day one hundred sixty-six (13. 720)

Contradicting the characterization of his own special envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner that „robust“ talks are continuing, Trump declares that there are no more negotiations with Tehran happening—adding, contrary to reality, that the Strait of Hormuz is open and operational under US control. The fallout from the American withdrawal from the Pacific is perceived as an abandonment of Taiwan and South Korea with no action needed on the part of Beijing and Pyongyang. The resupply issues facing the carrier group the USS Abraham Lincoln were exacerbated, it is revealed, due to secretary of war Hegseth‘s wanting to hide the extent of destruction to naval stations in the region from the public. The UAE suspends all commercial trade with Iran over alleged missile strikes. Concurrently, Abu Dhabi hosts a security conference with US secretary of state Rubio, against Tehran‘s repeated warnings to gulf neighbors not to cooperate with Washington lest be treated as collaborators.

operation paul bunyan (13. 719)

On this day in 1976, in an assignment taking place on the southern side of the “Bridge of No Return” near Panmunjon (see previously here and here), the joint security area of the DMZ where both sides were allowed access and freedom of movement in the shared Peace Village, to prune a tree that was obscuring the view from South Korea from their northernmost observation post, two soldiers were killed by North Korean forces trying to stop the trimming job, despite being pre-approved by both governments. DEFCOM was raised from three to four for the first time since the Arab-Israeli war three years prior. In response, three days later, the US carried out a show of force, consisting of a detachment of three-hundred American servicemen supported by helicopter gunships and B-52 fighter-bombers, to reemphasise US to protect the territorial integrity of South Korea, finished the job of felling the twelve-metre tall poplar that had caused the international incident, which otherwise would have only lost a few branches.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: a more cordial meeting of the leaders of the US and Ukraine (with synchronoptica) plus the Society for the Verification and Enjoyment of Fascinating Names of Actual Persons

two years ago: a philosophical cartoon plus amplified contagion

three years ago: divine connections plus more mushrooming

four years ago: the Feast of St Helen, a historic glider flight plus more unuseless machines

five years ago: your daily demon, more disfluent typefaces, masking mandates, Schoolhouse Rock! plus the promise of a fully phonetic font

six years ago: AI generated Roman emperors, Michelle Obama virtually addresses the Democratic National Convention, women’s suffrage in the United States (1920), Republican Nation Convention guest speakers, more constructed languages, data-visualisations as art plus forty adaptations of Hamlet

day one hundred sixty-five (13. 718)

As the sixty-day negotiation period expires, Tehran declares that it will take an offensive approach to reopening the Strait of Hormuz as Washington’s diplomatic tactlessness has only resulted in violation and frustration. Simultaneously, Trump threatens to bomb Oman if the country—a US ally and considered the Switzerland of the Gulf region for its relative neutrality and inoffensive political stance—interferes with the stalled talks, adding that Iran should wave the white flag of surrender. Houthi attack another Saudi ship transiting the Bab-el-Mandeb and Iran places a bounty on American soldiers.

ho (13. 717)

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: signifiers of etiquette (with synchronoptica), Trump’s Nobel ambitions plus Müritzer cheese

 

two years ago: design one’s own Amsterdam, AI or Die, license to serve plus assorted links to revisit

three years ago: more links to enjoy plus the final Ring cycle (1876)

four years ago: ABBA’s last album plus even more links

five years ago: assorted links worth revisiting, the world’s first animated film (1908), significant digits plus cartographic gaps

six years ago: a tragedy at Uluru (1980),  Operation Warp Speed plus the dotted and dotless i

day one hundred sixty-four (13. 716)

The original MOU between Tehran and Washington to extend the ceasefire is set to expire without any progress in negotiations and a peace deal. Recognizing the diplomacy is supposed to have meaning and not just antagonism, petitions mount to expel US ambassadors in Canada, Iceland and other countries that American missions refer to as the fifty-first or fifty-second states. Though no longer a major deterrent to China, the US removes its last aircraft carrier from the Pacific theatre in order to supplement the crisis in the Middle East—joint training exercises with South Korea are scaled back. Trump congratulates Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for forging a separate defensive pact. Maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz grids to a halt.

nymindegrab strand (13. 715)

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica)

two years ago: a gallery of images that look like AI but are not plus the proposed state of Absaroka

three years ago: variable verbs 

four years ago: Dancing Queen (1976) plus the first trans-Atlantic telegraph (1858)

five years ago: My Sharona (1979), the US withdraws from Afghanistan, mass-transit announcements plus artist Marjorie Cameron Parsons Kimmel 

six years ago: Australian wildfires, Freddie Mercury’s grade school band, photographer Chase Middleton, the Feast of Saint Roch, Fiddlesticks (1930) plus hobo maps

day one hundred sixty-three (13. 714)

In another edition of this is not how anything works, Trump declared that once Iran is defeated—again imminent for the umpteenth time—the Strait of Hormuz will become US territory. Tehran counters that the vital waterway is under their control and cannot be seized, especially by a campaign speech, adding that whilst the agreement with Muskat may be concluded soon, those negotiations have nothing to do with Washington and America and her allies will remain under restrictions until the blockade ends and reparations are paid. Repatriation of the Panama Canal seemed to be a non-starter so maybe this delusional addition to the American empire might be a consolation-despite pledges to still make fetch happen. Market manipulation—though running of the fumes of AI driven trades and a derivative, speculative stocks—is losing cache as the US president once again dismisses the financial hardships of the underclass as the hierarchy sheds confidence as well. Hezbollah rejects ongoing negotiations between Tel Aviv and Beirut, saying that they are equal to Lebanon surrendering to Israel.

fanø (13. 713)

Returning to the city of Esbjerg—the fifth largest in Denmark and the main urban area of Jutland that until the decision was made to establish a harbour there in the mid-1800s only consisted of a few farmsteads—we explored the industrial seaport which was built up per royal decree when the Danes lost their major port on the North Sea, Altona (now part of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg) to the German Empire during the Second Schleswig War in 1864—handling most of the kingdom’s oil and offshore activities, the petroleum business being superseded (Maersk Drilling is still headquartered there) by the construction wind turbines and agricultural and fish export. Just to the west of the marina, overlooking the beach at Sædding, is the monumental sculpture Mennesket ved Havet (Men at Sea or Man meets the Sea)—opposite the fisheries and maritime museum, by artist Svend Wiig Hansen, informed by precolumbian Mesoamerican designs and and the monoliths of Easter Island—commissioned the nine-metre tall landmark to celebrate the centenary of the municipality’s founding in 1894.

We took a short ferry ride to the neighbouring island of Fanø, a commuter service running every twenty minutes, the sandy embankment marking the northern extreme of the Danish Wadden Sea. We walked through the heath and stunted pine woods to the beach east of Rindby, south of the larger settlement of Nordby and explored more WWII bunkers—some three hundred structures in total, remnants of the Third Reich’s Atlantic Wall (see previously here, here, here and here) scattered amongst the dunes. The massive turbine assembly station of Esbjerg can be seen along the horizon. We also visited the old windmill (Vindmølle—English Wikipedia’s representative picture for the entry though the Danish one chose Stegø in Fyn) at the southern tip of the island in the village of Sønderho, which preserves its overall eighteenth century character of a fishing settlement and sea-going point-of-departure with thatched roofed cottages, cobblestone streets, protected from the wind and water with dikes.