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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Meta
Monthly Archives: October 2023
Sapolsky’s New Book and the Idea of Free Will
Five items about Robert M. Sapolsky and his new book, Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will. Which I haven’t read yet. —— Robert M. Sapolsky, who published a big meaty book six years ago called Behave: The … Continue reading
Posted in Physics, Psychology
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Politics and Education
Two items about Jim Jordan; Two items about education. —— A couple more items about Jim Jordan (currently still trying to get elected to Speaker of the House). Salon, Amanda Marcotte, 19 Oct 2023: Jim Jordan’s curious rise: A tale … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Education
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Checking in on the Wackadoodles
Several items about Jim Jordan; How the Bible disproves climate change; how people in wheelchairs lack faith in God; how Trump claims (falsely) that flypaper is illegal because cruelty to animals; how tap water is birth control; More seriously: Items … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Politics
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San Francisco, according to The New Yorker
A long New Yorker essay about San Francisco, which acknowledges the minuses and the plusses; An ethereal track by Enya: “Exile”. – – – Another piece about San Francisco, a long piece in The New Yorker. Reading it now. Is … Continue reading
Posted in Bay Area, conservatives, Music
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UBI, Shopping, and San Francisco
Another take on the idea of “universal basic income”; About conservative supermarket shopping habits; San Francisco’s ranking among world cities. Another take on the idea of “universal basic income,” the counter-intuitive (and anathema to conservatives) notion than the government simply … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Culture, Economics
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Homosexuality Among Mammals, and Human Families
Several pieces about a recent study that suggests homosexuality evolved among mammalian species to reduce conflict “intrasexual violence”; A review of a book about the nuclear family, which the reviewer suggests doesn’t take alternatives into account. – – – … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Social Progress, The Gays
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Heather Cox Richardson, Book Bans, and Libraries
Profile of Heather Cox Richardson, and a review of her new book; Several items on book bans in the US; And an item about all the threats to US libraries, not just book bans. – – – Profile of Heather … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, History
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Human Extinction and Climate Change
Émile P. Torres at Salon on the history of ideas about human extinction; The latest data on climate change is scary; September was the hottest month ever. Peter Gabriel’s “I Grieve”. – – – The scary thing is that … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Music, Science, Species Reset
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Current Events and Religion
Adam Lee on Israel vs. Hamas, with a series of “yes, but”s, and how religion makes peace impossible; Phil Zuckerman calls for the end of Zionism; With my careful comments about the reasons Americans support Israel; Hemant Mehta on how … Continue reading
Posted in Morality, Politics, Religion
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Planets, Scientific Certainty and Placebos, and Peter Gabriel
Phil Plait on the history of planetary discovery, since 1992; Flossing and the quest for scientific certainty; How placebos sometimes work; Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street”. – – – Good summary of the past thirty years’ discoveries of new planets. Phil … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Music, Science
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