Monthly Archives: December 2021

2021 in Review

Posted on Friday 31 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s something I don’t usually do. But perhaps it’s worth doing, especially for this past year. What were the significant events of this past year, in my personal life and in the history I’m living through? I had a heart … Continue reading →

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Links & Comments: Narrative Shortcuts, Fantasy Worlds, Arabic Numerals

Posted on Thursday 30 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Sunny but chilly today; we’ve had rain for much of the past two weeks, and now we’re in for a week or so of sun. We did a 34-minute walk, though Robinson Drive and around on  Skyline and back to … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Economics, Movies, Narrative | Comments Off on Links & Comments: Narrative Shortcuts, Fantasy Worlds, Arabic Numerals

E.O. Wilson, HALF-EARTH (2016)

Posted on Wednesday 29 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

E.O. Wilson, Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life, Liveright, 2016, 259p This is one of Wilson’s last four or five books, the first one following The Meaning of Human Existence in 2014. These books seem slighter that most earlier Wilson … Continue reading →

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Boosted

Posted on Tuesday 28 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I thought to post a summary of one of those E.O. Wilson books tonight, but it’s past 4:30 and I don’t think I have the time. (I try to wrap up here by 5:30.) So some miscellaneous items today. First, … Continue reading →

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E.O. Wilson

Posted on Monday 27 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

The great evolutionary biologist and author E.O. Wilson died on Sunday. He was 92. He  had been publishing new books right up to the end, with Tales from the Ant World in 2020. Several of his earlier books, from On … Continue reading →

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Don’t Look Up, 2

Posted on Sunday 26 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Follow-up to previous post: about the film Don’t Look Up. So, I give the film a thumbs-up, even though it’s uneven. It follows through on its premise. It effectively parodies the denialist nature of the anti-vaxx crowd, with a crucial … Continue reading →

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Don’t Look Up, 1

Posted on Saturday 25 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Another quick holiday post.

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Christmas Eve and Family Traditions

Posted on Friday 24 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

No links political or scientific today. Instead I’ll indulge on what’s happening now, and what happened in my childhood, on Christmas Eve.

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Extinction Debt

Posted on Thursday 23 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Henry Gee is a long-time editor of Nature, one of the two (along with Science) general interest scientific journals. Gee came to notice of the science fiction community in the 2000s (iirc) when he commissioned short science fiction stories from … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Science | Comments Off on Extinction Debt

Christmas Week Rain; Insecurities and Lack of Imagination

Posted on Wednesday 22 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Finished my Christmas shopping today — I had to be done today — though one or two ordered items won’t be here until next week. It rained fairly heavily last night and the residue set in today; supposedly not raining, … Continue reading →

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