let that be your last battlefield (13. 074)

Courtesy of our faithful chronicler, we are reminded that the Star Trek: TOS (S3:E15), first broadcast on this day in 1969, portrays the Enterprise crew entangled in an intractable alien racial war when they the encounter a fugitive and a belligerent, irreconcilable pursuer. During an atmospheric decontamination mission to planet Ariannus, their work is interrupted as the ship leaves orbit to intercept a shuttlecraft stolen from nearby Star Base IV. In pursuit, they realise that life support systems are failing and tractor beam it into the shuttle bay. Recovering in sickbay, the thief identifies himself as Lokai of Cheron, and whilst grateful for the rescue becomes elusive and combative when questioned about his motives. En route back to the planet, sensors detect that the Enterprise is being pursued by a cloaked vessel—whose pilot appears on the bridge just before the apparent moment of impact. The new arrival, with similar colouration as Lokai, announces he is Commissioner Bele there to arrest the other alien, whom he has been chasing for fifty thousand Earth years for instigating a revolt against the enslaved population of Cheron and changing the ruling order. Lokai seeks political asylum with the Federation of Planets but Bele, mentally commandeers the Enterprise and rebuffs all efforts to stop him. To wrest back control, Kirk and Spock initiate the self-destruct sequence (the first time it’s used on the franchise), with Bele surrendering with only seconds to spare. Displeased with the idea of outside arbitration and appalled that his bounty might be treated equally to him, Bele attempts to assert his superiority by pointing out how he is black of his right side while Lokai and his people are white. After the mission is completed on Ariannus, the Enterprise heads back to the star base with the two captives but Bela again telekinetically seizes the helm, disabling self-destruct, and heads towards Cheron, Lokai afraid of the consequences of rendition, begins to fight his enslaver, their minds clashing and nearly destroying the Enterprise in the process. As they approach Cheron, sensors reveal, to the shock and dismay of Lokai and Bele that there are no life signs on their planet and their civilisation through aeons of internecine warfare has been annihilated since their chase began. Unable to persuade them otherwise, despite being the endlings of their kind with no structure to prosecute or reward their mutual enmity, Kirk decides to leave them both on their dead planet. Non-canonical sources state that Lokai and Bele have set up bases on opposite ends of their desolate homwworld and continue to fight one another—Star Fleet and the Romulans, the planet located just on the Federation side of the neutral zone, were generally avoided even before the civil war as the species were characterised by unnaturally long life-spans and unpredictable powers, all consumed by hatred.

mint and mentee (13. 073)

Whilst familiar with some of these eponyms and etymologies, like the off-spring of Aphrodite and Adonis, narcissism and tantalising, we didn’t know that the word money was also derived from the Greco-Roman gods—an epithet of the queen of the gods, Iūno Monēta, also the Latin equivalent of the Greek goddess of memory called Mnemosyne, the mother of the Muses that give us music and museum, though in Juno’s case it probably meant singular rather than to remind, the mint (also of the same derivation) and treasury were housed in her temple on Capitoline Hill and she was regarded as the protectress of economic stability and her priests sought fiscal counsel through their prayers. We also did not recall the mythological character of Mentor—an trusted friend of Odysseus whom he entrusted his son, Telemachus’, care and education to during the decades he was absent fighting the Trojan War. Mentor is sometimes suspected to be Athena in disguise. More from Mental Floss at the link above.

milestone ground (13. 072)

Recent excavations of a Romano-Briton grave of a young woman in the northern Cotswolds have uncovered an item unique in the archaeological record with no comparable artefact yet found in this delicate bone box with sliding lid and decorations similar to the circle and dot pattern of Roman dice. Finely crafted from the femur of a deer, researchers conjecture the petite object might have been a compact for makeup or a precious ointment but who knows? This nameless woman could have been a skilled assassin and kept her poisons in this precious keepsake buried with her. Learn more from The History Blog at the link up top.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Dr Who intertitles (with synchronopticæ), a pristine ancient tomb plus familiars on trial 

twelve years ago: rebus sentences 

thirteen years ago: the US treasury secretary’s signature plus avatars and entitlement

fourteen years ago: prolefeed 

slanguage (13. 071)

From New Orleans, the American Dialect Society is announcing its pick for overall informal word of the year for 2025 (see previously) but again their categories of contenders deserve special consideration with creative neologisms and portmanteaux ranging from amphifa (for frog costumed protesters) and affixes related to Charlie Kirk, to the political like DOGE, disappeared and the Kavanaugh stop referring to the supreme court justice’s option on a case that foreigners could be barred from entry into the US based on their social media history, to digitally rallying around a hypothetical movement known as the Great Meme Reset supposedly instigated by Gen Z at the turn of the year, with rage-bait among the most useful along with valid cashout for a justified mental breakdown and most likely to endure with glaze, bestowing effusive compliments, and -vibe as a combining form. What do you think will be the overall winner?

troll state (13. 070)

Though we had heard that, weather permitting, Trump finally decided to invade Venezuela and abduct the first couple after months of maintaining a standing army in the Caribbean over Maduro’s posts of him dancing after US airstrikes on a harbour, copying Trump’s signature moves, was perceived as a mocking taunt, we hadn’t had the opportunity to sit with this motivation. And so we appreciated this analysis, via Web Curios, of how political capital is content and the feedback loop of engagement, posters rather than protesters and activism, which the administration has fully embraced with cinematic announcements, a continuum of grievance, martyred influencers, re-branding and omnipresence, and seeing Maduro defiantly encroaching, not from the standpoint of national security but rather over the sovereignty of the attention economy. Diplomacy and governance per Tweet and Truth is bad enough but this polity driven by sensationalism is a step beyond and dilutes, supplants reality with propagandistic memes and betting, scandal incentivised and privileged over policy and investigation. The pictured situation room of Mar-a-Lago was a split-screen of live footage of the operation but also a social media centre and is stark contrast to the capture of Osama bin Laden. The past is another country.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the neon lights of Eastern Europe (with synchronopticæ), assorted links to revisit, revisiting the Internet of Things plus planning for Trump’s inaugural 

twelve years ago: a smart vide-poche 

thirteen years ago: a new addition to the family 

fourteen years ago: turbulence in the eurozone plus cellular tariffs

fifteen years ago: artist Robert Atkinson Fox 

8x8 (13. 069)

leturfræði: an exploration of the graphic design heritage of Iceland through its greatest, recently departed historian  

shoyu-tai: a fibre-based soy sauce single-serve container as an alternative to disposable plastic droppers  

unfcc: Trump administration announces withdrawal from dozens of United Nations chartered organisations, saying their mission does not align with the US agenda  

i’m t?w?e?n?t?y?-f?i?v?e?: artist records one word per day for a reflection on the passage of time 

amour-propre: Chinese buzzword of the year 爱你牢记 (ai ni laoji, love yourself, my dear)—see previously 

hemlock: Texas university has forbidden a professor from teaching a course on Plato  

anodyne: a Singapore based technology company invents biodegradable, paper batteries that rely on no rare earths  

gobelins: the famed French school of animation has a YouTube channel that features student films

all things considered (13. 068)

Language Hat refers us to another expression that corresponds neatly with our recent exploration of words and phrases with a nautical origin in by and large, originally from sailing alternately into and with the wind, describing a ship that can do both well. The idiomatic meaning of one way or another in the whole phrase “full and by and large” has been made obsolete and on land signifies usually, mostly or generally.

void if altered (13. 067)

In response to visitors covering up the image of Trump on the America the Beautiful annual national park passes, the US Department of the Interior, which oversees federal recreational lands, has updated its rules about accepting adulterated or defaced entry tickets—the current president’s angry visage appearing on the cards at the first of the year in the run up to the country’s bisesquicentennial, despite pending legal action to halt this rebranding. Like with the threats of lawsuits for entertainers that cancelled shows at the Kennedy Center over Trump adding his name to the institution and national stage, these fascist ghouls really are the pettiest little snowflakes when comes to anything denting their egos.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ), a close encounter in France plus the first flying saucers in film

twelve years ago: global warming, global weirding 

thirteen years ago: the freegan movement 

fourteen years ago: piracy and the publishing industry

sixteen years ago: gimmickry and security theatre 

seventeen years ago: the US president-elect waits his turn