Sources Say Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is ‘Senate Candidate #5’  —  Feds Plan to Interview Chicago Congressman as Part of Blagojevich Probe  —  Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) is the anonymous “Senate Candidate #5” whose emissaries Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich reportedly claimed offered …

Reid Prefers Senate Appointment to Special Election  —  Updated, 5:56 p.m. ET: The entire Senate Democratic caucus has signed the Reid letter to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.  —  Original Post  —  The momentum for a special election to replace President-elect Barack Obama ran …

CHU TO BE ENERGY SECRETARY  —  From NBC's Savannah Guthrie  —  Obama will name Steven Chu his choice for Energy secretary, Lisa Jackson for EPA administrator and Carol Browner as energy “czar” reporting to the president.  —  It is unclear whether the Browner position is cabinet level.

Fem-bot's my love machine  —  Inventor Le Trung, 33, created Aiko, said to be “in her 20s” with a stunning 32, 23, 33 figure, shiny hair and delicate features.  —  She even remembers his favourite drink and does simple cleaning and household tasks.  —  “Fem-bot” Aiko, who has cost £14,000 …

House Democrat urges Obama to keep Bush's intelligence chiefs  —  The House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat said Tuesday he has recommended that President-elect Barack Obama keep the country's current national intelligence director and CIA chief in place for some time to ensure continuity …

Jindal says no  —  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, seen by many Republicans as the most promising standard-bearer for a remade party, said at a Richmond, Va press conference that he isn't running for president in 2012.  —  At a news conference Wednesday with Bob McDonnell …

Specter calls for delay in Holder hearings  —  Sen. Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, has just thrown a wrench into the Eric Holder hearings planned for early January, saying Holder's involvement in the Marc Rich pardon is a “red flag” and a “very serious matter.”

Kerrey Gets Vote of No-Confidence at New School  —  Bob Kerrey, the former Nebraska governor and senator known for his acerbic tongue and iconoclastic tendencies, earned an overwhelming vote of no-confidence on Wednesday afternoon from the senior faculty at the New School, the Greenwich Village university he has run since 2001.

Poll Shows Obama Gains Support  —  Public Roots for His Success in Face of Economic Crisis but Is Wary of Big Spending  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is entering the White House with an enormous reservoir of goodwill from an American public that is rooting for his success …

Hit by Recession, NPR to Lay Off Seven Percent of Staff  —  Faced with a sharp decline in revenue, National Public Radio said today it will pare back its once-flourishing operations, and institute its first organization-wide layoffs in 25 years.  —  Washington-based NPR said it would lay off …

What do the Clintons have on Obama?  —  Meanwhile, Sarah Palin's rehabilitation has been well launched.  Step by step over the past five weeks since the election, headlines about Palin in the mainstream media and some Web news sites have become more neutral and even laudatory, signifying that a shift toward reality is already at hand.

GOP may seek Bill Clinton's testimony  —  Senate Republicans are considering asking Bill Clinton to testify at his wife's confirmation hearing about potential conflicts of interest involving his worldwide charitable enterprises.  —  “There are concerns about his international work across the board …

The 10 Worst Predictions for 2008  —  Prognostication is by far the riskiest form of punditry.  The 10 commentators and leaders on this list learned that the hard way when their confident predictions about politics, war, the economy, and even the end of humanity itself completely missed the mark.

Chrysler's Hidden Coffers  —  Why is Cerberus, one of the world's richest private equity firms, begging for a bailout?  —  When I wrote about the bailout blunders of the auto industry two weeks ago, I thought the Big Three had most likely topped out on the political outrage meter.

Music Used During U.S. Military Interrogations  —  U.S. military interrogators have often blasted music at detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.  According to the British law group Reprieve, these are among the songs they have used most frequently:  —  • “Enter Sandman,” Metallica.

GOODBYE TO NEWSWEEK  —  Much attention has been paid to the decline of print newspapers, less to the similar decline of news magazines.  The cases are not identical: most obviously, the news weeklies never depended on classified advertising, as newspapers did.

House Passes Auto Rescue Plan  —  WASHINGTON — The House voted on Wednesday to approve a $14 billion government rescue of the American automobile industry, but the bailout plan, which would provide emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler, was in jeopardy because of strong Republican opposition in the Senate.