eo complaint (12. 180)

On his first domestic trips returning to office and flanked by Melania in another hat and the evangelist from his inaugural, Trump visiting disaster sites in the Carolinas and southern California pledged to overhaul or eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency, claiming that FEMA had become too cumbersome and bureaucratic and telling states to handle such preternatural disasters on their own. With MAGA-supporting jurisdictions historically benefiting most from government aid and intervention (not just in the wake of of calamity but in general), such a dismantling seems ill-advised, originating from the Project 2025 manifesto for the concept that existed as ad hoc legislation for over two centuries before being formalised as a cohesive response to overwhelming catastrophes under the Carter administration in 1978 and 1979, by executive orders, first responding to the toxic waste dumped in Love Canal near Niagara Falls and the meltdown of Three Mile Island. Additional federal assistance for disaster recovery and mitigation would be contingent on cooperation on the part of the states and transactional, political rather than channel through experts.

12x12 (12. 179)

contraception begins at erection: Mississippi lawmaker has introduced a bill called ‘contraception begins at erection’ outlawing male masturbation, hoping to bring balance to the reproductive rights’ restriction that focus on women—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

obayashi world: Japan’s most Lynchian filmmaker  

so long and thanks for all the fish: Joan Ocean’s Dolphin Connection—via Web Curios  

crass competing abstrusities: official, sanctioned transcription of US secretary of state Marco Rubio (鲁比奥) changed—possibly as a way to get around the ban the Chinese government itself imposed plus other politicians’ names—see previously  

 

but if you don’t make your product in america—which is your prerogative—then very simply you will have to pay a tariff: though vacillating somewhat on his commitment and working from home, Trump delivers a message to the Davos WEF summit  

she was nasty in tone, not compelling or smart: Bishop Budde won’t apologise for her appeal for mercy and hospitality  

the birthright citizens’ brigade: a list of organisations pushing back against the slide to authoritarianism in the US  

dreiundfünfzig tage: how Hitler dismantled a constitution republic through constitutional means  

xanthelasma: Florida man on diet of beef, cheese and sticks of butter oozes cholesterol from his skin—see also—via Miss Cellania  

a catalyst for curiosity: Wikenigma documents the unexplained—via Kottke—those scientific and academic questions that evade a definitive answer, like the Collatz conjecture 

you remind me of the babe: Robert Eggers to make a sequel for Labyrinth  

unplanned pregnancy: as an encore to freeing all the January Sixth rioters, Trump pardons dozens of anti-abortion protesters, some jailed for violent tactics to block clinic access and intimidating doctors ahead of the Right to Life March

alasitas (12. 178)

Derived from the Aymara word “buy from me” and evolving from an annual event pre-dating European contact that involved communal prayer for good crops and an exchange of staple goods, evolving over time to accommodate missionary teaching and colonisers’ sense of acquisition, the month-long fair in La Paz—and other Bolivian communities—honouring Ekeko (Iqiqu), the indigenous god of abundance, begins today at noon. Similar to the paper votive offering given and received for Lunar New Year’s celebrations, people purchase miniature plaster representations of luxury items that they hope to get in the coming year from artisans and have them blessed by shamans and local priests.

the köln concert (12. 177)

Recorded on this day in 1975 at the West Germany city’s opera house Keith Jarrett’s live double-album went on to become the best-selling solo jazz and the best-selling piano record in history despite some inauspicious beginnings. Problems with booking pushed the hour-long performance (attended by a sold-out audience) to late Friday night, and the requested concert grand was not available and so the musician, who was fatigued from touring, had to make due with an out-of-tune and meek sounding baby grand that was only used for rehearsals. Jarrett however was able to lean into the instrument’s shortcomings (see also) and improvised in such a way that celebrated its disrepair.

*     *     *     *     *

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Family of Man (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: A Fashionable Melange of English Words, website traffic, RIP Ursula Le Guin, an AI generated concert lineup plus the Babylon Bee

eight years ago: a conflict of interest 

nine years ago: an X-Files reboot plus the Ronnie Horror Picture Show

ten years ago: Hildegard of Bingen, canine astronauts plus Charlie Hebdo wine labels

lapidary capitalis (12. 176)

Aptly illustrated with this calligram of the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus—via Pasa Bon!, we are referred to project ARETE (ἀρετή, the concept of excellence in any field—the ‘polity van’ used for sanctioned field trips of my college had the license plate H ARETH, with the proper article and transliteralisation) from the University of Applied Sciences of Potsdam of a visual and interactive study in the network of influences, interventions and inscriptionsthat led to the genesis of Roman Capitalis to Antiqua and Grotesk font families and how manuscripts continued to inform the look of typefaces even after the printing press came into being in the West, injecting a typographical angle into scholarly discourse. Each font sampler has extensive details on its provenance and how it relates to other points of inflection.

i18n/l10n (12. 175)

Abbreviated with the above numeronyms, internationalisation and localisation refer to the dual challenges of designing systems and applications that can be used both globally and in a specific and bounded spot for both output and input, display and data-encoding. Embracing translation and standardisation of regional metrics, time-zones, including register and format, Unicode maintains a registry of predefined variables covering scripts, directionality, layout, sorting and alphabetisation and punctuation. Specifically, however, it does not take into account economic differences (prompting user selection, though there are defaults) of paper size, post and telephone formats, currency, systems of measurement, compliance for privacy and accessibility, disputed borders, map keys and tax regimes, which require typically native knowledge.

you can basically just be gay and you are fine in thailand (12. 174)

Joining Taiwan as the only other country in the southern Asia to recognise marriage equality for same-sex unions, hundreds of couples in Bangkok and elsewhere held wedding ceremonies as the legislation passed by the National Assembly in June 2024 came into effect, written into law by King Maha Vajiralongkorn following a long campaign and petition decades in the making by the country’s community for rights and respect. Though many obstacles and ostracism remain domestically and regional, this moment sanctified of the movement marks historic progress.

supersize ma déesse (12. 173)

After a successful commission petitioning the automaker Citroën to adapt its multi-wheeled DS line as a less cumbersome, high-speed delivery vehicle, contributing to the design of the extra axles for this load-runner—originally made to carry newspapers, civil servant Pierre Tissier secured a role with the company as an authorised conversion specialist, helping to engineer and customise several models of utility station wagon (Familiale) as ambulances, hearses, camera cars for filmmaking, towing and hauling vehicles as well as introducing the custom CX Penthouse in 1980, a “camping car” with a pop-top roof at the Paris Auto Show in 1980.

synchronoptica

one year ago: more on the adventuresome Piccard brothers (with synchronoptica) plus thoughts on a prodigious birth

seven years ago: more links to enjoy, war and cheese plus photographer Tugo Chen

nine years ago: ring anxiety, assorted links worth revisiting, vampiric bacteria plus Star Trek in living colour

ten years ago: the epochs of the world as a time spiral

twelve years ago: an outing for austerity, digital sabotage plus the Brexit referendum