http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/flipper/ en-us Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:15:45 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372265/posts WASHINGTON -- Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, one of the most influential Democrats in matters of foreign affairs, said Monday he believes the manpower-intensive war strategy recommended by the U.S. commander in Afghanistan "reaches too far, too fast," and should wait until the Afghan government proves itself a more reliable partner. Speaking days after returning from Kabul, where he brokered a deal with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to hold a runoff election next month, Sen. Kerry said that unless Mr. Karzai's government proves it can sustain gains made by American troops, the U.S. shouldn't commit tens of thousands of additional forces.... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372265/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:15:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372173/posts Democratic Senator John Kerry said Tuesday he would be "surprised" if US President Barack Obama does not announce his decision on troop levels in Afghanistan before leaving for Asia on November 11. "I'm just speculating, I don't have any inside scoop on this, but I would be surprised if he wants to leave it hanging while he's out of the country for that long a period of time," said Kerry, a close Obama ally. The US president leaves Washington on November 11 and remains in the region for eight days, with stops in Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea. "I... AFP/Google http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372173/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:27:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2371585/posts U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal's troop request for Afghanistan overreaches and is overly fast, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said Monday. Kerry said three conditions -- sufficient Afghan troops, reliable local assistance and sufficient development aid -- must be met before additional troops could be deployed to the country, The Hill reported. "I am convinced from my conversations with Gen. Stanley McChrystal that he understands the necessity of conducting a smart counterinsurgency in a limited geographic area," Kerry said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. "But I believe his current plan reaches too far, too fast." Kerry, the... UPI http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2371585/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:14:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2323766/posts For years, millions of people were enamoured of the anthropomorphic antics of our title character, a bottle-nosed female dolphin named Flipper. Everyone, that is, except the talented though hapless actor who played the father of the boys. He began to phone me, usually after midnight. “Why do they make me out to be a blithering idiot? An incompetent? Why do I always have to be a boob, huh, tell me that?" “I've kept track," he wailed. “We've shot nearly a hundred episodes and in 99 per cent of them I have to ask the bloody dolphin, ‘Where are the boys,... Globe and Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2323766/posts#comment Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:58:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2175111/posts Dolphins are fantastic sea chefs who have mastered the art of rustling up a soft meal of calamari, say scientists. The intelligent sea mammals have been spotted going through precise and elaborate preparations to rid cuttlefish of ink and bone to produce a soft meal of calamari. Australian researchers observed one wild female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin The research team, writing in the science journal PLoS One, said they repeatedly observed a female dolphin herding cuttlefish out of algal weed and onto a clear, sandy patch of seafloor. The dolphin, identified using circular body scars, then pinned the cuttlefish with its... Daily Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2175111/posts#comment Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:08:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2088072/posts The diet of prehistoric Neanderthals living in caves on the Rock of Gibraltar included seals and dolphins, showing once again that the hominids had skills rivaling those modern humans living then, according to a new study. The discovery of seal, dolphin and fish remains in the caves dating from 60,000 to 30,000 years ago provides the first evidence that Neanderthals ate sea mammals as well as land grub. Live Science http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2088072/posts#comment Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:47:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073155/posts BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Mitt Romney, responding to reporters' questions about sex education policy in the aftermath of the news that Sarah Palin's teenage daughter is pregnant, told reporters he had always thought abstinence should be part of a comprehensive sex education curriculum. "I would not propose that people don't get any sex education but abstinence," he said. But in 2006, as then-Governor Romney prepared to enter the Republican presidential primary, he announced with great fanfare that he would redirect money from a federal abstinence education grant -- money that had the state had been using to promote abstinence within comprehensive... Boston Globe http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073155/posts#comment Tue, 2 Sep 2008 18:19:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2064069/posts WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's position on space exploration continued to evolve Sunday as the Illinois Democrat endorsed a congressional plan to add $2 billion to NASA's budget and agreed to back at least one more space shuttle mission. Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2064069/posts#comment Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:49:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2055598/posts ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 2 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today, in Florida, Barack Obama once again demonstrated that his words really don't matter. When discussing NASA programs, Barack Obama said that "it's still being reported" that he would delay the NASA Constellation Program to pay for his early education program. Unfortunately for Barack Obama, that is what he proposed and has been saying for months: BARACK OBAMA: "It's Still Being Reported"... Standard Newswire http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2055598/posts#comment Sun, 3 Aug 2008 02:30:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051939/posts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in an interview published on Saturday the size of a residual U.S. force left in Iraq after the withdrawal of combat troops would be "entirely conditions-based." REUTERS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051939/posts#comment Sun, 27 Jul 2008 03:32:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040578/posts Barack Obama's policy switches are giving the Left whiplash The Democratic nominee's policy pivots are causing anguish among liberals. He is no fool Gerard Baker Change, it turns out, wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Having campaigned for the past year as the agent of transformation, the man who would lead an historic shift in America's political direction, Barack Obama is discovering that there is quite a lot he likes about the way things are. Since securing the Democratic nomination a few weeks ago, the only change coming from the Illinois senator has been in what he... Times of London http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040578/posts#comment Fri, 4 Jul 2008 02:32:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040580/posts US election: Barack Obama wobbles on withdrawing Iraq troops By Tim Shipman in Washington Last Updated: 12:20AM BST 04/07/2008 Senator Barack Obama has rushed to clarify his position on the Iraq War after he appeared to wobble on a commitment to withdraw US ground troops within 16 months, a central plank of his candidacy. Barack Obama speaks on his Iraq policy during a news conference in Fargo, North Dakota The Democratic presidential nominee used a press conference to say that the timetable was not set in stone and that he would adjust his plans based on conditions on the ground... The Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040580/posts#comment Fri, 4 Jul 2008 02:39:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014312/posts Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., faces enormous pressure from social conservatives to ignore his repeated commitment to change the GOP's platform on abortion. "If he were to change the party platform," to account for exceptions such as rape, incest or risk to the mother's life, "I think that would be political suicide," said Tony Perkins, the president of the conservative Family Research Council, to ABC News. "I think he would be aborting his own campaign because that is such a critical issue to so many Republican voters and the Republican brand is already in trouble." A senior Republican close to McCain... ABC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014312/posts#comment Sun, 11 May 2008 05:08:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994805/posts WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States was for slavery “before we were against it.” That history lesson was brought to you by Sen. John Kerry, who argues that if an entire nation can be indecisive about human bondage, voters surely should forgive a political leader who changes his or her mind. “Decisiveness wrongly applied can create a lot of pain for the nation and big, big historic mistakes,” says the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee labeled a “flip-flopper” by President Bush. Four years after his unsuccessful run, Kerry sat down with Associated Press reporters for more than 30 minutes to discuss... Meadville Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994805/posts#comment Tue, 1 Apr 2008 01:29:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1975883/posts It stings the Obama campaign more, and rightly so. Obama has made his new, non-pandering politics the central selling point for his election. This shows that Obama has no problem with adjusting his message when needed. The specifics of the changes are less interesting than the changes themselves. It also calls into question for what Obama really stands, other than platitudes about "hope" and "change". Mitt Romney got bounced from the campaign for changing his mind on fewer policy issues over a much longer period of time. If people thought Romney had authenticity issues, what will they make from these... Captain's Quarters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1975883/posts#comment Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:13:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1962846/posts Former Gov. William F. Weld says fellow Republican Mitt Romney can withstand a hometown snub by Bay State voters in presidential balloting next week by simply dismissing the diss as little more than moonbat mania. “I think people understand when you’re a red governor in a blue state that you have to work with the Democrats, which I think is a good thing,” said Weld, who was governor from 1991 to 1997. Asked whether his State House successor has to win Massachusetts in his bid for the presidency, Weld, a Romney backer, said, “Not in my view.” In fact, the... Boston Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1962846/posts#comment Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:49:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1961650/posts As I've written elsewhere, social moderates and liberals with a twinkle in their eye for John McCain are living in another universe. Anti-choice and anti-LGBT signaling are an overt part of his campaign. Here, via Jonathan Martin, is the text of a McCain robocall, recorded in a woman's voice, that rolled out in Florida yesterday: I’m calling with an urgent Mitt Romney [unintelligible] We care deeply about traditional values and protecting families. And we need someone who will not waver in the White House: Ending abortion, preserving the sanctity of marriage, stopping the trash on the airwaves and attempts to... American Prospect http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1961650/posts#comment Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:42:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960033/posts Killer dolphins baffle marine experts By Nigel Blundell Last Updated: 12:01pm GMT 25/01/2008 It's hard to visualise but the intelligent and ever-friendly dolphin can also be a determined killer. New evidence has been compiled by marine scientists that prove the normally placid dolphin is capable of brutal attacks both on innocent fellow marine mammals and, more disturbingly, on its own kind. Film taken of gangs of dolphins repeatedly ramming baby porpoises, tossing them in the air and pursuing them to the death has solved a long-term mystery of what causes the death of so many of these harmless mammals -... Telegraph.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960033/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:58:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1795138/posts MANCHESTER – Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the Judeo Christian values that helped found America continue to guide the country today. On the campaign trail and in the media, Romney has faced questions about his Mormon faith and whether it could hurt his chances to win the Republican Party's nomination. "The fundamental principle of faith of Judeo Christian (belief) is there is a God, who is our heavenly Father and all the people on this earth and every speck of humanity on this earth is a creation of God ... And every creation of humanity is a child of God,"... Manchester Union Leader http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1795138/posts#comment Sun, 4 Mar 2007 21:21:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794398/posts Watch video online. My Man Mitt.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794398/posts#comment Sat, 3 Mar 2007 04:23:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1792354/posts (AP) An internal document shows Mitt Romney's presidential campaign is concerned about his vulnerability to charges of flip-flopping, while suggesting he can differentiate from President Bush with a single word: "intelligence." Campaign advisers even fret that the former Massachusetts governor has too-perfect hair, according to the 77-slide PowerPoint presentation, a copy of which was obtained by The Boston Globe. The document also outlines plans for positively branding the Republican contender, negatively framing rivals John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, and allaying voter concerns about his record and Mormon faith. One idea for dealing with the religious question is to address it... CBS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1792354/posts#comment Wed, 28 Feb 2007 02:20:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1763355/posts The mother of a boy convicted Friday in the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl on Labor Day told a judge the girl was also to blame and that her son was the victim of "little flipper girls" who think it's cool to have sex with multiple partners. That prompted Milwaukee County Children's Court Judge Mary Triggiano to abruptly interrupt her. "What he did was rape that girl," Triggiano said, calling the deflection of responsibility to the girl appalling. "He got caught. He didn't take responsibility until something pegged him Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1763355/posts#comment Sat, 6 Jan 2007 15:09:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758831/posts Link Only: Leaping dolphin leaves woman seriously injured The New Zealand Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758831/posts#comment Wed, 27 Dec 2006 06:09:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1738986/posts WEIRD BUT TRUE By MARSHA KRANES, Wire Services November 15, 2006 -- Holy humming mammal! Dolphins at Disney's Epcot Center were recently taught to "sing" the theme song from the "Batman" TV series - a stunning development that scientists hailed as the first time a mammal other than a human showed it can recognize and recreate voice rhythms. New York Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1738986/posts#comment Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:18:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1730222/posts A Statement from John Kerry As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop. I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended. It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion... A Statement from John Kerry http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1730222/posts#comment Wed, 1 Nov 2006 21:31:17 GMT