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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Meta
Category Archives: Culture
LQCs: Minority Rule
Plus: Blame everything (but guns) and see what sticks; How do Republican enablers sleep at night?; Are there any rational Republicans?
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Politics
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LQCs: Memorial Day 2022
Who needs prayers? What is political? Plus Fb comment, quote, meme.
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Politics
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LQCs: Creativity, Education, Reactionaries
Today, another counter-intuitive premise. Before reading the article, I reflect that most people admire celebrity artists, but wouldn’t want their child to try to be one. Other items follow.
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Psychology, Religion
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LQCs: Back in Time, to a Perfect Past
It’s been a couple days since President Biden’s State of the Union address — in which he spoke forcefully about many things, but avoided topics that would strain attention spans, e.g. climate change — and I’ve been fascinated since then … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Human Progress, Links & Comments, Politics
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Ls&Cs: Trust, Doom, Errors, Science Fiction
Issues today from the NYT letters page, about trust in government and humanity’s doom, and about theological errors. With an endpiece about science fiction reviewing…
Posted in Culture, Politics, Religion, science fiction
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Fareed Zakaria, TEN LESSONS FOR A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD (2020)
Here’s the next book with a numbered agenda up for summary (following Harari’s 21 Lessons). It came out in October 2020, with journalistic promptness just six or seven months after the beginning of the lockdown, though before vaccines became available … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Science
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L&Qs&Cs: Obesity; Access Queries
A few days ago — in my Feb 8th post — I linked an article from MSNBC that showed that the major issue in the US lack of response to the covid crisis was, not trust in science, but trust … Continue reading
Posted in Culture
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Ls&Qs&Cs: Rights and Responsibilities; Authoritarian News Filters
Quotes and comments about an essay by Thomas L. Friedman about rights and responsibilities, and an article about what Fox News doesn’t cover.
Posted in Culture, Links & Comments, Politics
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Yuval Noah Harari, 21 LESSONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY (post #2)
Here’s my second concluding post about Harari’s third book. As usual, I find it hard to condense my notes too far, when the author has so many interesting things to say, especially in this second half. In the range of … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Humanism
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LQCs: Wise Women and Men, How the Law Is Flimsy against Political Tides, and Why Conservatives Are So Anxious to Oppress Others
Several Fb friends have quoted this passage by the great Ursula K. Le Guin, originally posted at Reading Is Therapy, from her 1989 book Dancing at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places.