a stoic wave washing over me as I understand why someone is a good selection for the state coastal commission while knowing their company has been a nightmare landlord to many residents and businesses in koreatown. that's big league politics, i suppose

obsessed this morning with Vogue Korea's photoshoot at Geumgang-san in North Korea in 1999. the area is semi-mythical due to its natural beauty, and this would've been the first photos of South Koreans there since the war -- made possible by the Sunshine Policy theqoo.net/square/23090...

Last night's declaration of a $100k fee on H-1B visas has been hugely disruptive to many Asian American families. Even with the update that it doesn't apply to current H-1B visa holders, it remains an attack on many already living in the US and had been counting on getting one to remain. 1/

smoking that 1896 vintage Giants pack tonight dodgerbros

picked this book again. when Phil Burton was in a USC frat, the brothers disliked his intense personality (and demand for allowing Blacks and Jews into the frat) so much they once locked him in a freight boxcar and shipped him out from LA. he was boxed for two days and found by police 100 miles away

best rivalry in sports

The big apple. Los Angeles

ran into this tiktok account that is all about how Bakersfield is the ninth circle of Hell. all we hear about Bakersfield is it’s unlivable and bestial; is there nothing metropolitan & urbane? or is query naive?

the only other instance of government consolidation of news corporations is (of course) South Korea under the Chun Doo-hwan martial law rule. in November 1980, Chun revoked broadcast licenses of several TV networks and forced their merger into KBS. he did the same with newspapers and radio networks

been reading Gerald Murnane's THE PLAINS and I think the title, "the best English language writer you've never heard of" that's been bestowed to him, fits. this essay on writing should be taught in schools meanjin.com.au/essays/why-i...

due to population aging and decline, bus services in shrinking mid-sized cities (100k+ pop) in South Korea are in a death spiral. private bus operators contracted by the city are running their last bus of the day at 7pm www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptkv...

"Politics is not the nursery." www.unpopularfront.news/p/this-is-it

"did you hear Karl Rove and John Yoo went on the record today against the current ad--" You bolt awake by the coursing Amnok River. it is 1388 AD. you are General Yi Songgye, and you changed your mind about invading Manchuria. you will return and seize the capital city Gaeggyeong. Goryeo must burn.

wow: a thorough-line connecting the removal of the Embarcadero freeway in the 1990s to yesterday's recall election in SF and why Sunset Chinese were so incredibly animated by the closure of the Great Highway. great blend of local history and journalism

interesting, and perhaps unsustainable, tensions of trying to live in a suburban, immigrant enclave inside a major city missionlocal.org/2025/09/sf-s...

maybe we can move toward a Greater Theory of 21st Century Bay Area Asian Politics and Culture using Ali Wong comedy, ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE (2019), DIDI (2023), and BITTER MELON (2018)

fantastic observation. not that I know of, and that is why I lowkey obsessed over the movie (and Ali Wong, who I've seen do comedy a few times in the Bay Area) when it came out.

who cares if the highway is beloved or not it's literally been eroding away for at least 20 years and was under severe operational threat due to climate change

This reminds me of K.W. Lee's rant, which I think was for the 25th anniversary of Saigu, basically raising red flags that having Harvard-educated Asians means nothing when these younger generations have fallen into complacency by financial success to forgot the communities they came from.

I've always believed in the potential of the Sunset District (not complimentary)

going to the same high school as Robert Redford means being reminded, perhaps for the last time, that people don't naturally know that Redford played in the same baseball team with Dodgers legend Don Drysdale and have learned about it today

Reports from Koreans detained by ICE are shocking Korea making this response from the Lee administration necessary. Bruised wrists from handcuffs and zip ties. Force tuberculosis shots. Slow response to medical emergency by facility staff. 1/ m.yonhapnewstv.co.kr/news/MYH2025...

It's funny that Ta-Nehisi Coates actually pulled off the "retreat into the fortress of solitude so every time you emerge to say something it feels like a big deal" thing that Barack Obama tried but failed to pull off in his post-Presidency

an outrageous novel in every aspect. hard to believe it’s from 1884. many themes feel increasingly relevant in the age of the smartphone

temperature check from Seoul: a cartoon from South Korea's Kyunghyang Shinmun (a liberal newspaper fwiw) yesterday left caption: "released from detainment after 8 days" right caption: "the $350 billion plunder demanded to lower the tariff rate" www.khan.co.kr/article/2025...

"This is no way to run a railroad. But it is quite possibly a way to win the White House." missionlocal.org/2025/09/gavi...

what a goal, Bergvall! coys

Milton Friedman? The Prop 13 supporter?

San Francisco is so amazing. too bad it's not a real place

TL cleanse

"The economy surrounding military brothels in US base towns, including restaurants, barbershops and bars catering to American GIs, made up about 25 percent of South Korea's GDP during the 1960s and 70s, according to historians." www.yahoo.com/news/article...

[swirling column] heavy notes of Dark Abundance but picking up Moderate-Abundance Synthesis as well with a surprising Red Plenty aftertaste at the end

both the statement from Newsom and the amendment to the Budget Bill SB105 on the Bay Area transit loan seems a little light on details...but I imagine there will be no shenanigans

Your city isn't a real city if there's no dedicated transit song. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXJa...

We continue to, as DeLillo described once about Oswald, feel "the shock of unmeaning"

SB 105 directs the Dept of Finance to work in consultation with CalSTA to examine loan or other financing options for agencies, with the goal to complete this work by 1/10/26 allowing for proposals to be included in the Governor’s FY27 Budget and legislative action in early 2026.

California transit loan bill watch. 🚨 SB 105 🚨 Despite some misleading headlines there is now legislation that expresses everyone’s intention to work out the terms of a state loan for transit agencies such as BART.

5 mins at the library can make your day

Really interesting that the movement for platform doors came first from those hoping to stop deaths on the tracks, and evolved to encompass a recognition that the doors substantially reduced station air and noise pollution.

Fascinating new article about how metro platform doors became ubiquitous in S Korea, in response to health concerns, notably. “In South Korea… there are 708 train stations [with rapid transit]. All of them have platform screen doors, a stunning achievement for a country which 20 years ago had one.”

There is no ending the housing crisis without fast, reliable, and frequent transit. It’s not possible. The commitment to removing barriers to housing production needs to be paired with commitments to fund transit operations.

Just to be clear, BLS is currently being run by a trustworthy career civil servant and BLS rank and file staff literally said yesterday that nothing is being messed with. Skepticism over this revision is entirely unjustified to the point of disinformation (though that may not be true for long).

saw a comment on my recent Substack post stating one reason why NYC MTA has not proceeded with PSDs is that the platform edges may not support the weight of the doors if installed. It's the first time I'm hearing of this (not doubting the commenter); is this true?

lost in all the news in past day is the death of John Burton, one of the most consequential California politicians in the late 20th century. Burton, his brother Phil, and Willie Brown basically built the SF/California Democrats we know today sfstandard.com/2025/09/07/j...

I was excited to write more about the 2003 Daegu subway fire, a critical event in understanding Korean transit. without this truly horrifying tragedy, platform screen doors now seen on all South Korean metro stations may not have been possible 🧵 www.substack-bahn.net/p/how-seoul-...

american cities: it’s time to break free from the yoke of the federal government and join the belt and road initiative

lmfao www.inquirer.com/opinion/lett...

The experience with land use in California shows how attractive discretionary land use approvals are local electeds and how they are corrosive for housing affordability and availability. There’s a corollary with Discretionary Grants for transit and active transport investment.

In addition to the rally, we also need people calling the Governor to demand that the previously agreed on loan to fund Bay Area transit be restored. Instructions on how to make calls during business hours are at tinyurl.com/transitsos