loose change or standard operating procedure

Surely one of the great tragic coincidences of recent times and a great bounty for conspiracy theorists was that the fledging European Union in late summer of 2001 was poised to assert its supranational judicial rights and challenge the US on certain relics of legislation that gave America relatively unfettered access to European and global channels of communication.
The terror attacks of 9/11 took place and the EU dropped its suit against Project ECHELON, an intelligence scheme, programme stood up by the Five Eyes of the Anglo-Saxon partnership to spy on the Soviets in the late 1960s, once—a week after filing, the whole matter was overshadowed and charges rather reversed. Back in 1998 and the following year, Swiss and then New Zealand (a reluctant junior member of the Five Eyes community herself, though many others I suspect are envious of that cadet role) counter-intelligence suspected that their faxes were being compromised and a series of headlines and nascent exposés (titled among others, “Big Brother without a Cause”) hinted at the existence of this programme and that its mission had expanded far beyond its original reach, snooping on bank activity, internet traffic, satellite telemetry and business communiques. Though progenitor of other initiatives and a mark of enduring awareness of the surveillance state and dragnet and data-warehousing techniques, the existence of ECHELON was not confirmed until August of this year—owing to the disclosures of the Fugitive Snowden.

bib fortuna

H and I are getting very excited about seeing the next instalment of the Star Wars saga. I decided to pose a selection of my collection of action figures from the franchise (old and dear friends, every one), first featuring just a few of those characters with walk-on parts who were only in one scene—albeit no less iconic, and those various costumed variants, suited up for action on different fronts.
I wonder if having a new hat, helmet is still a valid reason for marketers to introduce a new toy, which had little impact on directing decisions—assuredly it is and always was but times seemed simplier back then.  Nonetheless, the merchandising possibilities (though that might well be the unknown power of the Dark Side) seem really enthralling.

kleinstadt

The ever-inspired Nag on the Lake shares a nice travelogue that profiles just a hint of some of the nicest small towns around the world to visit, including her own Niagara-on-the-Lake.
All the destinations look inviting and it is certainly a noble effort in keeping within small-town criteria (rather hard to define, especially considering international variance and considering how small towns grow into big cities) that may be a little of the tourist-trodden path and it invites greater inclusion. I can think of a lot of additions. The only place that H and I know from that list is the magical Rothenburg ob der Tauber here in Middle-Franconia. The immaculately preserved medieval centre of the town is quite a draw for tourists, however, and despite the vociferous authenticity, there’s somewhat of a theme-park, Truman Show atmosphere about it—not that it is not worth seeing and experiencing, quite the opposite. What small towns would you recommend?

5x5

mandelbrot: elegant, shuffled fractals of gears

imperative: the moral dilemmas of self-driving cars

gender neutral: as a concession to how people actually use the Queen’s English, the singular they is now admissible in print—according to some sources

festoonery: clever, cheerful hospital Christmas décor

skywalker ranch: the European Space Agency’s upcoming ExoMars mission will include a moisture-farming unit