with malice towards none

It took some time for Dear Leader’s anointing speech to resolve into context, as one might be forgiven how words at this juncture are actually tone-setting rather than writ on sand, but this consequence did eventually reveal itself, showing the incumbent being little different than the candidate.
Only addressing his electoral base, Dear Leader made very little concession to reconciliation and the monologue careened towards the ahistorical. Those not already in his constituency were given little solace.  All those former presidents and present wardens of government that shared the dais with the speaker were not just put on notice but moreover denounced and disparaged as failures that led to his elevation and mandate. Only addressing the audience assembled before him, there was no message of unity or sacrifice that credits those thinking differently or those who sacrificed before. What do you think? Read those speeches of resounding significance from Lincoln and Kennedy and the Roosevelts where the quotable lines come from—even those intermediaries or under-studies acknowledged who came before. Surely any reign without milieu cannot be judged favourably by history, which is I think another bugbear tossed out there for one’s consideration and trepidation.

fare-zone or metro-link

Back in 2013, graphic designer Mark Ovenden drafted his concept of a world connected by their existing subway systems, well before the engineers and visionaries behind Hyperloop One might make such an arrangement of swift and environmentally sustainable mass transportation possible. Inspired by Harry Beck’s iconic diagrammatic transport map of the London Underground, this work endures as a useful conversation-starter when it comes to holding a dialogue on investment in infrastructure and what a radical new mode of transportation means for the future where borders are meaningless and commutes rather tractless as well. More of the latest developments on the monumental project can be found at the link up top.

stop, collaborate and listen

I enjoyed reading about these rather timeless tunes that were sampled from elsewhere from Mental Floss.
Though most I think know that the anthems of the US are not original in their scoring and reflect a kind of awkward musical appropriation, I had never known that the carol “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” or in Charles Wesley’s first composition Hark! how all the welkins (heavens) ring, glory to the King of kings, was set to the tune of the popular Gutenberg cantata (der Festgesang) by Felix Mendelssohn that celebrated the four hundredth anniversary of the printing-press, that’s a fitting bombastic torch-song tribute to the printed word, first performed in 1840. The carol’s lyrics were adapted to the tune fifteen years later as part of a Christmas medley.

degenerate art

Predictably, Trump announces that his administration will eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and privatise the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—not because they are particular budgetary drain nor rarefied plaything of the elite but rather because he does not care for them, which is also what he believes his supporters want to hear.
Of course these assaults against government support for the arts are perennial and these institutions have withstood the likes of far more savvy opponents, but we could sure us some help. The financial support is not about dictating taste or indoctrinating the young—which ironically is more amicable to tyrants than the virtues of citizenship and critical thought that they espouse and are charged with exposing people to. As bad as things are and with art under threat, I don’t think that even this regime could compel Elmo and Grover to don their Gestapo uniforms and disappear Mister Johnson in the night. Support your local station and chapter (those smaller museums and expositions that the NEA and the NEH make possible) and spread the word.

thumbs up or speculation is 20/20

Apparently already thoroughly disgusted with the prospects for world peace and prosperity for the next four years, political augurs are already prognosticating a candidacy for US president on the part of a major social media network founder, whose been rather coy about putting out feelers—at least in their interpretation.
The media billionaire (who’ll be barely of legal age by 2020 to hold the office) is embarking on a tour to engage with people in all fifty states of the Union—which sounds like something an aspiring politician would do—to help all people finding meaning and authenticity in interconnectivity, which also sounds sufficiency rousing. It’s a little soon—maybe, but what do you think? I don’t think that the face of Facebook is exactly the antidote and antithesis to what America is awakening to presently—and the site and the cultural norms it has fostered are certainly not of unimpeachable character, no matter how reflective that they are of us. Perhaps by the time the campaign season begins, it will be a super-human act to refrain from glancing at one’s cheering section and only one who is already acquainted with the dirty laundry and the skeletons in one’s closets might be able to practise restraint and thus appear weirdly disciplined and relatable.

affront national oder petry le pen

Riding a wave of populism, the city of Koblenz is host to a counter-summit of the right-wing hardliner parties from across Europe.
The conference, which is mostly a publicity stunt since by their definition, they seek no grander supra-national coalition, rather than a strategic meeting to spin straw into political capital, was announced under the hashtag #wewillmakeourcountriesgreatagain and aims to redress (or pander to) concerns over lost sovereignty and anxieties regarding security and immigration. Many mainstream media outlets are being disinvited for allegations of bias and labels that sow disdain and dismissal, yet this event is also seen as a staging platform for the news, opinion and commentary network that helped propel Trump to victory expansion to Germany.