помаранчева революція (12.022)

Beginning on this day in 2004, the series of protests (see also) lasting two months and one day called the Orange Revolution (Pomarancheva revoliutsiia, the colour of the campaign of Western-oriented Viktor Yushchenko and adopted by his supporters) caused political upheaval and reform and was sparked by the outcome of a presidential run-off perceived to be marred with fraud, corruption and voter intimidation, which favoured Russia-aligned candidate Victor Yanukovich. The Ukrainian Supreme Court was swayed by the acts of non-violent civil disobedience and general disruption, backed by international observers that questioned the election’s validity and annulled the results of the initial second round and ordered new voting, under close scrutiny, which were judged free and fair and ultimately installed Yushchenko in office with a “public inauguration on 23 January 2005.

a/res/3236 (12. 021)

On this day in 1974 during the General Assembly, the United Nations adopted a resolution recognising and reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination (after the 1917 and 1948 agreements) “without external interference; the right to national independence and sovereignty and the inalienable right of return to homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted.” Simultaneously, the UN officially regarded the Palestine Liberation Organisation as a representative of the Palestinian people and granted observer status.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Freigeld, money with an expiration date (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: DC’s Bible museum, dismantling net neutrality plus UK water utilities employ dowsing

eight years ago: Xerox and zines, a forthcoming Dune remake, an experimental electromagentic propulsion drive plus Trump’s dictatorial tendencies

nine years ago: the Parable of the Puddle plus assorted links worth revisiting

eleven years ago: the Noun Project

 

11x11 (12. 020)

enemy of the people: veteran journalists expect Trump to go after the press by every possible means  

net elevation: calculate the differential between the birth place and the death place of the good and the great—via Waxy 

panda diplomacy: Russia donates seventy animals to North Korean zoo with a plane sanctioned by the US normally dispatched to Syria—via Super Punch

jellyfish dream theatre: a visit to the Kamo Aquarium in Yamagata prefecture, home to the largest collection of medusazoa 

cryptobro: investigating undisclosed financial interest in various schemes, BBC trolled by Paul Logan impersonator 

icc: the International Criminal Court has issued warrants for the Israeli president, former defence secretary and Hamas’ military leader on charges of war crimes  

ai pimping: the growing industry of machine-generated influences  

exclusive gladiator experience: AirBNB’s booking at the Colosseum incites outrage  

test-fire: in response to strikes with Western missile systems, Putin orders the firing of experimental hyper-sonic armament deep into Ukraine  

allotted to companionship: a look at how a certain demographic spent their time in the 1930s as compared to today—via tmn  

grim meat-hook future: resistance to Trump’s authoritarian regime could result in a military coup—read the comments

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus a lost demo tape rediscovered decades later

seven years ago: endangered elements plus more links to enjoy

eight years ago: more fun with shadows plus Eigengrau and colour perception

nine years ago: Alan Moore’s Star Wars

ten years ago: ransomware plus dialect and distinction

bathroom bill (12. 019)

The stupidities of American politics and culture wars is grindingly wearisome and beyond the bandwidth of most to follow—although that’s by design and the slights large and small cannot go unnoticed. Trump’s nominee for Education Secretary, a former wrestling executive officer, to dismantle the agency at a pivotal time when public school districts are underfunded and higher learning is facing an existential crisis with the prospect of artificial intelligence supplanting expertise is shocking enough, though the feeling is a little blunted given the fact the same individual headed the Small Business Administration during his first term. In the same news cycle, however, the Republic-controlled incoming Congress welcomed—on Transgender Day of Remembrance, memorialising victims of transphobia—the first openly member to identify as such by introducing a measure for the House of Representatives that would ban in the Capitol transgender women from using bathrooms designated for cisgendered women. Unclear if it will be brought to the floor to vote on house rules, the sponsor decrying an assault of women’s rights and safety with this ideology, which the target of the vitriol, newly elected member from Delaware, dismissed the proposal as a distraction from the job of governance and will make do, their platform and focus, telling of its poverty, being “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”

the power of positive thinking (12. 018)

Increasing notably in look-ups after athletes and performers spoke imaging their success and calling it into existence, Cambridge Dictionary (previously) selected manifest as its Word of the Year. With roots in the Theosophical movement, the idea—which can be delusional or dangerous if not underpinned with actual effort—has moved from the realm of self-help to the mainstream. While have a healthy level of self-esteem, confidence and goal-setting is essential, magical thinking can create unrealistic expectations and leverage feelings that poor outcomes happened because one did not want them bad enough—or harboured doubts. The six century history of the term illustrates how language evolves, with Geoffrey Chaucer first citing Manyfest in the sense of obvious or easily noticed, demonstrated. Other contenders that Cambridge began monitoring in 2024 included: resenteeism—a portmanteau of resentment and absenteeism being used increasingly by dissatisfied employees, gymfluencer and the cocktail party effect, the difficulty on focusing on one voice in a crowded setting now applied to AI as a selective attention model.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: The Day After (1983—with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: the monumental challenge of carbon removal, Jim Henson’s IBM ad campaign, toys and gadgets spying on children plus more on The Day After

eight years ago: Windows 1.0 (1985), German Youth Word of the Year, Star Wars Identities, US Army illustrated Code of Personal Conduct plus Trump’s policy agenda

nine years ago: more on Einstein’s centenary, assorted links to revisit plus the Trump candidacy

ten years ago: Norway’s new passport design, a newspaper assembly line, Anglo-Saxons plus lingual laziness

are you tired of having your hands cut off by snowblowers and the inevitable heart-attacks that come with shovelling snow (12. 017)

As our faithful chronicler informs, this day in 1992 saw the original airing of Mr Plow (S04:E09), in which Homer purchases a snowplow and his success clearing driveways inspires a rivalry with his friend Barney, who quickly corners the market. Dan Castellaneta, voicing both Simpson and Gumble, garnered his second Emmy for the episode (after “A Streetcar Named Marge”), considered one of the best in the show’s long history. As a late night spot on public access television originally attracted customers, Barney commissions Linda Ronstadt to perform the jingle for his competitor, Plow King—and escalating the advertising campaign, Mr Plow secures the services of an agency to create an avant garde and perplexing commercial that fails to land with the public. Batman’s Adam West makes a cameo too, and there are as well dozens of obscure cultural references. Call Klondike 5-3-2-2-6 right now.

𝚒𝚖𝚐_𝟶𝟶𝟶𝟷 (12. 016)

Via Waxy, we are directed towards this fascinating clip-culling project from Riley Walz, which scoured the video-hosting service for the default naming convention that the iPhone camera app employed for their feature “Send to YouTube,” circa 2009 until 2012. The service saw a whopping seventeen hundred percent increase in uploads but Apple eventually parted ways after sharing became less technically encumbered and bandwidth was less of an issue. Randomised they make interesting for snapshot of moments from the lives of strangers, unrehearsed and unedited. There’s a lot of baby and pet antics, trips to amusement parks, concerts, talent shows and even forgotten trends, like the Ice Bucket Challenge—anonymous scrapbooks. Although there are a few actual accidents, natural disasters and surprise proposals, most of these short videos are wholesome and wholly unspectacular although one feels a bit of tension building for the unexpected that fails to materialise but are nonetheless fascinating to watch, as a time-capsule barely seen and hardly searchable—see previously.

day 1000 (12. 015)

Addressing a special session of the EU parliament to mark a thousand days since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Europe to “push harder” against Putin’s aggression, adding that Russian resources, will and patience was not inexhaustible and there comes a breaking point and have to pursue a “just peace.” The speech and grim milestone come a day after Joe Biden lifted sanctions on the use of US-supplied long-range missile systems outside of Ukraine’s own borders, the approval following incursions into the Kursk region and the expected response by Russian and North Korean troops.