Author Archives: Matthew Eppinette

Excellent Article on Death and Dying

“Sisters Face Death With Dignity and Reverence,” New York Times: Dr. McCann’s long relationship with the sisters gives him the time and opportunity, impossible in the hurly-burly of an intensive-care unit, to clarify goals of care long before a crisis: … Continue reading

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Required Reading: Horse then Cart

From Obama’s Bioethics Commission: Providing Practical Policy Options: People largely have defined the first chair of the Bush commission, Leon Kass, and that commission as a whole, by their relative conservatism compared to previous commissions. But what Kass should be … Continue reading

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The President’s Council on Bioethics Disbanded

As you may have heard by now, President Obama has disbanded the President’s Council on Bioethics. As usual, my buddy Joe says it better than I could: To the electoral victor goes the electoral spoils, so Obama’s disbanding is neither … Continue reading

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True Human Being

My friend Jared Bridges recently attended a lecture by Leon Kass entitled “Searching for an Honest Man: Reflections of an Unlicensed Humanist.”  Jared provides an excellent summary at True Pravda, and you can read the entire lecture on the National … Continue reading

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An Important Task

In Christianity Today, Thomas Hibbs examines three recent films in order to tease out “one of the important tasks for a contemporary Christian approach to film.”

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Comming Attraction

I’ve often recommended the novel My Sister’s Keeper as an interesting exploration of what the British call savior siblings — using reproductive technologies and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in order to have a child that can be an organ or … Continue reading

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Embryo Research and Cloning

Over at The Daily Beast, “Neurobiologist Maureen L. Condic investigates 11 common arguments in favor of embryonic stem-cell research, and explains why science may not need the controversial technique, after all.” Well worth reading.

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Yet Another Use for Twitter

A theater in suburban Chicago is hosting MuVChat, which allows audience members to twitter their thoughts about the movie for display on screen. “I’ve described it as a mash-up of ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ and Twitter,” said Rien Heald, the … Continue reading

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President Obama’s Stem Cell Executive Order

Several members of the President’s Council on Bioethics have weighed in on the President’s Executive Order on Stem Cell Resarch. Although members of the President’s Council on Bioethics have been divided on this question and some of our colleagues disagree … Continue reading

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My Favorite Magazine

Is Wired.  Because of the breadth of reporting.  Case in point, “The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist” from this month’s issue. Another great article is “High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas: The Race to Save the … Continue reading

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