Author: Eric Scheie

While the psychotic shooter was in the midst of murdering people, I was trying to solve a far less important puzzle — one which struck me as frivolous once I heard the awful news of the tragedy in Tucson, so I put it off. Still, whenever classic texts are censored, Bowdlerized, or edited, I am…

In a post about the FDA’s ban on caffeinated alcoholic beverages, I resorted to sarcastic ridicule by calling for a crackdown on old standby drinks like Irish Coffee and Rum and Coke. ….our culture has been asleep at the wheel as this dire threat has metastasized. Does anyone remember Rum and Coke? Cuba Libre? Why…

M. Simon’s post about heroin drew an interesting comment from reader Bob Sykes: In the past, I have often thought you were somewhat of a crank on drug legalization. But your link this morning to Dr. Shavelson is a revelation. I have a brother in-law who is a long-term drug addict and who is suicidal.…

One of the many ironies about life in our mega-egalitarian, discrimination-obsessed country is that not only does discrimination abound, there may be more discrimination than ever before. Most of it is government mandated, whether in the form of affirmative action hiring programs, requirements that government hire minority contractors, numerous programs for the “traditionally disadvantaged” (such…

While I don’t know whether to call it Palin Derangement Syndrome or Palinphobia, a poster has sprung up in San Francisco which I think reveals more about the anger and fear on the left than it does about the anger and fear on the right it purports to condemn: Enrage them with fear? Who is…

As there has been a pretty steady series of posts about Jared Loughner’s massacre, I though I would pause for a post about something which seems irrational to me, and may gross out some readers.  The other night I realized that I have a double standard where it comes to asparagus pee. Many — but…

Speaking of television, according to a post linked by Michelle Malkin, it turns out that Jared Loughner did not watch TV. Nor did he listen to the talk radio said to have created a “climate” which was responsible for his actions. Friend says Loughner “did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn’t listen…

A TV (as in television) fan I am not. But when I saw a headline that “watching television damages the heart,” I took notice. We all hear about the dangers from cell phones and brain cancer, but the idea that the omnipresent television can cause heart damage — why, that strikes at one of the…

While it’s still too early to say this conclusively, I think that people who want to read their various political narratives into Jared Lee Loughner are ultimately in for a disappointment. The man’s mind is so messed up that he’s the political equivalent of schizophrenic word salad (schizophasia): Judging from Mr. Loughner’s own website, his…

Gabrielle Giffords’s brother in law, a commanding officer at the International Space station, seems to think so: Hours earlier, the nation observed a moment of silence for the victims of the rampage, from the South Lawn of the White House and the steps of the U.S. Capitol to legislature beyond Arizona and the International Space…

As I explained in earlier posts, the fact that so many people are trying to blame the Tea Party and Sarah Palin for the actions of a deranged gunman does not surprise me, because placing blame is what people do. When a horrible violent crime is committed against a loved one, the enemies of that…

Yes, that is what exactly what they will say, if they haven’t already. As I just said to M. Simon in an email, I find the uproar over what happened yesterday so predictable that I can barely stand it. I have seen the same type of opportunistic demagoguery in reaction to every shooting incident —…

By any reasonable standard, the man accused of killing at least six people (including a federal judge) and critically wounding U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is mentally ill. He thinks there is a big conspiracy to “brainwash” him which involves “grammar” and “currency,” and he has posted garbled and incomprehensible Youtube videos to that effect, including…

A lot of people are upset over the bowdlerization of Huckleberry Finn by a prominent publisher, and a number of prominent bloggers have weighed in with various thoughts. I tend towards First Amendment fanaticism, and I would be absolutely rabid with rage if it turned out the government had a hand in this. OTOH, I…

Remember back in the days when the conventional wisdom held that the Japanese were going to overtake us and everyone else? Sean Kinsell has a great discussion of why Japan is slipping behind China and South Korea. He begins with a mysterious title I can’t quite fathom: ???? That might mean Happy New Year. How…

Yes, instead of boycotting Christmas, I’m celebrating it twice! Just as there have been two Christmas Eves this season, it is now Christmas for the second time. Merry Christmas everyone!   ? ??????? ?????????! The code didn’t render Cyrillic, but here’s what I was trying to say:

I am having trouble keeping up with conspiracy theories about CPAC. First there was the “boycott” of CPAC by angry WorldnetDailyers and FamilyResearchCouncilors who complained that CPAC had been taken over by homos. And today I read that CPAC has been secretly taken over by radical Islamists. Excuse me, but isn’t there a rather major…

Thanks to a credit card issue, the blog was down for a couple of hours this morning. My card (with which I pay online bills automatically) expired and a new one was issued, but for some reason that caused absolute chaos. I fail to understand why in this day and age, a credit card for…

(And I hope comments are too!) One of the things that makes spam such a pain in the ass in blogging is the way it increasingly tends to inhibit the ability to discuss ordinary topics. If you have been blogging for any length of time (I’m going on eight years now), you have no doubt…

One of the first things I read this morning was Steny Hoyer’s accusation that Tea Party supporters have unhappy families: There are a whole lot of people in the Tea Party that I see in these polls who don’t want any compromise. My presumption is they have unhappy families. All of you have been in…