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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie
@jimlaurie.bsky.social
290 followers 280 following 230 posts
Writer, Speaker, Broadcaster. Travelling the world. A believer in learning from history. Author: The Last Helicopter: Two Lives in Indochina - a story of war, love and survival in the 1970's https://shorturl.at/oB6K7
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 17h
Here in #Japan - Since her election win as LDP President, Sanae Takaichi has been subject of selective, negative articles in "liberal mass media" — Jiji, Kyodo, Asahi, Mainichi, the Chunichi Shimbun group ... often compared to her protege Shinzo Abe: www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2...
Sanae Takaichi gets 'the Abe treatment'
Given that she is frequently labeled a 'Shinzo Abe protege,' the media coverage of her so far reminds me of how they reported on Abe himself throughout his second term.
www.japantimes.co.jp
Reposted by Jim Laurie
roger1952.bsky.social
The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 2d
Tofukuji Buddist garden, Kyoto, Japan
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Reposted by Jim Laurie
gaiaslastlaugh.bsky.social
Jay Allen @gaiaslastlaugh.bsky.social · 3d
"Firm views"
CNN: The woman set to lead Japan is a heavy metal fan with firm views on foreigners
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 17h
#China has 41 power lines. Each capable of carrying more electricity than any utility transmission line in #USA... China uses technology making its lines far more efficient than almost anywhere else in world. Feat owed to China’s ambitious national energy policies. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/b...
How China Powers Its Electric Cars and High-Speed Trains
www.nytimes.com
jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 17h
US tries to curb #China influence in artificial intelligence. Silicon Valley wants Chinese researchers. Paradox. Lawmakers push to limit Chinese talent on national security grounds, but tech companies know that many of the brightest minds come from China. restofworld.org/2025/chinese...
The AI dilemma: To compete with China, the U.S. needs Chinese talent
Immigration restrictions can accelerate the flight of top talent, threatening the strategy that it is better to have the brightest minds working for U.S. companies.
restofworld.org
jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 18h
#China overwhelmingly focused on contest with #America, seen as trying to suppress, contain China’s rise... Diplomats joke darkly that China’s latest trade rules copy existing American restrictions precisely... www.economist.com/internationa...
China tries shock-and-awe on Donald Trump
Xi Jinping bets that dramatic escalation is the way to win a trade war
www.economist.com
Reposted by Jim Laurie
newrepublic.com
The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 18h
During a press conference, Johnson was asked if he was “comfortable” with cuts that had reportedly decimated special education services at the Department of Education.

Johnson decided his best line of defense was to play dumb. trib.al/9kxsoWj
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 18h
#China’s #XiJinping pledges unwavering support for women’s rights. Praises achievements of women in sports, technology, entrepreneurship. Hails supported for them to lift up “half the sky,” as Mao Zedong said. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...
www.nytimes.com
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 3d
#weekend reminder for memoir reading. Hope you will explore stories of the 1970's and 80's in #Cambodia and #Vietnam = War, Love and Survival @bookshelfie.bsky.social @neglectedbooks.com @booksky.club @lrb.co.uk #books #history @barnesandnoble.com
Reposted by Jim Laurie
prchovanec.bsky.social
Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 3d
China hawks in the US would welcome Takaichi as PM, as a tough-minded partner. But they tend to overlook how fragile her position is and might continue to be.
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Reposted by Jim Laurie
japantimes.co.jp
The Japan Times @japantimes.co.jp · 4d
BREAKING: Komeito said Friday it plans to leave the ruling camp, parting ways with the LDP and new President Sanae Takaichi after the LDP failed to accept the party’s proposal on political donations.
Komeito announces split with LDP, clouding Takaichi's bid for PM
Komeito’s decision to end the 26-year partnership with the LDP means the ruling party will need to court opposition parties to vote Takaichi in as prime minister.
ebx.sh
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Reposted by Jim Laurie
levimclaughlin.bsky.social
Levi McLaughlin @levimclaughlin.bsky.social · 4d
Big upheaval in Japanese politics. Today (Japan time), after a ninety minute meeting between Saitō, head of Komeito, and Takaichi, the LDP politician who recently won her party’s presidency, Saitō announced an end to their parties’ 26-year-long coalition agreement.
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Reposted by Jim Laurie
roger1952.bsky.social
The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 5d
Woman Combing Her Hair. Hashiguchi Goyo. 1920, Japan
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 3d
Usually here in #Japan things are more predictable. New first female PRIME MINISTER job now may be in doubt. Komeito ends 26-year partnership with LDP over financial issue. Opposition parties seek to stop Sanae Takaichi. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
www.reuters.com
jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 7d
Here in #Japan much curiosity about new #Japan prime minister: “I’m a woman of Nara. I grew up in the ancient land of Yamato.” Resume also includes her admiration for Margaret Thatcher & her stint as a heavy metal drummer during days at Kobe University. www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/...
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 7d
Takaichi LDP election win marks departure from long male-dominated #Japan politics. Country ranks 118th among 148 economies, the lowest among G-7 members, in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, languishing particularly in political empowerment metric. time.com/7322887/japa...
What Japan’s First Female Prime Minister Means for the Country’s Gender Politics
Sanae Takaichi was elected the first-ever woman to lead Japan’s ruling party. But she’s no feminist.
time.com
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 7d
I am currently visiting Japan. Good to be back again. Watching reaction to Japan's first female Prime Minister. A professed admirer of the late Margaret Thatcher, Sanae Takaichi takes on a tough task as longtime ruling party support is shrinking especially among younger voters.
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 7d
The new leader of Japan’s ruling party, poised to be first female prime minister, faces challenges - including loss of support from Komeito policy which objects to her views of World War 2 and her visits to Yasukuni Shrine. www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
The new leader of Japan’s ruling party, poised to be first female prime minister, faces challenges | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
Japan’s embattled governing party now has its new leader, former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a hardline conservative who is poised to become the country’s first female prime minister.
www.asahi.com
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Reposted by Jim Laurie
katie-pinns.bsky.social
@katie_pinns @katie-pinns.bsky.social · 9d
Japan set for first female prime minister

news.sky.com/story/japan-...
Japan set for first female prime minister
Ms Takaichi was a heavy metal drummer, but said she has thrown away her work-life balance, and "will work, work, work" with Margaret Thatcher her hero.
news.sky.com
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Reposted by Jim Laurie
noh8campaign.bsky.social
NOH8 Campaign @noh8campaign.bsky.social · 8d
Japan expands legal protections for same-sex couples #NOH8
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 7d
#Japan ski resort town roiled in dabate over #immigration Residents are protesting a planned housing facility for foreign workers, exposing the conflict between Japan’s need for labor and anxieties over immigration. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/b...
A Japanese Ski Resort Town Is Roiled by a Debate Over Immigration
www.nytimes.com
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 8d
Lazy late Sunday. Heading to Asia across the Bering Sea. Sharing a great natural wonder seen in #Alaska: the Hubbard Glacier. Global warming is alarmingly causing glaciers to melt and disappear. But Hubbard is a rare exception. Not retreating but still advancing... despite losing mass by calving.
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 10d
Our #weekend reminder of a #book we hope you will read - if you have not already. @bookshelfie.bsky.social @neglectedbooks.com #vietnamwar #cambodia #Vietnam "THE LAST HELICOPTER..." Stories of the 1970's and 80's
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Reposted by Jim Laurie
maddow.msnbc.com
Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 10d
look at the map here -- more than 2000 protests planned already...

www.nokings.org
No Kings
As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...
www.nokings.org
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jimlaurie.bsky.social
Jim Laurie @jimlaurie.bsky.social · 14d
#Xijinping aims to establish #China as the fulcrum of an emerging multipolar world. Advances new, more active diplomacy. Not forcing #USA out of its leading position but exploiting Donald Trump's willing abdication of Washington’s role. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
China Goes on Offense
Beijing’s plans to exploit American retreat.
www.foreignaffairs.com
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