Dave Besseling
@davebesseling.bsky.social
Currently burrowed in Hong Kong, previous dens in Johannesburg, Berlin, Bombay, Madrid, New Delhi, Chiang Mai, Amsterdam, Tokyo, unearthed from the Mighty Patch of Peter Ontario.
Reposted by Dave Besseling
A free press forms the foundation of all robust, democratic systems and serves as a critical bulwark against rising authoritarianism. Bangladesh's upcoming election is a test.
Bangladesh’s Election Is Critical to the Future of Press Freedom and Democracy
A free press forms the foundation of all robust, democratic systems and serves as a critical bulwark against rising authoritarianism.
buff.ly
February 8, 2026 at 12:33 PM
A free press forms the foundation of all robust, democratic systems and serves as a critical bulwark against rising authoritarianism. Bangladesh's upcoming election is a test.
Reposted by Dave Besseling
Why did the Eglinton LRT take so long? Take a ride through 50 years of delays, broken relationships, and lawsuits #StarInteractive
From Mike Harris to Doug Ford: Explore 50 years of Eglinton LRT delays, broken relationships, and lawsuits
For more than five decades, rapid transit along Eglinton Avenue has been a must-have in any city plan. What took it so long?
www.thestar.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Why did the Eglinton LRT take so long? Take a ride through 50 years of delays, broken relationships, and lawsuits #StarInteractive
Reposted by Dave Besseling
Rupert Murdoch is now 94 and worth $23 billion. His empire continues to gaslight the world—but he’ll leave even his own kingdom darker than he found it. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
How the Murdoch Family Built an Empire—and Remade the News
Today, the name represents a story of profit and power unlike any other. But tracing the genealogy of Murdoch sleaze requires a long memory.
www.newyorker.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Rupert Murdoch is now 94 and worth $23 billion. His empire continues to gaslight the world—but he’ll leave even his own kingdom darker than he found it. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Dave Besseling
“The country with the Statue of Liberty deprived us of our liberty without any kind of evidence,” Leonardo José Colmenares Solórzano, a 31-year-old Venezuelan who was held in CECOT for months, said two days after he was returned to his family.
(Published July 2025)
(Published July 2025)
Now That They’re Free, Venezuelan Men Want the World to Know What They Endured in CECOT
Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration say they endured months of physical and mental abuse inside a Salvadoran prison. Though happy to be home, they say the fact that they were released ...
www.propublica.org
January 20, 2026 at 11:15 PM
“The country with the Statue of Liberty deprived us of our liberty without any kind of evidence,” Leonardo José Colmenares Solórzano, a 31-year-old Venezuelan who was held in CECOT for months, said two days after he was returned to his family.
(Published July 2025)
(Published July 2025)
Touché.
no greenlander ever called me a libtard
January 20, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Touché.
Reposted by Dave Besseling
"I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace"
January 19, 2026 at 7:00 PM
"I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace"
Right, but China buying Canadian canola makes Carney a stooge and a communist capitulator etc.
China has purchased roughly 12 million tons of US soybeans in the last three months, clearing a closely watched trade hurdle and meeting a key pledge outlined by the Trump administration in November.
China Reaches 12 Million Tons of Soy Purchases to Meet US Pledge
China has purchased roughly 12 million tons of US soybeans in the last three months, clearing a closely watched trade hurdle and meeting a key pledge outlined by the Trump administration in November.
bloom.bg
January 20, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Right, but China buying Canadian canola makes Carney a stooge and a communist capitulator etc.
Reposted by Dave Besseling
An Élysée spokesperson said on Sunday that President Emmanuel Macron will ask the EU to activate its Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) – dubbed the bloc’s trade “bazooka” – if new US tariffs materialise.
EU trade ‘bazooka’ back on the table, as Greenland tariff threat blows up US deal | Euractiv
French President Emmanuel Macron will ask the EU to activate its Anti-Coercion Instrument if new US tariffs materialise
www.euractiv.com
January 18, 2026 at 2:42 PM
An Élysée spokesperson said on Sunday that President Emmanuel Macron will ask the EU to activate its Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) – dubbed the bloc’s trade “bazooka” – if new US tariffs materialise.
Also building firm in charge of the BKK building that collapsed after the earthquake last year.
🇹🇭 The collapse of a highway construction crane killed two people near Bangkok, with a Thai minister saying the building firm was also involved in a crane failure the day before that left 32 dead.
➡️ u.afp.com/SX9w
➡️ u.afp.com/SX9w
January 15, 2026 at 12:07 PM
Also building firm in charge of the BKK building that collapsed after the earthquake last year.
Quite.
this is not behavior becoming of a FIFA Peace Prize recipient.
December 16, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Quite.
Eh? The bamboo is all that’s left.
Hong Kong inferno puts spotlight on risky bamboo scaffolding reut.rs/3M0VwKg
Hong Kong inferno puts spotlight on risky bamboo scaffolding
Hong Kong's deadliest fire in three decades has spotlighted its risky use of flammable bamboo scaffolding and mesh for building work in a tradition dating back centuries to mainland China.
reut.rs
November 27, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Eh? The bamboo is all that’s left.
Reposted by Dave Besseling
Control of HIV, TB and malaria at risk after global health fund donations fall
Control of HIV, TB and malaria at risk after global health fund donations fall
Leading past donors including France, Japan and European Commission fail to contribute at pledging summit
Control of the deadly infectious diseases HIV, tuberculosis and malaria “hangs in the balance” after a shortfall in donations to a leading global health fund, advocates have warned.
Only $11.3bn of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria’s $18bn (£14bn) targeted budget for 2026 to 2028 has been confirmed so far. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Control of HIV, TB and malaria at risk after global health fund donations fall
Lifting millions out of poverty etc.
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
![Excerpt from a BBC article: ""We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day," says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. "On Sundays we work around three hours less."
She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.
They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.
This is Shein's supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order - some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.
The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract - and the chinos are an option.
"We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high," she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.
"We get paid per piece," she explains. "It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.""](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/bafkreiber7g4o5pujmzmjjzsp5dkz7blfexburuwjispfpv6dki7akjb7a@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Lifting millions out of poverty etc.
You mean he didn’t just like images of battleships silhouetted in a crimson twilight?
Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks review – the sheer number of pornographic drawings is a big shock
Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks review – the sheer number of pornographic drawings is a big shock
JMW Turner left behind some 37,000 sketches when he died, many of which have rarely been seen. Do they – including a huge collection of explicit sketches – reveal truths about the elusive man?
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:35 AM
You mean he didn’t just like images of battleships silhouetted in a crimson twilight?
Wait until they hear about “cousin brother”…
i cannot believe that “mamdani calls a close adult relative an ‘aunt’ even if they are not literally their parent’s sister” is what counts as a “scandal” these days
October 28, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Wait until they hear about “cousin brother”…
The Medvedev Moment
Q: One theory on how you might try to serve a 3rd term is that you could run at the vice president
TRUMP: Yeah, I'd be allowed to do that. But I would rule that out because it's too cute.
TRUMP: Yeah, I'd be allowed to do that. But I would rule that out because it's too cute.
October 28, 2025 at 12:52 AM
The Medvedev Moment
Haha. “Biographer” as a subgroup of the “sexy librarian”. For Andrew it makes sense.
People kvetch about the chaos-inducing serial comma, but you can also do a lot with a colon! Beware, biographers!!
October 25, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Haha. “Biographer” as a subgroup of the “sexy librarian”. For Andrew it makes sense.
“Long-planned”.
Foreign Office chief to visit China after collapse of high-profile espionage case
Foreign Office chief to visit China after collapse of high-profile espionage case
Exclusive: Oliver Robbins to visit China next week on ‘long-planned’ government business after collapse of trial of two men over spying charges
The head of the Foreign Office will travel to China next week as ministers come under pressure over the collapse of a high-profile espionage case, the Guardian can disclose.
Oliver Robbins, who as permanent secretary of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is its most senior civil servant, will visit China on “long-planned” government business. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
October 10, 2025 at 8:34 AM
“Long-planned”.
One Reichstag Fire After Another.
CNN: Isn't that hyperbolic to call them terrorists?
STEPHEN MILLER: No. If anything I'm understating the severity of the situation
STEPHEN MILLER: No. If anything I'm understating the severity of the situation
October 7, 2025 at 2:36 AM
One Reichstag Fire After Another.
Clearly they made the change on the heels of the new PT Anderson film to avoid any Christmas-Adventurer jokes.
October 7, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Clearly they made the change on the heels of the new PT Anderson film to avoid any Christmas-Adventurer jokes.
Punishment Soup.
Trying to watch the new Alan Partridge.
The only way I can describe it is: Alan Partridge has turned into, well, Alan Partridge.
The only way I can describe it is: Alan Partridge has turned into, well, Alan Partridge.
October 4, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Punishment Soup.
Comedy has, indeed, been legalised.
September 27, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Comedy has, indeed, been legalised.
“Booked hotels near the office”. Get a fucking life.
Hong Kong’s bankers and traders hunkered down at home or booked hotels near the office as Super Typhoon Ragasa descended on the Asian financial hub.
Hong Kong Bankers Pack Luxury Hotels Near Offices for Typhoon Trading
Hong Kong’s bankers and traders hunkered down at home or booked hotels near the office as Super Typhoon Ragasa descended on the Asian financial hub.
bloom.bg
September 24, 2025 at 1:21 AM
“Booked hotels near the office”. Get a fucking life.
It was an honour to publish Jerome’s last piece for the paper a couple of years ago. From such a gigantic mind came much kindness, understanding, and frankly, a couple of times during editing, I needed a couple of things explained. He did so with grace.
www.scmp.com/news/china/d...
www.scmp.com/news/china/d...
Legendary China scholar, Jerome Cohen, dies at 95
US expert on the Chinese legal system was an early advocate of engagement with China, and one of the few who also dared to point out its shortfalls.
www.scmp.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:45 AM
It was an honour to publish Jerome’s last piece for the paper a couple of years ago. From such a gigantic mind came much kindness, understanding, and frankly, a couple of times during editing, I needed a couple of things explained. He did so with grace.
www.scmp.com/news/china/d...
www.scmp.com/news/china/d...