Thursday 21 December 2017

jumping jehoshaphat

As if it weren’t inflammatory enough for the United States to unilaterally declare Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel and symbolically transform its consulate into an embassy, the controversial recognition is being aired by the United Nations’ General Assembly, who’ve resolved to put the decision to a vote—mostly likely of condemnation, that’s only baiting the UN into the hands of thugs and bullies.
Trump’s fawning ombudsman, and not for the first time, has pledged to take careful note of how each member votes and suggests that not only will the United States begrudge those who cross it foreign aid (which of course is not a charitable contribution but something that the US does to further its own interests, which includes regional stability) but that sovereign states might consider showing their solidarity by moving their respective diplomatic missions to Jerusalem as well. While I am confident that this effort to strong-arm the international community to legitimise Trump’s ill-conceived statecraft, it’s painfully awkward that his narcissism has brought us here and some administrations (either opportunistic or stymied) may have excised their option to voice dissent.

Wednesday 20 December 2017

standseilbahn

Residents of the car-free Alpine village of Stoos are now able to make the steep but direct, time-saving descent into the valley and the town of Schwyz in central Switzerland. Construction and planning of this stretch of funicular railway took over fourteen years and there are special gyroscopic carriages on the locomotive to ensure that passengers remain at a comfortable, upright position even when the gradient surpasses ninety degrees. Be sure to check out the link above for more information and some video footage of what must be a thrilling ride.

yearbook

Though perhaps not the finest, challenging or most emotionally-wrenching moments of the past year, we did appreciate this curated gallery of photographs from the Atlantic that truly lives up to the label of the most 2017 images ever. There’s been a lot this year we could really do with less of in the next. There are certainly some iconic—rather unforgettable moments and movements captured here. What else would you include? If you we making a time-capsule to explain this time to future generations, what says 2017 like nothing else?

opinion polling

First spotted on Boing Boing where one can find other vexillographic specimens which do seem to be uniquely designed according to ones answers but I am unsure how true to heraldic principles the elements are, Politiscales presents users with a battery of one hundred and seventeen questions (rather long for a survey but it is comprehensive and you get a sense of commitment to plough through) and at the end, analyses one’s political leanings, rating one’s outlooks on globalism versus nativism, revolution versus reformism, etc. I could not tell if afterwards whether or not one could tweak their scores and have a slightly different flag and national motto assigned to them. You should give it a whirl and share your results. I don’t know if I’m satisfied with mine—it does not seem particularly woke nor the banner of a vaguely Jesus-y bon vivant that I might be described as. I think I’ll give it another go and attend more closely to the questions and think about how views-expressed can be reified as a standard-bearer.

Tuesday 19 December 2017

5x5

volley: ping pong champion lobs back balls with a variety of items, producing different noises

scorched earth campaign: perhaps the Silicon Valley mind-set is the bigger threat to civilisation than machine super intelligence, via Waxy

locavore: shipping container farming approaches cost parity with traditional methods

eec: not heeding warnings from central bankers, Estonia is launching a crypto-currency, hoping to further solidify its reputation as a digital nation

that’s no moon: mesmerising time-lapse showing the stages of construction for a Death Star

the bitter end

The New Bedford Whaling Museum of Bristol County Massachusetts is hosting a special exhibit celebrating the authoritative guide to knots and knot-tying, written and extensively illustrated by native son Clifford Warren Ashley. The sailor and knot-expert proctored with many crews and crafts people (from butchers and bakers to electricians and veteran knitters) to document knotting skills that were often very idiosyncratic and did not exist outside of their trade and are systematically classified—by later scholarship—according to their Ashley numbers along with histories and contributions to general terminology. As opposed to the standing end that is the free part of a cable, the bitter end is in ropeworker’s speech the part of the rigging tied down to the mooring (the bitt) and has taken on a figurative sense as well. Be sure to visit Hyperallergic at the link up top to learn more and perhaps to practise one’s own dexterity.

Monday 18 December 2017

going up

In an age where all career-futures and succession-planning are subject to the whim of progress, it could be forgiven that we’ve made certain apparent redundancies the poster-children of this precarity as a way of inserting our own hopes and insecurities into the discussion.  We discover, however via Messy Nessy Chic, that we’d be somewhat premature to count elevator-operators among the casualties. These profiles of a by-gone era preserved, though an exceedingly rare treat to discover, in New York City’s skyline are really engrossing and speaks to the importance of tradition and the investment in what’s classy—though I could see manual robotic attendants being installed to operate this antique machinery or replaced by volunteer enthusiasts yearning for human-contact as well.  I hope, nevertheless, that such touches are preserved and appreciated.

current state of affairs

Status quo is a shortened version of the original phrase in statu quo res errant ante bellum meaning to maintain the way things were before the war and broadly refers to upholding accepted social and political norms. There is also a qualified sense of the term, the Status quo of the Holy Land Sites, which is an understanding and compact amongst the religious communities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem for their simultanea, that is places that are sacred to multiple faiths, that are not under a single recognised religious authority.
Originating from a eighteenth century decree from the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the arrangement has stood in essentially its original form until the present day and provides that the keys to the Christianity’s holiest sites have been kept in the same local, Arab clan for generations and that no common property may be altered in any way (especially to the impediment of pilgrims and holy rites), sometimes to the detriment of ancient structures needing upkeep, and is embodied by cedar wood ladder under a window of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that has been on-site since 1757 when a mason was engaged to do some restoration work on the ledge. This bureaucratic impasse, known as the Immovable Ladder (literally in Hebrew, “The Status Quo Ladder”), is symbolic of the internecine conflict and irresolution of the six Christian religious orders that share the space, but also reminds visitors that consensus and cooperation are also sacrosanct and inviolable, as well as something surpassing tolerance for one’s neighbours.