prespa accord (13. 170)

The short form of the United Nations sponsored treaty named for the lake at the tripoint of the borders of Greece, the then Republic of Macedonia (referred to by the exonym FYROM, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to avoid controversy of the appearance of endorsement or sometimes heavy-handedly as the Republic of Skopje) and Albania, Final Agreement for the settlement of differences as described in the UN Security Council resolutions 817 (1993) and 845 (1993), the termination of the Interim Accord of 1995 and the establishment of a strategic partnership between the Parties came into effect on this day in 2019, resolving a long-standing dispute beginning in 1991 following the dissolution of Yugoslavia into its constituent nations. Stemming from the ambiguity of the neighbouring Greek Balkan region and the ancient kingdom of Macedon, Greece insisted upon a geographic qualifier to be used erga omnes (by all…and for all purposes, internal and external), citing concerns of border disputes and the cultural appropriation, symbols like the Vergina Sun (now the icon of the parliament of the Hellenes) and the legacy of Alexander the Great, to stoke sentiments of irredentism (ирреденти́зм, αλυτρωτισμός—coined from the Italian, unredeemed, for territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that they felt belonged to “Greater Italy” and should be rightfully annexed on the basis of ethnic continuity). Contingent on the terms of the agreement, Northern Macedonia entered NATO.

certiorari (13. 169)

Though we have strong affection for the work of courtroom sketch artist and respect the traditions of the institution at large, we found this latest venture from research professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law—founder of the Oyez Project, an unofficial (see also) multimedia archive of the US supreme court and the authoritative resource of audio records of each sessions proceedings—of publicising bench announcements, summaries, dissent and daily business of the courtroom as they happen, transcripts of the docket reenacted with AI avatars. Steadfastly refusing to otherwise make the docket exchanges available to scholars and reporters, though oral arguments are routinely broadcast as a holdover from the pandemic that the justices agreed to continue, the court may not be wholly appreciative of this presentation format—no cameras in court and the production team purposefully uses video that’s signature AI-painterly not too realistic for ethical reasons. The existence of the recordings that go back to the mid-1950s was secret until uncovered through Oyez in 1993 (sued by the court over the disclosure, though they relented and dropped the case) and generally inaccessible to the public until brought online and weren’t released before the next session after cases were heard and decisions rendered. The title refers to the appeal for judicial review.  Much more from NPR at the link above.

ghgs (13. 168)

The culmination of a decade and a half concerted effort by lawyers and lobbyists realised through the Trump presidency, the US Environmental Protection Agency will repeal the 2009 EPA Endangerment Finding, meaning that the organisation can no longer regulate green house gases as pollutants and harmful to human health or the climate. The foundation of much of America’s laws pertaining to emissions, this move is regarded as the most aggressive action yet against initiatives to contain or curb global warming, though the country, historically the largest contributor to the anthropic climate change has been on a trajectory of relinquishing responsibility and the mantle of concern or progress steadily for some time, the rescission was based on the testimony of motivated skeptics. And whilst some jurisdictions and environmental advocacy groups (including some in the industrial sector having pivoted to greener models) are fighting back, it is feared that US outsized influence for a planetary problem that is not contained by borders will reverse what progress has been made (part of the commissioned pseudo-scientific study that brought about this repeal was premised on government overreach and hyperbolic forecasts—which, yes, the worst as not occurred as predicted back in 2007, as with the averted y2k disaster, because of global cooperation and action) and engender despair and resignation as the Earth continues to stew and bake. One legal remedy is for the US congress to authorise the EPA the specific mandate to regulate green house gases, rather than the implication under the Clean Air Act, but that won’t happen under this administration, hoping that the delay and legal battles will be long enough to forestall reversal and made binding by the supreme court.

the new adam (13. 167)

On the anniversary of actor Sal Mineo’s killing at the hands of a random mugger in the parking lot of his West Hollywood apartment building, we return to Poseidon Underworld’s considered tribute to the career and romantic interests within the movie industry of this critically acclaimed, twice Oscar-nominated individual who tried to escape filmmakers who typecast him either as punk, victim or ethnic underdog. Perhaps most recognised for his role of John “Plato” Crawford in Rebel Without a Cause, the second of the cast principles to die a violent death after James Dean in an auto accident and then Natalie Wood’s drowning, Mineo was mentored by Yul Brynner in the stage musical The King and I and while still a teenager had supporting parts with Tony Curtis and Charlton Heston before the breakout appearance. After Exodus and The Longest Day, executives, in combination with rumours circulating about his personal life, thought Mineo had aged out by the mid 1960s and pivoted towards television and a brief stint as a musician. His final role, unrecognisable in prosthetic makeup, was Dr Milo in Escape from the Planet of the Apes in 1973. Mineo was thirty-seven and in rehearsals for a theatre-piece, PS Your Cat is Dead, with Keir Dullea.

 

synchronoptica 

one year ago: St Julian the Hospitaller (with synchronopticæ) plus assorted links to revisit

twelve years ago: stock market instability 

fourteen years ago: graffiti stencils plus RIP Whitney Houston

fifteen years ago: the Egyptian government overthrown by the people 

sixteen years ago: mass surveillance in the name of security 

the world's richest man and the world’s poorest boy are getting it ready now… and everybody, everywhere, will be a little worse off for it (13. 166)

As our faithful chronicler reminds, the pinnacle of British satire was first exposed to the public on this day in 1970 with Peter Sellers as an eccentric billionaire (personal wealth not imagined by Averice in those days) and Ringo Starr and his adoptive son and prospective heir—the plot followed by the 2000 episode of the Simpsons, “Homer v Dignity,” when Mr Burns tries to adopt Bart—Sir Guy Grand attempts to demonstrate to his new son, Youngman Grant (formerly unhomed) through a series of increasing specific and elaborate practical jokes, bribing individuals with irresistible amounts of money that everyone has their price and will disavow what they hold dear. With score by Badfinger, the film chose for the final hoax luring wealthy passengers onto a stimulated shipwreck aboard the eponymous cruise, and the film was generally panned by critics and audiences alike for being too harsh and heavy-handed on capitalism.

9x9 (13. 165)

shoulder angel: the Scottish philosopher teaching one AI model morals—via Marginal Revolution 

pdf forensics: a case study of the sanitisation and hidden data through the Epstein files—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

individual neutral athletes: a historic look of Russia at the Games 

secretz de l’histoire naturelle: a late fifteenth century illustrated guide to exotic, far-flung lands  

the ents showing up to take down isengard: more reflections on Bad Bunny and friends Super Bowl half-time show 

volunteer army: the recruitment call enlisting anonymous editors to stave off AI from Wikipedia—via LitHub  

herren-t-shirt olympisches erbe der olympischen spiele in berlin: commemorative apparel from the 1936 Games from the official shop is met with backlash 

it’s the people’s house and it’s also the presidents home, so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the white house: annual bipartisan meeting of US governors called off when Trump excludes Democratic state leaders 

human prerogative: on the imitation game, all exercises—even the boring ones—having value and why computers can’t surprise

synchronoptica

one year ago: US to stop minting pennies (with synchronopticæ) plus DOGE and the Deep State

twelve years ago: the Atlantis Haus 

fifteen years ago: Egypt in media res

 

read into the record (13.164)

A tactic that could be employed to disclose all the names of all individuals named in connection to the Epstein files to the public without actually reading aloud the contents of the cache of over three million documents, US Democratic congressional representative Ro Khanna delivered a floor speech in the lower chamber, met with some resistance by Republican committee members who tried to silence him the name of six men discovered on reviewing unredacted files during a two-hour review at the Department of Justice. Khanna, together with Republican cosponsor of the bill that mandated the release of the files, made a cursory inspection of the DOJ version of the documents on Monday, naming these “likely incriminated” people, whose identities had been shielded contrary to the injunction only to protect victims ostensibly only to save them—a lingerie magnate, a UAE sultan and an Italian politician included—from the embarrassment of being implicated, and speculated how many more over-judicious, discretionary redactions might be found had they had more time to investigate. Given the opposition in even sharing this discovery, which does not equate to guilt but rather is an indictment on how the release has been conducted, suggesting many more untoward obfuscations, it was expected that the GOP member who together crafted this legislation, Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie, would have made the announcement so as to defuse some of the expected partisanship coming from a member of the opposition.

the first thing that china will do is terminate all ice hockey being played in canada and permanently eliminate the stanley cup (13. 163)

Despite the fact that the newly completed span connecting Ontario with Michigan was financed by the Canadian government, Trump is threatening to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge until the US is compensated for everything it has given to its northern neighbour—including fairness and respect, despite the infrastructure project’s shared, cross-border public ownership. The massive construction undertaking endorsed in 2013 under the Obama administration in Detroit, the family who owns the parallel Ambassador Bridge (built in 1929) lobbied successive governments to stop the improved linkage with untrue claims that no American steel was involved. Poignantly named in honour of the then recently deceased, celebrated hockey icon, we think it’s acceptable to reflag it as the Epstein-Trump Connexion until the US relents from this nonsense.