Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Want to know why gasoline prices are up? Me to. I have no idea if they are right in their analysis. But I do trust their tracking numbers. For a more complete snapshot of the current state of the economy visit Purchasing.Com Cross Posted at Power and Control

Who said that? Ayman al Zawahiri? No, it was the guy who wants to be the Republicans’ presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich. (Via Glenn Reynolds, who wonders whether it’s 2005 all over again.) I guess this means Gingrich has decided to kiss the Hindu vote goodbye, and he’s probably assuming all Pagans vote Democrat. As I’ve…

In a thought-provoking PJM analysis, Clayton Cramer asks “Just How Big Should Our Tent Be?” …a Republican Party narrowly focused on social conservatism will have a tent so small that few converts will come inside. I fear that it would be like a much larger but still too tiny to matter Libertarian Party — from…

There’s an old saying that too many cooks spoil the broth. I have long believed that among the reasons for GM’s failure has been that its products are seen as designed by committee. (The camel, of course, is a horse designed by committee.) Ford, OTOH, has suffered less from this, probably because it is still…

Crisis Motors Government Motors FUD Motors (FUD stands for Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) Cross Posted at Power and Control

Yep. The right is up in arms about the cost of bailouts. In Europe. BRUSSELS – Conservatives raced toward victory in some of Europe’s largest economies Sunday as initial results and exit polls showed voters punishing left-leaning parties in European parliament elections in France, Germany and elsewhere. Some right-leaning parties said the results vindicated their…

Because my psychotically mean Trimac cichlid has outgrown his tank and is suddenly threatening to kill his tankmates (including my beloved mud turtle), I had a bit of an aquarium emergency, to which I devoted much of today. (Hence I’m way behind on blogging, and haven’t had time to catch up with current events. I…

The above is part two of a four part series. The video is not too good but the information is first rate. Part 1 Part 2 – shown above Part 3 Part 4 And here is one scientist’s research on why we may be cooling: The Chilling Stars: The New Theory of Climate Change And…

Here is a link to the Ravi Khanna piece mentioned in the video. Here is what Gretchen Peters has to say: She says the U.S. must disrupt the Taliban’s heroin money trail. “While the insurgents earn some money from collecting taxes from the farmers, the bulk of the earnings come from protecting the trade, protecting…

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 65 years since the Normandy invasion, but it has. While I wasn’t yet born, I was a child in the 1950s — when World War II was still a very fresh and vivid memory for every adult. (And World War I was in the memory of almost every…

Newton’s Cradle is a great desk piece for the executive or an educational toy (energy, inertia, momentum) for kids. Or both. If you want to read up on Newton and learn a little physics this book would be a good place to start: Introducing Newton Cross Posted at Power and Control

Steve Ballmer of Microsoft says that higher taxes will force Microsoft to move jobs offshore. June 3 (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steven Ballmer said the world’s largest software company would move some employees offshore if Congress enacts President Barack Obama’s plans to impose higher taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign profits. “It makes…

And police priorities are police priorities. Hear hear! A friend emailed me a link to a story about the repeated ticketing of a car with a dead man inside: A New York City woman says her father apparently lay dead for weeks in a minivan while police repeatedly left parking tickets on the vehicle. Jennifer…

In a comment left to M. Simon’s earlier post about the death of actor David Carradine (who was found naked and hanging), Captain Ned opined that it was not suicide, but auto-erotic asphyxiation, and pointed to this post by Ace. Looks like Ace was absolutely right: David Carradine could have died from suffocation or heart…

Commenter CJ Yetman had this to say in my post Paying For Social Security that discussed how Hitler Saved Social Security (for at least a year) by killing a lot of Jews. Actually he probably just moved some paper between file cabinets and spent the money on the war. Still the numbers were adjusted on…

No, seriously. We have a president who thinks we are in debt. On more than just the economic front. As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam. It was Islam – at places like Al-Azhar University – that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for…

Actor David Carradine killed himself in Bangkok, Thailand. BANGKOK – Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series “Kung Fu” who also had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to…

You may have noticed that I added a current radio propagation and solar statistics chart to the sidebar at Power and Control. The chart is refreshed every 3 hours, but you will need to refresh the page that has it to see the latest. If you want one for your blog or webpage you can…

In a comment left to an earlier post, commenter and blogger Evil Otto said this to an anonymous* commenter (who left no URL or email address): I’d like to congratulate LBP on a masterful job of trolling. You have managed to shift attention away from the subject at hand with great skill. Kudos. I thought…

Illegal Drugs? Illegal Food? Where will it stop? In time we will all be outlaws. “Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against… We’re after power and we mean…