Monthly Archives: August 2023

Three More About Vivek

Posted on 31 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m preoccupied with setting up my new laptop — which has no CD/DVD drive for installing old software ! — but will post two or three more pieces about Vivek. Promise to move on to something else tomorrow. Robert Reich … Continue reading →

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Vivek Ramaswamy as Prototypical Republican Candidate

Posted on 30 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Vox’s Andrew Prokop on how Vivek would “simply just solve American’s tough problems”; NYT’s Michelle Goldeberg on why that some people find Vivek insufferable is exactly why his fans are drawn to him; WaPo’s Paul Waldman on how Republicans are … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Politics, The Gays | Leave a comment

Computer, Glasses, Theories

Posted on 29 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

My new laptop; My new glasses; The populist vs. scientific ideas of “theory”. I ordered a new laptop from Costco, and it arrived today about 4pm, and I’ve spent an hour getting it up and running. My old laptop has … Continue reading →

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A New Book About Humanity’s Future, and Meaning

Posted on 28 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Cautiously considering the new book by Marcelo Gleiser, which seeks meaning where I think none exists; Items about Mike Pence’s Biblical cherry-picking, how Tennessee is the “worst state for voting rights,” and two takes on Vivek Ramaswamy: “spouting nonsense” and … Continue reading →

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Items about the 20% and the 1%

Posted on 27 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Vivek Ramaswamy’s simplistic 10 “truths” includes one about the primacy of the nuclear family (compare my post two days ago); E.J. Dionne Jr. about how Republicans are focused on three different “yesterdays,” all since the 1980s, and not the future; … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Religion | Leave a comment

The Outsized Perception of the Danger of Minority Cults

Posted on 26 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two pieces for today. A Salon essay that suggests that the “mainstream media” has a far wider effect on the US population than the fringe, Trump/Fox-supporting media, than most of us realize (and how that’s a good thing); and how … Continue reading →

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The Obsolete Ideal of the Nuclear Family?

Posted on 26 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two pieces about how the idealistic nuclear family beloved by conservatives has been an aberration in human history and is perhaps no longer suited for the modern world; Pondering the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and Cain and Abel; Items about Trump and … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Leave a comment

Commentaries about Last Night’s Republican Debate

Posted on 24 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Various reactions to the Republican debate, with its themes of science denial, and lying to a base that feeds on lies; Robert Reich on Republicans’ denial of climate change. I watched bits of it. I’m relying on the commentaries published … Continue reading →

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Freedom, Liberty, and Religion

Posted on 23 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Liberty and freedom, vs. conformity to religion; More on how some Christians now think Jesus was too “woke”; How Republicans politicians lie, because it works: their “distorted reality insulates right-wing media consumers from contradictions and challenges to their beliefs”; And … Continue reading →

Posted in Morality, Religion | Leave a comment

Explaining Trump and his Followers; Conservatives’ Lies about Heartstopper

Posted on 22 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two kinds of boomers, and the naivete of older people about how social media works; Why Republican voters believe Trump — it’s all about their feelings of victimhood; An example of how pearl-clutching conservatives lie about Heartstopper. Not one but … Continue reading →

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