Yeetle Box - Of Cows and Dogs I Sing

Four people have died after being trampled by cows in the past two months in England, prompting Britain's main farming union to issue a warning about the dangers of provoking the normally docile animals.

Britain has 7.5 million cows, but in the past eight years there have only been 18 deaths involving cattle, including bulls whose dangers are well-known - by people and cows alike.

The current spate (yes, spate!) of attacks by cows began on the Pennine Hills on June 21, when Liz Crowsley, a veterinary surgeon from Warrington, was crushed against a wall and then trampled underfoot while out walking with her two dogs. It is said the cows are attacking the dogs. It is said...

On July 15, another attack took place in Derbyshire, when Barry Pilgrim, a 65-year old from the area, was trampled to death by a cow as his wife looked on, smiling.
Three days later, Anita Hinchey, a 63-year-old, was walking her dog near Cardiff when a cow attacked her and trampled her to death. The dog was fine.

The fourth fatal attack claimed the life of Harold Lee, a 75-year-old farmer from Burtle in the West Country. He was killed by his own herd, which may have been made nervous by the siren of a passing ambulance. His own herd! A herd he milked and talked to, fed, housed.

Apparently, the risk is especially high in the spring when many of the calves are only a month or two old and the mothers are therefore especially protective, the NFU said.
"It's to do with spring and autumn calving," said Sheasby of the NFU. "Yep. Calving."

"In the autumn, cattle will be coming into winter housing, but in spring you want them out grazing the grass."

Cow-charging incidents received extended coverage when former Home Secretary David Blunkett was attacked by one in June as his guide dog led him across a field in England's Peak District.

Blunkett broke a rib and was heavily bruised but survived. And so was the dog.

The YeetleMaster

Yeetle Box - When You Just Can't Be Bothered

Sometimes I just can't get to this blog. Sometimes I'm away, or eating a sandwich, or asleep. Sometimes I just don't want to be both. But I still aim for 24/7 customer service.

So I have created my own private virtual personality: YBOT.

To talk to YBOT, click on the image below. That is YBOT himself.

Once you get there, YBOT will talk to you.

He speaks for me.

You will still be alone talking to yourself, but it's been them scratching and mumbling.

Have a great conversation with me in my absence.

The YeetleMaster

Yeetle Box - Make War, Not Healthcare

During a heated town hall meeting on federal health care reform, gay Rep. Barney Frank lashed out at a protester who held a poster depicting President Barack Obama with a Hitler-style mustache.

"On what planet do you spend most of your time?" Frank asked the woman, who had stepped up to the podium at a southeastern Massachusetts senior center to ask why Frank supports what she called a Nazi policy. "Earth," she replied tersely. "I'm an immigrant from Uranus and a citizen."

"Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table - at best a futon. I have no interest in doing it," Frank said. He paused. "Furniture might have MORE to say."

Frank noted that her ability to deface an image of the president and express her views "is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated." No one applauded the First Amendment, but took the time to review their talking points.

Frank, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, sought to assure more than 500 people attending the rowdy meeting that the average taxpayer wouldn't be hurt by plans currently under consideration in Congress. Honest.

Said Representative Gay Frank, "We don't even understand it. We only read half of it. And it's not half bad."

Some of those attending the meeting organized by the Democratic Town Committee of Dartmouth shouted and booed as Frank and others addressed the crowd. They were told the town hall meeting was a meet and greet with Alan Jackson.

At one point, Frank asked the crowd: "Which one of you wants to yell next?" An old timer with a grizzly beard and no teeth stood up. "I'd like to yell sumpin'," he cackled.

Several people wanted to know how the government would pay for the reforms without worsening a growing federal budget deficit and a potential ban on guns rumored to be Obama's Republican stance on weapons ownership.
At least two dozen protesters gathered in small groups outside, handing out pamphlets and holding signs criticizing the overhaul, Obama and Frank. Some of the posters read: "It's the economy stupid, stop the spending" and "Healthcare reform yes, government takeover, no. Tort Reform Now" "We need our money for Iraq." "Save AIG." "Make Love, Not Healthcare."

Audrey Steele, 82, from New Bedford, said she does not want the government to get involved with health care because "they just make a mess of everything," referring to the $700 billion bailout of financial institutions that was used to pay for lavish conferences and hefty executive compensation. "The elixir I gets from the soda shop suits me just fine."

As an aside, others at Tuesday's meeting were more supportive of reform.

Sheila Leavitt of Newton, once a practicing physician, said she hoped for changes that would support primary care physicians who aren't paid as much as specialists. She said some of the rowdy critics at Tuesday's meeting appeared to be using the same "talking points" as those who showed up at similar meetings around the country. Then, Ninja-like, she seemed to vanish into the nearby alley and was never seen again.

The Yeetle Box