Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Giant Croc in Coral Gables

Sun-Sentinal, Pancho the crocodile, suspected of eating three dogs, relocated again :

A huge American crocodile called Pancho, suspected of eating three dogs in a bayside Coral Gables neighborhood, has been caught and relocated for the second time, the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Wednesday.

If the federally protected reptile journeys back to the canals of Gables-by-the-Sea, and experts think it almost certainly will, the critter will be removed from the wild and given to a zoo or licensed private owner.

Measuring 10-feet, 7-inches when captured last week, Pancho had grown nearly 16 inches in the 21 months since it was first caught and moved to the Homestead area of Biscayne Bay, according to Lindsey Hord, the commission's crocodile response coordinator.

Hord's advice to area pet owners: “Keep your dog on a leash.”

Actually, Gables-by-the-Sea (a high rent district annexed by the city a few years back in order to up the tax base) is a bit south of campus, but all these waterways are connected, and I bet a determined croc could make its way up here if it really wanted to.

Posted in U.Miami: Crocs | 1 Comment

Your Favorite Word Could Win You an OED

Powell's Books is having a fun contest, with the prize being the 20-Volume Oxford English Dictionary.

What's your favorite word? And why? What, in your opinion, is the strangest, or most useful, or ridiculously specific word in all of the English language?

Don't be shy — tell us the word you can't stop obsessing over, the one you make sure to use at least once in every party conversation, the word that gets stuck in your head like the song lyric you can't quite place but can't stop humming.

My first thought, I'm almost embarrassed to admit, was “justice”, but I think they want something more offbeat.

Deadline for submissions is Jan. 5, 2009.

What's your favorite word?

Posted in Shopping | 1 Comment

Fellowship Opportunity for Graduating Law Student

ACS Offers Paid, One-Year Law Fellowship

The American Constitution Society (ACS), one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations, seeks a talented, versatile and energetic recent law school graduate to serve as a Law Fellow. The Fellowship will begin in September 2009. The Fellow will serve as part of ACS's Programs staff, which is led by a group of experienced attorneys who coordinate and facilitate ACS's rapidly expanding output of innovative, highly relevant legal and public policy work. The Fellow will work with existing Programs staff to assist in coordinating the work of ACS's Constitution in the 21st Century project, an ambitious multi-year effort to engage scholars, practitioners, public officials and law students in the articulation and dissemination of a progressive vision of the Constitution, law and public policy. In close coordination with the Programs staff attorneys, the Fellow will:

  • Assist in developing and planning ACS speaking programs on cutting-edge legal and policy issues, such as briefings at the National Press Club and on Capitol Hill, conferences and symposia around the country and the ACS National Convention;
  • Manage the listservs of the ACS Issue Groups (ACS's national network of legal practitioners, scholars, and activists), selecting and posting relevant materials and leading substantive discussions among Issue Group members;
  • Help draft program guides for ACS chapters and materials for the public such as short papers based on ACS Issue Briefs;
  • Maintain relations with public interest advocates, academics and private practitioners;
  • Perform legal research and writing projects as assigned, to further the work of the ACS Issue Groups;
  • Attend conferences, hearings or other events as assigned; and
  • Assist the Program team in other ways as the need arises.

The Fellowship is a one-year position, with salary and excellent benefits provided by ACS. A law degree from a U.S. law school is required. The ideal candidate will be a recent law school graduate who has a strong academic record; excellent research, writing and oral communication skills; and strong interpersonal skills. He or she also will have demonstrated initiative, organization and attention to detail.

Salary commensurate with other public service legal fellowships; the same benefits that are offered to full-time ACS staff. ACS is an equal opportunity employer; women, people of color, people with disabilities, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are encouraged to apply. To apply, send a cover letter; resume; 5-10 page, self-edited writing sample; and three references to ACS via U.S. mail (ACS, 1333 H Street NW, 11th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005); email (jobs@ACSLaw.org); or fax (202-393-6189; Attn: Shannon Hiller). No phone calls please.

Posted in Law School | Comments Off on Fellowship Opportunity for Graduating Law Student

Taddeo to SBA?

Washington Post columnist Al Kamen writes in The Cabinet: Who's Next?, that local candidate Annette Taddeo may be in line for a good job under Obama:

Monica C. Lozano — Los Angeles businesswoman, major political player and publisher of La Opinion, the largest Spanish-language paper in the country — had been seen as a possibility for the Small Business Administration, not quite a Cabinet job but kind of. That doesn't appear to be happening, either. There's talk that Annette Taddeo, a Colombian-born business executive who lost last month to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), may be in the mix for the SBA.

Taddeo ran a very disciplined campaign. I was impressed by her office and her ability to show up on time. I'm sure she'd be a first-class choice.

Update: An out-of-towner writes to ask “is that the nicest thing you can say about Taddeo?” What this question fails to grasp is that by Miami standards, showing up on time is not just a @#$# miracle, but a sign of serious, praise-worthy organization that surmounts the major obstacles that nobody is ever ever on time for anything around here… Let there be no doubt: I think she'd be great.

Posted in Politics: FL-18 | 1 Comment

On Shoe-Throwing

kast_sko is a Norwegian website dedicated to letting you throw a flash shoe at George W. Bush.

I gather some folks are thinking of organizing a real-life event to throw shoes onto the White House lawn. Arguably in bad taste, like the website, if it seems to somehow endorse the act of throwing shoes at people. I'm fine with shoes on lawns, but not for hard objects thrown at people.

But here's my question: If that shoes-on-the-White-House-lawn idea takes off, would that be the first major cultural import from Iraq since the war began?

Posted in Completely Different | 4 Comments

I Got Polled Last Night

A pollster called last night, wanting to speak to the “youngest male in the household who is over 18.” Which turns out to be me.

All the questions were about relations with Cuba — should we allow relatives to travel, everyone to travel, relatives to send remittances, foster cultural exchanges etc. The only two somewhat surprising questions were at the end: Would support for relaxing the embargo make me more likely to vote for a Congressional candidate? And, which is more important, the Cuba issue or health care, education and the economy?

They never tell you who sponsored the poll, so I don't know if this was for a news organization, or — it seems much less likely it being so early — for someone thinking of running for Congress in 2010.

Posted in Miami | Comments Off on I Got Polled Last Night