Susan Rice top contender for national security post- Obama tosses barbs at annual Gridiron dinner

U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is the leading contender to become the White House’s new national security adviser, following a failed bid to become secretary of state, a senior Obama administration official told Fox News this weekend.

President Obama could appoint Rice without the Senate confirmation needed for a Cabinet post. Rice withdrew herself from consideration for the secretary of state post in the face of withering criticism by congressional Republicans and others for her handling of the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2012, Libya terror attacks.

Five days after the attacks that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, Rice said the attacks appeared spontaneous and sparked by an anti-Islamic video.

Rice, 48, later said she gave an incorrect account, based on intelligence reports at the time. However, subsequent meetings with leading Senate Republicans appeared only to increase her lack of support for the Cabinet post.

This weekend, the administration official told Fox a Rice appointment is not imminent because the president still has to find an ambassadorship or another post for current national security adviser Thomas Donilon.  

Fox first reported last year, shortly after the outcome of the November elections, that Rice might get the NSA post –- under the assumption Donilon might become the new White House chief of staff.

Donilon did not get the job so the president must first find a new post for him before moving Rice.

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Campaign raises awareness for National Eating Disorder Week

With the Grammy Awards and Academy Awards this month, it might be challenging to love your body just the way it is. It’s human nature to compare yourself to celebrities and people with power and fame, even if it’s not realistic or beneficial.

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But don’t forget that National Eating Disorders Awareness Week is Feb. 24, 2013 to March 2, 2013. This week is a reminder that you are fine just the way you are, and you are not alone.

Many other people have the same insecurities, and some people even develop eating disorders, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Poor body image and low self esteem can be major contributing factors to eating disorders, so it’s important to stop comparing yourself negatively to others and start loving yourself completely.

“The aim of NED Awareness Week is to ultimately increase outreach and awareness of eating disorders and body image issues, while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment resources,” according to the official website.

“Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening illnesses – not choices – and it's important to recognize the pressures, attitudes and behaviors that shape the disorder.”

Lynn Grefe, the president and CEO of National Eating Disorders Association, said in an email that although the theme for this year’s awareness week is the same as last year’s, “Everybody Knows Somebody,” this year is more focused on “diversity in the population” instead of last year’s focus on people’s individual roles (mother, sibling, father, etc.).

“We are working very hard to stress that eating disorders know no boundaries,” Grefe said.

During this week, the National Eating Disorders Association also partnered with Screening for Mental Health, Inc., to create the website www.mybodyscreening.org/, which allows people to take free and anonymous self-assessments to find out if they might have an eating disorder.

Grefe said that in the past year, there have been some specific advances in body image and eating disorder awareness.

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