Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

The problem with the world is not evil. It’s ignorance, and delusion.

Posted on Monday 14 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Two thoughts from Yuval Noah Harari today; Ramez Naam on how AI models converge on “moderately left-libertarian political viewpoints”; Another piece about how people should be held accountable for tragedies; Heather Cox Richardson summaries the Epstein fiasco; WaPo’s Philip Bump … Continue reading →

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Responsibility, Certainty, and Doubt

Posted on Sunday 13 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Defunding weather science and disaster response to save money is like cancelling all your insurance policies to manage your household budget; LAT: Robin Abcarian on the implausibilities of expecting Medicaid recipients to replace deported farmworkers; NYT: Peter Baker on how … Continue reading →

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No Necessary Nations

Posted on Saturday 12 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Stephan Marche on how there are no necessary nations, and no permanent global order; Judges, appointed both by Republicans and Democrats, speak out against the Trump administration; Heather Cox Richardson identifies one key failure in the Texas floods, the result … Continue reading →

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Two Takes on the Problem with Men

Posted on Friday 11 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

David French and Jordan Peterson and competing theories about the problem with men; About cuts to science research; do Republicans not understand investments in the future?; A report about Lara Trump’s show on Fox News; An essay by Tom Nichols … Continue reading →

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As I’ve Been Saying…

Posted on Thursday 10 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Is there any point in noting these same issues again and again? Yes. Because they are evidence of the decline of the US, which most Americans are not noticing, and I think this is important, not so much as this … Continue reading →

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Darkest Days

Posted on Wednesday 9 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Shorter items today. The Supreme Court and “emergencies”; How Trump reflexively blames Biden; And how Trump takes credit for what Biden actually did; The confusion over Epstein conspiracy theories; Trump wants more factories, but is expelling the workers who might … Continue reading →

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David Brooks on Alasdair MacIntyre and How We Got to Where We Are

Posted on Tuesday 8 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

One item today. A long piece from David Brooks, trying to understand how we got here, given history. The Atlantic, David Books, 8 Jul 2025: Why Do So Many People Think That Trump Is Good?, subtitled “The work of the moral … Continue reading →

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Robert A. Heinlein: THE DOOR INTO SUMMER

Posted on Tuesday 8 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(First published 1957. Edition here: Orion/Gollancz/SF Masterworks 2003, 178pp, with an introduction by Stephen Baxter) I’m no expert on Robert A. Heinlein — I still haven’t read Farah Mendlesohn’s book about him — but I have read *almost* all his … Continue reading →

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What Is America Thinking?

Posted on Monday 7 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Will scientific advances by the US continue? Do most Americans care? My take on the big picture of the cultural change in the US, and other societies; Heather Cox Richardson, and Nitish Pahwa at Slate, summarize what’s to blame for … Continue reading →

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How Doing Your Own Research Actually Works, and the Texas Floods

Posted on Sunday 6 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam-Troy Castro on people who “do their own research”; And how RFK Jr. is ignoring decades of research into autism that have already answered his questions; Debates about whether Trump/MAGA’s cuts to weather agencies had a role to play in … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, History | Comments Off on How Doing Your Own Research Actually Works, and the Texas Floods