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Graham Webster

@gwbstr.com

3.1K followers 580 following 1.3K posts

Chinese tech policy and US-China relations at Stanford Newsletter: herecomes.transpacifica.net Basics: gwbstr.com Also: #filmphotography

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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · Nov 10

Photography (especially film) has been a source of peace and joy these last few years. For now I mostly post it on ig at @grahamophoto (more independent site coming eventually). Come check out what I've caught in the emulsions. www.instagram.com/grahamophoto/

Reposted by Graham Webster

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 3h

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 · 4h

Chicago peeps let’s hear your gang names and colors

Reposted by Graham Webster

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 17m

I am so much on Team Editor

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 18m

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 27m

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.

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 13m

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

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 3h

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 · 4h

Chicago peeps let’s hear your gang names and colors

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

||: Get up, get-on-up :|| Stay on the scene, get-on up. [redacted]

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

There are PLENTY of well documented incidents. Rally around those and know they are the tip of the iceberg. If something particularly egregious is documented, work to verify it; the truth is stronger when it can't be easily denied. 4/

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

My general rule: Anonymous/pseudonymous accounts are presumed to have zero credibility without further verification. Many are people looking to be active in a way I think is misguided; some are intentionally farming clout. 3/

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

This is a reality distortion problem without ANY need for intervention by AI video, which only magnifies the issue. People seeking attention or jumping to conclusions or both create widespread misinformation. Stop and use judgment with video/photo sources before sharing. 2/

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

So here is an example of why I'm not sharing video purportedly from the scene of federal immigration/repression activities unless it's been authenticated. The first post (which is still up) has 4.5k reposts. The user understands that it is wrong or misleading but left it up. 1/

A screenshot of a bsky post saying "This Portland police officer stood up for his community against ICE agents trying to drive into a crowd of protesters. "You WILL be arrested." An accompanying video has a similar caption. The text and video are crossed out in red.

A follow up post from the same bsky user "A Goddess has NO KING" saying: "UPDATE: It looks like the people in the car may not be ICE but some other trouble makers. The caption on the original video is misleading. I'll turn off comments now, but still grateful for any law enforcement willing to stand up for their community's constitutional right to protest." This post has 39 reshares.

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

seems like there was a lot of ramblin afoot in those days, if you ask MC5 and Creedence

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

And when it's time for leavin, I hope you'll understand...

heywaitaminute

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

Interesting. Where is the evidence for a CCP role and for CCP-Musk coordination?

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

This is not, by the way, a pro-TikTok argument. Addictive social media and the content it surfaces is a social and mental health scourge. But if you want to identify ideological steering, we need to see something not explained by the normal rhythm of the platform.

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

The very act of coding these posts as pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli is likely a category error. Viral salience is just different if it's mourning a hostage or identifying bias or documenting starvation or depicting bombings. I would check but I can't find the report on the center's site.

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 1d

It's always been crap to assume state interference is behind which perceived side gets more traffic or has more posts. So many factors. Remember "if it bleeds it leads"? For a long time now, nearly all the bleeding has been in Gaza. Shocking brutality vs. political stand-taking are not comparable.

Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 1d

For every pro-Israel TikTok post, there are 17 backing Palestinians, a new analysis finds. But!

The median pro-Israel video actually gets a bit more reach, puncturing the notion China is manipulating the algo. Maybe the Palestinian cause is just more popular. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Analysis | On TikTok, pro-Palestinian videos outnumber those that are pro-Israel

The Washington Post’s essential guide to tech policy news.

www.washingtonpost.com

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 5d

Signing off early for the weekend. Here are some #filmphotography pictures from walks around Tokyo in August. Remember to look away from the screens.

#ilfordpanf #ilfordhp5 #中目黒 #渋谷 #豪徳寺 #東急世田谷線

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 5d

Should be fun

Sam Sanders @samsanders.bsky.social · 5d

I talked with @bencollins.bsky.social, CEO of @theonion.com
We had a TIME.
Listen!
SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/episode/6GE5...
APPLE: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 5d

They could also at any time decide to enforce the TikTok ban law which is being clearly violated to the tune of a trillion dollar fine. Apple would claim they have this letter saying it wouldn’t be enforced but good luck.

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 5d

This was done at the direction of Pam Bondi. The US government is now dictating what apps you can have on your phone.

The underlying threat here is if Apple didn't comply, they'd slap billions in tariffs on Apple products.

Alt text: Screenshot of a Fox News Digital article reporting that Apple removed the ICEBlock tracking app from its App Store after the Department of Justice raised safety concerns. The article states DOJ officials, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, asked Apple to take down the app, claiming it endangered law enforcement officers and shielded illegal immigrants. Bondi confirmed the removal in a statement, saying ICEBlock put ICE agents at risk and emphasized DOJ’s commitment to protecting federal officers.

Reposted by Graham Webster

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 6d

Hmmm. OpenAI tried to sell $10 billion of shares at the $500bn valuation but was only able to shift $6.6bn? Sources have chosen to interpret this “as current and former employees demonstrating confidence in the long-term viability of the business.” Interesting wording!

archive.ph/2025.10.02-0...

OpenAI has completed a deal allowing current and former employees to sell about $6.6 billion worth of shares in the company at a $500 billion valuation, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The secondary sale vaults the ChatGPT-maker ahead of Elon Musk’s SpaceX to become the most valuable startup in the world. OpenAI was previously valued at $300 billion in a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank Group Corp.
As part of the deal, OpenAI’s employees sold stock to a group of investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T. Rowe Price, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is private. Bloomberg News previously reported on discussions for the secondary sale.
Representatives for OpenAI, Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer, MGX and T. Rowe Price didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Major US startups often negotiate share sales for their employees as a way to reward and retain staff, and also attract external investors. OpenAI is looking to leverage investor demand to provide employees with liquidity that reflects the company’s growth. The total amount of eligible units sold in the secondary fell short of the $10 billion-plus worth of stock that the company allowed for sale, the person familiar said, which they interpreted as current and former employees demonstrating confidence in the long-term viability of the business.
OpenAI faces an increasingly competitive market for AI talent. Meta Platforms Inc. has recruited researchers aggressively from OpenAI and other top labs for its new “superintelligence” team, offering pay packages in the nine-figure range. A secondary sale could help OpenAI incentivize staff to stay at the company and turn down those lavish compensation offers.

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 6d

just learned of the existence of tower ounces of which 12 go into a tower pound and 15 go into a merchant pound while 16 go into a London pound, which is also 15 Troy ounces of which 12 go into a Troy pound, none of which are the imperial pounds and ounces they use to measure my USian ass

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 6d

I'm pretty sure this Caixin diagram of the TikTok deal is wrong, at least in that it fails to include Bytedance Ltd. as owner of TikTok Ltd. Who knows about the rest.

Reposted by Graham Webster

Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 6d

Director of the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness ⬇️

Doug Schenkelberg @endhomeless.bsky.social · 7d

ICE has hit three homeless shelters in the last week. All shelters that were set up to serve migrants.

So they forced people to move to Chicago, Chicago stood up shelters to support migrants, and the feds use those shelters as targets for their kidnapping.

blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/01/b...

Bronzeville Homeless Shelter Residents 'Traumatized' After Feds Chase, Arrest 4 People

The federal agents arrived in unmarked minivans and detained four people outside a shelter run by a local church's charity Wednesday.

blockclubchicago.org

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 6d

The current abuses seem partly designed to make everyone an accomplice, like it or not. The public needs to see evidence of resistance, or we end up with the safe assumption being every officer is a willful participant, which at least in the beginning clearly was not the case. Now though? Show us.

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 6d

Also ideally, remaining feds with integrity could be doing the arresting. This would likely constitute a novel form of resignation, but it would lead to evidence trails and names and a clarity about whether anyone can trust these agencies with anything anymore.

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 6d

I’m not sure whether local police can arrest feds for the things they’re doing these days.

Cops could earn a lot of respect by at least documenting misdeeds and providing authenticated footage to victims, courts, the public. And, ideally, by intervening to protect people.

Not holding my breath.