tenerife airport disaster

Prompting strict enforcement of standardised instructions, safety protocols and English as a common-working language for air traffic controllers and flight crews, the deadliest accident in aviation history occurred on this day in 1977 when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway in foggy conditions on the Spanish island. Five hundred eighty-three people were killed. Members of the Canary Islands Independence Movement had planted a bomb at the larger Gran Canaria airport and called in the threat, this terrorist incident causing planes to be diverted to the smaller regional Los Rodeos airport in the northern part of Tenerife, causing the taxiway to become congested and arriving and departing planes sharing the single runway had to wait their turn in deteriorating weather conditions. A mutual misunderstanding tragically caused the KLM and Pan Am flights to start at the same time.

no taxation without representation

Directing us to some pro- and dishonestly counter-arguments for the District of Columbia to be elevated to statehood with full territorial autonomy with a governor and senatorial membership TYWKIWDBI highlights this different standard for enfranchisement as other state legislatures are working feverishly to codify voter suppression and further disenfranchise voices by making the ballot a luxury and privilege instead of a right. This juxtaposition makes us realise how expansion and conferring statehood—always keeping some colonies in reserve should they prove useful in the future—has always been about political advantage and currying a majority. From incorporating Kansas and Missouri as pro-slavery and pro-abolition states and encouraging settlement by those sympathetic to one side or another to the near simultaneous admission of Alaska and Hawaii in order to preserve a balance many conservatives and liberals, Democratic-leaning Washington, DC whose polity is bigger than Vermont’s or Wyoming’s, both of whom are arguably over-represented and potentially too powerful like Kentucky Palpatine, was traditional paired with Puerto Rico for statehood, as in the past the island was perceived as more reliably Republican but not so much any more. As with the indefensible and unrestrainedly racist roll-backs and disaccomodations taking place in the state of Georgia, pressed for answers, opposing lawmakers cannot come up with good reasons to continue suppressing DC residents.

ahab

We were pleased to learn that the ambitious project to illustrate page-by-page the whole of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick by graphic designer Matt Kish (previously) has finally been published in book form so one can contemplate all the drawings in parallel to the text that informed and inspired them. Though still available at the artist’s original blogger blog (see above) we would encourage you to get a printed copy for the best experience.

forever given

We really enjoyed these curated tweets on the jack-knifed cargo ship blocking traffic in the Suez Canal from Super Punch including a dating app for those captains and crew stuck in the queue, an invitation to tag one’s battle avatar from among the named ships in the growing pile-up (see also, our favourites are a toss-up between Bulk Venus and the Nautical Deborah) plus some clearing up on the identity of the ship: not called evergreen—that’s the company—it’s evergreen’s monster.

királypuccsnak

Taking advantage of the quiet ahead of Easter with the Diet not in session and the regent installed by the Allies Miklós Horthy settled in for a long weekend at the palace, former king and last Hapsburg Austro-Hungarian emperor Karl I. (IV. Károly) attempted on this day in 1921 to retake the throne, encouraged by royalists and his close entourage.

la pista automobilistica

Completed in 1923, this historical aerial photograph of the Lingotto building in Turin once housed the automotive factory of Fiat, with raw materials uniquely loaded on the ground floor and the assembly line moving up a helix of five storeys for completion with finished models emerging on a rooftop test track. Production of cars was eventually mothballed in 1982 but Renzo Piano redesigned the complex, preserving its character and race track—seen in the original 1969 heist movie The Italian Job—as a corporate headquarters and multipurpose centre with a hotel and convention space.

gleichgewicht

The 1989 animated short (Trickfilm) by twin brothers Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein Balance won an Academy Award in that category for the following spring’s Oscars, on this day in 1990. Five individuals confined to a floating platform must cooperate lest their world tips over, complicated by the introduction of a mysterious, heavy chest. The Lauensteins have gone on to work on feature length animation and commercial works including station idents for MTV.

7x7

a tree grows in brooklyn: a map of New York’s great perennials  

no wine before its time: an interview with the director of Orson Welles’ infamous commercial for Paul Masson’s California champagne  

foley artists: the talented individuals who help make supplemental sounds for nature documentaries  

what level of wood panelling is this: McMansion Hell yearbook 1979—previously  

riding the rails: the portfolio of Wang Fuchun (RIP), celebrated photographer best known for capturing the narrative train travel  

schwarzschild radius: the Event Horizon Telescope—previously—takes another picture of the black hole  

hempire state: New York poised to legalise cannabis