Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Another Deadly Weekend
It started out peaceful enough. So much so that Drudge reported, “Only 1 Dead, 5 Wounded in Chicago.” A woman was killed and four men wounded in five separate shootings between 11:30 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Saturday. via Chicago Tribune. It wasn’t even that warm. But only 5 shot overnight, hardly worth mentioning. Then…
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Worst Housing Market Is In?
New data out of Standard & Poor’s this morning painted a somewhat mixed picture of the U.S. housing market: showing home prices may have hit bottom. via Business Insider. Hit bottom? Unlikely. But what I really wanted to show what this chart: Looking at the worst performing cities: Atlanta, Las Vegas, Chicago. In January 2011,…
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Another Easter Egg Hunt Cancelled
Another traditional Easter egg hunt has fallen victim to aggressive parents, with event organizers in Macon, Ga., forced to cancel this week amid fears greedy moms and dads would become violent and trample on kids to grab eggs. … He said that a woman was hurt and several kids were trampled on at previous hunts…
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Derrick Smith Using William Beaver’s Defense
Today’s Story: Victor Henderson, the lawyer for accused Illinois State Representative Derrick Smith tells “The Don and Roma Show” on WLS, that the reason federal authorities charged Smith with bribery, was because they wanted him to give up information about possible wrongdoing by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, Smith’s long-time political mentor. via WLS…
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Chicago Teachers Union Wants to Strike
The Chicago Teachers Union says internal polling shows there is support for a strike if contract talks with Chicago Public Schools break down. A new state law requires the union to get approval from 75 percent of its members before a strike, leading many to question if the union could muster support for a walkout.…
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How to Make More ‘Makers’
Joey Hudy, a young “maker” from Phoenix went to the White House this week to show off his project, the “Extreme Marshmallow Cannon.” When President Obama saw it, he told Joey: “Let’s try it.” Joey set up the air cannon, which uses a bicycle pump to build up air pressure, and put a marshmallow down…
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Fioretti: Not So Fast Rahm
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to have five financing giants bankroll $1.7 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects ran into opposition Monday from aldermen concerned about “hidden fees” and long-term leasing of city assets. During closed-door briefings with aldermen, sources said Chief Financial Officer Lois Scott stuck to the script and talked only about the $225 million…
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Illinois Teachers’ Pension Troubles
It’s important to note that this fund do NOT include CPS teachers. Illinois public school teachers and retirees could have reason to worry about the kinds of pension checks they will be getting down the line. … The Springfield State-Journal register reported over the weekend that pension director Dick Ingram sent a memo to his…
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Chinese Driver’s Test — Really!
If you have ever thought of cruising on the freeways of Shanghai, think again. Beside being considered one of the deadliest countries for drivers, China also appears to have some of the strangest questions in the written test that people need to pass in order to have a driver’s license issued.Some of the questions in…
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