Eric Scheske

We reported yesterday that studies in third world countries indicate that family ties help cure mental illness. In a culture with increasingly-severed family ties, products like this aren't surprising: > Needies are interactive plush dolls inspired by codependent, high-maintenance relationships. > Totally attention-starved, they compete

Not coincidentally (as we sweat away in 100-degree temperatures), summer brings renewed interest in global warming and the sun's effects. Now this: > A confusing array of new and recent studies reveals that scientists know very little about how much sunlight is absorbed by Earth versus how

Another reminder: Eric doesn't have regular access to his computer this week, so the fare is different and lighter than usual. Regular blog programming will resume in a few days.

> The real problems are cultural, social, and moral. The welfare state has not only encouraged perverse and destructive behavior, but it has also led to an idolatrous devotion to the central state, with its implied promise of a single and costless political solution to every social ill. Hilaire Belloc

> A man is facing charges after police said they pulled him from a tank under a women's toilet that was filled with human waste. > Police said that Gary Moody, 45, was under a log cabin outhouse off the Kancamagas Highway in Albany. > "You can

"No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity." James Madison, Federalist No. 10 A truism, no doubt, but not recognized by those who, wrapped up in the self-interest of

Fascinating piece at WaPo about studies of schizophrenia in third world countries. According to the study, people with strong family ties are more likely to overcome mental illness. Link [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062601091.html] . Excerpts: > [A remarkable three-decade-long study

> For using the "G" word 41 times in a term paper, Bethany Hauf was given an "F" by her Victor Valley Community College instructor. > Hauf's teacher approved her term paper topic – Religion and its Place within the Government – on one condition: Don&