Fighting rages between IDF and Hezbollah despite the ceasefire brokered by Trump. Again promising a deal by the end of the week with Iran, US secretary of state Marco Rubio reiterates that no sanctions against Tehran are on offer in exchange for opening the Strait of Hormuz, whilst the administration is couching its reparations package as a freedom fund in order to waylay criticism for the promised three hundred billion in damages.
Tuesday, 2 June 2026
in search of… (13. 479)
Polymath and multi-hyphanate, Dr Robert Harvey Rines, whom helped develop the Microwave Early Warning System in the Cold War after serving as an officer in the army signals corps, as trained a jurist for intellectual property, prolific inventor, librettist penning musicals about the life of HL Mencken (previously) among others, violin prodigy playing a duet with Albert Einstein at age eleven at a summer camp in Maine, and adjunct professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the last forty five years of his career, is probably best known for leading the American expedition, sponsored by the US Academy of Applied Sciences and the The New York Times, the quest for Nessie, the most thorough and comprehensive search for the Loch Ness Monster up to that time, that commenced on this day in 1976. 
Becoming obsessed with the mystery of a possible cryptid after a visit to the area four years, Rines launched a scientific safari provisioned with sophisticated sonar and photographic, many instruments of his own design, and whilst garnering a great deal of publicity for his efforts, including several intriguing but blurry photographs, after six months, the project was halted due to lack of hard evidence. This famous “gargoyle head” image was later discovered to be a rotting tree stump on the silty bottom of the loch, since located and put on display in the Nessie gallery at Drumnadrochit on the western shore. Rines for his part never stopped believing that there was more to the legend and kept up the exploration, albeit on a smaller scale, for the next decades.
synchronoptica
one year ago: automated purging of US government workers (with synchronopticรฆ) plus a Star Trek: TNG superfan
fourteen years ago: looking forward to our Norway holiday
fifteen years ago: Ascension Day
sixteen years ago: the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Monday, 1 June 2026
day ninety-three (13. 478)
Catching the US unaware, Tehran announces that Israeli incursions into Lebanon, representing a violation of the separate ceasefire, and suspends further peace talks. Per Trump’s agreement with Netanyahu, Israel will not send additional ground troops into Beirut though it appears that deployment against Hezbollah has already begun. Despite the armistice holding in name, America has targeted more Iranian radar stations whilst US bases in Kuwait remain under assault. Though there is no deal, Trump is seeking to make edits to the framework of a settlement.
bocca di verghiu (13. 476)
synchronoptica
one year ago: Trump Always Chickens Out (with synchronopticรฆ) plus assorted links to revisit
fourteen years ago: language acquisition plus US and Israel launch a cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure
fifteen years ago: plutocracy plus the US unveils its Cyber Command
sixteen years ago: language translation with context
seventeen years ago: a surfeit of pillows
Sunday, 31 May 2026
day ninety-two (13. 475)
Whilst the Iranian front of the US-Israeli war of choice has remained frustratingly frozen since the ceasefire, hostilities in Lebanon have continued apace with ground fighting and forced evacuations. The IDF announces it has captured the symbolic if not strategically important Beauford castle, a fortress built during the Crusades with a commanding view of the Litani river, retaking the promontory held during the eighteen year occupation that ended in 2000. Fighting and territorial encroachment also continues in Gaza and Syria, with Israel posed to seize the historic city of Nabatieh next as clashes with Hezbollah intensify in the Beirut suburbs.
high littoral (13. 474)
synchronoptica
one year ago: the European Space Agency at Fifty (with synchronopticรฆ) plus revisiting the Hohenwarte dam
sixteen years ago: artist Aubrey Beardsley