Author: Eric Scheie

I’ve been gone all day, but the graph that Say Uncle displays made my blood pressure go up as high as the graph. The graph compares the numbers of “delayed-notice” search warrants (authorized by the Patriot Act after trusting Americans were assured they would only be used against terrorists): That’s a more than 100 to…

While it will probably surprise no one who watches a lot of baseball, I stumbled onto something I hadn’t known before. Nicotine has been shown in a scientific study to enhance athletic performance: Nicotine is widely reported to increase alertness, improve co-ordination and enhance cognitive performance; however, to our knowledge there have been no attempts…

I don’t know whether this is a case of life imitating art, or art imitating life, but their First Amendment rights notwithstanding, the creators of the “Tea Party Zombies Must Die” video game ought to be ashamed of themselves. The game is called “Tea Party Zombies Must Die” and, apart from abysmal game play, features…

Via Memeorandum, I see that there is a flap over the editing of a transcript from which I quoted last night. I got the portion I quoted from Real Clear Politics, and while I didn’t watch Hoffa’s speech, it was clear to me that he was calling for war against the Tea Party, using what…

“President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let’s take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong.” That was the Labor Day threat issued by Teamsters Union President James Hoffa, Jr. in a warmup to a Labor Day speech by President Obama here in Michigan.…

There’s an old legal saying that “hard cases make bad law.” In light of what I just read about a man who faces a 23 year sentence for uploading a five-minute YouTube video, I would add that hard cases can result in worse things than bad law: they can make me agree with Glenn Greenwald.…

While I am old enough to remember the debate over whether “life” begins at conception, there has recently been a rhetorical shift in terms. Now, the argument is increasingly over whether “personhood” (including the rights of citizenship with all attributes thereto pertaining) begins at conception. Not pregnancy, mind you. Fertilization. If personhood really does begin at…

Here’s another vexing question related to my previous post about “the culture.” I have long adhered to a clueless view along the following lines: If you don’t like something, don’t buy it. What I think is happening is that a number of people across the spectrum think more along these lines: If you like something…

I think I may have left a rather huge hole in a rather large argument I’d rather not have when I referred to “the culture” as a euphemism last night. When I was a kid, the word “culture” meant what my dictionary says. Rather than laboriously copy it, here’s a photo: There is a Wiki post…

Why is it that anyone cares so much about what is euphemistically called “the culture”? To the extent I am still able to think about such things (which is debatable after nearly a decade of blogging about them), Mark Steyn got what little remains of my brain cells firing when he said this: Even if…

I live just blocks away from Michigan Station, and I was watching today’s football game when it started to rain a bit. No big deal, but I went out in the yard and got a few drops on me, and came inside to go back to the game and — the idiots that run these…

Via Glenn Reynolds, some words of wisdom from American Glob: I don’t believe it’s possible to be a Libertarian and support Democrats. I agree. For starters, economic issues are far more important than social issues, and Democrats are, by definition, almost always wrong on economic issues. In practice (for me, at least) when I dislike…

I have long thought that one of the most annoying aspects of the war on drugs is invasive drug testing, whether of employees, students, athletes, government officials, etc.. Despite our long (pre-1980s) constitutional tradition of bodily fluid freedom, most drug testing is mandated or directly encouraged by a myriad of government agencies or programs. I don’t…

In what I think is the question of the day, Andrew Stuttaford asked “Why won’t these people just go away?” after contemplating the latest proposals from the usual “experts” to tax junk food and regulate commercials to save the children. Another study by Steven Gortmaker from Harvard University’s school of public health, concludes that the response…

While Gary Johnson is the only candidate I have endorsed, I am a realist about his chances of winning the nomination. However, that does not mean I shouldn’t reiterate my support, especially right now, when he is being inexplicably shut out of the debates. And I do mean inexplicably, for he is excluded despite the…

I’m usually behind the times, but I learned a new word today. “Smokeasy“: A smokeasy (also spelled smoke-easy or smokeeasy) is a business, especially a barroom, that allows smoking despite a smoking ban enacted as a criminal law or an occupational safety and health regulation. The term is also used to describe locations and events…

One of the problems with spouting hyperbole all the time and calling everything a crisis is that if whatever it is that’s being complained about and hyperbolized actually comes to pass, why would anyone suddenly start listening to the same old, same old broken record hyperbole? It’s a classic boy who cried wolf situation. And…

I realize Hurricane Irene has subsided, but I liked this headline so much that I wanted to share it: Right Wing Tries New Tactic To Soften Bush’s Katrina Debacle: Say Obama’s Leadership On Irene Is Just For Show Yes, the “right wing” is still wringing its collective hands over Bush’s handling of Katrina, and any…

A Michele Bachmann fan I am not. But I do try to be fair, and I think this long, obsessive criticism of her choice in shoes is, well, downright sexist. …from the ankle down, Bachmann likes to show a little skin — many of her shoes are either sandals (often worn with pantyhose — argh)…

Wow, is it really Glenn Reynolds’ birthday today? I guess it is. I won’t even ask how old he is lest I cause commotion in life extension circles. And as I thoroughly covered his Satanic astrological profile years ago, I guess don’t have much to add today, except Happy Birthday Glenn! I mean it. If…