Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly
False Realities
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts, as we’ve long heard; Historian Heather Cox Richardson dismantles claims of Trump’s “mandate”; Short items about MTG and NPR; Fox News personalities becoming America’s scientists and doctors; … Continue reading
Political Extremes and Instability
Perhaps the problem is that claims of “mandates” create political instability, and that’s what makes voters cynical about government; Especially when mandate claimers promise things they can’t possibly deliver, like Musk promising to slash the budget by $2 trillion; How … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, The Gays
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This Much is Reality… and This Much is Fantasy
Silverberg on reality vs. fantasy; It wasn’t a landslide, thus not a mandate; OnlySky: why is fascism rising? OnlySky: how knowledge endures or disappears. Here’s a passage from a key science fiction story that addresses the nature of reality, in … Continue reading
Posted in History, science fiction
Comments Off on This Much is Reality… and This Much is Fantasy
The Anticipation of Unintended Consequences
Many are predicting that the new administration’s plans, especially concerning deportations and tariffs, will backfire and wreck the economy, or at least raise prices in ways they apparently cannot anticipate. But one guesses that the Republicans will not admit it … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Economics, Human Nature, Psychology
Comments Off on The Anticipation of Unintended Consequences
Dispatches from the Real World
My latest take on the true vs the real; A piece about RFK Jr identifies the three big reasons you’re alive today: clean water, antibiotics, and vaccines; How we know RFK Jr is wrong about vaccines; How red states lead … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Science
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The Overton Window of Deviance
Amanda Marcotte on how Christians seem not bothered by the immorality of Trump or his Cabinet picks; Bret Stephens on defining deviancy down; Timothy Snyder on how Trump is actually a fascist — and how fascists use narratives; David French … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Lunacy, Politics
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Shocked, Just Shocked
The broad trend, perhaps, is the discomfort of tribal human beings living in multicultural liberal democracies. How some people (who weren’t paying attention) are shocked that Trump is actually setting out to do what he promised to do; How Trump … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Culture, Human Nature, Human Progress, Politics, Tribalism
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Continuing Our Studies of Human Nature…
Today’s evidence. How MAGA is a gang mentality for white men who feel powerless; Adam Gopnik considers the difference between a mob and a righteous protest; (And I wonder about the American revolutionaries); Short items about Robert Reich and overereaching … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Human Nature, Politics
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Here’s a New One: Terrain Theory
Busy day today so just one item. We’ve had the flat-earthers, the chem-trailers, the vaccine deniers, and now there are those who deny the germ theory of disease. Boing Boing, Jennifer Sandlin, 10 Nov 2024: Germ theory denial is dangerous … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Lunacy, Religion, Science
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A Little Knowledge… Is a Dangerous Thing
Imagine that you work for a company that does any kind of specialty work, anything at all — urban planning, furniture making, aerospace design — and for some reason the company’s owner dies and his aunt inherits the entire company … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Science
Comments Off on A Little Knowledge… Is a Dangerous Thing
