‘I have many thoughtful friends who are depressed about the state of the world. I am less depressed than they are — not because I’m an optimist, or because I deny the evil and stupidity in our political system that are causing so much harm, but because I believe history reveals a pattern that leaves reason for hope.…’ (Danny Hillis via NOEMA)
‘Ben Morea, an artist and chief provocateur of an anarchist group that rattled New York City in the 1960s, dumping garbage on the steps of Lincoln Center and booby-trapping the stairwell of a Columbia University building with furniture hung from the ceiling and rigged to drop, died on May 2 at his home in Gardner, Colo. He was 84.
Mr. Morea’s former wife, Joan Eagle, said he collapsed while walking on their property, about 60 miles from the New Mexico border. He moved to the region in 1969, living among Native American tribes and working as a lumberjack for nearly four decades before re-emerging in Manhattan as a flea market picker.
Barely 5 feet tall and as thin as a parking meter, Mr. Morea was an abstract painter who wanted to creatively destroy the gap between art and revolution. He published the militant magazine Black Mask and loosely led a band of radicals whose name began Up Against the Wall and ended with a profanity….’ (Michael S. Rosenwald via The New York Times)
‘There’s an old line, sometimes attributed to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, that the best way to solve a difficult problem is to make it bigger. That might be the most generous interpretation of how the Trump administration is approaching its ongoing peace talks with Iran.
Over the weekend, the news around the talks followed what has now become a familiar pattern. On Saturday, the two sides were reportedly close to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and lift the US blockade on Iran. Then on Sunday, President Donald Trump said he had told his negotiators “not to rush” into a deal. On Monday, the United States launched a new round of what it called “self-defense strikes” in southern Iran. The current message from the White House is that they’re giving talks another few days, and continue to believe believe a deal is likely, but haven’t taken a return to full-scale war off the table.
Then in a rambling Truth Social post on Monday morning, Trump enlarged the problem by saying that it “should be mandatory” that as part of any peace deal, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey sign on to the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations with Israel. This is unlikely: Saudi-Israeli cooperation against Iran has been the worst kept secret in the Middle East for years, but the international outcry over the war in Gaza has made it politically untenable for these countries to publicly embrace Israel. It’s unclear just how seriously Trump will press for this, but the fact that at this phase in negotiations he’s bringing up new demands sure to irritate his own allies, suggests he’s not exactly desperate to wrap these talks up.
The fact that a deal still hasn’t been signed — despite the fact that the underlying dynamics of the conflict haven’t changed much since Iran and the United States signed the current ceasefire agreement in early April — as well as the fact that Trump seems to be expanding rather than narrowing his demands suggests two things that turn the recent weeks of negotiation reports on their head: First, Trump does not believe that he is losing this war. Second, he is still hoping to reach a mega-deal to reset the politics of the entire region. RELATED5 ways the Iran standoff could end Trump doesn’t think he’s losing Before the war began, Trump told a concerned Tucker Carlson that despite predictions warning that attacking Iran could destroy his presidency, he was confident everything would be okay “because it always is.” The war certainly hasn’t gone as easily as expected, but it’s very possible Trump still believes he has the upper hand and that everything will work out….’ (Joshua Keating via Vox)
‘Hengefinder is an app that, given times and places, can help you experience “stunning moments when the sun or moon aligns perfectly with city streets and buildings.” A “henge” is when the sun or moon is perfectly framed by a street or appears to sit on top of a building … Astronomical calculations combined with road data deliver instant results. Works worldwide. Sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset—all at your fingertips. It’s available for iPhone and on the Google Play Store, but is based on open-source software posted to Github by Victoria Ritvo. It’s on the web at hengefinder.rcdis.co; my street gets henged in September, weather permitting!…’ (Rob Beschizza via Boing Boing)
