Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

The Tall Bloke is discussing the material David Evans and Jo Nova have been presenting. And while making a comment there it suddenly occurred to me. It’s Cycles All The Way Down Everything is vibrating. And no I’m not doing LSD or the like. Just looking at the evidence.

Yes, the same irresponsible lending practices which led to the real estate crash are coming back. With help from the federal government, of course: The Obama administration is engaged in a broad push to make more home loans available to people with weaker credit, an effort that officials say will help power the economic recovery…

This will not be a discussion of LED light vs solid state laser light. This is about Obama’s incoherent foreign policy. In Iraq we are on the side of the Shia regime fighting ISIS. In Syria we are de facto allies of ISIS fighting to overthrow the Shia regime. Talk about stirring the pot. Or…

If I understand college administrators correctly, colleges are hotbeds of racism and rape that everyone should be able to attend. – Iowahawk Thanks to commenter Randy for the heads up. And thanks to Eric who’s email got me to have another look at the post where Randy’s comment was located.

KC Johnson has a fascinating post about the idea that drunken sex constitutes “rape.” Excerpt: Broadening what constitutes sexual assault by redefining consent has been a principal goal of “activists”—who have worked with sympathetic faculty and (increasingly) the OCR. The McLeod case at Duke is a particular obvious example of how the new standards might…

Said Obama in March of 2009. And now we have news of the French giving up on nuclear power in favor of intermittent power from “renewables”. Here is a little lesson in grid technology with some politics thrown in: The grid does not run on average power. It runs on instantaneous power. When no one…

Goofy ideas always seem to start in California, and this one is no exception. Drivers in Berkeley, California may soon get a stern warning about the impact of carbon emissions on the environment every time they fill up at the gas pump. As the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday, officials in the famously progressive city…

Did you know that the name “Willendorf Venus” is now controversial? The nickname, urging a comparison to the classical image of “Venus,” is now controversial. According to Christopher Witcombe, “the ironic identification of these figurines as ‘Venus’ pleasantly satisfied certain assumptions at the time about the primitive, about women, and about taste.” Heaven forbid that…

For the first time – a mysterious notch filter found in the climate. The EEs among us will recognize this kind of plot. In EE work it is called a Bode Plot.

This morning my dogs saved a life. This life:   That’s a photo I took just now of my large Oscar (Astronotus ocellatus) that I raised from a baby to its present size of about ten inches. I was in the bathroom early this morning when Runty (who was downstairs) let out with a huge…

Obama Compares Skepticism Towards Climate Change To Believing Moon Made Of Cheese. Yeah. Them deniers is just plain dumb. Must be all the CO2 they are exhaling. Meanwhile, The Guardian UK says the sea surface temperature data does not match the models. So scientists are looking for new data. A widely reported “pause” in global…

I’ve long been a fan of William S. Burroughs, and it was nice to read a recent Reason piece about his view of the nanny state: In July of 1957, an unknown writer named William Burroughs visited a friend in Copenhagen. After three weeks in the area, including a brief excursion to Sweden, he wrote…

In an article on why government spaceflight costs so much the author notes that a lot of it has to do with the accounting rules. Private contractors can get around the rules by offering contracts at a fixed price. Some folks in government are trying to protect their turf by forcing private contractors into government…

Low-Cost Fusion Project Steps Out of the Shadows and Looks for Money Nicholas Krall, a plasma physicist who has been working in the fusion field for more than a half-century and has been an adviser to EMC2 Fusion, was more enthusiastic. “I think this is the most exciting experimental advance that I’ve been involved in,”…

A question to ask your “green” friends: Because of the solubility of CO2 in water for every ton of CO2 in the atmosphere there are 15 tons of CO2 dissolved in water. One half the CO2 emitted by man winds up in the atmosphere. Where did the CO2 dissolved in water come from to keep…

I found this article on what the Brat win means for Jews. And especially Republican Jews (a distinct minority within a minority). I agree with some points and disagree with others. One thing the author fails to note is that America is becoming more secular. And that bodes ill for the future of the current…

All those points are important. But I especially liked #2. I intend to continue to hammer/obsess about that one until they fix it. Then I’m going to work on some of the others.

Some whiny little bitch from hell has decided that because she is offended by a vintage Rolling Stones song, Trader Joe’s should not be allowed to play it. That’s because songs like “Under My Thumb” are like, well, like that nutcase who shot people in Isla Vista. Why should I have to hear about a…

Are we having a libertarian moment in politics? And would it matter if we were? It certainly pleases a libertarian to see a politician who is willing to stand up hardcore for the principles of liberty, all the way. Likewise, it makes most libertarians a little peeved or disappointed when a politician won’t do so.…

From: NRA on Facebook Some comments I liked: Those toddlers arent gonna flashbang themselves! Law enforcement does NOT need military equipment. The job of the military is to fight the enemies of the state. The job of police is to enforce the law . When the police becomes like the military the enemies of the…