porozumienia sierpniowe

Today celebrates the August Agreement—otherwise known as the Gdańsk Social Accords—reached on the last day of August in 1980 between striking dockworkers on the Baltic and the Polish government over untenable demands, poor working conditions and continual shortages of essentials. The labour strikes had the immediate effect of changing the country’s leadership and revealed endemic corruption and mismanagement that had culminated in the dysfunctional economy and legislature and further led to reforms in the market, freedom of expression, civil rights and launched the Solidarity Movement.

an act to prevent pernicious political activities

Passed in August of 1939 and amended most recently in 2012, the US federal law prohibits all government employees of the executive branch—with the exception of the president and vice president—from engaging in most forms of political activity and advocacy, the Hatch Act (see previously), named for the bill’s sponsor Democrat senator representing the state of New Mexico Carl Hatch (*1889 – †1963), was instigated by accusations by Republican members that the opposition party—Hatch’s own—were utilising employees of the Works Progress Administration (WPA, a New Deal recovery project to employ millions in public works and conservation activities to lift the US out of the Great Depression that followed World War I) as a political machine to influence elections, especially in swing-states like Tennessee and Kentucky. The main thrust of the law is to prevent intimidation or bribery of voters by office holder, the uniformed military and other authority figures and establish ethical norms—moreover precluding federal employees in general from aligning with extremist groups on the far left or the far right that advocates the overthrow of the government, specifically to discourage membership in the Communist Party and the German-American Bund.

6x6

cassandra drops into verse: a thoroughgoing appreciation of Miss Dorothy Parker (*1893 – †1967)

jazz pigeon: from the same creative studio that asked “Are you tired of being a bird?”—via the Link Pack of Swiss Miss

going postal: the United States may soon see the return of post office offering financial services—see previously

it’s not the heat but the humidity: meta-study suggests that dry air may help the corona virus propagate

the gosling effect: another example of machine pareidolia, wherein a computer detects the Canadian actor’s face in a fold of a curtain—like seeing Jesus in a burrito

susan b. anthony: champion for women’s suffrage rejects Trump’s offer of a pardon for her arrest and fine in 1872 for voting illegally

comrade gulliver

Print Magazine’s regular feature, The Daily Heller, introduces us to the Marxist and committed social justice activist whose polemic art illustrated the American Socialist movement of the 1930s and 1940s through his project, which the author, Hugo Gellert (Grünbaum Hugó, *1892 – 1985) declares as direct descendant and philosophical heir to Jonathan Swift’s satirical Lemuel Gulliver (see previously), with his misadventures in the strange lands of the United States were “even more fantastic than the experiences of my forefather” far more arbitrary and unaccountable than any government or class-structure that the Blefuscudians could imagine. The Budapest native was also was a staff artist for The New Yorker and later for such political periodicals as The Liberator and New Masses. The comic goes on to explore various aspects of capriciousness of station and labour and the inequities in America through the lens of a befuddled outsider and through this lightly shaded allegory highlights the mortal failings of the system and underpinnings of capitalism. Much more to explore at the link up top.

public law 88-352

Originally proposed by John Fitzgerald Kennedy in June of the previous year but forestalled by a filibuster in the US Senate, his successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson, pushed forward the legislation and signed the anti-discrimination Civil Rights Act, rigorously debated but eventually approved by Congress, on this day in 1964. Aside from outlawing difference in treatment or preference based on heritage, religious background or sex, the eleven entitlements of the act guarantee uniform application to voting rights and burdens of exercising them, prohibits segregation, promotes equal employment opportunities and affirms and improves upon prior similar legislation by providing a host of evaluation and enforcement measures.

volksaufstand vom 17. juni 1953

Observed annually as a public holiday in West Germany up until reunification as a sign of solidarity with the strikers, the East German Uprising of 1953 began with group of construction workers at two sites in East Berlin, Stalinallee Block Forty and Hospital Friedrichshain, whom were left betrayed and confused by contradictory announcements to shift away from heavy industry and the privations that that strategy had precipitated to more balance and consumer goods which despite relaxation of the command economy in some sense, developers would still be allowed to impose an expectation of more productivity on them with no equal compensation.
The demonstrations quickly spread to over seven hundred locations all over the capital and beyond to the DDR’s larger cities. Soviet tanks were deployed once local authorities were unable to contain the marchers with the protests finally subsiding after a week. Many became disillusioned with the party and the labour movement once they realised the lengths that the government would go to in order to suppress the strike action to include deadly force (thirty-four demonstrators and bystanders were killed as well as five security personnel), although to an extent the protests achieved their aims and quality of life standards and wages improved. The holiday in the Bundesrepublik was known from 1954 until 1990 actually as German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) until translated to October to commemorate the Wiedervereinigung.

17-1618 or equal opportunity omission

Rather than relying on hit-or-miss labour protections different in every jurisdiction (or lack thereof) or the charity of corporate policy, the Supreme Court, against expectations and the judge-stacking efforts of Trump and the Stepford Republicans that have tolerated his antics to push their social agenda, ruled earlier in the week that gay and transgender individuals (LGBTQ+) are protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in a landmark case that protects (having not universally fallen under the covered categories before) them from employment discrimination on a federal level.

The decision hinged on two parallel cases, one county employee dismissed over his joining of a gay softball league and recriminations against an undertaker for presenting as transgendered, interpreting that the prohibition of exclusionary practises based on sex extends to cover sexual orientation and well as gender identity and non-conformity.

9x9

the incalculable loss: New York Times again dedicates its pages to giving voice to overlooked obituaries

ruputer: Seiko’s 1998 smart watch proves the adage plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (see also)

air bridges and air gaps: COVID-19 curtails international travel

invisible woman: incredible, augmented reality fashion show—via Things Magazine

privatising profits, socialising losses: the grifting companies receiving and retaining millions from economic recovery stimulus programmes in the US—via JWZ

metadata and memory hole: the internet’s repository is under assault

peaceful transition of power: the nightmare scenario if Trump refuses to leave office—via Cynical-C

chaotic good: DJ Cummerbund presents Weird Betty—nearly as good as Play that Funky Rammstein

and may those who lament their loss find better heroes: Egyptologist usefully share instructions on how to topple monumental structures

northwest quadrant

Not only did Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser petition Trump to remove extraordinary police forces and military presence from the city and allow muralists to paint in giant yellow letters BLACK LIVES MATTER on the pavement leading up to the official residence, the People’s House, she also officially renamed the section of 16th Street directly in front of the White House to be renamed (see also) Black Lives Matter Plaza.

first-past-the-post

Via Imperica, one is invited to build one’s own fantasy Parliament using a Generative Adversarial Network (see previously here and here) to create perfectly plausible virtual members.
Despite inherent bias built in to artificial intelligence that tends to reflect back to us our worse inclinations, I think that these representatives might turn out to be fairly agnostic though there’s no way to gainsay or guarantee that they would turn out any better than the current sitting legislative, apparently willing to squander progress, trust and goodwill by creating one set of rules for the governed and another for the ruling and expect the underclass to gladly accept more austerity and isolation in the bargain. Do let us know how your rotten borough, your pocket constituency fares.

plutodemocracy

Rather poignantly and provocatively first appearing in print in 1895 before being used by Winston Churchill and Hannah Arendt to discuss the preludes of war decades later, the term, while plain and immediate, still does carry quite a bit of effacing nuance and nudge.  A hypercapitalistic plutocracy that operates under the air of legitimacy that cursory though ultimately meaningless democratic ceremonies afford. A cynical but probably accurate bifurcating of the population, there’s a show of participatory governance for the working class with all real power vested in the moneyed classes.

masthead and en memoriam

pizza arbitrage or avoid the noid

First rejecting the characterisation of the whole house of cards of mail order schemes that pushes no cost merchandise in exchange for favourable reviews and nights on the town fuelled and funded via recommendations as too unsustainable to be believed and then learning of the seemingly contradictory exorbitant fees that food delivery aggregators charge to restaurants for membership, I was really taken aback by this bit of trading and markets incongruity that seems to be an example of business working for exposure.
Essentially the delivery service that a pizzeria proprietor uses undercuts the price paid per pizza taken from the order-in diner—the result being, experimentally verified, it being more profitable for the eatery to order their own pizzas and netting the difference. Of course, this mismatch and spreading out risk wouldn’t be sustainable with a network of restauranteurs capitalising on this sort of scheme but it’s the bubble and burst cycle that’s reflected in macroeconomics all the time—strange as it seems on this level. These platforms and the exploitative gig empire, a sheen of refinement, sophistication and technical skill but all held together with great effort and with the most precarious and vulnerable doing the most work, are subsidised by bigger platforms and by our own delusions of taking part and conceits of convenience.

unfriended

The post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and associated co-morbidities suffered by social media moderators paid very little to weed and tend a walled-garden that represents and manipulates one of the largest polities on Earth has been ruled compensable with the rather lenient ruling of a judge that results in a class-action settlement rather than the social media giant providing for job retraining, therapy, counselling or long-term treatment. Current and former moderators are to receive a thousand dollars—which could balloon up to six-thousand should the plaintiff be able to demonstrate more serious mental distress—which comes as a significant bargain to one of the richest and most disruptive companies in the world.

future shock

First in print on this day in 1970, the ethnographical treatise by futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler is summarised in the personal experience of too much change over too little time, arguing that society is undergoing an overwhelming and estranging structural change that engenders “shattering stress and disorientation.” Aside from introducing the concept of “information overload,” the book further limns the features of the Information Era to include a throw-away culture, decreasing ownership in favour of sharing and renting, redundancy and frequent career change and digital nomadism. In 1972, after its best-seller success, a documentary was produced, narrated by Orson Welles.

joseph the worker

Venerated as the patron and protector of labourers and the institution of the Church and intercessor for a happy death as he died surrounded by friends and family, Jesus and Mary included, Joseph is celebrated four times during the year: 19 March—the Feast of Saint Joseph (Josefstag, not to be confused with the Feast of the Ascension, which is also celebrated as Fathers’ Day in some countries) for his role as husband and guardian, the third Wednesday after Easter—the Solemnity of Saint Joseph for his role as spouse and patronage of the Catholic Church, this Memorial as role as a Worker (since 1955 as a reflection of and solidarity with the broader movement for social justice and labour reform that had been observed on the first of May since 1890)—a carpenter, and the first Sunday after Christmas for coming to terms with his situation. His extended patronage includes the pontificate of Pope Francis, Sicily, Austria, Belgium, the Americas, the Philippines and Vietnam as well as being the champion of explorers, pilgrims, immigrants, real estate agents and engineers.

7x7

meringue: recipes for transparent pies

it happened on the way to cordtland street: how filmmakers distort New York City in the imagination—see also—via Messy Nessy Chic

the great court: the British Museum (previously) makes millions of images of art and artefacts in its collection freely available under a creative-commons license

got your back: more artistic backgrounds for one’s video calls and virtual meetings—via Waxy

slum lord: Woody Guthrie sings a lament about his landlord, Fred Trump—via Everlasting Blört

bleachman: a mascot from the 1980s who encouraged San Franciscan to shoot-up responsibly, absent federal aid and coordinated intervention

à la omurice: fried rice from ramen noodles sound like a scrumptiously easy and malleable survival food—more recipe ideas here

canned-sunshine

Vis-à-vis the deranged idiot Trump’s suggestion that we all douse and dose ourselves with ultra-violet light to sanitise ourselves against COVID-19 (once his recom- mendation for hydroxy- chloroquine did not prove deadly enough), this entry from the archives of Weird Universe seems especially resounding and relevant. Do think outside of the box—definitely—as hand-washing and inoculation, variolation and vaccination were once fringe ideas but do not put yourselves and those around you at a greater risk because a desperate demagogue suggests you try it, misinterpreting what he wants to hear as a great many Americans hark to, their situation precarious and healthcare contingent on specious hope and continued employment.

open office

From the latest link round-up (a lot more to explore here) at Pasa Bon! comes this ambient office noise machine—fully adjustable and importantly mutable once one has had enough—for those of us pining in a sense for the familiar routine of going into work and dealing with the patter of colleagues, traffic as the white noise that would at other times be a jarring distraction. I for one have never had to try to function in a sea of infinite cubicles and am not feeling compelled to ever not in the future telework—and hope that no one else is put in harm’s way by returning prematurely—and am grateful for that but do miss a bit of the atmosphere and commiseration.

a chicken in every pot

In these days when the overwhelming majority of Americans are either experiencing grave job insecurity with housing and healthcare all bundled together or a hero and a hostage to a broken, exploitative medical delivery system that’s been pared back to maximise profits by eliminating any sort of buffer, Jamie Zawinski—proprietor of San Francisco’s legendary DNA Lounge, a dance hall and live music venue—shares a long dormant memory of a comic panel from 1990 called Give Me Liberty with the president doling out a Christmas turkey for all.
The recollection doubtless jarred awake by the insistence of Trump that his signature block and auto-pen appear on the physical stimulus cheques mailed out to the underbanked (a problem exacerbated by first restricting the fiduciary role of the postal service’s geographical spread and now threatening the institution with insolvency to further isolate and disenfranchise) that will cause a delay in receipt of this much needed, be it insufficient relief—twice the amount that the Obama administration distributed but to remedy a crisis untold magnitudes greater than the recession precipitated by the sub-prime mortgage bubble. It’s a tragically apt vignette of self-promotion and deflection as surrogates for leadership and cohesion. …And two cars in every garage.