I believe that the expression of disdain manifested itself in the burning of religious texts needs to be acknowledge as a reaction to the overwhelming presence of religion in our world. Extreme actions always arise as a counterbalance to other extreme actions, and in today's media connected world these actions are widely viewed and commented on. I also believe that religion is no sacred cow, and should be subjected to the same standards or rigor and inquiry as any other human endeavor, and if in that process some are offended so be it. We should never stiffle free expression or inquiry for the sake of preserving the emotional needs of others, else we risk a form of censorship so damaging it could stiffle our progress as a species for centuries. This type of extreme expression needs to be defended against the oncoming wave of laws designed to prevent "hate" speech, when in reality they are masquerading as censors.

I couldn't agree more with your assessment. The trajectory is clear to some but not most. The labeling of terrorism to describe any insurgency, revolutionary, or otherwise anti-establishment party is simply a technique of winning to one's side the favor of the masses (who BTW are very "afraid" of terrorists). This tactic will only last so long as it becomes clear to many that the black and white portrayal of human conflict is often times a spectrum of ugly shades of grey, and that the consolidation of power in one area only causes the decentralization of it elsewhere. Eventually asymmetric warfare will be the norm, as the 21st centry progresses. The trap is in given the false choice of having to choose a side, as if using your own moral and rational judgement is insufficient, and the health and safety of the world is dependent on joining the "good" guys. This is an attempt to blanket our good conscience in support of hegemony. Thank you for your refreshing post.

This is not a new capability. I've been able to get Netflix streaming to my PS3 using a upnp server (MeidaMall PlayOn) running on my PC. Not only does it stream Netflix, it streams Adultswim, Cartoon Network, YouTube, HGTV, NBA, NFL, Hulu, Spike and many internationl channels. It even streams Pron sites like YouPron and RedTube. This has been out for two years so this is not a new capability. Additionally, I've been able to run all of these web streamers through the Ubuntu install on my OtherOS boot on PS3, including Divx. No big deal and I won't be using a disc just to watch a low quality stream.

If the opposite of Pro is Con, then the opposite of Progress is ...