MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'coup'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:56:39 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975791&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fceo-compensation-nothing-to-see-here.html An article in the Washington Post showed how uncomfortable executives of big corporations, including health corporations, are about making their outsize compensation transparent.  Here’s one financial figure some big U.S. companies would rather keep secret: how much more their chief executive makes than the typical worker.Now a group backed by 81 major companies — including McDonald’s, Lowe’s, General Dynamics, American Airlines, IBM and General Mills — is lobbying against new rules that would force disclosure of that comparison.The lobbying effort began more than a year ago. It involved some of the biggest names in corporate America and meetings with members of both parties on the House Financial Services Committee and Senate banking committee.The companies and their R... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975791 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:11:00 +0100 4975791 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975835&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fix6HLAliazk%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoRumors abounded this weekend about Hugo Chávez’s apparent critical health condition. The Nuevo Herald reported that the Venezuelan president could be suffering from prostate cancer. On June 9, while visiting Cuba, Chávez fell ill and was treated for a “pelvic abscess.” Since then, the loquacious caudillo, who for over a decade has flooded Venezuelan airwaves with endless TV addresses, has been conspicuously out of sight. All we have is a picture released to the media showing a frail Hugo Chávez holding onto Fidel Castro (aged 84) and his brother Raúl (aged 80). Speculation increased on Saturday after Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s Foreign Relations Minister, said that Chávez was waging a “great battle for his health” while admitting that he wasn’t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975835 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:39:49 +0100 4975835 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952748&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fmanagers-coup-how-hired-hands-got.html We have frequently discussed the perverse incentives provided to the leaders of health care organizations.  They almost never pay a penalty for presiding over organizational actions that are unethical, harmful to patients, or even criminal (e.g., see posts here and here for some very recent examples.)  However, they often collect outrageously huge compensation disproportionate to any reasonable measure of their organizations' performance.  (e.g., see posts here and here for relevant recent examples.)Now two news articles, based in turn on research studies, further illuminate how hired managers and executives have become so wealthy and unaccountable.The first news article was in the New York Times, and was in turn based on an accounting study.  In summary, a recent,... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952748 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:47:00 +0100 4952748 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893393&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOZ9e91N17Gw%2F By Neal McCluskeyToday the Washington Post has a big story on efforts by the coal industry to get public schools to teach positive things about — you guessed it — coal. The impetus for the article is no doubt a recent kerfuffle over education mega-publisher Scholastic sending schools free copies of the industry-funded lesson plan “The United States of Energy.” Many parents and environmentalists were upset over businesses putting stealthy moves on kids, and Scholastic eventually promised to cease publication of the plan. Loaded curricula designed to coerce specific sympathies from children, however, hardly come just from industry, as the Post story notes. Indeed, as I write in the new Cato book Climate Coup: Global Warming’s Invasion of Our Government and Our Live... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893393 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:21:54 +0100 4893393 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3283492&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F02%2Funiversity-of-california-ceo-you-can.html The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported how students at the University of California have been providing a satirical approach to the problems of the university's leadership:It's been a seriously dramatic year at the University of California, where hundreds of students seized buildings, demonstrated and shut down regents meetings last fall to protest rising tuition and the perceived privatization of the public school.It's also been a satirically dramatic year, thanks to the UC Movement for Efficient Privatization, a fledgling group of mostly grad students in business attire that uses humor tinged with sarcasm to lampoon UC officials.Their own name is an example. Many UC students believe leaps in tuition and reduced state funding are turning the public university into a private institu... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3283492 Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:22:00 +0100 3283492 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3220490&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fmore-california-medical-centers-plagued.html Earlier this week, we noted that while executives at one University of California medical center were getting large bonuses supposedly for "improved patient health," the hospital was being cited for serious health care quality deficiencies.  Now, more stories have appeared that raise questions about the rationale for the generous bonuses handed out to multiple top hospital executives at University of California hospitals.  University of California - San DiegoFirst, in alphabetical order by city, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on penalties for poor quality care announced by the California Department of Public Health: UCSD Medical Center in San Diego was fined $50,000.... The state said the hospital staff failed to follow its surgical policies and procedures, which resulted i... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3220490 Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:16:00 +0100 3220490 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2886414&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcdBBtLAF0Ng%2F Senator Jim DeMint from South Carolina recently traveled to Honduras and found—no surprise—a peaceful country and broad support for the ouster of President Zelaya among members of civil society, the supreme court, political parties and others. In an op-ed in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, DeMint describes his trip in light of Washington’s continuing support of Zelaya and its condemnation of what it calls a “coup.” U.S. policy is mystifying since the ousted president’s removal from office was a rare example in Latin America of an institutional defense of democracy as envisioned by the constitution and interpreted by the Supreme Court that ruled that the president be removed. (For independent opinions on the case, see here and here.) However, the Senator reports a legal an... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2886414 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:42:50 +0100 2886414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2598197&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtIOAGuvoii8%2F Obama Considering Another Round of Stimulus With unemployment continuing to climb and the economy struggling along, some lawmakers and pundits are raising the possibility of a second stimulus package at some point in the future. The Cato Institute was strongly opposed to the $787 billion package passed earlier this year, and would oppose additional stimulus packages on the same grounds. “Once government expands beyond the level of providing core public goods such as the rule of law, there tends to be an inverse relationship between the size of government and economic growth,” argues Cato scholar Daniel J. Mitchell. “Doing more of a bad thing is not a recipe for growth.” Mitchell narrated a video in January that punctures the myth that bigger government “stimulate... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2598197 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:37:11 +0100 2598197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2576542&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FX_hFORlAwJY%2F Here’s a roundup of bloggers who are writing about Cato research, commentary and analysis. If you’re blogging about Cato, let us know. Blogger Melissa Clouthier helps spread the word about Cato’s analysis of Obama’s health plan by posting a video of Cato experts dissecting the ABC special last week. David Kirkpatrick examines Obama’s record on civil liberties by quoting Cato scholar Doug Bandow. Education blogger Brandon Dutcher links to Neal McCluskey’s analysis of American public schools. At the Real Clear World Compass blog, Kevin Sullivan quotes Juan Carlos Hidalgo on the political crisis in Honduras. Blogging for Townhall.com, Kevin Glass quotes Michael F. Cannon on Wal-Mart’s  support of an employer mandate to provide health care. ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2576542 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:49:55 +0100 2576542 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570388&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiHTeD6j99fg%2F Facing mounting international pressure to reinstall a would-be despot, the provisional government of Honduras is taking a very wrong turn by asking the National Assembly to temporarily extend curfew powers and limit basic individual liberties. The government claims that the measures, which will be in place for 72 hours, are justified to prevent any civil unrest given the imminent return of former president Manuel Zelaya to the country.  However, the provisional authorities are actually undermining the rule of law and constitutional liberties that they claimed to be protecting when removing Zelaya from power last Sunday. The individual rights and liberties that would be affected: the inviolability of homes, the right to protest peacefully, the guarantee against being held for more than 24 ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570388 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:50:54 +0100 2570388 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2556085&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMARPqI4vJGc%2F Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is just the latest democratically elected Latin American leader to violate his country’s constitution in order to achieve his political goals. Both he and the practice of democracy in Honduras are now paying the price. The removal from office of Zelaya on Sunday by the armed forces is the result of his continuous attempts to promote a referendum that would allow for his reelection, a move that had been declared illegal by the Supreme Court and the Electoral Tribunal and condemned by the Honduran Congress and the attorney general. Unfortunately, the Honduran constitution does not provide an effective civilian mechanism for removing a president from office after repeated violations of the law, such as impeachment in the U.S. Constitution. Nonetheless, the a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2556085 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:58:30 +0100 2556085 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2556086&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMUrE_w1KEfc%2F The media discussion of events in Honduras is remarkably confused. Here’s CNN: The president of the U.N. General Assembly scheduled a noon session Monday to discuss the situation in Honduras, following a military-led coup that ousted the sitting president. and Micheletti, the head of Congress, became president after lawmakers voted by a show of hands to strip Zelaya of his powers, with a resolution stating that Zelaya “provoked confrontations and divisions” within the country. …. The coup came on the same day that he had vowed to follow through with a nonbinding referendum that the Honduran Supreme Court had ruled illegal. Imagine that George Bush, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan or some other American president had decided to overturn the Constitution so that he could st... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2556086 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:41:49 +0100 2556086 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2416835&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fupdate-13-year-old-isnt-father-15-year.html 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 Patten made Chantelle Steadman pregnant when he was aged just 12 triggered national soul-searching about Britain's high level of teenage pregnancies.But the story, reported in February just days after the birth, sparked claims from other boys who lived nearby that they could also be the father and socia... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2416835 Tue, 19 May 2009 06:13:00 +0100 2416835 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405114&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fmichael-barone-on-how-global-warming-is.html 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, belief in... global warming has taken on the character of religious faith. We have sinned (by...driving SUVs); we must atone (by...recycling); we must repent (by supporting...cap and trade schemes). You may notice that the "we" in question is usually the great mass of ordinary American citizens.The lib... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405114 Mon, 11 May 2009 14:56:00 +0100 2405114 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2398638&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fone-consequence-of-coup-de-culture-is.html Hedonism--the scratching of every itch, indulgence of very impulse, breaking of nearly every norm--is very much central to our ongoing coup de culture. Hedonism has consequences, one of which is decadence, which is defined as:A process, condition, or period of deterioration or decline, as in morals or art; decay.Decadence is all around us, of course, indeed so ubiquitous and varied that I usually leave these stories alone. But this one, I think, hits squarely on the concept of human dignity and its ongoing subversion. An "artist" in Germany has created a display of cadavers "copulating." From the story:A new exhibition featuring preserved dead bodies having sex opened in Berlin on Thursday with critics saying a maverick German anatomist dubbed "Doctor Death" has gone too far this time.No h... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2398638 Thu, 07 May 2009 14:15:00 +0100 2398638 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2382298&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fcoup-de-culture-alert-wanting-to-be.html 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 transhumanism, where a gene modification here, or a cyber implant there, will make one immortal, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, you get the drift.Even as millions of children still die in destitution from diseases like malaria and measles, malnutrition, dirty water, etc., we in the decad... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2382298 Sat, 02 May 2009 16:14:00 +0100 2382298 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2263896&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F03%2Fcoup-de-culture-alert-bioethicist.html Apparently every aberrant behavior is to be normalized, including sex with animals: First it was Peter Singer claiming that bestiality was just two animals rubbing body parts. Then a movie was released sympathetic to the cause. Now, bioethicist Jacob M. Appel, who has called for allowing assisted suicide for the mentally ill and mandatory eugenic genetic screening, also defends bestiality--or perhaps better stated, opposes its legal prohibition--claiming that it might not be abuse, and indeed, "may well be neutral or even pleasurable for the animals."I have publicly opposed bestiality as a matter of defending human exceptionalism, an issue to which Appel takes specific exception without mentioning me by name. From his column:Opponents of bestiality often describe themselves as advocates of... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2263896 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:54:00 +0100 2263896 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2256065&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F03%2Foprah-culture-strikes-again.html Oprah Culture, named after the hyper successful daytime television powerhouse Oprah Winfrey, is soap opera in real life--which in the cause of destroying moralism so that nobody feels badly over their various dyfunctions--extols people pushing the envelope of cultural values, those involved in the most egregious personal irresponsibility, even criminality.Oprah Culture permeates the entire media. For example, the media helped hide Kevorkian's macabre goals by focusing obsessively on "suffering" during his nearly decade-long assisted suicide rampage, culminating with Time inviting him to its big 75th anniversary gala a decade ago where Tom Cruise--himself an A-List member of OC--ran up to shake his hand.Oprah has been guilty repeatedly of pushing Oprah Culture, for example cooing over the "... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2256065 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:28:00 +0100 2256065 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2206693&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F02%2Fwhats-it-all-about-alfie-coup-de.html It has been a very dispiriting experience to see how things are in the UK. The country's leadership seems lost in a fog of relativism and intent to destroy many of the cultural attributes of society that made the country great.There is the Brave New Britain, oft written of here, of course. But the subject of this post, I think, is a very good example of how the "hedonism" aspect of the coup de culture causes terrible problems--and the leadership that should be striving to reverse things instead keep pushing the very devolution of standards that led to the moaned about problem in the first place.The country is all atwitter because a 13-year-old boy named Alfie Patten (pictured left) became a father. The lad and his 15-year-old girl friend have had their pictures all over the place with thei... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2206693 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:02:00 +0100 2206693 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2200382&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F02%2Fanother-ivf-tragedy-illustrates-how.html In Japan, a woman underwent IVF and was implanted, seemingly a happy pregnancy. Then, things proved to be terribly wrong. From the story:A Japanese woman was likely impregnated with the fertilized egg of another woman by accident during an in vitro procedure last year, hospital officials said Thursday. The woman, who is in her 20s, aborted the pregnancy when she was told of the potential mix-up at the government-run hospital in Kagawa prefecture, about 330 miles (530 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo. She is now suing the local government for 20 million yen ($222,000), according to news reports.Hospital officials apologized for the mistake at a news conference Thursday. "She was very happy after undergoing such a difficult procedure and becoming pregnant, but unfortunately a mistake had been ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2200382 Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:28:00 +0100 2200382 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2169765&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F02%2Ftransformation-of-medicine-into-tool-of.html I have posted on the Nadya Suleman matter and her having eight children via IVF. I have also done several radio interviews and have made the following points. First, this is an unregulated field and doctors can basically do just about whatever they like legally. Second, why should we be surprised? We have created a culture steeped in terminal nonjudgmentalism where moral judgements about the "choices" of others are deemed out of bounds and literally hateful. This is leading us toward an anything goes culture. Third, to accommodate the fulfilling of all desires and urges--the "hedonism" aspect of the coup de culture I have been warning about--we are literally transforming medicine beyond its roles of healing and palliating, into an industry of "liberation "to fulfill on-demand lifestyle cho... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2169765 Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:59:00 +0100 2169765 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2131266&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fextended-q-and-with-yours-truly-on.html I was pleased to have been interviewed by Daniel Herbster for AdvanceUSA about my views on bioethics and human exceptionalism. I thought I would post a few exerpts here, along with the link, for anyone interested in reading the whole thing. First, I was asked why bioethical issues are so important. From the interview: Bioethics is a contraction for "biomedical ethics." It is a field that has profound influence over core areas of human endeavor that help establish and define the morality of society, and indeed, the meaning of human life itself. Should elderly people have their health care rationed? Is assisted suicide a proper medical service? Is it right to create cloned human embryos for use in research or to bring to birth? Is it wrong to abort fetuses because they test positive for Down... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2131266 Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:03:00 +0100 2131266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2113355&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fcoup-de-culture-media-one-sided-panic.html The coup de culture, as I have defined it, is the process by which the reigning cultural value system of human exceptionalism--which is itself founded in the moral philosophy of Judeo-Christianity/humanism-- is being subverted and replaced by a new paradigm steeped in utilitarianism/hedonism/radical environmentalism. The consequence has been an all out attack on the unique importance of human life, pounded constantly into the consciousness of the general population by outlets of popular culture and a biased media.The coup relies on hyper alarmist rhetoric so that its value presumptions and assertions won't be challenged. Here's a case in point on the radical environmental front. The global warming ideologue James Hansen is once again warning that we are all doomed if we don't immediately d... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2113355 Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:10:00 +0100 2113355 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2094713&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fstop-google-searches-to-save-planet.html The coup de culture is driving some of us out of our minds. This post has to do with the radical environmentalism/earth religion part of the triad of the New Western Order that includes as its other manifestation, utilitarianism and hedonism. A physicist has warned that we are destroying the planet by engaging in Google Web searches. From the story: Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. "Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power," said Alex Wissner-Gross, a ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2094713 Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:27:00 +0100 2094713 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2086813&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fcoup-de-culture-alert-media-mislead.html Once again the media are caught with their, if you will excuse the pun, pants down. A study was released a week or so ago that claimed there is no difference in the initial onset of sex between teenagers who took abstinence pledges and other teenagers. Sounds bad for promoting sexual restraint, doesn't it? Not so fast. It turns out that the study actually compared religious conservative teens who took the pledge and religious conservative teens who didn't, where there is indeed little difference. But between teenagers who took the pledge and the average teen--which is sure what I thought the story was about--there is a big difference. From the expose` in the Wall Street Journal, byline William McGurn:The chain reaction was something out of central casting. A medical journal starts it off b... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2086813 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:29:00 +0100 2086813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2073788&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fmore-thoughts-on-conscience-clauses-as.html I have written before--and no doubt will again--that the death culture brooks no dissent. I haven't gotten my mind totally around why this is yet, but I have developed some theories. I think issues such as assisted suicide are part of a (partially unconscious) but clearly unfolding coup de culture. Part of it too, perhaps, is that culture of death adherents are hypersensitive to the charge of supporting moral wrongdoing, and hence want all of us to be complicit in the system--a big reason in my view why the science community had a conniption over the Bush embryonic stem cell policy. Add in that many believe individuals will not be truly free to control their own lives unless virtually all impediments to abortion--and perhaps one day, assisted suicide, and other policies--are removed, and w... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2073788 Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:16:00 +0100 2073788 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2073796&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fcoup-de-culture-promoting-incest.html I have opined that there are three cultural paradigms that threaten to supplant traditional Judeo-Christian/humanistic values as the foundational value system of society; utilitarianism (which we have addressed often here at SHS), hedonism (which we have rarely addressed here), and radical environmentalism (which we are beginning to get into more often). Put this story in the hedonism file. Scientists are saying that the legal prohibition against marriage between first cousins should be lifted. From the story: Babies born as a result of marriage between first cousins have the same risk of having genetic defects as babies born from women over 40 years old.Two scientists, who call for the lifting of the taboo on first-cousin families, say that cousins who want to get married should not feel ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2073796 Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:39:00 +0100 2073796 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2065192&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fopposing-conscience-rights-driving.html The voices that yell loudest about "choice" tend to be the very ones that most enthusiastically seek to stifle it when they involve decisions about hot button moral issues with which they disagree. The St. Louis Post Dispatch is one such voice. Its editorial page weighed in today against the new federal rule protecting health care workers against discrimination for refusing to perform medical procedures they deem immoral, such as abortion or assisted suicide, a matter we have already discussed here at SHS.I have opined that the a primary goal of opposing conscience rights is to drive people of certain moral persuasions completely out of health care. And indeed, the Post Dispatch proves my point. From the editorial:Michael O. Leavitt, the Bush administration secretary for Health and Human S... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2065192 Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:21:00 +0100 2065192 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2055762&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fblog-post.html I have an extended piece in the Weekly Standard on the Montana judge declaring it a "fundamental right" do "die with dignity"--e.g. to poison oneself with prescribed drugs--which as I noted in an earlier SHS posting about this, may be the only time that an advocacy propaganda phrase was elevated in a court ruling to the status of a constitutional right.In the piece I point out that much of the decision is, essentially about metaphysical opinions and concepts. From the piece:A premise of McCarter's ruling is that people have the right to decide for themselves what constitutes "dignity" according to their personal beliefs. After quoting the authorities she relied on--which would be too long to reproduce here--I state:In essence, Judge McCarter ruled that the individual's right to act upon su... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2055762 Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:59:00 +0100 2055762 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2039813&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fwe-live-in-strange-times-trying-to.html I have never fully gotten my mind around all of the issues involving reproduction. Women have a near absolute right to abortion--absolute in some places--while at the same time, to ensure that people who want babies can have them, we almost literally move mountains. For example: Using IVF, surrogate mothers, purchasing of embryos from poor countries (the latter two being resources exploited by the rich in biological colonialism), paying eugenically correct young women thousands of dollars to endanger their health as egg "donors," manipulated embryo creation to produce children with three biological parents, and in the future, some want reproductive cloning to allow lesbian couples to have children without using any male contributions.This is all in furtherance of the ongoing coup d' cultur... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2039813 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:03:00 +0100 2039813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2035518&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fnow-its-real-nature-rights-finally.html The Gray Lady has now officially noticed in print the radical attacks on human exceptionalism represented by Ecuador's granting rights to nature and Spain on the verge of passing the Great Ape Project. No, of course it doesn't frame it that way! Indeed, the story is rather matter-of-fact: The precise scope of nature's rights is unclear. Referring to Pachamama, an indigenous deity whose name roughly translates as "Mother Universe," the text puts less emphasis on defending specific species than on the rights of ecosystems writ large. And it is uncertain how, exactly, a country as poor as Ecuador can protect those rights--though observers expect to see a raft of new lawsuits against oil and gas companies.Even so, it is a milestone for environmental organizations that seek to rewrite our treat... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2035518 Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:16:00 +0100 2035518 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2032988&cid=t_252164_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fanti-humanism-comes-to-movies.html Human exceptionalism is under attack from every corner, and I think it is driving us crazy. Popular culture is part of the problem. Apparently, the new movie The Day the Earth Stood Still has aliens destroying the human race in order to save the planet. In the coming attractions, we see cities like Rome being evaporated, so it isn't good for us, but wouldn't such mass destruction cause a global winter? Oh well, at least the supposedly threatened polar bears would be saved from global warming.I haven't seen the movie yet, so I may be all wet, but this movie review in the San Francisco Chronicle let's the plot out of the bag. From the review: The best visual effects sequence, involving the destruction of Giants Stadium in New York, is already in the trailer for the movie. And while there are... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2032988 Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:42:00 +0100 2032988