Category Archives: History

How history, and current events, become approved stories

Posted on Wednesday 3 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Humans live by stories: comparing the story of Jesus to the story of the stolen 2020 election; Short items about Cracker Barrel; RFK Jr the vax quack; how women are not people; erasing the existence of gay people from public … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, History, Narrative, Politics | Comments Off on How history, and current events, become approved stories

All Things Pass, America Too, It Seems

Posted on Thursday 31 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

The Atlantic’s Ross Andersen on how every scientific empire comes to end, with historical precedents; E.J. Dionne Jr. about the drop in murder rate, speculating why; Quick bits about religion as a mental disorder, how praying for the intervention of … Continue reading →

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Proselytism, Manifest Destiny, Arvo Pärt

Posted on Monday 28 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Let Federal employees proselytize! Heather Cox Richardson on manifest destiny; Arvo Pärt. – – –   As with that notion about regulating AI to be non-woke, have they thought this one through? Washington Post, 28 Jul 2025: Trump administration urges … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Music, Religion | Comments Off on Proselytism, Manifest Destiny, Arvo Pärt

Is the universe friendly, or hostile?

Posted on Wednesday 16 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

David Wallace-Wells on the Epstein scandal, with items by Zack Beauchamp and Shawn McCreesh; How simple-minded Trump characterizes his adversaries as “evil”; How Trump’s economic agenda is driven by simple-minded lies and misunderstandings; How the question “Is the world a … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Human Nature, Philosophy, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Is the universe friendly, or hostile?

History and Change

Posted on Tuesday 15 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump keeps a trophy for himself; Paul Krugman on why the Trump administration is killing science; How MAGA needs stories in which they are the heroes; Why Trump fans aren’t forgiving Trump about Epstein; Heather Cox Richardson about Trump’s “mandate” … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, History, Human Nature, Politics, science fiction | Comments Off on History and Change

No Necessary Nations

Posted on Saturday 12 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Stephan Marche on how there are no necessary nations, and no permanent global order; Judges, appointed both by Republicans and Democrats, speak out against the Trump administration; Heather Cox Richardson identifies one key failure in the Texas floods, the result … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Human Progress, Lunacy, Morality, Politics, progress | Comments Off on No Necessary Nations

How Doing Your Own Research Actually Works, and the Texas Floods

Posted on Sunday 6 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam-Troy Castro on people who “do their own research”; And how RFK Jr. is ignoring decades of research into autism that have already answered his questions; Debates about whether Trump/MAGA’s cuts to weather agencies had a role to play in … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, History | Comments Off on How Doing Your Own Research Actually Works, and the Texas Floods

Progress, and the Forces Against It

Posted on Friday 27 June 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

We have been here before: comparing 1940 to 2025; Steven Novella assesses whether skepticism has made any progress in recent decades; The irony of MAGA being outraged by a Muslim candidate for New York City’s mayor; Conservative presumption and arrogance … Continue reading →

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No Shades of Gray

Posted on Friday 20 June 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump wants national parks to reflect only patriotic history; Trump thinks if you’re not on his side then you “hate America”; Yet another example: Beware “common sense”; Short items: Atheists in prison; Trump officials reverse ICE guidelines, again and again; … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, History, Psychology | Comments Off on No Shades of Gray

Feudalism, Suicide, Ignorance, Disease, Conservative DEI

Posted on Tuesday 3 June 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Quite a round of doom and gloom essays today. This is where we are. The drive toward privatization will lead to feudalism; Max Boot on the suicide of a superpower; Paul Krugman on how we’re no longer a serious country, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Human Nature, Politics | Comments Off on Feudalism, Suicide, Ignorance, Disease, Conservative DEI