I wanted to post this in the Professional Webmaster Business Issues forum because that's where it rightfully belongs. It belongs there because it has a very sobering message in it that is going to change business via the Internet.

But to save the admins some work of moving the thread to foo (the nonsense thread) I figured I might as well just throw it in here right away.

It has a very strong potential to drive many people away from the Internet and as a result our businesses will suffer. That's especially true for American based businesses due to the tide of negative sentiment building concerning American based technology platforms.

New TED Talks by Mikko Hypponen (about 20 minutes) It's easily one of the most extraordinary commentaries I've ever watched:
[ted.com...]

The only thing I didn't like about the video was that it wasn't long enough. Obviously the guy has to be diplomatic and rational in his presentations to maintain credibility otherwise I'm sure so much more insight could have been gained.

And for balanced perspective U.K. Spy Chiefs also came out today in rare public testimony. Nice timing to ratchet up the rhetoric of fear to justify what they are doing. According to the article they've "saved us" from a few hundreds. At what price?

This is only a shorter Toronto Star Newspaper article:
[y.ahoo.it...]

Effective today I'm cutting back on all my WW posting in protest. I'll stick around to try to tidy up a few open threads. I've lost my desire to participate in constructive ways. I'm empty. If I see a thread that I can provide help in on some technical issue or perspective I won't hesitate to jump in.