Crowns and Goals

Last night thousands of people tuned in to see who the next Miss America would be. Surprisingly it was the youngest contestant, Teresa Scanlan, who took home the crown. The Nebraska native wishes to use her title as Miss America to help women prevent and conquer eating disorders. Teresa Scanlan is 17-years-old (photo on left).







While last night was a crowning moment for a new Miss America, this afternoon will define the race to the Super Bowl as the New England Patriots take on the New York Jets. Kickoff is at 3:30pm today at Gillette Stadium. Bundle up if you're going to be out in the crowd and have a great game. For more information on Miss America please go to www.yahoo.com. For today's NFL game times and information please go to www.nfl.com or www.espn.com.

Massacre's Massive Spin

Over the weekend the United States has been mourning the deaths and injuries of those involved in the Tuscan, Arizona shooting that occurred Saturday morning at a Safeway grocery store. Senator Gabrielle Giffords was among the injured and is said to be doing well and responding to simple commands according to her doctors. However, the shooting left several others fatally injured including a 9-year-old little girl.

22-year-old Jared Loughner (pictured at left) is currently in police custody but is no longer cooperating with authorities. Instead one of Jared's former community college classmate spoke out this morning on NBC's the TODAY show about his behavior and how she feared the worst. So much so that she made her concerns known to her professor and he to the school administration.

But what is considered to the Arizona Massacre has suddenly taken a turn with liberals pointing fingers and blaming conservatives for the shooting.

According to Fox News.com "many on the American Left said the horror could be traced to the malign influence of American conservatives; members of the Tea Party; right-wing pundits Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck; former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin; and Fox News. That was the narrative of culpability spun in the immediate aftermath of the shootings by some leading liberal commentators and Democratic politicians -- despite warnings from religious leaders, lawyers, academics, ethicists, reporters and historians that such a rush to judgment only further deepens the partisan divide in America, and further poisons its discourse." (foxnews.com, 2011, p. 1).

Regardless of the finger pointing and current political climate, the truth is that no one can really be blamed for the shooting and the loss of so many lives over this past weekend except for the shooter himself, Jared Loughner. For this and other news please go to www.foxnews.com or www.cnn.com.

Blogging 1-0-1

I know some people have a very lofty opinion of blogs and they like to talk about how much blogging is a lot like a journal and that all our thoughts should be kept to ourselves. However, I am a firm believer in freedom of speech, freedom or press etc... So that being said I would like to ask those who believe that our thoughts should be kept to ourselves what type of world we would live in if Bill Gates had decided to keep Windows to himself and not share it with the world? We'd be scribbling our thoughts out on paper that's where! But even then there would be no guarantee that those thoughts would stay private. So yes, blogging for me is a lot like a journal except my thoughts happen to be focused towards Global events, both breaking and past and this is like my own permanent scrap book if you may. I regret that I have not been blogging over the last several months but am grateful to be back and wish everyone a very Happy and prosperous New Year.

Representative Shot

Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the youngest woman ever to be sworn into congress and a member of the Democratic Party was severely wounded earlier today in her home state of Arizona. According to authorities a 22-year-old lone gunman named Jared Loughner is responsible for the attack that claimed the lives of a 9-year-old girl and a Federal Court Judge. Several others were wounded. Representative Giffords was hosting a rally "Congress on Your Corner" when the gunman opened fire and shot her through the head at point blank range.

FoxNews.com is reporting:

"Federal District Judge John M. Roll, a friend of the congresswoman, was among the dead that also included a 9-year-old girl and at least one of Giffords' aides. A total of at least 19 people, including three members of Giffords' staff, were shot at the "Congress on Your Corner" event, held at a Safeway grocery store. Several of the wounded are in critical condition at the university hospital." (Fox News, 2010, p. 1).

Giffords was initially pronounced dead by several leading news organizations but according to doctors Giffords life was saved and she is now responding to commands. They expect a full recovery. Thoughts and prayers go out to Representative Giffords, her family, staff, and those who lost loved one's and those who were injured due to this recent incident.

President Obama condemned the attack on the Representatives life in a speech shortly after the news about Giffords was announced. News organizations are now treading that Giffords was the intended target of 22-year-old Jared Loughner. Arizona has lately been a hot-bed of several controversial political topics such as border control. The shooter is now in police custody. To learn more about this and other news stories please to go www.foxnews.com or www.cnn.com.