Copyright 2013 Herbert I. London Sat, 18 May 2013 18:40:02 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Herbert I. London :: Writings http://www.herblondon.org herb@hudson.org (Herbert I. London) webmaster@pundicity.com en-us http://www.herblondon.org/13225/mooc-surge Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST It is difficult to know if MOOC's (Massive Open On-line Courses) are a conspiracy to undermine the Academy or mankind's final redemption, a way to open the avenues of higher education. However one sees it, millions of people are already taking on-line... http://www.herblondon.org/13175/syrian-inaction Fri, 5 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST If one wants to understand what happens in world affairs when the U.S. sits on the sidelines unsure of its role and even its interest, Syria is an excellent case study. Now that a civil war has struck every corner of that country, Bashar Assad and his... http://www.herblondon.org/13159/cyprus-banks Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST Legislators in the tax-haven island of Cyprus have rejected the draconian bank deposit tax defying German leader Angela Merkel. While the protestors danced in the street after the vote, this could be a pyrrhic victory. President Putin threatened to... http://www.herblondon.org/13132/civilizational-discontents Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST The barrier between barbarism and civilization is gossamer-thin, a layer of taboos that separates mankind from its base nature. An impulse to ascend is most often pushed into the armory of descent. Nowhere was this more apparent than the recent Grammy... http://www.herblondon.org/13106/when-virtue-destroys-virtue Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST In his classic work, The Critique of Pure Reason, Emmanuel Kant indicated that antinomy, or the apparent contradiction between valid principles and conclusions which seem necessary and reasonable, can be transmogrified from liberal texts to tyranny. As I... http://www.herblondon.org/13046/obama-authoritarianism Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST For most of Barack Obama's first term as president he talked passionately, if not persuasively, about the need for national unity. Even the $787 Stimulus Bill - largely a laundry list of pent up Congressional desires - was described as a national effort... http://www.herblondon.org/13035/the-world-as-we-knew-it Wed, 13 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST For elderly women who cut coupons in order to survive in their Florida apartments; for pensioners accustomed to monthly checks; for those who were saving for that condo in Tucson, the world as they have known it will be gone. Although politicians cannot... http://www.herblondon.org/13034/ed-koch Tue, 5 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST Former Mayor Koch was one of a kind - brash, arrogant, self-righteous, hard hitting. He was the quintessential New Yorker. In the last week after his death all of this has been said and more. But in my dealings with him, I found another side, not... http://www.herblondon.org/12959/the-contemporary-lies Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:00:00 EST It is now customary for lies to drip from the fountain of public discourse. "I did not have sex with that woman," "your investments are safe with me," "doping did not play a role in the Tour de France victories", a film about Mohammed was responsible for... http://www.herblondon.org/12905/report-on-american-history Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:00:00 EST Although conservatives reflexively assume race, class and gender dominate American history, there is now incontrovertible evidence that this assumption is true. In a careful study of U.S. history courses at the University of Texas and Texas A & M... http://www.herblondon.org/12860/hall-of-famers Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:00:00 EST For the first time in decades Hall of Fame voters decided not to confer baseball's highest honor to anyone. What makes this announcement unusual is that the most celebrated names from an era marked by performance-enhancing drugs did not gain entry into... http://www.herblondon.org/12800/fascism-in-america Wed, 9 Jan 2013 09:00:00 EST It is often argued by critics of the Obama administration that it is socialistic, i.e. expanding governmental authority over the means of producing and distributing goods. Alas, there is something to be said for this point of view. As I see it, however,... http://www.herblondon.org/12747/hollowing-out-us-navy Wed, 2 Jan 2013 09:00:00 EST From the time Alfred Mahan wrote his classic work on naval power at the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, this two ocean nation relied on sea power to protect its territory at home and its interests abroad. In fact, it was axiomatic to... http://www.herblondon.org/12723/iran-won-middle-east-conflict Wed, 19 Dec 2012 09:00:00 EST Although the truce between Gaza and Israel didn't lead to an unequivocal result, Israeli officials said they destroyed most rocket launchers and Gazan leaders maintain the settlement means they resisted the Israeli offensive and have been emboldened by... http://www.herblondon.org/12684/nobel-peace-prize Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:00:00 EST Just what is the Nobel Peace Prize committee up to? In giving the prize to the European Union (EU) the Norwegians comprising the decision making committee made themselves a laughing stock... again. In what sense, is this regional union an avatar for...