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)
» Blogspot Views from Medina Road (2003-2010)-
Recent Posts
- Lakoff on “Privateering,” and the Consequences of Shrinking the Government
- Cynics, Conspiracies, and the Oligarchy
- Jonathan Haidt, THE ANXIOUS GENERATION
- Competence Is Beside the Point
- MAGA Delusions About Health
- Zack Beauchamp, THE REACTIONARY SPIRIT
- Human Nature and Existential Crises
- The California Fires and What They Reveal
- Clearly, We’re Seeing an Infestation of Alien Mind Parasites
- Bill Adair, BEYOND THE BIG LIE
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Meta
Category Archives: Music
Planets, Scientific Certainty and Placebos, and Peter Gabriel
Phil Plait on the history of planetary discovery, since 1992; Flossing and the quest for scientific certainty; How placebos sometimes work; Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street”. – – – Good summary of the past thirty years’ discoveries of new planets. Phil … Continue reading
More Items from Recent Weeks…
Hemant Mehta’s summary of the “Project 2025” plan by conservatives to turn the nation into a Christian theocracy; The trend in the US of the nonreligious; How drug use doesn’t cause homeless; it’s usually the other way around; and conservative … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Music, Politics, Religion
Comments Off on More Items from Recent Weeks…
Evens and Beginnings
Veritasium on cognitive ease; How the world views the US’s disarray (due invariably to Republicans); How a century ago in France, smelling bad was a good thing; how standards about hygiene have changed; Two WaPo pieces about the decline of … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Politics, Psychology, Religion
Comments Off on Evens and Beginnings
MAGAs and Ukraine; Trust in Science
Paul Krugman on why MAGA supports Putin rather than Ukraine; An essay on why Americans increasingly distrust science; And in tribute the late Larry Kramer, the greatest track I heard when he introduced me to the rock band U2. NY … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Music, Science
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False Equivalencies, and Books That Cannot Exist
Items today: Biden is old, but sane, while Trump is nuts; Headlines about faith, book banning, and the Biden impeachment; On the street push back from Fox News’ claims that big cities are hellholes; What Trump means by “his people”; … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Music, Politics, Psychology
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Scales of the Universe
The 13 scales that define our physical universe; A video that maps the Milky Way onto the United States, where on that scale our sun would fit between the ridges of a fingerprint; Recalling again the famous Powers of Ten … Continue reading
Why I Hate Pop Concerts
Today’s lead article is about those of us who dislike attending pop concerts, even of singers and bands we otherwise admire and adore; Then, about PragerU; the “lost boys” on the American Right; and Lukianoff & Haidt’s book about Coddling, … Continue reading
The Slow Death of Lawns in Deserts
Major item today about the slow death of lawns in deserts, especially in the US southwest; Then a few quick items, about the decline of Christianity, and Scientology’s psychological torture; And a musical piece by Ludovico Einaudi. – – – … Continue reading
More About Who’s to Blame for Trump
A Slate writer responds to NYT’s David Brooks about how the “elites” are to blame for Trump culture; A David Brin post; Some quick links with comments… Phil Plait on seeing the Milky Way; And George Michael’s “You Have Been … Continue reading
Doomscrolling Climate Change; and Small Towns
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
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Music
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