Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

And leave the rest of the West behind. Seriously, check out these pictures. (Via Glenn Reynolds, natch.) They are all engaged in deliberate retaliatory provocation against religious bigots who want to stone a woman to death for posting naked pictures of herself (something which most Americans take for granted under the Second Amendment*): Earlier today,…

I used to see Roger Ebert a lot. And not just on TV. He used to eat at a kind of Italian fast food place called Roma’s Restaurant on the south west corner of Sheffield and Webster in Chicago. The neighborhood was denoted as the “Near North Side” in the way Chicago has of naming…

I was reading the comments at support for legalization at 52% and came across this comment. Joel Busher at 3:53 PM April 4, 2013 Several States in the American Union have legalized the recreational use of marijuana even with studies stating that this drug leads to use of even more dangerous addictions. How safe is…

There is a new Pew poll out showing national support for marijuana legalization at 52% vs 45% against. A majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, a new poll indicates, with the change driven largely by a huge shift in how the baby boom generation feels about the drug of their youth. By 52% to 45%,…

They may be mostly a group of lefties, I am delighted that the ACLU has expressed concerns about the pending gun control bill. …we have seen in the past that the creation of these types of records leads sometimes to the creation of government databases and collections of personal information on all of us,” Calabrese…

Richard Feldman of the Independent Firearm Owners Association has an oped in USA Today. …we must focus on the fact that authorities say 30% to 45% of all gun crime is attributable to the illegal drug trade. History proved that taking profit out of trade in “demon rum” dramatically eliminated related violence. Why wouldn’t that…

Patenting a plant treatment? Is this any way to treat medical cannabis?

For some time, I’ve been puzzled over a growing, annoying trend. Increasingly, I get asked for my ID to buy alcohol. I’m 58, have gray hair, and no one on this planet who has even a quarter of a brain would imagine for a moment that I might — even possibly — be under 21.…

The anti-gun bigots are hardly making me want to move back to California: Gun control advocates in Sacramento are putting a new twist on an old NRA slogan: “Guns don’t kill people — bullets kill people.” Democratic lawmakers are pushing like never before to regulate or tax ammunition sales. They say the logic is simple: A…

Some kids have been reading this blog and are mocking it. H/T Spatial Orientation – Classically Liberal Space Cadets. And how did I find them? Well I was looking for a SWAT team picture and found a really good one here.

The problem with libertines is that they take advantage of Liberty. The way to prevent that is to severely curtail Liberty. The very best way to protect Liberty is to eliminate it. And thus the modern Conservative who does everything in his power to protect Liberty. And any one who says Conservatives are anti-Liberty is…

Kathy Kinsley in a round about way suggested this. And yes. I specifically picked this version for the irony. And Judy Garland.

Due to the great number of people not getting the Joke, April Fools Day has been rescheduled. It will now officially be April 2nd of every year. On leap years it will be April 3rd to account for the extra day in the year.

While I’ve been too busy to plan an April Fool’s Day joke for the blog, I think the following headline as about as good a joke as any I’ve seen: Obama Proclaims April the Month to Teach Young People ‘How to Budget Responsibly’ Who says the man hasn’t got a sense of humor?

I can think of a lot of arguments against gay marriage, but a new one emerged today. In a horrifying shocker of a news item, Georgia’s GOP Chair has warned that heterosexuals might take advantage of same sex marriage if it is legalized! A top Republican in Georgia has sounded an ominous warning that legalization…

I talked about my former Rabbi, Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn a while back. He is revisiting Rockford for the 100th Anniversary of our Temple. Temple Beth El – Rockford. He will be here on April 12th and 13th to discuss his time in Rockford and also to discuss medical marijuana. Here is his itinerary while he…

Medicinal Cannabis and its Impact on Human Health           The link to this movie was sent to me by my friend Clyde. You can learn more at: Endocannabinoids The Science. Endocannabinoids And Cancer – NIH Publication Jews Are Going To Pot Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn There are more endocannabinoid receptors in the…

M. Simon emailed me about an Oklahoma bill which would allow cities to ban pit bulls. State Sen. Patrick Anderson, Enid, is behind the bill. He says he sponsored the effort after leaders in the Kay County city of Blackwell urged him to do so. “You hear about dog attacks on occasion, so I’m sure there…

I made a typo in my responses to a commenter. I meant to type “socon” for social conservative. Instead I typed sovcon. But I think the word is apt. Sov – for both Social and Soviet (collective) and Con for Conservative. The Progressive Right. As opposed to the Libertarian Right.

It is pretty obvious now that Romeney got second class tech help for his campaign even if he paid big money for it. Why couldn’t Romney attract the passionate talent and guidance Obama and the Democrats have? Nate Silver may have provided the answer. Perhaps a different type of Republican candidate, one whose views on…