Thomas Batchelor
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tobbinatorscw.bsky.social
Thomas Batchelor
@tobbinatorscw.bsky.social
1.2K followers 530 following 2K posts
Linguistics PhD, Sydney > Köln > 台北 Linguistics (Creoles, Australia, Asia-Pacific, morphosyntax, policy, endangerment), politics (Syria, Taiwan, Australia in particular ig), history and other ramblings Anarchist at heart @tobbinatorscw in most places
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Reposted by Thomas Batchelor
"Brokers influence almost every aspect of a #migrant worker’s life, from where they live, to their meals, to the terms of their employment contracts."

Yet those working in #childcare and #fisheries aren't even subject to Taiwan's monthly minimum #wage of US$944.

www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025...
Reposted by Thomas Batchelor
So the main culture war in Germany, fought by the country’s leader, is that despite mass deportations there are still too many non-white men in German cities: which needs to change so that white German daughters can feel safer. That’s an actual position that he is taking. An incitement to violence.
“Ich habe gar nichts zurückzunehmen”

- sagt #Merz heute zu seiner “wir haben im Stadtbild noch dieses Problem”-Äußerung in Bezug auf Migration.
A week or two ago it felt like Hau was the factional consensus, wheeled out of retirement to continue Chu's legacy and secure the Liu Shiow-yen presidency, but that was the leadership and this is the party
I really thought they'd all converged around Hau but I guess they're really at the peak of the ego cycle and chose the most stupid option instead
The results are in: Ex-lawmaker Cheng Li-wun wins the race with 50.15% of the votes, versus Hau's 35.85%.

The 2nd woman to become #KMT chair, Cheng espouses the views of the first, Hung Hsiu-chu's "one China, same interpretation" and vows to make every #Taiwanese "proud to call themselves Chinese."
If Starmer panicked over the local elections in May, how is the party going to deal with losing the Senedd for the first time ever?
Regret to inform that the Fort Zeelandia museum in Tainan still presents the Chinese folk etymology of Taiwan as fact to avoid mentioning that it's actually a borrowed indigenous name (from Siraya)
Reposted by Thomas Batchelor
Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors: Almost all had been blindfolded and had gunshot wounds between the eyes, says medic at Nasser hospital in Gaza
Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors
Almost all had been blindfolded and had gunshot wounds between the eyes, says medic at Nasser hospital in Gaza
www.theguardian.com
Oh yeah that's just an issue everywhere, in Tainan's defence 🙃
Just a casual family walk in Alishan
I don't think the monorail plan is ever going to happen. Just do a tram and/or metro like everyone else
I have decided that Tainan could actually be even better than Taipei if they just got their act together with infrastructure
Reposted by Thomas Batchelor
Israel is holding 4,000 more Palestinians captive than pre-October 2023. Including 580 more hostages in administrative detention. Administrative detainees are de facto hostages, held indefinitely without charge or trial.

Chart: Stephen Semler
Not sure subscribing to a weekly news magazine is going to be too useful if it takes 2 weeks and counting to deliver each issue
Right! Literally everything around Empire is just a show creation and it was (for me) the most compelling and interesting part, to see a collapsing empire from within. All the book characters just existed to make things happen.
I find it beautifully written today but when I was younger it was just so densely packed and literary I just couldn't get through that part
Possibly more unhinged: once you get past the opening creation chapter The Silmarillion is actually not that hard a read, some of you are just trying to remember tiny details like there's a quiz at the end (is there???)
Foundation the book feels like he's just explaining a series of events that just happen, half of them resolved by some deus ex machina or gotcha that was never alluded to or otherwise
Foundation the TV show is actually way better and adds more interesting angles and depth to the story than the original book
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
Reposted by Thomas Batchelor
Please share this explainer article on the Taiwan Pride controversy this year so that all participants can know what they are walking into~

Proud of so many Taiwanese LGBTQ+ organizations coming out in support of intra-movement solidarity and against any nefarious attempts to split us apart ❤
Reposted by Thomas Batchelor
Great time for Americans to read up on Hong Kong 2020 protests tbh since it came with a draconian security law
He must be reaching corruption bingo at this point
Reposted by Thomas Batchelor
Xi Jinping just lectured world leaders about the need to include more women in government. If only there was someone who could influence such a change in the Chinese government eh?
www.reuters.com/world/china/...
Reposted by Thomas Batchelor
Front page of Scottish newspaper The National today.