Introduction to the Project:(This is a completed live blog. I have decided not to correct most typographical errors or “fix” it. Some was done as late as 3 AM as I finished the book, but I felt the authenticity of the moment generally better than a smoothed out version.)I have defended . . . . Continue Reading »
Ed Stoddard of Reuters’ religion blog Faithworld carries a roundup of the skirmish between Congressman Patrick Kennedy, the son of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, has claimed that Rhode Island Bishop Thomas Tobin . In conclusion, Stoddard asks: This leads to a question about the consistency . . . . Continue Reading »
The Dutch have the most wild and open euthanasia license in the world. And yet, it is never enough. Now, the lawyer responsible for obtaining a Dutch Supreme Court ruling okaying assisted suicide for the mentally ill, wants psychiatrists to have to justify not killing their suicidal patients . . . . Continue Reading »
I interviewed Dutch lawyer Eugene Sutorius in 1996 for my book Forced Exit. I found him gracious, intelligent, and a quick legal mind. I liked him a lot. But he’s Darth Vader.Sutorious is absolutely committed to using the law as dynamite to create the broadest possible . . . . Continue Reading »
It is really quite remarkable how impressively research in to adult stem cells have advanced. Now, animal studies show that they might be used to help prematurely born babies grow lung tissue. From the story in Science Daily:An international team of scientists led by Dr. Thébaud has . . . . Continue Reading »
In his Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce defined a novel as “a short story padded.” This is an all too apt description. The inability to prune a story to its essential story is an unfortunate quality shared by many modern writers and the primary reason that bookshelves are filled with . . . . Continue Reading »
Hopefully I’m not too late to join the Thanksgiving chorus and I can throw in a quick message of gratitude for my local church. About this time last year I was wrestling with some difficult issues relating to problems at my church. I loved the people there and much of what went on there, but . . . . Continue Reading »
The World featured my recent post reacting to medical marijuana being recommended by some doctors as a “treatment” for ADHD in an article focusing on marijuana used medicinally on children. That’s always cool. But I mention it primarily because the article reports that some parents . . . . Continue Reading »
Time to get in trouble:I don’t think it is particularly healthy that medicine’s role in society is increasingly about enabling the well off to make personal lifestyle decisions, particularly when the healing side of the profession is under increasing resource strain. This concern . . . . Continue Reading »
I have long thought that stopping Obamacare would require convincing 35% of the people to oppose. That’s a hard number to hit in our society. An idea or politician has to be really disliked to register that low—unless you have a very high number of people who express no . . . . Continue Reading »