water closet

Heaven forbid that one should have to pee while one is out and about. Quite a lot of places are ill-equipped for a potty-emergency, having to ask for a key or produce change or simply be met with refusal. Norway, for being sparsely populated faithful provided, however, immaculate, public conveniences at every turn and in some unlikely and remote spots—like some TARDIS for the beleaguered, but that’s not the case everywhere. The local, the English language daily, reported in both its Swiss and German (the stories are no longer available but please visit the German and Swiss dailies) editions stories on advances in lavatory etiquette, albeit on opposite ends of the spectrum. First, researchers in Switzerland were lauded for their reinvention of the toilet, a prototype designed for the developing world but suitable anywhere—sanitary and clean without plumbing or electricity, inexpensive and environmentally friendly with some very clever and promising engineering elements.

 Meanwhile, in Köln marketers are promoting an item similarly off the grid, called the pocket urinal for gentlemen and ladies. This sort of tetra-pak receptacle was originally developed for construction workers and gliding enthusiastic who cannot easily leave their posts, but has been endorsed by the city for Carnival time and other festivals when too many revelers are less willing to hold it or wait for one of the too few bathrooms. This too is a clever idea but not nearly as ecologically kind nor inexpensive—relatively.

extra-territoriality or diplomatic cul-de-sac

Despite the fact that they risk contravening the Vienna Conventions, and duly arbitrated international treaties always trump the local laws and policies of their signatories, authorities in the UK stand poised to forcibly take Wikileaks founder Julian Assange into custody and won’t allow him to simply leave the Ecuadorian mission, despite the country’s decision to extend him sanctuary and safe passage.

Ostensibly, the police want to enforce an international warrant calling for Assange’s extradition on behalf of the Swedish court to answer for charges—though the case is seemingly becoming not such a foregone conclusion, the plaintiffs having changed their stories several times. Rather than motivated to uphold relations (especially since Britain is threatening to infringe on Ecuador’s diplomatic license), it seems that the Foreign Office is either acting out of revenge or in thrall to American designs on the gad-fly. The US is not beyond courting an ambassadorial incident, especially if it can be affected by proxy. Assange fled because he feared that there was the very real possibility that he would be delivered up to the Americans, and apparently the Ecuadorian government agreed with that assessment.

This situation is tense and makes for a complicated Venn diagram of exclaves and enclaves, whose respect is dabbled with at everyone’s peril, and a complex triangulation, wherein all the factors are not known: Assange merited the wrath of the State Department by releasing caches (with the help of others) of dirty-laundry indiscriminately but specifically the gossip committed to paper of the embassy-set, having since disclosed that there would be more damning revelations to come, distributed freely but under the lock and key of his life-lines, insurance policy and the UK has already, I believe, shown its hand and revealed outside pressures by threatening and overstepping what is accorded to Ecuador and the aim is extraordinary rendition to the US. The exposure of Wikileaks purposed to help put an end to such opaque and secret negotiations, and Quito’s stand with transparency ought to be defended and praised.

WWII week: overlord

To say more on the subject of fascination, though probably no original observations and nothing not said before, the intrigue of this era—harking back to times of empire and conquest and projected forward to dystopian and speculative futures, can be distilled in that hypothetical unease and the human capacity to imagine things, outcomes as otherwise.

A torrent of strategizing and contingencies, death and destruction mechanized by infernal machines and armies and whole populations won and marshaled, and yet the best-laid stratagems and technical organization, like these emplacements along the beaches of Normandy (plus the formidable challenge that the line of defense conjured) hard-fought and great costs but overcome by brute force and sheer determination.

The pillboxes wedged into the cliffs and dunes have expansive footprints that form a strange undulating terrain where the beach grasses are reclaiming parts of the foundations. To experience these old shells of war really does make one wonder how things might have turned out differently—only for the want of chance and accident.

baby boom or luck dragon

In as far as such things can be arranged and planned, many couples of Chinese and Mongolian heritage try to time marriage, a year in advance, and child birth to coincide with the auspicious sign of the Dragon. The birth rate in China spikes by some ten percent at this point in the twelve year cycle, and because of the increased demand and scarcity and partially because of some shrewd retailers, prices sharply increase for all things pertaining to the baby industry. Dragon babies are consequently more expensive than babies born in other years but that’s nothing that can be deferred and I am sure that providence more than makes up for the extra investment.

WWII week: autobahn nagelbett

The massive public works project that created the system of Autobahnen that crisscross Germany were realized shortly after Hitler seized power. Overseen by the administrator Fritz Todt, who would later supervise the defenses of the Atlantic Wall stretching from Spain to Norway, construction began in 1933.

The labour aspect of the infrastructure scheme was not directly appreciable since the jobs-market had essentially recovered before war broke out, and neither were the roads of military or strategic significance—rather the network did boast morale, allowing Germany to set the standard again in modern transportation. Several years ago, we found the ruins of a lost Autobahn hidden in the forests of the Rhön: Route (Strecke) 46 was one of the first stretches of roadway built and linked Fulda and Würzburg. Ultimately, the highway was replaced by A7, which runs parallel to old asphalt to an extent but incorporates, regionally, other important regional connections.