Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Sausalito, and Heartstopper

Missed posting yesterday because we took a day drive, on the first day of a three-day (Memorial Day, in the US) holiday weekend. On such weekends (Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day) most Americans don’t celebrate the event so much … Continue reading

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Groupthink, Reason, and Conspiracy Thinking

An apology/defense of groupthink; My thoughts about how religion undermines the ability to reason; A Republican who believes globes are a global conspiracy; How Republicans take advantage of laws they voted against; And how they’re trying to disappear gays and … Continue reading

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Moving Toward One Kind of Science-Fictional Future

Working from home vs. commuting, a slow social trend we thought might be temporary, but which may be inevitable, and for the good. I have a laptop connected to two big monitors, but otherwise this photo is apt. My cat … Continue reading

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Three from SciAm

Scientific American is a magazine I’ve read intermittently for 50 years. A new take on the difference between liberals and conservatives; How most Americans think they are better than most people, but people in Asian countries do not; How there … Continue reading

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Fox News Admits They Were Wrong; Reviews by Michael Dirda

First, a follow up to my Media Literacy post three days ago. Stop the Presses! Something amazing has happened! Salon, Amanda Marcotte, 23 May 2023: Fox News falls for another hoax, as the Dominion defamation settlement pays off, subtitled “The … Continue reading

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More Examples of What MAGA Really Means

Items today: How Florida has been designated a dangerous state for blacks, Latinos, and sexual minorities to visit, with Tennessee close behind Florida and Texas on implementing similar policies; Marjorie Taylor Greene’s hypocrisy about drag (she condemns it, except when … Continue reading

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Today’s Fantasy vs. Reality Watch

Items today about How Americans feel so negative about the economy, despite actual statistics; How Christian Nationalism is working in Wyoming — the usual evocations of concerns that are not real; How to determine truth, with an aside about science-fictional … Continue reading

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Lessons in Media Literacy

How stories about the border are designed to scare you, one way or the other; How right-wing sites promoted a false story about immigrants displacing veterans from New York City hotels; Heather Cox Richardson on the debt crisis and how … Continue reading

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Today’s Authoritarianism Watch

Items today: Heather Cox Richardson on the transformation of the Republican Party since Reagan, from a party of small government to one bent on enforcing Christian nationalism; How Republicans now argue that juries don’t count (when they lose); FDR’s four … Continue reading

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Budgeting, Firearms, Walls, and Executing Trans People

Several items today. How family and government budgeting are more unalike than similar; How firearms training teaches you that you are in constant danger, and should shoot at once; Thomas L. Friedman on building bigger walls, but also allowing in … Continue reading

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