Category Archives: Politics

Stuart Brand Quote: The Only News

Posted on Saturday 11 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

A thought against the daily onslaught of political news (never mind the weather, local crime, and traffic accidents that comprise the everyday local TV news) — in the big picture of human history (and progress), almost none of that matters; … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Science | Comments Off on Stuart Brand Quote: The Only News

Links and Comments: Radiohead; Originalism; Principia; Trump brain rot; Homeschooling; Art v Religion

Posted on Tuesday 7 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on links saved over the past week or so. Vox: Radiohead and sadness: a data analysis. Fascinating. \\\ Vox: Judicial originalism as myth It’s always struck me that Judicial originalism — the idea that nothing can be inferred … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Music, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Radiohead; Originalism; Principia; Trump brain rot; Homeschooling; Art v Religion

Fake News, Alternative Facts, and Fundamentalist Christianity

Posted on Friday 3 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Some ten weeks ago, and about a month after the election, I made the observation (in this post) that many, perhaps most people live in a kind of “post-fact” or “alternative fact” (that term came later) reality, by virtue of … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics | Comments Off on Fake News, Alternative Facts, and Fundamentalist Christianity

Freedom of Media and Partisan Divide

Posted on Tuesday 21 February 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

From the opening essay in the March issue of Harper’s, Tyranny of the Minority by Rebecca Solnit. It’s about Repubican efforts to disenfranchise people unlikely to vote Republican, with this interesting aside: In 1987, for example, Republican appointees eliminated the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics | Comments Off on Freedom of Media and Partisan Divide

Our New Post-Fact World

Posted on Tuesday 13 December 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Again, I’m having trouble getting back up to speed on this blog, partly a matter of resuming a routine that was interrupted by our big European trip in October, but mostly a matter of the election results and the bizarre, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Provisional Conclusions | Comments Off on Our New Post-Fact World

The Election

Posted on Wednesday 9 November 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

I have a huge backlog of links to link and comment upon, considering I haven’t done so in over a month, but for tonight I will confine myself to the two best essay reactions to the election of Donald Trump … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Comments Off on The Election

Links and Comments: Academia, Creationists, Christians and Trump, Plait on the GOP, Evil, Victims

Posted on Tuesday 5 July 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

From Slate, more on the theme of Why Are There So Few Conservatives in Academia? There are three big reasons that conservatives are hard to find in university faculties: intellectual consistency, anti-science trends by conservatives, and social pressure. On the … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Morality, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Academia, Creationists, Christians and Trump, Plait on the GOP, Evil, Victims

Links and Comments: Innovation, Optimism, Conspiracy Theories, and Liberals

Posted on Thursday 26 May 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Four items from the New York Times, Sunday before last. Neil Irwin: What Was the Greatest Era for Innovation? A Brief Guided Tour. What strikes me about this is not so much which era was greatest, as how much things … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Human Progress, Politics | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Innovation, Optimism, Conspiracy Theories, and Liberals

Links and Comments: Trump; Democrats v Republicans; American exceptionalism; government regulations

Posted on Saturday 19 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

As Donald Trump seems to be on the path to claiming the Republican nomination for president, Republicans who are appalled by him are increasingly expressing misgivings. Salon has this fascinating article about how some Republican pundits admit that the crude … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Politics, Religion, Social Progress | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Trump; Democrats v Republicans; American exceptionalism; government regulations

Links and Comments: Trump; Magic; Scalia and science; Cruz; God of the gaps

Posted on Sunday 13 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Partly because I’ve had a cold, or a couple different colds, for much of the past month, I’m behind on links and comments. So relatively briefly, here’s what I’ve collected. In reverse order, from most recent date. \\ Slate: “How … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Politics, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Trump; Magic; Scalia and science; Cruz; God of the gaps