Category Archives: The Gays

Parents, Children, Identities: Andrew Solomon’s FAR FROM THE TREE

Posted on 19 May 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

This is an enormous book, 962 pages long, 702 of that text (with the remainder consisting of encyclopedic notes, a lengthy bibliography, and an index). The book is about how parents deal with exceptional children, covering ten categories of exceptionality, … Continue reading →

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Link and Comment: Religion v. Reality

Posted on 17 May 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

One more item from last Sunday’s New York Times: the weekly “Modern Love” column, reader-submitted essays about “the joys and tribulations of love.” White Shirt, Black Name Tag, Big Secret It’s about a young Mormon man sent into the world … Continue reading →

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The Arc of History: The Expansion of Marriage

Posted on 26 June 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

So much reaction to today’s Supreme Court decision I hardly need to chime in, except perhaps to note how this, of course, supports my Provisional Conclusion #7, Another, social, arc of human history has been a gradual expansion of allegiance … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Modern Physics; Evolution and Strangers; Coming out in totalitarian societies; Elizabeth Kolbert on Mars

Posted on 8 June 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Sunday’s New York Times has a “Gray Matter” essay on A Crisis at the Edge of Physics by Adam Frank and Marcelo Gleiser* is about whether the empirical method — validating theories via predictions and evidence — does not work … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Physics, Science, The Gays | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Modern Physics; Evolution and Strangers; Coming out in totalitarian societies; Elizabeth Kolbert on Mars

How Science Works, Concerning that Retracted Gay Marriage Survey, and the Ironies

Posted on 25 May 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

New York Times op-ed: What’s Behind Big Science Frauds? Other links: SFGate: Study retracted: 20 minutes actually CAN’T change a homophobe’s mind The New Yorker, Maria Konnikova: How a Gay-Marriage Study Went Wrong This concerns a report from a few … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: 11 May 2015

Posted on 11 May 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Contrast the right’s paranoid claims of a war on religion with their very real war on abortion (NYT). When laws are being passed demanding a 48 hour waiting period before being let into church, then I’ll believe there’s a war … Continue reading →

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A Month’s Worth of Links and Comments

Posted on 1 May 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

New York Times, March 20: In the Age of Information, Specializing to Survive The Internet makes it easy to learn almost anything. And yet And yet, even as the highbrow holy grail — the acquisition of complete knowledge — seems … Continue reading →

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Interesting items from Sunday’s New York Times

Posted on 27 April 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Frank Bruni: The G.O.P.’s Gay Pretzels Bruni imagines a letter from the RNC to the Republican presidential candidates on their handling of the question, would you attend a gay wedding? From Bobby Jindal We do not recommend the tint picked … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Robert Wright on Brian Williams; Obama on Christianity; Children of Gay Parents; Republicans and evolution

Posted on 12 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Wright — author of among other books The Moral Animal (1994), one of the best books I’ve read about how evolutionary psychology affects human culture and relationships — offers his perspective, in New Republic, on how Brian Williams Is … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Audiences Cheering and Egging Them On; Christian persecution and criminalization; Why people doubt science

Posted on 9 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s been widely observed that the Internet has allowed like-minded people of all stripes to find each other, create online communities, and reinforce each others opinions and prejudices, in increasingly specific bubbles of interests and ideologies. But the visibility of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Culture, Religion, The Gays | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Audiences Cheering and Egging Them On; Christian persecution and criminalization; Why people doubt science