Free Republic

Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Tribune has learned. The revelation does not suggest Obama's new gatekeeper was involved in any talk of dealmaking involving the seat. But it does help fill in the gaps surrounding a question that Obama was unable or unwilling to answer this week: Did anyone on his staff have contact with Blagojevich about his choice for the Senate seat?

Williams leads Illini to upset of No. 1 Ohio StateBy RUSTY MILLER, AP Sports Writer November 10, 2007 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- In this season of upsets, top-ranked Ohio State was the latest to fall. Juice Williams provided the big plays on the ground and through the air, spurring Illinois to a stunning 28-21 victory on Saturday night and throwing open the national title race. It was the first time Illinois (8-3, 5-2 Big Ten) had ever beaten a No. 1, losing all 17 previous games. The defeat also ended a record streak of 20 Big Ten wins in a...

In this city where the skyscraper was born, it is thriving like never before. Luxury condominium towers and office buildings that climb 600 feet and more are sprouting up all over downtown. Along the Chicago River, the Trump International Hotel and Tower is inching its way up to a planned 92 stories. Plans are in the works for a nearby 124-story skyscraper, the Fordham Spire, that would knock the Sears Tower from its perch as the tallest building in the United States. Since 2000, no fewer than 40 buildings at least 50 stories high have been built, are under construction...

Page 1 EQUALITY NOW New York: 250 West 57 Street, #1527, New York, NY 10107, USA ▪ Tel:+1 212-586-0906 • Fax:+1 212-586-1611 • Email: info@equalitynow.org London: 6 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6BU, UK • Phone:+44 (0) 20-7839-5456 • Fax:+44 (0) 20-7839-4012 • Email: ukinfo@equalitynow.org Nairobi: PO Box 2018 KNH 00202, Nairobi, Kenya • Tel: +254 20-2719-832 • Fax: +254 20-2719-868 • Email: equalitynow@kenyaweb.com Sex Tourism: Addressing the Demand for Trafficking Testimony by Jessica Neuwirth, President of Equality Now Thank you for this opportunity to testify before you, and thank you for your interest in and support for efforts to...

... "If I read this to you, and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings," Durbin said. By Thursday, conservatives' anger at what they portrayed as a comparison between the U.S. and some of history's most murderous regimes was boiling. "I think the senator's remarks are reprehensible," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh...

<p>The first, Polk County sheriff's deputies say, was when he emptied his pockets to pass through a courthouse metal detector and apparently forgot about the small bag of marijuana.</p> <p>The second was when he ran the wrong way from deputies into a locked revolving door.</p>

He's the leader of the pack. State Comptroller Dan Hynes, who is among the state's top vote-getters, is maintaining a steady lead over the 2004 Democratic field for the U.S. Senate. His Downstate support currently gives him the edge over his four major rivals who are from Chicago. But with more than a third of the voters undecided, the nomination is still up for grabs. Hynes, 35, the only Democratic contender to have won statewide office, is known by nearly three-fourths of likely primary voters. Half of all Democratic primary voters have a favorable opinion of him, while just 6...

SPRINGFIELD -- Fireworks came early to the Illinois statehouse. In an unusual breach of political etiquette, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration was called incompetent by a Republican congressman and was accused of lying by the Democratic secretary of state. Secretary of State Jesse White was incensed Thursday by Blagojevich's decision to initiate negotiations for cuts in the constitutional officers' budgets and then to impose 7.5 percent reductions on most offices with no agreement in hand. Blagojevich, a Democrat, cut $48 million from White's budget alone, though the legislature could overturn the action in the fall. White had this message for Blagojevich:...

Thread on the Illinois 2002 Primaries. Any comments on the latests exit polls or numbers?