some political cover in close races deflecting from voters’ overall dissatisfaction with the economy—tariffs failing to deliver on promises with the trade deficit even higher than before and the return of manufacturing a pipe dream—and having an excuse to point to in SCOTUS, offering that Trump had an economic experiment going and wasn’t given enough time to realise the results—but now with Trump’s becoming more entrenched, that narrative, flawed and false as it was, evaporates.

mother tongue (13. 200)

Established by UNESCO in 1999 in honour of the 1952 movement of East Bengal to have their language recognised as official rather than provincial and leading to the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh from the Pakistani territories, the United Nations annual observance of International Mother Language Day is established to promote worldwide linguistic and cultural diversity as well as polyglotism. Al Jazeera presents and overview of the spoken languages of the world, writing systems and the status of many minority languages, including diglossia between officialdom and convention and endangered ones—forty percent of the estimated seven-thousand extant ones. Defined as when parents-users begin to pass on a more dominant parlance to their children, threatening proficiency and identity, most are in Oceania, Asia and Africa, including some on their way to a come-back owing to community-led revitalisation programmes like Yugambeh of Australia (the exonym meaning “no means no” and preferring the endonym Mibanah for “the sound of eagles”), the Ainu language of Japan’s indigenous peoples (an isolate considered to be functionally extinct) and the moribund Kernowek language of Cornwall. In the spirit of the observance, adopt a word from one of these languages.

8x8 (13. 198)

the mckinley colonies: the US settlement on Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud 

„…“: another omnibus listing of aphorisms and sage quotations  

manannán: 1940 sci-fi Irish language novel that contains the likely first use of a mecha outside of Japanese literature  

in the realms of the unreal: outsider artist Henry Darger—see previously 

spring has sprung: early heralds of the coming season—see previously 

archive.yesterday: Wikipedia bans controversial news and features article mirror for citations after the service launches denial of service attacks on websites linking to it—via MetaFilter  

lapsis muris: linguists uncover another usage case of uh—see previously  

tron/troff: explore your neighbourhood in the virtual grid

synchronoptica

one year ago: Ukraine and Europe excluded from peace talks (with synchronopticæ), an enigmatic online diary plus an ancient cistern in Naples

thirteen years ago: elision and mishearing 

fourteen years ago: graphic artist Tim Doyle 

grönland (13. 197)

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

holding court (13. 196)

With dissent from justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh, the US supreme court ruled that Trump has overstepped his executive authority in imposing tariffs on foreign imports under the 1977 emergency statue, IEEPA, which never specifically mentions the power to mediate through levies. The some thirty-billion dollars in monthly revenue, borne overwhelmingly by American consumers by exporters and businesses shifting the levy in increased prices, will be refunded—the mechanics of the remedy a chief point of contention leading up to the ruling (as most exporters’ damages were made whole by the above means) though not taking into account the illusory economic benefits of reshoring that haven’t materialised—concluding that the onus will be messy but manageable. The president could keep his trade schedule in place if congress had been involved and can still leverage tariffs up to fifteen percent for a limited one hundred fifty day period unilaterally under a provision of the 1974 Trade Act, if endorsed by the department of commerce—significantly more onerous for the administration that has preferred rule by diktat. Moreover, the six-three ruling significantly blunts Trump’s ability to use threats of punitive tariffs as a diplomatic tool to get what he wants. The declaration that the key pillar of economic plan was illegal came, also citing the major questions doctrine which reaffirms the prerogative and responsibility of the legislative branch the exercise of tariffing outside of wartime—arguing that congress only delegated its authorisation under explicit and limited terms and conditions, as Trump was hosting a breakfast for state governors, Democrats disinvited, which he reportedly called a disgrace of justice.

the power of the people is stronger than the people in power (13. 192)

As we are informed by MetaFilter, for Ash Wednesday, Irish band U2 released a surprise extended play collection of six tracks called Days of Ash—their first recording since 2017 originally planned for later this year but decided that they couldn’t wait as the songs were growing more and more impatient and urgent by the day. The below lead is dedicated to Renée Good and the resistance of Minneapolis and others deal with the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, also paying tribute to Iranian teenager Sarina Esmailzadeh killed during protests and Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen. Postcards from the present moment, the album reaffirms the group’s political boldness and combines biblical allegory with partisan messaging. “The Tears of Things” and “Yours Eternally” was especially powerful.

a child of europe (13. 180)

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

under destruction (13. 173)

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

prespa accord (13. 170)

The short form of the United Nations sponsored treaty named for the lake at the tripoint of the borders of Greece, the then Republic of Macedonia (referred to by the exonym FYROM, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to avoid controversy of the appearance of endorsement or sometimes heavy-handedly as the Republic of Skopje) and Albania, Final Agreement for the settlement of differences as described in the UN Security Council resolutions 817 (1993) and 845 (1993), the termination of the Interim Accord of 1995 and the establishment of a strategic partnership between the Parties came into effect on this day in 2019, resolving a long-standing dispute beginning in 1991 following the dissolution of Yugoslavia into its constituent nations. Stemming from the ambiguity of the neighbouring Greek Balkan region and the ancient kingdom of Macedon, Greece insisted upon a geographic qualifier to be used erga omnes (by all…and for all purposes, internal and external), citing concerns of border disputes and the cultural appropriation, symbols like the Vergina Sun (now the icon of the parliament of the Hellenes) and the legacy of Alexander the Great, to stoke sentiments of irredentism (ирреденти́зм, αλυτρωτισμός—coined from the Italian, unredeemed, for territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that they felt belonged to “Greater Italy” and should be rightfully annexed on the basis of ethnic continuity). Contingent on the terms of the agreement, Northern Macedonia entered NATO.

tripp (13. 162)

Unwelcome at the Olympics, US vice president JD Vance continues his Eurasian junket to the South Caucasus in order to undergird a peace deal brokered by Trump—one among many that failed to secure him the Nobel prize—through talks with the leadership of Azerbaijan and Armenia aimed to forward progress on a plan to construct a strategic transit artery, the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the forty-three kilometre concept of road (also known as the Zangezur corridor (Զանգեզուրի միջանցք, Zəngəzur dəhlizi)linking Azerbaijan to its exclave, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic—hailed as a hallmark achievement of recent negotiations though the idea had already been championed by Türkiye during the ceasefire agreement of the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020. The route would bypass Iran and Russia and is seen as an opportunity to expand regional trade with the US. Vance’s presence at a time when tensions are rising in Iran and the US threatening intervention are seen as a sign of commitment to Baku and Yerevan, creating markets for exports and defining minerals strategy that is—with secured development rights—a rebuke to China’s influence over critical resources in both countries. Meanwhile, critics of the settlement see it as efforts towards pan-Turkic expansion and America’s past flirtation with neighbouring Georgia seem to be be very much consigned to the past.

telegraphed intent (13. 152)

Following on the heels of memoryholing the CIA World Factbook and aligned with the revisionist history (altering the narratives for the January Sixth storming of the Capitol and the COVID-19 pandemic) and erasure of the administration, the US State Department is removing all social media postings made the on the platform formerly known as Twitter prior to Trump’s return to office at the end of January last year. Taken down from public view, the foreign ministry assures that travel advisories, programmes, press releases and images (from department leadership as well as individual missions and the accounts of ambassadors) will be archived internally and can be accessed through a FOIA request should anyone be demotivated to see what’s aged well and what has not—messaging from Trump’s first term included as well as posts from the Obama and Biden years. Less ideological and more for controlling the message moving forward, systematically eliminating and forging the inconvenient historical documents to match state propaganda, according to reporting, it’s as of yet unclear whether this daily record of diplomacy will disappear from other platforms as well. More from NPR at the link above.

doughcon 4 (13. 142)

Via Quantum of Sollazo, we gain more of a purchase into the Pentagon Pizza Index and how spikes in ordering and deviation from the routine of usual business can give away a busy night at the US department of war, like DEFCOM despite all other OPSEC precautions. While US command and control has several concessionaires and a central barista called Ground-Zero, there are no on-base amenities to fulfil a late night wargaming and local franchises step in. This monitor also tracks open-source intelligence (OSINT), relevant newsfeeds and the pulse of betting, predictions markets to calibrate their own minute by minute Doomsday clock—for those who might be inclined to wager on geopolitical outcomes.

lapse in appropriations (13. 130)

After the record breaking furlough of forty-three days perpetuated in hope of extending healthcare subsidies only recently ended ahead of the holiday travel season, the US government has entered another partial shutdown with large swaths of the departments of war, exterior and health and human services unfunded, the budget supplement of Homeland Security bundled into these bills and following the second execution of a Minnesota resident by ICE agents—monies withheld by a coalition of Democrat and Republican senators in order to reign in their raids. Whilst lawmakers in the upper chamber were able to sequester funds from the DHS for a temporary two-week stopgap period to keep the operations running during for negotiations for reforms for the agency’s draconian tactics, they failed to meet the midnight deadline to return the proposed package back to the house of representatives for deliberation and to vote on its passage. It is unclear if congress—on recess until Monday—will endorse budget in this form, considering that the power of purse that’s been taken away from the legislature could also restrain the administration from implementing its gunboat diplomacy on Cuba, Mexico, Iran, etc, apply pressure for the full release of the Epstein files, still stalled in the justice department as it said it met its statutory obligation as well as trying to force real reforms in immigration enforcement instead of the window-dressing and scapegoating thus far implemented which does not seem to indicate a true shift in posture or policy and promises more of the same, particularly considering the arrest of observers and journalists covering raids and protests.

two turntables and a microphone (13. 128)

At times frustrated by the requirement for unanimity on decisions—though consensus-building is laudable—France and Germany have invited the key economies of Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland into an as yet informal club designated as the E6 to allow for a more agile response to geoeconomic threats without sacrificing the spirit of the experiment or devolving/evolving into a United States of Europe with this two-speed proposal. This small-group chat has precedence in the eurozone and the Schengen area and is configured to forward trans-national objectives with buy-in from all members, particularly to criticism the that the institution is ossified and inefficient amid the rise of nationalist in-turning at the expense of those relegated to being middle-powers.

thrones and dominions (13. 127)

Responding to recent revelations that the members of the Alberta Prosperity Project, the separatist movement gathering signatures to hold a referendum by October on the question of the western province’s independence, have been meeting in secret with senior agitators from the Trump administration, several premiers have called this attempt to destabilise the union as an act of treason. A vocal minority of Albertans, around twenty-percent, according to polling would support the idea of separating from Canada but that figure drops precipitously when followed with cession leading to annexation by the United States, as was the case with Hawaiʻi (I fail to see the appeal either with no social welfare system and a host of inherent sacrifices in the name of winning), and to make the idea more palatable to the populace have turned the meddling to financial backing to the tune of half-a-trillion dollars to support the hypothetical sovereign country establish itself free from the support of the central government. First advocated at the turn of the last century shortly after its transition from a territory and premised on the the idea that the residents are culturally and economically distinct from the rest of Canada, with its wealth of natural resources providing more for the general fund than it takes from it and trade flowing north to south rather than latitudinally. Waxing and waning over the decades, the movement has mainly been fuelled by perceived threats to this oil dividend from taxation and environmental regulations but has now been shoved into polarised vibe politics and interference from US officials making little effort to veil their objectives. In contrast, Canada was roundly scolded by America for broadcasting a 1987 speech by Ronald Reagan critical of tariffs as foreign influence. As an outcome of the bid by Quebec—albeit a very different scenario with supporters and detractors from the whole political spectrum—Canada has codified the process of secession, something expressly forbidden in the US, with required negotiations, dependant on the outcome of the vote, with the federal government and upholding civil rights and the respect of First Nations—who strongly oppose such a break up and reject the dangerous and increasingly free-wheeling rhetoric as a threat undermining all Canadians. In the run-up, I’m sure that they’ll be no shortage of Trump’s favourite standby of rigged elections, beyond gunboat diplomacy with justification to “liberate” Alberta, like with Venezuela.

eighty-five seconds to midnight (13. 121)

The Washington DC based Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences advanced their Doomsday Clock four seconds forward, announced in a press release citing failure of global leadership to contain or reverse an array of existential threats including record-breaking climate trends, rogue AI, reframed nuclear pacts and bald dereliction when it comes to disease control and prevention. Inaction and lack of a cooperative framework signal that time is fast running out, though the organisation still maintains that the clock can be turned back in their annual assessment, although collapse of hard-won progress into more tribalism and nationalistic posturing does not seem very reassuring. More from the board at the link up top.

the porkkala concession (13. 117)

Operated as a Soviet naval base, leased to the USSR under the terms of the Moscow Armistice of 1944, the peninsular for a period of fifty, originally scheduled for repatriation in 1994, was returned to Finland early after eleven years of service on this day in 1956 with the displaced former inhabitants of the communities of Kirkkonummi, Ingå and Siuntio restored their lands. Hosting the bulk of the Baltic fleet and some sixteen thousand sailors and submariners at one point on the borderlands just some thirty kilometres from Helsinki, the withdrawal was based on several political factors in including the Finno-Russian Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance of 1948, Khrushchev’s shift away from Stalinism, other basing opportunities and Finland’s own post-war policy of neutrality, which also precluded its accession to NATO. Presently the Pokkala peninsula is home to main base of the Finnish naval forces at Upinniemi.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Welsh labyrinths (with synchronopticæ), assorted links to revisit plus a real life Voight-Kampff test

twelve years ago: nursing shortages, all-inclusive vacation packages plus more on the monomyth

thirteen years ago: tavern etymologies 

fourteen years ago: the potential of 3D printing plus the right to be forgotten

sixteen years ago: crafty advice plus Davos security chief found dead

8x8 (13.110)

board of peace: German chancellor declines to be a party of the administration of Mandatory Palestine, joining several other regrets-only by world leaders, and Canada being disinvited 

irl: attempts at recreating sloppy AI-generated advertisements  

📺: as the medium celebrates its centenary with the first public demonstration in 1926, we reflect on one hundred of its greatest moments  

fighting nazis since 1996: former special prosecutor Jack Smith (previously) inadvertently re-platformed and given the chance to argue his case that Trump engaged in criminal activity that was removed from the docket—more here—via Meta Filter—and thanks a Capitol police officer in the gallery wearing a Drop Kick Murphys shirt 

snowmageddon: half the US braces for a colossal winter storm  

controlling share: TikTok parent company divests itself to avoid US ban—see previously 

a word on thinking for yourself: the existential threats of AI eschatology—via Duck Soup 

stayed a little back from the front lines: a global chorus repudiates Trump’s remarks about NATO contributions in Afghanistan

the concept of a deal (13. 106)

Though met with scepticism and denial—and a protracted drama that allies will not soon forget or forgive—NATO secretary general Mark Rutte at Davos somehow managed to talk Trump back from the brink of calamity and relented on additional tariffs for European countries sending troops and materiel to Greenland and agreed himself not to authorise the use of force for its seizure. One of course needs to question the strength of Trump’s word and whether the rhetoric, ratcheted up with the invasion of Venezuela, is over now that he can claim a win, though the outcome and details of the discussion are unknown and the reasons for backing off unclear—Greenlanders and Danes not part of the conversation. Not much different in kind than the arrangement that the US has had for the autonomous arctic territory since 1951, rumours have it that the framework proposes (hardly a negotiation since if true, it would be unilateral and the other parties have not yet been informed, reminiscent of the Russian peace plan for Ukraine when Kiev has not been at the table) that a small parcel of Greenland might be ceded to the US, similar to the arrangement that the UK has with Cyprus for the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrortiri and Dhekelia, former crown colonies retained as part of the island’s independence treaty—which Britain had planned on withdrawing from completely from the mid-1970s but stayed on, mostly due to pressure from America whom wanted to keep a strategic foothold in the region—see also. After Trump’s interminably berating and bellicose opening remarks, a litany of self-congratulatory bravado and petty attacks, we’ll see what emerges but we certainly don’t believe that this crisis is over yet.

synchronoptica

one year ago: AI-aided edutainment (with synchronopticæ) plus assorted links worth revisiting

twelve years ago: phone hygiene plus the advertisements of Dr Seuss

thirteen years ago: bent icicles   

fifteen years ago: bird houses