prior probability

Is Thomas Jefferson the most overrated man in US history?

Posted on August 15, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

In her beautiful book American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence, Pauline Maier, a historian at MIT who died on Monday of lung cancer, described Thomas Jefferson as “the most overrated person in American history.” Is this statement a classic case of revisionism from a bookish scholar with no sense of reality or an accurate assessment of a man who avoided active combat during the entire course of the Revolutionary War? At the very least, TJ has to be one of the most ironic, if not hypocritical, men in our history: the author of “all men are created equal” owned as many as 177 slaves when he wrote those (empty?) words …

prior probability asks, what’s wrong with this famous picture? Who was left out at the Founding of the Republic?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence, History of the United States, Pauline Maier, Thomas Jefferson | 5 Comments

The TED universe, visualized

Posted on August 15, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Note: prior probability is reblogging this TED post because the visuals are so cool … By the way, do we really need standard universities, with their aloof professors and textbook rip-offs, when we have TED?

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Who owns street art?

Posted on August 15, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

The Times is reporting that one of Banksy‘s public art works, “Flower Girl,” which features the silhouette of a girl peering up at a security camera, is going to be auctioned soon by Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California. According to the Times, Banksy, a street artist from Britain, had stenciled the mural on a wall of a gas station in Los Angeles in 2008.

prior probability asks, doesn’t street art belong to the public, and if so, is this proposed auction legal?

Julien’s Auctions, via Associated Press

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Auction, Banksy, Flower Girl, Property Rights, Street Art | 3 Comments

Don’t Manning and Snowden deserve the Presidential Medal of Freedom more than Clinton or Oprah?

Posted on August 15, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Last week, the White House announced that master politician and blow-job connoisseur Bill Clinton as well as billionaire TV mogul Oprah Winfrey, among others, will be awarded the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

But aside from their real or perceived contributions to the cause of freedom, both Clinton and Oprah are so rich and famous that they don’t really need another prize, do they? So here’s my “modest proposal”: Why don’t Clinton and Oprah do the right thing and donate their “freedom medals” to more deserving persons, like Private Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden (or both!), who, after all, are making real sacrifices for our freedoms?

Maybe next year!

Image Credit: http://www.popularresistance.org/manning-and-snowden-show-way-to-a-better-united-states/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bill Clinton, Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden, Oprah Winfrey, Presidential Medal Freedom | Leave a comment

Should #13 sue Major League Baseball?

Posted on August 15, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Maybe so, but under what legal theory? According to TMZ and this report in the New York Post,

* Alex Rodriguez hasn’t “knowingly” used PEDs since 2003.

* A-Rod has been tested no less than 11 times since 2011 and all his tests have come back negative.

* He feels “persecuted” (compare the length of his suspension, 211 games, with that of the Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun, 65 games).

* There’s “no proof” that A-Rod impeded MLB’s drug investigation.

These are good points, but again, if A-Rod were to sue MLB, in which court should he sue (federal or state?) and what legal theory (e.g. intentional interference with contractual relations?) could he use to get past summary judgement and get his case to trial?

talkshoe.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alex Rodriguez, Major League Baseball, PEDs | Leave a comment

Why are lawyer ads so lame?

Posted on August 14, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Can you think of a way of improving the quality of lawyer ads? Perhaps a course on “The Fundamentals of Advertising” should be a mandatory part of the law school curriculum for One-Ls …

By the way, here is Breaking Bad‘s Bob Odenkirk judging crappy local lawyer ads.

Hat tip: Walter Olson of Overlawyered

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1Ls, Advertising, Bob Odenkirk, Law School, Lawyer Ads | Leave a comment

Is Richard Dawkins an Islamophobe?

Posted on August 14, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Check out his popular Twitter account and decide for yourself …

libcom.org

(Andrew Brown of the Guardian has some thoughts on this matter too.)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Islamophobia, Racism, Richard Dawkins, Twitter | Leave a comment

The logic of the world wide web

Posted on August 14, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Can anyone explain the economic logic of the world wide web to prior probability? (If you are an economist, just leave and close the door behind you.) Traditional business firms provide private goods and services at some positive (non-negative) price. What happens, however, when the price falls to zero? Economic theory predicts zero supply. Yet the world wide web follows a different logic. For example, check out this cool graphic from designtaxi. It’s amazing how some of the best websites on the internet, like Youtube, WordPress, and Google Search, are free.

Hat tip: David Zetland

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Free, Google Search, Price, Private Goods, Wordpress, World Wide Web, Youtube, Zero Price | Leave a comment

Is “global warming” bullshit?

Posted on August 14, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released this State of the Climate: Extreme Events chart. Click on the dot on the bottom of the chart and you will find this amazing heading:

<<Record High Antarctic Sea Ice>>

WTF? The NOAA’s chart further states that “Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent grew to 7.51 million square miles (19.44 million square kilometers) at the winter maximum on September 26, 2012, setting a new record high. The September 2012 monthly average was also a record high, at 19.39 million square kilometers (7.49 million square miles) slightly higher than the previous record in 2006.” Double WTF? So are the climate skeptics right? Is “global warming” a scientific scam?

Hat tip to P. Gosselin.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Antarctic Sea Ice, Antarctica, Climate Change, Extreme Events, Global Warming, NOAA | Leave a comment

Afghan opium

Posted on August 13, 2013 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

One oft-forgotten aspect of the war in Afghanistan are the (futile?) efforts of NATO and the US Armed Forces to eradicate the supply of opium. What if, instead of trying to eradicate the supply of Afghan opium through military force or coercion, the US and her Allies were to take a market or property-rights approach by buying out the entire supply of opium? In this interesting paper, David Zetland, an economist living in Amsterdam, considers what would happen to the market price of heroin if the US agreed to buy out the opium harvest from Afghan suppliers.