Wesley J. Smith

This story is a bit suspect. It claims that three Japanese nationals were declared “brain dead” in Canada and the USA, but later recovered after being transported back to Japan. The term “brain dead” is notoriously misused. For example, one of the patients was breathing on . . . . Continue Reading »

UK scientists are offering unfertile women thousands of pounds off the price of IVF treatments if they agree to “donate” their eggs for use in biomedical research—meaning cloning. The scheme was necessary because the human cloners did not have enough eggs to pursue their cloning . . . . Continue Reading »

Regular readers of Secondhand Smoke will recall the trouble that author Pamela Winnick and her family were having with a few physicians they named collectively “Dr. Death,” who kept trying to pressure them into “pulling the plug” on her father. Here is the latest update from . . . . Continue Reading »

This poll by Gallup is a bit unfair in its wording, but what else is new? Still, I believe it shows what I have been thinking to be true; that the stem cell issue does not cut deeply.6. As you may know, earlier this week, President Bush vetoed a bill that would have expanded federal funding for . . . . Continue Reading »

This is a great column by lawyer Elizabeth R. Schiltz, published in Business Week. The mother of a Down’s child, Schiltz blisters the pressure people like her are put under to abort Down syndrome babies:“I’ve come to realize that many in the scientific and medical community view me . . . . Continue Reading »

I am not a scientist, but I believe I am a good analyzer of information. I keep reading that ESCR is necessary because of the need for stem cells used in medical treatments to be pluripotent, that is, capable of becoming any body tissue. This never made sense to me, since apparently adult stem cells . . . . Continue Reading »

I just don’t understand the emotional stake some people invest in convincing us that humankind is nothing special in the universe. Indeed, some, such as University of Washington psychology professor David P. Barash, are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to knock us off the pedestal of . . . . Continue Reading »

My WEBsite just hosted its 50,000th hit. Most, I believe, are visits to Secondhand Smoke. When I began this blog (HT, Colin), I was skeptical about the genre. But I have learned that blogging is an excellent way to communicate with (a growing) number of people—and to be communicated to by . . . . Continue Reading »

Mike Spence of California’s Republican Party, blisters San Diego area Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray in Flashreport for promising in writing to uphold President Bush’s veto of the stem cell funding bill—when he wanted social conservatives’ votes to get elected to an . . . . Continue Reading »

This important study supports my hypothesis that science is being corrupted by the money imperative, and indeed, is becoming akin to any other special interest feeding at the government trough. Society looks to scientists to provide dispassionate, objective information so that proper public policies . . . . Continue Reading »