David Sedaris's Sorta-Secret Side Career as a Speech Writer for High Schoolers
“Over the years I’ve met quite a few teenagers who participate in what is called ‘Forensics,’” he writes. “Students take published short stories and essays, edit them down to a predetermined length, and recite them competitively. To that end, as part of the ‘Etc.’ in this book’s subtitle, I have written six brief monologues that young people might deliver before a panel of judges. I believe these stories should be self-evident. They’re the pieces in which I am a woman, a father, and a sixteen-year-old girl with a fake British accent.”
I was introduced to Sedaris by the girl I had the biggest crush on in my entire life. She was sitting on the floor reading Naked during our forensics regionals.
Justice Department secretly taps into AP reporters’ phone records
In a surprising declaration a short time ago, the Associated Press revealed that the Justice Department had obtained two months of phone records tied to numerous reporters and editors in various cities, in what the news organization is calling a “massive and unprecedented intrusion.”
The reason for the government’s actions, which the AP was alerted to in a letter Friday, are as of now unknown.
From the Associated Press’ story on the emerging scandal:
In all, the government seized those records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that period is unknown but more than 100 journalists work in the offices whose phone records were targeted on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.
AP’s President and CEO, Gary Pruitt, issued a strongly-worded letter to Attorney General Eric Holder:
We regard this action by the Department of Justice as a serious interference with AP’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news. While we evaluate our options we urgently request that you immediately return to the AP the telephone toll records that the Department subpoenaed and destroy all copies.Photo: Molly Riley / Associated Press
Reblogged from latimes with 124 notes / News Journalism Politics USA Associated Press
Reblogged from fallingoverontheequinox with 4 notes / Music Audio Grass Widow
kfan:
Today I wrote about Amanda Bynes & The Internet Teens saving the world with their selfies.
For more good writing about selfie culture and how we treat women both online and off, read what Lily wrote on Grimes, Amanda Bynes, and Being Seen.
Reblogged from kfan with 74 notes / Amanda Bynes Kevin Fanning
The Sublime Cluelessness of Throwing Lavish Great Gatsby Parties
Yet so many people seem enchanted enough by the decadence described in Fitzgerald’s book to ignore its fairly obvious message of condemnation. Gatsby parties can be found all over town. They are staples of spring on many Ivy League campuses and a frequent theme of galas in Manhattan. Just the other day, vacation rental startup Airbnb sent out invitations to a “Gatsby-inspired soiree” at a multi-million-dollar home on Long Island, seemingly oblivious to the novel’s undertones.
It’s like throwing a Lolita-themed children’s birthday party.
Reblogged from theatlantic with 1,429 notes / The Great Gatsby Amusing Film
