Blagojevich questions censored on Transition site  —  President-elect Barack Obama's Transition today launched “Open for Questions,” a Digg-style feature allowing citizens to submit questions, and to vote on one another's questions, bringing favored inquiries to the top of the list.

Daschle also to oversee new health reform office  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will pull double duty in the Obama administration, where he will serve not only as the Health and Human Services secretary …

How the GOP Should Prepare for a Comeback  —  Organization and ideas are what matters.  —  What a difference a month makes.  Since November's election, the GOP is three wins, no losses.  —  The first win came in Georgia, where Sen. Saxby Chambliss crushed his Democratic opponent by 15 points in a run-off election on Dec. 2.

NASA has become a transition problem for Obama  —  CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA administrator Mike Griffin is not cooperating with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, is obstructing its efforts to get information and has told its leader that she is “not qualified” to judge his rocket program, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.

UN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims  —  Study: Half of warming due to Sun!  -Sea Levels Fail to Rise?  - Warming Fears in ‘Dustbin of History’  —  POZNAN, Poland - The UN global warming conference currently underway in Poland …

Cleaning Service Used by Chertoff Calls Immigration Laws Unfair  —  Every few weeks for nearly four years, the Secret Service screened the IDs of employees for a Maryland cleaning company before they entered the house of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation's top immigration official.

Rod Blagojevich shows foulmouthed side  —  Etiquette experts say such language still unprofessional  —  If the wiretapped dialogue in the criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich reveals anything, it's that the governor can deftly hold his own in the pantheon of political profanity.

Trickledown Downsizing  —  IN September, Cathy DeVore, a real estate agent in Larchmont, N.Y., whose business has been at a standstill lately, began taking gradual steps to lay off her longtime nanny and housekeeper.  Aware that the woman supports a son, a mother, and a niece in Dominica …

Jobless claims jump to 573,000, a 26-year high  —  Continuing claims spike by 338,000 to 4.43 million  —  WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. labor market weakened further last week, with the number of first-time filings for state unemployment benefits jumping by 58,000 to a 26-year high of 573,000 …

We Need a Bailout Exit Strategy  —  Let's not forget that free markets made America strong.  —  When the Securities and Exchange Commission was created in 1934, its purpose was to serve as an independent regulator of the unbridled profit-seeking activity of self-interested individuals and firms in the securities markets.

Europe OK's ‘Torture’  —  Writing in Policy Review, John Rosenthal tells a tale of police abuse from 21st-century Germany: … Gäfgen broke and told police where he had buried Jakob's body.  That was October 2002: … Also in October 2002, interrogators at Guantanamo Bay asked …

Bankruptcy Doesn't Equal Death  —  The auto industry could use the process to get competitive.  —  The spectacle of corporate magnates from Detroit pleading to be on Uncle Sam's dole is a sordid one.  So why aren't more Americans appalled?  One reason is widespread misunderstanding …

A Spy CEO for Obama  —  What should President-elect Barack Obama do about the intelligence community?  He has appointed the other top members of his national security team, but intrigue still surrounds his choices for director of national intelligence and director of the CIA.

Newsweek to Cut Back Staff, Slim Magazine in Makeover  —  Newsweek magazine is planning staff cuts as part of a major makeover that is likely to result in a slimmer publication with fewer subscribers and more photos and opinion inside its pages, according to people close to the magazine.

Auditing Obama  —  Will the FEC examine the president-elect's campaign finances?  —  Sometime early next year, the six commissioners who run the Federal Election Commission will face an interesting dilemma—whether to approve a “for cause” audit of the presidential campaign of a sitting president, Barack Obama.

Featured Website: Fiscal.wa.gov  —  This week's featured website is Washington State's new spending transparency site which launched on December 3, 2008.  Fiscal.wa.gov is the result of Senate Bill 6818, sponsored by Sen. Eric Oemig (D-Kirkland) and passed unanimously during the 2008 legislative session.

Surprise flurries warm Houston hearts  —  Fluffy flakes bring delight to some, consternation to others — and tie a 64-year-old record  —  Falling snowflakes glimmered in streetlights, so wide that they billowed to the ground like parachutes, and so tantalizing that even awestruck adults reached …