"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Would al-Qaida's wildfire 'ember bomb' really work?

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 10:29 AM PDT

Astronaut's Photo Captures Blazing Wyoming WildfireAl Qaeda's bizarre plan to attack America by using an "ember bomb" to ignite wildfires is so impractical that the terror group would be better off armed with a cigarette lighter, according to California fire officials who recently tested an al Qaeda-prescribed incendiary device. In...

New law would block rental of recalled cars

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 12:47 PM PDT

New Law Would Block Rental of Recalled CarsA new bill that would keep rental car companies from renting out vehicles that have been recalled because of safety risks was introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Massachusetts man to plead guilty in model plane terror plot

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 11:01 AM PDT

Massachusetts Man to Plead Guilty in Model Plane Terror PlotA Massachusetts man accused of plotting to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol building with model planes filled with C-4 explosives will plead guilty to two terror charges, say prosecutors, and serve a 17-year federal sentence.

Mitt goes 1968: Campaign sells George Romney-inspired merchandise

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 04:13 PM PDT

Want to show your support for Mitt Romney in 2012 but don't have a taste for today's fashion? No problem — the Romney campaign has you covered, with a collection inspired by the candidate's father's 1968 presidential run. The "Vintage" line of campaign T-shirts, bags and buttons floats the Romney name in swingin' sixties font [...]

Video: Cookie Monster sings a ‘Call Me Maybe’ spoof, ‘Share It Maybe’

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 02:09 PM PDT

There have been plenty of "Call Me Maybe" spoofs, including Jimmy Fallon's, Colin Powell's and Yahoo!'s very own Nikki Boyer's. But only one, to this point, has featured Cookie Monster. Watch Sesame Street's version, above, of the Carly Rae Jepsen song, replete with kid-friendly lyrics about sharing your cookies. Milk not included.

Man sets house on fire after using blowtorch on spider webs

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 04:38 PM PDT

If Eiliya Maida thought he hated spiders before, imagine how he must feel now. The California man accidentally set his house on fire while using a blowtorch to clear spider webs out of his backyard. The Chico Enterprise Record reports that dry plants in Maida's backyard ignited as he was attempting to burn the webs. [...]

Juror who bolted for trip fined

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 04:58 PM PDT

A medical sales representative who left for a business trip while serving on a federal jury was spared jail but was fined the maximum $1,000.

Chorus is growing for Jackson Jr. to disclose medical condition

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 01:53 PM PDT

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez today joined a growing chorus of Illinois Democrats warning that Rep.Jesse Jackson Jr. needs to be more forthcoming about why he's on medical leave. Earlier, the Rev. Jesse Jackson told WMAQ-TV that it was "inappropriate" for him to say publicly what his son is being treated for.

Politically vulnerable Democrats plan to back Obamacare repeal

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 12:17 PM PDT

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2010 file photo, Rep. Larry Kissell, D-N.C., gives his victory speech in Concord, N.C. Kissell has upset an incumbent Republican congressman in a largely rural, conservative North Carolina district, and withstood a GOP surge that erased a Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. His toughest fight, though, may lie ahead because of the new political map drawn by North Carolina's Republican-controlled legislature. And that new vulnerability raises a larger question: Is Kissell among the last of a dying breed of Southern Democrats? (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)The House's planned vote Wednesday to fully repeal Obamacare ultimately amounts to little more than political theater, given that House Republicans have made 30 previous attempts to repeal all or part of the law, all of which have gone nowhere in the Democrat-controlled Senate. But this week's vote does offer several politically vulnerable members a [...]

Romney says it’s Obama who is the ‘outsourcer in chief’

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 10:45 AM PDT

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an event on extending the Bush-era tax cuts for middle class families at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar RapidsMitt Romney pushed back on Democratic claims he outsourced jobs while head of Bain Capital, suggesting that President Barack Obama is more guilty of sending jobs out of the country than he is. "If there's an outsourcer in chief, it's the president of the United States, not the guy who is running to replace him," [...]

Nikki Haley says she is not being vetted for VP role

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 11:58 AM PDT

FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2012 file photo, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley sits in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Days into his new role as presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney has initiated a months-long search for a running mate, an effort to be guided as much by his methodical corporate-based approach as the shadows of Sarah Palin. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said during a trip to England this week that she is not in the running to become Mitt Romney's No. 2, according to the Wall Street Journal: "No, I am not," replied Ms. Haley after being asked if the Romney campaign was vetting her. "I have made it very clear [...]

How Republicans plan to win over the youth vote

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 12:56 PM PDT

In this photo taken June 29, 2012, Geoffrey Tanner, 19, of Herndon, Va., center, and other volunteers make phone calls at the Romney Victory Office in Fairfax, Va. Call them passionate, idealistic, earnest, even a tad naive: The volunteers helping to power the Obama and Romney campaigns are outliers at a time when polls show record low public satisfaction with government and a growing belief that Washington isn't on their side. While motivated by opposing goals, the Obama and Romney volunteers share at least one key trait: an abiding faith in the political process and a belief that it still matters who occupies the White House. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)Four years after Barack Obama won the support of 66 percent of voters aged 18 to 29, Republicans are working on a fresh approach to bring younger voters and candidates into the fold, using a coalition of traditional campaign organizations, super PACs, nonprofit advocacy groups and policy-based think tanks. And even Republicans organizing these efforts [...]

Eric Holder on voter ID laws: ‘We call those poll taxes’

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 12:30 PM PDT

Click image to view more photos. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Speaking before the NAACP, Attorney General Eric Holder departed from his prepared speech on Tuesday, decrying voter ID laws that have been proposed in 10 states so far. Talking Points Memo reports: "Under the proposed law, concealed handgun licenses would be acceptable forms of photo ID, [...]

Independent voters increase in key swing states

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 11:33 AM PDT

Democrats are losing ground in voter registration in six key battleground states as more voters elect to register as independents, according to a new Bloomberg News analysis of state voter records. As Bloomberg's John McCormick reports: The collective total of independents grew by about 443,000 in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and North Carolina [...]

3,000-year-old ‘Frankenstein’ mummies discovered in Scotland

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 11:26 AM PDT

Researchers say that a pair of 3,000-year-old mummified corpses that were recently discovered in Scotland are actually composed of body parts originating from six different people. The mummified corpses were discovered in Cladh Hallan, an archaeological site on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. It is the only location in [...]

Good samaritan returns $500 found in thrift store purchase

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 09:54 AM PDT

Finding hidden treasure is a surefire way to perk up your day. But what if your treasure could help out a total stranger, too? An Australian woman named Jan Hansch was setting her table with napkins she had purchased from a secondhand store when an [...]

The one word that's ruining political reporting

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 10:14 AM PDT

Romney gives reporters his reaction to the Supreme Court's upholding of Obamacare in WashingtonWhatever your feelings about who the Republicans chose as their nominee, the primary campaign scored two clear achievements for the cause of rational politics. First, it demonstrated once and for all that the Iowa caucus process is a farce.

Fewer Cubs-vs.-Sox games in store

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 11:35 AM PDT

The City Series, one of the most popular features of Chicago's baseball schedule, will be reduced from six to four games between the Cubs and White Sox in most seasons.

Pebble Project threatens Alaska's 'Red Gold'

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 10:00 AM PDT

Eric Reimers (l.) and his maternal grand father, Elia Anelon (r.), cleaning their salmon on the shore of Lake Iliamna just as native Alaskans have done for generations.America gets over 60 percent of its seafood from Alaskan waters. Now a proposed open pit mine, which would be one of the largest in the world, has some residents here concerned. They're worried that regardless of the economic benefits, giant ponds that would be used to store waste from the mine could pollute Alaska's pristine waters.

Zillow names Chicago the best buyer's market in U.S.

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 01:42 PM PDT

Chicago may be the second city but it's No. 1 for homebuyers looking for a good deal.