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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 4h

Which country when

samuelwa.de @samuelwa.de · 8h

One deleted post, on a writer's detention: "Many of my former colleagues have left journalism, while some have simply disappeared … How many people are willing to risk being accused of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ and having to deal with the anxiety of having no status or protections?"

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samuelwa.de @samuelwa.de · 8h

One deleted post, on a writer's detention: "Many of my former colleagues have left journalism, while some have simply disappeared … How many people are willing to risk being accused of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ and having to deal with the anxiety of having no status or protections?"

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 12h

(quoted image from this seemingly well-sourced piece www.ft.com/content/fbc5...)

A second senior US official said Beijing was using the US commerce department action, which was introduced in late September, as a "total pretext"
to proceed with a policy that had been in the works for some time. "They could not pull something so elaborate together in two weeks," he said, referring to Beijing's rare-earth export controls. "The thing that was surprising is that they would do something that was so disproportionate. We are trying to
stay proportional. They are not."

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 13h

WSJ reporters playing the role of pundit here. Is it a tacit admission? Is coverage an offramp? Could US have overplayed its hand with 50% rule? Not within the scope of this particular puting expedition.

China's Ministry of Commerce issued a response Sunday that notably lacked any specific threats of retaliation against the new tariff threat from the U.S. Instead, the ministry promised to implement the new export controls in a "prudential and oderate manner"—a tacit admission that Beijing has overplayed its hand.
"China's export controls are not export bans," the ministry said, while adding the new rule was intended to target military end-uses, not the broader civilian applications that have rattled global markets. "All applications for compliant export for civil use can get approval, so that relevant businesses have no need to worry," it said.
Further evidence of Beijing's desire to lower the temperature can be seen in its domestic media, where Trump's recent threat of 100% tariffs on Chinese goods has received minimal coverage. By avoiding inflammatory rhetoric, China is building itself an off-ramp to move the policy away from a blanket ban without losing face.

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 13h

More pointedly, I think they might be satisfied not to use this chokepoint if the United States were not trying to progressively choke Chinese tech-industrial advancement through export controls. I'm pretty mind-blown at US commentators' non-recognition of the parallelism here.

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 13h

This article is great. In reacting to complicated news, everyone says exactly what they would say if the headline were "breaking: sun rises in the east." www.ft.com/content/b509...

Trump talks tough with China but holds out hope of truce in trade war

US hardliners want a tough stance but the US president is taking a more nuanced approach to Beijing

www.ft.com

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 13h

Good roundup by Irene Zhang of Chinese reaction to the rare earth/dual use export controls move last week. www.chinatalk.media/p/rare-earth...

China Reacts to Export Controls

Wherefore export controls?

www.chinatalk.media

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 14h

Hey is that “deal” about TikTok Trump announced still ya know not actually done at all?

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 18h

You can file this under reasons the Internet used to be better.

A screenshot of the NYT home page in an Internet Wayback Machine capture from 2016. Bylines appear below each headline, including opinion pieces.

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

it‘s like flashcards and I’m having a stress response (AND I still toil pathetically reading anything outside my familiar domains)

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 5d

I wonder what the state of the art is on face-id spoofing. (I haven't read the docs -- maybe the attorney had this turned off.)

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Frankie Huang 黄碧赤 @ourobororoboruo.bsky.social · 5d

Migrants that get deported for doing things citizens get away with or get lighter punishments for *should not make sense to you* because immigration status *does not define what you deserve as a human being*

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Kendra Albert @kendraserra.bsky.social · 5d

I've been following the Lattarulo case involving the seizure of an immigration attorney's cell phone at Logan Airport (complaint: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...) pretty closely and I'm left with a big question that none of the coverage has answered.

storage.courtlistener.com

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 6d

Tommy Orange! His first book was brilliant, and second is on my reading stack. Oakland's own. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/a...

MacArthur Foundation Announces 2025 ‘Genius Grant’ Winners

www.nytimes.com

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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 6d

I am so much on Team Editor

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 6d

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 6d

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 6d

The Wildcats (purple, though not the shade on the director's jacket) are based in a north suburb and known for our random acts of a capella, but the downtown crews are feared in litigation and middle management--and the MD crew will literally cut you and then sew you back up.

Tom Hearden @followtheh.bsky.social · 6d

Chicago peeps let’s hear your gang names and colors

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Tom Hearden @followtheh.bsky.social · 6d

Chicago peeps let’s hear your gang names and colors

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