Category Archives: Music

Truth, Myths, and Levels of Reality

Posted on Friday 28 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Given inevitable pandemics and inevitable conspiracy mongering, could AI be the answer?; A new Sean Tan book, and how perhaps some truths can only be told through myth; Bruce Ledewitz at OnlySky recalls a time when the US government was … Continue reading →

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Is Science Fiction Becoming Obsolete?

Posted on Thursday 27 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Jill Lepore on how Silicon Valley misreads classic science fiction; Kibble: Trumps wants to rename everything; Reich calls Trump petty and incompetent; how the Supreme Court is less and less interested in facts; and about ICE’s new electronic glove torture … Continue reading →

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Self-Destruction and Magical Thinking

Posted on Wednesday 26 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Self-destruction: Of the US military, of the Kennedy Center; How MAGA’s religious freedom doesn’t apply to Muslims; Dimwits: Darline Graham, advocates for “conservative-based” science; a GOP nominee who thinks humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time; Liars, vanity projects … Continue reading →

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The Proper Study

Posted on Monday 24 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The proper study of mankind, if not in the way Alexander Pope meant; Powers of Ten, and the range of human intuition and understanding; If Pluto is a planet, so are dozens of other spherical bodies. A passionate performance of … Continue reading →

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The Transition

Posted on Friday 21 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Fareed Zakaria responds to Ezra Klein about The Odyssey; Briefly: Trump running out of people to blame; How liberal families look pretty much like conservatives ones; The vacuousness of Darline Graham; Wojciech Kilar’s score for The Portrait of a Lady. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Human Nature, Human Progress, Music, Politics | Comments Off on The Transition

Ideology and Fertility

Posted on Thursday 20 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The complex reasons behind the drop in fertility; Mike Johnson is literally illiterate; Texas Christians are trying to define Muslims out of existence; Trump is trying crush California’s environmental policies, of course; Robert Reich explores who’s benefiting from the explosion … Continue reading →

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Stories and Reality

Posted on Tuesday 18 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Are more Americans seeing the truth behind the GOP lies?; Evidence that disputes Trump’s promises, in 11 charts; Robert Reich tells Scott Bessent who’s wrong and who’s right; Paul Krugman wonders why Trump likes North Korea, the worst government on … Continue reading →

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MAGA Art Slop; Ignoring the Data

Posted on Wednesday 12 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

MAGA taste in art, and a new exhibit in Washington DC; More Republican destruction: the US Census, and monitoring the Arctic; Maybe they don’t believe they’re lying, they just don’t know the difference between lies and truth; Robert Reich on … Continue reading →

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The Mathematics of Beauty

Posted on Tuesday 11 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How mathematics is behind the things we perceive as beautiful, via Marcus du Sautoy; What is Trump trying to accomplish by reducing the number of diseases medicine can prevent children from getting?; Several items show confusion on the right between … Continue reading →

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Faith Excuses Everything; Process Models Accomplish Things

Posted on Monday 10 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

By way of Jerry Coyne and Jason Arday, comments from Richard Dawkins about physics, natural selection, and human intuition; To JD Vance, a tumbling glass is evidence of God; Conservatives hate social responsibility, e.g. they would repeal helmet laws; A … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Faith Excuses Everything; Process Models Accomplish Things