29Feb 2020 by Post

Judge Wishes She Could Rule Elephant a “Person”

Alison Y. Tuitt, animal personhood, animal rights, animal welfare, beach sand, Bronx Zoo, chimpanzee, Court of Appeals, Culture & Ethics, elephant, elephant sanctuary, Eugene M. Fahey, financial penalties, habeas corpus, Happy, human exceptionalism, judge, New York Supreme Court, Nonhuman Rights Project, sentience, trial court
Having failed to have a court declare chimpanzees to be persons entitled to habeas corpus protection, the Nonhuman Rights Project next tried the same thing with an elephant named Happy, that — not who — is held in her own pen at the Bronx Zoo due to behavioral conflicts with other elephants. This case also just failed. But before we applaud and say, “Well, of course,” it is clear that New York Supreme Court (the name of the trial court in that state) Justice Alison Y. Tuitt only dismissed the case because she felt bound by precedent. Happy to Meet You Justice Tuitt clearly wanted to declare Happy a “person.” Indeed, she took the time to quote from a non-binding statement in the above-referenced chimpanzee case by Court of Appeals…
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16Feb 2020 by Post

Michael Aeschliman in National Review — Berlinski Detonates “Fatuous, Flattering” Optimism

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Ben Shapiro, biology, climate change, coronavirus, Culture & Ethics, ethics, First World War, future, Herbert Butterfield, Homo Deus, Human Nature (book), Incarnation, intellectuals, Ivy League, Jonathan Swift, Law of the Jungle, linguistics, Malcolm Muggeridge, Martin Luther King, mathematics, Michael Aeschliman, Middle East, National Review, philosophy, Reinhold Niebuhr, Steven Pinker, Sunday Special, T.S. Eliot, The Better Angels of Our Nature
From climate change to the coronavirus, one tendency among writers and commentators is to an urgent, insatiable, almost sexual desire to cast unwarranted terror over other people. This tendency is matched by an equal appetite, among a large part of the public, for being terrified. The market is well matched with its suppliers. But this dynamic is mirrored by its opposite: a wish, proceeding from different personal imperatives but no less urgent, to assure us that the future looks better and better, all progress with little pain. There’s a market for this, too, and the relationship with the suppliers is just as tight. It’s to this second pairing that David Berlinski turns his attention in his recent essay collection, Human Nature. Two Celebrity Intellectuals Dr. Berlinski gets a fabulous review…
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10Feb 2020 by Post

Fewer “Deaths of Despair” Increases U.S. Life Expectancy

addiction, addictive substances, assisted suicide, cancer, Culture & Ethics, deaths of despair, despair, fentanyl, New York Times, opioid painkillers, prosperity, suicide
Good news: U.S. life expectancy has increased. From the New York Times story: Life expectancy increased for the first time in four years in 2018, the federal government said Thursday, raising hopes that a benchmark of the nation’s health may finally be stabilizing after a rare and troubling decline that was driven by a surge in drug overdoses. Part of the reason for the improvement was a decrease in what are known as “deaths of despair”: Deaths from overdoses dropped by 4.1 percent in 2018, to 67,367 from 70,237 in 2017. The decrease was largely driven by a dip in deaths from prescription opioid painkillers, which set off the opioid epidemic in the late 1990s before heroin and, later, fentanyl moved in. Provisional data suggests those deaths continued to fall…
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23Jan 2020 by Post

“World Happiness Report” Focuses on…Government

Canada, creator, Culture & Ethics, Czech Republic, Declaration of Independence, Denmark, faith, Finland, France, Gallup World Poll, GDP per capita, happiness, happiness inequality, Iceland, Israel, Italy, life expectancy, life satisfaction, meaningful life, Norway, Pilate, pro-social behavior, religion, Spain, suicide, technocrats, United States, World Happiness Report
The annual “World Happiness Report” for 2019 is out. Depending on the Gallup World Poll, it turns out the U.S. comes in rather low among free countries at number 19. The Declaration of Independence states that all of us are “endowed” by our Creator with “inalienable rights,” among which is “the pursuit of happiness.” The idea, of course, is that finding happiness is the responsibility of the individual and that government may not unduly interfere with that quest. The Technocrats Speak But according to the study’s technocratic authors, government is the prime creator of happiness. Indeed, the first topic mentioned in the report is “happiness and government,” which are the subjects of the first two chapters. In Chapter 2 they write: At the most basic level, good government establishes and…
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21Jan 2020 by Post

Science as a Jealous God — Free Weekend Conference in Seattle for College Students

Artificial Intelligence, Baylor University, Brian Miller, C.S. Lewis, Center for Science & Culture, Charles Darwin, coercion, colleges, conference, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Culture & Ethics, Darwinism, Discovery Institute, earth, ethics, Evolution, humankind, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, intimidation, jealous god, John West, National Review, natural world, science, scientism, Seattle, seminar, society, students, travel stipend, universities, values, Walter Bradley Center, Wesley J. Smith
Science, rather than opening minds and setting us free from drudgery, is increasingly a tool of coercion and intimidation. If you’re a college student, consider joining us at Discovery Institute on March 6-7 for a free weekend seminar, “Science, Scientism, and Society.” Scientism is a word that designates the impulse to turn science into a jealous god — not a method for exploring the natural world and responsibly harnessing its resources, but the exclusive source of knowledge about all things, including values and ethics.  More information and a simple online application are here. January 30 is the deadline to apply for this important, enlightening, and fun event, organized by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) and held in Discovery Institute’s offices in Seattle. ISI will provide a travel stipend for students…
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15Jan 2020 by Post

Save Animals, Not Sick People, from Death?

animal shelters, animals, California, cats, Culture & Ethics, doctor, Dogs, euthanasia, Gavin Newsom, governor, health care, Koret Shelter Medicine Program, lethal prescription, Medicine, patients, press conference, Sacramento Bee, UC Davis
Misplaced priorities are California’s specialty. Here’s an example: Governor Gavin Newsom wants to end euthanasia in animal shelters. From the Sacramento Bee story: Gov. Gavin Newsom wants California to stop euthanizing animals, and he’s ready to put taxpayer money toward the cause. “We want to be a no-kill state,” Newsom said during a press conference where he presented his 2020-21 budget. Specifically, Newsom’s budget calls for a $50 million one-time general fund allocation to the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program to develop a grant program for animal shelters, with a goal of helping local communities “achieve the state’s policy goal that no adoptable or treatable dog or cat should be euthanized,” according to the budget summary. Ironically, as the governor works to save animals from death, California has not…
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14Dec 2019 by Post

Jeffrey Epstein and the Silence of the Scientists

child prostitution, Culture & Ethics, Darwinism, Emily Kurlinski, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Jeffrey Epstein, Michael Egnor, Money, scientists, silence, thought police
On a new episode of ID the Future, neurosurgery professor Michael Egnor discusses the code of silence that kept numerous scientists tied to consensus and silent on Jeffrey Epstein when they should have spoken out. Download the episode or listen to it here. Talking with host Emily Kurlinski, Egnor says that even when it was already widely known that Epstein was involved in child prostitution, his funding was still widely sought and received by scientific institutions, and he entertained scientists who willingly accepted his money. Anyone who’d spoken up, says Egnor, would likely have lost his career. There is a striking parallel. Egnor offers examples of scientists who were open to intelligent design but either kept silent to protect their career or who stepped forward and suffered the consequences at…
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08Dec 2019 by Post

Mission: To Eviscerate Freedom of Religion

abortion, Archdiocese of New York, birth control, Culture & Ethics, employee, employment, First Amendment, free exercise clause, freedom of religion, Islam, litigation, Medicine, Robyn Pennacchia, Roman Catholics, sterilization surgery, Wonkette
The other day I wrote about New York’s new law that prohibits an employer from punishing an employee for any reproductive health-care medical decision they make. I brought the statute up because it contains no exemption for religious organizations, thereby materially impacting the right of churches and other faith-based institutions to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the Constitution. Beneath the Anger As I wrote: This would seem to literally mean that, say, the Catholic Archdiocese of New York is legally required to inform employees they have the right to act as they choose with regard to issues such as birth control, abortion, or sterilization surgery — and moreover, tell such employees that they can so act openly even though contrary to the faith without fear of subsequent job…
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07Dec 2019 by Post

Berlinski: Evolution Toward Virtue and Progress?

Blueprint (book), children's table, cooperation, Culture & Ethics, David Berlinski, death camps, Evolution, ID The Future, Nazi Party, Nazis, Nicholas Christakis, Peter Robinson, Podcast, Pope Benedict XVI, progress, Regensburg address, religious thinking, theology
A new episode of ID the Future features the second part of a conversation between Uncommon Knowledge host Peter Robinson and polymath David Berlinski, author of the newly released book Human Nature. Robinson asks Berlinski about a book by Nicholas Christakis, Blueprint, which argues that evolution has endowed us with a genetic makeup that drives human culture toward virtue and progress. Berlinski demurs, pointing to the horrors of the 20th century and noting that the virtues Christakis underscores, such as cooperativeness, can also be put to nefarious purposes. The Nazi Party, for instance, “was a marvelous engine of cooperation. All those Nazis cooperated with one another running death camps.” Download the podcast or listen to it here. Robinson also asks Berlinski about Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 Regensburg address and the West’s relegating religious thinking,…
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22Nov 2019 by Post

Animal-Rights Fanatic Stabs Woman for Wearing Fur

A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy, abortion, Animal Liberation Front, animal rights, Ask Carla, Cleveland Heights, Culture & Ethics, Fairmount Boulevard Church, fur coat, Meredith Lowell, mouse, PETA, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, video game, violence
The animal rights movement insists it is peaceable. For the most part — but certainly not universally — most adherents are not violent. At the same time, the movement’s condemnation of violent acts undertaken in the name of animal rights generally is muted. As I pointed out in A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy, there was scant opposition from movement activists to the violent acts and terroristic threats committed by groups like the Animal Liberation Front and Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. For example, several years ago, PETA implicitly praised the terroristic ALF by explicitly refusing to condemn activists’ lawless tactics in its “Ask Carla” feature. If It Had Been a Pro-Lifer Ditto, it seems, this story: An animal rights fanatic — previously arrested for seeking…
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