The second largest oil refinery in Venezuela catches fire. Ukranian drones disable a large petroleum processing facility in Sochi. Amid intense fighting and both sides vie for control of the Yemeni highlands, Houthi rebels target several Saudi-Aramco oil fields. Whilst oil flows have nearly recovered to pre-war levels, exports falter as attacks on tankers in the Persian Gulf continue and the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. Crude prices again climb over a hundred dollars per barrel. Despite the flagging bond market and the self-imposed energy shock, the US stock market, buoyed up only by a buying frenzy in AI-related technologies, reaches all time highs. The dismantled US Centres for Disease Control, under the leadership of RFK Jr, is monitoring the Russian plague risk as two hundred individuals in Siberia quarantine.
Wednesday, 7 October 2026
day two hundred fourteen (13. 864)
aฤรข (13. 863)
The first disciple, named first pope Ngรด Vฤn Chiรชu for the Holy See in Tรขy Ninh, declined the role as spiritual leader, never intending for his interest and study in the occult to become a mass movement—retiring to the countryside for a life of seclusion and the first pontiff accepting the job only agreeing to do so provided he be referred to as the Acting Pope for the duration of his reign. The three saints and prophets of ฤแปฉc Cao ฤร i are counted as Sun Yat-sen, physician and revolutionary who founded the Kuomintang and lead to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, Nguyแป
n Bแปnh Khiรชm, sixteenth century poet and government administrator, later revered as the oracle of the splinter faction known as the School of Teaching Goodness and author Victor Hugo, whose turn to spiritism and deism after retiring from writing and self-imposed exile on the Channel Islands informed much of doctrines of Caodaism. Banned during the French-Indochina war and during Communism as subversive to the state, the church was finally allowed to reconstitute itself in 1997 in Vietnam, practised by the diaspora and numbering around six-million adherents.
Tuesday, 6 October 2026
dark horse candidate (13. 862)
As our faithful chronicler informs, the Friz Freleng animated short, “Ballot Box Bunny,” made its debut on this day in 1951, the characters of Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam vying for the mayorship of a small town. Campaigning on empty pledges, such as “There’s enough fresh air and sunshine in this great country of ours for everybody—and I’ll see to it that you’ll get your share!” 
In his warren beneath the podium, Bugs listens to the speech and decides to run as a challenger when Yosemite Sam further promises to rid the county of every last rabbit. Engaging in the usual stereotypical politicking ploys of glad-handing and kissing babies, the rivals attempt to sabotage each other’s chances at the polls though Sam’s plots generally backfire including stealing the food from Bugs’ free picnic with a army of ants. The townspeople, however, elect the spoiler candidate, a chestnut horse proclaimed as “Our New Mare.”
9x9 (13. 861)
the need to understand and describe a thing before applying ai to it is a bottleneck: theory free machine learning and broken causality
ฮฝe: Nobel prize in physics awarded to Belgian scientist studying neutrinos at the South Pole
mirror-test: Freddie Yauner’s looking-glass mask
verschlusssachen: former German spy chief arrested for espionage
melpomene: Meta’s Muse agentic AI is a privacy nightmare for the masses
october is the treasurer of the year: John Dunbar’s ode to the month
reflecting pool: stepping stones across a shallow pond on the roof of a cable car station offer a view of the Austrian Alps
optogenetics: physiology top honours goes to three German researchers studying how light pulse affect body and mind
we are going to kill unalive: self-censorship for the sake of the algorithm
day two hundred thirteen (13. 860)
Canadien separatist party wins provincial elections in Quebec—promising another referendum on leaving the nation, but not whilst Trump remains in office. The internationally recognised government of Yemen claims gains in counteroffensive with the Houthis, retaking the port city of Mocha. Washington issues further warnings to foreign financial institutions doing business with Tehran, saying they may be subject to sanctions without notice. Garnering strong denouncement from the state’s governor, Trump intimates that Iran could “take out Los Angeles or San Diego,” maintaining that the pain at the pump is a small price to pay to ensure that the Islamic Republic never obtains a nuclear warhead. 
At the same rally in Nebraska, the American president brings auto-pen Natalie Harp on stage to sign an impromptu executive order rescinding the federal excise tax on so called red-dyed diesel and allowing any one to purchase it, whereas beforehand, it was the reserve for agriculture. Whilst this manoeuvre may temporarily lower prices by the 24¢ per gallon that government taxes, it does nothing to increase supply or address delivery shortfalls, and perhaps worse than doing nothing, it could create shortages for farmers who use the off-road formulation (it is normal fuel, just coloured to differentiate it from non-tax exempt sales and not at all related to that bizarre hoax a decade ago involving “red mercury” in hopes to extract the mythical substance from antique Singer sewing machines in hopes of miniaturising atomic weapons) during harvest season, stripping the Department of Transportation of revenue for highway maintenance and perhaps increasing prices overall with new demand pressure. Despite the weak US dollar, the euro looses value as contagion fears spread over the French bond market. IDF storms Bethlehem and demolishes homes in East Jerusalem.
synchronoptica
one year ago: US television networks decline request to pre-empt programming to carry a presidential speech from Ford (with synchronoptica) plus aura farming
two years ago: more adventures on the Mecklinburgischer Seeplate
three years ago: touring the Mainschliefe plus island universes
Monday, 5 October 2026
guide du dรฉmรฉnagement ร vรฉlo (13. 859)
Though a bit late for Quebec’s quasi-official moving day this year, we enjoyed this demonstration project with detailed instructions (en francais) on how to plan, coordinate and execute moving household by bicycle, via MetaFilter, which seems like some degree of grunt work but overall a way of getting one’s possessions from one point to another that’s significantly more fun and flexible than traditional short-haul methods. 
The packing for the move, the unboxing after it’s over—a process that can take years—and pivoting up a narrow stairwell seem to be the most onerous parts as one looses the momentum to keep going (in the same way I restrict grocery shopping to what I can comfortably fit and carry in one basket and perhaps a juncture to reassess the volume of one’s belongings), not covering the kilometres between addresses and if a cheaper, less polluting way can be found, then we are all for it. The barn-raising of helping friends move without engaging professionals has shown us that many hands make light work.
day two hundred twelve (13. 858)
The Revolutionary Guard command claims that US forces in the Persian Gulf have retreated to a distance of a thousand kilometres from Iran’s borders and that the amount of oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz under American naval escort is negligible, pledging that the water will remain closed until Washington satisfies the pre-conditions it agreed to. Israeli developers have diverted water from Palestinian farmers in the West Bank for a tourist attraction called “Herod’s Pools.” 
The head of the Yemeni government in Aden announces major escalation in fighting Houthi rebels to wrest back control of Bab al-Mandeb. US pulls out B-2 bombers stationed RAF Fairford following arrests in foiled terror plot. The US is closely monitoring a suspected case of the pneumonic plague after the death of a technician in a Siberian research laboratory, fearing a genetically modified strain of the bacteria has escaped containment and prompting travel restrictions. Brazil heads to a presidential run off with polling between challenger Flรกvio Bolsonaro and incumbent Lula too close to call. A Kelvin Wave caused by El Niรฑo conditions creeps towards southern California and Alaska, expected to raise coastal sea-levels by half-a-metre with a single crest and trough.
synchronoptica
one year ago: graphic designer Mikro Iliฤ (with synchronotpica) plus assorted links worth the revisit
two years ago: circumambulation plus a houseboat on the Havel
three years ago: a hike through the vineyards of Escherndorf
Sunday, 4 October 2026
day two hundred eleven (13. 857)
Daytime strikes continue on the Ukrainian capital and another bridge is hit as German chancellor Merz meets with Zelenskyy in Kyiv, a day after Moscow issued a warning that diplomats and foreign nationals face “mortal danger” if they decide to come to Ukraine. Zelenskyy has pledged to step up targeting of Russian energy infrastructure and to avoid civilian casualties, despite this apparent shift in aggression. 
Houthi rebels hit a Saudi Aramco petroleum facility outside of Riyadh—violent exchanges between the rebels and the internationally recognised government are escalating, the Houthis holding Sanaa whilst the exiled Yemeni federation holds Aden. Tehran’s chief negotiator, talks continuing through intermediaries after Trump rejected out of hand Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, says that the era of “wasted time and” the US “dictating demands is over” and Washington must fulfil the seven conditions agreed upon in the Islamabad deal from June, reflected in the MoU.
