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.

Nobel Physicist Chosen To Be Energy Secretary  —  Browner, Two Others to Get Climate Posts  —  President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who heads the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to be the next energy secretary, and he has picked veteran regulators …

40 days to Inauguration — Daschle will also head White House Office of Health Reform — Exclusive: Podesta tries to mollify gay community  —  Obama inaugural festivities will be curtailed, though not austere, in deference to the times (4 days - one with just a prayer service …

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.

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 …

House Decidedly Passes Autos Bailout BIll  —  The House just passed the $14 billion Detroit Big Three autos bailout bill by a vote of 237-170, sending it to a Senate where approval is no slam-dunk, thanks to the promised opposition of leading Republicans.  —  The bill was overwhelmingly endorsed …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The President Participates in a Ceremony for 2008 Recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal  —  BACKGROUND  —  The Presidential Citizens Medal was established in November 13, 1969, to recognize U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for the nation.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

Slipping gently into that good night  —  The reality of death; attitudes to the police; a striking new idea for the shower  —  I don't recognise the descriptions of death intoned by solemn media voices discussing last night's broadcast suicide of Craig Ewert.