T.W. Simpson

Trying something new - my op-Ed in the @washingtonpost.com is based off extensive reporting on Uyghurs in Syria, and Beijing’s chance to break a cycle of violence www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

New campaign ad for Shen Boyang for Taipei mayor. Awww...

A footy mega star from #France, Chairman Mao, angry nationalists, sponsorships cancelled. This week’s social media meltdown involving Kylian Mbappe and his relationship with #China. From me: m.youtube.com/shorts/UB5r5...

BREAKING: The U.S. has told several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military campaign in Iran after the U.S. midterm elections. Full Story: on.wsj.com/4jErPgS

#TransHimalaya inaugural issue brings together essays on Tibet’s history, digital repression, colonial policies, political economy and the Dalai Lama’s succession, plus an interview with Sikyong Penpa Tsering. Published by FNVA. transhimalaya.fnvaworld.org/journal-edit...

Top 10 most-shared articles in the Skysquare universe over the past 24 hours, as of 5:00 PM PT. #1 · Shared by 384 accounts.

Taipei election 2026: UDN (def not pan-green leaning) releases a poll showing DPP mayoral candidate Puma Shen leading 45% to incumbent mayor Chiang Wan-an's 41%. These polls feel like they make more sense than the infamous 17% one. Indicates a tight race. udn.com/vote2026/sto...

The 12 pt plan proposes that billions of $ of advanced US and European military hardware will simply be transferred to Beijing. Risible and pointing to Beijing's failure to develop a roadmap to achieve its professed goals, as I wrote here many years ago. www.aspistrategist.org.au/taiwan-no-ro...

Just an awful piece that substitutes ideological posturing for analysis. Has no idea what he is writing about, especially on Taiwan. Ignores PRC threat to Philippines, doesn't even mention South China Sea. The Left has marginalized itself because it can't speak truth.....

Design WebMCP tools that guide real-world agentic workflows reliably. @bandarra.me shares how a structured design framework and roleplaying interactions before writing production code leads to tools that help keep agents on track.

Excellent from Rowan Callick in The Australian on the 12 point plan for a post-annexation Taiwan from the group of scholars at an event in HK, a plan that would destroy Taiwanese society.

Ready to feel like this again.

“American civil society… is extremely weak.” @johnjharwood.bsky.social and historian Jill Lepore discuss whether or not the U.S. constitution is still working in 2026 or if it’s at a breaking point. Watch the full conversation: zeteo.com/p/is-it-time...

America needs universal child care.

It's publication day for SOFT TARGETS: GUNS IN AMERICA AND THE KIDS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE, a work of non-fiction graphic journalism by Camila Kerwin that @badiucao.bsky.social and I were really honored to blurb / endorse. It's a must-read.

The Republican Party no longer exists, says Heather Cox Richardson. "If MAGA has jumped off a cliff, who is left?" We're talking about the tension between MAGA and the GOP, the midterms, and more. Join our live conversation:

“ 'I would rather go astray with Plato and my friends than be right with my enemies.' ” — @rogerberkowitz.bsky.social quoting Hannah Arendt Listen to the full episode: www.liberalism.org/podcast/s/li...

Filtering thousands of items shouldn't freeze your UI ⏱️ When tasked with complex features, basic coding agents tend to miss performance opportunities. With Modern Web Guidance, agents find best practice guides on how to break up long tasks and yield control back to the browser → goo.gle/mwg

OUR 44th president. Let's finish what he started and guarantee healthcare for every American. 🇺🇸

China's not going out without a fight 👀👇

Top 10 most-shared articles in the Skysquare universe over the past 24 hours, as of 6:00 AM PT. #1 · Shared by 186 accounts.

voter turnout in israel at highest by midday since 1977 normally a good thing. for netanyahu, high arab turnout is an ‘emergency’ (…and an excuse to claim election was stolen, of course)

"Dictator" is likely one of the kinder relevant descriptors. "Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China, qualifies as the greatest mass murderer in world history, said an expert who had unprecedented access to official Communist Party archives" www.the-independent.com/arts-enterta...

"We’re a week out, and things look good. In fact they’re looking a bit better every day...Insofar as one can read the entrails of the early vote—more than 30m Americans have already voted—they seem to confirm the polls, which continue to signal a big blue wave." www.thebulwark.com/p/wave-goodb...

#OpenAccess from our latest issue - Globalizing International Relations from within: discovering globality in Chineseness in Chinese International Relations theory - https://cup.org/4jEPewo - Chengxin Pan & Nahui Chen

Uh oh, look who's hurting the feelings of the Chinese people. (Nominally for referring to Mao Zedong as a "dictator" in a passing joke, perhaps actually for not really seeming to know who Mao was at all.)

Mbappe dropped by two major brands in China joking about Mao Zedong Came after a video emerged online with Mbappe saying that the funniest internet meme he had seen was of his face photo-shopped onto that of "some guy - I think he's a Chinese dictator"

www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/25/h...

New Covert Shores article 'Second Chinese Uncrewed Submarine Mothership' Here-> www.hisutton.com/Chinese-XXLU... China is honestly far ahead of everyoine else in building full-size underwater drones #OSINT #China Basic recognition guide to the two ships, based on what we know so far:

“I would expect the relationship to get rougher. Trump already has trade and political grievances with Brazil, and Lula’s victory gives him little reason to soften" w/ @meganmesserly.bsky.social @ddesrochers.bsky.social @arihawkins.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/10...

As a Hongkonger, this hits hard.

Taipei election 2026: DPP mayoral candidate Puma Shen discusses in an interview how early on in the race he mystified by President Lai's confidence in him, especially in the first two months of the race where polls didn't move no matter what Shen did.

It’s pretty great when an 18 year old blog (and blogging platform!) can get integrated with modern standards. Congrats @opensource.google for connecting Blogger to @standard.site

Legend has it that there's going to be a robust tech-in-journalism track at Atmosphere 27. A community of hundreds of the most cutting-edge builders and thinkers on the internet will be there. You should probably apply to speak and share your work. Yes, you. atmosphereconf.org/speak

"As authoritarianism evolves, so must resistance tactics." Brief but potent piece by @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social:

MacArthur's Memorandum on Position of Formosa, 1950, first island chain, etc #Taiwan history.state.gov/historicaldo...

Donovan on TSMC in Arizona www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar... #Taiwan

✊ While every protest is different, I also wonder about convergences. Are France's protests part of a broader wave of youth-led movements globally (Serbia, India, Morocco, Nepal, etc.)? Q&A with Donatella Della Porta, expert on protest politics. ⬇️ Clip below, full vid in replies.

"This blog is about celebrating that friendship" with open source developers. That was our first post in Feb 2008. Today, all 1,557 posts (2008–2026) live in the Atmosphere as verified @standard.site records: https://opensource.googleblog.com/2008/02/welcome-to-google-open-source-blog.html

Would you look at that!

NEW: The group behind Cornel West's 2024 ballot push was wholly funded through Elon Musk's dark money network, according to Sludge's review of tax documents. readsludge.com/2026/10/26/m...

Damn, who could have seen this one coming?

Holy wow. 25% of Microsoft. www.theverge.com/tech/1018666...

I cannot believe that Eric Bauza has passed away, at age 46. We’d just talked about his life and his voices and his son. A shattering loss

the DOJ is basically acting as if the president’s delusions are true

7️⃣ goals scored by #USMNT players this weekend! ⚽️ Alex Freeman ⚽️ Weston McKennie ⚽️ Aidan Morris ⚽️ Neil Pierre ⚽️ Christian Pulisic ⚽️ Joe Scally ⚽️ Tim Weah

It should be illegal for the President, VP, and lawmakers in Congress to own, buy, and sell individual stocks.

Back at it with @hcrichardson.bsky.social on Tuesday,,, we'll discuss: - Trump's sinking approval ratings and the decline of MAGA - Last-minute predictions for the Midterms - The massive amount of spending by the GOP - Trump and Elon's collusion with Putin - And more