SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Mike Duvall’s second term as a member of the California Assembly was progressing pretty much like his first - in relative obscurity, with few notable legislative accomplishments.

The Orange County Republican is now a YouTube hit after KCAL-TV aired his racy comments about sexual conquests that were caught by an open microphone in a Capitol hearing room. Several media outlets said the comments referred to Duvall’s affairs with a female lobbyist and another woman. He resigned Wednesday.

California’s legislative leaders have been trying to focus on a number high-profile issues - from water policy to prisons to renewable energy - during the waning days of their legislative session. On Wednesday, they instead found themselves answering questions about a lawmaker who bragged about a spanking fetish, the type of underwear worn by a mistress and his apparent ability to carry on two extramarital affairs at once.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, called it “a very sad day.”

“We have such big issues before the Legislature and to have this become a distraction, he felt his responsibility was to step aside,” she said.

Duvall, 54, lives in Yorba Linda with his wife when he is not in Sacramento, and has two adult children.

He made the comments about the affairs to Assemblyman Jeff Miller during a break in a committee meeting inside the Capitol on July 8, apparently unaware that the microphone at the desk was on.

“I’m getting into spanking her,” Duvall is heard saying on the videotape, which was made as a matter of routine by a legislative office.

Miller asks if she likes it too. Duvall responds: “She goes, ‘I know you like spanking me.’ I said, ‘Yeah, that’s ’cause you’re such a bad girl.’”

Duvall also describes the woman’s “eye-patch underwear” and the age difference between himself and his mistress, identified in some media reports as a lobbyist for an energy company. He tells Miller, a fellow Republican from Corona, that the woman’s birthday was two days earlier.

Duvall said he joked with the woman that she was getting old after turning 36 and told her, “I am going to have to trade you in.”

The lawmaker then brags about an affair he is having with another woman.

“Oh, she is hot! I talked to her yesterday. She goes, ‘So are we finished?’ I go, ‘No, we’re not finished.’ I go, ‘You know about the other one, but she doesn’t know about you!’” Duvall can be heard saying in an apparent reference to his affair with the lobbyist.

The unseemly remarks also raise questions about the relationship between lawmakers and lobbyists. The Assembly Ethics Committee is investigating Duvall’s comments, in part to determine whether the affair might have influenced his votes.

He was vice chairman of the Assembly Utilities Committee.

Several media outlets reported the woman Duvall refers to in his comments works as a lobbyist for Sempra Energy, a San Diego-based energy services company that operates San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Gas Co. Sempra issued an e-mail statement saying it was investigating the claims.

“The employee has denied the speculative media reports. Our investigation will be conducted to ensure not only that our policies on employee conduct are strictly adhered to, but also that our employee is treated fairly,” the company said.

Duvall was elected in 2006 to represent an Orange County district that includes Fullerton, Anaheim, Placentia, Orange, Brea and Yorba Linda. Before that, he served six years on the Yorba Linda City Council. He also owns an insurance agency.

In stepping down, Duvall said it would not be fair to his family, constituents or friends to remain in office.

“I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on the very serious problems facing our state,” he said. “Therefore, I have decided to resign my office, effective immediately, so that the Assembly can get back to work.”

The lawmaker had received a 100 percent rating from Capitol Resource Institute, a conservative advocacy group, for his votes on legislation considered pro-family during the 2007-08 legislative session.

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - General Motors has decided to sell Opel to a group led by Canadian car parts maker Magna (MGa.TO), ending months of uncertainty over the European unit’s fate.

GM expects a definitive agreement to be ready to sign within a few weeks and predicted the deal could close in a few months, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the decision, saying it offered Opel a “new beginning” and that conditions attached to the sale were “manageable and negotiable.

“I am very happy about this decision,” said Merkel, who had backed the Russia-backed Magna bid over a rival offer from Belgium-listed financial investor RHJ International (RHJI.BR). “The government’s patience and purpose has paid off. It was not an easy path.”

Talks on a sale of Opel, which GM is selling as part of a U.S. government-orchestrated restructuring, have dragged on for months, fuelling anger among its 50,000 European workers, half of whom are in Germany.

Magna, backed by a Russian state-owned bank, had been competing against Brussels-listed financial investor RHJ International (RHJI.BR), but Germany had refused to back that bid with financing guarantees.

Merkel has promised 4.5 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in government guarantees if GM opted for Magna and its Russian backers.

GM’s decision represented a victory for Merkel only weeks before she tries to win a second term in a federal election.

“My analysis is that it helps Merkel,” said Gerd Langguth, political scientist at Bonn University.

BIG GERMAN PRESENCE

GM has controlled Opel, which traces its roots in Germany back to the 19th century, for the past 80 years.

It is based in the western city of Russelsheim and has four plants in Germany where it makes everything from three-door Corsa subcompacts to Zafira vans.

Opel has two factories producing automobiles under the Vauxhall badge in Britain as well as major sites in Belgium, Poland and Spain.

“It’s a relief that there is now a decision,” said Anke Rezac, who works in vehicle electronics at Opel’s development center in Ruesselsheim.

“We now have less uncertainty surrounding ownership although many questions remain. Among all the bad choices we had, Magna is the best option. They know about the auto industry and want to develop the business.”

GM was reported to have concerns about its ability to control its intellectual property and vehicle technology in the Russian partnership and some of its senior management had said the rival bid by RHJ would be easier to implement.

Detroit-based GM said on Thursday several key issues needed to be finalized to get the Opel deal with Magna done.

Magna wants to use plant capacity at Opel by tapping into its expertise in contract manufacturing and building rival models for outside carmakers. It forecasts high growth rates, particularly in Russia, home of consortium partners Sberbank (SBER03.MM) and GAZ (GAZA.RTS).

Under their proposal, Magna and Sberbank would each own 27.5 percent of the company, while Opel employees would hold 10 percent and GM the remaining 35 percent. Some 10,000 European jobs would be cut, a quarter of those in Germany.

(Reporting by Dave Graham in Berlin, Angelika Gruber and Christiaan Hetzner in Frankfurt, and Edward Taylor in Ruesselsheim; Writing by Noah Barkin; Editing by Dan Lalor) ($1 = 0.6898 euros)

WASHINGTON - The Census Bureau reports that the number of people lacking health insurance rose to 46.3 million in 2008.

That’s up from 45.7 million in 2007, due to a continuing erosion of employer-provided insurance. Still, the level remained just below the peak of 47 million who were uninsured in 2006, because of the growth of government insurance programs such as Medicaid for the poor.

The nation’s poverty rate increased to 13.2 percent, up from the 12.5 percent in 2007. That meant there were 39.8 million people living in poverty. It was the highest rate since 1997.

The statistics released Thursday cover the first full year of the current recession.

The median - or midpoint - household income declined slightly to $50,303.

All eyes were on Barack Obama entering Wednesday night’s address to Congress, but a little-known South Carolina Republican may have done more than the president’s combative speech to unify besieged Democrats around health care reform.The night’s defining moment - which Democrats hope to transform into a turning point - came when Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted “You lie!” as Obama claimed his plan wouldn’t offer free care to illegal immigrants.

Wilson’s boorishness - for which he quickly apologized - enraged audience members on both sides of the aisle.

It also overshadowed a speech that included some of Obama’s harshest attacks on his GOP critics to date, including a denunciation of “death panel” alarmists as liars - a veiled swipe at Sarah Palin - and a warning to Republicans who want to “kill” reform.

“What we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government,” Obama said. “Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge. And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned.

“Well, the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed,” he added, to Democratic cheers.

The president’s combativeness, coupled with Wilson’s behavior, clearly energized Democrats - to the point where few were in a mood to criticize Obama’s lack of specifics or the fact that he offered no ironclad commitment to inserting a robust public option in the final legislation.

Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), one of the upper-chamber Democrats most skeptical of the White House reform efforts, was impressed by Obama’s speech.

“I think it was a bit of a game changer,” he said.

“The speech galvanized support along the Democratic caucus across the political spectrum, from the progressive caucus to the Blue Dogs, and everybody left determined to get something done this year,” Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told POLITICO Wednesday night.

Republicans - some of whom expressed open contempt for Obama by scanning their BlackBerrys or holding up copies of GOP bills during the speech - saw the president’s remarks as a Democratic call to arms that belied the president’s oft-repeated calls for bipartisanship.

“I was incredibly disappointed in the tone of his speech,” said Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).”At times, I found his tone to be overly combative and believe he behaved in a manner beneath the dignity of the office. I fear his speech tonight has made it more difficult - not less - to find common ground.

“He appeared to be angry at his critics and disappointed the American people were not buying the proposals he has been selling… If the Obama administration and congressional Democrats go down this path and push a bill on the American people they do not want, it could be the beginning of the end of the Obama presidency.”

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who is running for Obama’s old Senate seat, said, “He talked at us. He didn’t listen to us… It was a missed opportunity.”

Added Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.): “I sat there tonight wondering what the purpose of this evening was. I was hoping to hear the president flesh out a middle ground, but instead we heard platitudes and campaign rhetoric.”

But Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), one of Obama’s most consistent critics, saw some room for compromise. “It was a good speech, the problem is that what he wants and what they’ve written are two totally different things,” said Coburn, an OB-GYN. “I’m willing to compromise to get things fixed. But I’m not willing to put the government in charge because we don’t have a good track record.”

Despite the energized tone, Obama offered cold comforts to liberals, no detailed road map for reform and an endorsement of the public option that fell far short of a guarantee.

“It is only one part of my plan,” he said of the option. “To my progressive friends, I would remind you that for decades, the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage affordable for those without it. The public option is only a means to that end - and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal.”

But the fight over the public plan was eclipsed by Wilson’s outburst halfway through Obama’s address.

Wilson was quickly shouted down by Democrats, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shot a withering glance at the GOP side of the room. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel demanded an apology from Wilson - as did Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

A chastened Wilson quickly obliged, issuing a public apology and calling Emanuel personally after the speech, according to a White House source.

“This evening, I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill,” he wrote in an email to reporters.. “While I disagree with the president’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.”

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, said the remark was the latest in a long line of political attacks by Wilson.

“Joe Wilson took our state’s reputation to a new low. I thought Mark Sanford had taken it as low as it could go, but this is beyond the pale,” Clyburn said.

“Joe is very confrontational,” he added. “He held his first town hall meeting three blocks from my house at my kid’s high school. Now why would he have this town hall meeting in my congressional district, three blocks from my house in my kid’s high school? It’s not in his district.

That’s the kind of guy Joe Wilson is. He loves confronting people. So he was confronting the president, just as he was confronting me.”

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, predicted that Wilson’s outburst would have consequences.

“The person who said it will pay a price,” Durbin said. “I think the average American thinks that the president and the office deserve respect and that was a disrespectful comment. They’ll pay a price in the court of public opinion.”

Alex Isenstadt, Ben Smith, Jonathan Martin, Manu Raju, Patrick O’Connor and Lisa Lerer contributed to this report.

BOSTON - Hundreds of mourners lined the sidewalks near Boston’s Mission Church where a funeral Mass was held Saturday for Sen. Edward Kennedy, with some holding signs urging lawmakers to approve health care legislation in his honor, and other saying they just wanted to witness a moment in history.

Lillian Bennett, 59, of the city’s Dorchester neighborhood said she was a longtime Kennedy supporter and was determined to get as close as she could to the invitation-only funeral, despite the driving rain.

“I said to myself this morning, ‘no matter what the weather, I’m going. I don’t care if I have to swim,” she said, calling Kennedy “irreplaceable.”

American flags, old campaign signs and photographs of Kennedy dotted the street and storefronts leading up to the church, formally named Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica. The church is located in one of Boston’s most culturally diverse neighborhoods, and serves a mix of lifelong residents, students from nearby colleges and the more than 20 medical facilities in the area. Kennedy often prayed at the church while his daughter, Kara, was being treated for cancer.

The public was not allowed close to the church, where Kennedy relatives and friends and dozens of former and current members of Congress gathered for a funeral Mass. Kennedy died late Tuesday night at age 77, after battling brain cancer for more than a year.

The invited included a broad mix, from foreign dignitaries to Boston Celtics great Bill Russell, singer Tony Bennett and actor Jack Nicholson. President Barack Obama and three of the four living presidents also attended - prompting what Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis described as the largest security event he’d ever seen in Boston.

“The closet thing we could compare this to is the Democratic National Convention … but that was 18 months of planning,” he said.

Still, there were few problems, and even residents who were restricted from coming and going from their home were without complaint, Davis said. One protester was arrested during the three days of motorcades and memorials, said Davis, who did not have details.

After the Mass, Kennedy’s body was whisked away in another motorcade including family and friends traveling in charter buses, to nearby Hanscom Air Force Base, to be flown for burial in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. A line of cars stretched more than a mile along the highway, as motorists pulled over to watch the motorcade. Others huddled under umbrellas and tightened hoods around their faces as they held American flags and waves from overpasses and near the entrance to the base.

Karen Spence, 45, also of Dorchester, came dressed in a bedazzled T-shirt with American flags and red flip-flops, and called her opportunity to be near the church for his funeral “the chance of a lifetime.”

As Kennedy friends, family and dignitaries arrived, the crowds were respectful and largely silent, in contrast to the applause and cheers that greeted the sun-soaked motorcade Thursday, when the hearse carried Kennedy’s body from his home on Cape Cod and then through the streets of Boston past sites significant to Kennedy’s family and career.

On Saturday, police motorcycles led a solemn procession of the hearse and limousines carrying the immediate family from where the body had been lying in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to the church. A handful of people outside the church cheered and yelled “God Bless” and “Thank you, Teddy!” as the hearse approached.

A far-off trumpet could be heard playing a mournful melody.

Cinde Warmington, of Gilford, N.H., cradled an umbrella in the nook of her shoulder as she wrote on a fluorescent green poster, using her 19-year-old son’s back as a table.

“Health care, do it for Ted,” she wrote. “Keep the dream alive. Health care 4 all,” the reverse side read.

“I always said I’d be there for him,” Warmington said. “He spent his whole life fighting for people.”

Dealing with “clamshell” or “oyster” packaging (the rigid, sealed plastic that lots of electronics come in) can be a real nightmare. In fact, the term “wrap rage” was coined to describe the anger and frustration that inevitably arises when trying to pry the ubiquitous packaging open.

Thousands of people end up in emergency rooms each year with lacerations and puncture wounds from battling with the nearly impossible-to-open packaging. Many more get minor wounds from using sharp objects to open packages, according to American Medical News.

It’s not the best choice for the planet either. Clamshell packaging is typically made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is considered the most environmentally damaging plastic around. Its production releases toxic chemicals that make their way into our food supply and it’s difficult to recycle.

Companies use the universally despised packaging because it secures items during shipping and helps prevent shoplifting. It’s also easy to display in stores and allows consumers to see what they are buying.

Some businesses are finally getting the message that consumers have had enough. Amazon launched its Frustration-Free Packaging initiative to help reduce packing waste and wrap rage. An added bonus is that is saves consumers time as this video demonstrates. Sony, Microsoft, and Best Buy are also making efforts to phase out the aggravating packaging.

In the meantime, there’s a surprisingly simple tool that can tackle clamshell packaging quickly, efficiently, and without injury — a rotary can opener. The best part is you probably already have one sitting in a kitchen drawer. The video below shows how it’s done.

Here are a few other tips you might want to keep in mind:

* Buy products without clamshell or any excessive packaging when you have a choice.
* Before you break out your can opener, check to see if the packaging has any tiny tabs or perforations (an addition some companies have made in response to consumer complaints).
* Finally, if you like gadgets and you’re not up for the can opener idea, there are a whole bunch of products on the market that are designed specifically to open clamshell packaging. Here’s Consumer Reports’ round-up of “Tools you can use to crack the case.”

A 46-year old shouldn’t be able to go toe-to-toe with a 33-year old in mixed martial arts, but that’s exactly what Randy Couture did against Brazilian legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He simply wasn’t big enough to hurt Nogueira on the feet. When the fight went to the ground Nogueira was better technical fighter. He threatened with the most dangerous moment of the fight in the middle of the second round with an arm-triangle choke for 42 seconds. Nogueira rolled to a unanimous decision (29-28 and 30-27 on two cards) over the former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion at UFC 102 in Portland.

Nogueira (32-5-1, 3-1 UFC), a former Pride and UFC heavyweight champ, put himself in line for a shot at Brock Lesnar’s title down the road. It was an excellent comeback performance after he looked so sluggish in a loss to Frank Mir at UFC 92. He was also dealing with a staph infection at the time and said he was in the hospital a week before the fight. He looked much more crisp tonight and took repeated heavyweight punches walking through Couture bombs on several occasions.

Couture was gracious in defeat:

“I’m disappointed to lose [but] you gotta love this sport. The guys come out and every single fight they put it on the line. What keeps me going are guys like Nogueira and interesting fights. He was very tough tonight.”

Couture didn’t sound like he’s ready to retire:

“We’ll let the dust settle see what the UFC wants to do. I feel the best I’ve ever felt.”

Nogueira set the tone in the opening round as he stood right in front of Couture trading leather. Nog landed a right of his own that floored Couture with three minutes left in the first. He turned that into a choke attempt (pictured at the top of the story) that Couture eventually freed himself from.

Couture, master of ground and pound, had top control on several occasions but couldn’t never unload big shots. Nogueira held Couture close to his body and was able to reverse the position on each occasion