alidade (13. 636)

Via a 1956 summer-gig for flat broke beat writer Jack Kerouac as a hermit on Desolation Peak in the Washington Cascades as a fire lookout, undertaking the vigil akin to that of a lonely lighthouse-keeper and watching for signs of smoke, we are introduced to the panoramic, circular cartographic creations of Archie Norcross, centred around the thousands of observation towers erected after a devastating series of forest fires between 1903 and 1908 for the state of Maine. Resident rangers would be watching for telltale plumes and triangulating its location with a simple sighting device (the title turning board) and alert authorities. Of the some eight thousand lookout posts constructed, most have fallen into disrepair, made redundant after newt echnologies and forest management techniques were introduced,  with a few maintained as shelters for hikers. Kerouac’s own summer home was demolished in 1972 due to the structure being a lightening rod during frequent thunderstorms on the mountain top. Much more from Public Domain Review at the link above.

day one-hundred thirty-six (13. 635)

The FBI subpoenaed several journalists from the New York Times, pressuring them to reveal their sources regarding Trump’s change of planes upon departing the NATO summit in Ankara, leaving on the old Air Force One, rather than by the one gifted to him by the Qatari government—the reporters uncovering it was done out of safety and security concerns over the retrofitted aircraft and not a chance for the new plane to make a publicity tour of European US bases as officially put out. Already targeting infrastructure and energy facilities across Russia, Ukrainian strikes destroyed major logistics hubs and warehouses in the Tambov and Moscow regions of Wildberries (Ва́йлдберриз), the Russian e-commerce giant and Amazon equivalent. Iran’s Supreme Leader suspends the MOU as Washington and Tehran continue to exchange fire. Two American soldiers stationed in Jordan were killed by incoming Iranian ballistics and a third service member is missing. A US radar station in Camp Arifjan in Kuwait was destroyed. Shelter in place orders were issued for Bahraini citizens near the base hosting the US Fifth Fleet. Israel moves to seize ancient freshwater reservoirs in Bethlehem as desalination plants of neighbouring countries continue to sustain damage.

rwa faustin ii. wirkus (13. 634)

Ruling until 1929 when transferred by the corps back to the United States mainland, abruptly ending his reign, Polish-American Marine stationed in Haiti during the occupation of Hispaniola (1915-1934), Lt Faustin Edmond Wirkus, was crowned co-regent of the island off the west coast of La Gonâve by Queen Ti Memenne on this day in 1926. Posted to the country since the beginning of the military regime—the National City Bank of New York (Citibank) had convinced president Woodrow Wilson (previously) take control of Haiti’s political and financial interests during a period of socioeconomic instability after the execution of tyrannical president Vilbrun Guillaume Sam imperilled US business interests, eventually reinstituting enslavement, the republic having gained independence through its hard-won petition for emancipation—Wirkus as commander of a regimen of native troops on La Gonâve, the satellite just off the coast of Port-au-Prince honouring a locally recognised matriarchy given a large degree of autonomy even during the US military government, arranged the release of a young woman in distress detained on charges related to practising Vodou. Unbeknownst to Wirkus, the individual he assisted was the queen and in gratitude proclaimed her rescuer King Faustin II in Vodou ceremony. Though born Palestine Weirkus in Rypin the Congress Kingdom of Poland within the Russian Empire, his regnal name was an auspicious coincidence and sign for the queen, bearing the same given name as former Haitian emperor Faustin-Élie Soulouque and believing Wirkus was him reincarnated. The population of La Gonâve accepted his appointment as a just ruler. Tolerance for the monarchy ended after Wirkus’ reassignment and the republic assumed control in the same year.

9x9 (13. 633)

scrubbed launch: SpaceX has lost over a trillion dollars since its initial public offering on 12 June  

off-sides: the extensive rules and regulations governing tournaments in the Middle Ages—via Strange Company  

outside the far side: a short biography of comic creator Gary Larson—see previously 

two birds, one stone: alkaline thermal treatment of plastic waste produces high purity hydrogen as a fuel source 

memento: how memories and stored in the brain and how retrieval alters them  

street view: gorgeous photologs of San Diego in the 1970s plus more about this municipal mapping method  

the king’s great fortune: a fairy tale written in classic style with contemporary resonance 

from the chinagate hoax department: documents Trump ordered declassified to demonstrate meddling from Beijing cost him the 2020 presidential race show instead that Moscow was championing his re-election  

vikram-1: India’s first private rocket reaches low Earth orbit and deploys a satellite

uneven bars (13. 632)

On this day in 1976 at the Montreal Games, fourteen-year old gymnastics prodigy Nadia Comăneci received a historic perfect score (10.00) from the panel of Olympic judges. Also rated perfect for her routines in several other lower-level competitions prior to this performance, including the inaugural American Cup held in March of the same year at Madison Square Garden, Comăneci scored her first of six gold medals during the course of the games. Comăneci has lived in North America since 1989, defecting from then-Communist Romanian, just weeks before the revolution.

deadpool (13. 631)

As Superpunch informs, popular and controversial predictions market platform Kalshi (previously) is expanding its betting profile from economic indicators, political and legislative outcomes and armed conflict to now include sports-like wagering in biotechnology, gambling on clinical trials and regulatory approval of new drug therapies. Already a highly speculative market subject to wild swings, opening up new contracts with Big Pharma, companies like Gilead, is expected to motivate traders to put their thumb on the scale, out of self-interest to improve their odds, with assuredly unscientific and deadly consequences. Kalshi, for its part defends its ethical stance, arguing, without scholarly consensus since the pool numbers are never disclosed, that the wisdom of the crowds and their investment on being right (or at least less wrong than the competition) more efficiently and accurately—a counterbalance to the greed, fraud and corruption endemic to the industry—steers optimal outcomes.

synchronoptica

one year ago: historic images of NASA’s research campus (with synchronoptica), assorted links to revisit, the flags of Iran plus new additions to UNESCO’s world heritage register

two years ago: American’s AI-military complex plus an evil cocktail

three years ago: Trump investigated for falsifying business records 

five years ago: your daily demon plus the island of Kållandsö

six years ago: Operation Jade Helm, unpopular essays plus more corporate sing-alongs

seven years ago: Les Horrible Cernettes, Wiesbaden’s Deutsches Filmhaus plus Trump’s disdain for the press

day one-hundred thirty-five (13. 630)

US Central Command conducts its seventh consecutive night of raids, attacking maritime and energy infrastructure, civilian targets tantamount to a war-crime though the American military considers them dual-use facilities. The latest flareups in fighting has essentially stopped all shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran promising a full-scale offensive response and allied gulf states continue to repel drones and missiles.  Israeli ministers announce new illegal settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. Trump threatens Canada with new tariffs over raging forest fires sending “filthy” air into the US.

vocation (13. 629)

One of the first individuals to receive a doctorate in computer science, having previously earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics in 1965, fellow student Irving Tang was awarded his by the University of Wisconsin-Madison on the same day, educator and pioneer Sister Mary Kenneth Keller, a nun of the Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an order originally from Ireland established to minister to Catholic immigrants in Iowa territory (see previously) wrote her dissertation on “Inductive Inference on Computer-Generated Patters,” focusing on developing algorithms on algebraic expressions. Her graduate studies include contributions to the programming language BASIC and more elective courses at Dartmouth. Committed to realising the potential for computers for the free exchange of knowledge and to promote learning, Keller established the first small college computer science department at the women’s school of Clarke University, endowed by the Sisters of Charity in Dubuque, teaching there for over twenty years, making strides in applications from graphics to home economics.