Kennedy rushed to Cape hospital

Senator Edward M. Kennedy was briefly hospitalized yesterday after suffering a seizure, triggering worry throughout the political world as the nation's leading liberal battles a malignant brain tumor.
Kennedy was rushed by ambulance to Cape Cod Hospital after authorities received an emergency 911 call at 5:12 p.m. from the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port reporting he was feeling ill, said Barnstable police Sergeant Ben Baxter. He said Kennedy was alert and conscious when emergency crews arrived.
Kennedy's representatives released a statement last night, saying, "Doctors believe the incident was triggered by a change in medication. Senator Kennedy will return home tonight and looks forward to watching the debate."
Kennedy was adamant about returning home in time to see last night's presidential debate, which began at 9 p.m., said a Kennedy associate who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of Kennedy's illness. The senator returned home by 8 p.m., according to Melissa Wagoner, family spokeswoman.
The associate said that Kennedy received a brief phone call last night from Senator John F. Kerry expressing concern and that they discussed the debate and the preparations for it in Mississippi. Kennedy was one of the first high-profile figures to publicly endorse Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.
Last night, Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, mentioned Kennedy during the debate, saying, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the lion of the Senate."
The associate said that doctors told Kennedy that seizures will become more common as he battles the brain tumor and that they were adjusting his antiseizure medication.
The associate said Kennedy was now feeling better, and "everything was mild."
It is not uncommon for patients with brain cancer to suffer seizures intermittently, said Dr. Deepa Subramaniam, director of the Brain Tumor Center at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C.
"Even for those patients whose tumors have been completely taken out, you still have an area of their brain that remains abnormal for the rest of their lifetime," Subramaniam said.
The region of the brain where Kennedy's tumor was located - pivotal to speech and movement - is especially prone to seizures.
Subramaniam, who does not have direct knowledge of Kennedy's condition, said seizures can be triggered by a number of factors. After surgery, the brain can be left susceptible to the electrical malfunctioning that is the hallmark of a seizure.
Additionally, changes in medication can spark a seizure.
A seizure most often manifests as trembling of the hands and legs; in other cases, it can result in a sensation of blinking lights or cause an abnormal smell sensation.
"The seizure by itself in the brain doesn't cause permanent damage," Subramaniam said. "They are usually temporary events."
Once the immediate medical problem has subsided, doctors typically adjust a patient's medication to reduce the prospect of future seizures.
(...)

Yesterday, the Senate unanimously passed legislation - which Kennedy had pioneered - giving aid to state and local law enforcement to help address the needs of nonviolent mentally ill offenders. The law authorizes $50 million in grants to law enforcement agencies.

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/27/kennedy_rushed_to_cape_hospital?mode=PF

Kennedy Working Now for January Health Care Push

Congress will lead the way on health care reform next year, not waiting for the next president, whoever he turns out to be. And key backers of a move toward universal coverage don't plan to waste any time either. Among the lessons learned from the last major attempt at health care reform in 1993 is that it needs to be tackled in the first year of the new Congress during the "honeymoon period" -- just after the election and before everyone starts focusing on the next campaign.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who has long championed health issues, plans to be ready in January, and he's determined not to let his own health issues keep him from being at the forefront of what will be difficult negotiations. Kennedy, who is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is a man in a hurry. He wants to hit the ground running, introducing a plan soon after the new Congress convenes in January.
His goal: affordable and accessible health care for all. Kennedy is well liked on Capitol Hill, and there's a big emotional push to get this done "for Ted." Kennedy and his staff have already held meetings with his Republican counterpart on the Committee, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), in hopes of crafting a bipartisan bill that will win broad support. Kennedy has a reputation for reaching across the aisle, and he and Enzi have partnered a number of times on other health care issues. But if the talks fall through, expect Kennedy to introduce a bill on his own and try to win bipartisan backing later.
Kennedy is also working with other committees in finance and budget jurisdictions committees, to ensure their cooperation so that the bill isn't bogged down by jurisdictional issues -- another lesson learned from the '93 battle. Major stakeholders are being called in as well -- business, labor, medical, insurance and consumer groups -- to sound them out on potential approaches. Also, Kennedy has added John McDonough to his staff -- he was in charge of implementing Massachusetts' groundbreaking universal health care law.
What will the proposal look like? Talks so far are just preliminary, with the more serious work to be done after the November election. But the betting is that it will seek to build on the employer-based system that now provides coverage for 177 million people. Universal coverage will be the goal, although it may have to be phased in, thanks to federal deficits likely to rise due to the financial crisis. The idea will be to make health care coverage available to all who want it, but not mandatory.
Getting coverage for the 46 million uninsured will focus on strengthening public programs such as Medicaid as well as providing more affordable options to people through the private insurance market.
How to finance the plan will be the biggest challenge. The tax treatment of health insurance will be on the table, but it's unclear if it will be in Kennedy's bill. Big revisions to the tax code are unlikely, and there may be a cap on the health insurance tax exemption for high earners.

Go to:
http://www.kiplinger.com/printstory.php?pid=14662

Congress Approves Mental Health Bill

Congress approved legislation yesterday that would require private insurers to provide the same level of benefits for mental illness as they do for physical maladies, a change lauded by advocates as a great shift in the nation's understanding of mental health.
"We've always had a stigma, sort of like mental illness is a character flaw," said Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.), who has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and co-sponsored the House version with Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), a recovering alcoholic. "But now science has moved forward, and we can see the complexities in the brain that lead to eating disorders, compulsive disorders. All these connections are being made, the science is just becoming so firm. And it destroys the myth that this stuff is a choice."
The measure has received strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate and has the backing of business, insurance companies, health advocates, the medical community and the White House. But its passage into law was not ensured last night.
The remaining obstacle appeared to be ironing out differences in how to pay the cost to the federal government -- estimated at $3.4 billion over 10 years, in the form of forgone tax revenue. Lawmakers also needed to resolve whether the final bill should be a standalone measure or part of a larger package of legislation.
(...) Federal law now allows insurers to set higher co-payments or stricter limits on mental health benefits than they do for medical or surgical coverage.
"You go in there with a broken arm, you have a $200 deductible and your insurance kicks in," Kennedy said. "You have depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and you find out you have a $2,000 deductible, you've got limitations on your treatment and all kinds of co-pay."
Typical annual limits include 30 visits to a doctor or 30 days of hospital care for treatment of a mental disorder. Under the legislation passed yesterday, those limits would no longer be allowed if the insurer had no limits on treatment for medical conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees would be exempt.
Currently, 42 states require insurance companies to cover mental and physical illnesses equally, as does the federal employees' health benefit program. But 82 million people work for employers who self-insure, which means they are exempt from state parity laws. An additional 31 million are in other plans that do not have to offer equal coverage.
The legislation is the culmination of more than a decade of lobbying by mental health advocates and several members of Congress.

Go to:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/23/AR2008092302882.html?hpid=sec-health

Kennedy’s mental-health bill rejuvenated in House, Senate votes

After languishing for months in disagreements over how to pay for it, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy’s signature mental-health bill was rejuvenated yesterday in separate House and Senate votes.
But enactment of the mental-health parity bill is far from a sure thing as Congress rushes to bail out the financial system, come up with the money to keep the government running and finish the rest of its “must” legislation before it adjourns for the remainder of the campaign season.
In keeping with this week’s frantic atmosphere on Capitol Hill, the parliamentary outlook for Kennedy’s measure is complex. Ostensibly, the chances for a bill-signing ceremony with President Bush look good, because Kennedy and his allies have mustered overwhelming support in both houses for their effort to make insurance companies cover mental illness in the same way as physical illness. But in order to beat the legislative clock, mental-health advocates are pursuing a two-track approach that could yet come up short.
About a year ago the Senate unanimously passed a version of the bill that enjoyed broad support from the mental-health lobby, the insurance industry and business interests generally. That represented a victory for the longtime chief Senate sponsors of the initiative, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M.
The House followed suit early this year with a more generous version, cosponsored by Patrick Kennedy and Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., that risked opposition from business groups. The two men were linked by their experience as alcoholics who found recovery, in part, because they had medical insurance that covered addiction treatment.
After months of negotiations, supporters of the two bills struck a compromise on the workings of the equal insurance coverage for mental-health patients and addicts. But differences persisted over how to cover the cost of the new system. Budget and tax writers in the two houses made strides on that front over the summer — tentatively settling on a plan to attach the mental-health bill to a big package of tax legislation that was considered a good bet for passage. But that deal failed to materialize before Congress adjourned for the summer.
Last night, the House voted 376 to 47 to pass a standalone mental-health parity bill that embraces the earlier compromise on how the insurance coverage would work, plus a new financing mechanism considered acceptable to the Senate.
Now the bill’s supporters on the other side of the Capitol will try to squeeze it onto an already-jammed Senate floor agenda. If the stand-alone bill is to go to Mr. Bush for his signature, it must go under a special procedure that requires a unanimous vote. Therefore a single objection could kill that version.
That is why parity supporters are simultaneously pursuing a second strategy to pass their bill. The mental-health bill was still included in the big package of tax extensions that, coincidentally, passed the Senate 93 to 2 last night.
Just as the standalone House parity bill may have trouble getting a Senate vote, the Senate tax-extenders bill — which contains mental-health parity — may face problems in the House because some budget-minded Democratic conservatives could object to its overall financing.
Not much time remains. The House has a target adjournment date of Friday. Debate over the bailout of the nation’s financial system may push the deadline back by some days, but members of both houses appear to be intent on avoiding a post-election lame-duck session this year.
So if parity fails to pass in the next few days, Kennedy and his allies will have to start from scratch next year — without the help of retiring colleagues such as Ramstad and Domenici.

Go to:
http://www.projo.com/health/content/mental_parity_09-24-08_CFBMQNC_v9.17c237f.html

Sen. Kennedy: 'A friend to Chile'

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has visited Chile many times over the past 35 years. But yesterday Chile came to him. And it came bearing gifts.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet arrived at the Kennedy family compound yesterday afternoon to honor Kennedy for his longtime support of human rights and democracy in the South American country.
Kennedy has fought to support Chile's democratic government since 1973, when he pushed Congress to cut off military support for the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Yesterday, Bachelet, elected president in 2006, offered her country's gratitude, presenting Kennedy with the Order to the Merit of Chile, the government's highest civilian award.
"You, Senator Kennedy, were such a friend to Chile in our hour of need," Bachelet told Kennedy and several of his family members and friends who gathered outside at the compound.
"You were there for us when human rights were being massively and systematically violated," she said. "You ... Kennedy understood what was happening from the very beginning ... and you acted accordingly."

Kennedy became involved in Chile's human rights struggle in 1973, after Pinochet had toppled the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in a military coup. Kennedy lobbied hard for support for tortured, captured and displaced civilians, and in 1974 he pushed "the Kennedy amendment," which cut off support for the Pinochet regime.
In the years since, Kennedy has returned to Chile on several occasions, including in 1990 to witness the inauguration of President Patricio Aylwin, the first democratically elected leader after Pinochet left office.
"All of us are very mindful of the extraordinary struggle that Chile made in its battle for freedom and democracy," Kennedy said, as American and Chilean flags snapped in the wind.
"This was not an easy time, and it took great suffering and great courage of the Chilean people."
(...)

Go to:
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080924/NEWS/809240313

Kennedy seeks rights protections in FBI probes

Three Democratic senators including Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy demanded "bare-minimum" civil rights protections today for Americans who might be targeted in FBI national security investigations without any evidence of wrongdoing.
In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the senators also urged the Justice Department to delay still-tentative rules that would expand FBI powers to seek out potential terrorists. They said the new policy could allow surveillance of Muslim- or Arab-Americans based, in part, on their race, ethnicity or religion.
"The Justice Department’s actions over the last eight years have alienated many Americans, especially Arab and Muslim Americans," wrote Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Russ Feingold and Kennedy. "We are concerned that issuing new attorney general guidelines without a more transparent process will actually make the FBI’s job more, not less, difficult by exacerbating mistrust in communities whose cooperation the FBI needs."
The rules, known as the attorney general guidelines, do not require congressional approval. The Justice Department has said it wants to have them in place by Oct. 1.
But a growing group of House and Senate lawmakers — comprised of both Democrats and Republicans — has urged Mukasey to release the policy to the public before it takes effect, allowing scrutiny and easing concerns about rule-making done in secret.
"To do otherwise could hinder the Justice Department’s efforts to protect our national security," the senators wrote.
First reported by The Associated Press, the rules are intended to update policies governing investigations as the FBI shifts from a traditional crime-fighting agency to one whose top priority is protecting the United States from terrorist attacks.
The Justice Department says the guidelines will merely streamline existing authorities used in criminal and national security investigation. Critics call them a broad expansion of FBI powers that could result in racial, ethnic or religious profiling without any evidence of wrongdoing.
Today’s letter also urged Justice Department anew to shelve the rules until after a new president takes office.
Barring that, the senators wrote, the guidelines should at least include what they called "bare minimum" safeguards "to protect the civil liberties of innocent Americans and ensure that limited FBI resources are used effectively."
Those protections include:
—Explicitly banning surveillance or other investigative activity based on a suspect’s race, ethnicity, national origin or religion. The Justice Department maintains that the guidelines do not — and will not — allow investigations to be opened based only on such factors.
But the senators noted that traffic stops and other routine law enforcement activity specifically prohibit officials from considering race or ethnicity in any way, and urged Mukasey to adopt the same standards in national security cases.
—Require some factual proof, allegations or other grounds, known as predicate, for opening inquires that fall short of an investigation. The draft guidelines would allow surveillance, interviews and other intrusive activity of Americans without evidence of a crime.
The senators said such activities could "lead to fishing expeditions that waste valuable resources and damage the reputations of innocent people."
—Require specific plans to protect information that the FBI collects about U.S. citizens and residents, particularly in gathering foreign intelligence data

Go to:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/politics/view.bg?articleid=1120980&format=text

As Chile hails his support, Kennedy projects aura of strength

He moved gingerly, in small, careful steps, looking down at the lush grass beneath his feet as he slowly made his way to the podium.
Then, Senator Edward M. Kennedy stood straight as the wind whipped a flag behind him at his seaside family estate, and in a clear, strong voice introduced the president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet. Before a group of media gathered on the lawn, he praised Bachelet's leadership and accepted the highest award the Chilean government bestows to foreign citizens.
"I am deeply humbled by this honor," he said at the afternoon event.
It was Kennedy's first public appearance since his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. But aides say Kennedy, who has undergone treatment for brain cancer, has resumed a busy work schedule from his home that includes daily teleconferences with fellow senators.
Yesterday, the senior Massachusetts senator and liberal icon did not formally field questions from the media, but in passing said he has been feeling well and at one point flashed a thumbs-up sign to photographers.
The event seemed designed to help keep the ailing politician in the public eye and show that his health is not keeping him from fully performing his duties as senator. He plans to return to Washington in January, his aides said.
Kennedy's health troubles have added prominence to his public appearances, and the audience seemed to scrutinize his movements and facial expressions.
They watched carefully as Kennedy, dressed in a dark suit and blue tie, greeted Bachelet in his driveway with his wife, Vicki, and as he tentatively lowered himself into the back of a golf cart that drove them near the podium.
Kennedy, who is 76, smiled broadly and laughed heartily in easy exchanges with Bachelet and other dignitaries. He looked well-rested and relaxed but was somewhat unsteady on his feet and at the end of the event needed slight assistance up the porch stairs.
Neither Bachelet nor Kennedy mentioned his illness.
In his first remarks about the deepening financial crisis, which he said "threatened the economic security of the United States and other countries," Kennedy called for "accountability and full disclosure" in the handling of the Wall Street meltdown.
Kennedy also praised Congress for advancing mental health parity legislation he had sponsored, calling it "the most important healthcare legislation that has been passed in some time."
The measure, which passed the Senate last night and was expected to pass in the House, requires equal coverage for mental health ailments under group health plans involving 50 or more employees. It would affect about 113 million people, including 82 million who are in self-funded plans not covered by state mental health parity laws.
In her speech, Bachelet extolled Kennedy's leadership in working to cut off US aid to the dictatorial Pinochet regime in the 1970s and helping her country achieve democracy.
"You were there for us when human rights were massively and systematically abused," she said, calling him "one of the great and true friends of Chile."
"You not only understood, you acted accordingly," she added. "In you, we see the United States we love and esteem."
Kennedy said Chileans had shown great courage in overcoming dictators and repressive conditions and were a "shining example" to the region and the world.
Bachelet, who flew to Boston after the event to speak at Harvard University, went out of her way to visit the Kennedy home, a gesture that seemed to move the senator. After their remarks, he struck a nostalgic note.
"This has been a very special place for our family and you do us a great honor, a great honor, to join us here."

Go to:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/09/24/as_chile_hails_his_support_kennedy_projects_aura_of_strength?mode=PF

New JFK findings debunk single-gunman theory

New research suggests that science cannot support the assertion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin of President John F. Kennedy.
Cliff Spiegelman, a professor of statistics at Texas A&M University, said that five bullet fragments taken from JFK’s body could have come from more than the two bullets which are said to have cut down the president in Dallas in November 1963.
“The claim was made that those five fragments could only have come from two bullets,” Spiegelman said. “Our research showed it could have been two or more.
“And if it is more than two, there is an increased likelihood that someone else provided one of them.”
He organized a six-member team that compared the composition of the fragments from the JFK shooting to other bullets from the same manufacturer.
The group found that those fragments weren’t nearly as rare as the government’s expert witness concluded in 1976, when Dr. Vincent P. Guinn determined that all five fragments came from two bullets fired by Lee Harvey Oswald. A third shot missed.
Spiegelman said many of the test bullets showed the same “chemical composition,” and one matched fragments from the assassination bullets.
The study does not say there were two or more gunmen, only that the single-gunman theory can’t be supported by science.
Naturally, that triggered “a bit of a buzz,” said Gary Mack, curator of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.
“The no-conspiracy folks, they accepted (Dr. Guinn’s) analysis without too much questioning,” Mack said. “But others wondered whether he knew what he was talking about. And the sharp ones were very skeptical that (the one-shooter findings) could be so definitive.”
The team’s research won them the American Statistical Association’s 2008 Statistics in Chemistry award.

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view.bg?articleid=1120600&format=text

ET's Kevin Frazier talked with Matt & Joe K

Follow this link to watch a short clip of the interview:

http://www.kget.com/entertainment/entertainmenttonight/story.aspx?content_id=ead42876-ac06-46ff-97a0-312d551bc9e3

Kennedy 'very ill'

BY MICHAEL SNEED Sun-Times Columnist

Sneed hears the health of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, whose bravura in the face of a cancerous brain tumor resulted in a surprise appearance and speech at the Democratic National Convention, is sadly going downhill.
• • Backshot: "He gave every ounce of courage to attend that convention, where an attack of kidney stones caused him to be delivered by ambulance," said a source.
• • Update: "And although he still goes sailing every day at 2 p.m., he is getting weaker and weaker. He's a very ill man. It's been said he could have three weeks, three months or three years . . . but I wouldn't bet three years."
• • Upshot: Although Kennedy does not plan to return to the Senate this fall, his family and staff are now pulling together his archives and papers, which will reportedly be housed in a building near the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston.

Go to:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/sneed/1172891,CST-NWS-SNEED19.article#

Kennedy back on Capitol Hill, via videoconference

Sen. Edward Kennedy has added a new high-tech wrinkle to his push for national health care legislation: videoconferencing.
From his home in Hyannis Port, Mass. where he is recovering from treatment for a brain tumor, the Massachusetts Democrat on Thursday met via teleconference with nine colleagues on Capitol Hill who serve with him on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The senators -- eight Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont -- gathered at a conference table in a committee room to watch on a 37-inch monitor.
"Senator Kennedy looked good, was in good spirits, very engaged in the issues, and he urged the committee members to work together on health care reform," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.
Senator Kennedy's dogs, Sunny and Splash, were seen and heard on the call as well.
Kennedy, chairman of the committee, in recent weeks has been laying the groundwork for a renewed push early next year on his signature issue, universal health care. He hopes to capitalize on any momentum that the next president carries into office, particularly if it is Democrat Barack Obama, an ally on health care.
The 76-year-old Kennedy plans to work from his Cape Cod home this fall and return to the Senate in January.
Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor after he had a seizure in May. He has had surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation.
He made a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, delivering a speech that drew a rousing response from the delegates.

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/18/kennedy_back_on_capitol_hill_via_videoconference/

Senator Kennedy gets a warm welcome as he casts primary ballot - September 16, 2008

US Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal icon from the Bay State who is battling a brain tumor, didn't let his illness stop him from voting in the state primary today.
He cast his ballot at the Town Hall on Main Street in Hyannis, putting in a few good words for his colleague, John F. Kerry, the junior senator from the state who is facing a primary challenge from Gloucester lawyer Edward O'Reilly.
"I'm hopeful that people will take the primary seriously. We're very hopeful that our good friend and colleague John Kerry will get a strong vote and there'll be a strong turnout in the state," he told the television cameras.
Jacqui Michelev, who was in charge of the polling place, said Kennedy offered his name and address "like any other voter."
"He was very warmly greeted by everybody here," she said in a telephone interview. "People were very glad to see him. ... I thought he looked terrific. He was smiling, he looked happy. He looked good to me, which is nice to see."
(...) Aides have said he plans to continue working at home through the fall.

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/09/sen_kennedy_get.html

Ted Kennedy casts ballot in Mass. Democratic primary

Sen. Edward Kennedy has had his say at the ballot box in this year’s Democratic primary.
The senior senator from Massachusetts cast his ballot just after 10 a.m. today at the Town Hall in Hyannis, a section of the town of Barnstable. He arrived with his wife, Vicki.
Kennedy has been in treatment since being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor after he had a seizure in May. On his doctors’ advice, he has been working at home and will likely continue to do so through the fall.
The big race today involved Kennedy’s friend, John Kerry, who’s facing his first challenger in the Democratic primary since he was elected 24 years ago.
After voting, Kennedy wished for a "strong vote" for Kerry and a good turnout across the state. He said he hoped citizens would take the primary seriously.

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/politics/view.bg?articleid=1119462

Governor Palin's Reading List

Robert F. Kennedy Jr:

"Fascist writer Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that "some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies."
It might be worth asking Governor Palin for a tally of the other favorites from her reading list."

Go to:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/governor-palins-reading-l_b_126478.html

Shrivers’ $11.7M pad up for sale

The Maryland mega manse owned by Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who started the Special Olympics, is on the market for $11.78 million.
Well, it is an excellent time to buy!
The Shrivers built the 10-bedroom, Georgian-style home, which sits on seven acres in Potomac, in 1986, and are unloading it because the elderly couple is spending more time in Los Angeles, Miami and Hyannisport.
Their broker, William F.X. Moody, said it’s not unlikely that the estate will sell for close to its asking price since a similar-sized home on their street sold for $10 million in April.
“What this Shriver property has is acreage and privacy,” making it more valuable than the $10 million estate, the broker told the Associated Press. “These prices aren’t as unusual to Washington as they were just a few years ago.”
Apparently, news of the meltdown in the financial markets hasn’t made it to Maryland.
Anyway, the 22-year-old manse has 11 bathrooms and includes staff quarters, a grand foyer with a circular staircase, a 567-square-foot library with a wet bar and a swimming pool.
There’s also an exercise room, where maybe, just maybe, son-in-law, Terminator-turned-Calee-for-neeya Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pumped iron! That may be worth a few bucks . . .

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/track/celebrity/view.bg?articleid=1119333

A fashionable Kennedy connection

Kennedy cousin and Special Olympics chairman Timothy Shriver gave the ravishing Roberta Armani, niece of designer Giorgio Armani and PR director of the fashion house, the grand tour of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum during her first trip to the city.
They later repaired to the Armani store on Newbury Street for another event. Word is, the fashionista met Tim when she attended the Special Olympics World Games in Ireland where Roberta, on behalf of her uncle, hosted the World Games’ opening night kickoff party. Seems awful Special, doesn’t it???

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1119131

Senator Kennedy´s letter

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

It was more than 47 years ago that President Kennedy spoke those words and challenged an entire nation to put service above self. You've no doubt heard those words repeated time and again, but simply repeating them does not guarantee they are carried out.

Today, I joined my friend Senator Orrin Hatch in renewing the spirit of service in our great nation. We're introducing the "Serve America Act," a broad new bipartisan bill to expand service opportunities for all Americans and encourage a new generation of our people to take part in something larger than themselves.

Democrats and Republicans may disagree on many issues, but we all share a common faith in the extraordinary potential of the American people to volunteer their time and energy to help those in need.

Millions of Americans are ready, willing and able to serve their communities, but don't know where to start.

This new legislation will help them tap their extraordinary potential for service, and enable them to make a very real difference for our country.

In this spirit, the non-profit organization ServiceNation is sponsoring a National Day of Action on September 27th, in which thousands of communities across the country will host service events. People from all walks of life will come together to clean up neighborhoods, mentor children in need, raise funds for medical research, and much, much more.

Visit the ServiceNation website and sign up to take part in this important effort: http://www.democraticmajority.org/service

The Serve America Act builds on America's long tradition of service. It will encourage Americans of all ages to take part in volunteer opportunities that address the full range of these challenges facing our communities. It will create five new "corps" of volunteers to work in the areas of education, poverty, international service, disaster relief, and green energy.

It will also provide incentives for businesses that give paid leave to employees who perform full-time service, and it will promote and fund community service programs such as City Year, which has done so much good for the city of Boston.

Please show your support for a new spirit of service in our country.

Sign up to participate in the September 27th Day of Action: http://www.democraticmajority.org/service

The American people have shown again and again that they can rise to new challenges with amazing selflessness and resolve.

The Serve America Act will build on this great tradition and launch a new era of service for America.

I hope very much that you'll join me in this effort.

Sincerely,

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Washington's Last Corner Of Camelot Is On the Market

Another piece of history for sale: the Potomac home of Eunice and Sargent Shriver, the last of the Kennedy family estates in the Washington area. We've learned that the 16,000-square-foot mansion will be listed Monday for $11.8 million.

(...) In 1986, the Shrivers moved from their home on D.C.'s Foxhall Road (once owned by Nelson Rockefeller) to the seven-acre property on Harrington Drive just off River Road. They tore down the existing house and built a sprawling 10-bedroom, 11 1/2 -bath Georgian manor -- pool, servants' quarters, etc. -- as home base for their five children (four sons and daughter Maria), grandkids and assorted Kennedy cousins and in-laws.

(...) The estate will be listed by Washington Fine Properties, which is also selling Hickory Hill, Ethel Kennedy's property in McLean -- still on the market after five years (just $12.5 million, down from the original asking price of $25 million).

Go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091103894.html to see a picture

Questions for Kerry Kennedy (NY Times)

(...) In the preface, you depict Jesus as a kind of human rights activist.
I think he was. The Catholic Church in our country has a strong tradition of social-justice activism. It serves the immigrant community, opposes the death penalty and is one of the largest providers of health care in this country.

Are you concerned that Catholics have been leaving the ranks of the Democratic Party for a generation now, in favor of more conservative politics?
In this election, the fact that Joe Biden is a Catholic with a working-class background is going to play an important role in bringing Catholics who might otherwise vote Republican back to the fold.

Did you ask Biden to write an essay for your new book?
I did not, gosh darn it.

You’re the seventh of Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s children?
Yes. There were so many of us, 11 in all. The time of day when there was quiet and serenity was every night when we gathered in my parents’ bedroom and knelt down together and prayed.

You were only 8 when your father was assassinated.
When I was younger, I had so many people in my family die. In my mind, heaven was as physical a place as home or school, and I knew that everyone I loved was together, enormously happy, and watching over me and awaiting my coming to this extraordinary place. In planes, I used to try to look behind the clouds to see if I saw an angel.

You supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, which meant going up against your cousin Caroline and your uncle Ted.
It’s the first time this has ever happened in my family, but now we are all enthusiastically behind Barack Obama.

Do you think Sarah Palin was chosen to capitalize on the girl power generated by Hillary?
I think that was part of it. But I think McCain was also trying to appeal to the religious right. She is an anti-abortion, born-again Christian who believes in banning library books and that going to war in Iraq is an act of God.

I think she appeals to the hockey-mom constituency as well. Isn’t hockey more of a red-state sport than soccer?
I myself am a soccer mom, a volleyball mom and a basketball mom.

Have you thought of running for office?
I’ve thought about it on several occasions, but Cara and Mariah are 13 and Michaela is 11, and as a single mother, I think that would be just too tough on our family. Their father is a politician.

You’re referring to Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York State, from whom you were very publicly divorced. Is that what led you to undertake a book on Catholicism?
I think Catholicism was a source of strength during that process and, interestingly, one of the reasons I stayed in a difficult marriage for 13 years. I believed that one should be married for life. That was my upbringing. Work on it. Make it work.

Not everything can be made to work.
I give it over to God. Thy will be done.

That sounds like a good ending for this interview.
But maybe that’s very unempowering to women. I don’t want to give the impression that you work and work and work, then you have no say and it’s all up to God. At a certain point, you have to make the decision to change your life.

Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/magazine/14wwln-Q4-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

New book by Max Kennedy

Danger's Hour:
The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her .


An untold story of World War II: The May 11, 1945 attack on the USS Bunker Hill was one of the deadliest kamikaze assaults of World War II. The resilience of the ship and her crew also proved crucial to Allied victory in the Pacific. Yet it was overshadowed by the near-simultaneous surrender of the Nazis in Europe and has remained a largely untold tale—until now. With interest in World War II books at an all-time high, Danger's Hour on the USS Bunker Hill will satisfy a wide and insatiable audience.

(...) Determined to provide a balanced account, author Max Kennedy conducted extensive interviews with Japanese and American survivors of the battle. In addition, his extensive research into letters, diaries, and other archival sources make this a narrative of uncommon intimacy and insight into the human story on both sides of a battle. Danger’s Hour on the USS Bunker Hill brings to life an important, single day as never before.

(...) Documentary in the works: Max Kennedy has produced a moving documentary on the USS Bunker Hill based on his own research and survivor interviews that serves as a stunning companion piece to this historic narrative account.

go to http://dangershour.blip.tv/#1206616 to watch. Visit http://www.amazon.com/Dangers-Hour-Bunker-Kamikaze-Crippled/dp/other-editions/0743260805 to order a copy.

Hatch, Kennedy team for voluntarism

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., may be away from the Senate fighting a brain tumor. But he and his friend, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, teamed up anyway Friday to introduce a bill seeking to spend $5 billion to vastly expand national service programs.
"Sen. Kennedy called me," Hatch said Friday, noting that he "wanted me to know that when I made the announcement ... it was to be the 'Kennedy-Hatch' legislation and not the other way around" to ensure top billing.
(...) Hatch said he and Kennedy had long discussed the bill as a way "to marry two formerly competing visions of service," the full-time national service programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps pushed by Presidents Kennedy and Clinton, and less structured volunteering through charities pushed by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
He said he hopes the bill will help again "ignite the spirit that 9/11 evoked in each of us. I am honored to reach across the aisle and join hands yet again with my good friend for the last 32 years, Ted Kennedy ... to provide more Americans more opportunities to sever each other and the country they love."

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http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700258365,00.html

Senator Hatch: both sides "ridiculous" in squabbles

(...) While both nominees reverted back to their increasingly combative campaign today, Hatch urged all of his colleagues to work on a bipartisan basis, as Hatch has frequently done with Kennedy.
``Ted Kennedy is the lion of the Senate. As much as Republicans make a fuss against him, every one of us are praying for his safe return to the Senate in January,'' Hatch said earlier, addressing a summit of Servicenation, a national service group.
(...) Both Obama and McCain, who appeared separately last night at the national service forum, have agreed to co-sponsor the measure, Hatch said.
Caroline Kennedy, the senator's niece, said her ``uncle Teddy'' was delighted to see the legislation moving ahead, and was looking forward to passing the bill under the next administration. ``Theirs is a strong partnership,'' Kennedy said of the two senators. After years of working on health, education and jobs legislation together, ``I'm happy to report that today, they have done it again,'' she told the summit attendees.
Hatch said he had recently spoken with Senator Kennedy, who is under treatment in Massachusetts for a malignant brain tumor.
``He told me he was dealt a rough hand,'' Hatch said, his voice softening as he talked about the friend he considers ``like a brother.''
``But he's going to fight back, and he's going to whip this thing,'' Hatch said.

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/09/senator_hatch_b.html

Ted Kennedy calls a fellow Senator

Democratic stalwart Ted Kennedy, who is battling cancer, took time this week to call his fellow senator, Oregon Republican Gordon Smith. The call came moments before Smith gave a Senate floor speech about his son's suicide, which led to suicide-prevention legislation; Kennedy wanted to wish him well.

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http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/OPINION/809120314/1048

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy readies national service bill

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is introducing a major new national service bill aimed at recruiting 175,000 Americans of all ages to tackle national problems such as health care, education, energy and the environment.
It is Kennedy’s first major piece of legislation since being diagnosed with a malignant brain turmor in May. The 76-year-old senator has been working from his Hyannisport home on the “Serve America Act” with Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a longtime friend.
Details of the legislation will be presented today at an event in New York City. Kennedy’s niece, Caroline Kennedy, and Hatch are expected to attend.
Aides said the Massachusetts senator did not plan to be at the event.
“Time and again we’ve learned that large numbers of Americans are ready, willing, able and even eager to be involved in service, and that all we have to do is ask them to do so,” Kennedy said in a statement. “The Serve America Act will ask. It will connect every generation through service, and enable them to help tackle a wide range of national challenges, from the dropout crisis that plagues our schools to the lack of health care in our neediest communities to the energy and environmental crises that threatens our planet.”
(...)

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http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/politics/view.bg?articleid=1118531

Kennedy set to offer bill today for national service program

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, sidelined from the Senate as he undergoes treatment for a malignant brain tumor, plans to introduce a sweeping new national service bill today to recruit 175,000 Americans of all ages to do service work in health, education, environmental protection and anti-poverty programs, with their work partly subsidized by the federal government.
The plan, meant to build on national service initiatives that began under former President John F. Kennedy and expanded under former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, would provide an estimated $5 billion over five years to encourage citizens from kindergarteners to retirees to get involved in community organizations - including faith-based groups - on a series of programs targeted at national problems.
The new corps members would be paid modest salaries to spend a year working on specific national problems. Employers would be eligible for tax cuts for giving workers time off to do community service, while a new venture capital fund would also be created to boost the creation of new service organizations.
The measure is the first major piece of legislation the ailing Massachusetts lawmaker has presented since being diagnosed with a brain tumor in May. While the senator does not plan to return to Washington full-time until January, staff and colleagues say he has been working assiduously from his home in Cape Cod, following legislation, talking to fellow senators, and sponsoring amendments to bills.
The service plan - crafted by Kennedy over the past eight months with Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah - is meant to marry the two parties' often competing approaches to community service, encouraging the volunteerism advocated by many Republicans while providing federal financial assistance requested by some Democrats.
"What this bill is saying is, we need both," said Alan Khazei, co-founder of City Year, a Boston-based youth community service group and a chief advocate of the new bill.
The measure will be unveiled in concert with a national symposium on national service in New York. Former President Bush - who initiated a "1,000 Points of Light" program to encourage volunteerism - and former President Clinton, who helped create AmeriCorps, a federally funded program to encourage national service - are set to appear in videos touting the benefits of community work. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President Kennedy, is scheduled to be at the event along with Queen Noor of Jordan, dozens of military officials and numerous members of Congress and community activists.
Current national service programs are working well, Kennedy staffers said, and the new plan would build on them. The Peace Corps, President Kennedy's program to help developing countries with basic needs, would also be expanded.
But the new plan, staffers said on condition of anonymity, would be aimed at people of all ages. While many volunteer programs now attract young college graduates willing to work for low salaries before settling into better-paid job, the Kennedy-Hatch plan would give older Baby Boomers an opportunity to take time off for community service, perhaps transitioning into a second career.
Retired people generally not sought out by community service organizations would be encouraged to get involved and eligible for an "Encore Fellowship" to extend their tenures beyond one year. Schoolchildren, meanwhile, would be taught to incorporate a "lifetime of service" into their lives, starting with smaller efforts such as food drives, aides said.
Kennedy has been absent from Washington since May, except for a single appearance to cast a dramatic, determinate vote on a measure to block scheduled cuts in Medicare payments to doctors. The Massachusetts lawmaker also made a powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention last month in Denver.
But Kennedy has continued to work despite his illness, issuing dozens of statements and signing onto several bills and amendments since he became ill.
Khazei said Kennedy has been working on the national service plan consistently since January.
"He hasn't missed a day. He gets more done from the Cape than most of us do in a week," Khazei said. "He's a hero."

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/12/kennedy_set_to_offer_bill_today_for_national_service_program/

Solemn Senate salute to Kennedy

On the presidential campaign trail it was one of those hyper-partisan days of “lipstick politics.’’ But on the floor of the U.S. Senate today it was a rare moment of bipartisan comity.
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) rose to speak, noting he was going to read from his prepared text because what he had to say was “of such a personal nature” and “difficult” to talk about.
“You know, in this hyper-political season, sometimes we forget that we’re just Americans. Sen. (Edward M. ) Kennedy somehow knew I was going to give this speech, and I was just called to the cloakroom -- the Republican cloakroom -- to take a call from our colleague who struggles with a terrible illness. And he wished me well in this speech because we share a common bond when it comes to human loss and a passion for the issue of mental health.
“ I also want to report ... that he sounded great, and I’m confident he’ll be back.”

Smith told about how five years ago this week “my wife Sharon and I received the worst news that any parent could receive when a police officer showed up at our door who informed us that our 21-year-old son Garrett had taken his life. That day and the days and weeks that followed were the most painful imaginable. Instrumental to Sharon and I being able to persevere through those weeks was the love and support we received from my colleagues here in U.S. Senate.
“When I returned to this chamber weeks later, Senators Kennedy and (Joe) Biden, who had experienced the loss of family members in their lives, were just two of many who reached out to me with compassion and wise counsel.”

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1118246

A Kennedy plumbs life as a Catholic

Catholicism ran deep at the home of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy.
Prayers before and after every meal, when a family trip was beginning, when something got lost. Bible readings after dinner. St. Christopher medals around the neck. St. Francis pictures on the wall. Virgin Mary statues in the corner. Mass schedules by the bedsides. And Mass every Sunday, until Bobby was killed in 1968; then it was daily.
"It was central to my upbringing - I mean, we woke up in the morning, and we were down on our knees, consecrating the day to Lord Jesus," recalls Kerry Kennedy, 49, the seventh of the 11 children of the Kennedy couple. "And then before bed, we'd spend about 20 minutes with the entire family saying prayers together."
But today, like many Catholics, Kennedy has a hard time reconciling her own views with some of the teachings and actions of her church; in fact, she often can't. So Kennedy decided to talk with well-known Americans about their often complicated relationships with the Catholic faith; the result is a revealing book being released tomorrow.
The book, "Being Catholic Now," offers an unusually intimate view of how much being raised Catholic shapes the identity of many prominent Americans, but also how much tension many feel with the institutional church.
(...) Bill O'Reilly, the FOX News personality, told Kennedy, "Cardinal Law is a villain. I got him removed from office in Boston. I pounded him relentlessly, because he was not doing what he should have for the protection of children in this country."
(...) Kennedy, who was born in Brighton, raised in Virginia, and now lives in New York, said she does not view her book, which includes interviews with conservatives and liberals, as an attack on the church. A human rights lawyer, Kennedy is raising her three daughters in the Catholic faith, attending Mass regularly, and teaching religious education at her parish, and she says the more she realized that other Catholics struggle with their church, the less isolated she felt.
"I was feeling conflicted because my Catholicism is so deeply important to me - it was my sense of connection to the Almighty, to humanity, to my heritage, my upbringing," she said during an interview in Hyannis Port, where she and other members of the Kennedy family have summered for decades. "And my Catholicism informed my view of the world, and the work that I do every day on social justice issues. And yet, so often when I went to church, I was confronted with words and symbols that were anathema to my values."
(...) Many of those Kennedy interviewed praised the Catholic church for imbuing them with a sense of spirituality and community and concern for justice. But Kennedy found multiple recurrent themes among many of the people she interviewed - concern about the role of women in the church, concern about the handling of the abuse scandal, opposition to the church's teaching on birth control, and even frequent unhappy references to the way the specter of hell was used to discipline them when they were children.
(...) Kennedy said she is at odds with the church hierarchy over many issues - abortion rights and women's ordination among them. Her views do not make her extraordinary; polls suggest that an overwhelming majority of American Catholics support women's ordination and that American Catholics reflect the general public's split over abortion.
Kennedy is divorced from Andrew Cuomo, but said her divorce has not been an issue for her in Catholicism because she has not remarried; however, she said, she considers the debate over whether politicians who support abortion rights, such as her uncle Senator Edward M. Kennedy, should be allowed to receive Communion "a terrible mistake" by "a few wayward bishops."
But Kennedy also said that in her travels around the world as a human rights advocate, she concluded that in "virtually every country I've gone to, the Catholic church is on the cutting edge of social change."
"I was witnessing the mighty spirit, and the tremendous capacity of this institution which was so much a part of my history, and my family, and my sense of spirituality, and my vision of social justice . . . and then coming back and hearing bishops who were protecting their turf instead of protecting children and playing Three-card Monte with the pedophile priests and blaming it on people who are gay," she said. "So it was important to me to resolve that."

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/08/a_kennedy_plumbs_life_as_a_catholic/?page=full

Kennedy planning to return to Senate in January

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who has brain cancer, will not be on Capitol Hill this week when Congress returns from its summer break. He intends to work from his Massachusetts home this fall and return to the Senate in January.
A Kennedy aide said yesterday that the Democratic lawmaker's doctors are pleased with his progress, but want him to keep working from home through the fall.
(...) "As Senator Kennedy said two weeks ago in Denver, he intends to be on the floor of the United States Senate next January when we begin to write the next great chapter of American progress," spokeswoman Melissa Wagoner said.
In recent weeks, Kennedy has been laying the groundwork for a renewed push next year on his signature issue, universal healthcare. He also has been working closely with his son, Representative Patrick Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island, on a bill requiring equal health insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses.

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/08/kennedy_planning_to_return_to_senate_in_january/

Brain power

Despite his deadly brain tumour, Ted Kennedy continues to make a remarkable recovery
TED KENNEDY has had to handle bad news from doctors before. In 1964, he broke his back and nearly died when he was thrown from a crashing plane on the way to accept his renomination for the US Senate at the Massachusetts Democratic convention. He campaigned from his hospital bed while recovering - and won.
When his son Ted Jr was 12 years old and losing a battle with cancer, his father made the difficult decision to have the boy's leg amputated. The son is now a 46-year-old advocate for disabled rights.
Five years ago, Kennedy's daughter, Kara, was told that she had inoperable lung cancer and only a year to live. Kennedy refused to believe the prognosis, and found a different doctor who operated on her - successfully.
And now, after years of cheating death repeatedly, Ted Kennedy is facing a deadly brain tumour the same way he has faced every misfortune that has befallen the Kennedy family: with both barrels blazing.
"The man never quits," says a long-me friend, retired senator Alan Simpson. "He's indefatigable. He's a fighter. I asked him how he was doing, and he said: 'Al, life is a bowl of cherries.'''
Senator Orrin Hatch, another close friend from across the aisle, says Kennedy told him: "I've been given a bad hand. But I'm not going to let it get me down. I'm going to fight back, and do everything I possibly can."
Kennedy, now aged 76, has spent much of the summer in hospitals. The cancer, which was discovered in May, required brain surgery in June, and daily chemotherapy and radiation treatments for six weeks after that. But the veteran senator has still found time and energy in the past three months to:
• Fly to Washington in the middle of treatments to cast a decisive vote in favour of legislation that would prevent a sharp cut in Medicare payments to doctors.
• Orchestrate bipartisan talks on a universal health insurance bill he hopes to have ready for Congress to consider by the time a new president is inaugurated.
• Form a non-profit group with friends to raise money and build an institute in Boston, next door to the John F Kennedy Presidential Library, that will be dedicated to research and education about the US senate.
(...)
Dogged perseverance has become something of Ted Kennedy's signature after 46 years in the Senate and 40 as patriarch of his family.
"Most legislators burn out," says former vice-president Walter Mondale, another Kennedy contemporary. "And he, for some reason, has not. He has been able to use his expanding congressional advantages - seniority, the right committees, relationships, huge staffs and connections with groups all over the country and the world. He's maintained that kind of internal excitement and drive for nearly 50 years." (...)

Most scholars of the Senate now consider Kennedy to be one of that body's ablest legislators. Political commentator David Shribman put it this way: "His brothers' words are in large letters on the sides of buildings and in the hearts and memory of a nation. But the youngest brother is the fine-print Kennedy. His words are in the fine print of the nation's laws."
(...) Lately Ted Kennedy has been researching experimental treatments, which would be a logical next step if the cancer returns. "I think if he can get that immune system up to where he can tolerate being around a lot of people, his intention is to come back [to the Senate] after this recess," says Hatch.
About 10,000 cases of malignant glioma are diagnosed each year in the US, and only about half of those patients survive one year. After two years, perhaps 25 per cent are still alive. However, new drugs are extending survival in some cases, researchers say, and some patients survive longer than four years.
The grimness of his prognosis has not escaped Kennedy, and he's concentrating on burnishing his political accomplishments, friends in the Senate say.
Now that the most difficult phase of his treatment appears to be over, Kennedy has had more free time to bask in the company of family, friends and supporters from across the country.
"He has a wonderful sense of humour," Simpson says. "His laugh will just carry. I can hear it at this instant. He'll throw his big leonine head back, and . . . what a laughter."
Go to:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2008/0902/1220218724046.html

Patrick Kennedy is thrilled

Lion’s cub

U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, said he was “thrilled” about the reception his father received when he made a surprise appearance at the Pepsi Center to help kick off the Democratic National Convention.

“Everyone has said to me since that speech that he lived up to his reputation as the lion,” Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) said at Invesco Field on the final night of the DNC. “Everybody . . . has told me how moved they were by his speech, how glad they were he was able to be here in person . . . and how they felt so strongly that him kicking off the convention was the right way to kick the convention off.”

go to: http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1116044&srvc=2008campaign&position=13