Views from Crestmont Drive

Assorted Links, early March

Posted on Friday 3 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Politics, The Crazies, Science and Culture, Religion

Jeff VanderMeer (and a coauthor) on DeSantis and students in Florida; David French on cancel culture and the now two Overton Windows; Amanda Marcotte on Republican hypocrisy;
MTG’s confused timeline; bills to outlaw the Democratic Party in Florida, abortion because OB-GYNs might lose work, to require political bloggers to register with the state in Florida, and to ban public drag shows;
Paul Krugman on social security; claims about abortion, fact-checked; a 65-year-old Danny Dunn book and its relevance to AI and homework;
Questioning “God-given” rights as they’ve changed over the centuries and vary across the world.

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Mehdi Hasan on Arguing

Posted on Thursday 2 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two interviews with and a book by Mehdi Hasan, about how to argue, and win arguments, using emotional connections over facts and figures, critical thinking skills, with the difficulty in conducting “good-faith” arguments with the right. How some victims of right-wing media are lost. With references to the Gish Gallop, and John Stuart Mills.

Salon, Dean Obeidallah, 28 Feb 2023: MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan: You need “rhetorical judo” to challenge the far right, subtitled “Here’s what Hasan says too many left-liberal arguments fail to grasp: ‘We are emotional creatures, not logical'”

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Leftover February Links, 2

Posted on Thursday 2 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Science, Culture, Politics

A 3-D map of near space, and errors in film and TV science fiction, and a novel; 11 recent scientific breakthroughs; a Lunar time zone.
When reading went silent.
Ron DeSantis’ freedom crackdown, and a question about systematic racism; Putin’s parallel universe; spreading propaganda for fun and profit; and about the crazies.

Science

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Leftover February Links, 1

Posted on Wednesday 1 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Politics, Science, Culture, Religion

GOP, NYT and Biden; Evolution, Aliens and Balloons; Movie Credits, Awards; He Gets Us, Indoctrination Camps, Education

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There are “Theories” and then there are “Theories”

Posted on Tuesday 28 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I have an idea I haven’t heard or read anyone express before: that some of the confusion about science on the one hand, and the legitimacy of crazy, sometimes deliberately fabricated, nonsensical ideas about what’s going on in the world on the other hand, is due to the use of the word “theory” to describe both.

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Posted in Conservative Resistance, Psychology, Science | Comments Off

Zodiacal Light, and The Well

Posted on Monday 27 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two more items for today, which I decided not to squeeze into the previous post.

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Items from Big Think about Science and Philosophy

Posted on Monday 27 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How fast is the Earth moving, and in what direction? How the ancient Greek philosophers were mostly wrong but blazed conceptual trails. And thought experiments that challenge conventional thinking.

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Posted in Philosophy, Science | Comments Off

More about the Crazy Fringes

Posted on Sunday 26 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The crazy fringes being Fox News, Fox & Friends, Arizona Republicans, and conservatives who believe in witches and demons. With a palette cleansing quote from Carl Sagan.

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Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy | Comments Off

I do not think this study means what this writer thinks it means

Posted on Saturday 25 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

(Added Sunday: another take on the same study from a writer at Vox.)

NYT, Bret Stephens, 21 Feb 2023: The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned?

A conservative columnist for the NY Times claims a meta-study on the efficacy of masks for reducing the spread of respiratory illness has concluded that they didn’t work.

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Posted in Conservative Resistance, Science | Comments Off