The XX Factor: What women really think.

What Type of Charlatan Is Richard Heene?

A post from DoubleX writer Amanda Marcotte:

I'm a fan of using kooky incidents as a jumping point to ponder the Big Questions of Our Time, but Frank Rich's half-hearted defense of Balloon Boy's dad Richard Heene counts as an overt abuse of the form, on many levels. I simply cannot accept Heene as Rich paints him, a man ground down by our economy and striving for the perceived payoffs of fame to the point of the evil misuse of his family ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX).

Can the Balloon Boy's Parents Really Go to Prison?

A guest post from DoubleX intern Jessica Dweck.

“Poor kid” is right, Emily. The Heenes are not only spectacularly bad parents, but they might soon become inmates in Colorado state prison. In the span of one short weekend, the Balloon Boy drama has turned out to be just that—an elaborate one-act theatrical work put on by the Heene Family Players, staged on television stations and computer screens across the country. We now know that the Heenes' ordeal was just one more attention-grabbing stunt in what appears to be an agonizingly protracted audition for a TLC-style reality television show—the last act in a series of questionable parenting moves ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX).

Balloon Boy, Poor Kid, Is a Hoax

I didn't want to believe that Thursday's helium balloon TV drama was fake when all the signs pointed that way last week. But now the evidence of a balloon boy hoax has been confirmed by the sheriff who stuck up for Richard and Mayumi Heenes' story, who says now that the Heenes planned the stunt in a bid for a reality show of their own ... (Read more in DoubleX.)

The Terrifying Helium Balloon

The live footage of that helium balloon gliding over Colorado is the most peaceful and terrifying sight I’ve ever seen. It looks like some kind of silver jellyfish—pulsing and alive. It looks like a scene from a 1970s sci-fi movie. It would be beautiful, if not for the kid trapped inside, no doubt crouched and terrified. This is not Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, after all. Every few seconds, the balloon seems to tip dangerously ... (Read more in DoubleX.)