Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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Meta
Category Archives: Politics
Factory Settings
The idea of “factory settings” as describing base human nature, and how some people can transcend them; A woman wonders if religion is the only way to instill her child with “scaffolding for spirituality and morality” (answer: no); Richard Dawkins … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, Morality, Politics, Religion
Comments Off on Factory Settings
Good Questions, Interesting Answers
David Brooks wonders, Why isn’t she running away with this? Adam Gopnik wonders why even his opponents don’t recognize the extent of Trump’s villainy; Jill Filipovic wonders why NYT softens headlines about Trump; David French wonders if Trump’s policies make … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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What It Means to be Fascist
Robert Reich’s take in five points; AlterNet’s John Stoer’s take; How Trump can claim anything — now he’s the “father of IVF” — and his fans will believe him. Robert Reich, 17 Oct 2024: Trump’s closing argument: full-throated fascism Recalling … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Lunacy, Politics
Comments Off on What It Means to be Fascist
Out of Commission
More examples of Trump as the rambling, incoherent traitor; How people trust Trump on the economy because he oversimplifies things, and conservatives don’t do complexity or nuance; Thomas B. Edsall on Trump’s appeal to racists; A Florida Republican who thinks … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Politics, Religion
Comments Off on Out of Commission
Education and Focus
Education is now the best predictor for how someone will vote; Why Trump’s supporters don’t believe his threats (they’re focused only on their particular concerns); How Trump wants to lie in real-time without being fact-checked; Paul Krugman suggests that Trump’s … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Lunacy, Politics
Comments Off on Education and Focus
The Enemy Within
Trump is ready to use the military against his “enemies from within”; What one immigrant thinks when he hears Trump speak; How Republicans are sure there will be cheating, and migrants will vote. Counter: why not let the whole world … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Lunacy, Politics
Comments Off on The Enemy Within
Assault on and Rejection of Reality
Charlie Warzel in The Atlantic on how things are much worse than a misinformation crisis; Meteorologists notice that ignorance is becoming socially acceptable — but this has always been true, as C.P. Snow noted; The Republican conspiracy theory that children … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Education, Philosophy, Politics
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The Christian Authoritarian Agenda
Long before Project 2025, Christian conservatives have had an agenda to impose their values on everyone; How some conservatives will call any evidence about the good economy fake news; How MAGA disinformation can be deadly, but Trump’s followers would rather … Continue reading
Consensus Reality Is Disappearing Before Our Eyes
No matter how dissociated from reality something a politician says is, there are people who will believe it. People who think everything (such as Hurricanes) must happen for a reason are debating between God’s wrath and Deep State weather control; … Continue reading
Posted in Lunacy, Philosophy, Politics, Religion
Comments Off on Consensus Reality Is Disappearing Before Our Eyes
Have There Always Been Crazies?
How is it the Republican party is increasingly dominated by cranks and crackpots? Ideas from Robert Reich and Heather Cox Richardson, and examples from the debates, and about Hurricane Helene. NYT is finally paying attention to Trump’s mental decline; JD … Continue reading
