Author: Eric Scheie

Earlier I visited Detroit’s Elmwood Cemetery, “the oldest continuously operating, non-denominational cemetery in Michigan,” and took some pictures. While in Detroit, I also visited the historic Michigan Central Station, which has remained in ruins for decades while its “future” is endlessly debated. The owner of the historic building would like to fix it up, while…

From an Investors Business Daily editorial: In ways large and small, it’s easy to see we’re building a nanny state that will make Europe’s seem modest by comparison. After all, this doesn’t even include health care “reform” or cap-and-trade. Soon, the federal government will control every aspect of our lives – though the Constitution explicitly…

Did you think the Matthew Shepard Act is merely about adding sexual orientation to the list of federal hate crimes? If you did (as I did), then you are in for a rude awakening. To back up a bit, over the weekend, I was appalled to discover that the federal government had assumed jurisdiction over…

Dick Polman (a liberal Democrat who writes for the Philadelphia Inquirer) thinks President Obama’s war on Fox news is both foolish as well as “tactically stupid” and he explains why: 1. Going after Fox serves only to elevate Fox, making it appear that Fox is on an equal footing with the White House. Every president…

How my email address gets on these lists I do not know, but last night I received an urgent email which asked me to help do something about a sick Cockatiel for sale at a pet store in New York. A link went to this web site, where I saw a number of comments posted…

Did you know that 40% of people are nasty, and if they did not fear retaliation, they would destroy the property of others? I didn’t, but an Economics and Business study at the University of Amsterdam seems to confirm it: We introduce the joy-of-destruction game. Two players each receive an endowment and simultaneously decide on…

“Clearly the White House has no problem being associated with Bill Ayers.“ That is absolutely true, and the proof is here. Ayers delivered a major speech before The Renaissance Group’s 20th Anniversary Celebration in Arlington, Virginia. Speaking at the event (“A Time for Reflection, Celebration and Rebirth”) along with Ayers were Under Secretary of Education…

While a lot of attention has been paid to Anita Dunn’s quotations from Chairman Mao, and there’s been a lot of criticism for her praise for Mao as her “favorite political philosopher,” I don’t think that most people (either on the right or the left) have really had the heart to engage in a serious…

Wondering who might be behind the non-public registration, Glenn Reynolds links a site which asks a very disturbing but mis-phrased question: Is it true that the Left will kill Obama? Here’s the theory: The buzz all over the ‘net is that if it looks like the Republican challenger is going to win in 2012, the…

In a post titled “Jacob Weisberg Loses It,” Dave Price has a lot of fun demolishing some of Weisberg’s more ridiculous assertions in Newsweek. Clearly, poor Weisberg has lost it. Assuming, of course, he ever had it. What I find myself unable to ignore is another incredible Weisberg assertion. Did you know that CNN’s bias…

In my post about erototoxic end times, I was in too much of a hurry to explore a paradox I might as well call the erototoxic paradox. (I decided to call it the Erototoxic Paradox because I think the model operates along similar lines to a poorly understood phenomenon the cardiologists call the French Paradox.)…

Noting that Marge Simpson has posed for Playboy, Glenn Reynolds says, simply, The end times are upon us. Well, he’s right. The end times are upon us. And the end times are erototoxic! I could not make this stuff up if I tried. No seriously. There are people who apparently sincerely believe that cartoon porn…

There are few things I hate more than being a scold. Especially because of all of my condemnation of scolds and scolding, having to be a libertarian scold makes me feel like a hypocrite, and little better than the scolds I criticize. I don’t like people who criticize the moral failings of others, especially when…

Linking a post which explains how the Tea-Party Activists Complicate Republican Comeback Strategy, Glenn Reynolds opines, Well, they should. Well, I don’t know whether I should. Perhaps I shouldn’t. Are libertarians like me just supposed to swallow whatever pride we still have after years of supporting “National Greatness” conservatism, and keep our collective traps shut…

Life sure is complicated. While I have blogged about the war on sex, there’s a related meme which I hope doesn’t turn into a war (although maybe it already is in some circles), and that is the idea that there is some sort of duty for those with good genes to reproduce. I would hesitate…

This post touched on one of my worst fears: A skunk in Oklahoma, USA, was rescued by a good samaritan and a ‘skunk whisperer’ after it got its head stuck in a jar of peanut butter. Teresa Vick spotted the stuck skunk while delivering papers and called for help. Ned Bruha, ‘Skunk Whisperer’, used a…

On the front page of today’s Detroit Free Press, there’s a scary article about ferocious killer fish from Asia which are about to invade and destroy Lake Michigan. The situation is said to be as bad as a hurricane: Immediate action is needed to prevent a flood-prone Illinois river from releasing scores of ferocious Asian…

Whenever I read news reports like this about horrendous crimes being committed by people society considers “children,” I am reminded of the fiction of child innocence. DETROIT (WXYZ) – The Wayne County prosecutor announced first degree murder charges against a teenage boy and his mother for the shooting death of a teenager who was playing…

So the NFL won’t allow the likes of Rush Limbaugh within its hallowed tent, but dog torturer Michael Vick is just fine. Yet another in a long line of mind-numbing double standards. (See this post from Stephen Spruiell which Glenn linked yesterday.) The message? Uttering opinions with which powerful activists like Al Sharpton disagree is…

Former police officer Barry Cooper (author, “Never Get Busted Again“) is so disgusted with the War on Drugs that he came up with an idea for a reality TV show called “Kop Busters.” In a clever sting operation, police ended up raiding a house where nothing illegal was going on — most likely because their…