Monthly Archives: March 2026

Grasping Reality, or Not

Posted on Tuesday 31 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Reich on how Trump thinks he’s winning, but isn’t; Matt Gaetz thinks the US Army is engaging in an alien hybrid breeding program; How some pardoned Jan. 6th rioters have engaged in crime sprees; Paul Krugman wonders why Trump’s … Continue reading →

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Education Conservative Style: Robots

Posted on Monday 30 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Conservative ideas of education: replace teachers with robots; Takes on Stephen Miller, white supremacists, Trump voters, college Republicans, taking away the car keys, and Pete Hegseth by Tom Nichols and Paul Krugman; Radiohead: “I Might Be Wrong” – – – … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: Red Planet Mars

Posted on Sunday 29 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Now we come to one of the strangest SF movies of the early 1950s, and ultimately the most risible. This is a 1952 movie about an American astronomer — played by Peter Graves, later of Mission: Impossible and Airplane fame … Continue reading →

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Cognitive Health and Reading

Posted on Sunday 29 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Cultural norms changed about exercise, and maybe they can change to address the harms of social media — by reading more; How the faithful grasp at straws to find societal reassurance; More about JD Vance and demons; How the government … Continue reading →

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David Brin, THE TRANSPARENT SOCIETY

Posted on Saturday 28 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? (Addison Wesley, April 1998, 378pp, including 42pp of notes, follow-up, acknowledgements, index, and about the author.) Here is a book that has sat my shelves for over a quarter … Continue reading →

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Again, No Kings

Posted on Saturday 28 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Noting the rallies held today, bigger than those last time; Pieces today about how MAGA is entering the ‘acceptance’ stage of death, and how there’s no way to redeem Trump’s dismal second presidency; Who are the 100 million people Bovino … Continue reading →

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Reading and Introspection

Posted on Friday 27 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Assessing American literacy, and the claim that being able to read a New York Times article puts you into the “hyper-literate educated elite”; How Trump doesn’t read, at all. How powerful tech oligarchs think introspection is dumb; The new homophobia … Continue reading →

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What Is American Exceptionalism, Really?

Posted on Thursday 26 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Lydia Polgreen on how the problem isn’t Trump, it’s America; David French wonders if America is so rich, why are Americans so miserable? Faith that climate change isn’t real; Short items: that classic poll against Arabic numerals; how people who … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: Invaders from Mars

Posted on Wednesday 25 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a 1953 film that holds special significance for me since it was likely the first science fiction movie I ever saw, even if I saw it only in part at the time, which would be 1965 or 1966. … Continue reading →

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Can I? Must I?

Posted on Wednesday 25 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

RFK Jr. illustrates the hypocritical standards of conservative motivated thinking: “Can I believe it?” (one example is fine) vs. “Must I believe it?” (no amount of evidence will do); David Brin ridicules NASA’s new plan to build a Lunar base; … Continue reading →

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