Brickbats: May 2026

This article uses a curated selection of bureaucratic failures and governmental misconduct to critique institutional competence and government overreach. The framing is deliberately selective—highlighting individual malfeasance, waste, and what the publication frames as overreach (wind farm payments, gas hookup bans, teacher censure)—without systemic context or counterargument. Language choices like 'behaving badly,' 'stole,' and characterizing the mushroom foraging case as potential 'emotional harm' and 'hate crime' employ loaded framing that invites reader skepticism toward authority.

Primary voices: state or recognized government, elected official, media outlet, NGO or civil society

• This article does not address the systemic or technical context behind grid constraint payments in the UK (e.g., infrastructure investment timelines, market design rationales).
• This article does not address broader policy justifications for Oak Park's carbon neutrality goals or regulatory precedents for such bans.
• This article does not address whether individual cases of misconduct represent institutional patterns or isolated incidents.