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May 21, 2010
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EDUCATION

White House Press Corps To Hone Note-Taking Skills

White House Press Corps To Hone Note-Taking Skills

WASHINGTON (CAP) - The Transitional Press Office for President-elect Barack Obama has announced that it will be holding "mandatory" shorthand classes for the members of the White House press corps, which has had an easy time of note taking during eight years of President Bush's sentence-free press conferences.

"These rusty reporters have had almost nothing to write down for the last eight years but umm and heh-heh," said Mariane Lamont, acting head of Obama's press office. "Now reporters will have to deal with complete, grammatically complex sentences that may be strung together for minutes at a time.

"We're quite sure their current note-taking skills are simply not up to the task," added Lamont.

The first two classes will include the basics, such as shorthand for articles, prepositions, and conjunctions, but will quickly move on to words containing more than three syllables. Reporters will also learn the shorthand for various phrases not heard in eight years, such as "I'd like to elaborate on that point," and "I'm not sure I quite agree with the logic of your assertion."

More advanced classes will cover shorthand for the names of countries, world leaders, and treaties, as well as historical references and quotes from literature. "When was the last time you heard the words of a great writer grace the lips of our president?" asked Lamont.

"And by 'great writer' I don't mean Garth Brooks," she pointed out.

As an added bonus, the White House press corps will be given tips on how to flip notebook pages quickly and how to keep complicated phrases in short-term memory while locating a fresh pen. Lamont said that reporters would be allowed to make use of portable tape recorders "while they get up to speed," but added, "generally speaking, recorders are for wimps."

Most White House reporters contacted by CAP News agreed there would be a learning curve when Obama first takes office, but said it will be a welcome reprieve from eight years of watching Bush shuffle his feet or grimace pathetically while waiting for words to find him.

- Kate Heidel
Contributing Writer
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With the White House under fire from numerous directions, press secretary Jay Carney dropped his usual demeanor to tell reporters to "fucking back the fuck off" and that he was "sick of answering dumb-ass questions." He then threatened to have the IRS "personally audit every single one of you fucks." «» The FBI is investigating who wiretapped Sen. Mitch McConnell's office, tapes of which show him slandering one-time opponent Ashley Judd. "I have a right to be devious and unethical in a private setting," he said. "I'm sure I'll say plenty of stupid things publicly during this campaign, just be patient." «» President Obama may spend the foreseeable future sleeping in the Oval Office after returning five percent of his salary in solidarity with furloughed federal workers. Sources say that portion was budgeted for Michelle's clothing allowance and "I'll be damned if I go the next six months dressing like Hillary Clinton." «» Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) now supports gay marriage because his son Will is gay and "if it takes shacking up with another man to get him to move out, so be it." Portman took two years to reconsider after Will came out because he "swore it was just a phase." «» Parental advisory groups are up in arms over the naming of the new One Direction sports drink, simply called OD. "Other than their obvious lack of originality, it's the slogan we don't like," said Mothers Against Everything. "Have You OD'ed Today? isn't exactly the message we should be sending children." «» Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say they have isolated the hormone Honkytonkin, found predominantly in white males from Southern states. The protein is one of a new group of complex redneck carbohydrates similar genetically to white trash peptides and has the same molecular structure as cheap beer. «» Disney has crowned its newest official princess, a somewhat short and stocky stringy-haired character named Frumpy Fran. "The life and accomplishments of all the other princesses are way too unachievable for little girls," said a spokesperson. "Fran is basically the princess from the projects, which more girls can relate to." «» U.S. logging industry officials say these days, loggers are chopping down trees "just because" it's all they know how to do. "With the ailing housing market, dying newspaper industry and paperless billing, people aren't using as many trees," said one contractor. "Maybe some day people will need more fence posts." «» The battle between Rush Limbaugh and WABC heated up as the radio station blamed low ad revenues on Rush's sobriety. "Nobody gives a crap about his politics anymore," said a source. "What they want to hear is the crazy-ass shit he says when he's all hopped up on prescription drugs." «» A local auction house is accepting bids on a rock that came from astronaut Neil Armstrong's shoe. "No, it's not a moon rock or anything like that," said a spokesperson. "I think it got stuck in his shoe while he was working in his garden. But what a conversation piece!" «»