prior probability

Given the cover-up of the Wuhan lab-leak, the crack-down against the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, and the atrocities in Xinjang province, why the heck are we still trading with China?

I stumbled upon this book — Jon Knetsch, Florida’s Seminole Wars, 1817-1858 (2003) — at The Book Loft on Amelia Island.

The full thread is available here, via Damon Jones (@nomadj1s); hat tip: Alex Tabarrok.

That is the title that I would give this upended map of the Mediterranean basin, which was made by artist Sabine Réthoré. (Hat tip: u/JulienPaniac.)

I have been attending the annual meeting of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) this past week on Amelia Island. In addition to the lovely location and in-depth discussions about many different areas of law (this morning, for example, I attended an excellent panel on insider trading law), one of the things I love about SEALS is how family friendly the conference is.

Every academic conference ever!

According to this recent report by Susan Adams (via Forbes), more and more college students are using Chegg and other similar “study” platforms to cheat on their online exams and assignments. Starting next month, I will begin a new series on “the law and ethics of Chegg” and make the case that Chegg should be criminally charged with wire fraud and with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In the meantime, however, I will remain offline while my family and I take a well-deserved beach vacation …

Alternative Title: Welcome to Central Florida!

I described in my previous post the circumstances surrounding my decision to relocate to Central Florida. Although this decision was a difficult and painful one, it turned out to be the right call in my case. To the point, I was able to turn things around in short order and get my professional and private lives back on track:

1. Teaching. Although I had to start my academic career from scratch, I resumed my teaching duties at the business college of a reputable public research university, and as an added bonus, my salary went from x to 2x, and I have made many new scholarly friends.
2. Research. My “Bayesian conversion” occurred in Central Florida, and I have written my most important work since re-locating here, including my 2014 paper “Gödel’s Loophole,” which has been downloaded over 7,000 times and now has its own Wikipedia page! (See here.)
3. Private Life. My children ended up relocating to Central Florida as well and excelling in school. Moreover, I eventually met the love of my life, and we have been happily (for the most part!) married since 2012.

I most certainly have a lot more to say, both good and bad, about my post-Puerto Rico life in Central Florida and about each one of these categories, and I will do so in a second series of reflections in the near future …