Wesley J. Smith

This is a reality check: Oh, how the animal liberationists must be writhing in anguish and grief about this story from India. It seems a tribe of lowest caste Indians is making a decent living killing rats to protect the crops of local farms:In this impoverished tribal belt in southern Tamil Nadu . . . . Continue Reading »

My pal Bill Hurlbut expounds in this radio interview on the moral responsibilities of scientists, the human future, and other matters of interest to SHSers. For example, he explains why he holds the human embryo as having intrinsic moral worth: A lot of what I was hearing [during deliberations of . . . . Continue Reading »

Professor Robert Edwards, the creator of IVF, was featured recently in a newspaper profile. The results demonstrate—as we have discussed here previously about James Watson—that being a brilliant scientist does not necessarily translate into the ability to engage in sound moral reasoning. . . . . Continue Reading »

A good laugh is always in order. Here’s a Bizarro comic that caused me to . . . . Continue Reading »

I received a solicitation by e-mail because of my “interest” in transhumanism from the “Terasem Movement Foundation” offering a Web site that will—for free:...preserve one’s individual consciousness so that it remains viable for possible uploading with . . . . Continue Reading »

I don’t think it takes a “study” to know this, but apparently happier people are healthier people. From the story: A happy heart just might be a healthier one as well, new research suggests.In a study of nearly 3,000 healthy British adults, lead by Dr.Andrew Steptoe of University . . . . Continue Reading »

This is an interesting turn of events: San Francisco has been abuzz about a new health care plan designed to cover everyone in the city. A court ruling has (for now) prevented City Commissars from taxing businesses to pay for it, and so for now the plan is temporarily scaled back to cover people . . . . Continue Reading »

I just completed The Darkest Evening of the Year by my pal Dean Koontz. It is very good; a thriller in the classic Koontz mold that really gets taut in the last 30 pages.But there is more here than a very good thrill ride—although that would be enough. Dean also mounts some well aimed social . . . . Continue Reading »

To all SHS readers and commenters: We had some technical difficulties here at SHS over the holiday, and I was unable to upload any posts, nor were the comments people made uploaded. The problem seems to be fixed now. Good thing: I was going through withdrawal.I continued to post during that time, . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been noticing a slight trend, or perhaps better stated, the hint of a breeze that could become a slight trend: Animal rights versus environmentalism. Animal rights, very generally stated, fervently promotes the equal moral worth of animals with people based on the capacity to feel pain or . . . . Continue Reading »