synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ) 

fifteen years ago: catastrophism and the the economy 

synchronoptica

one year ago: more adventures in the Tauber valley (with sychronopticæ), Radio Free Europe plus a bad-faith broker

fifteen years ago: antiquarian corner 

synchronoptica

one year ago: a visit to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (with synchronopticæ)

thirteen years ago: recreating the first web page 

fourteen years ago: a treasury of bookplates 

fifteen years ago: the capture and assassination of bin Laden plus Walpurgisnacht

sixteen years ago: more special houseplants 

synchronoptica

one year ago: a return to the Tauber river valley (with synchronopticæ)

twelve years ago: more calendric conventions 

thirteen years ago: axis mundi plus a paperback library

fourteen years ago: US-German relations plus May Day vs Americanization Day 

sixteen years ago: returning from Istanbul 

bug (13. 394)

 

Pronounced “boog,” we joined our neighbours for a long Labour Day weekend on a colourful campsite just south of Bamberg on an island in the river Regnitz at the mouth of the Aurachtal. 

Though the retreat made no pretensions of being an artists’ colony, there was a surfeit of paintings and statuary everywhere, first discovering the art in the restaurant, converted from the former studio and dance hall of the camp’s founders, Fritz and Else Hoffmann-Bug (the nobiliary particle adopted for the couples’ adopted residence and long-term project) who began the campgrounds after the war in 1952, exhibiting his own works and chairing the first professional visual artists’ association for Upper Franconia.

We were going to order wine with dinner, but then remembered how Bamberg is famed for its beers, and had a Rauchbier (the flavour won from toasting the malted barley) that paired well with the smoked trout, with a distinctive taste like s’mores and campfire. The restrooms for the campers were rather vaulted affairs themselves, outfitted as a gallery of paintings and murals and a singular experience to pass through and assuredly much appreciated by guests—the camp remaining in the family over the subsequent generations and maintaining the showcase and artistic spirit of the establishment. The village was until recently also host to the museum and publishing house for the adventure franchise of Karl May before being repatriated in 1995 to the writer’s native Radebeul.

 

day sixty-one (13. 393)

Following chancellor Merz’ criticism of the administration for its lack of strategy and saying it was being humiliated by Iran, Trump is mulling on reducing the number of the some thirty-six thousand US troops station in Germany, whilst still entertaining the prospect of leaving the NATO alliance entirely over its unwillingness to be drawn into the war with Iran. 

Oil prices rise to above $125 per barrel on news that naval blockade could continue for months with no renewed negotiations on the horizon and Tehran saying it can withstand the US economic pressure campaign. Growth in the EU is surprisingly resilliant and stronger than expected despite the conflict and supply chain disruptions. IDF attacks continue in southern Lebanon and Israel seizes a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid destined for Gaza in international waters.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Folkish Observer (with synchronopticæ) plus creating a data panopticon 

twelve years ago: US army updates allowable hairstyles plus the American Foreign Service

thirteen years ago: attuned cocktails plus new and novel punctuation

wish fulfilment is not a strategy—we have sidelined the entire world (13. 892)

As the US supreme court was eviscerating the vestiges of the civil rights act meant to redress historical disenfranchisement and under-representation by limiting redistricting and gerrymandering to the regressive standards of the conservative justices, secretary of war Hegseth flanked by joint chief of staff General Dan Caine—appealing to congress for an extra one and a half trillion dollars for the military budget and approval to officially rename the department of defence the department of war—was summoned to Capitol Hill to testify on the cost of the adventure in Iran as the conflict enters its second month. The estimate, which seems to low-ball the true price—particularly when early figures were at a billion dollars a day, stands at twenty-five billion, but still lacking an end date or direction for resolving the diplomatic stalemate. The testimony was filled with the usual rage and rhetoric typical of the former Fox News personality, but in a forum where he could not dismiss or outshout follow-up questions, Hegseth withered before Democrat representatives. Unable to simply bully and berate people for “being negative,” Hegseth tried labelling the House Armed Services Committee as their biggest adversary with their “reckless, feckless and defeatist words” and had no answers for the administration’s costly missteps, the global economic fallout, the blockade of the blockade, unraveling when pressed, deflecting to over-supplying Ukraine under Biden and retreating to the bombastic oratory that his warriors were “forging a lethal arsenal of freedom” with Operation Epic Fury. Manifestly frustrated and shouting at the group, congressman Seth Moulton (attesting he was also a Pulp Fiction fan, alluding to Hegseth’s earlier invocation quoting the film) lobbed a few easier, straightforward questions at the secretary, “This is a softball one for you—don’t screw it up,” asking about the announcement that influenza vaccines would no longer be mandatory for troops, but quickly descended into a cult-like furore, saying that calling out forever wars as the quagmire that they were (again Hegseth’s words) betrayed an entire generation that served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rather than a projection of power, way out of their depth, the session was rather exposed timidity and terror.

day sixty (13. 891)

The United Arab Emirates announces it will quit OPEC in order to increase exports, seen as a victory by some for Trump who opposes the cartel’s caps on production and price controls. Although the conflict remains essentially frozen and tensions still remain high among allies, during a state visit to the US, King Charles delivered a masterful address to a joint-session of congress in the semiquinncentennial year of the American declaration of independence, apolitical but a model of using soft power to heal rifts. Neighbouring gulf states hold a summit in Riyadh and issue a statement that Tehran must make serious efforts to rebuild confidence and trust following “treacherous” attacks on the region. Russia reiterates financial and materiel support for Iran, as Trump claims that the country is on the verge of collapse and eager to submit to a deal under America’s terms, whilst threatening new sanctions on China for refining Iranian crude oil exports and goes after Iran’s network of shadow banking.

synchronoptica

one year ago: droodles (with synchronopticæ), Trump’s first hundred days plus more e-moluments for the Trump family syndicate

twelve years ago: European far-right parties affinity for Moscow 

thirteen years ago: Iceland’s Jedi party 

fourteen years ago: an intemperate island plus fortress London

fifteen years ago: macroeconomics 

seventeen years ago: German traffic signs