Second Hand Smoke
Second Hand Smoke
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Recent Posts
Biological Colonialism: China Organ Trade Thriving - Secondhand Smoke Nov 21, 2009, 1:15 pm
I never believed the Chinese Government’s assurances that they were going to dismantle the organ trade in their country. And now, it seems that the supposed effort has predictably failed. From the story:
Organ trafficking in China is more active than ever despite efforts to crack down on the trade, with kidneys being openly bought and sold online in a dozen cities across the country. The Chinese Government has tried to limit organ trafficking by launching a national organ donation system
Radical Environmentalism: Now Global Warming Causes Prostitution? - Secondhand Smoke Nov 21, 2009, 11:20 am
The UN global warming bureaucrats in charge of the hysteria section never run out of imaginative horrors being caused–or coming soon–by (now stalled) global warming. In today’s edition, it’s a cause of prostitution! From the story:
The effects of climate change have driven women in communities in coastal areas in poor countries like the Philippines into dangerous work, and sometimes even the flesh trade, a United Nations official said. Suneeta Mukherjee, country repre
*The Human Cost of Pushing the “Burden” Meme - Secondhand Smoke Nov 20, 2009, 3:26 pm
We have become a culture that tells the elderly, people with disabilities, and others who need care and support that they are “burdens.” Indeed, in my recent debate in Edinburgh with Dr. Libby Wilson, my opponent explicitly supported legalizing assisted suicide so that the ill and disabled could give their families the “gift” of not being a burden.
This is why I think that the assisted suicide/euthanasia agenda is a culture-changing issue that will–if it succeeds
*Nixonian Tactics: Stealing Global Warming Proponents’ E-Mails is Without Excuse - Secondhand Smoke Nov 20, 2009, 2:24 pm
Apparently somebody hacked into climate change researchers’ e-mails and published the exchanges. From the story:
Hundreds of private emails and documents allegedly exchanged between some of the world’s leading climate scientists over the past 13 years have been stolen by hackers and leaked online, it emerged today. The computer files were apparently accessed earlier this week from servers at the UK’s University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, a world-renowned ce
*Biological Colonialism: Murdered For Fat - Secondhand Smoke Nov 20, 2009, 1:23 pm
The more we use human body parts in medicine and products, the more stories like this are likely to take place:
Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang that allegedly killed dozens of people and sold their fat to buyers who used it to make cosmetics. Four Peruvians were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, murder and trafficking in human fat. The group stored the fat it collected in used soda and water bottles, which police showed reporters. “We have people detained who
Radical Environmentalism: Global Warming Stalls–Live by the Computer Model, Die by the Computer Model - Secondhand Smoke Nov 20, 2009, 11:07 am
Global warming has apparently stalled, and the usual media suspects are getting restless. First, there was the heresy from the BBC, and now a major German news magazine is showing some sign of coming out the reverie. From the story in Der Spiegel:
Climatologists use their computer models to draw temperature curves that continue well into the future. They predict that the average global temperature will increase by about three degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, u
*Obamacare: Senate Version is Assisted Suicide Friendly! - Secondhand Smoke Nov 19, 2009, 4:03 pm
Major changes in the new Senate Obamacare bill from its House counterpart, in the sections involving assisted suicide. (The bill is actually a gutted and already passed bill from the House–HR 3590–a trick that may be designed to get around the necessity of a conference committee. More on that in the next post.) Recall that the House Bill prevented the promotion of assisted suicide in the end of life counseling. It’s missing altogether from HR 3590. This is the only refe
*Obamacare: Senate Trick to Fast Track Passage - Secondhand Smoke Nov 19, 2009, 4:31 pm
I don’t remember a more vivid case of tricky legislating than the attempt to shove Obamacare down the collective throat. And here’s the latest example. The Senate version of Obamacare is actually an unrelated House Bill that has already passed the Lower Chamber. From the Bill:
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the first-time homebuyers credit in the case of members of the Armed Forces and certain other Federal employees, and for other purposes…AMENDMENT I
Photos of Edinburgh/London - Secondhand Smoke Nov 20, 2009, 12:26 am
Here are a few more of the photos I took during my recent sojourn to the British Isle.
A view from Edinburgh Castle over the city to the extinct volcano just outside of town:
I was taken with the color coordination between the (rare) blue sky of Edinburgh and the gray statue on top of an Edinburgh building:
This shot of a statue in front of the British Library is my favorite of the trip:
I have shot the dome over the inner court of the British Museum before, but this is the the most successfu
*“Pulling the Plug on Conscience” - Secondhand Smoke Nov 19, 2009, 1:30 pm
I have a long piece out in this month’s First Things on the conscience clause issue. I believe that the Culture of Death brooks no dissent and we are witnessing the beginning of requirements for health care professionals to either participate in medical procedures that end human life–or be complicit in them by requiring them to refer–the current abortion law in Victoria, Australia. The piece is too long to present fully here, but here are a few exerpts
First, I set up the p
*Obamacare: Taxing Cosmetic Surgery - Secondhand Smoke Nov 19, 2009, 11:08 am
The Senate version of Obamacare will tax elective cosmetic surgery. From the story:
The bill levies a 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery. The provision raises $5 billion and was needed to make the numbers work, according to a Democratic Senate aide. The Finance Committee considered the tax but dismissed it, in part because it was a public relations battle that senators were not willing to wage.
Actually, if I believed that taxing services and products with low/negative social utility was
*What Kind of Prophet Am I? - Secondhand Smoke Nov 19, 2009, 12:28 am
Each fall the CBC asks me to predict what will happen in the coming year in bioethics/biotechnology. To say the least, I have a mixed record. I was more worried about 2009 than turned out to be warranted by events especially about assisted suicide which moved the ball not at all in the USA. (The UK was a different story altogether.). The stem cell predicting the demise of the Bush ESCR funding policy was a gimme, but Obama stepped over the line of expectation–and destroyed a good and
*Close Call as South Australia Rejects Euthanasia - Secondhand Smoke Nov 18, 2009, 7:58 pm
South Australia has rejected legalizing euthanasia as an MP had a last minute change of heart. From the story:
A bill to legalise voluntary euthanasia in South Australia has been defeated in State Parliament when a supporter had a late change of heart. A conscience vote was poised to finish at 10-all with the president of the Legislative Council, Bob Sneath, to make the casting vote in its favour. But Liberal MP David Ridgway rose just before the vote to withdraw his support and the bill was def
*Why ELF/ALF Are Terrorists - Secondhand Smoke Nov 18, 2009, 1:37 pm
A court decision in a case against the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) describes why its members (and, by extension animal liberation criminals such as, ALF, SHAC, etc.) deserve to be called terrorists. From the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision U.S. v Christianson, starting at page 12 (no link, email me privately if you want PDF):
ELF's members take their activism to unconscionable levels: since ELF's inception in 1987, its members have been responsible for bombings, arson, vandalism, and
*Assisted Suicide Blocked in New Hampshire - Secondhand Smoke Nov 18, 2009, 2:22 pm
The year 2009 amounted to a very good year against assisted suicide in the USA. Despite the Washington initiative and a Montana judge’s activist legalization of assisted suicide, all legislative attempts in several states to legalize assisted suicide were blocked. The latest example is in New Hampshire where a committee recommended strongly against the legalization plan then pending. From the story:
A bill to legalize assisted suicide in New Hampshire lost key backing Tuesday from a
*Cord Blood Stem Cells Treat Cerebral Palsy–And a Potential Problem For Regenerative Medicine Overall - Secondhand Smoke Nov 18, 2009, 10:19 am
Here’s some good news. A child with cerebral palsy has been successfully treated with umbililcal cord blood stem cells. From the story:
The Levines were in luck: Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, a professor of pediatrics and pathology at Duke University, was conducting a study where children with cerebral palsy were injected with their own cord blood cells. On May 28, 2008, at the age of 2, Chloe received a 15-minute re-infusion of her stem cells…Within four days, her parents saw a noticeab
*UK Children Taught Not to Stamp on “Mini Beasts” (Insects) - Secondhand Smoke Nov 17, 2009, 9:18 pm
I was so busy in the UK, I didn’t have the time to point out this story. New curriculum guidelines in the UK are apparently going to teach children that insects–mini beasts–are akin to other animals. From the story:
ong>New curriculum guidance says the well-being of “mini-beasts”, including bees, ants and worms, should be taught in classes as part of primary school’s “animals and us” section of the citizenship curriculum. By the age of
*Reflections on Assisted Suicide in the UK - Secondhand Smoke Nov 16, 2009, 6:25 am
It has been a very interesting experience to debate assisted suicide here in the UK. I had in-depth exchanges with three different advocates, one a Member of the Scottish Parliament, one a bioethicist from, I believe, the University of Glasgow, and Dr. Libby Wilson, the head of an assisted suicide advocacy group here, who was apparently charged with assisting the suicide of someone using the helium method–although she says she merely talked on the phone about it.
The debates here were fa
*Sexism in Baby Death Decision Case–or Cynical Use of Traditionalism? - Secondhand Smoke Nov 9, 2009, 5:39 pm
This is rich: A pediatrician for a hospital wanting to cut off the life support of a baby because he is seriously disabled–although cognitively fine, as discussed here before–says that the hospitals like to follow what mothers want in cases such as this. From the story:
The parents of the chronically disabled one-year-old, who can only be identified as RB, are locked in a court battle over whether he should be allowed to die. Prof Bush, a world-renowned expert in paediatric care, s
*It’s Scary Time For People With Disabilities in the UK - Secondhand Smoke Nov 10, 2009, 6:30 am
I awoke this morning in Edinburgh, jet lagged but looking forward to a productive time of debating and discussing assisted suicide. Stumbling down to breakfast, I was sharply awakened into my usual state of concern for society by a front page headline in the Independent:
Do I love my daughter? With all my heart. Will it be a relief when she dies? Without question: Life and Death Issues with a Disabled Child
The article is written by a woman named Tussie Myerson, the mother of eighteen
*Baby RB Father Surrenders - Secondhand Smoke Nov 10, 2009, 2:22 pm
Big headlines over here in the UK today: The fight to save the life of Baby RB has ended with the father’s acquiescence to removing life support. From the story:
A baby at the centre of a 'right to life†court battle will be allowed to die after his father today withdrew his case. Doctors and the one-year-old child's mother had gone to the High Court for permission to switch off his life support. The father backed down on the seventh day of an emotionally-charged High Court hearing. I
*Obamacare: Nonstory–Bill Does Not Refuse to Pay For Withdrawal of Food and Fluids - Secondhand Smoke Nov 10, 2009, 3:16 pm
A few conservatives are trying to make mistaken hay out of the House bill’s payment of doctors who withhold food and fluids, even though it will not pay to “promote assisted suicide” (the nuances about which I discussed here) in the end of life counseling provision (revised and made better from the original version, as I also discussed here). From the story:
The health-care bill that cleared the House on Saturday says federal funds cannot be used to “promote” ass
A Cold Day in Edinburgh - Secondhand Smoke Nov 10, 2009, 3:51 pm
Secondhand Smokette and I had a fine day walking Edinburgh. It was wet and cold, but the company was warm and the city beautiful. Here are a few photos.
First, the famous castle:
I had to take this shot over a lot of construction that impeded the view. But I think I nailed it.
I was very taken with the old statuettes of monks that are on display in the fine city’s fine art museum.
I love European train stations:
*Assisted Suicide Slippery Slope in UK Even Before Legalization - Secondhand Smoke Nov 11, 2009, 5:11 am
I’ll be off in about two hours to debate assisted suicide at the Scottish Parliament. I am going to alter my usual approach–or better stated, to alter my usual emphasis–to more forcefully reflect the harmful message assisted suicide advocacy sends to potential “consumers” of hastened death.
Rather than being about freedom and assurance, as supporters claim, I believe assisted suicide is ultimately about rejection, exclusion, and abandonment, even if that is not
*Final Reflection on Baby RB Case - Secondhand Smoke Nov 11, 2009, 5:39 am
The UK is the land of good newspapers, and salacious ones, but lets leave that part alone. And each of the majors has a vivid voice: The Telegraph, more conservative; the Guardian, definitely liberal; The Independent, very liberal, while the Times has imploded; whatever it once was, it generally is no longer.
I bring this up because there was a good and thoughtful editorial in the Independent today about the Baby RB case, that has now ended with the father’s surrender to the doctors̵
*Obamacare: Listening to the Scottish View Of American Politics - Secondhand Smoke Nov 12, 2009, 6:58 am
It is interesting how much attention the Obamacare debate is receiving here in Scotland and throughout the UK. The papers are filled with stories and it is all over the television news. In today’s Independent, the big story was the Stupack Amendment and abortion. From”Abortion Hijacks the US Healthcare Debate”:
While the US Supreme Court returned to women the right to seek an abortion in the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling, Congress subsequently instituted a rule barrin
*Suicide Culture: The Netherlands Shows That It’s’ Never Enough - Secondhand Smoke Nov 13, 2009, 12:58 pm
The Netherlands has the world’s most liberal euthanasia law, which is even more radical in practice. Its doctors assist the suicides of the depressed and the grieving, a practice long since approved by the country’s Supreme Court. Some “terminate” patients “without request or consent.” Babies born with serious disabilities are subjected to eugenic infanticide. Doctors whose patients may not qualify for euthanasia refer patients to an on line “au
*Radical Environmentalism: The People Aren’t Swallowing the Hysteria - Secondhand Smoke Nov 14, 2009, 3:12 am
Well, this is good news: There has been no country whose people have been more subjected to the global warming propaganda bombardment than the UK. The meme that humans are killing the planet is everywhere–on the tellie, road signs, at science exhibits, in entertainment programs, the message is unremitting.
But people are looking around and they are noticing that the facts on the ground do not appear to warrant the hysteria. A new Times poll here shows that less than half now believe in
SHS Has Moved - Secondhand Smoke Jun 9, 2009, 3:04 am
Secondhand Smoke was asked by First Things to be part of its family of blogs as the journal moves forward to create a more dynamic and varied web presence. That seemed the right thing to do to me, given that it would expose SHS to readers who might not have otherwise found it, and I could see no reason why it would cost us existing readers. So, we have packed our bags and moved to a new address. Here is the link and this is the address: http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke. Thanks. I
*Cutting Off Healthy Limbs to Treat BIID Coming Closer to Reality - Secondhand Smoke May 22, 2009, 5:53 pm
There is nothing these days that can ever be safely considered to be permanently beyond the pale, unthinkable, flat-out undoable--and that apparently includes cutting off healthy limbs of patients with BIID.When I first heard of body integrity identity disorder--BIID--in which sufferers have a powerful compulsion to become amputees (hence the nickname for the term, "amputee wannabe"), the idea that cutting off healthy limbs would ever be considered a legitimate treatment option seemed ridiculous
*First Washington Legal Assisted Suicide: Compassion and Choices Immediately Issues Press Release - Secondhand Smoke May 22, 2009, 10:01 am
The first Washington State legal assisted suicide has happened. C and C, of course, promptly issued a press release. From the story:The woman, Linda Fleming, 66, of Sequim, Wash., on the Olympic Peninsula, died Thursday evening after taking lethal medication prescribed by a doctor under the law, according to a news release by the group, Compassion and Choices of Washington. The release said the woman received a diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer a month ago, and 'she was told she was activel
*Oklahoma Funds Science and Stem Cell Ethics - Secondhand Smoke May 20, 2009, 5:06 pm
The Oklahoma Legislature having voted unanimously to outlaw all human cloning--still no word on what the governor will do with the bill--state bureaucrats are now putting $5.5 million into adult stem cell research over the next five years. From the story: The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust board voted Monday to contribute $5.5 million to adult stem cell research. The board committed $500,000 for a yearlong planning phase to decide how the money should be distributed, followed by $1 million i
*Politicized "Science" Advocates Want to "Shut Down" Dissenting Voices - Secondhand Smoke May 20, 2009, 5:25 am
This blog does not get into the specifics of global warming, but it does discuss how science is being corrupted by politics--mostly from the left--transforming the method into an ideology sometimes called scientism. Thus, in the stem cell debate, clear biological definitions have been altered, not due to new scientific understandings, but to better present a political point, while ethical objections to certain approaches have been demagogued as "anti science."In the global warming arena, a campa
*Outsourcing of Ethics: Biological Colonialism Approved by FDA - Secondhand Smoke May 20, 2009, 2:51 am
Cynical me believes that if this rule had come down when Bush was president, the media would have been all over it--although I am sure he wouldn't have been aware of it any more than President Obama is. In a move geared to permit exploitation of the world's most destitute people, the FDA has apparently permitted drug companies to conduct research overseas that would be barred from the USA under pertinent ethical guidelines. From the story:[T]rials performed outside the United States will no long
*Assisted Suicide as a "Prophylactic" Against Future Suffering - Secondhand Smoke May 19, 2009, 8:32 am
The media repeatedly pound home the false meme that assisted suicide is only about people diagnosed with a terminal illness. True, some American activists make that argument. But the "terminal illness limitation" is unquestionably the minority view within the movement.Case in point: On April 15, 2008, Ruth von Fuchs, a leader in the Canadian Right to Die Society told Canada AM (CTV) that she supports Betty Coumbias--the Canadian woman who is not sick, but who wants to travel to Switzerland with
*Update: 13-Year Old Isn't Father: 15 year-Old Is - Secondhand Smoke May 18, 2009, 7:13 pm
Alfie Patten, the 13-year-old boy who made a such a big, hand wringing splash in the UK by claiming to have fathered a child with his 15-year-old girlfriend--who was sleeping with a few other boys, as well--turned out not to be the father after all. From the story:DNA tests have revealed that a 13-year-old British boy who claimed to have fathered a child with his 15-year-old girlfriend was not the dad, according to a court judgement made public Monday. Claims that baby-faced schoolboy Alfie Patt
*Transplant Community Should Stop Blaming Others About Public's Doubts About Organ Donation - Secondhand Smoke May 18, 2009, 6:07 am
A poll has come out about the public's attitudes toward organ donation that allegedly shows us as ignorant and unduly distrustful of the system. I think this requires a closer look. From the story "Lingering Myths Discourage Organ Donation":Only 38% of licensed drivers have joined their states' organ donor registries, with many deterred by long-held misconceptions about how the transplant system works, according to poll results released in April. The survey of 5,100 American adults, conducted on
*Obama Calls for "Conscience Clause" Rights While His Administration Destroys Existing Conscience Clause Rights - Secondhand Smoke May 17, 2009, 9:00 am
President Obama spoke at Notre Dame today, an invitation that created divisions within the Catholic Church that are beyond our scope or concern here. But in reading about the president's speech, I was reminded of how adept Obama is in saying one thing while doing just the opposite; such as claiming in his speech to support a conscience clause for health professionals on the issue of abortion (which would also apply to assisted suicide, etc.). From the story:He called for an effort to "honor the
*Gallup Poll: Majority of Americans Now "Pro Life" - Secondhand Smoke May 15, 2009, 3:26 am
A few weeks ago I posted about a surprising Pew Poll that reported a dramatic shift toward the pro life position on abortion in the last year. Now the respected Gallup Poll has reported similar findings and discovered that for the first time, a majority of people identify themselves as "pro life." From the poll:A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults
*Mother "Sacrifices" Herself: Delays Cancer Treatment to Have Her Child - Secondhand Smoke May 13, 2009, 6:41 am
This is a sad but glorious story of selfless maternal/paternal love, but I think that at one time, it would have been the expected course: A doctor recounts the decision of a woman diagnosed with brain cancer to delay surgery in order to bring her baby to birth. From the story:For the neurosurgeon, the verdict was clear: An immediate operation was needed to remove the growing tumor. The invasive and complicated surgery -- under many hours of general anesthesia -- was likely to greatly increase t
*No Girls Allowed! Sweden Okays Gender Eugenic Abortion - Secondhand Smoke May 13, 2009, 3:23 am
Abortion was supposed to liberate women and protect them from unwanted pregnancies. But with prenatal testing and all, it is increasingly being used as a eugenic search and destroy tool to identify unwanted types of children so they can be eliminated prior to birth. In other words, eugenic abortion mixed with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis in IVF--and I believe, eventually infanticide--is transforming procreation from being about having children to about having only the kind of children we w
*Hyenas are People Too - Secondhand Smoke May 12, 2009, 11:48 am
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 because University of Wisconsin professor (of course) Deborah Blum in the New Scientist uses the vehical of a book review to push the notion that animals are moral people too. From the review:Wild Justice m
*Human Skin "Art" to Hang Someday in Australian National Gallery? - Secondhand Smoke May 11, 2009, 6:05 pm
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 Sydney, Australia. The 65-year-old has pledged to donate his skin to the National Gallery in Canberra after his death..."People can be squeamish about it. Portraits painted on human skin hang in gallerie
*Adult Stem Cells Used to Prevent Tumors in ESCR - Secondhand Smoke May 11, 2009, 9:42 am
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 injury (SCI). However, in studies using embryonic stem cells transplanted into SCI laboratory animals, a serious drawback has been the development of tumors following transplantation.Publishing in th
*Michael Barone on how Global Warming is Becoming Religion - Secondhand Smoke May 11, 2009, 3:56 am
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 of the last few years, fewer people today believe in man-made global warming then just last year. And he ponders the whole thing. From his column (with gun references deleted):For liberal elites, bel
*Another (Barely) Veiled Threat of Murder by a Notable Animal Rights Radical - Secondhand Smoke May 10, 2009, 4:34 am
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 research in Thomas Paine's Corner:I'm dedicating this piece to the courageous animal defenders and rescuers comprising the ALF, the Justice Department, the Animal Liberation Brigade, and the other militant dire
*Even the Scientists Now Criticize the ESCR Hype - Secondhand Smoke May 9, 2009, 6:02 am
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. Wilson warns against unrealistic boosting of ESCR, as was done previously with gene therapy. His column starts with a recent quote from President Obama:"At this moment, the full promise of stem cell research remains unkn
*"Artificial Life" is Not "Real Life?" - Secondhand Smoke May 7, 2009, 7:35 am
The lexicon we use in discussing bioethical issues is important. And look how this newspaper does it in a poll to measure attitudes about refusing unwanted treatment. From the story:PATIENTS' lives are being artificially "extended beyond what they actually want for themselves", Health Minister John Hill says. He is urging families to have a "serious debate" about the services terminally ill people want and need in the "last days of their lives".Mr Hill told The Advertiser keeping people alive wi
*Animal to Human Xenotransplantation Takes a Big Leap Forward - Secondhand Smoke May 4, 2009, 1:30 pm
Scientists in Japan have used animal research to explore a potential way around the organ shortage by growing transplantable organs in sheep made from stem cells. In this case, it is monkey organs, but within a decade, it could be human organs. From the story:Huddled at the back of her shed, bleating under a magnificent winter coat and tearing cheerfully at a bale of hay, she is possibly the answer to Japan's chronic national shortage of organ donors: a sheep with a revolutionary secret. Guided
*Culture of Death Watch: The Media Are Becoming Increasingly Pro Suicide - Secondhand Smoke May 2, 2009, 10:56 am
Pay close attention to how the story I am about to discuss from the Philadelphia Inquirer was written to give a favorable impression of a suicide.It is about a woman named Rona Zelniker, who killed herself because of a disabling disease. Note that the word "suicide" is never used except in a brief reference to the Oregon law. There is no doubt that was deliberate: The (assisted) suicide movement has convinced many in the media not to use that term except in cases of transitory distress or teenag
*Coup de Culture Alert: Wanting to be "Extraordinary" Without Working for It - Secondhand Smoke May 2, 2009, 5:14 am
From time to time I have pointed out the sad yearning so many seem to feel that their lives would not seem so lacking if only they could somehow be extraordinary--without having to actually work to achieve anything special. This desire is often the basis of movies and television shows (wonderfully explored in the provocative television program The 4400, which I reviewed here). It is the reason for the popularity for on line computer games like Second Life, and is the core dogma of religious tran
*Pushing Doctors into a "Dual Mandate" and the "Attack on Doctors' Hippocratic Oath" - Secondhand Smoke May 1, 2009, 5:23 am
Physicians are being pushed steadily into an untenable position. On one hand, they are professionally obligated to render optimal care to each patient based on individual need. On the other hand, they are increasingly being looked to by bureaucrats and bioethicists as serving another role--for society--as the rationing arms of cost control.The effect of this would require doctors to give optimal care to some patients but not others, probably based on mandatory invidiously discriminatory categori
*Now It is the Eight Reasons to Unilaterally Withhold Care - Secondhand Smoke Apr 29, 2009, 8:22 am
Yesterday, I wrote about futilitarian law professor and blogger Thaddeus Pope's "Seven Reasons That Might Justify Unilateral Refusal" of Medical Treatment, with my brief responses to each of the seven. Pope has apparently thought about it some more, and revised the post to now list the "eight" reasons. Accordingly, I respond here to the revised version.In the original, Pope claimed that futile care impositions would protect patient autonomy--never mind that the point of futile care is to overrid
*Countering "The Seven Reasons that Might Justify Unilateral Refusal " of Medical Treatment (Futile Care Theory) - Secondhand Smoke Apr 28, 2009, 3:44 pm
Law professor Thaddeus Pope runs the Medical Futility Blog, the best such site dedicated to medical futility of which I am aware. He swings from the futilitarian side of the plate, but is always fair and even handed.Today he has posted "Seven Reasons For Supporting the Unilateral Refusal" of life sustaining treatment, or as I would call it, the "Seven Reasons to Justify Imposition of Futile Care Terminations." I republish that post here in full with my brief comments. From Pope's blog:It might b
*NBC/MSNBC News: Despicable Character Assassins - Secondhand Smoke Apr 27, 2009, 12:37 pm
NBC News and MSNBC have devolved from journalists into despicable character assassins. Readers of SHS and others will recall the fraudulent story pushed by the Left Web site the Daily Kos. Someone doctored a photo of the Palin family taken in 2006, and claimed it was from early 2008. Because Bristol Palin, the Palins' oldest daughter, had a small tummy, the Kos claimed she was pregnant at the time and hence, the real mother of Trig Palin.This despicable lie was actually chased by MSM journalists
*Deep Ecologists Might Get Their Human Depopulation: Possible Swine Flu Pandemic - Secondhand Smoke Apr 25, 2009, 10:14 am
The Deep Ecology Movement wants to reduce the human population to 500 million. The genocidal implications of this idea are obvious--although DEs usually say they would like to see it done via voluntary birth control (fat chance), or perhaps a pandemic will do the trick. This is not only a rejection of human exceptionalism, but it is to embrace explicit anti-humanism.Enter a possible swine flu pandemic. From the story:A new swine flu strain that has killed as many as 68 people and sickened more t
*Derek Humphry Has Another Teenage Suicide to Put as a Notch on His Book Final Exit - Secondhand Smoke Apr 25, 2009, 7:32 am
This has happened before and it will happen again. A teenager has apparently committed suicide using the death information contained in Derek Humphry's book Final ExitWho is Derek Humphry? He founded the Hemlock Society--now Compassion and Choices--with his second wife Ann Wickett, after becoming famous for a book he wrote about assisting the suicide of his first wife, called Jean's Way. Humphry abandoned Wickett when she was diagnosed with breast cancer (as did the rest of the "right to die" co
*Power Grab: Shoving Health Care "Reform" Down Our Throats Without Democratic Debate - Secondhand Smoke Apr 24, 2009, 11:36 am
President Obama and the Democrats in Congress intend to completely change the health care system of the United States without permitting any meaningful democratic debate. Rather than hold extensive hearings, allow a full airing of one of the most extensive and expensive changes in law in recent times, and risk having to compromise or lose, our overlords have decided they are going to shove what they want down our throats via a budget reconciliation bill. From the story: Principals in the talks a
*Lead Into Gold: "Protein Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells" Made Without Genetic Material - Secondhand Smoke Apr 23, 2009, 12:24 pm
This is potentially huge: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, which permit tailor made, patient specific pluripotent stem cell lines to be created ethically without the use of embryos, can now be made without using genetic material. From the story, "Purely Protein Pluripotency," in The Scientist (no link):Researchers have attained the holy grail of cellular reprogramming: inducing pluripotency without using any DNA-based materials. Using only a cocktail of purified proteins and a chemical additive,
*The Immoral Research That Would be Required to Make "Reproductive Cloning" Safe - Secondhand Smoke Apr 23, 2009, 4:23 am
In my last SHS post, I deconstructed the "ethical" objections of "the scientists" to reproductive cloning as really being about safety, not the inherent wrongness of human cloning itself. (Reproductive cloning is actually a misnomer. The act of cloning is somatic cell nuclear transfer, which asexually creates an embryo. So what we are really talking about is the use to which the human life created through cloning would be put). Animal cloning leads to many miscarriages and birth defects, and thu
Final Exit Network is a Death Cult - Secondhand Smoke Apr 22, 2009, 1:31 pm
CBS has a story from the Final Exit Network training manual and it validates my every suspicion that the group is a death cult. From the story: The training manual provides a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at how the network operated. It was written for what the network called "first responders," or the first to speak to those seeking help committing suicide."You, as the first responder, are a special person," the manual says. "You all were attracted to this program because of a compassionate
*WJS: Skunk at the Earth Day Party - Secondhand Smoke Apr 22, 2009, 4:02 am
As usual, I find myself the skunk at the party. As the world celebrates Earth Day, that term has become a bit ominous. Environmentalism is devolving into an increasingly anti-human movement that could end up costing the human race dearly. I have a piece on the matter in today's NRO called "Homo Sapiens, Get Lost." Here are a few excerpts: Over the last few hundred years in the West, the moral foundations of society were profoundly pro-human. Judeo-Christian moral philosophy and secular humanism
*Media Fall for "Cloning" Hype--Again! - Secondhand Smoke Apr 21, 2009, 1:36 pm
How many times are the media going to act as Charlie Brown to would-be cloners' Lucy Van Pelt promising to hold the football? First it was the Raelians making utter and complete fools out of media all over the world by claiming that the first cloned baby named "Eve" had been born. When no proof was forthcoming, the media concluded it was a hoax and Rael and Brigitte Boisselier laughed their heads off at the free publicity they garnered for their little science cult.From time to time two IVF doct
*A Human Embryo is to the Baby He or She Becomes, What a Caterpillar is to the Butterfly It Becomes - Secondhand Smoke Apr 20, 2009, 10:19 am
It is an intentional tactic on the part of some who push for the instrumental use of nascent human life to make the sophistical argument that human embryos are not really organisms until they implant in a uterus. Ironically, these advocates make this bogus claim in the name of boosting science. But this is anti-science because it is utterly inaccurate from a biological perspective. But the point is to tie opponents down with endless and circular debates about what constitutes a living human orga
*Nature Decries Attempts to Redefine "Embryo" - Secondhand Smoke Apr 20, 2009, 6:37 am
Considering the discussions we have had here as to what constitutes a human embryo, I thought it worth revisiting an old Nature editorial that decries the sophistic attempt within bioethics and the life sciences to pretend that an embryo before implantation in a uterus isn't really an embryo. Nature supports ESCR, but its editorial notes that the redefinition of the term "embryo" is being pursued for political purpose rather than scientific accuracy. From the editorial, "Playing the Name Game,"
*Look Before We Leap: If We Are Not Careful, We Could All End Up WIth Rationed Health Care - Secondhand Smoke Apr 20, 2009, 5:05 am
The Oregon Department of Health is reporting that the recession will push more Oregonians than ever onto the Oregon Health Department's system of rationed care. From the press release: The forecast laid out in stark detail how economic factors affect the work we do. Our analysts calculated that the global recession will continue to drive even more Oregonians to seek state benefits in the coming years...The number of Oregonians eligible for health care through the Oregon Health Plan is expected t
*Is the Governor of Virginia "Anti Science?" - Secondhand Smoke Apr 19, 2009, 8:00 am
This escaped my notice until it was brought to my attention by a regular SHS reader. Last month, Tim Kaine the Governor of Virginia, signed into law a bill that prohibits the state from funding embryonic stem cell research. From the story: Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has signed a bill into law banning the use of some state funds for embryonic stem cell research. The move puts the DNC chairman at odds with President Obama, who signed an executive or
*British Scientists Tout Future Cure for Blindness with ESCs: What Would You Do If It Really Works? - Secondhand Smoke Apr 18, 2009, 11:51 am
The headline of this story from the Times of London--"Blind to be Cure with Stem Cells"--is really putting the cart before the horse--it hasn't even been tried yet, after all. But such hype is par for the course. From the story:British scientists have developed the world's first stem cell therapy to cure the most common cause of blindness. Surgeons predict it will become a routine, one-hour procedure that will be generally available in six or seven years' time.The treatment involves replacing a
Good Grief! Rush Limbaugh Boosts the Humane Society of the United States - Secondhand Smoke Apr 15, 2009, 7:24 am
asking its true animal rights ideological agenda. Now, it has scored a real coup: Rush Limbaugh has tooted his considerable horn in praise of HSUS.Rush is right that dog fighting is wrong and shelter dogs need to be adopted. But HSUS runs no shelters. It pushes the animal rights agenda by bringing lawsuits against animal industries and seeks to bring an end to activities such as hunting, meat, and research via the death of a thousand cuts.Limbaugh makes a point of stating that "on this issue"
*Stanley Fish Ain't for Conscience Clauses for Medical Professionals - Secondhand Smoke Apr 13, 2009, 6:08 pm
As I often say, the culture of death brooks no dissent. Now, none other than the celebrated academic Stanley Fish--perhaps best known for promoting post modernism (although he says he is an anti foundationalist, and who cares anyway)--claims that doctors and nurses who don't wish to take human life should just get over it. From his NYT (of course) blog:What's the big deal [if doctors refuse to perform some procedures], for after all, "If a procedure is legal, a patient will still have the abilit
*And Yet Another Assisted Suicide Story Without Presenting One Opposing View - Secondhand Smoke Apr 13, 2009, 3:53 am
This is standard operating procedure in the MSM these days, but it is always worth pointing out: The media are so wildly biased on some issues, they report about them as if there were only one side to the debate. Assisted suicide is fast becoming one of those monochrome issues from which opposing views are airbrushed out of the big picture as surely as Trotsky was erased from old photos of the Bolshevik Revolution by Stalin.In Washington, where many doctors and hospitals are refusing to cooperat
*The Great Stem Cell Debate: Lines That Divide Released by the Center for Bioethics and Culture - Secondhand Smoke Apr 12, 2009, 12:18 pm
The CBC has produced and now released The Great Stem Cell Debate: Lines That Divide, a documentary that will soon be aired on television and perhaps in theaters. Jennifer Lahl, the CBC's head, has worked her finger to the bones getting this film done and distributed. (Yes, I am in it.) I have seen a rough cut. It is informative, engaging, and provocative.Anyway, more about when the film can be seen when I have more information. But hit this link for a preview (for Facebook members only). And thi
*Why the Courts Have Become a Leading Edge in the Coup de Culture - Secondhand Smoke Apr 12, 2009, 3:27 am
This interview by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is frightening in its candor about how she apparently perceives her job as one of establishing "right" policy--which, in her case are of the Left Intellectual Elite--as opposed to interpreting and applying law as it was created by the political branches of government, that is to say, by the people. In an interview with the New York Times, she explains why she believes the rulings of foreign judges should be considered in interpreting US constitutiona
*Obama Hypocrisy on Global Warming: Do as I Say, Not as I Do - Secondhand Smoke Apr 11, 2009, 4:22 am
Our latest episode of hypocrisy by those who are the most high strung over the predicted collapse of civilization due to "climate change," (i.e., Al Gore taking limos and private jets), is our intrepid President Obama. He who is so concerned about carbon footprints and promoting "slow food" (locally produced) actually had a chef fly about 850 miles round trip just to make pizza. From the story: Barack Obama liked a restaurant's pizzas so much he has flown the chef 850 miles round trip to make so
*The No Longer Shocking Assisted Suicide Scene from Soylent Green - Secondhand Smoke Apr 10, 2009, 3:14 pm
assisted suicide scene when Soylent Green first came out-in the early 1970s--and believe me, I was not alone. As the audience left the theater, we assured ourselves, "It can't happen here." How wrong we were. No one dreamed that less than 40 years later assisted suicide clinics exactly tike the one depicted in the movie--absent the beautiful videos--would legally operate in Switzerland, and would service hundreds of people from around the world. Had you told us that a ghoul named Jack Kevorkian
*Is Child Organ Potential Donor Not Really Dying? Not Dead Yet Raises Important Questions - Secondhand Smoke Apr 9, 2009, 3:38 am
I recently reported on the case of a baby in Canada, described in the media as dying, whose parents wanted her to be an organ donor. The non heart beating donor protocol was attempted, but the baby didn't die, and so she was taken off the donor pool as is proper ethics in organ transplant medicine. The parents are upset by this and want their baby's organs to go to a particular child in the hospital. The post was about how this isn't right and that the entire system of organ transplant medicine
*Competing Medical Futility Bills Introduced in Texas--One to Stop It, One to Defend it - Secondhand Smoke Apr 8, 2009, 5:13 am
The current Texas Futile Care law is a disgrace, permitting star chamber ethics committees to force patients off of wanted life sustaining treatment, with family given a mere 10 days to find another hospital. This often proves impossible because these are expensive patients for which to care.The last effort to revoke the law, which appeared to have a good chance of passage, was surprisingly blocked when the Catholic bishops of Texas supported a competing bill. (Some Catholic hospitals promote Fu
*Dr. Oz Tells Michael J. Fox He is Wrong About Embronic Stem Cells - Secondhand Smoke Apr 7, 2009, 5:58 pm
I hate it when celebrity disease victims are used for political purposes--as was the case, I fear, with Big Biotech and Parkinson's patient Michael J. Fox, who has spent years telling the country falsely that the Bush ESCR funding policy was keeping people like him from being cured, because that is what he was being told. On Oprah the other day, Fox tried to say that again--but was set straight--gently, as was proper, by a Columbia Medical School professor and (I guess) Oprah regular guest named
*My Two Cents Worth: I urge HHS to Revise, but not Revoke the Bush "Conscience Clause" Regulation - Secondhand Smoke Apr 6, 2009, 1:46 pm
In my role as a Senior Fellow in Human Rights and Bioethics at the Discovery Institute, I sent a formal comment to the Department of Health and Human Services opposing its intent to revoke the Bush Conscience clause. Instead of revoking it, I urge that it be revised to prevent it from being relied on by physicians to impose futile care theory or other form of discriminatory refusal of care against the elderly, people with disabilities and the dying. I then suggested principles to follow to const
*"Calling Dr. Death! Calling Dr. Death:" Advertising for Kevorkians in Montana - Secondhand Smoke Apr 6, 2009, 5:28 am
Compassion and Choices (formerly Hemlock Society) has been mighty peeved lately that so many ethical doctors are refusing to supply assisted suicide prescriptions to their patients. As I noted yesterday, Montana's doctors are apparently refusing to cooperate with the suicide agenda, and so C and C has issued a pitch for willing death doctors to jump to the fore in Montana with their prescription pads in hand.It's ethical. Really! And polls show that many doctors support "aid in dying," don't you
*Terry Pratchett Writes About the Marginalization of People with Alzheimer's - Secondhand Smoke Apr 6, 2009, 4:54 am
The prolific British author Terry Pratchett has a moving and frank article about what it is like to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's. There is much to digest, including how the medical system in the UK seems inadequate to address serious conditions such as this requiring specialized care. But I think this is the heart of the piece. From Pratchett's column:It occurred to me that at one point it was like I had two diseases--one was Alzheimer's and the other was knowing I had Alzheimer's. There were t
*Non Cooperation in Assisted Suicide Spreads to Montana - Secondhand Smoke Apr 5, 2009, 9:28 am
When I have time, I intend to list the hospitals and institutions that have said no to assisted suicide in Washington. Now, apparently the same spirit of non cooperation with being complicit in assisted suicide that sprang to life in that state in the wake of the passage of I-1000 has spread to Montana, where a judge imposed assisted suicide as a constitutional right. From the story:Four months after a District Court judge ruled that physician-assisted suicide is a right protected under the stat
*PETA Admits It Kills Adoptable Cats and Dogs - Secondhand Smoke Apr 5, 2009, 12:54 am
The more I observe PETA, the more bizarre it seems to me. It claims to love animals, and yet it euthanizes more than 90% of the animals it takes in. Why does PETA have to do this? Animal shelters are able to euthanize animals too sick, injured, or aggressive to be found good homes. Moreover, it does not have a formal adoption program, it has admitted to the Telegraph, and it kills adoptable animals. From the story:Peta insists that homes could not be found for the dogs and cats, usually becaus
*Shades of Sarah Palin: Earliest Humans Cared for Special Needs Children--Scientists Surprised - Secondhand Smoke Apr 1, 2009, 7:08 am
Fossil evidence has been found that the earliest humans cared for--rather than abandoned or killed--their disabled young. From the story:The discovery of the oldest known infant born with a skull deformity hints that, contrary to popular belief, early humans might not have immediately abandoned or killed their abnormal offspring, a new study says. Many mammals are known to reject newborns with severe deformities. Scientists had therefore assumed that ancient humans behaved likewise...But this ch
*"The Last Great Act of Living," or How My Dad Taught Me How to Live by Showing Me How to Die - Secondhand Smoke Mar 31, 2009, 5:14 am
The always wonderful Canadian bioethicist Margarette Somerville has a terrific and thoughtful article about dying, disability, and the great meaning that can be found in these times of difficulty. It's a long piece and I can't do justice to it--for that you will have to read it for yourselves. But we can present the gist as an appetizer.She first identifies one of the driving forces behind the euthanasia movement. From her column:Euthanasia allows people to feel that although they can't avoid de
*Forced Speech: Pushing Against Conscientious Objection by Medical Practioners to Abortion in California - Secondhand Smoke Mar 29, 2009, 12:39 pm
The following post will be about abortion and conscientious objection thereto by medical professionals. But it could just as easily be about assisted suicide, or using embryonic stem cell therapies, or pulling feeding tubes, because the principles are the same--as are the reasons for the attempted coercion of medical professionals to cooperate with life terminating medical procedures.I have been reporting that doctors and other medical professionals who wish to hold to an orthodox Hippocratic vi
*And Now for the Important Stem Cell Work: Increasing Bra Cup Size - Secondhand Smoke Mar 28, 2009, 2:00 pm
Well, it was bound to happen. Adult fat stem cells are going to be used to increase breast size. From the story:A stem cell therapy offering "natural" breast enlargement is to be made available to British women for the first time.The treatment could boost cup size while reducing stomach fat. It involves extracting stem cells from spare fat on the stomach or thighs and growing them in a woman's breasts. An increase of one cup size is likely, with the potential for larger gains as the technique im
*Fetal Farming is Not a Pipedream: History of Living Fetal Experiments - Secondhand Smoke Mar 28, 2009, 6:04 am
I have written here often that the embryonic stem cell debate is merely the opening stanza of a much broader agenda that would instrumentalize unborn human beings for use in experiments, treatments, and for body parts. Alas, using fetuses in such a crassly utilitarian way has already been done. Back in the late 1960s, there were a series of experiments on living fetuses--to the general applause of the scientific community.I learned of this horror from a wonderful book by Pamela Winnick called A
*Medical Elite at War With Hippocratic Oath - Secondhand Smoke Mar 26, 2009, 6:16 pm
Yes, yes, I know: Very few doctors don't take the Hippocratic Oath anymore--which I have repeatedly written about here at SHS and elsewhere--because it interferes with modern cultural norms (and that includes the Hippocratic proscription against having sex with patients). But surely, physicians who still adhere to orthodox Hippocratic values should be able to practice medicine in the specialty of their choosing under what was until not very long ago, the expected approach for all doctors.Apparen
*Lead Into Gold: No Thanks to Obama, Another IPSC Breakthrough - Secondhand Smoke Mar 26, 2009, 9:01 am
Meanwhile back on the ranch, scientists continue to progress with the development of induced pluripotent stem cells, an ethical "alternative" to ESCR--because no human life is destroyed in the derivation of the cells. Now, using human tissues, IPSCs were created without potentially dangerous viruses and genes by none other than James Thomson, the first scientist to derive human embryonic stem cells. From the story:By reprogramming skin cells to an embryonic state using a plasmid rather than a vi
*Poverty is the Answer: Radical Environmentalism Leading Us to a New Form of Human Sacrifice - Secondhand Smoke Mar 26, 2009, 5:45 am
I have written how radical environmentalism is becoming distinctly anti-human. With the fervent ideology of Deep Ecology, it is explicitly stated. But some of what we are witnessing among the neo Greens is a drive to sacrifice human flourishing and prosperity--without the explicitly stated misanthropic dogmas.This willingness to sacrifice human welfare is reaching a fever pitch among those who believe that global warming is a crisis of unimagined proportions--a belief that can border on quasi-re
*Unlimited Appetite: More Pressure from "The Scientists" for Feds to Fund Embryo Creation and Destruction for Use in Research - Secondhand Smoke Mar 25, 2009, 8:21 am
The appetite from some sectors of the biotechnology community for funding and ethical license, is never satiated. Only days after President Obama euthanized President Bush's ESCR policy--and in the wake of the New York Times calling for revocation of the Dickey Amendment that prohibits the Feds from paying for the creation and destruction of embryos in research--the prestigious science journal Nature has added to the political pressure. From its editorial:When US President Barack Obama lifted th
*PETA Kills More Animals Than Ever - Secondhand Smoke Mar 25, 2009, 7:16 am
As we have discussed here at SHS, PETA has killed tens of thousands of dogs and cats at its Norfolk, VA headquarters in the last ten years--apparently including adoptable animals. But based on public records studied by the non profit, food industry-financed Center for Consumer Freedom, the animal rights organization has increasingly resorted to killing and decreasingly to adoption, as the years have gone by.the CCF is PETA's worst nightmare. Its workers are as edgy and creative as are PETA's act
*"Single Embryo" IVF May Work Better - Secondhand Smoke Mar 25, 2009, 6:46 am
Among the downsides of IVF has been the overproduction of embryos, that were then put into the deep freeze. Because most of these nascent humans will never be gestated to birth, they are now looked upon as mere things to be used in research.The reason we have about 400,000 embryos in cold storage is that docturs used to believe that creating many and implanting multiple embryos were necessary to maximize the potential of a successful birth. Moreover, creating many embryos could make it less li
*Obama Press Conference: Once Again the President is Disengenuous on Embryonic Stem Cell Research Policy - Secondhand Smoke Mar 24, 2009, 1:52 pm
I was just watching President Obama's press conference and noticed that he once again dissembled on his answer regarding embryonic stem cell research. From the transcript:QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. In your remarks on stem-cell research earlier this month, you talked about a majority consensus in determining whether or not this is the right thing to do, to federally fund embryonic stem-cell research. I'm just wondering, though, how much you personally wrestled with the morality or ethics
*Ignorant Independent Science Reporter Accuses Others of Ignorance - Secondhand Smoke Mar 24, 2009, 7:00 am
A science reporter named Steve Connor in the UK, has written a diatribe against opponents of ESCR in the Independent. Part of his critique is an unoriginal cheap shot at the Catholic Church and the issue of ensoulment--which is way beyond our jurisdiction here, and moreover, as far as I know, has not been a major part of the debate anywhere. But then Connor goes on to defend the so-called "14-day rule," which permits embryos to be maintained for 14 days for purposes of experiments. From his colu
*Biological Colonialism Alert: Cash for Organs Plan in Singapore - Secondhand Smoke Mar 24, 2009, 3:32 am
If organs can be purchased, it seems obvious to me that the rich will buy and the poor will sell. Singapore's plan to open the door to this form of biological colonialism has raised this very concern. From the story:Plans by Singapore to allow payments to living organ donors have run into opposition from some lawmakers who fear they may draw indebted foreign workers, according to press reports Tuesday. One deputy, Halimah Yacob, said the large pool of unskilled foreign workers affected by the
*Leon Kass Awarded National Endowment for Humanites Most Prestigious Honor - Secondhand Smoke Mar 23, 2009, 1:04 pm
Good for Leon Kass and well deserved! The country's most eloquent and articulate defender of intrinsic human dignity will be giving the NEH Jefferson Lecture, the Endowment's most prestigious honor. From the press release: Dr. Leon R. Kass, a widely published author, award-winning humanities teacher, and one of America's leading moral philosophers and experts on medical ethics, will deliver the 2009 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced to
*It's About the $: Libertarians Discover Futile Care Theory - Secondhand Smoke Mar 23, 2009, 9:40 am
I have crossed pens occasionally with Reason writer Ronald Baily and debated him (and others) at CUNY about transhumanism and other brave new world agendas. Well, Baily just learned about a Texas futile care case that, he writes, led to scorched earth commentary from the Left. (As regular readers of SHS know, it is legal in the Lone Star State to impose futile care upon unwilling patients.) From his column:I somehow missed the culture war moment last month when it was reported that Baylor Region
*Biologically, A New Human Life Begins When Fertilization is Complete - Secondhand Smoke Mar 20, 2009, 12:41 pm
This argument wouldn't have to be made, but for science becoming post modern in some circles so that narrative counts more than facts. This has certainly been true with regard to biotechnology because some want to use human embryos instrumentally. But rather than just admit that and justify it ethically, definitions were changed, for example, claiming that an embryo only comes into being upon implantation, rather than at its beginning at the completion of fertilization. In that way--presto-chang
Popular Posts
*Bias Alert! Missouri Media in the Cloning Tank Again (170 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Aug 22, 2007, 4:47 am
Once again, a Missouri newspaper simply refuses to accurately report a story about human cloning research in MO. A group called Cures Without Cloning is attempting to bring an initiative to ban human somatic cell nuclear transfer in Missouri. From its press release, how the proposed initiative would define human cloning:Section 38(e) 1. It shall be unlawful toclone or attempt to clone a human being.Researchers may conduct stem cell research to discover cures for disease [my emphasis]anddevelop
*Schiavo Still Divides Nation (163 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Apr 1, 2006, 12:08 pm
Both the Schindlers--what a wonderful family--and Michael Schiavo have books out about the death of Terri. If book sales are any indication, the nation remains divided by the case. I have been tracking the Amazon book rankings of both books and they have remained within one hundred of each other for the last week. As I write this, the Schindler's book, A Life That Matters, is ranked 280. Schiavo's book is ranked 215. Yesterday, both were ranked in the low to mid five hundreds. I know which one
*Schiavo: Hope versus Despair (155 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Mar 31, 2006, 12:18 pm
I am not writing much about the Terri Schiavo case any more. Partly, this is because most people's views about her death are now set in ten feet of concrete, and nothing I say or write will change it. And partly it is because there is so much about which to be concerned, that there just isn't the time.
But that isn't to say that the one year anniversary of her death by dehydration should be ignored. Today's NRO has an interesting analysis by Father Robert J. Johansen that is worth reading. F
*Brief Reflection on Mexico (152 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Mar 26, 2006, 10:10 pm
I just returned from a very rewarding and interesting, if short, trip to Mexico (Mexicali). I spoke to an overflow crowd at a medical school, and was gratified by the response and the clear idealism of the soon-to-be doctors. I appeared on Mexican television where the interviewer asked better questions than usually is the case on American media. I did a newspaper interview to a reporter very interested in the hospice concept. And, I gave two speeches to a very receptive crowd who attended a s
*Belgium Falling Faster than the Netherlands (151 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Apr 5, 2006, 10:46 pm
Belgium only legalized euthanasia a few years ago and it is already catching up with the Netherlands' fall off the vertical moral cliff. One of the ruling parties is calling for permitting euthanasia to minors under 18 and for parents to permit the mercy killing of their children. It took the Dutch some 20 years to get where the Belgiums have in just 2 or 3. Doctors in Flemish areas have also caught up with the Dutch in the rate of infanticide, according to a recent study in the Lancet, about
*Netherlands Euthanasia Statistics: Not Even Telling Half the Story (144 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Apr 29, 2008, 11:53 am
The latest Dutch euthanasia statistics are in, and the number of cases reported have gone up. From the story: The number of cases of euthanasia reported by doctors last year rose to 2,120 from 1,923 in 2006, according to official figures published this week, reports ANP news service. In three cases the regional committees responsible for ensuring the criteria for euthanasia are adhered to, ruled that doctors had not acted in accordance with regulations. The three dossiers have been sent to the
*A Good Juxtaposition of Columns (143 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Mar 29, 2006, 10:19 am
I have a column in today's Seattle Times against assisted suicide that urges readers to consider the context in which assisted suicide would be carried out. (It is a rewritten version of a piece that first appeared a few months ago in the Orange County Register.)
I bring this up because the Times, perhaps inadvertently, juxtaposed my piece with another column about the collapse of primary care in medicine. The author, a medical professor, worries that "our health care system is unraveling,"
*"Choice" as a One Way Street (140 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Apr 11, 2006, 1:11 pm
This column goes where the entire "Futile Care Theory" (aka medical futility) movement wants to take us. If you don't want to receive life-sustaining treatment, you should have the absolute right to refuse. If you do want it, you may or may not get your way depending on whether the powers that be determine that, 1: your life is worth living, and 2: it is worth spending money on.
Columnist Froma Harrop says that people like Terri Schiavo should not be kept alive, even if that is what is wan
*"Mass Euthanasia" Wasn't (138 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Mar 27, 2006, 12:56 pm
This story about a Japanese surgeon who is accused of "mass euthanasia" is misleading. The doctor is accused of removing respirators from dying patients with family consent. That is not euthanasia, at least as we use that term in the West, which refers to killing by some artificial means, e.g., overdose of drugs, bullet to the head, etc.The law in Japan regarding the removal of life support is different than here. But this does not appear to be a case of mercy killing as occurs routinely in t
*Promoting Infanticide in the HASTINGS CENTER REPORT (131 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Feb 15, 2008, 4:25 am
The Hastings Center Report is the world's most prestigious bioethics journal. Articles published in its pages are generally in the mainstream thinking of bioethics discourse and at the heart of the process of debate within bioethics that often leads to changes in public policy--such as the discussions in the 1980s about dehydrating the cognitively impaired led to routine withholding of sustenance today.In the last several years, Report articles have promoted a "duty to die" and a right to assist
*Reproductive Cloning to be an Elite Heroin Addiction (105 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Nov 5, 2007, 4:01 am
Wild futuristic transhumanist ideology is on parade in this Metro interview (the free paper read by Londoners on the subways) with Michio Kako, a string theory proponent. Kako demonstrates a near-religious devotion to technology and clearly supports the "anything goes" mentality that impedes society erecting any reasonable ethical parameters around the immense power of biotechnology and other areas of scientific innovation. This does not bode well for the future. Human hubris can bring disas
*Will Saletan Hits a Home Run (98 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Jul 14, 2007, 5:34 pm
I am a big fan of Slate's Will Saletan. He is a wonderful writer, he has a way of looking evenly at all sides of biotech issues, and even if I don't always (usually) agree with him, he is always well worth reading and pondering. Saletan scores in his newest column, about attending a "Progressive" bioethics conference. Please read the whole thing, but here are few choice tidbits:Lately, "progressives" have taken to issuing talking points. Every time a peer-reviewed science journal reports some
*Lead Into God; MORE Progress on IPSCs (92 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Feb 16, 2008, 2:29 am
Good news on a Saturday morning: A new paper is out touting more advances in understanding the mechanisms of IPSCs. It is written in pure scienceze and is way over my head. But a scientist friend of mine translated it and it appears that the paper's authors have discovered that two potential obstacles to the full use of these new cells--the use of viruses to introduce the genes that reprogram the skin or other cells into stem cells and concerns about the genes themselves--may not be serious prob
*More Lies from Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures (78 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Dec 19, 2007, 4:01 am
The human cloners over at Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures are sure a disingenuous lot, for example, claiming in Amendment 2 to have outlawed human cloning when the measure actually legalized it.Now, a representative has a letter in the St. Louis Post Dispatch claiming falsely that cloning opponents would have prevented the great iPSC breakthrough. From the letter:If anti-embryonic stem cell research groups had their way, this outstanding science would not have been possible. They would
*Much Happening While I Am Gone (77 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Sep 14, 2007, 12:36 am
Buena serra from bella Tuscana. I have noticed that much has been happening with the issues we cover. In Brave New Britain, the "we never say no" regulators have approved human-animal cloned chimera embryos and are offering women half off of IVF to "donate" their eggs for use in cloning research. An assisted suicide initiative is brewing in Washington State.Adult stem cell research is continuing to progress and another ESCR company has called it quits.But I am living la dolce vita and these a
*Hwang's Story Changes--Again (75 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Dec 16, 2005, 6:52 pm
Now Hwang says the research actually happened, but the paper demonstrating his work is being retracted anyway because of errors in photography. But we were earlier told that the journal Science made the errors with the photographs. And he says the samples that could be used to provide independent verification were contaminated, but now claims he has some on ice that he will thaw to prove he wasn't lying. Total confusion reigns but the cloning agenda continues its melt down.
*SHOCK (Not): Assisted Suicide for a Depressed Woman (74 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Feb 3, 2008, 8:27 am
The media in Australia and New Zealand are shocked that Philip Nitschke--the Down Under Jack Kevorkian--would help a woman commit suicide who wasn't terminally ill. What amazes me is that they are seemingly surprised. He's done it before in the Nancy Crick case, in which he admitted both that he and Crick knew she wasn't terminally ill when he counseled her to commit suicide and that he and she had lied to the media before the event claiming she was dying in order to gain sympathetic coverage. F
*The Euthanasia Crowd Keeps Playing With Words (73 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Jun 20, 2007, 6:10 am
Euthanasia activists are obsessed with lexicon. They believe that if only they can find the right words to use in identifying mercy killing and assisted suicide, people will see the wisdom of their proposal and embrace medicalized homicide.This obsession with words and terms has marked the euthanasia movement from the very beginning. Indeed, euthanasia, the current word for mercy killing, once meant a pain free natural death, experienced in a state of grace, and ideally, surrounded by family--
*A Call For Scientific Authoritarianism (66 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Feb 7, 2008, 1:58 pm
I have warned repeatedly that we suffer from "expertitis," my term for the tendency to hand the most important policy decisions over to "experts." Now, a well known environmental author named David Shearman has written an hysterical piece urging that we toss aside democracy and adopt world authoritarianism to impliment the "scientific consensus" on global warming and other so-called world emergencies. And he holds tyrannical China (forced abortions, infanticide, killing prisoners for organs, rep
*Adult Stem Cells May Prevent Need for Liver Transplants (65 hits)- Secondhand Smoke Sep 25, 2007, 5:12 pm
Here we go again: Adult stem cells moving forward faster than we could have hoped only a few years ago. This time it is liver disease: Rats were injected with their own bone marrow stem cells helping to repair their damaged livers. From the story in the Telegraph:The liver is known to be one of the few major organs able to regenerate itself when parts have been removed.The scientists found that they could encourage this natural tendency by inserting stem cells into the damaged livers of rats.
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