Problem with hiking in the mid-Atlantic in the fall is spending 20 minutes clearing stick-tights off your clothes in the parking lot before you can leave!

Friday before conference: wake up to 35 unread emails. Wednesday after conference: wake up to 2 unread emails. I like this better…

Vice Minister Chung’s speech at my conference was well received. Gratifying to put months of work into something (then the sprint to the finish w 3 hours of sleep the night before it starts), for it to go really well. Half a day - the ez day - left! focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

What the… That is an insane take. Allowing each country to do what they do best has been at the center of global prosperity for decades. Comparative Advantage, baby! Totally discounts services trade too. Good lord…

Nice story about RIFed federal workers starting their own businesses. Featuring my friend Kristina and her ”Lemonade World Travel” www.bizjournals.com/washington/n...

Drone interceptors, priority for Europe, should be for Taiwan too This article was first published by Pacific Forum. It is republished with permission. As Russia struggles to make battlefield gains, Ukrainian drones continue to inflict steady cuts, striking oil facilities and other parts of the…

Nicely done, boys! #ALLCAPS

Can’t believe I’m back here again. Late night omelette while making to do lists for my conference. Year 24. Surreal to have every year pass so quickly…

Interesting to see drag integrated into Taiwanese temple culture

Government shutdown: giving me heartburn every time, waiting to see what will happen last minute with the USG folks scheduled to speak at my event... Will they get waivers? Will they need hotel rooms after all? Will we need to swap speakers around? All in play today!! Yaaaay!

Wow, this was scary and fascinating. Don't run code outside a sandbox! blog.daviddodda.com/how-i-almost...

Every single outlet has been framing this story as "retaining classified materials" rather than highlighting what is the more serious allegation, IMHO - sharing those classified materials with China. Instead, that's treated as more of a footnote. It's weird! www.bbc.com/news/article...

Picked up some of my finished pieces - a set of figurine luminaries- at my pottery class last night. I’m so so happy with how they turned out! May have to make some more for the holiday sale in early December.

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery. @politico.com www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan government departments have increased by 17% so far this year compared to 2024, reaching an average of 2.8 million per day, data from the National Security Bureau showed. www.marketscreener.com/news/taiwan-...

The deluge of completely unhinged GOP spam continues to to my work email spam. 75+ since 10 am. If it's not warnings about Dems in Congress, it's the money they are promising me, or the propping up of candidates. Poor Nancy seems desperate... It's hard to imagine how anyone would find it persuasive.

Well done, Chuckie! #ALLCAPS

“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument

Interesting. US Senate passes export curbs for AI chips www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/a...

Sigh.

First some work partying with 2000 of Taiwan’s closest friends in DC at the 10/10 day celebration at Twin Oaks. Now some hockey on my TV! Yay the boys of winter are back! Go #ALLCaps

No, the audit is due today!

Jojje's Kinamedia nyhetsbrev ligger utanför betalväggen den här veckan. Alltid bra att läsa på svenska om Kina och Taiwan. nyhetsbrev.kinamedia.se/p/kinamedia-...

This is good. "Taiwan’s main threat isn’t military – it’s media speculation. Every headline becomes a crisis, every policy shift becomes abandonment. Taiwan deserves reporting that resists speculation." www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

I think the "fear of war" framing is a bit overblown, but yea. My entire extended family is serious about having water and food on hand. The "If Crisis or War Comes" pamphlet sitting on my mom's coffee table was pretty jarring the first time I saw it. www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/a...

The spam replies are getting out of hand, honestly. But I think what bothers me most is that many of them even fail to spam tag right! Which Sean do you mean? Which Jacob are you talking about? The lack of a link to click means it's more than useless!! I hate it so much.

Sad to see that Jane Goodall passed away. She was a giant in her field, and will be missed. I saw her speak once, and it was super inspirational. A huge loss to the world. RIP.

Maaaan, I wish we had these here! Imagine using a little Grogu to swipe into the metro! says.com/my/lifestyle...

Beyond the Silicon Shield: What the U.S. Can Learn from Taiwan’s Fight Against Coercion taiwaninsight.org/2025/09/29/b...

Thinking of and missing my dad today, for no special reason. Happy to have many recordings of him telling stories, including about the boy next-next door who rose to fame with Max Fenders & how my parents danced to them long ago in his beloved hometown Hörnefors. RIP. youtu.be/GbbNn3mgraE?...

I hope there is some sanity left in the White House where they laugh Xi out of the room for even suggesting this. It would be a terrible long-term strategic move for the U.S., not to mention its potential implication for 23 million people in Taiwan... www.wjbc.com/2025/09/28/r...

Another @gemmy.bsky.social and me special in Overwatch! Sorry it's by law I have to post this! Pew pew!

I am looking forward to moderating the "Trade and Technology Policies" session at the Global Taiwan Institute's 2025 Annual Symposium: A New Era for US-Taiwan Relations in a Changing International System (October 1, 2025). Hope to see you there! globaltaiwan.org/symposium/gt...

Good to be quoted in this (despite the misgendering at the end). Taiwan emerging as hub for next-generation unmanned systems: Expert focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

Thinking about this song again for no reason. “Jesus Christ is back again, Number One American….” youtu.be/cNWme9_keFE?...

New to me paddling destination today - the Tridelphia Reservoir. It’s nice, despite the insane number of dead and dying spotted lanternflies floating on the surface….

Fitbit’s ”cardio load” feature is useless. Five days of ”you have been really active lately, take it easy today” notices this week. I took Friday off from cardio and suddenly ”you are at risk for undertraining” and a laughably high cardio goal today. Wish I could turn it off…

Dutch late night TV has its take

Interesting. Delivery by Drone: Why Healthcare May Be the Killer App www.eetimes.com/delivery-by-...

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

The “Debate Me Bro” Grift: How Trolls Weaponized The Marketplace Of Ideas Among the attempts to create hagiographic eulogies of Charlie Kirk, I’ve seen more than a few people suggest that Kirk should be respected for being willing to talk to “those who disagree with him” as a sign that he was…

Fun to read an analysis of the spearphishing campaign. I'm just happy that my org wasn't used as a lure this time - it happens enough anyway! Going Underground: China-aligned TA415 Conducts U.S.-China Economic Relations Targeting Using VS Code Remote Tunnels www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/thre...

Always a pleasure to talk at GTI. Some good discussions yesterday www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/6201...

Me this morning prepping notes for a panel: I don't know anything about this, I'm a complete idiot, they will laugh at me. Audience person afterwards: That was so insightful! Me now: Oh thank god I managed to fake it. /huge sigh of relief The cycle will repeat for the panel tomorrow, I'm sure...

Absolutely well deserved.

if you’re an isolated, angsty, strange young man, please know that you can become a Kierkegaard scholar instead of joining fringe online communities

Time to break out the chart

You’re saying a young gamer steeped in reactionary self-referential internet memes did horrifying violence in the real world for clout? Who could have ever seen this coming www.theverge.com/politics/777...

GUNS! For this Swede, this is one of the weirdest things about living in the US…

They get smaller and fewer every year, but always there to remind you. I will not forget, and those of us who watched the Pentagon burn are not likely to…