遍地開花

After the storming of the Legislative Council building on the 1 July anniversary of the 1997 return of the former UK crown colony of Hong Kong to China, protesters have embraced non-violent ways of continuing to express their displeasure and fear that the residents of territory will see liberties erode further.
Taking a cue from the Lennon Wall in Prague, activists have canvased any available space with colourful self-adhering notices, an outlet that’s passive and anonymous enough to keep most individuals out of danger but still one that the authorities cannot easily ignore and now the symbols themselves incite rallies around pro- and anti-government camps. The title refers to the spontaneity of the walls as “blossoming everywhere.” These mosaics, with tens of thousands of missives advocating for freedom and democracy, originate from a central display in Hong Kong five years earlier, erected during the Umbrella Movement, a seventy-nine day occupation of the city to demand transparency in municipal elections—which were perceived to be controlled by Beijing. Protesters carried umbrellas to shield themselves from tear gas that the police lobbed at them to break up the crowds.

running up that hill

Via the always excellent Nag on the Lake, we are treated to this stunning music video, Meg Myers’ cover of Kate Bush’s classic composed of thirty-two hundred frames illustrated by over twenty-one hundred school children.  Director Jo Roy achieved the rotoscope-effect by first filming Myers and then printing each of the soon to be decorated cells as a colouring-book page, which were artfully completed by elementary school students in Canada and the US. Much more to explore at the link above.

yo gafa gafa

Despite US threats and the spectre of more retaliatory tariffs from a regime that has a diminishing quiver of tools of statecraft at its disposal, France has voted in favour of a retroactive digital services tax regime (previously) that would seek to recuperate and going forward glean revenue from multinational—though nominally America when it’s convenient—corporations, who currently pay little to no corporate tax domestically, despite demonstrable earnings in the country. France will net an estimated four hundred million euro this year and hopes other nations will join in demanding that the tech, social media giants pay their fair share.

skyfall

At around four-thirty in the afternoon universal coordinated time (plus eight hours local time) on this day in 1979, debris from NASA’s abandoned but not unsuccessful space station project Skylab that was not incinerated upon its uncontrolled re-entry landed in the Shire of Esperance on the coast of Western Australia.
Fortunately the space junk caused no injury or damage and there was a media frenzy of speculation of where and when the craft might crash-land with contests and wagers made. A few days afterwards local farmers recovered a huge oxygen tank and it was decided by show masters-of-ceremonies to display it as a prop on the stage of the Miss Universe pageant that had been scheduled for later in the month in nearby Perth—hosted by The Price is Right’s Bob Barker—whose weight combined with seventy-five contestants assembled to sing a rousting rendition of Waltzing Matilda made the dais a little structurally unstable. Fortunately no beauty contestants were harmed in this mission either. Having garnered valuable lessons from the first attempt, the US planned next for Space Station Freedom whose programme would eventual merge with the International Space Station, commissioned in 1998.

for here am i sitting in a tin can

Though lyrically and stylistically informed by the previous year’s release of the Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey (previously), David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” (previously) had a delayed release—a version was recorded back in February—owing to an earlier split with his old record label and Bowie’s new artists and repertoire managing group decided to release the song on this day in 1969, just nine days ahead of the Apollo 11 mission, to capitalise on the publicity of that event. Due to the tone and the unresolved finish, the BBC network of stations refrained from playing the song until the crew of the lunar excursion were safely back on Earth.

without fear nor favour

Chillingly and contemptibly, one of the forerunners to be the next Prime Minister of the UK refused to lend his support to the country’s diplomatic corps which precipitated the resignation of a long-serving civil servant and ambassador to the US after having become the target of Donald Trump’s virulent attacks and being effectively froze out of affairs of state as UK’s ombudsman and chief representation.
A frank and unapologetic (not to mention wholly accurate) missive framing the regime as incompetent, thin-skinned and depressingly perhaps not a single-term prospect emerged—which is precisely the sort of candid assessment that an ambassador is supported to deliver, currying Trump’s disfavour and the candidate husting for leadership (also former Foreign Minister) essentially acquiesced and allowed UK foreign policy to be undermined and dictated by a foreign power. Not to credit either of these dolts with a shred of strategic thinking, this travesty might have been suffered because of the UK’s precarious situation and need for the US as a trading partner post-Brexit and desire to keep America happy and on friendly terms. Diplomats were quick to anger and quick to forget the regrettable characterisations revealed by Wikileaks and the cable-gate fiasco but equally realise the importance of being able to express honest opinions. In the same debate, the party heir-apparent also refused to rule out suspending parliamentary proceedings in order to force through a no-deal Brexit. Whilst one of the original arguments in favour of leaving the EU was to preserve the sovereignty of Parliament, the ministerial candidate would leave the option of proroguing on the table to safeguard against a legislative impasse and further delays, a power not exercised since 1629 with Charles I—something that eventually led to the king’s executive and the interregnum with rule by Oliver Cromwell. A matter of royal prerogative, the new Prime Minister would need to seek permission from the Queen in order to suspend Parliament, pulling her majesty back into politics and the Brexit question.

minimal republics

As part of an on-going series called “Stupid Borders,” Nag on the Lake introduces us to the work of artist and activist Rubén Martín de Lucas who cordoned off several one-hundred square metre parcels of land on the outskirts of Madrid and lived in then for a full day in order to underscore the very abstract and othering concept of national boundaries. Dangerous and deluded as such ideas may be, it is worth reflecting on how the accruing of the unreal—be it faith in a fiat currency or any type of self-interested association, has the fate of civilisation and the world entire hinging on it.