84% of Illinois Voters Say Blagojevich Should Resign  —  Eighty-four percent (84%) of Illinois voters say indicted Governor Rod Blagojevich should resign, according to a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state Wednesday night.  Just nine percent (9%) disagree.

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.

Daschle also to oversee new health reform office  —  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 but also oversee a new White House Office of Health Reform.

CORRUPTION MOST FOUL  —  Revisiting the Timeless Principles of Corruption in Politics  —  After reading the federal criminal complaint filed against the Illinois governor this past Tuesday we at The Crystal Ball could think only one thing: Willie Stark, meet Rod Blagojevich.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

CAROLINE ‘EQUALS J.LO’: DEM  —  REP. TAKES SWIPE AT CAMELOT CELEB POWER  —  ALBANY - A prominent New York Democratic congressman publicly questioned Caroline Kennedy's credentials to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying she's no more qualified to hold office than Jennifer Lopez.

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 …

The economic consequences of Herr Steinbrueck  —  There's an extraordinary — and extraordinarily depressing — interview in Newsweek with Peer Steinbrueck, the Germany finance minister.  The world economy is in a terrifying nosedive, visible everywhere.  Yet Mr. Steinbrueck is standing firm …

Housing Goals We Can't Afford  —  THE national wave of home foreclosures, many concentrated in lower-income and minority neighborhoods, has created a strong temptation to find the villains responsible.  Among the nominees are the major credit rating agencies like Moody's and Fitch …

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.