Sen. Ted Kennedy may be remembered as the lion of the Senate, but for
Massachusetts residents he was a local hero. As his motorcade traveled
from the family compound in Cape Cod to the JFK Library in Boston on
Thursday, it passed many monuments that marked the Kennedys' lives. His body passed the St. Stephen's Church, where his mother was
baptized and her funeral held; Bowdoin Street where he worked as a young
district attorney; and Faneuil Hall, where he announced his bid for the
presidency in 1980. There, citizens gathered while the mayor of
Boston rang the Faneuil Hall bell 47 times—each marking a year Kennedy
served the state in the U.S. Senate. And as he went, just as the coffin
of his brother Robert F. Kennedy was mourned as it traversed the nation
on a train, Bostonians gathered in tribute. Red Sox fans packed
Fenway Park on Wednesday night to listen to "Taps" in honor of Kennedy;
others gathered outside the JFK Museum.

Could Mark Sanford be taking a hike for real this time? The Washington Times is reporting that South Carolina Republican lawmakers are preparing to call a special session that could impeach Governor Mark Sanford and remove him from office by the end of the year. GOP lawmakers will use their annual retreat this weekend to discuss Sanford’s fate. So far, there are two bills of impeachment being prepared in the state House—one by a Republican, and another by a Democrat.

After seven years of imprisonment, Mohammed Jawad—one of the youngest detainees held at Guantánamo Bay—has announced plans to sue the U.S. government over his arrest and detention. Jawad was taken into custody in December 2002, when he was just 12 years old, on suspicion of throwing a grenade into a jeep carrying American troops through Kabul, injuring two of them and an interpreter. Authorities released him last month. "This mistake has already been made," Jawad's lawyer told reporters. The Afghan and U.S. governments should compensate his client "to help train him and get him back to normalcy," he said. "To now not give him any compensation, any way to help him back to civilization, this is unacceptable."

He came, he shocked, and he won’t apologize. Rex Rammell, a former elk rancher who is challenging incumbent C. L. “Butch” Otter for Idaho’s GOP gubernatorial primary, joked Thursday that he’d buy a license to hunt President Barack Obama. The Associated Press reports that, when conversation at a Twin Falls rally turned to wolf hunting—an activity for which Idahoans must purchase a $11.50 wolf tag—an audience member shouted a question about “Obama tags.” Rammell replied, “Obama tags? We’d buy some of those.” Rammell later said he was being sarcastic and sees no reason for an apology.

Insult to injury? Not only has Sarah Palin canceled a speech for the Alaska Family Council, which has been billing her for weeks, but she is claiming that she was never invited in the first place. “This is the first we have ever heard of a speech,” said Palin’s spokeswoman, who added that the former governor is out of state but would not provide details on what she is doing. It is, according to the Anchorage Daily News, “the fourth time in recent months that an anticipated Palin speech has fallen through after Palin and her camp disputed they had ever confirmed it.” The event was expected to be her first public appearance since she resigned as governor in July. 

Eighteen years after Carl Probyn heard his 11-year-old stepdaughter scream as she was abducted on her way to catch the school bus, Jaycee Lee Dugard is believed to have emerged alive—after a convicted sex offender allegedly held her captive in his backyard, raped her repeatedly, and fathered her two children, California police announced at a news conference Thursday. Dugard and her daughters, now 11 and 15, were kept in a series of tents and sheds, which authorities described as a compound of soundproof walls, no electricity, and barriers to "inhibit outside viewing and prevent the victims from contact with the outside world"—all hidden, police say, in the backyard of Phillip and Nancy Garrido’s Northern California home. Dugard and her daughters are "in good health, but living in a backyard for the past 18 years does take its toll," police said. The Garridos are in police custody. Dugard—who apparently gave birth to her first daughter at the age of 14, during the period of her imprisonment—was reunited with her mother on Thursday.

During the raid of a home in Southern Iraq on Tuesday, soldiers discovered what they least expected: a naked woman. Or at least the painting of one: Pablo Picasso's long-lost painting, The Naked Woman, which depicts a nude woman on a blue cloth. It had reportedly been looted from Kuwait during Saddam Hussein's invasion in 1990. The new Iraqi owner was apparently trying to sell it for $450,000—though experts say it was worth closer to $10 million. The painting bears Picasso's signature, as well as a label from the Museum of Kuwait.

A break in the investigation into Playmate Jasmine Fiore's murder: Police received an anonymous tip about a white Mercedes-Benz found in a West Hollywood parking lot belonging to Fiore, who is believed to have been murdered by her husband Ryan Jenkins. The car has not yet been investigated—its doors were locked and windows were tinted—but now that it's been towed, the car will be examined, which "could take quite awhile because they're going to be very methodical going through it," according to one law-enforcement agent. A witness said the car's been in the lot since the day of Fiore's murder two weeks ago. In Canada, authorities are looking into another car, a silver PT Cruiser belonging to Jenkins' half-sister, Alena, who may have harbored him before his suicide at a motel earlier this week.

Meet the youngest person ever to sail around the world: Michael Perham, a 17-year-old from southern England, finished his 9-month, 24,000 mile trip on Thursday. Though he suffered significant damage to his boat and "knockdowns" at sea, when he arrived home Perham said that he was most excited for a "good meal and a very good night's sleep." He'll go down in the Guinness Book of World Records, but because he had to stop at several ports for repairs, his trip will be officially labeled as "assisted."

Television viewers have some macabre couch-time ahead. Variety reports that Fox is developing a remake of the 1989 Christian Slater/Winona Ryder film Heathers. The series will update the teen flick, which focused on the trials of Veronica Sawyer, a high school student navigating a group of mean girls—all named Heather—with the help of bad boy boyfriend. Sex and the City alum Jenny Bicks will executive produce along with TV veteran Mark Rizzo, who will also write.

Back from the political graveyard: Marc Ambinder is reporting that former Massachusetts governor and 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis is the most likely candidate to serve as a placeholder for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, as he is someone “who needs no education in the ways of policy and the Senate, and who would spend his five months faithfully tending to the senator's concerns and interests.” The state will have to first change its law that forbids Governor Deval Patrick from choosing a replacement before a special election is held.

After a weeklong trip to Martha's Vineyard with the first lady, his daughters, and his dog, President Barack Obama plans to be away from the White House a bit longer. According to White House spokesman Bill Burton, Obama will travel to Camp David on Wednesday, where he will stay through the weekend. The president has received some criticism recently for his time away from the White House, but Burton stressed that Obama is still on top of his duties, saying, "When you're president, you've always got that job." Earlier this week, Burton cited former President George W. Bush's retreats from the office. "As I recall," Burton said, "the previous president [took] quite a bit of vacation himself, and I don't think anyone bemoaned that."

The FDIC fund used to protect $4.5 trillion in U.S. bank deposits fell by 20 percent to $10.4 billion at the end of the second quarter—the lowest level since 1992. Though the FDIC must replenish its fund, which now represents just 0.22 percent of insured deposits, to a congressionally mandated minimum of 1.15 percent, the agency's chairman Sheila Bair says there are no plans "at this point in time" to tap the Treasury Department for help. Despite the depleted insurance fund, Bair cautioned in a news conference that the drop "does not diminish our ability to protect insured depositors." The failure of 81 banks (so far) due to soured loans from commercial real estate threatens to further diminish the FDIC's fund, which some analysts warn could fall further by the year's end.

The gaping hole Ted Kennedy left in the Senate will prove difficult to fill despite the many politicians looking to take on the position as liberal leader in the upper house. Though Massachusetts' John Kerry, Connecticut's Chris Dodd, Iowa's Tom Harkin, Illinois' Dick Durbin, and Wisconsin's Russ Feingold are all willing the assume the role, many say none possesses the qualities Kennedy did. But Kennedy's combined celebrity power and legislative prowess are not common in the Senate and the only person potentially able to achieve Kennedy-like status in that regard, Hillary Clinton, left her seat to become secretary of State. Still, some doubt she would have been able to reach Kennedy's level. Democratic aides say that in Kennedy's absence, liberal leadership will likely be handled a la carte in Senate, based on issue specialization.

Publishing industry, take note: He can't sell Americans on health care, but the president is a heck of a book salesman. After the White House announced that Obama would be tackling George Pelecanos' The Way Home, Richard Price's Lush Life, Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded, David McCullough's John Adams, and Kent Haruf's Plainsong while on the Vineyard, sales for those books skyrocketed, Politico reports. On Amazon.com's list, the Pelecanos' book shot to No. 328 on Tuesday from No. 33,349.

Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins is backtracking on remarks made last week that some critics say suggested a racial element to opposing President Obama. Discussing the GOP's prospects for 2012, the Kansas congresswoman told a crowd that "Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope." The phrase is associated with racism faced by the first black heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson, in which whites openly pined for a Caucasian challenger to emerge. A spokeswoman for Jenkins, Mary Geiger, issued a statement apologizing for the choice of words and added that the Congresswoman was only discussing how, despite tough times for Republicans, "bright young leaders have stepped up to lead the party into the future and she hopes to be a part of it."

Child stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are all grown up. The New York Times reports that the sisters, who were once the biggest names in tween clothing, now have high-end designers worried. The twins now produce two lines, The Row, and Elizabeth and James. The Row focuses on finely-made practical basics, while Elizabeth and James, named for two Olsen siblings, features more affordable clothing. The Row in particular is outperforming better-known labels. The chief executive of Bergdorf Goodman, which carries The Row, said that the line is winning because "many designers are intent on the next great trend" and neglect "the basics" like simple blazers and leggings. "I don't think anybody really cares that it's Mary-Kate and Ashley's collection," Julie Gilhart, the fashion director of Barneys New York, told the Times. "They're buying it because they like it."

Governor Bill Richardson and his colleagues can breathe a little easier: a new report suggests they won't be indicted on corruption charges. The former presidential candidate was forced to withdraw his nomination to be commerce secretary in January after news broke that a federal grand jury was investigating allegations that a Richardson donor made lucrative deals with the state in exchange for his help. According to the Associated Press, a source familiar with the investigation now says that top Justice Department officials have decided to back off pursuing indictments against Richardson and his staffers. "It's over. There's nothing. It was killed in Washington," the person told the AP.

Dominick Dunne, the bestselling author who wrote about crime, died Wednesday at the age of 83. Dunne famously covered the trials of O.J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, and Phil Spector for Vanity Fair. In March 1984, he first wrote for the magazine, about the trial of the man who murdered his daughter, Dominique. He started his career as a stage manager of The Howdy Doody Show, and, before turning to writing, he produced movies like The Boys in the Band and Play It as It Lays. His brother, John Gregory, was married to Joan Didion. A collection of Dunne’s writing for Vanity Fair, Justice, was published in 2001, and his last book, Too Much Money: A Novel, will be published in December.

The grisly rumors have been around for years, and through state-owned newspaper The China Daily, the Chinese government has finally admitted to harvesting organs from executed prisoners for medical transplants. According to the report—which also detailed the government's new voluntary donation program—two-thirds of China's transplant organs come from executed prisoners. The BBC explains that traditional biases against removing organs after death will likely deter the voluntary plan. The China Daily estimated that 65 percent of organ donations came from death-row prisoners and quoted the vice-minister of health saying that condemned prisoners were "not a proper source" for organs. The new voluntary donation program will pilot in 10 provinces and cities; but with 1.5 million Chinese citizens needing transplants, and only 10,000 operations occurring annually, ending China's death-row organ transfers (and robust organ-trafficking black market) seems unlikely in the near future.

August’s rancorous health-care debates aren’t over yet. With “death panel” and Nazi memes already feeling passé, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Democrats’ other battle will be with pro-lifers. Most versions of the health bill would subsidize private health insurance for people with low incomes. Since many private plans cover abortions, critics complain that the federal government will be subsidizing controversial procedures. Antiabortion groups including The Family Research Council and the National Right to Life Committee are targeting swing-vote and pro-life Democrats and their districts. At a town-hall meeting for Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) on Tuesday, an activist shouting “We won’t pay for murder!” had to be removed by police. Twenty House Democrats recently signed a letter announcing they will not support a bill that fails to explicitly exclude abortion coverage.

Ted Kennedy died surrounded by his whole family, including wife Vicki, his sons, and other relatives, who prayed around him. Rev. Patrick Tarrant of Our Lady of Victory Church, the Kennedy clan's Roman Catholic priest, told The Boston Channel that Kennedy "told his family that he was ready to go and that he wanted to go." Tarrant said he was called to Kennedy's bedside at 9 p.m. Tuesday after the senator "took a turn for the worse" and that Kennedy died around 11:30 p.m. "His whole family was praying. It was a wonderful experience for me. You don't see it very often," Tarrant said. The priest called faith the "secret" of Kennedy's power, but said it was a part of him that the world didn't see.

Ted Kennedy will be buried beside his brothers Robert Kennedy and John F. Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery. A burial at Arlington is considered a powerful symbol of Ted Kennedy's service to the country as a senator and also during his time serving as a soldier in the Army. Being laid to rest beside both of his brothers, who were assassinated, would also highlight the tradition of public service in the Kennedy clan. John F. Kennedy is one of only two presidents buried at Arlington, though all presidents are eligible. The funeral services will begin Thursday morning, when Kennedy's body will taken via motorcade from Hyannis Port to the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. There will be a public viewing on Thursday and Friday afternoon. Later on Friday afternoon, Senators John Kerry and John McCain as well as Vice President Biden will speak at Kennedy's wake. On Saturday, President Obama will address his funeral mass before Kennedy's body is flown to Arlington Cemetery.

Apple is one major market away from total global immersion, and they don’t like it. The Wall Street Journal reports that China’s 687 million cellphone users may soon have Apple’s fastest-growing product to reckon with. Apple is reportedly nearing a deal with China’s state-owned wireless company, China Unicom, and an iPhone prototype has already been approved by the government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. But will China like the iPhone? The Journal notes that iPhone’s Japan launch was weak, due in part to Asia’s robust mobile-phone industry.

It seems the recession could claim yet another seemingly permanent institution: Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. CNN reports that the island nation is heading for a historic shift at the ballot box, as the LDP has controlled the Japanese parliament almost continuously for more than five decades. Approval ratings for prime minister Taro Aso have dipped to the teens, while Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama has been mobbed by supporters at rallies, where he offers an Obama-style message of change. Polls show that the DPJ will likely nab 300 of the 480 seats up for election on Sunday in the lower house of parliament, meaning that for the first time ever, it will rule the world's second-largest economy.

Senator Ted Kennedy didn't let a little thing like terminal brain cancer stop him. According to The Washington Post, Kennedy worked on many projects right up until the end of his life. He was determined to finish his memoir True Compass, written with his longtime wordsmith Bob Shrum, which will be published Sept. 14. He talked health care during his final 15 months when Chris Dodd came twice for dinner as well as when the president called from Rome in July to say he'd delivered a letter from Kennedy to the Pope. As Kennedy put it, he was trying to ensure that "when there is a cure for the disease I now have, no American who needs it will be denied it." He also prided himself on his near-perfect attendance at board meetings for Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, calling in to meetings when doctors concluded that it wasn't safe for him to attend, due to the swine-flu threat.

Observers have long warned that the Afghan government is corrupt, but the recent election might actually put a drug lord in the vice president's office. Already the current defense minister, President Hamid Karzai's running mate, Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim, has long been suspected by U.S. officials of running a heroin-smuggling operation. According to The New York Times, the Bush administration struggled trying to determine whether or not to deal with Marshal Fahim, given evidence he was using a Soviet-era cargo plane to transport drugs to Russia and bring back cash. Ultimately, he ended up meeting with top American officials including then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Some members of the administration say the willingness to overlook Marshal Fahim and other drug traffickers was one of the major blunders of the war. Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.S., Tayeb Jawad, told The New York Times that accusations against Marshal Fahim were "politically motivated" and that he would be effective despite likely being barred from traveling to the U.S., as he was picked for "the role he could play in national unity in Afghanistan, not for his ability to make foreign trips."

Efforts to quickly fill Ted Kennedy's senate seat rather than go through a lengthy special election process are picking up steam. On Wednesday, Gov. Deval Patrick endorsed Kennedy's personal request that the Massachusetts legislature change state laws to allow the governor to temporarily appoint a senator. "I'd like the legislature to take up the bill quickly and get it to my desk and I will sign it," Patrick told the Boston Globe. He added that Sen. Harry Reid called Patrick Wednesday to express concern over "the promptness with which we fill this vacancy," given that health-care legislation and other bills might require every possible Democratic vote to overcome Republican filibusters. Republican state lawmakers are protesting the move to change the law, however, which was already changed in 2004 in an effort to prevent then-Governor Mitt Romney from appointing a Republican to succeed Senator John Kerry if he won the presidency.

Spending time in the clinker is no picnic. On Wednesday, after he was released from federal lockup in Manhattan on a $25 million bond, Democratic fundraiser Hassan Nemazee was spotted wearing the same pink shirt and gray trousers he wore to his court appearance, the New York Daily News reports. The bond, secured by his $20 million Park Ave. apartment and his $8 million estate in Katonah, N.Y., was set high because, according to City File, Nemazee was considered a flight risk. Nemazee allegedly forged documents that put his net worth at $500 million in order to score a $74 million loan from Citibank. Under the house-arrest agreement, he'll be subject to monitoring by electronic bracelet, and banned from using computers and the Internet and from getting a new cell phone. Sounds like he's in for some dull times in that posh duplex.