Category Archives: Politics

Stories, Traditions, and Science

Posted on Saturday 19 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Why does MAGA hate science? Why do right-wing folks think democratic policies have failed? And Paul Krugman on the top 10 political websites on Substack. – – – A significant essay, for my concerns. Salon, Kirk Swearingen, 19 Jul 2025: … Continue reading →

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Only Certain People Count

Posted on Friday 18 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s news about Stephen Colbert; Conservatives have finally managed to cut funding to PBS and NPR; David Brooks on Trump winning the race to the bottom; Sure enough, EPA is firing hundreds of scientific experts; Fareed Zakaria on how Obama … Continue reading →

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Incompetence, Greed, or Sabotage?

Posted on Thursday 17 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Elizabeth Kolbert on the Texas floods and the administration’s undermining of climate research; How the Trump administration wants to discourage wind and solar projects; Recalling the Scopes trial, 100 years ago this month, and America’s continued antipathy toward science and … Continue reading →

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Is the universe friendly, or hostile?

Posted on Wednesday 16 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

David Wallace-Wells on the Epstein scandal, with items by Zack Beauchamp and Shawn McCreesh; How simple-minded Trump characterizes his adversaries as “evil”; How Trump’s economic agenda is driven by simple-minded lies and misunderstandings; How the question “Is the world a … Continue reading →

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History and Change

Posted on Tuesday 15 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump keeps a trophy for himself; Paul Krugman on why the Trump administration is killing science; How MAGA needs stories in which they are the heroes; Why Trump fans aren’t forgiving Trump about Epstein; Heather Cox Richardson about Trump’s “mandate” … Continue reading →

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The problem with the world is not evil. It’s ignorance, and delusion.

Posted on Monday 14 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Two thoughts from Yuval Noah Harari today; Ramez Naam on how AI models converge on “moderately left-libertarian political viewpoints”; Another piece about how people should be held accountable for tragedies; Heather Cox Richardson summaries the Epstein fiasco; WaPo’s Philip Bump … Continue reading →

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No Necessary Nations

Posted on Saturday 12 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Stephan Marche on how there are no necessary nations, and no permanent global order; Judges, appointed both by Republicans and Democrats, speak out against the Trump administration; Heather Cox Richardson identifies one key failure in the Texas floods, the result … Continue reading →

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Two Takes on the Problem with Men

Posted on Friday 11 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

David French and Jordan Peterson and competing theories about the problem with men; About cuts to science research; do Republicans not understand investments in the future?; A report about Lara Trump’s show on Fox News; An essay by Tom Nichols … Continue reading →

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As I’ve Been Saying…

Posted on Thursday 10 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Is there any point in noting these same issues again and again? Yes. Because they are evidence of the decline of the US, which most Americans are not noticing, and I think this is important, not so much as this … Continue reading →

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Darkest Days

Posted on Wednesday 9 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Shorter items today. The Supreme Court and “emergencies”; How Trump reflexively blames Biden; And how Trump takes credit for what Biden actually did; The confusion over Epstein conspiracy theories; Trump wants more factories, but is expelling the workers who might … Continue reading →

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