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A cow has been caught jumping six feet on to a roof, after the owners thought they had been burgled. Neighbour William de Cothi, 17, photographed the animal after he spotted it on the roof about six feet off the ground. The Sixth Form student said: "I was looking out of my window when I saw the cow. "At first I thought that it was an illusion and that it was in the background and not really on the roof. "But after a closer look I could see it was actually on the roof." The teenager added: "I have heard...

"The cow is the most comical-looking creature in the world, and the notion that the Earth is being visited by UFOs is the craziest idea I have ever heard. Now there's a gift that combines the crazy and comical cow with the silly and ridiculous idea of of UFO abductions:"

"A creepy string of calf mutilations in southern Colorado has a rancher and law enforcement investigators mystified. Four calves have been found dead in a pasture just north of the New Mexico state line in recent weeks. The dead calves had their skins peeled back and organs cleared from the rib cage. One calf had its tongue removed. But rancher Manuel Sanchez has found no signs of human attackers, such as footprints or ATV tracks. And there are no signs of an animal attack by a coyote or mountain lion . Usually predators leave pools or blood or drag marks...

World Cup Stadium 'Cow Sacrifice' Plan Sparks Row Animal sacrifice is a vital part of life for many South Africans. A proposal to bless South Africa's World Cup stadiums by slaughtering a cow in each one has caused concern among animal rights activists. The Makhonya Royal Trust, which put forward the idea, described the cattle killing ritual as a "true African" way of blessing the 2010 tournament. Government minister Sicelo Shiceka has promised to lobby football's governing body, Fifa, in support of the plan. But animal rights groups have demanded to be consulted over the plans. The row comes as...

First lady Michelle Obama speaks during the holiday press preview of the White House in Washington December 2, 2009. This year's holiday theme is "Reflect, Rejoice and Renew. "

A couple traveling along the river in the area north of Rosario claimed having seen an animal being abducted by a flying saucer. "Later, the both vanished," they said. The likelyhood that cows could fly was always relegated to the province of the impossible. But to Sergio and Laura, this changed last Monday afternoon, when they traveled along the coast near Puerto Gaboto, and believed that they saw a cow in the sky, abducted by a UFO. The couple told the story to journalist Guillermo Brasca in a report transmitted by the Telenoche program on Channel 3. They provided photos...

Seems some people are actually outraged, outraged that First Lady Michelle Obama dared to bare so much leg by wearing shorts on a recent trip to the sweltering Grand Canyon. OMG. First she wears a sleeveless dress, now this? But think about this for a minute. What should she have worn to the Grand Canyon? A tweed pantsuit? A ballgown? What do you wear on your summer vacation?

Cost of a bowl of soup at homeless shelter: $0 Having Michelle Obama serve you soup $0.00 Snapping a picture of a homeless person who is receiving a government funded meal while taking a picture of the First Lady using his $400 Blackberry cell phone $$$$ Priceless

The Council of Fashion Designers of America handed the First Lady a special tribute award at a ceremony in New York on Monday night. "Her meteoric rise in the world of fashion has echoed her husband in the world of politics," said Diane von Furstenberg, the CFDA's president. Mrs Obama, famous for patronising high street clothing brands such as J Crew, has "a unique look that balances the duality of her lives" in her roles as a confidante to the US president and a busy mother, she added. But Tracey Ullman, the ceremony's British-born host, couldn't resist a sartorial dig...

First lady Michelle Obama said Tuesday that struggling communities shouldn't look to government alone for help. Obama told a luncheon of Washington-area service and philanthropy groups that member work is key to making a difference in their neighborhoods and schools. She said leaders should take advantage of a recently signed public service law to engage new volunteers and put them to work. "Washington can only do so much," Obama said. "Communities are built and rebuilt by regular people." She said the national service law would funnel thousands of volunteers to such nonprofit groups. She warned groups to be ready for...

It was a chance for two busy women to stop and smell the roses. And have a bit of a chinwag. Sarah Brown and America's First Lady Michelle Obama are seen here wandering through the garden at Downing Street earlier this week. The pair, whose budding friendship formed during the G20 summit in April, caught up on each other's news while their children played nearby. Sasha Obama, ten, and her eight-year-old sister Malia are said to have been impressed with the vegetable patch tended by the Brown boys John, five, and Fraser, almost three. Both grandmothers were also in attendance...

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama board a small jet serving as Air Force One for a personal visit to New York City from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, May 30, 2009. US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama make their way to board Air Force One before departing John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Barack Obama swept First Lady Michelle off to a Broadway show on Saturday night -- to honor a promise made in the heat of his gruelling 2008 campaign. Restaurant patrons try to catch sight of US President Barack...

Let's all set aside Meghan McCain's politics for a moment. She's the best chance the Republicans have of re-growing their party, a dose of political Menoxidil that they refuse to take. Meghan, though, is fiercely, unabashedly...well, Meghan! Her Twitter feed is replete with the kinds of details that any 20-something (or more, or less) young woman would relate to. At turns funny, foul-mouthed, and even trivial, Meghan McCain is being herself. Her blog at The Daily Beast covers a different, but similarly broad, spectrum. I first became aware of Meg's writing when she blogged about her hyper-odd dating experiences. She's...

I thought Elizabeth Hasselback, the Republican Party's brain trust on the "View," was a little simple. But, intellectually, she towers above the succession of vacuous, narcissistic, pig-ignorant panelists paraded on Sean Hannity's "Great American Panel." Just as you thought American pop-politics could go no lower, a woman with real curb appeal appears on the political scene. Meghan McCain might just be the greatest ditz to date to emerge from that big tent Republicans keep touting. Meghan made her first major debut on the Rachel Maddow Show. There, in defiance of Ms. McCain's empty refrains and non sequiturs, the left-liberal TV...

Animal control officials in New York said a cow that escaped from a slaughterhouse and led police on a 10-block chase will not be returned for slaughter. Police said Molly, a cow believed to be less than a year old, escaped from the Musa Hala Inc. slaughterhouse at about 1 p.m. Wednesday and ran through the streets, the New York Post reported Thursday. Nesha Kahn, 39, said the cow was in her yard when police finally cornered the animal. "I think the cow was traumatized. I asked the officer and they said they chased him for about 10 blocks," she...

DEMOCRAT You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. You push for higher taxes so the government can provide cows for everyone. REPUBLICAN You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So? SOCIALIST You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow. COMMUNIST You have two cows. The government seizes...

The genomes of man and dog have been joined in the scientific barnyard by the genome of the cow, an animal that walked beside them on the march to modern civilization. A team of hundreds of scientists working in more than a dozen countries yesterday published the entire DNA message -- the genome -- of an 8-year-old female Hereford living at an experimental farm in Montana. Hidden in her roughly 22,000 genes are hints of how natural selection sculpted the bovine body and personality over the past 60 million years, and how man greatly enhanced the job over the past...

'Holy Mary, Help Us in Our Hour of Need!' A mysterious illness is causing calves to bleed to death on German farms. Veterinarians are stumped over what is causing the deaths: vaccines, genetically modified feed or perhaps even the first mother's milk? What can a cattle farmer do when he sees blood running from his calves like water, when they become lethargic and febrile and, by the next morning, are lying dead on the floor, their coats covered in blood? "Our calves from last summer looked like they had been beaten," says farmer Robert Meyboom, who is still shocked and...

Cows break wind a lot, and their flatulence fills the air with methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In fact, the EPA estimates that roughly 28 percent of all methane emissions related to human activity come from methane-producing bacteria in the rumens of domestic cattle, sheep and goats and other livestock known as ruminants, which eat plants that are mostly indigestible by other creatures. By volume, methane is more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping solar energy and making the atmosphere behave like a greenhouse. Fish oil could cut down on the boom-booms, a new study suggests.

Holy crap. Or to be urologically correct, holy pee. An Indian organization is launching a soft drink made of cow urine. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. Here’s the story from the U.K. Times of London:...

ANIMAS COUNTY: A rancher in Las Animas County, Colorado made a shocking and gruesome discovery over the weekend. He found a mutilated cow by the Purgatoire River. The mutilated cow was discovered near the town of Weston, which is about 20 miles west of Trinidad. "First reaction, she's been mutilated," said Mike Duran. Duran's cow was found dead with her udders and reproductive organs missing. "No tracks at all," said Duran. "No blood, no predators," he added.

Michelle Obama's first official portrait as first lady was released by the White House Friday. She appears in a Michael Kors black shift dress and pearls in the photo, taken in the famed home's "Blue Room." Obama is also featured on the March cover of Vogue. She's the second first lady -- after Hillary Clinton -- to appear on the front of the magazine. See first lady fashion over the years. In the interview with Andre Leon Talley, she opens up about helping Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, adjust to life in Washington, D.C. "I'm going to try to take...

It's Friday in the East Wing of the Obama White House, the realm of first lady Michelle Obama. Many of the cream-colored walls are still bare. The Obama administration, after all, is just one month old. But there is a growing photo collection in the hallways that charts the increasing activity of the first lady in the last two weeks as she settles in to her new role and starts expanding her portfolio of issues. The newest item on her non-controversial agenda is healthy living. That's in addition to assisting military families, pushing work-family balance, national service, women's concerns and...

Should Private Colleges That Raise Billions Receive Public Funds? As state lawmakers crunch budget numbers in New York, some leaders of the State University System are wondering why private institutions with the ability to raise money on their own are still receiving public funds, according to The Buffalo News. Columbia University has received $32-million in state funds, and New York University has collected $50-million, the newspaper reports. Meanwhile, Columbia is in the middle of a $4-billion fund-raising campaign and NYU is raising $2.5-billion in private donations. “At a time when we’re facing budget cuts, is it appropriate?” asked Marsha S....

Dear Friends, I think the only way I'm going to be able to overcome this sadness I'm experiencing is to share with you some critter stories. As some of you may already know, my daughter Sherrill loved animals, all of her life. It did not matter what shape, what size, what species, or even what condition. She was unafraid of animals, even those that she should have avoided at all costs, even those that might have imperiled her health and well-being. I will share my best (so far) critter story. If you got a little chuckle or even a belly...

A HILL farmer has devised a cunning plan to rid his fields of a plague of rabbits. Paul Coppen, 69, camouflaged his vintage Massey Ferguson tractor as a cow – complete with a firing platform and a gunslit. He admitted the disguise – a black and white cow under a tree painted on a wooden board fixed to the side of the vehicle – was not foolproof. The former technical manager for ICI in the north of England said: " One of my neighbours, Stan Mitchell, came up with the idea and helped me out, and I just went with...

PANAJI: Moo! A strange sound was heard near a court. And the sight of a cow just outside the court brought for an identification parade was stranger still. A large crowd gathered to witness a unique judicial proceeding in Valpoi, located about 70 km from state capital Panaji, where a cow made its appearance just outside a local magistrate's court. The rusty brown bovine along with its owner was ordered to be present to complete the identification parade in a criminal case, filed at the Valpoi police station last year, where two men were accused of attempting to slaughter a...

Natalie Dylan, 22, claims her offer of a one-night stand has persuaded 10,000 men to bid for sex with her. Last September, when her auction came to light, she had received bids up to £162,000 ($243,000) but since then interest in her has rocketed. The student who has a degree in Women's Studies insisted she was not demeaning herself. Miss Dylan, from San Diego, California, USA, said she was persuaded to offer herself to the highest bidder after her sister Avia, 23, paid for her own degree after working as a prostitute for three weeks. She said she had had...

The EPA, last year, published its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act. One of the suggestions the EPA made to regulate GHG is to levy a tax on livestock. “The tax for dairy cows could be $175 per cow, and $87.50 per head of beef cattle. The tax on hogs would upwards of $20 per hog,” the release said. “Any operation with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs would have to obtain permits.” Analysts predict that it would raise the cost to produce a...

From the no-I'm-really-not-making-this-up file: The media wants us to believe that environmentalists are heroic, because they fight evil. What they don't tell us is that environmentalists see life on planet earth as evil. In their newest push to criminalize/tax/control normal human behavior, the livestock industry is about to be the recipient of some unwanted attention from the government.

Wait for it.

EPA calls talk of a tax on cow flatulence a bunch of hot airBy MATT SCHOFIELD The Kansas City Star Posted on Tue, Dec. 16, 2008 10:15 PM The cow flatulence tax is not real. Comedians might wish it were. Ranchers may find sweet release in yelling about it. Congressmen might see it as an easy issue to gas about. But the Environmental Protection Agency is not — repeat, not — working up a tax on cow emissions. “I know it’s tough to even talk about this without laughing, but if you’re a farmer, it is a very scary thought,”...

CHARLESTON -- A federal proposal to tax cattle and hogs because of the methane gas they produce is causing a stink in the agriculture industry. West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass calls the plan ridiculous. The claim is that greenhouse gases, produced by the animals' belching or flatulence, create air pollution. People across the state have sent comments to the Environmental Protection Agency speaking out against the idea. "I don't think we should be taxing farmers whether their cows and pigs are producing methane gas," said Charleston resident Brittney Reiner. "Its one more thing they're trying to get money for."...

“With the economy in bad shape and the possibility of a deep recession looming, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to levy new taxes—on cows and pigs,” American Farm Bureau Federation Director of Regulatory Relations Rick Krause told Wyoming Farm Bureau members at their annual meeting. Krause spoke in Sheridan on Nov. 7. “This is no laughing matter,” Krause said. “The cow tax and the pig tax are parts of a larger scheme by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.” “Under the proposal, if a state charged the “presumptive minimum rate” from...

No excerpt, but a bear got into an apple tree. The family's cow is named apple because she likes to eat apples from this tree. The bear and cow sniff each other then the cow chases the bear away! Just what I need, a guard cow!

Even vegetarians may not be safe from 'mad cow' prions 10:34 26 June 2008 NewScientist.com news service Ewen Callaway Fancy a dose of prions with your vegetables? A new study suggests that infectious prions - thought to be the causative agents in mad cow disease and human vCJD – can survive wastewater decontamination and wind up in fertiliser, potentially contaminating fruit and vegetables. The prions would be present in such low quantities that they are unlikely to pose a health threat, but as a precaution, "we should prevent the entry of prions into wastewater treatment plants," says microbiologist Joel Pedersen,...

REGINA -- A macabre mystery that pops up around the world has surfaced once again on a secluded Saskatchewan farm. The most recent case of cattle mutilation occurred in the Stockholm area, just yards away from where Heather Harris and her husband slept. Harris was out tending the cattle the next day when she made the grisly discovery. "It's hard to describe what she looked like ...," Harris said, recalling finding the cow's corpse. "I told my husband, 'You don't even want to see this.' " The pregnant cow was missing its rectum, female organs, udder, navel, top and bottom...

Holy cow - giant Friesian may be tallest in UK By Richard Savill Last Updated: 2:08PM BST 12/05/2008   Weighing 1.25 tons, and towering 6ft 6in at the shoulder, Chilli, dwarfs most horses, is the same height as a small elephant, and could provide enough steaks to feed an army. BNPS The owners of Chilli, a black and white Friesian steer, believe he may be the tallest bovine in Britain. Naomi Clarke, care manager of the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Chard, Somerset, who raised the bullock, said: “As he was growing up we began noticing that he was bigger...

N.J. Officer Allegedly Performed Sex Acts On Cows MOORESTOWN (CBS 3) ―Authorities announced Moorestown Officer Robert Melia Jr., 38, has been charged with four counts of animal cruelty after allegedly engaging in sex acts with cows between June and December of 2006.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan elders may impose a fine on U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, payable in livestock, after a photo of her rival Barack Obama in robes dragged their people into the race for the White House. The picture, which appeared on a U.S. Web site, showed the Illinois senator in a white headdress and traditional Somali attire during a 2006 visit to Wajir in Kenya's remote northeast. Obama has battled a whispering campaign by fringe elements who wrongly say he is Muslim and his aides accused Clinton's campaign of "the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering" after the photograph was...

'Cancer curing' cow urine available in India By Rahul Bedi in New Delhi Last Updated: 3:08pm GMT 06/02/2008 India’s northern Uttarakhand state has launched a programme to buy 5000 litres of cow urine daily for use in an ancient system of herbal medicines and cosmetics known as Ayurveda. The urine 'has the potential to fight disease' State animal husbandry minister Trivendra Rawat said his department would begin collecting the urine for Rs 5 (0.064 pence) per litre from next month through a network of 1900 specially created milk cooperatives. Officials said they would have 26 species of mountain cows as...

Working with manure can drastically reduce chances of developing lung cancer, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph. Dairy farmers are five times less likely than the general populace to develop the disease, New Scientist magazine reports. The study found farmers typically breathed in dust that consisted largely of dried manure and all the bacteria that grew in it. New Scientist said adults who had a greater exposure to germs than usual might build up a better resistance to bugs, including cancer. "Some researchers are starting to wonder whether the higher incidence of certain cancers in affluent populations —...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Thieves in Malaysia stole an adult cow, squeezed it into the back seat of a car and drove off with it, but abandoned the animal when the getaway vehicle crashed into a tree, police said Thursday. The cow, injured in the crash, was slaughtered by villagers. The thieves managed to push the cow into the back of a mid-sized sedan Tuesday night, but were spotted by villagers who gave chase, said a local police official in the northern state of Kedah. He declined to be named, citing protocol. The driver lost control during the chase...

A mechanical cow that breaks wind on the hour has become Edinburgh's latest tourist attraction. The bovine backside has been attached to the side of the Rowan Tree pub in the city's historic Old Town. It lifts its tail and shoots out a cloud of white smoke at passers-by throughout the day. Pub landlord Norrie Rowan, a former Scotland international rugby star, said the cow was becoming as popular with tourists as nearby Greyfriars Bobby. It was installed on the side of the pub earlier this year, but the mechanics that allow it to break wind at 1100 GMT, noon...

MANSON, Wash. — Charles and Linda Everson were driving back to their hotel when their minivan was struck by a falling object — a 600-pound cow. The Eversons were unhurt but the cow, which had fallen off a cliff, had to be euthanized. The year-old cow fell about 200 feet from the cliff and landed on the hood of the couple's minivan, causing heavy damage. A Chelan County fire chief, Arnold Baker, said the couple missed being killed by a matter of inches in the accident Sunday on a highway near Manson. The Eversons, visiting the area from their home...

MANSON, Wash. (AP) - Charles and Linda Everson were driving back to their hotel when their minivan was struck by a falling object—a 600-pound cow. The Eversons were unhurt but the cow, which had fallen off a cliff, had to be euthanized. The year-old cow fell about 200 feet from the cliff and landed on the hood of the couple's minivan, causing heavy damage. A Chelan County fire chief, Arnold Baker, said the couple missed being killed by a matter of inches in the accident Sunday on a highway near Manson. The Eversons, visiting the area from their home in...

SPEAKING AS a guy who grew up on Velveeta and Stroehmann's, it comes as a bit of a surprise that American cheese these days means more than just petroleum-based yellow stuff wrapped in cellophane. Indeed, I think Jeffrey Roberts was compelled to name his book, "The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese" (Chelsea Green Publishing, $35), just so a yutz like me wouldn't think he'd devoted his life's work to the wonders of Kraft Monterey Jack. It turns out, American cheese makers are now holding their own against even les fromageries of France. From ripe brie to moldy blue, they're producing...

CANNONBALL, N.D. - When Beverly and Ernie Fischer gathered up their cattle this fall in Morton County, they rounded up a little more than they expected. We were moving some cattle, and we got a moose," Ernie Fischer said. "He thinks he is a cow," said his wife. Ernie Fischer said it was difficult to get the young bull moose away from the cattle, and workers put it in a separate corral until it could be released. The moose also broke fences on the ranch 20 miles south of Mandan. It's not the only such incident in south central North...

Ranchettes have replaced working ranches in much of California, and now there are pint-sized cows to match. In the past two years, Bev Boriolo, 72, and her husband, Don, have built a herd of 12 miniature Hereford cattle, all well under 4 feet tall. The couple, who live on a grassy 30-acre parcel near Plymouth, are raising animals for a small but growing niche in the livestock business: little cattle for little ranches. The smallest of the miniature breeds stand less than 3 feet tall, full grown. They're cute, they keep the weeds down, and, as Boriolo says, "they're as...