Thursday, 20 February 2025

and we all shine on (12. 245)

Conceived, recorded and put out in the course of ten days at the end of January after returning to London from New Year’s in Denmark (see previously), the single Instant Karma! was released on this day in 1970 in the US (credited to the Plastic Ono Band for other markets expect in America, where the by-line went to John Ono Lennon) going on the be the first solo work from an ex-Beatles member to sell over a million copies. The song presupposes living with the immediate consequences of one’s decisions and action rather than borne out over lifetime—or the next. Heralded already for his pacifist activities, the couple pledged to donate all future royalties to the peace movement. Personnel included former bandmate George Harrison, Yoko Ono and Billy Preston on instruments and backing vocals. On the B-side was Ono’s gentle acoustic ballad “Who Has Seen the Wind?,” taken from a nineteenth century Christina Rossetti poem.
*     *    *     *    *

synchronoptica

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

seven years ago: Mister Roger’s Neighbourhood (1968) plus modular cardboard feline furniture

eight years ago: Stars Wars anniversary edition action figures plus more links to enjoy

nine years ago: death taxes, gravitational waves and the Underworld, charting radio-ownership plus the imprisoned paint portraits of the biggest criminals

ten years ago: even more links, urban beekeeping plus an appreciation of sci-fi authors

Wednesday, 19 February 2025

congestion pricing is dead—manhattan and all of new york is saved—long live the king (12. 244)

Again for saying the quiet part out loud, Trump is being ravished on social media and the press after liken himself to a monarch as he issued an executive order to revoke the recently enacted surcharge to encourage and support public transportation in New York City and has received considerable backlash from state officials who realise that the schemes have worked for other large metropolitan areas. This magisterial declaration is happening at the same time that Trump ordered federal prosecutors to drop the corruption investigation against disgraced mayor Eric Adams, a move which led to a succession of resignations by attorneys who could not abide by this curtailment of justice. Adams had been currying favour from Trump since the election in hopes of securing a pardon but in falling short of unconditional clemency (a royal prerogative it seems to me and wondering if such power has a place within a constitutional democracy) Trump is ostensibly exerting pressure on the mayor, since he could countermand that order to the justice department and pursue charges, to make sure that the city cooperates with immigration raids and municipal authorities don’t pushback on agents entering schools and churches. The GOP is leaning into Trump’s coronation and Democrats for their part are giving a history lesson on the American War of Independence.

7x7 (12. 243)

tvwishes: a reappraisal of digital preservation—via Waxy  

wasp 121ฮฒ: ultra hot Jupiter exoplanet has a uniquely layered and roiling atmosphere—see previously  

unitary executive theory: latest Trump EO reigns in independent agencies, testing the limits of presidential power  

the doors of kypseli: the intricate entrances of an Athens neighbourhood  

gesserit jazz: a 1977 funk album inspired by Frank Herbert’s epic novel—see previously 

jikipedia: the rise and fall of China’s Urban Dictionary of internet slang  

dark entry records: queer album cover art from Gwenaรซl Rakkte

floating-point (12. 242)

Baselessly citing a “cursory examination” of the US Social Security Administration (America’s public retirement fund) database as evidence of widespread and systemic fraud, Elon Musk announced the existence of one-hundred fifty year old individuals on the rolls during an Oval Office press conference last week. Coders and administrators were quick to point out that the unnatural age—it cuts off payments automatically at one-hundred fifteen—that rather than pointing to corruption and abuse but an artefact of the legacy software and sixty-year old programming language COBOL which underpins many government systems and rather than employing a date type in its syntax, instead dates are coded to a given reference (see also), the most commonly used being the Paris Convention du Mรจtre, 20 May 1875 when the international standardisation summit took place. Entries with missing data elements (Social Security holds records on people long deceased) and new entries from this year could default to the nineteenth century. There could be a way going forward to make such delicate and complicated platforms more efficient and transparent, scrutable to outside audit but not without disruption and great costs, and mounting such spurious claims of duplicity belie a lack of understanding and good faith.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the 1807 arrest of Aaron Burr (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: more links to enjoy, architect Le Corbusier plus a cucumber avocado salad

eight years ago: Mexican anti-Axis propaganda, symbolic Arabic script, Nixon and Khrushchev’s Kitchen Debate, plans for a Fascist-themed prom cancelled plus Trump imposes a travel ban on Muslim-majority countries

ten years ago: more on the Crusades of Urban II, ISIL and the Caliphate plus even more links

eleven years ago: vino frizzante

Tuesday, 18 February 2025

10x10 (12. 241)

bustin by numbers: bizarre 1990 edit of a Peter Greenaway film featuring an instrumental version of Young MC’s hit 

mazinibaganjigan: the art of birchbark bitings, practised by the Objiwe and Algonquian peoples  

twenty-two nautical miles: Mexico threatens to sue Google over the change to the gulf’s name  

democracy dies in darkness: Bezos owned Washington Post refused to run an advertisement critical of DOGE  

acolyte: a profile of the actual Nazis overrunning the US government—via Kottke  

paypal mafia: Trump administration is clawing back funds already disbursed and has designs to gain control over banking and wire-transfers 

the molotov-ribbentrop pact: historic examples—with devastating consequences—of not inviting all parties to the negotiating table—via Damn Interesting  

deemed accomplices: Sheinbaum warns us renewed legal action for US gunmakers over complicity if drug cartels are designated as terror groups 

a very large faucet: water-sharing treaties between Canada and its neighbour to the south have attracted unwanted attention  

you say neato, check your libido and roll to the church your new tuxedo: that’s Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers on jazz bass

cnd (12. 240)

Joined by a crowd of some five thousand others, organised and led by philosopher and activist Bertrand Russell (previously), the anti-war group with a hundred public signatories as an expansion of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (see also below) held its first act of peaceful civil disobedience on this day in 1961 with a sit-in demonstration at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall to protest the arrival of the USS Proteus on a resupply mission from American to replenish ballistic missile stocks. Surprisingly, no arrests were made. This anniversary juxtaposes with current headlines, with the the US and Russia meeting to arrange a negotiated peace in Ukraine with the invaded nation and Europe excluded from talks (Trump and Putin graciously agree to “address irritants” for the bilateral negotiation), and America instead of foisting its defences on allies against their will is signalling it will abandon the posture of trans-atlanticism that has held since the end of World War II, leaving the continent to fend for itself and normalising relations with an international pariah.


synchronoptica

one year ago: the Euromaidan protests (with synchronoptica), Ballerina on the Boat, bad album cover art plus an underground newspaper

seven years ago: underwater photography, the epithets of drinking culture, the power of propaganda plus Pastafarianism

eight years ago: more underwater photography, ancient embedded sounds, more on the origin of the Peace symbol plus governance per tweet

ten years ago: an early meme, the road to Canossa plus bird poses

eleven years ago: traffic cameras in Germany

Monday, 17 February 2025

umfragefragebogen (12. 239)

Cut out of the negotiation process to end the war in Ukraine with American and Russian envoys preparingfor talks in Saudi Arabia, European leaders have scrambled to convene a separate emergency summit in Paris after the gulf between NATO partners became glaringly apparent during the Munich Security Conference

Hosted by French president Macron, it is hoped that those invited countries, those with significant militaries—the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain plus Denmark as representative of the Nordic and Baltic nations—will be able to overcome individual political pressures, with elections upcoming in Germany and elsewhere, and pledge to increase defence spending (another of Trump’s fetishes) and assemble a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire in order to demonstrate that they are invaluable stakeholders and partners in maintaining peace and buffering against Russian aggression. Whether such a resolution will gain them purchase in setting the treaty is uncertain, as is whether Trump would even weigh the outcome of such hasty alliances into his decision making process. For its part, a short survey was sent out by the US government to European allies asked which countries would be able to deploy troops to Ukraine and which would continue Russian sanctions. Diplomatic solutions are not usually confined to a filled-in form. Regardless if Trump is listening, Putin certainly is.

50501(12. 238)

In response to the unlawful and anti-democratic dismantling of the administrative state by DOGE and Elon Musk’s minions, costly disruption in the name of efficiency but aimed to roll back labour (return the spoils system) and civil rights, with the apparent carte blanche of Trump, organisers from all fifty states are holding fifty calls to action under one movement, protesting in solidarity with federal workers, eighty percent of whom have duty locations outside the capital. Occurring on the Presidents’ Day federal holiday after an initial illegal purge of civil service employees, the non-partisan rallies are calling for the removal of the unelected bureaucratic who has grabbed unfettered and compromising access to sensitive government databases and pay systems to further his pet project. 

synchronoptica

one year ago: a token of affection found in Gdaล„sk (with synchronoptica), the geography of the Moon, finding one’s centre plus assorted links worth revisiting

eight years ago: more links to enjoy 

nine years ago: Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory

ten years ago: even more links, herbal resources mapped, Finnish history, naming and shaming plus US restrictions on immigration

eleven years ago: Germany’s energy Autobahn

Sunday, 16 February 2025

12x12 (12. 237)

little sisyphus: a challenging NES-style side-scrolling game—see previously—via Waxy  

behind every robot that turns evil there’s an engineer that installed red diodes in its eyes in anticipation: Meta wants to create AI powered robots to do your chores 

quipu: the largest known superstructure in the Cosmos, named for the corded knot accounting of the ancient Inca culture—via Strange Company  

parataxis: storytelling loves a list  

i will say this only once: John J Hoare responds to a video take-down notice for reposting an old clip—that suggests that YouTube is focused on hate speech against Nazis  

pantograph engraving: the unseen typeface all around us—via the new Shelton wet/dry 

pump and dump: nothing to see here, just another perfectly normal president pulling the rug out from under his country with a memecoin 

return to forever: Chick Corea and friends at the forty-third Jazzaldia festival 

stairwell of the quarter: more on the design efficiency of alternating tread stairs  

nanook of the north: Robert J Falherty’s 1922 documentary on the Inuit  

how many department of government efficiency employees does it take to screw in a lightbulb: a look at DOGE at work—via Nag on the Lake  

windows, icons, menus, pointers: a cursor dance party—via Pasa Bon!

elizabeth peratrovich day (12. 237)

Civil and indigenous people’s rights activist (born with the Tlingit name แธดaax̲gal.aat, “person who packs for themselves”) Elizabeth Peratrovich (nรฉe Wanamaker) is celebrated on this day in the state of Alaska for championing the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945—on the anniversary of the passage of the bill in 1945, which was the first law of its kind enacted in any state or territorial possession of America. Overt racism from white settlers towards native peoples was widespread and included segregation in public spaces, shops and schools along with diminished job prospects and exclusion from white neighbourhoods.   Several attempts beginning in 1941 to pass legislation failed in the district’s senate with the campaigner and her tribe characterised as primitive—a lot of “white man’s burden” theatrics. Nevertheless Peratrovich persisted, responding to the insults: “I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentlemen with five thousand years of recorded civilisation behind them, of our Bill of Rights.” The bill passed and signed into law by the governor nearly twenty years before one was adopted on a national level. It is unclear whether Alaska, in the current political climate, gets to keep the holiday and the history behind it—with it being dictated what it can call its mountains and Denali being re-flagged again after a populist president with imperial ambitions and a penchant for tariffs.

synchronoptica

one year ago: AI does text-to-video (with synchronoptica) plus Russian opposition leader found dead

seven years ago: US school shootings plus nominative determinism

eight years ago: cognition in non-human animals

nine years ago: subversive merit badges, rodeo tailor Nudie Cohn plus upper- and lower case

eleven years ago: an action figure collection plus the state of education in the US

Saturday, 15 February 2025

paydirt (12. 236)

The foundations of the first Roman basilica in London (Londinium) have been unearthed beneath the basement level of an office building scheduled for demolition and redevelopment on Gracechurch street. Much expanded as the conquest of Britain continued through the first century AD, this structure before an open public courtyard would have been the civic centre of the settlement and seat of the administration and judicial and commerce, the public-facing edifice for festivals and announcements. After a series of exploratory excavations, a plan has been developed to create a sublevel access for the archaeological site (see previously), preserving the remains under the high street.

st valentine’s day massacre (12. 235)

The purge of US federal workers, beginning with employees serving their probationary period that started in earnest yesterday and continues through the Presidents’ Day long weekend, with the DOGE advisory panel—not a governmental entity and with only derived authority—summarily terminating large swaths of critical workers—not necessarily new to their departments and agencies but many perhaps merely promoted or reclassified within the past two years—arbitrarily and without cause from high- and lower-profile sections including the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, NASA, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Aviation Administration and Homeland Security to the National Nuclear Safety Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, imperilling public safety, health, security and basic services across the country. Not only does this put the public at risk by handicapping safeguards, enforcement and disease and weather surveillance, eliminate the successor generation of scientists and educators in government roles and clear out decades of institutional knowledge and experience, the deletion of workers and agencies with flagrant disregard for procedure, collective bargaining agreements, contracts or labour rights is the onset of a constitutional crisis, the executive no longer respecting the separation of powers by failing to commit funds duly appropriated by the separate and coequal legislative branch for their express purpose—and just barely, so far, abiding by decisions from judges ordering pauses and offering up what speed-bumps they can muster. The US is witnessing the transformation into a dictatorship already in the dismantling of the administrative state, however, and it won’t take ignoring a lawful order to set it off, the regime openly threatening justices who would stand in its way and forwarding appeals to a supreme court solidly in support of its agenda and end-state. Elections have consequences and those polities that voted for this, to hurt Black and Brown people and everyone else—as well as businesses that donated and lobbied—should brace for impact as the first to feel the brunt of their support. It is difficult to say if they can connect the causation or even if there might still be a chance for future reform.

antiqua et nova (12. 234)

With the above incipit, we learn that back in mid-January, Francis issued a papal bull—as Web Curios informs—on artificial intelligence, which is absolutely by far one of the most circumspect, heavily footnoted, thoughtful considerations of the implications of the technology touching on ethics, labour and the economy, culture, the arts, theology and human identity. In begins with a detailed history, going back to the summer workshop hosted on the campus of Dartmouth university in 1956 which first explored the concept, drawing a distinction between narrow AI and general intelligence and the ability to think and reason, not necessarily condemning the increasingly sophisticated models as trickery or mere pablum—or mankind fetishising the divinity it deserves—but rather as something potentially complementary for human dignity and vocation if harnessed in the right manner. Far from condemning technological advancement—though wary of the tac taken—or privileging, imbuing the human condition with something vague and inviolable, there is an interesting philosophical departure on the mind-body problem and how intelligence, which is not only found in functionality and solution-finding, but requires incarnation, embodiment, to engage in its environment and filtering all the noise not as hallucinations but as input and impulse—lest it remain just a ghost in the machine. The entire essay is worth reading and making the effort to parse the pope’s position, which seems on the whole a positive one that acknowledges AI’s potential to enhance decision making and a force to elevate all of us but cautions not to conflate true wisdom, measured by one’s capacity for charity and empathy, both transcendent and imminent by our own interiority.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Beautiful Blue Danube (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: assorted links to revisit, the animation of Pablo Lozano, renaming historic artwork to give the models a backstory plus Canadian Flag Day

eight years ago: food artist Dan Bannino 

nine years ago: moustachioed sea birds, soup and sandwiches plus brutalist Paris

eleven years ago: policing the police state plus to google in different languages

Friday, 14 February 2025

if american democracy can survive ten years of scolding from greta thunberg, you guys can survive a few months of elon musk (12. 233)

US Vice President and tortured man-child JD Vance opened the Munich Security Conference with a scorching assault on European partners, reframing their attempts to uphold the democratic order by cordoning off extreme nationalist elements (indeed the firewall is for MAGA too) as the true commination to freedom and liberty and accusing their governments of censorship, suppressing free speech—nullifying election results and condoning dangerous and illegal immigration. Citing the threat from within—and questioning whether the US and Europe had any shared values, Vance deviated from the expected topics of Ukraine and the overall security agenda to awkwardly to lecture politicians and policy makers he characterised as running scared from their electorate and paralysed be political correctness and elitism—deputising Trump as the “new sheriff” and that democratic institutions would indeed fail if the people’s issues were deemed invalid. The hall was in shock and did not appreciate the undeniable deflection as being labeled authoritarian regimes, recognising the ill-judged sermon (whose jokes did not land) as aimed for domestic consumption only, at best, and election interference for upcoming voting in Germany at worst.

arrow key (12. 232)

Via Web Curios and in the tradition of line-rider sequences, we are informed that there are playable versions of video clips on YouTube in a range of genres from DOOM, Guitar Hero to chess from the channel Firerama capitalising on native features to allow on to dodge and advance or retreat. We liked the timed concept and could play them for a hot minute, though agreeably the the draw of the challenge was not wholly compelling but is still a promising and inventive idea and an improvement on the choose-your-own-adventure narratives and labour-intensive side-quests of streaming services.

8x8 (12. 231)

shiroposuto: the last of Japan’s discrete adult reading material disposal boxes 

reinfection: bovine testing for bird flu virus suggests that the H5N1 is spreading silently—see previously   

with guns as my retirement and war as mistress: more protest anthems from Jessie Welles   

in the meantime, i am seriously considering cultivating stupidity, to the exclusion of everything else, as a way of life: the correspondence of Edward Gorey and Tom Fitzharris   

remember the giver: an assortment of Valentine’s Day letters   

tipping point: how things change slowly—then all at once, as illustrated by Kiki and Bouba   

morbidity and mortality weekly report: US Centres For Disease Control see research and outreach efforts hampered by Trump’s assault on the agency—see previously, see also   

enmusubi: the gathering of eight million gods play matchmaker for human relationships in this seaside prefecture

synchronoptica

one year ago:  1924’s Die Niebelungen (with synchronoptica), the endless news cycle plus assorted links to revisit

seven years ago: photographing a single atom, the illustrations of Giovanni Fontana, retro social media platforms plus street name diplomacy

eight years ago: more links to enjoy plus Germany votes

nine years ago: developing the .jpeg format, contention over US Presidents’ Day plus holograms to discourage non-disabled drivers taking handicapped parking spots

eleven years ago: forensics and biometrics plus pop culture Ottoman miniatures

Thursday, 13 February 2025

we’re back—can we talk? (12. 230)

Enron, the energy and commodities company whose business model was based on internal fraud and perpetrated one of the biggest bankruptcies at that time has been cannibalised, zombified—the now scandalised logo created by Paul Rand (previously), the last he designed—has been somewhat resurrected with its long lifeless website reanimated and under new management taking ownership of its past transgressions and breaches of trust and promising sustainable growth going forward. Rolling out its first new suite of products (surely there are bundled) in twenty years, it is introducing the Enron Egg, a micro nuclear reactor that can power a home for a decade—and the crypto token $ENRON, which after reaching a market cap of seven hundred million has already gone through one pump-and-dump cycle. More at the links above.

advance compliance (12. 229)

Disney, amid a board shift in DEI posture among American corporations, having already relented with a fifteen million dollar settlement plus profuse apologies for character defamation when an anchor said the garbage sex-pest had been found liable for rape rather than abuse, we learn via JWZ has reverted from the more thoughtful content warning introduced in October of 2020 for its vintage catalogue: This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe—to its previous terse disclaimer for classics that haven’t aged well, “This programme is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions.”

i think they have to make peace (12. 228)

Ahead of the weekend’s Munich Security Conference, NATO defence ministers came together in Brussels to express frustration following Trump’s announcement that after an hour and a half-long phone conversation with Vladimir Putin that he was ready to negotiate peace, completely sidelining Ukraine and European partner nations in the preamble to talks. US secretary of defence Hegseth defended the call to his counterparts, describing it as part of the pledge of the president to end the war in twenty-four hours and “certainly not a betrayal” of Kyiv, just days after telling the same group that Europe was no longer an American priority, upping their membership fees and Trump’s demand for a half-a-billion dollars worth of mining rights for rare earth elements in exchange for continued support, as a protective shield. Ukraine and Europe both refused to accept the outcome of bi-lateral negotiations for which they as stakeholders have no seat at the table. Though unclear if concessions to Russia were made, ancillary statements suggesting that the conflict would be frozen, with Russia retaining its captured territories, the restoration to pre-2014 borders seen as “unrealistic” as well as Ukraine’s ambition to join the pact. These details will possibly be expanded upon during the summit, marking nearly three years since the start of the invasion. Putin has also extended to Trump an invitation to come to Moscow in late Spring, some speculating to watch the 9 May Victory Day parade.

synchronoptica

one year ago: allegories of love (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: more links to enjoy, reforesting efforts, unpublished Foucault plus the Whitechapel Fatberg

eight years ago: US customs and border control can request passengers’ social media credentials, the alt-White House plus Apple’s internet cafรฉ concept

nine years ago: Roman valentines, campus protests, piled pastures plus aggregate fruits

eleven years ago: an Autobahn bridge zoned for housing

Wednesday, 12 February 2025

8x8 (12. 227)

patch barracks: military families boo and heckle defence secretary during a whistle-stop visit in Stuttgart en route to the Munich Security Conference 

stakes, novelty, anger, retention and fear: the SNARF model of viral content 

yrjรถ kukkapuro: a tribute to the pre-eminent Finnish furniture designer 

crossing a line: Timothy Snyder on hurtling towards authoritarianism—via Kottke  

agnotology: an encore episode on the study of wilful ignorance

mรฅke califรธrnia great รฆgain: US imperial aspirations prompt counter offers ranging from the serious to satirical 

ใ‚ถ: the nuances of definite article in article-less and uninflected Japanese language  

cultural moments: under pressure from anti-DEI diktats, Google removing Black History Month and Pride from its calendars—though the decision will not impact the daily Doodle

julian the hospitaller (12. 226)

Fรชted on this day in the Roman Catholic tradition as patron of innkeepers, wandering minstrels, clowns and jugglers—invoked by those seeking good lodging, is a fourth century saint from Gaul whose hagiography shares some elements with the story of ล’dipus. On the night of his birth into a prominent family, his father witnessed a witch casting a curse upon the boy, destining him to kill his parents. His father wanted to send him off immediately but his mother’s overtures stopped him and as Julian grew up, his mother often wept over this awful fate. Whilst out hunting in the woods one day as a young man, Julian encountered a stag who relayed to him the reason for his mother’s despondence. Resolving then to escape the curse, Julian marched for fifty days south to Galicia and settled there, marrying a noble widow and leading a prosperous life. Two decades later, his parents decided to try to find their estranged son and along the way, inquired where they might seek shelter for the night, weary from travel. and woman at a wayside altar at a crossroads graciously invited them to stay at her house, saying her husband was out hunting, treating them well and offering them their bed. Returning home from the hunt, the devil, however, whispered in Julian’s ear that his wife was unfaithful and carrying on with another man, and arriving to find his bed occupied, murdered the sleeping pair. Repenting for his grave misunderstanding (see also), Julian and his wife embarked on a pilgrimage to Rome, establishing a chain of hospices along the route to aid fellow travellers. His association with circus workers probably owes to the proximity of his feast day with Carnival.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a seventeenth century road atlas of England and Wales (with synchronoptica

seven years ago: the first flat-pack furniture

eight years ago: apocalyptic resorts, Russia floats extraditing Snowden to US, Trump assaults the administrative state, George Washington’s legendary lineage, the US Secretary of Education plus electing the German president

nine years ago: more on gravitational waves, a long-running German police procedural plus lenticular photographs

ten years ago: assorted links worth revisiting, Mean Girls and fine art plus eminent domain over unclaimed correspondence

Tuesday, 11 February 2025

we have this unelected fourth, unconstitutional branch of government (12. 225)

Journalists from the Associated Press were barred from attending an Oval Office event, a signing ceremony for yet another executive order—newsworthy for its magnitude and ineptitude—with Elon Musk in attendance to announce agency heads were to undertake preparations, working with DOGE to drastically reduce the size of the federal workforce after “billions and billions of dollars” in fraud, waste and abuse had been uncovered, for not referring as the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America in its syndicated articles, and reporters would continue to be excluded from the White House press pool until such time as wire service aligns its language with that of Trump’s. An EO banning the use of paper straws in federal facilities was also signed.  Several news organisations have rallied to the AP’s defence, saying that the president cannot dictate reporting or editing decisions. This follows other attacks against the press, including suits for supposed libel and deplatforming and banishing several outlets from the Pentagon, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and NPR as well as threatening the same group’s broadcasting licenses over newsroom and network diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives characterised as promotion “invidious forms of discrimination” that will not be tolerated.

pennywise (12. 224)

The title in reference to a corollary article from the same source, small change is in the news following the magisterial announcement that the US Mint has been ordered to stop the production of pennies—which following their elimination in Canada and other Commonwealth nations over a decade ago, America was expected to enact sooner rather than later, possibly held up by the domestic zinc lobby whose refining operations are based in the US neighbour to the north and now in the face of tariffs may have been persuaded into relenting as a way of accounting for this seeming low-stakes directive. And whilst it is true that each cost 3¢ to produce, and so many are minted per year because they are not in circulation, socked away in a drawer and hoarded by those waiting for the day it is demonetised (something that would take an act of Congress) so they can sell older pennies with higher cooper content as specie since it is illegal to melt down legal tender, discontinuing one coin could have second order effects that end up costing more money, nickels being also an example of “negative seigniorage” and more expensive to make and distribute.

synchronoptica

one year ago: portrait of a teenage alcoholic from 1975 (with synchronoptica),  Camembert under threat, assorted links worth revisiting, AI sweethearts plus monitoring air traffic

seven years ago: art in motion (caution flashing lights), flying roulette plus an impressive drone synchronisation 

eight year ago: a US supreme court nominee’s yearbook quote, a fake terror attack, bespoke emoji plus a daily survey of the entire Earth

nine years ago: human-animal chimera plus Titanic II

ten years ago: more links to enjoy, Project West-Ford plus comparing the Ukraine conflict with divided Ireland

Monday, 10 February 2025

rearing its ugly head (12. 223)

The 1958 political novel by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick, considered an iconic Cold War text, portrays the failures and frustrations the authors had with the US south-east Asian diplomatic corps and America’s trailing position geopolitically and depicts the shortcomings of the consular missions as aloof and out of touch with the countries where they were stationed. The Soviet Union was making significant strides technologically and militarily and were securing allies by liberating nations still in thrall to former colonial powers, fearing more and more would turn to Communism and the decline of Western influence. Serialised and a best-seller, the work informed JFK’s statecraft and influenced foreign policy in terms of pursuing soft-power in the form of aid and outreach, directly contributing to the creation of the Peace Corps and USAID. The title, soon becoming a pejorative but accurate term to describe the generally offensive and obnoxious behaviour demonstrated abroad, is a play on the Graham Greene book The Quiet American, published three years prior and set in Vietnam, questioning the US involvment in the region. The shuttering of such programmes recreates the political milieu of the early 1960s that prompted their creation in the first place.

7x7 (12. 222)

vandalising purposes—in this economy: one hundred thousand eggs are stolen in Pennsylvania 

we stand on guard: a ten year old graphic novel about a US invasion of Canada is surging in popularity  

narrow meaning: a love poem revealed by holding the page level with the eyes, foreshortening the characters—see previously here and here 

sandbox game: an omnibus appreciation of The Sims on their twenty-fifth anniversary—via MissCellania  

antipodes: an exploration of obscure islands  

read-ahead: a pre-summit release from the Munich Security Conference (previously) suggests that due to its imperial aspirations, the US no longer a trusted partner 

the price of eggs in china: inflation and rationing in America

nackte und naturnah (12. 221)

Via fellow internet caretaker Messy Nessy Chic, we are directed to a profile of Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, whom whilst rubbished by critics as the Kohlrabi (turnip) Apostle is regarded as the forefather alternative movements, championing naturism, vegetarianism and pacifism from a commune outside of Vienna and cooperative on Monte Veritร  on Lago Maggiore, established by protรฉgรฉs. His first moment of transcendence happened on this day in 1882 came at sunrise in the alpine foreland of Bavaria with the vocation of being a prophetic reformer, travelling to

Mรผnchen shortly thereafter in a woollen habit and sandals (though often unshod) and delivered his message, turning away from society’s institutions. Authorities suppressed his teachings and Diefenbach retreated to the countryside to focus on his paintings, though his fame did not materialise as with another follower’s, Hugo Hรถppener called Fidus and praise from the contemporaries like Egon Schiele, with the public focused on his unorthodox ways and a series of failed exhibitions though finally establishing a studio on Capri. Much more at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit, Lunar New Year plus Death of a Salesman (1949)

seven years ago: rewilding plus notes on adulting

eight years ago: the official White House photographer, parliamentary procedure plus more links to enjoy

nine years ago: a van Gogh retreat and retrospective 

ten years ago: Werner Herzog motivational posters, Deutschland 1983, reputed time-travellers plus social media and net-neutrality

Sunday, 9 February 2025

lix and liberal leave (12. 220)

Having no truck with this gladiatorial spectacle, I never took advantage of the policy of granting service members of the armed forces and the civilian component a delayed reporting due to Super Bowl and the time difference between the US and Europe, the game starting at 00:30 and continuing through the small hours. With Monday, however, being the first day of many agencies that have not already implemented the RTO (return to office policy) of Trump’s executive order, I do wonder how it will play out, begging the question whether they, the newly minted Secretary of Defence (someone said Kegsbreath) know or care about the nuances of their global mission, factoring in limited office space, serviced clients, funding sources, morale, etc. Will this be a delayed reporting and treated like another snow day?

apรฉro (12. 219)

BBC correspondent Emily Monaco delivers a delectable profile on the French daily custom of cocktail hour, signalling the transition from the work day to the family time, through the origins of the standard, default beverage, in a country of scores of regional drinks, pastis, that came to a place prominence by dent of the ban on absinthe and the promulgated belief that it caused criminal insanity and some clever marketing that produced a more socially acceptable aniseed-infused aperitif, served in the style of southern France, diluted with water until in takes on a cloudy and yellow, hue, mirroring the ritual of the stronger surrogate.

๐Ÿ’ค (12. 218)

Via friend of the blog Nag on the Lake, we are directed this futuristic pair of pyjamas, a sleep apparel system, a garment sponsored by the government of Japan to improve one’s sleep hygiene in response to numerous studies that show the country’s citizens are among the most sleep-deprived among highly-developed nations—see previously. Meant to promote polyphasic cycles—that is getting in a nap, see also—with a portable, rest-inducing environment. The comfy down mantle with adjustable compression and inflating collar and noise-cancelling headgear are integrated with sensors to triangulate and optimise one’s sleep segments and was inspired by the traditional futon bed. More from Spoon & Tamago at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a clairvoyant horse (with synchronoptica), a quasi-moon, national jukebox plus lessons in logic and rhetoric from Star Trek: TAS

seven years ago: the state of public education in Oklahoma plus WiFi hotspots

eight years ago: chief of public enlightenment plus the degeneration of factory towns

nine years ago: ad blockers, assorted links to revisit plus this day in history

ten years ago: sitting is the new smoking plus the American roadtrip

Saturday, 8 February 2025

gmod (12. 217)

Mindful of the adage that one should never make fun of a person’s pronunciation because they may have only seen it written beforehand and are saying it out loud for the first time, I was yesterday years old when I found out that skibidi (previously, this was a phenomenon that I thought I could be firm in ignoring) is spoken like a substitute for “zippity do da” and not like the historic music venue CBGB as I said it in my head. Incidentally, it has no meaning and is just a funny sounding filler word that originates from a dance song from a Russian rave group called Little Big from a 2018 track becoming a meme for an eponymous challenge to post one’s own dance video variations. Rather dadaesquely, it has become a prefix for nonsense and the surreal. A spinoff cartoon series called Skibidi Toilet by Alexey Gerasimov has been licensed for a range of products, including toys, costumes and cosmetics and film producer Michael Bay is in talks with its creator for a cinematic adaptation.