Just up at The Mindful Hack

How not to study science ...

Computers: Most engineers have probably guessed that they themselves are not robots

God is not dead yet - but some haven't gotten the memo

Today at Colliding Universes

Berlinski: Creation of everything out of nothing - a clinical level of self-delusion?

And what if the Large Hadron Collider doesn't find the Higgs boson ... ? Philosophy time!

Philosopher: God is not dead, and physics arguments are one of the reasons

Stephen Hawking, miffed over science funding cuts, to move to Ontario, Canada?

When people laugh, fascists fear for their livelihoods

Rex Murphy in The Globe and Mail, anticipating tonight's 40 comics' rally for freedom, comments re Canada's "human rights" commissions' apparent obsession with cartoons, comics, and anything that is funny:

Human-rights commissions are good on cartoons. The one in Alberta, for example, has been savaging Ezra Levant's peace of mind for almost three years because his now-departed magazine published the famous Mohammed cartoons. Chewing on his bank account too. The still unfinished quarry into whether the genial and courageous Mr. Levant is an Islamaphobic hate-monger has so far cost him almost $100,000. Cost to the two complainants so far: zilch.

[ ... ]

Complainants float unburdened like puffballs in a summer breeze - blowing whither they list. Targets - Catholic bishops, Catholic magazines, fundamentalist pastors, genital surgeons, heckled comedians, school boards, fast-food joints, school-prom nights, Maclean's magazine - empty bank machines and call in lawyers while the "leisurely" process unfurls in an eerie, Kafkaesque slow motion.

Indeed, in the most celebrated case, against Mark Steyn and Maclean's, the Ontario part-time imam and self-help guru Mohamed Elmasry who set in motion the separate grinding wheels of three human-rights commissions (Ontario, federal, and British Columbia) didn't even bother showing up at the only one (B.C.) that actually deigned to have a hearing.

Mark Steyn showed up. Maclean's lawyers showed up. An expert on Buffy the Vampire Slayer showed up. (As a witness for the complainant. Who else would a TV vampirologist testify for?) The Yanks have the First Amendment. We have Buffy-sociologists.

The Commissions can destroy the lives of those who defy them with laughter. It is a characteristic of fascists to want to do that. It will be interesting to see who dares create a reason for laughing at them tonight on Bloor Street in Toronto:

COMICS RALLY FOR FREEDOMCOMICS FOR FREEDOM RALLY to be held at The Comedy Bar (945B Bloor West) on Saturday, July 19 in Toronto. Canadian

Comic, Guy Earle, is holding a benefit show, celebrating 40 years of stand-up comedy, to raise money for his impending Human Rights Tribunal. Guy is being taken before the Human Rights Tribunal based on his comebacks to a heckler during a Vancouver comedy night back in May 2007.

The show is UNIQUE in its format. 40 comics will hit the stage for one minute of raw, uncensored social commentary.

Stand-up is the embodiment of FREE SPEECH and this show personifies our right to speak while we still can. The show, on July 19th, starts at 9pm and tickets will be available before the show and at the door for 20$. Comics are invited to register for the show at www.guyearle.ca. Supporters for the cause are invited to come to the show or donate at the same homepage. Come one, Come all, but REMEMBER there WILL BE offensive language!

good laughs and best wishes,Guy Earle