inescutcheon

We learn that among the current banners of the US states, Oregon is the only flag to have a different obverse and reverse (pictured, Alabama, Massachusetts, Minnesota and West Virginia used to)—my thinking tends that the beaver makes a better symbol (see also).
The front displays “State of Oregon” with the year of its incorporation, 1859, above and below the achievement taken from the state seal. From 1980 to 1991, the flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics displayed the Hammer and Sickle on one side only with the back being a solid red field, and the flag and ensign of Paraguay is a triband and tricolour with a small disc centred in the fess with the coat of arms on the front and the small disc on the back displaying the motto peace and justice (also used by the country’s Ministry of Justice) with a lion and a Phrygian cap.

moral hazard, moral obligation

Like the slap on the wrist that a social media giant received for bulldozing democracy and delivering Trump and Johnson and leaving us hobbled and handicapped absence the public trust and confidence in institutions and process to try to reclaim our government and civil society, a consumer credit-reporting agency was also given a paltry fine for its wrongdoings, compromising the data and confidence (and covering it up) of millions of Americans and people abroad. And though staking one’s claim to the class-action settlement for the amount allocated to each affected person is a bit onerous and insulting and probably the cheap alternative they are salivating over to avoid consequential punishment in the future, should you want these giant financial institutions to aspire to be better custodians of our data in the future, you ought to take the time and file your claim. It’s worth $125 at minimum to you (this is your entitlement for being put at risk for identity theft), more if you can demonstrate hardship encountered above and beyond that—and it’s just regurgitating back to the creditors the personal details on you they already have and then carelessly lost.

hov lane

Via Design Boom, we learn about a simple but effective intervention that the city of Utrecht has instigated to create sanctuaries—bees stops (Bijstopt), for urban insects by planting grasses and wildflowers on top of bus shelters, some three hundred of them throughout the city. This is a step we could all encourage where we live. Much more to explore at the link above.

okjökull

Via My Modern Met, we learn that a group of scientists and activists from Rice University in the course of producing a documentary called “Not Ok” chronicling the loss of Iceland’s first glacier (Ok for short) in Borgarfjörður have created a memorial plaque and missive to the future, our judges whether we did what was needed to save the others.
Not only does it eulogise this tragic first slippage for the island that won’t be its last and the consequences of a catastrophic, runaway climate change. The plaque is to be installed 18 August and makes note of the atmospheric CO₂ count in parts per million, which might become a novel way to date events.

see you later alligator

From a round-up on Kaiju and Kaiju-adjacent packaging and logos curated by Super Punch, we stumble across perhaps the greatest, retired mascot (see also) ever—the able Alligator for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (Osaka-Shōsen-Kobe, MOL), one of the largest shipping companies in the world. For all the container cargo we see passing through, I am really surprised we’ve never noticed or at least registered this one before. Do you have any other nominees aligned with this theme?

hairball

Delightfully, we learn that from a candid picture of their cat regaled with its shed fur as a jaunty head-dress—the subjects might be humiliated but not distressed by it since it’s their own fur—has developed into a minor movement and phenomenon known as Nukege (猫 抜け毛, shed or dander) Hats. I’m sure it takes some practise and patience to get good at it—and a cooperative model—but the medium seems to be pretty pliable. See a whole gallery and learn more about the originators at the link above.