Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

But it is wise to check it against reality from time to time. You know: by their fruits you will know them and all that. H/T Lubos Motl’s Reference Frame post about Cargo Cult Science.

Adam Nagourney at The New York Times asks with reference to the Obama campaign, “Where’s the Bounce?” It may be in his step but it is not showing up in the polls. WASHINGTON — It is a question that has hovered over Senator Barack Obama even as he has passed milestone after milestone in his…

A blog claiming to represent Bioethics International suggests that having a baby is equivalent to buying and running a patio heater. A pair of doctors have said that British parents should have fewer children, because kids cause carbon emissions and climate change. The two medics suggest that choosing to have a third child is the…

Peter Huber in Forbes takes a look at the reality of carbon hysteria. A number of influential people in Russia, China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam say the planet is now entering a 30-year cooling period, the second half of a normal cycle driven by cyclical changes in the sun’s output and currents in the Pacific…

They say that war is hell, and while I think that’s true, moving comes a pretty close second. That’s why I haven’t been blogging these past few days, and only now have the briefest amount of time for a teensy post.

This is a response to a post and the subsequent comments about AL Gore’s plan for powering America with alternative energy in ten years. First: Al Gore is an idiot. Second: He is a promoter. He stands to get very rich if he can persuade Congress to implement his schemes. Third: Solar scientists are predicting…

An old cowboy responded to an Englishman who asked, “Is your master about?” “That sombitch ain’t been born yet”, the cowboy replied. From the comments at American Thinker. Cross Posted at Power and Control

Samizdata has a bit up on flying in old aircraft. War birds and commercial jobs. Here is a bit I added to the discussion: Way back in the dark ages (early 60s) I got to fly in a DC-3 that was carrying passengers. It was an experience. Conversation in the cabin was hopeless in flight.…

The New Republic has a pretty good article up explaining European misconceptions of America. The article especially looks at Obama’s recent German rallies and how those rallies feed European misconceptions. Europe’s favorite dream: a post-Bush America cut down to size and chastened, a meeker and more modest America, a more “European” (that is, a more…

My Daughter turned seventeen yesterday (25 July). This is in honor of her. Interestingly my father’s birthday was the same date. When she was born on that day it made him very happy.

Eric in a post on the Obama birth certificate controversy asks a question of the utmost importance in this campaign. Aren’t Americans entitled to know the Truth? I believe it is the one entitlement program the Obama Democrats are totally against. Cross Posted at Power and Control

Well isn’t this special. Obama says a visit to wounded troops would be inappropriate. BERLIN (AP) – Sen. Barack Obama scrapped plans to visit wounded members of the armed forces in Germany as part of his overseas trip, a decision his spokesman said was made because the Democratic presidential candidate thought it would be inappropriate…

The Inquirer has done it again. Their front page article about Obama’s Ich bin ein Obamanburg Gater! speech is not available at the Inquirer web site, which has this AP writetup. On today’s front page, though, is an earlier (apparently last night’s) version of this New York Times writeup, and all I wanted to do…

In honor of Congressional restrictions on drilling for oil in America we have a new bumper sticker: Click on the image to order one or more bumper stickers. If you want to add the above image to a post, I explain how here. Thanks to Karl Egenberger of Envision Design/ Plum Creative Associates who did…

I just came across a site with streaming High Definition Videos. Vreel. It looks very good with my 720p monitor. It must be awesome at 1080. Of course besides the high def monitor you will need a broadband connection. H/T zbarlici Cross Posted at Power and Control

The Obama birth certificate truthers (discussed in these posts) have suffered a setback in light of the discovery of a birth notice in the August 1961 Honululu Advertiser. However, they’re apparently gearing up with new questions, like “Have you noticed that there are no photos of Obama as an infant?” Actually, I don’t usually spend…

One of the worst aspects of moving has been the inordinate amount of time I have spent on hold. Seriously. Precious hours have been wasted. For whatever reason, the large telephone and Internet companies hire either incompetent Americans or people in foreign countries to supply “customer support.” Things have reached the point where I am…

I haven’t been following the Obama birth certificate kerfluffle, but other people have been. Including a guy who who claims to be a forensic document examiner. Let me start with a little background: Barack Obama may be on a world tour surrounded by a fawning media, but Sunday an expert in electronic document forensics released…