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Mike Thompson-Brusstar

@mthompsonbrusstar.com
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history and bureaucracy in the sinosphere | mthompsonbrusstar.com

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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 11/09/2026
reviewers in my head: this boob -- this absolute nimrod, this dabbler -- has clearly not even bothered to read the small-print-run collection of papers on this topic from the oct. 1988 meeting sponsored by the liaoning organization department. unserious! reject!! and so:
the volume in question.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 06/09/2026
greyhounds 2: noodle boogaloo
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 01/09/2026
is it not just that "defund science" is the consequence of "punish universities [which happen to conduct science]"? obv. also all institutional trust also going down. so maybe not. but seems plausible to me?
democrats continue to have more confidence in scientists than republicans (although even republicans have >65% "net trust")7 in 10 americans now say US higher education is going in the wrong direction (up from 56% of americans in 2020, which was down from 61% in 2018)across a range of areas, few americans given the US higher education system high marks
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 07/08/2026
“… most indicators of leader proclivities are limited both spatially and temporally, reducing their generalizability. To mitigate these issues, this study employs the facial width-to-height ratio (FWHR), a measure of aggression drawn from theories of evolutionary psychology...” sure, jan
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 27/07/2026
"we are gonna solve accountability with spreadsheets"
the mario you dropped this king meme
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 23/07/2026
a blue book entitled 国家公务员制度试点工作辑要
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 20/07/2026
he has the right idea
a greyhound on a grey bed with his tongue hanging out of his mouth
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 01/07/2026
proprietary (?) Chinese (?) encrypted (?) database nonsense (this for sure) from the early 2000s. might have started as a space saving method? anyway if they had just used an access database none of this would be necessary. look at this, which is my best guess for what the .exe is retrieving from:
a data folder shows tetrads of .dat, .idx, .pos, and .srt files for metadata fields  (?) of a database.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 01/07/2026
today’s project turning (1) into (2) into (3) so eventually it can be (4)
a picture of a 6 dvd database of articles and photos from the Chinese newspaper “Chinese discipline inspection and supervision news”An emulated windows xp screen displaying an article from the newspaper in a decidedly dated mannerA screenshot of a directory in a windows xp emulation that lists html pages of articles A silly ones-and-zeros tunnel with the word “data” overlaid
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 22/05/2026
probably too low level for the class, but I was surprised by how much I liked the sequence of these topics in llaudet+imai’s data analysis for social science, where it goes somewhat unorthodox order (toc below)
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 06/05/2026
Presumably 费高云
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 14/04/2026
today, I could leave social media behind forever. this could be me. nedroid.com?77
a bear says "today's the day!", then sprouts wings and flies out of a prison. a nedroid comic from a long time ago (nedroid.com)
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 07/04/2026
two modes: bicycle seat and lil 🥐
a greyhound curled up on his side asleep on his bed. he has a little tongue poking out.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 08/03/2026
"Administrative Office Management" (Keeling and Kallaus, 3d. edition) reprinted in Chinese Public Administration, (Issue 12, 1986)
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 20/02/2026
I will never get tired of these choose your fighter-lookin-ass figures
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 02/02/2026
how it felt teaching terrified undergraduates Peter Hall’s absolute banger “aligning ontology and methodology“ today
A greyhound “smiles” at the camera looking extremely goofy and head-empty.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 29/01/2026
also, because my paleography skills are absolutely terrible, encountering these pages was always a lovely respite from encountering ... y'know ... _real_ documents
A marked-up archival draft-document handwritten in Chinese (with a brush) in black ink. The handwriting is clear for an archival document but still somewhat challenging.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 29/01/2026
devastatingly I do not. had trouble drumming up the photo I'm thinking of, but here's a (handwritten!) sample of someone clearly related to that style from a few years ago when I was in the 国史馆 annex in 木栅 or sth
A page of an archival document covered in Chinese text; the handwriting is unusually rectilinear for handwriting of the era, but has some stylish flourishes reminiscent of the modernist style described upthread. It was likely done with a pen rather than a brush (as neighboring, and even attached document drafts were).
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 26/01/2026
I think the term since has been ... different. E.g. here, I skimmed and am pretty sure none of the 9 hits are actual ethnographies
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 05/01/2026
Foreign Affairs is a successor publication of the Journal of International Relations (which ran from 1910 to 1922), which in turn was a successor to the Journal of Race Development (which ran from 1911 to 1919, the title reflecting concerns about race tensions and race "mixing" in a period when empires were beginning to be in question).
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 03/01/2026
great days
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 01/01/2026
many such cases
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 14/12/2025
presidential alert: the boys are cozy
a greyhound is wrapped with a blanket over his head
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 14/12/2025
you could write a paper about the intellectual networks in the 1980s based entirely on from whom intellectual magazines got calligraphic endorsements e.g.:《人事》‘s first issue ('85) has calligraphy from both 姬鹏飞 (first amb. from PRC to GDR) and 柴泽民 (first amb to US). 5th anniversary ('90) ? 习仲勋!
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 21/10/2025
h/t to @jwlockhart.bsky.social who found it for me
A researcher in a conical party hat and glasses stands at a microphone in front of a presentation slide that reads: "The greatest research skill you can have is being a nosy bitch who wants to find out."
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 04/10/2025
“改革干部选用制度的新尝试”(中共宁波市委组织部、宁波市人事局) 《中国人事管理》1987年第一期。
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 03/10/2025
vindicate me! this was a good joke!!!
a first chat says "happy taylor album drop day y'all" and the reply says "but can the new ones match the original banger" and posts a picture of a taylor series/taylor expansion
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 30/09/2025
sending comfy dog vibes, hope she does better soon
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 29/09/2025
the only thing that jumps to mind is on Chinese IR academics, which I do assign to my students, but which does not articulate (iirc) a precise theory of incorporation into policy
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 26/09/2025
avoid parsons. got it. don't worry, political scientists have no idea who he was. this looks good though, right?
The frontpage of "A Systems Analysis of Political Life", an influential 1965 book by David Easton, which applies a sort of cybernetic structural-functionalism to political phenomena.An adapted figure from Easton's 1965 book "A Systems Analysis of Political Life," which shows the "environment, input, output, 'stimulus-response'" model of political phenomenon he advocated.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 23/09/2025
anyone know why Gong Xiangrui (龚祥瑞)'s biography took forever to publish? i know what you're wondering: why do you care? because, reader, of my love for the game. but also because while best known for working on constitutions, he started (and then wrote again later) ... on civil service systems!
The front page of a Shanghai Library book entitled "European and American Civil Service Institutions" (欧美员吏制度) by  龚祥瑞 and 楼邦彦. It further notes that it was edited by 钱端升. The book was published in 1934. A picture of the 1985 book (published as part of the political science knowledge series) called "Civil Service Institutions" by Gong Xiangrui. A final picture of another book, from the "Foreign Governmental Systems Series", called "English Administrative Organs and Civil Service Institutions" by Gong Xiangrui.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 06/09/2025
nah it's 100% 张志坚 unfortunately. i concealed the context because i was unsure, but contextually it's 100% him. gonna leave william alone and go pick on 张先生 instea-- oh.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 06/09/2025
i am calling the calligraphy police
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 06/09/2025
is this your man? who is he?
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 17/08/2025
Great question. Lots going on then, so unfortunately
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 17/08/2025
Delighted to report that I continue to push the boundaries of Chinese politics research (by laboring to answer questions about which no one cares). Today, I give you -- "How much did party intellectuals in organization work explicitly reference Deng Xiaoping's writings between 1989 and 2006?"
A point and line graph counting the number of citations to Deng Xiaoping's collected works in each issue of "Party Building Research" magazine from 1989 to 2006. It shows a small spike in citations to his writings in 1991, and then an abrupt peak in late 1993, gradually declining thereafter.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 15/08/2025
The other euphemism is for a "research organ (which did not last)" that advocated for some alternative view about how to design the civil service system in May of 1987. I have no idea which research organ this points to, or why he wouldn't name it, since e.g. the 政治体制改⾰研讨⼩组 is talked about plenty.
5⽉20⽇汇报后,我国将要实⾏公务员制度的消息不胫⽽
⾛,汇报内容也通过各种渠道传了出去,于是社会上对公务员制度
的研究和宣传逐渐多了起来。到了8⽉份,北京市有⼀成⽴不久
的“研究机构”(存在时间不长)也提出了⼀份建⽴公务员制度的
研究报告,基本内容与专题组的研讨报告差不多,但将专题组曾考
虑过但未采取的⼀种⽅案又作为重点建议提了出来,这就是将各
级政府组成⼈员纳⼈公务员范围,并划“政务类公务员”,其他
公务员划为“事务类公务员”,在统⼀的国家公务员范围内,对两
类⼈员实⾏不同的管理⽅法。这⼀研究报告经⼀定途径送到了中
央主要领导同志⼿⾥,领导同志作出了批⽰,要求进⼀步研究把政
府组成⼈员作为“政务类”列⼊公务员范围的问题。
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 15/08/2025
First, when describing one colleague (at the 中央政治体制改⾰研讨⼩组办公室?), he refers to one "高参" who fled abroad after 1989. Presumably this is 严家其, who is a political scientist, but I can't be sure. I'd love for people to double check me on that.
不久,接到通知,办公室有⼏位联系本专题组的同志要来听听
我们的研讨意见,于是专题组确定由刘俊林同志主谈,另外安排⼏
个⼈“补充”,其中让我专门“补充”关于名称的考虑。办公室有位
⼈称“⾼参”的先⽣(1989年跑到国外去了),是专门研究政治学
的,对国外政治制度有较深的研究。听说他主张实⾏外国的⽂官
制度,⽽这是我们坚决反对的。我们经过研讨认为,外国⼈事制度
中的科学办法,我们可以借鉴吸收,但⼀是在名称上必须叫公务员
制度;⼆是在内容上要坚持中国特⾊。
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 13/08/2025
georgio agamben with laser eyes
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 13/08/2025
why is it so loud???
'epic handshake meme' where the two hands are "that one faculty member" and "red tailed hawks" and the handshake is "friggin' loving the sound of their own voice"
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 05/08/2025
sighthounds are so brave. here, my greyhound is mid-battle with the rug (defeated handily)
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 30/07/2025
hell yeah dude
kernel volume 5: rules has arrived
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 18/07/2025
can you imagine the journey the editors must have gone on to make this volume? to distinguish between aquatic breedstock cultivation and aquacultural animal feeding? the Encyclopédistes are swooning
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 18/07/2025
today in 'delightful books i find,' meet the《中华人民共和国职业分类大典》 this 1999 volume sets out with the modest goal of listing *all* the occupations in the PRC (and their responsibilities). it then accomplishes this in a bit less than a million characters, complete with numeric codes. what a treasure
The entry for "Rubber-based composite materials engineers," who are 

"People who carry out heat insulation, formulation, research, testing and calendering of rubber-based solid ablation-resistant and sealing materials for engines."
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 17/07/2025
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 15/07/2025
scrolling through the blueskies while combining my two interests
A Chinese book entitled "The Classification of Posts and the Management of Personnel Matters" (Chinese Economics Press, 1986)
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 14/07/2025
POV: you've reached your "ability divergence age" (能⼒分歧年龄). wdyd? (source: Japanese Personnel Evaluation Institutions [日本人事考核制度], 1982[1978], by 久保淳志)
A figure showing two lines diverging, with the x axis labeled "age" and the y axis labelled "salary/ability". A dotted line along the 45 degree angle shows a salary that increases as age increases. A solid line shows an increase with age until reaching a point labelled the “ability divergence age," after which ability stays the same but salary increases.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 03/07/2025
obviously there’s a lot going on right now. but if you have some cash to spare, CDT does thoughtful, important work.
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 30/06/2025
you and @erincikanek.bsky.social after these takes
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Mike Thompson-Brusstar @mthompsonbrusstar.com · 21/06/2025
trying to find this vibe today
a greyhound is curled up in a frankly pretzel-esque shape with his tongue out
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