Category Archives: Science

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 →

Posted in Music, Personal history, Politics, Religion, Science | Leave a comment

Responsibility, Certainty, and Doubt

Posted on Sunday 13 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Defunding weather science and disaster response to save money is like cancelling all your insurance policies to manage your household budget; LAT: Robin Abcarian on the implausibilities of expecting Medicaid recipients to replace deported farmworkers; NYT: Peter Baker on how … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Psychology, Science | Leave a comment

What Is America Thinking?

Posted on Monday 7 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Will scientific advances by the US continue? Do most Americans care? My take on the big picture of the cultural change in the US, and other societies; Heather Cox Richardson, and Nitish Pahwa at Slate, summarize what’s to blame for … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Human Nature, Lunacy, Science | Comments Off on What Is America Thinking?

This Is What Will Be

Posted on Thursday 26 June 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How right-wing violence has become normalized; How perhaps “totalitarianism” is better than “authoritarianism” for what is going on; How Republicans trying to roll back same-sex marriage are fighting a losing battle, cf. that Stephen Prothero book; A psychiatrist explains how … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Music, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on This Is What Will Be

Dr. Christopher Evans, CULTS OF UNREASON

Posted on Thursday 12 June 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

No subtitle (they didn’t do them so often fifty years ago). (UK, 1973; US: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974, 258pp, including 5pp index.) Like Nicholas Humphrey’s LEAPS OF FAITH, discussed a couple weeks ago, this is a book I read … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Science, science fiction, Supernatural | Comments Off on Dr. Christopher Evans, CULTS OF UNREASON

Harvey Milk, DEI, Lysenko, Jesus

Posted on Wednesday 4 June 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Pete Hegseth orders removal of Harvey Milk’s name from an oil tanker as part of reestablishing “the warrior culture”; Trump fires head of the National Portrait Gallery, because ridding the government of DEI is about “the mere presence of nonwhites … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunacy, Politics, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Harvey Milk, DEI, Lysenko, Jesus

Education, Religion, Policies that Don’t Work, the Revolt Against Expertise

Posted on Sunday 25 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Heather Cox Richard on the history of government suppression of education, especially as inspired by religion; The GOP keeps promoting policies that history has shown don’t work; The revolt against expertise, yet again. – – – Heather Cox Richardson reviews … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Progress, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Education, Religion, Policies that Don’t Work, the Revolt Against Expertise

J. Bronowksi: THE ASCENT OF MAN

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Little, Brown, 1973, 448pp, including 9pp (in tiny print) of bibliography and index) This is a substantial book that was popular in its time but is probably not really recommendable now, simply because it’s 50 years out of date in … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, History, Human Nature, Human Progress, Science | Comments Off on J. Bronowksi: THE ASCENT OF MAN

Academic Freedom, Good Citizens, and Moving Forward

Posted on Tuesday 6 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Alan Lightman on academic freedom; Alan Lightman and Martin Rees on how scientists can be good citizens; Rewatching Conclave, and recalling two key quotes, about certainty, and moving forward. – – – The very idea of academic freedom, of freedom … Continue reading →

Posted in progress, Religion, Science, Social Progress | Comments Off on Academic Freedom, Good Citizens, and Moving Forward

The Clueless Conservative War on Reality

Posted on Saturday 3 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

MAGA’s war science: Ignorance is Strength!; Trump doesn’t understand the separation of church and state; Trump doesn’t understand how trade deficits worth; Trump thinks Veterans Day should be only about veterans who won wars; Trump doesn’t understand even the Declaration … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Economics, Science | Comments Off on The Clueless Conservative War on Reality