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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» Previous Views from Medina Road (2010-2013)
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Recent Posts
- Driving the I5, and Varieties of Dining Experience
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- The Certitude of the Religious
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- Tim Urban, Out of Left Field
- Notes from Inside the Universe
- The Drones! The Drones!
- Fear, Outrage, and Paranoia
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Meta
Category Archives: Culture
Themes that Go Together; Nonexistent Gods
NYT, Paul Krugman, 12 Sept 2022: Ukraine Deflates MAGA Macho Myths
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Religion
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Conservatives Against Change, Even as the Planet Burns
NYT, Paul Krugman, 15 Aug 2022: Why Republicans Turned Against the Environment In 1990 Congress passed an amendment to the Clean Air Act of 1970, among other things taking action against acid rain, urban smog and ozone. The legislation was … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture
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Facebook Memes: Conspiracy Theories; Ignorant People
Quick post for this afternoon; I’m working a long post about the next story my Facebook reading group will address on Sunday, concerning a novella by Walter Jon Williams, and I’m taking the opportunity while revisiting these older stories by … Continue reading
Posted in Culture
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Demographic Studies: Red v Blue, Abortions, Social Services, and Mortality Gaps
Two items today that fit neatly together. They are illustrations of demographic trends that seem always to align. Red states, religion, support for authoritarian politicians, disapproval of abortion, disapproval of certain books, distrust of science, and lack of social services. … Continue reading
Polarization and the Pace of Change
The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert, January 3 & 10, 2022 issue: How Politics Got So Polarized Subtitled: “In a new era of hyperpartisan identities, can anything bring ‘us’ and ‘them’ together?”
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture
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Links, Quotes, and Comments, Today 14 July 2022
Red States and Abortion Bans; Religious Nuttery; How Fox News fakes it; Conservatives attempts to turn back the cultural clock; What Proud Boys and their wives want
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Religion
Comments Off on Links, Quotes, and Comments, Today 14 July 2022
Galaxies Like Grains of Sand
Two topics today. About the James Webb Telescope photos; and about why people feel the world is broken. I chimed in on Facebook on Monday with a link to this image, as many of my Fb friends were doing, only … Continue reading
Orwellian “Freedoms”
The Atlantic, Ronald Brownstein, 8 July 2022: The Glaring Contradiction of Republicans’ Rhetoric of Freedom, subtitled, “Democratic governors are showing the national party how to challenge the red states’ rollback of rights.” Republicans say freedoms for me, prohibitions for thee.
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture
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Kids These Days, Bauerlein and Will Style
Beware cranky old men complaining about kids these days. Surely George F. Will, a renowned (conservative) political commentator, knows better. Washington Post, George F. Will, 8 July 2022: How millennials became aggressively illiberal, censorious young adults
Posted in Culture, Technology
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Today’s Headlines and Backlogged Links
The Atlantic, Tom McTague, 12 Aug 2022: What America’s Great Unwinding Would Mean for the World, subtitled, “The conundrum facing America’s allies is how to cope with a great imperial power in decline that is still a great imperial power.” … Continue reading →