This amazing account is by a person who I'd want as a tour guide to some of the world's most interesting historical sites and buildings, from China to Greece to Brazil. Please follow this account, and help him transition away from Twitter!

When you want a Tesla but you don’t want people to judge you for it:

小红书 HQ: “How we will brand our app for international markets so that they don’t notice it’s literally named after a book by one of the 20th century’s most notorious murderous dictators?”

If one phrase could sum up post-2020 Hong Kong, it just might be: “For my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law.”

Love a good Tim Hamlett burn: “We must note that Richard Cullen spends more time writing for the China Daily than he does teaching law, & he appears to have no problem avoiding legalistic formal language in his usual output, which comprises rousing denunciations of American foreign policy.”

Oh, “emergency situations”? Ok… // “With the development of science & technology, more submarine cables & communication cables are laid on the seabed of all parts of the world & the cables need to be cut off in some emergency situations," the Lishui University authors wrote.

Sad news. “Bottle” (known for his thick round glasses) inspired many as the cheerful MC of the Admiralty “main stage” during 2014’s Umbrella Movement. He was also a social worker, legislator, pro-democracy &—after his own stint behind bars—prisoners’ rights activist.

Learning LA neighborhoods through obsessively following current news events conveniently supplementing my similarly acquired familiarity with Arizona and Pennsylvania counties.

The wheels of justice turn slowly…

HK is definitely NOT a sanctions-evading hub. But also: “HK’s treasury chief said the city has a greater chance of enticing investors to set up family offices due to Switzerland’s neutral image being impacted by the country’s stance toward the Russia-Ukraine war.” www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...

Per @tedgioia.bsky.social: “Nobody in the history of music has made more money than the CEO of Spotify. Taylor Swift doesn’t earn that much. Even after 50 years of concertizing, Paul McCartney & Mick Jagger can’t match this kind of wealth…”

“The hi-tech equipment on board was abnormal for a merchant ship & consumed more power from the ship’s generator, leading to repeated blackouts…The crew would have been aware of its spying activities…but were ‘threatened with their life, so everybody kept quiet’…”

“More than 20 Hong Kong police officers have been deployed to a neighbourhood where a week-long independent book fair was underway. Some attendees had their IDs and bags checked by the police.”

The Christmas spirit continues in Hong Kong.

The tragedies of a society built upon a foundation of constrained personal expression.

Hong Kong government reminding us all to focus on the important things about the spirit of Christmas:

HK’s hub obsession 2024 edition:

Wonderful short film on Chow Yun Fat’s street photography (in Canto w/ Eng+Chi subtitles).

Lovely nostalgia piece on cricket on the radio from @thawking.bsky.social for @theguardian.com: “And now, two decades later, I’m sitting in a new home in Brooklyn, looking down at a dark, wet street, wondering if it’ll ever snow again & listening to the cricket.” www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/d...

And yet again they are misusing “so-called”. You might not like it, but it was definitely called that. // “The Government of the HKSAR today strongly disapproved of and opposed the so-called "2024 Annual Report" issued by the US CECC…”

Can someone please tell SCMP about this thing called “Christmas holidays”?

HK CE John Lee: “We have long stays. We have short stays. That's Hong Kong. In fact, this is the world.” (No, it doesn’t make any more sense in context.) news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/comp...

“Guys, have some perspective, it was just a _little_ bit of a coup…”

HK finally says ‘no’ to a hub: “Hong Kong no money-laundering hub, officials tell anti-crime forum” www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...

Fascinating story from @maryhui.bsky.social: “President Xi Jinping has said he wants China to become a “weather superpower,” and made it a national priority to win the world’s second-largest economy a bigger say in global meteorological governance.”

The other extremely annoying SCMP reporting habit: pieces which consist solely of a description of an amusing video incident that appeared on mainland social media with NEITHER THE ACTUAL VIDEO NOR ANY LINK TO IT.

Thread:

Vlado Chernozemski, who assassinated King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, belonged in his youth to a club that was devoted to a game of regicide. In the game, known as "chess," contestants subtly maneuver into a position that allows them to topple the opponent's monarch.

This seems like entirely the wrong response when they could simply have added a sign next to the statue providing useful historical context to Hafez al-Assad's actions.

Executive summary: Beijing gave us something we didn't ask for, upon which GovHK asked the public for input on one minor aspect that wouldn't change the overall outcome, then basically ignored that input for unexplained reasons and did what it was going to do anyway. Metaphor intensity level: 10/10

Minh Bui Jones, founder of @mekongreview.bsky.social, has relaunched his Bui Jones Books as Brixton Ink @brixtonink.bsky.social ! Already published some terrific titles and many more to come (including a new edition of @jwassers.bsky.social’s terrific HK book Vigil).

4 out of 10 people detained in HK’s prisons have not yet been tried or convicted of any crime (every quarter sees a new record high).

Could hardly find a better example of Bettridge’s law of headlines in action:

Cop A: Yo. Need to write up a wanted poster. Cop B: Sure. What happened? Cop A: Dude shot a guy in the chest. Killed him. Cop B (typing): “The perpetrator…discharged a firearm striking the 50-year old male victim in the chest and causing his demise.”

Read this vital — and alarming — piece from Noah Smith now: “China will account for 45% of all global manufacturing…It will mean that China is basically free to start any conventional conflict it wants…The only thing they’ll have to fear is nuclear weapons.” www.noahpinion.blog/p/manufactur...

Restrictions on antimony, but antinomy is still freely on offer. www.reuters.com/markets/comm...

Also perplexed that Sun eating the banana was considered news. It’s a banana! What else was he supposed to do, leave it taped to the wall until it decomposes? “Man leaves rotten banana taped to wall” is weirder than “Man eats banana”, no?

Remember the late lamented Nuzzel on Twitter? Well @tylerjfisher.com has resurrected it as @sill.social for Bluesky/Mastodon & it’s a pretty great way to surface the top articles from your feed. Check it out! sill.social

Interesting to see this Little Pink was influenced by HK protesters…and the radicalizing power of experiencing tear gas.

Everyone knows the BRICs. But perhaps we should start referring to the Axis of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as the CRINKs.

Always the persistent misuse of the term “so called”. Regardless of whether you agree with its contents, it factually & objectively is a “resolution on HK”. Nothing “so called” about it. // “The HKSAR Government firmly rejects…the so called resolution on HK passed by the European Parliament.”

“A book launch by a HK travel writer & democracy supporter has attracted a protest by a small group accusing him of secretly ‘spreading poison’…“I don’t think they went there voluntarily, but rather, were sent by other people, who probably want to create a chilling effect for cultural events.”

Qantas are serious about this. The Grisham novel I brought onboard would not fit.

“Boosting the ecosystem for the arts, culture & creative industries accounted for the largest number of measures…”—Like censoring cinema, banning books from book fairs, vetting artists/art shows on National Security grounds, harassing indie book stores to close down…?

On “Ten Years” ten years on:

$1500 + a room of one's own ~ applications due 29 november www.liminalmag.com/prizes-fello...

Updated this starter pack again but still on the lookout for: - Contributors to our magazine now on Bluesky - People whose books have been reviewed in our magazine - People who have been featured as interviews and profiles in our magazine go.bsky.app/QBWk1Vm