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Scott Ma

@scma.bsky.social

420 followers 530 following 8.9K posts

Doctorand in History at the University of Zurich🇨🇭. Working on the history of agricultural science in modern Japan & the legacy of Confucian thought. Polyglot and hapless cosmopolitan. Tweets are public reason and not private. Site: https://scott-ma.com

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Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · Dec 15

本屋まわりから戻ったところの絵

Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · 12h

An entire academic monograph with chapter headings but no section headings? In this economy??

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Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · 12h

thanks nick 🗃️

Reposted by Scott Ma

Christopher McKnight Nichols @cmcknichols.bsky.social · 18h

Imagine how the U.S. media would cover this if it were happening elsewhere, from France to South Africa to North Korea

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 18h

“The Defense Department has confiscated the badges of the Pentagon reporters from virtually every major media organization in America,” the Pentagon Press Association said

Oct. 15, 2025
PENTAGON PRESS ASSOCIATION
STATEMENT
Today, the Defense Department confiscated the badges of the Pentagon reporters from virtually every major media organization in America. It did this because reporters would not sign onto a new media policy over its implicit threat of criminalizing national security reporting and exposing those who sign it to potential prosecution.
The Pentagon Press Association's members are still committed to reporting on the U.S. military. But make no mistake, today, Oct. 15, 2025 is a dark day for press freedom that raises concerns about a weakening U.S. commitment to transparency in governance, to public accountability at the Pentagon and to free speech for all.
PPA

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Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · 20h

“some”
the bar has fallen to the floor

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 21h

The Republicans officials who participated in a monthslong racist, homophobic and vulgar text chat are being condemned by some in their own party, and some have lost their jobs or been called on to resign.

G.O.P. Officials Condemn Racist and Homophobic Texts From Young Republicans Members

Some G.O.P. officials who participated in a monthslong online chat are losing their jobs or being pressured to resign.

nyti.ms

Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · 20h

I’m not sure if Nitobe was rich? Sort of hinges on how much he inherited from his elder brother who just passed away in 1889

Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · 21h

Ok but what is the justification of using microfilms again if the paper is fragile and we can take photos of them can’t we just reprint them in a book otl
Microfilm reading always feels like 10% reading 90% yelling at the microfilm I would rather watch grass grow

Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · 21h

This handwriting is just not serious

Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · 22h

That said I am pretty surprised to read about Quaker proselytization efforts in Japan around the turn of the 20th c. Mary Nitobe seemed particularly interested, whereas she’s usually a background character in the posterior narratives that focus more on Nitobe 🗃️

Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · 22h

I was really hoping to encounter something related to the three-volume mega monograph on agricultural politics nitobe was planning around 1898, but these letters are really scattered from random dates and I have no clue how complete they are, since I suspect the Quakers had Quaker motives /sigh

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Scott Ma @scma.bsky.social · 22h

Currently browsing through the Nitobe Inazo files they hold at Swarthmore. Basically everything is related to Christianity, nothing about agriculture. Is this because his American family threw everything else out or because he just was never that into the whole agriculture thing…