Category Archives: conservatives

Motivated Reasoning and Human Gullibility. UFOs!

Posted on Monday 13 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

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 Bummer [gift link] Subtitled: Roswell’s annual U.F.O. festival was supposed to be full of triumphant “told … 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 | Leave a comment

The New Commie Threat

Posted on Monday 6 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Reich on the Commie threat, a tired Republican charge, recalling McCarthy; Lazy Republican thinking about communism and current kids these days; Twisted thinking about religious liberty; A video of Paula White, presidential spiritual advisor; Stephen Miller, divine providence, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Human Nature, Lunacy, Politics, Religion | Leave a comment

Lost Potential

Posted on Wednesday 1 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The families conservatives want; Heather Cox Richardson on the Republican motives to strike down the Fourteenth Amendment; Brief items about mandating the Bible in class; yet another study finds no link between Tylenol and autism; a conservative wants to sterilize … Continue reading →

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The Conservative Ethos: Tribalistic, Xenophobic, Autocratic

Posted on Tuesday 30 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How the Supreme Court repeatedly gives Trump the license to discriminate (never mind “all men are created equal”); Robert Reich on the Court’s decision to let Trump fire officials in government agencies whenever he likes; Robert Reich on how the … Continue reading →

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As Others See Us

Posted on Wednesday 24 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How World Cup tourists are impressed by the US; And an earlier piece about tourists were impressed by San Francisco, in both cases despite right-wing apocalyptic propaganda; Amanda Marcotte on why MAGA buys Trump’s reflecting pool hoax; Hegseth reverses the … Continue reading →

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Trump’s Self-Created Crises

Posted on Monday 22 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Reich on four messes that Trump created; Items about Hegseth undoing military progress; Tim Barton cites a quotation that doesn’t exist; the news spy chief fires intel experts; Trump’s preoccupation with the number 22; Nancy Mace thinks transgenic means … Continue reading →

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Disclosure Day, Initial Take

Posted on Saturday 20 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

First reaction to Disclosure Day, with a link to David Brin’s reaction; then noting the film’s religious themes, its appeal to empathy, and its allusions to past Spielberg films; How the reflecting pool fiasco is emblematic of Trump’s strategy: hire … Continue reading →

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Memories of Green

Posted on Thursday 18 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s surrender; Trump can’t sell his lies in Versailles; Why people see scientists as oddballs; Vangelis’s “Memories of Green.” – – – Some of us have memories of the before time. Before all this. The Bulwark, Jonathan V. Last, today: … Continue reading →

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