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)
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- The Most Sublime Moment in Classical Music
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- The Future is Coal Mining? Really?
- And Now We Have Linus
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- Perhaps Humanity Has Hit a Conceptual Ceiling
- “An arbitrary, corrupt, mendacious, and utterly incompetent king”
- We’re Becoming an Authoritarian, Theocratic, Police State
- In a Sense, It’s All About Tribal Conformity
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Meta
Category Archives: Science
Feeding Voters a Fantasy World
The most alarming thing I’ve learned in the past decade is how so many ordinary people are not smart, not well-educated, are susceptible to political ideology and religious zealotry, and are driven by ideology and zealotry to try to take … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, History, Politics, Science
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Climate Change, Culture, the Economy, and Real Americans
Paul Krugman on climate change as a culture war issue; Florida censors come after Shakespeare, and educators flee the state; Robert Reich is confidant that Biden will get credit for an economy “that’s better off than it’s been in decades”; … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Psychology, Science
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Saturday Updates
More from NY Times on Republican plans to let climate change wreck the planet; Updates on stories about DeSantis slitting throats and A.P. Psychology in Florida; Another story about a Republican claiming credit for a Biden initiative that he fought; … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Science
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Sagan & Druyan: Propensities and Predispositions
A couple hours ago I finished that Carl Sagan/Ann Druyan book I mentioned a couple days ago, and it’s remarkable how its conclusions resemble my own recent observations about how certain forms of human morality align to conservative politics, and … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Conservative Resistance, Evolution, Human Progress, Quote at Length, Science
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More on the Latest Indictment
Goofy Republican responses to the latest indictment, about Federal employees, and to the teaching of psychology; The spectacle goes on and on, as the US experiences what some are saying is the most important legal indictment in its history: John … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Science
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My Uninterest in UFOs
No, I don’t mean disinterest. I’ve mentioned before that people who are unfamiliar with science fiction, or with science fiction writers and fans, tend to assume that SF folks are credulous along the lines of “believing” in UFOs, where “believing” … Continue reading
Posted in Psychology, Science
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Horror and Exasperation
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
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Science
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Gays, Small Towns, Climate Change Backlash
The increased visibility of L.G.B.T.Q. people as a sign of progress in a multicultural global society; Versus the sentiments of a country song called “Try That in a Small Town”; And global backlash against climate change policies as an indictment … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Science, Social Progress
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Three Philosophical/Scientific Matters
I’m spending most of today’s blog hour doing some housekeeping on the blog itself. For today’s post, just one item, sorta deep, sorta light. Big Think, Scotty Hendricks, 18 Jul 2023: 3 advances in philosophy that made science better, subtitled … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science, Website Issues
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Scientific Reality and Ideological Imagination
Reality check about warp drives; Reality perspective about the Kardashev ladder; My evolving ideas about traditional vs. honest science fiction; How the latest conservative panic appears in the new film Sound of Freedom; How House Republicans are openly discriminating against … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Music, Science, science fiction
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