Category Archives: Conservative Resistance

There are “Theories” and then there are “Theories”

Posted on Tuesday 28 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I have an idea I haven’t heard or read anyone express before: that some of the confusion about science on the one hand, and the legitimacy of crazy, sometimes deliberately fabricated, nonsensical ideas about what’s going on in the world … Continue reading →

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More about the Crazy Fringes

Posted on Sunday 26 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The crazy fringes being Fox News, Fox & Friends, Arizona Republicans, and conservatives who believe in witches and demons. With a palette cleansing quote from Carl Sagan.

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I do not think this study means what this writer thinks it means

Posted on Saturday 25 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

(Added Sunday: another take on the same study from a writer at Vox.) NYT, Bret Stephens, 21 Feb 2023: The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned? A conservative columnist for the NY Times claims a meta-study on … Continue reading →

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The Western Tradition

Posted on Monday 20 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two related items today. Florida’s idea of a Christian, Western tradition that students should be tested to, instead of SAT; and a professor’s debunking of a “grand narrative of Western Civilization”, via a book review at PW. Hemant Mehta, Friendly … Continue reading →

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Political News, Ratings Forward

Posted on Sunday 19 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How Fox News prioritizes ratings above truth or principles of journalism; How Florida is seeking to replace SAT with “Christian” testing; How and why to shame Republican judges; How the far-right is ascendant on college campuses. NY Times, Michelle Goldberg, … Continue reading →

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Stickiness of Nonbelief

Posted on Friday 17 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How nonbelief is stickier than belief. Plus: Fox News lied! Who would have thought? And: how UFOs and CRT go together; the number of respectable Republicans. \ OnlySky, Andrew Fiala, 15 Feb 2023: What the stickiness of nonbelief says about … Continue reading →

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The Myth of the Perfect Past

Posted on Thursday 16 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

When life was simple and everything you were supposed to know was contained in a single book. Also: why The Lord of the Rings is so appealing to the right; media libel laws; policing; and a lagniappe about a real … Continue reading →

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Hypocrisy and Indoctrination

Posted on Wednesday 15 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve noted before how conservatives denounce “indoctrination” except when they’re the ones doing the indoctrinating. Examples include DeSantis imposing conservative values on a Florida college long known as a bastion of “free thinkers”. And examples of people believing things that … Continue reading →

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Readings: Margaret Atwood and Jared Diamond

Posted on Monday 13 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Margaret Atwood on the people banning her book The Handmaid’s Tale; Jared Diamond on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and long-term disaster planning. Margaret Atwood, The Atlantic, 12 Feb 2023: Go Ahead and Ban My Book, subtitled “To those … Continue reading →

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A Crisp, Sunny January Day

Posted on Monday 30 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Topics for today: Why China’s decline in population is a good thing; Yuval Noah Harari on identity; Moral panic and the right-wing mind; How climate change has been covered in textbooks since the 1970s.

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