--Hug a social worker today. If you've ever wondered why the Department of Social Services couldn't stop an act of violence from happening, read this eye-opening article on just how hard it is to be a social worker. According to the piece, "between one-third and three-quarters of all social workers nationwide have been threatened, physically assaulted, or had their property damaged." [Boston Globe] --A Bridgewater State College student and his girlfriend, a student at......

Presidential candidate Barack Obama used lines that Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick used during his campaign for governor while Obama campaigned in Wisconsin over the weekend. Here's what Obama told Clinton: “Don’t tell me words don’t matter,” Mr. Obama said, to applause. “ ‘I have a dream’ — just words? ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ — just words? ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself’ — just......

The rumors that JFK fathered a love child who is now living in Canada have not gone away. In fact, they seem to be gaining strength, at least up north. The love child went to the press and revealed some information about himself. His first name is "Jack," of course. The Herald has his full name, but the Toronto Globe & Mail does not. "Jack" wants DNA tests, and he says people stop him and......

On top of the loss of his chosen presidential candidate, Barack Obama, in the Massachusetts primaries (debate on the "Kennedy Lift" here), Senator Ted Kennedy now has to deal with more rumors about the Kennedy Clan. The Kennedy Clan has always been a magnet for rumors, some sordid, some not, some true, some not. In this case, whether or not it is true, the latest rumor will have a high-profile mouthpiece in the form of......

Late-Breaking Event Johnny Pesky will be at the Barnes & Noble in Peabody tonight from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm signing books. Movies A Hong Kong drug-runner (Asia Argento) finds herself in trouble in Boarding Gate, Olivier Assayas' stylish thriller, which comes with side orders of sex and violence. Make that heaping side orders, plus a dash of Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon. (She acts? Who knew?) Assayas will be at the Harvard Film Archive......

Yes, its just a photo of a building. However we chose aabhowell's picture because: 1) The framing is perfect 2) Its shot with FILM, our favorite 3) The muted tones in the photograph make it look slightly antique which matches perfectly with the older architecture of the building 4) the JFK Building is interesting and graphic in its own right 5) We just like the photo and we're in charge. :-P Have a great......

--A few days old, but still exciting--the MBTA says it will improve the lighting at the JFK/UMass stop. [Boston Globe] --Speaking of transportation improvements, the city will start work on the intersection of American Legion Highway and Walk Hill Street, which one neighbor calls "Kamikaze Way." [Boston Globe] --Want to know how to help Frank Enwonwu, the local man who may be deported to Nigeria, even though he informed for the DEA? [Bostonist] --Cable......

Bostonist was at a bar last night. Hey, it happens. Everything was good and fun, until the TV (sans sound) flashed a news report: "Brady Seen In Cast". We weren't around for the JFK assassination, but now we have a pretty good idea what the terrified hush that fell over the nation felt like. A couple panicked phone calls later, we weren't any closer to an explanation. The video on TMZ shows a small cast......

For the past few months, Bostonist has engaged in a scientific experiment. We've been sniffing around T stops to find out which ones are the most pleasant and which ones are an offense to the olfactory nerves. Each day this week, we'll evaluate the odors you will find at various T stops. And here it is--the complete list of T stops with the most distinct odors: Aquarium: High tide, dolphin pee Airport: Pleather luggage,......

For the past few months, Bostonist has engaged in a scientific experiment. We've been sniffing around T stops to find out which ones are the most pleasant and which ones are an offense to the olfactory nerves. Each day this week, we'll evaluate the odors you will find at various T stops. The Red Line offers so much variety that you just might get dizzy--or drunk: Central Square: 40s, vodka, burnt rubber, more 40s,......

--Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of Ted Kennedy and JFK, mother to Maria Shriver, and mother-in-law to Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been hospitalized at Mass General, although no one is saying why. She is 86. [Boston Globe] --Today marks the last day of Bob's Southern Bistro and the opening of some generic swanky watering hole. [WBZ] --With the departure of the infamous Mark Flomenbaum, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is disinfecting its hazardous practices by......

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney may be trying to tell potential voters to set his Mormon faith aside, but one large chunk of the voting bloc is speaking out about Romney's beliefs. The Osmonds, that legendary Mormon entertainment dynasty, have so many members it's difficult to count them all, but they're welcoming Romney into the fold. In one of the least shocking semi-endorsements of all time, Donny and Marie Osmond delivered a positive evaluation of......

Meal and Chat With Rudolph Chelminski Sunday, November 4, 5:00 pm Chez Henri 1 Shepard St, Cambridge Make reservations at 617.354.8980 More info Goodies With the Phantom Gourmet Tuesday, November 6, 7:00 pm Z Square 14 JFK, Cambridge More info Who knew that a bookstore would know how to feed the people so well? But Porter Square Books will be serving up two culinary treats. First off, brace yourself for some Beaujolais. Author Rudolph Chelminski......

--An alleged drunk driver decided to turn the JFK library parking lot into her own personal fun zone on Wednesday. Christine Selby of Wareham got cuffed and sent out for a psychological evaluation. --The body of an unidentified man in his 60s was found in a Roxbury apartment yesterday. The BPD says the man may have been stabbed. The body was discovered when neighbors complained about a smell. --A man was found wounded on Thane......

Mort Sahl will perform at Jimmy Tingle's tonight, August 24, and Saturday, August 25, at 7:30 pm. He will also perform Sunday, August 26, at 3:00 pm. For more details, visit the Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway website. After 80 years on this planet, comedian Mort Sahl knows what he likes. V-neck turtlenecks sweaters, for starters. Current events. People with a sense of humor. What Sahl doesn't like became wonderfully apparent during his performance at Jimmy......

No joke. The Red Line train stations are crowded right now, and the trains are even more packed with people. The official word being piped through the speakers at the stations is that a switch problem has developed near JFK/UMass. All riders going to Braintree need to get off the train and switch at JFK/UMass. The switch problem has caused all trains on the red line to slow down. When contacted, an MBTA customer service......

Mort Sahl will perform at Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway Theater on Thursday night. For more information, go to Jimmy Tingle's website. All shows are at 7:30 pm. Without Mort Sahl, there would be no Daily Show or Colbert Report. James Wolcott at Vanity Fair went so far as to suggest that Sahl was more important to American comedy than Lenny Bruce. Whether or not that's true, Sahl laid the foundation for today's political satire. He......

Douglas Brinkley will read at Porter Square Books tomorrow, July 2, at 7:00 pm. Just what did Ronald Reagan think about? Gorbachev's birthmark? Bonzo? Anything? He must have been deep in some way. The actor-turned-politician still has a grip on American politicians, who are trying to imitate his winning folksy formula. Historian Douglas Brinkley is the man who knows what was going on in Reagan's skull, as he's edited Reagan's diaries. And Reagan had a......

Michael Beschloss will read from Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989 tomorrow, Tuesday, June 19, at 6:00 pm at Coolidge Corner Theatre. Tickets are $5 and available at Brookline Booksmith. When a president dies, who are the networks gonna call? Historian and brainy talking head Michael Beschloss. Beschloss' latest book evaluates the moments when a president made a lonely, unpopular, and ultimately correct choice. Many of the leaders we admire were......

Your suit is so blue we can't even tell if it's blue or black. Oh, wait, yeah, it's blue. This is Massachusetts, totally blue. Yesterday Caroline Kennedy, daughter of JFK, announced that the JFK library is looking to host a debate at the facility of Democratic candidates for president on December 17, 2007. Seems like a long way away, but it could be only days before the New Hampshire primaries take place (they haven't yet......

WHDH Channel 7 reports that a bus slammed into a bunch of parked cars at Sullivan Station in Charlestown yesterday afternoon. Luckily, the cars were empty. Unfortunately, the bus was not. Three passengers were sent to the hospital, including an 82-year old Charlestown woman who suffered a concussion, bruises and scratches on her face. The poor thing said, "All I know is one minute I was sitting and the next minute I was on......

--Yesterday, authorities thwarted a terror plot that targeted a jet fuel pipeline at New York's JFK airport. There's no sign of a link between the JFK Plot and Logan, but Boston displayed its usual swift response to the slightest whiff of terror. So we're not surprised that Logan boosted security. Here's what's changing: "The stepped-up patrols were inside airport facilities as well as outside gates, said [the director of corporate security for the Massachusetts Port......

Vincent Bugliosi will read from Reclaiming History: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy on Tuesday, May 22, at 6:00 pm at the Brattle Theatre. Tickets are $5 and are available at Harvard Book Store. Vincent Bugliosi was the prosecutor in the Manson trials, the author of Helter Skelter, and the author of The Betrayal of America, on the mess that was the 2000 presidential election. The LA Times waxes rhapsodic about him: "Vincent Bugliosi is......

David Talbot will be reading from Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years at Brookline Booksmith tomorrow, May 8, at 7:00 pm. The Kennedy clan is well-trodden ground. Sometimes it seems as if there's a tome dedicated to every single Kennedy, no matter how insignificant. But Salon founder and former editor-in-chief David Talbot shines a light on the relationship between President John F. Kennedy and his brother, attorney general Bobby Kennedy. The excerpt of......

Blades of Glory fills a specific comedy niche - the nuts 'n' butts genre. There's nut jokes, butt jokes, and body-part jokes galore. Despite the emphasis on the pratfall and the gross-out joke, Will Ferrell and Jon Heder's brand of physical comedy pulls the sloppy script up a few notches. Even though all sports have been satirized to death, figure skating truly deserves mockery. As Chazz Michael Michaels, a male Tonya Harding, Will Ferrell resembles......

Zipcar and MBTA have formed an alliance, and Zipcars have been positioned at various MBTA stations to make life even easier for occasional drivers. A total of 24 Zipcars will be at the following T stops: Red line - Alewife, JFK/UMass, Savin Hill, North Quincy, Quincy Center, Quincy Adams Green line - Riverside, Woodland, Brookline Village Orange line - Forest Hills, Malden, Oak Grove Blue line - Left all alone at this time. Show the......

The state of the sidewalks around Boston kept us on our asses this weekend. Not so much of the figurative kind where we sat at home and skipped a show because it was too hard to get around. No, more the literal kind where we kept falling down because of that damn 2" layer of ice that was pretty much everywhere. This week they tell us that the temperature is rising by week's end.......

Deval Patrick started his first full work week in the State House's corner office. Mitt Romney and Kerry Healey had to vacate the digs they had occupied. So what do you do when you lose the election? Go to Harvard. Kerry Healey announced yesterday that starting in the fall she'll be spending the next academic year at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's JFK School of Government. She hasn't announced her plans for the......

This morning Bob Oakes started reading copy on wbur's Morning Edition reporting on Menino's idea to sell City Hall and City Hall Plaza. The plan was outlined at a breakfast meeting today (and missed the print dailies deadlines) with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. It would be excellent to see the brick and concrete wasteland that is City Hall and the Plaza disappear – but what then would Boston residents have to complain about?......

"The Rub", Brooklyn's number one dance party, is coming to Redline this Thursday, April, 13 to celebrate the 2-year anniversary of Reunion Thursdays - a Next Generation Productions night. Reunion Thursdays are the hottest nights in the Boston area - and this Thursday is raising it to new heights. "The Rub" are no joke, one look at their press page or listen to one of their tracks on their myspace profile tells you that......