Three weeks before Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier, he met von Post and the two began a fleeting but passionate romance. The relationship continued after Kennedy was married.
The ethical woes facing Democrats are piling up, with barely a day passing in recent weeks without headlines from Washington to New York and beyond filled with word of scandal or allegations of wrongdoing.
The troubles of Gov. David A. Paterson of New York, followed by those of two of the state’s Congressmen, Charles B. Rangel and Eric J. Massa, have added to the ranks of episodes involving prominent Democrats like Eliot Spitzer, Rod R. Blagojevich and John Edwards.
Taken together, the cases have opened the party to the same lines of criticism that Democrats, led by Representatives Nancy Pelosi, now the House speaker, and Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, used effectively against Republicans in winning control of the House and Senate four years ago.
Will the current scandals involving Democrats help Republicans gain control of Congress in November?
Coupled with the hoards of Democrats in the House who will fall on their political swords by voting for ObamaCare against the wishes of their constituents, the answer is a resounding yes.
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"For advice on confessing, press one. To confess, press two. To listen to some confessions, press three," says a soothing male voice, welcoming the caller to "Le Fil du Seigneur", or "The Line of the Lord" service.
"In case of serious or mortal sins -- that is, sins that have cut you off from Christ our Lord, it is indispensable to confide in a priest," warns the 0.34 euros a minute service.
The site was set up this month at the beginning of the Christian fasting period of Lent by a group of Catholics working for AABAS, a small Paris company that provides telephone messaging services.
“The plan, as it comes from the Senate, hangs out every Democrat who's running for office to dry -- including the president, in 2012.”
Dean has clashed publicly with the White House over the healthcare proposals favored by the administration. He warns that by passing the bills under consideration, Democrats would essentially be conceding defeat to Republicans.
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Prince William takes part in an archery lesson, while wearing a blindfold to simulate visual impairment, at St Dunstan's center in Llandudno, North Wales.
An FAA official told CBS News Wednesday that the agency learned during its initial investigation that the same air traffic controller, Glenn Duffy, brought a different child, presumably also his child, into the tower the following night.
The child’s voice heard on the 17th sounds younger than the first and the child’s interactions with pilots was much more limited than in the first incident.
Two employees have been suspended over the incident. The controller who brought his son into the tower and the supervisor who tolerated the incident.
Link here and here.
As the House prepares for its final push on health care, there are Democratic members, particularly those from conservative districts, who are facing a hard truth: This is the kind of vote that can end a career.
It was the night of August 5, 1993, and Bill Clinton was one vote short of what he needed to get his economic plan through the House--a vote he got, when freshman Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky (pictured) switched hers.
The other side of the Chamber seemed to explode. Republicans pulled out their hankies and started waving them at her, chanting: "Bye-bye, Margie."
Rep. Margolies-Mezvinsky had sealed her fate with that one vote to please Bill Clinton.
She found out the Republicans were right when they waved good bye to her after her vote. She learned the hard way that voting against the wishes of her constituents can have consequences.
Her Main Line Philadelphia district was the most Republican-leaning of any represented by a Democrat in Congress. She was not re-elected.
She was not the only one to be charmed by Bill Clinton. By the next election one-third of the women who had come to the House in the Class of 1992 were gone--largely as the result of that one vote.
How many Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky’s will there be this year? Probably dozens.
Link here and here.
Fast forward to March, 2010:
One of the ten is Jim Matheson of Utah. The White House just sent out a press release announcing that today President Obama nominated Matheson's brother Scott M. Matheson, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Whether or not Scott Matheson has the credentials to be a judge, the question is: was his nomination used to buy off his brother's vote?
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The coffin was priced at a mere 280,000 euros (381,000 dollars).
No mention of how many minutes of talk-time was included.
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The mint director was fired over the incident. Chances are the new mint director will use a spell check for any future coins.
Abuse of power. An undemocratic disservice to our people and to the Senate's institutional role.
A string of electoral defeats and the great unpopularity of ObamaCare can't stop Democrats from their self-appointed rendezvous with liberal destiny—ramming a bill through Congress on a narrow partisan vote.
What we are about to witness is an extraordinary abuse of traditional Senate rules to pass a bill merely because they think it's good for the rest of us, and because they fear their chance to build a European welfare state may never come again.
Limited to 20 hours of debate, reconciliation bills need a mere 50 votes in the Senate, with the Vice President as tie-breaker, thus circumventing the filibuster.
Both Democrats and Republicans have used reconciliation on budget bills so Democrats are now claiming that using it to pass ObamaCare is no big dealHowever, it was never intended for use on significant multi-billion dollar legislation such as ObamaCare.
Democrats are only resorting to it now because their plan is in so much political trouble—within their own party, and even more among the general public—and because they've failed to make their case through persuasion.
More here.
The photo above shows traffic in Dubai.
The media kept the flu scare in headlines until the facts were indisputable that it was NOT a flu pandemic as predicted.It’s a puzzle why there isn’t more swine flu around, given how many people haven’t been infected or vaccinated, according to the experts.
The lack of punch from seasonal flu is also a mystery.
There is a high possibility the swine flu scare was mostly hype created by the media. Otherwise why were so many doctors trying to downplay the flu severity all last fall?
It was the flu pandemic that wasn’t. It was the flu season that fizzled.
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A member of the Ukrainian honor guard wipes his boot during a memorial ceremony for those who died in the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979-1989) in Kiev, Ukraine.
Scientists at the heart of the Climategate row were yesterday accused by a leading academic body of undermining science's credibility.
The Institute of Physics said 'worrying implications' had been raised after it was revealed the University of East Anglia had manipulated data on global warming.
While being grilled by the Science and Technology committee in the House of Commons professor Phil Jones denied trying to suppress data.
The photo shows Professor Phil Jones being grilled by the Science and Technology committee in the British House of Commons.
The e-mails uncovered last November, however told a different story.
They revealed scientists plotting how to avoid responding to Freedom of Information requests from climate change skeptics.
Some even appeared to show the researchers discussing how to manipulate raw data from tree rings about historical temperatures.
In one, Professor Jones talks about using a 'trick' to massage figures and 'hide the decline'.
Professor Jones, who was forced to stand down as head of the CRU last year, said it was not 'standard practice' to release data and computer models so other scientists could check and challenge research.
More here and here.
*Brutus Thornapple is the 'born loser' in the Born Loser comic strip shown above.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that reconciliation "cannot be used to pass comprehensive health care reform."
Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, added that it "won't work because it was never designed for that kind of significant legislation."
They may try to use it anyway even though it would be political suicide for scores of Democrat politicians.
If the 51-vote option is used, buying votes such as the “Louisiana Purchase” to buy Senator Mary Landreau’s vote and the “Cornhusker bribe” for Nelsons vote will not be necessary.
If the 51-vote option is not used, it may take a lot more bribes this time around.
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Sony said in a blog post Monday that the problem was likely caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system, reminiscent of the Y2K bug a decade ago.
The problem is affecting older PlayStation 3 models, but not the newest slim version that went on sale in September.
Obama is sensitive about his cigarette habit and tetchy with reporters who raise it. But after his 90-minute medical at the Navy hospital outside Washington yesterday morning, his doctors confirmed he had not yet managed to conquer the habit and suggested he "continue smoking cessation efforts".
It was described as self-use "nicotine replacement therapy".
News reporters in the U.S. are afraid to write about Obama’s smoking and drinking habits.
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The repeat offender made off with 450 euros ($600) but with the help of video surveillance cameras, police were able to detain him three hours later. They said he had been in jail for robbing banks in Hamburg in 2002 and 2004.
The BBC reports that Gaddafi criticized a recent Swiss vote against the building of minarets and said Muslims must boycott the country.
Russia's hockey empire crumbled in front of the world.
Russia's 7-3 loss to Canada in its Olympic hockey quarterfinal game is one of the most definitive, declarative and emphatic emasculations the sport has seen in decades.
The headline of the Sport Express daily read:
“If you were asleep, you were lucky.”
In Russia, the state news agency RIA Novosti put it more succinctly:
“Nightmare in Vancouver.”
A picture of my cave
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