Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

I never trusted Jonathan Chait, and I think this Reason piece confirms that I was right: Over at New York Magazine, which today suffered a website crash that temporarily lowered Internet smug levels by a measurable degree, Jonathan Chaitmakes the bold claim that the Democratic Party is entering a period of dominance. His argument is partially rooted in…

Wanna make powdered alcohol in your kitchen? The recipe is quite simple. 1. Weigh out 100 grams of N-Zorbit into a mixing bowl. Because the powder is so fluffy and light, this will be a sizeable mound. 2. While whisking steadily, drizzle in 30 grams of high-proof spirit. I use Lemon Hart 151-proof rum. After…

Since my last post on the subject, I finally had a breakthrough with my 3D metal printer. For weeks now, I have been trying every possible variation of every possible combination of every possible code setting in every possible firmware, and yesterday I finally managed to get lucky. Here it is, running G-code for an…

A bipartisan bill in Congress would prohibit “overzealous PhotoShopping” of models and celebrities: A new bill introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives aims at curbing overzealous photoshopping of models and celebrities in advertisements. Called the “Truth in Advertising Act,” the bill was co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Florida and Democratic Rep. Lois…

Until today, I had never heard a a rejection letter described as a noose, but I guess there’s a first for everything. A young woman is irate that her grades and test scores didn’t qualify her for admission to the University of Michigan, and she blames racism. Moreover, she claims that she has been rejected…

I have gotten the 3D metal printer I’ve been building to talk to the computer but as you can see, it’s not yet functional as a printer. Mechanically, the printer was built according to the specifications here. At this point I have spent countless hours going over the firmware looking for anything I might have…

How much more of this crap do we have to tolerate? A lot, it seems. And what am I supposed to do about it? Blame the Republicans? A lot of good that will do.  

A new study purportedly shows that people of color breathe air that is 38% more polluted than the air breathed by white people: A study released by the University of Minnesota this week indicated that people of color are exposed to air that is 38 percent more polluted than the air breathed by white people.…

From: Eric Holder Admits to Putting Politics Ahead of Science on Medical Marijuana. I think that given what we have done in dealing with the whole Smart on Crime initiative and the executive actions that we have taken, that when it comes to rescheduling, I think this is something that should come from Congress,” Holder…

If you were a prison guard, would you rather guard violent criminals, or non-violent criminals? I think the answer is obvious. Prison guards like people who are easier to deal with, because it makes their job easier. (Forget for now the traditional nature of a prison guard’s job.) Well, how about if you were a…

There have been a number of attacks on techies in the San Francisco Bay Area recently, and I just saw this one linked on Drudge: SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A man said he had his Google Glass snatched of his face and smashed to the ground in San Francisco’s Mission District Friday evening. 20-year-old…

I learned a new word today. “Kyriarchy.” Kyriarchy (“rule by a lord”; from the Greek ??????/kyrios “lord or master” and ????/arche “authority, leadership”) is a social system or set of connecting social systems built around domination, oppression, and submission. The word itself is a neologism coined by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza to describe interconnected, interacting, and…

The above is what I have been into lately and my excuse for light blogging. It is a little microcontroller board based on the NXP LPC1114. Full board details, ordering information, and documentation are available at LPC1114 Devl. This all came about because there was a project I wanted to do. But I needed some…

A meme that will not die in certain quarters is the idea that the Nazis — and Adolf Hitler — were gay. It’s not an exaggeration to say homofascist because the German Nazi Party was homosexual, Hitler was a homosexual, the top Nazi leadership, all of them were homosexuals…they were creating a homosexual special race…It…

A recent news item about a rapidly escalating showdown between federal agents and cattle ranchers reminded me of a recent post which raised some philosophical questions. I don’t think oppressive or tyrannical laws should be enforced. But from there it gets complicated.

I’m curious about something. Postmodernism has held sway in academia for years, right? Morality has long since been so thoroughly deconstructed that anyone making an argument based on morality could be expected to be laughed out of the classrooms or faculty lounges at most modern American universities. Morality varies from person to person, culture to…

According to vaunted Right Wing THINKER David Frum. An Australian study of identical twins found that a twin who started using cannabis before age 17 was 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than the twin who did not.People in Colorado had good reason to worry about teen drug use. Colorado voters had approved a…

Opportunity in the Making. from Our City, Our Story on Vimeo. Some other links of interest on the subject: Can the Maker Movement Re-Make America? With Help from Etsy, a Small-City Mayor Brings the Maker Movement to the Classroom Lawrence J. Morrissey Another Video More Video OurCityOurStory.com – about Rockford This post came about because…

I’m hardly obsessed with cell phone etiquette, but I recently complained about assholes pacing the aisles of crowded locker rooms while talking on the cell phone (this despite it being against the rules which are only meant to be obeyed by nice people). I guess I should consider myself lucky that the asshole in the…

I hate it when I make a semi-sarcastic comment in a dark mood, only to see my sentiment confirmed, but here’s what I said: Little wonder so many conservatives love the War on Drugs. Which was in response to M. Simon’s comment: The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business…