The tariff fight is still going on, bureaucrats across the country are trying to dodge the changes being wrought at the federal level, many judges seem to think their robes make them omnipotent, and Rory McIlroy won The Masters in rather epic fashion.
There – you’re all caught up about what happened last week.
But I want to focus on two wonderful long clips I stumbled across from the Aussie TV show “Utopia.”
No, the other show named Utopia and actually called Dreamland in the US and other places to avoid confusion.
It involves the goings on at Australia’s Nation Building Authority, a fictional agency that is in charge of infrastructure development across the country.
Sounds like a laugh riot, huh? Watching government workers approve airport plans and such…
Well, it actually is and not only is it funny it is terrifyingly real.
It is a show where it’s not quite clear where the satire ends and the real and actual direct quotes and actions of government workers begins.
Recently, the folks behind the show have begun posting truncated versions of older episodes. Truncated, not edited – in a typical 30-minute show there are two seperate but related story lines occurring with one of them being dominant. So these clips are not full episodes but everything in the episode that directly relates to that storyline.
I think that makes sense.
First, we have Australia considering building high speed rail.
To be blunt, it’s as if they had a mole at the California High Speed Rail Authority.
And the ending is one of funniest takes on how media reacts to clear absurdities.
“it will carry 54 million passengers a year!!!” says the reporter. The entire country has a population of half that…but the line is classic hyperventilating blurge.
Next we have the Authority trying to deal with a local council RE: a new development.
This is an area I actually have some experience in, having been a mayor/councilmember myself. The process typically involves a semi-visionary concept – how many units can we get on the property, what does the city need for infrastructure, amenities, schools, etc.
That’s all relatively informal at the elected level – basically the developer checking out that if something like they have in mind would work.
The next step is working with staff to flesh out the idea and get to what is called “30%” drawings. These are more detailed plans but not final blueprints; in other words, this is what it will look like but we still have to figure out details like where the rivets go, the construction type, etc.
Then the final plans are approved (or not, but that is relatively rare.)
This clip shows what can happen when one faces a DEI nightmare of a city.
What is shown is a completely conceptual plan – even before the “30%” drawings. Nothing is set in stone – it’s essentially a marketing tool.
However, the local council has some concerns…hysterical concerns.
But these are perfectly emblematic of the incredibly real concerns that really do come up in larger cities that have fully functional (and typically omnipotent) diversity departments, etc..
Remember when watching the clip, the complaints are not about the project as such but about the conceptual, years before approval, animation alone.
As to the beginning of the final meeting, note the land acknowledgment and, as to the end, remember that no one in the room is deaf.
Complete episodes can be found in various places around the internet as it is no longer on Netflix…that’s actually been years…
This week’s epigram:
The center can only hold when it has become a black hole.
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