synchronoptica
one year ago: a thousand year old gaming collection (with synchronoptica), Taco Bell wall art plus artist Carlo Bossoli
seven years ago: US tariffs on steel and aluminium plus NSA motivational posters
eight years ago: the oligarchs of Antiquity, Melbourne’s Portrait apartment, An Inconvenient Truth revisited, a Tolkien tale of forbidden romance, an AI writes descriptions of works of art plus the invention of Roquefort cheese
Courtesy of our faithful chronicler we are reminded that on this day in 1969, the originally scheduled broadcast preempted more than two months due to special network coverage following the death of former president Dwight Eisenhower (see also here and here), the original run of Star Trek came to a rather ignominious end with its final episode (previously), two years short of its five year mission. Responding to a cry for help from an archaeological team on an Alpha Quadrant planet, (Captain’s log, Stardate 5928.5: The Enterprise has received a distress call from a group of scientists on Camus II, who are exploring the ruins of a dead civilisation. 
Their situation is desperate. Two of the survivors are the expedition’s surgeon, Dr Coleman and the leader of the expedition Dr Janice Lester) Kirk is reunited with a former romantic interest from his Academy days, the latter being attended by the former who claims that she is suffering from acute radiation poisoning which killed the others. Lester and Kirk reminisce about their shared time in training, Lester blaming Starfleet’s patriarchal culture and sexism for halting her career progression and activating an alien technology to Freaky Friday their life-entities and switch bodies, with Lester as Kirk taking command of the ship and remanding Kirk as Lester to sick bay. In a course of events that are a carefully constructed indictment against Lester’s ambitious takeover and a tribunal ensues to declare Lester unfit for command with the imposter Kirk pushing back against this mutiny. Eventually the crew realises that the captain is not himself and the two personalities are once again swapped with the alien artefact. Dismissive of Lester’s hysteria, the final lines of dialogue, spoken by Kirk restored in his own body are “Her life could have been as rich as any woman’s—if only… if only…” Poorly received by audiences and considered one of the worst episodes of the original series—though in fairness, the the show was cancelled prematurely and did not have the chance to complete its story arc as planned, critics found it to be misogynistic and playing into the prejudices and sexism that Dr Lester had sought to overcome.
Airing in mid-May 1978, we are directed, courtesy of Poseidon’s Underworld to another questionable but fun project inspired by Star Wars mania (see also here and here) in this ABC television special featuring the brother and sister musical duo with guest stars Suzanne Somers, John Davidson and Charlie Callas, who are abducted by aliens and beamed up to the mothership’s nightclub (there’s a lot of crossing of franchises here) and perform a medley of their songs and other disco standards in order to help the extraterrestrials deemphasise their focus on technological advancement and embrace love and art. Check out the synopsis at the link above with production notes and more publicity stills from the show and enjoy the playlist below.
Arrested on this day in 1961 in Panama City Florida on suspicion of a committing a burglary at pool hall based on the testimony of a single witness who claimed to have seen the unemployed drifter at the scene of the crime that morning, Clarence Earl Gideon falsely charged with petty larceny and breaking and entering appeared in court alone for his trial, unable to afford a defence lawyer, and had to represent himself, the laws of the state only requiring counsel to be proved in cases of capital offences. Gideon correctly countered the judge citing the US constitution’s VI. and XIV. amendments but could not persuade him otherwise and was forced to stand up himself to the authorities bringing the charges and was ultimately remanded to five years in prison for a crime he did not commit. 
During his incarceration, Gideon researched the law in the jail’s library and on prison stationary (a handwritten petition for a writ of certiorari) requested review by the state supreme court, which rejected it and was subsequently appealed to the nation’s high court, bringing suit against the then incumbent secretary of the Florida depart of corrections, Louie L Wainwright, for violation of his constitutional rights. The Supreme Court issued its landmark decision two years later, assigning Gideon prominent Washington, DC attorney and future associate justice Abe Fortas of the firm Arnold, Fortas & Porter to argue his case pro bono, ruling that selective application of this entitlement, weighted factors like the complexity of the charges, illiteracy or low intelligence of the defendant were irrelevant (Gideon himself certainly lawyered up despite leaving school after eighth grade) and counsel for those who could not afford it was guaranteed in all proceedings to navigate the rules of evidence and admissibility. The decision informed the US public defender system for the indigent for help ensure fair trials and over two thousand incarcerated inmates in Florida were released in 1963, mistrials declared and found that their right to due process had been violated. Gideon himself opted to have his name exonerated with a speedy retrial, acquitted by a jury in less than an hour. Part of a series of court decisions that confirmed the rights of defendants at trial, the ruling was extended to police interrogation with Miranda v Arizona, this anniversary seems especially resonant now with unheard of retributive attacks on law firms and individual lawyers, which is placing a chilling effect on pro bono work and legal aid for those up against those virtually unchallenged and untouchable.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus candidate Bill Clinton on a late night talk show (1992)
seven years ago: a visit to Kloster Veรra, ultimate Monopoly, Andy Warhol shot (1968) plus the revival of an ancient Sumerian religion
eight years ago: a four-dimensional toy box, a cove of abandoned ships, political gaslighting plus Trump rallies against Pride month
nine years ago: tensions between Germany and Tรผrkiye
ten years ago: more links to enjoy
Courtesy of Kottke, we are introduced to a wonderfully obsessive superfan whose meticulous interest and encyclopaedic knowledge of Star Trek: The Next Generation has translated to him becoming a stagehand and consultant for later incarnations of the franchise named Jรถrg Hillebrand, a mild-mannered German elementary school teacher by day, who has taken easter eggs from TNG and other series and worked in several callbacks for Star Trek: Picard. 
The book on display in the captain’s ready room is an edition of The Annotated Shakespeare, Volume One and is open to various pages during each episode, one time, with some close examination, revealing proof that not only does classical thespian Patrick Stewart existed in the show’s universe (see also) but that Jean Luc is aware of him, the spread in question featuring a still from a 1968 production of As You Like It with Stewart in the role of Touchstone. Much more trivia, hidden messages and recycled costumes and set-dressing at the links above.
To be instituted in mid-July when the federal hiring freeze is scheduled to be relaxed, albeit limited to one new employee for every four leaving the workforce on top of the three-hundred thousand target reduction—of which about half has already been achieved through normal attrition, leveraged buyouts and illegal firings by DOGE with the rest left up to AI and a programme called TurboRIF—the new recruitment plan to fill vacancies will require applicants to praise the administration’s executive orders, neither law nor policy and could be undone just as easily, and submit to a process of continuous vetting. The latter being not a mid-point evaluation or more rigorous scrutiny but rather a loyalty test and the former would require prospective to be judged on the merits not of education, credentials or experience but instead on their ability to pen an essay response, limited to two hundred words, that demonstrates their patriotism and citing which EOs that their job performance, if selected, would advance. 
I wonder if there will be a catalogue of regressive measures corresponding to each career field—to cross-reference for each public sector position of trust, like combatting DEI, protecting women, ending tax payer subsidies for biased media, promoting religious liberties, unleashing off-shore drilling, strengthening high education, reinstating common sense, restoring American seafood competitiveness, addressing the synthetic opioid supply chain in the People’s Republic of China as applied to low-value imports, etc. Answers to these four questions are not to be generated by chatbots and new hires must consent to assessments of their post-appointment conduct following onboarding to ensure that their responses were genuine and have not become hardened and disillusioned by turning in an assignment outlining who they’ll cast aspersions against minorities and the marginalised for a pay check, and contradictory adhering to an oath to uphold the law of the land. Human Resources and Human Capital Management professionals are taking exception with these highly qualifying criteria as unmeasurable and far from streamlining hiring are making the process much more onerous (by design) for rating and referral with unquantifiable standards.
synchronoptica
one year ago: astronomers question existence of Vulcan home world (with synchronoptica), how the robin got its name plus ghost malls and other modern ruins
seven years ago: Universology, kinetic, computational art plus tariffs and crony capitalism
eight years ago: pigeon shoes, the US leaves the Paris Climate Accords, the coronation of Elizabeth II (1953), a plant-filled bus plus assorted links worth revisiting
nine years ago: turning one’s social media presence over to a robot, existing in a simulated reality plus forgotten superstitions
ten years ago: more links to enjoy, closing down Germany’s nuclear power plants plus romanticising youth
the chairs of dr who: the quest to identify as much seating as possible from the series’ first great age from 1963 to 1989—via Pasa Bon!
ฯ in the sky: random star distribution reveals the mathematical constant with surprising accuracy
cowardcore: milquetoast Pride apparel collections—via Super Punch—see previously
the amalfi coast of japan: sites that compare themselves to more famous vacation destinations
all these worlds are yours, except europa—attempt no landing there; use them together, use them in peace: future missions to drill into the icy crust of the ocean moons—see previously
maxwell house: a fascinating omnibus of the cinematic commercial advertisements of Ridley Scott
Not the first meme on the subject, Trump has before propagated a false hysteria back in 2016 during his first campaign (at least the first one that netted a win for the serial candidate), repeating a snippet from an activist and agitator with Latinos for Trump complaining about continued immigration from Mรฉxico: “My culture is a very dominant, culture and its imposing and causing problems—if you don’t do something about it, you’re” going to have the above. In response, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce launched a Guac the Vote campaign to utilise these menacing snack bars as voter registration information booths. 
Now in the wake of a contested order to halt the president’s power to unilaterally impost tariffs without the consent of congress by a tribunal with a highly specific role, the US Court of International Trade—a quasi-judicial entity of the Treasury Department to deal with customs disputes, composed of expert judges appointed by Obama, Reagan, GW Bush, Clinton and Trump himself with the authority of a federal court but unlimited jurisdiction, referred to the Supreme Court for appeal, a Financial Times reporter has coined an acronym and modus operandi that has really gotten under the skin of the administration: TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) policy not only implies that this timorous madman approach gets too spooked when markets tumble and reverses or pauses the implementation in response to economic pressure, he and his cohort of loyalists also grift off stocks on the rebound of his actions, insider trading in a very public forum. Trump himself excused his vacillation as negotiation, describing himself in opposite terms despite investors seemingly willing to blow off threats as bluster and bullying and telling a journalist inquiring about the unflattering meme that it was “a nasty question” and never to ask it again. The special tribunal that enforced an injunction of Trump’s predictably chaotic behaviour argues that without the participation of the legislature and other parties with standing, the citation of national emergencies (drug trafficking and trade deficits) do not merit the prescribed remedies.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus Trump’s trials recall Cop Rock
seven years ago: a trip to Treffurt, French publicity caravans, crazy walls, Vegas hospitality workers strike plus more links to enjoy
eight years ago: more plagiarism scandals in government, the Shavian alphabet, Shakespeare and hawk-fanciers plus a trip to the Speewald
nine years ago: xenoglossy, the Bible in emoji plus visiting Restormel castle
ten years ago: more wearable technology, the philosophy of Erasmus, a trip to Gersfeld plus even more links
