Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 1043

Samuel L. Jackson Recited His Favorite Reddit Comment Because 4chan Sucks

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Reddit, but I've decided to break the rules of my own competition, and I will not be reading a user-submitted entry as my monologue," begins the monologue Samuel L. Jackson read straight from Reddit, which is a very disappointing way to start things off. But don't worry: The actor the Internet loves to meme didn't actually go back on his promise from earlier this week — that he would recite, on video, the day's most up-voted comment on Reddit, to raise money for Alzheimer's research. He just changed the rules because he was onto 4chan, and that opening line is all a part of the schtick in the (super) user-generated Reddit monologue, the full text of which you can read here. Although, really, you might as well just watch the video above, because it's full of signature Samuel L. badassery. 

Besides Jackson's opening declaration — "I've decided to break the rules" — it's easy to reach the conclusion that Hollywood's favorite hardass lied because, well, the monologue isn't at the very top of Jackson's Reddit post from Wednesday, where it should be. For that, however, we can blame 4Chan users, who hijacked the post in an attempt to rig the contest, upvoting their own submission that would make Jackson sound like an "Internet tough guy." Jackson, however, got wind of this, updating his original plea with the following: "Alright Reddit and 4chan(Don't think I don't know about you muthafukkas)." Just look at all these deleted comments on his original thread: 

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Blame 4chan, but Jackson ended up picking his own favorite — not the one 4Chan wanted, by the way — from amongst the popular suggestions, as he explained in another update: "To clarify how I chose the winner, this feed was a muthafukkin mess, it was easier to tell which ones got the most death threats rather than the most upvotes, so out of the top ones I chose the one that I felt was the most badass," he writes. 

Those brilliant missives that didn't get picked, though, do have another chance. Because of the success of his stunt — Jackson raised $100,000 for his cause — he has offered to make a second video. And as Samuel L. says in Video No. 1, the 4chan crowd has been warned: "You really think you're going to get away with this?"

       

The FBI Changes Its Story (Again) on the Ibragim Todashev Shooting

Law enforcement officials are still trying to explain how a supposedly peaceful interview with an important witness in the Boston bombing case turned into a deadly shooting, but as usual, every new attempt to explain the death of Ibragim Todashev only raises more troubling questions. After originally accusing the suspect and potential murderous accomplice of Boston bomber Tamleran Tsarnaev of attacking an FBI agent with a knife, and then walking back that claim entirely, an new anonymous source says Todashev, may have injured the agent with a table and a metal pole. Or maybe not.

Here's the way the attack was described in The New York Times. Everyone seems to agree that after several hours of interrogation, Todashev was prepared to confess to an unsolved murder that he and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were connected to. Then thing get a lot less clear:

At that moment, Mr. Todashev picked up the table and threw it at the agent, knocking him to the ground. While trying to stand up, the agent, who suffered a wound to his face from the table that required stitches, drew his gun and saw Mr. Todashev running at him with a metal pole, according to the official, adding that it might have been a broomstick.

So not only has the story changed again, it has now changed twice in the same sentence. The weapon has no gone from nothing to a knife, back to nothing to a table to a metal pole to a broomstick. Todashev was also apparently shot more than once, after an initial volley of "several shots" somehow failed to bring him down.

Oh, and there's a pretty big difference between a metal pole and a broomstick, and the fact that the Times source can't decide which one it is suggests they don't really know happened either. (CNN reported that Todashev owned a samurai sword that was in the room, but no one has yet suggested that he wielded that at any time.) With at least three witnesses, you're likely to get three different stories and we might never know which, if any of them, is the most accurate.

The new version of event also doesn't answer the question of why the FBI agent immediately began firing his weapon or why the other police officers in the room failed to intervene. Which leaves us right back where we started: A confusing scene, an apparently unnecessary death, and a lot of unanswered questions. And on top of all that, the FBI lost what could have been one of their most valuable sources of information on what the Tsarnaev brothers were really up to before the carried their attack.

       

'Knaidel,' the Yiddish Dumpling That Won Tonight's Spelling Bee

"Knaidel" was Arvind Mahankali's winning word at tonight's Scripps National Spelling Bee. And his correct answer to the spelling of the German-Yiddish word referring to a small mass of dough, was something of a coup for the speller, who was eliminated from the final three in 2011 on another Germanic word, "Jugendstil."  "The German curse has turned into a German blessing," he said after his win.

Knaidel,which is currently triggering a squiggly red spellcheck line when typed, is usually a mix of matzo meal, eggs, salt, and other foods, served in soup. They're matzo balls. You can find a recipe for one here. 

After all of the drama of the previous spelling bee rounds, Mahankali went for the poker face victory celebration: 

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Mahankali had to spell two words correctly to clinch the title: his starter word was Tokonoma (a Japanese word meaning an niche in a wall. It sounds like it's spelled.) That's after Pranav Sivakumar, the runner up, was eliminated. 

The 13-year-old winner is from Queens, NY. Mahnkali announced after winning the trophy that he'll officially "retire" from spelling to spend more time with physics. For winning the Bee, he'll get $30,000 in cash and prizes and a giant trophy. 

       

Oprah Pushes For Background Checks at Harvard Commencement

Listen up, America: Oprah wants background checks. Her commencement address at Harvard today dipped into the political a couple of times, but her stance on gun control will likely garner the most attention.

Here's what she said, to applause from the crowd: 

"We understand that the vast majority of people in this country believe in stronger background checks because they realize that we can uphold the Second Amendment and reduce the violence that is robbing us of our children. They don't have to be incompatible."

As we've explained before, background checks are widely supported by the American population, but politically stalled in the legislature (for now). 

Winfrey, who was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the institution, also told Harvard's graduates to stop watching CNN, essentially: 

"We all know that we are better than the cynicism and the pessimism that is regurgitated throughout Washington and the 24-hour cable news cycle -- not my channel, by the way."

And Gayle King was on hand to Instagram the whole thing, though she's clearly still learning how to use it. 

Oprah at Harvard I don't know how to zoom but she looks great and sounds even better ! You go Oprah instagram.com/p/Z8qAZQsn7k/

— Gayle King (@GayleKing) May 30, 2013

Oprah 's doctorate of lawsyou go DR WINFREY ! instagram.com/p/Z8uuysMnza/

— Gayle King (@GayleKing) May 30, 2013

You can watch the whole speech below: 

       

The Chicago Sun-Times Laid Off Their Entire Photography Staff

Arguing that reporters and freelancers can replace a staff of nearly 30 professional photographers, the Chicago Sun-Times laid off their entire photojournalism team today. That announcement, effective immediately, came on the same day that the paper published the obituary of Bob Kotalik, their former chief photographer. 

Here's the Sun-Times statement on their decision: 

"The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements. The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network"

So, essentially, the publication will be using more video, and getting their regular reporters to shoot it for them. While many will point to the ease of capturing multimedia images on, say, a smartphone as a factor in the Sun Times decision, it's not the training on professional-grade equipment that makes the professional photograph. Photojournalist Ben Lowy famously used an iPhone to cover Libya, for instance, making something of a career out of smartphone photography. But he was already working as a professional photographer for years before picking up a smart phone. That's probably in part what National Press Photographers Association president Mickey Osterreicher meant when he told Poynter that the paper will "end up getting what you pay for." 

The balance of profesional freelancer and reporter with an iPhone for the Sun-Times's future coverage is as yet unknown. But based on the paper's statement, it looks like they'll rely heavily on the latter, which will make them a guinea pig for a newspaper model bound to be watched by both the business and editorial sides of the industry. As Crain's Chicago Business notes, it's pretty common for, say, magazines to rely on freelancers for photographs. But its much more unusual for newspapers to work without staff photographers on hand.  

       

Did a Woman From Michigan Just Die Fighting In Syria?

According to Syrian state media, Assad's forces just killed a woman from Flint, Michigan, along with two other westerners. Their claim comes just days after Senator John McCain secretly visited rebel forces in the country, later taking to U.S. airwaves to advocate for arming opposition forces. 

The woman in question is Nicole Mansfield, 33, according to Mlive.com, who were unable to track down anything conclusive on the alleged rebel fighter. But, their digging shows, Mansfield probably hasn't been home in at least a little while: 

"Nobody answered the door at the Flint address Thursday, May 30, that was the address on the driver's license and messages were left with the company that manages the apartment building.
Other records show Mansfield with an address at an apartment complex on Longway Boulevard. At that address, an eviction notice for Mansfield is posted on the door and is dated May 21, 2013."

The State Department is reportedly looking into Syrian state media's claims, which should be taken with about a mountain of salt until there's any other source out there confirming or clarifying their story (Update: according to the Detroit Free Press, Mansfield's family have confirmed at least some of the Syrian media's story. More below). The name and address of the alleged American fighter comes from a driver's license posted on Syria's Breaking News Network. We'll link to it, but be warned that, as is routine for Syrian state media outlets, BNN has posted graphic photos of the bodies of the dead on their site. You can look for yourself, however, here. 

In any case, here is the story Syrian media is going with, as summarized by CNN: 

"The report said the three were ambushed in their car in the flashpoint city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, where government forces have been battling rebels for control. TV footage showed a bullet-riddled car and three bodies laid out. It also showed weapons, a computer and a flag belonging to the militant al-Nusra Front. The U.S. State Department has said the al-Nusra Front, a Syrian opposition group, is linked to al Qaeda in Iraq, which has long operated in Iraq and neighboring Syria."

Earlier today, Syria's government announced the arrival of new, long-awaited Russian missiles, further crushing any hopes of organizing peace talks to end the country's long-running conflict in the near future. 

Update: 8:57 p.m.: Niraj Warikoo at the Detroit Free Press spoke to Mansfield's family. According to them, Mansfield was a convert to Islam by marriage, and had an 18-year-old daughter.The FBI, they say, interviewed family members today based on the state media report. Here's more, from the Free Press:

Two FBI agents interviewed family members of Nicole Lynn Mansfield today, according to the family members. The FBI confirmed to them news reports from Syrian TV that Mansfield was killed while fighting in Syria, said Monica Mansfield Speelman, 53, of Flint, an aunt of Nicole...Family members confirmed that the photo and address are of Mansfield. “I’m sick over it,” Speelman said of her niece’s death. “I didn’t think she was (a terrorist), but God only knows.” 

       

The Thrill and Agony of the National Spelling Bee

We all enjoy watching the ecstatic contestants pump their little fists with victory at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, going on Thursday in Oxon Hill, Maryland. But we can't appreciate the fleeting moments of joy without enduring the long stretches of child torture. Here are some of the happiest and saddest kids spelling words we've still never heard of. 

Hannah Citsay offers a wry smile when she successfully wings it on "hesped."

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Caleb Miller misses "cyanope."

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But he leaves the stage with charm and honor.

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Poor 13-year-old Sophia Limacher looks like she can barely fathom missing "morosoph." 

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(Photo via Associated Press.)

Anuk Dayaprema is all business after spelling "dolabriform." The camera will not push him out of the zone.

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(Photo via Reuters.)

Amber Born is all business as she figures out "malacophilous," an adjective that means a thing can be pollinated by snails.

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She gets it!

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Relief.

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Ryan Devanandan contemplates "aporia."

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He got it.

(Photo via Associated Press.)

Eva Kitlen showed her nerves.

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(Photo via Reuters.)

When Jonathan Caldwell misspelled "pergameneous," he was clearly disappointed in himself.

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But he, too, took it in stride.

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Christal Schermeister spells "gelastic."

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(Photo via Associated Press.)

Concerned dad before:

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And after Joseph Delamerced nailed "aquiclude":

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The charismatic Vismaya Kharkar gets "agelicism" after cleverly figuring out its root word.

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Kuvam Shahane's mom can't watch as he spells "minneied," which is a German word, so it sounds like it ends with a "t." That's mom with her head in her hands in her lap.

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But he got it.

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The stress looks like it tortures Kuvam's mom.

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And here is Gokul Venkatachalam spelling "smellfungus."

       

Netflix Doesn't Need to Care About Bad 'Arrested Development' Reviews

Ted Sarandos, the chief content guy at Netflix, doesn't care about all the horrible early reviews of his pseudo-network's Arrested Development release, which reports suggested had pushed down company stock earlier this week. As far as Netflix is concerned, they're not a network — and they've got a huge hit on their hands.

"I hope you guys are not really trading on New York Times reviews," Sarandos said in response to a question about the stock at a conference Thursday, according to The Los Angeles Times, referring to Mike Hale's savaging of the fourth-season episode dump without exactly denying that the (very) poor reception had to do with the dip in Netflix stock, which has since recovered. It's just that reviews aren't the point of the original series business, least of all if you're in the streaming business: "It's not a Broadway show. It’s not going to close because of a bad review," Sarandos said. Arrested Development indeed got some stinkers, mixed in with some more positive ones — it gets better, seems to be the conventional wisdom at this point. But the masses of people who watched and continue to watch the 15 new episodes are a lot more important to Netflix's bottom line than some snobbish opinions. And preliminary data show success. 

Indeed, Arrested Development appears to have done very well in terms of "ratings." Netflix doesn't release actual streaming figures, but in addition to positive numbers from third party metrics, Netflix CEO Reid Hastings referred to the premiere weekend (which actually was only half of a long weekend) as "huge" — and presumably more users will get around to watching the full season as the summer presses on. Plus, only a "small percentage of people burned through all of them," Sarandos added, so the numbers only look to get more than "huge."

Sure, some disappointed fans who signed up for Netflix just to get their AD fix might not stick around as subscribers forever, even though Hastings said Netflix is "willing" to do a fifth season. But people who found this comeback season even a little satisfying will likely either stick with Netflix until then — or sign back up the next time a big original show comes around. Netflix has said previously unannounced original content is on the way next year, in addition to a slate that includes new programming from the Wachowskis. Even if Sarandos's push only results in a must-see show every year or two, Netflix is doing something right. And, besides, you can't judge a disrupter by its Bluths. "It's a really rare bird," Sarandos said of Arrested Development at the Nomura's Media & Telecom Summit today. "TV cults get more intense but typically smaller over time. Arrested Development was unique because the audience grew dramatically when it was off the air." And Netflix is now a specialist in dramatic audience growth.

       

Tracy Morgan Returns to TV a Hero

Today in show business news: Tracy Morgan has a new pilot in the works at FX, Jenna Elfman gets another shot, and Disney is getting sued.

Tracy Morgan, the gonzo guy from Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, might soon be appearing on FX. The network has ordered a pilot for Death Pact, a comedy that will have Morgan playing "a formerly lazy, pot-dealing assistant high school coach who returns to his hometown as a decorated war hero. He runs across three down-on-their-luck friends and former students and sucks them into his new radical self-help philosophy, which involves harsh consequences for failure." Which... Hm. So Tracy Morgan is the together one? That's a reversal! But hey, it's good to diversify, to branch out, right? Next thing you know Tina Fey will be playing a popular, unamibitious sexpot who needs to start taking things more seriously. And then Alec Baldwin will be... Well, Alec Baldwin's played lots of different characters. Fair enough. But, uh, what about Jack McBrayer as a jock from the North? That'd be crazy! [Deadline]

Though her show 1600 Penn was just canceled, Jenna Elfman isn't staying down for long. She's in talks to replace Parker Posey on the NBC comedy The Family Guide. She'd play a recent divorcee and mom who's got a blind father. The show looked terrible in the upfronts clip we saw a couple weeks ago, but who knows, maybe there's something there. Let's hope there is, as Elfman was doing pretty good work on Penn before it got pulled and she deserves another shot. It'd be better if it wasn't this awful-seeming family pander thing that's likely to get canceled after two episodes, but hey, work's work. [The Hollywood Reporter]

An author is suing Disney for billions of dollars because he claims that he invented the idea of pirates that turn into skeletons in the moonlight, which featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which has made billions of dollars. He's sued before and settled out of court, but I guess he's decided to go for the big bucks again. He's insistent Disney stole his idea and he's owed monies. Hm. Good luck, dude. Going up against Disney in court is like David and Goliath if Goliath was a huge multinational corporation that owns half of the ideas in the world. I'd like to see him win, some random writer getting a billion-dollar check from Disney. It'd have to be a big novelty check, wouldn't it? Maybe in the shape of Mickey's head. I suddenly vehemently support this lawsuit. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Here is a trailer for the Machete sequel Machete Kills. It looks like it cost about three dollars to make, probably because they had to pay all the celebrities in it. Everyone is in this damn movie! But of course people are mostly curious about Sofia Vergara's boob guns and Lady Gaga as someone named La Chameleón. Oh, and I guess "Carlos Estevez." Ugh, Sheen. Aren't we all sick of Charlie Sheen? We should be. Anyway, here it is.

And here is the promo for NBC's summer series Camp, which features Academy Award nominee Rachel Griffiths running a camp full of horny teenage boys. At least that's what it seems like from this trailer. Finally, Rachel Griffiths gets to work in the milieu best suited to her.

       

What the $5 Billion Threat to College Loans Looks Like

The latest edition of "Barack Obama Holds an Event with Regular Folks to Try and Get Congress to Do Something" will take place on Friday. The regular folks will be college students; the "something" this time around is preventing a doubling of the interest rate on student loans. Those college students better bring their game faces, too: If the interest rate hike isn't prevented, college educations are about to get over $5 billion more expensive, with a lot of that cost falling on those least able to afford it.

If you have existing loans, there's no need to worry, for now. The hike, which would raise the interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, only affects loans that originate from July 1 on. But if you're taking out a loan for next year, the difference could be significant.

In January, the Congressional Research Service figured out what the hike would mean for the average loan recipient. For the 2013-2014 school year, it figured that the average loan amount would be $3,385. When you add in the interest rates, the difference becomes clear: under the higher rate, students will pay $768 more on that loan.

The costs multiply when a student gets a loan for each of his or her four years (if he or she finishes in four years). The maximum loan amount increases in the second and third years, meaning that the total amount owed and interest amounts do, too. If a student who will be a freshman this year gets loans for all four at current rates, that 6.8 percent interest rate makes a massive difference. Over the course of the loans, totaling $19,000, he or she will pay an additional $4,311 in interest — over $8,100 in total.

It's worth noting that this additional cost will largely be felt by lower income families. The last time the government determined the income break-down of loan recipients was for the 2007-2008 educational year. That year, the loans issued fell into ten different income brackets. (These are for dependent students; the income figures are for their parents.) Across the ten brackets, the distribution is pretty equal.

But those brackets are heavily weighted toward lower income households. In the graph above, every pie slice that's below $50,000 is in green. Each slice that's between $50,000 and $100,000 is in purple. The $100,000-plus range is in red.

If the same percentages hold for the next school year, we can estimate the distribution of the additional costs by income bracket. The CBO indicates that 7.4 million students got loans last year. If this year's number is similar, that means about 3.6 million students coming from households making under $50,000 will receive student loans. And if they get four years of loans at the new 6.8 percent rate, that group will end up paying about $2.7 billion more than they would otherwise have paid. That's per year. Over the course of four years? The increase could be as much as $15.5 billion.

Here's the breakdown by income bracket.

Both Obama and the Republicans in Congress recognize that this is a problem. As they often do, they envision different solutions. The New York Times reports on the GOP's:

The House bill would allow student lending rates to reset each year, based on the interest rate of a 10-year Treasury note, plus 2.5 percentage points for Stafford loans. The Congressional Budget Office projected that rates on Stafford loans would rise to 5 percent in 2014 and 7.7 percent in 2023.

Under the legislation, Stafford loans would be capped at 8.5 percent, while loans for parents and graduate students would have a 10.5 percent cap.

The president's proposal is somewhat simpler: Keep the rates where they are, at least for now. With total student debt passing $1 trillion last year, there's been a consistent call to keep costs down. But a better argument may be found in another CBO report, released yesterday. It found that tax breaks comprise the largest part of the federal budget — and heavily favor the extremely wealthy. In this case, Congress is considering whether or not to remove one of the few benefits that not only favors lower income levels, but is also directly correlated to future earnings and success. If Obama can't make the argument for that on Friday, maybe the college students whose wallets will be affected can.

Photo: Obama receives a free diploma. (AP)