Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Welfare-Funded Groceries Shipped to Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Haiti
Food stamps are paying for trans-Atlantic takeout — with New Yorkers using taxpayer-funded benefits to ship food to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Welfare recipients are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and packing them in giant barrels for the trip overseas, The Post found. The practice is so…
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IRS Chief Met with Obama 2 Days Before New Targeting Rules
The Obama appointee implicated in congressional testimony in the IRS targeting scandal met with President Obama in the White House two days before offering his colleagues a new set of advice on how to scrutinize tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. IRS chief counsel William Wilkins, who was named in House Oversight…
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Da Mare’s Private Road to McCormick Place
A $43 million busway built to whisk conventioneers between downtown hotels and McCormick Place has turned into “the mayor’s road” and should be opened to taxicabs in exchange for a surcharge, Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd said Monday. Fioretti suggested turning the 2.5-mile busway into a money-maker after Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg lifted the veil…
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IL Public Pension Debt at $133 Billion
Ten U.S. states have public pension liabilities that are at least as big as their annual revenues, according to a Moody’s Investors Service report released on Thursday that found the Illinois pension bill was equal to 241 percent of its revenues. … According to Moody’s, Illinois has the largest net pension liability in the country,…
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Survey of 15,000 Law Enforcement on Gun Control
The survey, which was conducted in early March 2013, received 15,000 responses from law enforcement professionals. It found that the overall attitude of law enforcement is strongly anti-gun legislation and pro-gun rights, with the belief that an armed citizenry is effective in stopping crime. Response percentages varied only slightly when analyzed by rank and department…
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Defend Yourself from Crazy People
This is blatantly lifted from Second City Cop. No need to correct perfection. – – – – – – – Here’s some brilliant freaking idea coming out of a “police executive” group. Confronting an attacker leads to less casualties: The speed and deadliness of recent high-profile shootings have prompted police departments to recommend fleeing, hiding…
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FBI Admits Warrantless Cellphone Tapping
FBI investigators for at least five years have routinely used a sophisticated cellphone tracking tool that can pinpoint callers’ locations and listen to their conversations — all without getting a warrant for it, a federal court was told this week. The use of the “Stingray,” as the tool is called, “is a very common practice”…
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Chicago’s Felons with Guns Go Free
Do you know where Chicago ranks in terms of enforcement of the federal gun laws? Out of 90 jurisdictions in the country, they ranked 90th. Why doesn’t NBC News start with, “Shocking news on Chicago. Of all the jurisdictions in the country, Chicago’s dead last on enforcement of the federal gun laws?” Why doesn’t the…
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Lockheed Martin’s Desalination Graphene Filters
Lockheed has developed a special material that doesn’t need as much energy to drag water through the filter. Graphene is a substance made of pure carbon. Carbon atoms are arranged in a regular hexagonal or honeycomb pattern in a one-atom thick sheet. This special material is a film of a special structure of carbon, a…
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China Economy to Overtake U.S. by 2016
China’s economy expanded last year at 7.8pc – its slowest pace in more than a decade – and recent data has fuelled concerns that any rebound in the country’s growth is losing steam. However, the OECD was upbeat, predicting in a new survey of China’s prospects that the country’s economy could expand by 8.5pc this…
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