Category Archives: conservatives

Better Today; Tearing Things Down; Ransacking; Hate

Posted on Sunday 19 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

First of all, this. Another piece about how things were *not* better in the past. (Somehow, things are getting better. Despite.) Vox, Bryan Walsh, 12 Jul 2026: The forgotten success story of America’s teenagers, subtitled “Today’s teens are much safer … Continue reading →

Posted in authoritarianism, conservatives | Leave a comment

The Drive to Preserve an Idealistic Past, Which Will Inevitably Fail

Posted on Saturday 18 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Conservatives have been trying to preserve the past forever. They’re probably successful more often than we realize. Those of us who do realize this do so by recognizing that their stories are full of holes, or don’t make sense. On … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, History, Music | Leave a comment

Losing. Casting. Hormones. Freedom.

Posted on Friday 17 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump made some kind of speech last night. In prime time. The networks didn’t broadcast it. The messages of these three items are in the titles or subtitles; I don’t need to quote from the pieces themselves. Slate, Ian Prasad … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Tribalism | Leave a comment

Testosterone?

Posted on Thursday 16 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The latest eye-rolling development in the current administration is that Defense Secretary, or is it War Secretary?, Pete Hegseth is very concerned about testosterone levels among the troops. NY Times, yesterday: Hegseth Plans to Screen All Troops, Including Women, for … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Music | Leave a comment

Conservative Priorities

Posted on Wednesday 15 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Conservative principles: none. Priorities: power, and money; More about Lindsey Graham and those who are most against gay rights; The recurring nonsense about “Daylight Saving Time”; Brief items about how facts are stubborn things, and Hegseth’s ongoing campaign to enforce … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Science, The Gays | Leave a comment

Conservative Opportunism, and Being Careful About What We Want to Believe

Posted on Tuesday 14 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The death of Lindsey Graham, conservative opportunist, and perhaps closet gay; The only damage in the reflecting pool is from Trump’s limousine entourage; Item from Facebook about America and Finland; Another item about how America is opting out of the … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, LIteracy | Leave a comment

Kurt Andersen: FANTASYLAND

Posted on Tuesday 14 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History (Random House, 2017, 462pp, including 22pp acknowledgements and index) Here is a book by a writer who doesn’t generally write this type of book. Andersen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Andersen) writes mostly novels and TV, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, conservatives, Culture, History | Leave a comment

Motivated Reasoning and Human Gullibility. UFOs!

Posted on Monday 13 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

UFO fans aren’t impressed by the latest government doc’s; More about supposed geo-engineering. – – – This is funny. And sad. NY Times, 11 Jul 2026 (though in today’s print paper): Non-Disclosure: In Roswell, New U.F.O. Docs Are a Declassified … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Psychology, Science | Leave a comment

The End of Reading?

Posted on Wednesday 8 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The decline of reading, and all that that means; And how MAGA folk don’t understand why the rest of us aren’t pretending anymore. It’s about conscience. – – – Things that generations take for granted can change and be gone. … Continue reading →

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Falling Birthrates as Tribal Panic

Posted on Tuesday 7 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Another examination of the roots of falling birthrates, a global reality; I see the concern about it as tribal panic; Briefly noted: make gun violence great again!; more about the latest GOP scare tactic; more about those who spread false … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Psychology | Comments Off on Falling Birthrates as Tribal Panic