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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Meta
Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly
Psychological Underpinnings
The drone panic is about human psychology; So is the fear of vaccines. – – – Once again, the drone panic is not about drones. NY Times, Zeynep Tufekci, 19 Dec 2024: How to Make the Drone Panic So … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
Comments Off on Psychological Underpinnings
Tim Urban, Out of Left Field
About a writer I’d never heard of, Tim Urban, and his book, and their connection to Luigi Mangione; The psychological motivations of the drone alarmists. – – – NY Times, David Wallace-Wells, 18 Dec 2024: Can Anyone Make Sense of … Continue reading
Posted in History, Psychology, Social Progress
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Notes from Inside the Universe
Vox answers questions about the drones; A piece by Rahm Emanual inspires my own thinking about how much it matters which party is in power, every election cycle; Trump wants to expel immigrants but is happy to hire them; Nancy … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Science
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The Drones! The Drones!
First let’s finish the second Robert Reich item we began yesterday. Then the drones. Robert Reich, 13 Dec 2024: America’s four stories (Part 2)
Fear, Outrage, and Paranoia
I’ve been curious, but have never been sufficiently tempted, to watch or listen to right-wing media for any period of time. These two pieces confirm my impression that most of its content is about fear and outrage. Fear of a … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, History, Lunacy, Politics
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American Narratives
Infrastructure note; Robert Reich on America’s four stories; Heather Cox Richardson on how Trump has no apparent plan for governance. Infrastructure note. I’ve installed an initial set of theme pages under the “NF Reviews” menu item above, which appear as … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative, Politics, Website Issues
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Pretty to Think So
One of my running themes — here on this blog, in the reviews I’ve written of SF novels and stories in recent years, in my essay for Gary Westfahl awaiting publication, and in my book if I manage to write … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, science fiction
Comments Off on Pretty to Think So
Or for Worse
We took both our cars into the indie BMW shop we’ve been going to, for routine maintenance. In my case, I needed my car to be ship-shape before driving down to LA in a couple weeks. \ Infrastructure note. In … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Politics, Website Issues
Comments Off on Or for Worse
Human Rights, and Those Who Would Restrict Them
It’s been 76 years since the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in America, conservatives prevent or keep trying to reverse many of those rights; Example of their latest bugaboo: transgenders; How Trump’s cabinet picks would please Putin, whose … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Economics, progress
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What If We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know?
Plato’s cave and what we don’t know, or don’t know that we don’t know; David Gerrold on “woke” and why I think citing “woke” (or religion) dismisses one from any serious conversation; Short items about how a third of the … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Social Progress
Comments Off on What If We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know?
