Category Archives: Culture

Vetting Online News Sources

Posted on Tuesday 1 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

About “critical ignoring”, vetting sources of news before you read them; The distractions of the internet; Today’s back-of-the-envelope timeline, from Savannah/tribal morality to Enlightenment values and now back to Savannah/tribal morality. Here’s a piece, which I probably stumbled upon via … Continue reading →

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Doomscrolling Climate Change; and Small Towns

Posted on Sunday 30 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The latest about climate change, and wondering when will the conservative deniers admit there is a problem; More about that vigilante justice country song, and Bruce Springsteen. Perhaps I should cut back on the doomscrolling. I don’t actually scroll looking … Continue reading →

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Horror and Exasperation

Posted on Wednesday 26 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How young people are progressive, a problem for the GOP; Thomas Edsall on Republican and Democratic attitudes about masculinity; Climate experts express “horror and exasperation as global predictions play out”. Sometimes you have to wonder what conservatives are conserving. On … Continue reading →

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Demographic Shifts

Posted on Tuesday 25 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Issues with the increasing number of old people in the US; Issues with the fragmentation of evangelical churches. Salon, Mary Elizabeth Williams, 23 Jul 2023: Live long and flounder: An aging expert on the looming crisis of our longer lifespans, … Continue reading →

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They’re Telling Us Who They Are, and What They Will Do

Posted on Monday 17 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Maya Angelou: “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.” (source and source) How Trump and his acolytes are openly planning to set up an authoritarian government, should he rewin the Presidency; Similarly, Republicans in Ohio … Continue reading →

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About Immigration

Posted on Saturday 15 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

My own ancestors were immigrants, of course, in the 1800s, just like most of the US population; and recalling “Irish Need Not Apply”; NYT’s David Leonhardt about the global immigration backlash, without wondering why these migrations are happening; Paul Krugman … Continue reading →

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Consciousness and Choices

Posted on Thursday 13 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The problem of consciousness, and the resolution to a 25-year-old debate, via Vox and NYT’s Carl Zimmer; The paradox of choice, in supermarkets and everywhere else, in our abundant, materialistic world. Vox, Oshan Jarow, 30 Jun 2023: Why scientists haven’t … Continue reading →

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Human History and World History: Two Perspectives

Posted on Sunday 2 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Carl Sagan on human history as “a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group” and how conservatives counter this; Peter Turchin about his theory of world history and how he identifies the US as a plutocracy. … Continue reading →

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Conceptions of Aging, and of Traveling

Posted on Wednesday 28 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The South Korean tradition of aging is giving way to the tradition of the rest of the world; The many ways traveling is problematic; And the idea of virtual traveling. Here’s a fascinating example of how different cultures think differently … Continue reading →

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Small-town values vs. Big-city values, and a Conservative Notion of the “Common Good”

Posted on Tuesday 13 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How big-city values, not small-town values, are better suited for governing the nation; Recalling Robert Reich’s take on urban vs. rural; Heather Cox Richardson on the potential end of a long Republican era; A review of a book by an … Continue reading →

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