"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Which debate questions might trip up Obama and Romney?

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 02:30 PM PDT

Obama, Romney prepare for first presidential debateWhat economic missteps have you made, President Obama? Why don't you support the DREAM Act, Mr. Romney? Both candidates could face tricky questions in Wednesday's debate.

U.S. officials sought more security before Libya attack: lawmakers

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 04:35 PM PDT

A Libyan government militia guarding the main entrance of the U.S. consulate that was attacked last week, fixes a note written by Libyans against the attack, in BenghaziWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials in Washington denied repeated requests from Americans in Libya for more security at the U.S. mission in Benghazi before last month's attack that killed four Americans there, two Republican lawmakers said on Tuesday. U.S. Representatives Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanding details of the requests for more security - which they said were made amid numerous attacks on Westerners in Libya in recent months. ...

Where is Jesse Jackson Jr.?

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 03:42 PM PDT

FILE - In this March 20, 2012 file photo, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill. speaks in Chicago. With the November election only five weeks away, Jackson's absence from work and the campaign trail is testing patience in Chicago. His GOP opponent is now criticizing him for it after pledging not to. Friendly editorial writers are now urging he come forward and finally explain himself. And Jackson's alderman wife, Sandi, is having to deny in public that she might step in to replace him. The Jackson camp says only that the congressman is still on the ballot and will only return to work when cleared for that by a doctor, but the uncertainty and mystery is feeding talk of what happens if he resigns and needs to be replaced, a process with a sordid history in Chicago and Illinois. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)His name is on the ballot. But Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. hasn't made a campaign appearance since the primary. The Democratic congressman from Chicago is running for re-election for his seat in the House of Representatives, but  has been out of sight for the last three months, being treated for bipolar disorder. Campaign advisers told [...]

Warren, Brown debate reveals more friction to come in Senate race

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 12:47 PM PDT

Keller @ Large: Preview Of Brown, Warren DebateBoth cheers and hisses filled the debate hall at the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Monday night, most loudly when Republican Sen. Scott Brown jabbed at Democratic challenger and Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren after she interrupted his answer about a jobs bill. "Excuse me, excuse me, I'm not a student in your classroom," Brown [...]

Are you an internet addict? Psychologists look at how much is too much

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 01:54 PM PDT

Man sits in front of a computer at Cherish-Yearn care center in ShanghaiIt's official. After months of debate and study, the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) will include "internet use disorder" as an area "recommended for further study." The fifth edition of the DSM, the … Continue reading →

Pope's butler: I leaked documents for the good of the church

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 12:37 PM PDT

Pope's Butler Told Court He Leaked Private Documents for the Good of the ChurchPope Benedict's former butler took the stand at his own trial today to say that while he admits he took thousands of documents from the pope's private apartments and leaked them to the media, he is not guilty of theft because he was doing it for the good of the church, "to bring the church back on the right track."

Paul Ryan gets the ‘Bad Lip Reading’ treatment

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 04:42 PM PDT

Exclusive: Paul Ryan on 'Fox News Sunday'The folks behind "Bad Lip Reading," which parodied Mitt Romney and Barack Obama last year, have added Paul Ryan to the list:

Aurora victims appeal for dialogue on gun violence in presidential debate

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 01:43 PM PDT

Surviving victims of the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting are speaking out about gun violence in the hopes that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will do the same. Relatives of eight of the 12 people who died this past July during a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" have sent a letter to Wednesday [...]

From Obama debate prep, with secrecy

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 03:16 PM PDT

LAS VEGAS - President Barack Obama took a break Tuesday from secretive preparations for his debate with Mitt Romney to make an unannounced trip to the Hoover Dam. "It's spectacular and I've never seen it before," Obama said to journalists, according to pool reporter David Nakamura of the Washington Post. "I didn't realize it was [...]

Video: 84-year-old woman rescued after car crashes into ocean

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 02:58 PM PDT

An elderly woman escaped almost certain death after a group of strangers bravely dived into the ocean to save her after her car crashed into the water. The Portland Press Herald reports that 84-year-old Ursula Nixon lost control of her car, driving through two fences and submerging her blue Nissan into Maine's Portland Harbor. "It [...]

Forest Service wins paintball war with aggressive mountain goats

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 04:11 PM PDT

The U.S. Forest Service has reopened a popular trail in the Olympic National Forest but not before it had to deploy paintball guns in a war for dominance against several unruly mountain goats. The Associated Press reports that Forest Service employee Kurt Aluzas was tasked with "teaching" the goats to avoid humans after the animals [...]

Cemetery criticized as 'appalling' gets pricier deal to bury poor

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 03:59 PM PDT

Cook County commissioners today approved a new, more expensive contract to have the bodies of poor people buried in the same south suburban cemetery that was criticized for stacking remains and leaving about a dozen caskets sitting in a chapel for days.

Report: Cubs plan to move up brick wall for premium box seats

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 05:27 PM PDT

The Cubs plan to add 56 prime box seats in 2013 by moving the famous brick wall three feet closer to the field. The team needs approval from the Chicago Landmarks Commission.

A 'tank on wheels': Police Interceptor helps Ford add jobs

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 12:31 PM PDT

Police departments across the country have placed orders for 15,500 Interceptors, which comes in both sedan and sports utility versions

The Police Interceptor has helped Ford add 1,200 jobs at its Far South Side assembly plant, thanks to 15,500 orders from police departments across the country.

Indiana Toll Road worker, driver killed in I-90 crash

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 02:37 PM PDT

Two people were killed, including an Indiana Toll Road maintenance worker, after a crash this morning on I-90 in LaPorte County, Ind., officials said.

Presidential debates: Game-changers or time-wasters?

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 09:23 AM PDT

This combination of Associated Press file photos shows from left, President Obama speaking at the TPI Composites Factory, a manufacturer of wind turbine blades on May 24, 2012, in Newton, Iowa, and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaking at the Solyndra manufacturing facility on May 31, 2012, in Fremont, Calif. The weak May unemployment report released Friday, June 1, 2012, presents President Barack Obama with a sobering reminder that his stewardship of a gradual recovery from the deepest recession since the Great Depression presents a tenuous argument for his re-election. However anemic job growth and an uptick in joblessness to 8.2 percent give new resonance to Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney's campaign. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, Mary Altaffer. File)Gallup went through a half-century of polling results and found only a few debates that made an impact on election outcomes.

Mexico cartel may have targeted CIA in Aug. shootout

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 01:12 PM PDT

FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2012. file photo, an armored U.S. embassy vehicle is checked by military personal after it was attacked by unknown assailants on the highway leading to the city of Cuernavaca, near Tres Marias, Mexico. A senior U.S. official says there is strong circumstantial evidence that Mexican federal police who fired on a U.S. embassy vehicle, wounding two CIA agents, were working for organized crime on a targeted assassination attempt. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini, File)A U.S. official says there's strong circumstantial evidence that Mexican police who fired on a U.S. Embassy vehicle were working for a cartel on an assassination attempt.

Three views on whether states should require voter ID

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 08:16 AM PDT

DOJ vs. South Carolina voter ID lawVoter ID laws enacted recently in several states have taken center stage this election cycle, with proponents claiming they protect against against voter fraud and opponents calling them a political ploy that unfairly keeps poor and minority voters from the polls.

U.S. begins flying Mexican deportees home

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 05:17 PM PDT

The U.S. government began flying Mexican deportees home on Tuesday in a two-month experiment aimed at relieving Mexican border cities overwhelmed with people ordered to leave the United States.

Fall or autumn? Why the third season has two names

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 10:28 AM PDT

Why Does Fall/Autumn Have Two Names?Ambivalence over the name of the third season of the year reflects its status as a relatively new concept. As natural as it seems today, people haven't always thought of the year in terms of four seasons.