great* trust (12. 692)

Realising that that’s hardly the point of the proposed redevelopment scheme under the above acronym for Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation, the suggestion of creating a US mandate charged with rebuilding the occupied enclave as a chain of high-tech megacities—in the spirit of the Line in Saudi Arabia, is the cover for large-scale ethnic cleansing and land appropriation, expelling the Palestinian population (given a digital token for their land, redeemable elsewhere) as Israeli forces gather for siege warfare on the population already dying from hunger and encroach further into the West Bank—though typical of Trump—the leaked prospectus being circulated looks so shoddy and grifty to be nothing more than a real-estate scam cooked up by the self-described business mogul himself for beach-front time-shares. It’s like getting irrationally angry seeing maps showing the Gulf of America, knowing that’s not the half of it, instead of how the USA would sell out Palestine and Ukraine and Taiwan if they stood to profit. The conceptual images are so poorly executed without even the hint of effort—the whole thing obviously slapped together by AI, like something generated by a ChatGPT knock off before the platforms were widely available—and worse betrays no familiarity with Palestinian geography or politics, only pandering to Israeli settlers’ ideas of manifest destiny and divine entitlement with the revealing subtitle from “From a Demolished Iranian Proxy to a Prosperous Abrahamic Alley” and includes an “Elon Musk” industrial estate.

invisible hand (12. 691)

As an appeals court affirms the decision of a lower court addressing the legality of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs—staying the enforcement until mid-October in order to give the administration the opportunity to appeal—jeopardising some hundred billion dollars in duties collected from exporters, which in reality is a tax on the consumer, that may need to be refunded, the presidency has meanwhile been taking another tactic on revenue-generation which some economists are acknowledging a generational shift away from free-market capitalism and some critics regard as a dangerous pivot toward socialism by MAGA and the conservatives. Of course the US economic landscape is ripe with subsidies and tax-incentives for choice businesses, engaging what outsiders may classify as protectionism for vital industries—and what America would definitely call barriers to trade and given domestic businesses an unfair advantage—and the US has become stakeholders in businesses beforehand—primarily with its bailouts and interventions for banks and automakers during the 2008 Financial Crisis and for small businesses during the COVID pandemic, but government ownership through a controlling share of a public company is a bit unprecedented in non-emergencies. First the US Defence Department bought stock in a rare-earth metals operation, then Trump conceded to a large microchip maker’s argument that sales of less advanced components to China would increase competition and innovation and most recently ten percent of chip maker Intel—the latter tech firms settling up with mildly extortive deals. Whilst not uncommon practice elsewhere with government invested in private industry, the US has generally eschewed such involvement, heralding the above free-markets (albeit the source of dissatisfaction for billions, exploitative and destroying the world) as the driver of progress and the hallmark of capitalism, and if the trend continues—and perhaps it should—one must come to terms with redefining what open competition means. Governments would be partial to businesses and bidders that they own in one way or another, and while previous administrations saw a significant return on investment with bailouts, grants and other aid but the public, aggressively attacked on other fronts—in believing it’s getting back from these companies and contractors, an indirect tax on corporations which Republicans would never own up to—may end up more impoverished and indebted if investment decisions are carried out poorly or in the spirit of cronyism.

synchronotpica

one year ago: union label (with synchronopticæ) plus assorted links worth the revisit

twelve years ago: a visit to Offenbach plus prunk and posh

thirteen years ago: the castles of Thüringia plus a botched restoration job

fourteen years ago: large demoninations 

fifteen years ago: immigration debates in Germany 

cdc (12. 690)

As the US Department of of Defence is apparently moving ahead with renaming it the Department of War—which seems unalloyed with Trump’s aspirations for the Nobel peace prize, the Daily Heller revisits the branding (influenced by ISOTYPE) and logos created by Charles T Coiner for the Civilian Defence Corps of the FDR administration. While it is unclear whether America is in need of a comprehensive corporate identity and national design strategy, it is manifest that the work of graphic designers and communicators help to sanctify the vaunted ideals underpinning democracy and the dignity of the worker in their role as defenders of the values of freedom and equity. More from Print magazine, as well as disambiguating the alphabet soup of agencies, at the link up top.

sōsaku hanga (12. 689)

Via John Coulthart’s { feuilleton }, we appreciated the introduction (as well as the source) to renowned woodblock printer Sekino Jun’ichirō (関野 凖一郎) who is considered one of the leading figures behind the title Creative Print (創作版画) movement that was a post-war departure from the traditional ukiyo-e craft whose output was characterised by a rigid division of labour, the artist’s expression not dependent, downstream from the collaboration of artisan tasked with conceptualising, carving and colouring. The pictured “Summer Ending” seemed appropriate for the changing seasons (see previously), and the prolific artist produced and exhibited several series aside from individual portraiture and cityscapes such as a reinterpretation of the classic by Utagawa Hiroshige The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, the rest-stops and horse-refreshing posts along the royal road connecting the shōgun capital of Edo to the imperial one of Kyōto, hot springs of the country and folk toys. Much more at the links above.

tal und berg, time and temperature (12. 688)

Running some errands back in the Geratal region, we took a stroll through the village above the valley called Geraberg, higher up on the slope of the Arlesberg on the northern edge of the Thüringer Wald. Though first mentioned in a deed of gift to the Henneberg knights for its vineyards in the eleventh century, the area was more famous of its traditions of mining and forestry, fuelling the smelting of iron ore. The cadet industries of glass-making and porcelain manufacturer developed in the nineteenth century and taking advantage of one by-product of mining operations, mercury, Geraberg became a centre of technical expertise for the making of clinical thermometers (that’s one in the main traffic circle) and other glass medical instruments, beginning in 1873 and lasting until 1990, employing some two-thousand individuals. There was also a museum dedicated to the village’s association with the device, along with the broader technological advancements from contact to digital thermometers and thermostats, closed Mondays but looks worth checking out on a return trip.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a pivotal moment in the Star Trek timeline (with synchronopticæ), aspiring travel-writers, assorted links worth revisiting, a trip to Schwickershausen plus the largest aerospace exhibition

thirteen years ago: Saxon castles plus selbst gebackt biscotti

fourteen years ago: holding the UN for ransom 

fifteen years ago: more ado about Glühbirne plus conceptual Star Wars posters

from the shallows of wikipedia (12. 687)

Via Super Punch, we learn that the honest-to-goodness academic term for the kink that can sometimes occur in both naturally-occurring and manufactured helix-based structures, like in knotty Christmas lights or the twisting of a telephone handset cord, is tendril perversion—which the article’s header helpfully disambiguates from Japanese tentacle based erotica (don’t get them confused). Already established as the accepted turn of phrase by the time of Charles Darwin and contemporary botanists, the phenomena was noted as the invariable twist in the spiral of a growing vine or sprouting seedling, and was formalised as a way to describe the elastic geometry of breaking symmetry and chirality.

mister bean and the smear campaign (12. 686)

Via Nag on the Lake and Memo of the Air—although we could not really really find any affinity—nor notes for—this catalogue of the weirdest and worst novelty songs, to have been graced with music videos, we did appreciate the presentation from Vole Television with clever interstitials like classic bumpers from MTV. The title track—“(I want to be) Elected”—was produced by Bruce Dickinson (not a single-issue voter and well before Rowan Atkinson became one) for the Red Nose comic relief charity and was included in the closing coverage before purdah by BBC Parliament in 1992. Going through more of the playlist, we do find that there are VH-1 pop-up video style commentary and factoids and also features Lieutenant Pigeon, so maybe some measure of kindredness.  Tag your favourites.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the dissolution of East Germany (with synchronopticæ) plus a banger from George Harrison

weekend at esptein’s (12. 685)

Following a virtually silent period with suspiciously few tweets from the White House and zero public events scheduled (though Trump would be the easiest figure to reanimate through AI given all the braggadocio, vindictive nonsense and non-sequitirs he’s said and could be truly perpetuated forever by the party in the fashion of Lenin or the Kim dynasty), rumours—probably wishful thinking and premature—began to circulate on the president’s preferred platform and elsewhere of his death or disability, which would be doubly iconic given it’s the Labour Day long weekend, having destroyed the morale of the federal workforce, dismantled trade unions and lurched the American worker towards technocratic feudalism and the forced exodus at the Centres for Disease Control and accepting medical advice from the likes of RFK Jr. No official statement was put out to the contrary, coming after weeks of JD Vance saying he is ready to take on the presidency should need arise, which in fairness is his job description though woefully ill-equipped to hold the coalition of the vile, the expendable, opportunists and useful idiots plus with Trump talking about getting into Heaven, convinced that a Noble peace prize would persuade St Peter (tariffing India fifty-percent for not sponsoring his nomination) and for now there’s only one grainy photograph of Trump golfing, perhaps a body-double—at the course where he buried his ex-wife in order to earn a tax-exemption by designating the property as a cemetery—having been snuffed out to keep her from dishing on Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, perhaps foreshadowing his own new tactic for delay and distraction, by dying—“it will be the biggest death of all time!” Though very much of a tool and pliable like Trump, Vance has a deficit of the charisma to fill the power vacuum and there will be a violent crisis of succession. We won’t believe it until Russian state media is preempted with Swan Lake and announces the death of long-time operative Krasnov. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION IN THIS MATTER!  We now return to regular programming already in progress.