Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
@pacstandardtw.bsky.social
An American perspective at the western frontier of liberal democracy, framed and focused through the lens of life in Taiwan. #LiberalHawk #NeoIdealist
#TaiwanIsACountry
#TaiwanIsACountry
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
Amazing revelation about the creator of the popular girl undressing app - Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously known, emails show
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously known, emails show
Newly released files from DoJ show the pair making plans in 2012 and 2013 for the Tesla CEO to visit Epstein’s island
www.theguardian.com
January 31, 2026 at 9:28 AM
Amazing revelation about the creator of the popular girl undressing app - Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously known, emails show
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
"The case is one of several that have surfaced in recent years against Chinese nationals in the United States as tensions between the two countries have intensified over a struggle for technologic supremacy."
Ex-Google Engineer Convicted of Stealing A.I. Secrets for Start-Up in China
www.nytimes.com
January 31, 2026 at 9:26 AM
"The case is one of several that have surfaced in recent years against Chinese nationals in the United States as tensions between the two countries have intensified over a struggle for technologic supremacy."
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
I won’t stop reporting the truth. The First Amendment is the bedrock of our democracy, and I’ll continue to fight to protect it 🤝🏾🇺🇸
January 31, 2026 at 4:40 AM
I won’t stop reporting the truth. The First Amendment is the bedrock of our democracy, and I’ll continue to fight to protect it 🤝🏾🇺🇸
China runs invasion drills. The KMT blocks defense spending and says Taiwanese should accept being Chinese. And the US leadership still pretends the KMT is anything other than the CCP in blue robes.
As China steps up military drills around Taiwan, Cheng Li-wun is blocking efforts to boost defence spending. She thinks Taiwan’s people should accept that they are Chinese, and hopes to bring her party to power by pursuing reconciliation with Xi Jinping
Taiwan’s new opposition leader wants to talk to Xi Jinping
Cheng Li-wun tells The Economist she hopes to meet China’s president early this year
econ.st
January 31, 2026 at 8:31 AM
China runs invasion drills. The KMT blocks defense spending and says Taiwanese should accept being Chinese. And the US leadership still pretends the KMT is anything other than the CCP in blue robes.
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
There’s this annoying thing you often see from Beijing where there’s a deliberate elision of ethnicity and nationality. Although in this case, Cheng probably actually means nationality without even the excuse of ‘we’re all ethnically Chinese’
As China steps up military drills around Taiwan, Cheng Li-wun is blocking efforts to boost defence spending. She thinks Taiwan’s people should accept that they are Chinese, and hopes to bring her party to power by pursuing reconciliation with Xi Jinping
Taiwan’s new opposition leader wants to talk to Xi Jinping
Cheng Li-wun tells The Economist she hopes to meet China’s president early this year
econ.st
January 31, 2026 at 7:57 AM
There’s this annoying thing you often see from Beijing where there’s a deliberate elision of ethnicity and nationality. Although in this case, Cheng probably actually means nationality without even the excuse of ‘we’re all ethnically Chinese’
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
Congrats to @jonathancapehart.bsky.social for keeping his cool in the face of Karoline Leavitt-level agitprop from this Gary Abernathy guy on @pbsnews.org NewsHour tonight.
“I‘m sorry Gary”
(You interrupted me with your bullshit)
Journalist Jonathan Capehart
to Gary Abernathy
@jonathancapehart.bsky.social
@amnanawaz.bsky.social
@pbsnews.org
(You interrupted me with your bullshit)
Journalist Jonathan Capehart
to Gary Abernathy
@jonathancapehart.bsky.social
@amnanawaz.bsky.social
@pbsnews.org
“Donald Trump was elected to be cruel.”
Republican Journalist
Gary Abernathy
(translated)
@jonathancapehart.bsky.social
@pbsnews.org
Republican Journalist
Gary Abernathy
(translated)
@jonathancapehart.bsky.social
@pbsnews.org
January 31, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Congrats to @jonathancapehart.bsky.social for keeping his cool in the face of Karoline Leavitt-level agitprop from this Gary Abernathy guy on @pbsnews.org NewsHour tonight.
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
America’s judicial system is undergoing one of its most consequential stress tests as President Trump pushes the limits of executive power and strains the system of checks and balances. https://to.pbs.org/49BRiSP
How Trump is challenging America’s judicial system during his second term
America’s judicial system is undergoing one of its most consequential stress tests as President Trump pushes the limits of executive power and strains the system of checks and balances. A year into hi...
to.pbs.org
January 23, 2026 at 4:00 AM
America’s judicial system is undergoing one of its most consequential stress tests as President Trump pushes the limits of executive power and strains the system of checks and balances. https://to.pbs.org/49BRiSP
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
Yeah, don’t see Huang relenting his grip on power on the TPP anytime soon, ha
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...
TPP's Huang to continue chair duties while running for New Taipei mayor - Focus Taiwan
Taiwan People's Party (TPP) caucus whip and New Taipei mayoral candidate Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said Friday that after resigning as a legislator, he will continue attending the party's morning caucus m...
focustaiwan.tw
January 31, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Yeah, don’t see Huang relenting his grip on power on the TPP anytime soon, ha
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
The Catholic Bishop of Little Rock, Anthony Taylor, has published a striking column in which he compares developments under Trump in America, to things that happened in Germany after the Nazis came to power in 1932—he particularly notes the proliferation
Catholic bishop of Arkansas draws comparisons between current times, 1930s Germany | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Catholic Bishop Anthony Taylor of Arkansas said in a social media post this week he sees "many obvious parallels" between recent developments in the U.S. and those that occurred nearly a century ago, ...
www.nwaonline.com
January 31, 2026 at 3:15 AM
The Catholic Bishop of Little Rock, Anthony Taylor, has published a striking column in which he compares developments under Trump in America, to things that happened in Germany after the Nazis came to power in 1932—he particularly notes the proliferation
💯 👇
"Few experiences sour expats more powerfully than banks that treat them as second-class citizens, a decades-long problem that the nation needs to address as it ages and competes for foreign labor."
"Few experiences sour expats more powerfully than banks that treat them as second-class citizens, a decades-long problem that the nation needs to address as it ages and competes for foreign labor."
Get on board with modern banking Taiwan - Taipei Times
Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan
www.taipeitimes.com
January 31, 2026 at 1:36 AM
💯 👇
"Few experiences sour expats more powerfully than banks that treat them as second-class citizens, a decades-long problem that the nation needs to address as it ages and competes for foreign labor."
"Few experiences sour expats more powerfully than banks that treat them as second-class citizens, a decades-long problem that the nation needs to address as it ages and competes for foreign labor."
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
DOJ is Trump's personal law firm that we pay for. Free for him to use its unlimited resources to harass people like Lemon, Lisa Cook or Comey. We collectively pay the price both in our taxes and in losing a nonpartisan legal system. The individual victims must pay ruinous financial costs and stress.
This is about forcing Don Lemon to spend money and time defending himself.
"“They probably don’t have any expectation that this prosecution will stick," legal expert tells me. "But they do know they will put Don Lemon through the grinder in the meantime."
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
"“They probably don’t have any expectation that this prosecution will stick," legal expert tells me. "But they do know they will put Don Lemon through the grinder in the meantime."
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
January 30, 2026 at 6:42 PM
DOJ is Trump's personal law firm that we pay for. Free for him to use its unlimited resources to harass people like Lemon, Lisa Cook or Comey. We collectively pay the price both in our taxes and in losing a nonpartisan legal system. The individual victims must pay ruinous financial costs and stress.
One for the fellas 🙏
LFG!! @skysquare.app 💪❤️👊
📢 New #ATScience speaker! @simpsontw.bsky.social will present their project @skysquare.app : “Skysquare: context as a service.” Skysquare uses ATProtocol to reattach public discourse to its source, transforming the web into a socially annotated commons 📎
January 30, 2026 at 4:04 PM
One for the fellas 🙏
LFG!! @skysquare.app 💪❤️👊
📢 New #ATScience speaker! @simpsontw.bsky.social will present their project @skysquare.app : “Skysquare: context as a service.” Skysquare uses ATProtocol to reattach public discourse to its source, transforming the web into a socially annotated commons 📎
Exciting to see our first speaker proposals coming in for #ATScience 2026! ✨
We’d love to hear yours too, so please submit your idea at
forms.atproto.science/atscience26-... 🗳️
The call for proposals closes at the end of January - we’ll review and notify speakers on a rolling basis.
We’d love to hear yours too, so please submit your idea at
forms.atproto.science/atscience26-... 🗳️
The call for proposals closes at the end of January - we’ll review and notify speakers on a rolling basis.
January 30, 2026 at 4:02 PM
LFG!! @skysquare.app 💪❤️👊
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
📢 New #ATScience speaker! @simpsontw.bsky.social will present their project @skysquare.app : “Skysquare: context as a service.” Skysquare uses ATProtocol to reattach public discourse to its source, transforming the web into a socially annotated commons 📎
Exciting to see our first speaker proposals coming in for #ATScience 2026! ✨
We’d love to hear yours too, so please submit your idea at
forms.atproto.science/atscience26-... 🗳️
The call for proposals closes at the end of January - we’ll review and notify speakers on a rolling basis.
We’d love to hear yours too, so please submit your idea at
forms.atproto.science/atscience26-... 🗳️
The call for proposals closes at the end of January - we’ll review and notify speakers on a rolling basis.
ATScience2026 Call for Proposals
forms.atproto.science
January 30, 2026 at 1:20 PM
📢 New #ATScience speaker! @simpsontw.bsky.social will present their project @skysquare.app : “Skysquare: context as a service.” Skysquare uses ATProtocol to reattach public discourse to its source, transforming the web into a socially annotated commons 📎
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
If a qualification is required to acquire human rights, then human rights are not universal.
If a qualification is required to criticize the human rights abuse, then human rights are not universal.
If a qualification is required to criticize the human rights abuse, then human rights are not universal.
January 30, 2026 at 12:03 PM
If a qualification is required to acquire human rights, then human rights are not universal.
If a qualification is required to criticize the human rights abuse, then human rights are not universal.
If a qualification is required to criticize the human rights abuse, then human rights are not universal.
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
В Страсбурге прошло первое заседание Платформы российских демократических сил при Парламентской ассамблее Совета Европы. В повестке на ближайший год (столько будет работать первый созыв Платформы) — поддержка российских политических заключённых, содействие реальной ответственности за агрессию...
👇
👇
January 30, 2026 at 9:27 AM
В Страсбурге прошло первое заседание Платформы российских демократических сил при Парламентской ассамблее Совета Европы. В повестке на ближайший год (столько будет работать первый созыв Платформы) — поддержка российских политических заключённых, содействие реальной ответственности за агрессию...
👇
👇
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
Taiwan’s legislators can snub the DPP government all they want but they shouldn’t snub Taiwan’s defense needs just to score some points.
Legislature snubs Cabinet, advances TPP's special defense budget bill - Focus Taiwan
The Legislature on Friday advanced a Taiwan People's Party (TPP)-tabled bill governing arms procurement packages approved by the United States to a committee review.
focustaiwan.tw
January 30, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Taiwan’s legislators can snub the DPP government all they want but they shouldn’t snub Taiwan’s defense needs just to score some points.
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
Either it will or it won't and there's no way to know
Xi’s Military Purge May Set Back His Taiwan Ambitions
www.wutshot.com/a/xi-s-milit...
www.wutshot.com/a/xi-s-milit...
Xi’s Military Purge May Set Back His Taiwan Ambitions • WutsHot
By ousting his top generals, Xi Jinping has secured absolute control but also hollowed out the command structure preparing for possible war over Taiwan.
www.wutshot.com
January 30, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Either it will or it won't and there's no way to know
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
The surge in gun buying over the last 20 years overlapped with fears of a president who would take guns away and with a national crisis. About that. www.ms.now/opinion/trum...
Opinion | Has American gun culture peaked — or is it just a lull?
Philip Bump: We may have moved past a historic peak in American gun culture — but Trump’s comments about Alex Pretti could change that.
www.ms.now
January 30, 2026 at 3:59 AM
The surge in gun buying over the last 20 years overlapped with fears of a president who would take guns away and with a national crisis. About that. www.ms.now/opinion/trum...
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
Same person who said that Putin is a democratically-elected leader provoked into invading Ukraine, by the way.
"Do you agree with KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun's statement of 'we are all Chinese'?"
All
Yes: 32.9%
No: 66.1%
DPP
Yes: 7.6
No: 66.1
KMT
Yes: 74.6%
No: 24.8%
TPP
Yes: 46%
No: 52.6%
Taiwan Inspiration Association / January 7 - 11, 2026
n=1,200
All
Yes: 32.9%
No: 66.1%
DPP
Yes: 7.6
No: 66.1
KMT
Yes: 74.6%
No: 24.8%
TPP
Yes: 46%
No: 52.6%
Taiwan Inspiration Association / January 7 - 11, 2026
n=1,200
January 30, 2026 at 2:58 AM
Same person who said that Putin is a democratically-elected leader provoked into invading Ukraine, by the way.
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
Grace.
Dignity.
Heroes.
Dignity.
Heroes.
Looking at the mug shots Bondi posted of folks who allegedly impeded ICE officers... I'm reminded me of some of the iconic 1960s images of 'criminals' from counter sitins and freedom rides
January 30, 2026 at 2:53 AM
Grace.
Dignity.
Heroes.
Dignity.
Heroes.
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
"Do you agree with KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun's statement of 'we are all Chinese'?"
All
Yes: 32.9%
No: 66.1%
DPP
Yes: 7.6
No: 66.1
KMT
Yes: 74.6%
No: 24.8%
TPP
Yes: 46%
No: 52.6%
Taiwan Inspiration Association / January 7 - 11, 2026
n=1,200
All
Yes: 32.9%
No: 66.1%
DPP
Yes: 7.6
No: 66.1
KMT
Yes: 74.6%
No: 24.8%
TPP
Yes: 46%
No: 52.6%
Taiwan Inspiration Association / January 7 - 11, 2026
n=1,200
January 29, 2026 at 6:24 PM
"Do you agree with KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun's statement of 'we are all Chinese'?"
All
Yes: 32.9%
No: 66.1%
DPP
Yes: 7.6
No: 66.1
KMT
Yes: 74.6%
No: 24.8%
TPP
Yes: 46%
No: 52.6%
Taiwan Inspiration Association / January 7 - 11, 2026
n=1,200
All
Yes: 32.9%
No: 66.1%
DPP
Yes: 7.6
No: 66.1
KMT
Yes: 74.6%
No: 24.8%
TPP
Yes: 46%
No: 52.6%
Taiwan Inspiration Association / January 7 - 11, 2026
n=1,200
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
I got two contradictory comments:
- at first sight, the way the question is asked is almost a guarantee to get a biased answer, based on whether or not people like the KMT and its chairwoman.
- but the result closely aligns with other surveys, including long-time running NCCU poll.
- at first sight, the way the question is asked is almost a guarantee to get a biased answer, based on whether or not people like the KMT and its chairwoman.
- but the result closely aligns with other surveys, including long-time running NCCU poll.
January 30, 2026 at 12:49 AM
I got two contradictory comments:
- at first sight, the way the question is asked is almost a guarantee to get a biased answer, based on whether or not people like the KMT and its chairwoman.
- but the result closely aligns with other surveys, including long-time running NCCU poll.
- at first sight, the way the question is asked is almost a guarantee to get a biased answer, based on whether or not people like the KMT and its chairwoman.
- but the result closely aligns with other surveys, including long-time running NCCU poll.
Reposted by Pacific Standard 🚜🌻☂️
The first woman archbishop of Canterbury
January 29, 2026 at 11:39 PM
The first woman archbishop of Canterbury