Every time we are having an intense discussion on the collective faculty email. . .
at the moment when the debate over issues like the survival of our university system, the attempts to oust the president, the union-busting measures deployed against us, etc reaches the point of greatest intensity. . .
at that very moment when we feel that we are close to making an important decision. . .
there is always a colleague who decides that this is the best possible moment to add to the discussion with an email containing photos of cute kitties in need of adoption.
Clarissa's Blog 
I now wonder what terrible thing happened when some very serious poster starts spamming with pictures of kittensand puppies.
I’m sure that person will just blame their anxiety, if self aware.
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I don’t want to be paranoid but derailing the conversation benefits the extremely libertarian anti-education member of our BoT who is trying to conduct a coup against the president. So.
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“derailing the conversation benefits the extremely libertarian anti-education member of our BoT ”
This was my first thought, it’s being done on purpose to derail the conversation. Thank you Eastern Europe for making cynical paranoid (and too often true) explanations jump out so clearly at me!!!
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People are trying to figure out if they all need to pile in the cars and drive to Carbondale to stop the crazed libertarian. Everybody is glued to the email because nobody wants to miss the news. And she comes out with the kitties right in the midst of it.
It was so bizarre. My first thought was, “Kitties? Why kitties? What is she trying to say? That BoT is playing a cat and mouse game with us??”
It’s really a very high charged moment for us.
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“Please stop debating about serious issues. It makes me too uncomfortable with meh fee-feelings!”
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Is this impossible to ignore? It is truly bizarre, but maybe it should be regarded as comic relief.
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Can you say “red herring”?
I guess no worse than a television/radio commercial mid-show, or a sudden pop-up mid-script.
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