Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Isaac Asimov, FUTUREDAYS

Posted on Wednesday 26 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “A Nineteenth-Century Vision of the Year 2000” (Henry Holt, trade paperback, 1986, 96pp) This is a thin little book I’ve had for nearly 40 years, since it was published. It’s ostensibly about a set of “cigarette cards” (presumably included … Continue reading →

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Largely Unnoticed?

Posted on Tuesday 25 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Two big topics today: how Trump is aligning with dictators, breaking 75 years of America as leader of the free world; With items from NYT’s Fred Kaplan, Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, and Robert Reich. Some reflections from two books I’ve just … Continue reading →

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Yearning and Discontent

Posted on Monday 24 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Why is half of American cheering for chaos? Jonathan Rauch on “patrimonialism”; DOJ deletes data on cop misconduct; Project 2025 and conspiracy theories; Kari Lake spreads the social security lie; a Trump lie about office workers; Why firing IRS workers … Continue reading →

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Gaslighting Reality

Posted on Sunday 23 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s lying reaches new levels; and Musk’s DARVO strategy. (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) – – – NY Times, Peter Baker, 23 Feb 2025: In Trump’s Alternate Reality, Lies and Distortions Drive Change, subtitle “Condoms for Gaza? Ukraine started … Continue reading →

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Outdoing Themselves Every Day

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Musk lays off government workers overseeing his car company; Musk asks federal employees to justify their jobs or be fired; Trump issues an EO stating that only he can interpret the meanings of law; Adam Serwer on how MAGA is … Continue reading →

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Incompetence and Restlessness

Posted on Friday 21 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Wired on the incompetence of DOGE; Thoughts about why all this is happening now; Heather Cox Richardson quotes James Marriott of The Times about how the post-World War II liberal order has allowed the seeds of its own destruction to … Continue reading →

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Sea Change: Living in History, and Most People Not Noticing

Posted on Thursday 20 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

By supporting Putin and demonizing Ukraine, the US is withdrawing from the post-World War II world that it created and has supported for 80 years; With comments from Heather Cox Richardson, Nicholas Kristoff, Slate’s Emily Tamkin, and NYT’s Peter Baker; … Continue reading →

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A Continual Stream of Lies and Gaslighting

Posted on Wednesday 19 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump claims Ukraine started the war; Zelensky accuses him of living in “disinformation space”; Musk, corrected about the lie that 150-year-old people are still receiving Social Security, keeps spreading that lie; Tom Nichols on Trump and Musk and Hannity, who … Continue reading →

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How Soon Will This Madness End?

Posted on Tuesday 18 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

I keep thinking this has to implode, sooner rather than later. Trump and/or Musk will do something so egregious, so dangerous, that *someone* will step up to reign them in, even if very carefully, behind the scenes, so as not … Continue reading →

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Mark Lilla, IGNORANCE AND BLISS

Posted on Monday 17 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “On Wanting Not to Know” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Dec. 2024, 239p, including 12p notes and acknowledgments) This is a little book published just a couple months ago that appealed for a couple reasons. First, I read the author’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Psychology | Comments Off on Mark Lilla, IGNORANCE AND BLISS