Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Earlier a friend sent me a link to an article which he thought indicated a distinct anti-pit-bull bias. Boy, was he not kidding. It turns out that the mayor of an Arizona town had several dogs which got into a fight, and when she and her husband intervened, the aggressive dog killed the mayor’s husband,…

Back in the early days of the computer revolution the first mate made “Support the Revolution Buy A Computer” Ts. My slogan – her effort. That was back when I was helping Ward Christensen and Randy Suess get up the World’s First BBS. A precursor of the Internet. Here is what I had to say…

Who said this: Governments are power systems. They are trying to sustain their power and domination over their populations and they will use what means are available to do this. By now the means are very sophisticated and extensive and we can expect them to increase. So for instance, if you read technology journals you…

Coco has a longstanding problem with squirrels. She thinks they are treacherous creatures, hell-bent on doing her harm, or at least driving her crazy. While I’ve tended to be dismissive of Coco’s claims, a recent news item made me wonder whether there might actually be a malignant animus in these fluffy-tailed rates that induces violence,…

The seeds of a second Civil War may be being sowed with States passing ObamaCare nullification laws. Various states are taking another approach to defeat ObamaCare. These states are considering the idea of nullification. Idaho Governor Otter recently said “we are actively exploring all our options – including nullification.” State nullification is the idea that…

Ah yes. The gubbermint needs moar money. You remember Obama telling you that your tax bill would shoot up by over $275 a year under his plan, don’t you? No? You remember the exact opposite – passionate, repeated vows that taxes on the Sainted Middle Class wouldn’t be raised by a dime? Call it Obama’s…

This is about the regulation of monopolies. From learnliberty.org. It may explain why insurance companies joined with the government to enact ObamaCare. Survival is guaranteed.

I live in the 815 area code and just got some 411 from Eric that I was previously unaware of. 815 Rappers. It seems that Chicago gangstas are moving into the 815 area code (my neck of the woods) and at least making DJ mixes about it. Here is a rapper from Joliet (home of…

We don’t know enough about marijuana to legalize it. Speaking recently with the Los Angeles Times, UCLA professor and former Washington state ”pot czar” Mark Kleiman implied that we as a society are largely ignorant when it comes to the subject of weed. Speaking with Times columnist Patt Morrison, Kleiman stated, “I keep saying we…

And blogging may be light to nonexistent for a few days. Fortunately, that might not stop the intrepid M. Simon. Here’s one for the road:

As we all know, if you didn’t like Obama, it was because you are racist. And now, if you don’t like Hillary, it is because you are sexist: Desperate to stop a second Clinton presidency in 2016, it’s a sure bet many in the GOP will reprise the ugly attacks they used on her 22…

Collectivism is obviously the answer. Ahem. Well, I had the following video, a sympathetic interview of Chris Hedges, suggested by YouTube. So I thought I’d post it to give some idea about how the collectivist are thinking. The “Individualism Danger” idea is presented at about 4:50 in. He does identify “the ineffectual liberal elite” so…

All is calm… All is bright! MORE: I couldn’t resist sharing this:

Hey, speaking of Biblical interpretations, regardless of whether or not December 25 is in fact the anniversary of the date Jesus was born, Merry Christmas everyone!

The word “sodomy” is in quotes because Sodom is a place, and “sodomy” is a Medieval term which eventually became a legal term. So I use it loosely, and sarcastically. What’s interesting is what happened in Lot’s family during the post-Sodom period. From Genesis 19: 19:30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt…

I got an e-mail from the Times entitled: Discover Storytelling at its Best Well I do post links and bits from them occasionally. But I keep my eyes on the comments here for corrections.

The original that played on the radio back in the day ’49: In honor of the Briceland Horse and Truck Gang: Movie trailer: Gene Autry sings: And to finish:

About 20% of the population have the genes for long term PTSD. About half those get enough trauma to initiate PTSD. Now correlation is not causation but it is suggestive. About 10% of the American population has PTSD. About 10% of the American population are chronic drug users. Alcohol, pot, heroin, cocaine, meth, etc. So…

Eric asks why there is a double standard from all sides when it comes to speech. That is not the only place such double standards exist. I was having a drug war conversation with some folks and had this to say: Arguing prohibition with conservatives is like arguing economics with liberals. At least that has…

I think Cathy Young gets it right. …on freedom of speech, hypocrisy and double standards are rampant across the political spectrum… While it is true that most of what people defend fervently as “free speech” is precisely that (meaning speech that is protected by the First Amendment), in practice whether it is defended depends on…