Category Archives: Culture

This Week’s Facebook Memes

Posted on 27 November 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Quoted without comment. Opinions, not claims of fact; From Gloria Steinem: How about we treat every young man who wants to buy a gun like every woman who wants to get an abortion — mandatory 48-hour waiting period, parental permission, … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Science, Reality Bubbles, and Stories

Posted on 24 November 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

The most interesting one is at the bottom. \\ Scientific American: To Understand How Science Denial Works, Look to History, subtitled, “The same tactics used to cast doubt on the dangers of smoking and climate change are now being used … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Narrative, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Science, Reality Bubbles, and Stories

The Issues that Divide Us (in the US at least)

Posted on 6 November 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I commented somewhere that the “issues” that divide the electorate today become more and more trivial the farther one zooms out to take a broader perspective of time and space. Issues so important at one time in history are irrelevant … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Bubbles and B.S.

Posted on 24 October 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s performance at the second vice-presidential debate indicated to numerous people that all he knows about the world are conspiracy-mongering talking points from Fox News and other right wing sites. In some cases all you have to do is read … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Religion and Government; Sophisticated Believers; Religious Indoctrination of Children

Posted on 17 October 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

NY Times, Wajahat Ali: If Amy Coney Barrett Were Muslim, subtitled “It’s not hard to imagine how conservatives would smear her religious beliefs.” For all that Christians complain that they are oppressed or victimized, in fact their religion so saturates … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Religion and Government; Sophisticated Believers; Religious Indoctrination of Children

Link and Comment: The Pace of Change

Posted on 13 October 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Guardian: 25 years of His Dark Materials: Philip Pullman on the journey of a lifetime. Pullman reflects on the quarter decade since he began writing the sequence of novels about Lyra that began with Northern Lights, aka The Golden Compass. … Continue reading →

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Status; Links and Comments: Conservative Willful Misunderstanding of Coronavirus Deaths

Posted on 11 September 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m behind on commenting on newspaper and magazine articles; it’s been almost two weeks! This is because, as I’ve detailed on Facebook (though I realize some readers of this blog might not see my Facebook posts), I’ve been busy finishing … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Benedictine Option; Pandemic Spread; Economic Stabilizers; Ed Yong; Evangelicals and Trump

Posted on 18 August 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

The Atlantic: The Christian Withdrawal Experiment. Subtitle: Feeling out of step with the mores of contemporary life, members of a conservative-Catholic group have built a thriving community in rural Kansas. Could their flight from mainstream society be a harbinger for … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Lunacy, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Benedictine Option; Pandemic Spread; Economic Stabilizers; Ed Yong; Evangelicals and Trump

Links and Comments: Living in History

Posted on 17 August 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

People have a tendency to feel pleased they are living in history, experiencing the thrill of witnessing grand, momentous events. This partly explains I think the ever-recurring belief by some that they are living in the “end times.” How special … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Recent links, August 2020

Posted on 12 August 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Too many recently for detailed comments. Here are a bunch. \\ CNN: Tucker Carlson upset that he’s told how to correctly pronounce Kamala Harris’ name. Why are conservatives upset by being asked to observe simple standards of decency and respect? … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Lunacy, Politics | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Recent links, August 2020