hr 1968 (12. 305)

Though hard to forecast what might have been the better path through an undesirable binary, and mostly cleaving to party lines, an early procedural vote against cloture and ultimately advancing of a continuing resolution through the senate to avoid a US government shutdown at midnight seems to have been a grave political miscalculation with Democrats squandering the only leverage they had to slow or derail Trump’s dismantling of the federal bureaucracy. In response to Musk commenting that closing down the government might be a preferable course of action for the DOGE agenda, senate minority leader Chuck Schumer reversed his stance on the spending bill that keeps government funded through the end of the fiscal year and along with nine other Democrats, voted with Republicans for the passage, reaching the sixty votes needed to avoid a filibuster—earning praise from Trump for his decision and highlighting deep divisions within the party. If the GOP had wanted the government to shutdown, they wouldn’t have advanced the budget in the first place, which until it passed the first hurdle of the house of representatives, Democrats were united against it. The CR is essentially a sequestration, maintaining funding levels but removing line item allocations and collapsing appropriations into larger pots of money, further abrogating the role of congress and allowing the executive branch to move funds, legally, as it sees fit.  Unabated with his assault on the republic, Trump issued more executive orders while roll-call was happening on the senate floor, rescinding the federal minimum wage of fifteen dollars per hour, the mandate for agencies to share data on emergent public health threats as well as order the closure of the parent agency that operates Voice of America and Radio Free Europe and smaller offices that handle labour disputes, the council on homelessness, developing minority-owned businesses and the institute of museum and library services—agency heads given seven days to justify their existence and prove that their work is statutorily required.

listen—strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government, supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony (12. 304)

As the monarch bound by the constitution does not hold political opinion, Charles III has resorted to subtler ways to signal his stance and support, much like his predecessor recently to show solidarity with Canada by wearing his national regalia lately and most recently bestowing a ceremonial sword (see also) to his personal ombudsman and senior protocol officer, the Usher of the Black Rod in the Canadian senate, during an audience with the king. This show of concord comes amid incessant overtures for annexation repeated even during the Quebec hosted G7 conference to reinforce sovereignty as the country’s monarch. Elbows up!

snow recedes, mist lingers in the air (12. 303)

Courtesy of the always excellent Web Curios, we get a chance to revisit the topic of microseasons (候, kō) with this guide to the twenty-four solar terms or sekki, a phenomenal calendar in driven by the cycles of nature instead of fixed dates used traditionally for agrarian purposes in China and Japan, timing planting and harvesting. Harmonised nicely with yesterday’s lunar eclipse (see previously here and here), we are presently in Keichitsu or Jingzhe (啓蟄, the going-out of the worms) the days when insects awaken from their winter hiberation. Once I accidentally disturbed a nest of dormant lady bugs checking a barrel for rainwater and was devastated for days that I had interrupted their winter nap, still to this day. Even with the climate catastrophe and global weirding, there’s comfort in looking forward to Seimei (the first rainbows and geese migrate) and Shunbun (the sparrows return and the cherry blossoms bloom), the swallows come back to Capistrano and April showers.

u is for upper canada, where the poor slave have found rest after all his wanderings, for it is british ground (12. 302)

This 1846 hand-coloured primer was printed as an abecedary (see previously here and here) for the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Fair, authored and distributed by a pair of activist Quaker sisters, Mary and Hanna Townsend, realising that change could only be affected by including the young before they were inculcated otherwise with racist and oppressive ideas handed down. This volume was conserved and shared by the State of Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the whole alphabet, the rhyming couplets are reflective of the time and a bit paternalistic but worth reading, is showcased courtesy of Kuriositas at the link up top. I is the Infant, from the arms / Of its fond mother torn, / And, at a public auction, sold / With horses, cows and corn.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: a psychoanalytic board game (with synchronoptica), Pi Day plus assorted links to revisit

seven years ago: celebrating the life and achievements of Stephen Hawking, the Norwegian Porridge Feud plus more praise for Professor Hawking

eight years ago: Trump’s rentier economy, more links to enjoy plus the thawing of the tundra

nine years ago: six-plus decades of space exploration, the making of 2001 plus the statues of Dublin

ten years ago: Iceland drops its bid to join the euro-market, even more links to revisit plus the digital attention deficit

supraphon (12. 301)

Courtesy of Present /&/ Correct, we are directed to a gallery of record sleeves from a Czech label founded in 1932 and still active. It is oriented mainly towards publishing classical and popular music from Czech and Slovak composers, and the catalogue acquired by Warner Music after the amicable split, which after mapping out the discography of the likes of Dvořák released its first stereophonic pop album in 1968.

boîtes de nonne (12. 300)

Cloistered and with no outside visitors allowed into their cells, since at least the early seventeen century, nuns from sisterhoods across France created “spiritual boxes,” curated dioramas that changed over time, accumulating keepsakes and marking special occasions with recycled materials. Treasured and intimate, this poorly documented craft and practise was hardly a guarded secret as older members sometimes shared theirs with novices as teaching aides (see also) and showed their miniatures to benefactors of the convent as a personal expression and glimpse into life in a nunnery, linking the inside with the outside. More from Messy Nessy Chic at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: patent models (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: senate panel rules out Russian collusion in US presidential campaign, life’s milestones plus David Bowie as the Periodic Table

eight years ago: a celebration of Brutalist landmarks plus the Pope on Compassionate Disruption

nine years ago: the cinematic inspiration of The Shining plus a dignified soup kitchen

ten years ago: unmarked white vans, innovations in 3D printing plus assorted links worth revisiting

eponym (12. 299)

Born on this day in 1832 in Norfolk, Captain Charles Boycott lent his name (see also here and here and here) to the term during the Irish Land War (Cogadh na Talún, an agrarian uprising that began in 1879 under UK rule) as an agent of an absentee landlord in County Mayo. Ostracised by tenant farmers over rents levied after a bad harvest when he tried to evict the protesters. Rather than resort to violence, the farmers instead organised to socially shun Boycott and his lieutenants, stopping work, causing short-term economic hardship locally and isolating the estate. The tactic worked and Boycott was unable to hire anyone who would work the fields under his charge and the neologism, spread by the press, swiftly entered common-parlance, identifying a linguistic lacuna and the meaning became more generalised.

lemon lot (12. 298)

We’re all weary of these fascist antics of Trump and his viceroy and there are far more destructive and dangerous acts being committed by the administration (a litany of horrors bears repeating but is quickly growing too lengthy to recap or process—with the latest being the detention and possible deportation of a student for organising pro-Gaza peace rallies which is a test on limiting free speech and reigning in the latitude of elite and liberal universities and eviscerating the department of education) but this photo-op of Trump’s newly acquired Tesla really is beyond the pale. In response to buyers’ remorse and some incidents of vandalism perpetrated on Cybertrucks and verbal assaults, fragile owners have convinced their congressional representatives to classify such attacks as “hate crimes” with Trump selecting the vehicle from a line-up as his new personal automobile, not the reviled flagship make and model, on the White House south lawn—further blurring ethical lines for Musk’s roles in government leading DOGE initiatives and receiving billions in federal contracts with SpaceX and Starlink, simultaneously dismantling his chief competitor NASA while running the Nazi bar formerly known as Twitter and the Columbia House Music Club inspired car subscription service—blatantly signalling the economy will be driven by favouritism and crony capitalism. Trump endorsed his purchase, at market-value, “I think he has been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people—and I just want people to know he can’t be penalised for being a patriot, and he’s also done an incredible job with Tesla,” and used the opportunity to reiterate that the private company had been subject to “ongoing and heinous acts of violence” orchestrated by radical leftists and declared that occupation or protests on dealerships will be henceforth labeled as acts of domestic terrorism and that perpetrators will “go through hell” for their infractions. Musk’s wealth and Trump’s favourability depend on their brands being not toxic for their own wealth and success and seem to be summarily alienating their consumers and constituents.