Wesley J. Smith

Human exceptionalism is under furious assault on many fronts, with advocates who seek to dismantle it, zealously looking for any and every sign that we are no different, really, from animals.One of the newest memes in this regard is that animals are moral beings—just like us. I bring this up . . . . Continue Reading »

I have oft asserted that the embryonic stem cell debate is not the far end of the instrumental use of unborn humans, but the launching pad. Once the principle is established that early embryos can be used as a natural resource, it won’t be long until gestated nascent human life is also . . . . Continue Reading »

A tattooed man plans to donate his skin to the Australian National Gallery when he dies. From the story: An Australian man whose body is covered in tattoos has pledged to donate his skin to the National Gallery when he dies. Retired teacher Geoff Ostling displays his tattooed skin at his home in . . . . Continue Reading »

When science becomes ideology or quasi-religion, it ceases to be science and becomes something else. The brilliant political analyst Michael Barone has weighed in on this concern in a new column (which also deals with gun control, beyond our scope here). He notes that despite the constant . . . . Continue Reading »

This gets a bit complicated: In mice, scientists used adult stem cells to prevent embryonic stem cells used to treat spinal cord injury from forming tumors. From the story:Transplanted embryonic stem cells are recognized as a potential treatment for patients suffering from the effects of spinal cord . . . . Continue Reading »

When science becomes ideology or quasi-religion, it ceases to be science and becomes something else. The brilliant political analyst Michael Barone has weighed in on this concern in a new column (which also deals with gun control, beyond our scope here.) He notes that despite the constant propaganda . . . . Continue Reading »

What Rat learned when he drove through the San Francisco Bay Area. Goat must be from . . . . Continue Reading »

This comes very close to an outright death threat—without quite being one. An animal rights terrorist supporter named Jason Miller has strongly hinted that a UCLA animal researcher could be murdered, and indeed seems to hope that it will happen. From a preface to his piece against animal . . . . Continue Reading »

Science has a good piece in the current issue exposing the hype that has permeated embryonic stem cell research advocacy and its reporting by media. In “A Stem Cell History Lesson,” (no link, here’s the abstract), University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researcher James M. . . . . Continue Reading »

Secondhand Smokette and I caught the Star Trek prequel today, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as a fun adventure, but more precisely, as a loving homage to the original series (which I used to watch in the dorm in college, can you believe it?). What was fun is that the young actors playing Kirk, Spock, . . . . Continue Reading »