prior probability

On this day (25 July) in 1868, the Territory of Wyoming officially becomes an incorporated territory of the United States. (The Congress later admitted Wyoming to the Union on 10 July 1890.) To commemorate this occasion, I am sharing this excellent paper “Why Not More States? States’ Importance to Democracy and Statehood’s Relevance to Twenty-First Century America” by Jennifer Kindred Mitchell.

Six copies of The Godfather and Philosophy: An Argument You Can’t Refute arrived in my mailbox while I was out of town! (I wrote one of the chapters for this volume: “Ronald Coase and the Corleones.” An ungated copy of my contribution is available here.)

Honest question: now that Barack Obama has put out his annual summer reading list (pictured below), an Obama tradition going back to at least 2016 (see here), I wonder what books, if any(!), are on Joe Biden, Ron DeSantis, or Donald Trump’s respective reading lists?

I love this creative montage of the new “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” productions (more details about this motley movie montage are available here), though I would prefer to not waste my time on either film. Why not? Because of my cinematic priors: a movie/marketing gimmick about a beloved toy doesn’t need to be any longer than 90 minutes tops, and at three hours “Oppenheimer” sounds like it’s way too long and tedious for its own good.

In honor of the 2023 women’s World Cup tournament, which begins today (20 July) “down under” in Australia and New Zealand, check out this two-minute World Cup ad celebrating France’s national football team. More details about this amazing ad are available here. Hat tip: kottke.

One of the artifacts at the National Museum of the American Indian in D.C. that I included in my previous post was a 14¢ postage stamp (also pictured below) featuring the Sioux warrior Hollow Horn Bear that was first issued by the U.S. Post Office 100 years ago! Among other things, I learned that this was an expensive stamp because, back in 1923, you only needed a 2¢ stamp to mail a letter! Here is more information about the iconic Hollow Horn Bear stamp.

I was finally able to visit the National Museum of the American Indian, which is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and is devoted to preserving the history and cultural legacies of the indigenous peoples of North America. Among other things, the museum featured a retrospective of the art of Robert Houle (see here) as well as a special exhibition explaining the larger significance of the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn to our national culture and another informative exhibit on the infamous Indian Removal Act of 1830, perhaps the most egregious federal law ever enacted. Below are some snapshots of my visit:

I am super-excited to announce that my review of Cheryl Misak’s biography of Frank Ramsey (see here) will be published in a forthcoming issue of Bocconi Legal Papers (BLP), the flagship journal of the law school of Luigi Bocconi University, which is located in Milan, Italy.

Who sang it best? Taylor or the Bananarama trio?