Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

America’s Continued Decline

Posted on Tuesday 16 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Michelle Goldberg on the garish spectacle at the White House; Will Leitch about its absurdity; Conservatives are trolls; US science is also in decline; Paul Krugman’s theory of the vulgar class; And music: Hans Zimmer’s “Chevaliers De Sangreal”, a great … Continue reading →

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Practicalities and Prejudices Trump Principles

Posted on Monday 15 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The voters who believe that Trump defends their values; The DHS head is happy to throw out the Constitution in order to fight the minuscule number of voter fraud cases; Trump’s UFC fight reveals his violent worldview; The problematic latest … Continue reading →

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The Barbarians Are Well Within the Gates

Posted on Sunday 14 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s cage match, planned for this evening; his attack on the weather service; comments from Bill Kristol and Robert Reich; How MAGA-style Christianity isn’t about Christ at all, what with attacks against James Talarico for quoting Jesus; Abbott’s nonsensical claim … Continue reading →

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They Precede Us

Posted on Saturday 13 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Not aliens. Aspects of primal human nature. Equus. But perhaps Disclosure Day is more of the same. Several links about Spielberg’s new movie Disclosure Day, which I’ll wait to see for another week or two. Will revisit and comment about … Continue reading →

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Asymptotic Progress

Posted on Friday 12 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How the news about adjusting climate change predictions is good news, and how science is always about increasingly approaching the truth, while never claiming (as religion does) to have found it; Trumps guts a line of oceanic defense; there’s a … Continue reading →

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Meaning, Purpose, Science, Science Fiction

Posted on Thursday 11 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Kevin Kelly’s take on a meaning of life: be the most improbable person you can be; And my provisional ideas about meaning and purpose; Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar. I mentioned Kevin Kelly yesterday, and so I checked out his blog, his … Continue reading →

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Looking Up and Looking Down

Posted on Wednesday 10 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Looking Up: Fareed Zakaria on human intelligence and artificial intelligence; Kevin Kelly thinks his 1994 book Out of Control is still mostly right; perhaps technology reached a kind of plateau 30 years ago; Ranked voting works, and people like it; … Continue reading →

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The Destruction of American Scientific Research

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Deport 106 million illegals?? More misunderstandings or lies about how California elections works; More about how experience, knowledge, and talent are being marginalized by the current US government; Items about 60 Minutes; Activity today: a brief jury duty experience (posted … Continue reading →

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Is Consensus History Possible?

Posted on Monday 8 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The Atlantic’s Yoni Applebaum on the idea of consensus history; A review of Steven Spielberg’s film history; How conservatives don’t understand how California voting works, and imagine conspiracies; Ennio Morricone, Marco Polo, and Canzone di Mai-Li. Activity today. – – … Continue reading →

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Aliens, by Spielberg, by the US Government

Posted on Sunday 7 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Steven Spielberg, his obsessions, my takes on some of his films, and the upcoming film Disclosure Day; NYT’s M. Gessen on how the White House identifies dangerous “aliens” with immigrants. – – – It’s hard to criticize a beloved film … Continue reading →

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