Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Conservative Disregard for Science; Projections and Untruth; That Famous British Take-down of Trump

Posted on 4 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Update to my Projects page; The Supreme Court’s disregard for science; Anti-vaccine conservatives’ disregard for science; More about Trump’s and the GOP’s projecting about which party is trying to destroy democracy; How even Fox News is fact-checking Trumps “untruths”; And … Continue reading →

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Choice, Binary Matters, and Projection

Posted on 3 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Another cool, mostly overcast, party sunny day. This is winter in the Bay Area: lows in the 40s, highs in the 50s. We walked the Montclair Railroad Trail, and checked various shops in the village for Christmas lights. One of … Continue reading →

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Personal Jesus and Other Fantasies

Posted on 2 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How Russia is cracking down on the Gay Rights Movement, just as American evangelicals would like to do; A laughable debate about whether the Earth is flat or round, based on Biblical theology; A take on the economy that suggests … Continue reading →

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Newsom, DeSantis, Santos, and the Threat of a Trump Dictatorship

Posted on 1 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Political and religious/political items today. The Newsom/DeSantis debate; The expulsion of George Santos; How ‘moderates’ like Nikki Haley would also eviscerate the government (i.e. what “draining the swamp” means to Republicans); Short items about DeSantis’ Bible; how inflation is fault … Continue reading →

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Con Men and Bespoke Realities

Posted on 30 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

End of November. The sun sets early; the house is chillier. We have our thermostat set to 68. And I think I’m approaching the finishing of one of my long-term projects. And still working on another. Adam Frank on learning … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Science | Leave a comment

Bathing, Evidence, Control, Dating, Social Security

Posted on 29 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Why daily bathing (just like trying to kill every germ in sight) may not be healthy; Items about Republican admissions they don’t have evidence for their claims; how they take credit for what they voted against; how the party of … Continue reading →

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Last Questions and Possible Answers, 4

Posted on 28 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

This is my fourth and likely last post, following this one in March and this one in June, and this one eight days ago, in which I consider the John Brockman book The Last Unknowns, in which he gathers deep … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Human Progress, Philosophy, Religion, Science, science fiction | Leave a comment

I Don’t Know. Not Everything has Meaning. And Nihilism. Not What You Think.

Posted on 27 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Essay by Anne Lamott about what she’s learned at age 69; NYT’s Brad Stulberg about traumatic experiences and finding, or not, new meaning; A summary of my recent thinking about the narrative bias, metaphor, and “meaning”; Considering what “nihilism” is … Continue reading →

Posted in Meaning, Philosophy | Leave a comment

End of Thanksgiving Weekend

Posted on 26 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Late afternoon, Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Just finished putting lights up on our two second floor balconies, that should come on automatically an dusk. — 5:10pm, they’ve just come on. Oops, except for one string that came on only half-way. … Continue reading →

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Just ’cause you feel it / Doesn’t mean it’s there

Posted on 25 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Comments about that article that distinguished between “liberals” and “progressives”; Yet another piece about how “voters feel one way about the economy but act differently”; An historical overview about how the US economy is no longer the greatest in history; … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, History, Music, Politics | Comments Off on Just ’cause you feel it / Doesn’t mean it’s there