Dear authors,
I love a good spy novel. In my mind, spy novels are a sub-genre (or at a related genre) of thrillers, another type of book I love. I also love Russia and anything Russia-related. So, as you can imagine, a spy/thriller involving Russia just about makes me swoon with delight. What makes it even more amazing is the occasional Russian word or phrase inserted here and there, but don’t worry, this certainly isn’t required.
However, one thing that really, really cuts into my enjoyment of a good solid spy novel is factual inaccuracies. I specifically speak of those relating to Russia. One factual inaccuracy I often encounter is reference to the KGB in a modern (that is, post 1990s) context.
Look, I get it. The KGB was big and bad, and you think the modern Russian...
Entertainment
Dear Mr. Nicholas Sparks,
I am a fan. I read your books and I enjoy your movies. They make me feel a range of emotions from hope, to joy, to sorrow. Your work has been an escape from reality for me ever since I experienced The Notebook as a teenager. I never expected to feel personally attacked and belittled by the work of a creative mind that I have so enjoyed.
During my junior year of college, my mom shared one of your books, The Longest Ride, with me. She figured that I would enjoy some lighter reading before the studying for finals picked up and that I would be able to connect with the main female character, Sophia, since we were of similar ages. I enjoyed every second of the book, until I reached the scene where the two young love interests, Sophia and Luke, have dinner with...
3,564
Dear David,
What a year it's been for the Sun.
There was your energetic campaign to strip "warped...paedo star" Jimmy Savile of his Knighthood (the one where you urged "outraged readers to get involved and back us"). Then there was your high profile crusade to "Protect our Kids from Internet Porn" including strident headlines like "Stop Porn on the Net Corrupting Adolescents' Idea of Sex". And of course your outrage at the topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge causing "anguish" for the royal couple.
But then of course there was also your poll asking readers to vote for which celebrity has the "Best Boobs", your titillating, objectifying portrayal of murder victim Reeva Steenkamp in a full front page bikini shot the day after she was murdered and your online readers'...
3,279
Dear David,
What a year it's been for the Sun.
There was your energetic campaign to strip "warped ... paedo star" Jimmy Savile of his Knighthood (the one where you urged "outraged readers to get involved and back us"). Then there was your high profile crusade to "Protect our Kids from Internet Porn" including strident headlines like "Stop Porn on the Net Corrupting Adolescents' Idea of Sex". And of course your outrage at the topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge causing "anguish" for the royal couple.
But then of course there was also your poll asking readers to vote for which celebrity has the "Best Boobs", your titillating, objectifying portrayal of murder victim Reeva Steenkamp in a full front page bikini shot the day after she was murdered and your online readers'...
2,630
Dear Mr. Cooper,
Seventeen months have passed since you featured me on your AC 360° program on consecutive evenings to call attention to my commentary and analysis of the December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. As you may recall, in the prelude to those January 11th and 14th 2013 broadcasts you sent a production crew to my place of employment that proceeded to pursue staff and administrators on my whereabouts.
Your staff then repeatedly telephoned my residence, later filming in front of my home and disclosing my address to a national audience without my knowledge or consent. This behavior jeopardized my family’s safety and peace of mind, and included a flurry of threatening and abusive communications directed at me. Further, some observers...
3,347
Dear SBS,
The most recent news that broke out is that you've been taking down Running Man fansubs done by kshownow.net, one of the leading subbers for most of the Korean variety shows around. This is, frankly, terrifying for an international fan like me because for the past year, kshownow has been my go-to place in order to get my weekly fix of Running Man. To not be able to watch my favoritest variety show in the world would definitely leave me...distraught.
The thing is, a large number of the international fanbase for Running Man regularly go to kshownow every Monday for their Running Man fix. kshownow has been one of the fastest and most efficient subbers for Running Man every single week, and for a lot of the international fans, this is something akin to watching a weekly...
4,098
Dear Zayn,
I'm writing this letter in response to the news that you left One Direction, well not so much that, but rather the reasons you gave for leaving. You said "I want to be a normal 22-year-old and relax", reading this got my goat a bit and I thought "it just goes to show how little you know of the average 22-year-olds life".
For starters, this isn't the stage in anyone's life to be resting! The majority of us at 22 are either fresh out of university and trying to figure out our lives or already slaving away in a poorly payed job we don't like. This is something that we usually have to do without a security blanket of millions of pounds and a mansion to sleep in. Instead we have to enter the job market however and wherever we can, then work our way up from the crap to...
50,444
Dear Deepika,
Ever since I heard about your coming out of the closet, so to speak, about your struggle with depression, I have wanted to write. I have swung between many personal and political issues concerning mental health since listening to you.
I had to remove your celebrity image in my head and look at you as a human being in order to write this. I've self-harmed as a child and continued through adulthood. Often, I have bouts of severe depression where I feel I'm choking for days or weeks, and then, as if with a flip of a coin, I spring up to a high and prance about like the world is mine before I hit a different nerve and drift way into a fantasy land of zombies, ghost and what not. I have my version of depression but that is not what my label is. The one I carry-...
3,344
Dear Mr. Lorre,
I am a huge fan of "The Big Bang Theory." Will we ever meet Leonard's father and if so, would you consider casting Eugene Levy? He would be perfect. Also, I would love to see John Goodman as Sheldon's mother's beau.
3,110
Dear Keith Olbermann,
As a sports fan who is paid to cover TV news media, I need you. More importantly, sports fans need you.
Your half-hour daily show is easily the best thing on the ESPN family of networks for passionate, educated sports fans. It’s refreshing to hear poignant commentary from a sports savant without having to sit through a group of talking heads essentially screaming over each other. Your takes are polarizing, controversial and must-see television for any true fan of sports media.
Please don’t screw this up.
Please, Keith. I’m begging you. But I’m also scared.
A four-day suspension isn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but I’m afraid another lapse in judgment could result in a permanent vacation. The sports world simply cannot afford for you to...
8,031