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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Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly
Short-Term Thinking As the Problem, As I’ve Been Saying
Ben Rhodes at NYT on the perils of short-term thinking; A Facebook comment about intellectual loneliness; And how Trump is lying about crime in DC in order to, what? distract from the Epstein crisis? Or show random totalitarian power? – … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Politics, Psychology
Comments Off on Short-Term Thinking As the Problem, As I’ve Been Saying
Nevil Shute: ON THE BEACH
(First published 1957. Edition here: Vintage International, trade paperback, February 2010, 312pp) And here’s the next in a group of apocalyptic novels I read in June, following Butler’s PARABLE OF THE SOWER and Frank’s ALAS, BABYLON (review review here.) This is … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, science fiction
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MAGA and Cultural Stagnation
Long piece by Mike Lofgren at Salon about how we got from the 1960s to here; how we’re in an era of stagnation; My brief thoughts about how this might apply to science fiction; Tim Callahan at Skeptic spells out … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Music, Politics
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Trump the Bully Seems to Be What Many People Want
David Remnick of The New Yorker on Trump the Bully; Heather Cox Richardson on Trump promises not kept; Trump’s escalating racist attacks on Black Americans; How Fox News feeds anti-immigrant propaganda to its audience; Trump’s gold kitsch White House; More … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, Lunacy, Politics, Religion
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No Policies, No Principles, Just “Deals”
And Threats. And Extortion. And Lies. A quote from Bertrand Russell; Trump wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize, while making wars worse and threatening countries around the world; Heather Cox Richardson on the motives behind the idea of changing … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, conservatives, Lunacy, Politics
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The Real Government Plots Against Reality
Government plots to suppress vaccines, and the effects of climate change; With my speculation about conservative motivations; Heather Cox Richardson on how, despite concerns for the budget, conservatives are willing to spend millions and millions to deport people they don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Politics, Science
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Mendacity, Stupidity, or Both; and Arvo Pärt
Speculations about yesterday’s observations; Stupidity and mendacity: removing parts of the Constitution from government websites; American science withdraws; RFK Jr doesn’t believe in mRNA vaccines; Hegseth and academic mediocrity; America has defunded one of the smartest beings on the planet; … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, Music
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Their Make-Believe World
Trump’s tantrum; His own version of reality; Assaulting reporting, statistics, and the historical record; Ordering an independent office to become as big a liar as he is; Every accusation is a confession; The “Russia Hoax” is whatever he says it … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Culture, Decline, Human Nature, Lunacy, Politics, Religion
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Economics and Flipping the Board
How Trump is economically illiterate; Personal aside about buying my first car in 1982; Wondering again if humanity has hit a conceptual limit; For example: Trump claims prices have been cut by 1500%; An essay by George A. Akerlof asks, … Continue reading
We’re Living in a World of Mad Hatters
David Brin on the red state/blue state divide; The authors of a report about the 2016 election set the record straight, to correct Tulsi Gabbard, and all the Fox News coverage of her; Tom Nichols on the latest Trump distraction … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Politics
Comments Off on We’re Living in a World of Mad Hatters
