ultimate rendering

Via our peripatetic pal Everlasting Blört, we are shown a gallery of artists’ final works, curated with a bit of context and perspective for their parting paintings. Quite a few seem a little too on the nose as to otherwise deny the creator their reflection and prescient swan song, like this still-life executed by Frida Kahlo (previously, 1907 – †1954) with watermelons (síndria) part of the iconography of El Día de Muertos and completed eight days before the Mexican artist’s death. Watermelons were also the subject of the last painting of Diego Rivera (*1886 – †1957), whom took Kahlo as his third wife.

totem guide

Via the always engaging Friend of the Blog, Nag on the Lake, we are invited to learn more about the rich cultural traditions and customs of the Haida Nation of the Haida Gwaii (Xaaydaga Gwaay.yaay) archipelago of British Columbia through this custom set of emoji that created by indigenous artist Jaalen Edenshaw, renowned the world over for his incredible totem poles, ritual masks and other native art, whose study and talent inform and inspire these new glyphs and engender interest in this severelt endangered though reviving language (see also here, here and here). Edenshaw‘s extended, creative family have devoted their careers to preserving and promoting their heritage including Gwaii Edenshaw who made the first Haida language feature film and artist Guujaaw (Eric Edenshaw), folk singer and political activist. Much more to explore at the links above.

some at a very high level

As an encore to his threat to bomb fifty-two undisclosed Iranian targets (one for each American hostage detained from 1979 – 1981), some of which are cultural sites (Iran hosts twenty-four places on the UNESCO World Heritage registry) and whose willful destruction, putting US might on the level of the Cosplay Caliphate and al Qaeda, constitutes a war crime, should the Iranian government or actors retaliate in response to the unprovoked murder of its top paramilitary commanders, Trump threatened further punishing sanctions on Iraq should its parliament pursue the expulsion of foreign troops (including thousands of US soldiers, materiel and installations).

Committing to remaining entrenched until a return on investment materializes, Trump conditioned any decision that led to redeployment or eviction with repaying the US billions on the new air base being built there, much in the same manner than Mexico is reimbursing the US for its racist folly of the border wall or the suggestion that host nations pay more for the privilege of quartering the US military. “If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.” Meanwhile, the Iranian parliament decided to drop its commitments to the 2015 brokered nuclear deal, from which the US withdrew unilaterally in May 2018 much to global consternation, conditional on America relieving its tariffs and trade restrictions. All sides, I think, are running short of capital to leverage but America especially so.

namändg

On this day in 1938, outside of the courts and with the signature authority of the Reichs-Chancellor, the Interior Minister and nominal participation from the Ministry of Justice, Nazi Germany ratified its Decree Concerning the Changing of Surnames and First Names (das Gesetz über die Änderung von Familiennamen und Vornamen, kurzform NamÄndG) in order to facilitate external identification of those with Jewish backgrounds. Fully articulated and enforced by August of the same year, unless Germans and non-citizen residents identified as Jewish already had sufficiently typical Jewish first names—according to a list authorities drafted—the men were to be called Israel and the women Sara and their former identities stripped away in all official documents and registers.

laderoboter

Though the deployment date for these units is still to be determined, Volkswagen has developed a concept for a seamless, mobile electric-vehicle charging scheme for use in parking garages and similar spaces that will automatically locate and re-fuel cars in need, carrying their banked power in battery wagons to where it’s needed.
Once ready to integrate the system in a given location, it would be relatively easy to set up without much change to existing infrastructure and electric-vehicle owners wouldn’t feel the need to compete for a limited number of charging points or fight over a reserved parking space.  Such helpful robots could even patrol metered-parking in urban centres from the sidewalks, searching for automobiles in need of topping-up.