Bothsidesism and Media Bias

Posted on Tuesday 2 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s an odd headline. What could this be about?

Slate, Savannah Jacobson, 1 Aug 2022: Why the New York Times’ Post-Roe Abortion Coverage Has Felt a Little Off, subtitled, “It’s the same problem that always plagues the Times.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Bothsidesism and Media Bias

Randy Olson, HOUSTON, WE HAVE A NARRATIVE

Posted on Monday 1 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This is an interesting book that I’m disappointed by only because it’s not the book I wanted to read. That is, not the author’s fault. An interesting, useful, book nonetheless.

(University of Chicago Press, 2015, trade paperback, 260pp)

Olson’s book is about narrative, and science — but only science in terms of writing paper abstracts and press releases. About telling the ‘story’ of new scientific results.

Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Narrative, Science | Comments Off on Randy Olson, HOUSTON, WE HAVE A NARRATIVE

Recent Doonesbury and Utopian Ideologies

Posted on Sunday 31 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, science fiction | Comments Off on Recent Doonesbury and Utopian Ideologies

Demographic Studies: Red v Blue, Abortions, Social Services, and Mortality Gaps

Posted on Saturday 30 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Two items today that fit neatly together. They are illustrations of demographic trends that seem always to align. Red states, religion, support for authoritarian politicians, disapproval of abortion, disapproval of certain books, distrust of science, and lack of social services. And higher death rates.

Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Science | Comments Off on Demographic Studies: Red v Blue, Abortions, Social Services, and Mortality Gaps

Reading Clubs and Robert Silverberg’s “Sailing to Byzantium”

Posted on Friday 29 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve never belonged to any kind of reading club, or ‘book club’ in the sense of a group of people meeting every couple weeks to discuss a book they’ve all read. (A recent example in pop culture is the movie The Jane Austen Book Club, based on the novel by Karen Joy Fowler.) For one, I’ve never been a ‘joiner’ of clubs or groups. (In all the years I lived in Los Angeles, I never once visited LASFS, the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, which met weekly at a clubhouse in North Hollywood.) For another, I have lots of books to read on my own, too many to consider interrupting my plans for the agenda of some club or group.

Continue reading →

Posted in Personal history, Robert Silverberg, science fiction, Short Fiction | Comments Off on Reading Clubs and Robert Silverberg’s “Sailing to Byzantium”

Quick Post on a Late Thursday Afternoon, with Cars

Posted on Thursday 28 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Busy this afternoon with a long zoom meeting concerning a certain magazine and its future.

The meeting went longer than I’d thought.

For now, here’s a photo of a vintage car we saw a couple weeks ago on a walk through Shepherd’s Canyon, a bit south of us.

Continue reading →

Posted in Cars | Comments Off on Quick Post on a Late Thursday Afternoon, with Cars

Facebook Memes and Post

Posted on Wednesday 27 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

A collection of saves from the past two or three weeks. This first one has been around for a while, and of course speaks to the evidence of psychological studies…

Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy | Comments Off on Facebook Memes and Post

What People Know, Think They Know, or Believe, vs. How They Act

Posted on Tuesday 26 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

In particular, about a GOP congressman’s hypocrisy concerning his son’s gay marriage, how the Republican witnesses at the Jan. 6th hearing abandoned their jobs only at the last possible minute, and how people in red states have a distorted view of life in blue states.

Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on What People Know, Think They Know, or Believe, vs. How They Act

David Brin, POLEMICAL JUDO

Posted on Monday 25 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a 2019 book, self-published, subtitled “A Brazen Guide for Sane Americans to Bypass Trench Warfare and Win Our Life or Death Struggle for Civilization.” This is a book full of sound and fury, an expression of Brin’s rage and frustration at the current political situation. It’s derived largely from his blog, Contrary Brin, which has been running since 2004, and was put together in something of a rush apparently in order to be published before the 2020 election.

Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Conservative Resistance, Politics | Comments Off on David Brin, POLEMICAL JUDO

Imposters

Posted on Sunday 24 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Imposter Christianity, imposter conclusions, imposter patriots, imposter politicians.

CNN, John Blake, 24 July 2022: An ‘imposter Christianity’ is threatening American democracy

A take on the obvious observation that so many Christians say they believe one thing while in fact doing exactly the opposite.

Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Imposters