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
- A Return to the Original Mission: Impossible Presumption
- Where We Are, 4 Jan 2026
- Clear Thoughts About Religion
- Is Reading a Vice? No.
- Ethnic Cleansing and Collective Effervescence
- Where We Are, Here at the End of 2025
- Return from Holiday Trip
- Good News, Two Ways
- Steady Encroachment
- Steven Pinker, ENLIGHTENMENT NOW, post 6
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Meta
Category Archives: authoritarianism
Undermining and Discrediting
More about Trump’s firing of the head of Bureau of Labor Statistics, with responses at Slate, from David Brin, The Atlantic, PolitiFact, Heather Cox Richardson, and Robert Reich; How Trump is now extorting UCLA; How Trump had references to his … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Morality, Politics
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The Outright Denial of the Scientific Consensus About Climate Change
Trump’s EPA now denies the worldwide scientific consensus about climate change; The history of Trump’s fake history; How Trump wins by suing institutions for absurd amounts and settling for relatively trivial amounts; How Europe took Trump for a ride; Robert … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Politics, Science
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More Items from the Authoritarian Playbook
About the conservative agenda concerning colleges, and education; Charlie Kirk thinks you don’t need college; just watch YouTube videos, especially his own online courses; Education Secretary Linda McMahon admits her political motivations for dismantling her department; Brief items about a … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Education, Politics, Religion
Comments Off on More Items from the Authoritarian Playbook
Now It’s Concentration Camps
Concentration Camps, and Republican salivation to send 65 million immigrants to the alligators; Trump thinks brain scans measure IQ; American science’s brain drain; How societies maintain national myths to survive. – – – What’s next? Dungeons and shackles? Do Trump … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, conservatives, Human Nature
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Implications
Do justices not foresee consequences? Heather Cox Richardson on the big beautiful bill; How JD Vance reveals the administration’s true motivations; cruelty is the thing; Jonathan Chait on Republicans’ “incomprehensibly reckless plan”; Robert Reich on conservatives’ animosity to empathy (never … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Human Nature, Music, Politics
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Trump and MAGA’s War on California
News today: Trump’s parade, No Kings demonstrations, and a dress-up cop shoots Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota; Charlie Warzel on the surfeit of information and how the right can invent via AI narratives to its advantage; Similar gaslighting about Alex Padilla; … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Politics, Religion, Tribalism
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It’s Not Even About Deportation
The Alex Padilla incident, and the threat to “liberate” Los Angeles from its lawfully-elected leaders; Trump always thinks protestors are paid demonstrators; why cannot he conceive that people disagree with him on principle? And bonus items! – – – Because … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, conservatives, Politics
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It’s Not About Law and Order
Jim Newell and Amanda Marcotte on Stephen Miller’s drive to “grab as many people as possible, regardless of innocence.” and how he grew up in Santa Monica; Fox News, of course, spreads a fantasy depiction of what’s going on in … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, conservatives, Politics
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Clooney’s Murrow; Trump Calls Out the National Guard
Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck; Trump calls out the National Guard (what’s next? Martial Law?); Louisiana bans chemtrails; Trump’s big bill prioritizes the religious right (of course) – – – First of all. We watched the live stream of George … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Lunacy, Music, Politics
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Meltdown; Reign of Errors; People Trump doesn’t want to exist; Harari on humans in 1000 years
Details of the Trump/Musk meltdown; The Trump administration’s reign of errors; Such as DOGE firing people and quickly hiring them back; The people Trump doesn’t want to exist; Yuval Noah Harari on how humans won’t exist in 1000 years, perhaps … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, conservatives, Lunacy, Politics
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