Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Latest from the Impending Dictatorship Watch

Posted on Tuesday 5 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Recalling the “Good Germans” who didn’t pay attention to Hitler’s rise; Salon’s Chauncey DeVega on how Americans are sleepwalking into a Trump dictatorship; The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg on the danger of a second Trump term; Steve Bannon’s promise to prosecute … Continue reading →

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Conservative Disregard for Science; Projections and Untruth; That Famous British Take-down of Trump

Posted on Monday 4 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Update to my Projects page; The Supreme Court’s disregard for science; Anti-vaccine conservatives’ disregard for science; More about Trump’s and the GOP’s projecting about which party is trying to destroy democracy; How even Fox News is now fact-checking Trump’s “untruths”; … Continue reading →

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Choice, Binary Matters, and Projection

Posted on Sunday 3 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Another cool, mostly overcast, party sunny day. This is winter in the Bay Area: lows in the 40s, highs in the 50s. We walked the Montclair Railroad Trail, and checked various shops in the village for Christmas lights. One of … Continue reading →

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Personal Jesus and Other Fantasies

Posted on Saturday 2 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How Russia is cracking down on the Gay Rights Movement, just as American evangelicals would like to do; A laughable debate about whether the Earth is flat or round, based on Biblical theology; A take on the economy that suggests … Continue reading →

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Newsom, DeSantis, Santos, and the Threat of a Trump Dictatorship

Posted on Friday 1 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Political and religious/political items today. The Newsom/DeSantis debate; The expulsion of George Santos; How ‘moderates’ like Nikki Haley would also eviscerate the government (i.e. what “draining the swamp” means to Republicans); Short items about DeSantis’ Bible; how inflation is fault … Continue reading →

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Con Men and Bespoke Realities

Posted on Thursday 30 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

End of November. The sun sets early; the house is chillier. We have our thermostat set to 68. And I think I’m approaching the finishing of one of my long-term projects. And still working on another. Adam Frank on learning … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Con Men and Bespoke Realities

Bathing, Evidence, Control, Dating, Social Security

Posted on Wednesday 29 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Why daily bathing (just like trying to kill every germ in sight) may not be healthy; Items about Republican admissions they don’t have evidence for their claims; how they take credit for what they voted against; how the party of … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Culture, Evolution, Politics | Comments Off on Bathing, Evidence, Control, Dating, Social Security

Last Questions and Possible Answers, 4

Posted on Tuesday 28 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

This is my fourth and likely last post, following this one in March and this one in June, and this one eight days ago, in which I consider the John Brockman book The Last Unknowns, in which he gathers deep … Continue reading →

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I Don’t Know. Not Everything has Meaning. And Nihilism. Not What You Think.

Posted on Monday 27 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Essay by Anne Lamott about what she’s learned at age 69; NYT’s Brad Stulberg about traumatic experiences and finding, or not, new meaning; A summary of my recent thinking about the narrative bias, metaphor, and “meaning”; Considering what “nihilism” is … Continue reading →

Posted in Meaning, Philosophy | Comments Off on I Don’t Know. Not Everything has Meaning. And Nihilism. Not What You Think.

End of Thanksgiving Weekend

Posted on Sunday 26 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Late afternoon, Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Just finished putting lights up on our two second floor balconies, that should come on automatically an dusk. — 5:10pm, they’ve just come on. Oops, except for one string that came on only half-way. … Continue reading →

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