Category Archives: History

Wrecking Crews and Historical Cycles

Posted on Wednesday 27 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Once again, considering current politics as the ways human nature plays out. Today’s topics: Efforts in several states to replace general education with Christian education; The reality of the “deep state,” and how they plan to survive Trump and MAGA; … Continue reading →

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This Much is Reality… and This Much is Fantasy

Posted on Saturday 23 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Silverberg on reality vs. fantasy; It wasn’t a landslide, thus not a mandate; OnlySky: why is fascism rising? OnlySky: how knowledge endures or disappears. Here’s a passage from a key science fiction story that addresses the nature of reality, in … Continue reading →

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Regression Toward the Tribal

Posted on Saturday 14 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Let’s see now. Here we are in the 21st century. In the past 500 years humankind has shown remarkable progress on two parallel fronts. Along governance: no longer was the divine right of kings (or tribal leaders) recognized; rather, principles … Continue reading →

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Borders and the Fringe

Posted on Tuesday 3 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

A speculation by Adam Lee about what will happen when we give up national borders; Items from the fringe about Trump’s three rules; Musk’s preference for high status males; Christian nonsense about evolution; simply lying about the Arlington story; and … Continue reading →

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Inherent Ignorance; Juneteenth; Republican schemes about tariffs.

Posted on Wednesday 19 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Another three tracks for today. Are some people so ignorant that they believe the creation of the world (and the US) happened 2023 years ago? An example from Facebook. How Juneteenth suggests considering the relationship between MAGA and the Old … Continue reading →

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Living By Stories, Not Reality, Part 2

Posted on Tuesday 21 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

A New Yorker review of a new book about human origins; Robert Reich on how Americans don’t understand the reality of Trump and Biden; Short items about the Pope, and fundamentalists beliefs in the evil nature of human beings; how … Continue reading →

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Keeping Things In Perspective

Posted on Wednesday 15 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How Biden is less unpopular than leaders of other major nations; How 17% of voters blame Biden for the end of Roe (that is, many voters are not paying attention); and how I think many voters select a presidential candidate … Continue reading →

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A Table of Moral Polarities, Initial Take

Posted on Saturday 11 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve been making notes over the past month for a table of moral polarities, in order to align and summarize some of the concepts and the many news examples I’ve compiled lately. Recall how I’ve mentioned that certain attitudes, especially … Continue reading →

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Illiberalism, and the Wood Age

Posted on Sunday 5 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

“Illiberalism” and its history in the US; How perhaps the “Stone Age” is perhaps better described as the “Wood Age” — how science can update stale conclusions; How some “smart people” hold noxious conspiracy theories too; Kristi Noem would have … Continue reading →

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Yuval Noah Harari, UNSTOPPABLE US, Vol. 2

Posted on Thursday 4 April 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “Why the World Isn’t Fair.” (Bright Matter Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House; March 2024. xv + 189pp. With copious illustrations by Ricard Zaplana Ruiz.) This is the second volume in … Continue reading →

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