9x9 (12. 483)

leaderboard: an exclusive look at the $TRUMP memecoin banquet   

leap together: Kermit the Frog delivers a commencement speech at Jim Henson’s alma mater 

biosignature: potential signs of alien life on exoplanet K2-18β raises the question of when evidence becomes definitive 

industrial light and magic: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, founded by Star Wars franchise creator and slated to open next summer, made redundant fourteen percent of staff

mr tompkins in wonderland: after attending a lecture on relativity, a bank clerk discovers the ability to perceive quantum phenomena and the foreshortening of spacetime   

liquidity squeeze: collaborative scholarship and the fake Roman financial panic of 33 AD—via Strange Company 

yeah—it has been hard, mainly because of the numbers: a vintage 2005 spoof on every television news spot on the economy

matriculation: graduates answer questions posed by their past selves insider trading: US attorney general divested herself of between one and five million dollars worth of shares ahead of Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement

synchronoptica

one year ago: Phyllis Diller’s garage sale guide (with synchronoptica), an alternative space shuttle design, AI can’t do minor edits plus assorted links worth the revisit

seven years ago: more removing science from the classroom, a cosmic interloper, eyeball worlds, wine windows plus the Dear Leaders fail to meet

eight years ago: corporate welfare 

nine years ago: transparent wood plus a visit to Weimar

thirteen years ago: the chemistry of wine

underground press (12. 482)

The masthead logo of the counter-culture alternative newspaper in print from 1966 to 1973 featured the image of vampish 1920s silent film start Theda Bara—intending to use a picture of the It Girl Clara Bow of the same era but didn’t stop the presses over that mistake and left Bara through its thirteen year run, the International Times having been cowed into shortening its name into an initialism standing for nothing (like KFC, an orphaned acronym) after the threat of a lawsuit by the venerable newspaper the London Times. Featuring regular contributions from William S Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Germaine Greer along with kindred publications also based in London—Oz under the editorship of Felix Dennis, who later became a more mainstream publishing mogul of Maxim, Stuff and Blender, and Durham’s own Muther Grumble issues challenged the UK obscenity laws and were an outlet covering everything from the environment, emerging bands, sex, drugs, protesting the Vietnam War, feminism and social justice and the trio of newspapers were accused of corrupting the youth of the city, offices raided on multiple occasions which temporarily halted distribution—but as ever, a sign that you are doing something right. More at the archive links above and from Print Magazine’s Daily Heller.

11x11 (12. 481)

ν octantis: astronomers discover a tight binary star system with a lone exoplanet wedged in the middle  

{sum free sets}: Cambridge graduate student proves an conjecture of Paul Erdős on the limits of the additive property—via Damn Interesting 

gorgoneion: the backstory of Medusa 

market instability: complaining that negotiations have stalled, Trump threatens to impose a fifty-percent tariff on EU exports to the US 

ambigram: more invertible messages—made by impossible letters (see previously here and here) 

the old, old, very old man: the sudden death of super-centenarian Tom Parr in 1635 illuminates our long quest for longevity—see also 

marked decline: the precipitous drop in the use of semicolons—with a quiz to celebrate its proper placement  

urban renewal: arborists are planting giant sequoia (previously) in blighted Detroit neighbourhoods—via Kottke  

pandemonium: when the pantheon of gods and goddesses came into the world, they already had company with a multiplicity of daemons acting through human agents 

exchange programme: US Department of Homeland Security revokes Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students  

brown dwarf: in the distant past, Jupiter was nearly twice its present size with a much stronger magnetic field, revealed by the orbital dynamics of its constellation of satellites—see previously

contempt of court (12. 480)

The massive thousand-page long budget bill (long title, “To provide fir reconcilation pursuant to title II of the Concurrent resolution of the Budget for the fiscal year 2025, House of Congress Resolution, or OBBA, “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”) that just narrowly passed through the US House of Representatives and now up for debate in the Senate after days of contentious negotiation and garnering scepticism from economists and the stock markets as insoluble and untenable, extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts set to expire with the fiscal year and solidifying his domestic agenda, contains a provision buried deep within the legislative language that would in effect render judicial purview unenforceable—making the second prong on the assault against the courts after trying to undermine “advocate judges” and halt universal injunctions against the administration with a Supreme Court hearing ostensibly disguised as judgment on birthright citizenship. With the potential to make most mandates in antitrust, police reform and desegregation cases impossible to compel or constrain, the provision states that no court may make use of appropriated funds to enforce a citation of contempt for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary stay unless security, collateral was given at the time of issuance—in other words and a situation brought up in the above case by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson where everyone would be expected to lawyer-up unless a bond was paid up front by the plaintiff, something that does not happen in a suit against the government and an unfair requirement for judgment. Not only do parties seeking relief from unlawful acts have a high bar to access the courts (retroactively applied), the courts themselves would be rendered powerless when it comes to litigants contemning (the verb form of committing contempt) and ignoring their orders, downgraded to recommendations to take into advisement.

synchronoptica

one year ago: godfather of anime Osamu Tezuka (with synchronoptica), the patron saint of home economics plus the invention of the accordion

seven years ago: the designs of Raymond Loewy plus assorted links worth revisiting 

eight years ago: lamenting the transformation of eBay, vintage bowling alleys, losing the ability to face the next pandemic, a closed-captioning mix-up plus energetic revolutions

nine years ago: wine without grapes plus Simpsons’ couch gag as an IKEA manual

twelve years ago: a visit to the Wiesbaden museum

what does god need with a starship? (12. 479)

Somewhat prepared for when the conversation goes of the rails and girded against ambush and entrapment taking notes after the Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy, South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa managed to maintain his professional composure presidential bearing despite Trump’s incessant rantings of white genocide and the murder of thousands of Afrikaner farmers—just after taking fifty-nine in as refugees, rehashing without evidence the ahistoric grievances amplified by himself and Musk of a conspiracy circulated since the end of apartheid rule in 1994 and his most significant gesture to date pandering to Christian white nationalism. That says a lot already, but moreover he is using the false paradigm to illustrate where progressive DEI initiatives and restitution would take America. Subjected to this diatribe plus a surprise screening of a propaganda film, a misrepresented newsreel, Ramaposa tried to steer the talks back to trade and security cooperation, admitting to a problem with crime while dismissing a concerted assault against settlers, citing his entourage, and at one point, exasperated offered, “I wish I had a plane to give you.” After accusing his interlocutor of non-existent crimes which he in no way condoned, Trump replied that he would gladly accept such a gift.

panzerbrigade 45 (12. 478)

Marking the first deployment of troops since World War II, Chancellor Merz visited Vilnius for a flagging ceremony of a German heavy armoured division to be stationed in Lithuania, comprising some forty-eighthundred soldiers with two-hundred civilian support staff once the unit is fully-stood up in 2027 and achieve full operational capacity at the training area (karinis poligonas, Truppenübungsplatz) Rūdninkai on the border with Belarus. Accompanied by defence minister Boris Pistorius (previously) and the host nation’s president Gitanas Nausėda, staunch critic of the leadership of its neighbours and of Russia’s historic revisionism, the tank unit will protect the eastern flank of the EU and the NATO alliance, as Baltic states fear incursions, directly or indirectly, in the wake of ongoing aggression in Ukraine. This Zeitenwende in defence policy and posture, proffered under Merz’ predecessor, and build up comes ahead of the next NATO summit as more members are expected to reach the suggested defence spending benchmark, and while the chancellor dismissed rumours that US troops might withdraw from Europe on Trump’s orders, contingencies are still under consideration.

heat index (12. 477)

Here is an interesting juxtaposition on bestseller recommendation from The Onion with the revelation that the Chicago Sun-Times with the help and hindrance of artificial intelligence crafted a “Best of Summer” reads that featured fake books by real authors. Authored by a freelancer brought on for content after the venerable newspaper let go a fifth of its writing staff, it hallucinated titles like Tidewater Dreams and Nightshade Market respectively attributed to novelists Isabel Allende and Min Jin Lee bookended by genuine literary works. The publication that it failed to proof or vet this section for their Sunday supplement and will do better to enforce their policies against the use of AI and going forward with label any syndicated material as coming from third party sources. Lawyers have faced disbarment for resorting to similar short cuts—citing made-up cases for precedent.  I wonder if the machine was being aspirational and bored with the task it was given proclaiming it could write such a narrative in the voice of the living author.

cristalleries de nancy (12. 476)

Via fellow internet peripatetic and caretaker Messy Nessy Chic, we directed towards an archive of antique blueprints for perfume bottles from a forgotten French crystal works was rescued from an abandoned factory. The firm, rising to prominence and one of the nation’s leading glass manufacturers after the end of World War I and the following the emancipation of women with the right for political representation was active from 1921 until dissolution in 1936 during the Great Depression when demand for fineries and luxury items collapsed. The illustrations that include exquisitely detailed of Art Deco cut-glass bottles and atomisers made for fragrances all over the world as well as the company’s catalogue of vases and drinkware. Much more at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the national park of Greenland (with synchronoptica), newest batch of emoji, the perishable internet plus a hospital’s wine cellars 

seven years ago: all equal under the law plus a missile launch facility immediately mothballed

eight years ago: Trump in the Middle East, the people’s pope plus an elevated walkway in Seoul

nine years ago: art in transit, early USSR rocket tests plus a visit to Seaford

ten years ago: a visit to Dotzheim, more on keyboard dining tray inserts plus memeplexes