Category Archives: Politics

The Biggest Inflection Points

Posted on Tuesday 20 October 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Big picture: What we know about how life arose: a good summary by NYT’s science writers; Relatively trivial items: Vance lies about gas prices; men in groups; Edsall on Trump’s real agenda; Krugman on how Trump actually hates America and … Continue reading →

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Placeholder

Posted on Sunday 18 October 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

This post from Oct 18 was a placeholder containing content originally compiled from Oct 4 to Oct 6. To represent them fairly, I’ve created separate posts for those three days, and set the publish dates accordingly.  

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If Humanity Doesn’t Have a Grasp on Reality, Does It Matter?

Posted on Saturday 17 October 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Wondering if it matters that humanity doesn’t have a grasp on reality, via recent politics about James Talarico. And today: posted page Notes on Meaning, (and Wisdom and Purpose and Progress), part of my grand plan to identify broad philosophical … Continue reading →

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Something New and More Modern

Posted on Thursday 15 October 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Key points of a Democratic Project 2029; Brief items: Kimberly Guilfoyle is out because she embarrassed Trump; Trump claims he doesn’t call people names (followed by a long list of names he’s called people); Trump keeps claiming that schools kidnap … Continue reading →

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Up Is Down

Posted on Thursday 8 October 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Items about non-intuitive definitions of socialism, religious oppression, and religious law. (Posting 19 Oct 2026, items compiled 8 Oct.) JMG, today 8 Oct: Vance: Trans Athletes Are The Definition Of Socialism He’s even more an idiot that the MAGA fans. … Continue reading →

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The Thin Skin of Reality

Posted on Saturday 3 October 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump in Time; How AI could worsen a common cognitive trap; Trump’s demand for Fox propaganda; People with lower cognitive abilities are more likely to endorse Christian Nationalist claims; Shaun Tan and the “thin skin of reality”; Posted 17 Oct … Continue reading →

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Conservatives and Empathy

Posted on Wednesday 30 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Conservatives against empathy: excuses for selfishness; Another piece about boarding houses, once banned, perhaps now more appropriate than ever; Recalling a 50-year-old thesis about how human stupidity drags societies down; Quotes from Thomas L. Friedman and Paul Krugman about Donald … Continue reading →

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There Is Only So Much Land

Posted on Friday 25 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne on why neither Israel nor Palestine wants a two-state solution; Fareed Zakaria claims the US and China must eventually adapt, even cooperate; Robert Reich on what he’s heard from foreign leaders about America and Trump; – – – … Continue reading →

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Abdication

Posted on Thursday 24 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump abdicates as leader of the free world; Or maybe of the entire world, in favor of China; How failure to address existential threats is costing America and the world; Brief items: A nation should be run like a household, … Continue reading →

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What Is It Conservatives Want to Conserve?

Posted on Wednesday 23 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The worst of the past? The protocols of primitive human nature? That’s what it seems like. Are they aware of this? Trump wants to make America 1988 again; Trump got played on the Greenland deal; The superficiality of Fox news … Continue reading →

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