A Minnesota nurse who urged people to commit suicide over the Internet can’t defend himself based on free speech. From the story:Freedom of speech is no defense for a former nurse who engaged in “lethal advocacy” when he encouraged an English man and Canadian woman to kill . . . . Continue Reading »
Are you missing out on the NCAA Basketball tournament because you’re reading Kristin Lavransdatter ? Have you ever argued with friends about the merits of Ender’s Game versus Starship Troopers ? Then this tournament is for you. Sixty-four novels compete in a six round competition to . . . . Continue Reading »
A bill is wending its way through the Minnesota Legislature that would make all human cloning, for example, through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), in the state a felony. Not just reproductive cloning—the kind of pseudo ban, but actually, the prohibition of one use of a cloned embryo, . . . . Continue Reading »
Over at The Public Discourse, Micah Watson demolishes David Gushee’s attempt to draft John Locke into service in favor of gay marriage. Watson does an admirable job of establishing that Locke saw no contradiction between 1) religious freedom and government based on natural law, and 2) public . . . . Continue Reading »
For years we have been told bioethics promotes patient autonomy. Want to refuse care even though you die, and the health care team disagrees? AUTONOMY! Want assisted suicide? AUTONOMY! Want to use every novel IVF procedure available to have a biologically related . . . . Continue Reading »
A wise wag once defined a political gaff as telling the truth. If that is so, Rep. John Conyer made a whopper yesterday when he admitted that Obamacare is flawed, but that’s okay because it is a necessary platform to impose single payer on the USA. From the story (and see video above):Rep. . . . . Continue Reading »
The art market (circa 2010) sounds eerily similar to the bond market (pre-2008): In September of 2008, the British artist Damien Hirst sold a collection of his own artwork at Sotheby’s. The two-day sale, entitled “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever,” consisted entirely of Hirst’s . . . . Continue Reading »
As a student of the Tom Wolfe school of art criticism , I have a natural preference for works of realism and an enthusiastic disdain for abstract works that require an interpretive Theory. This is not to say, of course, that I can’t appreciate abstract art. There are some works of abstract . . . . Continue Reading »
I owe a great debt to the American Spectator for pointing to me to this story. By itself, it is not worth comment, but it does incarnate a disease of our age: the “brave and compelling book” that is neither brave, important, or much of a book.Evidently James Frey dares “ignite a . . . . Continue Reading »
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