Free Republic

Senator Ted Kennedy made an important political endorsement Tuesday. Massachusetts' Senior Senator endorsed the Portugese water dog as the perfect pet for the nation's new first family. President-elect Barack Obama made a very public promise to daughters Sasha and Malia the night he was elected. "You have earned the puppy that is coming with us to the White House," he said during his speech. Ever since, speculation has abounded on what type of dog the first family would choose. The Obama's have said they need a dog that is hypoallergenic, because daughter Malia has allergies. "A Portuguese water dog is...

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (AP) - An enterprising young killer whale at Marineland has figured out how to use fish as bait to catch seagulls - and shared his strategy with his fellow whales. Michael Noonan, a professor of animal behavior at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., made the discovery by accident while studying orca acoustics. "One day I noticed one of the young whales appeared to have come up with a procedure for luring gulls down to the pool," the professor said. "I found it interesting so I noted it in my log." First, the young whale spit regurgitated fish...

The issue of abortion is expected to take center stage during the upcoming confirmation hearings for John Roberts, President Bush's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. And one of the key questioners of Roberts will be Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. While many today regard the Democrat as a champion for abortion rights, the senator, who is Catholic, apparently held a staunch pro-life view before the Roe v. Wade decision in 1972. In 1971, Tom Dennelly of Great Neck, N.Y., wrote to Kennedy expressing his personal views on abortion. Kennedy responded to Dennelly, writing:...

YOU can add striped bass to the mix since today is the opener for the much sought after gamefish. Flounder and stripers will be the targets for anglers this weekend. Fishing for the winter flatties has been decent, with a few more fish being taken in Raritan and Jamaica Bays as the waters continue to warm. The fact is, anglers are releasing more stripers than they are catching winter flounder, a situation that won't be reversed until the fisheries are closed for a few years to allow the species to recover. It would hurt business the early part of the...

A water-loving mammal that lived 50 to 60 million years ago was probably the "missing link" between whales and hippos, according to a new analysis. Biologists have argued over the relationship between hippos and whales for a period of almost 200 years. The findings come from an analysis of features in different animal groups carried out by a US-French team. Their report is published in the science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Michel Brunet and Fabrice Lehoreau found that the semi-aquatic ancestor of whales and hippos split into two groups: cetaceans and the anthracotheres. Cetaceans...

A 22-foot sailboat that a teenage John F. Kennedy raced in regattas off Cape Cod was seized yesterday by federal agents who allege that its current owner bought and refurbished it with marijuana profits. The Flash II -- a Star Class sloop that the late president owned for six years and sold in 1942, before shipping out to the Pacific during World War II -- was hauled away from its storage spot at the Marblehead Trading Co. in Marblehead by agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration. "Crime doesn't pay," said US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan. "The seizure and forfeiture...

Back and forth, back and forth: It was almost as if the great white shark was pacing, swimming the same small circle over and over. "Territorial loops," said Matt Lundberg, a fisherman who has cashed in as an aquatic tour guide ever since the 14-foot creature showed up in shallow water here last week. The 1,700-pound female--her gender identified by her dorsal fin--swam into an estuary off Naushon Island, about 3 miles from this Cape Cod village. Marine scientists believe she drifted too close to shore and became stuck in the 20-foot-deep lagoon. The area is rich in striped bass,...

Senator Edward M. Kennedy says he is not too worked up about the shape of the presidential race right now despite the fact that his junior colleague from Massachusetts is trailing in the polls. Meeting with reporters this morning, Mr. Kennedy, an ally of Senator John Kerry, exhibited his long memory about political events. He recalled that the polls were swinging wildly in the 1968 race between Richard M. Nixon and Hubert H. Humphrey and that Mr. Humphrey gained 10 points in a matter of days as the race went into the final stretch, though he ultimately lost a close...

There may be more than one mystery animal running around Maryland -- there are pictures from a sighting in Harford County. At the Mathis family's rural home in Joppa, they're used to animals, but not this kind. "I looked out the window and I saw something drinking out of the water trough," said Lisa Mathis. "It looked like something out of Lord of The Rings." (snip) But even with maybe more than one so-called hyote running loose, DNR is going to leave the beast or beasts alone for now. "We would respond if we knew we had a public safety...

Nursing leaders today distanced themselves from saucy pictures of a scantily-clad "nurse" advertising lingerie. Model Luci Victoria, the new face of Ann Summers, was pictured wearing a white nurse uniform, with bright red underwear peaking out. Look here too! • Shop for lingerie here! Ann Summers is offering nurses a 25% discount on all its products tomorrow to mark International Nursing Day. But the Royal College of Nursing was not impressed with the pictures, likening them to the stereotyped image of nurses in the Carry On films. A spokeswoman said: "This Carry On image is out of touch with the...

In an era of diet fixation, chiseled underwear models and "a culture of muscularity," some researchers say eating problems among men are getting worse - even as sufferers face a lingering stigma about having a "women's disorder." Intentional starvation, cookie binges, vomiting, hospitalization. The details were typical for an eating disorder. But Jeff Everts might not seem like a typical sufferer. "We're able to hide it much better," said Everts, a 43-year-old Albuquerque, N.M., resident recovering from anorexia and bulimia. "We don't talk about it, where women would." Women are more likely to have eating disorders than men. But men...

<p>A short while ago, I chanced to be in Dallas, Texas, making a documentary film. One of the shots involved a camera angle from a big commercial tower overlooking Dealey Plaza and the former "book depository," and it was later necessary for us to take the road through the celebrated underpass. The crew I worked with was younger than I am (you may as well make that much younger) and consisted of a Chinese-Australian, an English girl brought up in Africa, a Jewish guy from Brooklyn and other elements of a cross-section. As we passed the "Grassy Knoll," and looked up at the window, and saw the cross incised in the tarmac, I was interested by their lack of much interest. The event of Nov. 22, 1963 isn't half as real to them as the moment, say, when the planes commandeered by suicide-murderers flew into the New York skyline. Nor, as I realized, is it half as real or poignant to me as the site of Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. Time has a way of assigning value.</p>