Rahm Emanuel Can Run For Chicago Mayor

Updated at 6:39 pm — Following the board's decision, State Sen. James Meeks, senior pastor of a South Side megachurch, withdrew from the race, saying the city is "divided and cannot stand." He encouraged the other black candidates to withdraw, too.

Updated at 12:52 pm — It's official. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners has approved a recommendation that Rahm Emanuel be allowed to run for mayor in the February primary. The board voted Thursday to accept it's hearing examiner's findings.

The approval is the final word since those opposed to the former Obama White House chief of staff's candidacy can still challenge his residency eligibility in the courts.

— Original post below —-

If Rahm Emanuel doesn't become Chicago's next mayor, it appears it won't be because the city's Board of Election Commissioners got in his way.

The board's hearing officer recommended that the panel allow the former Obama White House chief of staff's name to appear on the February primary ballot for mayor.

That would mean rejecting numerous challenges to Emanuel's eligibility to run to be Chicago's chief executive based on questions about whether he met the city's eligibility requirements.

 

Among the findings of Joseph Morris, the hearing examiner, who made the recommendation:

"Prior to 2009, the Candidate was a resident of Chicago. The Candidate in 2009 and 2010 did not abandon his status as a resident of the Chicago, and so remained a resident of Chicago.... From January 2009 until Oct 1, 2010, the Candidate was largely absent from the City of Chicago and his absence was occasion(ed) by his attention to the business of the United States... The candidate satisfies the residency requirement... The name of Rahm Emanuel shall appear and shall be printed on the ballot for election to the office of Mayor of the City of Chicago to be voted for at the Municipal General Election to be held on Feb. 22, 2011."

The recommendations are only that and don't have to be accepted by the three-member board. But such commissions usually rubberstamp such staff recommendations so it's likely a done deal. The board meets Thursday morning to review the recommendation.

In a recent Chicago Tribune poll Emanuel led all candidates, coming in with the support of 32 percent of those surveyed. Undecided came in at 30 percent. The next two candidates, former Chicago Public School president Gery Chico, and Rep. Danny Davis, each had 9 percent

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Outgoing Gov. Mark Sanford Opens Up About Scandal

The nation's state capitals will soon welcome a new wave of governors who will begin to take office in the coming weeks. One of the most notable governors leaving office is South Carolina's Mark Sanford. He was a rising conservative star until that ill-fated trip to Argentina to visit his mistress. He reflects on his time in office and what's next for him.

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Ivory Coast's Gbagbo Cut Off From State Funds

Laurent Gbagbo's access to state funds is being cut off, stepping up pressure on the man who refuses to concede defeat amid post-election violence that has killed at least 173 people and prompted fears of civil war.

The move late Thursday is expected to step up the pressure on Gbagbo, and complicate his efforts to pay civil servants and soldiers. Allies of his political rival, Alassane Ouattara, hope the move will set the stage for mass defections if people don't get their checks.

Officials with the West African economic and monetary union made the announcement after an emergency session, and later said in a statement that only representatives of Ouattara's government will have signing privileges on state accounts. The regional bank, known by its acronym BCEAO, regroups the treasuries of eight West African countries.

There has been much speculation in recent days as to whether Gbagbo would be able to pay state salaries, despite nightly assurances on state television that the paychecks would be available before Christmas.

On Thursday morning, several banks in downtown Abidjan posted notices in their windows saying that they would not be cashing civil servant paychecks because they hadn't received a guarantee from the government that they would be reimbursed.

Lines of impatient civil servants formed outside the banks, but just after noon the notices were removed and one by one people started receiving their money.

While Ouattara has the backing of the international community, Gbagbo still controls the country's military and also has dominated state media. Late Thursday, Gbagbo-controlled state television was yanked from the air though in most cities outside Abidjan.

It was not immediately clear how the signal was cut off. Advisers to Ouattara refused to comment, but the event falls in line with a series of strategies Ouattara has been employing to try to break Gbagbo's stranglehold on the news.

A week ago, Ouattara's supporters unsuccessfully attempted to seize control of the channel. State TV had run continuous footage of Gbagbo taking the oath of office in the days after he declared victory without mentioning that his claim was heavily contested.

The U.N. Human Rights Council, meanwhile, adopted a resolution late Thursday calling for an end to the violence in Ivory Coast, which suffered a 2002-2003 civil war. The U.N. deputy human rights commissioner in Geneva, Kyung-wha Kang, told diplomats that the death toll may even be higher than 173 people.

"Unfortunately it has been impossible to investigate all the allegations of serious human rights violations, including reports of mass graves, due to restrictions on movement by U.N. personnel," Kyung-wha said. "Indeed, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General was stopped at gunpoint as he sought to verify such allegations."

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that forces loyal to Gbagbo, supported by masked men armed with rocket launchers, were blocking the road to a village outside Abidjan "where allegations point to the existence of a mass grave."

Gbagbo ordered all U.N. peacekeepers out of the country immediately, but the U.N. considers Ouattara president and has stayed. There are fears that U.N. personnel and other foreigners could be targeted as tensions mount.

Charles Ble Goude, Gbagbo's minister of youth, has called for demonstrations next Wednesday. Goude is the subject of a 2006 United Nations sanction for his role in inciting the Young Patriots, a pro-Gbagbo group that has led violent attacks against foreigners in the past, especially French citizens.

The U.S. State Department has ordered most of its personnel to leave because of the deteriorating security situation and growing anti-Western sentiment. France and Germany also have recommended that their citizens leave.

Ivory Coast was once an economic hub because of its role as the world's top cocoa producer. The 2002-2003 civil war split the country into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south. While the country officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, Ouattara draws his support from the northern half of the country, where he was born, while Gbagbo's power base is in the south.

Gbagbo claimed victory in the presidential election only after his allies threw out half a million ballots from Ouattara strongholds in the north, a move that infuriated residents there who have long felt that they are treated as foreigners in their own country by southerners.

———

Associated Press writer Sadibou Marone in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

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Even Knowingly Taking A Placebo Seems To Help

It's no surprise that placebos — fake pills that contain no active ingredient — often work to relieve symptoms. Doctors think placebos work because patients think they might be getting an active drug but there's an element of deception. But now Harvard researchers show that even when volunteers with severe bowel disease know they're getting a placebo, 59 percent had relief from symptoms. Call it an "honest placebo."

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Some Scientists Skeptical Of Report On Chromium In Drinking Water

Putting the words "hexavalent chromium" and "drinking water" in the same sentence sounds like a recipe for people to worry.

And a report released Monday by the Environmental Working Group sounded the alarm on chromium lurking in the taps of 31 U.S. cities got people fired up. The group figured some 74 million Americans drink water containing a cancer-causing form metal.

But how concerned should we be about the findings from the study?

 

We asked Dr. Robert Baratz, an expert on metal exposure who teaches at the Boston University and Tufts University Schools of Medicine, to give us some context. He told Shots that it's difficult to draw scientifically valid conclusions from the single samples EWG took from water taps in a variety of cities.

And Baratz questioned EWG's decision to use a limit on chromium proposed for California as a benchmark for what would be an acceptable level nationwide of chromium. That didn't stop California's senators from calling on the feds to set standards, however, according to AP.

In California, the metal has been detected in ground water samples, which prompted the state to propose setting a limit of of 0.06 parts per billion (ppb) in drinking water to reduce cancer risk. That 2009 proposal was the first attempt by any state to set an enforceable limit for chromium in drinking water.

But, "such proposed limits are often arbitrary, and without strong foundation," Baratz says.

Hexavalent chromium, or Chromium-6, is the heavy metal that rose to infamy thanks to consumer advocate Erin Brockovich of Hinkley, Calif., and the Hollywood movie about her starring Julia Roberts.

There is, to be sure,  a growing body of research about the cancer risks of ingesting the metal. Studies by the National Institutes of Health National Toxicology Program have found lab rats that were given hexavalent chromium orally had significant increases in tumors at sites where tumors aren’t usually seen: the mouth and the intestine. It has also been shown to cause lung cancer in humans when inhaled.

But less is known about how chromium in drinking water affects humans, and how much is enough to be a problem. California EPA scientists have said that "hexavalent chromium is a possible human carcinogen by the oral route." But Baratz says most people get chromium from food or cigarettes, not water. Acidic foods can leach the metal from stainless steel pots, for instance.

Norman, Okla., had the highest concentration of Chromium-6 of any city in the EWG report with a concentration of about 13 ppb. But as Alfred Aleguas, managing director at the Northern Ohio Poison Control Center in Cleveland, told ABC News, that's not much. It's also a fraction of the 580 ppb found in Hinkley during Brockovich’s original investigation.

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A Politically Correct Christmas? Who Cares!

Sick of wondering whether or not to wish someone a "Merry Christmas?" Iranian-born commentator Firoozeh Dumas doesn't worry about it. She argues that too much political correctness can stifle real conversations. Wishing her a Merry Christmas is fine with her, as long as it comes with a plate of homemade cookies.

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