"Many of the workers at the plant are immigrants, many with refugee or protected immigration statuses. About 57 different languages are spoken at the plant."
And 99% voted to strike!
Had a 40 hour workweek and still invented the world's first writing system, pretty great civilization
Just imagine how great Egypt or Rome could have been if they had 996 technology
Precisely
Believe it or not, sometimes Taiwanese people aren't thinking about China at all
Taiwan edition
That would have gone against their whole world view!
"In the first quarter of 2024, more than 580,000 individuals aged 65 or above were living in poverty – a 42.9 per cent rise since 2019"
So much for the "trade your freedom for prosperity" argument
Devastating article on the consequences of HK's housing/climate crisis
Spent yesterday making bagels with JVP students to raise money for International Solidarity Movement 🥯🇵🇸
"Ultimately, Beijing doesn’t see regime change in Iran as a worst-case scenario. China is willing to work with whatever leadership emerges after the strikes as long as it protects oil flows and prioritizes shared economic interests."
All around moral vacuum
Lu Zhang wrote the best book on China's autoworkers, looking forward to this new work
Too soon
Israeli map showing all of southern Lebanon in red with yellow arrows pointing to north of the Litani river
The IDF just ordered the *entirety of south Lebanon* to be forcibly displaced.
They are emptying the land of its population, creating a massive crisis, and will now proceed to further annihilate large parts of Lebanon.
The very nation state of Lebanon is being destroyed.
Multi-hemispheric isolationism
The War on Iran (Monologue). Image shows one of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
I just released a long solo episode on the Israeli-US war on Iran and what it might mean for Iran, Lebanon and Israel - on @thefirethesetimes.com
On all podcast apps
Also available on thefirethesetimes.com/2026/03/03/t... and www.patreon.com/posts/tftt-2...
Same vibe except Xi will actually be able to accomplish it
The national myth is under Mongol and Manchu rule the radiance of Han culture was so dazzling it seamlessly absorbed neighboring societies. Using the coercive power of the state for forced assimilation today belies a deep insecurity: they're worried minorities don't want to become Chinese (i.e. Han)
Ugh 2023 flashbacks
Also, respect to PM for this font choice
My mom's new book on organizing is available for pre-order! It's a profound source of wisdom, insight, and inspiration, Bernie knows what's up:
"I’ve known Ellen David Friedman for many years. She knows what it takes to organize and give people real hope.”
—Senator Bernie Sanders
"India is repeating exactly the past that happened in China with overcapacity."
Anyway it's clear lots of admins think they can outsource language teaching to a machine and we need to make it very clear that this is not the case
"More than 50 UK higher education institutions... accept an online test from the American tech company — whose mascot is a lime-green owl — as proof that undergraduate students can cope with studying in a foreign language."
FT going for the jugular
Huh I wouldn't have guessed. But I suppose if you count Canadians playing in the US and Americans playing in Canada (+ Europeans) that number would be quite high
Taiwan:
I therefore made it clear to my interlocutors that Germany's One-China policy remains unchanged, but any effort toward reunification or unification between China and Taiwan can only be achieved peacefully and not by military means."
www.bundeskanzler.de/bk-de/aktuel...
Baseball always made out to be the most reactionary sport outside of NASCAR, which it may be, but it's also the only one where speaking Spanish, Japanese and Korean is a normal part of clubhouse life. Fewer black players in MLB, but it's more racially diverse than the other sports
As a baseball fan I am willing to swallow this tough pill. But just noting that MLB almost certainly has the highest % of non-citizen players, presumably their political views are somewhat better
