Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Detroit Free Press Web Editor Mark W. Smith advances the speculative claim that Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor’s Video Music Award acceptance was a hoax, and that “we have all been punked”: What started as a rapper behaving badly quickly transformed into a three-act opus of tweeted outrage, must-see TV and tearful apologies, spanning three…

These folks are not native Hebrew speakers. They don’t do the hard “ch” right. Still. I loved it! Klezmer style – Mickey Katz would be proud. (check out “Kiss of Meyer” a Yiddish classic I loved as a kid) Here are some Chinese who do the hard “ch” (Ashkenazi pronunciation) better. Funny. They don’t look…

I realize distinctions can be tedious, but here I go again. Yesterday I complained about how sick I am of having to play offense. my natural distaste for joining what often seems like a constant stream of daily attacks, cranked out every day, all the time, is compounded by a creepy and irrational feeling that…

By now you are familiar with the ACORN Child Prostitution ring scandal. If not watch this video. Or you could watch this video. Among others. Well ACORN is embarrassed and plans to investigate what went wrong and who is to blame. ACORN, calling the actions of some of its employees “indefensible,” has suspended advising new…

American Thinker has an interesting article up about the 9/12 protests. Several in the comments noted that it was a movement with no leader. That got me thinking about the Marxist concept of the Vanguard of the Proletariat. Or in more common parlance – Leaders of the Revolution. What we saw on 9/12 turns that…

Over at the website of the producers of the ACORN child prostitution videos, I found a YouTube link to a film titled “BROKEBACK PRIESTS: PRIESTS TELL GAYS TO STAY GAY” described this way: Ben and James go undercover in Boston and get homosexual advice from two Reformed “Catholic” Franciscan Ministers. Here’s the “embed”: But if…

While I have no problem with paid sex between consenting adults, like M. Simon I have a major problem with prostitution involving children. (Which I define as those under the age of consent.) And I have a bigger problem with ACORN than I do with even the corrupt child prostitution advocacy that is leading to…

A post by Ann Althouse got me thinking about agents provocateur, and frankly, it’s giving me the heebie jeebies. Thanks to all my readers who gave immediate and overnight pushback to a vile new commenter… … who I assume was pro-Obama and writing under a pseudonym here with the object of making this blog —…

Dan Riehl has a very thoughtful post titled “Why The Right’s New Energy Needs A Positive Approach,” in which he discusses the distinction between defense and offense: …we’ve also been playing defense for many years, having to defend the Bush administration, particularly due to the war effort, as it was. Things have changed. It’s the…

Speaking of political surrealism, did you know that if you boil Pauline Kael slowly, she won’t jump out of the pot? And no frog ever knew a frog that actually voted for Nixon! Both statements are absolutely true. Honestly, I don’t see why people have to be so nit-picky, but Glenn Reynolds was taken to…

Just when I thought it was safe to go to bed, I saw a very scary post from Glenn Reynolds: A GOVERNMENT THAT FEARS ITS PEOPLE: SONIC WEAPONS USED IN IRAQ POSITIONED AT CONGRESSIONAL TOWNHALL MEETINGS IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY. The link went to this very ominous development: September 11, 2009 (San Diego) – “Long-range…

I know I’m a sucker for surrealism, but I think this 13-second video is absolutely hilarious, and I don’t especially care who made it, or what on earth they might have had in mind. Via Jim Geraghty, who has some observations about authenticity and toddlerhood which I’ll childishly disregard, not so much because I want…

Much as I hate playing hypothetical prosecutor for a day, regular commenter Steve Skubinna made me think about the government’s legal case against Andrew Sullivan, which I previously discussed mainly in philosophical terms. Here’s Steve’s comment: The fact remains that marijuana is illegal. Have as many opinions on whether it should be or not, but…

This has been making the rounds. I thought it might be good to have those who missed it see it. Also watch Part 2. This is so utterly depraved that it beggars belief. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not a fan of prostitution (loveless sex doesn’t interest me), but if adults want to engage…

Mary Katharine Ham and Uncle Jimbo cover the March Against Washington. H/T Ace Of Spades Cross Posted at Power and Control

Ed Driscoll has a few things to say about the fall of the mainstream media. He quotes from John Nolte. Mainstream news outlets have been caught off guard before, but they used to play catch up. Today they play “hide the ball.” For as long as I’ve been politically aware the media’s been biased, but…

In a comment to my post about the Detroit Zoo, Patrick in Des Moines said that he’s sick of being preached to by people who see humanity as a threat to the planet: Just went to the zoo recently myself. I’m a big fan of Zoos, Aquariums and Museums, but have grown tired of being…

In the not too distant future police will be drawing blood from suspect motorists. No consent required. When police officer Darryll Dowell is on patrol in the southwestern Idaho city of Nampa, he’ll pull up at a stoplight and usually start casing the vehicle. Nowadays, his eyes will also focus on the driver’s arms, as…

Considering some of the nastiness that has been going on in the blogosphere since the election of Barack Obama, “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” is probably good advice right now. Last night, I was a bit taken aback at the level of vitriol directed towards Stephen Green — for his crimes…

Buford C. Terrell is discussing how prohibition really works and gives the example of prostitution in America. Prostitution has been prohibited in most of the United States (all except for a small part of Nevada) for over a century, but prostitutes can be found working in virtually every town and city in the country. In…