counteroffer (12. 172)

After newly elected Mexican president Sheinbaum responded to Trump’s musing that the gulf be renamed and suggesting instead that the historically accurate appellation of Mexican America be applied to the northern portion of the continent, a law-maker in Canada also snapped back that the western Pacific states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California petition to become a new eleventh province—not only shielding from retributive tariffs but also with the guarantee of universal healthcare and sensible gun control-measures which the US has failed to provide.

twentytwentyfive (12. 169)

Better Living through Beowulf brings us a thoughtful reflection on George Orwell’s prescient 1946 essay called “The Prevention of Literature” that forecasts how authoritarian regimes will turn to AI (not exactly couched in modern parlance but rather as formulaic, mass-produced writing that could outpace any author or newsroom, though his dystopian novel does feature prole porn—we might even be denied that—and other entertainments produced by machine), which envisions journalism being first censored out of existence to be churned out with minimal human input or intervention with prose and poetry to follow—though book bans in the United States (including 1984) seem to rather subvert that sequence, notwithstanding the attacks against what’s labelled as the “legacy media” continuing—already witnessing the change in his own time with modular stories and plots, easily adapted and repackaged for an eager audience and easily made to conform with the worldview that the state seeks to project. Introducing his work with a recollection of attending a meeting of the PEN Club in London that coincided with the three-hundredth anniversary of the publication of Milton’s Areopagitica—in defence of press freedoms—two years prior, Orwell blames the loss of intellectual liberty on the undermining of the increasingly concentrated ownership of the press and monopolies on broadcast media by corporations that refused to support their authors and internecine squabbling amongst academics. Such an atmosphere and compromised readership enables conditions for a totalitarian takeover. Contemporary critics generally agreed with Orwell’s premise, though some though his arguments amounted to “intellectual swashbuckling” and concluded his prophecies doubtful.

happy ending (12. 168)

The US supreme court having rejected petitions from the president-elect to stop or delay the sentencing until after the inauguration (the justices not accepting the argument of broad immunity from prosecution when discharging duties as the executive), Trump was granted an unconditional discharge to respect the jury’s verdict of guilty on thirty four felony counts of misusing campaign funds for hush-money payments to a porn star and to not interfere with his ability to govern. While serving no jail time or liable to fine, this judgement delivered by a New York state judge is not subject to presidential, federal purview and could only be pardoned by the governor (not likely to happen) and the conviction, symbolic as it is, will remain on Trump’s record. And while he would probably prefer it not be on his Wikipedia page, if capable of the needed level of shame, critical thought or interiority, the sentence does have some potential impacts, by dint of his registration in Florida, he will be able to continue to vote in that state due to reciprocity with New York (see above), under federal law, Trump is not allowed to own a gun, must surrender a DNA sample to a New York database of convicts, possibly jeopardise the liquor licenses for his branded properties and similarly is barred from operating casinos under laws regarding moral turpitude, and while heads of state are allowed to travel without a passport, some countries, including Canada, Mexico, Israel, China, Ukraine, Turkey, India, Japan, Taiwan, South Africa and the UK reserve the right to prohibit visits by felons. The travel restrictions are unlikely of course to be enforced in Trump’s case and he could always ignore regulation or pressure states to change their laws. This does not affect his ability to hold federal office, however.

synchronoptica

one year ago: an epic tattoo homage to Abe Simpson (with sychronoptica), enjunkification and aging out of the internet plus the Phantom Time Theory and the fabricated Middle Ages

seven years ago: a look back at 1968, Trump’s new London embassy plus French terms against creeping Anglicisms

eight years ago: heatmaps of the world’s most popular photo spots plus kompromat on Trump

nine years ago: fans remember the life and times of David Bowie,  Borg ideal beauty plus assorted links worth revisiting

ten years ago: the democratic reforms of 1848, your hit-parade, a motion-detector in search of alien life plus separatist and secession movements in Europe

8x8 (12. 159)

a stranger quest: an award-winning documentary about map collector David Rumsey (previously) available in full online 

stimulation clicker: a new distraction from Neal Agarwal—see previously—see also 

studio city: deadly, life-altering wildfires continue to rage through Los Angeles, reaching Hollywood and threatening landmarks 

lemon8: TikTok ushers US users to sister-site in anticipation of ban 

show bible: a rare copy of the storyboard for Alejandro Jodorowshky’s unmade adaptation of Dune recently sold at auction—see previously  

hangman: a Wordle variant called Phrazle  

camp century: revisiting the Greenland military installation and the US Army Corps of Engineers’ failed Project Iceworm to build a nuclear launch site  

datastorm: a synthesiser with presets from the 1981 arcade game Defender sound-effects—via Pasa Bon!  

not to scale: an illustration of how polar flare and distortions of Mercator projections affect perception—see previously

8x8 (12. 147)

black swan event: futurist forecast a host of unpredictable geopolitical scenarios for 2025—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

it’s schoolhouse rocky—that chip off the block—of your favourite schoolhouse, schoolhouse rock: a rather incredible thrift store find of Smash Mouth’s Steve Harwell performing some numbers from the educational cartoon series—see previously  

paraiso de los gatos: the art of Remedios Varo  

to unalive or not unalive: the resurgence of the term was prompted by a way to get around advertiser blacklists with euphemisms—see more  

reboot: the Landauer Limit, thermodynamics and more efficient computing—see also  

post-scarcity, post-singularity: it’s still easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism—via Duck Soup 

the eagle & child: Oracle’s Larry Ellison has purchased the Oxford pub frequented by Tolkien and C S Lewis—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest  

the year that was and wasn’t: The Morning News interviews some of their favourite journalists about the most and least important stories and trends of 2024—see also the dumbest timeline

[citation needed] (12. 144)

Via tmn, we are directed to Molly White’s thoroughgoing examination on the intensifying campaign on the part of a chorus of conservative voices attacking Wikipedia’s right to exist as the pitched-battle against free and open access information. In a Christmas Eve directive issued on X—former known as Twitter—its owner, free speech absolutist and Kekius Maximus instructed his followers to stop donating to “Wokepedia.” Self-selecting and cherry-picked, these shallow and repackaged grievances against the volunteer-based authoritative reference source include mistaking and misrepresenting initiatives to counter misinformation and bolstering the site’s reliability as their latest bugbear of DEI, they characterise Wikipedia as liberal propaganda, infected by the “woke mind virus” as evinced by their treatment of patent conspiracy theories and resistance to recognising Fox News as reliable sources. Restricting availability only to their approved syllabus, this latest assault is just another way, like banning books and pornography in the name of child protection and promoting family values, is designed to keep the proles under control and not enjoy the liberties and prerogatives of the rich and powerful. Needless to say, if you have the means, contribute—especially when other outlets have demonstrated their willingness for obeying in advance.

a fine man of great ability (12. 141)

To honour the legacy of Jimmy Carter, President Biden ordered all flags to be flown at half-mast for a thirty day period of national mourning, which will include the inauguration ceremony. Holding his tongue for a few days, Trump waited until his endorsed candidate for Speaker of the House was losing his reelection by congressional Republicans to try to stoke public outrage over this perceived slight—remembering that Cheeto Mussolini never got over crowd size for his first inaugural. Though by the second round of voting, Mike Johnson had secured enough support, enough to call the House of Representatives to session and begin legislation to enact Trump’s agenda, he only scraped by with two votes to spare, revealing deepening divisions with the GOP. Imagine if they were allowed a secret ballot. Biden’s orders will stand, though Trump could raise flags at noon once he becomes president, “Dictator but only for Day One,” and probably will. It’s a small concession to a statesman and philanthropist of Carter’s stature (the title is rather a quote that Trump had for his sycophant Johnson) and it reminds me of how much of the public never forgave Queen Elizabeth II when the palace refused to lower the flag and personal banner for the death of Princess Diana (as the monarch was in residence at that was the done thing). More over, it echoes the indignity, petty cruelty done to Carter, the greatest ex-president, on his last hours in office, having skipped much campaigning for reelection to focus on freeing the American hostages held in Iran, when the incoming administration pressured the Iranians to delay the flight out until Ronald Reagan took power, so the long affair was not resolved under his predecessor’s watch.

synchronoptica

one year ago: slippery when wet (with synchronoptica) plus an orgiastic organ performance

seven years ago: a trove of letterpress movie promotional blocks, assorted links worth revisiting, hostile punctuation plus a Jurassic park

eight years ago: a McDonald’s at the Vatican plus a gallery of perspective

nine years ago: tonic and toil, tomato pin-cushions, emoji to lull you to sleep plus completing the periodic table

ten years ago: anticipating Epiphany, more on the North Korean cyberattack against a movie studio, Nietzsche’s Gay Science plus internecine battles

green-eyed monster (12. 125)

Via Miss Cellania, we are referred to the annual roundup (since 2015) of Bloomberg/Businessweek editors of contributors nominating the stories they wish they’d written, capturing some of the best journalism of the year with their Jealousy List with articles that they wished that they had scooped or otherwise explored more in depth. We especially enjoyed how traditional media is assaying influencer and how a compelling and insightful narrative can come out of tradwives, furry conventions and the limits of fandom. The by-lines for who nominated each piece are good recommendations to follow on Bluesky after the last exodus from Twitter. The entire index is worth browsing through—do let us know which is captivating and contrite.

mmxxiv (12. 124)

As this calendar draws to a close and we look forward to 2025, we again take time to reflect on a selection of some of the things and events that took place during the past year. Thanks as always for visiting. We’ve made it through another wild year together.

january: The ruling Progressive Democratic Party secures the presidency in Taiwan, along with Bangladesh and the Marshall Island, kicking off the biggest year for elections.  The International Criminal Court rules that Israel must take all measures to curb genocidal conduct in Gaza but falls short of ordering the halt of the incursions.  Japan lands on the Moon.

february: Violent volcanic eruptions force evacuation in Iceland.  King Charles III announces he has cancer and will step away from public-facing duties for the present.  Ex-Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson interviews Vladimir Putin in Moscow. 

Special council investigating Joe Biden’s unauthorised retention of classified material from his vice-presidency opts not to press charges, citing the US president’s failing memory.  Long time host of NPR’s Morning Edition, Bob Edwards, has died, aged 76.  Israeli forces push further into Palestine, escalating raids in Rafah.  Jon Stewart returns as host of the Daily Show after a nine year hiatus.  Opposition leader and Putin critic Alexie Navalny found dead in remote arctic penal colony where he was detained for the past three years.  The Supreme Court of Alabama has declared frozen embryos legal persons and fearing for legal peril, university clinics in the state have suspended in-vitro fertilisation procedures in response to the ruling.  One hundred thousand protest votes of uncommitted for Joe Biden are cast against Joe Biden in the Michigan Democratic primarily over his support for Israel.  Veteran senator and Trumpism foil and sometimes enabler, Mitch McConnell, announces he will step down as leader of the Republican Party in November.  Dissident Nalvany is permitted a public funeral.

march: Fashion doyenne Iris Apfel passes away, aged 102.  One day ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries, the US Supreme Court ruled that no state can keep Trump off the ballot.  Over a hundred Palestinians are massacred by Israeli force as they rush a rare relief convoy entering the besieged city of al-Rashid.  Nikki Haley drops out of the race for the Republican party nomination for presidential candidate. 

Joe Biden delivers a wide-ranging, fiery and impassioned State of the Union address, remonstrating that one cannot just love their country when one’s side is winning.  Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama passed away, aged 68.  Facing an imminent ground incursion into Rafah, the Speaker of the US Senate called for Israeli elections and regime change, as America’s petition for an immediate ceasefire was vetoed in the UN by Russia and China.  Accused of monopolistic practises harmful to innovation and consumers in the “superior smart phone” market, the US department of justice files an antitrust lawsuit against Apple.  Wild media speculation left the royal family with little choice about coming forward with the Princess of Wales cancer diagnosis.  A terrorist attack at a music venue on the outskirts of Moscow kills dozens, burns down the concert hall.  A abstention by the US during a UN ceasefire vote allows the resolution to pass, triggering the ire of the Israeli government though the assault on Gaza continues unabated.

april: Seven humanitarian aid workers of World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike whilst travelling along a pre-authorised aid corridor to bring food to the starving outside of Deir al-Balah.   Israel

kills several top Iranian generals in a bombing of the country’s embassy in Damascus, Syria.  A powerful earthquake strikes Taiwan, displacing thousands.  Actor and comedian Joe Flaherty passes away, aged 82.  México severs diplomatic relations with Ecuador after raid on its embassy in Quito resulted in the apprehension of the former Ecuadorian president seeking asylum there.  OJ Simpson passes away, aged 76.  Iran launches a barrage of projectiles at Israel in retaliation for its attack on an embassy in Syria.  The historic Børsen of Copenhagen is severely damaged by fire.  Unprecedented flood inundates the Gulf of Arabia.  Israel strikes back against Iranian military installations.  In an extraordinary Saturday session, the US House after months of delay passes separate foreign aid packages for Taiwan, Israel and Ukraine.  The US Federal Communications Commission votes to restore net-neutrality.  Fresh from declaring being poor a crime, the US Supreme Court entertains Trump’s claim for presidential immunity.  The criminal trial against Trump stemming from a hush-money payment made to a porn-star begin in Manhattan. 

may: Protest rage on college campuses across the United States for the country’s materiel support for Israel and the universities’ financial ties in the ongoing assault on Palestine. 

Author Paul Auster passes away, aged 77.  A second whistleblower formerly employed by Boeing dies within the space of month.  Labour sees big gains in UK local elections.  Stormy Daniels gives testimony in the Trump trial.  US announces pauses in delivering Israel materiel aid after resolution for incursions into Rafah.  Legendary grindhouse director Roger Corman passes away, aged 98.  Author Alice Munroe passes away at 92.  The president of Slovakia narrowly survives an assassination attempt.  The president and foreign minister of Iran die in a helicopter crash near Azerbaijan.  The Internation Criminal Court of the Hague issues arrest warrants for Israeli leader Benjamin Netayahu and Hamas in Gaza head Yahya Sinwar.  China conducts provocative military drills around Taiwan, expressing dissatisfaction with the newly elected president.  Russian air assaults continue against Ukraine.  Ireland and Norway join Spain in recognising the state of Palestine, while Israel presses on with incursions into Rafah despite condemnation from the UN.

june: México elects its first woman president to continue the liberal and progressive policies of her predecessor.  

After the US authorises limited use of American munitions defensively on Russian territory, Putin suggests that Russia could arm countries looking to target the West.  The coalition governments of Olaf Scholtz and Emmanuel Macron face dissolution following significant gains by far-right parties in EU elections.  Charges stemming from not disclosing his drug addiction while purchasing a fire-arm, US president Joe Biden’s son Hunter is found guilty with no pardon in the offering.  Project scientist for the Voyager programme Edward C Stone passes away, aged 88.  At the height of the pandemic, the Pentagon rans a secret disinformation campaign in the Philippines to discourage people from taking the Chinese-developed vaccine.  Putin and Kim meet for a summit in North Korea.  Baseball great Willie Mays passes away, aged 93.  Veteran actor Donald Sutherland dies, aged 88. A disastrous debate performance against Trump causes some prominent Democrats to urge Biden to step down as the party’s candidate.

july: Labour wins in the UK General Election.  France’s second round of voting keeps the extreme right from power.  Iran elects progressive reformist Masoud Pezeshkian.  Actor Shelley Duvall passes away, aged 75.

Just ahead of the US Republican National Convention, an assassination attempt was made against presumptive party candidate Trump, who forty-eight hours later announces junior senator from the state of Ohio, JD Vance as his running-mate.  Ursula von der Leyen reelected as European Commission president.  Veteran actor Bob Newhart has died, aged 94.  A massive IT outage linked to Windows PCs disrupts banks, travel and media outlets globally. Israeli president Netanyahu addresses the US congress with thousands protesting his presence as the assault on Gaza continues.  Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed during a raid by the Israeli Defence Forces on his compound in Tehran.  Joe Biden calls for radical reform for the US supreme court, including term limits, an enforceable code of ethics and a constitutional amendment limiting broad immunity from prosecution for holders of the high office. 

august: a prisoner-exchange sees American journalists detained in Russia freed.  Anti-immigration riots spread violence in Sunderland over several days.  Trump agrees to debate Harris but only on his terms. 

Global stock markets had a case of the Mondays and sharply decline faced with a possible US recession and opposing currency policies.  Kalama Harris picks Minnesota congressman Tim Walz as her running-mate in the American presidential election.  Google found in violation of anti-trust laws for its monopolistic practises in advertising and creating a walled-garden.  During the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Joe Biden formally and symbolically passes the torch to Harris and Walz in a moving speech capping a fifty-year political career.  Potential spoiler candidate independent RFK Jr drops out of the US presidential race and endorses Trump, who in exchange vows to declassify more files on the Kennedy assassination.  French authorities detain Telegram founder Pavel Durov at the ORLY departure lounge over lack of moderation on the platform abetting organised crime.

september: the Israeli public call for a nation-wide general strike after the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas are recovered over the government’s handling of the war that has lasted nearly a year with no signs of ending. 

Consummate, veteran actor James Earl Jones has passed away, aged 93.  Trump and Harris hold a televised debate, meeting one another face-to-face for the first time.   China raises its retirement age for the first time since the 1950s.  Catastrophic floods strike central Europe, with thousands displaced in Poland and Czechia.  After a series of deadly knife attacks, German reintroduces checks at all of its land borders.  A second assassination attempt on Trump is thwarted as he is golfing on one of his courses.  Israel planted explosive devices in thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah months ahead of a coordinated explosion that killed nine individuals and wounded hundreds.  Tens of thousands evacuate southern Lebanon as Israeli airstrikes intensify, killing over five hundred individuals.  The king of Thailand signs same-sex marriage bill into law, making the nation third in the Asian-Pacific region to recognise LGBTQ+ equality after Taiwan and Nepal. Veteran actor Maggie Smith passes away, aged 89.  New York City mayor Eric Adams indicted on fraud and corruption charges.  Continuing to bombard Beirut, Israeli Defence Forces have killed Hezbollah senior leader Hassan Nasrallah.  Singer-songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson dead at 88.  Israel launches a limited ground offensive into southern Lebanon.  

october: Former American president Jimmy Carter turns 100.  US ports shut down as dockworkers go on strike. Tehran fires a barrage of hundreds of missiles into Israel.  The Europa Clipper is launched to study the Jovian satellite. 

As Palestinians continue to be displaced by violence in Gaza and the West Bank, Israel has expanded combat operations into Lebanon, Iran and Yemen.  Trump is interviewed by podcaster Joe Rogan. Israeli Defence Forces kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, with Israel vowing to take Rafah.  Israel bombs weapons depots near Tehran as the forced depopulation of northern Gaza continues.  Moldova holds a referendum, narrowly deciding to pursue EU membership.  Parliamentary election results in Georgia are rejected by president Salome Zourabichvili, who calls for mass rally and investigation into voting irregularities that gave the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party a controlling majority.  North Korea deploys ten thousand soldiers to Russia to fight in western Ukraine.  Israel bans the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in the occupied territory while bombing a five storey apartment complex in northern Gaza, killing scores.  Scores of people are killed as flooding ravages Valencia. 

november: Veteran entertainment producer Quincy Jones dead at 91.  Following a controversial outcome in Georgia, Moldova re-elects pro-Brussels government of Maia Sandu.  Elon Musk to spend election night with Trump watching returns—handing over executive control of X to the former president.  Donald Trump is re-elected as the president of the United States. 

The coalition government of Germany collapses.  Australia bans social media for youths under sixteen years of age.  Canada orders Tik-Tok to cease operations in the country but lets users keep the app and continue making content.  Already ravaged by successive hurricanes that has rendered the country’s electrical grid inoperable, an earthquake strikes Cuba.  Youtube celebrity Jake Paul fights Mike Tyson to an audience of sixty-million.  Russia launches a major attack on Ukrainian infrastructure, and Biden authorises the use of long-range missiles into Russian territory.  Pope Francis calls for investigations to determine whether Israeli forces are engaging in genocide in Palestine.  Thomas E Kurtz, co-inventor of BASIC, passes away, aged 96.  The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahyu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, possibly killed by an Israeli airstrike in July, for war crimes in the prosecution of the offensive in Palestine.  After thirty-five years with the show, Pamela Hayden announces her retirement from The Simpsons.  Israel and Hezbollah reach a truce to stop the war in Lebanon.   Trump announced a tranche of punitive tariffs for Canada, Mexico and China that will only punish US businesses and consumers, a possibly add to inflationary pressure at the supermarket, a major factor in re-electing Trump to office.  Syrian rebels take Aleppo as government forces retreat.  

december: Trump nominates Kash Patel to head FBI, prompting Biden to give his son a blanket pardon.  South Korea declares martial law.  The CEO of a major America health insurance provider is assassinated in broad daylight in New York City.  Romanian constitutional court annuls election after suspected Russian interference.  Syrian rebels capture Damascus as Bashar al-Assad reported flees the country.  Taking advantage of the power vacuum, Israel launches heavy airstrikes on Syrian defences and infrastructure.  The diet of South Korea votes to impeach the country’s president.  Tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain passes away, aged 73.  A day after being tried in absentia for the war crime of using chemical weapons, a top Russian general was assassinated by an exploding e-scooter in Moscow.  The Pelicott rape case concludes in France.  A vehicle-ramming attack strikes the Magdeburger Christmas Market.  Russia accidentally downs an Azerbaijani civilian airplane while repelling Ukrainian attacks.  Former US president Jimmy Carter passes away, aged 100. 

6x6 (12. 121)

glimmer vs trigger: political, cultural and business trends to expect for 2025 

geospatial: NATO’s Project HEIST to ensure telecommunications architecture from accident and sabotage or caprice—see also—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links  

achive.today: some methods for getting around paywalled articles  

elo rating: grandmaster Magnus Carlsen quits World Internation Chess Federation (see previously) over dress code 

teotwawki: y2k preparations and people getting ready to bug out—see previously  

🍿: an omnibus list of list on movies and television from the past year

the genovese syndrome (12. 109)

On this day in 1974, ten years after the violent murder of resident Kitty Genovese outside the same apartment building in the Kew Gardens neighbourhood of Queens for which no one intervened or called the police in what was dubbed the bystander effect and was cited as a textbook case for decades—partially due to this second tragic death—until upon reevaluation it was revealed that the number of witnesses and their actions had been respectively over- and under-reported, fashion model (her profession was later retracted in articles but no correction was given) Sandra Zahler was beaten to death. Upon questioning by detectives a day and a half later once the bludgeoned body was discovered found that neighbours had heard screams and indications of a struggle but no witnesses—many of whom were present in 1964—came forward, either citing the holiday or expecting others to have heard the commotion and alerted authorities. Eventually the building’s elevator operator corroborated police suspicions for Zahler’s estranged boyfriend.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Godwin’s Law (with synchronoptica), a visit to a basalt factory plus The Sting (1973)

seven years ago: more holiday greetings

ten years ago: another Yule Log

eleven years ago: endangered specie 

twelve years ago: luck-bringers 

operation mhchaos (12.102)

Hired by the New York Times in 1972 to compete the scoop of the Watergate scandal by the Washington Post, the first big headline by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh for the paper (having previously exposed the cover-up of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and American participation in the overthrow of the Chilean government the year prior) broke on this day in 1974, in the Times Sunday Edition, revealing that the US Central Intelligence Agency had turned its gaze inward against its jurisdiction and was conducting a massive covert domestic spying operation on anti-war protestors, wire-tapping the phones of tens of thousands of US citizens and infiltrating groups. Operation CHAOS was originally chartered under the administration of Lyndon B Johnson in 1967 but was greatly expanded by Nixon even after initial findings indicated no link between prominent peace movements and foreign embassies in the US or abroad—the prefix MH designated the area of operation to be global—and this secret redux of McCarthyism, given Nixon’s deportment, proved highly unpalatable to the public. Although ending the programme, Hersh felt betrayed after subsequently learning of secret meetings between the Ford administration and the editors that censored material, including political assassinations never disclosed to the reporter, prompting Hersh to distance himself from investigating the agency in the future.

synchronoptica

one year ago: an AI Nativity (with synchronoptica), a monumental Beethoven debut, a cloned feline plus another Tennessee Williams’ classic (1965)

seven years ago: Ockham’s razor and aliens plus assorted links to revisit

eight years ago: a wrap of archaeological discoveries plus the Jedism in the UK fails to be recognised as a religion

 

nine years ago: more links to enjoy

 

ten years ago: K-12 Jesus, Club Mate plus an Italian Christmas witch

11x11 (12. 101)

boughs of holly: a gallery of Edwardians dressed up as Christmas trees—via the Everlasting Blört  

gifcities: the Internet Archive’s gallery of vintage animations  

hb3: Pornhub is pulling out of Florida over a new law that requires age verification on adult websites with a government issued form of identification—don’t say you weren’t warned

diplomatic corps: Trump pre-appoints a slew of woefully unqualified ambassadors  

superman is bleeding: the teaser trailer for the new cinematic adaptation 

neolithic octopoid: revisiting the Silurian hypothesis through cephalopods—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest  

by-line: Pulitzer’s year in news stories  

perfect fit content: Spotify ghosts human artist, avoiding royalties 

the campaign for economic democracy: Jane Fonda’s political action committee was funded through sales of Workout, inspired by serial presidential candidate and entrepreneur Lyndon LaRouche  

a court of thorns and roses: sexual congress with supernatural beings is illegal in Sweden—via Strange Company 

retrospective: around the world in the exhibitions of 2024 

and the blue and silver candles that would just have matched the hair on grandma’s wig: Postmodern Jukebox’ take (previously) on a reviled holiday tune

stop-gap (12. 096)

A month prior to taking office at the end of the Biden administration, Trump and his unelected lieutenants are already bringing upheaval and chaos by cowing Congress in not allowing the legislature to vote on a carefully crafted, bipartisan funding measure that would have kept the government running through March (effectively punting the budget fight to the midpoint of new administration’s first hundred days and an onerous distraction from the MAGA team’s barn-burning agenda) that the Speaker of the House agreed to bring to the chamber’s floor, a pared-down version hastily put together failing to pass. Using his platform and influence, Musk argues that no bill should be passed prior to the inauguration and the US government will shut down on midnight Friday—see previously. Non-essential employees will be furloughed and most services suspended, and whilst House Republicans are working to draft another version without buy in from the Democrats without compromise no bill will be able to pass the Senate. This campaign of terror is ostensibly another tactic in the quiver of the Department of Government Efficiency to illustrate who could be made redundant, closing shop over the holidays with no guarantee of restored pay.

the year in memes (12. 094)

Hyperalleric curates a collection of the best viral shared images that sought to dull or cushion (a big ask from any inanimate object pushed beyond its breaking point by the harshness of the past twelve months) by trying to forge some connection and temporary reprieve in a landscape of atrocities, violence, degradation and disappointment. The chronology, which feels like a million years ago, include the Willy’s Chocolate Experience, the presidential debates, coconut tree/brat summer, that baby hippopotamus and the public beatification of Luigi Mangione, which sets the stage for the coming year rather perfectly. Much more from contributor Rhea Nayyar at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: ransomware shutters a library (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit 

seven years ago: an exhibition on knots plus more links to enjoy

eight years ago: more needful words from The Meaning of Liff

ten years ago: gut flora, the history of chess plus an unreleased parody of North Korea

eleven years ago: the grammar of comic strips

 

11x11 (12. 086)

top fifty: a review of the biggest literary stories of 2024—including the Brontë sisters getting their diaeresēs 

we all live in the ruins of the rot economy: a long-read about the abusive and exploitative ways that the tech industry treats people at scale—see previously  

bottle episode: the amazing dioramas of folk artist Carl Worner—via Messy Nessy Chic 

emporia: Kottke’s 2024 gift guide  

chirality: scientists warn strongly against research into synthetic biology and “mirror life”—compare to the handedness of thalidomide

do not obey in advance: in agreeing to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump, the network is courting further nuisance claims over critical coverage, forgetting the first lesson of On Tyranny 

body-horror: an AI-generated impossible gymnastic routine 

velben goods: premium and surge-pricing 

sovereign citizens brigade: group in England claiming extrajudicial standing tried to kidnap county coroner, accusing the officer of the Crown of necromancy   

the network effect: social media fire-exits 

home box office: the cable network’s December 1982 previews

american minerva (12. 071)

Originally founded on this day by lexicographer and text-book publisher Noah Webster under the above name with the extended subtitle Patroness of Peace, Commerce and the Liberal Arts, the daily was NewYork City’s first in circulation. Undergoing a series of rebrandings in its first few years of publication, it finally settled The Commercial Advertiser in 1803. Politically the paper was generally leaning towards support of the nationalist, conservative Federalist Party. A century later in 1904 it was again renamed The New York Globe, defunct with its consolidation in 1923 with the New York Sun, ending its run.

10x10 (12. 070)

willow: Google’s quantum computing labs unveil a new microchip that operates at amazing speeds by being in many states simultaneously  

skin-deep: a look at the tattoos of Defence Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth 

mind-machines: Arthur C Clark (previously) forecasts the rise of artificial intelligence in 1978 

yuletide classics: a treasury of ten great holiday action movies—see also  

saturday night bath in apple valley: Something Weird features the very best in exploitation film from the 1930s through the 1970s—via Obscure Media 

they see your photos: an app that assesses one’s images, opposite to a picture is worth one thousand words  

free syria awaits you: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham enters Damascus as Bashir al-Assad flees to Moscow and political prisoners are freed  

mocha mousse: a defence of Pantone’s colour for 2025—it’s first brown hue  

pratfall: the history of slipping on banana peels—see previously here and here  

undercoat: solar paint developed by Mercedes Benz could revolutionise EV charging

synchronoptica

one year ago: underappreciated cinematic masterworks (with synchronoptica), multifunction gadgets plus The Wicker Man (1973)

seven years ago: prospecting for bitcoin plus transparency in airfare

eight years ago: dinosaur plumage, no memory for sickness, Italy’s efforts to reduce government gridlock and promote efficiency plus assorted links to revisit

nine years ago: an extraordinary Jubilee Year, chain of command plus 3D face masking

ten years ago: lucky charms, visualising the passage of time plus a first, fatal shooting by police in Iceland

ampel aus (12. 067)

The Committee for the German Language (Gesellschaft füe deutsche Sprache—see below) has announced its Wort des Jahres for 2024 as a nod to the collapse of the Red, Yellow, Green party coalition in the government and the call for snap-elections, but there were several other words being monitored as contenders, including Klimaschönfäberei—essentially the German rendering of “green-washing,” kriegstüchtig, war-like, Rechtsdrift, a shift to more conservative and populist politics, die Selbstbestimmung in Bezug auf den Geschlechtseintrag (abbreviated SBGG), a update to the outdated 1980 law on transgender identity enacted in November that allows non-binary individuals to register under a new first name and sex without the bureaucratic onus and Messerverbot, in reference to a few incidents of knife-attacks at public events earlier in the year and the response of authorities.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica), the spelling of Christmas and Hanukkah plus Germany’s Word of the Year

seven years ago: the fraught and racist history of square-dancing, net-neutrality under threat plus a catalogue of spomenik of the former Yugoslavia

nine years ago: a real world copy of the Simpsons’ home

ten years ago: the historical Snow White plus the History of the World in 100 Objects 

eleven years ago: decorating for Christmas, spies in the skies plus the languages of Switzerland

 

9x9 (12. 057)

globetrotter—more like globetriggered: a wrap of 2024 in therapy  

new doge, old tricks: Musk and Ramaswamy present their plan to rapture three-quarters of the government workforce but it’s going to be a challenge to achieve real cost-cutting or improved efficiency  

vote de censure: French government collapses after legislature moves to eject controversial prime minister Michel Barnier—see previously 

field of vision: the challenges of bringing the Vera Ruben perched high in the Andes on online includes unidentified intelligence agencies screening images before they are released to the public  

my empathy is out of network: Americas respond to the assassination of a major medical insurance CEO  

ekistical portrait: Rob Stephenson is documenting all the three hundred and fifty neighbourhoods of New York City’s five boroughs—via Kottke  

what just happened: South Korea’s declaration of marshal law, parliament’s rejection and the ongoing political crisis  

stonks: Bitcoin just hit $100 000 a piece  

hot topic: the year in Wikipedia, recent celebrity deaths topped the list again

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the Michelob Music Hour (with synchronoptica) plus modern art presented as a fun-fair

seven years ago: noisy GIFs, assorted links worth the revisit plus 52 more things

eight years ago: the origins of Play-Doh

nine years ago: red cup controversy, a trip to Rosenau plus our faithful chronicler

ten years ago: troublesome ideas in the marketplace plus an A-ha! reunion concert