Last month the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the rights of cities to enforce common sense laws which prohibit the homeless from sleeping in public spaces, such as parks or sidewalks where children play or families walk. It's almost absurd that the Court was forced to expend its limited resources adjudicating a controversy over whether such laws should be constitutional. Read More ›
There has been a lot of discussion about President Biden's declining cognitive abilities. That's certainly fair game and an important — nay, a crucial — election issue. But some have gone more than a step too far by using the odious V-word slur. Read More ›
Euthanasia isn't really about compassion but fear of decline and a loathing of dependency — and of those experiencing them. That nasty truth has become abundantly clear with a new column published in the Times of London. Read More ›
Most of the media report on euthanasia in the glowing, uncritical language of empowered patients "dying peacefully on their own terms." In contrast, euthanasia abuses and horror stories—an ever-growing list—generally receive little focused media attention and remain outside the notice of people not engaged with the issue. Read More ›
COVID-19 mandates and lockdowns opened the door. Now, the medical establishment is redefining our most contentious political controversies as “public health emergencies” so as to circumvent public resistance and impose policies on society unobtainable through normal democratic means. Read More ›
We often hear about what “we”—i.e., society—owe the homeless. But we rarely discuss what the unhoused owe us. It’s time for that to change. Read More ›
It was wrong when people called Terri Schiavo a “vegetable,” and it is wrong when Donald Trump Jr. wields the same slur against Senator John Fetterman at CPAC. Read More ›
How we treat our dead reflects our views on what we think about the living. In this sense, human composting — and even more so, another growing practice of liquifying bodies and pouring the remains into the sewer — reflects a disturbing mindset that denies ultimate meaning to human life and views us, essentially, as just another animal in the forest. Read More ›
Starting in 2027, California will allow composting of the dead. Known officially as “natural organic reduction (NOR),” this novel final disposition process transforms the deceased’s body into soil to spread on gardens or in which to plant flowers or a tree. Read More ›
I have always loved science fiction. So when Soylent Green was first released in 1973, I immediately headed to the theater. I remember clearly being shocked by the depictions presented but assuaging myself with the comforting thought that nothing like any of that would ever actually happen. Read More ›
