Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

This puts it pretty well. So many of the veterans I’ve known are now gone, but this is a good occasion and place to thank M. Simon for his service!   

For those of you who may be paying attention, you will recall the incident at the University of Missouri that caused (in part) the university’s president and chancellor to resign. The drawing in feces of a swastika on a bathroom wall. Well there is no evidence that the event ever happened. Despite that the alleged…

You can watch the Senator McCaskill video here. It is not embedable. I wonder why? She says if men will shut up on the topics she says they shouldn’t talk about they will be allowed to voice their opinion on cannabis legalization. Cannabis legalization is now favored by about 58% of the voting population. I…

I have major problems with today’s political spectrum. One, I don’t believe in restricting economic freedom. I especially hate socialism. This means I hate the views of the Democratic Party. Two, I hate other forms of restrictions on personal freedom. The latter includes not only sexual freedom, but the right to use one’s body as…

Have a look at my latest update at A Hero In Blue. The sleaze factor just went up by 10X.

The Head of the DEA Chuck Rosenberg says that marijuana is medical. Well not exactly. Here is what he actually said: Rosenberg also expressed opposition to the marijuana legalization movement in the country, and frustration with efforts to legalize the drug based on highlighting its medicinal properties. “What really bothers me is the notion that…

Earlier I read that ISIS publicly praised a Muslim man who went on a California stabbing spree. A student who ‘smiled’ as he stabbed four people inside a classroom at the University of California, Merced, before he was killed by police has been identified. Faisal Mohammad, a freshman from Santa Clara who majored in computer…

Fox Lake Police Officer Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz had a hero’s funeral. In a final tribute punctuated with military tradition and pageantry, police from across the country on Monday honored a fallen Fox Lake officer who was shot on the job as he neared retirement. Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz was laid to rest with full…

And now some news from the former East Germany. Former East German bureaucrat Guenter Schabowski, who died Sunday aged 86, went down in history for a slip of the tongue in 1989 that inadvertently brought down the Berlin Wall. He had this to say about socialism (take note Bernie Sanders). Schabowski, who was married to…

I made these just in time.

Oh yes.  (CNN)The video shows a South Carolina school resource officer standing over a student, seated at her desk. He puts his arm near her neck, then yanks her backward. The desk tips over and the student crashes onto the floor. The uniformed officer doesn’t let go, sharply tugging the student toward the front of…

There have been regular reports that the Russian bombing campaign in Syria has mainly targeted the most dangerous enemies of the Assad regime. That would include the “Free Syrian Army”. Now, after bombing them for some weeks, Russia is offering them assistance. Russia offers air cover for anti-Assad rebels. Speaking after a surprise summit between…

I’m sure I’ve said the same thing over the years, but Lawrence Lessig recently said it in the context of the BlackLivesMatter movement. LARRY LESSIG: What I think the meaning of Black Lives Matter is… people are focusing on the Black part, I think we should focus on the Lives part. When you have a…

This afternoon just blocks away, the hated University of Michigan Wolverines are playing against the hated Michigan State University Spartans. I do not exaggerate: On Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m., ESPN), with a stiff chill in the air, “the hate” is about to start flowing through more than 100,000 people inside Michigan Stadium, and thousands of…

Australia set to legalise growing of medicinal cannabis Sydney (AFP) – Australia Saturday announced plans to legalise the growing of cannabis for medicinal purposes, saying those suffering debilitating illnesses deserved access to the most effective treatments. Research, most recently findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in June, showed marijuana has some…

Yahoo News reports: HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — A Palestinian wearing a T-shirt with the word “press” in large letters stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier Friday before being shot dead by troops, the latest in a monthlong spate of attacks. Now why would some one want to do that? We find out later on…

While there is much to be said for the old days of “smoke-filled rooms,” the non-smoking Democratic Party of today and its supporters are certainly doing everything possible to recreate them. Not only is the entire machinery of the DNC and CNN lined up in lockstep support of the Hillary machine, so has President Obama,…

This is early news and the analysis may be incorrect but it is not unexpected. The Russian/Syrian advance in Syria is meeting resistance. Russia ‘reducing air strikes against Syrian rebels’ as quick win proves elusive. Russia is reducing its air strikes against Syrian insurgents, as the intervention fails to hand a swift advantage to pro-government…

That’s what I think of tonight’s “debate.”

Syrian rebels fortify frontline with anti-tank missiles Russia’s two-week-old air campaign has bolstered Assad and left the United States struggling to adjust its troubled military support program for Assad’s opponents. On the ground, however, the Syrian army is not making rapid gains. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group tracking the war, said…