Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Earlier tonight I decided to check out a new restaurant that has just opened on the main boulevard here in Ann Arbor. As it is only a half a dozen or so blocks away, I decided to walk. A few blocks up the street, some young people were blasting the neighborhood with rap music at…

Remember when “death panels” were considered a right-wing crackpot conspiracy theory? Well, via Adam Bitely, I learned that it turns out that not only were the death panels there all along, but they’re a good thing! A cost saver, don’t you know. So explains Paul Krugman (who as a left-wing economist ought to know about…

A well-known blogger I greatly respect but won’t name (you will understand why; he fears reprisals) told me about an amazing man named Dr. Peter Beter. Dr. Beter was a successful Washington lawyer and former Kennedy administration diplomatic liaison, until finally he decided to blow the whistle on what was really going on, and he…

What the hell is going on with this blog? Have we been hijacked? MORE: Over at Power and Control, M. Simon expresses bitter disappointment, and is threatening to quit! I can hardly blame him. I think it is high time that we get some answers around here! AND MORE: What I want to know is…

Allahpundit asks a question which has been intriguing me: If it’s constitutional to impose an insurance mandate, i.e. “you must purchase a product from this industry,” why would it be unconstitutional to refine that to “you must purchase our product from this industry”? In fact, assuming that the feds gave you a choice between not…

Speaking of the flag which leftie blogs are attempting to use in a lame attempt to connect the Tea Party movement to the Hutaree lunatics, M. Simon reminded me that the United States Navy is flying it. The First Navy Jack, which was directly related to the Gadsden flag, has also been in use by…

As regular readers know, this blog takes flags seriously. So seriously, in fact, that I came up with a composite design of two flags that strike me as being at war with each other. More recently, a reader helped improve the image: Better to be inclusive than divisive, right? This morning I was alerted to…

There is an ongoing discussion at Classical Values about whether the Federal Government can force you to buy a product. Like heath insurance say. Or a car from Government Motors. I just came across an interesting mp3 from the Volokh Conspiracy on that very question. It is a discussion by the Attorney General of Colorado…

The demise of the Pravda and Izvestia media is in full swing. CNN continued what has become a precipitous decline in ratings for its prime-time programs in the first quarter of 2010, with its main hosts losing almost half their viewers in a year. But the news is not all bad for them. Some of…

I just got a wonderful e-mail promising $500,000 for victims of Obama’s scams. On behalf of the Obama’s Foundation and UNITED NATIONS, we wish to notify you as a beneficiary of $500,000 USD in compensation of scam victims.This is to bring to your notice that we are delegated from the Obama’s Foundation and UNITED NATIONS…

(to John Scalzi, lately author of the very entertaining and well-written The God Engines) John, I’ve noticed there is a large fairness gap in writing. While a large proportion of writers are unable to garner even 1,000 book-purchasing readers, others are routinely taking hundreds of thousands or even millions — and most shockingly, many books…

After reading various reactions of doctors and other health care providers who submitted posts to the Grand Rounds special post-healthcare reform edition that Glenn linked earlier, I’m worried about what might happen over the next two years. I think everyone who opposed Obamacare should be worried too. From a partisan political standpoint, the worst thing…

When read that Ricky Martin had come out of the closet, I was not terribly surprised. Nor was anyone. Glenn Reynolds said this was the “BOTTOM story of the day,” and quipped,”Who’s next — Elton John?” Don’t laugh. People are still guessing about Richard Simmons. Will such pesky rumors never cease? As to the merits,…

Dr. Helen links an article in USA Today I found horrifying. Government-run homeless shelters (places that basically provide people with a cot to sleep) end up costing more than it would to rent private housing. Much, much more: Cities, states and the federal government pay more to provide the homeless with short-term shelter and services…

Finally, there’s something about President Obama that I like! And I mean, really like! I did not know it until today, but according to this article, my favorite beer, Yuengling — a great, 175-year-old beer from “America’s oldest brewery” — is also Barack Obama’s favorite beer: OTTAWA – President Barack Obama followed through on his…

I realize it’s self-indulgent to carry on about the love affair I’m having with my rice cooker, but I just made a big pot of Sushi rice, and wow! It’s as addictive as salt and vinegar potato chips. Which isn’t surprising, considering that virtually all Sushi rice recipes call for rice vinegar and salt. But…

While American animal rights activists busy themselves with legislation making criminals out of loving dog owners for tethering a family dog to the front porch, our smug anti-American neighbors to the north are busy skinning seal pups alive. This horrifies Canadian Jamie Glazov, and if you read his article and you’re sensitive to shocking scenes…

Last night I read Cathy Young’s piece on health care reform just before going to bed, and some of what she said had me tossing and turning. the life-and-death nature of medicine throws a major wrench into the libertarian paradigm. Ouch! I hate wrenches are thrown into libertarian paradigms, and I wish I could just…

The public scenes (Senate hearings) are pretty faithful to the record according to what I can tell. Very few words have been changed or left out. Compare the movie version to newsreel clips of them. This came up because of Congressional hearings threatened against companies revealing material losses caused by the Health Care Bill. And…