easy money (13. 236)

Born on this day in 1926, Alan Greenspan served on the US Federal Reserve board of governors from 1987 to the 2006, under presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush, the chairman reappointed after each four year term and advising on monetary policy. Despite a subdued public demeanour, the press accorded the long serving economist celebrity status as a strong advocate for international trade, though he courted many critics who cite his low interest rates and increased cash supply for creating the dot-com bubble and the subprime mortgage crisis that lead to worldwide recession—occurring shortly after he left office—and blame Greenspan for encouraging George W Bush to reengage Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein for the sake of stability in the global oil supply. A fan and personal friend of objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand, Greenspan dated anchor woman Barbara Walters in the late 1970s and is married to journalist Andrea Mitchell (matrimonial ceremony officiated by Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and currently runs a financial consulting firm with several honorary posts with investment banks. 

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronopticæ) plus dismantling the US department of education 

thirteen years ago: folk-neuroscience 

fourteen years ago: slow news days 

fifteen years ago: a trip to Fulda 

sixteen years ago: the US census 

class action (13. 234)

A senior judge of the US Court of International Trade has ruled that following the Supreme Court’s decision that the duties imposed under the 1977 emergency powers law were illegal tariffs all “importers of record” are entitled to refunds and that the judge himself has sole legal subject matter jurisdiction over cases involving paying back the IEEPA levies. The US government collected more than one hundred thirty billion dollars in tariffs under the overruled provisions, and whilst exports that are subject to controls under the currently unfunded (due to demands for reform for ICE tactics) US Customs and Border Protection have a process for seeking remedy called “liquidation,” a limited window of time to contest accounting and appraisal, there is no mechanism for mass appeals—something which the agency must come up with.

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.

habitual app loyalty (13. 207)

An ominous think-piece by a research group and consulting firm specialising in insights in “transformative megatrends” has rattled markets and businesses, lurching from anxiety over an AI bubble to foreboding over what they have wrought delivering mass redundancies across industries. The Singularity feared is not a runaway super-intelligence or a rogue system fighting for self-preservation at all costs but rather autonomous agents that make for frictionless exchanges and circumvent the economic inefficiencies that businesses rely on. Like the disruption that came for publishers and legacy outlets with the democratisation of the internet, the new gatekeepers model is based on margins and middlemen with clearinghouses for payments and facilitating connecting consumers with services, ride-sharing, food deliveries, travel arrangements, but agentive AI could potentially bypass and disarticulate all those supply-chains and providers by arranging the logistics—in theory in this scenario—as a downward spiral in the fintech and gig sectors that has disastrous implications for the broader economy. More from the Guardian’s Aisha Down and Dan Milmo at the link up top.

7x7 (13. 205)

merrie melodies: Turner Movie Classics (TMC) has acquired Looney Tunes and will begin pairing the animated shorts with the main features from Warner Brothers studios as they were originally shown in theatres  

el mencho: Mexico deploys thousands of troops to quell violence after death of cartel boss 

taco tuesdays: Trump global tariffs come in at a lower ten percent rate 

there’s no grace period so that’s a way in which i see us losing the interstitial: arguments for deplatforming oneself 

slava ukraini: Zelenskyy’s address to the nation on the fourth anniversary since the Russia invasion, extending an invitation to Trump to see who the real aggressors are  

i’m sorry but you can’t just name a weather event bombogenesis: tracking the winter storm slamming the North American eastern seaboard and other news 

all ages: the concert archive of Lynn Fisher—via Waxy

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Ukraine war enters its fourth year (with synchronopticæ), assorted links worth the revisit plus Marbury v Madison

twelve years ago: revolutionary plaza plus positive psychology

thirteen years ago: Freistaat Flaschenhals plus the waning potency of pesticides

fifteen years ago: arch villains  

sixteen years ago: spending priorities 

cipheritis (13. 203)

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

synchronoptica

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

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

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

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

fifteen years ago: budget crunch in Wisconsin 

sixteen years ago: church elections 

seventeen years ago: ornate spam 

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.

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.

parousia (13. 172)

Whilst one might be excused for thinking that the rather jarring news of the odds that Jesus Christ’s second coming will happen during this calendar year climbing might contain some wisdom of the masses how we are hurtling towards the End Times or how the Anti-Christ incarnate has seemingly arrived in the figure of the US president, in truth the cause of the growing likelihood is stultifyingly disappointing. Wagering in favour of such a black swan event seems nonsensical, especially if the faithful believe that they will be raptured—you can’t take it without, and without getting youth pastor theological, against scripture, with the Apostle Paul writing in his epistle to the Thessalonians, “For you are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night,” unpredictable and something no one knows. Rather than any of that, and with a touch of Dostoevsky, it is pure manipulation of the betting pool with secondary markets with gamblers trying to cash out on their odds for the over/under of their primary bet—and it isn’t even the first time that such grift as occurred. More from Gizmodo at the link up top.

10x10 (13. 100)

the cameraman’s revenge: a 1912 stop-motion film featuring taxidermied insects by Ladislas Starevich—see previously  

collateral damage: Trump’s seizure of Venezuela has deliberate knock-on effects for Cuba 

the monkey’s paw curls: prediction markets and betting on everything  

a spirit of dialogue: the World Economic Forum begins its summit in Davos (previously) in moment of geoeconomic warfare 

il tormento di sant’antonio: an examination of Michaelangelo’s juvenilia, the painting (more on the subject) not attributed to the artist for half a millennium  

bic cristal: the flagship product of the French sundry firm turned seventy-five—see previously  

mercator projection: famed Flemish cartographer believed that there was a magnetic mountain, Rupes Nigra, at the North Pole, accounting why compasses point towards the arctic—see also  

snow crash: Facebook quietly discontinues the Metaverse  

vanity project: Trump has formed an intergovernmental agency to oversee reconstruction in Gaza called the Board of Peace as an alt-UN with billion dollar membership dues—see previously here and here 

how now, brown cow: back-scratching bovine causes animal behaviourist to reassess their intellect—see also

hands off kalaallit nunaat (13. 098)

In response to the limited deployments of eight European and NATO partner nations over Trump’s continued threats and overtures to annex Greenland in Operation Arctic Endurance and Trump’s retaliatory levee of an additional ten percent tariffs on the participants and any country opposing the US ownership of the semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, a three-hour emergency meeting was held in Brussels with strong rebukes for America’s behaviour, igniting yet other trade war when the aggressor has full-access to the strategic island in the north Atlantic. The EU, UK and Canada were united in solidarity and refused to be blackmailed further—the extra punitive tariffs on top of the not insignificant ones of ten percent for the UK and Canada and fifteen percent for the rest of Europe from a deal reached in July now void, demonstrating that they were not wrong to roll-over on this earlier appeasement plan. Russia, which stands to benefit from the turmoil in the trans-Atlantic alliance surely pleased its agent is doing its bidding, even called out the US for its double standard over sovereignty. Macron and several other EU leaders have advocated utilising the so called “trade bazooka,” the untested Anti-Coercion Instrument that bypasses the required unanimity on negotiations for the infra-national bloc and makes available an arsenal of countermeasures to deploy including sanctions, embargoes, boycotts, reciprocal tariffs and procurement, with some ninety-three billion euro in leverage on stand-by, not to be bullied into submission by dumping US debt holdings, some nine trillion in bonds and equity. Canada, meanwhile, freshly returned from China with new trade deals, announced it will open an embassy in Nuuk.

bespoke commissions (13. 092)

Corresponding with the aesthetic of McMansion Hell or the yachting-set, we are directed to these custom models put out by Rolls Royce recently that indulge every whim of those who can afford conveyance in excess of a half a million above and beyond their standard luxury appointments gleaned from the errant news alerts and newsletters from a former automotive journalist’s mailing list. The individuals clients are not clients are not named and don’t need to be as all their conspicuous ostentation is on display and illustrates the uncanny valley of human experience that the rich find themselves in—adoring one’s pets is universal so is embracing one’s hobbies or expressing one’s favourite colours but its as if this hyperbole, achievable by much less costly means (the dog certainly doesn’t know the difference) is as if an alien or AI tried to understand these qualities and way over did it. Much more from Victoria Scott—including a gamer edition that compelled her to write the article (I drive a Rolls-Royce because it’s good for my voice) at the link above.

7x7 (13. 080)

good vs ice: Jesse Welles’ (previously) ballad for the woman murdered by an immigration agent in Minneapolis  

what fresh hell is this: an appreciation of Dorothy Parker  

specimen: over the decades, forty thousand individuals have claimed 078-05-1120 as their US social security number 

things to come: a look at Taliban censorship after a new law comes into effect banning images of people and animals  

spicy mode: Elon Musk won’t shut down his non-consensual deepfake generator until faced with legislation  

whodunit: a rare interview with Dame Agatha Christine revisited on fifty years since her demise  

fed chair: Jerome Powell responds to the Trump administration’s threats of indictment—see previously

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump indicted for misuse of campaign funds for hush money (with synchronopticæ), the prescience of George Orwell, the Great Game, MAGA infighting plus US neighbours snap back

twelve years ago: a pedestrian bridge for the Thames plus monograms and ciphers

thirteen years ago: lost infrastructure plus hen parties 

fourteen years ago: GMOs and food safety 

fifteen years ago: The Blow Monkeys 

sixteen years ago: saunas for a frigid day 

the technate of north america (13. 054)

Given the recent invasion by the United States on the southern limit of this hypothetical map of a continental federation, a sphere of influence, self-sufficient and only requiring minimum trade with outsiders, aligned with the recently published Trump Corollary, the technocracy movement, founded chiefly by engineer Howard Scott after World War I, flourishing in the minds of many as a genuine alternative political ideology, more popular than fascism or communism, up through the Great Depression and the entry of the US in World War II—though suffering many internecine breakups and dogmatists at odds in the steering committees of the various groups and factions under this umbrella, just like Scott’s own falling out with the unionists and the IWW that first fostered his ideas, has again been garnering attention. Understandably with propagandised charts showing US influence stretching from Greenland to the north, through Panama all the way down to Venezuela, people are worried that Trump may make good on his threats of annexation by force, but Technocracy Incorporated, administered by besuited technocrats with legions of working-class followers, including one chiropractor (a suspect pseudo-science itself) from Regina, Joshua Norman Haldeman, the maternal grandfather of Elon Musk (members were required to adopt numbers in place of names, which may have inspired great-grandson XÆ A-12 as well as other notions of Musk’s), was not premised on utopian technology that would make labour superfluous and end scarcity but rather its opposite, suggesting that progress would never outpace population-growth and that the monetary system needed reform—proposing an energy theory of value to replace the price based systems of economy, privileging exchange and property and believed to perpetuate market inefficiencies. Energy input and output would replace fiat currency as a metric of labour and worth, non-fungible rationed allotments distributed to regulate the flow of energy that could not be bartered outside the system—tied to an individual’s productive credit account—and having an expiration date to discourage hoarding and accumulation of capital, as a form of technological feudalism.

pdvsa (13. 047)

Founded on this day in 1976 in concert with the nationalisation of the oil industry and the take over of more than thirty foreign operations, including Exxon, Mobil and Gulf, the state owned Petróleos de Venezuela (Sociedad Anónima, a limited public company) manages the largest hydrocarbon reserve in the world and oversees day-to-day of the fifth biggest exporter of petroleum, formalised as a promise of the ongoing social movement of the Bolivarian Revolution begun by Hugo Chávez and continued by his successor Nicolás Maduro as a stand against neo-colonialism, record profits generated during the OPEC embargo by Middle East producers from three years earlier. Although many cite focus on political programmes to the detriment of technical know-how and inefficiencies in extraction and refining—as well as fostering endemic corruption—the accusations do seem rather pedestrian and rather like a projection for those excluded from exploiting this resource and relentless attempts to thwart the enterprise with sanctions and diplomatic isolation. 

synchronoptica 

one year ago: a Parisien pocket interpreter, more future forecasts, Public Domain Day plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: a tribute to celebrity deaths (with synchronopticæ) plus cinema and literature set in 2024

nine years ago: New Year’s salutations, more Public Domain Day, the International Date Line, seed banking, vintage disruptive technology plus the Japanese art of not sleeping

ten years ago: more New Year’s greetings, more links to enjoy plus more on animal cognition

eleven years ago: a past year pop-quiz, the Eurasian Economic Union plus the power of admitting contraction

twelve years ago: pig dogs plus the Order of the Ursulines

thirteen years ago: a 1987 retrospective plus guided by an occult hand

fifteen years ago: champagne and krimskoye 

mmxxv (13. 042)

As this year draws to a close and we look forward to 2026, we take the time agin to reflect on a selection of some of the things and events that took place during the past twelve months. Thanks as always for visiting. We’ve made it through another wild year together.

 january: a vehicle ramming attack kills ten and injures dozens in central New Orleans.  After a five year deal expires without renewal, Russian gas can no longer be piped through Ukraine to the EU as the continent braces for a cold winter.  After a decade as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau announces he will step aside.  An earthquake strikes the holy city of Shigatse in Tibet.  Wind-swept wildfires devastate southern California.  Joe Biden and others eulogise Jimmy Carter for his state funeral.  After the US supreme court rejects a petition to delay sentencing over his hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, Trump becomes a convicted felon, although given an unqualified discharge by the presiding judge and will serve no time.  Sunset Boulevard is unrecognisable after being engulfed by wildfires.  Israel and Hamas appear close to reaching a truce to bring about a permanent ceasefire.  Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth faces a gruelling nomination hearing in congress for role of secretary of defence.  Donald Trump is inaugurated for a second time and unleashes a flurry of executive orders, including a hiring freeze, immediate rescinding of Biden era policies, removal of DEI initiatives within the federal government and contracting partners, declaring that there are two genders only, issuing a blanket pardon to the January Sixth rioters in an attempt to reframe and rewrite history, freezing virtually all foreign aid, closing the borders and vowing to unleash agents to facilitate mass-deportations.  Cabinet nominees are approved by the US senate, including, narrowly—Trump’s pick to head the Department of Defence.  Trump proposes that Gaza be depopulated of Palestinians and urges neighbouring Egypt and Jordan to take in all displaced individuals.  A scrappy open-source AI developed in China on a shoe-string budget knock a trillion dollar hole in the grift-cum-technofedualism markets in the US.  Prolific blog commentator and good soul XOXOXOBruce (see more here and here) has passed away.  A passenger plane collides with a Blackhawk helicopter over Washington, DC, killing all, including members from American and Russian figure skating teams.  Iconic entertainer Marianne Faithfull passes away, aged 78. Mexico, Canada and China hit back against US tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.  The government of El Salvador agrees to allow the US to offshore its most dangerous incarcerated population.  A deadly shooting occurs at a continuing education centre in Örebro.  Trump meets with Netayahu and offers to own the Gaza Strip and redevelop it, expelling the Palestinian population.

february: Novelist Tom Robbins dead, aged 92.  Relenting on implementing tariffs for Mexico and Canada after security promises already underway, Trump shocks the markets by imposing a twenty-five percent duty on all aluminium and steel globally.  Trump orders federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against disgraced New York City mayor Eric Adams after repeated attempts to curry favour with the president.  The Aga Khan passes away, aged 88. Boycotts to protest inflation and A ramming attacked is perpetrated in München, ploughing into a crowd of union protesters, a day ahead of the Munich Security Conference.  Pope Francis is hospitalised with double pneumonia, his prognosis for recovery guarded.   Veteran actor Gene Hackman found dead, aged 95, at home along with his wife and dog.

march: By executive order, Trump makes English the official language of the United States.  Israel blocks humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, demanding that Hamas abide by changed conditions dictated by the US, leading by mid-month to a resumption in airstrikes on the territory.  Rosenstolz singer AnNa R passes away, aged 55.  A French politician calls for the return of the Statue of Liberty.  After rejecting a previously brokered US peace deal, during a telephone call with Trump, Putin signals he will agree to a thirty-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure.  Boxer and entrepreneur George Foreman passes away, aged 76.  Germany’s marked fiscal pivot to embrace debt and invest in defence stunned fellow EU members.  Trump’s commerce secretary proposes cutting the social security safety net for seniors and the disabled.  Arrest and detention of Erdoğan rival and Istanbul mayor ignites protests in Türkiye.  Wildfires ravage South Korea.  A coalition of the willing convene in Paris in solidarity with Ukraine, fearful of the outcome of a US-brokered deal with Russia.  Thousands dead and many more displaced after an earthquake ravages Myanmar.  Globally, thousands participate in Tesla Takedown protests against Musk.  Far-right French politician Marine Le Pen banned from public office after being found guilty for misappropriating EU funds.

april: Despite millions in campaign donations, Musk and conservatives were unable to flip the state supreme court in Washington.  New Jersey Democrat Corey Booker spoke in the Senate, rebuking the Trump administration for a record twenty-five hours and five minutes, beating Strom Thurmond’s filibuster against integration and equal rights.   Actor Val Kilmer dead at age 65.  Israeli defence forces annex huge swaths of the Gaza Strip.  Foregoing over two billion dollars in federdal funding, Harvard refuses to give in to Trump demands.  Katy Perry and an all-female crew travel briefly to the edge of space.  The world mourns Pope Francis.  The US threatens to walk away from the Ukraine-Russia peace deal it brokered.  As a rebuke to Trumpism, Canada elects another liberal government with Mark Carney as Prime Minister.

may: The US Department of Homeland Security is planning to remove illegal migrants to Libya.  The College of Cardinals elect the first American pope, Leo XIV.  India and Pakistan exchange violent skirmishes over the disputed territories of Kashmir and Jammu.  Austria wins the Eurovision song contest.  A tall ship from the Mexican navy collides with the Brooklyn bridge during manoeuvrers.  Romanian elects a centrist, pro-EU mathematician for president in a surprise turn-out.  Former US president Joe Biden diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.  UK, France and Canada sharply criticise Israel for its continued assault on Gaza and blockade of humanitarian aid, suspending trade talks and recalling diplomatic staff.  Veteran actor George Wendt passed away, aged 76. King Charles delivers a speech of solidarity from the throne in Canada to open parliament.  Trump blasts Putin for escalation of fighting in Ukraine.

june: In planning for eighteen-months, Ukraine carries out surprise drone attack on Russian bombers in five regions.  Trump rescinds nomination of private astronaut to head NASA after apparent falling out with Elon Musk, who recommended the nominee for the job.  Trump federalises the California national guard against the will of the state’s governor to suppress protests against ICE raids.  The Israeli defence forces seise a Gaza-bound cargo ship of humanitarian aid with activist Greta Thunberg onboard.  A London-bound plane crashes shortly after departure from Ahmedabad with a sole survivor. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys passes away, aged 82.  Israel launches air strikes against Iran’s nuclear processing facilities, killing the commander of the Revolutionary Guard. The US bombs three Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities.  In the last week before recess, the US supreme court delivers Trump several judicial victories. Veteran journalist and moderator Bill Moyers has died.  Israeli attacks on Gaza humanitarian assistance sites markedly intensify.  

july: The US congress narrowly passes Trump’s domestic policy agenda.  Flash flooding in Texas Hill Country claims dozens, including many from a summer camp for girls.  Russian transport minister found dead hours after his dismissal ostensibly for his failure to secure Moscow from Ukrainian drone attacks.  Trump announces twenty-fiver percent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, as the administration pushes for ninety trade deals in ninety days.  Trump disavows MAGA supporters who demand the release of the Epstein files. Israel launches airstrikes on Damascus to defend Druze communities living on the border of the Golan Heights.  UK government resolves to lower voting age to sixteen.  The US senate approves rescission bill to defund public broadcasting in America and eliminate billions in foreign aid.  Iconic rocker Ozzy Osboure has died, aged 76.  The famine in Gaza worsens as hundreds have been killed just queuing for aid.  France resolves to acknowledge Palestinian statehood.  Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan passed away, aged 71.  The EU negotiates a last minute trade and tariff deal with Trump, giving Europe worse than nothing but perhaps preserving global security and stability in Ukraine.  Contrary to assurances that the Qatari gift of Air Force one would not be for the Trump’s personal use post-presidency, the secretary of defence accepted the gift, explicitly calling it not a bribe.  Trump admits his friendship with Epstein came to an end because Epstein was stealing employees from his pleasure spa.  

august: Trump’s redacted name appears in the Epstein files.  Microsoft joins Invidia as the first firms to reach a four trillion dollar market valuation.  Global stocks are shocked by tariff deadline with few deals.  Trump fires government statistician after poor jobs-growth report, revising downward previous months’ estimates.   Sabre-rattling, two nuclear submarines move within striking distance of Russian.  Netanyahu announces plans to take over Gaza City whilst Trump again threatens to federalise Washington, DC. Astronaut and Apollo XIII commander Jim Lovell dies, aged 97.  Putin has a summit with Trump in Alaska, followed by a meeting in Washington, DC between Trump and Zelenskyy with several European leaders also inviting themselves.  Texas and California commence with their redistricting war to gerrymander the mid-terms.  The Florida department of transportation removes the rainbow crosswalk memorial of the Orlando Pulse nightclub massacre.  Rumours of the death of Trump are trending.  The White House announces intent to end mail-ballots and allow only in-person voting.  Israeli attacks aided by the US kill Houthi prime minister in Yemen.  Modi and Xi meet with Putin as counterbalance to western hegemony.

september: A devastating earthquake hits Afghanistan.  Google emerges more or less unscathed from a landmark anti-trust case.  Chaos at the US Centres for Disease control prompts many states to do their own research.  Celebrated fashion designed Giorgio Armani dead, aged 91.  Over a dozen killed in a tragic funicular accident in Lisbon.  The US targets an alleged Venezuelan drug-boat and deploys warships to the Caribbean.  Israeli Defence Forces order the complete evacuation of Gaza City. Right wing influencer and conservative activist Charles Kirk is assassinated during a speaking event at a college campus in Utah.  Actor, activist and director Robert Redford passed away, aged 89. Donald Trump arrives in London for his second state visit.  The GOP are exploiting the death of Charlie Kirk to silence dissent. Portugal, the UK, Canada and Australia recognise Palestinian statehood, ahead of the UN General Assembly—with host nation refusing to issue visas to the country’s delegation to attend (the first time the US has barred entry since 1998 and banning PLO head Yasser Arafat, which prompted the UN to change the venue to Geneva).  Trump gives a rambling and dangerous speech falsely linking acetaminophen, childhood vaccinations with autism.  Erik Adams drops his re-election bid to be mayor of New York City.

october: At an impasse, the US government shuts down.  Renowned primatologist and wildlife advocate Jane Goodall passes away, aged 91. Veteran UK actor Patricia Routledge dies, aged 96.  Hamas and Israel reach a tentative ceasefire days after the second anniversary of the the beginning of the war.  Gazans begin returning home, joy amid sorrow and destruction as the Israeli army pulls back.  Actor Diana Keaton has died, aged 79.  Trump misappropriates funds to make military pay-day during the shutdown.  Hamas begins releasing the remaining Israeli hostages.  Elite universities in the US choose to forego federal funding rather than submit to conditions on research and hiring practises.  The US CIA begin covert operations to overthrow the government of Venezuela.  Every major US media outlet surrendered their Pentagon press credentials rather than sign a pledge to only report on approved releases. Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton indicted for mishandling of classified information.  NPR founding reporter and anchor Susan Stamberg passed away, age 87.  Partial demolition begins on the East Wing of the White House to construct Trump’s ballroom.  The Japanese parliament elects its first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.  Charles III and Pope Leo XIV pray together in the Sistine Chapel.  Against America’s peace agenda, the Knesset votes to annex the West Bank.  Leftwing candidate Catherine Connolly wins Ireland’s presidency.  Veteran television star June Lockhart passes away, aged 100.  Fawlty Towers actor Prunella Scales dies, aged 93. US government shutdown surpasses Trump’s old record for the longest in history.  Dick Cheney dies, aged 84.  Zohran Mamdani wins mayorship of New York City.

november: Redistricting efforts in Texas ahead of US mid-term elections are ruled to be unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. The US federal government reopens after an unprecedented shut-down as Democrats fold.  A violent civil war continues to rage in Nigeria.  COP 30 begins in Brazil.  Tech businesses and telecoms shed tens of thousands of employees.  In response to a cadre of congressional representatives urging service members not to obey illegal orders, Trump cries sedition and threatens them with execution.  US leaks a twenty-eight point peace plan for Ukraine and Russia. Marjorie Taylor Greene announces she will leave the US congress in January after a public falling out with Trump.  Flames engulf a residential apartment block in Hong Kong.  The pope makes his first trip abroad, visiting Türkiye and Lebanon.  With war in Venezuela imminent, closing the country’s airspace, Trump pardons notorious Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, commuting his sentence in a US federal prison after smuggling weapons and four hundred tonnes of cocaine into the country.  A deadly fire in a Hong Kong housing estate kills scores.

december: Playwright Tom Stoppard passes away, aged 88.  Influential architect Frank Gehry has died, aged 96.  Australia launches a world first social media ban for young people.  The US military seizes a Venezuelan oil tanker, escalating tensions.  Articles of impeachment are forwarded for both secretary of war and RFK, Jr.  Indiana state lawmakers reject Trump’s redistricting plans to gerrymander Democrats out of existence.  A gunman kills a dozen individuals gathering at Australia’s Bondi beach for Hanukkah celebrations.  Actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer-Reiner are found murdered—with the couple’s son arrested as the the prime suspect.  The US justice department releases a heavily redacted version of the Epstein files.  Singer, songwriter Chris Rea, performer behind “Driving Home for Christmas” dies, aged 74.  Brigitte Bardo has died, aged 91.  Trump announces ground strikes in Venezuela.  Xi announces intent to reunite Taiwan in New Year’s Eve address.

9x9 (13. 024)

participation, in this context, is a kind of alignment: the Vanity Fair photo shoot of Trump’s cabinet 

escape velocity: a super-massive runaway black hole has been ejected from its home galaxy and is careening through space—via Kottke 

that thoth over there: a guide to the messy divine family of Egyptian mythology  

beyond the last-minute gift guide: the year of Tedium wrapped  

no-one comes to casablanca for the waters—you were misinformed: every drink in the 1942 classic (see previously, oddly no gin)—via MetaFilter  

capital allocation: on the social uselessness of finance, creating winners and losers  

homecoming: a preview of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey—see also 

intraterrestrials: subsurface microbes have geological lifespans 

unreliable narrator: Epstein and company as Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert—see previously

i, pencil (13. 006)

Via Super Punch, we learn that adding such a quotidian thing as the writing implement to his list things to make do with less of as a kind of patriotic austerity during a recent rally, veering again from casting affordability as a hoax and blaming high prices on immigration—“You can give up certain products. You could give up pencils—because under the China policy, every child gets thirty-seven pencils. They only need one or two. They don’t need that many. You always need steel. You don’t need thirty-seven dolls for your daughter. One or two is nice. So, we’re doing things right.” US consumers are foregoing a lot more things at the moment and is unclear how less of one equals more of another, but the example chosen (and not for the first time) may come from a parable used to illustrate global supply chains and trade that one of Trump’s handlers though might be couched in terms he could comprehend on a basic level of Ricardian economics but instead was grossly misconstrued. The 1958 essay by libertarian free market think tank founded, under the long title, “I, Pencil: My Family Tree as Told to Leonard E Read,” written in first person from the perspective of the pencil, summarises the complexity of its creation, listing its parts (wood, lacquer, ferrule, pumice, wax, glue, graphite), those people (sort of like a gratitude chain) that put it together down the janitor of the factory and the lighthouse keeper that ensured that the shipment made it safely to port, conclude that since, in the absence of a master mind directing all these the activities—something no individual would be capable of—there is only the Invisible Hand of capitalism running the show, proclaiming that the “know-hows” should not be impeded terms of self-coordination. Apparently Trump interprets the fable that he is Providence.

x ↦ 𝑓(x) (12. 974)

Via Clive Thompson’s latest Linkfest, we are directed to towards a hidden reliquary of old, obscure Microsoft Excel functions maintained update after update to preserve compatibility and integrity of spreadsheet data—some being very dated like the ticker-tape age DOLLARDE and DOLLARFR when stocks and bonds were quoted in fractional dollars pre-decimalisation or highly specific like ROMAN which converts Arabic numerals, mainly for decorative use only as they are not well suited to double-entry bookkeeping (see also) and BAHTTEXT that transforms a value spelled out in Thai Baht, introduced in accordance with the country’s invoicing standards that require numbers expressed both ways to ensure clarity. Like the way the amount on a cheque is written out in long form, Excel only offers this feature for Thailand, which isn’t the only jurisdiction that requires it.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a virtual Advents Calendar of work entering the public domain (with synchronopticæ), Saint Zephania plus a game of incense

thirteen years ago: combatting youth unemployment, a post-industrial revolution plus a Lt Uhura My Little Pony

fifteen years ago: extremophiles 

sixteen years ago: holiday shopping 

seventeen years ago: authorised delay 

gini coefficient (12. 949)

Via the ever-marvellous Nag on the Lake, we are treated to a rather interesting and thorough comparison of Gross Domestic Product per capita and purchasing power parity of nations richer and poorer than the United States in 1980 (a rather unique instant in time given the 1979 Oil Crisis) versus how they are faring relative to today. 

 Of course a lot of things occurred over the intervening decades that factor into the changes and reversals, like with the benchmark of Germany of then and now but is nonetheless a revealing look at the geopolitics of economies and invites one to fill in the gaps between these snap-shots.