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
- How Tribal Loyalty Overrides Evidence of Incompetence
- MAGA Retribution?
- Shades of Autism
- Tearing Down
- More on why what’s going on is going on
- Sometimes They Really Are Out to Get You
- Reactions to the Hegseth and Trump Speeches to the Military. And Christian Music.
- Military Orders, and Coal Obsession
- Medbed Fantasies and Trump’s Dementia
- Steven Pinker, Right-Wing Threats of Violence, and Ligeti’s Atmospheres
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Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly
America’s Dominance and Decline
Just one substantial item today, compared to the several posted yesterday. If America is so great by some economic and military standards, why is our quality of life, compared to so many other countries around the world, so poor? Concluding … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Human Progress, Religion
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Saturday Updates
More from NY Times on Republican plans to let climate change wreck the planet; Updates on stories about DeSantis slitting throats and A.P. Psychology in Florida; Another story about a Republican claiming credit for a Biden initiative that he fought; … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Science
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Figuring Out Trump Voters
Two views to explain the loyalty of Trump voters. There was a long NYT op-ed by David Brooks posted a couple days ago and printed in today’s paper, offering an irresistible counter-intuitive thesis. And a response today by a writer … Continue reading
Sagan & Druyan: Propensities and Predispositions
A couple hours ago I finished that Carl Sagan/Ann Druyan book I mentioned a couple days ago, and it’s remarkable how its conclusions resemble my own recent observations about how certain forms of human morality align to conservative politics, and … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Conservative Resistance, Evolution, Human Progress, Quote at Length, Science
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More on the Latest Indictment
Goofy Republican responses to the latest indictment, about Federal employees, and to the teaching of psychology; The spectacle goes on and on, as the US experiences what some are saying is the most important legal indictment in its history: John … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Science
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Conservative Morality
Items today respond to the latest indictment of a certain former president, how his supporters respond, and me trying to wrap my mind around what his supporters think morality and law and order actually is. But I have an idea … Continue reading
Posted in Morality, Politics, Psychology
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Vetting Online News Sources
About “critical ignoring”, vetting sources of news before you read them; The distractions of the internet; Today’s back-of-the-envelope timeline, from Savannah/tribal morality to Enlightenment values and now back to Savannah/tribal morality. Here’s a piece, which I probably stumbled upon via … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Psychology
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The Small Town Song and Human Morality, and other topics
More thoughts about that Small Town song, in that it reflects one stage (stage 3 of 6, actually) in a hierarchy of human morality; Facebook posts about religious claims, and Brian Cox’s take on the UFO hearings; And Republican plans … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Morality, Religion
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Doomscrolling Climate Change; and Small Towns
The latest about climate change, and wondering when will the conservative deniers admit there is a problem; More about that vigilante justice country song, and Bruce Springsteen. Perhaps I should cut back on the doomscrolling. I don’t actually scroll looking … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Music
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My Uninterest in UFOs
No, I don’t mean disinterest. I’ve mentioned before that people who are unfamiliar with science fiction, or with science fiction writers and fans, tend to assume that SF folks are credulous along the lines of “believing” in UFOs, where “believing” … Continue reading
Posted in Psychology, Science
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