Wesley J. Smith

Perhaps it is wrong for me to comment about a movie I have no intention of seeing: But if this review of the new semi-documentary Zoo is accurate, it apparently has a sympathetic take on “the last taboo,” meaning bestiality. (“Zoos” in this context don’t refer to animal . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been traveling and neglecting my duties at Secondhand Smoke. Whilst gone, readers alerted me to the pathetic excuse given by the New York Times for not reporting the amniotic fluid stem cell breakthrough. Its reporter, Nicolas Wade, claimed he didn’t report it because the study was . . . . Continue Reading »

PETA, two of whose employees are now on trial for felony cruelty to animals, may be trying to divert attention from its own animal killing through the medium of a pretty woman stripping to reveal full frontal nudity. Kind of gives a whole new meaning to “in your face.” The song . . . . Continue Reading »

“Can anything good come out of the United Nations,” I ask in the lede of my piece in the current Weekly Standard discussing that new UN treaty, which if followed—always a big if in these kind of things—would substantially protect the rights of people with disabilities. The . . . . Continue Reading »

My friend Yuval Levin has a piece today in, of all places, the New York Times about President Bush’s ESC funding policy and its moral import. Here are a few key quotes:“At its heart, then, when the biology and politics have been stipulated away, the stem cell debate is not about when . . . . Continue Reading »

This story demonstrates the dangers that are out there in stem cell land for the unwary. A Las Vegas doctor has been treating people with serious illnesses, such as MS, with stem cells from placenta and other non embrynic sources. These have great potential for future therapies. But, such treatments . . . . Continue Reading »

ACT, which claimed falsely to have created ES cell lines without actually destroying embryos, has gotten itself in the news again: This time to tout receipt of a $204,000 NIH grant to conduct embryonic stem cell research. As usual, the company’s spin machine is whirling like a centrifuge. . . . . Continue Reading »

Legislation has been introduced in Nebraska to outlaw all human cloning. And guess what? Unlike the deceptive Amendment 2, the legislation defines human cloning in a scientifically accurate manner. Maybe the reporters and editorialists of the Kansas City Star will read the legislation and learn that . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been warning that animal liberationist fanatics would kill somebody someday. It almost happened, in England. Two letter bombs sent to science firms. One injury. Animal protesters linked. If every animal rights leader and grass roots activist doesn’t publicly protest this escalation in . . . . Continue Reading »

The mainstream bioethicists are mightily ticked because National Review’s Ramesh Ponurru (and others) resist their perceived wisdom on ESCR funding and ethics. But in attacking Ponurru, they bit off more than they can chew. In his usual methodical manner, the NR writer demonstrates that he . . . . Continue Reading »