Oprah's Father Penning A Tell-All Book

Oprah Winfrey's 74-year-old father, Vernon, is in the process of writing a tell-all book about his daughter. Oprah, who claims she has a "good relationship" with her father, is not pleased at all.

AOLnews.com reports:
When asked for a comment by the Daily News about the biography at first, Winfrey said "That's impossible. I can assure them it's not true." But a phone call from her sister confirmed the news to the talk show megastar.

"The worst part of it was him saying, 'I meant to tell you I've been working on it,'" Winfrey said, adding that she was "stunned" to hear about the book.

Winfrey's father plans on titling the book "Things Unspoken," and says he should have been tougher on Oprah, adding that she was "out of hand and an unruly child."

"I have a good relationship with him," Oprah told the Daily News as she received the Elie Wiesel Foundation Humanitarian Award.

The Daily News reports that at 14, a pregnant Winfrey left her mother's home in Milwaukee to live with Vernon in Nashville. Winfrey's baby died weeks after he was born, and she credits her father for teaching her discipline and showing her the importance of education.

New York Times Reveals “Reporter” Michael Gordon Actually Voice-Activated Tape Recorder

New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller today announced that the paper’s longtime staff writer Michael Gordon is not an actual person, but rather a voice-activated tape recorder.

“I’m not sure why everyone didn’t figure this out before now,” said Keller, pointing to the fact that, in Gordon’s 26-year career, all of “his” stories have consisted entirely of transcribed statements by anonymous government officials.

According to Jill Abramson, the paper’s Managing Editor, Gordon was purchased for $27.95 at a Radio Shack on West 43rd Street. Describing the situation as “a prank” that had “gotten slightly out of hand,” Abramson said the paper had decided to acknowledge Gordon’s identity because—after the tape recorder’s front page story today, “Deadliest Bomb in Iraq Is Made by Iran, U.S. Says”—there “was no place left to take the joke.”

Keller described how he and Abramson “really had a good laugh” while preparing the Iran story, which is based on the following sourcing:

U.S. Says…United States intelligence asserts…reflects broad agreement among American intelligence agencies…civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies provided…military officials say…The officials said…The assessment was described in interviews over the past several weeks with American officials…Administration officials said…according to the intelligence…According to American intelligence…Some American intelligence experts believe…they assert…notes a still-classified American intelligence report…a senior administration official said…according to Western officials…Officials said…An American intelligence assessment described to The New York Times said…Other officials believe…American military officers say…American officials say…According to American intelligence agencies…Assessments by American intelligence agencies say…Marine officials say…American intelligence agencies are concerned…Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week.

“You can’t deny that’s funny,” said Keller, adding that the lack of skepticism displayed by Gordon was “literally inhuman.” Keller and Abramson asserted that the Iran article is “even more hilarious” than Gordon’s 2002 stories on Iraq’s purported nuclear program, written with Judith Miller.

According to the paper’s management, the Times plans to keep the tape recorder on its staff indefinitely, given that it does not require health insurance and its voice-activation feature “saves a lot of tape.” Indeed, the tape recorder formerly known as Michael Gordon has already filed its own story on the matter, consisting entirely of transcribed statements from anonymous government officials.