liberation day (12. 359)

With years of lead time and staking his presidency and the system of global trade on his counterintuitive instincts, Trump announced sweeping tariffs on trade partners across the world with a flat duty for most foreign goods and custom levels for countries labelled the worst offenders. Countries subject to a ten percent base rate for all or most items include the UK, Brazil, Singapore, El Salvador and Saudi Arabia. There are no additional reciprocations for Canada and Mexico but no relief either—Cuba, Belarus, North Korea and Russia, already subject to heavy sanctions also were exempted. For removing all duties on US exports, Israel was also excepted. A quarter tariff is imposed for all imported automobiles worldwide. Declaring a national economic emergency in response to trade deficits. The European Union, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Cambodia and South Africa face some of the highest rates. Australian imposts were received as “not the act of a friend,” but met with bemusement as the tax-regime was broken down regional, including targeting the overseas territories of Heard and McDonald islands, uninhabited barren volcanic islands off on Antarctica. Poised to fall short of its aim of stimulating domestic manufacturing, these developments have rattled both markets and consumers with the global community reluctant to start a trade war and a race to the bottom that leads to price rises and slow growth.

i rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the united states senate for as long as i am physically able—i rise tonight because i believe sincerely that our nation is in crisis (12. 356)

As New Jersey Democratic Senator Corey Booker continues a marathon speech in the Senate, addressing the chamber for as long as he physically endure, beginning on Monday night and passing well into Tuesday to highlight the disruptions and dangers that the first seventy-one days of the Trump administration has wrought, he emphasised that these are not normal times in America and should not be treated as such, concluding this good filibustering on election day for three special elections, which normally would not garner much attention but are now seen as referenda on Trump’s performance and Musk’s clout in politics and the administration. Though the two districts in question in Florida are regarded as solidly Republican and are not up for competition normally, polling shows that Democrats could eke out a win, further narrowing Republican control of congress. One of the seats formerly was represented by Matt Gaetz, who vacated it prematurely to stand for attorney general before withdrawing his candidacy, and as a sign of caution over losing their hold on all three branches of government, Trump rescinded the nomination for UN ambassador for a congress woman from New York, owing that she was more important in the House of Representatives rather than the United Nations—“anyone can do that job.” The second seat was held by Mike Waltz, leaving to become a security advisor for the White House and apparent fall-guy for Signalgate. Outside of Florida, the other, supposedly non-partisan race that has become outsized is to fill a vacancy on the state supreme court of Wisconsin. While limited in jurisdiction, over one-hundred million dollars has been spent to secure or shift the ideological alignment of the justices that could impact voting rights, reproductive rights and the power of public unions nationally. Much of the backing for the conservative candidate has come from cheerleader for fascism Elon Musk, recognising the crucial nature of the swing-state for upcoming elections and to preserve the status quo through gerrymandering, and who also has a personal stake in the outcome, with a pending lawsuit filed against Wisconsin to allow direct sales of automobiles to consumers, without going through a dealership as state law requires, which Tesla practises.

9x9 (12. 340)

us agency for global media: Voice of America director files lawsuit over ordered closure—a federal judge issues a temporary stay   

pecksniffian paragraph: Trump as a Dickens’ stock character over his sermonising on transgender military service members   

entomological adultery: the 1912 Cameraman’s Revenge painstakingly animated by Władysław Starevicz 

deterministic bit generator: a financial institution’s experiment with quantum computing generates certifiably random numbers with applications in auditing and encryption—see also   

the memes have entered the chat: the internet responds to Signalgate (aka whiskeyleaks)

arts décoratifs: rediscovering Betty Joel, Britain’s forgotten maven of Art Deco design—part of a centenary celebration of the movement—see previously

the population of an old pear tree: an 1870 work by Belgian author Ernest van Bruyssel celebrating biodiversity and insect life 

import/export: ahead of the planned tariff action for 2 April “Day of Liberty” Trump announces twenty-five percent duties on foreign cars and components, triggering retaliation 

are you sure ms kerger—because he is red: NPR and PBS testify before congress with its federal funding at stake—see previously

synchronoptica

one year ago: anatomised police lineups (with synchronoptica), assorted links to revisit, a classic from U2 plus a Nordic Easter witch

seven years ago: the dynamic Cosmos, more links to enjoy plus Everything’s Coming Up Simpsons

eight years ago: backmasking and the Satanic panic, the show with the mouse plus the Bombay Sapphire distillery

nine years ago: Easter greetings, revisiting the Leipzig Panometer plus a canting dialect

ten years ago: Holy Blood, Holy Grail, even more links, poet Paul Verlaine plus affecting a holiday accent

9x9 (12. 339)

debonair: an amazing and comprehensive collection of flight attendant uniforms—via Things Magazine  

contrapoints: a documentary contextualising misinformation to point out it is misinformation 

shortened itinerary: second lady’s tour of Greenland (now joined by her husband) is limited to inspecting the troops at Pituffik Space Base  

seagram’s vo: pallets of American alcohol being returned to the manufacturer  

jug band: a fun cover of Beat It!—with a powerful solo bridge by the Bottle Boys 

boilerfaker: a new trend in microdosing alcohol—via tmn  

duty to report: the 1890 attempt to coerce Canada into joining the US backfired spectacularly  

signalgate: The Atlantic editor inadvertently added to a national security counsel group chat publishes transcript in full after Trump administration downplayed the seriousness of the breach 

hmnd: an incomplete bestiary of humanoid robots

cruelties, collusions, corruptions and crimes (12. 336)

Via JWZ, the crew at McSweeney’s Internet Tendency has regrouped after that initial and unending force majure of flooding the zone to again catalogue the daily horrors instigated by the Trump administration, like last time around, lest we forget. The atrocity legend has been updated with several new and dreadful categories to work into the schedule.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the calculus of Easter (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: Woozle hunting plus a local beverage

eight years ago: art projects informed by the Rijksmuseum collection

nine years ago: digital colonialism,  an AI chatbot comes to a disastrous end plus the Satan-Leaf Gecko

ten years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus hipster animals

gentlemen—you can’t fight in here—this is the war room (12. 324)

Though denied as rumour and fake news, the Pentagon had set up a briefing for Elon Musk it seems on the potential for conflict with China. This meeting, if it occurs as scheduled, follows the abrupt and unexpected closure of the Office of the Secretary of Defence’s Net Assessment group, an internal think-tank projecting decades into the military’s future and produced prognoses and reports of long-term threats based on their research, and the meeting in the Tank, a secure conference room, privileging the unelected bureaucrat to unprecedented information on American strategic capabilities and its intelligence on China’s perhaps is the armed forces’ five bullets to DOGE to keep them from culling vital positions and funding within the military needed for such a stand-off—already having pressured the Pentagon from buying jet fighters made by one of his space-launch competitors. Giving the CEO of a defence contractor access to this level of information and a role in influencing direction, plus wanting to infiltrate Chinese markets, is certainly a conflict of interest and presents grave consequences for forward posture.

9x9 (12. 314)

👀: a “half-swipe” feature that allows recipients to screen messages with them being marked as read is exacerbating dating anxiety amongst teens—via Superpunch 

rabbithole: global styles of curiosity survey as revealed by Wikipedia app usage—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest—are you a hunter, dancer or busybody?   

we have urinated in our beds—there was no chamber pot: a survey of the graffiti of Ancient Rome that’s very much like a contemporary comments section 

quotidiano: Italian news paper prints all-AI edition   

derezz: local club hosts a TRON party during a gaming developers’ conference as a history lesson   

gulf-stream: a mesmerising overview of the world’s ocean currents and eddies   

let your fingers do the walking: the typography of the telephone directory, the Yellow Pages, and its antecedents 

patrimonialism: running a state as one’s family business   

forbidden unlawful representation of roleplaying in education: legislation in Texas would outlaw students presenting as other than human, check out the acronyms of the bill, including fursonæ

synchronoptica

one year ago: the science behind sippy-birds (with synchronoptica), another 3D rendering challenge plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: the allure of old books,  The Gods of Japan (1943), more links to enjoy plus artist Grant Wood

eight years ago: the architecture of choice,  Trump defunds agencies plus Trump’s foreign policy

nine years ago: more on state fossils plus collected quotations

ten years ago: the new EU central bank headquarters, job redundancy, even more links, animals on trial plus local galleries

trade wars are good and easy to win (12. 295)

In response to a surcharge placed on electricity flowing into the American states of New York, Minnesota and Michigan, Trump has hurled multiple threats at Canada and the provincial government, accelerating the tariff schedule that is already bringing turmoil to international markets over uncertainty about global supply chains with a rambling post on his social media platform:

Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on “Electricity” coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th. Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous. I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area. This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada. If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada. Those cars can easily be made in the USA! Also, Canada pays very little for National Security, relying on the United States for military protection. We are subsidizing Canada to the tune of more than 200 Billion Dollars a year. WHY??? This cannot continue. The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. Canadians’ taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — And Canada will be a big part of that. The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World — And your brilliant anthem, “O Canada,” will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen! 

In a succession of increasingly hostile and unfocused re:truths, Trump went on to accuse Ontario Premier Doug Ford of stooping “so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the lives of innocent people, as a bargaining chip” and that the country will pay “a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!” Tariffs (which end in FFS) are taxes charged on foreign exports paid by importers and typically pass the cost on to consumers and likely to raise prices for US businesses and shoppers very soon—risking, coupled with flagging consumer, boycotts and investor sentiment and disruption to finished products, the possibility of recession and job loss. Canada didn’t pick this fight and the extra duties run counter to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that Trump negotiated back in 2020, hailing it as the “best and most important trade deal ever made by the USA.”

blm (12. 292)

Created in response to federal officers attacking peaceful protesters with teargas in order to clear demonstrators as Trump’s entourage walked to St John’s Church for a photo-op holding a Bible, Washington DC’s iconic Black Lives Matter street mural is being erased, the city’s mayor pressured by contingent of congressional representatives to remove the slogan (citing public safety) or lose federal funding. Dedicated 5 June 20202 on the what would have been the twenty-seventh birthday of Breonna Taylor, a nursing student student killed during a botched police raid on the wrong premises, adding to global sorrow and outrage amid a mass movement to expose inequities, discrimination, violence the brutality of law enforcement for that began with the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2013—and too many before and since—and grew to its international scope after the killing of George Floyd in May. The two block stretch and surrounding plaza have been a forum for healing and a venue for continued rallies as all our affected by the administration’s unrelenting attack on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, banning books and outlawing critical race theory or anything else that might make white people uncomfortable.

and i’m going to use that bill for myself too—if you don’t mind—because nobody gets treated worse than i do online, nobody (12. 289)

Though drafted with the unimpeachably serious aim of curbing the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII—also known as revenge porn) online, the piece of legislation, the so called “Take It Down Act,” whose immediate passage Trump urged during his address to a joint-session of congress earlier in the week overly-broad language and is blatantly a recourse of the powerful to pressure host platforms to remove content critical of the administration, censoring and silencing dissent. Sponsored in the senate by Ted Cruz of Texas, the act would further require social media to have procedures in place to comply with a takedown request upon notice from a victim and enjoys support from the first lady, who is known for championing a rather unoriginal online safety campaign “Be Best” during her husband’s first term, opponents fear it could easily be extended to political speech and journalistic reporting that leadership does not like, with no penalties for lodging a false or frivolous notice and a requirement for hosts to monitor content shared over end-to-end encryption, potentially leading to platforms abandoning privacy measures in order to align with the law.

gambling with world war iii (12. 266)

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

11x11 (12. 263)

broadband equity, access and deployment: Trump administration thinks the BEAD programme of the Infrastructures Investment and Jobs Act is too woke   

fermata: a thousand artists release a ‘silent’ album to protest changes to UK intellectual property rights to attract AI companies interesting in training their models on copyrighted material—via the New Shelton wet/dry—also more music without sounds 

late stage capitalism: Washington Post owner Bezos will only allow editorials that defend “free markets” and “personal liberties”—see also   

annual reformulation: important meeting of the US Centres for Disease Control to discuss strains for next season’s influenza vaccine cancelled, confirming fears that the new health secretary will pivot away from proven preventative medicine 

rif me daddy: what Trump’s AI enhanced shitpostings reveal about the administration and plans for the future of Palestine 

absalom, absalom: William Faulkner’s record-setting run-on sentence 

torus and tokamak: a German fusion startup is lauded for its plans, peer-reviewed, to launch a functioning power plant   

only the markets can save us: America’s total economic boycott planned for the last day in February 

touch grass: an app that blocks screentime and doomscrolling until one has proven one’s gone outside—via Waxy  

snoopers’ charter: Apple’s capitulation to the UK’s Investigative Powers Act is Chekov’s Gun for privacy worldwide   

by the people and for the people: dossiers of the people working for the Department of Government Efficiency

synchronoptica

one year ago: ceramicist Yoonmi Nam (with synchronoptica) plus the age of ludicrous inventions 

seven years ago: A Million Random Digits plus assorted links to revisit

eight years ago: more misattributed quotes 

nine years ago: Sàmi tone poems

ten years ago: theodicy, get anything delivered, more links to enjoy plus RIP Leonard Nimoy

bundestagswahl (12. 255)

With the highest voter turn-out since the reunification in 1990, exit polling suggest that the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Friedrich Merz. In light of recent events, the prospective chancellor is vowing “independence” from the US and hopes to build a coalition government quickly. Invigorated by violent crime, immigration and lingering inflation, AfD doubled its results vis-a-vis the last federal election, but all parties have pledged to maintain a firewall to cordon off the far-right, populist opposition. Final distribution of the parliamentary seats are still pending, but the most likely scenario is a partnership with the SPD (Social Democratic Party) or a three-way governance with the Greens. The administration of Olaf Scholz underwent an acrimonious collapse over differences in spending priorities hours after the reelection of Donald Trump.

a moderately successful comedian (12. 248)

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

synchronoptica

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

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

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

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

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

7x7 (12. 243)

tvwishes: a reappraisal of digital preservation—via Waxy  

wasp 121β: ultra hot Jupiter exoplanet has a uniquely layered and roiling atmosphere—see previously  

unitary executive theory: latest Trump EO reigns in independent agencies, testing the limits of presidential power  

the doors of kypseli: the intricate entrances of an Athens neighbourhood  

gesserit jazz: a 1977 funk album inspired by Frank Herbert’s epic novel—see previously 

jikipedia: the rise and fall of China’s Urban Dictionary of internet slang  

dark entry records: queer album cover art from Gwenaël Rakkte

10x10 (12. 241)

bustin by numbers: bizarre 1990 edit of a Peter Greenaway film featuring an instrumental version of Young MC’s hit 

mazinibaganjigan: the art of birchbark bitings, practised by the Objiwe and Algonquian peoples  

twenty-two nautical miles: Mexico threatens to sue Google over the change to the gulf’s name  

democracy dies in darkness: Bezos owned Washington Post refused to run an advertisement critical of DOGE  

acolyte: a profile of the actual Nazis overrunning the US government—via Kottke  

paypal mafia: Trump administration is clawing back funds already disbursed and has designs to gain control over banking and wire-transfers 

the molotov-ribbentrop pact: historic examples—with devastating consequences—of not inviting all parties to the negotiating table—via Damn Interesting  

deemed accomplices: Sheinbaum warns us renewed legal action for US gunmakers over complicity if drug cartels are designated as terror groups 

a very large faucet: water-sharing treaties between Canada and its neighbour to the south have attracted unwanted attention  

you say neato, check your libido and roll to the church your new tuxedo: that’s Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers on jazz bass

cnd (12. 240)

Joined by a crowd of some five thousand others, organised and led by philosopher and activist Bertrand Russell (previously), the anti-war group with a hundred public signatories as an expansion of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (see also below) held its first act of peaceful civil disobedience on this day in 1961 with a sit-in demonstration at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall to protest the arrival of the USS Proteus on a resupply mission from American to replenish ballistic missile stocks. Surprisingly, no arrests were made. This anniversary juxtaposes with current headlines, with the the US and Russia meeting to arrange a negotiated peace in Ukraine with the invaded nation and Europe excluded from talks (Trump and Putin graciously agree to “address irritants” for the bilateral negotiation), and America instead of foisting its defences on allies against their will is signalling it will abandon the posture of trans-atlanticism that has held since the end of World War II, leaving the continent to fend for itself and normalising relations with an international pariah.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Euromaidan protests (with synchronoptica), Ballerina on the Boat, bad album cover art plus an underground newspaper

seven years ago: underwater photography, the epithets of drinking culture, the power of propaganda plus Pastafarianism

eight years ago: more underwater photography, ancient embedded sounds, more on the origin of the Peace symbol plus governance per tweet

ten years ago: an early meme, the road to Canossa plus bird poses

eleven years ago: traffic cameras in Germany

50501(12. 238)

In response to the unlawful and anti-democratic dismantling of the administrative state by DOGE and Elon Musk’s minions, costly disruption in the name of efficiency but aimed to roll back labour (return the spoils system) and civil rights, with the apparent carte blanche of Trump, organisers from all fifty states are holding fifty calls to action under one movement, protesting in solidarity with federal workers, eighty percent of whom have duty locations outside the capital. Occurring on the Presidents’ Day federal holiday after an initial illegal purge of civil service employees, the non-partisan rallies are calling for the removal of the unelected bureaucratic who has grabbed unfettered and compromising access to sensitive government databases and pay systems to further his pet project. 

synchronoptica

one year ago: a token of affection found in Gdańsk (with synchronoptica), the geography of the Moon, finding one’s centre plus assorted links worth revisiting

eight years ago: more links to enjoy 

nine years ago: Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory

ten years ago: even more links, herbal resources mapped, Finnish history, naming and shaming plus US restrictions on immigration

eleven years ago: Germany’s energy Autobahn

st valentine’s day massacre (12. 235)

The purge of US federal workers, beginning with employees serving their probationary period that started in earnest yesterday and continues through the Presidents’ Day long weekend, with the DOGE advisory panel—not a governmental entity and with only derived authority—summarily terminating large swaths of critical workers—not necessarily new to their departments and agencies but many perhaps merely promoted or reclassified within the past two years—arbitrarily and without cause from high- and lower-profile sections including the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, NASA, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Aviation Administration and Homeland Security to the National Nuclear Safety Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, imperilling public safety, health, security and basic services across the country. Not only does this put the public at risk by handicapping safeguards, enforcement and disease and weather surveillance, eliminate the successor generation of scientists and educators in government roles and clear out decades of institutional knowledge and experience, the deletion of workers and agencies with flagrant disregard for procedure, collective bargaining agreements, contracts or labour rights is the onset of a constitutional crisis, the executive no longer respecting the separation of powers by failing to commit funds duly appropriated by the separate and coequal legislative branch for their express purpose—and just barely, so far, abiding by decisions from judges ordering pauses and offering up what speed-bumps they can muster. The US is witnessing the transformation into a dictatorship already in the dismantling of the administrative state, however, and it won’t take ignoring a lawful order to set it off, the regime openly threatening justices who would stand in its way and forwarding appeals to a supreme court solidly in support of its agenda and end-state. Elections have consequences and those polities that voted for this, to hurt Black and Brown people and everyone else—as well as businesses that donated and lobbied—should brace for impact as the first to feel the brunt of their support. It is difficult to say if they can connect the causation or even if there might still be a chance for future reform.

if american democracy can survive ten years of scolding from greta thunberg, you guys can survive a few months of elon musk (12. 233)

US Vice President and tortured man-child JD Vance opened the Munich Security Conference with a scorching assault on European partners, reframing their attempts to uphold the democratic order by cordoning off extreme nationalist elements (indeed the firewall is for MAGA too) as the true commination to freedom and liberty and accusing their governments of censorship, suppressing free speech—nullifying election results and condoning dangerous and illegal immigration. Citing the threat from within—and questioning whether the US and Europe had any shared values, Vance deviated from the expected topics of Ukraine and the overall security agenda to awkwardly to lecture politicians and policy makers he characterised as running scared from their electorate and paralysed be political correctness and elitism—deputising Trump as the “new sheriff” and that democratic institutions would indeed fail if the people’s issues were deemed invalid. The hall was in shock and did not appreciate the undeniable deflection as being labeled authoritarian regimes, recognising the ill-judged sermon (whose jokes did not land) as aimed for domestic consumption only, at best, and election interference for upcoming voting in Germany at worst.