Author: Eric Scheie

While we all know that the country is in the clutches of Wall Street, Big Banking, Big Oil, and other malefactors of great wealth, it’s tough to fight them, because they have so many ways to hide. But because they’re hidden, I’m thinking that the best way to fight them might be to figure out…

While some people seem to find his statements contradictory or confusing (possibly because they don’t understand the distinction he is making), I think Herman Cain has made it pretty clear that while he is a social conservative, he is not a statist social conservative. In response to a series of questions about homosexuality and abortion,…

I’m afraid that today is Coco’s 7th birthday. She has been such a wonderful muse over the years, that I thought a picture of the birthday girl was in order. Even if Coco looks out of order as I hold her in an awkward pose. (The red eyes are not her fault, and they photograph…

Via Jeff Percifield on Facebook I found some keen insights into the thinking of the Occupy Wall Street protesters in a delightful Howard Stern Youtube documentary broadcast. From the lips of the protesters themselves, in their own words. It’s a crying shame there’s no video, but I’m glad Howard Stern is doing the work his “respectable”…

As someone who has learned to distrust isms, I have also learned that it is important to at least keep track of them, lest the ism people sneak up and stop me from doing what I want to do. Reading this Reason article, I was drawn to an emerging ism — bioconservatism. Lawler, a member of…

I did not miss tonight’s debate, and I saw Rick Perry and Mitt Romney fly at each other like fighting cocks. Perry accused Romney of hiring illegals, and Romney denied it, because (so he says) he never hires anyone directly. I see both of their points, but the Nevada audience obviously recognizes that it’s tough…

I am having trouble with the logic in a piece I read earlier which indicts the baby boomers in part because of the depraved antics of their “leaders.” These people not only caused an entire generation to become dysfunctional, they also drove today’s teenagers into cannibalism and drinking blood: Cool was indeed oppressive — and…

Whether it masquerades as “multiculturalism” or not, that this sort of thing is going on in American public schools ought to worry everyone: Students in a Texas public high school were made to stand up and recite the Mexican national anthem and Mexican pledge of allegiance as part of a Spanish class assignment, but the school…

Facebook can be a very awkward, um, “place.” Is place the right word? Not long ago, an irritating thing happened to me for the second time. I was put on a group I did not join. A lot of people have been complaining about Facebook allowing this, and they say it presents opportunities for scam…

A Mitt Romney fan I am not. But I think the Mormon bashing which has been going on is out of line and un-American, and Romney’s enemies would do well to keep in mind that it could very well trigger a backlash in his favor. Right now, the anti-Mormon stuff is mainly on the right…

What is racism? The above question is virtually unanswerable, because racism has become more of a political term than a racial term. It has joined a whole host of words which have lost their original meaning and taken on political meanings that often defy basic logic.  In two earlier posts I struggled over which of the…

I don’t know why, but dumb ideas always seem to start in California and spread elsewhere. The latest is a demand that San Francisco restaurant patrons pay a mandatory 25% tip: SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/99.7 Now) – It’s a question many of us ask when we go out to a restaurant. “How much should I tip?”…

As Moe Lane documented in August, the DEA (the front line outfit in the War on Drugs) is a major partner in the “Fast and Furious” scandal, and wants to avoid at all costs being the fall guy: It would appear that the DEA does not want to be the fall guy in Operation Fast…

Now that Herman Cain has moved into the number two position, I thought I would try to ascertain his position on the War on Drugs. From an Atlantic interview: So what if the root cause is the demand for drugs here in the United States? If the root cause is demand in the United States,…

If they are to win in 2012, Republicans are going to need all the help they can get. Which is why I like the Occupy Wall Street protests. These utterly ridiculous and outrageous people — who in a fit of comical hubris are calling themselves “the 99%” — have even managed to generate a decidedly unsympathetic…

Speaking of stepping in it, I would not want to do so wearing these: There is a raging controversy over these uglier-than-crocs shoes (which remind me of a Halloween monster outfit), but I am seeing them worn everywhere in Ann Arbor, and sales have increased tenfold in the past year. Hey, as long as I…

I don’t normally discuss my phobias in this blog, as such discussions usually strike me as self-centered and boring. But in a local park the other day, something happened which has not only inconvenienced me, but grossed me out by activating a phobia I cannot easily control. What happened was that while wearing my running…

I realize my posts are few and far between these days compared to what they have been, but I’m utterly delighted, tickled pink, happier than a clam, etc. to see that Glenn Reynolds has interviewed Gary Johnson. The title is “A Libertarian Moment in the GOP? Gov. Gary Johnson On the Politics of the 2012 Election.”…

Most of the time when I look at the polls to see how the various Republican presidential candidates are doing, I am trying to get a handle on which one seems to have the best statistical chance to beat Obama. That continues to be Mitt Romney, which really isn’t surprising. Today I decided to look…

You’ve all heard about the current fuss. By definition, the top corporations in the Fortune 500 would be the epitome of evil, right? Especially, such malefactors of great wealth as number 35 on the list? So why are all these clueless Americans mourning the death of a key major mover and shaker in an evil world…