Category Archives: Politics

Survival, Revelations, Falling Standards

Posted on Tuesday 4 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Samuel McKee on how our brains are wired to survive, not to find truth; Adam Gopnik from 2012 about an Elaine Pagels book on Revelations; Jonathan Chait on how falling standards of behavior in Washington; Brief items about tariffs on … Continue reading →

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Troubled Children, Cognitive Collapse, Cave Man Morality

Posted on Monday 3 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman about how Trump has ceded the future to China; Tom Nichols on how the Trump administration resembles a bunch of toddlers, and what Americans who care about democracy should do. Salon’s Sophia A. McClennen on how the Trump … Continue reading →

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Politics is more about tribal human nature than about solving problems

Posted on Monday 3 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

David French on why Trump gets away with everything; Ezra Klein on how to beat Trumpism: something about Democrats not being so judgmental; Short items about Norman Rockwell, Nigeria and Christians, the welfare queen stereotype, how faith-base bigotry is just … Continue reading →

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Useful Categories

Posted on Wednesday 29 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Five ideas to tell when America has become a dictatorship; A Jesus and Mo cartoon that reflects my discussions of secular awe and religion; Phil Zuckerman on how social justice is secular; Short items about worries of American’s impending population … Continue reading →

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What People Know, and What They Want

Posted on Monday 27 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

What undecided voters say they are concerned about, vs. reality; Tom Tomorrow on effect and cause, within the Trump administration; An OnlySky piece by Michael Carteron about the paradox of modern life; Jerry Coyne on Charles Murray’s “God-sized hole”; My … Continue reading →

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Disintegration

Posted on Sunday 26 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

The Pentagon Press Corps; Trump’s pardons; Charlie Kirk; The East Wing and the new ballroom, with an analysis that suggests the proposed ballroom is not real; Short items. – – – What’s new? \ Propaganda, not news. Slate, Molly Olmstead, … Continue reading →

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Slop

Posted on Tuesday 21 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Essays about AI slop, and how this endangers objective truth; Trump is tearing down the East Wing of the White House, after he said he wouldn’t; Responses to Trump’s poop video; Paul Krugman on Trump’s loss of touch with reality; … Continue reading →

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The Need for Community

Posted on Monday 20 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

An essay about how humans raised children in villages, throughout most of history; Another essay about how Gen Z-ers are drawn to conservative Christianity, not because it’s in any way true, but because of that same need for community; Heather … Continue reading →

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So Again, How’d those No Kings Protests Go?

Posted on Sunday 19 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Photos, why the fanciful costumes, why Republicans should be afraid of who’s protesting; Heather Cox Richardson; Robert Reich; And Republicans, who are either in denial, are obtuse, or are cynically playing to their base; And arrests? A couple three, of … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on So Again, How’d those No Kings Protests Go?

No Kings vs. Reality

Posted on Saturday 18 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump pardons George Santos, of course; The “No Kings” rhetoric from the Republicans, and the results today; With some thoughts about conservative thinking; Jamelle Bouie; Lunatic: MTG still obsessed about weather control; Science: how humans perceive only a tiny bit … Continue reading →

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