Obama grandmother threat

Obama grandmother threat

Obama's Grandmother Sarah Targeted By Al Qaeda In Kenya

Kenyan police are patrolling around the home of President Barack Obama's step-grandmother in Kenya after al Shabaab, a Somalia-based extremist group with ties to al Qaeda, issued a personal threat against her.As ABC News reports, Sarah Hussein Obama seemed unconcerned over the threat, despite the fact that the extra security around her home had increased. "My life has not been affected in any way," the elder Obama, 88, said. "It has not restricted my movement. If the government has decided to bring more security personnel, we are OK with it."

As the third wife of Obama's paternal grandfather, Sarah is not related to the president by blood, but he affectionately refers to her as "Granny," the New York Post reports.

The threat is neither new nor credible, CBS News quotes an expert involved in security matters at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya as saying, and local police added security only out of an abundance of caution. A longtime al Qaeda affiliate, al Shabaab has been linked to piracy, beheadings, and terror links to Somali communities in the United States.

The threat is just one of several issued by radical organizations after bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan May 1. Authorities believe the greatest threat to the U.S. is posed by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. "Do not dismiss this battle so easily, and give your people false hope that if you kill Osama that it is over," Nasir al-Wahishi, a leader of the Yemen-based group, is quoted by ABC News as saying Wednesday. "What is waiting for you is far greater and more dangerous, and you will then count your regrets, wishing for the days of Osama."

Most expensive re-election campaigns

Most expensive re-election campaigns

Most expensive re-election campaigns. President Barack Obama has announced he'll run for office again in 2012, launching speculation about how much he'll spend. We've rounded up past incumbents who spared no expense in defending their political posts.

 Barack Obama

The president has officially announced his 2012 re-election campaign, and some say it'll be the most expensive in history. 

 Michele Bachmann

Last November, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn, beat her challenger to retain this congressional district. The race earned a high-dollar distinction. 

 Barbara Boxer

In last year's U.S. Senate race, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., beat her wealthy opponent. It's been reported that the senator spent nearly everything she'd raised — 

 Michael Bloomberg

Bloomberg was named mayor of New York City the third time in a row, having bested his 2009 challenger.

 Harry Reid

Democrat Sen. Harry Reid went all out to secure his Nevada Senate seat last year. This meant aiming for a lofty goal. It was the second-most-expensive Senate race —

 George Pataki

Pataki was re-elected New York's governor in 2002, after spending somewhere in the ballpark of this large sum. 

 Hillary Rodham Clinton

Then-New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton reportedly spent more than any other Senate candidate when she ran against her 2006 opponent. 

John McCain

During the last midterm elections, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is estimated to have spent more on a successful bid than any other Senate candidate.

Celebrity Memoirs

Celebrity Memoirs

Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re sad. One thing is certain: The lives of celebrities are rarely dull. This month a famous actress revealed family pain in her new memoir. Read on to learn about compelling autobiographies that’ll have you laughing, crying and yearning to read more.

Ashley Judd
The film star wrote her recently released memoir, “All That Is Bitter And Sweet,” to talk about the humanitarian causes she supports around the world. But revelations about her dysfunctional childhood rose more than a few eyebrows.

Portia de Rossi
Her long struggle with a serious disorder threw the “Ally McBeal” and “Arrested Development” actress into a dark hole. In “Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain,” she writes glowingly about the long climb out and the important person who helped pull her up.

Barack Obama
“Dreams From My Father” was published in 1995, the year President Obama began his political career. It was hailed as an evocative, lyrical memoir of his life up until the time he entered a prestigious Eastern university.

George W. Bush
The former president explains the processes he went through to make major “Decision Points” that established national policy. Bush recalls the aftermath of his administration’s reaction to a natural disaster that tarnished his tenure.

Carrie Fisher
Funny, candid and self-deprecating, the memoir penned by a former movie princess and current novelist is chock-a-block with juicy gossip and lacerating send-ups of Hollywood culture. She writes of her bouts of drug and alcohol addiction and much more in “Wishful Drinking.”

Carnie Wilson
In two separate memoirs, “Gut Feelings” and “I’m Still Hungry,” the singer/songwriter describes her battle with morbid obesity and her decision to undergo surgery to help control it.

Anne Heche
Another in a long line of Hollywood actresses who grew up with abuse, Anne Heche details the violations she withstood as a child and young adult and the strength she invoked to rise above them, in her 2001 biography, “Call Me Crazy.”

Frank Zappa
In “The Real Frank Zappa Book,” the rock guitarist lays it all out on the line: his hilarious, dagger-wielding take on the music industry, raising kids, capitalism and art. He dispels a few myths about himself, and he flings more than a few Zappaesque zingers on deserving prey.

Condoleezza Rice
The former Secretary of State writes tenderly of her parents in her 2010 book, “Extraordinary Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family.” She recounts how they raised her to rise above the racism and sexism she encountered in her hometown.

Roman Polanski
The film director’s 1984 book, “Roman by Polanski,” catalogues the self-destructive behavior he indulged in, especially after the untimely demise of his beautiful wife
Source:Specials