Category Archives: Culture

The Weekend, and Heather Cox Richardson on 2022

Posted on Monday 2 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve missed posting the past two days for various reasons.

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Self-Replacement?

Posted on Tuesday 27 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Today looking at an article about how conservatives worry about the “great replacement” (of US Christian whites by non-white, non-Christian immigrants) and how, ironically, conservative policies invite their being replaced, through simple natural selection. With comments at the end about … Continue reading →

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Assorted Links from Recent Weeks

Posted on Friday 23 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

About George Santos’s fictional resume, Tucker Carlson’s year of being wrong, Avatar 2’s “ecological Indian” cliche, the hypocrisy of right-wing “free thinkers,” Thomas Frank on the lack of imagination of Democrats, DeSantis and vaccines, book banning, and two religious graphics.

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Hanukkah Kitsch and Christmas Shopping

Posted on Tuesday 20 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

I spent most of this afternoon Christmas shopping. I can make that align with this article about Hanukkah kitsch. New York Times, 18 Dec 2022: Potato Latke Cocktail, Anyone?

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Assorted Items on Friday the 16th

Posted on Friday 16 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

About evidence and reason; conservative book bans; automobiles as creators of inequality; anti-vaxxers and traffic crashes; Trump as the emblem of a half population of semi-literates. I’ve seen this comment on Facebook before, but have never quoted it. It’s apocryphal, … Continue reading →

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No Escaping Tribal Warfare

Posted on Monday 12 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today about Hasidic yeshiva schools, “common good constitutionalism,” the root cause of violent crime, and the increasingly despicable Elon Musk. We like to think modern society is more advanced than societies of thousands of years ago, and it is … Continue reading →

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Ancient Apocalypse, Odds and Ends

Posted on Wednesday 30 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

The “Ancient Apocalypse” nonsense; Movie trailers; Political headlines.

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Change and Survival: A Refined Conception of Science Fiction

Posted on Tuesday 29 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple items today have perhaps led me to a new formulation of the idea of “science fiction.”

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Extreme vs. Necessary Solutions

Posted on Monday 28 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

To the imminent destruction of the planet. Allow the human race to go extinct? Cut back on capitalist consumption? (Which would be worse?)

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Human Progress | Comments Off on Extreme vs. Necessary Solutions

Stories People Tell

Posted on Saturday 26 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Why pecan pie is quintessentially American; how Thanksgiving is supposedly about free enterprise vs. communism; why people don’t believe crime rates are down in big cities; how the TV show Yellowstone appeals to the conservative narrative about big government; why … Continue reading →

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