say hello to your boy—special guy

The son of the Supreme Court associate justice that the Trump administration is pressuring to retire sooner rather than later so Trump will be able to nominate pivotal pick for his replacement was the Deutsche Bank executive, during whose tenure extended the Trump organisation a line of credit of well over a billion dollars—at a time when most other financial institutions were wary of lending to the Trump crime family.
Republicans are urging the Reagan-appointee who has been the swing vote on the court’s many split decisions to step down before the mid-term elections this fall, fearful that the outcome could frustrate the installation of an arch-conservative figure. Perhaps given the relationship with the family that spans nearly two decades, the soon-to-be superannuated member could be persuaded that he is leaving the high court in competent hands.

twelve golden mullets, their points not touching

Though I’d venture that the symbol did not enter into common-parlance nor was readily identifiable until the early 2000s, on this day in 1985 the European Communities (now the Council of Europe) and the European Union adopted its official flag to represent the supranational organisation.
Not displacing the national flags but flown along side them, it is considered a “community logo” rather than an emblem accorded the honours and protection reserved for other symbols of state. The stars do not represent any particular member and rather a sense of unity and equal-standing. Though those who originally designed the flag and calculated its proportions deny the suggestion—at least on a conscious level, there is a golden statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the cathedral of Strasbourg depicted with a golden halo or crown of stars who is displayed in an alcove of a deep blue stained-glass window.

grain of salt

Although it’s true to argue that inauthentic product reviews and endorsements will become more and more adaptively deceptive, like the fake news problem which looms large over society as a whole which destroys relations built on trust and credibility, it’s nonetheless vital to fight against it and some of the automation tools used to amplify an item or an opinion can be used to combat it.
The always engrossing NPR Planet Money brings us the story of one frustrated consumer’s inspired effort to help counteract that particular bane of the connected world. The outcome of his investigations culminate with the site Review Meta that can help identify likely bogus ratings and evaluations, and it’s well worth the time to listen to the entire vignette (because it is clever and) to gain an understanding about the criteria that helps spot an imposter or corporate shill. Distrust will, unchecked, eventually spell the end of the online marketplace—as well as the forum—once we reach a tipping-point where all confidence is squandered.

6x6

we don’t deserve dogs: a very good boy in Madrid demonstrates his life-saving skills

heat-exchange: we’ve crossed a critical climate point-of-no-return in the Barents Sea

german engineering: a proposal for a solar power plant that’s nearly a century old plus an even older printing-press that ran on sunshine

thinking you’re impervious to the dunning-kruger effect is itself an example of the dunning-kruger effect: more on the psychological observation (previously) that helps explain why we’re all confidently incompetent

pr’s pr award: the World Architectural Festival has announced its finalists for building of the year

the pearl of great price: plans to build a Mormon utopian community of microhousing (based on the biblical Enoch’s exceptional righteous, and rapture-ready city) poses a threat to Vermont’s historic village, via Super Punch

demonstration kitchen

Laughing Squid directs our attention to the wonderfully quiet and uncluttered series of cooking videos that instructs without words. Amateur chef Connor Nelson was inspired to create Silently Cooking after finding himself overwhelmed and annoyed with the ongoing commentary that accompanies most other gastronomic channels. I like this approach (although generally not caring for this whole pivot-to-video trend) and think there would be an audience for other disciplines and communities to take vows of silence.

me and julio

free exercise clause

Our antiquarian and historian JF Ptak’s latest post really piqued our interest on the matter of the religious neutrality of the framers of the country’s constitution and of the custom of pledging one’s allegiance. The oath of fealty was originally composed by a Union Army officer to instil a sense of patriotism during the American civil war. CPT George Thatcher Balch’s version was as follows:

We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag!

For the occasion of the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the New World, the National Education Association commissioned socialist preacher, author and educator Francis Julius Bellamy to compose something which was less juvenile and dignified that could be included not just as opening ablutions in the classroom but also for sessions of congress, sporting events, etc.
Noting the how incorporating documents of America had been carefully crafted to avoid religious terminology, Bellamy wanted to make sure that he was not creating an invocation either. We especially appreciated the succinct and lucid legal citation of the US Supreme Court’s landmark 1878 case Reynolds v. United States as a means to illustrate the government’s legal and proper stance towards religious convictions. Civic law should not be subverted or made to align with religious ones or be allowable as defence for not dutifully discharging one’s legal obligations (the case involved polygamy), for to do otherwise and elevate belief above the law of the land would in effect make every individual “a law unto himself” and remove government regulation and ability to enforce the law altogether. Bellamy’s first version, timed to be recited in fifteen seconds, went as follows:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Following the French cri du coeur, Bellamy had considered using the words equality and fraternity instead but thought it would be highly hypocritical, considering the way African Americans and women were treated in 1892. After much lobbying by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Knights of Columbus, the pledge assumed its present form in 1954 to include the phrase “under God,” the swearing of the pledge no longer punctuated by a salute rendered as that custom was removed by an act of congress in December of 1942, having decided that the gesture was too similar to the Nazi salute.

5:4

In a decision split along liberal and conservative lines, the US high court signalled to its people and executive the legal leeway to uphold America’s sovereign right to be a twerp and bully in general by vindicating Trump’s racially-charged travel ban.
For those of you playing along, this decision—in a series of markedly regressive though possibly not as broad in their applications ones—reaffirms that the coup had its origins long before this crime syndicate lodged itself in the White House. Normally when a seat at the Supreme Court becomes vacant, it is the prerogative of the sitting president (with the ascent of the legislature) to fill that position with a nominee of his or her choice—as was the case when conservative Justice Antonin Scalia passed away in February 2016 and President Obama nominated District of Columbia chief circuit judge Merrick Garland. Breaking with a long-standing custom, however, the Republican controlled Senate refused to hold hearings, arguing that the appointment should rest in the hands of the next president—ostensibly hoping that another conservative-minded justice would be awarded a place at the court and would be able to forward their socio-political agenda. With lifetime appointments, the selection of magistrates and the composition of high courts are shielded from the fickleness of the party in power and cannot be easily unseated through democratic means.