Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Links and Comments 12 April 21

Posted on 12 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Anti-vaxxers and Stop the Steal; Historical animus against Italians, and Irish; Racial replacement theory; Conservatives against democracy.

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Passages: How the World Works

Posted on 12 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

My favorite news magazine, The Week, is celebrating 20 years of publication with its current April 16th issue, which has retrospectives of cover images, editorial essays, and so on. Here’s one of the latter, by editor-in-chief William Falk.

Posted in Politics, Psychology, Quotes | Leave a comment

Links and Comments: Muon news

Posted on 8 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s pronounced mew-on, not moo-on, I learned today.

Posted in Physics, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Muon news

Links and Comments, 6 April 2021: Sciencey Things

Posted on 6 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

When life began in the universe; how or whether civilizations die; why people like closed-captioning

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Links and Comments: The Decline of US Church Membership

Posted on 2 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

When I posted my notes about Michael Shermer’s book How We Believe, I noted that one of his principle observations was how, writing in 2000 or 1999, levels of religious belief hadn’t changed much since the 1960s, the era in … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Owning Libs and Tyrannical Government Plots

Posted on 1 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Republican values and principles; enduring human nature.

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Link and Comments: Ted Chiang interview

Posted on 1 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Ted Chiang is a science fiction writer who since 1990 has published a couple dozen works of short fiction (and no novel), gathered in just two books: Stories of Your Life and Others (2002), and Exhalation (2019). I’m certain he … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: About Gun Violence

Posted on 29 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m narrowing in on a Provisional Conclusion that most people live their daily lives without any perspective or context about what happens in the outer world. (And, for many issues, that’s just fine. But not for all issues.) Thus, Americans … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Religious Matters, 27Mar21:

Posted on 27 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne on David Brooks; Nicholas Kristof on progressive Christians; Evangelicals’ false doctrine.

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The Most Beautiful Music in the World: Mahler s5m2

Posted on 26 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s a passage of just over a minute, beginning at 17:50 of this Claudio Abbado performance of Mahler’s 5th symphony, and about four minutes into the second movement. It’s as if the world stops, ponders, and reflects. Then re-emerges, confidant. … Continue reading →

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