day twenty-six (13. 293)

Despite the reported delivery of a fifteen-point plan through Pakistani surrogates and claims that the US has won the war with negotiations ongoing and major concessions on the part of Iran—without elaboration but implied it was related to oil and gas shipments and Tehran abandoning its nuclear ambitions—though doubts persist whether any dialogue has occurred and whether Iran would be receptive to any deal, Trump tempered his victory during the swearing in ceremony his new of homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, with the aside that Hegseth and Joint Chief Of Staff were disappointed to broker a ceasefire rather than continuing the destruction, by announcing the deployment of a thousand more troops to the region while airstrikes intensified on US bases in the theatre. At an event marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the office of the foreign ministry, German president and former Bundesminister des Auswärtigen Frank-Walter Steinmeier reaffirmed that the joint Israeli-American attacks on Iran and Lebanon violate international law and constitute war crimes, questioning the value of diplomacy and foreign policy when bad actors rubbish order and norms. Israel solidifies its hold on a buffer zone thirty kilometres inland from the current border between the countries and is poised for long-term occupation, presenting the question of sovereignty for Lebanon separate from Hezbollah into an existential crisis. Contrary to assurances, an errant missile hits the Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr as a military spokesman mocks the American administration’s attempt to control the narrative as a profound strategic failure, chiding them for disguising failure and the inability to extricate themselves from this mess as a truce and they are negotiating with imaginary interlocutors, insisting Tehran has been given no terms and would never capitulate to a hollow superpower.

when you’re rolling out the dough (13. 292)

 

Debuting on this day in 1986, the mismatched-cultural sitcom relationship of midwestern aspiring journalist Larry Appleton compelled to cohabitate with distant cousin Balki Bartokomous, a shepherd from the fictional Mediterranean island of Mypos, has far too much free real estate in my head, to my mind.And whilst Perfect Strangers is not worthy of nostalgia, which I maintain, a tweet twittered in the midst of wholesale cultural reboots pandering to a specific age plugging continuation in which Bronson Pinchot’s character, having married his fitness coach girlfriend Mary Anne Spencer (having baby Robespierre-Boinki Bartokomous for the series finale), decide as a family to return to Mypos, plot a violent revolution and rule in the style of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. Now we do the Dance of Joy!

synchronoptica

one year ago: the complete listing of Trump’s atrocities, part the second (with synchronopticæ) plus the granularity of Chinese foodways

thirteen years ago: defragmenting dreams 

fourteen years ago: repair cafes 

fifteen years ago: vide-poche 

9x9 (13. 291)

crepuscular rays: the phenomena of sun pillars explained  

an exercise in attention: cultivating contemplation through a defence of pet portraiture  

关税: Trump’s reciprocal tariffs have failed against the Chinese export economy  

por la paz y justicia: Spain’s defiance and criticism under US duress is a template for the rest of European, allies threatened with sanction and invasion

the day of the locust: the Simpsons’ patriarch is taken from the protagonist of Nathanael West’s 1939 novel about Hollywood society with a cast of stock characters  

odonymy: UK regionalism for alleyways—see previously, see also  

смертономика: thanatology and Russia’s resistance to sanction  

dinergoth: the post-subcultural mainstream and the weirding of middle of the road America as a coping mechanism  

aurora borealis shining down in dallas: nineteenth century physicist Karl Lemström’s attempts to produce the Northern Lights on demand—see also

hot spot (13. 290)

Courtesy of Miss Cellania, we are directed to a 1945 instalment in a series of animated instructional films produced by Warner Brothers and featuring PVT Snafu stationed this time in Iran as the logistics hub for delivering materiel to the Soviet Union during the waning days of war in Europe. Intrigued by reports of scorching temperatures, which first dismissed as propaganda, Satan, voiced by Mel Blanc, inspects the supply lines whilst our private bears the brunt of the burden in sizzling conditions. Bugs Bunny makes a cameo appearance in the gazetteer that the devil consults.

day twenty-five (13. 289)

Despite counterclaims that there has been no dialogue between Tehran and Washington since the outbreak of the war, Trump insisted on multiple occasions that he has talked with Iranian leadership—no, not the Supreme Leader but someone very high up—and they are making progress towards a deal. Pakistani (engaged in its own battle with Afghanistan) and Egyptian diplomats have acting as intermediaries, and whilst attacks continue by the US on Iranian military targets, Trump has relented on his original threat to destroy energy infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened within forty-eight hours, extending the deadline for five days, Iran calling him out for spreading fake news to manipulate oil and financial markets. Israel has launched widespread bombardment of Iran and southern Lebanon, announcing plans to occupy the security zone up to the Litani river. Slovenia begins fuel rationing as Vietnam slashes domestic flights and New Zealand introduces a stipend to make petrol more affordable. 

synchronoptica

one year ago: pioneering moments in rocketry (with synchronopticæ), Trump sends a delegation to Greenland plus assorted links to revisit

twelve years ago: gustatory hallucinations 

thirteen years ago: the pineal gland plus the Dutch East India Company

fourteen years ago: patio plants 

fifteen years ago: Japan rebuilds plus narcissism and social media

sixteen years ago: social safety nets for the US plus zoo babies

seventeen years ago: moving house and home 

ancient aliens (13. 288)

Half buried in the storied vineyards of Nemea, near the mythic and archaeological sites of the Peloponnesian peninsula, architecture studio 314 has installed a winery that evokes an imaginative narrative that reaches back even further in prehistory with its saucer-like construction that suggests the crash site of a UFO, the extraterrestrial material comprising the hull unweathered by the passing eons but incorporated into the arcadian landscape as a unique visitors’ centre to sample reds made from the area’s renowned Agiorgitiko grape. More images from designboom at the link above.

on-line relationship (13.287)

Via Nag on the Lake and MetaFilter, we are turned to analysis and reflection that no one has heretofore managed to articulate well, in my opinion, muddled with concerns of privacy, the Internet of Things, the pivot away from physical media, tiered subscription models, algorithimic recommendations and baking AI into everything from software engineer Terry Godier about the gradual awakening of our gadgets, accessories and appliances over the past two decades. I feel like we first started experiencing this with electronic toys which instead of running on imagination created a technical debt between the cared for and the caretaker that required attention at regular cycles otherwise it would wither away, then it coffee pods, requiring a regular and recurring replenishment and not just dosing of one’s choosing and then vehicles that gave one service reminders, which ignoring could void one’s warranty—and maybe these happened all at once—that was in part by design and inadvertently scaled up into architectural layers underpinned by a thousand interdependent systems vying for attention and maintenance. Screen-time becomes a “you problem” and moral failure, scolded by our objects and made to feel as sense of shame for over-engagement—not to worry there’s an app for that with its own host of knock-on perils—when in actuality a significant portion of that time is spent in maintenance of the platform, updates and de-conflicting, swatting away nuisances rather than the preening of self-curation. The distinction between smart and dumb have taken on whole new meanings in terms of uncompensated labour keeping the whole system configured. More at the links above and advice to help one curate more quiet.

day twenty-four (13. 286)

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent defended Trump’s erratic statements on the war with Iran, arguing that “winding down” and escalation were not mutually exclusive stances, whilst Iranian leaders maintain that terror and threats, like the looming deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, only served to strengthen solidarity and resolve. Houthi rebels in Yemen join the fight. Pope Leo calls the death and suffering and environmental damage caused by the conflict in the Middle East a “scandal for the whole human family” as the civilian toll continues to rise. The International Energy Agency calls for the release of more stockpiles as the present crisis dwarfs the oil supply shocks of 1973 and 1979 combined.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ) plus author Ray Nayler

twelve years ago: a halibut recipe, antique Japanese travel posters plus the NATO intervention in Kosovo

thirteen years ago: Easter greetings plus a census of the secret internet

fourteen years ago: inside out socks look like a sea slug plus the debate over continuing financial assistance for former East Germany 

fifteen years ago: rutherfords and risk assessments plus intervention in Libya

sixteen years ago: water throughout the solar system