Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

I have covered the troubles the ITER fusion project is having in ITER Gets Clipped which covered the American view of ITER’s troubles. The The European Voice is taking a look at the problems from an European view. ITER’s projected costs have soared since the first estimates were made in 2001. Contributions will generally be…

The person speaking is Keli Carender. Otherwise known as Liberty Belle. H/T NPR via Instapundit Cross Posted at Power and Control

Are we facing an epidemic of “Internet addiction”? Apparently so. There are more and more studies like this warning of dire dangers, which are said to include depression and the risk of suicide: Study leader Dr Catriona Morrison, from the Institute of Psychological Sciences at the University of Leeds, said: “The internet now plays a…

Reuters has pulled a story on how the Obama Administration intends to short circuit any incipient American economic recovery by stealth tax raises. NEW YORK (Reuters.com) -The Obama administration’s plan to cut more than $1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade relies heavily on so-called backdoor tax increases that will result in a…

Did you know that if you like small breasts on women, you’re likely a “pedophile”? I didn’t, but today I learned that some people think that, and they’re just the kind of people who enjoy career censorship. In Australia, they’re behind an effort to insist on large-breasted women in porn. No really. (I couldn’t make…

Here is a list of the T Party candidates: GOP Primaries: Adam Andrzejewski – for Governor About 15% in a race where the top vote getters got 20%. Not bad. But he came in 5th. Don Tracy – Lt. Governor About 11% – 3rd place Jason Plummer – Lt. Governor About 34% – 1st place…

Sean Kinsell has noted a downright authoritarian streak in Frank Rich, and quotes a remarkable passage from his column about President’s SOTU address: One year into Obama’s term we still don’t know whether he has what it takes to get American governance functioning again. But we do know that no speech can do the job.…

The US Treasury Department says that bailouts add risk to the financial system. WASHINGTON – The government’s response to the financial meltdown has made it more likely the United States will face a deeper crisis in the future, an independent watchdog at the Treasury Department warned. The problems that led to the last crisis have…

The Stern Review on the effects of climate change (things will be different?) had to retract a point or two after publication. The Stern Review on the economics of climate change, which was commissioned by the Treasury, was greeted with headlines worldwide when it was published in October 2006 It contained dire predictions about the…

It looks like the Obama Administration is cutting back its support for ITER in next year’s Federal Energy Budget. …funding for DOE’s fusion energy sciences (FES) program gets clipped from an estimated $426 million this year to a requested $380 million next year, a reduction of 10.8%. That reduction would come out of the United…

Quite a few states are working to change their constitutions to prevent Federal health care mandates. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Although President Barack Obama’s push for a health care overhaul has stalled, conservative lawmakers in about half the states are forging ahead with constitutional amendments to ban government health insurance mandates. About half? Lawmakers in…

Over the weekend, M. Simon emailed me a link to a news item Glenn Reynolds had linked about the Pashtuns. Or should I say the “gay Pahstuns“? As if U.S. troops and diplomats didn’t have enough to worry about in trying to understand Afghan culture, a new report suggests an entire region in the country…

What is worse? Heightism or Obamacareism? More properly, I should say sexual Heightism or sexual Obamacareism for that’s what we’re talking about. First, take heightism: …A while back, I conducted a poll: “Would you go out with a guy who’s shorter than you?” Around 40 percent of the women who responded said: “Hell-to-the-no.” Another 32…

Thanks to Instapundit hints I was able to locate a coordination site for the Tea Party movement. They are currently featuring The Contract From America. Welcome to the Contract From America initiative, where you can join your fellow Americans in a collaborative grassroots effort to create a document that offers real change in Washington, D.C.…

It looks like real estate in China is going through a massive bubble. It is still on the upswing side. We don’t really have a view on when it will end; [but] we do have a view that this is a bubble. Real estate is very much driven by government policy. This year we have…

A story on the front page of the real estate section in today’s Detroit Free Press (“Rules hinder low-income buyers’ loans“) featured a young couple’s tale of woe over their failure to qualify for a federal loan: Lucas Harrison-Zdenek has tried twice since last summer to get a federal loan to buy a foreclosed home.…

Mark Steyn sizes up Barack Obama: In the last 60 years, the size of America’s state and local workforce has increased five times faster than the general population. But the president says it’s still not enough: We have to incentivize even further the diversion of our human capital into the government machine. Like most lifelong…

A wind and solar powered government? I kid you not. WASHINGTON — The federal government, the nation’s largest energy consumer, will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 28% over the next decade, the White House will announce today. “It’s a real opportunity to lead by example,” says Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council…

What is a blogger to do when a hypothetical example turns out to be a real-life truth? And what is a right-of-center blogger to do when he finds himself feeling sorry for (and downright supportive of) the hated Michael Moore? As I will explain, both of these things have just happened to me. In order…