...This is your Brain on the Sun

I write, today, at the great risk of looking like a guy who teases the mentally challenged. Here it goes anyway...

Garbage in, garbage out. If you are looking to spout garbage, I've got just the raw input that you need. A confusing, unprincipled, idea jumble, which is disguised as an editorial in today's Toronto Sun Newspaper.

Today's Sun "editorial" is titled Don't ban radical imam, expose him. "Good headline", I thought to myself, knowing that it concerns calls, by some, to prevent an English Imam from visiting Toronto to give a speech on Islam. The usual suspects are all lined up like attendees to a witch-burning, cheering "burn him, burn him"...er, maybe that was "ban him, ban him".

Photo from the most recent
Witch-burning rally I attended

In any event, the experience of reading this editorial is perhaps similar to that of listening to a person who has just downed about 1/2 of a 40 ouncer....or who advocates continued public funding for education. Just try to make sense out of THIS train of thought:

"Haq, who denigrates moderate Muslims, Jews, Hindus, homosexuals and others, has been invited by the Islamic Foundation of Toronto to speak to a conference of Muslim youth.

It's not clear whether he'll show up (other planned appearances in Canada have been cancelled) but in any event, The Muslim Canadian Congress, Canadian Jewish Congress, Hindu Dharma Mission and Egale Canada want him banned.

...as far as we can tell, Haq has never been convicted of hate speech or inciting violence. On that basis, we do not believe he should be barred from Canada...

...banning Haq could create the false impression, particularly among young Muslims, that we fear his absurd ideas.

The way to deal with such fanatics is to refute them...

Finally, if the police have grounds to suspect anyone may engage in unlawful speech, we urge them to attend [Haq's speech in Canada] as well.

The lesson to be drawn from all of this?

This is your brain.


This is your brain on the Toronto Sun.

Just say "No, I would not like a free, complimentary copy" to mediocre newspapers...on second thought, one exception: "...unless it has a Sunshine Girl in it".

Now, back to work, where I can forget my shame for reading that editorial...but not for seeing Lisa Anne on the third from last page ;-)