Author: Eric Scheie

In her discussion of the amazing and incredible delay by the New York Times in reporting the ACORN child prostitution-enablement scandal, Ann Althouse derides this explanation from Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt: as more videos were posted and government authorities rushed to distance themselves from Acorn, The Times stood still. Its slow reflexes — closely…

I’m all for free speech, and I’ve criticized McCain-Feingold quite harshly. But this headline — “Supreme Court appears poised to allow corporate contributions” — worries me, because corporations aren’t the independent entities they once were. WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court’s conservative bloc sounded poised Wednesday to strike down on free-speech grounds the nation’s historic ban…

On Friday night I had dinner at a popular Ann Arbor pub, and my otherwise delightful evening was ruined by something very unpleasant on the widescreen TV — a long ESPN interview with dog torturer Michael Vick. I realize people say that by serving his sentence he “paid his dues” to society, but how does…

A fascinating and thoughtful piece by Ron Radosh reminded me of a nagging problem that causes a certain amount of misunderstanding. With an Atlantic piece by Mark Bowden as a starting point, Radosh examines the deeper question of whether all journalism is inherently biased: Bowden says in conclusion that we now live in a “post-journalistic”…

Here’s a charming picture from a local news story: When I moved from a relatively affluent Philadelphia suburb to a relatively affluent Michigan college town I took for granted what most of us take for granted — the easy availability of food. In the form of nearby grocery stores. So it shocked me to see…

This morning I was startled by a chilling Drudge headline: Men vanish after taking photos of Philly subway system… Not only did I live in Philadelphia for years, but stories about disappearing humans always intrigue me, so naturally I clicked on the link, whereupon the mystery only deepened. Apparently a “man” and a “male” each…

A tiny little MicroSD memory card I got with a clone phone turned out to have a wonderfully annoying sample tune just sitting inside of it. So annoying that it’s really priceless. The problem is, I have no idea what it is. My guess is that it’s some sort of propaganda, so I thoughtfully added…

How stupid does President Obama think the unruly teenagers American people are? That was my reaction when I saw this question: Why did the president feign ignorance of ACORN when his relationship with the group goes back almost 20 years? Glenn Reynolds offers an answer: Because he figured he could get away with it. Same…

Speaking of evolution, Cab Calloway’s “Reefer Man” video in M. Simon’s earlier post made me fixate on another form of cultural depravity. Or would that be degeneracy? I don’t know the right word, but let’s face it, some people just don’t like songs about controversial cultural topics, not even if they’re light-hearted and humorous. Like…

While I hate to generalize, and I hate to stereotype people, I feel compelled to say something about a disturbing recent trend. One of the most annoying slogans of the 1960s was this one: If You Are Not Part Of The Solution You Are Part Of The Problem Widely attributed to Black Panther leader Eldridge…

This article from Oakland’s East Bay Express is a classic illustration of what you get when you live in a left wing city that’s hurting for money. They come up with fiendish new tax schemes and tyrannical restrictions on businesses. Apparently, some genius in the Oakland bureaucracy figured out that it would be legal to…

As most readers know, I can’t stand to watch television, so I missed all of the past weekend’s MSM Obama Extravaganza. I don’t know how he does it, but Stephen Green not only sat through it, but managed to put together a video review of the marathon which Glenn Reynolds linked earlier. Which is great…

Via Dr. Helen, I found this very disturbing analysis of the “science” of neurolaw. (I use the word “science” advisedly, for phrenology was once called that, and sociology still is.) What neurolaw proposes is basically scrapping the criminal justice system as we know it and dispensing with the idea of punishing crime or criminals. That’s…

While we might debate the appropriate penalty for stealing cell phones, I don’t think too many people would agree that it should cost you an arm and a leg: London, England – Civil rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on the Somali Al-Shabab armed group not to carry out amputations on four men accused of…

Yesterday I returned a cell phone I found which turned out to have been stolen. When I found it over a month ago, it had been half-buried in mud, and it was so severely water-damaged that I thought it was junk. Even after I cleaned it up, the screen was filled with water droplets and…

Let’s see if I can get this straight. A killer (acquitted by reason of insanity in the 1987 slaying of an elderly woman whose body he soaked in gasoline to throw off search dogs) who has been declared criminally insane, with a history of escape, was taken on a “field trip” to the Washington State…

While I’m delighted to see the final downfall of ACORN (which I’ve condemned repeatedly), I’m fascinated by the fact that even though the organization had a long history of voter fraud, mortgage fraud, and the worst sort of political corruption, and all of these outrages were repeatedly exposed, it wasn’t until something was uncovered that…

I want to return briefly to a point made in a hard-hitting post from Canadian blogger Blazingcatfur about the awful treatment his mother received: With barely contained anger I informed the nurse that keeping an ill, 84 year old woman in a hospital corridor for 18 hours was not the type of care that anyone…

I woke up this morning to see an apparently reassuring headline: Obama: Health care anger not motivated by his race Finally! I thought. The president has had the decency to at least acknowledge something dictated by simple logic and common sense. (As I pointed out not long ago, no one said opposition to Hillary Clinton’s…

I like sexual freedom. I think that arises out of the fact that I don’t like being told what to do. Being told what to do sucks, especially when people are trying to tell you what to do in the most personal area of your life. Americans have a long history of hating being told…