proclamation 4311

Issued on this day in 1974 by American president Gerald Ford, the directive granted a full and unconditional pardon to his immediate predecessor for any crimes he may have committed against the United States as its leader. In response to public outcry Ford defended his decision to exercise his prerogative in excusing Nixon, particularly over the Watergate Scandal (previously), saying it was for the good of the country to close this tragic chapter. Privately, after leaving office, Ford justified his actions by keeping on his person—in his wallet—a copy of a 1915 US Supreme Court decision that affirmed the notion that accepting a pardon implies a confession of guilt. I’m sure that assuaged his conscience.

season 1, episode 1

Though first broadcast in Canada two days before and being the sixth filmed instalment in the line-up, “The Man Trap” airing on this day for US audiences on this day in 1966 is considered the franchise’s premiere, picked among the other more establishing plots due to its theme and inclusion of alien monsters.
Informing The Next Generation’s Season 3, Episode 3 (“The Survivors”) with the homesteading Kevin and Rishon Uxbridge who want nothing to do with the Enterprise’s offers of assistance or rescue, the inhabitants of M-113 operating an archaeological research operation shun visitors. The last members of a dead civilisation hungered for salt which they extracted from several red shirt ensigns with deadly consequence and roamed the corridors of the ship for more. Several mid-twenty-third-century salt-shakers were designed and intended as props but fearing that twentieth century viewers would be confused, the vials and containers instead became regular items in Doctor McCoy’s sick bay, his decade-old history with one of the interlopers forwarding the plot.

your daily demon: furfur

Likely from the Latin furcifer for scoundrel, the powerful infernal Earl leads twenty-six legions of demons—according to the Ars Goetia after Johann Weyer’s late sixteenth century hierarchy and expanded, elaborated by Aleister Crowley and illustrated by Jacques Collin de Plancy—this demon is depicted in the form of a peryton—that is a chimerical winged stag (the hybrid itself created by Jorge Luis Borges in 1957 despite its being imbued with mythological pedigree) and has a reputation for dispensing falsehoods, unless compelled to tell the truth by being bound with a magical triangle. 

Once tamed into eloquence, Furfur imparts teachings on secret and divine things, wields tempests and galvanises romance and is summoned with this sigil (see also) and partaking of a quadrant of Virgo corresponds to today through the fifteenth of September.

spoiler candidate

Via Super Punch, we are directed to reporting from the Guardian on opposition candidate standing for the Duma from St. Petersburg, Boris Vishnevsky, is facing two other contenders running with not only nearly identical names (they’ve preserved their patronymics), his challengers having changed their names for the ballot, but who have altered their appearance physically and digitally to look like the candidate. It is hoped that these political doppelgängers (the real Boris bothered to wear a necktie) will split the vote and allow the incumbent to retain his seat. It’s the next level of misnegation, obfuscation to “Vote No on Yes to the Proposition Rescinding the Ban on Anti-Mask Mandates” and would hate to give America’s GOP this tactic for their arsenal.

looking out for a place to go

Topping the charts in the United Kingdom on this day in 1976, the single from the album Arrival (previously) reached the number one spot in multiple countries, retaining that position for fourteen weeks in Sweden and thirty-two in Norway. A early version called “Boogaloo” on a demo tape contained a second verse that was dropped from the final version: “Baby, baby, you’re out of sight / Hey, you’re looking all right tonight / When you come to the party / Listen to the guys / They’ve got the look in their eyes…” Like the ISBN system for books and printed material, the International Standard Musical Work Code (ISWC) under ISO 15707 first implemented in 1995 assigns to Dancing Queen T-000.000.001-0.

kermit the forg

Thankfully spared this conspiracy theory when it first gained currency and spread memetically, the implication that Kermit the Frog was somehow responsible for the 9/11 Terror Attacks though crass and callous through its ridiculousness (and possibly one of the more pallatable suggestions regarding second-guessing investigative commissions and expert testimony), excelling beyond others in terms of unreality and detachment, does yield some insights into how these ideas form and take hold. The idea stems from a continuity error spotted in a made-for-television retelling of It’s A Wonderful Life aired in 2002. Having wished he were never born after failing to save their theatre, Kermit finds himself in an alternate reality and encountering familiar friends who have taken decidedly different career-paths absent Kermit’s influence. Visiting a decidedly spinsterish Miss Piggy, the Twin Towers are clearly visible from her apartment window for a brief moment, leading some to conclude that in a parallel timeline where there is no Kermit or Muppet Show, there would be no terror attack, assigning blame in this counter-factual situation to a puppet. It’s cringeworthy of course but I wonder how some of our contemporary explanations invoking sinister forces will age. More at MEL Magazine at the link up top.

wiki commons

The media repository for public-domain and free-use images (see also), text, audio and video that illustrate and inform all projects across the enterprise was launched on this day in 2004, championed by journalist and software developer Erik Möller. Though originally primarily developed as a way to reduce file redundancy across the platform, it has become a reference source and common good for contributors and users alike, garnering many enthuasiasts and even a photo of the year competition. The version of the logo to the side is composed of a mosaic of images to mark the milestone in November of 2006 when the site acquired its one-millionth media file. Currently there are over seventy million.

pantry and pageantry

Via Things Magazine, we are directed towards a thoroughgoing article about the social engineering behind of the relatively new field of kitchen design and how a whole—though not necessarily comprehensive and to the exclusion of many—spectrum of political and philosophical alignments, communists, feminists, capitalists, have tried, with various degrees of success and endurance, have essayed this part of the home that only garnered attention in the twentieth century once domestics started to be less common. We especially appreciated the chance to revisit the Frankfurt Kitchen and its designer, whom was also an early advocate for planned-obsolesce in order to encourage continued manufacture and innovation and the Cold War battleground of model home-making. Much more at By Design at the link above including the consequences of home economics, reinforcement of gendered roles and expectations, how labour is valued and the under representation of minorities of kitchen-utilisers that together makes up the majority.