Category Archives: Human Nature

How Trump and MAGA illustrate Fundamental Principles

Posted on Monday 7 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How my posts about current politics, including Trump and Musk, are about illustrating fundamental principles; Trump simply doesn’t understand trade; David Brooks on how conservatives have changed; A Christian law-maker who thinks “critical thinking” includes teaching about God; Short items … Continue reading →

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Unstable Moron, and His Fans

Posted on Friday 4 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Heather Cox Richardson on reactions to Trump’s tariffs, including Canada’s reaction and how Republicans hope this will somehow all work out; Jonathan Chait on how Trump has already botched his plan by suggested he might negotiate; Aside about my motivation … Continue reading →

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“Liberation Day”

Posted on Thursday 3 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s “Liberation Day” of tariffs for virtually every country around the world — except for Russia! — might well wreck both America’s, and the world’s, economy; With Paul Krugman’s expose of their “formula”; A reminder from Robert Reich, from 2018, … Continue reading →

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A Post-Pandemic Malaise?

Posted on Tuesday 1 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Thoughts about whether the pandemic has led to autocracy around the world; How that, and inequality, have left Americans in a sour economic mood; A graphic illustrating how those who want to privatize everything think everything is about making money; … Continue reading →

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I read the news today, oh boy.

Posted on Sunday 30 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How mold is taken as a miracle, another example in an endless series throughout history; Short items about Trump, tariffs, and auto prices; lying about American history; how “make America healthy again” means the opposite; how a vaccine expert has … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on I read the news today, oh boy.

Adolescence of Boys, and of the Species

Posted on Saturday 29 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

For once we happened to watch a much-discussed current show only a week after it debuted (instead of months later or years later). This is the Netflix show Adolescence (Wikipedia link). It’s four hour-long episodes, about a 13-year-old boy in … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Human Nature, Psychology | Comments Off on Adolescence of Boys, and of the Species

The Reality of the World Will Fight Back

Posted on Friday 28 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How the current administration deals in “alternative facts”; With a reminder of some central themes of this blog; Now the Smithsonian Institution is targeted for “improper ideology,” which seems to mean that the prejudices and stereotypes of decades ago are … Continue reading →

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How MAGA folks don’t actually believe in traditional American values

Posted on Tuesday 18 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Rather, they embody the essence of primitive tribalism. A Ben Shapiro host renounces the Statue of Liberty and its “stupid” poem; The disappearance of Navajo Code Talkers on government websites suggests again that MAGA is a white supremacy movement; Shameless … Continue reading →

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MAGA and “Waste”

Posted on Wednesday 12 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Brian Klaas at The Atlantic on Elon Musk’s flawed view of “waste,” i.e. any kind of preventative measures to spend money now to avoid spending much more money later; And simpleton measures about measles from RFK Jr. Paul Krugman on … Continue reading →

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Annalee Newitz, STORIES ARE WEAPONS

Posted on Thursday 6 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “Psychological Warfare and the American Mind” (Norton, June 2024, xxv + 246pp, including 42pp of acknowledgements, notes, and notes.) Here’s a book that offers a different spin on the ideas of misinformation, fake news, and narratives, than earlier books … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Human Nature, Psychology | Comments Off on Annalee Newitz, STORIES ARE WEAPONS