Category Archives: Culture

Links and Comments: Fox News; Jonathan Haidt; Scientology; Paul Krugman; US and Israel

Posted on Thursday 12 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

First, an essay at Salon not just about Fox News and Bill O’Reilly but about Why the pundit’s fabrications are almost beside the point. Key point: there isn’t enough ‘real’ news to sustain a 24-hour new network. That is, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Fox News; Jonathan Haidt; Scientology; Paul Krugman; US and Israel

Links and Comments: Powers of Ten; Nineteen Eighty-Four doublespeak; Climate change; Failed conservative predictions of doom

Posted on Tuesday 10 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s persusing of websites. (I have more links and comments from newspapers and magazines, but not the time at this moment to post…) First, to complement yesterday’s link to Vox’s 40 maps that explain outer space, here is the earliest, … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Culture, Thinking | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Powers of Ten; Nineteen Eighty-Four doublespeak; Climate change; Failed conservative predictions of doom

Links and Comments: The Universe; Narratives and Conservatives; PW reviews; the Right-Wing Myth

Posted on Monday 9 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up from the past week. First, refining the Provisional Conclusions, I’ve switched the order of the first two, and of the last two. This shifts the entire list to a more positive, rather than negative, spin, I think. \\ … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Culture, Narrative | Comments Off on Links and Comments: The Universe; Narratives and Conservatives; PW reviews; the Right-Wing Myth

Links and Comments: Perceiving Reality; Controlling the Narrative

Posted on Wednesday 4 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Several key posts from last week, that I want to capture before I’m on the road for another couple days. First, the viral dress thing is possibly the most widely circulated example ever of how you can’t always believe what … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Perceiving Reality; Controlling the Narrative

Link and Comment: Language Creationists?

Posted on Tuesday 3 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Vox is an interesting relatively new site that I discovered a couple months ago; one of the editors/principal writers is Matthew Yglesias, who left Slate to help create this site, with Ezra Klein. One thing I admire about the site … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution | Comments Off on Link and Comment: Language Creationists?

Links and Comments: Oliver Sacks; A Pious American against Trains; Offending Religion

Posted on Tuesday 24 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Another link-dump, for now, i.e. some links and quick comments, without the more considered comments I might do under normal circumstances… after another busy week of moving-in and unpacking. The great author Oliver Sacks has this moving NYT op-ed about … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Oliver Sacks; A Pious American against Trains; Offending Religion

Links and Comments: Quotes; GOP and Evolution; Skeptics; Oklahoma history

Posted on Wednesday 18 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

During a busy week, this is a quick post to capture various quotes and links I’ve found in the past few days. Resources. Quote: Charles Bukowski: “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Quotes; GOP and Evolution; Skeptics; Oklahoma history

Links and Comments: Robert Wright on Brian Williams; Obama on Christianity; Children of Gay Parents; Republicans and evolution

Posted on Thursday 12 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Wright — author of among other books The Moral Animal (1994), one of the best books I’ve read about how evolutionary psychology affects human culture and relationships — offers his perspective, in New Republic, on how Brian Williams Is … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Psychology, Religion, The Gays | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Robert Wright on Brian Williams; Obama on Christianity; Children of Gay Parents; Republicans and evolution

Jordan Ellenberg, How Not to Be Wrong, Post 2

Posted on Wednesday 11 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: The Power of Mathematical Thinking. Second post (first post here) about this fascinating book, an examination of several basic principles (linearity, inference, expectation, regression, and existence) and how they apply to every-day, real world situations, situations that are often … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Economics, Mathematics, Science, Thinking | Comments Off on Jordan Ellenberg, How Not to Be Wrong, Post 2

Links and Comments: Anti-Vaxxers and Anti-Brakers

Posted on Wednesday 11 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

First, the serious, a commentary this morning on the local NPR station in the Bay Area, KQED, by Paul Staley: Fear and Vaccines. First, I like his characterization of the internet; for those who are not scientists, science can be … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Lunacy, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Anti-Vaxxers and Anti-Brakers