Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Bastiat on taxes: Have you ever chanced to hear it said “There is no better investment than taxes. Only see what a number of families it maintains, and consider how it reacts on industry; it is an inexhaustible stream, it is life itself.” In order-to combat this doctrine, I must refer to my preceding refutation.…

While I hadn’t been following the story as much as I perhaps should’ve (I don’t do a good job of keeping up with the tabloids), it seems that Levi Johnston is busily making a full-time, public horse’s ass of himself. If you want the full story of his antics, John Hawkins has a great PJM…

Did someone lie to Newt Gingrich about Dede Scozzafava or whatever her name is? That seems to be an important question to some. Certainly important enough that Glenn Reynolds to felt obligated to offer some perspective about what might be more important: To my mind, it’s more important — as noted in the Lamar Alexander…

I got a really interesting comment to my post A Libertine Speaks. Even though I spent many years active in the Church, preaching and having a music ministry, once I got old enough to realize I didn’t have all the answers, I didn’t want any church elders having influence in law. Law should only be…

There is some relatively new sciece out about the origins of oil and natural gas. ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2009) — Researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm have managed to prove that fossils from animals and plants are not necessary for crude oil and natural gas to be generated. The findings are…

A big FBI shootout at a Detroit mosque is the subject of huge headlines Radical mosque leader killed in FBI shootout Feds say goal was Islamic nation in U.S. on the front page of today’s Detroit Free Press. Luqman Ameen Abdullah, Imam of the Masjid Al-Haqq mosque in Detroit, was killed when he fired at…

Commenting on Byron York’s post about how the Democrats outmaneuvered the GOP on ACORN (never mind the endless ongoing scandals), Glenn Reynolds opines that “Republicans are insufficiently relentless.” He’s right, they are, and I think there’s a poorly understood but well-oiled mechanism behind it. When Republicans are relentless, they look like bigots. Think Jesse Helms.…

Tom Donohue of the US Chamber of Commerce has a few things to say about the Obama Administration not offering them a seat at the table. “I did an interview a couple of week ago, and somebody said, ‘Well, the White House says that you’ve become Dr. No and you are going to lose your…

“I have to die a man or live a coward.” Dr. Ossian Sweet One of the basic principles of justice (and human rights) is the right not to have your house invaded. Call it “a man’s home is his castle” or whatever, but the right to resist invasion is both ancient and inherent in human…

Advocates of socializing health care have asked: how can America’s relatively free market spend the most money on health care, yet have among the worst outcomes? The answer is, we don’t. The oft-cited WHO rankings don’t really measure quality of health care, preferring to judge things like “fairness of financial contribution” and measures like life…

Last night I recommended a book titled The Right To Be Wrong, because I think it’s a good idea for people who disagree to always keep in mind that the right to be wrong is a hallmark of civilization. In the West, civil society generally abhors the opposite approach, which typifies totalitarian or extreme authoritarian…

While I wasn’t tagged * (and I’m glad I wasn’t, for tagging me makes me want to avoid doing whatever I was ordered to do), I can’t resist responding to Glenn Reynolds’ “BOOKS I WOULD RECOMMEND TO THOSE WHO DISAGREE WITH ME” post. Linking Ilya Somin’s post, Glenn points out that it’s a theme of…

Eric Olsen of Technorati interviews Andrew Breitbart at Technorati. And a delightful video it is. Worth fifty minutes if you are interested in the state of the culture, the state of politics and how the two intersect. Andrew Breitbart who broke the ACORN child prostitution scandal talks about his happy time on the left (about…

The United States Chamber of Commerce is being subjected to unprecedented attack by a variety of forces on the left. Its crime? Refusing to go along with the monstrous cap-and-trade scheme which would destroy what’s left of the economy. Here’s the organization’s position on cap-and-trade, as well as carbon emissions: 2. The Chamber’s position on…

Peter Moskos of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition takes a look at what the drug war means from a law enforcement perspective. As a police officer, I responded when citizens called 911 to report drug dealing. Those calls didn’t tell me much, though, because I already knew the drug corners. And what could I do? When…

Now compare what he says near the end of this two minute video to what is said 36 minutes in to the video that can be found here. And also carefully note that he doesn’t hold the Legislature of California totally to blame. He says the voters are driving the problem. Also note that Bill…

A Wall Street Journal book review (of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age) makes an important point about the inherent conflict between digital and human memory: We once could improve ourselves by shedding our pasts. Now the past is always with us. The past is more than merely with us. The past…

At 5:30 a.m. in Springfield, Virginia, a woman was cutting through a stranger’s yard, whereupon (for reasons best known to her), she looked into the window of the house and saw the guy who lived there, making a cup of coffee in the nude. She called the cops, who actually came and arrested him. For…

The gentlemen and gentlewomen at Talk Polywell have come across a couple of major finds. The first is a discussion of American energy security and its military implications. Energy & National Security: An Exploration of Threats, Solutions, and Alternative Futures [pdf]. Abstract – Findings of multiple Department of Defense (DoD) studies and other sources indicate…

Earlier I visited Detroit’s Elmwood Cemetery, “the oldest continuously operating, non-denominational cemetery in Michigan,” and took some pictures. While in Detroit, I also visited the historic Michigan Central Station, which has remained in ruins for decades while its “future” is endlessly debated. The owner of the historic building would like to fix it up, while…