Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️

Can’t stop thinking about this and what it says about a person.

Someone should start asking why we’re hearing and seeing Stephen Miller so much all of a sudden.

The National Failure at the Heart of the Jeffrey Epstein Story It is a great challenge to pay sustained attention to any one of the onslaught of moral or legal indignities unfolding in this moment.

“The crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and those who participated in them is a decades long abdication of institutional and personal responsibility, brought to light by a handful of dedicated journalists and the breathtaking bravery of once isolated, ignored vulnerable women.”

slate.com/news-and-pol...

I am following this debut, and I don’t know anyone who can explain why an opinion journalist has been chosen as Editor-in-Chief. Did we need more opinion at CBS?

Today please remember the families of all who were slaughtered and held hostage on this day two years ago. That crime has never been fully addressed and the families have never received any sense of justice or relief. Israel is not safer. Palestine is in shambles. Hamas remains. Violence swells.

Opinion | China’s WTO concession only marks phase one of a protracted campaign In one move, Beijing gets to disarm Washington of a rhetorical weapon while maintaining the mantle of leadership within the Global South.

Super interesting op-ed by Dominik Mierzejewski comparing China's relinquishing WTO developing country status to Mao's theory of protracted war

"By giving up special and differential treatment benefits, China has executed a tactical retreat"

As basic question from an ex-police reporter: Can some of our journalists detail the training regimen all these new federal agents receive? The lethal incompetence involving use of force and perameters of the 4A suggests they are just handed guns, masks and badges and told to go fuck people up.

We need updated reporting on POTUS’s own *rare* acknowledgement he might not be getting accurate info.

His Portland unreality is being fabricated by Fox-Murdochs, Portland GOP + who controls his Pres. Daily Briefing.

h/t @robertmackey.bsky.social
@froomkin.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/robe...

China threatened to retaliate against UK over foreign influence rules Exclusive: Chinese officials warned that targeting its security apparatus would negatively affect relations

⤵️ tells us that treating China on the basis of not upsetting it undermines national security and judicial processes. The prosecution couldn't bring official evidence to prove China as an enemy because the gov documents refer to it as a Geo-Strategic Challenge.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Watching China in Europe—October 2025

"In a world where China and the United States are moving fast and hitting hard, the EU has been too slow, too timid, and too wedded to a rulebook the others have torn up," writes @noahbarkin.bsky.social:

EU spokesperson says UN General Assembly resolution 2758 only switched China representation, did not mention Taiwan – Reuters

The Rise and Fall of China-Czechia Relations Once Beijing’s closest partner in Central Europe, Czechia has turned into a skeptic – but the latest elections could put China back on the agenda.

Great to see the #ChinaIndex referenced in this timely piece on Sino-Czech relations. It puts the discussion in context with Czechia’s recent elections and growing calls to reset ties with Beijing.

thediplomat.com/2025/10/the-...

Trump deserves Nobel if he gets Xi to renounce force against Taiwan: Lai - Focus Taiwan U.S. President Donald Trump would deserve to win a Nobel Peace Prize if he could get China to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said in comments published...

Trump deserves Nobel Peace Prize if he gets Xi to renounce force against Taiwan, President Lai says – Focus Taiwan: ‘during an interview in Taiwan with U.S. radio host Buck Sexton of “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,”’

Taiwan to secure medical cold chain - Taipei Times Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

Government to secure Taiwan’s medical cold chain – Taipei Times: ‘to prevent China from infiltrating’ ‘SF Holding is China’s biggest logistics company, and it acquired Kerry Logistics in 2021’

President Lai interviewed by The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show-News releases-News & activities｜Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan) Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te:

"We hope Taiwan will continue to enjoy the support of President Trump. If he is able to convince Xi Jinping to permanently renounce the use of force against Taiwan, President Trump will surely win the Nobel Peace Prize"

China exiles in Thailand lose hope, fearing Beijing's long reach With tears rolling down his cheeks, detained Chinese political exile Zhou Junyi struggles to make his voice heard over dozens of families visiting Bangkok's main immigration detention centre.Chinese e...

“The Chinese political activists are concentrated in Chiang Mai in Thailand's north, where they hold lectures and publish pamphlets, but they now fear for their oasis.”

https://www.tasa.org.tw/zh-TW/announcements/detail/247c09c0-3412-4bb7-9587-c1e93877bbae

https://www.tasa.org.tw/zh-TW/announcements/detail/4d4244b4-38c7-484c-abf1-36125174f2b0

FS-8A — the first component of FORMOSAT-8, a #satellite formation comprising 8 units — departs for the US. Nicknamed Chi Bo-lin satellite (齊柏林衛星) after the late environmentalist, the observation unit built with 84% #Taiwan-made parts will be launched on SpaceX's Transporter 15 #rideshare mission.

Future wars are going to be pretty nasty.

Sikorsky Unveils Nomad Family Of Scalable VTOL Drones Sikorsky’s rotor blown wing proprotor concept has evolved into a proposed family of long-endurance uncrewed aerial systems with VTOL capabilities. Sikorsky’s rotor blown wing proprotor concept has evo...

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Facts:
- thousands of people were evacuated ahead of the flooding and countless lives were saved
- according to gov't, all victims came from areas subject to evacuations, coordination between central and local government obviously had issues
- Fu Kun-chi's bad faith has no limit

Lai Urges Trump to Back Taiwan as Doubts Rise Over US Commitment Taiwan President Lai Ching-te urged Donald Trump to continue supporting Taiwan, amid mounting concerns over whether the US president could sacrifice the self-governing democracy’s interests in order to engage with Beijing.

Taiwan President Lai urges Trump to continue supporting Taiwan, amid mounting concerns over whether the US president could sacrifice the self-governing democracy’s interests in order to engage with Beijing

EU says UN resolution only switched China representation, did not mention Taiwan TAIPEI (Reuters) -The United Nations resolution that led to Beijing assuming China's seat from Taipei was about switching representation and did not mention Taiwan, the EU said, commenting on an escalating dispute over the interpretation of the key document. China says that 1971's U.N. resolution 2758, which led to Beijing taking over representing China from Taipei, gives international legal backing to its territorial claims over Taiwan, and reiterated that point in a long foreign ministry statement last week.

EU wades into kerfuffle over UN Resolution 2758, after China's new position paper caused Taipei to claim lays the groundwork for an attack

EU says "it is very short - only 150 words. And among those 150 words, the word 'Taiwan' does not appear"

傅崐萁指中央無撤離計畫 卓榮泰嗆：我們搶救生命只有你在搶救政治生命 - 政治 - 自由時報電子報 國民黨立委傅崐萁今天就花蓮縣光復鄉潰堤議題在立法院會質詢行政院長卓榮泰，直指中央沒有撤離計畫「就是人禍」；卓則反駁，撤離的計畫和實施執行當然是地方政府，地方政府沒有完成撤離計畫，也沒有得實施，並嗆傅，「我們在搶救生命，只有你在搶救政治生命！」

Fu Kun-chi attacks the central government, claiming it had no evacuation plans for the typhoon. Premier Cho Jung-tai responds that evacuation plans are the remit of local governments. Fu is often seen as head of a political dynasty that controls Hualien

news.ltn.com.tw/news/politic...

Japanese colonial era granary currently under reconstruction. It's a rugged old building, half-demolished, with a round rooftop and ventilation on top to keep grain cool. There are tarps and sheet metal fencing in the foreground.

Part of the Changhua Railway Village with the green construction site notice mounted on a red brick wall. The skies are blue and serene with white clouds. Behind the wall is some kind of rugged, dilapidated structure, possibly an old residence.

An old military dependents' village in Changhua City currently under construction. There is a shovel and wheelbarrow in the foreground and the two-storey residences in the background show evidence of being recently resurfaced.

An old Japanese colonial era wooden house allocated to civil servants in Changhua City. Only the top is visible; the body of the building is obscured by red brick walls and a partial sheet metal fence above.

Went for a spin around Changhua City to knock off a bunch of historic sites from my list and so many of them are in the midst of restoration. Really cool to see the city take its abundant cultural heritage so seriously (only a little sad I couldn't document the original condition of those sites).

Sunrise over Montmartre.

MTG BREAKS RANKS: “When the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE”

Marge posts she is open to working out a healthcare deal for “Americans only.”

Reality setting in as Dems hammer away!

A Word About the Most Important Voting Bloc in America Meet the self-interested majority (who know "a man is not a piece of fruit")

If you tune out the political commentariat and listen to regular people, you might discover we’re not so divided after all. My latest. open.substack.com/pub/davidrot...

It’s time for soft secession How blue states can use their economic clout to stand up to Trump’s agenda—starting with California.

Blue states need to band together to protect immigrants, science, health, and our values. Some of this is happening already, we just need to face what more we can and must do www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Why Should We Care if America Pulls Back While China Pushes Out? | with Shannon Brandao

A great episode with Shannon Brandao, worth your time.

Bravo EU for clapping back Chinese Big Lies.

"United Nations Resolution 2758 is very short - only 150 words. And among those 150 words, the word 'Taiwan' does not appear,"