Monthly Archives: May 2025

Substack as the new Royal Society, vs MAGA waging war on the future

Will Substack be the Royal Society of the 21st century? While Trump and MAGA wage war on the future; Robert Reich on *why* Trump and his regime want to destroy every institution in America; And my running theme about the … Continue reading

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Taker States and Desi Arnaz

Thomas Edsall on the destructiveness of the Trump presidency; As the US discounts investments in the future, China is taking the lead; How Trump World clings to conspiracy theories; And how Trump folks simply stop enforcing rules they don’t like, … Continue reading

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The Daily News

The range of politics reflects the range of human nature; Posts without much comments about military tribunals, hacking the economy, Jeanine Pirro’s black and white worldview, how the Qatar jet deal is Biden’s fault, Paul Krugman on sadistic zombies, and … Continue reading

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GOP/conservatives and the Rich; and the Countryside; and Star Wars

The GOP tax bill will hurt lowest earners and help the rich (of course!); NYT’s Jamelle Bouie on Republican hypocrisy and the countryside; Trek v. Wars, and how Wars reveals conservatives’ authoritarian fantasies. – – – NY Times, Tony Romm, … Continue reading

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86 Hypocrisy, Our Puritan Legacy, and Belief in God

86 47, and 86 46; The GOP’s new anti-porn bill, and the US’s puritan legacy; Richard Dawkins on belief in god. – – – I almost thought this would be too trivial to mention, except that Heather leads last night’s … Continue reading

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Supreme Court, Christian Nationalists, Afrikaners

Amanda Marcotte on how the Supreme Court has been captured by far-right conspiracy theories; How the simplest explanation for what’s going on, on several fronts, is basic white supremacy; About Russell Vought; Trump’s morality and his rationale for accepting Afrikaner … Continue reading

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The Plane. George Saunders. Lying. And AI spam.

Will begin posting more about science fiction; see previous post; That Qatari plane is a white elephant they’ve been trying to dump for years; A piece by the novelist George Saunders about the firing of the head of the Library … Continue reading

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John Scalzi, WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE

(Tor, March 2025, 323pp) John Scalzi is one of the most popular of current science fiction writers, even as he’s not regarded, I think, as a *serious* sf writer by the critics or even readers. He’s entertaining, often humorous or … Continue reading

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Current Politics as Reflections of Human Nature

My daily routine; How Trump would be king and end the rule of law in America, and how this is understandable given base human nature; Paul Krugman on the existential threat of climate change, that conservatives deny or simply do … Continue reading

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We’re Living in an Age of Regression

In Trump’s America, it’s every parent and child out for themselves; Who decides who’s Christian? The government? Fox News says the Qatari bribe to Trump is fine because FDR gave three planes to the Saudis… 80 years ago; Robert Reich … Continue reading

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