It’s easy to imagine cutlery clinking, chandeliers sparkling and two icons staring at each other. On June 5, 1961, John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy dined with Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace. It wasn’t a state banquet, but instead a highly formal dinner in the midst of a European tour. All accounts agree on one thing: the evening was anything but carefree, with extraneous guests shunned and personal sensitivities ruffled. In his book Q: A Voyage Around the Queen, British journalist Craig Brown meticulously recounted the waltz of the evening that Camelot came to Buckingham.
According to Brown, Jackie Kennedy had requested the presence of her sister, Lee Radziwill, and her brother-in-law, Polish Prince Stanislaw Albrecht Radziwill, at the dinner. Initially considered undesirable because the former had already been divorced once and the latter twice, Elizabeth II finally relented and extended the invitations after “much hesitation.” However, the sovereign’s strong position enabled her to exact revenge in her own way. According to writer Gore Vidal, a close friend of Jackie Kennedy, the monarch deliberately withheld invitations from Princess Margaret and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, whom the American first lady had expressly asked to meet. The result, Brown wrote, was an evening of “dreary platitude” that left the first lady unimpressed. “No Margaret, no Marina, no one but every Commonwealth agriculture minister they could find,” she was quoted as saying.
Yet it was in the midst of this staid ceremony that a moment of connivance between the two women is said to have arisen. The Queen is said to have asked Jackie Kennedy about her recent tour of Canada, leading the first lady to confide how “exhausting” it was to perform for hours on end, and Elizabeth II, “looking conspiratorial,” according to Brown, replied: “With time, you become astute, you learn to take it easy.” The line alone sums up a royal philosophy of public survival: Allowing yourself a side exit, a detour, an airlock—in short, keeping your breath to last. According to Vidal, Jackie found the exchange with the sovereign “rather laborious.” When Vidal later reported the phrase to Princess Margaret, she reportedly retorted, with acid phlegm: “But that’s why she’s here.”
Queen Elizabeth II and Jacqueline Kennedy on June 5, 1961 at Buckingham Palace
Bettmann / GettyImages
This little sound bite says a lot about the era and the contrast the two iconic women embodied. On the one hand, there was Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, who had then only recently moved into the White House and was astonishingly modern. On the other, a monarch in a woolen suit, crown on her head, who had reigned over traditions for the past decade. Should this be seen as a rivalry? Not necessarily, as their relationship continued without public drama. Jackie Kennedy returned to see the Queen in 1962, and after JFK’s assassination, Elizabeth II honored the late President’s memory in the presence of Jackie and the children. But Elizabeth’s simple advice has endured through the ages, applicable to many public figures, precisely because it sheds light on the intimate mechanics of charisma. Grace isn’t just magnetism, it’s also technique. And at Buckingham, as at the White House, it’s an essential survival skill.
Bill Anderson was close to 70 when he first spotted the clock.
It looked like a ship’s wheel, a kitschy bit of decor you might see at a nautically themed bar. But he was drawn to it because of its maker.
Timepieces from Chelsea Clock Co. were renowned for their design and precision. The company’s clocks could once be found on Navy battleships during World War II, and adorned mantels, walls and desks at the White House for presidents ranging from Dwight Eisenhower to Joe Biden.
Anderson, a retired watchmaker and collector, was particularly interested in the base of the Chelsea Comet, which was engraved with the initials “J.F.K.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy?
Although watch collectors obsess over celebrity ownership, and a Camelot connection counts for a lot, the prospect of a payday was only part of the allure for Anderson.
Retired watchmaker Bill Anderson owns more than 200 timepieces, including a Chelsea Comet with a plaque featuring a “J.F.K.” engraving.
(Courtesy of Bill Anderson)
The mystery of the clock’s provenance — could it possibly be the real deal? — has animated his life for years. This, Anderson said, “is a nice game that I’ve got going here.”
He’d purchased the clock in 1999 from a seller on EBay, a New Hampshire dealer who’d picked it up at an estate sale in Wellesley, Mass., for $280.
In the intervening years, Anderson, who is 95, has plumbed the cloistered world of clock collectors. His hunt would take him to the online message boards of watch and clock aficionados, and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. It would eventually lead to a refrigerated vault 200 feet below ground in a former limestone mine in rural Pennsylvania.
Anderson, who lives in Eugene, Ore., may not use the word “obsession” to describe his interest in his J.F.K. clock, but others do. All those decades he’s spent trying to uncover its backstory are evidence of its almost gravitational pull.
Anderson, whose parents ran a grocery store, grew up in Roseburg, Ore., south of Eugene. In the late 1940s, he left the University of Oregon after just one quarter and enrolled in a watchmaking school run by the Elgin National Watch Co.
Anderson’s maternal grandfather had been in the trade. “I leaned over his watchmaker’s bench and watched him as a little boy,” he explained. “He let me have the insides of an alarm clock … that was the beginning of it.”
In time, Anderson became a retail liquidator, helping to close jewelry and watch stores and sell their remaining inventories. Along the way, Anderson married and started a family. He gained a reputation as an honest broker — and for being able to spot the value in merchandise that others couldn’t sell.
“Bill is like the George Washington of people — you know, ‘I cannot tell a lie,’ that type of thing,” said Errol Stewart, a Maine watchmaker who has known Anderson for about 40 years.
In 1974, Anderson paid $15,000 for the inventory of a jeweler in Baker City, Ore., selling what he could and bringing the leftovers home. Forty years later, he came across them while cleaning out his attic; among the wares was an old football helmet.
It turned out to be a rare Spalding head harness from the early 1900s. No more than 10 are believed to still be in existence, and Anderson sold it for about $14,000.
He has retained more than 200 timepieces for his collection, including several from Chelsea, and has watched the prices for celebrity-owned timepieces surge in the last few decades.
“With Kennedy you get the highest multiplication factor for any political figure,” said Paul Boutros, who heads the U.S. watch business for Phillips, a London-based auction house.
Anderson knew if he could confirm the ownership, it would be a boon — perhaps a capstone to his legacy as a watchmaker and collector. The first thing he did was get in touch with Chelsea to request the clock’s certificate of origin.
When it arrived, the spot for the original buyer’s name was marked “no record.” Could that have been a courtesy extended to a VIP customer? JFK’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., had visited the company’s headquarters in Massachusetts — home to the Kennedy clan — where he purchased several items.
Chelsea had published a feature on its website about in-house master clockmaker Jean Yeo that touched on that celebrity connection. She said that she began working at Chelsea in 1951, a time when “all of the Kennedys came in here” and had special praise for the family’s patriarch, calling him a “nice guy” who talked to her about her work.
But Anderson wasn’t sure what to think. The growing allure of watches with A-list history was enticing people to peddle dubious timepieces.
In 2005, a Rolex that was said to be a gift from Marilyn Monroe to Kennedy was auctioned for $120,000. The gold Day-Date, allegedly given by the actress to Kennedy in 1962 on the occasion of his 45th birthday, featured an inscription that reads, “Jack / With love as always / from / Marilyn.” But collectors and watch scholars have noted that the timepiece in question featured a serial number that dated it to 1965.
At one point in his search, Anderson had a breakthrough when he discovered an online photograph of the future president and his wife at home in 1954. A clock was positioned on a desk, and it looked just like Anderson’s Comet, but the low-resolution picture was so blurry that any engraving it may have had was impossible to discern.
Then-Sen. John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, at their home in Washington, D.C., in 1954. A Chelsea Comet clock sits on the desk.
(Bettmann Archive)
James Archer Abbott, co-author of “Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration and Its Legacy,” said there was no record of the Comet having been displayed at the White House, and cautioned that if it were important to the family, it likely would have been earmarked for Kennedy’s presidential library. A representative of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum said that it has no record of or information on the Comet clock.
But Tony LaChapelle, president of Chelsea, was open to the possibility that it had once been owned by Kennedy.
“Could somebody who had nothing better to do in their life take that photo of JFK, Jackie and that clock, and get a Comet clock and try to capitalize on that? I suppose they could,” he said. “We look at [Anderson’s ] clock and we look at that photo of [Kennedy’s clock] sitting out on the table, and in our opinion it is highly probable” they were one and the same.
Anderson tried to find the original high-resolution image for years but couldn’t turn anything up. No one seemed to know the source of the photo. There were tens of thousands of pictures of Kennedy to comb through online. Or more.
But eventually, after a serpentine, multiyear effort, the whereabouts of the original negative were finally uncovered. It was in a photo archive stored inside a Boyers, Pa., facility known as the Iron Mountain, a formidable place that securely maintains records of all types, including for the federal government.
The Bettmann Archive, which comprises millions of photos and is managed by Getty Images, is housed in a section of the Mountain that’s more than 10 stories underground.
Last year, an archivist located the negative and brought it to one of Bettmann’s labs, where she placed it on a flatbed scanner. Soon, a new, ultra-high-resolution version of the 1954 image glowed on her computer screen. The clarity was remarkable.
The Comet could be clearly seen in the photo, including the clock’s wooden base.
It was blank.
When he heard the news — relayed via telephone — Anderson grew quiet.
But he offered no lamentations and later he said he wasn’t disappointed: “Not a bit.” He’d come to realize how important the hunt had been for him, especially after his wife, Sallie, died in July 2023. She was 93.
“She understood that I loved that kind of stuff,” he said.
The research made a dark time just a little easier.
During a recent interview, Anderson sat at his dining room table, where there was an array of photos of his wife. The Comet was there too. He explained that over the last year or so, he has asked each of his five children to select clocks from his collection that they will inherit when he dies.
Marilyn Monroe, seen in a 1962 photograph, is said to have gifted President Kennedy a Rolex that was later auctioned for $120,000.
(Cecil Stoughton / White House Photographs / John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum / Associated Press)
“I don’t know how many more miles down the road I’ve got,” he said.
But Anderson has yet to offer the Comet. “Why that hasn’t happened yet, I don’t know,” he said.
One of his sons, Mike Anderson, a watchmaker who owns Anderson Jewelers in Corvallis, Ore., has an idea. “There’s no doubt in my mind he wants to link [the clock] to JFK — he wants to believe that that was on his desk,” the younger Anderson said. “That’s what drives him.”
After all these years, Anderson still loves the chase.
Alaska Airlines Nonstop Flights Between Anchorage and New York City
Alaska Airlines launched seasonal nonstop service today between Anchorage and New York JFK. This is the only nonstop service between the two airports. Flights are available for purchase at alaskaair.com for daily flights through Aug. 19.
The new nonstop between the Big Apple and the Great Land offers New Yorkers an easier option to get away and enjoy the wilds of Alaska with its countless outdoor adventures, wild Alaska seafood and much more.
At 3,385 miles, the Anchorage-New York JFK route is the longest in in Alaska’s network.
The President’s home is known as the White House – but occasionally there has been a bit of green there.
It is pretty clear the US presidents are not big public champions of marijuana use. And while the Biden/Harris administration has clearly made it known they are not a fan, what about recent past presidents and their families? Who has had weed in the White House. The west and east wings are full of people helping run the government, especially the younger crowd, but what about the residence part with the commander-in-chief and his family.
In recent memory, the first president to use marijuana in the White House was John F. Kennedy (JFK). According to Michael O’Brien, JFK’s biographer, the president used to smoke cannabis with Mary Meyer, one of his mistresses. JFK suffered chronic back pain beginning in his early 20s. He underwent a total of 4 back operations and pain plagued him for life. Cannabis is known to help chronic pain and he looked for relief in a variety of places. In fact, the hunt for to numb the pain included Max Jacobson, the first Dr. Feelgood.
Lyndon B Johnson drank but didn’t use and while Gerald Ford didn’t consume weed, his wife drank and use opiates. Ford’s son Jack did confess to using marijuana and most likely consumed while they were in residence. He was the first adult son to live in the White House since F.D.R.’s days, and the pressure was immense. His desire is understandable.
Jimmy Carter confirmed the rumors about marijuana’s most famous moment in the White House, the time Willie Nelson smoked a joint with the President’s son atop the White House roof.
“When Willie Nelson wrote his autobiography, he confessed he smoked pot in the White House,” Carter says. “He says that his companion was one of the servants in the White House. Actually, it was one of my sons.”
Savvy individuals started putting two and two together and realized exactly which Carter boy smoked a joint with Nelson — Chip Carter, Jimmy’s middle son. Chip had developed a personal friendship with NORML founder Keith Stroup and was “a marijuana smoker himself”.
The Reagans amped up the reefer madness with the Say No To Drugs campaign. First Lady Nancy become a huge advocate against all drugs. Despite the campaign and Nancy’s aversion to drugs (and apparently) drinking, Ronald Reagan was a big fan of wine. Their successors, who they were notoriously not close to the Reagan, the George H.W. Bushes, were old school drinker with vodka martinis and bourbon. But not green or gummies.
Clinton’s famous “I didn’t inhale” caused a buzz about his trying marijuana. He was the first president to come clean about it, but by the time he was president, he didn’t consume. George W. Bush had reformed by his election and nether used drug or drank after an unfortunate period in his life.
The next president shared he consumed cannabis in college and as a young adult seeing it more as a rite of passage. President Barack Obama said smoking marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol, but seems have to stopped as his political career took off. His successor does not drink or consume any drugs.
Biden, who is famously old school, does not use marijuana at all, but could be the first to take large step toward legalization.
This is a roundup of news and other interesting pieces that I’ve come across over the last few days. I thought they are worth sharing so I hope you enjoy reading them.
Emirates Announces Codeshare Agreement with avianca
Emirates has announced its latest codeshare partnership, joining forces with avianca in South America. Emirates is a global airline with a wide-reaching network. Despite its massive offering, the Gulf carrier has taken advantage of codeshare agreements, which have been popular with airlines worldwide since the 1990s. In recent years, Emirates has drawn closer to several Star Alliance airlines, leading many to think it will join the alliance soon. ➡️ Read more
JFK Airport’s AirTrain could be free this summer
The construction of two new terminals at JFK Airport could result in a new incentive to get travelers to use mass transit: free AirTrain rides. Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said on Tuesday that he is considering nixing the $8.50 fare for the train stopping at JFK terminals as the airport prepares for an expected record-breaking number of travelers this summer amid a $19 billion construction project. ➡️ Read more
Alaska Airlines brings back Main Cabin hot meals
Premium Class and Main Cabin guests on most flights over 1,100 miles* will be able to choose from up to five chef-curated dishes, including at least one hot meal option. Along with our freshly prepared food offerings like our Signature Fruit & Cheese Platter, our hot meals are only available for pre-order purchase. ➡️ Read more
Virgin Devalues ANA Business Class Awards Up To 26% Without Notice
Virgin Atlantic has raised the price of ANA awards again. Last March they raised the price of ANA first class awards without notice by as much as 42%. This change focuses primarily on business class. You’re still going to get value, even with the fuel surcharges that are added, redeeming miles for ANA travel through Virgin – even though connections beyond Tokyo would require a separate award and connections to the U.S. gateway city aren’t included in the award, and even though you won’t get Virgin to place one of these awards on hold pending transfer any longer. ➡️ Read more
QSuites Availability for May 2025 (Up To 4 Seats)
Early planners rejoice! Qatar Airways has released lots of award availability on their famous QSuites business class for May 2025. This is a fantastic opportunity, especially given how stingy Qatar has been with award availability for the last several months. ➡️ Read more
Fontainebleau Las Vegas now bookable through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR)
If you’re planning an upcoming visit to Las Vegas and have an Amex Platinum card, Nick spotted the other day that there’s a new addition to the properties bookable through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR) – Fontainebleau. ➡️ Read more
Guru’s Wrap-up
Let me know if you enjoyed these articles and comment with any opinions you might have. You can also share any other interesting articles about deals, travel, credit cards and more.
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This is a roundup of news and other interesting pieces that I’ve come across over the last few days. I thought they are worth sharing so I hope you enjoy reading them.
📰 Hyatt Regency Debuts New Collaboration with Personal Training Platform
Hyatt Hotels announced today an exclusive collaboration between the Hyatt Regency brand and Future, a personal training platform that connects users with an ongoing fitness coach to create customized virtual workouts, further complementing World of Hyatt members and guests’ wellbeing journeys. ➡️ Read more
📰 EVA Air Moving to The New Terminal One at JFK
The New Terminal One at John F. Kennedy International Airport and EVA Air have announced a partnership for the airline to operate out of the world-class terminal. The New Terminal One is currently under construction with its first gates scheduled to open in 2026, in partnership with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey as part of the agency’s $19 billion transformation of JFK Airport. ➡️ Read more
📰 Air Canada Tweaks Aeroplan Elite Status
Air Canada is rolling out some changes to its Aeroplan frequent flyer program. Thankfully, nothing is overwhelmingly negative — just a few minor tweaks and new partner airline benefits for 25K and 35K members. By extension, this means the cardholder benefits for those with the Aeroplan® Credit Card are improving. ➡️ Read more
New JW Marriott St. Maarten Beach Resort & Spa
The first JW Marriott and Marriott International luxury property in St. Maarten is set to elevate the island’s hospitality landscape by seamlessly merging luxury and wellness within this highly-coveted destination. ➡️ Read more
📰 Both Pilots Fell Asleep In Cockpit Of Flight To Jakarta
Both pilots of a Batik Air Airbus A320 fell asleep in the cockpit on a flight from Kendari to Jakarta, Indonesia. The aircraft was carrying 153 passengers, 4 flight attendants and 2 pilots. While cruising at 36,000 feet, the pilots removed their headsets and increased the cockpit speaker volume. The captain decided to take a short break and rested. After waking up, he offered to switch with the first officer but that pilot declined. The captain went back to sleep on the 1,095 mile flight. ➡️ Read more
📰 Tire flies off United Boeing plane shortly after takeoff
BREAKING: United Airlines Boeing 777 loses tire while taking off from San Francisco, crushing cars on the ground pic.twitter.com/uXpHuFdzul
A tire flew off a United Airlines Boeing plane shortly after takeoff from San Francisco on Thursday, prompting an emergency landing in Los Angeles. Moments after United Airlines Flight 35 ascended into the air, one of the tires on the underside of the Boeing 777-200 detached. ➡️ Read more
Guru’s Wrap-up
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In keeping with the tradition of elevating the Kennedys to the height of glamor in American politics (which should be telling of how “glamorous” American politics is), Olivia Rodrigo’s opening track for Guts, “all-american bitch,” wields a more than somewhat false simile. Specifically, “I got class and integrity/Just like a goddamn Kennedy, I swear.” But, unless this line is meant to be facetious (as many of the others in the song are), Rodrigo seems as misinformed as she was about which short story collection of Joan Didion’s she actually took inspiration from in coming up with the title for this song. For it’s no secret now (as it scarcely was then) that the Kennedy name/presidency was mired in crookedness (though only Marilyn can truly say if that applied to JFK’s dick as well as his code of ethics).
From the rumors of John’s patriarch, Joseph Kennedy Sr., pulling the necessary strings to nudge then-mayor of Chicago Richard Daley to, let’s say, influence certain Cook County ballot boxes to using the Secret Service to ferry his various mistresses in and out of bedrooms, the Kennedy name—particularly in its primary association with “Jack”—hardly equates with class or integrity. And definitely not discretion. Indeed, JFK was about as discreet as Miss Monroe’s Jean Louis gown at his forty-fifth birthday celebration/Democratic Party fundraising gala in 1962. A spectacle that occurred mere months before JFK probably killed her (with some help from RFK, perhaps—and Teddy, per a slightly offensive 1985 SNL sketch in which Madonna plays Marilyn…this being only fair considering she would end up sleeping with John Jr.). A “conspiracy theory” that certainly wouldn’t be classy if it turned out to be true. But even if it’s not (which remains debatable to many), there are still plenty of other ways in which JFK hardly radiated class. The same went for the rest of his “clan” (as the Irish like to call families—particularly families of a storied and extensive lineage). Whether it was RFK’s own affair with Marilyn (and Jackie, for that matter) or Ted Kennedy leaving the scene of the crime he committed by driving himself and RFK campaign staffer Mary Jo Kopechne off the road while drunk.
Yes, the infamous Chappaquiddick “incident” was one of the most peak examples of true “Kennedy class.” Kopechne, incidentally, was moved to enter the political realm in the first place after seeing the JFK inauguration speech during which he pontificated, “…my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” Soon after, Kennedy would bilk the country and its highest office of all the privilege he could get out of it. And what Kopechne ended up doing “for Teddy” rather than her country, unfortunately, was dying. Though, of course, JFK could say the same.
Luckily for Joe Sr., he still had plenty of children to bet on in the race called Building an American Dynasty. And at the top of the list after Joe Jr.’s death was Jack. A man whose penchant for instinctively sweeping any wrongdoing beneath the rug was not much better than what Teddy exhibited with Chappaquiddick (hence, taking hours to report the accident, and Mary Jo’s death along with it). But what was to be expected of the Kennedy sons when it came to shirking transparency at all costs? They learned from the best burier of secrets and shame, after all: Joe Sr. Better known as the brainchild behind pushing for his daughter, Rosemary, to get a lobotomy because she was prone to having seizures and erratic/violent mood swings. Being that this was 1941, slapping her with the then-current panacea of a lobotomy was, sadly, par for the course. She was just twenty-three when the procedure ended up incapacitating her and preventing her from speaking in a way that could be understood as anything other than gibberish. So what else would Joe Sr. do but clean up the “mess” he made by burying Rosemary’s existence (hiding her whereabouts for decades) in a Wisconsin institution for the disabled? Never mind that Joe Sr. was the one who did the disabling by trying to “fix” a person who wasn’t broken. Again, real fuckin’ “classy.”
When it comes to the generation of children Joseph Sr. begat, it was apparent that they (particularly the men) were taking a page out of the lawless, devil-may-care playbook he had nonverbally written for them. Most notably when it came to his propensity for stepping outside of his marriage with a celebrity. Even at a time when the very concept of “celebrity” was still germinal in its movie star iteration. Nonetheless, during the silent movie era, there were few bigger precursors to major stardom than Gloria Swanson. And after being among the few to actually increase his bank balance in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash, Joe Sr. found himself orbiting the Hollywood scene, buying up stakes in studios and theaters to build on his “portfolio” of wealth.
It was during this time that he encountered Swanson (in the days before she became Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard)…and proceeded to ruin her life. Not just by ousting her husband at the time, Henri de la Falaise, but also by defrauding her out of millions of dollars after becoming her business manager, in addition to her paramour. It was when Joe decided to gift her with a Cadillac and expense it on her production company’s account that she finally had to call him out. A move that reportedly sent him out the door without ever speaking to her again. With this in mind, John’s behavior toward Marilyn almost looks positively princely (Rodrigo influencer Lana Del Rey also seemed to think the same of his behavior toward Jackie, if the 2012 video for “National Anthem” is anything to go by).
As the third generation of Kennedys (this being counted from the start of Joe Sr.) rose to prominence, it became quickly apparent that boorish behavior was something that ran in the blood. For JFK’s lone son, John Jr., had his own predilection for extramarital affairs. Only rather than being the married one in the scenario, he preferred to be the paramour. Specifically, to Madonna, who was “legally bound” to Sean Penn at the time of their tryst in 1988. Though Madonna might remind that Penn was a bit of a stick in the mud when it came to having any fun or lapping up the spotlight that went with the territory of being a major celebrity. Made more major by being “attached” to one of the biggest stars in the world. And rather than repelling JFK Jr., as it did Sean, the former seemed to be all the more titillated because of her Marilyn Monroe-level fame…not to mention aesthetic. And yes, Madonna was already well-known for paying homage to one of the twentieth century’s greatest icons early on in her career.
Perhaps most famously when she re-created the famed “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” sequence from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for her “Material Girl” video in 1985. Funnily enough, it was Sean who met and fell in love with Madonna on that set—not John Jr. But that didn’t mean Marilyn’s specter wouldn’t still haunt their eventual relationship. After all, Jackie insisted John call off his romance not because Madonna was a married woman, but because she was way too much of a Marilyn fangirl. With “class” like this, Jackie really had become a full-blown Kennedy.
Even those roundaboutly connected to the Kennedys couldn’t seem to avoid the taint of uncouthness and/or sexual impropriety. One such prime example being Andrew Cuomo. Married to Kerry Kennedy for fifteen years (from 1990 to 2005), his descent into shame may have taken decades to occur, but when it happened, oh how it happened big. In a scandal that broke at the end of 2020 (just when Cuomo was riding high on praise [most of it self-given] for his handling of the pandemic). In the end, Attorney General Letitia James released the findings of an independent investigative report that stated Cuomo sexually harassed eleven women during his tenure as New York governor (and who knows how many others before that?). Needless to say, some standard-issue male Kennedy bullshit rubbed off on him. That, and probably working within the Clinton administration. Bill himself being a “renowned” acolyte of JFK—managing to get his picture taken with the OG presidential philanderer in 1963.
While marriage to a Kennedy might turn you corrupt (or at least cause you to compromise some of your erstwhile ironclad “principles) if you weren’t already, being a Kennedy male appeared to all but assure that you could be born into a “high class” and still have no class at all. Most markedly when it came to the treatment of women. Another case in point: William Kennedy Smith, the son of Jean Kennedy/nephew of JFK. Smith was acquitted of a rape charge in 1991 despite potential reams of evidence against him. Evidence that also would have included the testimonies of three women stating on record that Smith had sexually assaulted them in the past. Their testimonies were deemed by Judge Mary Lupo to be inadmissible. After all, American “justice” stipulates that you should only be on trial for the crime you’ve committed, not the many others you’ve committed in the past and gotten away with.
Then there was Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, son to Bobby. He, too, was another predatory Kennedy. A fact that came to light in 1997, two years before John Jr. died in a plane crash. But Michael had his own crash to deal with after being accused of having an affair with his children’s babysitter. Which wouldn’t be quite so bad if the affair hadn’t started when she was the Lolita age of fourteen. In typical “Kennedy clout” fashion, Michael evaded being charged with statutory rape in part because the three polygraph tests he took were conducted by companies that the Kennedys directly employed. Perhaps the only form of “justice,” then, could come in the skiing accident that resulted in his death at the end of 1997.
And so, when Olivia Rodrigo perpetuates this bizarre and totally inaccurate trope about the Kennedys having class and integrity, well, it doesn’t bode well for Gen Z unlearning the undeserved association the Kennedys seem to have with “sophistication” and “glamor” in American politics. Something Gloria Swanson, who suffered the fallout of being collateral damage when it came to Kennedy ambition and entitlement, was unafraid to speak on. But that was after decades of silence and being almost on the verge of death. For she would only confess to her affair with Joe Sr. just three years before she passed away, releasing her autobiography (ghostwritten, of course) in 1980.
“He was not very sophisticated insofar as knowing the right thing to do,” Swanson would “diplomatically” tell Barbara Walters in a 1981 interview promoting the book, called Swanson on Swanson. She then ominously added, “This man accomplished anything he wanted, including putting his son in the White House.” It was an inherited trait, this bulldozing version of “class.” Except that, in America, having class doesn’t really mean you have to be magnanimous. In fact, quite the opposite—it just means you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to secure your fortune.
American Airlines Will Launch New Service Between York and Tokyo
American Airlines announced today that it will soon launch service between New York (JFK) and Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport (HND). Last week, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) formally approved American’s application to become the only U.S. carrier operating nonstop service between JFK and HND.
“American looks forward to launching flights between JFK and HND this summer,” said Brian Znotins, American’s Senior Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning. “This new service will complement flights offered by our joint business partner, Japan Airlines, giving more ways for our customers travel between the U.S. and Japan.”
American will launch service between New York (JFK) and Tokyo’s convenient downtown Haneda Airport (HND) June 28. Tickets will be available for purchase Feb. 26 at aa.com or American’s mobile app.
Starting this summer, customers traveling between JFK and HND will have up to three daily flights to choose from operating at convenient times throughout the day. American’s new daily flight will offer roundtrip connections to more than 30 cities across Japan and East Asia operated by Japan Airlines, including major cities such as Osaka, Sapporo and Fukuoka.
The new JFK–HND service will be American’s fourth daily nonstop flight to HND, joining existing daily service from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and two daily flights from Los Angeles (LAX). United Airlines flies to Tokyo Haneda and Narita daily from nearby Newark.
Screenshot: Wall Street Silver X Video/@WallStreetSilv
The former Fox News host Tucker Carlson offered up some grim analysis of what the 2024 presidential election cycle might bring, noting that every power center in America is trying to stop Donald Trump from winning “like when they killed Kennedy.”
It’s a sobering take from the media giant, asserting that Democrats, Republicans, the media, and intelligence agencies, along with numerous other entities, are working in concert to stop the man who stands as the overall favorite amongst voters.
“You have Trump … all the liberal polls are showing him leading the race, beating Joe Biden in the battleground states,” Carlson said in a podcast interview with Redacted News host Clayton Morris.
“So like, they can’t let him win, but if they don’t let him win, then it’s just super obvious that all this democracy stuff was fraudulent and that it’s not a democracy, it’s an oligarchy run by the richest people,” he continued.
Carlson contends that one man trying to lift the veil on this was Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “back when he was a free man … telling the truth.”
That’s when the interview pivots to a frightening outlook and analysis of what is happening right before our eyes.
Tucker Carlson on fire:
“It’s not a democracy; it’s an oligarchy run by the richest people. When they eliminated Kennedy, which they did, they could pretend everything was fine But after this election, there’s no pretending everything is fine.” pic.twitter.com/UY6QbXJlbk
Carlson: They’ll Do Anything To Stop Trump ‘Like When They Killed Kennedy’
Carlson, in the interview with Morris, was asked what his political instincts were telling him was going to happen in 2024. He began by pointing out that “every power center in the country” was working together to stop Trump.
Every power center, and now that this is becoming obvious, he contends, the truth is being revealed.
“And so at that point, like the veil’s off, we can’t pretend anymore,” Carlson said. “Like when they killed Kennedy – which they did – they could kind of pretend like everything’s fine.”
“But after this election, there’s no pretending, everything’s fine. Everyone will know,” the former Fox News host continued. “And it is a little bit like you get kidnapped, you get thrown in the back of the car and all of a sudden the kidnapper turns around and lowers his mask and you see his face. And that’s not a good thing because once you see his face, he has to kill you because you know who he is.”
America’s kidnapper has been revealed in the form of a power-hungry, elitist cabal, desperately trying to stop a man of the people.
Tucker is such a dangerous and powerful voice of truth for the establishment.
Carlson has long been a believer that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
In fact, he recently offered a detailed analysis of why he believes President Richard Nixon was removed from office (Watergate) because he specifically knew that the CIA was involved in Kennedy’s assassination and was asking too many questions.
“On June 23, 1972, Nixon met with the then–CIA director, Richard Helms, at the White House,” Carlson explained. “During the conversation, which thankfully was tape-recorded, Nixon suggested he knew ‘who shot John,’ meaning President John F. Kennedy.”
“Nixon further implied that the CIA was directly involved in Kennedy’s assassination, which we now know it was,” he added. “Helms’s telling response? Total silence.”
Ron Paul, the former Republican presidential candidate and libertarian icon, like Carlson, has asserted that Kennedy was “murdered by our government.”
Ron Paul on the first @Timcast question: JFK’s assassination was a coup by Dulles and LBJ, Progressivism and the founding of the Federal Reserve laid the groundwork pic.twitter.com/t7pTI0F34W
Carlson also told Redacted News that if the entrenched deep state were actually trying to preserve democracy, they’d leave the 2024 presidential contest up to the voters.
“I kind of don’t know how we get along after this election unless they decelerate and, and just, and just do what they should do,” he said. “Which is like, look, we don’t like Trump. Here’s why we don’t think he’s good for the country. Here’s why we think Joe Biden’s great. Here’s why America make your choice.”
“But I don’t think they are going to do that. They’re morally obligated to do that, but they won’t. And it’s incumbent on them to do that,” Carlson continued. “Stop charging him with bulls*** crimes that your own people skate on.”
Tucker believes that the only way to move on in this country is to “have a free and fair election for the first time in a while, since 2016.”
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments section.
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Rusty Weiss has been covering politics for over 15 years. His writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, Fox News, Breitbart, and many more.
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JetBlue today announced entrance to two new transatlantic destinations, Dublin and Edinburgh. These new flights are already available on sale starting today.
Daily seasonal service from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to Dublin Airport (DUB) will begin March 13, 2024, and continue through September 30, 2024. Daily seasonal service from New York’s JFK to Edinburgh Airport (EDI) will begin May 22, 2024, and is scheduled through September 30, 2024. These mark JetBlue’s fourth and fifth transatlantic markets. The carrier currently offers daily nonstop service to London, Paris and Amsterdam from New York and London and Amsterdam from Boston.
“The success of our transatlantic service proves customers don’t have to choose between great service and low fares and can have them both with our award-winning Mint and core products,” said Robin Hayes, chief executive officer, JetBlue. “Our summer seasonal service to Dublin and Edinburgh will bring a new level of service and affordable fares to these markets that have been dominated by high-fare legacy carriers for decades. We look forward to introducing the JetBlue experience to business and leisure customers traveling this summer to and from Ireland and Scotland.”
Schedule between New York (JFK) and Dublin (DUB)
Daily seasonal service starting March 13 (Eastbound) & March 14 (Westbound)
(through September 30, 2024)
*all times local
JFK- DUB Flight #841
DUB- JFK Flight #842
9:30 p.m. – 8:15 a.m. (+1)
11:45 a.m. – 3:25 p.m.
Schedule between Boston (BOS) and Dublin (DUB)
Daily seasonal service starting March 13 (Eastbound) & March 14 (Westbound)
(through September 30, 2024)
*all times local
BOS – DUB Flight #353
DUB – BOS Flight #354
10:30 p.m. – 8:45 a.m. (+1)
11:30 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Schedule between New York (JFK) and Edinburgh (EDI)
Daily seasonal service starting May 22 (Eastbound) & May 23 (Westbound)
(through September 30, 2024)
*all times local
JFK- EDI Flight #73
EDI- JFK Flight #72
10:15 p.m. – 10:25 a.m. (+1)
12:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Flights to Dublin and Edinburgh will operate daily on JetBlue’s Airbus A321neo with Mint® aircraft with 16 redesigned Mint Suite® seats, 144 core seats and the sleek and spacious Airspace cabin interior. The A321neo with Mint features a 20 percent increase in fuel efficiency and up to 500 nautical miles in additional range.
Seats on the Dublin and Edinburgh routes are on sale starting today with low fares for U.S.-originating travelers starting at $399 and $599 roundtrip for the airline’s award-winning core experience and starting at $1,999 and $2,499 for JetBlue’s premium Mint experience. Ireland and Scotland originating travelers can enjoy special introductory roundtrip fares starting at €399 ($423) and £399 ($485) for core and €1,499 ($1,588) and £1,499 ($1,822) for Mint available on jetblue.com.
To celebrate service from Boston to Paris, seats are on sale today with low fares for U.S.-originating travelers starting at $599 roundtrip for the airline’s award-winning core experience and starting at $2,499 for JetBlue’s premium Mint experience. France-originating travelers can enjoy special introductory roundtrip fares starting at €399 ($423) for core and €1,999 ($2,118) for Mint available on jetblue.com.
The provenance of the bullet is also important in supporting or refuting Paul Landis’s purported memory. How was that bullet found? And how did it make its way to the FBI lab in Washington, DC, on the night of the assassination?
Landis’s recollection, as stated above, is that he found the undeformed bullet on top of the back seat of the limousine. “It was resting in a seam where the tufted leather padding ended against the car’s metal body,” he writes. When Jackie Kennedy stood up to follow her husband into the hospital, he saw it. He picked up the bullet, worried that souvenir seekers or others might take it or move it.
Upon arriving inside the emergency room, as stated above, he was jammed in with the first lady and a gathering horde of doctors and nurses. Standing near the feet of the president’s body, Landis left the bullet on his stretcher, as he believed it was crucial evidence and needed for the autopsy, which, under Texas law, should have taken place in Dallas.
But then a new chain of events overtook the gruesome sequence surrounding the assassination. A decision was made to transfer the president’s body, along with the first lady, Vice President Johnson, and others, back to Air Force One at Love Field. And with new tasks taking precedence for Landis—and the overwhelming national shock of the first assassination of an American president in 62 years (since the death of William McKinley in 1901)—the special agent simply never gave the bullet a second thought, he says. He had left it where someone would find it.
Landis didn’t make reference to the bullet in either of the two reports he submitted, hastily written in the turbulent days following the assassination. One short file, written two days after the funeral, didn’t even mention Parkland Memorial Hospital. A second, typed three days later—a day after Life magazine journalist Theodore White interviewed Jackie at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, in what became known, famously, as the “Camelot” interview—was drafted during a time of deep shock and trauma.
That Thanksgiving, November 28—three days after the state funeral at which world leaders marched behind Mrs. Kennedy in the streets of Washington, DC—Landis and Hill traveled to Hyannis Port in a security capacity, protecting Jackie and her children. The agents had no time off to regroup or get their bearings. Sleep had eluded them. Landis had been up for practically four days straight. In the months after Lyndon Johnson was sworn in and assumed the presidential reins, Landis’s role switched from being part of the overall White House protection group to working full time for the former first lady. (Congress passed an act to authorize this service.) With this change of responsibilities, he found it hard to think of much beyond the weeks ahead. And if his thoughts did migrate back to November 22, he dwelled on the horrific scenes of the assassination, and rarely on what he says he considered a minor detail: the fact that he had picked up a bullet and placed it next to the president’s body.
The evidence from 1963 makes it fully plausible that the stretcher on which the bullet was found could have been President Kennedy’s. How so? A Parkland Memorial Hospital engineer, Darrell Tomlinson, was asked on November 22, before the president’s remains had been taken from the hospital to travel back north, to set the controls of the elevator in the emergency area—the one that had taken the wounded Governor Connally up to the second floor for surgery—so that the elevator would only be operable manually. The security team had determined that only people with official clearance would be allowed access; Tomlinson was instructed to control who got on the elevator and where they would go.
When he pushed the button to open the elevator, he later recalled, there was a stretcher in the elevator—one that the Warren Commission presumed was Governor Connally’s stretcher, returned from the surgery floor. Tomlinson testified that the stretcher had some sheets on it and a white covering on the pad, but no bullet. He moved the stretcher out of the elevator and placed it against a wall.
However, Tomlinson testified that there was another stretcher already in the hall, which had been placed in front of a men’s restroom in the corner. That stretcher had bloody sheets and some used medical paraphernalia on it.
Tomlinson said that sometime later, “an intern or doctor,” in order to use the bathroom, pushed the stretcher out of the way but failed to return it to its spot against the wall after leaving. Tomlinson roughly pushed it back against the wall, and when he did so, he claimed, a bullet rolled out from under the mat. This was clearly not Connally’s stretcher.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long history of making problematic remarks and hawking conspiracy theories. The Onion examines some of his most controversial statements.
“I can do decent push-ups.”
“I can do decent push-ups.”
Flexing your elbows ever so slightly while you lower yourself half an inch toward the ground is not a fucking push-up.
“I am a lifelong Democrat.”
“I am a lifelong Democrat.”
Anyone unwilling to switch political parties for personal gain has no business becoming president.
“Dr. Anthony Fauci should be hanged for treason.”
“Dr. Anthony Fauci should be hanged for treason.”
Federal law states that all executions must be carried out by lethal injection.
“I am the guy on money.”
“I am the guy on money.”
RFK Jr. is almost definitely not the guy on money.
“Gorillas are genetically engineered to make men feel bad about their bodies.”
“Gorillas are genetically engineered to make men feel bad about their bodies.”
If this is true, then why are most gorillas under 6 feet tall?
“America’s best days are ahead.”
“America’s best days are ahead.”
Get this lunatic back to the asylum.
“The government wants you to think it’s the second door on your left.”
“The government wants you to think it’s the second door on your left.”
Jesus, just say where the bathroom is.
“Jews.”
That’s all he said, but we didn’t like his tone.
“I was the leader of the environmental movement.”
“I was the leader of the environmental movement.”
Thankfully, he did such a good job that it’s not a problem anymore, freeing him up to worry about things like cancel culture and deplatforming.
“Covid-19 was created by the National Park Service to get people to enjoy hiking.”
“Covid-19 was created by the National Park Service to get people to enjoy hiking.”
He also repeatedly claimed that Yosemite caused autism.
“I have a Dippin’ Dots machine at my house.”
“I have a Dippin’ Dots machine at my house.”
“The bullet that killed my father was Jewish.”
“The bullet that killed my father was Jewish.”
He’s repeatedly claimed the bullet that killed his father was Jewish, making the same claim about the bullet that killed his uncle JFK and the small plane that killed his cousin JFK Jr.
“Vaccines cause autism.”
“Vaccines cause autism.”
He was simply quoting the distinguished pediatric neurologist Jenny McCarthy.
“Autism gives you wings.”
“Autism gives you wings.”
To be fair, he said this while very tired and staring at a can of Red Bull.
“I assassinated my uncle, John F. Kennedy.”
“I assassinated my uncle, John F. Kennedy.”
Everyone knows JFK was killed by the polio vaccine.
“Our great-great-grandfather drove all the Jews out of Massachusetts.”
“Our great-great-grandfather drove all the Jews out of Massachusetts.”
While wrongheaded and antisemitic, it seems like it’s a really important part of his understanding of his family’s lore.
“I’m the hottest Kennedy.”
“I’m the hottest Kennedy.”
The most attractive Kennedy was Joseph Kennedy Sr. and everyone knows it.
The tide broke at the end of the property on Marchant Avenue. Bubbling white caps of saltwater rushed in and out. As the sun slowly rose, the dark sand inched up, wave by wave, and piles of spongy seaweed dotted the shrinking swath of sand. Nantucket Sound was empty and quiet.
Inside the Big House the nice china sat stacked in the white windowed cabinet in the dining room. Dark, delicately carved wooden dining room chairs were pushed under the matching glass-topped table. Fresh flowers filled a glass bowl sitting on top of a round mirror in the middle of the table. A matching bouquet sat on a tall console table in the foyer. The first floor was bathed in the early-morning light. It was a quiet morning—until the black phone in the living room vibrated with its tinny, shrill ring, which continued throughout the day.
When did Jack propose? And how?
Who’s the girl?
Are they coming back to Hyannis Port?
How long will they be here?
Will they sit for an interview?
What about photos?
It was June 25, 1953, and in that day’s Barnstable Patriot there was a two-inch story headlined: “Senator Kennedy Engaged to Girl From Newport.” The article read, simply, “The marriage of the 23-year-old heiress to ‘the most eligible bachelor of Capital society’ will take place September 12 in Newport.” Just two weeks before, thirty-six-year-old Jack had been featured in the Saturday Evening Post. Under the headline “The Senate’s Gay Young Bachelor,” Jack was pictured sailing on the Potomac and laughing with groups of young women. Journalist Paul F. Healy had written: “Many women have hopefully concluded that Kennedy needs looking after. In their opinion, he is, as a young millionaire senator, just about the most eligible bachelor in the United States—and the least justifiable one.”
Jack was already engaged to twenty-three-year-old Jacqueline Bouvier by the time the article came out, but the couple had delayed the announcement, so nobody knew it yet. The engagement notice drew huge curiosity about the mysterious fiancée of the Senate’s most eligible bachelor. Over the next twenty-four hours, news spread that the couple would be coming back home to Hyannis Port the following weekend to celebrate their engagement with a party at the Hyannisport Club.
As Rose and the staff readied the house, Jack sat by himself at LaGuardia Airport, waiting for Jackie. They’d made plans to meet at the New York airport to fly together to the Cape. As Jack waited and waited, waves of travelers hauled their bags to the terminal he faced. In the crowd, Jack recognized a young sports photographer named Hy Peskin, who was a fixture on the sidelines of the biggest sports events of the early 1950s, running up and down the court nearly as quickly as the players but with a heavy camera in his hands. As Peskin stepped up to the gate to check in, Jack walked up, hand extended to introduce himself.
“I’m Jack Kennedy. I’m meeting my new fiancée here—she should be here any minute—we’re on our way back home for the Fourth,” he said, flashing a toothy smile. “We’d love some photos, what do you think about coming back with us?”
Peskin, who knew of the young senator, hadn’t photographed politicians, but he knew this was a big opportunity and agreed to do it. He found a pay phone to call his boss at Sports Illustrated. His boss told his counterpart at their sister publication, Life magazine. And within a few hours, they’d arranged for a writer to fly to the Cape to meet Peskin and the couple. Jack invited Peskin to stay at the Big House. There was always room on the second floor for an extra guest.
Shortly after, Oswald, a 24-year-old self-proclaimed Marxist, was arrested in a nearby cinema after police hunted a killer of one of their fellow officers.
He denied shooting anybody, claiming to reporters that he was a “patsy”.
Later he was accused of shooting the President dead with his $21 mail-order rifle from a window of the sixth floor of a nearby school textbook warehouse.
Two days after the assassination and his arrest, Oswald was being escorted from Dallas Police Headquarters to county prison.
Ruby was later found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
He appealed but died of an illness in jail before his new trial could take place.
The Warren Commission in 1964 reported that Oswald had been the lone gunman, and another congressional probe in 1979 found no evidence to support the theory that the CIA had been involved.
For decades, the existence of secret government files linked to JFK’s assassination has helped fuel conspiracy theories that others besides Oswald were involved in his murder.
The government was required by Thursday, October 26, 2017, to release the final batch of files related to Kennedy’s assassination.
The collection includes more than 3,100 documents comprising hundreds of thousands of pages that have never been seen by the public.
About 30,000 documents were released previously with redactions.
The National Archives posted the files on its website.
Between unidentified flying objects, near-crash landings, and fires breaking out in the air, it’s not exactly the most carefree time to be getting on a plane.
Now, one of the busiest airports in the world, John F. Kennedy International (JFK), had to shut down an entire terminal on Friday due to an electrical fire that caused a power outage.
Then, in what can only be described as an aviation nightmare, the closure forced a plane that left Auckland, New Zealand heading toward JFK to divert back to its original destination after a brutal 16 hours already airborne.
JFK released a statement on Twitter confirming the closure of Terminal 1 following the incident.
JFK Terminal 1 will remain closed on 2/17 due to electrical issues as the Port Authority continues working with the terminal’s operator to restore flight operations as quickly as possible. Travelers should check with their carriers for flight status before coming to the airport.
In a follow-up response to a concerned customer, the airport explained that the outage was caused by an “electrical panel failure” that was the original cause of the “isolated fire” that took place overnight. The airport also said that the fire was put out immediately.
Many disgruntled passengers took to the social media platform to air their grievances and ask for updates.
This is just pathetic.
— I watched C-beams glitter in the dark (@accidentalflyer) February 17, 2023
Totally unacceptable, electrical issues causing JFK Terminal 1 closing for two days, no one is responsible for that?
The worse airport in the world, No airtrain, no terminals, no celular service in “new terminals”, security lines crazy long, flights canceled due to horrible infrastructure… worse than a third world airport! #EpicFail
When do you expect to reopen it? Don’t you think that’s the question people need an answer to? New York City international airport can’t get power. What a joke.
According to ABC News, a spokesperson for New Zealand Air explained that the plane was unable to land elsewhere in the United States because “diverting to another U.S. port would have meant the aircraft would remain on the ground for several days.” Passengers on that flight have been rebooked on the next available flight out, per the same source.
Over 126 flights were delayed in and out of JFK on Friday with another 38 canceled, though FlightAware did not specify which terminal they were coming in or out of.
JFK said that it would provide updates via Twitter as soon as they become available. As of 1 p.m. EST on Friday, the terminal was still shut down.
