Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

As I said earlier, I feel more had by Andrew Sullivan than by Tiger Woods. I don’t like it when people are not who they say they are, and the whole Sullivan Doppelganger thing makes me wince when I think back on the innumerable posts I’ve written over the years either agreeing or disagreeing with…

Is the subject of whether I feel “had” by Tiger Woods even worth a post? I don’t know. For the life of me, I just don’t feel part of a growing chorus of angry “we’s” who do feel — very strongly — they they have been “had.” (Apparently, there is a sense that by betraying…

In general, politics is a depressing topic for me. Maybe it’s because after six and a half years of blogging against socialism and big government only to see more of both, all I can do is repeat myself. A big Ugh! to that. What could be more ineffective than telling my readers what I think…

Not everyone appreciates vintage Grateful Dead. Please feel free to yawn and roll your eyes if you’ve heard this rant before — which you have — and in that regard I admit that this is probably another classic example of what I have called, self-indulgent psychedelic nostalgia, aggravated by a narcissistic, passive-aggressive sense of midlife…

I have been sitting on this story for a couple of days – waiting for verification. I now have some. Watts Up With That says that the CRU (of ClimateGate fame) cherry picked Russian data. And you probably couldn’t guess this in a million years, but they left out the data from the coldest stations.…

I’ve been marveling over the president’s contention that unless we spend a ton more money, we will soon be bankrupt. I like the way David Harsanyi puts it in his column with the appropriate title of “All the president’s mendacity“: President Barack Obama grimly warned America this week that if his health care plans fail,…

That I think is one of the most eloquent points ever made against the alternative energy craze as it is currently being manifested. We know what the world looks like now. How will it look if we have to get 100% of our energy from natural sources with technology that is available now? Or even…

I’ll say it isn’t! I woke up to see a truly marvelous headline staring me in the face. Ethnic groups say ‘white’ isn’t enough on the 2010 census What is apparently going on (at least according to Detroit Free Press staff writer Niraj Warikoo) is that Arab Americans and others fear a “loss” of “benefits”…

Among the many wonderful links from the 2009 IEC conference, we learn the boys at the University of Sydney have made their own small Polywell device: Cute little guy. Congrats to proud parents Matthew Carr and Dr. Joe Khachan, who got the wee tyke up to 1T magnet strength and 250KV drive depth. Also of…

The misapplication of the so-called “Precautionary Principle” is one of my pet peeves, because it is selectively invoked. It is routinely applied to the risk of environmental damage but never the risk of economic damage. Rand Simberg takes a close look at the Precautionary Principle, which is problematic at best: Those advocating that we upend…

Yesterday marked the 210th anniversary of George Washington’s death, and Michael McNeil has a fascinating overview of the man and his life. Despite his immense importance, notes McNeil, Washington is more of a mystery now than ever. This year (2009) marks the 210th anniversary of the passing (on earthdate 1799-12-15) of the man who, first…

Reading that Senator Schumer called an airline flight attendant a “bitch” simply because she asked him to turn off his cell phone as federal rules require, a couple of things came to mind. First, we have one of the quintessential champions of massive federal power — a guy whose daily existence consists of figuring out…

It was getting tired. And confusing. Yeah, I get that way myself, but back in June, acting with the very best of intentions, I added the green color at the top of this blog in order to express solidarity with the Iranian protesters. It was intended to be temporary, and while I of course still…

Dead bodies suck. No, really. I feel incredibly sorry for the owners of this land: Some people have skeletons in their closet. Others have ’em buried beneath their house. That’s the life lesson a group of construction workers learned in Fairmount on Saturday, when they unearthed seven old graves. Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said…

In Nevada, brothel owners are contemplating adding male prostitutes to their stables: The owner of a brothel more than two hours’ drive from Las Vegas said she hopes to hire Nevada’s first legal male prostitutes within a month, now that state health officials have approved a method to test men for infectious diseases. The world…

On CNN, there’s been a serious discussion of implementing a worldwide one-child policy, and Jack Cafferty is obviously sympathetic. CNN’s Jack Cafferty all but endorsed a global version of China’s oppressive one-child policy on Friday’s Situation Room. He repeated the argument of Canadian journalist Diane Francis, that population control is the only way to fight…

Probably in the hope of driving a stake through the heart of AGW skeptics in Copenhagen, a self-described Al Gore trainee named Kevin Grandia has created the term “Copendenier.” He must really like it, for he has even authored a Wiki page announcing the term to the world. I’m always fascinated by new words, but…

The Associated Press puts one of their top reporters on the ClimateGate scandal. LONDON – E-mails stolen from climate scientists show they stonewalled skeptics and discussed hiding data — but the messages don’t support claims that the science of global warming was faked, according to an exhaustive review by The Associated Press. Ah. Yes. It…

It’s a complicated read, but “The Smoking Gun At Darwin Zero” by Willis Eschenbach (which Jerry Pournelle calls a must-read) explains in detail why Climategate is about a lot more than the scientific bitch fight that the AGW advocates and their media allies are allies would have people believe. You should read it all, as…

Note what a warm welcome Wm. Shatner gets when he comes on. Then note how much warmer the welcome for Sarah is. More reactions at Hill Buzz. And if you want to read Sarah’s book to make sure Shatner got his lines right may I suggest: Going Rogue: An American Life Cross Posted at Power…