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KANGAROO numbers could explode due to a Russian ban on roo meat exports from Australia, farm leaders say. Queensland farm body AgForce has warned of an environmental disaster and threats to the viability of regional communities. Russia suspended meat imports from about 24 Australian processing plants on the basis of new health standards. The move, to start next month, affects all kangaroo meat exports, as well as some beef, sheep meat and other game meat. AgForce sheep and wool president Brent Finlay said kangaroo harvesting and exporting would not be viable without the Russian market, which takes about 70 per...

Christina Cooper's constant companion these days is a foundling kangaroo named Skippy, who was rejected by his mother at a wildlife park in Folsom. Inside the canvas carryall over Cooper's shoulder is an artificial kangaroo pouch for the 6-month-old red kangaroo. It's demanding duty - Skippy must be fed every four hours.

QUEENSLAND father of three has put Bondi Rescue, Bondi Vet and Steve Irwin to shame with an early morning rescue of a drowning kangaroo off a tourist beach. Neil McCallum, 48, was on a morning walk with his son, Jazz, 15, about 6am (AEST) on Tuesday along Kirra Beach on the Gold Coast when a juvenile roo bounded across his path, jumped into the surf and started swimming out to sea. Concerned that two hammerhead sharks had been in the same spot in recent days, the pair kept an eye on the roo until it got caught in a rip,...

An Australian kangaroo shot through the head with an arrow is expected to make a full recovery, wildlife officers say. The injured kangaroo was found on Thursday in parklands near Melbourne's outer suburb, where it is believed to have survived for up to a week. Melbourne Zoo vet Michael Lynch says he will monitor the kangaroo for the next three weeks but remains optimistic. Wildlife Victoria has posted a Aus$10,000 ( US$7,600, £5,000) reward to find the person responsible. Wildlife Victoria spokeswoman Fiona Corke, said the kangaroo was rescued just days after another kangaroo was found with an arrow in...

With her huge furrry ears and long, quivering nose, baby kangaroo Tijana is utterly adorable. But her unarguable cuteness hides a rather unfortunate start to her short life. At just a few weeks old, the tiny creature tumbled from the pouch of her mother, who had been terrified by an emu. Tijana, who lives at Belgrade Zoo, in Serbia, had to be retrieved by staff and is now being handreared. She is still so young she cannot survive outside of a pouch and must stay in a special incubator, where the temperature remains a constant 35C. Biologists have also made...

Skippy surprises scientists by Carl Wieland 20 January 2009 Feeling jumpy? It may not be from what you think. Researchers at Australia’s government-backed Centre of Excellence for Kangaroo Genomics have mapped the genetic code of these marsupials, and were surprised at the amazing similarity to that of humans...

OCOEE, Fla. -- An eyewitness saw a robber brutally beating a store clerk in Ocoee, so he pulled a gun out of his car at the Kangaroo gas station on Franklin Street (see map) and fatally shot the robber. That witness talked to Eyewitness News about his decision to pull the trigger and said he'd shoot that robber again if he had to (watch full interview). He's a regular at the store and said he was coming to buy some cigarettes when he heard the clerk screaming. He told Eyewitness News he not only grabbed his cell phone to call...

How kangaroo burgers could save the planet25 December 2008 by Bijal Trivedi COWS, sheep and goats may seem like innocent victims of humanity's appetite for meat, but when it comes to climate change they have a dark secret. Forget cars, planes or even power stations, some of the world's worst greenhouse gas emitters wander idly across rolling pastures chewing the cud, oblivious to the fact that their continuous belching (and to a lesser degree, farting) is warming the planet. Take New Zealand, where 34.2 million sheep, 9.7 million cattle, 1.4 million deer and 155,000 goats emit 48 per cent of...

News Release Charge Laid Relating to Death of Presumed Insurgent CFNIS 2009-01 - January 2, 2009 OTTAWA – The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) has charged one military officer late yesterday with an offence relating to the death of a presumed insurgent in Helmand Province on or about October 19, 2008. Captain Robert Semrau was charged with one count of second-degree murder, contrary to Section 130 of the National Defence Act, pursuant to Section 235(1) of the Criminal Code. Captain Semrau was a member of the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team at the time of the incident. He is...

Three Singaporeans were jailed on Thursday after being charged with contempt of court for showing up at Singapore's Supreme Court wearing T-shirts depicting kangaroos in judges robes. Isrizal Bin Mohamed Isa and Muhammad Shafi'ie Syahmi Bin Sariman were sentenced to seven days' jail, while Tan Liang Joo John received 15 days imprisonment. They were each ordered to pay S$5,000 ($3,305) in costs. Tan is the Assistant Secretary-General of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party, led by Chee Soon Juan. The three had worn the T-shirts at a court hearing in May to determine the damages that Chee Soon Juan and his...

Humans and kangaroos are close cousins on the evolutionary tree sharing a common ancestor 150 million years ago, according to Australian researchers. Scientists have mapped the genetic code of the Australian marsupials for the first time and found large chunks of DNA are the same. 'There are a few differences, we have a few more of this, a few less of that, but they are the same genes and a lot of them are in the same order,'  said Jenny Graves, director of the Centre of Excellence for Kangaroo Genomics. 'We thought they'd be completely scrambled, but they're not....

"Australians should replace beef and lamb on the dinner table with kangaroo to fight climate change, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's chief climate-change adviser says. Professor Ross Garnaut has suggested in his final report on climate change that the nation's farmers should switch to the low-emission meat. He also suggests Australian families should give up beef and eat more kangaroo."

SYDNEY, Australia -- An elderly Australian woman knocked over and savaged by a large kangaroo on her farm was saved when a dog rushed to her aid and chased the animal away, her son said Saturday. Rosemary Neal, from western New South Wales, was attacked by a male kangaroo estimated to be up to two meters (six feet, six inches) tall and weighing 100 kilograms (220 pounds) as she crossed a field to check her horses, her son Darren said. "The kangaroo has just jumped up and launched straight at her. He hit her once and she just dropped and...

Dog comes to the rescue of baby kangaroo Last Updated: 5:52pm BST 31/03/2008 A dog has rescued a tiny baby kangaroo, gently carrying it to safety in its mouth after the joey's mother was killed by car. Rex the dog found the four-month-old joey in the pouch of its dead mother and carried it to safety Rex, the German short-haired pointer cross, was walking with his owner, Leonie Allan, near the Bells Beach in Torquay, on Australia's south coast, when they passed a dead kangaroo. The marsupials are often killed while crossing busy roads, so Mrs Allan thought nothing of...

SYDNEY (AFP) - Most Australians have eaten kangaroo meat and the best way of getting them to eat more of the national animal is to turn it into pies, mince and gourmet deli meat, researchers have found. ADVERTISEMENT The findings, published in local media Friday, come amidst growing international protests over plans to cull 400 kangaroos on defence department land where they are said to be overgrazing. The British-based Viva! -- Vegetarians International Voice for Animals -- says more than 2,000 people have signed a petition on its website against the cull and local protesters have threatened to blockade the...

The top secret American spy base at Pine Gap (pictured) will have to make a full and frank disclosure about what it is doing, on the doorstep of Alice Springs, next time a government wants to prosecute trespassers on Pine Gap land under the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act 1952. This could be a consequence of the acquittal of the Pine Gap Four, in a unanimous decision by the NT Supreme Court last Friday. The four pacifists – Donna Mulhearn, Bryan Law, Adele Goldie and Jim Dowling of Christians Against All Terrorism – had been convicted under the never-before-used Act of...

From March 13-16, 2008, members of the antiwar group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will gather in Washington, DC to “testify” against the US military at a protest event called Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan. The name “Winter Soldier” is taken from the infamous 1971 event at which members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) related gruesome stories of crimes they claimed to have participated in or witnessed. The VVAW insisted that rape, torture and murder were standard practices for the US military in Vietnam. Organizers of the new IVAW tribunal, which is supported by several former...

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian scientists are trying to give kangaroo-style stomachs to cattle and sheep in a bid to cut the emission of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, researchers say. Thanks to special bacteria in their stomachs, kangaroo flatulence contains no methane and scientists want to transfer that bacteria to cattle and sheep who emit large quantities of the harmful gas. While the usual image of greenhouse gas pollution is a billowing smokestack pushing out carbon dioxide, livestock passing wind contribute a surprisingly high percentage of total emissions in some countries. "Fourteen percent of emissions from all sources in...

MORE kangaroos should be slaughtered and eaten to help save the world from global warming, environmental activists say.

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- Bay St. Louis animal-control officers said there have been several reports in the past few days of a kangaroo hopping along U.S. 90. Mayor Eddie Favre said he's heard reports of people seeing a kangaroo four or five different times, and at first, Favre said, he wondered if someone was just joking around. Some officials suspect the animal was someone's pet that may have escaped. Based on eyewitness accounts, the kangaroo is about 4 feet tall. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs said kangaroos usually feed on fruits and vegetables. Most are nocturnal, but some...

Conrad Black found guilty on 3 charges CBC News Last Updated: Friday, July 13, 2007 | 11:35 AM ET Businessman Conrad Black has been found guilty on two mail fraud charges and one obstruction of justice charge, a Chicago courtroom was told Friday morning. On the other changes, Black was found not guilty. The jury's verdict came after 12 days of deliberation. There is no word of verdicts in the cases of three Hollinger executives who were being tried alongside the Canadian media baron. More to come.

A kangaroo is roaming the green hills of Ireland after escaping a circus near the picturesque port of Kinsale. "This kangaroo broke loose just before the show while they were bringing him from the cages to the arena. He decided to take a walk," said local farmer John Walsh on whose land the 2-year-old male, named Sydney, made his break for freedom. Circus staff launched a fruitless four-hour search following the escape on Sunday. There had since been one unconfirmed sighting of the animal, renamed "Hoppy" by locals and described as two and a half to three foot (76 to...

SYDNEY (July 12) - Forget cute, cuddly marsupials. A team of Australian paleontologists say they have found the fossilized remains of a fanged killer kangaroo and what they describe as a "demon duck of doom." A University of New South Wales team said the fearsome fossils were among 20 previously unknown species uncovered at a site in northwest Queensland state. Professor Michael Archer said on Wednesday the remains of a meat-eating kangaroo with wolf-like fangs were found as well as a galloping kangaroo with long forearms that could not hop like a modern kangaroo. "Because they didn't hop, these were...

SYDNEY, Australia - Forget cute, cuddly marsupials. Paleontologists say they have found the fossilized remains of a fanged killer kangaroo and what they describe as a "demon duck of doom." A University of New South Wales team said the fearsome fossils were among 20 previously unknown species uncovered at a site in Australia's northwest Queensland state. Professor Michael Archer said Wednesday that the remains of a meat-eating kangaroo with wolflike fangs were found, as well as a galloping kangaroo with long forearms that could not hop like a modern kangaroo. "Because they didn't hop, these were galloping kangaroos, with big,...

"Never, My Love" Based on the performance by The Association"Murtha, Shut Up" Parody by Sarcastic Paranoid Murtha, Murtha, Murtha... What more can we say about you? What more should we say, really? Well, really, there's only one thing left to say: You ask us to frame up a timeTo cut and run for you;Murtha, shut up.Murtha, shut up. You schmooze the New York Traitor-Slimes,And slander our nation's troops.Murtha, shut up.Murtha, shut up. Saddam Hussein's your best friend,And Al Qaeda's terrorists depend on you!(Screw you!) Murtha, shut up.Murtha, shut up. Ev'ry time you shoot off your mouth,You find more holes in...

IT could only happen in America – plastic surgery on a kangaroo. The aspiring Skippy's career appeared to be on the rocks after being attacked by a wolf last year. But then plastic surgeon of 25 years Theodore Corwin, better known for performing facelifts, tummy tucks, breast enhancements and other cosmetic procedures on humans, stepped in. The Los Angeles-based surgeon spent two hours operating on the four-year-old kangaroo, named Feznik, to reconstruct his lip and save his burgeoning career as an actor. "He was missing part of one side of the lip and it made him look ugly and his...

When (and How) Did Hamilton County Endorse Mike DeWine? Answer: Glad you asked. In its Friday profiles of the US Senate candidates, The Cincinnati Enquirer noted that Mike DeWine has been endorsed by Hamilton County's Republican Party. Those who have only recently begun following Ohio's upcoming primary races, especially the GOP US Senate race, need to know what happened in Hamilton County. It is an object lesson in corrupt party kangaroo cronyism and Old Media ignorance. Once you know what happened in Hamilton County, you will know that the county party's so-called endorsement of Mike DeWine isn't worth diddly squat....

The mainstream Western media coverage of the death of Slobodan Milosevic, while predictably relentless in its clichés (the “Butcher of the Balkans,� guilty of “starting three wars� and ordering ethnic cleansing and genocide in his pursuit of a “greater Serbia,� etc.), has ignored the unresolved mystery surrounding the event itself. Having spent a week in Belgrade talking to a score of well-placed individuals at different ends of the political spectrum, I can present to our readers the facts of the case that are deemed unfit to print by their Gannett, Tribune, NYT, or Knight Ridder outlets. Milosevic was found...

SOMETHING is puzzling the great insurance companies of France. Every few months or so, a French provincial motorist submits a claim for damage to a vehicle with a wild attendant story about hitting a kangaroo deep in the ancient forest of Rambouillet. The funny thing is, it's not made up. It was in December, just before Christmas, recalls Brigitte Perrin, 56, who lives in the tiny forest township of Emance. "My husband and I were driving home, and it was very cold and dark," she said. "Suddenly a kangaroo jumped in front of the car. It was like a deer,...

THE competition to create a "sugar-coated" name to inspire people to eat kangaroo meat has a winner -"australus". Run by the Sydney-based magazine Food Companion International, the competition attracted 2700 suggestions from 41 nations. Only entries from people working in the food industry were eligible. Finalists included "kangarly", "maroo", "krou", "maleen", "kuja", "roujoe", "rooviande", "jurru", "ozru" and "marsu". Also submitted were "kangasaurus", "marsupan", "jumpmeat" and "MOM" (meat of marsupials). As Greg Richardson, of Pacific Palisades in California, explained of his entry: "There is nothing more comforting than a mother. In order to make kangaroo meat sound more comforting to potential...

Sydney - Australia has launched a competition to find a new way of describing kangaroo meat which will be less offensive to diners sensitive about eating the national symbol. Organisers point out that a slice of cow or pig on a plate is called by the more palatable euphemisms of beef or pork, and want to find a similarly savoury name for cute kangaroos. Kangaroo meat sales have grown 50-fold in the past decade to create a $200m a year industry, with Europe a major export market for the low-fat red meat and Russians lapping it up in sausages. But...

The United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for one of five Croatian journalists it accused of repeatedly ignoring secrecy orders by judges. All five were charged this year with "knowingly and willfully" publishing the name of a protected witness, and, the indictments added, with publishing excerpts from private testimony by that witness. Four have come to The Hague to plead not guilty. The arrest warrant for the fifth, Josip Jovic, a former editor in chief of the Croatian daily Slobodna Dalmacija, was issued after he did not come to The Hague on Monday...

MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov said Tuesday the Hague trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, indicted for war crimes in the Kosovo War, was biased. Primakov, who also served as head of intelligence and currently is president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said at the presentation of his new book, which comprises transcripts of Russian defense evidence at the Hague Tribunal: "It is hard to speak about the court's objectivity. The Tribunal is targeting a guilty verdict for Slobodan Milosevic." Primakov appeared as a defense witness at Milosevic's trial,...

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Russians are among the world's greatest lovers of kangaroos - particularly in sausages. Russia is the biggest export market for the meat and offal of Australia's beloved national symbol, spending $11 million on the gamey flesh in 2004, according to trade department economist Tim Harcourt said. "Australia can't produce enough kangaroo meat," Russian importer Igor Dorokhov told Australian Associated Press. "We need 100 containers per month; Australia can only produce 25," he added. Dorokhov, who runs I.D. Game Meats, said kangaroo was becoming popular as a cheap, red sausage meat among the eight million residents of...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - At first glance, Walt Temple thought the animal he saw hopping through the city was a deer. "But then, why would it be on its back legs?" he wondered. It turns out a deer wouldn't be hopping on its hind legs. But a kangaroo would. So he called South Bend Animal Care and Control on Monday to let them know he thought he just saw a kangaroo, not far from the South Bend Regional Airport. "I didn't believe him," animal control officer Sumyr Springfield said. Then Springfield, who was first on the scene, saw the top...

Kangaroo on the Loose Near W. Va. Town CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A kangaroo has been on the loose for the last several months outside Charleston, perplexing authorities who have had problems catching it. The 3-foot kangaroo, believed to be a male, comes out mostly at night or in the early morning, officials said. He makes appearances in backyards and on the county's rural roads. "People will call in and say, 'I swear I'm not drunk or on drugs, but I just saw a kangaroo,'" state conservation officer Clyde Armstead said Thursday. The first person to report seeing the kangaroo called...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - They might make you jump higher, but they're illegal. They're soccer cleats made from kangeroo hide and they're being sold in several California stores. Now a Democratic lawmaker who says retailers are losing revenue wants to rewrite state law to allow sales of the critter cleats. Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, wants to limit the state penal code prohibiting the importation of kangaroo body parts to cover only kangaroos protected by the Endangered Species Act. Most major athletic footwear manufacturers use hides of nonendangered kangaroo to make high-end soccer cleats, favored by dedicated players. But selling kangaroo...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should...

MIRA MESA – San Diego police jumped on a report of a fugitive kangaroo on Canyon Peak Lane last night. A woman phoned police about 10:35 p.m. saying a 3-foot-tall kangaroo was hopping down the street. Westbound. Then a man called 20 minutes later saying it was back, and it was for real. The three officers who headed that way confirmed her report. Casting about for an explanation, police called the San Diego Wild Animal Park. They were told the park keeps no kangaroos. Park workers suggested calling an animal control officer. About 11:30 p.m. the kangaroo's owner showed up,...

So where is Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army now? After taking serious losses against American and Iraqi forces and cynically hiding behind Shiite Islam’s most holy shrine in Najaf, these cowards have melted back into Iraqi society. Or have they? There are many questions to be answered regarding al-Sadr’s future, as he most certainly will oppose the growth of democracy in Iraq. Will al-Sadr and his thugs be held accountable for the violent crimes they committed in Najaf? During their reign of terror, they apparently held a kangaroo court. After Iraq’s top Shiite, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, pressured al-Sadr to...

Authorities are puzzled in Chile after a number of motorists reported seeing strange creatures resembling dinosaur kangaroos. The reports describe creatures more than two metres tall on a road north of Santiago, reports UOL Noticias Populares. The sightings were registered on different days by people who had driven along the road linking Iquique and Arica, through the Atacama Desert. One witness, Hernan Cuevas, said: "A weird animal looking like a dinosaur with two legs and huge thighs crossed the road in front of my car." A police spokesperson said: "It is not uncommon for people to see strange things near...

Kangaroo fights dog, then owner By Peter Jean 06aug04 A WOMAN was kicked and scratched by a red kangaroo when she tried to rescue her pet dog from a fight, in the second attack of its kind in Canberra in a month. Drought conditions have driven kangaroos close to homes in the search for food in the nation's capital. Maree Steer said she suffered deep scratches and bruises to her arms, legs and chest when she went to the aid of her Labrador, Nelson. The attack occurred on a nature reserve near Canberra's northern suburbs after the dog bit the...

BERLIN (Reuters) - German police chased an escaped pet kangaroo across meadows and country lanes for four hours before the owner managed to catch it with a giant net, police in the western town of Limburg said on Tuesday.   A thunderstorm knocked out the electric lock on Kippy's cage and set the kangaroo free. It roamed the German countryside for some 24 hours before it was captured. Passers-by called police after they spotted Kippy near a motorway -- high fences lining the road saved Kippy from running toward speeding cars, an instinct that ends the lives of many kangaroos...

CANBERRA, Australia — A kangaroo will receive a valor award for rescuing a farmer who was knocked unconscious by a falling tree limb, Australia's national animal-protection society said yesterday. Lulu, a 4-year-old, one-eyed eastern gray kangaroo, raised the alarm after Len Richards was knocked cold in September while checking for storm damage on his cattle ranch about 100 miles east of Melbourne. Australia's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) will present Lulu with the Australian Animal Valor Award next month. "It's the first time a native animal has ever received the award," said Jenny Hodges, the...

Assemblyman Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach, says he wants to professionalize and standardize the state's byzantine tax system, but the results of a bill he co-authored would be ominous to small business owners who are disputing the taxes levied on their firms. Introduced by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, and similar to legislation introduced by John Burton, D-San Francisco, in the Senate, AB 2472 claims to make the state's tax system fairer and, thereby give California taxpayers more confidence in the state's tax system. It is billed as a "good government" measure, but that's true only if one believes the best government...

I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE TRANSCIPTS OF THIS WEEKS 9-11 HEARINGS AND HAVEN'T HAD ANY LUCK. ADMITTEDLY, I'M NOT THE MOST RESOURCEFUL FREEPER, CAN SOMEONE WHO IS HELP ME? THANKS

He had so much hate in his eyes." Kangaroo like this one accused of aggravated battery (photo courtesy Spinifex Safaris) That's what 48-year-old Sylvia Aldren said after being pummeled and flayed by a kangaroo in the Australian state of Queensland. "I can still see his big, beady eyes, like you see in a Martian video," she told the Brisbane Courier-Mail. Aldren, from the town of Burpengary, suffered a large puncture wound on her neck as well as claw marks all over her body from today's frenzied attack. "My nightie was covered in blood and there are paw marks on the...

John Kerry (news - web sites) battled John Edwards (news - web sites) from New York to California in a 10-state show of strength Tuesday, seeking to shove his last major rival from the race and claim the Democratic presidential nomination. Pre-election polling gave Kerry an edge in almost every Election Day venue as he sought a lion's share of the victories to make Edwards' presidential bid a political, if not quite a mathematical, impossibility. Kerry was already pivoting toward a general-election fight with President Bush (news - web sites). "Boy, wait until you see the fire in my belly,"...

Gentle Freepers, Today I received a phone call from Don Adams. The case he and his sister Teri are waging against the Teamsters, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham is in imminent danger of failing for lack of funds. (If you are not familiar with Don and Teri Adams and their struggles, please turn to the "REMEDIAL SECTION" below.) Now, I know that FreeRepublic is not a forum for fundraising, but FreeRepublic has been involved in the plight of the Adamses since the moment it began in October, 1998, and because Freepers have given generous support...

<p>CNN) -- Television's Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan, died Friday morning in Vermont, a family friend told CNN. He was 76.</p> <p>Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo in 1981.</p> <p>He died after a long illness, his family told The Associated Press.</p> <p>"Captain Kangaroo," a children's show, featured the walrus-mustached, bowl-haircut Keeshan entertaining youngsters with his gentle, whimsical humor. Among the show's other characters were the puppets Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose, as well as Dancing Bear and the laconic Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh Brannum).</p>