disclaimer

During opening remarks to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that exiled a Western-supported monarchy and installed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader, the marja defended the continued use of his provocative catch-phrase, “Death to America,” saying that the sentiment only applies to Trump and his warmongering associates and not the American people as a whole. Khamenei adds that European leaders are not the most trustworthy lot either.

extended character set

Via Nag on the Lake, we were very pleased to learn that the latest batch of emojis to be released over the course of the year was not only inclusive of people with disabilities, having the vocabulary available and therefore not feeling like outsiders or othered, the combinations of couples, counting the gender neutral and the non-binary, numbers upwards of seventy permutations—to make sure all sorts of relationships are represented. I caught the end of a very clever commentary the other day that really anchored perspective and identity—I think it was through the lens of minorities depicted in superhero films but it’s also universally true: those depictions of a minority character on the screen is not just for those that look like and recognise something of themselves in the portrayal but it’s also for those in the majority who are used to seeing themselves in the movies to help them understand that others can be there too. There’s also underpants, a banjo and an otter.

below the belt selfie

Rather than concede to the badgering and blackmail of a supermarket tabloid with close ties to the Trump administration, a titan of industry who surely owns the network infrastructure that the media enterprise uses to manage all its properties, publically accused the publication of extortion, having a established record of threats and intimidation against the press, through their unsubtle intimation to release more compromising photographs of the magnate intercepted during a liaison.
Stopping short of characterising the tranche of threats as politically motivated or with the help of government agencies—and not to excuse unfaithfulness, such a move could be in retribution and in clear violation of plea deal the publisher reached with federal prosecutors last year, when due to reporting by a highly reputable newspaper owned by the billionaire critical of the Trump regime revealed that the tabloid had paid a not insignificant sum of hush-money to a woman that Trump had an affair with in order not too negatively impact Trump’s campaign, not to prosecute the company for skewing the presidential election.  I don’t think that the Trump syndicate is picking the right fight and calling in the thugs cannot be done without drawing attention.

hic sunt dracones

Thanks to Maps Mania, we are enjoying exploring this watercolour atlas of historic landscapes with the ability to compare them to their current coordinates—like this portrayal of nearby Schloss Biebrich, residence of the Grand Duke of Nassau, by French artist Aegidius Federle, known for his romanticised pastorals of the Rhein valley. I know that I’ve taken multiple pictures from that same vantage point—and who wouldn’t given the chance to frame that scene—and navigating by what’s picturesque and appealing makes me wonder about the monotony of holiday snap-shots and whether we are too harsh on imitation. See if you can find something in your neighbour captured on canvas.

gelöscht

Though the social media giant is begging off the decision saying that the agency does not appreciate the scope of the competition its properties face, the consumer advocacy watchdog, the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) in Bonn has ruled that Facebook cannot aggregate, bundle user data and cannot seed or otherwise inform the demographic model it maintains on each by profile drawing on information it collects from the boutique outlets it has absorbed. This anti-trust verdict demonstrates how the platform abuses user-data through pooling and will hopeful propagate further through the network’s ecosystem, remedying to an extent the regrettable decision to surrender and suborn some genuinely useful applications to the media empire, and moreover shows that the courts and like organisations are capable of catching up.

a fifth of beethoven

Though our favourite Line Rider doodle remains Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King, we also enjoyed very much the intricate slalom to Ludwig von Beethoven’s Opus 67, via Pasa Bon! The familiar and establishing long-long-long-short conceit represents Fate knocking at the door and was suggested by the composer’s amanuensis, Anton Schindler.

ideophone

We enjoyed very much indulging in this discussion on sound symbolism and phonosemantics that attempts to triangulate humans’ first vocalisations through the focus of what strikes as intuitive.
Though rarer in Western languages—though there’s zigzag, yo-yo, tick-tock, and Charivari to name a few examples—bearing structure and quality through words is universal and the opening exercise in the essay that consisted of choosing the traits that Japanese ideophones described was illustrative and immediately recalled these gourmet and phenomimic chocolates we encountered a few years back.

6x6

don’t seem to rouse themselves for anything besides the birth and death days of idolised rock stars: a Stasi guide of negative-decadent youth subcultures in East Germany

backboard: neglected community basket ball courts revived and rehabilitated as canvases for monumental paintings

sandbox: the development of electronic music owes a debt to songs aimed at a very young demographic

what pedantry is this: more questions and answers from the Chicago Manual of Style—via Coudal Partners

i’ll be waiting for you on the dark side of the moon: Earthrise from above the lunar far-side from the Longjiang-2 orbiter

tilt-shift: an immersive tour of the North Korean capital