day one hundred-three (13. 504)

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA, the government agency established by Tehran to oversee maritime traffic established at the beginning of May along with Oman) has announced that the Hormuz is closed until further notice over US attacks. The American navy disables the third tanker this week approaching Iranian or Omani ports in violation of its own blockade. Pakistani intermediaries insist that peace negotiations are ongoing, but Iran announces that US hostilities have rendered the ceasefire meaningless as Iran continues to lob missiles and drones at American allied gulf states. Never respecting the enemy’s veto and showing his cards, Trump is losing the control of the narrative, threatening more strikes (now to take Kharg Island and assume control of petroleum production “much like we have with Venezuela”) whilst saying a deal is imminent, that Israel does what he says, lurching towards mutual exclusively outcomes, in thinking Tehran can be pressured into acquiescing to Washington’s terms and retains significant leverage.

public law 119-98 (13. 503)

Concluding a record-breaking agency shutdown of one hundred fifteen days, with lawmakers withholding money from immigration and customs enforcement hoping to pressure the weaponised bureau to reform after the death of two American citizens, congress, by the slimmest of margins along party lines voted to fund ICE and its parent department of Homeland Security. Arguably worse and further reaching than the Democrats securing no concessions to curb the agency’s thuggery and predatory practises, however, is the way the legislation was passed: with negotiations deadlocked, the GOP moved to sideline the Democrats entirely, bypassing the usual funding process of annual appropriations that require department heads to submit their yearly budget request and argue it before the competent congressional committee—a process that guarantees more oversight on the part of lawmakers—and giving DHS a three-year budget package that will last through the end of Trump’s term, seventy-billion dollars, through a process called reconciliation, an expedited parliamentary procedure used primarily safeguard presidential policy priorities, like the Big Beautiful Bill or Biden’s environmental laws or domestic microchip production, but not to fund government programmes out of cycle from being dismantled by the opposition. The Secure America Act was sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham and signed by Trump immediately upon passage. With only a vanishingly small majority in the House and Senate, more departments and activities favoured by Trump—or the next administration—under this precedent could turn to reconciliation to keep budgets unbeholden going forward and nullify the minority’s ability to leverage influence through a lapse of appropriations.

dynalites (13. 502)

Via Waxy, we are lured down a deep rabbit hole on the subject of commercial signage that are especially ubiquitous in the US, bas relief and embossed vacuum or thermo-formed pan-faced signs that go by various trade names with this appreciation of their origin and design from Beth Matthews. Appearing in the 1950s after the novelty of neon was replaced by the durability and low cost of moulded plastic, the spread of the new format can be credited to a salesman in Los Angeles, Conrad Escalante, who developed and patented the layout of standard variants seen on guest lodgings, salons, repair shops, eateries and other businesses in need of a shingle. The docent then conducts us on a tour to see iconic examples in the wild. More at the links above.

intersentential meshing (13. 501)

Though noticing how autocomplete, auto-suggests has creepingly over the last few years began to offer a host of emoji when typing in a term, particularly with nationalities, showing a flag and also associated cuisine that kind of is off-putting and verges to the the level of ethnic stereotype (Italy gives you 🇮🇹 plus 🍝) and code-switching with a German computer set to English where to summon an symbol “music” won’t pull up 🎶 but rather “Noten” nor “hole” for 🕳️ but “Loch,” we haven’t fully considered how the visual lexicon becomes argot in other languages. In Chinese texting, it’s sometimes used to stay under the radar for shadowbanned words that might result in one’s profile being flagged—as with 🍉 for 🇵🇸—there’s a lot of use of homophony, entendre and euphemism driven by Latin character pinyin input for Chinese logograms. Horse (馬, Mǎ), for example, though tonally distinct shares a range of similarly pronounced words—making 🐴 good for anything from mother to mosaic. In the pictured example, the pill emoji has become a popular, though possibly inscrutable for some, shorthand way of expressing that something is doomed for failure. What other idiosyncratic but widely accepted uses can you think of? More from Sixth Tone at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: smoke-filled rooms (with synchronopticæ),  protesting ICE raids in Los Angeles plus a segregationist is compelled to stand down (1963)

twelve years ago: driving in Italy plus the refugee crisis at the US southern border

thirteen years ago: mobile spywear 

fourteen years ago: the legacy of toxic waste plus a recipe for asparagus pasta

fifteen years ago: the punishment not fitting the crime 

the battle of guantánamo bay (13. 500)

After four days of fighting, a battalion of US marines, conducting training exercises in the Florida Keys whilst awaiting orders, on this day in 1898 landed in the strategically chosen, for protection during hurricane season, forward operating base in the commercially important harbour to begin the liberation of Cuba from the Spanish with invasion and subsequent occupation. Though regular forces and pro-colonialists guerrilla fighters held Guantánamo City, the railhead and nearby sugar mills, the American forces, four companies of around six hundred-fifty men, arrived without opposition on the ridge above a fishing village, burning down the huts and a blockhouse—noting that the only sound to be heard was peaceful cooing of mourning doves, later learning that it was a signal used amongst partisans. Despite some resistance, the marines and pro-independence fighters were able to rout Spanish forces. America established GITMO in this location and has leased the property ever since from the Cuba government, though no remittances have been deposited.

9x9 (13. 499)

of all the us presidents he’s still the mussoliniest: Randy Rainbow reprises his rendition of the Major General’s Song, see previously—via Miss Cellania  

twenty-first century nightmares: Bill Hsu presents a collection of dark animated films 

hello dalí: a marginally remastered copy of the bizarre 1973 ITV profile of the artist surfaces on Youtube  

éolienne: an innovative nineteenth century redesign for the windmill  

responding with improvisation and exhaustion: meeting the subliterate where they are is a disservice to education  

necropolis: marine researchers discover the site of a whale fall in a deep rift valley of the Indian ocean  

guest-starring in alphabetical order: Poseidon’s Underworld on the short-lived 1984 television series Glitter about the cast of a glossy magazine  

the meatseller: an harrowing and brutal animation of a young migrant’s journey from Nigeria to Italy 

 there was nothing in al capone’s vault but it wasn’t geraldo’s fault: premiere episode of America’s history in one hundred objects (see also) begins with an underwhelming time capsule opened in 1976

this is my island (13. 498)

Aeon magazine directs our attention to a 1972 segment from the BBC documentary series Look, Stranger that portrays a more measured, conservative perspective of self-sufficiency and off-grid living (see also) with this tour of Herm, a small Channel Island (the perfect size) depopulated and fallen into disrepair during World War II, some twenty years into the experimental community after Major Peter Wood and his wife Jenny became tenants of the bailiwick (from the Old French for hermit) between Sark and Guernsey. Some of the utopian idealism seems to have faded but Helm is still held in trust to this day.

day one-hundred-two (13. 497)

Initially unconvinced of the need for retaliatory strikes on Iran after the downing of a US Apache helicopter gunship, unclear if the crash was really the result of enemy fire, Trump changed his mind over the possible Tonkin ghost, after talking with his military advisors and unironically channeling a 2000 clip from an episode of the West Wing regarding the virtue of a disproportional response, ordered targeting (including reservoirs supplying drinking water) whilst Iran attacked US sites in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. Other members of the US administration are downplaying the significance of their posture of self-defence, insisting that the ceasefire still holds.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Bic Cristal (with synchronopticæ)

twelve years ago: a visit to Genoa

thirteen years ago: blockupy rallies, Italian traffic signs, a duty-free enclave, dragnet surveillance plus the city of Como 

fourteen years ago: conserving endangered sounds 

fifteen years ago: the Bilderberg conference 

seventeen years ago: a Roman holiday