Clinton took in $823,087 from registered lobbyists and members of their firms in 2007 and the second-biggest recipient was McCain, who took in $416,321, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based group which tracks political giving. Barack Obama, Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination, doesn’t take money from registered lobbyists, although he received $86,282 from employees of firms that lobby, according to the center.

McCain has 26 registered lobbyists as campaign advisers or fundraisers compared with 11 for Clinton and none for Obama, according to review of records compiled by Public Citizen, a Washington-based group that favors stronger disclosure laws for lobbyists.

Even as they pledge to rein in special interests, the leading Democratic and Republican candidates are relying on lobbyists to bring in campaign cash by raising money from other donors, a technique known as bundling.

“These bundlers and advisers are central to the financial success of top presidential candidates,'’ said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. “As such, they will essentially carry with them an IOU from the campaign.'’

Lobbyist Bundlers

Clinton’s total from lobbyists is a fraction of what they raise on her behalf; her campaign doesn’t disclose which donations are brought in by lobbyist bundlers.

Heather Podesta, a Washington lobbyist, donated $4,600 to Clinton, FEC records show. She’s raised more than $250,000 for Clinton by tapping her network of contacts and holding fundraisers.

“Most of my attention is focused on raising money and new supporters,'’ Podesta, sister-in-law to President Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff John Podesta, said in an interview. “That’s the best way for me to make a contribution.'’

Like Podesta, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steve Ricchetti has also signed on to be a so-called Hillraiser. Ricchetti’s firm was paid $1.7 million during the first six months of 2007 to lobby on behalf of Amgen Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio, among others.

Won’t Be Swayed

New York Senator Clinton, 60, said during a Jan. 21 debate that she won’t be swayed by her support from lobbyists, saying she has “withstood the full force of corporate lobbyists'’ during her failed 1993 attempt at passing universal health care legislation as first lady and during her Senate career.

“I think I’m independent and tough enough to be able to deal with anybody,'’ Clinton said.

McCain, 71, an Arizona Republican who led the successful 2002 effort to ban corporate and union donations to the political parties, counts as campaign co-chairman former Representative Tom Loeffler of Texas. Loeffler now runs his own lobbying firm, which was paid $2.5 million by such clients as AT&T Inc. and Southwest Airlines.

Last week, former Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, vice chairman of UBS Securities LLC who is registered to lobby for the bank, campaigned in Georgia for McCain.

On the campaign trail, McCain stresses his anti-lobbyist bona fides.

`Special Interests’

“I upset the special interests and Washington lobbyists when I fought for ethics reform and to stop union bosses and corporations from writing million-dollar checks to political campaigns,'’ he said in New Hampshire in November.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, 60, has contrasted his experience running a business and a state government with McCain’s tenure in Washington, and has vowed to rein in the influence of lobbyists.

Like former President Ronald Reagan, “I’d go to Washington as an outsider — not owing favors, not lobbyists on every elbow,'’ Romney said at a Jan. 30 debate.

And Romney, too, has registered lobbyists in campaign posts.

Former U.S. Representative Vin Weber, whose firm was paid $3.6 million by such clients as EBay Inc. and General Dynamics Corp., is Romney’s policy chairman. Other advisers include Ron Kaufman, chairman of Washington-based Dutko Worldwide, which was paid $11.2 million by such companies as Allstate Corp. and Target Corp.

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`Extra-Curricular Activities’

“Among my many extra-curricular activities, I love public policy,'’ Weber said. “I try to be helpful to candidates.'’

One campaign co-chairman for Illinois Senator Obama, 46, is former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a policy adviser at Alston & Bird LLP. The firm was paid $4.1 million by companies such as Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Healthsouth Corp.

Daschle isn’t a registered lobbyist, yet has clout. “Some of the most powerful people in Washington’s influence industry aren’t registered to lobby,'’ Krumholz said.

And while Obama doesn’t accept lobbyists’ money, he raised the $86,282 in cash from employees of firms whose business centers on lobbying. He takes in even more money from employees of law firms which also engage in lobbying, including $226,491 from those working for Sidley Austin LLP, his old law firm, which was paid $3.1 million to lobby by clients such as Caterpillar Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc.

For the lobbyists, the return comes if their candidate wins, said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for Washington-based Common Cause, which supports stronger lobbying laws.

“They certainly would get access and influence if and when he or she become the next president,'’ Boyle said.

“I’ve never seen anything quite so brazen,” said attorney Kenneth Hiller.

He said his client plans to sue Nationwide Collections Inc. of Fort Pierce, Florida, next week.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle were sentenced in February on four felony child endangering charges and seven misdemeanors. The couple are free on bond pending appeal.

“We still have an inside shot at getting our children back, which was our goal and we still stand by that,” Michael Gravelle said Wednesday in the couple’s first public comments since they were sentenced.

The Gravelles’ children, who ranged in age from 1 to 14, suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.

Authorities removed them in September 2005 from their home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. The children were placed in foster care in fall 2005.

Sharen Gravelle said she thinks often about the children who the couple said they took in because no one else wanted to do so. “I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye,” she said.

The chance of the couple getting the children back appears remote. About three weeks ago, the Ohio Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal of the custody case that put the children into foster care.

Michael Gravelle repeated his past comments that he and his wife made enclosed beds for the safety of the troubled children they adopted.

“They built a case on a lie, 11 kids locked in cages,” he said. “It was not true.”

A jury heard evidence, including testimony from the children, that the Gravelles put them, sometimes for punishment, in small wood-and-wire enclosures.

The Gravelles are out of money for the legal battle and are hopeful they will receive financial support to fight what they say is an unfair conviction.

They say they’re working part-time jobs and have tried without success to sell the house where Michael Gravelle built what prosecutors called cages in the upstairs bedrooms.

Auctioneer Steven Kraus said he is planning an auction July 20 aimed at raising $50,000 for the Gravelles and is seeking donations of items and cash contributions. He believes in the couple’s innocence.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle answer questions during a news-conference, Wednesday, July 11, 2007, in Norwalk, Ohio. Facing a two-year prison sentence and out of money to fund their appeal, the Gravelles, convicted of child endangering for making some of their adopted children sleep in cages, are looking for public help in financing their legal battle. Although the Gravelles drew worldwide scorn for their treatment of their 11 special-needs children, they’re hopeful they will receive support in fighting what they say is an unfair conviction. (Tony Dejak/AP Photo)

The link, reported in Science, was found by looking at more than 250,000 male Norwegian conscripts.

Experts have disagreed for decades about how birth order might influence intellect and achievement.

Brainier

Supporters of the theory argue the eldest child gets more undivided attention from their parents from an early age.

Others claim differences occur in the womb before birth because with each subsequent pregnancy the mother produces higher levels of antibodies that may attack the foetal brain.

While others claim the relationship between birth order and intelligence is false, being biased by family size - historically, couples with lower IQs have tended to have more children than couples with higher IQs.

We found that it is the son’s social position and not his biological position that counts Researcher Professor Petter Kristensen

Professor Petter Kristensen, at the National Institute of Occupational Health in Oslo, and colleague Tor Bjerkedal, at the Norwegian Armed Forces Medical Service, said although the IQ difference they found in their study groups was small, it was significant.

The findings also suggested that the trend was down to social rather than biological differences, they said.

For example, men who were third born but who then lost an elder sibling in early childhood and so were raised as the second born had IQ scores close to those of “genuine” second-borns.

Professor Kristensen said: “We found that it is the son’s social position and not his biological position that counts.”

Frank Sulloway, of the Institute of Personality and Social Research at the University of California, has been studying how upbringing influences personality and intelligence.

He told the Daily Telegraph the higher IQ in the first-born could, in part, be gained by their tutoring of younger siblings.

“In addition, the tendency for first-borns to occupy the niche of a surrogate parent, and to take on the role of the conscientious, self-disciplined and mature sibling may also explain why first-borns have higher IQs,” he said.

Elder siblings may learn through teaching younger ones

Brown, 32, gave birth to Angel Iris Murphy Brown in April and listed Murphy as the father on the child’s birth certificate, but the star of movies like “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Dreamgirls” has never publicly acknowledged paternity.

Earlier this month, media outlets reported that Murphy, 46, had taken a DNA test and Brown’s representative, Liza Anderson, told People the results, confirming Murphy’s paternity, were given to Brown on Thursday.

Murphy’s spokesman declined to comment.

Brown, who dated Murphy last summer, was “Scary Spice” in the 1990s all-girl British pop group that scored hit songs such as “Wannabe.” Members of the group have scheduled a news conference for Thursday, sparking speculation that they will reunite for a tour and album.