Kyiv and Washington reach a bilateral defence agreement allowing the export of Ukrainian drone technology to the US. American legislators withhold additional funding for hugely unpopular and illegal war in Iran as worldwide alerts go out for Americans aboard and concerns grow over cyber sabotage. 
Washington and Riyadh sign a nuclear partnership deal to build the kingdom’s energy infrastructure (to include domestic enrichment) with US contracts amid the escalating conflict with Tehran. Yemen’s Ansar Allah—also known as the Houthis—fire on ships transiting from the Red Sea via the Bad al-Mandab strait, as the Hormuz remains closed, Trump promising that for every shot fired at a tanker, the US will bomb a bridge or power plant, to include those “located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran.”
Wednesday, 22 July 2026
day one-hundred forty (13. 647)
9x9 (13. 646)
free play: the false nostalgia of the child-rearing in the 1980s
it ends: capitalising on the popularity of liminal spaces, we discover the next trend, being trapped on an infinite trail
eco chamber: the personal library of semiotician, philosopher and author Umberto Eco (previously) opens to the public in his Tuscan villa
from the prepare-for-everything-to-get-very-stupid-and-xenophobic-department: USA to enforce same protectionist, nativist policies exercised in the Tik-Tok ban for open-source AI
war & cheese: stalled European Union sanctions package for Russia exposes persistent divisions in the Bloc—see also
the cemeteries are full of indispensable people: the dash to fill an America-shaped void
hot merfolk summer: besting one’s holiday hashtags aspirations with Miss Margaret Morris’ choreography
end of the road: uncelebrated termini and the Roman god of boundaries
unquantified self movement: bucking the trend of maxxing and wellness-optimisation
the diffusion pilot (13. 645)
We enjoyed this interrogation of the medium that reflects on artistic control and authorship partnered with the rapid pace of the infusion of generative AI in everything, neither celebrating nor wholly condemning the technology, in this animated short by Aurelijus ฤiupas. 
By turns overpowering and empowering, the piece, divided into two distinct halves seems to ask, if the traditional animator creates the magic motion out a series of static images, what is their role with an infinite number of them? Caution, the video below contains flashing images. More from Aeon Magazine at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the bicycle from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure on display at the Alamo (with synchronoptica) plus the Epstein files
two years ago: enduring lessons of technology plus a thistle cousin
three years ago: Mary Magdalene
four years ago: the Firth of Cromarty, a banger from Take That plus the North Coast 500
five years ago: Plan 9 from Outer Space
six years ago: white Jesus
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
day one-hundred thirty-nine (13. 644)
Saying that the US is not yet done with air strikes on Iran, Trump condemns government officials as “savages” after the latest execution of political protestors. Tehran warns Bulgaria against allowing America to use its bases for staging. 
US forces have their sites set on Pickaxe Mountain (Kuh-e Kolang), a secretive bunker believed to house centrifuges near the Natanz nuclear facility, destroyed in last summers campaign. Several tankers headed to Saudi ports made u-turns in the Red Sea after warnings from the Houthis. Lebanon hails the US-brokered agreement with Israel but clashes with Hezbollah still continue with no timeframe for IDF to withdraw from southern Beirut. Secretary of war Hegseth gives a rather low estimate for the costs of the Iranian conflict at thirty eight billion as he requests additional funding from the senate.
8x8 (13. 643)
elbows up: Trump threatens to impose a fifty percent tariff on a range of Canadian export, claiming that the country discriminates against American dairy products, alcohol and automobiles
ashurbanipal: massive stele discovered by the Sun Gate of Nineveh in Mosul
no mutation without representation: the 1974 manuscript, The Periodic Table of Energy, authored by Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson during their unfortunate incarceration inside Vacaville Prison—via Boing Boing
the old man and the strait: with apologies to Ernst Hemingway on his birthday
calves and calves nots: guides’ exodus over global warming tourism
fungus among us: mapping the underground of rhizomal networks—see also here and here
ziwiye horde: actor Zendaya, in the role of Athena, sharply criticised for wearing three-millennia old Assyrian earrings to an event promoting Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey—see previously
fellow travellers: US department of state continues Red Scare on left politicians as Cuban agents
synchronoptica
one year ago: Trump’s push to bring back the Redskins (with synchronoptica) plus Appetite for Destruction (1987)
two years ago: an entrepรดt on the Seine, assorted links worth revisiting, more from Marshall McLuhan plus Joe Biden steps down as the Democratic presidential nominee
three years ago: more links to enjoy
four years ago: a concert in Potsdamer Platz to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall plus meandering along the Spey
five years ago: a nuclear powered cruise ship, the Scopes Monkey Trial (1925) plus the outskirts of Gรถteborg
six years ago: the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World plus remote screaming into the void
Monday, 20 July 2026
gestion des dรฉchets (13. 642)
Having always snickered a bit at the French signage for a waste bin, I recently disabused of my bemusement upon discovering the etymology having nothing to do with poo but rather the namesake of compulsory use of garbage containers, lawyer and diplomat Eugรจne-Renรฉ Poubelle—a proposal considered so innovative for late-nineteenth century Paris that his surname is synonymous with the term for trash cans. 
In 1884, Poubelle decreed as the city’s prรฉfet, essentially holding the authority of the mayorship, that landlords must provide tenants with three covered containers for household refuse to be sorted into classes of compostable and recyclable refuse—encouraged to call them Boรฎtes Poubelle by the newspaper Le Figaro, meeting stiff resistance by building owners for their cost and upkeep (plumping and drainage was also championed) and regarded by chiffonniers (traditional rag-and-bone men) as a threat to their profession. Likewise, we were surprised to learn, the English, American word for a movable waste container (skips or scows being more common outside of North America), designed to be brought and taken away by specially designed garbage truck lifts originated as sort of a portmanteau for the Dempster Dumpmaster, the company run by three brothers, George Roby, Thomas and John, in Knoxville Tennessee who patented and standardised a system (see also) of bulk trash removals in the mid-1930s with their dumpster model. George Roby Dempster was also a city manager, philanthropist and politician, initially motivated to support the demolition and construction wing of the family business.
day one-hundred thirty-eight (13. 641)
Middle Eastern nations are on high alert has hostilities continue to flare, the Revolutionary Guard declaring that Iran is in a state of all out war as US forces strike the southern cities of Shiraz and Tabriz and western Azerbaijan province. Sirens blare across Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar as more ballistics fall. Trump repeats his vow that the deaths of service members will be avenged many times over with secretary of state Rubio accusing Iran, rather obviously, of using its control of the Hormuz as “leverage against the world” whilst calling on other countries to share the burden of protecting global shipping. 
US fighter jets based in Germany are to be stationed at Israeli air force stations for safety. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speculates on the possibility of enforcing a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court—of which the US is not a signatory—should Netanyahu visit for a UN summit in September to the outrage of the American president, saying that the Israeli prime minister will in “no way, shape or form be arrested” and extradited. After a Riyadh-led occupation of the airport of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa to prevent Iran from sending aid to the rebels, the Houthi declare access to the Red Sea cut off to Saudi Arabia. US peacekeeping operations begin in southern Lebanese “pilot zones” as part of the trilateral peace agreement with Tel Aviv. Hamas names new political bureau chief, Khalil al-Hayya.
anemocratic (13. 640)
Writer, journalist, philosopher, world-traveller, war-correspondent and flight-instructor, Guy Murchie, Jr in his 1954 breakthrough book of recollections, drawing from his observations and experiences as an aviator, Song of the Sky, includes a glossary on the names of winds from around the globe, calling his treasury “among the least known and most beautiful words.” Murchie’s appreciation and fondness extends to:
Simoom—the desert, strong, hot and dust-laden gusts of Arabia, Syria and Libya
Siffanto—a blast of heat from the hot heel of Italy
Wisper—a wind whistling through the narrows of the Rhein valley
Haboob—the dusty downdrafts of Sudan and the Upper Nile
Etesian—describing the cool summer afternoons of Greece and the Levant
The title comes from the uncommon term for being governed by the changing winds. Much more from Futility Closet at the link up top.
synchronoptica
one year ago: Lee Harvey Oswald allowed to return to the US after defecting to the Soviet Union (with sychronoptica), assorted links to enjoy plus St Pier Giorgio
two years ago: a sign of solidarity with Trump’s failed assassination attempt plus going Nazi
three years ago: the Siege of Chartres (911)
four years ago: a champagne cocktail to commemorate the Moon landing plus exploring Aberdeenshire
five years ago: exploring Orust and Tjรถrn
six years ago: St Wilgefortis
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