the sammies (11. 853)

Via tmn, we learn of the awards ceremony hosted by the US Partnership for Public Service that acknowledges the seen and unnoticed efforts by contentious bureaucrats of the federal government, who many are presently reviling as the Deep State. Named for the late benefactor Samel J Heyman, businessman and philanthropist who encouraged recent graduates to pursue a career in government, the gala has been hosted annually during the first week in October in Washington, DC and a selection committee of journalists, politicians, educators and corporate executives nominates individuals in the categories of emerging leaders, citizen services, science and the environment and safety, security and international affairs plus employee of the year out of the pool of the two-and-a-half million who work for America’s largest employer. The awards ceremony is surprising moving and deserving of its monicker as the Oscars of government work.

synchronoptica

one year ago: rotating ramen (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: a sanctuary of internet freedom, navel-gazing, antique Japanese hoardings, bacterial phages fight tumours plus more unbuilt architecture

eight years ago: more on the pioneers of Information Theory

ten years ago: more on Scottish secession 

eleven years ago: the US debt ceiling

inspeccionando las tropas (11. 847)

Via Super Punch, we discover Mexico’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum, visiting one of the country’s military academies and addressing an audience of cadets and alumni ahead of her inauguration ceremony scheduled for next month. Though by far the most interesting story is victory of this progressive individual with little significant dispute from her competition and the peaceable transfer of power, but the venue is also worth noting with those hulking modern buildings that look like something built by the Galactic Empire, the Heroico Colegio Militar’s Tlalpan central campus, completed in 1976. Located just south of the capital, it was designed by famed sculptor, poet and architect Agustín Hernández Navarro, recognised internationally for his monumental and futuristic ensembles, with references to pre-Columbian heritage, the Brutalist abstraction of the main hall is meant to invoke the Mayan god of rain Chaahk, also associated with warfare.

occult v cult (11. 841)

As a corollary newly minted of Arthur C Clarke’s third adage though the coinage that’s been with us the longest, any sufficiently advanced feminism is indis-tinguishable from witchcraft, a pastor who infamously was among the first evangelics championing Trump as a messianic figure who would deliver America from is wayward ways through Christian nationalism has accused his opponent of deploying actual weirding powers in their first and last meeting on the debate stage—citing supernaturally empowered deception, manipulation and domination, also, less spectacularly but also equally unfounded, accusing the moderators of bias and colluding with the Harris campaign—but also witchcraft. She’s the kind of girl you read about in Newsweek magazine.

i’ve been to many zoos, folks, but biden’s dog must pay the price for eating my concepts of a plan (11. 832)

Maura Quint’s transcript of the US presidential debate, “The One with the Tackle and the Bait,” is worth reading in full but we especially liked these closing remarks by Trump: “I don’t like her. She’s mean, everyone in here is mean. This is a failing nation that I’m in charge of, and I think I should run against Biden, who is dead. Where is he? We don’t see him. Is he with the Ghostbusters now, you know that one ghost, very sexy, very nice ghost taking the pants off, and they were very mean to the marshmallows, weren’t they? Very mean. I would like to wish everyone, including all haters and losers, of which, sadly, there are many, a truly happy and enjoyable debate. Oh, look, it’s Taylor Swift coming on stage. She loves me.”

7x7 (11. 830)

cat lives matter: US vice presidential candidate JD Vance propagating false and inflammatory rumours about migrants abducting and eating family pets 

beany leeky greens with greeky rampy beans: recipes and foodways becoming a bit less twee, more straightforward—via tmn  

an agony, in eight fits: James Earl Jones (RIP) reads Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark  

may the gods give you everything you asked for: backhanded benedictions and predictions about what AI does next 

 esh: how AITA took over the internet

a melodrama in three acts: Five Star Finale and other pre-code screenplay original sources  

crowd size: Harris-Walz campaign advertisement airing on Fox News

 synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: silphium, more on the Voynich Manuscript plus a visit to Trump’s ancestral home

eight years ago: Birobidzhan oblast,  fantasy doubles tennis plus the 1970 movie The Phynx

nine years ago: more links to enjoy 

ten years ago: WWI periodicals a century on 

subway surfer (11. 828)

Though arguably in the general case a bigger assault on our concentration and aimed for the low-attention span audience, the TikTok split-screen technique, when correctly deployed, like this superb bit of juxtaposition from the Harris-Walz campaign, courtesy of Kottke, that pits GOP taking-points on abortion and other parts of their platform with a video game speed-run, is a remedy for those suffering from Trump and election reporting fatigue—not to promote those views but to engage those averse to any news about the Republican ticket who’s default is to zone out and listen to the dangerous and weird things that they have to say.

@kamalahq

oof

♬ original sound - Kamala HQ

floating chad (11. 827)

Via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest and using the recent stranding of two US astronauts aboard the International Space Station for what originally was tour of eight days or so are now, due to a malfunctioning Boeing Starliner, are stuck in orbit until at least February as a narrative device, space blogger Swapna Krishna began exploring the long and complicated history that gets to yes for these eligible voters to cast their ballots in upcoming US elections. Back in 1997 then Texas (where NASA astronauts are stationed and registered) governor signed legislation that allowed residents to vote absentee from space when the previous year the Secretary of State had not allowed two US researchers aboard the Mir Space Station to vote electronically, citing no provision in the law that allowed it. Because these missions generally last under six-months and our two astronauts in question did not complete an absentee ballot application with the county clerk, as is the normal procedure, who then sends a test ballot via the Johnson Space Centre to confirm it can be securely completed from orbit, relaying credentials known only to the voter and registrar so they can vote. Not expecting to still be onboard the ISS come November, however, the astronauts had not planned on this contingency. An exception was granted in this case. While election integrity and security are of the utmost importance in the democratic process, these same byzantine rules often serve to disenfranchise those without resources and a support network like NASA. Cosmonauts either vote by-proxy or forgo the secret ballot and radio their choices to ground control. Much more at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus Palestinian embroidery

seven years ago: AI guesses one’s sexual orientation

eight years ago: more links to enjoy

nine years ago: Queen Elizabeth becomes longest reigning monarch, medieval walkable cities, even more links worth the revisit plus alchemy in Prague

ten years ago: Roman campaigns plus the Empire in forty maps

8x8 (11. 821)

i voted: the state of Michigan let the internet choose the redesign of its election sticker given out at the ballot box and it’s a werewolf clawing off its own shirt  

selective foresight: the “marshmallow longterism” of conservatives—see also  

turn on subtitles: animated videos using only the closed captioning feature  

psycho a capella: Korean ensemble MayTree shows off their vocal abilities with an excerpt from the film’s tense main theme—via Everlasting Blört  

backchannel: YouTube removes Tenet Media content following US justice department indictment linking them to Russian election interference  

slipstream: the amazing achievements of cyclist José Meiffret 

eidophone: voices made visible by Welsh singer and scientist Margaret Watts Hughes  

the kamala and tim show: the Democratic ticket is bringing 80s sitcom energy—via Kottke

doge (11. 817)

Trump has announced that Elon Musk has agreed to head a commission for his potential administration, named the Department of Government Efficiency in reference to Musk’s favoured meme-based cryptocurrency, tasked with reducing US federal spending and the deficit. Musk’s businesses not only benefit from government subsidies and also counts NASA, the Pentagon and several intelligence agencies among his direct clients, which raises the spectre of a conflict of interest in line with Trump’s imperial presidency. Musk was formerly a member of a White House advisory council but resigned in protest in 2017 after the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, although has recently recanted that decision, saying the climate catastrophe was not in need of immediate attention and has softened his opinions of the petroleum industry.

8x8 (11. 811)

two minutes of hate: Trump stokes more violence against the press at his rallies, hosted at former/current sundown towns  

don’t ask, don’t tell: Poseidon’s Underworld reviews the 1969 film The Gay Deceivers about two straight men’s attempts to avoid conscription  

crate digging: one individual’s project to rescue forgotten songs from oblivion by persuading labels to release them online—via tmn

bündis sahra wagenknecht: populist parties from both ends of the political spectrum gain support in Thüringen and Sachsen and may need to work together as no other is willing to caucus with Alternative für Deutschland—see more, see previously  

big rigs: electric-powered excavators and other heavy machinery convincing more industries to de-carbonise—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links 

the treaty of aigun: Taiwanese president Lai says if China was concerned over territorially integrity, it should begin with Outer Manchuria ceded to the Russian Empire in 1858, including what’s now known as Vladivostok (海参崴, Sea Cucumber Bay)  

dumpster diving: the modern archeology of trash  

choose your gear: the evolution of the action movie poster and how it reflects our view of masculinity  

ultra vires: season two of Rachel Maddow’s series (previously) on the history of assault on democracy profiles senator Joseph McCarthy’s beginnings as a Nazi apologist—well before the Red Scare

9x9 (11. 791)

rhythm 0: in 1974 artist Marina Abramović subjected her unmoving body to a six-hour ordeal to see how an audience might objectify her 

 bang records: a documentary about the life and career of songwriter Bert Berns behind “Here Comes the Night,” “Brown-Eyed Girl,” “Hang on Sloopy” and many other standards  

back to obamacore: with hope and the end of history, the Harris-Walz campaign gives nostalgic vibes of 2008—via Web Curios 

gothamq loop: a prototype quantum network being tested beneath the streets of Queens  

geography and maps division: a mystery, featureless solid silver globe at the US Library of Congress—via the Map Room   

mice fancy: how a Victorian hobbyist breeding programme became a mainstay of the laboratory  

diversion tunnel: Margaret Bourke-White (previously) documents building of a dam in Montana in 1936  

diminished by its artsiness: studio pulls trailer for Megalopolis after realising the marketing team used AI to generate phoney tag-lines by famous film critics—via Super Punch  

the birth of coolth: Sentence First explores similarly constructed neologisms, including the statistical term shorth for shortest half—via Language Hat  

the confetti illusion: oranges are sold in red mesh bags to enhance their orangeness—via Marginal Revolution—see also

 synchronoptica

one year ago: paper dolls and digital avatars (with synchronoptica) plus bat men on the Moon

seven years ago: more from artist Lance Wyman, assorted links to revisit, anti-migrant riots in Rostock (1992) plus a collection of government sponsored cartoons

nine years ago: the birthday of Sean Connery plus adiaphora and cafeteria Christianity

ten years ago: the sacred, prognosticating chickens of Rome

eleven years ago: creative interpretations of film

18 usc § 953 (11. 785)

Although blunted somewhat by the clarification that the remarks were not based on original reporting but anecdotal information (just as likely to be true) that Trump has been in talks with Israeli leadership to discourage a ceasefire in Gaza prior to the election as he believed a truce—just like the US-Mexico bipartisan border security that was torpedoed in fear a solution would diminish a GOP grievance—once learned that both parties denied such conversations, these comments made amid the backdrop of protests outside of the Democratic National Convention are not only telling of the contender’s mindset but, if substantiated, in violation of federal law, namely the Logan Act, prohibiting correspondence of a private citizen with a foreign government in relation to any international dispute which could undermine the government’s position. Enacted in 1799, the law—and the only eponymous one I can think with its perpetrator  (see previously, see also)—came about in response to a diplomatic fiasco the year prior when John Adams sent a delegation to France during the Quasi-War (over America’s stiffing the French for loans that financed the revolutionary war against England) to negotiate a settled peace. Where these envoys had failed, Dr George Logan, a Quaker and state representative from Pennsylvania and member of the minority Democratic-Republican party (see previously here and here) whose platform and priorities were seen to run counter to the Federalist administration, achieved a settlement that avoided wider conflict. Trump is no George Logan. The Biden administration is working to end the violence and genocide, albeit not applying the right leverage. Subsequently made a senator for the state, Logan himself petitioned to have the act repealed but was unsuccessful and despite the association was appointed as a special emissary to Britain to stop the War of 1812 but that mission proved deficient.

10x10 (11. 783)

zener cards: the phenomenon of population stereotypes help mentalists seem genuine to their audience—via The New Shelton wet/dry 

null island: the nation of Kiribati (see also, see previously) straddles the four hemispheres  

mycobbuoys: a natural anchored float to help ween aquaculture off of plastics and keep them out of the oceans  

gisnep: a hybrid jumble, Connect-Four and cross-word game—via Neatorama  

vanquish surveillance, not democratise it: California legislators’ deal to have Big Tech sponsor local journalism causes concern it may affirm monopolies rather than break them up  

who’s telling trump he might be seeking one of those black jobs: former US first lady Michelle Obama taunts the GOP candidate for his comments about immigrants taking away supposed targeted employment opportunities 

seven-segment display: the fast technological progression from the incandescent numitrons to the liquid crystal display—see previously  

dishonourable mentions: winners of the annual Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest—see previously  

veni, vidi, vici: discover Roman antiquities in your area—via Satyrs’ Link Roll  

miss cleo knows the truth: confessions of psychic hotline operator—via tmn

synchronoptica

one year ago: a classic from Gary Numan (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: staunch Prohibitionists

eight years ago: cross-species friendships, taxidermied instruments plus healthy microbiomes

nine years ago: the scramble for the poles plus asylum problems in Germany

ten years ago: Pallas’ Cat

wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take shape within the problems (11. 782)

Nominated by Gerald Ford on this day in 1974 for the office of vice president of the United States, the former New York governor and presidential candidate, Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the second individual to be installed under provisions of the US constitution’s twenty-fifth amendment in quick succession and was chosen a pool of candidates, beating out then-US ambassador to NATO Donald Rumsfeld and Republican National Committee chairman George H W Bush, who were respectively given the consolation prizes of White House chief of staff and first ambassador to China. Confirmed by congress in December (and the first to reside in the official residence), the long-serving and popular governor from the dynasty of oil tycoons and business magnates was known for his progressive policies in terms of equal rights for housing and employment, environmental conservation efforts, public works, healthcare and education and liberal- to moderate-leaning party members at the time were referred to a “Rockefeller Republicans.” Though promised to be a “full partner” in the administration especially in terms of domestic policy, the vice president’s participation in government was seen as a liability for Ford and thwarted by chief of staff Rumsfeld, who ultimately convinced the president to drop Rockefeller from the ticket for his 1976 re-election campaign and pick Kansas senator Bob Dole as his running-mate to boost his conservative credentials. Later, Ford recanted the decision as “one of the few cowardly things I did in my life.”

trial balloon (11. 778)

Much in the same way as Brexit provisioned and prefigured the politics of MAGA and the election of Trump, the same amplified contagion unchecked

that fuelled violent race riots is subjecting Britain to an experiment by omission and testing the bounds of social media advocacy for by an arbiter of truth who is incautious about dissemination of falsehoods and faces few challenges or repercussions in the echo chamber, star chamber for being critical of a government whose policies he is in disagreement with. With the guardrails removed and no consequences for weighing in on political matters—over that stay of contrition of four years ago during the insurrection went social networks promised to do better about policing dangerous and illegal content, ranging from political violence, interference operations, disenfranchisement to COVID conspiracies—indeed what is to stop influence peddlers and grifters and avowed agents of chaos from forecasting or declaring that the US (or any other polity) is on the brink of civil war? Such outrageous and irresponsible punditry has always existed but now has an insurmountable volume.

9x9 (11. 776)

reduced to rubble: the razing and rebuilding of Gaza—via Maps Mania  

anniversary vinyl: Andy Baio presses a limited edition of his chiptune homage, Kind of Bloop—see previously  

hooked on phonics: New Zealand’s requirement for structured literacy in the classroom threatens bilingualism—see previously  

dnc: parallels between the 1968 Chicago convention and the upcoming one 

isogloss: the geography of the pronunciation of scone in Britain—see previously here and here—rhymes with gone  

fredkin’s paradox: thirty useful concepts to help understand the world—via Duck Soup—see also

triplicate: researchers find that the brain keeps three copies of each memory—via the new Shelton wet/dry 

von trapp: overtouristed Salzburgers air their ambivalence about the sixtieth anniversary of The Sound of Music (see also here and here)  

east jerusalem: Israeli finance minister renews call for the annexation of the West Bank

a maximal truth-seeking ai (11. 764)

The social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has introduced a new feature for its chatbot, Grok—for premium subscribers—a text-to-image generator comparable to Bing’s service (which would rather infamous refuse the prompt “please make me a picture with the winner of 2020 US presidential election) or Facebook’s but apparently with the safety protocols turned off. Whilst users can find boilerplate guidelines and guardrails, presented in the first-person, proffering caution when it comes to making deceptive, provocative or plagiarised pictures, a cursory trial yielded some messages surely none would endorse. Though all tinged by that particular, cutting-corners AI patina that’s far from a watermark, a trial yielded far more offensive and topical content ready to be shared.

7x7 (11. 761)

popp horlage: the network of pneumatic clocks of fin de siècle Paris 

just get me eight-hundred thousand votes: Elon Musk interviews Trump on X—see more 

home row keys: a documentary on Mavis Beacon  

porte-clés: the French youth craze for key-rings  

josuushi: counting-markers in the Japanese language, nuanced by rank, size and sentience—see previously, see more—via tmn 

homo naledi: chance discovery reveals more branches in our family tree  

death-slot: revisiting broadcast television’s dumping grounds  

spear-fishing: reportedly a group of hackers with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran were able to break in to the Trump campaign’s database 

us patent application 10/953212: a training regimen to harvest hyperspace energy and pass through solid items

synchronoptica

one year ago: a classic from Lynard Skynard (with synchronoptica) plus a tour through the Geratal

seven years ago: classic cartoon What on Earth?! plus diagrams of parliamentary seating

nine years ago: keeping stashed cash safe 

ten years ago: Mexico ends state oil monopoly plus more humanitarian airstrikes

eleven years ago: histomaps plus ages of the US Founding Fathers

8x8 (11. 755)

hillbilly eulogy: the producer’s apparent misjudgement in adapting JD Vance’s memoir—and suggestion that Ron Howard might be playing the long-game to torpedo the MAGA ticket’s chances of ever returning to power—via Miss Cellania  

feint and parry: Ukrainian incursions into Russian territory catches Moscow off guard  

rarissima: bibliolyte, a destroyer of books, and other bookish terms  

veepstakes: the question of casting the nominees on the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live—see previously  

grit and glitter: new Museum of London logo of a pooing pigeon is dividing opinions—via Strange Company—see previously  

schrimp jesus: the origins and drivers (including Meta’s own incentives) of Facebook AI slop—see previously   

human shields: Israeli air strike on Gaza school sheltering the displaced leaves almost one hundred dead—the IDF claiming the building was being used by Hamas agents 

tim walz will teach you how to parallel park: the VP pick’s Midwestern dad energy plus the not so Midwestern origins of ope

vpotus (11. 753)

Set aside as an occasion in the US to reflect on the line of succession, the executive branch of the federal government and the constitutional role of the office also empowered to preside (president pro tempore of the legislative branch) over the senate and cast a vote in the case of a tie, National Veep Day recognises all vice presidents, but falling on this date, the observance coincides with the elevation of Gerald Ford at noon on this day in 1974 following the resignation of Richard Nixon—an individual who was elected to neither high office. The twenty-fifth amendment to the American constitution enumerates the order of precedence for filling the vacancy through removal by impeachment or disability, the order next going from speaker of the house of congress, president pro tem of the senate (the most senior member of the majority party) and then to the presidential cabinet: secretary of state, treasury, defence, attorney general, secretary of the interior, agriculture, labour, health and human services, housing and urban development, transportation, energy, education, veterans’ affairs and finally Homeland Security.