day one hundred sixty-one

In an unprecedentedly long deployment starting in the Caribbean with the invasion of Argentina and then moving to the Middle Eastern theatre with no shore leave, care packages and beset with plumbing problems and contaminated water, more than one sailor has reportedly jumped overboard from the USS Abraham Lincoln, with the American Congress demanding to be allowed to inspect conditions. Barely deigning the counterclaims by the Trump administration, Tehran reasserts that it is in full control of the Strait of Hormuz and is not entertaining further negotiations. After twenty months and an extended maternity leave, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt abruptly resigns after being used as a decoy on the president‘s return flight from the NATO summit in Ankara—not only foregoing the gifted Air Force One out of an abundance of caution or nostalgia but also secreted onboard a third plane in a catering truck, with many members of the press corps and cabinet officials dispatched as diversion for a paranoid Trump fearing assassins.

ribe

synchronoptica

one year ago: touring the Mecklenburg Seeplatte (with synchronoptica)  

two years ago: assorted links to revisit plus lethonomia 

three years ago: the debut studio album from Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973) plus a visit to an industrial reservoir 

four years ago: a banger from KC and the Sunshine Band plus the Feast of St Benedetto

five years ago: your daily demon, cordoning off West Berlin (1961), more links to enjoy plus a Winnebago helicopter

six years ago: another Roman holiday, the Feast of St Cassian, a Christopher Nolan summer blockbuster, The Hunting of the Snark, 1920 movie ticket prices plus 2020: An Isolation Odyssey

day one hundred sixty

The EU issues another condemnation of continued political executions in Iran whilst Lebanon outlaws the death penalty. Houthi rebels maintain their hold on the junctions to the Red Sea. A grounded Russian tanker is leaking oil off of the coast of Oman—threatening environmental damage greater than the Exxon Valdez. Even if markets are still failing to acknowledge realities, the the International Energy Agency assesses that the world is burning through petroleum reserves.

solformørkelse

synchronoptica

one year ago: more Waren on the Müritz (with synchronoptica) 

two years ago: the Philadelphia experiment 

three years ago: a gruesome border wall on the Rio Grande plus assorted links to enjoy

four years ago: Sea Org Day, the Model T (1908) plus more links worth the revisit

five years ago: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), the 1984 Olympics closing ceremony, a collection of ephemera for events cancelled during the pandemic, more on a Roman snack bar, more WikiHow illustrations, a Barilla handbag plus Avon paperbacks

six years ago: US Space Force, campaign tickets, the IBM personal computer (1981) plus the martagon lily

day one hundred fifty nine

Revealed that Trump called off his last massive attack on Iran because the Saudi crown prince threatened to divest all US bonds—the American president claims that he retains the options of letting the country‘s economy to continue to deteriorate or resume military strikes (despite depleted stockpiles, et al)—

more traditional Gulf nation allies recognising the US as an unreliable partner and a liability with limited sympathy for the illegal war of choice launched with Israel, as evidenced by new coalitions forming and global bracing for an energy shock and economic depression soley deferred by China’s artificially lowering demand and deflating prices. The IDF starts wildfires south of Beirut to discourage residents from returning.

blåvand strand

synchronoptica

one year ago: Malchow on the Müritz (with synchronoptica)

two years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus the invention of hip-hop

three years ago: content culling, racial tensions in the US plus dual-hatted creatives

four years ago: Le Freak (1978) plus the FBI search Mar-a-Lago

five years ago: Ghostbusters (1984) plus more links to enjoy

six years ago: even more links, anthropic limitations on the search for alien life plus the start of the Long Count Calendar (3114 BCE)

day one hundred fifty eight

Reportedly, recompense to the insult to Carter and the grace and favour of Reagan in timing the release of the hostages to Reagan‘s 1981 inauguration, the Revolutionary Guard claims that they will engage in no further negotiations with Trump and will wait until the next administration takes office in January of 2029 to resume talks—Tehran assuming that there will be future elections in the US and/or Trump lasts the rest of his term. Meanwhile, seemingly completely disconnected with reality, Trump declares that the seaway has been fully demined and that the Hormuz is open under American control—with the US seeking monetary compensation from Iran.

house elf

We‘ve heard of several road construction projects diverted or completely derailed in Iceland to avoid encroaching on the dwellings of supernatural beings according to local lore. We learn, however—and not for the first time, fans of the Harry Potter franchise have successfully petitioned to reroute a multimillion pound energy project linking County Wexford in the Republic of Ireland with a pebbly beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, which would have cut through the shrine to the memory of the fictional familiar Dobby.

The submarine copper cables connecting the Republic of Ireland to the UK national grid, following a rather massive outcry, was shifted to avoid the memorial—though in the process could possibly have damaged an archaeological site, an actual Bronze Age tomb with grave goods not fully excavated and conserved.