JFK and the future

November 22, 2013 - Daily News Briefing

Newspapers, the Internet, and the airwaves have been all JFK all the time this week, reliving the 35th president’s short but dramatic time in office, his poise and eloquence and faith in the future, and the shock of his assassination 50 years ago today.

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Senate Democrats eased the way for swift approval of President Obama’s current and future nominees on Thursday, voting unilaterally to overturn decades of Senate precedent and undermine Republicans’ ability to block final votes. The 52-to-48 vote to undercut venerable filibuster rules on presidential appointees capped more than a decade of struggle in which presidents of both parties complained about delays in confirming appointees, particularly to the federal courts.

First-time applications for US unemployment benefits dropped by 21,000 last week, the Labor Department reported, the latest sign that the US job market is recovering. The number of applications, which is a proxy for how many workers are being laid off, is now near where it was before the Great Recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 16000 Thursday for the first time as encouraging news on the job market pushed stocks higher. The Dow rose 109 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16010. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 14 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1795. The Nasdaq composite rose 47 points, or 1.2 percent, to 3969.

Hundreds of environmental activists walked out of the UN climate talks in Warsaw on Thursday, saying they were deeply disappointed by the lack of results with just one day remaining. Negotiations have been bogged down by disputes over financing to help poor countries develop their economies in a cleaner way than the West did and cope with rising sea levels, desertification, and other effects of global warming.

Key members of the Air Force’s nuclear missile force are feeling “burnout” from what they see as exhausting, unrewarding, and stressful work, according to an unpublished study obtained by The Associated Press. The finding by researchers for RAND Corp. adds to indications that trouble inside the nuclear missile force runs deeper and wider than officials have acknowledged.

A Senate panel on Thursday advanced Janet Yellen’s nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, setting up a final vote in the full Senate after lawmakers return from a two-week Thanksgiving break. The Senate Banking Committee approved her nomination 14 to 8.

Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel got his first taste of freedom in more than 11 years Thursday when he was freed on bail, set at $1.2 million, while prosecutors appeal a ruling granting him a new trial in the 1975 slaying of neighbor Martha Moxley. As conditions of bail, the judge ordered that Skakel live in Connecticut and wear a GPS tracking device. His lawyer has not said where he’ll live.

The pilot of a cargo-hauling jumbo jet mistakenly landed the Boeing 747 Thursday at a small Kansas airport instead of the Air Force base a few miles away where he was supposed to set the plane down. The 747, with a two-man crew and no passengers, intended to touch down at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita.

Compiled from wire service reports

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

Compiled from wire service reports

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

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