The Middle East is full of religious extremists who blindly revere evil men.

Oops! I meant *The United States* not The Middle East.

brill.com/display/titl...

Taiwan births, marriages fall to historic lows | Taiwan News | Apr. 5, 2026 15:26 Population could halve earlier than expected amid fertility crisis | Apr. 5, 2026 15:26

So many of us talking about this disaster for years, but both major parties decided they would rather the nation commit suicide then change the developmentalist state that is causing this.
www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6334771

“Oh my god… It’s glorious… they should’ve sent a poet…”
- Deng Xiaoping

Who wants to make up some fake etymology with me? I've wanted to dabble in Pop Sinology for a while...

Comic mit Fisch an Land und Schild: the beginning is near.

Once upon a time....

moargn ☕️

The Doors - Riders On The Storm YouTube video by 215Days

#IsmuasMonthOfMusic #MusicChallenge

A song for a non-music fan.

youtu.be/iv8GW1GaoIc?...
The Doors - Riders On The Storm

Counterpoint: No.

Google Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here's How to Use It. 40 Google features to find exactly what you need, the alternative search engines that do things Google won't, and the reference desk framework underneath all of it.

Secret tricks to get much better results out of the very dreadful 'Google search' these days, plus other search engines for specific things. Statospherically useful for researchers. open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...

@wayno.bsky.social
🤭🤭🤭

#322 - Opium War 7: The Throat of the Empire by The History of China

#322 - Opium War 7: The Throat of the Empire

“The situation now is like riding a tiger – it is difficult to dismount.”
– Lin Zexu, quoting an old Chinese proverb from exile in Ili, 1842

“How could matters have come to this?”
– the Daoguang Emperor, 1842

megaphone.link/ARML2961637788

Taiwan retaliates against South Korea over dropdown menu slight - Focus Taiwan Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has changed the designation of South Korean nationals in government-issued alien resident certificates (ARC) in retaliation for Seoul's mislabeling of Taiwa...

A rare diplomatic spat between Taiwan and South Korea

focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

‘Keynes predicted we’d have a 15-hour work week. The robots HAVE been taking our jobs — but instead of redistributing the labour, we’ve simply made up completely meaningless, pointless jobs.’

- David Graeber

Epiphany

John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads (from The Wildlife Concert) YouTube video by JohnDenverVEVO

Alright… years ago I was driving a borrowed station van through the mountains after a remote broadcast. Signal fading in and out, road empty ‘cept for one porch light way up a hill. This song came through the static and suddenly that whole stretch of highway felt like it belonged to somebody.

The Play China Didn't Want Strasbourg to See When China's consulate pressured a theater in France to cancel the Taiwanese production "This Is Not an Embassy," it proved the play's point more vividly than any performance could.

China's consulate in Strasbourg pressured a French theater and city officials to cancel a Taiwanese play that simulates the opening of a Taiwanese embassy. The theater didn't budge. Read the latest from Lingua Sinica: linguasinica.substack.com/p/the-play-c...

In 1981, photographer Liu Xiangcheng captured Pu Jie, younger brother of the last Qing emperor Puyi, sitting in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City.
Born inside that palace once filled with thousands of courtiers, he now returns as an ordinary visitor.
History can be ironic.

Whenever someone starts talking about the 'free market,' it's a good idea to look around for the many with the gun. He's never far away."

From David Graeber's Utopia Of Rules.

@rg-china.bsky.social

Don McLean - American Pie - Live (1971) [Restored] YouTube video by Music Video Vault

#MarchMusicChallenge
#MusicChallenge
#MusicSky

3/4 - Song from the year you were born

Don McLean - American Pie

youtu.be/D5YfuN0AM4k

One of the things I like writing about is how it is not inevitable, but highly contingent, that Taiwan is "Chinese" instead of something else.

Like Spanish, or Japanese.
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...

Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name - Live At Finsbury Park, London / 2010 YouTube video by RATMVEVO

Current mood ...

Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name - Live At Finsbury Park, London / 2010
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R88l...