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Scott Alexander, a magician best known for his time on "America's Got Talent," has died ... according to his wife. Scott's wife Jenny -- who appeared on the show as his assistant -- shared the tragic news on Monday, posting ... "We have lost a father, a husband, a son, a brother, a friend, a mentor, and one hell of an entertainer." As for what led to his death, Jenny says "Scott suffered a stroke while working on a cruise ship in St Kitts and did not make it home to us." 'AGT' fans will remember Scott and Jenny from...

One of the costs of a censorious society is clarity of writing, and consequently of thought. If one must write, evasive thinking is an easier way to dodge cancellation than purely evasive writing. “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.” That’s Francis Bacon, and probably the best thing he wrote (unless it’s The Tempest after all). The act of writing is exacting, and it improves with the care and precision of the effort. But this means—as illustrated by the hubbub around the New York Times’s treatment of Scott Alexander, the pseudonymous blogger behind...

A prominent pseudonymous blogger has shut down his site after a New York Times reporter refused to conceal his identity in a forthcoming piece, putting his livelihood and life in danger. Psychiatrist Scott Alexander (his first and middle, but not last, name) has worked for years to cultivate a small but thriving intellectual community through his blog Slate Star Codex. That came to a halt Monday evening, however, when Alexander deleted the blog, replacing it with a post entitled "NYT Is Threatening My Safety By Revealing My Real Name, So I Am Deleting The Blog." The deletion was the culmination...

Bin Laden cannot be named in Damra trial Judge fears mention would inflame jurors Tuesday, June 15, 2004 John Caniglia Plain Dealer Reporter A federal judge, fearing the mention of Osama bin Laden would prejudice jurors, barred prosecutors from bringing up the terrorist's name during imam Fawaz Damra's trial, which begins today in Akron. Damra, the leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, is accused of concealing his ties to terrorism on immigration forms in 1994. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and deported. U.S. District Judge James Gwin's decision helped Damra, 41,...

Rahma, Rahma - What's Next At Bernardin - Kama Sutra? April 27, 2005 - by William A. Mayer, E & P PipeLineNews.org Rahma is the Arabic word for compassion, something we have very little of for Chicago's Bernardin Center, an affiliate of the ultra-liberal Catholic Theological Union. On May 6-7 CTU's Bernardin Center will sponsor another of its interminable inter-faith dialogues featuring Islamists masquerading as moderate Muslims alongside their apostate Christian apologists. Entitled - "RAHMA: Spiritual Companionship with Muslims in a Hospital Setting," the program is supposed to highlight areas in which all faiths can work together, ministering to...