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Rear view of young woman with bag standing against shelf in pharmacy searching for medicine

JAMA Article Pushes for Over-the-Counter Abortion Pills

Taking abortion pills can lead to dangerous side effects, perhaps even death. Which is why the process of chemical abortion — called "medical" by pro-abortion advocates — is supposed to occur only under the guidance of a doctor. But the medical establishment is so invested in unlimited abortion that JAMA Internal Medicine just published an advocacy article calling for the two drugs used in chemical abortions to be available over the counter. Read More ›
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The New Web Paradigm: Verses vs. OpenAI

Gabriel Rene discusses how autonomous agents have transformative capacity to handle the scale and complexity of modern problems that exceed human cognitive limits. However, despite advancements, current AI systems, including large language models (LLMs), fall short of true reasoning and reliability, often producing errors and inconsistencies. The session critiques overhyped AI promises, referencing setbacks like Apple’s decision not to invest Read More ›

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Is Housing a Human Right?

The U.S. Constitution establishes life, liberty and property as unalienable rights but makes no room for a human right to the provision of housing. Read More ›
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Public Domain image at Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Donald_Trump_signing_executive_orders_(03).jpg

President Trump Is Wasting No Time Reforming K-12 Education

President Donald Trump hit the ground running, reforming K-12 education and restoring parental rights during his second week back in the Oval Office, which coincided with the 15th annual National School Choice Week. Last week, President Trump issued the "Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families" executive order. According to a White House fact sheet, the order "recognizes that parents, not the government, play a fundamental role in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children." Read More ›
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Close-up of hands

Will We Starve Dementia Patients in Slow Motion?

Moves are afoot in bioethics to require caregivers to withhold food and water by mouth from a patient made incompetent by dementia if that patient, while compos mentis, has signed such a request — and even if the patient willingly eats, enjoys meals, or asks for food. It is sometimes called “voluntary stop eating and drinking [VSED] by advance directive,” in the parlance.

I have frequently criticized VSED by directive as inhumane to the patient, cruel to caregivers (as it forces them to starve people to death), and designed to open the door to lethally jabbing those with advanced dementia as the less onerous alternative to their being made to starve to death.

Now, as supposedly some form of compromise, there is a proposal on the table to barely feed — i.e., malnourish — dementia patients who have previously signed such a directive. From, “Mr. Smith Has No Mealtimes,” published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (citations omitted):

Minimal Comfort Feeding (MCF)…is the provision of only enough oral nutrition and hydration to ensure comfort. With MCF, eating and drinking is not scheduled; rather, caretakers offer food and liquids only in response to signs of hunger and thirst. Patients are neither wakened for regular mealtimes nor encouraged to eat or drink. Instead, they are offered frequent, fastidious mouth care, continued social contact, therapeutic touch, sensory distraction, and medications to relieve distress associated with apparent thirst or hunger before being provided with minimal amounts of liquid or food.

Read More ›
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Seattle Urban Sprawl with colorful trees in autumn - aerial

Sensible WA Tenancy Laws Will Help Housing Stability

The common reality shared by housing providers across the Greater Seattle region is that housing instability has been furthered by policies that restrict providers' ability to speedily evict tenants who threaten the peace and safety of their neighbors. Read More ›