Former President Clinton advocated compromise between industry and nutrition advocates as the fastest way to improve the health of the nation. more ›

Celebrated Chef Ferran Adrià will visit the Harold Washington Library Center on Wednesday, September 28, the library announced in an email newsletter sent yesterday. He'll be in town to discuss and sign copies of his forthcoming cookbook, The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adrià. The event begins at 6 p.m., with general seating beginning at 5. One month and one day ago, Adrià's world-famous, three-Michelin-star-rated restaurant in rural Catalonia, elBulli, closed its doors forever to make way for the chef's next endeavor, a nonprofit culinary think tank and foundation slated to open in 2014. more ›

Of course he managed to make a somewhat family-friendly fucksaw joke. And a lot of other really good jokes. more ›

Sarah Palin made an appearance in Rosemont last night, and we're interested in what she had to say to those of us that don't live in the part of America that she views as "pro-America." So, without comment, here's a run down of the highlights of her address last night, from around the media: more ›

The President goes over edits to a speech with speechwriter Jon Favreau. more ›

President Obama was in Olso, Norway today to receive his controversial Nobel Peace Prize. When the award was announced in October, critics claimed it was "too soon" for Obama to be receiving the award but the Nobel Committee defended the award. Today, as Obama received the award, it was a different criticism directed by some at Obama: his decision to increase troop numbers in Afghanistan. Obama acknowledged these controversies in his speech (full video will be added after the jump as soon as it becomes available). First, on the topic of his selection: more ›

President Obama addressed the nation last night on his plans for the War in Afghanistan, speaking from West Point. He began with a brief history lesson, running down the conflict's connection to the 9/11 attacks, and acknowledging the distracting effect that Iraq has had on prosecuting this war, before moving into the broad terms of how his administration will bring the war in Afghanistan "to a successful conclusion." He laid out three parts to his strategy, videlicet that the U.S. will pursue a military strategy intended to break the Taliban and strengthen Afghanistan over the next 18 months; that the U.S. will work with our allies, the UN, and Afghanis for a civilian strategy that allow the Afghani government to take advantage of improved security in the region; and embracing a broader role with Pakistan as a key partner in Afghanistan's future security. And, always a fan of multi-pronged rhetorical flourishes, Obama took on critiques of the war in three-part form as well, contending that it was not another Vietnam, that maintaining current troop levels will not work, and that open-ended commitments will not be tolerated by his administration. more ›

We mentioned yesterday's City Council vote to approve the host city contract, putting taxpayers on the hook for the cost of the Games if something goes awry. Before the vote, Mayor Daley gave a passionate speech in support of the contract and the Olympics and Associated Press photographer M. Spencer Green caught some great captures of our Mayor making his case. more ›

For all the debate over President Obama's speech to schools tomorrow, the speech itself - at least in its current form - is a pretty straight-forward pep talk. Based on an advanced copy of the speech released to the media, it seems more like the standard "Stay in School" speech, underscoring students' responsibilities and, as written, could easily have come out of the mouth of any number of Presidents regardless of political party affiliation. more ›

Controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has finally begun to open about his relationship to Michael Jackson in the wake of the pop star's recent death. At a service at Mosque Maryam yesterday morning, Farrakhan said, "I told Michael, don't be angry with your father, because even though you didn't have pillow fights and sleepovers, those who had pillow fights and had sleepovers - they're the ones buying your records and they're the ones coming to see you. You had a purpose for your life." Jackson had a few ties to the Nation of Islam, including his brother Jermaine, who was a member, and his use of Nation of Islam guards at his child molestation trial a few years back. [CBS 2] more ›

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Much was made yesterday morning about the cost of President Obama's quick trip back to Chicago for his speech before the American Medical Association's annual meeting, pitching his proposed health care reform plan. But the speech itself was received warmly for the most part. Calling the current cost of health care a "ticking time-bomb" and while not supporting caps on malpractice lawsuits, Obama did call for improvements to the system that would: more ›

Speaking at Cairo University today, President Barack Obama asked for peace between the United States and the Muslim world. Quoting from the Koran and sharing his own personal connections, such as his Muslim father, Obama appealed to the Muslim world for patience and to work with the United States for peace. more ›

Yesterday's highly emotional and controversial appearance by President Obama at Notre Dame has come and gone and already it seems the buzz had quickly faded. That's due in part to the fact that Obama gave an excellent speech, standing his ground but acknowledging the controversy and the right to differing opinions, and calling for a common ground in discussing issues such as abortion and stem-cell research, issues that led to the protests. We won't bother to pontificate any further on the matter. Instead, we'll let the President's words speak for themselves. Read the text of Obama's speech here and watch it here. Above, check out pictures from the heated weekend, including an appearance by the infamous Westboro Baptist Church. more ›

Rev. Jesse Jackson is the subject of a $100,000 lawsuit that accuses him of backing out of a 2007 speech in Trinidad. According to the Associated Press [via the Tribune]: more ›

We're not doing anything fancy like a liveblog or anything, but below is streaming video of President Obama's speech. Feel free to share your thoughts as it happens in the comments. more ›

• Former FBI agent Vo Duong "Ben" Tran is now the main suspect in a 2002 North Side double homicide.
• Linda Pithyou, 29, a teacher at Lawrence Hall Services, has been accused of having sex with one of her teen students.
• John Morphey, the brother of Tom Morphey - the lone witness in the case of Stacy Peterson's disappearance - is speaking to the press on his brother's behalf and, guess what, he thinks Drew killed her.

A handwritten copy of a speech given by President Lincoln in November 1864 fetched $3.44 million in an auction in New York yesterday. The speech was given by Lincoln on November 10, 1864 after he won re-election and the manuscript is in Lincoln's own hand. According to the AP: "The manuscript was sold to an anonymous phone bidder after spirited bidding in a crowded Christie's auction house room. Proceeds from the sale will go toward a new wing for a library in New York's Finger Lakes region, where the document has been since 1926." It's a new record for Lincoln-related auctions, topping the $3.4 million that was paid for a letter Lincoln wrote to a group of children asking him to free "little slave children.'' more ›

• Federal investigators on the Jon Burge torture case have widened their scope to include several of Burge's former colleagues.
• A new police unit on the West Side, led by commander James Roussell, has seen dramatic improvements in violent crime statistics. Roussell credits using a similar strategy he used against insurgents when fighting in Iraq as a Marine Reserve officer.
• State Representative Cynthia Soto is asking for a one-year moratorium on the closing and reorganizing of several Chicago-area schools.

Obama made his debut at his new church, the Apostolic Church of God, by delivering the sermon today, Father’s Day. The presumed Democratic nominee for President, Obama told the congregation: more ›