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Author Archives: F. E. Guerra-Pujol
Welders vs. Philosophers (“The Marco Rubio Fallacy”)
“Welders make more [income] than philosophers. We need more welders and less philosophers.“–Marco Rubio (Nov. 10, 2012) In fairness to Marco Rubio, who we greatly admire, he is making a more general point about the merits of vocational education, but … Continue reading
Posted in Current Affairs, Economics, Politics
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Legal Risk (daily fantasy sports edition)
As we mentioned in our previous post, Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York, recently sent a “cease-and-desist” letter to DraftKings and FanDuel, ordering them to stop taking wagers from New York residents. Both firms have responded that they … Continue reading
Posted in Current Affairs, Law
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An Open Letter to the Attorney General of New York State
Dear Sir: In your eloquent and well-reasoned cease-and-desist letter to DraftKings dated Nov. 10, 2015, you conclude that “Daily Fantasy Sports” is a form of illegal gambling under New York law. Specifically, you assert that “DraftKings has promoted … DFS [Daily … Continue reading
Posted in Current Affairs, Law
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Illiberal Yale?
Ivy League sentences to ponder: “It is therefore remarkable that no fewer than 13 [Yale] administrators took scarce time to compose, circulate, and co-sign a letter advising adult students on how to dress for Halloween, a cause that misguided campus … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Current Affairs
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“You better lawyer-up, ***hole …”
In the movie version of the bestselling book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin threatens to sue his friend Mark Zuckerberg when he finally discovers that his original 30% equity stake in Facebook–the social network business he cofounded with Mark … Continue reading
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Moving movie posters
Via kottke: “Pablo Eyre took a number of movie posters featuring photography from their respective movies and replaced the photos with actual scenes. I imagine this is what movie posters look like in Harry Potter.” (Check out Mr Eyre’s website … Continue reading
The Mathematics of Bookmaking
In the gambling world, vigorish refers to the amount charged by a bookmaker, or bookie, for taking a bet from a gambler. We found the following formal definition of vigorish on the walls of a tavern in the Old Town … Continue reading
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Games, Probability
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Are smartphone videos “speech” or “conduct”?
This is an important legal question, since “speech” is generally protected under the First Amendment, while “conduct” can be prohibited and punished. At this year’s Loyola constitutional law colloquium in Chicago, professor Alan K. Chen explained why digital photographs and … Continue reading
Posted in Current Affairs, Law
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What does it mean to “interpret” the Constitution?
This is one of the penetrating questions Richard Posner posed at the Sixth Annual Constitutional Law Colloquium at Loyola University in Chicago. According to Judge Posner, judges resort to various ad hoc theories of interpretation to decide cases when the … Continue reading
Posted in Law
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“The Coasian Constitution”
That is the title of our most recent work-in-progress in which we suggest replacing judicial review with some form of “constitutional arbitration.” We will present our work during the Sixth Annual Constitutional Law Colloquium sponsored by the Loyola School of … Continue reading
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prior probability 