paris-flash (12. 586)

Via Messy Nessy Chic (whom has found an assortment of travel-related items including a bit more information on l’îlot rocheux de Nichtarguér) we are directed to the premiere animated short from Champeaux Studios—the founder in collaboration with Jean Image, stage-name of Imre Hajdú, also responsible for France’s first full-length animated film, Jeannot l'intrépide, Johnny the Giant-Killer). This satiric cartoon about a group of tourists, foreign visitors and one provincial, from 1958 but with a thoroughly contemporary style would have been screened in cinemas, like Looney Tunes, with newsreels before the feature. Sparse commentary by chanson artist Jacques Baudoin—unnecessary to enjoy the animation and visual presentations of the behaviour of tourists (we especially liked the montage of snapshots with the American party posing for selfies)—this portrait of Paris in the late 1950s won numerous accolades with its commanding audience-share. There are some light stereotypes, mostly to do with travellers abroad, which dates the work but don’t detract from the fun.

blessed be the fruit (12. 585)

After having taken away workplace flexibilities and maximal telework and remote working postures purely out of spite—not enhancing workgroup cohesion since all meetings and encounters are still conducted virtually for the most part, just adding misery to government employees returned to under maintained and overcrowded offices or nearest available government-leased or owned building (only to sell off surplus real estate prior to accommodating everyone, including those who never worked in an office), the latest guidance from the Office of Personnel Management regarding religious accommodation encourages agencies to utilise a variety of flexibilities in order to not infringe on one’s faith practise, to include variable schedules and teleworking and fulfil religious obligations (sabbath, holiday preparation, periods of fasting and time-specific prayer) without compromising department mission, adding that telework is a low-cost solution that does not impose operational burdens. To the exclusion of agnostics and atheists, the memorandum does include surprisingly inclusive language—though we know the target audience is Christian Nationalists and perceived slights and prejudice will be weaponised (see previously) to promote a certain theological point of view.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Bell Systems’ Science series (with synchronopticæ) plus the medium is the metaphor

police procedural (12. 584)

First heard on NPR’s news quiz Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, we learned that over the weekend, police in Wisconsin searched a vehicle with an individual with a warrant out for their arrest—after a drug-sniffing dog gave authorities probable cause. Iconically they found various paraphernalia, a loaded gun, an amount of fiat currency and cocaine in a bag labeled ✨Definitely Not a Bag Full of Drugs✨. The driver and passenger were arrested for possession and as a felon with with a firearm. The photograph of confiscated evidence also features a dice bag used for role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, which should definitely not be considered criminal behaviour especially in the home state of Gary Gygax. It does, however, seem like a scoff-law move not to have stashed their everyday-carry in the more iconic (though possibly more obvious) Crown Royal bag. The Canadian blended whisky introduced on the occasion of the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939 as the first reigning monarchs to visit North America, the purple velvet satchel with golden draw-strings has been part of the brand’s identity ever since and is a genuinely useful object to have handy—and I’ll admit to buying some Crown Royal just to have one around in case of need. One can also order personalised bags from the distillery or request a care-package—so packaged—send to troops abroad.

gegenschein (12. 583)

Light pollution being a topic of particular concern to us, appreciating the fact that we are privileged to be far removed from most of the effects and most holidays too are spend under the stars, we liked learning about the metrics that went into this app—via MetaFilter—that uses the Bortle Scale, which builds and improves upon the way astronomers generally gauge the quality of the observations, naked-eye limiting magnitude (NELM) and judging the apparent brightness of the faintest visible objects, to make a better informed assessment of one’s environs and how far those margins might extend when looking up from a given location. The enlightening nine-step classification system with visible phenomena, untethered from a specific constellation or distant galaxy, with the most optimal including the zodiacal band (false dusk), regions of the Milky Way casting shadows on the ground with starshine and the above occurance of counterglow (not pictured—it’s much more subtle than that—see here for an actual attempt to image it), a brighter spot in the night sky centred at the antisolar point caused by the backscatter of sunshine on the opposite side of the Earth by interplanetary dust. Though previously described, the term was coined by Alexander von Humboldt during his South American expeditions, noting that this slightly illuminated spot appeared at midnight.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the asteroid Pallas (with synchropticæ) plus Lonesome (1928)

thirteen years ago: more security theatre plus the Vertue of the Coffee Drink 

sixteen years ago: hundredth blog post 

project ester (12. 582)

Named after queen Hadassah of the Hebrew bible who canonically revealed the designs of the Persian vizier to execute the Jews of Persia and urged them to take up arms against their enemies, the conservative think-tank, the Heritage Foundation’s other agenda—aside from Project 2025—ostensibly with the laudatory aim of combating what it classifies as antisemitism, Project Ester was launched a month before the US presidential, coinciding Hamas-led attack on Israel. Like many aspirational goals of the think-tank’s other programme, which seemed naïvely at the time far-fetched and were dismissed as panic mongering or symptomatic of Trump derangement syndrome, their target as outlined in the project’s blueprint—which the administration has brought whole-cloth, has shifted from something that ought to be an uncontroversial and given of dignity and respect shown to fellow humans to something ideological and partisan—only attacking anti-semitism on the left (which in itself seems like an oxymoron)—and using dismantling pro-Palestinian organisations and protest as a vehicle, a national strategy to frame an stance perceived as critical of the government of Israel as supporting a network of terrorism. The chilling effect that this has had for demonstrators, which the project’s architects do not deny was their intent, manifest in cancelling student visas and millions of dollars in US federal grants for colleges and universities not seen to be doing enough to combat anti-Semitic acts. Critical of “legacy” American Jewish institutions as complacent and embraced by evangelical Christians, many in the community Project Ester is claiming to champion have disavowed its tactics, recognising that their real plight is being appropriated to incite moral panic and spread conservative values broadly by targeting students, educators, politicians and other figures and institutions aligned with the purported movement that threatens not only Israeli interests but the US as well.

7x7 (12. 581)

latam-gpt: frustrated with the limitations of hegemonic AIs, Latin America is building its own inclusive, nuanced version  

whatever files she thinks are credible: amid backlash and reversing a reversal of previous postures, US congress moves to release the Epstein files  

þjóðvegur 1: a twelve day summer road-trip on Iceland’s Route One worthy of a saga  

percussion section: a word-search drum machine for selection of literary classics—via Waxy  

what’s the story, morning glory: every Oasis song visualised—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

not our war: MAGA revolts over Trump’s decision to supply weapons to Ukraine, realising his fawning respect for Putin is not reciprocal 

 lived experience: editors engaged to fix AI copy 

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronopticæ) plus the Trump-Vance ticket

fourteen years ago: a periodic table of typefaces plus holidays in France

sixteen years ago: IKEA nomenclature 

cyberstress (12. 580)

We quite enjoyed this rather wholesome reminder, via r/ObscureMedia, from 1997 that goes beyond office ergonomics—which is frankly where most concepts of workplace well-being stopped and didn’t progress any further, from this cosmic guide to relax… take breaks… relax… take breaks… Me in 1997 would have been suspicious and very dismissive of such advice but now realise it was way ahead of its time—like an epiphany—and did manage to relieve my tension.

hapax legomenon (12. 579)

Via Waxy, we found this project from by Josh Sucher to create a cinematic lexicon of infrequent words from a data-set of prolix, dialogue-heavy films. Unsurprisingly, the top tier of one-in-a-billion words come from adaptations of Shakespeare with a close runner-up being the move version of The Pirates of Penzance and coming in at third overall was the TV new drama Network, the logophilia of the screen-writer Sidney “Paddy” Chayefsky (Marty, The Americanization of Emily, Paint Your Wagon, The Hospital and Altered States) inspiring the endeavour, which includes such terms as oraculate, chateaubriands and auspicatory. The project’s website gives definitions and the lines of dialogue from the film, cross-referencing other uncommon words used in the same production.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a storied gay bar in Seattle (with synchronopticæ), the Great White Way, an unavailable lecture by Grace Hopper plus assorted links to revisit

fourteen years ago: East Bloc architecture plus reading the comments below the fold

9x9 (12. 578)

i’ll get no residuals ‘cause i’m a stateless individual: Trump considers revoking the citizenship of long time show-business foil Rosie O’Donnell  

know thy selfie: from visibility and transformation to the routine, an examination of the custom that’s unlikely to loose currency  

room 237: Stanley Kubric’s last minute change to the ending of The Shining  

from the i sing the scooter electric department: China’s Omo X is a self-driving EV  

turtle spiders of the sea: Ze Frank on the horseshoe crab 

ebb and flow: an underwater turbine off the coast of Scotland demonstrates the viability of tidal energy  

hyborean age: a Red Sonja remake in discussion thirty years in after numerous other reboots  

a common-thread among world-eating types: a literally history of the billionaire—via Nag on the Lake  

off-ramp: unmoved by other atrocities, MAGAist may view Trump’s connection with the sex-pest as a somewhat dignified way to sever connections with the movement

global jukebox (12. 577)

Inspired by the success of the Band Aid supergroup’s charity album from a half-a-year earlier, though with the same attendant criticism, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure staged their dual-venue benefit concert to raise funds for relief of the devastating famine in Ethiopia on this day in 1985 with bands playing at both Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Whilst prompting decades of debate regarding the organisers’ methods and impacts—from prioritising humanitarian aid in foreign policy and focusing the world’s attention on the plight of the poor in favour with dissenters arguing that monies raised were diverted from real and sustaining support and further delayed the West coming to terms with its parochial and patriarchal tendencies and disabuse itself from the real factors behind inequity and the injustice of colonialism under a different guise. Proclaiming music to be the lingua franca—not English, nonetheless, Geldof, at the suggestion of Boy George, whom had also taken part in the recording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” orchestrated a rather amazing spectacle with an enduring legacy. Mick Jagger and David Bowie had originally planned a transatlantic duet (see previously) though synchronisation problems ultimately lead to a compromise. Phil Collins did in fact play at Wembley, ferried by helicopter to Heathrow and took a Concorde flight to Pennsylvania and performed also at JFK, encountering Cher on the plane—who was unaware of the concert but was convinced to tag along and sing in the finale, an encore of the anti-hunger anthem “We Are the World.” Queen’s twenty-one-minute performance of a medley of hits was voted the greatest live gig in music history, Freddie Mercury many times leading the audience in unison refrains and his sustained cry of “Aaaaay-O” described as the “Note Heard Around the World.” The US event was hosted by Jack Nicholson and included acts by Madonna, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Tina Turner with reunions of the bands Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Black Sabbath, The Beach Boys and Led Zeppelin.

ekranoplan (12. 576)

Recent intelligence suggests that China might be attempting to revive a Cold War leviathan known as the Soviet sea monster of the Caspian, the semi-legendary ekranoplan (экранопла́н, a screen-glider or ground-effect vehicle) an airfoil designed to fly just over the crests of the waves, invisible to radar, impervious to mines riding on a cushion of high air pressure and achieving speeds ten times faster than traditional maritime vessels, leaving fleets and coast defences no time to react. Photographs have emerged of apparent trials in the Sea of Bohai, near the Korean peninsula. DARPA was working on its own for the US navy—called a Liberty Lifter, the concept vehicle also known for its increased cargo delivery capacity with advantages other both ships and planes—but the programme was abruptly cancelled last month.

synchronoptica

one year ago: claim-jumping in the Arctic (with synchronopticæ), reproductive care in international waters, a local air show plus a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump

thirteen years ago: the Period Table typeface 

fourteen years ago: debt and pensions 

télégraph aérien (12. 575)

Having previously learned about the invention of the optical or semaphore communications system of Claude Chappe, we appreciated this retrospective and chance to revisit the contentious innovation that informed public perception and art movements into the nineteenth century. Hailed as a great advancement, the tachygraphic network that was being introduced just as the French Revolution was beginning in 1792 as a series of relay towers throughout the countryside and in metropolitan areas was by turns regarded as an achievement, condemned as an eyesore and viewed with suspicion. The cellular masts (or windmills) of their day, their addition to the tops of buildings, profane and sacred, was considered despoiling aesthetically—numerous examples of paintings from that period feature them prominently, sort of like the scaffolding that encased the Statue of Liberty during the eighties that become as iconic and emblematic as the unobscured monument—and the coded messages (the arrangement of the blades or wings corresponded to ninety-eight numbers) to be deciphered and passed on the next operator) were taken as something sinister, prompting the destruction of some towers either as signs of witchcraft (compare to the attacks on the 5G masts during COVID either as its cause or a government conspiracy to implant microchips in the population to control it) or to hinder accelerated responses to quell uprisings, the government privileged with this speeded up reaction not available to the protesters. A group of investors in Bordeaux were jailed, though ultimately acquitted, for bribing operators to transmit stock market figures from Paris hours ahead of when the gains and losses would be available to the competition—an abuse for the sight-lines that was never envisioned. Much more from Hyperallergic at the link above.

steudadoù karnag (12. 574)

Via Strange Company, we are serendipitously directed to an academic update in partnership with the University of Gothenburg with its share of megaliths (I still need to repair those posts from our Sweden trip made on a third party app...) on the Carnac Stones, excavating alignments in a previously unstudied area, Le Plasker adjacent to the ten kilometre stretch inland from Erdeven to the Bay of Morbihan, dating after several trials the original placements to 4700 BC (the landscape and the inventory has been significantly altered in pre-historic times and going forward) and thus not only confirming their age but also pre-dating other standing stone arrangements in Europe, like in England and Malta.

think the tide is with us (12. 573)

In deference to the silver anniversary of the Peter Benchley and Steven Spielberg and Peter Benchly collaboration—which agreedly holds up and worth a rewatch—Clive Thompson’s Linkfest (lots more great stuff there) directs us to a text-based adventure game inspired by the film authored by programmer and designer Matt Round, that follows the plot pretty faithfully scene by scene but from the point of view of the titular shark with some pretty compelling internal monologue (see also).

boule de lille (12. 572)

Having purchased the bright orange cheese—owing to the natural seasoning and colourant annatto, derived from the seeds of the achiote tree native to the tropics, similar to nutmeg but from more accessible climes in the American tropics and adopted by cheesemakers to imbue their product with the more intense colours of summer time cheeses year around (the higher carotene content in fresh grass that cows grazed on would pass through to the milk)—in slices at a supermarket during vacation—as opposed to a fromagerie, thinking it was the equivalent of cheddar, we were not aware that traditionally that Mimolette, originating in Nord and Lille, was created as a native substitute for the very popular variety of Edam cheese from the Netherlands. To distinguish it from the import, it was coloured, first with carrot juice and then later with the rise of the French East India Company (see previously) the more exotic spice—as are many other cheeses—and is aged as a ball, appearing like a a cantaloupe when sliced—the rind, grey-coloured, is infested with mites (see also) during the ripening process which enhances the flavour. The name comes from the French mi-mou for “semi-soft” referring to the slightly oily texture to the otherwise hard cheese.

synchronoptica

one year ago: plural forms of compound expressions (with synchronopticæ), assorted links to revisit plus Disco Demolition Night (1979)

eleven years ago: our VW bus plus the cost of camouflage 

7x7 (12. 571)

edge of eternity: Poseidon’s Underworld’s cinematic vacation to the Grand Canyon 

the open-hearted many and the broken-hearted-few: the venerable and ongoing Leonard Cohen Files—via Metafilter  

litra: an ancient Byzantine scale complete with a set Greek letter-shaped counter-balances discovered in Türkei  

voulez-vous danser avec moi: the mambo scene of Brigitte Bardot and Dario Moreno from Michel Boisrond’s 1959 « Come Dance with Me? »  

flatland: the four dimensional world of Alicia Boole Stott—see also  

and if i haver: an endurance run of The Proclaimer’s I’m Gonna Be—via Web Curios 

it happened here: a contemporary table-read of Stephen King’s what-if premise of Apt Pupil considered during a staycation from Today in Tabs—via ibidem

qin shi huang mausoleum (12. 570)

Having been discovered by a group of farmers, Wang Puzhi and his neighbour Yang Zhifa (with his five brothers), in March of the year prior, the archaeological community marked a pivotal moment on this day in 1975 in the excavation of the site, unearthing the central burial pits around the tomb of Qin dynasty’s founder and first emperor (皇帝, huángdì) of a unified China to reveal a retinue of some eight thousand life-sized terracotta figures of soldiers and horses standing guard for his journey into the afterlife.  The necropolis is a microcosm of the imperial palace with halls, offices and the thousands of replica units, armed, standing in formation. The tomb itself at the centre of the terracotta army (previously) is hermetically sealed and remains unopened to prevent degradation of the body, artefacts and grave goods inside as well as out of concerns for safety of researchers, with artificial rivers of mercury and other toxic decorative elements suspected to be contained within—possibly also an element of revenant superstition. Aside from the Qin emperor, a mass though ceremonious grave holding the remains of one-hundred-twenty-one individuals has been uncovered, whom researchers believe to have been labourers and artisans that built the necropolis.

synchronoptica 

one year ago: double-click jargon (with synchronopticæ), more on the zombification of the legacy web plus Biden vows to stay in the US presidential race   

thirteen years ago: a hundred-handed cactus plus subversive stickers 

fourteen years ago: odious debts 

trump dump (12. 569)

As a made-for-television drama and the only interesting side-show from the administration, we’ve been ignoring Trump’s decision to reignite the trade war over his gimmicky tariff regime. Only two real negotiations successful between the UK and Vietnam, Trump is again threatening to levy punishing export duties against Canada, Brazil and many others by the first of August, and whilst investors and businesses (over-stocked in preparation for the first round that never materialised) have likely factored in this bullying and charade—there’s no reciprocity in reciprocal tariffs—markets could still react with disfavour to all this chaos and uncertainty. There’s nothing substantive behind the threats and the interlocutors know this, but for the sake of appeasement, the aggrieved parties put on the line other so-called barriers to trade as a trade-off that Trump could count as a win and the real stakes come in the form of compromising environmental, health and safety standards. In other recent news, Trump has toyed with the idea of federalising New York City and Washington, DC to put both irksome metropolises directly under his control. The Department of Justice is directed to sue sanctuary cities in order to end their policies of protecting migrants and the same time prioritising cases to revoke American citizenship. The budget for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is tripled under the One Big Beautiful Bill and now surpasses that of the Marines. The US supreme court, in recess, issued a shadow docket ruling that allows the administration to deport individuals to third party nations with which they have no affiliation. Whilst no new sanctions are being levied against Russia, Trump is expressing increasing exasperation with Putin—and it was revealed by an audio clip to donors during a fund raising event (an exchange during the campaign and not released until now) that Trump reportedly told Putin and Xi he would bomb their respective capitals should they continue incursion on Ukraine and Taiwan—“he said ‘no way’ and I said ‘way.’ Reversing a very pregnant pause, however, Trump is restarting weapons deliveries to Kiev and supplying US air defence materiel. National weather agencies are ordered to scrap climate websites and collecting data—Trump praising the botched response of his Federal Emergency Management Agency director who is tasked with dismantling it and devolving the responsibility to the states in the wake of devastating flooding in Texas. Invoking a high school football analogy, the state’s governor said that only losers focus on their mistakes. Such winning.   

there’s a hole in my heart that’s as deep as a well for that poor little boy who’s stuck half-way to hell (12. 568)

Happily every one was rescued safely due to an international effort but it really astonished me to be reminded that the Tham Luang Nang Non (ถ้ำหลวงนางนอน, the Great Cave of the Sleeping Lady) rescue was taking place seven years ago, with the final remaining four adolescent members of a Thai junior association football league and their assistant coach retrieved on this day in 2018. The party of thirteen were spelunking as monsoonal rains flooded the cavern, blocking their way out and leaving them stranded without a means of communicating their whereabouts and distress and were eventually led to the group’s—nicknamed the Wild Boars— last known location by a teammate that had chosen to stay behind. A British caver named Vernon Unsworth living in the area and with experience of the cave complex heard about the missing boys and counselled the government and emergency response to procure the assistance of Navy SEALS for the operation, one of who tragically died during the rescue—which was an ultimate success thanks to the persistence and expertise of a large network of helpers. The remove strikes as strange and somewhat outside of time, evoking memories, more distant but as persistent of the 1987 rescue of Baby Jessica from that well in Midland Texas with the same cast of sensationalism and international media coverage. Forty-five hours into the ordeal, a roofing contractor, Ron Short—born with the rare condition cleidocranical dysplasisa that left him without collar bones and was accustomed to working in tight confines, volunteered to go down the narrow shaft, and whilst considering his offer, a paramedic ended up descending into the well and saving the trapped infant. There’s some strange pre-Mandela Effect going on here that almost forms a false memory of how The Simpsons might have parodied the Thai incident as well in the fullness of time—“Dig up, stupid!” As the drama played out for the latter, Elon Musk offered and delivered a tiny submarine. Whilst thankful for the efforts and affirming that continued development of such manoeuvrable submersibles was worthwhile, Musk’s assistance was ultimately dismissed as implausible for the environment. Unsworth, who helped coordinate the effort, ridiculed Musk’s contribution as a publicity stunt, garnering the ire of Musk for his perceived ingratitude and counter-accusations that the seasoned explorer was a pedo, falsely accusing him of paedophilia, going so far as to engage a detective to further discredit and besmirch his character—with Musk issuing a public apology later. As with Baby Jessica, numerous adaptations came out in book, cinematic and song form and most significant the pledge to end the Thai policy of statelessness for residents of the so called Golden Triangle, a region with porous and poorly-defined borders with Myanmar, Laos and China, which affected several members of the team who were subsequently granted full citizenship.

synchronoptica

one year ago: scanning code from magazines (with synchronopticæ), the artistic side of Samuel Morse plus Surrealistic logos

thirteen years ago: demographic devolution among the German constituency  

sixteen years ago: a potential life-extending compound isolated on Easter Island 

up with people (12. 567)

Whilst not exactly counter-programming for the later Expo ’74 and other iterations, the evangelic conference held in mid-June 1972 in Dallas, Texas sponsored by the Campus Crusade for Christ—the name meant to suggest a “spiritual explosion” and capitalise off the international expositions—and was considered the showcase event of the Jesus Movement which arose as a backlash to the perceived godlessness of alternative lifestyles and the cultural awakening of the previous few years of the Baby Boomer generation. Also described as “Christian Woodstock,” it took place during the height of the protests against the Vietnam (the final night coinciding with the Watergate break-in), with some grumblings at the fringe that were mostly kept muted by the atmosphere of enthusiastic patriotism that bordered on Christian nationalism, musical acts included Johnny Cash, Larry Norman and Kris Kristofferson and prominent guest speakers the reverend Billy Graham (previously). Attendance for the multi-day event ranged from eight-thousand to one hundred thousand, attending seminars and workshops—mostly US college students but with a foreign delegation representing around seventy five countries. Conservative groups were critical of Explo ’72 for its ecumenical nature, reaching out to both Protestant and Catholic ministries, as well for the music and dancing. Much more about the conference and side-show as well as its legacy from We are the Mutants contributor Michael Grasso at the link above.

8x8 (12. 566)

peering capacity: a chronological representation of the undersea cable network and earthbound exchange points that forms the global internet—via Maps Mania  

somewhere, somebody must have kicked you around some: a growing thread of emigration options  

turophiles’ delight: a two part podcast on fromology, the science of cheese and cheese-mongering 

this time for africa: a possibly unironic appreciation of the 2010 World Cup anthem—Waka Waka, inspired by Zangaléwa, the Cameroonian marching song—via Pasa Bon!  

first serve: an overview of the history of tennis  

a fine bromance: a series of ruptures in the relationship between Trump and Putin—previously—possibly signals the end  

holding hands while the walls come tumbling down: a mental time-capsule of Gen-X doom ballads 

frame of preference: a story about early Mac settings and control panels narrated through ten interactive emulators—see previously—via Kottke

synchronoptica

one year ago: Savage Curtain (with sychronopticæ), impressions of West Berlin in the summer of 1977 plus Project 2025

twelve years ago: World Heritage Sites around Germany plus RIFs for the Pentagon

thirteen years ago: East-Bloc versions of Western vehicles 

7x7 (12. 565)

alligator auschwitz: Trump’s Florida detention centre is by every definition a concentration camp

solvitur ambulando: when in doubt, go for a walk—see previously  

mcmxxv—mmxxv: the century in one hundred films 

rif me daddy: US supreme court overrules injunction against executive branch illegal mass firings after passage of Trump’ domestic policy agenda  

geschirrspüler: a 1959 German dishwasher in action  

adam und eva: a group of Europeans’ failed attempt to found a utopia during the interbellum period on a remote Galápagos island—via Neatorama 

race and ethnicity: the case of George Shishim, invoking Jesus, illustrates the particularly American obsession with whiteness to the exclusion of others—see more

501(c)(3) (12. 564)

Since its adoption in July of 1954, the Johnson Amendment as a provision in the US tax code has prohibited non-profit organisations, charitable foundations, universities and churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates or risk losing their tax exempt status. Named for then senator Lyndon B Johnson (previously), the section of the tax code of the Internal Revenue Service defining which groups are not liable to a levy on donations was amended without debate and was long considered uncontroversial until the 2010s when the Pulpit Freedom Initiative—likewise shielded from taxation—begin lobbying for its repeal, culminating with Trump announcing his intent to “totally destroy” the provision during the National Prayer Breakfast in February of 2017 shortly after his first inauguration. Whilst not completely removing the language, the acting IRS commission, during ongoing litigation between the tax authority and religious liberties campaigners, has signalled a significant posture shift in the rarely enforced law—comparing a religious institution’s endorsement of a a political candidate to a “family discussion” and falls short of intervening in a campaign if a pastor “in good faith speaks to their congregation through customary channels” on electoral platforms through a lens of faith. The Catholic church, regardless of legal permissibility, does not allow funds to be spent on behalf of candidates, officially, and as a general rule should not engage in partisan politics.

bears will be boys (12. 563)

Via Waxy, we found this meta-analysis from the Pudding of gendered characters in children’s literature to be quite engrossing and seeing the stereotypes anthropo-morphised reveals deep and engrained associations we find not only in the first characters that many of us were exposed to (see also) but also in myth (think of all the women in Greek legend who get transformed into birds) and in language, pet names for one another and some fossilised but still carrying a lot of cultural currency. Much more on the data and methodology, including some surprising exceptions to the prevailing, at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the 1948 London Games (with synchronopticæ) plus the Thirteen Colonies’ attempt to avoid open conflict with Britain (1775)

thirteen years ago: a classic car show tradition plus Jack of All Trades (1900)

fourteen years ago: German austerity policies plus the loss of a flagship for space exploration

fifteen years ago: getting ready for a trip to the Baltic Sea 

everything becomes crab (12. 562)

We really enjoyed this essay from Aeon Magazine contributor Cameron Allen McKean that looks below the fold of the memes and tropes to examine the freshly rediscovered phenomena of carcinisation and convergent evolution generally that been observed by biologists for centuries and dates back much further in mythos with the resonant niche that we humans occupy as fellow increasingly armoured “intertidal scavengers” and crablike representatives of this extended phenotype. These liminal beings not only inform a common motif in contemporary science fiction but also inhabit our eldest stories, like the zodiacal sign—the Sun’s most northerly position in the sky during the solstice, the Tropic of Cancer (though now shifted to the constellation of Taurus due to the procession of the equinoxes) named for Καρκίνος, the pesky crab that played distraction whilst Hercules fought the Hydra of Lerna. Slain after pinching the hero’s foot, Hera—not a fan—placed the crab amongst the stars or the Norse tradition of the Kraken, usually depicted as a crustacean sea monster. Reaching even further into the past, fishing practises yield one of the most readily manifest examples of natural selection with the seemingly unnatural and superstitious cast-off and release that resulted in a population of crabs with angry samurai faces. Much more to explore at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronopticæ), a forgotten pioneer of cinematography, swimming with Benjamin Franklin plus France at the polls

twelve years ago: advertising via bone-conduction, the Pope visits refugees on Lampedusa plus a proposal to drain the Mediterranean 

thirteen years ago: Julian Assange granted sanctuary plus food additives 

fourteen years ago: houseplants thriving 

storax sedan (12. 561)

On this day in 1962 in Area 10 of the Yucca Flat testing grounds of the Nevada National Security Site in the US southwest, as part of Operation Plowshare, an investigative programme to explore the use of thermonuclear devices for mining, tunnelling, damming, the creation of harbours and other infrastructure applications—first pioneered and continued by the Soviet Union—a mixed yield hydrogen bomb, calibrated for fission of thirty percent and fusion of seventy percent, was detonated at a shallow depth of some two hundred meters underground. Instantly displacing eleven million tonnes of rock and soil, resulting in the title crater and minor earthquake. The project was abandoned after some thirteen million residents to the east of the blast site were exposed to radioactive fallout in the name of public safety. Native flora, aside from itinerant tumbleweeds, have yet to recover in the immediate area.

kreuzigung (12. 560)

The first Master of Stage Craft (preferring his neologism Spielgang to the more orthodox term Theaterstück—I was later disabused of my own made up version of Spielstück for a play which is not a real word but understandable) at the Bauhaus and artistic and copyright lawyer by trade, we appreciated this introduction to dramaturge Lothar Schreyer through his retelling of the Passion staged only a few times in 1920 in a bleak post-war setting. The only well-documented directorial work, owing to the complexity of the performance that necessitated a programme with translation key for the audience, like many expressionist productions of that time, there are only scant records which mostly are preserved in the form of bad reviews by the trade press, Schreyer was later caught up in the allure of the Christian and Völkisch mysticism of the Nazi party, despite his contributions being labelled as degenerate art (see below), and continued panning of his plays prompted his replacement, Oskar Schlemmer, to take on the leading role at the institute. More from the Public Domain Review at the link up top.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchropticæ), bracket orthography plus Forrest Gump (1994)

thirteen years ago: moons of the year, confusing job application instructions plus a typeface comparison

fourteen years ago: land octopuses  

9x9 (12. 559)

the coffer illusion: studies in cross-cultural perception have insights behind their controversy—see previously  

rolling stock: new homeowner shocked to find a hidden model train alcove in the basement and has a new, unexpected restoration project—via Nag on the Lake  

reading the minutes: AI note-takers outnumber human participants in virtual meeting spaces  

remastered: British Film Institute hosts a rare screening of the original 1977 Star Wars on Technicolour reels  

no undo button for our fallen democracy: a chorus of responses to the cathedral-, not-in-our-lifetimes thinking that has replaced American exceptionalism  

hello stranger: a signature work of scrolly-telling from The Pudding of people who don’t know each other holding conversations—via Quantum of Sollazzo 

they’re all good boys: the golden retriever, Gilbert, assassinated along with the state congress representative and her husband lay in state at the Minnesota capitol 

heaven and earth magic: a 1962 cutout animation short by avant-garde filmmaker Harry Everett Smith made in residence at the Chelsea Hotel  

static spin: a superlative optical illusion

synchronoptica

one year ago: returning via Switzerland (with synchronopticæ) plus a new Labour government for the UK

twelve years ago: the US Mail-Cover Programme,  Stars Wars as written by Shakespeare plus America policing the world

thirteen years ago: a geography challenge 

obbba (12. 558)

To provide reconciliation pursuant to title II of the House of Congressional Representatives Resolution Fourteen, according to its long title, Trump signed his signature One Big Beautiful Bill into law after being passed by the narrowest of margins in the legislature amid fanfare and a celebratory lap as atrocities continue in Palestine and Ukraine following supposed US-brokered peace deals, with a flyover by a formation of the B-2s that took part in inconclusive bombing runs in Operation Midnight Hammer that attacked Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. Chiefly a vehicle to permanently extend the tax rates Trump introduced in 2017 for the wealthiest individuals set to expire, the domestic policy legislation contains hundreds of other provisions that drew ire from the public and politicians alike, reductions to popular social programmes and increasing the deficit significantly—ostensibly causing the very public and messy rift between Elon Musk and Trump, with the former backer threatening to primary the Republicans who eventually voted for it and hinting he might disclose how he helped rig the latter’s re-election. Several fiscally conservative members of the GOP held out until the last minute of the self-imposed Independence Day deadline, settling to defer most of the major cuts to medicaid and medicare and social security benefits until the next congress—targeted to offset some of the costs of the loss of tax revenue, shifting the onus and granting some purchase to undo them if Democrats prevail in the midterms. The regressive tax regime represents an upward transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest, papered over with gimmicks like no taxes on tips and overtime or reintroducing chattel slavery by hinting that farmers could retain undocumented workers under their judgement, a fee on remittances from guest workers to family aboard and a surcharge to apply for asylum to balance a weaponised immigration enforcement agency to placate plantation owners concerns about deportations and losing cheap agricultural labour. The law further restricts food assistance programmes for the poor, health promotion and outreach, caps tuition aid for higher education, eviscerates consumer protection activities and limits recourse and permanently repeals the de minimis entry privileges that formerly allowed low-value shipments to be imported tariff-free.

31/atlas (12. 557)

Spotted only a few days ago by astronomers in Chile at an associate observatory under the auspices of the international Asteroid-Terrestrial impact Last Alert System monitoring station that’s the future home of the Vera Rubin observatory, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope which will be capable of scanning the entire sky of the Southern Hemisphere every few days as the largest digital camera ever constructed and watching for changes—including such interstellar interlopers—the inbound comet originating from another solar system is only the third such object passing through to have been verified. Like the explosion in the discovery of gravitational wave phenomena, more visitors like ʻOumuamua and Borisov are bound to be found, advanced imaging techniques underwritten by more data but now both enterprises are in jeopardy by funding cuts to NASA, sponsor to both. And while anyone can determine whether a trajectory is parabolic or hyperbolic or predict a collision course, a potential loss of telemetry seems of great gravity when it comes to such global studies and preservation for Earth and other knock on effects. Significantly brighter than the previous two encounters and traceable by amateur astronomers, the comet, posing no threat to Earth, won’t be visible at perihelion as it will be on the other side of the Sun then in October but at its closest approach to Mars, it may be detected by Martian rovers and satellites.

synchronoptica

one year ago:  the introduction of the Caesar salad (with synchronopticæ) plus the waterfalls of Mount Cuvignone

twelve years ago: a trip along the Rhein plus a revolution in Egypt

thirteen years ago: the God particle plus national drinks

fourteen years ago: the passing of Otto von Hapsburg and the legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire