it’s bananas—b-a-n-a-n-a-s

As part of a series of episodes on the topic of cartels and monopolies, NPR’s Planet Money takes a look at how the pendulum of US justice system swung from one extreme to the other in its view on mergers and acquisitions—from advocating consumer protection and the fostering of competition to the notion that the public benefited from consolidation and corporate imperialism.
The shift in outlook was largely due to the influence of US Solicitor General (elevated to that position due to the carnage of the Saturday Night Massacre) and DC circuit judge Robert Bork (*1927 – †2012)—whose views coloured the opinion of the Supreme Court (whose nomination to the high-court was famously blocked, coining the term to bork as a verb for obstructing or de-platforming) regarding antitrust matters from the 1970s onward and resulting in these giant conglomerates and inescapable subsidiaries. One of the legal scholars contributing to this piece described the government’s extreme stance on both sides as a kid—beginning with the best intentions—starting to spell “bananas” and not knowing when to stop.

life electric

First isolated in a riverbed in 1987 and quickly recognised for the potential as an agent of bioremediation for their affinity for heavy metals that are otherwise toxic to microbes (see also), geobacter excrete electrons as by-products of their metabolism. In collaboration with the University of Ghent, Dutch designer Teresa van Dongen has created—as a demonstration project—lamps (though the frame of the piece is more reminiscent of the body of a virus rather multiplying proteobacteria) powered by this singular bacterial discharge, quartering a colony in a battery where it can thrive—recharged on a weekly basis with a drink of tap water cut with vinegar.

multicurse

We enjoyed very much contemplating this illustrated history of mazes and labyrinths, a 1922 volume curated by Public Domain Review.
The branching lanes referred to as curses and the turns each a course, these classical pieces of landscaping and iconography from legendary times through to churchyards and engravings and the ornamental gardens of the great estates speak indeed to a collective unconsciousness and present a meditative puzzle, regardless of vantage point though some perspectives might seem more advantageous than others, especially if one is the engineer and architect. Much more to explore at the link above.

what kind of person bokehs a child?

We were extra delighted to learn—via the always brilliant Nag on the Lake—that Apple has taken the very real photographic technique and aesthetic that means blurry or hazy in Japanese, anthimerized (“I’ll unhair thy head” or “the thunder would not peace at my bidding” from Shakespeare or more recently, “Don’t @ me”)—verbified, to demonstrate the depth control, softening focus with the ability to reverse the effect, feature of the camera on their latest smart phone.

hatefulness/impish

On this day at this time in 1971, an erroneous Emergency Action Notification was dispatched to US broadcasters, directing stations to cease regularly scheduled programming immediately at the request of the government but no reason was given.
Listen to WCCO serving Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota area air silence here. The title refers to the codewords to give and them belay that order, and the bungle with the false alarm (the operator picked the wrong tape) revealed a lot endemic faults with the system—including that due to the fact the message coincided with a regularly scheduled systems test and many choose to ignore it and additional safeguards were added.

8x8

shadow-boxing: more clever illustrations from Vincent Bal (previously)

a sid and marty krofft production: the Banana Splits (see also) may get a revival, possibly as homicidal maniacs

animal husbandry: falcon breeders wear special copulation hats to get donor samples (see also the Falcon Hive), via Super Punch

shelf-life: a book whose pages are slices of processed cheese

www: via Kottke’s Quick Links, we discover that CERN has rebuilt the original 1990 browser that Tim Berners-Lee invented as an in-browser emulation—how does your website look through the lens of three decades?

bauhaus: a collection of short documentaries celebrating the design movement’s centenary (previously)

prêt-à-porter: a retrospective look at some of Karl Lagerfeld’s greatest fashion shows

climeworks: the determined Swiss start-up that is working to stop climate change through direct CO₂ capture, via Swiss Miss  

geheimtreffen vom 20. februar

In order to raise funds for the election of the Nazi Party ahead of the early March general ballot and secure the two-thirds chambers majority to pass Enabling Act legislation (Ermächtigungsgesetz—formally called the “Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Reich”) and block its defeat, and give the party chancellor Adolf Hitler the plenary powers to pass laws without involving the tedious and meddlesome Reichstag, party officials held a secret meeting with some twenty prominent German industrialist (IG Farben, Opel, Siemens, various coal magnates, bankers and defence executives) on this day in 1933. Over two million Reichsmarks were contributed and made payable to a trust established by the party, and while the role of big business financing was undoubtedly crucial to the Nazis seizing power, it is also unclear if donations were completely voluntary.

all the presidents’ meals

The always brilliant Everlasting Blört refers us to a rather incredible, wide-ranging study from Foreign Policy on official White House State Dinners and how the evolution of the menu reflects changing tastes, health trends and American cuisine. Harry S Truman, hosting Dutch and British prime ministers Willem Drees and Winston Churchill, most certainly served samples of a certain new corn chip called Fritos and a couple of old fashioneds.
Nixon lost his creative flair after Watergate and recycled Bibb salads.  Jimmy Carter held the biggest state dinner with dignitaries from all over Latin American invited to attend the US transferring ownership of the Panama Canal. At one of the Reagans’ events, John Travolta danced with Princess Diana. Inventions of the kitchen—special sauces and desserts—were often named after the guests of honour. Reflecting popular diet fads of the 1990s, the Clinton White House only served beef on two occasions. Beautifully presented—plated, the interactive presentation that covers nearly nine decades of gastro-diplomatic fêting, we are ready to dig in and sample the courses through history.