Guilty by Reason of Stupidity

Guilty by Reason of Stupidity PDF Author: Joel Seidemann
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740777122
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book Here

Book Description
If the iPod is too loud, does Steve Jobs have to pay? Can Steven Spielberg cut a kid's hair without permission? Did Mickey Mouse and Fred Flintstone really cast votes for Ralph Nader? Unbelievable but true tales of more than one hundred court calamities, curiosities, and comical cases. Joel Seidemann's law career spans more than 25 years. He is currently a district attorney, but when he's not arguing on the city's behalf, he can be found researching the most bizarre, hilarious, and ridiculous cases of legal history. And now, thanks to Seidemann, we know why Lady Justice is blindfolded. Surely it's to hide her tears from the daily dysfunction and dalliances bestowed upon our country's judicial system. Remember the woman who claimed she found a finger in her Wendy's chili? Or the judge who attempted to make a courtroom decision by flipping a coin? Seidemann concisely chronicles more than one hundred tales of courtroom chaos and credulity that are destined to make even the most experienced judge chuckle between sessions. The perfect gift for newly licensed lawyers who just passed the bar, in addition to legal eagles currently in practice.

Guilty by Reason of Stupidity

Guilty by Reason of Stupidity PDF Author: Joel Seidemann
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740777122
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book Here

Book Description
If the iPod is too loud, does Steve Jobs have to pay? Can Steven Spielberg cut a kid's hair without permission? Did Mickey Mouse and Fred Flintstone really cast votes for Ralph Nader? Unbelievable but true tales of more than one hundred court calamities, curiosities, and comical cases. Joel Seidemann's law career spans more than 25 years. He is currently a district attorney, but when he's not arguing on the city's behalf, he can be found researching the most bizarre, hilarious, and ridiculous cases of legal history. And now, thanks to Seidemann, we know why Lady Justice is blindfolded. Surely it's to hide her tears from the daily dysfunction and dalliances bestowed upon our country's judicial system. Remember the woman who claimed she found a finger in her Wendy's chili? Or the judge who attempted to make a courtroom decision by flipping a coin? Seidemann concisely chronicles more than one hundred tales of courtroom chaos and credulity that are destined to make even the most experienced judge chuckle between sessions. The perfect gift for newly licensed lawyers who just passed the bar, in addition to legal eagles currently in practice.

The Psychology of Stupidity

The Psychology of Stupidity PDF Author: Jean-Francois Marmion
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525506659
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Get Book Here

Book Description
"We need books like this one." --Steven Pinker At last, stupidity explained! And by some of the world's smartest people, among them Daniel Kahneman, Dan Ariely, Alison Gopnik, Howard Gardner, Antonio Damasio, Aaron James, and Ryan Holiday. And so I proclaim, o idiots of every stripe and morons of all kinds, this is your moment of glory: this book speaks only to you. But you will not recognize yourselves... Stupidity is all around us, from the coworker who won't stop hitting "reply all" to the former high school classmate posting conspiracy theories on Facebook. But in order to vanquish it, we must first understand it. In The Psychology of Stupidity, some of the world's leading psychologists and thinkers--including a Nobel Prize winner and bestselling authors--will show you... why smart people sometimes believe in utter nonsense; how our lazy brains cause us to make the wrong decisions; why trying to debate fools is a trap; how media manipulation and Internet overstimulation make us dumber; why the stupidest people don't think they're stupid. The wisdom and wit of these experts are a balm for our aggrieved souls and a beacon of hope in a world of morons.

Intellectual Morons

Intellectual Morons PDF Author: Daniel J. Flynn
Publisher: Forum Books
ISBN: 1400082692
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 229

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why do well-educated antiwar activists call the president of the United States “the new Hitler” and argue that the U.S. government orchestrated the September 11 attacks? Why does Al Gore believe that cars pose “a mortal threat to the security of every nation”? Why does the Princeton professor known as the father of the animal rights movement object to humans eating animals but not to humans having sex with them—and why does PETA defend that position? In other words, why do smart people fall for stupid ideas? The answer, Daniel J. Flynn reveals in Intellectual Morons, is ideology. Flynn, the author of Why the Left Hates America, shows how people can be so blinded to reality by the causes they serve that they espouse bizarre, sometimes ridiculous, and often dangerous positions. The most influential social movements have spawned ideologues who do not care whether an idea is good or bad, true or false, but only whether it can serve their cause. It is startling how many Americans—and particularly how many media, academic, and political elites—fall for bad ideas. The trouble is, their lies become institutionalized as truth, and we all suffer as a result. In Intellectual Morons, Flynn reveals: •How rabid anti-Americans simply parrot the delusional claims of a few gurus •How the environmental movement, spawned by a “scientist” whose doomsday predictions are almost always wrong, has bred fanaticism, stupidity, and dishonesty •How the hero of the animal rights crowd is a crank who promotes infanticide and euthanasia •How a scientific fraud—and pervert—launched the sexual revolution •How abortion rights activists ignore (or cover up) the fact that their matron saint advocated eugenics and concentration camps •How our universities have become hothouses of leftist ideology •How historians and journalists have airbrushed history to turn a racial separatist into a civil rights icon Filled with jaw-dropping lapses in common sense from even our most celebrated opinion leaders, Intellectual Morons is a welcome reality check for the glaring excesses of today’s political and cultural debates. "This is a sophisticated pile driver of a book, guiding us through the wiles of great luminaries of the netherworld. And such liveliness in the writing, and such erudition. I was quite fascinated by Intellectual Morons."—William F. Buckley, Jr. "Intellectual Morons is exceptionally aptly named. The thought of all that brainpower going down the intellectual drain is sad, but Daniel Flynn's description of it is hilariously on point. This is must reading."—G. Gordon Liddy "Intellectual Morons is a delight—a wonderful intellectual history of the past hundred years. Flynn ably describes the purveyors of the bad ideas that have undermined our free society."—Burton W. Folsom, Jr., professor of history, Hillsdale College "A famous bit of folk wisdom says, 'You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.' Some of the crackpot notions now fashionable in academic circles, as here documented by Daniel Flynn, suggest that saying is an understatement. If you want to know how crazy, and scairy, intellectual morons can get, you have to read this book."—M. Stanton Evans, author of The Theme Is Freedom, contributing editor to Human Events

Stupid Humans

Stupid Humans PDF Author: V. R. Craft
Publisher: Fleet Press
ISBN: 9781633732957
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 538

Get Book Here

Book Description
Samantha is a journalist who travels through the wormhole to New Atlantis and discovers that embarrassing reality when she meets the People, humanity's more intelligent-and smugly superior-distant relatives. So sets the premise for the most raucous comedic space opera this side of the Orion's gizzard.

The Stupidity Paradox

The Stupidity Paradox PDF Author: Mats Alvesson
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782832025
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Get Book Here

Book Description
Functional stupidity can be catastrophic. It can cause organisational collapse, financial meltdown and technical disaster. And there are countless, more everyday examples of organisations accepting the dubious, the absurd and the downright idiotic, from unsustainable management fads to the cult of leadership or an over-reliance on brand and image. And yet a dose of stupidity can be useful and produce good, short-term results: it can nurture harmony, encourage people to get on with the job and drive success. This is the stupidity paradox. The Stupidity Paradox tackles head-on the pros and cons of functional stupidity. You'll discover what makes a workplace mindless, why being stupid might be a good thing in the short term but a disaster in the longer term, and how to make your workplace a little less stupid by challenging thoughtless conformity. It shows how harmony and action in the workplace can be balanced with a culture of questioning and challenge. The book is a wake-up call for smart organisations and smarter people. It encourages us to use our intelligence fully for the sake of personal satisfaction, organisational success and the flourishing of society as a whole.

The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity PDF Author: Carlo M. Cipolla
Publisher: Doubleday
ISBN: 0385546483
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 58

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A masterly book" —Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan "A classic" —Simon Kuper, Financial Times An economist explains five laws that confirm our worst fears: stupid people can and do rule the world Throughout history, a powerful force has hindered the growth of human welfare and happiness. It is more powerful than the Mafia or the military. It has global catastrophic effects and can be found anywhere from the world's most powerful boardrooms to your local bar. It is human stupidity. Carlo M. Cipolla, noted professor of economic history at the UC Berkeley, created this vitally important book in order to detect and neutralize its threat. Both hilarious and dead serious, it will leave you better equipped to confront political realities, unreasonable colleagues, or your next dinner with your in-laws. The Laws: 1. Everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals among us. 2. The probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person. 3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person while deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses themselves. 4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. 5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky PDF Author: Joseph Frank
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691115696
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 806

Get Book Here

Book Description
This fifth and final volume of Joseph Frank's biography of Fyodor Dostoevsky details the last decade of the writer's life, a time that won him the universal approval towards which he always aspired.

The Millionaire's Wife

The Millionaire's Wife PDF Author: Cathy Scott
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250010977
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Millionaire's Wife Cathy Scott The beloved son of Holocaust survivors, forty-nine-year-old George Kogan grew up in Puerto Rico before making his way to New York City, where he enjoyed great success as an antiques and art dealer. Until one morning in 1990, when George was approached on the street by an unidentified gunman—and was killed in cold blood. Before the shooting, George had been on the way to his girlfriends's apartment. Mary-Louise Hawkins was twenty-eight years old and had once worked as George's publicist. But ever since they became lovers, George's estranged wife, Barbara, was consumed with bitterness. As she and George hashed out a divorce, Barbara fueled her anger into greed—especially after a judge turned down her request for $5,000 a week in alimony. Barbara, who stood to collect $4.3 million in life insurance, was immediately suspected in George's death. But it would take authorities almost twenty years to uncover a link between her lawyer, Manuel Martinez, and the hitman who killed George. In 2010, Martinez agreed to testify against his client...and Barbara eventually pled guilty to charges of grand larceny, conspiracy to commit murder, and murder in the first degree. This is the shocking true story of THE MILLIONAIRE'S WIFE.

Idiots in Charge

Idiots in Charge PDF Author: Leland Gregory
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740792083
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes." --Tom DeLay, America's Community Bankers meeting, March 12, 2003 * After revealing absurd 911 phone calls and America's dumbest criminal antics, former Saturday Night Live writer Leland Gregory skewers political pandering and pen-pushing philosophizing. Leland Gregory generates the best laughs by exposing the worst of human nature. Inside Idiots in Charge: Lies, Trick, Misdeeds, and Other Political Untruthiness Gregory offers more than 250 accounts of bumbling bureaucrats on both sides of political party lines: * David Spellman became mayor of Black Hawk, Colo., on July 12, 2006, a week after pleading guilty to felony menacing and third-degree assault for pistol-whipping his wife with a handgun and firing three shots in 2005. * County officials in Vermillion, Ind., were told by state homeland security officials in July 2006 to stop using the special emergency-only highway message boards to advertise their charity fish fries and spaghetti dinners. * District 1 Town Councilor David Watson resigned from his position as council vice chairman on January 23, 2007, after unintentionally forwarding an e-mail to 18 members of the New Elementary School Building Committee. The e-mail contained nine embedded images of topless women under the heading "This Is National Women's Breast Awareness Day." The only other text in the e-mail read, "Beats . . . Martin Luther King Day, doesn't it?"

You Are Not So Smart

You Are Not So Smart PDF Author: David McRaney
Publisher: Avery
ISBN: 1592407366
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
Explains how self-delusion is part of a person's psychological defense system, identifying common misconceptions people have on topics such as caffeine withdrawal, hindsight, and brand loyalty.