Category Archives: History

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

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

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

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 →

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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 →

Posted in conservatives, History, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off

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

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 →

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J. Bronowksi: THE ASCENT OF MAN

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Little, Brown, 1973, 448pp, including 9pp (in tiny print) of bibliography and index) This is a substantial book that was popular in its time but is probably not really recommendable now, simply because it’s 50 years out of date in … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, History, Human Nature, Human Progress, Science | Comments Off

Tribal Warpaint

Posted on Sunday 27 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How Trump doesn’t want to govern, and rejects the idea of American government as a collaboration; How the idea of consumer choice led to the idea of being gay; Trump and covid.gov rewrite the history, as authoritarians do; How Trump … Continue reading →

Posted in authoritarianism, Culture, History, Lunacy, Politics, Religion, Science | Comments Off

Civic Uprising?

Posted on Sunday 20 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Conservative David Brooks calls for a civic uprising against the Trump administration; How Salon executive editor Andrew O’Hehir reacts to this; How psychopaths and financial services seem to go together; The extent to which JD Vance lies; Aid to foreign … Continue reading →