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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» Previous Views from Medina Road (2010-2013)
» Blogspot Views from Medina Road (2003-2010)-
Recent Posts
- The Absence of Empathy
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 4
- Cave Man Morality and the Normalizing of Racism
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 3
- Bill Gates and Climate Change
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 2
- Survival, Revelations, Falling Standards
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 1
- Troubled Children, Cognitive Collapse, Cave Man Morality
- Politics is more about tribal human nature than about solving problems
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Meta
Category Archives: Politics
So Many People to Hate!
ICE now has a budget bigger than all but 15 countries’ military budgets; Why has funding for ICE has ballooned, compared to previous presidents?; Trump says he wants to deport bad people born in the US, too; Trump wants to … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Morality, Politics, science fiction
Comments Off on So Many People to Hate!
How It Works. How They Work.
How it works: Republican megadonors get megacontracts to run ICE concentration camps; How they work: Republicans are even less pluralistic than they’ve ever been; Robert Reich on the familiar reasons authoritarians suppress education, and what “conservative ideas” might possibly be; … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Politics
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Implications
Do justices not foresee consequences? Heather Cox Richardson on the big beautiful bill; How JD Vance reveals the administration’s true motivations; cruelty is the thing; Jonathan Chait on Republicans’ “incomprehensibly reckless plan”; Robert Reich on conservatives’ animosity to empathy (never … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Human Nature, Music, Politics
Comments Off on Implications
Stories, Archetypes, Morality
Does anyone take Jung or Freud seriously any more? OnlySky’s Bruce Ledewitz on the contemporary idea of “evil”; Robert Reich on “the worst bill in history” and fact-checking claims about tax cuts; How local communities fight back against ICE; Republicans … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology
Comments Off on Stories, Archetypes, Morality
Can You Hear Me?
Robert Reich reminds us of the three branches of American government, and how, in plain site, Trump is attacking two of them; How Donald Trump doesn’t align with William McKinley so much as William Jennings Bryan. Bruce Springsteen’s “Outlaw Pete”. … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Music, Politics
Comments Off on Can You Hear Me?
Morality Is Relative; Reality Is Not
An undistorted map of the world; Jesse Being on “commonsense”; How morality is circumstantial, e.g. in Margaret Atwood’s THE HANDMAID’S TALE, which I just reread this week; Website matters involving drop-down menu bars, here and on sfadb.com; Short items about … Continue reading
Posted in Morality, Politics, Psychology, reality, Website Issues
Comments Off on Morality Is Relative; Reality Is Not
Progress, and the Forces Against It
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 on Progress, and the Forces Against It
Is Religion Simply a Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game?
Since it’s obviously not about objective reality. Lance Wallnau says Trump’s strike on Iran is setting the stage for the Antichrist; With thoughts about what humanity is “for”; Trump confuses supercells with sleeper cells; Vox on how Trump’s actions aren’t … Continue reading
Posted in Human Progress, Lunacy, Politics, Religion
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Like Living in Someone Else’s Fantasy Novel
Heather Cox Richardson summarizes the past few days and puts events into context; (With asides about having read Fail-Safe and watched the movie, this past week; and a Facebook meme about Emperor Hirohito bombing Pearl Harbor and then expecting peace); … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Politics, Psychology, Religion
Comments Off on Like Living in Someone Else’s Fantasy Novel
Police Uniforms and Masks; Humor vs. Anger
How fake police wear uniforms, and secret police (ICE) wears face masks; Robert Reich on the most regressive bill in history; The lack of conservative humor; Becoming aware of Rebecca Solnit; And short items about how Trump cut the suicide … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Politics, Psychology, Religion
Comments Off on Police Uniforms and Masks; Humor vs. Anger
