Mungowitz drops the ball

Perhaps due to his Pisco intake, or his fear of being caught up in an similar situation in South America, my esteemed co-blogger really buried the lede yesterday in his short note about UNC professor Paul Frampton.

I rise this morning to revise and extend my colleague's remarks.

This January, Frampton was arrested in Buenos Aires for boarding a plane with a suitcase containing a fair amount of Bolivian marching powder. He claims innocence and I believe him because, judging by his statements in this article, his drug of choice is LSD (that is to say, homie be trippin').

First off, he appears to believe he is working somewhere other than where he is working:

“The university has done nothing, absolutely nothing, to help me,” he said. “You would expect a university of that caliber would do everything possible to get me out of prison.”

He also has a theory of why mighty UNC is not helping; the provost is too jealous to do his duty!

Carney had long been jealous, he said, because Frampton had earned tenure much more quickly and because Carney’s academic accomplishments were paltry compared to his own.


 “I am one of the most published physicists, and really he hasn’t done much that is of interest,” Frampton said, Carney had taken advantage of Frampton’s helpless position to stop his pay and hinder any notion of the university helping him.

The university has put him on a leave of absence and stopped paying him because he's not teaching his class.

 But Frampton says that this is unfair because the class was already being cancelled due to low enrollment (1 student signed up and 5 is the minimum class size)!

 Wow!

There is one part of the story that does make me thing Frampton may be guilty (remember he's been in jail since January 23rd:


Frampton said he was actually working more than 40 hours a week in prison, and had already written four scholarly papers this year.

Frampton Comes Unglued

As part of our continuing coverage of news of the arrest and incarceration of UNC physics Prof. Paul Frampton, we have some...well, some continuing coverage.

I have to admit they guy is growing on me.  We have talked about this before, and there may have been some incredulity in our electronic voices.  But as more facts come out, it turns out Dr. Frampton is pretty much like...most 65+ college profs.

(Read on, below the fold, for details)

Frampton Comes Unglued

As the continuing story of Prof. Frampton, UNC physics professor and babe magnet...well, as it continues.  The latest.  A nice summary of the whole thing.

Prof. Frampton says he has "a large ego."  Now, folks, Angus and I have large egos.  Large egos are friends of ours.  Prof. Frampton....you are no large ego.  You are something else.

Thomas Frampton Comes Alive

You can find Yale Student Thomas Frampton, complete with picture, and turgidly inanely quote selected from Proudhon, right here. Is he guilty of being anything other than a narcissistic Yalie with a bad haircut?*

Yes, he is! He rushed VP Cheney, and then assaulted Secret Service officers.

A selection from the self-selected motivational quote, which was even more accurate than the young Frampton could have known:

"...to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed, and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality."

Well, Tommy, if you get fraudulent credentials, steal a "volunteer" t-shirt, and then start squealing invective and run toward the Vice President in front of one of the greatest concentrations of security in history, then yes, those things will happen to you. You should have read your own fatuous little motto, dude!

You can find other examples of Frampton's sublimation of his guilt over academic inadequacy here and here. And (good lord) here. Don't they have to go to CLASS at Yale? Do you FEEEEEEL like I do?

*No, that is not redundant. Not all Yalies have bad haircuts.

Frampton comes full circle

Ex-UNC prof Paul Frampton has now been convicted of drug running in Argentina and sentenced to 4 years, 8 months.

Earlier KPC coverage of this story can be found here.

He claims he was scammed by a babe. But the prosecution says he texted said babe gems like: "I'm worried about the sniffer dogs".

Confirming my previous allegation that Frampton's drug of choice is LSD, he hopes to serve his time in a friend's apartment.

That's not how they roll, homie.

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

It's back.  Monday's Child is full of links.  You're welcome.

1.  Frampton comes back!  Here at KPC we covered the travails of one UNC physics prof., Paul Frampton, in Argentina.  So here, and then here, and then here. and then here.

But, now, he's BACK!  Ready to get back in the game. No, really, he rallied. All this texts that he called "jokes" at his trial? Those were fake!  And, to be fair, they were a bit odd.  It's all ridiculously entertaining.  Clearly should be a movie, with Will Farrell playing the lead role.

2.  Viewpoint diversity is important. But "affirmative action for conservatives" would just double down on the existing problem.

3.  Binders full of asinines.

4.  We're just wrestling, son!

5.  Apparently, the only important "diversity" is diversity of hues. Diversity of views or experiences doesn't count. And if you think it does matter, you will be forced into a Cultural Revolution style "Struggle Session" to be humiliated and forced to apologize.


6.  Robotics is not going to end the world.

7.  My man Sam Bowman explains what the word "endogenous" means.  And he's right.

8.  Did you know this? "Railfans" are people who like trains. But they scorn "Foamers," who really really like trains. Sometimes, railfans feel persecuted and misunderstood.

9.  The awesomely awesome Megan McArdle on EconTalk?  Two of my favorite people talking to each other? Where do I sign up?

10.  This....THIS is what made me decide that "Monday's Child" still has a place in a world of Twitter. Because sometimes you just need links.  Here's the story.  For those of you too young to remember, here's the correct historical reference:  "With God as my witness..."  That may have been the single best moment of television in the late 1970s, a time when television comedy ruled.

I want to end the new beginning of Monday's Child with a request:  Please send me links that belong here.  send to mungowitz at gmail dot com.  Thanks!

Monday's Child

1.  Some utterly tone-deaf political ads. 

2. The difference between the Bolivarian Revolution, and a revolting Bolivian.  Evo decides he wants to be a Sport Boy.  And who are YOU to say no?

3.  Charlie Rangel gots GAME, bud.

4.  An experiment and some work I have had a TINY role in supporting (through a kind of crowdsourcing).  Very interesting:  fungus makes ants bit a twig and lock down.  They hang on until they die, and their entire insides are eaten by the fungus.  The interesting thing is the biting down:  it keeps the ant "safe" as a host for the fungus.  The ant doesn't want to bite down, and certainly doesn't want to lock down until it dies.  But the fungus takes over.

5.  Angus has been spending a lot of time in Santa Fe. And this happened in Santa Fe.  Coincidence?  I don't think so...

moremoremore...

Monday's Child

1.  Mr. Big feels all empty inside.  He gets some advice.

2.  Just put a monkey in charge, as long as the monkey is trained.  The Atlantic.

3.  This is fascinating.  What is it with UNC Profs and a near total incapacity for self-awareness?  Prof. Frampton thought he was a hottie, and this lady thinks....I'm not sure what she thinks.  But she clearly thinks she should be allowed to drive drunk.  I'm sympathetic to the legal challenge, I suppose.  Still, it takes some huevos to defend oneself in that way.

4.  Pravda article on Putin and Obama.  Hilarious, and accurate, sometimes.   Hilarious when it's inaccurate, and sad when it's accurate.

5.   A well-regulated militia.
MOREMOREMORE

Tyler crosses the line

I think he may just be trying to get a rise out of me because I often mock his beloved Beatles, but in his post about Ohio, the Lebron James of bloggers says:

"Popular music: I can't think of much...Boz Scaggs doesn't count nor does Peter Frampton. Lonnie Mack's The Wham of That Memphis Man! is one of the least known great albums. Doris Day is a very good singer and do see Pillow Talk if you don't already know it."


AAAAARRRGH!!! OK T, I'm taking the bait.

Guided. By. Voices.
The Breeders, The Amps (and 1/4th of the Pixies), i.e. the inimitable Deal sisters.

People, that's just from Dayton! Robert Pollard and Kim Deal. You could just listen to their stuff and nothing else all your life and be way way way ahead of the game.

But that's not all. From the Cleveland area: Eric Carmen (the Raspberries), Devo, and Pere Ubu!


And if that wasn't cruel enough, T goes on to opine:

"Director: Wes Craven remains underrated; I still like his The Serpent and the Rainbow, among others. I can't think of a notable movie set in Ohio, can you?"

Umm, phone call for Dr. Cowen. Dr. Cowen, call your office!!

People I give you Jim F. Jarmusch!! You know, the guy who directed Stranger than Paradise (set in Ohio too by the way), Mystery Train, Night on Earth, Dead Man, Ghost Dog, and Down by Law.

Holy Crap. He got me real good.

Frampton Comes Into Some Money!

Our long national nightmare is over.

UNC physics prof, and self-proclaimed dater of Argentine bikini models, has had his back salary restored (at least up until the time that he was fired).

More importantly, the rule of law has been restored.  Yes, you can go off to Argentina on some delusional quest, be fooled into selling drugs, and be jailed for years, and still keep your university job!

If you haven't been following the story, here is our previous coverage.

Monday's Child is Full of Links

1.  What if they didn't have a prom, and everybody came? 

2.  An American success story.  Hotness!  Maybe if we just relied on foreigners, instead of lazy Americans, we'd have more American success stories.  Let's trade California for Vietnam, and call it even.

3.  You are not allowed to use your money to affect public opinion...if your opinions differ from mine. Otherwise, it's cool.

4.  On Dr. Sowell, and what's "possible."

5.  Anonyman claims he IS, in fact a hipster, sort of, if you squint and have had several drinks and it's near closing time.  As evidence he reminds us on the Simpsons episode on artisanal donuts...and power.   He's got a point:  Anonyman is a LOT like that cop who asks twice a day, "What have I become?"




6. Speaking of Artisanal Nuclear Power...

7.  Google Translate is good.  But it's not great.

8.  You probably saw this.  My rule is that there should be some tolerance for racism/sexism/bigotry if (a) the person is clearly trying to be funny and (b) if the person succeeds and it IS funny.  (I am paraphrasing the Camille Paglia rule of humor, by the way).  I don't think he was trying to be funny, and it wasn't funny.

9.  Anonyman may be going through a phase.  He may go into "affinity marketing" and move to Williamsburg.  (The one Brooklyn, not the colonial one.  Not near enough irony in the colonial one.  Ick.)  As for me, I could never be a hipster, no matter how much I tried.  I wore work boots...to work.  They had to be steel-toed, because I worked in a lumber yard.  Hipsters shower before work (if at all).  I had to shower after work.  Not really sure why pretending to be working class is cool.  I do know that lots of working class folks would be happy to have a hipster's trust fund, and trade places.  How's THAT for irony?

10.  Renan sends this map:  Developing/industrializing nations with a constitutional guarantee of a "free market."  Hard to see a pattern.

11.  I do feel bad for poor Reese Witherspoon.  She tried that whole "I'm an American citizen" thing, and it didn't go well for her.  You actually do have to do what the police tell you, ma'am.  The only reason you didn't know that is that you are not poor, and rarely have to deal with the pointy end of the spear.

12.  Slaves to the algorithm...

13.  Frampton comes again...suing for back pay, even though he was in jail.  I'm afraid I don't see this turning out well for him.  It may be that he did not get normal due process.  But if you are in jail on a felony conviction, in another country, the university has every right to suspend you without pay.

14.  What caused colony collapse?  No one really knows.  What saved us from colony collapse?  Capitalism.  I wrote about this once.  It's an interesting problem:  should beekeepers pay owners of nectar, or should owners of plants that need to be pollinated pay beekepers?  The answer....depends, but it's not what you think...

15.  Carbon democracy (!)

16.  The U.S. is not a democracy, and shouldn't be.  It's a constitutional republic.  Even when it comes to guns.  And Barry Snell has some thoughts on that.  Phone call for Prof. Joel Rosch...

FOCUS: UNC

A Friday Focus Feature, on the University of North Carolina. We'll go from the locally messed up to the internationally messed up.

Local bizarrity: So, the EYM has a nice bike. Locked it up, near the Pit, 11 am. Comes back at 2 pm, both wheels have been stolen, and (this is the cool part) a "new" heavy duty lock has been added. So now the bike is locked twice, once with the EYM's lock and once with a lock placed there by .... who? The thief. Presumably so the thief can come back at leisure and finish the job by cutting the EYM's lock off and taking the frame. The EYM calls the local five-oh, who helpfully say (1) he cannot cut the alien lock off, because they are "not sure" it's his bike. (2) they will allow him to cut it off in a "few days" (not clear how many, or what the criteria for this decision are). Of course, this means he has no way of guarding the bike. After the thieves come back and take it, I suppose the five-oh will say, "What bike? There's no bike here? What are you complaining about?"

State/National bizarrity: Herman Cain continues to campaign, though it is not clear for what. Mr. Cain made an appearance at UNC Chapel Hill on Thursday. He was quoted as saying: “Look at me, I grew up in Atlanta, Ga., in the ’50s and ’60s, during the times when this nation had segregation and Jim Crow,” Cain said. “And today, not only was I able to run for president of the United States of America, I have a bus out there with my picture on it.” So there you have it: the civil rights movement, at its core, was a fight for the right to have a bus with your picture on it.

International bizarrity I: Frampton comes apart. Physics prof gets arrested for cocaine smuggling (two kilograms!) in Argentina, offers the defense of "professional jealousy." Yep, those snooty Argentine cops are famously upset if you have more journal articles than they have.

International bizarrity II: UNC student (and then student President) Eve Carson was murdered during a robbery a few years ago. But she lives on.... as a photo used to advertise how safe and fun it is to go to university in the US! Yes, kids in India see this:

Apparently the company has apologized, and removed the ads. Still, when you steal some photo off the internet to use for advertising foreign colleges, you should make sure the subject was not a murdered foreign college student.