John Edwards Explains His Work for a Hedge Fund

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Market Research

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards — the multimillionaire who has made fighting for poor people a key campaign issue — says he worked for a hedge fund to learn how financial markets relate to poverty. "It was primarily to learn," Edwards said, "but making money was a good thing, too."

Edwards won't say how much he earned as a paid consultant to Fortress Investment Group. But Fortress was the single biggest employer of Edwards' donors during the first three months of this year — with more than $67,000 in contributions.

Hedge funds are group investments that are not as tightly regulated as traditional mutual funds. Edwards says his job with fortress was a complement to his position as the head of a poverty center at the University of North Carolina.

Frosty Stare?

The London Daily Mail claimed today that President Bush drew a frosty stare from Queen Elizabeth over a verbal stumble during the welcoming ceremonies at the White House yesterday. Mr. Bush started to say that the queen had been present at the American bicentennial in 1776, then corrected himself and said 1976, and winked at her as shown in this photo. That wink said the Mail is what drew the icy stare purportedly shown in this photo.

But notice that the queen has miraculously and instantaneously gone from the president's left to his right. The photo desk at the Mail explained that the second picture was taken later, after the queen had gone to the lectern to speak, which means the look on her face was obviously not a reaction to the Presidential wink.

Profane Lyrics

Hillary Clinton's campaign has taken some heat for pocketing $800,000 at a fundraiser hosted by rap artist Timbaland — a performer with a reputation for profane and provocative lyrics.

Congressional Quarterly reports the conservative Family Research Council encouraged people to complain to the Clinton campaign — which many did. One Clinton volunteer responded by phoning the group.

Tom McClusky of the Council says the Clinton representative, "made it clear what he thinks of a group like ours ... every other word was the F-bomb ... We were complaining about the profanity-laden lyrics of Timbaland only to get a response of more profanity."

Another Clinton campaign spokesman said the outburst "isn't consistent with the kind of tone we set on this campaign."

Hard Time

And a self-proclaimed peace activist in Rochester, New York is facing a maximum of 25 years in state prison — after being convicted of a brutal attack. Prosecutors said Joyce Powell not only beat up a woman, she pepper sprayed her and threw her through a window.

Media reports say Powell and several other people forcibly entered the woman's home before the attack. Powell is an outspoken critic of violence in Rochester. She says she was at a Bible study group at the time of the attack.

—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.