Monthly Archives: April 2008

Oh Frabjous Day! Fafblog IS BACK!

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

Fafblog! is back!

It's time for another edition of BARACK OBAMA: THE FINAL THROES! Last week Giblets revealed the dangerous levels of pussification inherent in Obama's bowling skills and orange juice consumption while exploring the damage done by persistent rumors that the senator is secretly black. But this latest scandal has doomed the Obama campaign more than any dooming doom that has doomed it before, because this time Obama has Insulted America by saying that poor people in impoverished rural areas are somehow “bitter” about being poor and impoverished. For shame!

…

These people aren't “bitter.” Far from it! America's impoverished working class are a chipper and cheerful lot, prancing and scampering about their foreclosed homes and crumbling industrial sectors with a spirit of adorable pluckiness, smiling and laughing through their unemployment and their black lung disease like a pack of hardscrabble leprechauns!

…

That's why Giblets is so certain this final crippling blow to the Obama candidacy will be the finalest and most crippling of them all! By implying that the economic immiseration of America's rural underclass has made them somehow unhappy, Obama has alienated America's heartland!

(thanks to SH for the tip!)

…Have they really been gone since July 12, 2006? We needed them.

Posted in Blogs | 1 Comment

Now, For a Limited Time Only, UM Offers ‘The Tunnel of Oppression’

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

The weekly University of Miami electronic newsletter brings me this offer, which sounds quite resistible:

Today, Monday, April 21 through Wednesday, April 23 The Tunnel of Oppression. The William R. Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership Development, UM Citizen's Board, the Ford Foundation, the Office of Student Affairs, and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression urge individuals to participate in a powerful, one-time, campus wide program, the Tunnel of Oppression, hosted in the University Center Ballrooms. The Tunnel of Oppression is a nationally renowned sensory-based experiential learning opportunity designed to expose participants to the various types of oppressive acts that exist in society today. Through interactive tours, it is designed to challenge peoples' thoughts, perceptions, and inner feelings on issues dealing with oppression and hatred. Tours occur every 15 minutes from 4 to 9 p.m. and last approximately 20 minutes. For more information, e-mail b.tedeschi@umiami.edu, slemmons@miami.edu, or vjones@miami.edu or call 401-290-7437.

Look, I already go to faculty meetings — isn't that enough?

Posted in U.Miami | 1 Comment

Snap and It’s Gone

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

In a comment on the previous post, “Asperger Syndrom DVD Available for Educators”, Brett Bellmore complains about the snap.com preview tool I installed on the blog. I think he has a point.

Back when I installed this thing, it had a one-click on/off toggle that you could invoke from the left margin of the blog. So if you didn't like it, you clicked once, set the cookie, and it never bothered you again.

But that option seems to be gone: at least today, the toggle isn't working right, so if you want to make snap stop snapping, you have to go to their page. That's not nice.

I've disabled the snap, and will only bring it back if there's popular demand in the comments below.

Posted in Discourse.net | 3 Comments

Asperger Syndrome DVD Available for Educators

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

My old friend Stan Jaskiewicz writes to a college mailing list,

Since so many of members of our class of 1982 are in academia, I thought I would make you aware of a new, free resource to assist you in working with students with Asperger Syndrome, a form of high functioning autism (and the type that my son has) that is particularly common among those skilled in math and science.

The brief video (available at the website or on DVD) explains the social and educational challenges these students face in the college, and how accommodations to the learning environment can help such students to benefit from college classes. The website also has a link to download a free publication, “Understanding Asperger Syndrome: A Professor's Guide.”

Please feel free to circulate this information to your professional colleagues who may have students with Asperger's in their classes.

The text of his attachment is below. Or skip straight to the free download. Stan is a hero.

Continue reading →

Posted in Science/Medicine | 3 Comments

Happy Passover

Posted on April 19, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

Happy Passover to all!

seder-plate.jpg

(automated post set to go up at sundown…)

Posted in Personal | 1 Comment

Why Are There TV Crews On the Edge of Campus?

Posted on April 19, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

As I was driving on the north and north-west sides of the UM campus this afternoon, there seemed to be at least two different TV crews set up, from two different local stations, one on the north, one on the NW sides of the campus. No idea if there are others elsewhere. We're used to them when there's an event, and of course down near the south-west side where the baseball stadium is. They were still there when I came back 30 minutes later.

So what's up with this on a SundaySaturday afternoon? Nothing (yet?) on the local news I could find. For a minute I thought this might be it — Police: College Students Attempt To Capture Gator – Miami News Story – WPLG Miami, but no, the dateline is Daytona Beach Shores, Fla.

So I still have no idea.

Posted in U.Miami | 7 Comments