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synchronoptica

one year ago: godfather of anime Osamu Tezuka (with synchronoptica), the patron saint of home economics plus the invention of the accordion

seven years ago: the designs of Raymond Loewy plus assorted links worth revisiting 

eight years ago: lamenting the transformation of eBay, vintage bowling alleys, losing the ability to face the next pandemic, a closed-captioning mix-up plus energetic revolutions

nine years ago: wine without grapes plus Simpsons’ couch gag as an IKEA manual

twelve years ago: a visit to the Wiesbaden museum

what does god need with a starship? (12. 479)

Somewhat prepared for when the conversation goes of the rails and girded against ambush and entrapment taking notes after the Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy, South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa managed to maintain his professional composure presidential bearing despite Trump’s incessant rantings of white genocide and the murder of thousands of Afrikaner farmers—just after taking fifty-nine in as refugees, rehashing without evidence the ahistoric grievances amplified by himself and Musk of a conspiracy circulated since the end of apartheid rule in 1994 and his most significant gesture to date pandering to Christian white nationalism. That says a lot already, but moreover he is using the false paradigm to illustrate where progressive DEI initiatives and restitution would take America. Subjected to this diatribe plus a surprise screening of a propaganda film, a misrepresented newsreel, Ramaposa tried to steer the talks back to trade and security cooperation, admitting to a problem with crime while dismissing a concerted assault against settlers, citing his entourage, and at one point, exasperated offered, “I wish I had a plane to give you.” After accusing his interlocutor of non-existent crimes which he in no way condoned, Trump replied that he would gladly accept such a gift.

panzerbrigade 45 (12. 478)

Marking the first deployment of troops since World War II, Chancellor Merz visited Vilnius for a flagging ceremony of a German heavy armoured division to be stationed in Lithuania, comprising some forty-eighthundred soldiers with two-hundred civilian support staff once the unit is fully-stood up in 2027 and achieve full operational capacity at the training area (karinis poligonas, Truppenübungsplatz) Rūdninkai on the border with Belarus. Accompanied by defence minister Boris Pistorius (previously) and the host nation’s president Gitanas Nausėda, staunch critic of the leadership of its neighbours and of Russia’s historic revisionism, the tank unit will protect the eastern flank of the EU and the NATO alliance, as Baltic states fear incursions, directly or indirectly, in the wake of ongoing aggression in Ukraine. This Zeitenwende in defence policy and posture, proffered under Merz’ predecessor, and build up comes ahead of the next NATO summit as more members are expected to reach the suggested defence spending benchmark, and while the chancellor dismissed rumours that US troops might withdraw from Europe on Trump’s orders, contingencies are still under consideration.

heat index (12. 477)

Here is an interesting juxtaposition on bestseller recommendation from The Onion with the revelation that the Chicago Sun-Times with the help and hindrance of artificial intelligence crafted a “Best of Summer” reads that featured fake books by real authors. Authored by a freelancer brought on for content after the venerable newspaper let go a fifth of its writing staff, it hallucinated titles like Tidewater Dreams and Nightshade Market respectively attributed to novelists Isabel Allende and Min Jin Lee bookended by genuine literary works. The publication that it failed to proof or vet this section for their Sunday supplement and will do better to enforce their policies against the use of AI and going forward with label any syndicated material as coming from third party sources. Lawyers have faced disbarment for resorting to similar short cuts—citing made-up cases for precedent.  I wonder if the machine was being aspirational and bored with the task it was given proclaiming it could write such a narrative in the voice of the living author.

cristalleries de nancy (12. 476)

Via fellow internet peripatetic and caretaker Messy Nessy Chic, we directed towards an archive of antique blueprints for perfume bottles from a forgotten French crystal works was rescued from an abandoned factory. The firm, rising to prominence and one of the nation’s leading glass manufacturers after the end of World War I and the following the emancipation of women with the right for political representation was active from 1921 until dissolution in 1936 during the Great Depression when demand for fineries and luxury items collapsed. The illustrations that include exquisitely detailed of Art Deco cut-glass bottles and atomisers made for fragrances all over the world as well as the company’s catalogue of vases and drinkware. Much more at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the national park of Greenland (with synchronoptica), newest batch of emoji, the perishable internet plus a hospital’s wine cellars 

seven years ago: all equal under the law plus a missile launch facility immediately mothballed

eight years ago: Trump in the Middle East, the people’s pope plus an elevated walkway in Seoul

nine years ago: art in transit, early USSR rocket tests plus a visit to Seaford

ten years ago: a visit to Dotzheim, more on keyboard dining tray inserts plus memeplexes

interdisciplinary (12. 475)

On the corner of Broadway and West 112th Street, above the iconic neon-lit Tom’s Diner used as the establishing exterior shot for the sitcom Seinfeld and in the Susan Vega song, NASA research facility, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has occupied the six upper storeys of Armstrong Hall since 1966. Affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth institute, from whom it leases the laboratory space, GISS has embarked on a broad programme of astrophysics and climate dynamics and advanced public understanding of phenomena like El Niño and first synergised ideas such as plate tectonics, quasars and black holes—introducing the terminology to common parlance. The institute also issued a vocal warning regarding global warming’s trajectory and involved with numerous solar system exploration missions dating from Mariner, Pioneer and Voyager to the present. This impressive list of accomplishments and continuing projects, both theoretical and applied, however, is failing to secure the lab’s legacy for the the Trump administration, which has cut overall science funding by half and is sceptical of climate change, and through the auspices of DOGE and the Government Services Administration is terminating the lease effective at the end of the month (or at least pretending to in the name of efficiency as the contract cannot be broken early and the building will sit empty until it expires) and is directing the staff of one hundred thirty to work from home until they can be dismissed or placed within another part of the agency. More from the Guardian at the link above.

heidelberger spargelessen (12. 474)

The culmination of tense relations between traditional collegiate fraternities and members of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (with its student league, NSDStB), the series of public demonstrations began on this day in 1935 at the University of Heidelberg directed against the leadership of Adolf Hitler. While many student groups had expressed views aligned with Nazi ideals and outlook, many university associations were targeted as elitist and counter-revolutionary, their self-administration and hierarchy (see also) as contrary to the Führer principle of Gleichschaltung. The rally began when members of the Corps Saxo-Borussia gathered at a local student pub, Seppl, to heckle a radio re-broadcast of Hitler’s “Friedensrede” (Peace Speech, stating that they only sought to build up marine forces to the level of thirty-five percent of that of British naval tonnage). Though excused for their riotous behaviour after an apology, the same fraternity, emboldened by being let off easy and press coverage, the same fraternity provoked patrons further with harsher criticisms during an asparagus dinner at the guesthouse Hirschgasse (a popular hangout), and saw their organisation immediately banned with members subject to expulsion and senior leaders arrested. Portrayed as reactionary and bourgeois, fraternities were dissolved later in the summer and reformation outlawed.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: countries shifting to fare-free mass transit, inherited learning, graphic designer Reagan Ray, artist Josef Albers plus the movie posters of Bill Gold

eight years ago: DC’s boundary stones, drone photography, superlative new species plus scientist Clair Cameron Patterson

nine years ago: a class-action lawsuit against the Devil, Venice of the North, shock graphics for cigarette packs plus a visit to Glastonbury

ten years ago: more links to enjoy

neuspanien (12. 473)

Recalling how their leak of the covert Zimmermann telegram with the German Empire promising to award the lost territories of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to Mexico if they invaded the United States and created a new front in the Great War in early 1917 pushed the US to engage in World War I, British intelligence forged (see also here and here) and publicised counterfeit attack plans allegedly by Nazi Germany for Central and South America—still very much considered within the US bailiwick as part of the Monroe doctrine—to motivate the administration of FDR to abandon its policy of neutrality in 1941 as Axis forces reached the French coast. The operation likely conceived by Canadian veteran flying ace and spymaster William Samuel Stephenson, responsible for British security on the continent who oversaw covert intelligence and propaganda efforts in South America, originally intended to leave a copy of the map in somewhere in Cuba in the hopes that American authorities would come across it of their own accord but it appears that Britain presented it to Roosevelt through intelligence channels directly, reportedly seized from a diplomatic courier in Buenos Aires. Presented to the American public as cautious not authentic bur rather secret (note the marking GEHEIM), it is unclear if the president was aware of its true nature.