Now I know why my attention span has shortened and my concentration level has dropped. It's not age, it's excess.

Here's the problem: according to the Big Bang theory, which is science's best guess as to the origin of the universe, everything that now is was once a single fundamental particle of unimaginable density. The "bang" that blew it apart created equal amounts of matter and antimatter, which should have extinguished each other. Instead, the universe is demonstrably full of stuff. Why?

To paraphrase Mark Twain, there's PC, outrageous PC, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Begun as a quasi-legal entity to root out discrimination in the workplace, the CHRC has more recently turned to punishing "offensive" speech. In taking on Mark Steyn, however, it may have invited more publicity than it wants.

In 1970 Tony and Maureen Wheeler, newlywed and footloose, set out from London and traveled eastward-begging, borrowing, and earning their way across Europe and Asia on the "hippie trail," all the way to Sydney. Upon their return they wrote an account of their adventure, printed copies and stapled them together under the title Across Asia on the Cheap. Thus were the humble beginnings of the Lonely Planet empire, now with over 600 travel guides in print.

According to a Harris poll conducted in April, the Bible remains the all-time favorite book of a majority of Americans, regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity. (For those who are wondering, fave No. 2 is Gone with the Wind, followed by the Lord of the Rings trilogy.)

This news is heart-warming, but mind-troubling. For few Americans seem to read their favorite book.

What do you get when you cross a "Zero Tolerance" policy with a 6-year-old boy? A police report.