bocca di verghiu (13. 476)

Passing again through the Spelunca gorge, we drove the highest mountain pass on the island, linking the two Corsican départments of Sud-Corse in the west and Haute-Corse in the east. The forested way tops out at an impressive elevation of 1470 metres but the surrounding snowcapped peaks, Punte Licciola, are much higher than the col of the Rotondo massif. A monumental statue of Christ Roi by Corsican sculptor Noël Bonardi stands at the summit of the ascent (the previous picture is of a smaller shrine with votive offerings at the gorge at the foot of the mountain).

The profusion of yellow blossoms are shrubs called immortelle (Helichrysum stoechas, the straw flower or common shrubby everlasting or the curry plant for the smell it excudes whilst moisture-proofing for the summer) for their reputation for hardiness and medicinal properties. The twelfth day of the month of Vendémiaire of the French Revolutionary calendar is named after the plant and generally corresponds to 3 October.

synchronoptica

one year ago:  Trump Always Chickens Out (with synchronopticæ) plus assorted links to revisit

fourteen years ago: language acquisition plus US and Israel launch a cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure

fifteen years ago: plutocracy plus the US unveils its Cyber Command

sixteen years ago: language translation with context 

seventeen years ago: a surfeit of pillows 

day ninety-two (13. 475)

Whilst the Iranian front of the US-Israeli war of choice has remained frustratingly frozen since the ceasefire, hostilities in Lebanon have continued apace with ground fighting and forced evacuations. The IDF announces it has captured the symbolic if not strategically important Beauford castle, a fortress built during the Crusades with a commanding view of the Litani river, retaking the promontory held during the eighteen year occupation that ended in 2000. Fighting and territorial encroachment also continues in Gaza and Syria, with Israel posed to seize the historic city of Nabatieh next as clashes with Hezbollah intensify in the Beirut suburbs.

high littoral (13. 474)

synchronoptica

one year ago: the European Space Agency at Fifty (with synchronopticæ) plus revisiting the Hohenwarte dam

sixteen years ago: artist Aubrey Beardsley 

day ninety-one (13. 473)

No deal emerges between Washington and Tehran after the praise-a-thon cabinet meeting in the Situation Room as the chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz continues to grind away on the global economy and energy supplies with attendant effects on tourism, world food security and investment opportunities for the gulf states. Though it seems that Trump’s only exit strategy is surrender and Republicans are warning him to spin whatever settlement is achieved as materially different and superior to the agreement that Obama reached and Trump torpedoed in his first term in office and tolerance for his destructive whims will not be enduring, it is yet baffling that the stupidity and hubris of a single individual can in a decentralised society where the power and relevance of nation states are subverted by corporations can cause so much chaos and influence without the cooperation or consent of traditional allies and partners. Bored with the messes he has made and little appetite for the politics of the upcoming midterms, Trump turns his attention to preening and MCing America’s birthday bash—a relatively harmless activity, despite the potential for propaganda.

rando forêt châtaigniers (13. 472)

synchronoptica

one year ago: a return visit to Ranis (with synchronopticæ) plus Musk leaves DOGE

fourteen years ago: pharmaceutical brand names plus more birtherism in US politics

fifteen years ago: an E coli outbreak in Germany plus Memorial Day

day ninety (13. 471)

In a seemingly unending iteration of market manipulation and Friday-to-Monday pump-and-dump, though the administration has diluted and democratised hedging and insider trading by opening wagering to all grifters of any means, Trump’s announcement of a meeting in the White House Situation Room to extend the already broken ceasefire—neither side apparently willing to resume all out war over tit-for-tat exchanges at American’s provocation—is being hailed as an end to the standoff, despite the framework of an agreement, the memorandum of understanding being in the works for weeks already, sticking points still unresolved and US commitment to removing the naval blockade and the reopening of the strait (without tolls), giving up the stockpile of enriched uranium, reparations and the exuent of US troops from the region matters still under discussion. Hardly exciting or newsworthy, notwithstanding Trump’s characterision of a homecoming moment, and concessions to Trump’s demands do not seem forthcoming, so long as Tehran can wait it out and there is some profit to be made at the margins—regardless of the expense to global economy and the Iranian people. An emergency session of NATO convenes after an errant Russian drone hits an apartment building in Romania.

capu rossu (13. 470)

synchronoptica

one year ago: more adventures in the Saale valley (with synchronopticæ)

sixteen years ago: retrofitting the Bulli plus a reminder button

day eighty-nine (13. 469)

As peace talks continue to circle in a critical phase (both parties deny a draft framework for ending the blockades), the brittle ceasefire between Iran and the US seems ready to break at any moment with the second defensive strike launched against the Revolutionary Guards strategic installation in Bandar Abbas, capable of defending the Strait of Hormuz. In retaliation, Iran launched drones at American bases in Kuwait. Trump issues a volley of threats against Oman for its arrangement with Tehran to regulate and toll traffic through the Persian gulf. Furthermore, Trump is planning to impose sanctions on those shipping companies that do pay the transit fees and is targeting Iran air carriers to try to exert more economic pressure (in parallel, Trump is attempting to do the same for airports in Democratically leaning hubs domestically) on the country that has so far been resilient in the face of direct and indirect attacks. IDF bombing campaigns kill dozens in southern Beirut as evacuation orders expand.  Israel also asserts control over seventy percent of the Gaza Strip.