Paranormal Phenomenon and Economics

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Peter Leeson, an economist from George Mason University, and Claudia Williamson, an economist from Appalachian University, are currently working on a UFO-Bigfoot sightings project. Their preliminary results indicate that there is a positive correlation between the number of UFO sightings in a state (per 10,000 residents) and the number of Bigfoot sightings in a state (per 10,000 residents). In other words, the more UFO sightings there are in a state, the more Bigfoot sightings there are in a state. Further, six of the top ten UFO and Bigfoot states are the same: Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Alaska, Wyoming, and Colorado.

Peter Leeson suggests that there can be many explanations for this correlation.

More after the jump….

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What does Universal Jurisdiction Mean for the Future of the Sovereign State?

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Earlier this month, Spain’s National Court decided to hear a case arising by a lawsuit from a pro-Tibet group against seven Chinese officials over the pre-Olympics repression of protests in Tibet.  This case draws on that court’s Doctrine of Universal Jurisdiction, as no Spaniards were personally harmed and, of course, the events in question did not occur on Spanish territory.  Perhaps the most notable instance of Spain’s use of Universal Jurisdiction is the charge of genocide against former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet (those interested specifically in this case may want to check out my review of a recent documentary chronicling Chile’s attempts at reconciliation)–though, of course, the initial charges against Pinochet in Spain arose because of his crimes specifically against Spanish citizens in Chile.  Spain isn’t the only country that has begun to use such a legal doctrine more widely in recent years to attempt prosecutions for crimes against humanity.  Belgium and Canada are among the handful of countries that have asserted similar jurisdiction to prosecute crimes against humanity extra-territorially. 

Plenty of law review articles have been written about Universal Jurisdiction and what it means for international law, but what might it mean for international relations more generally?  What does it mean that one state can rule against the actions of another that don’t directly affect citizens or property of the first state?  Is this the death knell for the sovereign state? 

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A Draft is Just a Draft (as in writing, not the “Oh No, I am going to war” type)

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Writing for Social Scientists by Howard Becker is a book I would strongly recommend to any graduate student who is about to begin the prospectus and/or dissertation process. This book is not solely about “how to write” in the sense of making outlines and editing. Instead, it is about how to overcome the obstacles people … Read more

P.O.V.: Truth and Reconciliation in Chile

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The PBS series, P.O.V., aired an excellent documentary Tuesday night called The Judge and The General.  This film tells the story of Juan Guzmán, a judge assigned to try criminal cases against members of Augusto Pinochet‘s regime in Chile.  Guzmán had been a supporter of Pinochet, and the film chronicles the information he uncovered while investigating these cases, and how he ultimately came to the realization that Pinochet’s legal immunity from prosecution was a huge hurdle toward Chile’s goal of truth and reconciliation.  From the P.O.V. synopsis:

The Judge and the General follows the twists and turns
of the efforts of Guzmán and others to overcome Pinochet’s immunity and his claims to be too ill, even too senile, to stand trial, and then his final defense — when significant proof had been gathered — that he had known nothing of the crimes. Was Pinochet, who died in 2006 while under
house arrest, brought to justice in the eyes of society? Or did he escape being “touched,” as his supporters jubilantly proclaim? What are the prospects for the cases against Pinochet underlings that are now under way? Most important, what are the prospects for Chile finding both truth and reconciliation through a legal accounting of its recent violent past?

A brief discussion of the film’s finer points follows the jump.

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Pirates, the Dark Knight, and more Game Theory

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Presh Talwalkar at Mind Your Decisions has posted a decent piece on another game theoretic situation from the opening scene in the Dark Knight (contains mild spoilers): The original plan of equal division is flawed. Each robber has incentive to increase his share by killing a fellow team member. Once a member performs his job, he loses … Read more

World of Warcraft makes people better scientists

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A News Lite article reporting on academic research indicates that WoW makes the world more scientific: They looked at a random sample of nearly 2,000 discussion posts to see what types of conversations took place, such as social bantering versus problem-solving, that classified as scientific reasoning. It was concluded that the forum and game-based learning could supplement textbooks and … Read more

Browsing History and Gender Identity

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The Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science blog posted an interesting tool (direct link) that attempts to discern your gender identity by evaluating your browser history.  Particular websites are weighted based on the known gender ratio of the user base for that particular website and creates a new score.   The site assures users it … Read more

End of the week blogging

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The summer is rapidly approaching its end as many of us are preparing for the classes we are teaching, quickly completing those papers for the upcoming APSA conference, and finishing up any summer projects (or finding ways to push back those deadlines).  As such, the blogging here has slowed down a bit while the Dark … Read more