You say: "The fact that we can even compare the US to an enemy like Iran, without worrying about angering the censors, shows you just how many freedoms we still have in this country." I say: Read the Patriot Act --

Your comments are intrinsically self-contradictory. You state “all religion is entirely bullshit” – which is preceded (and then ends with) a cautionary admonition which instructs us that we are bigots to think that way. You can’t have it both ways without impeaching the credibility of your position. If you look at any serious exegesis of history, you tend to find periods of so-called religious zealotry are almost always concomitant with – and, indeed, can be said to be etiologically linked to-- periods of regression, intolerance, ignorance and violence. When, for example, in 1600, Friar Giordano Bruno proposed a post-Copernican, solar-centric model of the universe, he was stripped naked and burned at the stake by the Catholic Church. And, he was a member of the fucking church. American fundamentalist religiosity and the sharia-based judicial system of Iran are not entirely dissimilar: Both are predicated on superstition, intolerance and embody a philosophy which is inimical to human nature and antithetical to progress. Your commentary also introduces and conflates political memes and shibboleths with an interesting but ultimately confusing amalgamation of both. Am I a bigot or not for thinking as you do, that “all religion is entirely bullshit?”

So, the wretchedly atavistic mullahs are planning another outrage against humanity? Despicable, horrible, maddening – but not at all out of atypical of religious fundamentalism, whatever its stripe. May I be candid? Of course I may: Don’t think for a moment that your favorite, tax-exempt place of worship doesn’t also harbor those would love to kill YOU, too, for actions they consider apostasy. America, much to their chagrin, however, just won’t let them. But an outright jeremiad here is not what’s needed. Not sure that human rights groups, with all due respect, will have much effect either. In fact, this poor man’s fate may be sealed. But, here, in the United States, we can at least be led to a single, inexorable conclusion by the ghastly actions of theocratic regimes like that of Iran: Religion has been—and will continue to be--the single-most monolithic impediment to human progress that one can envision. Worse than ignorance, which is curable, the religious fundamentalist is joyously immune to reason and implacably antipathetic to knowledge outside the narrowed scope of his/her tunneled vision. We can only hope traditional Darwinian processes will ultimately select them for extinction—in which case, we may visit their fossilized remains in museums. Much as we do with the dinosaurs and other relics from a bygone era.

Wasn't aware of such progress. Do you have some citations I could examine? I'm aware we can "see" individual atoms using electron tunneling microscopy-and even manipulate them a bit. Thank you, very much

First, some background: Most agree that Moore’s law, which has held firm, will meet its demise in a matter of decades. This will likely signal the end of the silicon era. The basic problem is the limitation of the ultraviolet process by which a hundred million or more transistors are etched onto increasingly smaller silicon wafers. But another problem is perhaps more daunting: When computing is reduced to smaller and smaller quantum scales (currently, the chip inside your computer can be 5 or so atoms across), one runs into the Heisenberg Uncertainly Principle; it simply becomes impossible to tell exactly where an electron is, so there is leakage. In other words, using quantum computers, given contemporary materials and knowledge, 2+2 might eventually end up being 4, but there might need to be built in recursion and tautological algorithms. Computation using atoms has already been done, as pointed out by another poster. Think it will be a while before we see them at Best Buy. Also, it still seems like silicon based technology

If you 'Google' the topic, you'll discover that the average 12-year-old has already seen about 8,000 murders, 100,000 acts of violence, rape and aggravated assault. In fact, Children's Saturday morning programming shows 30 violent acts per hour. It's therefore not likely you'll be able to control a tsunami of that magnitude. Sad to say, your offspring, as a member of the digerati, is likely exposed to far worse than religious bigotry on a daily basis. As regards fundamentalist belief systems, which are still widely embraced throughout the word, the best thing more liberal-minded parents can do is teach children critical thinking skills. And, perhaps, remember this axiom: Children need less your ‘wise’ counsel – and more your good example. If you practice rational discourse in discussions with you child and others, you might have a fighting chance. .