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In a case of biting the vile hand that feeds him, Donald Trump is soliciting for and collecting grievances of social media users who feel that they’ve been banned or banished unfairly, countenancing the chief platforms for politic bias against the right.
To lodge one’s complaint, a detailed questionnaire is completed to include previous warnings, user policy, etc. This is not the first time we’ve seen Trump and compatriots curry individual favour as a way to undermine critics and not the first accusations flung at social media—who’ve been fairly agnostic about the monster they’ve elevated, however outside the norm and another way to weaponise and pander to entrenched beliefs. Of course it might also be a cynical ploy (also not without precedent) to identify with greater granularity potential voters for targeted campaign advertising.

vienna convention

In a move that seems particularly American and symptomatic of its McWorld mentality, US citizens travelling in Austria who’ve lost their passport or are otherwise distressed may seek out consular services and relief at any one of the country’s nearly two hundred McDonald’s franchises.
Fast food staff, thanks to a deal reached between the company and the US State Department, will have a special hotline to reach the Embassy to relay emergencies and seek resolution. A spokesperson for the US Mission says that this partnership is not in lieu of a fully staffed and trained diplomatic corps and is in fact increasing access to the embassy by distributing services throughout the country, choosing McDonald’s for this pilot programme because of its geographic spread, after-hours staffing and familiarity to Americans.

reality bites

Nostalgia has the potential for toxicity as much as identity but we were hard pressed to ignore this circumspect collection of essays, cultural touchstones, remembrances and even personality quizzes that define Generation X—especially those who came of age in America but I think that this generation is also associated with and a culprit of social hegemony and homogenizing—curated and presented by the New York Times’ editorial staff.

What do you think?  How do these images and icons resonate with you? The music and movies that one is exposed to during those formative years cements one’s taste and frame of reference and I’m certain that each successive generation has harboured the same thought but there seemed to be a sort of awareness that came with the films that had a lasting influence and legacy and probably wouldn’t be made today.  Everything back then did seem so arch, brooding and serious—and I think we did earn those labels as slackers, cynics and the disaffected—but hopefully those traits, and no class-cohort is monolithic, translated to mobility and malleability and the opportunity to achieve lasting good.

worms against nuclear killers

Recently declassified documents obtained by the investigative team at Muckrock details how NASA dealt with the one of the early infections by a computer worm and arguably one of the first acts of political hacktivism, though the timing might be coincidental, back in October 1989.
Unidentified hackers from Melbourne, some contend Julian Assange (previously) was also involved but he has never attested to this claim, had infiltrated a computer system shared by the space agency and the US Department of Energy (which also has oversight for America’s nuclear arsenal) just as the shuttle was preparing to ferry up the plutonium-powered Galileo space probe. With the Challenger disaster (28 January 1986) still fresh in people’s minds, there was concern and public protests over the launch, fearing an accident that could spread fall-out over Florida. Instead of the accustomed start-screen, workers were greeted with the pictured message and led to believe that files were being deleted though no actual lasting harm was done. The subheading, “You talk of times of peace for all, and then prepare for war,” is a lyric from a Midnight Oil song, an Australian activist rock band with a strong stance against nuclear proliferation. More to explore at the link up top.

6x6

reaction faces: Tadas Maksimovas creates a twelve-barrelled sling shot to pelt people with likes and hearts

line item: the humble receipt gets a rather brilliant redesign to visualise how your grocery bill adds up

novgorod: Sergei Eisenstein (previously) collaborated with Sergei Prokofiev to produce the score for Alexander Nevsky (1938), which remains the cinematic standard

pink pop: a delightful vintage Shiseido cosmetic commercial from 1968

saving face: San Francisco becomes the first municipality to prohibit the use of facial recognition surveillance technology

happy accidents: much needed pick-me-ups from Bob Ross—previously  

☽

Five decades after NASA successfully landed a human on the lunar surface and returned him and crew safely to Earth with the Apollo programme (aiming for the stars with the Moon being one of several goals when the mission was first conceived), the space agency has committed to returning within five years and the next humans to set foot on there will be a woman and man, naming the follow-on series of missions Artemis, after Apollo’s twin sister and goddess of the hunt, wilderness, the Moon and childbirth.
While we are big proponents for space exploration and happy that the US isn’t poor-mouthing the budget and even bigger advocates for equal opportunity (we’re just beginning to appreciate the role that women scientists played in the background to make the first mission a reality) and finding role models but there’s something a little creepy and sinister about how the whole ambitious plan is being presented and support rallied. What do you think? Considering who the chief cheerleaders are, it comes across almost as messianic, like a second Eden. Achieving equity in representation is challenging and opportunity and accomplishment ought not be conflated with other narratives (despite our penchant for story-telling as motivation), and the further we come in our outlook we also realise how much further we have to go.