Monthly Archives: May 2026

UFOs, Consciousness, Being Savvy

Adam Frank on the new UFO data; Thoughts about being savvy, and reality-literacy, and the lack of evidence for both UFOs and God; Carlo Rovelli denies there is a “hard problem” of consciousness. – – – One more about the … Continue reading

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AI, UFOs, Tradwives

Two pieces on Richard Dawkins, AI, and Clarke’s first law; Items on the new UFO files being released by the government; Two items about tradwives; Items debunking the so-called religious revival, Trump claiming hantavirus is “very much under control,” and … Continue reading

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Sean Carroll on Science and Religion, and Templeton

Sean Carroll on science and religion, and why he doesn’t take money from the Templeton Foundation; Short items on how the Trump administration cutting funding to study the hantavirus, the one now loose on that cruise ship; more blaming Satan … Continue reading

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Rutger Bregman: MORAL AMBITION

Subtitled: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference (2024 in Dutch; Little, Brown, 2025, 285pp, including 53pp of Thanks, Notes, and Index) Here’s the third book by Rutger Bregman, a Dutch historian and thinker. First was UTOPIA FOR … Continue reading

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Neil deGrasse Tyson, Paul Krugman, Jesse Bering

Neil deGrasse Tyson on aliens, and his new book; Paul Krugman explains how MAGA will kill many Americans; Jesse Bering on karma; And short items about Trump’s health, aliens, the ballroom, the upcoming cage match, and “low T”. – – … Continue reading

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Dealing with Inevitable Change

How to deal with long-term population decline; Astrology, sigh; A Christian phone network to block reality; Long essay about how Paul, not Jesus, founded Christianity, as many of us already understand; Short items about Republican censorship, lies, the tests for … Continue reading

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Humanity and Heartbreak?

A new version of Lord of the Flies, which I think I might watch; The idea of peer review, and my professional background; Cory on Rebecca; What religious tribalists mean by “going against the grain”. – – – I’ve read … Continue reading

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What Education Is For; the End of Rational Discourse

The obvious reason conservatives are under-represented in universities; Adam Kirsch on Jürgen Habermas and the weightlessness of online existence; Conservatives’ double standard on speech about Trump and speech about everyone else; Short items on the popularity of “true-crime,” how Trump’s … Continue reading

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Michael Shermer: TRUTH

Subtitled “What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still Matters” (John Hopkins University Press, Jan. 2026, 370pp, including 50pp of acknowledgments, notes, and index) The title of this latest book by Michael Shermer, following CONSPIRACY (2022) (reviewed … Continue reading

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Anthropology as another perspective on the world

How anthropology informs an understanding of the world; Short items on Trump’s latest science purge, defenses of white supremacy, Trump’s lie about the some YMCA, and Trump’s sons getting rich off government contracts – – – Well, to the degree … Continue reading

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