Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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» Previous Views from Medina Road (2010-2013)
» Blogspot Views from Medina Road (2003-2010)-
Recent Posts
- Six Seven and Human Nature
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 5
- Status on a Gloomy Day; Why Anyone Should Care
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 4
- MAGA Doesn’t Understand What Makes America Great
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 3
- Conservative Principles vs. Reality
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 2
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 1
- Intentional Ignorance
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Meta
Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly
How history, and current events, become approved stories
Humans live by stories: comparing the story of Jesus to the story of the stolen 2020 election; Short items about Cracker Barrel; RFK Jr the vax quack; how women are not people; erasing the existence of gay people from public … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, History, Narrative, Politics
Comments Off on How history, and current events, become approved stories
Are There Any “Good Republicans” Left?
Why there seem to be no good Republican politicians; How happy Republicans are to cut benefits to the poor; How Texas is pushing Christianity on public schools; Scientists denounce the administration’s climate report, full of errors and cherry-picked data, that … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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LA Weekend Trip, and Certain Types of Principles
We drove from Oakland to LA (Santa Monica area) Friday, and returned home today, avoiding all the predicted holiday weekend traffic by leaving early each time, around 9am. We celebrated my birthday and my partner saw his new granddaughter for … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, Personal history
Comments Off on LA Weekend Trip, and Certain Types of Principles
Greed, and Heaven
Thom Hartmann on the motivation of Republicans: Greed; Brief items about Trump as dictator; why Trump talks about heaven; Robert Reich on how to respond to Trump’s lies about “crime wave” (point out Trump’s violations); the suspended postal shipments to … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Human Nature
Comments Off on Greed, and Heaven
The Disappearance of Linus
Distracted the past couple days by the disappearance of Linus. I mentioned this on Facebook last night. Maybe he’ll come back. Click for much larger image. I posted this on Facebook, yesterday the 26th. Our beloved Linus, who appeared exactly … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Human Nature, Politics, Psychology
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Conservative Motivations and Magical Thinking
Recalling how conservative motivations echo Hutson’s 7 laws of magical thinking; Examples of banning flag burning, removing the rainbow crosswalk in Orland, and French Gallic culture; Hemant Mehta examines why the Jehovah’s Witnesses have relaxed their prohibition against higher education; … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Music, Politics, Psychology
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Frightened Conservatives’ Paranoid Fantasies
Tribal thinking: Jan 6 rioters: good, pardoned; prosecutors following law and order: bad, fired; Troops for Chicago, New York, Baltimore? It’s the revolt of the rubes; With a US map showing the concentrations of blue and red; How Gavin Newsom … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics
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Working Definitions, and Examples
Reviewing basic definitions of evil, sin, morality, woke, and fake news, with examples: The Trump admin and MAGA would like to take over all the big cities; How the far-right agenda is entering the mainstream; Do Republicans actually believe in … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Politics, Religion
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Secular Values, and Reality as Evil
Two thematic follow-ups to yesterday’s post. OnlySky, Bruce Ledewitz, 20 Aug 2025: Can people thrive in a secular society?, subtitled “Are secular values the cause of our malaise?” Yesterday’s post extended a theme on this blog concerning a range or … Continue reading
Posted in Cosmology, Meaning, Philosophy, Physics, Science
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Everything Old and Simple; Conservatives, the Conceptual Ceiling, and Cognitive Dissonance
Conceptual ceiling and conservatives; Thoughts about how humanity might survive, via deliberate cognitive dissonance: “One mindset to maintain the tribe and ensure near-term survival; another to solve problems that threaten long-term survival.” Which one is right? Both are, in different … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
Comments Off on Everything Old and Simple; Conservatives, the Conceptual Ceiling, and Cognitive Dissonance
