qed

In plane geometry, according to the theorem proved by mathematician John Horton Conway (see previously, *1937 - †2020), when the points of a triangle are extended by the length of the side opposite each vertex, the six points fall on a circle which shares the same centre as the triangle. Computationally, logically, this geometric construct demonstrates something that could have easily been included in Euclid’s Elements but took several millennia to be discovered.

ewtn

Founded in 1980 by Mother Angelica (Rita Antoinette Rizzo, *1923 - †2016) of the Poor Clares (appropriately) of Perpetual Adoration and first beginning broadcasting on this day, the Feast of the Assumption, in 1981 from a studio in a converted garage of a monastery in Irondale, Alabama, the Eternal Word Television Network grew to become a global media empire, providing round the clock devotional and catechetical programming, daily mass and papal news.

i have directed secretary connolly to suspend temporarily the convertibility of the dollar into gold or other reserve assets, except in amounts and conditions determined to be in the interest of monetary stability and in the best interest of the united states

Effectively ending the economic arrangement among Canadian, Western Europe, Australia and Japan since 1944, the Bretton Woods system (see previously), the first fully negotiated monetary order recognised across independent polities that regulated exchange rates by pinning national currencies to the price of gold under the supervision of the International Monetary Fund, American president Richard Nixon announced, unilaterally, that on this day in 1971 the dollars could no longer be freely converted to their worth in gold. Rendered a fiat currency instead of a representation of intrinsic value, only upheld by the consent of the parties engaged in trade for goods or services, many other signatories soon followed suit and untethered their money. This jarring economic policy change was the culmination of several intervention strategies undertaken by the Nixon administration to curb inflation incurred as the world reserve currency (privilège exorbitant as the US could print money at virtually no cost, but subsidised by the rest of the world, each bank note expatriated cost face value in actual goods), preceded by wage and price freezes and raising tariffs. Loosing the ability to service indebtedness over the war in Vietnam, Nixon accused other nations of gaming the system and using established conventions to devalue their currency to maintain a competitive advantage. The US dollar dropped precipitously in value shortly thereafter and led to the the stagflation that typifies the decade and general failure of wages to rise proportionally with the increasing prices of vital things like healthcare, education, rents and food.

happy blogoversary—we are now thirteen years old

As PfRC passes this milestone, we wanted to again extend our gratitude to our readership for your encouragement and sustaining interest, and hope that we’ve given you all something to pique your curiosity and aspire to keep the internet engaging and old school.

Since our last celebration, here are the most popular posts:

10. An entry about the pirate broadcaster Radio Caroline



9. The “Washington Wives” call for the Parents’ Music Resource Center


8. General Motors commissions a trio of pro-capitalist propaganda cartoons during the height of the Red Scare



7. An entry comparing emojis for ringed planets




6. Live-tweeting revolutions, from previous years’ top ten.




5. Speculation about the etymology of OK, also from past years.



4. A cross-post from Art for Housewives about author and journalist Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway’s third wife



3. A treasury of typographical and graphic design resources curated by the Internet Archive




2. A post looking at Cyrillic numerals


1. Tying for number one are a duo of posts about the equal sign, one reminding us to practise social distance and about the advent of the glyph itself


Salutations to all of you and wishing you nothing but the best for the balance of 2021.

there ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t climb

Beginning a three-week streak at the top of the US charts on this in 1965, the ballad by Sonny Bono written for and performed with his then-wife Cher (previously) was inspired by Bob Dylan’s folk rock hit for the Turtles “It Ain’t Me Babe” with Bono expressing the opposite sentiment. In 1993, Cher recorded a cover-version with the animated characters Beavis and Butt-Head as a single from their comedy album The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience. That song also rated highly on international music rankings. In 2016, Cher performed a parody of it called “I Got you Bae” with commentary on relationships in the era of social media. Personally, we thought the best version—other than the performance on their variety hour in 1976—was Dorothy and Sophia as the duo on The Golden Girls.

fractal and form constant

Via Pasa Bon!—we are having fun creating colourful mandalas and kaleidoscopic images with this little painting tool from F. Permadi. Brush sizes and palette are customisable and there’s also an auto-draw feature that will generate tumbling vectors for you.  Give it a try and be sure to share your compositions. 

great birnam wood to high dunsinane hill

Historical basis for the Shakespearian tragedy, Scottish king Duncan I (*1001, Donnchad mac Crinain) is killed in action leading a punitive expedition against an uprising in Moray—in the north near Elgin, domains under the control of his cousin and usurper Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findláich)—on this day in 1040. The character of the play however is portrayed as an old man and is killed in bed by the protagonist, spurred on by ambitious Lady Macbeth (Gruoch ingen Boite), who get the king’s bodyguards inebriated to the extent that they are implicated in the murder. A principal source for the stage retelling was King James’ 1597 volume on Dæmonologie and the royal house’s obsession with witchcraft and prophesy.

heli-home

Via friend of the blog Nag on the Lake we learn that in anticipation of our promised flying cars and jet-set future in the mid-seventies, Winnebago ambitiously teamed up with a helicopter service (that sourced its craft from army surplus) to offer a flying recreational vehicle that could go anywhere, with a spacious and luxurious cabin fully equipped with all the comforts of home, sleeping six with full kitchen, bath, generator and colour television.

Many more details and specifications at the links above, including footage of the model in flight. Though out of the range of most like its predecessor which also burned through nearly three hundred litres of fuel per hour in flight and required a qualified pilot, we also learned from the comments section that such ostentation is not only relegated to the past but there’s currently for hire an amphibious plane, the Grumman Albatross, with similar accommodations.