Author: Eric Scheie

When Ron Paul recently asked “why is it we can’t put into our body whatever we want?” he was speaking in the context of the war on drugs. But the war on drugs might have merely supplied the pretext, and set the stage for a much broader application of the question. These days, what Ron Paul…

Sometimes I love Ron Paul. Especially when he says things like this: VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul decried the “war on drugs” Thursday night, telling supporters in Washington state that people should be able to make their own decisions on such matters. Voters in Washington are likely to decide this year…

I’m so fatigued by reading about politics that I am starting to misread politics into non-political headlines. Earlier, when I saw a headline proclaiming that “parasitic wasp is no match for a drunken fruit fly,” I assumed it was some snarky political junkie analyzing the election or something. Wrong. It really was about an alcohol-related battle…

While I have been trying to sleep through the sudden Santorum surge in the hope of making it go away, Ace has a very articulate series of impassioned posts which are not only waking me up, but are making me feel guilty that I am not doing enough. An erstwhile Perry supporter, Ace now faces…

I can remember back when I was a kid, when being against birth control was seen as almost as nutty as not believing in evolution. It all seems so damn long ago. Way back in the modern era, when no one knew how backward we were. This is not to say that I use birth…

I’m a bit skeptical, especially as to exactly how this accident (an electronic cigarette apparently exploded in a man’s face) might have happened. But I noticed that the e-cigarette does use a lithium ion battery. They certainly can explode, and they have in occasional cellphones and laptops (although 43 fires in 60 million laptops seems like…

Earlier I read the libertarian case for Santorum (by John Samples, Director of Cato’s Center for Representative Government): One recent poll has the former senator running even with Obama, but most polls have shown a decided gap of about eight points between the incumbent and Santorum. Right now the latter is not well-known to most…

While I haven’t followed Rick Santorum as closely as I probably should have, via Glenn Reynolds I found a lovely remark he made about libertarians which displeased Neal Boortz big time: “I am not a libertarian, and I fight very strongly against libertarian influence within the Republican Party and the conservative movement. I don’t think the…

Finally, I earned something! I was awarded the above Certificate of Achievement, suitable for framing. And you can get one too! All you need to do is answer a simple 20 question test that Virginia Postrel linked in her very amusing “Can You Pass the ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ Test” article. The idea is to to determine…

While I don’t have all day to study it in detail, I found this Atlantic article (“How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy“) deeply absorbing. A scientist has spent many years researching the psychological effects of human infection by the common protozoal agent Toxoplasma gondii, transmitted primarily by the house cat. He claims to have studied…

Via Glenn Reynolds (who properly warns not to take counsel of your fears), I was drawn one of the most thoughtful — if fearfully depressing — analyses of the Republican plight that I have seen. Here’s John Hinderaker: Nevertheless, if you are a Republican, the vibes are very bad. The presidential primary season has turned into…

Last night, I asked what I thought was a rhetorical question. The goal is beating Obama, right? Just thought I’d ask. Several commenters replied that the goal is not beating Obama, so I guess my question was not as rhetorical as I thought. If the goal is not beating Obama, despite the fact that the…

Why is it that the only choices offered to GOP primary voters are Establishment RINO types, ridiculous social conservatives, or ridiculous libertarians? Commenting on Rick Santorum’s “victories” in three “primaries,” Bill Quick (via Stacy McCain) said this: What you see here, though, isn’t a giant boom for what Santorum is pushing, especially the socon stuff, which…

As someone who doesn’t like government telling people what to do, I am not especially enamored with the 9th Circuit Court ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.  I didn’t like Prop 8, but I think ordinary voters at the state level ought to have a right to make up their minds about these things. I…

I am hardly a fan of Ann Coulter, as most longtime readers realize. But every once in a while, I have felt obligated to defend her, and this is one of those times. In an American Spectator broadside, Coulter is being accused of having been “castrated.” Her offense? Saying that Mitt Romney is the best candidate…

While I’m probably not the first person to make this observation, I have noticed something about YouTube that utterly fascinates me as a student of history. To put it bluntly, it’s a bloody freak show! Medical disorders (from severe obesity to Hurler’s disease, Progeria, and serious infantile diseases) and  are being exhibited for eager gawkers,…

I’m in too much of a hurry right now to be a responsible blogger and write something that might require thought. But I learned about an amazing Ron Paul video that is making me see him in an entirely new way. Enjoy! The process is infectious, and has spread to the other candidates. Except Gingrich,…

So said the Philadelphia District Attorney in refusing to press hate crime charges in a well publicized case. THREE JUVENILES accused of assaulting a cabdriver and his passenger in Center City Saturday night while shouting racial slurs will not be charged with a hate crime, the District Attorney’s Office said yesterday. The teens, who are…

There has been a great deal of debate in Michigan Tea Party circles about the “electability” of certain Republican senate candidates. The issue keeps coming up again and again, as there is a large field of candidates running, but only two have the money and experience it takes to win. Nevertheless, many grass roots type…

A group of supposedly reputable researchers at UCSF have made headlines for demanding that sugar be regulated as a “toxin.”   Sugar and other sweeteners are, in fact, so toxic to the human body that they should be regulated as strictly as alcohol by governments worldwide, according to a commentary in the current issue of…