Reposted by Wizard of the Howling Wastes
Trump: "It's interesting -- China makes the windmills, but try finding a wind farm in China. There is no such."
(China has the largest wind power capacity in the world!)
Wizard of the Howling Wastes
@nikephorus.bsky.social
486 followers 739 following 633 posts
Wanna-be academic and writer. Professor of morbid bibliomancy at Unseen University. Denizen of the howling wastes of Western Canada. Father of children. Partner to the love of my life. No one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves. He/him
![Photo of a page displayed on a Kobo e-reader, saying:
… and yet civil servants dedicate their lives to the pursuit of creating more perfect data. The census cannot ever be truly apolitical given that it is at the heart of the politics of the United States, and yet civil servants never stop pursuing the ideals of nonpartisanship. The persistent tension between ideals and pragmatics is what makes the administrative state so critical to a healthy democracy.
Civil servants serve the public through their dedication and persistence, despite the challenges of the work. And despite having bosses who want to weaponize them.
I see the Census Bureau's civil servants as heroes-not
because I believe in bureaucracy, but because these workers are committed to the ideal version of the American project. [THIS BIT IS HIGHLIGHTED] Public servants toil in the shadows, making consequential choices with little recognition, only to be attacked for trying to make the system work for the people. Too often, they're blamed for the Kafkaesque nightmare in which they operate, even as politicians and advocates quietly configure what they are able to do. [END HIGHLIGHT]
This book is, in many ways, a love letter to those civil servants and the kind of institution that enables them to rise to the occasion. If we want to escape our death spiral of polarization, we must stop treating bureaucrats as…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:iah4k2w7lsxqm7hp76pzbr6z/bafkreidxxgblvidhce4sepm5h4fn5juhecqizgggyue4pzodxqw3r3csdm)
![[A parody of MR ROGERS’ NEIGHBOURHOOD, in which the kindly Mr Rogers takes us to see local things in his town.]
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[title]
MR ROGERS’ NEIGHBOURHOOD
MR ROGERS:
Hi there
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Today, I’d like to take you to visit some of my neighbours…
[He puts his coat on to leave his house]
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At a wonderful local event,
[We see the cute toy-town diorama of his village famous from the TV show. The camera pulls out…]
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The Data Center protest.
[The camera has pulled out further and now we see a huge DATA CENTER at the edge of town].
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MR ROGERS [joining a crowd protesting outside the Data Center]:
The Data Center is an enormous, windowless, endlessly humming building outside of our town
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…Which has tripled energy prices, drank all the water, and created four jobs.
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[to camera, as if kindly explaining to the viewing children]:
Four jobs! Golly!
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LADY PROTESTOR [probably NAOMI KLEIN, holding a sign]:
In a way, the Data Center is kind of a vivid metaphor for a future we feel locked out of!
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MR ROGERS [to camera again]:
A metaphor.
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That’s something that lets us clarify our feelings about something else.
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LADY PROTESTOR:
How do you feel, Mr Rogers?
MR ROGERS:
I feel like bringing down the government!
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MR ROGERS [now holding a sign and protesting]:
It’s good to have neighbors.
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreibvefn2z5f2jip2gg3nzidjibzvmh7s3lnqjgjqt6usfzpxkjqbkm)
