Wesley J. Smith

What a tremendous thing: Doctors have replaced a cancer patient’s diseased trachea with one made in part using his own adult stem cells.  From the Wall Street Journal story:Doctors have replaced the cancer-stricken windpipe of a patient with an organ made in a lab, a landmark achievement . . . . Continue Reading »

During the debate over passage of Obamacare, I was appalled at the mendacity and willingness of some supporters to say anything to get the big mess through. In fact, in my 40+ years of paying close attention to politics, I don’t think I have ever seen a more dishonest sales job for major . . . . Continue Reading »

Frankly, I don’t understand why this was ever an issue.  President Obama has changed policies and will now send condolence letters to families of military service members who commit suicide while in a war zone.  From the NYT story: As the number of military suicides has surged since . . . . Continue Reading »

Awful. I have advocated—to some criticism—that the organ transplant community should make it very clear that organs that become available due to suicide will not be procured.  See my reasoning here.Now, in India, a 12-year-old girl killed herself for that very purpose. From the . . . . Continue Reading »

I don’t know of any organization that has done more to focus on the problems associated with reproductive technologies than the The Center for Bioethics and Culture (for which I am a paid consultant). The CBC is now following up the successes of its two previous documentaries (most recently, . . . . Continue Reading »

In case it isn’t clear: I support wholeheartedly the right of people to refuse life-sustaining treatment for themselves or for their dying children.  (Food and fluids present a different issue and I don’t want to go there in this post.)  My opposition to what I call Futile Care . . . . Continue Reading »

Let’s take a moment away from our usual fare to honor my friend and mentor, Ralph Nader, for the incredible improvements made in auto safety since he jump started the campaign to save lives with his seminal book,  Unsafe at Any Speed.  Ralph isn’t solely responsible for these . . . . Continue Reading »

Whilst in France, I posted about a devastating take down of GWH chief propagandist Al Gore by the noted political scientist Walter Russell Mead. He has now added two more parts to his critique. From “The Failure of Al Gore, Part Deux:”Gore’s failures are not just about . . . . Continue Reading »

Scientific American (of all places) has an article boosting human exceptionalism on the cognitive front.  Rather than our smarts being merely the same as that of animals, only more, our intelligence is of a different kind.  From “The Mind,” by Mark Hauser:But if our shared . . . . Continue Reading »

When I think about the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, what words come to mind?  Well, there’s “arrogance.”  “Hubris” also works.  “Mismanagement” is on all fours, as we say in the law.  “Spendthrift.” . . . . Continue Reading »