Author: Eric Scheie

I was reminded yesterday that today would be Saint Patrick’s Day, but this morning I forgot, so I didn’t put on any green like we’re all supposed to. Maybe I will later, but green is just not “my” color. At least, not to wear. I love the greening of the outdoors that will start occurring…

An earlier email exchange with M. Simon over stuff I hate to argue about got me thinking about the people who claim to have found God in a sugar cube (as the result of ingesting LSD). Are they hopelessly deluded fools?  Because of underlying assumptions, analyzing this problem is difficult. However, it strikes me that…

As many have said, Christian is the new gay. Stuff like this is becoming all too predictable. A Christian couple facing a foster parenting ban because of their views on homosexuality were told by a court yesterday that gay rights ‘should take precedence’ over their religious beliefs. Owen and Eunice Johns heard that their values…

A man who appears to be a genuine sicko is facing imprisonment for telling depressed people that they should kill themselves, and giving them specific instructions on how.  FARIBAULT, Minn. (AP) — Freedom of speech is no defense for a former nurse who engaged in “lethal advocacy” when he encouraged an English man and Canadian…

Earlier I wasted about a half an hour watching a ridiculous program on the History Channel which made my criticism of Drudge yesterday seem petty. Called “Prophets of Doom,” it started out with Michael Ruppert — notorious conspiracy theorist who has lurched from Iran Contra conspiracies to 9/11 Trutherism to his latest — which is…

For some time now, I have noticed Drudge‘s regular linking of notorious conspiracy monger Alex Jones. I have been too cynical to bother with complaining in blog posts, as I figure WTF, who cares, after all, etc. These things are all about traffic. “News” becomes relative when it comes to entertaining people and getting hits.…

Over the weekend I visited a stable where some friends keep a horse, and I happened to see the following sign posted on the wall: The sign references Michigan’s Equine Activity Liability Act (text here, PDF) — a 1994 law I’d never heard of before, which shouldn’t have had to be enacted were we living…

And now for a post I really REALLY don’t want to write. M. Simon’s post about Katie Granju’s son Henry gave me the willies. Seriously, I was having blog nightmares last night. (That is the truth.) It’s like, our two approaches are so diametrically different that it’s almost a Yin/Yang situation. I am indirect, introverted,…

In an update to yesterday’s post, I mentioned the the West Coast’s “brush” with earthquake-triggered ocean waves not big enough to be called a true Tsunami. While the damage was minor in comparison to Japan, the West Coast nevertheless suffered millions in damage, and a man trying to take photos of incoming waves was swept…

In the many years I have been online, I have only very rarely deliberately clicked “reply all” when repling to email which includes lists of people or groups. The problem is that I get a lot of email and sometimes I am in a hurry, and there’s an insidious newer form of group email which…

Today’s news about the gigantic earthquake in Japan is so huge that I could barely get the San Francisco Chronicle main page to open.There are Tsunami warnings for the entire Bay Area, and reports of jammed bridges which head East.  Whether a killer Tsunami will actually strike San Francisco is debatable, but if it happens,…

Today’s front page of the Free Press has a big headline — “Drugs, blood: Inside the world of dogfighting.” I don’t know why, but the online version of the same article had a different headline — “Detroit killings show dangerous world of dogfighting, police say.” The first paragraph makes abundantly clear the identity of the…

Via Sean’s link to Beautiful Atrocities, I learned that Muammar Gaddafi is not just in for it, he’s really really in for it: This should do it: Imelda Marcos tells Gaddafi to behave. That certainly should do it, and were I Gaddafi I would be absolutely terrified. Throwing a temper is one thing, but consider…

I was cut off in traffic earlier by a frustrated driver of a car displaying bumperstickers which struck me as contradictory in nature: One was “WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER!” The other was one of the usual ubiquitous Obama for President stickers (the absence of which in this town is more remarkable than the presence).…

The gloomy freezing rain that we’re having right now in Ann Arbor pierces me to the bone, and makes me feel like feeling sorry for myself. On days like this, I am reminded of a Charles Addams cartoon showing my favorite all American family at the window seat looking out at an awful rainstorm, while…

Because drugs are illegal, society tends to look at drug users (especially addicts) as bad people. This is reflected in callused attitudes by police, hospitals, courts, employers, bureaucrats, family members — in short, almost anyone likely to have a position of power who might come in contact with the addict. Thus, when an addict runs…

Jonathan Rauch has post I consider a must-read, titled “Caring for Your Introvert — The habits and needs of a little-understood group.” I admire his courage for admitting to his introversion. (If I am an introvert, I would never admit it! Things like that are best kept it in the closet!) Excerpt: My name is…

I’d be willing to bet that very few readers knew that if you Google the phrase “syphilitic camel” the second hit you get is Glenn’s post from this morning: I would vote for a syphilitic camel over Barack Obama in 2012, so therefore I would even vote for Huckabee or Gingrich. But I might try…

As a response to the civil war in Libya, President Obama is reportedly asking the Saudis to help the rebels. America has asked Saudi Arabia to supply weapons to Libyan rebels in Benghazi fighting the Gaddafi regime. The move is seen as a bid to avoid direct U.S. military involvement in the country’s troubles. So…

Via Radley Balko, I learned that if certain legislators were to have their way, I might have committed a criminal offense earlier merely by photographing farm animals for what I thought was just a cute birthday post. No really. “Photographing cows or other farm scenery could land you in jail under Senate bill” It seems…