intershop (12. 081)

With the first boutique of the chain owned and operated by East German (publicly, what’s classified as a VEB, Volkseigener Betrieb) on this day in 1962 in the East Berlin Friedrichstraße train station, the original target demographic was Western tourists transiting in and out of the country as a vehicle to increase holdings of hard currency reserves (Westmarks, dollars, pounds, francs—the domestic Ostmark not being accepted) by offering a selection of luxury items, alcohol and cigarettes not available on the DDR market—sort of like a duty free-shop. Because of restrictions on East German citizens from holding foreign currencies (relaxed in 1974), locals could not originally make purchases but (with some connections) could window-shopping, and as the number of outlets grew outside embassy row to border crossings on the Autobahn (nur für Reisende aus dem nicht-sozialistischen Ausland) and expanded to Western-style Interhotels, it had the unintended consequences of giving citizens insight into Western brands and their own limited selection. Lightly criticised by Erich Honecker in 1977 as a driver of inequality, the General Secretary said, “These shops are not obviously permanent companions of socialism, but we cannot ignore the fact that rising numbers of visitors are bring more such stable currency than before.” Over four hundred affiliates closing with reunification in 1990 and with no photography permitted inside, little documentation—outside of Stasi monitoring records—remains.

200 (12. 080)

Though without the nudity and slightly brain-melting morphing of characters of the animator’s best known short in 1982’s Malice in Wonderland, we appreciated being able to attribute the style to director Vince Collins (still actively creating) through this tribute to the United States’ then upcoming bicentenary (see previously)—commission by USIA—with a psychedelic review of its history through iconic symbols of Americana (caution flashing images). Maybe there will be a follow up for 2026.

*    *   *   *   *

 synchronoptica

one year ago: Hyperalleric’s Year in Memes (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: cartoon characters with alcohol problems, alternate Nativity plus Volta’s battery

eight years ago: more Trump appointees, assorted links to revisit, a sad Christmas tree for Rome plus Wonder Woman dropped as a UN goodwill ambassador

nine year ago: Fermat’s last theorem plus more links to enjoy

eleven years ago: double-meaning in genetic code, an alcohol periodic table plus bad signing

instavest (12. 079)

In 1962, Kenneth V Anderson (whom we imagine to be a prolific inventor) of La Crosse, Wisconsin secured a patent for his filing of a literal photo-jacket, an outer garment with pockets for displaying “friendship pictures” and shared snapshots, marketed specifically to teenagers and college students. Written to exacting tailoring details, Anderson suggests that the photographs could be turned inward facing at the wearer’s discretion and an empty sleeve could be used to convey a “hint” or invitation (see also, see previously) to another that it should be filled.

le livre qui dit la verité (12. 078)

According to his own account, courtesy of our faithful chronicler, Claude Vorihon—now known as Raël, fortieth and final prophet and founder of the international movement, first encountered the extraterrestrial guardians referred to as the Elohim (see also) whilst hiking in the ancient crater of an extinct volcano in the Clermont-Ferrand mountains. A space ship appeared and summoned Vorihon to return the next day with a Bible, which he did and over the course of the next year, was taught the aliens’ benevolent role in guiding human history. Although incorporating elements from Judaeo-Christian iconography (like the pictured “wormhole of David”) and Eastern traditions, Raëlianism is atheistic in so far as previous encounters and interventions were misapprehended as miracles and visits from gods. Vorihon was eventually taken to their home world and attended by a bevvy of cyborgs, learned their techniques of sensual mediation and tantric practises to produce a clone, after the philosophy of the quasi-immortal beings who have eschewed procreation in favour of limiting their population to ninety-thousand undying ones refreshed by clonal copies. Tenets of the movement, which numbers a membership of about ninety thousand worldwide (the same number as the individual Eloha) include advocacy for a single government modelled after Plato’s Republic, a technocracy and geniocracy, free love, gender fluidity and malleability, and various ventures such as Clonaid, rejecting the notion of an eternal and transcend soul and stressing that salvation is only secured through technological advances and an enlightened society.

synchronoptica

one year ago: more on the game of Life (with synchronoptica), assorted links to revisit plus Operation Red Dawn

seven years ago: microphotography plus the founding of Lufthansa

eight years ago: a new spider species discovered, the Rex Factor podcast plus Brexit negotiations

nine years ago: looking forward to the next episode of Star Wars plus Project ECHELON

eleven years ago: Germany’s Word of the Year 

say my name (12. 077)

Launching his bid for the party nomination for on this day in 1974—barred constitutionally from standing for the governorship of the state of Georgia for a second term—the fifty year old Carter began his campaign enunciating his intentions to counter the derision of opponents mocking his relatively unknown status with “Jimmy who?” A severe economic depression in the ensuing years prior to the 1976 election and Gerald Ford’s diminished public reception due to his pardoning of Nixon caused the Democrats to feel confident about returning to power. Ford’s debate gaffe that there was “no Soviet dominion in Eastern Europe and under Ford administration there never will be” did not help either—see also. Enlisting help from popular performers in the meantime, Carter raised his profile significantly and garnered a plurality of his party’s support in the primaries.

7x7 (12. 076)

primordial soup and son of soup: Dirty Feed’s 2024 wrapped  

mobile ui: top neglected App Store add-ons of the year  

merriam-webster defines: polarisation has been selected as the Word of the Year for 2024—with runner-ups including pander, resonate, demure and allision for when that container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March  

survive ’til 25: Mrs Claus’ strategies for making it through Christmas  

fallout: a tour of the Soviet-era nuclear shelters of the Prague subway  

the late set: a year of jazz discoveries  

starbug: a to scale model of the shuttle from Red Dwarf

synchronoptica

one year ago: The Poseidon Adventure (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: more links to enjoy, the adoration of words plus a comprehensive and inclusive eye-chart

eight years ago: the centenary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, even more links, Batman’s gadgets plus Iceland to oust the US FBI

nine years ago: delightful small towns around the world

ten years ago: Santa’s sweat shops plus hypervelocity stars

general audiences admitted (12. 075)

Coming into effect in November 1968, the first theatrical release to be given a G-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America—replacing the Hays Code as a voluntary, self-policing scheme for parental advisement—was the Monkees’ movie Head and the classification has been on a steady decline since with only documentaries able to secure it, having gone from general genres to niche, recalling those films that really pushed the envelope of decency and age-appropriateness (some seeking the restricted). Once the most prevalent rating for popular movies with non-objectionable if not exactly family-friendly themes like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Andromeda Strain and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (each retroactively given PG status), it fell to a quarter of releases by the mid-1980s, pivoting to children’s films and with only a smattering of the box-office, posing the question of whether the current criteria are still fit for purpose. Much more from Tedium at the link above.

7x7 (12. 074)

watermark: a year in illustrations from Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic  

大年三十: due to a quirk in the lunisolar calendar, Chinese New Year’s Eve will disappear for the next five years 

<div>: web designer demonstrates the virtuosity of cascading style sheets—via Boing Boing

you have died of dysentery: a cinematic adaptation of the Oregon Trail computer game—via Kottke  

liquidation: a bankruptcy judge voids the Onion’s purchase of Infowars, arguing there was money left on the table  

dalgona challenge: McDonald’s Australia introduces a Squid Game Happy Meal  

special perils policy: the brilliant, dynamic typography of the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps—see previously

synchronoptica

one year ago: another MST3K classic (with synchronoptica), DJ Riko’s X-Mas mix, Messiah of Evil (1974) plus a cosmetic automat

seven years ago: the French Revolutionary calendar, curvature blindness plus linguistic eggcorns

eight years ago: IKEA retail therapy, emoluments and self-dealing plus the legacy of Bauhaus design

nine years ago: LEGO Inferno plus assorted links to revisit

eleven years ago: It’s A Wonderful Life

deny, defend, depose, diarrhea (12. 073)

Symptomatic of far greater endemic problems with America’s labour and healthcare problems, individuals are submitting scathing reviews of one of the three McDonald’s franchises in Altoona, Pennsylvania that tipped off authorities regarding the whereabouts of the fugitive suspected of killing the CEO of a major insurance provider—see previously. Whilst his life is undergoing vivisection by the police and the press for his apparent act of retribution, the public is lamenting the selling out by an informant of folk-hero Luigi Mangione whose Monopoly money and manifesto speaks for everyone who has had a negative interaction with their insurance carrier by addle-brained employees who will never have coverage either (nor likely any other basic benefits, like paid leave or a pension) and won’t see the bounty as the tip went through local authorities and not the FBI hotline, no CEO stepping forward to reward this act of killing one of their own. PfRC does not condone this type of lawless vigilantism no matter how resonant and righteous, nor do we condone the above-the-law framework of for-profit healthcare and corporate welfare that props up businesses that rely on a woefully insufficient government safety net to make money and a parasocial system that is a feedback loop undermining people’s physical and mental well-being.

spes non confundit (12. 072)

Pope Francis has issued the bull of indication that the 2025 Jubilee, which will last from Christmas Eve this year to Epiphany of 2026, fulfilling the declaration made by John Paul II at the conclusion of 2000’s Great Jubilee, with the above convocation from the verse of the book of Romans “hope does not disappoint” and understanding that the youths attending the millennial celebration would be the leaders a quarter century later. Recognising the need, Francis had an intervening Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy a decade ago and this time all four mercy gates of the basilica of the Holy See, Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Saint Mary Major, St John Lateran and St Peter’s, are being unbricked to be opened is succession through Christmastide. A fifth door will be added for the first time in a tradition dating back to the fourteenth century with the entrance of Rebibbia prison, one of the chief incarceration facilities in Italy focused on social reintegration and rehabilitation of its inmates (including John Paul II’s attempted assassin Mehmet Ali Ağca, Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino and numerous mafiosi) symbolically representing all jails.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Pantone’s colour for 2024 (with synchronoptica), AI illustrated Christmas carols plus unit abbreviations

seven years ago: Dr Who villains, a space-faring micronation, curios British telly plus AI authored Christmas carols

eight years ago: mistaking the bad guys, more on netiquette plus A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

nine years ago: assorted links to revisit, nuance in language plus colonial powers vie for Africa

ten years ago: the commodification of foodstuffs, set designs for Kubrick films, an appreciation of clipart plus avocados and megafauna

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

in media res (12. 069)

Having recently learned about the origin stories of some of the characters of the Illiad and how these narratives would have been known to ancient audiences though known canonically as prequels and supplement material, we quite enjoyed reading about this incredible archeological find in Durocortorum (Reims) in the form of a luxurious Roman-Gallo villa recently excavated, no expense spared to showcase the residents’ affection for culture and refinement, including the likeness of Achilles dressed as handmaid (a rare example from Zeugma pictured). Prior to enlistment to fight with the Achaean armies against Troy, in this post-Homeric episode, well-known to imperial attendees, Achilles’ mother, the sea nymph Thetis, despite her efforts to help him knew her son’s fate and Achilles’ heel and so had him hidden away at the court of Lycomedes, king of Skyros, disguised as a young woman, on the premise that her daughter was raised with an Amazon upbringing and now needed to learn more feminine ways from young women her own age—called Pyrrha (Red)—and while sitting out the draft, had a relationship with princess Deidamia, siring two boys by her—originally opposed to his mother’s plan, the hero relented once meeting his inmates. Odysseus tricked Achilles into revealing himself, dragging his compatriot off to the front. Other exquisite artefacts found at the site also attest to the owners Romanophilia and education.

who, where, what (12. 068)

Via Nag on the Lake’s always outstanding Sunday Links, we are directed to the annual challenge in the King William’s College Winter Break quiz (see previously)—which never fails to baffle and probably never, honestly at least broke a cross of two. Our almanac activities are seeming to pay off at least a little bit in helping know a few answers from a century ago including: In the renaming of which city was a leading apostle replaced in honour of a revolutionary leader?  The publication of which forged document may have influenced a Conservative landslide?  The one-page assignment issued since 1904 is no longer formally graded as homework but rather as an opportunity or pupils and their families to think about research strategies over the holidays.

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

 

the ghost of christmas yet to come (12. 066)

The final resting place too far weathered by the centuries in the churchyard of St Chad’s in Shrewsbury (named for a seventh century Mercian monk and bishop—Charles Darwin was baptised there) was repurposed as the burial plot for the fictional Ebenezer Scrooge for a 1984 adaptation starring George C Scott and subsequent ones of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol—previously. The third spirit showed Scrooge his fate should he keep to his miserly ways. After discovering the vandals had overturned and smashed the headstone in late November, local stonemasons promptly repaired it free of charge, restoring the beloved attraction and quelling some of the outrage over the act.

footnote (12. 065)

Once the preserve of daisy-chains of ideas that built off another, the ability of AI to abstract and summarise the answer to a query in the search engine itself (see also), the loss of linkages threatens to flatten out the architecture of learning and the serendipity when one diverges from the affiliated index and embraces the flowchart, algorithmic (albeit cosmetic and reliant for now on those vast, networked underpinnings until, unless it becomes recursive regurgitation). Collin Jennings invites us to consider Alexander Pope’s mock-epic The Dunciad, considered a broadside of word in print by Marshall McLuhan, which lampoons the agents of the goddess of dullness who champion tastelessness and imbecility through publishing and the press presented over four editions as hypertextual with its appendices and commentary that far exceed the lines of verse in subsequent issues. AI doesn’t google like people google, to investigate, check spelling, check or outsource memories, and I certain am not looking for a tee-shirt version of my last search. The linear nature of the printed page and packaged answers—which great writers have always striven to transcend—was a limitation of the medium and its successors did rise above in the internet, collaborative and full of serendipitous deviations but artificial intelligence becomes an inscrutable blackbox not so much in its magic predictions but moreover when one is shielded from the tapestry of associations that inform its results.

A Lumberhouse of books in ev’ry head,
For ever reading, never to be read.
Next o’er his books his eyes began to roll
In pleasing memory of all he stole.

More from Aeon at the link above.

veni redemptor gentium (12. 064)

Fêted on this day on the anniversary of his consecration as the bishop of Milan in 374 AD, the statesman and theologian Saint Ambrose was a strong and influential proponent of heterodoxy in the Latin rite and was also celebrated for a cycle of Advents hymns and antiphonal chants that inform later traditions of carolling. Along with Augustine of Hippo (whom Ambrose converted), Jerome and Pope Gregory the Great, he is considered in western traditions a Doctor of the Church. Born in Augusta Treverorum around 339, it is said a swarm of bees descended on the infant whilst in his crib, leaving the baby unharmed and anointed with droplets of honey—taken as an auspicious sign and his patronage of apiculturists and by extension candle-makers. Moving to Rome from the provinces, Ambrose would study law and rhetoric and enter public service, like his father, becoming governor of Liguria and Emilia with the captial in Milan. Intervening in a succession crisis for the city’s bishop seat, not standing for the office, the politician accepted the vacancy compelled by popular acclaim of the assembled council, the Church afforded a measure of autonomy by Ambrose’s imperial connections, which tended towards deferment to his decisions and a level of independence. Charitable and advocating a kind of liturgical flexibility and rejecting rigid customs—including tolerance for pagans and other non-Christians, his advice to Augustine about respecting local ways stays with us, distilled as, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

directors’ cut (12. 063)

What an absolute gift to be able to watch an individual being paid tribute while they can still be part of it. Via Nag on the Lake, we are directed to this brilliant music video from Spike Jonze and Mary Wigmore from Coldplay’s new album, Moon Music, for the track “All My Love,” which together with the band they turned into a moving early birthday celebration for Dick Van Dyke (*1925) who sang and danced and was joined by his extended family. Chris Martin on piano delights at the end with an impromptu song about growing old for Van Dyke.

ev1 (12. 062)

With just over a thousand models produced over the span of three years until the pilot project was shuttered in 1999, General Motors’ subcompact car (available for leasing only) was the first mass-produced battery electric vehicle for the US market, introduced in response to a mandate by the California Air Resources Board stipulating that automakers must offer zero-emissions alternatives to keep access to the state’s market. The innovative plug-in pioneered many of the technologies found in electric cars today a quarter of a century ago, but despite being (mostly, its limited charge gave rise to the phenomenon that still haunts the industry of range anxiety) well received by drivers and critics, GM halted production—after California eased its standards due to industry pushback, and citing safety concerns over the lack of availability of replacement parts for the EV1’s specialised components, decided to scrap the entire fleet. Due to restrictions on outright ownership, only a very few examples remain but the small car that could make short trips has an outsized legacy. More from NPR at the link above.

synchronoptica

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

seven years ago: the Japanese wrapping art of furoshki

nine years ago: more links to enjoy

ten years ago: internet browsers as fashion models plus a list of French phrases that ought to be reintroduced to common-parlance

twelve years ago: a double-standard for secessionist movements plus decorating the office for Christmas

white elephant (12. 061)

Via tmn, we are directed to a regular emporium of choice gift selections perfect for the holiday office party Secret Santa exchange—or that variation that one organisation that I used to work for played where you could trade up or steal the mostly gag and ge-gifted presents from others or open a new one and put it into play. Although animosity towards co-workers, particularly the merely tedious ones, tended to dull with such gatherings and probably would have regretted pointedly picking something from this guide for a sworn nemesis, but this catalogue is just too good, especially for those who have a poisonous reputation to uphold and equally has application outside of the obligatory office ritual: like the orphaned volume II of the cinematic adaptation of Atlas Shrugged—particularly if one is playing the trading version and someone is vying for it, apparel from a retailer’s Pride Collection (vintage 2022) before said chain-store began to concede to homophobic pressure or a scented candle inspired by the Warhammer 40k gaming franchise. What others would you add to this list? Themed calendars seem like a good candidate.  Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.

adventus (12. 060)

Via Web Curios, we are directed to this festive digital demesne for Sankt Nicolaus Tag in the tradition of 31 Days of Halloween with this Advents calendar (see previously) that counts down the days until Christmas with a nice piece of digital art behind each of the twenty-four little doors. It’s a nice daily surprise (one cannot binge on this obviously) and a well-executed bit of JavaScript client coding. Read about the contributing artists and see past years’ editions at the link above.

now chitans are a type of molluscs that nature uses to bedazzle things like rocks and shells (12 059)

Courtesy of Ms Cellania, we are afforded the opportunity to to catch up on our intrepid science presenter Ze Frank (see previously) with his surprise invitation to join the taxonomical committee of Frankfurt’s Senkenberg Ocean Species Alliance and his humorous tour (to find out if the offer was legitimate or a hoax) of the facility with an introduction to its scientific mission to describe and catalogue the overwhelming understudied forms of life under the waves. Frank will serve on the committing naming newly discovered species and certainly brings a lot to the table and reminded us of this impressive oratory feat in classifying the sea shell of North American beaches.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: The Final Countdown (1986—with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: a private spy network, medical marijuana in Italy plus the philosophy of ikigai

eight years ago: the Château d’Aubiry plus repurposing love-locks

nine years ago: Æsop’s Fables

eleven years ago: non-English tongue twisters, Snowden’s home town plus infographic native advertising

summis desiderantes (12. 058)

From the Latin incipit “for desiring with supreme ardor” (see previously, see also), Pope Innocent VIII promulgated his papal bull on this day in 1484 condemning witchcraft, issued at the behest of one Dominican Inquisitor called Heinrich Kramer, who would go on to publish the widely popular Malleus Maleficarum (der Hexenshammer) petitioning higher authorities for license to persecute witches in Germany after the local clergy failed to champion his cause—signalling a rather dramatic shift in the Church’s attitude, having previously made a distinction between white and black magic and opposed the denunciation of supposed practitioners of either, restricting the punishment for transgression to confession, repentance and community service. Manifestly political in nature as a way of settling jurisdictional battles between priests in Mainz, Köln and Trier by installing, deputising his cadre (Henry Institoris) with more papal immediacy bypassing the established hierarchy. Recognising the existence of witches, the text of the bull began, and as a preface to Kramer’s own work, written during retirement when the directive to cooperate with inquisitions under pain of excommunication failed to garner support:

Many persons of both sexes, unmindful of their own salvation and straying from the Catholic Faith, have abandoned themselves to devils, incubi and succubi, and by their incantations, spells, conjurations, and other accursed charms and crafts, enormities and horrid offences, have slain infants yet in the mother’s womb, as also the offspring of cattle, have blasted the produce of the earth, the grapes of the vine, the fruits of the trees, nay, men and women, beasts of burthen, herd-beasts, as well as animals of other kinds, vineyards, orchards, meadows, pasture-land, corn, wheat, and all other cereals. These wretches furthermore afflict and torment men and women, beasts of burthen, herd-beasts, as well as animals of other kinds, with terrible and piteous pains and sore diseases, both internal and external; they hinder men from performing the sexual act and women from conceiving ... they blasphemously renounce that faith which is theirs by the sacrament of baptism, and at the instigation of the Enemy of Mankind they do not shrink from committing and perpetrating the foulest abominations and filthiest excesses to the deadly peril of their own souls ... the abominations and enormities in question remain unpunished not without open danger to the souls of many and peril of eternal damnation.

Despite the blurb, the Church condemned the publication as misleading and rejected the animosity towards independent women, though failing to do enough to staunch this apparent endorsement of witchhunts.

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

one-trick pony (12. 056)

After threatening Mexico, Canada and China with punishing tariffs less for economic reasons but rather to staunch the flow of illegal immigration and illicit drugs—Trudeau as a seeming by-stander had an emergency dinner-date with Trump for damage control to which Trump offered an easy way out, to unify with American, politely declining, I wish the prime-minister had spit in his face—Trump is now threatening the BRICS nations with hundred percent export levies should they continue to entertain the idea of de-dollarisation and choose the path of less dependence to trade, hypothetically, in another reserve currency or pursue their own monetary union. Certain members of this cohort, whether or not contemplating an alternative (see also) whose negotiations would extend beyond current regimes, have already been effectively pushed out thanks to sanctions and manipulation that leverages American interests and priorities.

banco de portugal plot (12. 055)

Presenting a letter of introduction, credentialed and endorsed by the Royal Joh. Enschedé of the Netherlands, chartered maker of banknotes and other security documents, on this day in 1924 Artur Virgílio Aves Reis instigated one of the biggest financial frauds in history when he entered the offices of Waterlow and Sons Ltd, another respected and venerable printer of stock certificates, currency and postage stamps, and claiming to be on a secret mission on behalf of the governors of his native Portugal’s central bank, sought to fill a commission of two-hundred thousand, five hundred escudo notes (the cifrão $, from the Arabic for zero is a double-bar dollar sign, is the currency symbol and is used as the thousands and decimal point separator) for circulation and fund an infrastructure project in colonial Angola. Conceived during a short prison stint for illegal arms trade where he encountered his future associates and amid an absolute printing frenzy in Germany to counter hyperinflation, Aves Reis correctly wagered he could pull off a grand counterfeiting scheme, approaching both printers to produce the high denomination notes with identical serial numbers, then hiring an army of drones (zangões) back in Porto to launder the illicit millions, eventually establishing his own bank to expedite the process and avoid suspicion. The massive infusion of forged money, after having purchased a controlling share of stock in the central bank and nearly taking it over, was uncovered exactly one year and one day later with grave repercussions for the country’s economy and the ensuing financial crisis promulgating a collapse of the fragile first republic for a series of dictatorships.

perpetua et firma libertas (12. 054)

Created by dint of a cartographical error in redrawing the border between the Papal States and the Republic of Florence (heavily in debt, Pope Eugene IV ceded Borgo Sansepolcro in the north to the Grand Duke), unexpectedly creating a terra nullius of around three square kilometres in 1440, by using a creek called rio as the new line of demarcation. The generic name for “river,” negotiators realised that they had picked two different ruscelli about five hundred metres apart, and thinking it was not worth the effort to redraw an already complicated boundary (see also) and with neither party having an objection to a buffer state in between them, the independent Republic of Cospaia came into existence. Without taxes, customs, or a government (to speak of, or the need for one), the tiny repubblica flourished as a free-trade zone between the temporal and secular powers but really became much more than a mapping mistake about a century later with the introduction of tobacco to the Old World and a ban on smoking by the Vatican (Benedict XIII eventually relented in 1724 and stopped excommunicating smokers). Though without much land to spare, Cospaia devoted its entire agricultural efforts to growing the crop, which neighbours permitted as leverage against harbouring fugitives and more serious contraband. As with many microstates, the Republic came to an end with the Napoleonic Wars and was re-annexed by the Papal States in agreement with the Duchy of Tuscany after nearly four centuries in 1826, but as compensation each resident was given a silver sovereign by the pope and a continued monopoly on tobacco production, which expanded to the whole valley. The village is still associated with cigars and cigarettes and is allowed to fly its historic flag.

synchonoptica

one year ago: neglected books (with synchronoptica), an AI identifier plus Henry Ford’s peace mission (1915)

seven years ago: a White House dinner, school meals plus toe names

eight years ago: more trials with Universal Basic Income plus How I Built This

nine years ago: rallying against global warming plus assorted links worth revisiting

ten years ago: Herostratic Fame plus Victorian microscopic pictures

the way of fragrance (12. 053)

Via tmn, we learn about the broader tradition of kōdō (香道, see previously), the art of incense appreciation through the parlour game called Genji-kō (源氏香) a pastime cultivated originally to demonstrate refinement and discerning sense of smell—sort of like the story of the Princess and the Pea—where the object was not to just identify a scent but to distinguish from a sampling of five which are the same and which are different and can be in any combination. Players of this palette-cleansing challenge which can border on the fiendish record their answers with a special notation, vertical lines representing the five scents and group them with a bar. The geometric patterns are a popular decorative motiff for kimono, pottery and lacquerware. Inspired by an incense party that takes place in the literary classic The Tale of the Genji, a skilled host will try to reference the current season and recent events in the solution. Much more at the links above.

dies iræ, dies illa (12. 052)

Fêted on this day in the Roman and Eastern Orthodox calendar of saints, Zephaniah (Σοφονίας, צְפַנְיָה, Concealed is god) was a priest of the Temple of Solomon during the reign of Josiah (circa 640 to 609 BC) counted among the Twelve Minor Prophets and credited as forecasting the coming of the Messiah, during a time when worship of other deities was popular and widespread, especially that of Baal and Astarte. The incipit of his book that warns of corruption and the imminent destruction of Jerusalem for its moral degeneration for its religious waywardness is the origin of the setting for the liturgical hymn as the sequence from the Requiem Mass—translated in the Vulgate edition of the Bible, “Day of wrath and doom impending!”

creative commons (12. 051)

Leading up to Public Domain Day in the United States (see previously) and other jurisdictions, Boing Boing is putting together a virtual Advents Calendar showcasing each significant work of literature, cinema and visual art whose copyrights expire 1 January 2025, protections terminate typically in America and the European Union (with some notable exceptions) seventy years after the calendar year when the author died—post mortem auctoris. Among those properties that become free to use however one sees fit include the pictured Chop Suey by Edward Hopper and Magritte’s The Treachery of Images, as well as writings from Virginia Woolf, Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, Erich Maria Remarque and Ernest Hemingway.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the OED’s WoTY shortlist (with synchronoptica), assorted links to revisit, A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) plus Winchester Cathedral (1966)

seven years ago: a collection of UK WWII propaganda posters

eight years ago: Ancient Lights, more links to enjoy, Belgian brewing traditions added to UNESCO registry plus Vantablack

nine years ago: Vienna’s Schönbrunn palace

ten years ago: searching for Krampus, more unbuilt architecture, a pre-crime pilot, Alfred the Great plus the Carolinian dynasty

eleven years ago: launch codes and the Nuclear Football 

merriam-webster defines (12. 050)

The lexicographers present another treasury of obscure words whose utility is delightfully questionable in many cases and at times borders on the linguistic equivalent of unuselessness. There were classics ultracrepidarian—opining or operating outside one’s scope of practice, and the derived terms serendipitist and anecdotage but moreover a lot of choice vocabulary that was new to us, like novercal, pertaining to or characteristic of stepmother (without an equivalent word for stepfathers, the opposite of avuncular, of uncles, with no term for aunts), an amatorcultist, “a little insignificant love—a pretender to affection,” useful to describe one’s worst ex, neighbourstained, hopefully never to be in one’s quiver (see also), backspang, a Scottish term for a loophole that allows one to back out of a deal and antihalian, a humbug, one opposed to festivities. Much more at the links above.