The Cornerites continue to discuss eugenics. Derbyshire agrees with Stuttaford’s comment that increasing the human capacity to love would be a terrible idea. “Capacity to Love.” He quotes a poem, that seems to say (I am not sure) that love is the cause of great sadness. It can be, . . . . Continue Reading »
I have had several requests from readers to comment on the story of the cognitively disabled girl named Ashley, whose parents subjected her to hormone treatments and invasive surgeries (hysterectomy, mastectomy) to keep her “small.” The point of these “treatments” was to . . . . Continue Reading »
I have done a little more reading from the Edge, the self-described meeting place of the “most interesting minds” in the world. As some of you will recall from an earlier posting, the Edge is asking the brilliantly interesting among us to describe what they are scientifically optimistic . . . . Continue Reading »
When I was in South Africa speaking a few years ago, Secondhand Smokette and I made a point of traveling to a big game park so we could view the wild animals at close quarters. We stayed at Umlani, which is in a private park, and had a superb time viewing lions, a cheetah, elephants galore (a big . . . . Continue Reading »
So, the discussion about eugenics, which we got into here yesterday, has continued at The Corner today, and I got into the mix. For those interested, and to avoid a lot of scrolling, here is how it generally went: Derbyshire: “Re Eugenics” and “More Eugenics.” Followed by . . . . Continue Reading »
Gary Francione is an animal rights absolutist who believes that there should be no domesticated animals and no human use of animals for any purpose. I disagree, obviously. But as I have written, he walks the talk: He seeks to lead by example by promoting a 100% vegan lifestyle and he forcefully . . . . Continue Reading »
The media and politicians continue to pretend that ESCR will generally be restricted to frozen leftover embryos that are “going to be discarded anyway.” As I have been arguing for several years, this “limited” permissibility is, at most, just a way-station to gain public . . . . Continue Reading »
The CBC asked me make some predictions for 2007 in the fields of bioethics and biotechnology. Here it is for those who may be . . . . Continue Reading »
Dolly was born ten years ago (last July). Many think she was the first cloned mammal. Not true. She was the first mammal cloned with an adult cell. But that is neither here nor there. The point is that Dolly’s birth changed everything.The Scotsman reports about how a party is planned to . . . . Continue Reading »