The Median Sib

I wrote a couple posts (here is one - I inadvertently deleted the other one) about James Frey and A Million Little Pieces. It was a fascinating book, and one that I couldn’t put down once I started reading it. Some of the things he wrote seemed unbelievable, though, and as it turns out, they were.

Today Oprah had Frey back on her show, and she wasn’t very happy about how he played fast and loose with the truth. Here is one account of the show and the controversy.

· In the book, Frey runs down a cop and a wild melee ensues. The police report tells a different story.

· Frey says he spent a week in jail following a 1988 drunk driving bust. A court docket sheet refutes his claim.

· Frey invented a role for himself in a train accident that took the lives of two female high school students.

· Frey claimed he was the chief target in an FBI probe into drug activity at Denison University. A police report has him as a minor player in a minor case.

· Employees of the Hazelden rehab center dispute Frey’s depiction of his treatment.

The Chicago Tribune also wrote about the show. Oprah told Frey:

“It’s difficult for me to talk to you because I really feel duped,” she told Frey. “I’m just wondering, why do you have to lie about that?” And so on. With Frey offering only weaselly justifications about lying being a “coping mechanism” and the like, and with Winfrey buying none of it, it was riveting.

Oprah told Frey, “I feel duped.” Yeah, me too.

Here are some other blogs that share their take on the story:
Box of Rain: “A Million Little Lies”
Random Words
Conservative Posts Blog
Freakonomics Blog
Reality Bites Back
GOP Bloggers
The Political Pit Bull

In a post entitled “Teachers capitulate to Gay Agenda” California Conservative tells how teachers at one California high school are now REQUIRED to hang posters in their classrooms advocating tolerance for gay students.

Well, maybe we’ll see some “freedom of religion” posters coming next. Seems
fair. Or how about “Safe To Be Conservative Space” posters. They could read: “It’s okay to speak your mind. Just because your teacher
is liberal, doesn’t mean she’ll give you a bad grade for expressing support for
Bush and Iraq.” One for every college classroom. So how about it?

That sounds right to me.

Why would a school advocate tolerance for a specific sexual orientation? Schools shouldn’t advocate ANY sexual orientation. Why not have posters that simply stress tolerance? Period. Don’t limit tolerance to gay students. Extend tolerance to ALL students - liberals and conservatives, atheists and evangelicals and gays and straights - and everyone in between. The only “advocacy” a school should be a part of is respecting and appreciating everyone?

Darren at Right on the Left Coast has a great post about this.

Scene: The school gym during morning bus duty

A fourth grader rushes up to me. His face is red and there is sweat on his brow. He looks anxious and upset. I immediately ask, “Carlton, what’s wrong?”

Then the words that strike fear in any teacher’s heart: “I just threw up in the bathroom!” (Which I admit is better than throwing up at my feet which has happened on more than one occasion over the years.)

I can feel his hot breath on my face as he spits out the words. I utter the appropriate words of sympathy (and I truly feel sympathetic - he’s obviously sick), and I send him to the clinic . . . while visions of the stomach virus germs in that hot breath dance in my head.

Thirteen Things That Carol SHOULD Do Before Monday (This will likely be the MOST boring Thursday Thirteen post ever!) 1. Go tent camping this weekend on the land where Ron and I plan to build a house 2. Attend church on Sunday 3. Babysit the grandkids for a few hours - I just enjoy being with them so much. We babysat them for awhile Wednesday evening, and it was just plain FUN! The best part was when we were sitting on the sofa, and Ron put his arm around me. Sunshine looked at him, moved his arm, cuddled against me and announced, “She’s MY Grandma Carol!” 4. Walk 1-3 miles each day. 5. Do crunches every morning - without fail! 6. Replace the burned out light bulbs throughout my house 7. Clear out my storage room - It’s a mess, but not for long 8. Take some boxes to storage 9. Buy some “for sale” signs for my house 10. Start working on a sales brochure for my house 11. Replace the shower head in my bathroom 12. Read some new blogs 13. Learn how to do trackbacks via Haloscan Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) Joan Jen Uisce Janne Terrell Jane Caryn

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