Monthly Archives: February 2026

Peace President Trump’s New War

Posted on Saturday 28 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Zack Beauchamp on how Trump’s Iran war makes no sense; Wondering how election interference would actually be done; How Trump repeatedly predicted Obama would attack Iran; Why some say the dropping birthrate is a good thing; An example from Dr. … Continue reading →

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Fearmongering and Gratuitous Cruelty

Posted on Friday 27 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

E.J. Dionne Jr. on Trump’s fearmongering; Gratuitous cruelty in Kansas: canceling the driver’s licenses of transgender people, immediately and without notice; Florida cuts off HIV meds access; White House edits video of US hockey star; Thoughtful piece by Ryan Burge … Continue reading →

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The MAHA Veil, Cruelty, and What Trump Supporters are Teaching their Children

Posted on Thursday 26 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

MAHA isn’t about health, it’s about making money off quack cures; Matthew Rozsa thinks Trump will lose in November because of one word: cruelty; John Pavlovitz spells out what Trump supporters are teaching their children, about diversity, compassion, women, and … Continue reading →

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SOTU last night

Posted on Wednesday 25 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Perspectives on last night’s State of the Union address; Followed by personal thoughts about ICE and why conservatives are especially concerned about crimes committed by immigrants. – – – We saw only a bit of the SOTU address last night, … Continue reading →

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Rutger Bregman: HUMANKIND

Posted on Wednesday 25 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “A Hopeful History” (2019 Dutch; 2020 Little, Brown, xviii+461pp, including 64pp acknowledgements, notes, and index) Still catching up posting about big books I’ve read in recent years. This book came out in 2020 (in the US) and I blogged … Continue reading →

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Does ICE need to come and track you down?

Posted on Tuesday 24 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Why Trump fears “woke,” why he loves the poorly-educated, and how advances in American history were due to “woke”; How he cares about discrimination only if it’s against Jews or whites; How his creepy emails work on the MAGA faithful; … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Human Progress, Psychology | Comments Off on Does ICE need to come and track you down?

Competence vs. Competition

Posted on Monday 23 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Olympics thoughts: zero-sum games; competence vs competition; Amanda Marcotte on the violence and propaganda from the DHS; Zack Beauchamp on how to stop a dictator: make the threat obvious; Tom Nichols on the Republican Party’s Nazi problem; Short items about … Continue reading →

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Another Take on the Left/Right Divide

Posted on Sunday 22 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Kalen Dion on the right/left divide: homogeneity/diversity, and all that implies; What do historians mean that tomorrow won’t be better than today? Because human nature; The modern economy and the limits of human cognition; Conservative values: the Biblical right to … Continue reading →

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Whatever They Can Get Away With

Posted on Friday 20 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Short items today Trump’s move to demolish greenhouse gas standards is based on a (admittedly technical) lie; America is experiencing a tourism slump (because… one guess); About Trump’s “cartoonish” monuments to himself; How Trump makes his own voters suffer; How … Continue reading →

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Does Western Civilization Depend on Christian Monotheism?

Posted on Thursday 19 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Challenging David Brooks, the retiring NYT columnist, and his idea of building a humanist culture, from Bruce Ledewitz and Robert Reich; Brooks’ problem, claims Ledewitz, is that Brooks can’t let go of religion; “the past collapsed for a reason”; And … Continue reading →

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