MAKING DATABASE-management seem transgressive(越界的，违规的) is a feat. Palantir, a technology firm, has managed it by publishing manifestos bemoaning the West’s hollowed-out civic culture, by working with trigger-happy American border enforcers and Israeli soldiers, and by having a chairman who is fond of invoking the Antichrist.(Palantir通过多种方式做到了这一点。) That the firm is named after J.R.R. Tolkien’s creepy all-seeing orbs may not have helped.
让数据库管理显得离经叛道，这本身就是一项壮举。科技公司Palantir做到了：它发布宣言哀叹西方空洞的公民文化，与美国边境执法人员和以色列士兵合作，还拥有一位喜欢提及敌基督者的董事长。该公司以J.R.R.托尔金笔下令人毛骨悚然的无所不见的晶球命名，这或许也无济于事。
Britain is spooked(受惊的，恐慌的). It may boot(踢出，解雇) Palantir out of the National Health Service (NHS), where the firm has a contract to manage medical data. Two parliamentary committees have recommended doing so. London’s mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, has blocked its work with the Metropolitan Police. Palantir has probably over-sold(过度推销，夸大) its software’s impact. Its boasts(吹嘘，自夸) (echoed by(被…附和) the NHS) of enabling 110,000 extra surgeries look exaggerated. By British standards, its lobbying is brash(鲁莽的，自以为是的).
英国感到恐慌。它可能将Palantir赶出国民健康服务体系（NHS），该公司在该体系有一份管理医疗数据的合同。两个议会委员会已建议这样做。伦敦市长萨迪克·汗爵士已阻止其与伦敦警察厅合作。Palantir可能夸大了其软件的影响。其声称（NHS也附和）实现了11万例额外手术，这看起来言过其实。按照英国标准，其游说行为过于鲁莽。
Still, ditching(抛弃，丢弃) Palantir would be a mistake. Sir Mark Rowley, head of the Met, says that, without Palantir’s time-saving software, hundreds of officers will be pulled from front-line policing. It seems to be doing a better job of digitising the NHS than the government’s latest effort, which devolved into a costly mess.(它似乎比政府最近的努力做得更好。) If the firm’s public-sector clients deem its contributions valuable, that is a reason to keep it. Losing its technology could further maul(严重损害，抨击) Britain’s mangled(严重损坏的，糟糕的) state capacity.
尽管如此，抛弃Palantir将是一个错误。伦敦警察厅厅长马克·罗利爵士表示，如果没有Palantir节省时间的软件，数百名警官将从一线警务中被抽调。它似乎在数字化NHS方面比政府最近的努力做得更好，后者演变成一场代价高昂的混乱。如果该公司的公共部门客户认为其贡献有价值，那就是保留它的理由。失去其技术可能进一步损害英国本已糟糕的国家能力。
To see far off, and to converse in thought
远观，并在思想中交谈