LQCs: Gun Ideology, Immune from Evidence; Real Kids vs. Imaginary Kids

Posted on 25 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

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LQCs: Children, Guns, and Religion

Posted on 24 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

From NYT Letters, printed 21 May 2022:

To the Editor:

The Republican checklist after a mass shooting:

Thoughts and prayers: Check.
This is not the time: Check.
Let’s not politicize: Check.
Guns are not the problem: Check.
Just enforce the laws we have: Check.
More mental health care: Check.
(Repeat.)

Jon Merritt
Los Angeles

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Declinists and Decadence: TV/Movies? Science Fiction?

Posted on 23 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Quillette, Kevin Mims, 20 May 2022: Undiminished by Decadence

Subtitle: “I grew up in the 1960s and ’70s and I’m happy to report that, for the most part, television and mainstream cinema today are orders of magnitude better than they were in my salad days.”

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LQCs: Polarization; Grooming; Sacrifice; Documentary

Posted on 22 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

My partner had never seen this movie, so we began it last night and will finish tonight.

Meanwhile, this week’s issue of The Week has a nice summary, on its “Best columns: The U.S.” page, of this Washington Post opinion piece…

Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria, 5 May 2022: The abortion battle may be the precursor to even larger struggles.

The Week‘s headline is more pertinent: “Why the U.S. is so polarized.”

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Vangelis, part 3

Posted on 21 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

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Vangelis RIP, part 2

Posted on 20 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

A few more thoughts today, about Vangelis’ music.
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Vangelis RIP, post 1

Posted on 19 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

NPR, 19 May 2022: Vangelis, famed film composer and synth pioneer, dead at 79

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Musings: The Sky; Living in History

Posted on 18 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

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LQCs: Moral Collapse, the Paranoid Style, Deflection

Posted on 17 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

(With an endpiece.)

Paul Krugman is back from vacation.

NYT, Paul Krugman, 16 May 2022: From Voodoo to MAGA to Buffalo

I never thought I’d say this, but I miss voodoo economics.
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LQCs: Fringe Conspiracy Theories Becoming Mainstream; Duplicity; Sharpening of Focus

Posted on 16 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT, 15 May 2022: A Fringe Conspiracy Theory, Fostered Online, Is Refashioned by the G.O.P., subtitled, “Replacement theory, espoused by the suspect in the Buffalo massacre, has been embraced by some right-wing politicians and commentators.”

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