... where are the free streaming TV channels on the 'net these days?
It makes no sense to me that I can't tune into CNN over the 'net. Or MTV. Or BBC One. Oh, wait, maybe I can tune into BBC One.
I really wanna watch TV, but I'm a computer geek and there is no way in hell (having just recently moved to Germany) that I want to buy a TV and set up a satellite receiver just for that.
I've already *got* broadband. How come I can't tune into any stations with it?
What you don't seem to realize is that building a base on moon capable of producing inter-planetary vehicles is just as difficult as building a base on mars, producing inter-planetary vehicles. The *only* difference is the distances involved - in terms of energy/resources, we may as well just go straight to Mars and do it, and skip the moon entirely.
In fact, its easier for us to get to Mars than the moon, and back again. Why? Because Mars has an atmosphere - we can use it for breaking, we can use it for producing fuel, we can use it for living on. The Moon has none of that, and in fact the Moon lacks a lot of the resources we need to build a workable space program - Hydrogen, for example, is... I think... one of the elements we'll find on Mars, but not on the Moon (or maybe it's Helium-3, I forget).
Anyway, Zubrin and co. have already figured out how we can get to Mars and back for about $5billion, using existing technology and very smart administration of that technology.
If you still think we should do the Moon first after reading "The Case for Mars", I'd be very surprised... and interested in your reasoning.
I bet Linus' self-deprecating sense of humor shines in every single line.
Still, short of emailing him myself (yeah, right), I have no idea how to get hold of that bio, and I'm too lazy to think one up here and post it (in humor).
Anyone else seen it? C'mon, you know you want to...
Whether or not a software tool is best for the job has nothing to do with whether or not its open source. You don't execute "main.c" when you run the tool, you run "main.exe".
Requiring open source to be included with all tools used by the government has one socially valuable benefit, more beneficial than 'closed source': those tools can easily be improved at very little expense.
An expense which, incidentally, (okay, 'value') is ordinarily completely arbitrarily computed by the seller according to their own economic whims, incidentally...
What ISC are asking the government to do is give them blanket authority to set their own values on closed-source software tools with no regulation.
The order of operations for your macros may not be clear, or it may be unexpected. Consider that in C, && has a higher precedence than ||, and so will your and have over or, but when a programmer reads the long-hand names, the property is quite possibly counterintuitive
That sir, is a very good point and I thank you for pointing it out in this argument... which has long since been beaten into the dust and forgotten about on the other forum I was discussing it, but I will remember this particular bit of intel for future use... Ta!:)
The most morally destructive tool on the planet is the laugh track. Without the laugh track most people would be disgusted at what they are presented on TV...
Try this experiment some day: turn the volume off and watch somesitcom with subtitles... and then see how funny it is... all "hilarity" goes out the door and you are left with a very sad, degraded picture of the scriot and its plot.
TV *is* a trap, designed to prevent you from doing anything else. They'll use any trick, including masked sadism, to keep you entranced.
Which means they are taking away the choice from every member not of that majority -- given even that the majority is unified on this single issue.
And how is that different from the fascist republic of the United States of America?
Duh! If it was representative of the desires of the population then additional regulation would not be necessary because nobody would be going to see it anyway.
Uh.... I'm not going to argue with you here, as you seem to have a logic bug...
(It's like saying "why outlaw murder? the populace doesnt want to murder each other... so they won't!")
With wonderful plans like this around, I guess terrorists-in-training won't no need to use the flightsim to work out how to crash into the Statue of Liberty any more...
Well, I dunno. Saying "zionism bad" certainly points out the value of stigma in these sorts of issues.
I vote that the World Court find both tribes to be criminals committing crimes against the Peace of Humanity, and denies both nations the right to free trade with all other nations.
Your missing the point here. If its true that you have to basically teach yourself (like you are saying) then why go to the school at all?
Umm... sorry, but *you're* missing the point, and this is probably why education sucks!
Schools are supposed to provide you with a safe, comfortable, standardized environment in which to improve your skills and understanding of topics which - under ordinay circumstances - are very difficult to study.
They are supposed to help *you*, but you are the one who still yet needs to do all the work.
They're *not* responsible for your understanding of the subject - you are. Nobody can make you understand something, you have to do it yourself.
Your extreme dichotomy, while perfectly dialectic in nature, is flawed because you don't account for this premise.
Schools are supposed to give you the tools you need to get the job done: educating yourself.
After that, you must never forget that you are the only one responsible for educating yourself, whether you are in school or not!
But then again, what do I know? I dropped out of high-school.
There are a bunch of Palestinians, and other Muslims for that matter, who want to eliminate every Jew from Israel. If pushed, a lot of them probably want to eliminate all Jews everywhere.
So? There are Jews who would destroy Palestine in a heartbeat, too. These are all evil men.
I don't know what you mean by "Zionism". The right of Jews to live in Israel? The "settlements"?
Zionism is to some what hardcore right-wing nazism^H^H^H^H^H^Hneo-conseratism is to others.
If you don't know that some sectors of the Jewish Nation consider themselves to be part of a master race, children of god, 'deserved of the holy land', well... that's Zionism, as represented by the 'mythical city of Zion, Home of the Persecuted Jew'.
What should we do? Forcefully relocate all Jews out of Israel?
No, we should not. Force doesn't solve anything, as we have seen, and will undoubtedly see again, time and time again.
What we should be doing is training the young people in that area on the importance of understanding dogma, stigma, and propaganda, and why they can be used against you to serve agenda's not your own.
We should be building integrated schools for Palestinian and Israeli children in that area, not settlements, and not home-made rockets. These schools should be safe havens, and they should have clean running water.
Americans should be selling technology for peace to the Israelis, not gunships.
And since 'cultural identity' is such a valuable human resource, perhaps we ought to attempt to create a cultural identity compatible with both Jewish and Palestinian children living together in peace, not hating each other, not strapping bombs to themselves, and not blowing each other up.
The Zion extremists won't allow this to happen easily, and nor will Hamas.
But still, the focus must stay on peace, no matter the noise made.
Help Hamas exterminate them? Otherwise, you need to do something like a two state solution, which is what is being pursued now (kind of).
People don't seem to realize that Statehood is not the answer to the problem in the Middle East, it is the problem.
The entire region should be declared a criminal liability to the World, and denied all rights of state - for Israeli as well as Palestine - until such time as the two sides have remained at peace with each other for... lets just give them, say, 5 years?
That's not as easy as it sounds, but then, I guess continued aggression is easier?
You come off like all the problems in that part of the world are the fault of the Jews, and that the Islamic terrorists are all justified in what they're doing. I don't buy it.
You're not reading what I'm typing - I specifically stated that I am against any man - Jewish or Islamic - who resorts to violence for the cause of dogma.
I'm simply trying to point out that the Jews are not innocent in this scenario, and they are not the 'downtrodden persecuted' they once were. That generation has long since died.
The existing generation - the young people of both Palestine and Israel - are the ones who are responsible for the decision of whether or not to perpetuate this cultural crisis into the 21st Century, and they do so in attendance with the entire human race.
This is a problem for all of us, not just Jew or Gentile.
Why would I rejoice when a government takes choice away from its people?
Presumably, the Egyptian Government is not taking away choice, it is actually enforcing the desires of the majority of its populace and in so doing serving the purposes of Government.
Banning "Matrix" may not just be a matter of government protection, but it could also be representative of the desires of the population... how would you know it isn't?
In not understanding this view, I feel that your own point of view may have been a bit manipulated by a prevailing political perspective which was communicated along with all the other 'facts' given you in this story...
Alright, fine, I don't believe I said America ever *did* shove its movies on the rest of the world (umm, yeah, irony), I just said America doesn't have the *right* to.
But since you seem to want a fight, I'll re-write it:
Like The American People have a right to complain when the Nations of Foreign People exercise their Right of Government and deny the US valuable returns from its so-called "Entertainment" industry... as if.
It's not something to complain about - you Americans should be rejoicing that the Egyptian government, representative of its people, is protecting its populace from cultural dilution at the hands of an Imperialist Industry!
Just the same as if you try to simplify things, you can.
Anti-Zionism != Anti-Semitism.
Semitism includes Egyptians as well as Jews, and Muslims, too. I am not an anti-Jew, and I'm not anti-Semitic. There is a lot I would like to learn and understand about both.
But to return to the topic at hand and disregard your slight, Zion, and the abstract concept of a Zion as a cultural purpose, is bad for the human race.
It may be good for certain portions of the human race to pursue such efforts (Plymouth Rock, Utah, etc.) but for the race as a whole, it is a very damaging effect to have such pursuits embodied in religious and ideological inventions among a widely diverse, effectively uneducated populace such as exists in the Middle East region.
The relentless pursuit of the Zion carrot in the name of religious or cultural identity by hordes of jackass Jews has given the entire human race - from the Chinese to the Australians - strife.
The Jewish nation doesn't seem to understand the spiritual liability it is causing for the *entire* species for the sake of their stories and ideology, and nor do the Palestines for that matter.
Before you conveniently label me "anti-Jew" and attempt to pile Nazi stigma into the issue in order to reneg my point, let me just state that there are jackass-Whites, jackass-Republicans, jackass-Blonds, and jackass-torpor's, too.
I make no distinction between any man, or group of people, who on the basis of some cultural identity, selfishly draw borders in their own racial sands and in so doing deny peace to the entire human race.
Zion is a bad game, and everyone should stop playing it.
Also, bloody revenge is a bad game, too.
We all need to s/revenge/forgiveness/ more in our lives.
There is just no justification for bloodshed. None.
And if racial boundaries such as the ones defining Israel and the Jewish Nation (two separate entities, I will note) were not being drawn, there would be even less justification occuring among the heads who lead us all into this mess, persistently.
Well, this is the crux of your argument. Some would say that its naive to say "its just a movie" about a story clearly derived from a religious source...
You could, by your reasoning, just as easily say hey, those are "just bombs" we're dropping. They won't have any effect on you whatsoever if you consider that its *only entertainment*.
"Hey, its only heroin?! There's nothing wrong with heroin, have some!"
The fact is, movies *DO* influence culture, they *DO* have an effect on a nations' lifestyle, they *definitely* have an economic impact, and they very definitely are used to convey the message of their makers - makers whose agenda's are definitely not globally aligned with or sensitive to the Human Condition...
I'm not taking sides, but I am disgusted at the reaction to this here on/. It has been probably one of the most enlightening slashdot.org stories ever, and I've been here since the day Chips&Dips went online...
... and obvious, that there is much to be learned by the Western/American {there is no difference any more} constituency of/., about the ways of the world.
Honestly, I was shocked to see so many posts along the line of "Egypt sucks, what a lame country, how weak"...
Matrix is widely regarded as an allegorical story, pitched in modern technological terms, regarding the lost races of Zion and the Jewish struggle for freedom. If you don't know that Zion is not just a place in a ass-kick movie with 3D effects, then I suggest you put google to use and learn just *WHY* the name "Zion" has so much stigma associated with it, and why many firmly believe that the Zionist movement is a destructive one for the human race as a whole.
Egypt is a very, very, very religiously fervent land. In Egypt, religion is actually more important to the general populace than the ability to be sitting on your ass in a dark theatre like a vegetable, being placated by wonderous 'miracles' of technology, being delivered a sermon on modern living by the modern Western priesthood (Hollywood).
For many people in Egypt, religion is a way of life, not just something you buy a ticket for on the weekends.
Americans think that "The Matrix" is just entertainment, and to their culture, an integrated part of the entire experience of being "Free".
Actually, from an objective view, Hollywood *is* the American Religion in that many modern Americans formulate their personal views, moral conviction, and yes... even 'spiritual inspiration for living' from this media rather than... say... other media such as the Koran or The Bible.
There is little difference between the Matrix-nerd waxing philosophical about 'the meaning of a film called Matrix' and a devout Muslim who holds a firm belief in the wisdom of Allah.
Really, very little difference whatsoever - both are using cultural mechanisms to bring some bearing of significance to their lives.
If the Egyptian government, in deciding not to allow this film to play among its populace, is doing so in order to protect its culture from strife - and nobody knows better than the Egyptians how cultural memes can cause strife - then in so doing it is no different than the US Government, deciding that 'digital rights' should be enforced and rigorously protected in order to safeguard its economy.
Remember this:
Just because Egyptians do not worship your gods, does not make them worthy of ridicule.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, it's a pretty big market - I'd say at least a couple hundred thousand potential customers in France alone, for Japanese TV channels.
And, Franco-cultural phobia being what it is, it's little wonder that people want to pipe in channels from their motherland.
... where are the free streaming TV channels on the 'net these days?
It makes no sense to me that I can't tune into CNN over the 'net. Or MTV. Or BBC One. Oh, wait, maybe I can tune into BBC One.
I really wanna watch TV, but I'm a computer geek and there is no way in hell (having just recently moved to Germany) that I want to buy a TV and set up a satellite receiver just for that.
I've already *got* broadband. How come I can't tune into any stations with it?
... read this:
... I think ... one of the elements we'll find on Mars, but not on the Moon (or maybe it's Helium-3, I forget).
... and interested in your reasoning.
http://www.nw.net/mars/
What you don't seem to realize is that building a base on moon capable of producing inter-planetary vehicles is just as difficult as building a base on mars, producing inter-planetary vehicles. The *only* difference is the distances involved - in terms of energy/resources, we may as well just go straight to Mars and do it, and skip the moon entirely.
In fact, its easier for us to get to Mars than the moon, and back again. Why? Because Mars has an atmosphere - we can use it for breaking, we can use it for producing fuel, we can use it for living on. The Moon has none of that, and in fact the Moon lacks a lot of the resources we need to build a workable space program - Hydrogen, for example, is
Anyway, Zubrin and co. have already figured out how we can get to Mars and back for about $5billion, using existing technology and very smart administration of that technology.
If you still think we should do the Moon first after reading "The Case for Mars", I'd be very surprised
God == God.
God == All. God == (void *)(void *);
Google is part of God, and may be a reflection of mans intents for God, but it is not God.
Interesting attempt at pscyho-techno-religious banter, though.
I guess there is something to be said about right-wing control of the US Press machine, eh?
I bet Linus' self-deprecating sense of humor shines in every single line.
Still, short of emailing him myself (yeah, right), I have no idea how to get hold of that bio, and I'm too lazy to think one up here and post it (in humor).
Anyone else seen it? C'mon, you know you want to
Whether or not a software tool is best for the job has nothing to do with whether or not its open source. You don't execute "main.c" when you run the tool, you run "main.exe".
...
Requiring open source to be included with all tools used by the government has one socially valuable benefit, more beneficial than 'closed source': those tools can easily be improved at very little expense.
An expense which, incidentally, (okay, 'value') is ordinarily completely arbitrarily computed by the seller according to their own economic whims, incidentally
What ISC are asking the government to do is give them blanket authority to set their own values on closed-source software tools with no regulation.
Yippee, inflation!
Nope.
In another word: POSIX.
The order of operations for your macros may not be clear, or it may be unexpected. Consider that in C, && has a higher precedence than ||, and so will your and have over or, but when a programmer reads the long-hand names, the property is quite possibly counterintuitive
That sir, is a very good point and I thank you for pointing it out in this argument
... if there was a "Star Wars: Death to Ewoks (and Jar Jar)", I'd buy it and play it frequently.
They're missing out on a HUUUUGE market segment here, but then again maybe this is something for Quake models...
The most morally destructive tool on the planet is the laugh track. Without the laugh track most people would be disgusted at what they are presented on TV...
Try this experiment some day: turn the volume off and watch somesitcom with subtitles... and then see how funny it is... all "hilarity" goes out the door and you are left with a very sad, degraded picture of the scriot and its plot.
TV *is* a trap, designed to prevent you from doing anything else. They'll use any trick, including masked sadism, to keep you entranced.
Which means they are taking away the choice from every member not of that majority -- given even that the majority is unified on this single issue.
And how is that different from the fascist republic of the United States of America?
Duh! If it was representative of the desires of the population then additional regulation would not be necessary because nobody would be going to see it anyway.
Uh.... I'm not going to argue with you here, as you seem to have a logic bug...
(It's like saying "why outlaw murder? the populace doesnt want to murder each other... so they won't!")
... cruise missile.
...
With wonderful plans like this around, I guess terrorists-in-training won't no need to use the flightsim to work out how to crash into the Statue of Liberty any more
... what I always wanted SGI to become. A cool hardware company with seriously good intentions towards the Unix world.
My next computer will be another powerbook, that's for sure... please continue to rock, Apple.
Well, I dunno. Saying "zionism bad" certainly points out the value of stigma in these sorts of issues.
I vote that the World Court find both tribes to be criminals committing crimes against the Peace of Humanity, and denies both nations the right to free trade with all other nations.
Then we'll see how fast Peace can be had, eh?
Your missing the point here. If its true that you have to basically teach yourself (like you are saying) then why go to the school at all?
Umm... sorry, but *you're* missing the point, and this is probably why education sucks!
Schools are supposed to provide you with a safe, comfortable, standardized environment in which to improve your skills and understanding of topics which - under ordinay circumstances - are very difficult to study.
They are supposed to help *you*, but you are the one who still yet needs to do all the work.
They're *not* responsible for your understanding of the subject - you are. Nobody can make you understand something, you have to do it yourself.
Your extreme dichotomy, while perfectly dialectic in nature, is flawed because you don't account for this premise.
Schools are supposed to give you the tools you need to get the job done: educating yourself.
After that, you must never forget that you are the only one responsible for educating yourself, whether you are in school or not!
But then again, what do I know? I dropped out of high-school.
There are a bunch of Palestinians, and other Muslims for that matter, who want to eliminate every Jew from Israel. If pushed, a lot of them probably want to eliminate all Jews everywhere.
... lets just give them, say, 5 years?
So? There are Jews who would destroy Palestine in a heartbeat, too. These are all evil men.
I don't know what you mean by "Zionism". The right of Jews to live in Israel? The "settlements"?
Zionism is to some what hardcore right-wing nazism^H^H^H^H^H^Hneo-conseratism is to others.
If you don't know that some sectors of the Jewish Nation consider themselves to be part of a master race, children of god, 'deserved of the holy land', well... that's Zionism, as represented by the 'mythical city of Zion, Home of the Persecuted Jew'.
What should we do? Forcefully relocate all Jews out of Israel?
No, we should not. Force doesn't solve anything, as we have seen, and will undoubtedly see again, time and time again.
What we should be doing is training the young people in that area on the importance of understanding dogma, stigma, and propaganda, and why they can be used against you to serve agenda's not your own.
We should be building integrated schools for Palestinian and Israeli children in that area, not settlements, and not home-made rockets. These schools should be safe havens, and they should have clean running water.
Americans should be selling technology for peace to the Israelis, not gunships.
And since 'cultural identity' is such a valuable human resource, perhaps we ought to attempt to create a cultural identity compatible with both Jewish and Palestinian children living together in peace, not hating each other, not strapping bombs to themselves, and not blowing each other up.
The Zion extremists won't allow this to happen easily, and nor will Hamas.
But still, the focus must stay on peace, no matter the noise made.
Help Hamas exterminate them? Otherwise, you need to do something like a two state solution, which is what is being pursued now (kind of).
People don't seem to realize that Statehood is not the answer to the problem in the Middle East, it is the problem.
The entire region should be declared a criminal liability to the World, and denied all rights of state - for Israeli as well as Palestine - until such time as the two sides have remained at peace with each other for
That's not as easy as it sounds, but then, I guess continued aggression is easier?
You come off like all the problems in that part of the world are the fault of the Jews, and that the Islamic terrorists are all justified in what they're doing. I don't buy it.
You're not reading what I'm typing - I specifically stated that I am against any man - Jewish or Islamic - who resorts to violence for the cause of dogma.
I'm simply trying to point out that the Jews are not innocent in this scenario, and they are not the 'downtrodden persecuted' they once were. That generation has long since died.
The existing generation - the young people of both Palestine and Israel - are the ones who are responsible for the decision of whether or not to perpetuate this cultural crisis into the 21st Century, and they do so in attendance with the entire human race.
This is a problem for all of us, not just Jew or Gentile.
Why would I rejoice when a government takes choice away from its people?
...
Presumably, the Egyptian Government is not taking away choice, it is actually enforcing the desires of the majority of its populace and in so doing serving the purposes of Government.
Banning "Matrix" may not just be a matter of government protection, but it could also be representative of the desires of the population... how would you know it isn't?
In not understanding this view, I feel that your own point of view may have been a bit manipulated by a prevailing political perspective which was communicated along with all the other 'facts' given you in this story
... but: ... only dedicated (as in you teach yourself with their equipment and make your own homework) students learn anything ...
I hate to tell you this. That's how it is in real life.
>>For many people in Egypt, religion is a way of life
You mean the Muslim religion is a way of life.
No, I mean exactly what I say, and that is: For many people in Egypt, religion is a way of life.
As for the rest of your rhetoric, I'll just say that I've heard it all before on CNN, and I still don't believe it.
Alright, fine, I don't believe I said America ever *did* shove its movies on the rest of the world (umm, yeah, irony), I just said America doesn't have the *right* to.
... as if.
But since you seem to want a fight, I'll re-write it:
Like The American People have a right to complain when the Nations of Foreign People exercise their Right of Government and deny the US valuable returns from its so-called "Entertainment" industry
It's not something to complain about - you Americans should be rejoicing that the Egyptian government, representative of its people, is protecting its populace from cultural dilution at the hands of an Imperialist Industry!
Feh!
If you make believe something is complex, it is.
Just the same as if you try to simplify things, you can.
Anti-Zionism != Anti-Semitism.
Semitism includes Egyptians as well as Jews, and Muslims, too. I am not an anti-Jew, and I'm not anti-Semitic. There is a lot I would like to learn and understand about both.
But to return to the topic at hand and disregard your slight, Zion, and the abstract concept of a Zion as a cultural purpose, is bad for the human race.
It may be good for certain portions of the human race to pursue such efforts (Plymouth Rock, Utah, etc.) but for the race as a whole, it is a very damaging effect to have such pursuits embodied in religious and ideological inventions among a widely diverse, effectively uneducated populace such as exists in the Middle East region.
The relentless pursuit of the Zion carrot in the name of religious or cultural identity by hordes of jackass Jews has given the entire human race - from the Chinese to the Australians - strife.
The Jewish nation doesn't seem to understand the spiritual liability it is causing for the *entire* species for the sake of their stories and ideology, and nor do the Palestines for that matter.
Before you conveniently label me "anti-Jew" and attempt to pile Nazi stigma into the issue in order to reneg my point, let me just state that there are jackass-Whites, jackass-Republicans, jackass-Blonds, and jackass-torpor's, too.
I make no distinction between any man, or group of people, who on the basis of some cultural identity, selfishly draw borders in their own racial sands and in so doing deny peace to the entire human race.
Zion is a bad game, and everyone should stop playing it.
Also, bloody revenge is a bad game, too.
We all need to s/revenge/forgiveness/ more in our lives.
There is just no justification for bloodshed. None.
And if racial boundaries such as the ones defining Israel and the Jewish Nation (two separate entities, I will note) were not being drawn, there would be even less justification occuring among the heads who lead us all into this mess, persistently.
The Human Race deserves better than Zion.
It's a movie. Nothing more.
...
/. It has been probably one of the most enlightening slashdot.org stories ever, and I've been here since the day Chips&Dips went online ...
Well, this is the crux of your argument. Some would say that its naive to say "its just a movie" about a story clearly derived from a religious source...
You could, by your reasoning, just as easily say hey, those are "just bombs" we're dropping. They won't have any effect on you whatsoever if you consider that its *only entertainment*.
"Hey, its only heroin?! There's nothing wrong with heroin, have some!"
The fact is, movies *DO* influence culture, they *DO* have an effect on a nations' lifestyle, they *definitely* have an economic impact, and they very definitely are used to convey the message of their makers - makers whose agenda's are definitely not globally aligned with or sensitive to the Human Condition
I'm not taking sides, but I am disgusted at the reaction to this here on
... that either one of these two points are just as applicable to the United States of America.
Like America has a right to shove its religion^M^M^M^M^M^M^M^Mmovies on the rest of the world...
Sheesh. Its' as if its 'ignore the irony' day today.
... and obvious, that there is much to be learned by the Western/American {there is no difference any more} constituency of /., about the ways of the world.
... even 'spiritual inspiration for living' from this media rather than ... say ... other media such as the Koran or The Bible.
Honestly, I was shocked to see so many posts along the line of "Egypt sucks, what a lame country, how weak"...
Matrix is widely regarded as an allegorical story, pitched in modern technological terms, regarding the lost races of Zion and the Jewish struggle for freedom. If you don't know that Zion is not just a place in a ass-kick movie with 3D effects, then I suggest you put google to use and learn just *WHY* the name "Zion" has so much stigma associated with it, and why many firmly believe that the Zionist movement is a destructive one for the human race as a whole.
Egypt is a very, very, very religiously fervent land. In Egypt, religion is actually more important to the general populace than the ability to be sitting on your ass in a dark theatre like a vegetable, being placated by wonderous 'miracles' of technology, being delivered a sermon on modern living by the modern Western priesthood (Hollywood).
For many people in Egypt, religion is a way of life, not just something you buy a ticket for on the weekends.
Americans think that "The Matrix" is just entertainment, and to their culture, an integrated part of the entire experience of being "Free".
Actually, from an objective view, Hollywood *is* the American Religion in that many modern Americans formulate their personal views, moral conviction, and yes
There is little difference between the Matrix-nerd waxing philosophical about 'the meaning of a film called Matrix' and a devout Muslim who holds a firm belief in the wisdom of Allah.
Really, very little difference whatsoever - both are using cultural mechanisms to bring some bearing of significance to their lives.
If the Egyptian government, in deciding not to allow this film to play among its populace, is doing so in order to protect its culture from strife - and nobody knows better than the Egyptians how cultural memes can cause strife - then in so doing it is no different than the US Government, deciding that 'digital rights' should be enforced and rigorously protected in order to safeguard its economy.
Remember this:
Just because Egyptians do not worship your gods, does not make them worthy of ridicule.
Dude. I'm having a movement right now, and frankly I'm finding it *very* Zen...