Depressing News Day
I'm having a hard time deciding which of these news stories that I pulled from CNN is the saddest...
CLEARWATER, Florida (AP) -- The news from Indian River Lagoon was too familiar: another dolphin gravely injured because of human action. But marine scientist Steve McCulloch immediately saw this rescue was unique. The baby bottlenose dolphin lost her tail, but perhaps her life could be saved. McCulloch, director of dolphin and whale research at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, decided to channel his anger into a solution. The solution for the dolphin -- dubbed Winter -- may be a prosthetic tail. If the logistics can be worked out, Winter's prosthesis would be the first for a dolphin who lost its tail and the key joint that allows it to move in powerful up-and-down strokes. "There's never been a dolphin like her," said Dana Zucker, chief operating officer of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which is now Winter's home. A dolphin in Japan has a prosthesis, the first in the world, to replace a missing part of its tail.
Veterinarians are unsure if a prosthesis will be beneficial or harmful in the long term. Swimming without a tail may ultimately wear on Winter's spine. She would need at least three tails as she grows. She is now about 4 feet long and weighs 110 pounds. When she is full grown at age 15, Winter will be twice as long and four times as heavy. The cost of the prosthetic tail is unknown. "All I know is Fuji's tail cost $100,000 -- and that was in 2004," McCulloch said.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Pop singer Aaron Carter has broken off his engagement to his older brother's ex. The 18-year-old teen idol called off his engagement to 22-year-old actress Kari Ann Peniche just a week after he proposed onstage in Las Vegas, Us Weekly reported on its Web site Sunday. Peniche is an ex-girlfriend of Carter's older brother, Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter. She's also a former Miss Teen USA and former Playboy Playmate. "I got caught up in the moment and proposed," the younger Carter told the magazine. "I then realized it was a hasty thing to do and I am not ready for marriage quite yet."
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- The Rev. Jerry Falwell acknowledged on Sunday saying that if Hillary Rodham Clinton were the Democrats' presidential nominee in 2008, it would motivate conservative evangelical Christians to oppose her more than if the devil himself were running.
Falwell said in a telephone interview that his comments to several hundred pastors and religious activists at the "Value Voter Summit" conference were "totally tongue-in-cheek."
"I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate," Falwell said at a breakfast session Friday in Washington. "I hope she's the candidate, because nothing will energize my (constituency) like Hillary Clinton," he said. "If Lucifer ran, he wouldn't."
Clinton press secretary Philippe Reines said Sunday, "Working for someone who believes in the Golden Rule, we're not going to engage in such vitriolic discourse -- but it seems that a new low has been reached in demonizing political opponents."
CLEARWATER, Florida (AP) -- The news from Indian River Lagoon was too familiar: another dolphin gravely injured because of human action. But marine scientist Steve McCulloch immediately saw this rescue was unique. The baby bottlenose dolphin lost her tail, but perhaps her life could be saved. McCulloch, director of dolphin and whale research at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, decided to channel his anger into a solution. The solution for the dolphin -- dubbed Winter -- may be a prosthetic tail. If the logistics can be worked out, Winter's prosthesis would be the first for a dolphin who lost its tail and the key joint that allows it to move in powerful up-and-down strokes. "There's never been a dolphin like her," said Dana Zucker, chief operating officer of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which is now Winter's home. A dolphin in Japan has a prosthesis, the first in the world, to replace a missing part of its tail.
Veterinarians are unsure if a prosthesis will be beneficial or harmful in the long term. Swimming without a tail may ultimately wear on Winter's spine. She would need at least three tails as she grows. She is now about 4 feet long and weighs 110 pounds. When she is full grown at age 15, Winter will be twice as long and four times as heavy. The cost of the prosthetic tail is unknown. "All I know is Fuji's tail cost $100,000 -- and that was in 2004," McCulloch said.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Pop singer Aaron Carter has broken off his engagement to his older brother's ex. The 18-year-old teen idol called off his engagement to 22-year-old actress Kari Ann Peniche just a week after he proposed onstage in Las Vegas, Us Weekly reported on its Web site Sunday. Peniche is an ex-girlfriend of Carter's older brother, Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter. She's also a former Miss Teen USA and former Playboy Playmate. "I got caught up in the moment and proposed," the younger Carter told the magazine. "I then realized it was a hasty thing to do and I am not ready for marriage quite yet."
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- The Rev. Jerry Falwell acknowledged on Sunday saying that if Hillary Rodham Clinton were the Democrats' presidential nominee in 2008, it would motivate conservative evangelical Christians to oppose her more than if the devil himself were running.
Falwell said in a telephone interview that his comments to several hundred pastors and religious activists at the "Value Voter Summit" conference were "totally tongue-in-cheek."
"I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate," Falwell said at a breakfast session Friday in Washington. "I hope she's the candidate, because nothing will energize my (constituency) like Hillary Clinton," he said. "If Lucifer ran, he wouldn't."
Clinton press secretary Philippe Reines said Sunday, "Working for someone who believes in the Golden Rule, we're not going to engage in such vitriolic discourse -- but it seems that a new low has been reached in demonizing political opponents."
posted by Marty Stroodler at 8:06 PM
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