scandal, Scandal, SCANDAL!!

Good grief, this is a week for scandal in the news, and it's only Wednesday. LOL. Okay, where do I start?

First, did you guys hear about Michael Phelps, who I guess had been photographed back in November with, um, drug paraphernalia? Yikes...that's gonna affect his endorsements and such now, I bet. *shakes head*

Second, Christian Bale was taped spewing a huuuuuge curse-word-filled rant at the director of photography on the set of Terminator 4. (Warning, wear headphones...the rant is NSFW, or children, or anyone who doesn't want to hear a massively cuss-filled rant!!). Dude. I am so, so horrified and disappointed after listening to it, especially since he was one of my all-time favorite actors...just ask the Manpanion how much I loved his movies. I hope I never get that elitist and believe that I'm more important than other people. I hope I never feel I can be so insulting and hateful to someone for making a mistake (and yes, the DP shouldn't have messed up like that, but Bale's rant was NOT justified). Wow. Buddy, you have lost my respect for such disgraceful behavior. Unbelievable. :-(

Third, speaking of people who have lost my respect, Stephen King will not see another penny of my money, which is awful because I used to be such a HUGE fan. And why is that? Because he felt it was perfectly acceptable to publicly insult a fellow author. For me, the problem isn't whether or not Meyer is a good writer--we've seen that people have widely varying opinions about the matter, which is totally fine. It's about having respect for your peers and not trashing them as if you're better than them. I don't care HOW many books you have under your belt, or how long you've been writing, it's rude. When did it become cool and acceptable to trash your peers, except in politics? LOL I'm kidding. I sense I may be in the minority for disliking his comments about Meyer's writing, but so be it. It seems unprofessional to me for him to do that--but this will just help reinforce for me what I think is the proper way to treat my colleagues, yanno?

Fourth, Barack Obama admitted he thinks "he screwed up", and people are in one of two camps about him using that phrasing: 1) they either love that he's being refreshingly open and honest, or 2) they are horrified that someone in his position used such "unprofessional" words, especially since the day before he had persisted in supporting Daschle.

So, how do you guys feel about these scandals? Have an opinion to add to the conversation? Let's hear it!