Category Archives: Politics

Musk, History, Science, Education

Posted on Monday 14 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Grant on the wrong lesson to take from Elon Musk; David Remnick on the conservative urge to rewrite the past in simplistic terms; RFK Jr.’s contempt of science; And the conservative war against education. – – – Adam Grant … Continue reading →

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Perhaps Humanity Has Hit a Conceptual Ceiling

Posted on Sunday 13 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Alternate title: America was supposed to be better than this. Perhaps MAGA is about making America *simpler* again; perhaps what we’re seeing is a rejection of the complexity of the modern world; Why is it Americans love watching crime shows? … Continue reading →

Posted in authoritarianism, Human Progress, Politics, Religion, science fiction | Leave a comment

We’re Becoming an Authoritarian, Theocratic, Police State

Posted on Friday 11 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Anne Applebaum on why dictatorships fail; David Brooks on how Americans can’t think anymore; Amanda Marcotte on Elon Musk’s and MAGA’s misogyny, via their war on empathy; Morons: A GOP Rep about how climate change is a sham because God … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Human Nature, Politics, Religion | Leave a comment

In a Sense, It’s All About Tribal Conformity

Posted on Thursday 10 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s deep thought about religion and conformity; How US scientists have withdrawn their names from a scientific paper about evolution, for fear of reprisal — one of them coincidentally mentioned in a piece posted yesterday; Short items about Trump’s lapel … Continue reading →

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Is There a Big Picture to Make Sense of All This?

Posted on Tuesday 8 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Lee on our current age of “stupidity” and whether or not the stupid can bring down society; The commentariat: Catherine Rampell on the naked Trump; Robert Reich on Trump’s “national emergencies”; Paul Krugman on Trump’s war on American greatness; … Continue reading →

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About Yesterday’s Protests

Posted on Sunday 6 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Against Trump and Musk; Anti-DEI is whitewashing the history of the Underground Railroad; Jill Lepore on Elon Musk and his retro ideas; A Vox piece about astrology that panders to believers; And about Brandolini’s Law, in which debunking misinformation takes … Continue reading →

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Unstable Moron, and His Fans

Posted on Friday 4 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Heather Cox Richardson on reactions to Trump’s tariffs, including Canada’s reaction and how Republicans hope this will somehow all work out; Jonathan Chait on how Trump has already botched his plan by suggested he might negotiate; Aside about my motivation … Continue reading →

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“Liberation Day”

Posted on Thursday 3 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s “Liberation Day” of tariffs for virtually every country around the world — except for Russia! — might well wreck both America’s, and the world’s, economy; With Paul Krugman’s expose of their “formula”; A reminder from Robert Reich, from 2018, … Continue reading →

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This is how these things happen

Posted on Wednesday 2 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT’s M. Gessen on how the police state has arrived; A WaPo reporter goes looking for the “corrosive ideology” Trump thinks is in the Smithsonian; The next Project 2025 goal is to restore the ideal heterosexual family, and diminish everyone … Continue reading →

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A Post-Pandemic Malaise?

Posted on Tuesday 1 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Thoughts about whether the pandemic has led to autocracy around the world; How that, and inequality, have left Americans in a sour economic mood; A graphic illustrating how those who want to privatize everything think everything is about making money; … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Human Nature, Politics | Comments Off on A Post-Pandemic Malaise?