"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

U.S. mulling military options if Syria uses WMD

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 03:40 PM PST

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton speaks after her meeting with Czech Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg at the Foreign Ministry in PragueThe White House and its allies are weighing military options to secure Syria's chemical and biological weapons, after U.S. intelligence reports show the Syrian regime may be readying those weapons and may be desperate enough to use them, U.S. officials said Monday.

McAfee says he's left Belize, is still on run

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 05:19 PM PST

FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2012 file photo, John McAfee speaks at a ceremony for the official presentation of equipment at the San Pedro Police Station in Ambergris Caye, Belize. McAfee, 67, has been identified as a "person of interest" in the killing of his neighbor, 52-year-old Gregory Faull. Police are urging McAffe to come in for questioning. The anti-virus company founder said on Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, he has left Belize and is still on the run, hiding from police out of fear they want to kill him. (AP Photo/Ambergris Today Online-Sofia Munoz, File)Software company founder John McAfee said Monday he has fled from Belize using a bizarre ruse, adding yet another chapter in what threatens to become one of the biggest media fugitive frenzies since O.J. Simpson led police on a low-speed chase in 1994.

Photos: The upside down man

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:00 PM PST

Photos: The upside down man

Fed officials laud stimulus, quibble over future plans

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 01:48 PM PST

Boston Fed President Rosengren speaks during the Sasin Bangkok ForumNEW YORK/LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - Central bankers appear satisfied with the impact of their latest monetary stimulus, though there is some disagreement over how forcefully to continue purchasing bonds, remarks by two top policymakers on Monday showed. Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren, one of the most vocal proponents of Fed asset purchases, said there was a "strong case" for the Fed to stay the course on accommodative policies next year and continue buying a total of $85 billion in bonds each month. ...

Cuomo makes first foray to D.C. as New York governor

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:05 PM PST

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo waves to members of the media upon his arrival to the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, for a scheduled meeting with White House officials. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)In a whirlwind trip to the nation's capital he takes a bipartisan tour across the city, seeking to finalize a deal that will provide federal relief to victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Heffernan: Microsoft is back — Why the dorky Apple rival is suddenly cool

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:51 PM PST

Microsoft adOh man that new commercial for Internet Explorer 10 has me dorkily cackling at every pixel in it, and then replaying the ad to laugh again, and harder. OK, maybe you're too cool for it. But I am not.

Store employee fired after ‘booting’ ambulance

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 03:08 PM PST

One generally assumes that an ambulance with its lights flashing can park wherever it pleases. This past weekend in New Orleans, a parked ambulance was "booted" by a convenience store employee, who was apparently annoyed that the ambulance had parked in his store's lot. Never mind that the paramedics were treating a man inside the [...]

College offering puppy room for stressed out students

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:50 PM PST

University students are well versed in coming up with ways to cope with the stress of college life. But some students at a college in Canada have started a new trend that is family-friendly, opening a puppy room for students during finals week. The National Post reports that for three days during finals week (Dec. [...]

GOP moves on fiscal cliff, WH dismisses it

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:01 PM PST

John Boehner on Fiscal Cliff TalksRepublicans offer a new proposal to avoid the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts, but the White House turns it down.

CTA puts 'Doomsday scenarios of the past behind us'

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:17 PM PST

CTA president Forrest Claypool declared today that the agency is "moving beyond doomsday," thanks to management reforms, savings in a new labor contract and fare hikes.

Zimmerman defense reveals new photo

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:08 PM PST

ZimmermanORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A color photograph of George Zimmerman with a bloody, swollen nose taken on the night he shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin last February was posted on the Internet on Monday by Zimmerman's legal defense team. As the photo began to be circulated widely by the news media, lawyers on both sides disagreed about its significance to the second-degree murder case against Zimmerman. "It's not a game changer," Zimmerman lawyer Mark O'Mara told Reuters. ...

Save the date: Gay marriages in Maine to start December 29

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 01:48 PM PST

(Reuters) - Same-sex couples can start marrying on December 29 in Maine, a state that made history on Election Day, joining Maryland and Washington to legalize gay weddings for the first time ever by popular vote. The law goes into effect following a required 30-day waiting period after Governor Paul LePage on November 29 certified the results from the November 6 election, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, Adrienne Bennett, said on Monday. ...

CDC: Flu season starts early, could be a bad one

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 03:05 PM PST

Map of influenza-like illness activity in the United States.Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade — and it could be a bad one.

Boehner makes counteroffer on debt talks

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:46 PM PST

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures as he speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, after private talks with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the fiscal cliff negotiations. Boehner said no substantive progress has been made between the White House and the House" in the past two weeks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)The deal offers $800B in revenue through tax reform, but no tax hike for the top 2 percent of taxpayers.

L.A. port strike, Day 7: Estimated to cost $1 billion per day

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:52 PM PST

Clerical workers picket in the rain at entrance to Pier 400 at the Port of Los Angeles Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. Cargo ships were stacking up at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as a strike by about about 70 clerical workers shut down most of the terminals that together are the nation's busiest port complex. Dockworkers were refusing to cross the picket lines even though an arbitrator ruled the walkout invalid on Tuesday. By Thursday morning, at least 18 ships docked and inside the adjacent harbors were not being serviced, port spokesmen said. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)Shippers and striking clerks resumed talks to end a labor dispute that has idled most of America's biggest container port complex.

Egypt's crisis widens with planned march, strikes

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:14 PM PST

A supporter of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi holds a banner with his picture and Arabic that reads, "yes for the constitutional declaration to stop corruption," during a protest in front of Egypt's top court, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. The Egyptian president's top legal adviser says the country's election commission has begun preparations for the referendum on Dec. 15 on a highly contentious draft constitution. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)The nation's political crisis is widening in the wake of the hurried drafting of a new constitution and decrees by President Morsi that gave him nearly unrestricted power.

Daley nephew indicted in '04 death of David Koschman

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:55 PM PST

A special Cook County grand jury indicted former Mayor Richard Daley's nephew on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of David Koschman in a drunken confrontation on the city's Near North Side, the special prosecutor said today.

Boehner makes counter-offer on debt talks

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:19 PM PST

Boehner Makes Fiscal Cliff Counter-OfferThe deal offers $800B in revenue through tax reform, but no tax hike for top 2 percent of taxpayers.

Voyager 1 discovers new layer of solar system

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:18 PM PST

Voyager 1 Spacecraft Enters New Realm at Solar System's EdgeVoyager 1 and its sister probe Voyager 2 have been traveling through space since 1977, and are close to becoming the first manmade objects to leave the solar system.

Insurance company informs man that he's 'dead'

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST

George Johannesen is dead to Manitoba Public Insurance. Sure, he's still technically alive. But the insurance company recently sent the 59-year-old Canadian a letter declaring that he had died in October. In a letter addressed to "The Estate of George Johannesen," Manitoba Public Insurance wrote that the 59-year-old Canadian died sometime in October. "I can't [...]