Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A fascinating and thoughtful piece by Ron Radosh reminded me of a nagging problem that causes a certain amount of misunderstanding. With an Atlantic piece by Mark Bowden as a starting point, Radosh examines the deeper question of whether all journalism is inherently biased: Bowden says in conclusion that we now live in a “post-journalistic”…

Over at Powerline, Paul Mirengoff notes that the Finance Committee version of the health care bill has a nasty surprise for seniors: their doctors are going to be penalized for their relatively expensive care. And via Drudge: go without health insurance, go to jail.

Here’s a charming picture from a local news story: When I moved from a relatively affluent Philadelphia suburb to a relatively affluent Michigan college town I took for granted what most of us take for granted — the easy availability of food. In the form of nearby grocery stores. So it shocked me to see…

This morning I was startled by a chilling Drudge headline: Men vanish after taking photos of Philly subway system… Not only did I live in Philadelphia for years, but stories about disappearing humans always intrigue me, so naturally I clicked on the link, whereupon the mystery only deepened. Apparently a “man” and a “male” each…

It seems some one helped Mr. Obama write Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. Christopher Andersen in Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage says it was American terrorist Bill Ayres. Ron Radosh had this to say about it. Obama had not as yet written anything. But he had taped…

A tiny little MicroSD memory card I got with a clone phone turned out to have a wonderfully annoying sample tune just sitting inside of it. So annoying that it’s really priceless. The problem is, I have no idea what it is. My guess is that it’s some sort of propaganda, so I thoughtfully added…

Hustlers of the world, there is one mark you cannot beat: the mark inside. William S. Burroughs

How stupid does President Obama think the unruly teenagers American people are? That was my reaction when I saw this question: Why did the president feign ignorance of ACORN when his relationship with the group goes back almost 20 years? Glenn Reynolds offers an answer: Because he figured he could get away with it. Same…

In the above video the ACORN outers, Hanna Giles and James O’Keefe, say about potential suits from ACORN, “Bring It On”. Well ACORN has brought it on. Community activist group ACORN is suing the makers of a hidden-camera video that showed employees of its Baltimore office giving tax advice to a man posing as a…

As you know I have covered the Sarah Palin Hong Kong speech in a previous post. Neil sent me an e-mail link to this take on her speech. Melvin Goodé , a regional marketing consultant, thought Mrs. Palin chose Hong Kong because, he said, it was “a place where things happen and where freedom can…

Sarah Palin gave a speech in Hong Kong. She blamed the Government for the financial mess we are in. You can call me a common-sense conservative. My approach to the issues facing my country and the world, issues that we’ll discuss today, are rooted in this common-sense conservatism… Common sense conservatism deals with the reality…

Speaking of evolution, Cab Calloway’s “Reefer Man” video in M. Simon’s earlier post made me fixate on another form of cultural depravity. Or would that be degeneracy? I don’t know the right word, but let’s face it, some people just don’t like songs about controversial cultural topics, not even if they’re light-hearted and humorous. Like…

The most transparent Congress evah does not want to put the bills it votes on online 3 days before a vote. Especially not the health care bill. Senate Finance Committee Democrats have rejected a GOP amendment that would have required a health overhaul bill to be available online for 72 hours before the committee votes.…

While I hate to generalize, and I hate to stereotype people, I feel compelled to say something about a disturbing recent trend. One of the most annoying slogans of the 1960s was this one: If You Are Not Part Of The Solution You Are Part Of The Problem Widely attributed to Black Panther leader Eldridge…

This article from Oakland’s East Bay Express is a classic illustration of what you get when you live in a left wing city that’s hurting for money. They come up with fiendish new tax schemes and tyrannical restrictions on businesses. Apparently, some genius in the Oakland bureaucracy figured out that it would be legal to…

From the Department of WTF comes news of plans expand the Community Reinvestment Act. Apparently the mortgage crisis wasn’t big enough. We can do more! In other news, the “life expectancy as health care barometer” meme so loved by the progressives has been demolished. (h/t Glenn) And Ace reports seventy percent in swing districts oppose…

As most readers know, I can’t stand to watch television, so I missed all of the past weekend’s MSM Obama Extravaganza. I don’t know how he does it, but Stephen Green not only sat through it, but managed to put together a video review of the marathon which Glenn Reynolds linked earlier. Which is great…

Via Dr. Helen, I found this very disturbing analysis of the “science” of neurolaw. (I use the word “science” advisedly, for phrenology was once called that, and sociology still is.) What neurolaw proposes is basically scrapping the criminal justice system as we know it and dispensing with the idea of punishing crime or criminals. That’s…

This was made in 1933. Marijuana was made illegal in 1937. Harry Anslinger was the front man for the effort to make marijuana illegal. Harry Anslinger (1892-1975) was the first US drug czar. Anslinger was appointed to the newly created position of Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics on August 12, 1930 and he…

The conventional wisdom on the left for going on five years has been that Iraq was a mistake, that it diverted resources from the “real fight” in Afghanistan. But as Victor Hanson points out, that cuts both ways, and our difficult victory was Al Qaeda’s crushing defeat. 2) We were far more able to inflict…