Wesley J. Smith

David Brooks rarely gets it right, I find.  But he mostly did in his last column about a man named Charles Darwin Snelling. Brooks had earlier extolled Snelling’s essay about how caring for his Alzheimer’s-stricken wife had “humanized” him.  But . . . . Continue Reading »

Oh good grief. First, UK Prime Minister David Cameron decided to launch a “gross emotional prosperity” index to measure his countrymen’s ”happiness.” Then, Peter Singer embraced the idea, writing that international policies should have as their goal the . . . . Continue Reading »

We keep being told that Obamacare will not lead to health care rationing.  But bubbling in the MSM editorial pages and the medical journals, rationing is all the rage.One of the earliest advocates was the bioethics pioneer Daniel Callahan, who has long advocated in books and journal articles . . . . Continue Reading »

Oakland is a terrible wreck of a city. Terrible violence. Gang infestation. Not enough cops. Awful political leadership.  A disgraceful school system in which widespread malfeasance borders on misfeasance in education, often cheating students out of their futures.  I used to live . . . . Continue Reading »

I grow weary of that certain species of political animal who constantly complains that too many people are “anti science,” when in reality, they disagree with the advocate’s policy desires about issues that involve scientific research.  Example in point: . . . . Continue Reading »

The MSM is deeply invested in cutting medical costs by reducing the levels of expensive medical treatments provided to the elderly and very ill unlikely to improve or be cured.  Persuasion is one aspect of this game.  (The other is promoting coercion, as in rationing.) That is why we . . . . Continue Reading »

There is a very sad column in today’s SF Chronicle that details the trials and travails of a terminally ill woman who became homeless because she couldn’t work and was denied SSI benefits. I have no doubt the physician who wrote the piece meant for us to conclude we need to increase . . . . Continue Reading »

“Animal standing,” that is, the drive to allow animals to sue, would be the ultimate weapon allowing animal rights ideologues to destroy animal industries and eventually outlaw all animal domestication. To do that, some believe, at least some animals need to first be declared . . . . Continue Reading »

They keep wanting to force very sick patients off of wanted life-extending treatment.  Known as futile care theory, medical futility, “inappropriate care,” and a few other names, the idea is to withdraw wanted life-sustaining and other potentially efficacious treatments based on the . . . . Continue Reading »

Former Senator Rick Santorum has an interesting piece at Real Clear Religion about the difficulties in being a faithful Catholic in politics.  I don’t know about that. But he makes a statement that, based on history and current events, I think is patently false. From . . . . Continue Reading »