official channels or meanwhile—back at galt’s gulch

Surely apropos of some sort of unpublicised gaffe with those tag-line salutations that some people choose to personalise their missives with, we received a citation from the governing regulation as a friendly-reminder to cut out the practise.

(2) Use of inappropriate signature blocks when sending electronic messages (emails). Army policies for records management apply to emails. Emails generated by Army personnel in their official capacity from Army communication devices (including but not limited to computers and hand held devices) will not contain slogans, quotes, or other personalized information as part of the individual sender’s signature block.

Signature blocks within emails will contain only the necessary business information, such as: the name of the organization (office, activity, or unit represented); official mailing address or unit information; name of individual; telephone numbers (Defense Switched Network, commercial telephone, cell phone number, or facsimile numbers); office email addresses or government websites (unit web or social media page); government disclaimer (Privacy Act Statement, Attorney Client Notice); unit historical motto or any other information approved by Headquarters Department of the Army. Requests for exceptions will be submitted to the first flag officer or equivalent in the chain of command (with possible delegation to the next in the chain of command, or his/her equivalent).

Most of them, those mottoes either are too arch, not that good (especially after seeing them more than once) or outright embarrassing. I noticed that above coda on an email from a colleague and felt quite sorry for her—having been there myself at one point.

voiture populaire

Just a Car Guy introduces us to the concept automobile built by the French company Panhard et Levassor (who are credited with having created the first modern transmission) in 1948, the Dynavia, as a smaller and more affordable people’s car that the company would be more in keeping with post-war realities. The prototype (another voiture here) with an aluminium, aerodynamic chassis and weighing in at only four hundred kilograms, never went into mass production itself but influenced the design and spirit of the subsequent line of  Panhard Dyna Z saloons (sedans), manufactured from the mid- to late-1950s.

breaking functional fixedness

I’ve found myself mediating on the question of insight and the cultural blind-spots that prevent us from being keen-sighted enough to recognise (both writ large and writ small) our own mistakes, achievements, peril and opportunities in ourselves or in others with this rather brilliant, succinct essay by Umair Haque, introduced by Jason Kottke.
Posing the question, what do you call a world that can’t learn from itself, societies risk cultivating the inability to see beyond the horizon of their established norms and values. Perhaps the dichotomy of a more authentic Europe and an ersatz America is not wholly an accurate one (which does not matter) since I don’t believe that Europeans are beyond the enticements that have driven US quality of life down to new lows, but rather because insisting on perfect generalisations that can be compartmentalised in one way or another is exactly what wedges aspersion between groups and makes one less likely to appreciate how good or bad conditions are and re-enforces the refusal to learn from the success or failures of another. Insofar as both extremes are taken for granted, Americans are loath to experiment with foreign ways of doing things, despite evidence that they work better and might even translate well across the Atlantic, and those nations who’ve achieved are just as disinclined to see how their happy existence is in jeopardy by tolerating the regressive forces of exclusion and keeping others down and out that will undo the underpinnings. What do you think? Can we as individuals and as a society (no matter where we live) cultivate practising insight?

jumping jehoshaphat

As if it weren’t inflammatory enough for the United States to unilaterally declare Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel and symbolically transform its consulate into an embassy, the controversial recognition is being aired by the United Nations’ General Assembly, who’ve resolved to put the decision to a vote—mostly likely of condemnation, that’s only baiting the UN into the hands of thugs and bullies.
Trump’s fawning ombudsman, and not for the first time, has pledged to take careful note of how each member votes and suggests that not only will the United States begrudge those who cross it foreign aid (which of course is not a charitable contribution but something that the US does to further its own interests, which includes regional stability) but that sovereign states might consider showing their solidarity by moving their respective diplomatic missions to Jerusalem as well. While I am confident that this effort to strong-arm the international community to legitimise Trump’s ill-conceived statecraft, it’s painfully awkward that his narcissism has brought us here and some administrations (either opportunistic or stymied) may have excised their option to voice dissent.

standseilbahn

Residents of the car-free Alpine village of Stoos are now able to make the steep but direct, time-saving descent into the valley and the town of Schwyz in central Switzerland. Construction and planning of this stretch of funicular railway took over fourteen years and there are special gyroscopic carriages on the locomotive to ensure that passengers remain at a comfortable, upright position even when the gradient surpasses ninety degrees. Be sure to check out the link above for more information and some video footage of what must be a thrilling ride.

yearbook

Though perhaps not the finest, challenging or most emotionally-wrenching moments of the past year, we did appreciate this curated gallery of photographs from the Atlantic that truly lives up to the label of the most 2017 images ever. There’s been a lot this year we could really do with less of in the next. There are certainly some iconic—rather unforgettable moments and movements captured here. What else would you include? If you we making a time-capsule to explain this time to future generations, what says 2017 like nothing else?

opinion polling

First spotted on Boing Boing where one can find other vexillographic specimens which do seem to be uniquely designed according to ones answers but I am unsure how true to heraldic principles the elements are, Politiscales presents users with a battery of one hundred and seventeen questions (rather long for a survey but it is comprehensive and you get a sense of commitment to plough through) and at the end, analyses one’s political leanings, rating one’s outlooks on globalism versus nativism, revolution versus reformism, etc. I could not tell if afterwards whether or not one could tweak their scores and have a slightly different flag and national motto assigned to them. You should give it a whirl and share your results. I don’t know if I’m satisfied with mine—it does not seem particularly woke nor the banner of a vaguely Jesus-y bon vivant that I might be described as. I think I’ll give it another go and attend more closely to the questions and think about how views-expressed can be reified as a standard-bearer.