Category Archives: Politics

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 →

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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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How the American Experiment May Not Be Working

Posted on Monday 17 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Lee suggests abolishing the US Senate (as others have before him) America has always considered itself an experiment, on the world stage, and in fact it has developed into the most powerful nation on Earth. But has the experiment … Continue reading →

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Fantasy Lands

Posted on Sunday 16 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Andrew O’Hehir on how few people understand the differences between socialism, capitalism, and all those other isms, as even MAGA embraces socialist ideas; Mark Joseph Stern on the origin of originalist ideas about the US Constitution; Jamelle Boudie on how … Continue reading →

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The Deep History Key to the American Political Divide

Posted on Thursday 13 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Kurt Andersen on America’s soft breakup; How the divide goes back ultimately to the Agricultural Revolution. – – – First up, a NYT Op-ed NY Times, Kurt Andersen, 9 Aug 2026: Has America Already Undergone a Soft Breakup?

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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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Understanding vs. Blaming, Bad-Faith Arguments, Religion as Rank Tribalism, and Short-term vs Long-Term Thinking

Posted on Saturday 8 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Conservatives attacking Fauci aren’t interested in learning; Paul Krugman on how a bad-faith government is also an incompetent government; MAGA prophet is sure God is going to start killing people he doesn’t like; Democratic policy goals are hard sells against … Continue reading →

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Little House on the Prairie, and Presumptions

Posted on Thursday 6 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

About the new Little House on the Prairie; Short items: GOP melts down over Abdul El-Sayed; Trump is learning to be embarrassed; MSM covers heat events without mentioning climate change; Heritage Foundation thinks Fauci proves we should ignore experts; an … Continue reading →

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Can People Out-Think Human Nature?

Posted on Tuesday 4 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Two items from Steven Pinker: One about modernism and beauty; The other about a Thomas Sowell book about human nature and human reason. – – – Yes, we’ve been doing it for some time. Two items today via Steven Pinker … Continue reading →

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Growing Pains

Posted on Wednesday 22 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Perspective on humanity’s growth into a global civilization; Perhaps religion is a kind of story-telling crucial to human evolution; How Christian support of Trump is making GenZers less like to attend church; Bernstein: Mahler 5. – – – Big picture. … Continue reading →

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