"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Paul Ryan releases two years of tax returns

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 03:33 PM PDT

FILE In this June 1, 2012 file photo, Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Paul Ryan's fastidious commitment to fitness and healthy living can be traced to 1986. That's when he found his father dead of a heart attack in the family's Wisconsin home, becoming the latest in a long line of men in the family to die prematurely. Today, Ryan is 42. He boasts of body fat between just 6 and 8 percent. He doesn't eat sweets _ even on his birthday. He holds early morning work outs in the House gym for colleagues. And he favors a high-intensity workout called P90X. The youthful Ryan's intensity _ and the story behind it _ has been in the spotlight since Romney announced his running-mate selection last weekend. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)ARLINGTON, Va. -- Mitt Romney's campaign released two years of vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's tax returns Friday, which show that he and his wife paid a 15.9 percent effective tax rate on an adjusted gross income of $215,417 in 2010 and a 20 percent rate on $323,416 in 2011--a weighted average of just over [...]

Russian punk band verdict draws criticism around globe

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 04:59 PM PDT

A masked demonstrator stands in front of a placard reading: 'Justice' in support of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot during a protest outside Spain's Foreign Office in Madrid Thursday Aug. 16, 2012. Three members of Pussy Riot were jailed in March and charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after their punk performance against President Putin in Moscow's main cathedral. They are awaiting the verdict on Friday, Aug. 17, 2012 (AP Photo/Paul White)European nations and the United States, as well as some celebrities, voiced sharp criticism of Russia on Friday over jail sentences handed to three members of the punk band Pussy Riot who protested against President Vladimir Putin in a church. Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said the two-year sentences give to the women were "disproportionate" to the crime and added to the intimidation of opposition activists in Russia. The United States expressed disappointment over the verdict and also called the sentences disproportionate. ...

Syria fighting deeply scars Aleppo neighborhoods

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 02:31 PM PDT

A Syrian man grieves over the bodies of four members of his family, who were killed when an airstrike hit their house, as they lie on the side of the street outside a field hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad's regime. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.(AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)Entire neighborhoods of Syria's largest city bear battle scars: buildings toppled by government shells, charred tanks blown up by rebels and trash-strewn no-man's lands where neither side has full control after nearly a month of deadly street battles.

The evolution of the universe in a short video

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 04:12 PM PDT

Largest Map of Universe Yet Captures 1 Million GalaxiesA new animated video shows the evolution of the universe, from Big Bang to now in a little over a minute. Wired's UK site picked up on the realistic computer simulation that was developed by researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in collaboration with researchers at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) [...]

Former Democrat stumps for Paul Ryan in Virginia

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 02:50 PM PDT

Republican vice presidential candidate Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) speaks during a campaign rally at Miami University in OxfordSPRINGFIELD, Va. -- Former Alabama Democratic Rep. Artur Davis, who defected to the Republican Party earlier this year, appeared with Paul Ryan at a rally here Friday. Davis, who now lives in Virginia and will be a featured speaker at the Republican Party convention later this month, spoke before Ryan and focused partially on how [...]

Fannie and Freddie bailout: The new terms

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 03:31 PM PDT

A general view of Fannie Mae headquarters in WashingtonThe government is changing the terms of its bailout agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a way that will shrink the holdings of the two mortgage giants more quickly and will require payment to the government of all quarterly profits the companies earn.

Ryan: Obama's created the 'most partisan' atmosphere I've ever seen

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:38 AM PDT

Republican vice presidential candidate Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) looks on during a campaign rally at Miami University in Oxford, OhioGLEN ALLEN, Va.—At the end of his first week on the stump, Paul Ryan said the current political environment is the "most partisan atmosphere" he's "ever seen" over the three administrations he's worked for. "Remember the line, we're not red states, we're not blue states...

AARP bristles at new Obama ad on Medicare

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:53 AM PDT

This undated ad, provided by AARP and the Ad Council, is from a new public service announcement illustrating the frustration that family members can feel as they struggle to care for aging loved ones while holding down jobs, raising children and taking care of their own health. The campaign, beginning Thursday, is to raise awareness of family caregivers and point them toward resources that may ease the strain. (AP Photo/AARP, Ad Council)The AARP plays a starring role in President Barack Obama's new ad defending his record on Medicare. But that doesn't mean the group has to like it. Hours after the Democrat's campaign released its new commercial, AARP Senior Vice President John Hishta bluntly denied any involvement in the ad and scolded Obama (as well as [...]

Anti-Semitic pol with Jewish roots faces tough road away from hate

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 01:41 PM PDT

FILE - This file photo dated on June 7, 2009 shows Hungary's far right party, Jobbik's, Csanad Szegedi, left, and Krisztina Morvai, right, celebrating their entry into the European Parliament after the European parliamentary election in Budapest, Hungary. Szegedi, who was notorious for his incendiary comments on Jews, acknowledged in June that his grandparents on his mother's side were Jews. After resigning last month from all his party positions he was also asked by Jobbik to give up his seat in the European Parliament as well. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky, File)What if you're not who you think you are? Earlier this month, a Hungarian politician who used "Jewishness" as an insult and floated conspiracy theories about Jewish people buying up his country's property resigned all his political positions after his colleagues realized he was secretly Jewish. He had been trying to cover up that fact [...]

Romney’s path to victory goes through Florida, Ohio and Virginia

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:28 AM PDT

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leaves his headquarters in Boston, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Mitt Romney has one clear route to victory on Nov. 6: In addition to winning all the states we know he will win, he has to capture Florida, Virginia, Ohio and at least one of five other swing states. It's very possible Romney will win more than that. Our model of presidential elections, for example, [...]

Republicans mock Obama for softball interviews

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:50 AM PDT

Republicans are taking President Obama to task for evading public questioning by the White House press corps for more than eight weeks, while instead granting a series of interviews to entertainment media outlets with whom he discussed largely frivolous subjects. A new web video by...

Former GOP Sen. Lincoln Chafee to attend Dem Convention

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:49 AM PDT

Former Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee will attend the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in September, WPRI reports. Chafee is now the independent governor of liberal Rhode Island, and has been drifting away from the Republican Party since at least 2006, when he lost his re-election bid for the Senate. (In 2004, he withdrew his support [...]

Robotic surfboard helps track sharks

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:11 PM PDT

A fleet of self-propelled surfboards loaded with electronics is now helping researchers track great white sharks off the coast of California. The solar powered network of floating robots will essentially create hot spots to track already-tagged sharks, whales and other predators in the Pacific and then transmit their location to land-based researchers, according to BBC [...]

New Buckyball crystal formed that can cut through diamonds

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 01:22 PM PDT

The Buckyball is truly an amazing thing. First prepared in a lab in 1985, these interconnected, spherical lattices of 60 carbon atoms bonded together have found possible use in applications as varied as stopping HIV and helping us live to 150 … Continue reading →

Tourist town threatening to sue weather service over bad forecasts

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:58 AM PDT

In some parts of Europe the debate over climate change has moved on to a debate over who gets to predict a change in the summer climate. The mayor of a Belgian seaside resort says his town may sue a private weather service after the station predicted bad summer weather. "We all know we're not [...]

2.3 million U.S. toilets recalled over explosions

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 09:59 AM PDT

Your toilet could be a ticking time bomb. A problem with flushing mechanisms that causes toilets to explode has prompted a recall of 2.3 million toilets in the U.S. and 9,400 in Canada. There have already been 304 complaints of exploding devices bursting, causing 14 "impact or laceration injuries," according to the U.S. Consumer Product [...]

Cardinal Francis George fighting cancer again

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 05:08 PM PDT

Six years after recovering from bladder cancer, Chicago's Cardinal Francis George has been diagnosed with cancer again, according to a statement released by the Chicago Archdiocese today.

W.H. condemns prison term for Russian punk band

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:54 AM PDT

Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia on Friday, Aug 17, 2012. The women, two of whom have young children, are charged with hooliganism connected to religious hatred but the case is widely seen as a warning that authorities will only tolerate opposition under tightly controlled conditions. T-shirt on right worn by Tolokonnikova is Spanish and translates to "They shall not pass", a slogan often used to express determination to defend a position against an enemy. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)The White House on Friday condemned the "disproportionate" two-year prison sentence a Russian judge imposed on members of the punk band Pussy Riot, found guilty of "hooliganism" for an event mocking Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The United States is disappointed by the verdict, including the disproportionate sentences that were granted," spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. [...]

Illinois House expels Rep. Derrick Smith over bribery charge

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 01:46 PM PDT

State lawmakers today kicked out a West Side Democrat accused of taking a $7,000 bribe, marking the first expulsion from the Illinois House since 1905.

Slideshow: Ballet school offers hope for Brazil's underprivileged

Posted: 16 Aug 2012 12:41 PM PDT

Slideshow: Ballet school offers hope for Brazil's underprivilegedGirls perform during their ballet class at the 'Ballet Santa Teresa' academy in Rio de Janeiro August 13, 2012. 'Ballet Santa Teresa', a non-governmental organization (NGO) gives children who live in areas with social risk, some suffering domestic violence, free ballet classes and other activities as a part of socio-cultural integration project. Picture taken Auhust 13, 2012. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares (BRAZIL - Tags: SOCIETY)