Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

I came across this comment at The Guardian about the Antonio Martin shooting: You can watch the video and the story Mr. Tomkens is commenting on here. Beep Tomkens First, the video is so far away I only see a police car pull in and a number of people walking over to the Police car.…

While waiting at a traffic light the other day, I saw a bumper sticker which challenged my sense of logic: THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN! Because I like to understand things, I was immediately confused. What does that slogan mean? The more I wondered, the more confused I became. I mean, from…

I was scrolling around YouTube and came across this video of a young woman who came in contact with an off duty minion of the state. We no longer have public servants. We have enforcers. This comment from Reason.com fairly illustrates the attitude people have or are developing towards the enforcers. You don’t understand. Being…

I submit that the mayor of New York cannot govern the city without the support of the police. I’d call it a police state.

In the wake of the murder of two police enforcers in New York the NY police union advises: …a union-generated message at the 35,000-officer NYPD warned officers that they should respond to every radio call with two cars — “no matter what the opinion of the patrol supervisor” — and not make arrests “unless absolutely…

Killing of NYPD officers: Retaliation for Michael Brown, Eric Garner? Or maybe it is revenge for the depredations of Prohibition. Rand Paul: Drug war targets minorities End Prohibition you Fools. And a little history lesson: For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of…

Some commentary: Woman falsely accuses man of rape, and man captures it on video Rape is the new black I got the video from: INSANITY: Woman falsely accuses man of rape – but he records it all on video! And this comment was what got me started, Good one on campus rape courts: Kangaroo Campus…

The moral dilemma is mentioned at about 20:45 in. What to do when stopped by the police is at 28:35 in. Here is the article mentioned in the video Green Handcuffs. The War on Marijuana in Black and White: Billions of Dollars Wasted on Racially Biased Arrests marijuana-arrests.com/ LeShea Agnew on Facebook The Law Offices…

Speaking of hatred (and speaking of our police state) one of the things I especially hate is 2000 page “laws.” Like Obamacare. Or like a so-called “Farm Bill” which made it a federal felony to have unlabeled wood. The origins of such monstrosities can be debated (I think granddaddy of them all was the War on Drugs) but…

Back in July I posted a video about Police gone wild, This Is What Happens, with a link to police burning a baby in a botched drug raid. I also did a post about the raid in May They Burn Babies Don’t They?. It has finally hit the national news. Family of Toddler Injured by…

As you may have heard by now Nebraska and Oklahoma are challenging Colorado’s cannabis legalization law. Kevin Sabet who has been designated to hold back legalization (as far as I can tell) had this to say: Kevin Sabet, co-founder of anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, backed the legal action, saying while states should be…

A University of Michigan professor of Communications has actually communicated something quite clearly. She says unequivocally, “I hate Republicans.” Which means that to her and others who think like her, either: a. Hate speech is not a problem; or b. Only those you hate can be guilty of hate speech. This comes on the heels…

So, it turns out there’s an obscure anti-skeptic website out there with the amusingly misleading name of Skeptical Science.  Unlike its more mainstream skeptical counterparts, this site has a permanent format that lends itself to citing, perhaps better than more popular news-driven global warming websites. While the information on the site is at best tendentious, some readers…

Suggested by williatw.

A little while ago Eric did a post Just say NO to another Bush!, discussing how Jeb Bush is a total Drug Warrior. I commented It is worse than that Eric. The Republicans are not even installed in Congress and they are starting already: The Republicans Are Attempting Suicide The new Congress isn’t even installed…

Speaking of Prohibitionists, I see that Jeb Bush is bound and determined to run for President.                     Jeb Bush will “actively explore the possibility of running for president” in 2016, according to an announcement the former Florida governor posted to his Facebook page Tuesday morning. Mr.…

Some of you may remember my post A thermodynamic explanation of politics. In it I looked at why we have two competing political strategies and how they are complimentary. They are for different ecological niches. I just came across an article that looks at the same question from an evolutionary perspective. r/K Selection Theory. Biologists…

Yeah yeah yeah… HACK: Chilling Longterm Effect… BOND ‘SPECTRE’ SCRIPT STOLEN… EMAILS: DICAPRIO ‘DESPICABLE’… Clooney ‘loses sleep’ over critics… Studio Hires David Boies to Threaten Media… Demands News Organizations Delete ‘Stolen’ Data… NEWSROOM: Sorkin Says ‘Morally Treasonous’ For Publishing… FIRST REVIEW: BLACK ‘ANNIE’ TOXIC… Obviously, I’m not keeping up with the times as I perhaps…