My Blog

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • China Crushes Man by Steamroller

    A villager in northern China attempting to resist a forced government relocation by remaining on his land was brutally crushed to death by a road flattening truck on the orders of a Chinese government official.  … The victim, He Zhi Hua, refused to accept a paltry payment from the government which has forcefully evicted Changsha…

  • How Carter Beat Reagan

    Remember when Jimmy Carter beat Ronald Reagan in 1980?  … In a series of nine stories in 1980 on “Crucial States” — battleground states as they are known today — the New York Times repeatedly told readers then-President Carter was in a close and decidedly winnable race with the former California governor. And used polling…

  • U.N. Wants New Global Taxes

    A 1 percent tax on billionaires around the world. A tax on all currency trading in the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound sterling. Another “tiny” tax on all financial transactions, including stock and bond trading, and trading in financial derivatives. New taxes on carbon emissions and on airline tickets.…

  • Huge Increase in Warrantless Electronic Surveillance

    Pen register and trap and trace devices now generally refer to the surveillance of information about—rather than the contents of—communications. Pen registers capture outgoing data, while trap and trace devices capture incoming data. This still includes the phone numbers of incoming and outgoing telephone calls and the time, date, and length of those calls. But…

  • Quantive Easing Meets Peter Gun

    A light hearted take on a serious subject. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvh60dJ-hTQ?rel=0]

  • CPS Debt Downgraded

    A leading bond-rating agency has downgraded the Chicago Board of Education’s debt in the wake of the settlement of the Chicago Teacher’s Union’s recent strike. Moody’s Investor Service had already downgraded the Chicago Public Schools’ bond rating outlook to “negative” from stable in July, and cited Thursday the rating agency’s “view that the district will…

  • Aldermen Briefed on Pension Time-Bomb

    [Chicago’s] Chief Financial Officer Lois Scott reminded council members that absent significant changes to pension plans, the city will be forced to drastically cut services, raise taxes or do both to close a funding gap that could reach $700 million in just a few years, aldermen said.  … …  Lawmakers are looking to fix the…

  • Pete’s Update – 09/27/2012

    A couple of new things to report on the situation with Pete’s Fresh Market. As most readers know, the story has now made the local papers and WGN TV News.  Here’s what’s new — and what you won’t read in those papers: #1 My original story stated that “the ring-leader of the group of thugs…

  • Corruption “Widespread” in Illinois

    A new poll finds that a whopping majority of state residents believe that not only state government but Illinois business is plagued by serious misconduct. According to the survey of 1,271 registered voters by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, 76.8 percent agree that “corruption in Illinois government is widespread.” via…

  • Bishop E.W. Jackson: Message for Black Christians

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi_KaZ53eDg?rel=0]

Got any book recommendations?

Get In Touch