Stories Mislead You About the Reality of the World

Posted on Sunday 20 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Crime on TV v crime in reality;
  • Conspiracy theories on TV v conspiracy theories in reality;
  • If stories mislead about reality, then what is science fiction about?
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I’ve mentioned before that my understanding is that there are more crimes depicted in movies and TV shows, especially the latter, than there are in real life, though I don’t have citations for relevant statistics. But here’s an item from today’s NYT Magazine that, offhandedly, supports the notion.

NY Times Magazine, John J. Lennon, 16 Jul 2025: Everyone’s Obsessed With True Crime. Even Prisoners Like Me., subtitled “As the genre has boomed on cable, the incarcerated have found themselves watching more and more of it.”

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Stories, Traditions, and Science

Posted on Saturday 19 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Why does MAGA hate science?
  • Why do right-wing folks think Democratic policies have failed?
  • And Paul Krugman on the top 10 political websites on Substack.
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A significant essay, for my concerns.

Salon, Kirk Swearingen, 19 Jul 2025: Why MAGA hates science so much, subtitled “Billionaires hate the rest of us — and Trump’s loyalists would rather suffer, even die, than face the truth”
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Only Certain People Count

Posted on Friday 18 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Today’s news about Stephen Colbert;
  • Conservatives have finally managed to cut funding to PBS and NPR;
  • David Brooks on Trump winning the race to the bottom;
  • Sure enough, EPA is firing hundreds of scientific experts;
  • Fareed Zakaria on how Obama deported more people than Trump, and why;
  • And the weird claim about Trump’s 90% approval rating.
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The big news today (aside from yesterday’s big news about Epstein) is about CBS announcing it will not renew the contract of Stephen Colbert when it expires next May.

The Atlantic, David A. Graham, 17 Jul 2025: Is Colbert’s Ouster Really Just a ‘Financial Decision’?, subtitled “CBS no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt.”

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Incompetence, Greed, or Sabotage?

Posted on Thursday 17 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Elizabeth Kolbert on the Texas floods and the administration’s undermining of climate research;
  • How the Trump administration wants to discourage wind and solar projects;
  • Recalling the Scopes trial, 100 years ago this month, and America’s continued antipathy toward science and long-term thinking;
  • Short items about Alligator Alcatraz and how to tell if someone is a criminal; and floating the execution of Trump foes;
  • And some personal reactions to The Bear episode about the wedding.
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I observe yet again that I don’t see much difference between the behavior of the current US administration and what the behavior of an outside agency would be, one bent on undermining, even sabotaging, critical government functions meant to secure Americans’ health and future and its status in the world.

The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert, 12 July 2025: Flash Floods and Climate Policy

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Is the universe friendly, or hostile?

Posted on Wednesday 16 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • David Wallace-Wells on the Epstein scandal, with items by Zack Beauchamp and Shawn McCreesh;
  • How simple-minded Trump characterizes his adversaries as “evil”;
  • How Trump’s economic agenda is driven by simple-minded lies and misunderstandings;
  • How the question “Is the world a friendly place” underlies the range of human nature that determines our politics;
  • And Robert Reich conducts a poll asking when Trump and his followers think American was “great”.
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NY Times, David Wallace-Wells, 16 Jul 2025: The Epstein Story Is Both Conspiracy Theory and Genuine Scandal [gift link]

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History and Change

Posted on Tuesday 15 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Trump keeps a trophy for himself;
  • Paul Krugman on why the Trump administration is killing science;
  • How MAGA needs stories in which they are the heroes;
  • Why Trump fans aren’t forgiving Trump about Epstein;
  • Heather Cox Richardson about Trump’s “mandate” vs. actual polls of Americans about immigration.
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First, I amended Harari item posted yesterday.

\

This seems to be the most popular story today, at least on social media.

The Daily Beast, 14 Jul 2025: Trump Kept Gold Club World Cup Trophy for Himself So FIFA Had to Give the Winners a Replica
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The problem with the world is not evil. It’s ignorance, and delusion.

Posted on Monday 14 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Two thoughts from Yuval Noah Harari today;
  • Ramez Naam on how AI models converge on “moderately left-libertarian political viewpoints”;
  • Another piece about how people should be held accountable for tragedies;
  • Heather Cox Richardson summaries the Epstein fiasco;
  • WaPo’s Philip Bump has another take;
  • Linda Greenhouse at NYT wonders how we are not standing up to “this venomous cruelty”;
  • Why Kristi Noem hates FEMA (it boils down to white supremacy, and conservatives’ extremely tight circles of moral concern, i.e. the poor and disadvantaged should be on their own);
  • To some GOP members, cruelty is required to show allegiance to the tribe.
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Today’s thoughts from Yuval Noah Harari, on Facebook.

First this:

Mythology takes human relationships and inflates them as if the whole universe works like our families. Continue reading →

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Responsibility, Certainty, and Doubt

Posted on Sunday 13 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Defunding weather science and disaster response to save money is like cancelling all your insurance policies to manage your household budget;
  • LAT: Robin Abcarian on the implausibilities of expecting Medicaid recipients to replace deported farmworkers;
  • NYT: Peter Baker on how Trump wants to reverse history by a century, and how this reflects conservative values;
  • And Salon: a psych prof on how certainty is toxic, and ambiguity should be embraced.
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This is like trimming the household budget by cancelling all your insurance policies. It’s irresponsible.

NY Times, 13 Jul 2025: Trump Is Gutting Weather Science and Reducing Disaster Response

Subtitled: “As a warming planet delivers more extreme weather, experts warn that the Trump administration is dismantling the government’s disaster capabilities.”
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No Necessary Nations

Posted on Saturday 12 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Stephan Marche on how there are no necessary nations, and no permanent global order;
  • Judges, appointed both by Republicans and Democrats, speak out against the Trump administration;
  • Heather Cox Richardson identifies one key failure in the Texas floods, the result of a Trump policy;
  • And NYT shows how FEMA answered fewer and fewer emergency calls, because of firings by the Trump administration, even *after* the floods happened;
  • How the new Superman movie is — like so much else — too “woke” for conservatives;
  • Similarly, how Charlie Kirk thinks *all* immigrants threaten his values.
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Quoted by The Week, Saturday Wrap, 12 July 2025.

Stephen Marche in The Guardian:

One of the great ironies of history is that the triumph of MAGA has led to the piecemeal destruction of everything that once made America great, and on every level. Its power derived from a reliable trade network, with logistical chains that were the wonders of the world, combined with a huge alliance network, and the greatest scientific and technological institutes in the world. It is systematically destroying all of those strengths far more thoroughly than any enemy could. The lesson the Americans once taught the British, they are teaching the rest of the world: There are no necessary nations. There are no permanent global orders.

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Two Takes on the Problem with Men

Posted on Friday 11 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly
  • David French and Jordan Peterson and competing theories about the problem with men;
  • About cuts to science research; do Republicans not understand investments in the future?;
  • A report about Lara Trump’s show on Fox News;
  • An essay by Tom Nichols about how Hollywood (and also books) have treated the idea of nuclear catastrophe;
  • And how the EPA has decided to respond to conspiracy theories about chemtrails.
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How does this relate to the item I posted on 19 Jun about the demographic shift to a preference for baby girls over baby boys?

NY Times, opinion by David French, 10 Jul 2025: What’s the Matter With Men? [gift link]

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