Musings of a Patriot

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • More Daylight

    What difference will more daylight savings make to those of us outside of Arizona? Not much that I can see. If the politicians want to pass this I don’t mind it. I would love to use more sunlight, but let’s not fool ourselves that this will make a big difference in our oil consumption. If…

  • When Will We See the Light

    It is about time that we acknowledged the truth of what happens when Lobbyists have so much sway in our system of government. I don’t think there is anything else to say after what Mr. Lessig wrote. This is more than simply the access to broadband that I have written about previously. In both the…

  • The Central Issue

    Midway through 2004 I talked about the importance of having a two party system in Utah specifically. The Deseret News now writes a story quoting Harry Reid saying the same thing on a national level. Senator Reid put it perfectly in saying, “Legislation is the art of compromise, and a strong two-party system is fundamental…

  • As I Was Saying

    I had a thought when I posted Excess Capacity. Now I have seen this story in a few different places and I cannot stay silent on the subject. Basically, the story can be summed up like so: “Whether building a wireless system, installing fiber directly to homes, or exploring broadband over power lines – or…

  • First Right Step

    This is the best statement of the current position of the democratic party that I have recently read. Getting Howard Dean as the head of the party is the best first step that the party could have taken. Dean has already proven that he is able and willing to think outside the box and try…

  • Soul Searching

    This is the type of thing to expect from a party that is trying to find its place in American politics. The Democrats are starting to think about their stance on abortion as they search their souls to find ways to appeal to more people. It is about time that they looked at their core…

  • Conservation

    I was interested to read about Homesourcing and be reminded that I seem to be caught between two radical philosophies concerning conservation and energy independence. Radical not because they are unreasonable or extreme, but because they are so different from the most common proposals for energy independence. Homesourcing is really another name for tele-commuting, the…

  • Excess Capacity

    I enjoyed reading about the Laffer Curve as it relates to taxes. I found it especially interesting because I have been thinking about the Sam Walton approach being applied to broadband internet access. I admit that I am wishing that I had bradband access at home and claiming (privately until now) that dialup internet access…

  • Kernals of Truth

    In “It takes a whole village – or does it?” I see some strong truths expressed that the family is the basic unit of society, but there is also a kernel of truth in the saying “it takes a village.” The village in which I raise my children will have an effect on how they…

  • Nugget of Truth

    It is not often that I agree with Maureen Dowd more than grudgingly, but in her article about female interrogators torturing detainees in Iraq I found myself agreeing with her without reservation. She put the perfect perspective in one sentence: “However the Bush White House is redefining torture these days, the point is this: Such…

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