Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

It is not Mr. Obama who will be guilty though. It is you. Obama has a plan to raise business taxes which I discussed in The War On Business Continues. As part of that plan the rules of evidence for innocence and guilt will be changed. You will be guilty until you prove you are…

In a piece titled “Words Matter in the War on Terror,” Raymond Ibrahim decries the inability of the Obama administration to call terrorists terrorists, or even use words like “jihadi”: Would the free world have understood the Nazi threat if, instead of calling them what they called themselves, “Nazis,” it had opted to simply call…

In today’s Detroit Free Press, liberal columnist Laura Varon Brown complains that she does not feel free to criticize anything Barack Obama has said or done, and that this is not healthy: Parties were more fun when George W. Bush was president. You could debate, argue even, praise and condemn, throw darts and laurels and…

I see that I’m not alone in noticing that the ferocity of attacks against Sarah Palin have increased since the election. Michael van der Galien notices that the attacks have been stepped up even more, and he offers an explanation as to why: …the attacks on Palin – all the litigation, attempts to destroy her…

I’m not much of a YouTuber. Sure, I link to YouTube videos all the time, but where it comes to making them, I’m just not motivated, and I don’t know why. You’d think that as a blogger I’d be more, um, extroverted about this, but I find the process a bit distasteful, almost exhibitionistic. Many…

Regular readers know how much I abhor bureaucracy and annoying regulations. Well, after reading this NYT obituary of ghost hunter Hans Holzer, I’m not sure I want to die: Mr. Holzer saw life on the other side in sharp detail. As he described it to the Web site ghostvillage.com in 2005, it is strangely like…

Bill Whittle gives Jon Stewart a history lesson. Probably the best 15 minutes of video I have seen in the last year. Stop what you are doing and watch it. H/T Instapundit Cross Posted at Power and Control

Don’t miss Clayton Cramer’s analysis of Nordyke v. King: You won’t find me saying nice things about the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals very often, so savor the moment. On April 20, Alameda County, California, “won” a gun control case that has many gun owners dancing in the aisles. King Pyrrhus of Epirus in 280…

It was disturbing to wake up this morning and see the headline “Obama revelling in U.S. power unseen in decades,” but alas, it appears to be true: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Barack Obama is revelling in presidential power and influence unseen in Washington for decades. Barely 100 days in office, the U.S. president and his Democratic…

Cross Posted at Power and Control

I think the moral of this story is: don’t stand between old people and their medicine. Wait until word gets out that marijuana is Better Than Viagra. Well Viagra is a prescribable medicine. But Viagra can make you go blind. Going blind for sex seems to be rather a high price to pay. Marijuana has…

I found myself cheered up by an email from a friend with attached pictures of some of the most grotesque examples of extreme piercings and mutilations ever. Like this poor fool. I know it may sound insensitive, but that picture made me laugh at my own problems. I often think I’m neurotic and messed up,…

President Obama’s official popularity ratings may still be high, but people have grown tired of watching him on television. The story headline is “Obama’s ratings slide: press conference down 29%“: Audience interest in Barack Obama’s news conferences seems to be falling, with Wednesday’s press event drawing the president’s smallest primetime audience since his inauguration. The…

The Obama Administration has a brilliant new idea. Ban HFCs. UNITED NATIONS — The Obama administration, in a major environmental policy shift, is leaning toward asking 195 nations that ratified the U.N. ozone treaty to enact mandatory reductions in hydrofluorocarbons, according to U.S. officials and documents obtained by The Associated Press. “We’re considering this as…

Speaking of principles, I loved Jacob Sullum’s vintage 1992 Reason piece in opposition to all — and I stress all — hate crimes. What bothers me about the current debate is that it is being spun — by various people on the left and the right — as a debate over homosexuality. Naturally (and doubtless…

While I’m not especially comfortable with the topic, I thought I should amplify the discussion of the litmus test for Republican principles in my previous post about Arlen Specter. Glenn Reynolds linked this discussion of whether the NRSC is about to abandon Toomey, and within that, I found the following statement from Senator Jim DeMint:…

Los Alamos National Laboratory gave the Polywell Fusion Experimenters some critical help when they needed it. It all started out with this program. Northern New Mexico businesses are getting financial help from Los Alamos National Laboratory, and there are plenty of ways LANL can help boost local economies, according to LANL Director Michael Anastasio. “There…

Every time I think I’m getting too cynical, some asshole or another will come along and remind me that I’m not cynical enough. A recent example is the horrific car warranty “telemarketing” which has plagued my cell phone in the past few weeks. My cell phone, get it? I’ve had it for years, and like…

A friend’s email directed my attention to this movie poster design, which I think is hilarious: Via Michelle Malkin. For those who missed the movie, Ace posted the YouTube version: Can anyone imagine the outcry had Bush’s Air Force One done the same thing?

Jennifer Rubin looks at Arlen Specter’s decision to switch parties, and sees an opportunity for Republicans, as well as a challenge: …the challenge for Republicans: to find a message and candidates who sound broadly conservative themes but appeal to an audience beyond the base. Frankly, that shouldn’t be hard these days. With market capitalism under…