Not a concern?

President Obama says he's not worried about Sarah Palin running against him in 2012.

“I don't think about Sarah Palin,” Obama told ABC’s Barbara Walters in an interview, part of which was released Wednesday. “Obviously, Sarah Palin has a strong base of support in the Republican Party, and I respect those skills. But I spend most of my time right now on how I can be the best possible president. And my attitude has always been, from the day I started this job that if I do a good job and if I'm delivering for the American people, the politics will take care of itself.”

He added, “If I falter and the American people are dissatisfied, then I'll have problems.”

Meanwhile, Palin continues to discuss the possibility of challenging Obama.

“I certainly do,” she said Wednesday morning when asked on Fox News whether she still believed she could beat him. “In fact, if you're going to run for any office, you better be in it to win it.”

She added that she was shocked at the reaction to her saying she could win. "Hopefully, every candidate believes that they could beat the incumbent," she said. "Otherwise, why challenge the incumbent?"

“So yeah, I believe that I can, and I don’t know if I’ll be the one, though, to offer my name up in the name of public service,” she said.

American cannot get enough of this woman. I honestly take her as a joke these days. Her whole family is in love with media and their attention. She has nothing important or valuable to bring to the political table. She got her own show and that should be as far as she gets to go.

I'm glad Obama doesn't waste time thinking about Sarah Palin - and neither should the media. She has become a curiosity, a media event, an entertainer, not a real candidate for any office. Palin seems to quote past popular Republican leaders and use many sound bites and buzz words over and over. She doesn't seem to have a working knowledge of politics.

Ground Zero Mosque Applied For Federal Grant

Developers of the controversial Park51 Islamic community center and mosque located two blocks from ground zero earlier this month applied for roughly $5 million in federal grant money set aside for the redevelopment of lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11.

The application was submitted under a “community and cultural enhancement” grant program administered by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation, which oversaw the $20 billion in federal aid allocated in the wake of 9/11 and is currently doling out millions in remaining taxpayer funds for community development. 

Park51’s developers clearly have a legal right to apply for the grant. A list of Frequently Asked Questions that accompanied the application specifically states that religious organizations can make funding requests for capital projects “as long as the request is for a facility or portion of a facility that is dedicated to non-religious activities or uses.” According to an individual familiar with the Park51 application, it requests funds to cover a number of cultural, educational and community development aspects of the proposed 13-story building—but the prayer room is excluded from the grant application.

But the question on whether they could have is trumped by the question of whether they should have. And why shouldn’t they? If we are not going to protest the building of this monument to Islamic extremists’ victory (or call them what they truly are—terrorists!) then we might as well pay for it.

The stated aim of the Park51 developers is to provide a community center for lower Manhattan’s 4,000 Muslim residents. Their own website explained that they understood the need to “appeal to the undecided, and change the conversation about Muslims in America.” It’s pretty clear that this play for federal dollars will generate none of that, starting with the lack of disclosure or community consultation before developers submitted their application, which was due November 5.

Well, I say better let them have it; other wise, we’re Islaomphobic racists who refuse to let them build their Victory Mosque, unless we give them the money.

Emergency Landing?

As if flying was not complicated and scary enough as it was, now a Boeing 767 had to make an emergency landing in the John F. Kennedy International Airport... A Moscow-bound flight carrying more than 200 people returned safely to JFK International Airport after one of its two engines failed Sunday night. Reports say that no one was injured.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown reported that Delta Flight 30 reported that the left engine of the Boeing 767 had failed shortly after takeoff. The plane departed at about 4:40 p.m. with 193 passengers and 11 crew members.

It fascinates me how paranoid TSA is about any explosives making it on a plane, but no technicians are hired to check the plane’s safety for the passengers sake? It seems these days plane failures are more likely to endanger your flight than a terrorist attack. If they insist on having us jump through all their hoops, wouldn’t it only be fair that they make sure the planes we are flying in are also safe?

Brown said she couldn't confirm reports that the plane struck a bird before the engine failed. She said that probably won't be known until the engine is examined during an FAA investigation. (Of course! No surprises there with the standard answer)

Passenger Jim Mandel of Moscow told reporters that they heard "a banging sound" soon after takeoff.

"We didn't know what it was," said Mandel, who was visiting New York with his wife. "Shortly after that, the pilot came on the public speaker system. ... He said it was the left engine but otherwise that the plane would be able to fly normally."

Passengers were transferred to another flight, which was scheduled to depart for Moscow later Sunday night.

Luckily everyone was safe and sound, but the only people to thank in this situation are the pilots who were able to handle the unexpected situation. But for now, I think I’ll stick to driving for the holidays!

Time to Push Back!

Many Americans planning holiday travel have expressed concern -- even outrage -- over the Transportation Security Administration's use of full-body scanning and enhanced pat-downs. This is the first time since 9/11 that Americans are pushing back and showing outrage over their limited liberty rights that seem to shrink with every passing day! There are 400 full-body scanning machines at 69 airports nationwide, according to the TSA. The average medal detector, that every person boarding the plane will have to go through, has been set to extremely sensitive. The medal detector goes off when a person is wearing only a wedding ring. Even the slightest amount of medal can set it off.

According to CNN News about 24 million air travelers are expected to fly over the Thanksgiving holiday period, according to the Air Transport Association of America, an airline trade group. The group expects daily passenger volumes to range from 1.3 million to 2.5 million fliers. Certainly, a large number of those will be asked to step into one of the full-body scanning machines. The real danger of full-body scanning machines is that some of them capture a person’s image on one side of the screen and the scanned image right next to it. It is no secret to anyone that some of these images have already ended up on the Internet. I want to know where is my guarantee that I will not be one of the people whose image is now online for the world to see? What rights do I still have left when I chose to fly to see my family for the holidays?

Passengers in either the medal detector or full-body scan lines may be selected for additional screening, including the enhanced pat-down procedure that allows security officers of the same sex to touch sensitive areas of a passenger's body. Does the fact that you are being groped all over by someone of the same sex as you make you feel any warmer inside? Because it still leaves me feeling as violated as if it were a person of the opposite sex. Children over 12 are also subject to these “pat-downs.” How comfortable would a mother feel while her child is being touched right in front of her eyes?

No more thing to take into consideration before flying these days: how safe are the full-body scanning machines? The body-scanning machines use two separate means of creating images of passengers -- backscatter X-ray technology and millimeter-wave technology. About 190 backscatter machines have been installed in airports; the remainder are millimeter-wave machines. If someone could really explain to me the risks to my health from these machines, I would feel a lot better. But if you do chose to fly, make sure to check out the website to see which airports now have full-body scanning machines.

Medal of Honor goes to first living recipient from Afghanistan war

This is a true National Hero! He risked his own life in order to save several of his fellow soldiers!

A 25-year-old Army staff sergeant from Iowa on Tuesday became the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since three service members from the Vietnam War were honored in 1976. President Barack Obama awarded the nation's highest medal of valor to Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta -- the kind of soldier who leaves you "just absolutely convinced this is what America's all about," Obama said at the White House award ceremony. "It just makes you proud."

Giunta was a specialist serving with the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan when his unit was attacked on the night of October 25, 2007. According to Defense Department documents, Giunta and his fellow soldiers were walking back to base along the top of a mountain ridge when the enemy attacked from their front and their left. Taliban fighters barraged the Americans with AK-47s, rocket propelled grenades and Soviet-era large machine guns.

Giunta saw several of his fellow soldiers go down. He ran forward, throwing grenades and returning enemy fire, to help one soldier who had been shot but was still fighting, the documents say. Then he noticed one of the wounded soldiers was missing. Searching for his wounded friend Sgt. Josh Brennan, Giunta ran over a hill where moments before Taliban fighters had been shooting at him. Now he was alone, out of sight of his fellow soldiers, in an area that the Taliban had controlled just moments before. Giunta saw two Taliban fighters dragging Brennan away. He ran after them, killing one and wounding the other, who ran off. Giunta instantly started providing first aid to Brennan, who had been shot at least six times, the documents say. Eventually a medic arrived and a helicopter was called in to take Brennan to a hospital, but he later died of his wounds.

This is what being a soldier is all about: stepping up and being a leader when the situation calls for it. It is nice to read some good clean news as opposed to normal dirty and drama filled news that we hear every day. Although this was a bitter sweet celebration for Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, it is still a beautiful sight. Although Giunta lost a close friend and a fellow soldier that night, he did everything in his power to try to save his life.

Oil Spill? What Oil Spill?

Gulf Oil Has Entered The Food Web, Scientists Say

Here is something we have been hearing about every single day on the news about this summer, but all has been forgotten since then. The BP oil spill! The oil did not magically disappear after the huge spill, but news reporters got tired of talking about it and people’s attention drifted elsewhere. The government has estimated 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons were leaking per day into the ocean... Where is it all now?

Well the scientists have now quietly announced that the oil has entered the food web. Anyone surprised? Scientists say they have for the first time tracked how certain nontoxic elements of oil from the BP spill quickly became dinner for plankton, entering the food web in the Gulf of Mexico. The study didn't specifically track the toxic components of the oil that has people worried. It focused on the way the basic element carbon moved through the beginnings of the all-important food web.

Will no one tell us the truth about the sea food that we consume? All the scientists and the government try to convince us that it is safe to swim in the Gulf of Mexico and the food is completely safe... Well, I urge you to take a look at the pictures and tell me how safe you truly think this looks!

We have destroyed the habitat of many animals and refuse to take the responsibility for it.

Waiting for Superman

This movie is exactly about the same thing that I blogged earlier this week! The statistic are horrifying!