Author: Eric Scheie

I just learned that the human AIDS virus is nearly a century old: A genetic analysis of thousands of individual viruses has confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that HIV first emerged in Kinshasa, the capital of the Belgian Congo, in about 1920 from where it spread via the colonial railway network to other parts of central…

Looking at this video from 1970, it’s amazing how few people were there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJhnOq2q3ag The Grateful Dead were at their best before they were well known. I feel very fortunate to have seen them when they were still playing in basketball courts. 

A link sent to me by a friend served as a reminder that there is a culture war raging in this country. Over a particular breed of dog called the “pit bull.” Supporters of the breed are called “apologists” or “pit nutters.” Not quite the same rhetoric is directed against anti-pit-nutters like this crackpot, but that’s…

As Simon reminded me, the Oklahoma beheading is being spun by our media overlords as anything bit terrorism. So forget about this headline: Oklahoma Beheader Linked to Al Qaeda Leader Awlaki, Boston Bomber’s Mosque And NEVER MIND this picture of the “disgruntled employee.” Of course, it could be argued that Osama bin Laden was a…

Earlier I learned that the new mandatory flow restrictors that are now in all sink faucets make certain faucets leak. Like the American Standard faucet in my bathroom, which I thought I would have to replace because it leaked inside the assembly. When the faucet is off, all is well. Turn the faucet on at…

To R.F.K, Jr, “treason” means disagreeing with him on Anthropogenic Global Warming: Blissfully unaware of how hot the irony burned, Robert Kennedy Jr. yesterday took to a public protest to rail avidly in favor of censorship. The United States government, Kennedy lamented in an interview with Climate Depot, is not permitted by law to “punish”…

The owner of a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco is having a tough time with sanctimonious customers: The owner of a San Francisco Chinese restaurant has temporarily closed his doors with an abrupt notice due to what he calls ‘hard to please’ customers. Owner and chef James Chu put a sign on his door stating:…

I don’t know whether there are any botanists who read this blog, but I have a question. Does anyone know what happens in a war between Salpichroa organifolia and Carpobrotus chilensis? Both are said to be invasive in the sense that they take over and crowd out other species. But here the invaders are pitted…

For a little while, it was beginning to seem that the Republicans had a chance of retaking the Senate. Not now. Nick Gillespie has an interesting analysis of what has happened, and offers the GOP some advice: Memo to Republicans: If you are perceived as very similar to the Democrats, just more awful when it…

It may come as a shock to those who hold Masters degrees in Public Health and want to micromanage our lives, but it is turning out that Michelle Obama’s federal food guidelines are backfiring: CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – New federal school food regulations promoted by First Lady Michelle Obama are becoming a massive headache for many…

Really? Apparently so. I always thought bacon was a food implicating little more than what a person might like (or not like) to eat, but what do I know? I also thought sexual tastes were that, too.

Few things horrify me more than people who do as they are told. (Well, maybe the people who tell people what to do, but they wouldn’t have any power if they were ignored.) So, there are two groups of stubborn humans whom I especially admire. 1) Smokers; and 2) Dog owners who refuse to castrate…

  Some things must never be forgotten.

This is really hard. I spent much of the day trying, but I’m just not coordinated enough to really make it work well. By the time I get the thing hovering, it runs out of juice to keep it up. (I guess the same could be said about many of us, haha.) MORE: Fortunately for…

I drove from Berkeley to LA, where I’ve been for the better part of a week. It’s sweltering hot, which is normal for this time of year. Such is life. MORE: The dog passed an IQ test with flying colors.

P.J. O’Rourke (in a Reason article) offers a very cogent explanation as to why libertarianism is such a hard sell. A prominent libertarian, O’Rourke also discusses the difficulties in selling a political philosophy devoted to taking power away from politicians. “If libertarianism were easy to explain and if it weren’t so easy to exaggerate the effects…

This is messed up.   As of 16 August 2014     Areas controlled by the Islamic State  [shown in red] It seems that when you fight and take out one enemy in the Mideast, another, bigger enemy springs up and takes the old enemy’s place.What the fuck are we supposed to do? Make an alliance with Iran?Reminds…

Earlier I saw some fascinating information posted at Gateway Pundit stating that the police officer who killed Michael Brown was severely injured during the altercation: Local St. Louis sources said Wilson suffered an “orbital blowout fracture to the eye socket.” This comes from a source within the District Attorney’s office and confirmed by the St. Louis…

I learned recently that there is a major war going on against ice plants. These beautiful succulents have long been naturalized in California, stabilize the soil, provide a perfect fire break, are zero maintenance and look beautiful. What’s more, the same state and local governments that spent countless millions of taxpayers’ dollars to plant them are…

This is the best vintage Grateful Dead video I have seen so far: It never fails to amaze me what turns up on Youtube. Sorry for the erratic posting, but long overdue work takes its toll. Here’s a nice before and after involving an arduous struggle with a single tree that had grown over the…