shelter-in-place

This day marks the one-year anniversary of the United Kingdom imposed with a national lockdown to quell the spread of COVID-19 so that health services would not be overwhelmed, reversing earlier thinking once we were better informed epidemiologically that suggested we should aim for herd-immunity rather than curfews and quarantines. The announcement coincided with the restrictions on movement placed on residents of Wuhan were being cautiously rolled back after two-months of total shutdown and followed measures enacted earlier in the month in Italy and France. The stay-at-home order banned non-essential travel and in person contact, the closure of most businesses with the mandate to telework when possible and those with symptoms to self-isolate. Measures were gradually eased in June through July with a resurgence in October, a so called second wave, that resulted in another month-long shutdown.

black monday ii

With fiscal stimulus packages, interest rate cuts and quantitative easing announced the previous weekend unable to effectively stop the decline in global stock markets or restore confidence in future economic recovery, indices continued to repel to a new nadir on this day in 2020, triggering circuit breakers in place to suspend trading and control the crash and make for a less damaging landing. Worldwide, considering the amount of inherent precarity in terms of job security and the precipitous drop in consumption, travel and leisure activities it seems rather light, stock shares fell by a third, losing a percentile of value per day since the last week of February.

8x8

topsy-turvy: the architecture of the upside-down  

forever blowing bubbles: the symbols of Wall Street, capitalism protest art  

hashtag hastings: remix your own Bayeux Tapestry (previously)—via Kottke 

sit, ubu, sit: Pablo Picasso called the injured owl he discovered and nursed back to health by that name partly out of assonance with ‘hibou,’ French for hoot, and the obnoxious Alfred Jarry character  

voyager station: orbiting cruise ship set to open as early as 2027—via the always excellent Nag on the Lake 

0 bby or star wars retrofitted: remastering the franchise with references to what’s been revealed in the past four decades  

tailpipe: visualising carbon dioxide emissions through a driving game—via Waxy  

bright and airy: an inside-out concept residential project with lots of ventilation

6x6

ribbit: frogs use their lungs effectively as noise-cancelling devices—via the new Shelton wet/dry  

oculus: architect envisions Rome’s Pantheon as world’s largest camera obscura (previously) with a conceptual installation 

fetish-free commodities: Existential Comics attempts to demystify Marxist marketplaces—via Nag on the Lake and Memo of the Air 

radiant baby: a brief biography of artist Keith Haring told with drawings and song  

ipa: an iconographic dictionary that corresponds to each phoneme of human language 

marshmallow test: cuttlefish demonstrate self-control and delay gratification, passing a cognitive benchmark designed for human children

nyan cat

In anticipation of the wholesome meme’s tenth birthday in April, the animator behind the original gif file, put a newly re-mastered version up for auction. It sold for the equivalent of over half-a-million dollars—or rather three hundred Ether (ETH) on a crypto art platform  As oxymoronical as it may sound, this sale represents part of a trend in high valuation for rare digital works of art with these one-of-a-kind pieces backed up by what are called “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) that are allocated for unique assets.

decimal day

On this day in 1971, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland decimalised (see previously) their respective pounds and pence (d., from Latin for denarii), abolishing shilling (s., from Latin solidi) and subdividing the pound (£, pondo librae) into one hundred new pence (p). A substantial publicity campaign championed by the Decimal Association that also helped make the transition into the metric system made the change-over a relatively smooth one.

tulipenmanie

The market bubble peaking, according to available records and sales ledgers, on this day in 1637 before bursting, rampant speculation (see also) and deviation from intrinsic value, with single flower bulbs selling for what a skilled artisan or trader could expect to earn in a decade in his trade drove the Dutch Tulip Craze, generally understood as the first stock market crash. With a newly liberated—no longer the Spanish Netherlands—and wealthy populace captivated by an import from the Ottoman Empire that could be cultivated and coveted unlike any other flower endemic to Europe, increased demand attracted as many professional brokers as tulip fanciers to the marketplace, complete with abstractions including short-selling and futures contracts. Once the bottom finally fell out of the trade amid distress and recrimination, those left holding flowers and bulbs in the end were left with little recourse as no court was willing to enforce the terms of a contract, declaring the debts incurred through gambling and not subject to commercial law.

invisible hand

We very much appreciated the thorough and disabusing essay on the misapplication of the term “free market”—as in free market capitalism, which is assuredly not invoked in the way classical economists like Henry George and Adam Smith intended the phrase to be used in the late nineteenth century. 

Rather than business unencumbered by government regulation, this school of thought championed markets free from rentiers (the characterisation parasitic is unduly insulting to actual parasites that are not some degenerate life form but instead highly evolved organisms that might otherwise be capriciously labelled ‘in a symbiotic relationship’), monopolies and other privileges conferred and rabidly protected that reduce fair and open competition. To counter-balance the advantages of inheritance for the landed gentry, Smith, Henry and others were strong proponents of high property taxes to supplant a tariff on income and encourage productive labour.

8x8

testi stampati: the riotous typographical illustratrations of Lorenzo Petrantoni  

painterly realism: Nathan Shipley trained a neural network to turn portraiture into convincingly true-to-life photographs 

civilian climate corps: a vision of how putting people to work on conservation projects can help save both the environment and the economy  

narratology: a purportedly exhaustive list of dramatic situations—see also here and here  

stonx: a long thread explaining the GameStop short-squeeze—via Miss Cellania  

paradoxical undressing: National Geographic forwards a new theory to account for the Dyatlov Pass Incident (previously) of 1959  

butler in a box: before digital assistants there was domestic aid in the late 1980s 

will success spoil rock hunter: Art of the Title looks at the opening montage of the 1957 CinemaScope classic

show us the tubmans or obverse, reverse

After being sidelined with the rollout of the new design until no earlier than 2028 by the racism of the previous administration (see also), US President Biden promises to fast-track the redesign of the $20 bill to feature abolitionist and Underground Railroad engineer Harriet Tubman.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki referred further lines of questioning to the Treasury, preambling her statement with how it's important that “our money reflect the history and diversity of our country, and Harriet Tubman’s image gracing the $20 note would certainly reflect that. The current face of the most circulated bill, Andrew Jackson, whom was quite the monster for championing slavery and a litany of other things, would not be wholly with the redesign excised but rather remanded to the backside.

a more perfect union

 From the Latin augur—referring to the rites of Roman priests seeking to interpret if the gods willed a public official to assume office, Joe Biden will be sworn in at noon today, Eastern Standard Time, a moment after Kamala Harris, as the forty-sixth president of the United States of America.

Other individuals who share this same inaugural day, set in law in 1937 except when the 20^th falls on a Sunday and then conducted in private with public ceremonies taking place the following day, include Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953), John F. Kennedy (1961), Richard M. Nixon (1969), Jimmy Carter (1977), Ronald Reagan (1981), George H.W. Bush (1989), William Jefferson Clinton (1993), George W. Bush (2001), Barack Obama (2009) and Biden’s immediate predecessor in 2017. 

pequod

Prior to the arrival of the pilgrims the small, isolated island of Massachusetts Bay Colony whose name in Wampanoag means “sandy, sterile soil tempting no one” and the brunt of many a Limerick was home to a small and sustainable population of Native Americans, evicted by the rapidly increasing settler numbers, soon realising that Nantucket lived up to its name. And so not content with their misguided incursions, the colonisers looked to the sea to support their growth, including whaling operations. Public Domain Review has collected dozens of visually brilliant ship’s logs and personal journals of crew sourced mostly to the cusp of the age when waters were depleted and boats had to venture further and further for their quarry and cheaper alternatives to the risky enterprise presented themselves.

spindeltop

In a field outside of Beaumont, Texas, Patillo Higgins prospecting for an in situ energy source—natural gas—to power his brickworks, drilled a well and struck oil on this day in 1901, penetrating salt dome that had contained the reservoir since the Jurassic epoch, gushing some million barrels of it over the next nine days. Beforehand considered geologically relatively scarce and impractical as a staple fuel source, petroleum in this form was used primarily as an industrial lubricant and for street lamps (see also) but discoveries to follow suggesting large quantities fit for mass, universal application pushed a boom and the world into the Oil Age, abetted by the corporations leading the charge.

the governor and company of the merchants of great britain, trading to the south seas and other parts of america, and for the encouragement of fishery

Though not the only joint-stock venture to hedge its liabilities and ultimately prove ruinous for investors, the South Sea Company (official long form above), founded as a public-private partnership—with the support of the government hoping to offset some of the national debt incurred during its involvement with the War of the Spanish Succession and its own colonial activities—in 1711, was the most spectacular economic bubble, bankrupting thousands of investors and speculators who had underwritten the enterprise. Originally incorporated as a substitute revenue generating operation when a national lottery scheme run on behalf of the Crown failed to turn a profit (the jackpot winners were deprived of their prizes), the public was instead invited to purchase shares of a chartered company with a monopoly over trade with Spain and Portugal and would in time collect dividends from the profits. The stock price was inflated by those late-comers not wanting to miss out (taking out loans to take part) on an opportunity and rife mismanagement, including a not insignificant amount of business in the trafficking of enslaved individuals from Africa to Central and South America—and though huge sums of money were trading hands, the company failed to be profitable and engaged in increasing debt for equity swaps until the price increased in a frenzy from £100 to over £1000 in the course of a few months in 1720, falling just as precipitously at an even faster pace. A decade after its founding, on this day, with recriminations rampant and with the aristocracy, the merchant classes as well as the working poor duped and financially broken, the Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble came forth with their findings, revealing fraud and corruption at all levels. Amazingly the newly appointed First Lord of the Treasury, Robert Walpole, was able to restore public confidence in the financial market and the company continued—this time focusing its efforts on whaling—until the reign of Victoria, finally dissolved in 1838.

boxing day

Probably an epithet meaning “the crowned one” rather than an actual given name (compare to Saint Corona), this second Christmas marks Saint Stephen’s Day, venerated as the protomartyr (*1-†36) of the Christian faith, the early bishop of Jerusalem stoned to death (lapidation) for his blasphemy against the Sanhedrin, which was witnessed by Saul called Paul whom subsequently spread his sacrifice and steadfastness. As possibly a painful reminder, Stephen’s patronage includes bricklayers and is invoked against headaches. Further as responsible for the distribution of alms for the poor in his office, Stephen’s feast day became associated with opening the charity boxes and donating gratuities to service people and the needy, but aligned with—sometimes supplanted by Black Friday (it took off when the US and Canadian dollars reached parity), in many Commonwealth nations, it has become a day with emphasis on shopping and sales.

7x7

mercury rising: surveying the lasting damage that the hottest year on record has brought  

guardians of the galaxy: Space Force (previously) service members receive a new title  

deluxe apartment in the sky: artist granted viewing of exclusive properties on Billionaires’ Row in Manhattan 

lp: a playlist of James Baldwin’s record collection  

🌊: the Great Wave off Kanagawa in Lego form 

 lassen sie mich also sagen, dass dies ernst ist—bitte nehmen sie das auch ernst: Angela Merkel’s March address and appeal on coronavirus lauded as Speech of the Year 

 heat gap: climatic gentrification across city districts leads to worse outcomes for the poorest residents

zucked

Much like the laisse-faire champion of free-markets who only thought it was the government’s place to intervene in monopolies when there was demonstrable consumer harm—never mind about democratic harm or erecting barriers to entry—the US judge and Solicitor General Robert Bork (and author of such titles as Slouching Towards Gomorrah) whose name became a verb for those (righteously) villifed and held to account by the mass media, the anti-social media conglomerate (previously) has finally generated enough ill-will to call to action the Federal Trade Commission joining suit with forty-six states attorneys general plus Guam and Washington, DC to get roundly borked and broken up.
Since the last times the American government was compelled to take legal and legislative actions against Ma Bell and then Big Blue, tech and telecos have seen few restrictions and rather nurtured and coddled to become some of the most powerful companies in the world. The FTC is charged with protecting consumers from cartels and monopolistic and monopsonistic practises and while perhaps a bit too timid over the past couple of decades, it has gathered up its courage and decided to push forward during this lame-duck session. Of course this corporate bully, armed to the teeth yet claiming it’s being undermined and unfairly assaulted—is formible with virtually unlimited resources to lobby, leverage the public (the fight comes to us too and we can continue to not dally in that walled-garden) and rail against regulation and dial-up the victimhood. These staid giants of industry are built on the model of suppressing or absorbing the competition and know no other route to success.

year in search

Via The Curious Brain, we are directed towards a superlative, year-end compliation that waxes exsistential and exegetical with search-engine queries of why besting what and how illustrated in this emotional video short. Despite the potential for misinformation, baiting outrage and holding up an unflattering mirror for us scrutinise or more often avert our eyes from, the internet and technology are owed a debt of gratitude for helping us muddle through 2020 and remember whom and what we’ve lost, what's irreplacable and what can be brought back better. Keep on seeking, keep on searching.

6x6

surrogate: Trump issues pardon to former national security advisor Michael Flynn, who pled guilty twice to making false statements to the FBI involving his Russian connections 

thermochromic: windows go from transparent to tinted while generating electricity  

l’atlas: an intriguing new approach to mapping France’s natural glory—via Things Magazine 

 ♚: reimagining the Queen’s Gambit as a MS DOS PC game 

fry guys: one intrepid connoisseur revives a long lost recipe  

stonks: only pausing to take credit for and praise the teetering high of the Dow Jones, Trump presents a very abbreviated brief

bundeskanzlerin

First entering politics in the Revolutions of 1989 as deputy spokesperson for the first and only (independent) democratically elected East German government of Lothar de Maizière, then elected following reunification as a Bundestag representative for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with several ministerial appointments under Helmut Kohl, Angela Merkel was elevated to General Secretary of her political party, the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) in 1998, succeeding Gerhard Schröder in 2005 after the outcome of federal elections installed a collation among the CDU, its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as Chancellor of Germany on this day. Elected to an unprecedented four terms in high office—considered by many the de facto leader of the European Union and since America’s dereliction in 2016 of the free world, Merkel announced she would stand down in October 2018 and not seek a fifth term in 2021.