Category Archives: Culture

Is Reading a Vice? No.

Posted on Friday 2 January 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Kirsch at The Atlantic suggests that reading is a vice; Paul Krugman on the Heritage Foundation; Robert Reich on the Trump administration’s policy of hate; Short items about everyone laughing at Trump; a measles outbreak at the Noah’s Ark … Continue reading →

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Where We Are, Here at the End of 2025

Posted on Wednesday 31 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How Trump has made the government smaller, but not more efficient or dependable; Example of shutting down NASA’s library; Example of cuts to science research; How Trump prefers “vibes” to data; New Yorker’s Susan B. Glasser wonders how people let … Continue reading →

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Defending the Indefensible; and Reading

Posted on Tuesday 16 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump about Rob Reiner and the few who defend him and the many more who do not; How many people don’t finish most books, and how high school students barely read any. – – – Once again, we’re dealing with … Continue reading →

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Marriage, and Women

Posted on Thursday 11 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Lee on whether marriage can survive the continued emancipation of women; Thought of the day about who’s making progress and who are against it; Short takes on a Republican loonie; on a Christian who advises calling gay men a … Continue reading →

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Splits, Hypocrisy, and Bad-Faith Arguments

Posted on Monday 15 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Firing people who quoted Charlie Kirk; Items from JM about an arrest for “mocking” Charlie Kirk, how Kirk’s killer was “brainwashed” by college; how MTG wants to break up he US; how smart people don’t like Trump; Trump claims 300 … Continue reading →

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Kneejerk Accusations

Posted on Friday 12 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

While yesterday there was much invective on the right against the left because the victim of Charlie Kirk’s assassination was a well-known MAGA figure. So the left must have done it! That’s their thinking. Vox, Eric Levitz, 11 Sep 2025: … Continue reading →

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The Real Americans?

Posted on Thursday 11 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

We live in a bizarre world in which many, perhaps most, Americans deify people who are against basic American values. (Because what really drives conservatives is not the Constitution, but the OT.) So many news posts and Facebook posts about … Continue reading →

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How About a Nobel Prize for Belligerence?

Posted on Sunday 7 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

More about Trump’s actions vs his aspirations. You’d think Trump were running to win a Nobel Prize not for peace, but for belligerence. NY Times, David French, 7 Sept 2025: It Doesn’t Seem Wise to Let Trump Decide What War … Continue reading →

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Their Make-Believe World

Posted on Wednesday 6 August 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s tantrum; His own version of reality; Assaulting reporting, statistics, and the historical record; Ordering an independent office to become as big a liar as he is; Every accusation is a confession; The “Russia Hoax” is whatever he says it … Continue reading →

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We’re Living in a World of Mad Hatters

Posted on Monday 4 August 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

David Brin on the red state/blue state divide; The authors of a report about the 2016 election set the record straight, to correct Tulsi Gabbard, and all the Fox News coverage of her; Tom Nichols on the latest Trump distraction … Continue reading →

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