"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Bain docs: Romney investments used 'blockers' to avoid taxes

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 11:59 AM PDT

Bain Documents: Romney Offshore Investments Used 'Blockers' To Avoid TaxesThe private equity firm founded by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made use of arcane techniques in several of its Cayman Islands-based funds to avoid U.S. taxes, according to a trove of Bain Capital's private audit and finance records made public on the website Gawker today.

Dole recalls bagged salad over possible Listeria discovery

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 01:59 PM PDT

Dole Recalls Bagged Salad; Listeria Possibly FoundDole says it is voluntarily recalling 1,039 cases of bagged salad after a random sample tested positive for the Listeria bacteria. Dole Fresh Vegetables, a division of Dole Food Company, which is based in Westlake Village, Calif., issued the statement Wednesday evening, saying no illnesses...

Atheist summer camp is heaven for nonbelievers

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:02 PM PDT

Atheist Summer Camp Is Heaven on Earth for NonbelieversMost summer camps host kayaking, arts and crafts classes and campfires, but what makes Camp Quest Northwest different is that it is literally "beyond belief." Located just north of Seattle, Camp Quest Northwest is a summer camp for atheists or children of atheists, self-described "freethinkers" or people not otherwise traditionally religious."We would encourage them to read, to go to church," said Chuck Wolber, one of Camp Quest Northwest's founders. "The best way to become an atheist is to study the Bible, and I definitely recommend the kids do that. ...

Curiosity rover landing: This time in HD

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 03:41 PM PDT

You've seen the $2.5 billion Mars rover Curiosity flawlessly land on the Red Planet. But you haven't seen it like this. Folks, this is not your grandparent's moon landing video. Grainy, it's not. Instead, we've got full-resolution images, courtesy of the Mars descent imager that cataloged the landing from the jettison of the heat shield [...]

Police investigating reported threat against Akin

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 04:47 PM PDT

Handout image of U.S. Congressman Todd AkinU.S. Capitol Police said Thursday that officers are investigating a reported threat against Rep. Todd Akin, the Missouri congressman who has been criticized for comments he recently made about rape.

Holmes made threats, was barred from campus

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 02:50 PM PDT

Prosecutors want access to Holmes' notebookCENTENNIAL, Colo. -- The prosecution in the James Holmes mass murder case said on Thursday that the suspect's school life is linked to the July 20 shootings that killed 12 people during a midnight screening of the new Batman movie. Karen Pearson, a lawyer with the Arapahoe County District Attorney's office, said during a hearing [...]

Romney: My health plan is superior to Obama's

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 02:47 PM PDT

FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop in Bettendorf, Iowa. Barack Obama needs to remind voters why they loved him in 2008. Mitt Romney needs for voters to get to know and like him better And both must strike a balance with their conventions to fire up core backers without alienating undecided voters who may well decide a close election. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)Claiming health care bragging rights, Mitt Romney said Thursday his plan to provide health insurance to everyone in Massachusetts was superior to the one it inspired, President Barack Obama's much-debated national law.

Will Isaac hit Tampa during the Republican convention?

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 02:40 PM PDT

Tropical Storm Isaac is seen in the Caribbean on August 23, 2012. REUTERS/NOAAA day after the mayor of Tampa said he was prepared to call off next week's Republican National Convention if Tropical Storm Isaac hits the bay area as a major storm, Florida Gov. Rick Scott assured conventiongoers that "Tampa is open for business." "We're a hospitality state," Scott said on CNN. "We do this every [...]

Florida man learns lesson when stolen gun returned with a message

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:01 PM PDT

A Port St. Lucie man says he learned a valuable lesson in gun safety after his stolen gun was secretly returned—with a disturbing message. Mike Maisonneuve told local police that a gun with bullets and a knife were stolen from his unlocked car in his driveway, WPBF-TV reports. But when he started to go back [...]

Washed out bridge strands Missouri couple in their home

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 01:26 PM PDT

For Bob and Connie Bushner, a trip to the grocery store involves a trek on a four-wheel ATV down a creek bank, across the creek, up another steep bank and then to a car parked away from their home. It's been that way since December of 2010, when a storm washed away a small bridge [...]

Video: Family of four stranded at airport for six days

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 01:50 PM PDT

A Virginia family spent six days stranded at Salt Lake City International Airport before a generous donor purchased them a flight back home. "We just sit and walk around and wait for our flights," Curtis Saxton told local affiliate ABC 4. "We've been here for every flight, rolled over for every flight," said Saxton. "We're [...]

Prosecution: Holmes made threats before rampage

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 03:03 PM PDT

Prosecutors want access to Holmes' notebookThe man accused in the Aurora movie theater mass shooting had been banned from the University of Colorado after making threats and failing a key exam six weeks before the rampage, prosecutors said Thursday.

Former ambassador Ryan Crocker arrested in DUI

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT

Former U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker is facing hit-and-run and drunken driving charges in Washington state after striking a semi-truck when he tried to make a right turn from the left lane, authorities said Thursday.

SEAL who wrote book on bin Laden raid revealed

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:37 PM PDT

SEAL's Bin Laden Raid Book Stirs ControversyThe Navy SEAL who used a pseudonym to write an upcoming book on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden has been revealed. Penguin Books—which is publishing "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden" on Sept. 11 on its Dutton imprint—said the author used the pen name Mark [...]

Obama campaign unleashing 'the Big Dog' in battleground states

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT

FILE - In this June 4, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton wave to the crowd during a campaign event at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York. Clinton will have a marquee role in this summer's Democratic National Convention, where he will make a forceful case for Obama's re-election and his economic vision for the country, several Obama campaign and Democratic party officials said Sunday, July 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)Do you look back fondly on Bill Clinton's time in office as an era of prosperity? President Obama's re-election campaign hopes you do—because it will be unleashing the gifted politician, sometimes known as "the Big Dog," in battleground states.

Florida gov.: No plans to cancel GOP convention

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 08:24 AM PDT

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, left, and convention CEO William Harris unveil the stage and podium for the 2012 Republican National Convention, Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Scott Iskowitz)Tropical Storm Isaac on Track to Land West of Tampa During the Convention

SEAL who wrote bin Laden raid book identified

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT

FILE - This is an undated file photo of al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan. Say you're sorry. That's what the Pakistani government says it wants from the United States in order to jump-start a number of initiatives between the two countries that would help the hunt for al-Qaida in Pakistan and smooth the end of the war in Afghanistan. Pakistan wants the U.S. to apologize for a border incident in November 2011 in which the U.S. killed 24 Pakistani troops in an airstrike. The Pakistanis have put the apology at the top of a long list of demands to address what they see as insults to national pride and sovereignty _ from the Navy SEAL raid onto Pakistani territory last year that killed Osama bin Laden to the steady U.S. drone strikes on Pakistani territory. (AP Photo, File)The Navy SEAL who wrote about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden under a pseudonym is Matt Bissonnette, who retired from the Navy last summer.

Former exotic dancer testifies in Vaughn trial

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:56 PM PDT

The woman, who worked at Scores Gentleman's Club, said Christopher Vaughn was "very timid" and made "strange" reference to knowing the future.

Study: U.S. trade gap with China cost 2.7M jobs

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 11:03 AM PDT

China Shipping containers are unloaded from a ship after being imported to the U.S. in Los AngelesWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The huge U.S. trade deficit with China, fueled by Beijing's actions to depress the value of its currency, displaced or eliminated more than 2.7 million American jobs between 2001 and 2011, the labor-friendly Economic Policy Institute said on Thursday in its latest look at the issue. The institute estimated that nearly 77 percent, or more than 2.1 million, of the lost jobs were in manufacturing. ...

Dazzling map shows more than 150 years of hurricanes

Posted: 23 Aug 2012 11:42 AM PDT

Dazzling Map Shows More Than 150 Years of HurricanesA new map done up in glowing colors reveals the swirling paths hurricanes and tropical storms have tread across our planet since 1851.