You're nitpicking. The Sun won't go supernova, but it will expand into a red giant; same result: the Earth (and its climate) will dissapear.

Recent compared to what?

Most civil laws (Ius Civile) were codified by the romans more than a thousand years ago and they did not have copyright or patents in the books.

The University of Bologna was founded almost a thousand years ago (1088).

The first hospital was founded about 1,300 years ago in Damascus.

Now, world agreement on copyrights date back to 1996. Wow!

300 years? Get off my lawn!

You mean like every other profession?

You don't get to be a great engineer, architect, doctor or dentist just by going to school. It takes talent, will, hard work, good luck and years of effort.

Now, how many engineers or architecs (doctors or dentists) have a change to become millionaires like an artist or sportsman?

Artists always think they are special and nobody else can even begin to understand how special they are... Well, try engineering for a while. You won't even make it past Calculus I, great special one!.

There are several points on which MOOCs are different from regular Universities:

1) Typically, there are no formal requirements to enroll. If I want to take (say) CS 301 in a formal setting, I must have completed the previous courses. In a MOOC, I can try my hand and probably fail, but no one stops me from trying.

2) Many people find the course title interesting and sign-up only to drop a few weeks later, when the material proves above their competence and/or interest.

3) People who try MOOCs, in my opinion and I have no data to prove one way or another, have a job, family and other obligations which limit the amount of time they can put in. If the course is hard, then they fail, not because the course is bad, simply it requires more time than they thought.

For example, I took a MOOC on Mathematics on Philosophy, both being subjects of interest to me. It turned that the mathematics were more diificult than I had expected as well as the philosophy. I concluded the course and learned quite a lot but I did not bother taking the exam, because I knew I would fail. But I did learn quite a lot of interesting things, even if you could count me as a failure regarding the stats on the course.

The point of view of the academics or the promotors of the MOOC might be quite different from the POV of the people taking the course.

Speaking from experience, back in 1983 Renault ceased operations in Mexico (now it's back) and a lot of owners were stranded with no parts, warranty or service.

I would not buy a Renault even if it was the most awesome car available and the cheapest; once burned, twice shy.

Yes, the French government will bail them out in France, but not everywhere else... Caveat emptor.

More than three hundred years after the Glorious Revolution, the U.K. has a freaking P.M. who thinks is an absolute monarch. Perhaps it is time for another revolution.

Off with his head!

Dear Mozilla:

I have been sending money your way because I thought it was used to develop Firefox and Thunderbird and other useful code; but for this shite, I rather keep my money.

What's next? The Al Gore achievement award?

Jeez!

It is not legal, but I doubt we will see any U.S. agent being extradited to Mexico, even for crimes considered as such by both countries.

First the U.S. got angry because a known drug lord was released from prison in Mexico on a technicality. Caro Quintero was accused of murdering a U.S. agent (Kiki Camarena) and running drugs to the U.S.

Then, three U.S. agents came forward declaring to a national magazine (Proceso) that the guy supposedly killed by Caro Quintero, was actually executed by U.S. intelligence agents.

This on top of the Fast and Furious operation from a couple of years ago, on which the U.S government supplied guns and asault weapons to drug lords in Mexico.

One has to wonder, exactly on which side is the U.S. government?

Thank you for your reply.

It's actually the structure of our government itself. We've been fucked by our own Constitution! But this is not so obvious to anyone...

We agree, it is always about politics. Reiterating, public policy determines institutions (structure of our government itself) and institutions determine if and how wealth is distributed...

You seem to want to disagree even with yourself, just for the sake of debate.

I always find your posts interesting. Certainly you get marked "Troll" many times and sometimes you do deserve it, but I like posts that make me think and consider some other point of view, which you do most of the time.

I suggest you read Why Nations Fail if you haven't already.

It is always about politics because public policy determines what kind of institutions a country gets and the institutions determine if wealth is created and distributed or just accumulated by a few.

Look around the world and it seems that a conspiracy is going on: everywhere the richer are getting richer and the poor, poorer.

And you are correct, liberties and rights are less important than food or getting healthcare for our children, so we sacrifice liberty for a piece of bread or a couple of medical pills.

But worse, you're right again: let people face starvation and they become docile sheep, ready to be slaughtered...

Look at it closely: you will see that you get renewable power plants producing renewable power!

Why stop at simple renewable power when you can get renewable, renewable power?

And it is self-sustaining every renewable power plant that dies, engenders a new one!

This schema actually enriches everyone(1)!

NOTICE FOR SARCASM-CHALLENGED PEOPLE: ABOVE POST CONTAINS SARCASM. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

(1) Everyone on the racket, that is. You complain because you're from New York or not part of the racket. People from New York complain, even if they are part of the racket.

Entirely your fault, you should always disconnect cables before handling them; otherwise there is a risk of shock...

By your UID you should be old enough to remember Cayman Islands. Great place, white sandy beaches and a English-backed government.

When the US Government (thru the OECD) decided that the 400+ banks in Cayman were laundering money, the Cayman government caved in and signed a treaty to provide OECD member states with access to bank information.

Bear in mind, laundering money back then wasn't about financing terrorist organizations, it was about US citizens not paying taxes.

More recently, the Swiss turned over data on US citizens who have (had?) Swiss bank accounts.

Sorry, Antigua won't stand up to the US. No more than Cayman or the Swiss did.

And no, it will not take a aircraft carrier and its group off the coast. It will only take a call from some senior D.C. politicians before they cave in.

Right on bro!

Never ever search for Guantanamo, Extraordinary Rendition or any such terms! You might find the truth and truth is bad for you.

Yes, it is much better to stay informed, as you say, about the terrible, terrible crimes commited in Eurasia and Eastasia.

Long live Big Brother!

How do you think tons of drugs from Mexico and Colombia get into the US every day?

The Overlords want you to think that it is all due to corrupt policemen and politicians south of the border, but how does it get in and then gets distributed?

Same answer, corrupt policemen and politicians. But they want the market for themselves, so yes, you try to do it on your own, you're a terrorist!