Simon Lester

I see lots of new followers popping up today. I assume you are here for the trade policy, in which case you might like my custom trade policy feed: bsky.app/profile/did:...

Should have included a "move to Canada" option.

I know there's a lot going on, but "pillaging and plundering foreign countries for their natural resources" seems like it should be making more headlines.

Transcript Now Available for Hearing Related to Chinese Compliance with WTO Commitments

Texas US Senate Oct 13 - 21, 2026 James Talarico (D) 50% (+5.0%) Ken Paxton (R) 45% Don't know 5% Someone else 1% Would not vote 0% YouGov (B) 1000 RV Sponsor: Univision View Poll

We’ve gone back to the fanatical anti-Muslim hysteria after 9/11 — except now it’s distinctly Trump, that is, gleefully racist and exulting in hate.

• Ahmed Zewail (Egypt / US): Won 1999 Nobel Prize in #Chemistry • Nader Masmoudi (Tunisia): Won Fermat Prize in #mathematics • Abbas Bahri (Tunisia): also received the Fermat Prize • Sir Michael Atiyah (Lebanese descent / British): #mathematician who won both Fields Medal and Abel Prize.

A 2025 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Omar Yaghi is the son of Palestinian refugees who grew up in Jordan. He just left the US to move to China after raising concerns about rising anti-immigrant sentiment, like the kind shown here. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/china-than...

It’s just so appalling and enraging how casual and commonplace this has become. I’m out of words.

This is really getting out of hand. Not just the ethnic cleansing but the fact the federal govt talks like this to the entire world x.com/ICEgov/statu...

He was smart enough to figure out how to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons without a war.

I know there's a lot going on but I feel it should probably be more of an above-the-fold story that members of Congress released a thoroughly documented report directly accusing the president of the United States of being a serial rapist.

Anthropic sued over Elvis songs used to train Claude reut.rs/4yFIKU8

And for more comprehensive (though generally less granular, thanks to the specific disclosures each state offers) early vote numbers also check out @professorbutts.com early dashboard. early.professorbutts.com

And on AI: “I don’t want to depend on Chinese nor American AI. I want to create a Brazilian intelligence.” He also mentioned having Brazilian data centres dealing with our intelligence. “We will no longer be a peripheral country. We want to be central.”

i wish i could sleep and wake up with the results but there's too much at stake, i have to stare at the numbers feel free to do the same: resultados.tse.jus.br/oficial/app/...

You keep using that term "impossible task." I do not think it means what you think it means.

Hard to get past this (among other things)

Trump started a trade war with Canada. GOP candidates became casualties. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Fact check: Nope.

Kory Teneycke on rumours a Canada-U.S. trade deal is close: "They are not people who bargain in good faith or have demonstrated a respect for agreements that they themselves have signed. There are no deals, even if you get a deal."

TSMC in Arizona: "What is unfolding is an unprecedented social experiment fueled by the largest foreign direct investment in American history, making it groundbreaking both financially and in terms of immigration. ..." www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...

your yearly PSA: want to do something positive wrt the ecosystem while saving yourself a bunch of time and effort? skip the bagging and just rake leaves into a pile wherever convenient (bonus points if you do it under a tree). www.nps.gov/articles/000...

The Taiwan problem would be solved by not caring about Taiwan?

Many people are saying they are covered by a health care plan.

“Trump? I thought you said pump. Yes, I’m very pumped about this election.”

no that was pulp fiction

Obama: "Somehow deficits only matter when a Democratic president is in office"

OBAMA: When I was president, all these Republicans are all deficits, deficits, debt, debt. You got to do something about it. And now—$40 trillion—Crickets. Somehow deficits only matter when a Democratic president is in office

Also Rush.

Obama: "The big trade war he's starting now is with that well-known evil empire, Canada. These are the people who gave us maple syrup and Martin Short. Canadians, they're the nicest people."

Any piece that says "the U.S. had become an outlier in its commitment to completely free trade" is fundamentally flawed. The U.S. has never been anywhere close to "completely free trade."

What have they done, or what do they plan to do, on trade policy that requires a pardon??

📌Early-voting is HEAVY in North Carolina. How many have voted? 2026: 1,380,451 2022: 1,027,331 Who's voting? D -- 41% R -- 24% U -- 34% 2022: D -- 39% R -- 31% U -- 29% NOTES *Women are outvoting men: 769,526 to 610,925 *Black vote: 195,805 in '22 -- 315,925 in '26. All great signs for Dems.

A new analysis shows early in-person voting among Black Georgians is up 33% compared with the first nine days of voting in 2022, while turnout among voters under 30 has jumped 54%. Among young Black voters, the increase is an eye-popping 80%. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...

EU and Chinese officials are already discussing the next sectors for trade talks as Brussels prepares to review implementation of their latest understanding in January, EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič told POLITICO yesterday.

So.... the "Susan Collins" amendment to the Canada tariff actually.... resulted in a high tariffed import value ...

The White House said President Donald Trump is removing tariffs on some Canadian goods, but “replacing” them with other products from the top U.S. trade partner. Read more: cnb.cx/4i4oZ3D