Wesley J. Smith

As promised in my earlier post, I decided to weigh in some more on the late Christopher Hitchens’ denying Nietzsche’s maxim about being made stronger by that which does not destroy us. First, I note that Hitchens was the best contemporary practitioner of the extended essay, and reference . . . . Continue Reading »

PETA is an extremely litigious organization that often files lawsuits for the publicity and fund raising opportunities, as in Sea World’s whales are “slaves,” rather than seeking to correct an actually bona fide wrong. There is a name for that: Abuse of process. And it . . . . Continue Reading »

The late Christopher Hitchens wanted to be remembered for the excellence of his intellect. No doubt, those hopes will be met. As probably the best contemporary practitioner of the extended essay, he and the views he so pungently expressed will impact our societal discourse for many years to come. After his terminal diagnosis became public, Hitchens wrote, in a characteristic turn of phrase, that he was “living dyingly.” … Continue Reading »

Good grief, what next?  Researchers claim they have been able to change the dreams of rats.  From the Daily Mail story:Using correlative analysis, they confirmed the  rats were dreaming about the previous day’s exploits in the enclosure but when  researchers played the . . . . Continue Reading »

I have pledged to try to keep readers updated on stories we discuss here: Responding to the Cologne trial judge outlawing circumcision, the German State of Berlin had declared circumcision legal if done by a doctor. From the Times of Israel story:One of Germany’s 16 states has declared . . . . Continue Reading »

I am often asked how so many animal rights activists can also be so pro abortion.  For example, when I debated Gary Francione at Columbia Law School about animal rights, he said he supported abortion throught the ninth month even though he believes rights come from mere sentience. Sentience . . . . Continue Reading »

There is no free will, that’s the implied message here. Liberals and conservatives have supposedly different neurologies according to several studies—some of which we have discussed here.  From the ABC story:The studies looked at things like differences between groups’ . . . . Continue Reading »

Good grief: A sperm bank is bragging that it set the record of having children born with 40 year-old sperm. From the press release, headlined “World Record Shattered:”Late in August, twin girls were born to a couple who used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to achieve pregnancy. On the . . . . Continue Reading »

I just saw a funny Tweet from @jimnorton, in which he “condemns” Mitt Romney’s father for “murdering roses” when he placed one on his wife’s bedstand every night. (Romney scored emotionally in last night’s speech when he recalled that his mother found . . . . Continue Reading »

I am often asked by young people—and come to think of it, not so young people—who want to become writers what they should do to achieve their dream.  I always say, “Write. A writer writes.”Christopher Hitchens was a WRITER!  And he wrote—his upcoming last . . . . Continue Reading »