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 Scandal of the Week: Congressman Weiner (D. New York's 9th District) claims that his Twitter account was hacked when a 21-year old college woman received an inappropriate picture of someone's (Weiner's?) male anatomy in whitey tighties. Now Rep. Weiner is backing off his original accusation that he was hacked (potentially a felony) and instead calls it a prank.

Sort of a big difference.

Obviously the congressman would like the story to go away. But why? If he was hacked by presumably right-wing agitators (such as Andrew Breitbart), wouldn't Weiner go full-throttle here? This is his opportunity to put that pesky Breitbart away once and for all.  Instead, he's trying to change the subject, and has apparently hired a lawyer.

Jonah Goldberg makes a couple of good points. First of all, if this were a Republican congressman in the center of this salacious story, the mainstream media would be All Over It, as indeed they were just this past month. The special election in New York to replace Republican Chris Lee was necessary after it was discovered that Lee had posted pictures of himself shirtless in a Craigslist ad (yuk). And the media were all over Mark Foley back in 2006, when it was discovered the Florida Republican had sent suggestive emails to young men (yuk again).

Disgusting and offensive acts, agreed. They did and should resign. But let's be consistent. It shouldn't matter that these undies belong to a Democrat. Salacious is salacious, regardless of party affiliation. Let's get to the...um, bottom of the story. As Jonah writes, "I honestly have no idea what happened, but I do know that Anthony Weiner is exactly the kind of Democrat who would sensationalize a story like this if the politician involved was a Republican."

But here's Weiner refusing to answer any questions from the press.

Is the Next Generation Doomed?

I know this is not a settled issue, and the issue is still being studied, but it seems to me that we're gambling here on this upcoming generation's health. As it stands today, at least, the World Health Organization has classified cell phone use as "possibly carcinogenic" to humans, and places it in a category similar to the pesticide DDT or gasoline engine exhaust.

Great. Just great.

Call me, let's TALK.

Cell Phones May Cause Brain Cancer

Thoughts on the Monday After

There was a lot of joking in the days leading up to this past weekend. I only became aware of Harold Camping's prediction that the world would be ending on May 21st when I noticed Facebook comments about what people planned to do or eat on their "last day" (chocolate in all its various mutations topped the list). Most of the funnier (sarcastic) comments came from people I know to be believers. I'm sure there was a sense of wanting to distance themselves from what most thinking Christians believe to be error, namely, the notion that anyone can predict the day, let alone the hour, of judgment day.

As is now apparently clear to anyone who was paying attention, 5/21/11 came and went, the prophesied earthquakes never materialized, the rapture didn't happen, and people who gave up jobs, homes, savings, and reputations, now need to figure out how to get back to reality and continue living their lives like the rest of us, one day at a time. Harold Camping has to face both his followers and his critics. As one person on Facebook wrote, "Harold Camping has some 'splainin to do."

Since billboards were apparently one of Camping's mediums of communication, I guess it's appropriate that new billboards are popping up in the aftermath, a reminder of what most Christians believe to be true: "No one knows the day or the hour" (Matthew 24:36).


Yes, the billboard is funny. But I'm not laughing. And I was not among those who were mocking Harold Camping on 5/20 or 5/22. I feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for those whose lives are now completely messed up because they trusted his "math." But I'm also sorry for the greater mess Camping has caused. People who believe, as I do, that there will be a day of judgment, that believers will be raptured, that this world will be destroyed, that there will be new heaven and a new earth...now find our task was just made more difficult. It's like the little boy who cried wolf. He fooled the villagers so many times, that by the time a real wolf attacked his flocks, no one believed him, though he cried and cried for help.

It's bad enough that agnostics and athiests poked fun at Camping's message. That's to be expected. But when Christians mock, it's a problem. Because the time will come when the "wolf" will attack, but the "villagers" will no longer pay attention to the warnings.

Choosing our Idols

America gave us two scoops of vanilla for this season's finale. Besides the fact that Lauren Alaina's a girl and Scotty McCreary's a boy, they are virtually indistinguishable--same genre, same age, same oh-so-sweeeeet personality. 

It would have been nice to have a different "flavor" in the finale (Rocky Road? Cappuccino Crunch? Licorice?) with Haley Reinhart paired against either Scotty or Lauren. 

Maybe it's time to carve out a separate niche for country (American Country Teen Idol?) and let the rest of the artists have a shot.