Hamlin Still With Work to do in NASCAR Finale

Denny Hamlin, who is ahead of reigning champion Jimmie Johnson by 15 points, is not concerned about being so far back in the 43-car field for the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Johnson qualified sixth for this race which will decide the 2010 championship.  Hamlin hada disappointing qualifying effort, he ended p in the 37th spot. 

He won this race in 2009 from one spot farther back.

The difference in having to catch the Lowe's #48 this year is that a Cup title is on the line. The reigning four-time champion, Johnson trails Hamlin by 15 points in the standings. Johnson will start Sunday's race 31 spots ahead of Hamlin and 22 positions in front of Kevin Harvick, the other championship contender.

Johnson, who's won the Homestead-Miami pole twice (2007, '09), clinched his second-best starting position (sixth) in the Chase races. He won the pole at Dover on Sept. 26, but in the eight other Chase events Johnson's average starting position was 17.5.

Four of Hamlin's eight victories this year were from a starting position of 14th or worse. His two victories at Texas on April 18 and Nov. 7 came from the 29th and 30th spots, respectively.

Including Sunday, Hamlin and Harvick will have started in the top 10 in just nine of 36 races. That's 15 fewer top 10 starts than Johnson. Last weekend in Phoenix, a notoriously difficult passing track, Hamlin started 17th and finished 12th.

"With the multi-groove track like Homestead … most guys prefer to run up high," Hamlin said. "I always seem to run lower here so I get a whole lot cleaner air than what guys do. Passing has not been as big of an issue at this track in the past as Phoenix has been for me. If I have half of the car that I had at Phoenix here this weekend, we should be OK."

We should see a close race Sunday afternoon, and the title could be decided a matter of inches.

Holiday Travelers Worried Over TSA Body Scans

As the high-travel Thanksgiving holiday approaches, travelers and lawmakers in Washingtonare up in arms over airport security measures.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the U.S. Travel Association have been getting thousands of complaints. Facebook and Twitter are smoking with posted outrage. And the talk at the airports is not about canceled or delayed flights, it's about security sceenings and touching of one's "junk."

In response to terrorist threats, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now gives airline passengers two choices: Get a full-body scan using low-dose radiation that shows a naked image – everything from head to toe – which may or not be harmful to one’s health, depending on the expert cited. Or refuse the scan and have a stranger run his or her hands over every part of your body.  What a choice!

"With the holiday travel season fast approaching, we need to make sure that security measures are in place that actually make us more secure without compromising passenger privacy," says the ACLU, which is urging people to sign its petition to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

In Washington, meanwhile, Rep. Ron Paul (R) of Texas has introduced the "American Traveler Dignity Act."

"It removes the immunity from anybody in the federal government that does anything that you or I can’t do," says Paul. "If you can’t grope another person and if you can’t X-ray people and endanger them with possible X-rays, you can’t take nude photographs of individuals, why do we allow the government to do it?"

The congressional concern reaches across the aisle.

Reps. Bennie Thompson (D) of Mississippi and Sheila Jackson Lee (D) of Texas (who chair the Committee on Homeland Security and the transportation security and infrastructure subcommittee, respectively) have asked the TSA for detailed information on the new enhanced security system and how the agency is handling complaints.

This Wednesday has been designated "National Opt-Out Day" in which travelers have been asked to refuse the relatively quick X-ray scan, which means that already long lines could become even longer as people wait to be patted down – a sort of slowdown meant to jam up the security system but which could also cause thousands of passengers to miss flights.

On its web site and Facebook page, the U.S. Travel Association (which represents some 1,700 travel businesses) is surveying travelers’ personal experiences, which it is forwarding to Congress and the White House.

As the debate continues, the use of the controversial scanners around the country is increasing each and every day.

"The number of scanners jumped from 40 at the start of this year to 373 installed at 68 airports across the USA as of last week," reports USA today. "The TSA is scheduled to have deployed 500 scanners, which cost roughly $170,000 each, by Dec. 31, and a total of 1,000 by the end of 2011."

Secretary Napolitano has asked for patience with the new enhanced security system.

The holiday season will be a major test of the system – and of travelers’ and airport workers patience.

The AAA estimates that 42.2 million Americans will be traveling – 1.6 million in the air.

Mysterious White Powder Sent to 'Dancing With the Stars' Studio

A Dancing With the Stars staff member discovered an envelope containing a mysterious white powder and a threatening letter at the show's production offices.

Though the white powder was eventually determined to be harmless, the scare led to the evacuation of the studio.

"Measures were taken to secure the area and ensure the safety of personnel," ABC spokeswoman Amy Astley said. "Ultimately we were advised by the LAFD that the substance was determined to be talcum powder."

Los Angeles city hazardous materials officials, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI immediately responded to the CBS Studios, where the show is filmed.

Immediate tests cleared the envelope for hazardous materials, and the envelope has now been sent to a regional lab for further testing. The FBI and LAPD are conducting a joint investigation.

The gossip site TMZ.com is reporting that the letter was targeting Bristol Palin, though authorities have neither confirmed nor denied this.

The FBI would not confirm the intended recipient of the letter to ABC News.

This season of the show has made headlines as fans have complained that Palin, the daughter of Sarah Palin, has advanced to the finals because her mother's supporters are manipulating the voting. Palin has remained on the show, despite consistently landing at the bottom of the judges' leader board.

This is hardly the first instance of a fan targeting a contestant on the hit show.

In 2009, Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson was stalked by an obsessed fan who drove from Florida to California, attempted to climb the fence to get into the studio. He was quickly arrested, and police found guns and duct tape in his car.

Should be an interesting weekend and next week on the DWTS set.

11/20/10 College Football Play of the Day: Northwestern

I didn't go to Northwestern, but I could've.  I still always root for Northwestern Football.

Today the Wildcats are taking on their instate rival in Illinois at Wrigley Field of all places.  It's the first college football game at Wrigley since the 1930's.  ESPN is even there with Gameday this morning.

I love Northwestern getting 8 points today.  Yes, they lost their starting quarterback last week, but I think this team will put together.  I like them possible to win straight up, so getting the 8 points is welcome bonus.

In their last 10 meetings, Northwestern is 8-2 ATS over The Illini.  Illinois is also 6-15 ATS their last 21 games on grass.  This all means another exciting Northwestern win today.  Take the Wildcats and enjoy the game at Wrigley.

A Mine Disaster in New Zealand

Twenty-seven miners remained trapped underground Friday night after an explosion at a remote coal mine on New Zealand's South Island, with rescue attempts delayed by concerns about air quality in the mine.

Late Friday, two miners who had managed to exit the mine were in the hospital. But Saturday morning, police officials said they still hadn't managed to reach any of the miners.

"At this point we are unable to get into the mine because of the quality of the air," said police spokeswoman Kaye Calder Saturday, who added that mine experts had been testing the air quality overnight. "We have had no contact with the people inside the mine," she added.

The incident comes five weeks after 33 trapped miners were freed from a Chilean mine after more than two months underground. A week after that rescue, 37 miners in China died following a gas explosion in a mine.

"There are 27 men underground, and two men have walked out," said Peter Whittall, chief executive of the mine operator. "The other employees are further into the mine, … and at this stage we haven't had any contact with those employees."

Of the 27 men underground, 15 work for Pike River Coal and 12 were contractors. The drill operator was a foreigner, while the rest were believed to be New Zealanders.

Mr. Whittall said he didn't know what caused the explosion. There could have been a coal-bed gas explosion, but that wouldn't be known until rescue teams reached the workers, he said.