Copyright 2010 Herbert I. London Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:40:02 -0500 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/6899/words-can-mean-whatever Tue, 2 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST The contemporary spokesmen for government, business and the academy have taken a page out of Alice in Wonderland: Words mean whatever you choose to have them mean. At some point, words had meanings detached from the user. They were ideas incarnate that... http://www.herblondon.org/6897/presidential-denial Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST Denial is a powerful influence in public life. It is obviously a major influence in the Obama administration, which may explain why a Republican party and conservatism which were declared dead institutions and philosophies have risen as a phoenix with... http://www.herblondon.org/6844/terrorism-victory Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST As George Orwell noted the first duty of intelligent people is "the restatement of the obvious." It is obvious, or should be obvious, that the goal of terrorists is terrorism. What that means precisely is not clear based on recent news accounts.... http://www.herblondon.org/6767/egyptian-chutzpah Wed, 6 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST I wonder how you spell chutzpah in Arabic? For years the Egyptian government railed against Israel for erecting a security fence in the West Bank. It protested the construction of this wall in the United Nations and in every other international body,... http://www.herblondon.org/6735/tightening-the-noose-on-foreign-policy Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST As the plans for American foreign policy are being debated in the White House and the corridors of Congress, it is increasingly apparent that the options are limited. It is not that options are limited by the lack of imagination, albeit that is a factor.... http://www.herblondon.org/6724/the-triumph-of-hope-over-reality Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST President Obama went to Copenhagen with proclamations about reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the first time in more than a decade that an American administration has offered even a tentative proposal to reduce production of so-called... http://www.herblondon.org/6703/race-to-the-top-education-gimmick Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST In the November 25, 2009 issue of the Wall Street Journal, three eminences of public education, Harold Ford Jr., Louis Gerstner Jr. and Eli Broad, reflect on ways to improve public education in "Race to the Top in Education." Alas, over the last several... http://www.herblondon.org/6665/fighting-jihadism-at-home Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) recently revealed that the Ansar Al-Mujahideen jihadist forum issued a statement in praise of the Fort Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Hassan. This statement was aimed at Muslim associations in the United States... http://www.herblondon.org/6638/scientific-one-sidedness-global-warming Wed, 2 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST It is becoming increasingly apparent that the "inconvenient truth" of global warming may be less true than Al Gore will admit. Public confidence in the arbiters of climate science has been shaken by a leaked e-mail and document scandal which suggests... http://www.herblondon.org/6624/political-correctness-is-deadly Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST As many analysts have noted, political correctness has insinuated itself into the analysis of the murders at Fort Hood. It's far better to rationalize the atrocity by referring to the assailant, Maj. Nidal Hasan, as a deranged individual rather than a... http://www.herblondon.org/6578/organized-protests-over-health-care Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST Playing hardball has become the calling card of this administration. When it doesn't get what it wants, threats emerge, what some now call the Rahm Emmanuel method. But it isn't only the formal apparatus of government that is used in a coercive way. The... http://www.herblondon.org/6549/beyond-appeasement Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST When Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich in 1936 he noted that based on his appeasement stance with Hitler "peace was at hand." Alas, Chamberlain was duped and, as might have been expected, history has not treated him kindly. But, however false the... http://www.herblondon.org/6507/what-is-social-justice Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST During the recent Jewish holidays I heard one rabbi after another speak of "social justice." Uttered with remarkable sincerity, this expression and its meaning elude me. I recognize justice as the adjudication of competing positions in a court of law and... http://www.herblondon.org/6451/no-taxation-with-representation Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST The American Revolution had one inspirational lament that echoed through the pages of our national history: "No taxation without representation." For our Founding Fathers these poignant words meant that the British imposition of taxes was unacceptable... http://www.herblondon.org/6506/barack-obama-a-man-apart Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST Albert Camus was expert at describing a man apart, an existential man, The Stranger, who doesn't belong in the society in which he finds himself. He doesn't have emotional roots; in fact, this character is haunted by shadows — the real and the...