As IF Times

link Scarlett Johansson Threatens to Sue Over Nude Photos – UsMagazine.com.

Of course, the FBI is all over this one.  Apparently dozens of agents have volunteered their own personal time to work on this case.  The amount of time spent poring over evidence will be astronomical.   Staff will be pulled off cases looking for terrorist bombers in order to solve this pressing case.  Removing nude pics from the Internet.  Good luck with that. 

Poor Scarlett is obviously aghast that someone would hack into her telephone and steal private photos of her.  Living as she does in fairyland, she was unaware that just recently, Congressman Anthony Weiner had also suffered the fate of having his tighty-whities displayed on the world’s biggest billboard.  Of course in Weiner’s case, he was targeting a specific audience. but unlike Scarlett, the only ones who may have been interested were probably gay men.

The philosophical issue is that pictures stolen from Scarlett’s phone are equivalent to having them stolen from a locked drawer in her house.  I suppose that makes sense in theory and we won’t argue with the principle.  But here is the essential seam which separates principled types from common sense types: theory is not reality.  I can bake a pie and place it on my window to cool, but if it’s on a busy street, certain unprincipled types are going to take my pie.  If I want to park my convertible on Chicago’s south side, it may not be a good idea to leave the Nikon in full display on the car seat.  

Celebrities who need exposure to further their careers are often the ones to bleat about privacy issues when they know that their lives are lived under a microscope.  At least Oprah and Joy Behar are smart enough not to take nude pics of themselves on their phones.  Imagine the audience for that.  Anyone who thinks cell phones are private are plain delusional.  If Wikileaks can hack into top military secrets, what makes anyone think their Verizon account is safe?   In real life, people regularly have things stolen from their cars, their homes, they may even have nude pics of themselves circulating without their consent, but those are the hazards of real life.  Years and years of indifferent applications of punishments for law breaking has resulted in expectations of a certain amount of criminal behavior in our society.  How many people these days don’t lock their car or house when they leave?  What does it say when years ago, in many cities, it was common to see ”no radio” stickers on car windows?   Most petty crimes aren’t even prosecuted any more for the time and effort involved. 

Celebrities should not live under the delusion that they are immune from the vicissitudes of life that normal people deal with.  Celebrity status does not entirely insulate them from the society they choose to live in.  They only benefit is that they get to publicize their moral outrage.

link X Factor judge Kelly Rowland has severe wardrobe malfunction | Mail Online.

Where are we? 1892? Is the mere glimpse of a nipple really newsworthy? Is it so titillating to see a few centimeters of darkened skin?  It’s not as if they are found only on the beautiful;  everyone has them, some apparently have 3.  Are there people out there that don’t have an internet connection?  Don’t have a televison set? Don’t have access to magazines?

In a time when it is politically incorrect to NOT accept men kissing men, or women embracing women, or extremely suggestive billboards, do people still go blushy-blush over an exposed nipple?  This is very curious.  As we all know, in Muslim culture, any part of the woman’s body is perceived as being risque if exposed to general view.  It’s surprising that they have not invented periscope-like devices for the women’s eyes in order to shield those from the sight of men.  But at least they’re consistent in their values.

In the normal world, it’s virtually impossible to get through a day without being exposed to what used to be considered ‘racy’ images during one’s daily activities.  Every possible centimeter of the human body is  used as marketing fodder to peddle everything from cars to crayons, yet somehow the 2 square centimeters of an average nipple is taboo.  If this little zone of human skin is so salacious, maybe they should consider banning  pencil erasers.   Why don’t they forbid cherries on ice cream sundaes?

We all know that entertainers are always pushing the edge as far as appearance, often in lieu of actual talent.  Did someone say Lady Gaga?  But like PETA supporters getting naked at protest rallies, it gets old and any shock value it may once have had is pretty minimal these days.  Like French can-can girls doing  high-kicks revealing petticoats, in a very short time, the exposing of nipples will be no more titillating than exposing a navel.  Speaking of which, people may recall that back in the 60′s TV show, I Dream of Jeannie, featured  Barbara Eden sporting a risque  harem outfit, but always with the belly button covered.  Apparently back then, a belly button was the same as full frontal nudity, or in the case of the Muslim world, an ankle.

Of course, some may argue that all of this bodily exposure are signs of society’s descent into depravity and decadence.  Maybe.  But I’d rather be exposed to nipples and belly buttons than to other more offensive images.  Michael Moore springs to mind.

link To be a great, McIlroy must stay true to himself – USATODAY.com.

 At the just concluded 2011  US Open , 22 year old Rory McIlroy’s prodigious talent  burst  him onto the world stage in dramatic fashion.  Readers can refer to other sports sites for details of his on course exploits, but my discussion is the more compelling story of the kid himself. 

Just 22 years of age and he already has been placed at the top of the sporting world as much for his character as for his athletic accomplishment.  He is much of what most celebrity athletes these days are not.  He is not brusque, arrogant or distant.  He does not wear strange clothing, have tattoos or earrings.  He does not  hide behind aviator sunglasses and surround himself with surly bodyguards.  He speaks humbly of his accomplishments, does so in complete sentences and is a filial son.  Unlike many top name athletes today, his ego has yet to overwhelm him.

It’s almost too good to be true.  He is like a Stepford wife.  With an impossibly beautiful swing bordering on golf pornography and a disarmingly modest demeanor, it’s hard not to be drawn to this kid.   In the golfing world at least, guys like Nicklaus and Palmer have always tended to their good guy image and may in large part explain their revered positions in golf.  This is in contrast to Ben Hogan and recently Tiger Woods, both of whom were more prickly personalities but were tolerated because of their talents.  A guy like Rory comes along and once again, people can pull for a hero without reservation.  He has the same quality as did a young Phil Mickelson.  Granted, he’s still young and much may happen, but the talent has been there since an early age and the grounding influence of his parents will keep him as a like-able person for years to come.  It appears that a strong value system was instilled from the outset.  Undoubtedly, his family and friends back in his hometown of Holywood, Ireland wouldn’t have rioted even if Rory had lost.

How many 22 year old kids go off to Haiti on their own volition without commercial intent to assess the conditions of the earthquake victims? How many young kids can take the crushing collapse that he experienced during this year’s Masters and brush it off with equanimity and without bitterness or recrimination?  The kid has a maturity well beyond his years and this gushing fan hopes that he will be the new standard of celebrity athletes in the future.  The world can use some genuinely nice guys.