William Martindale
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wijama.bsky.social
William Martindale
@wijama.bsky.social
570 followers 840 following 830 posts
Taiwanese-American MCEPA student at UC San Diego. Known as 馬凱威 to the other half of my family. I research conspiracy theories in the Chinese-speaking world. Follow me for bad jokes, stats nerd stuff, and updates on whatever I'm reading.
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wijama.bsky.social
I would love to have an interview with the 15% of Trump supporters who voted in favor of the California gerrymandering bill to support Trump
Screenshot from a CNN exit poll. The question was: Was one reason for your vote to: One option is "Support Trump". Among those who voted in order to support Trump, 85% voted against, while 15% voted in favor.
November 5, 2025 at 6:21 AM
wijama.bsky.social
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it's built on outright corruption
Some critics also see a conflict of interest in Mr. Shumway’s role as a government adviser and his firm’s promotion of software used in data collection and case management for homeless people. The services board has recommended that the software, called Know-by-Name, be adopted statewide. Bill Tibbitts, who helps run a Utah food pantry called the Crossroads Urban Center, sent a letter to the governor and legislators this month highlighting the issue. “When he advocates for this use of taxpayer dollars, he is not a disinterested party,” the letter said.
October 29, 2025 at 4:06 PM
wijama.bsky.social
They've reinvented the workhouse from first principles
Much about Utah’s plans remain unclear, including the details of involuntary treatment, what a proposal calls “work-conditioned housing” and whether the residents will sleep in buildings or tents. But supporters call it a model.
October 29, 2025 at 4:03 PM
wijama.bsky.social
Not the first time I've gotten a "go back to where you came from, but leftistly" from someone for being the wrong kind of left-winger, and certainly not going to be the last. Real subtle of them to put it on a random comment I made a whole month ago
someone replying to a month-old comment of mine. They're saying "You're part Han Chinese wouldn't you rather be in China anyways? Nobody is going to try and kill you because you look different."
October 22, 2025 at 6:13 AM
wijama.bsky.social
this is fine
a picture of a very broken map with the southern hemisphere layered on top of the northern hemisphere
October 13, 2025 at 1:01 AM
wijama.bsky.social
seriously what is wrong with these people
Screenshot from Wikipedia. It reads: "Motor Generation In July 2024, the party established a youth wing, Motor Generation, under the leadership of former Svobodní member and Ostrava-Vítkovice councillor Matěj Gregor. Gregor claimed that the purpose of the organization is to offer a right-wing political alternative for young people and provide a voice for conservative youth, as well as bringing "order and discipline" into members' lives. However, a controversy erupted shortly after the organization's foundation, as it set up a photo booth at its inaugural congress featuring cards with the quotes "I have an SS dagger at home", "Certified racist", and "Congress 9.11.", with an image of a plane and the Twin Towers. Respekt also reported that Gregor was planning on creating a network of Motor Generation clubs at Czech universities under the disguise of "conservative clubs", as it is illegal to create partisan organizations in universities under Czech law. In an internal memo, Gregor allegedly said that the clubs would "create hell" for progressives on in the academic field, and would make them "whine and scream". Gregor later confirmed the authenticity of the memo, but called it "twisted" by the media. He also denied comparisons made between the organization and Hitlerjugend, or the youth organizations of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia."
October 4, 2025 at 6:40 PM
wijama.bsky.social
I'm reading up on the small Czech political party Motorists for Themselves, which is likely to join the next parliamentary coalition, and their party platform reads like satire
Screenshot from Wikipedia: "Ideology and positions The party opposes green politics, liberalism and progressivism and wants to abolish all bicycle lanes.[11] It has stated its support for "cars, coal and the crown". Later, the party also proclaimed its opposition to the European Union, adoption of the Euro and the European Green Deal, while voicing its support for a free market, coal and a nuclear-based energy strategy."
October 4, 2025 at 6:39 PM
wijama.bsky.social
I like how they put the "experts say" as if there's a chance the experts are wrong. It's math! There is a single, definitive right answer!
Screenshot form the article being quoted in the below tweet. It says: "Tuesday’s move is among Trump’s recent efforts to get drugmakers to reduce their prices, which has been one of his central goals since his first presidential campaign. He has recently promised to slash prices by 1,500% — which is mathematically impossible, experts say."
October 1, 2025 at 12:02 AM
wijama.bsky.social
every now and then I look at the pile of books on my floor and begin to question the choices that led me here
A large pile of books about the Taiwan Affairs Office and Chinese environmental statistics. There are 13 books total, which I estimate at around 5000 pages.
September 25, 2025 at 1:12 AM
wijama.bsky.social
While working on a project involving environmental petitions in China, I noticed that Guangxi had a ~550% increase in air quality related petitions from 2007-2008. Does anyone have any idea what the spike might be related to?
graph of air quality petitions. It shows that Guangxi had a huge spike in 2008 that's not matched by any other province, including others with particularly high numbers of petitions
September 23, 2025 at 8:53 PM
wijama.bsky.social
you can't make this stuff up omg
Screenshot from Trump's lawsuit against the New York Times. It reads: 58. President Trump’s hundreds of history-making media appearances and roles include: WrestleMania V (1989); Ghosts Can’t Do It (1989); All My Children (1992); Lady Boss (1992); Home Alone 2 (1992); Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson (1993); Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1994); The Little Rascals (1994); Across the Sea of Time (1995); Eddie (1996); The Nanny (1996); The Associate (1996); The Drew Carey Show (1997); NightMan (1997); Spin City (1998); 54 (1998); Celebrity (1998); Sex In The City (1998); Miss Universe 2001 (2001); The Job (2001-2002); Zoolander (2001); Donald Trump Real Estate Tycoon! (2002) (video game); Two Weeks Notice (2002); Miss USA 2002 (2002); Ali G Show (2003); Marmalade (2004); Days of Our Lives (2005); Miss Universe Pageant; The Apprentice (2004-2015) and Celebrity Apprentice (2008-2015); Hosted Saturday Night Live (2015); Hosted WWE; and much more.
September 16, 2025 at 4:10 AM
wijama.bsky.social
I've watched this clip like six or seven times today. I can't get over it. The speaker just gets faster and faster and faster until finally they finally roll the credits and turn the lights off on her
September 16, 2025 at 4:03 AM
wijama.bsky.social
it could always be worse
A screenshot of the 2024 Nevada presidential primary, where Nikki Haley ran unopposed and lost by 30 percentage points to "None of these candidates"
September 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
wijama.bsky.social
张 seems right. I found a couple on shufazidian that look like this
September 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
wijama.bsky.social
Someone stole a couple of my passionfruits 😭
A picture of a passionfruit vine. There are clear cuts made on a couple of the vines, showing where my passionfruits were stolen from 😭😭
September 3, 2025 at 8:06 PM
wijama.bsky.social
Am I reading this right? Every year, to calculate their GDP, Monaco's Institut de la Statistique et des Études Économiques just... asks everyone how much GDP they produced??
A screenshot from the website of Monaco's national statistical agency. It says: "Declare details relating to the calculation of GDP (Gross Domestic Product): As every year, with the collaboration of the citizens and the support of the Prince’s Government, Monaco Statistics is conducting a statistical survey to calculate Monaco’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). You can complete your declaration online via our dedicated teleservice or return the paper questionnaire enclosed in the letter you received." Following this, there is a button that says, "Declare your GDP online."
August 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM
wijama.bsky.social
the joke really writes itself here
Screenshot of the Bahamas National Statistical Institute website. It says: "Bahamas National Statistical Institute: Delivering timely official statistics"
August 27, 2025 at 11:49 PM
wijama.bsky.social
Someone needs to let the Bahamas know that 2021 ended a while ago
A screenshot of the website of the Bahamas National Statistical Institute. It says: "The count depends on you. Census begins September 2021. To learn more about the upcoming Census, click here."
August 27, 2025 at 11:47 PM
wijama.bsky.social
Actually, Google, I don't think that's a TV program, but good guess!
a screenshot of a Google search. I have searched "bahamas national sta..." and Google has suggested The Bahamas National Statistical Institute, which it also says is a TV program.
August 27, 2025 at 11:45 PM
wijama.bsky.social
I recently got a garden plot at my apartment with a huge passionfruit vine on it. Today I saw a ripe one on the ground for the first time. It was a little guy and I hadn't noticed it ripening before. It smelled amazing but was probably one of the most tart passionfruits I've eaten in my life lol
A passionfruit cut open on a wooden cutting board.
August 25, 2025 at 2:34 AM
wijama.bsky.social
I guess I'll be waiting a while to get my interlibrary loans
A screenshot of my library's ILL website. It says: "Your library's ILL department is temporarily closed between 01 Jul 2025 and 25 Jun 2999 due to VDX being replaced by new ILL system."
August 22, 2025 at 11:36 PM
wijama.bsky.social
I somewhat understand the logic behind their choice, but I feel like there are several dimensions of variation between provinces that they aren't capturing here (like seriously, why on earth would they choose to look mainly at province-level municipalities)
Screenshot from a working paper. It reads: To illustrate my econometric findings, I look at four provincial divisions in-depth: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Inner Mongolia. These provinces were chosen to highlight the similarities and differences of their respective provincial data revisions. It is important to note that each province possesses unique characteristics: Beijing as the nation’s capital, Tianjin as a second-tier province bordering the capital, Shanghai as a first-tier coastal province, and Inner Mongolia as an autonomous region.
August 21, 2025 at 9:48 PM
wijama.bsky.social
I love the financial times
Screenshot of part of an article. It reads: The NYT then followed up with news that Meta might even be looking to scale back the size of its “superintelligence” unit, and using other people’s AI models (which is kinda embarrassing when you’ve already spent the GDP of a small country on your own efforts to build a machine god)
August 21, 2025 at 6:45 PM
wijama.bsky.social
I want to have a chat with the 10% of Republicans who think the Butler Shooting was staged
a graph of a poll asking whether people believe the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania was staged. 34% of Americans in general believe it was staged, including 57% of Democrats, 35% of Independents, and 10% of Republicans
August 13, 2025 at 10:18 PM
wijama.bsky.social
saw a cool bug today
a yellow grasshopper sitting on the leaf of a large blackberry plant. The background is situated in a poorly-kept garden (my garden)
August 12, 2025 at 12:23 AM