That was a great video of Steve Urkel up there! (Jaleel White) He's probably thrilled and surprised that 2 of the judges compared him to White Knights and Gregory Hines:

Quote:

Hi again Evelyn,

Here is another story involving animals; this one touched my heart. I hope you as well as your friends and visitors like it.

Hugs,

Miguel

Rare Kindness: Farmer Saves Cows from Slaughter & Provides Idyllic Life

• by Laura Simpson
• March 17, 2012

Written by David Lay of Missouri

Traveling with a neighbor to pick up some cows he bought, I ended up with a beef cow of my own. Minnie, a Brangus (a cross between an Angus and a Brahma) was among the 25 other cows my neighbor had bought. The owner asked him if he wanted this one cow who didn’t calve last year. When a cow misses a calving, very often they are “culled” because the farmer can’t take the chance she’ll miss again, costing him too much money.

“No, I really don’t want her,” my neighbor said.

The owner then said that he’d just have to “send her off” himself.

I don’t know why, but I felt sorry for the old girl and piped up “I’ll take her!” and so my neighbor loaded her onto his trailer with his newly aquired cows and off we went back home. I have a small farm with a few milk cows and I just couldn’t imagine what I was going to do with a beef cow, especially one that couldn’t have calves, but I did know I couldn’t stand the thought of her being slaughtered. She had a shiny, jet black coat and big, beautiful eyes, and I soon found out she was very tame and liked to have her tail scratched.

Since Minnie was a cow that couldn’t have calves, I just let her out with the other cows and my bull figuring I just had a big pet. Nine and one half months later, Maxwell, her new little bull calf, was born. It also turns out she’s a great milker, too. She was very easy to train to be milked, and gives a very rich, white milk. Since then she’s had another calf named Maynard, a daughter named Molly, and just last month had a little boy named Mutt. Because she was crossed with a dairy bull, her sons make great oxen, with long legs and powerful muscles, who can, therefore, live long and useful lives with someone who can use these big, beautiful animals to help around the place and eat hay when there’s nothing else to do. As for the heifer calf, I’m training Molly to go through the milking stall with the other cows, and now I’m figuring out a way to start a school to train oxen (and their owners).

Most cows aren’t this lucky. We slaughter more than 3 million cows a day in this country, and Minnie wouldn’t have even been a blip on the radar. Saving one cow doesn’t seem like much, until you meet her and you reallize what an incredible girl she is. She is very intelligent (she figures out how to open gates and finds the shortest path to the feed) and will always walk over to me for a scratch on her back when I come into the field. Minnie will live out her natural life here on my little farm, and will leave a legacy (and a lot of progeny) behind when she goes to that big pasture in the sky. Not bad for the “little” cow that couldn’t.

Maggie is an older cow I bought at the sale barn. She was being sold with the slaughter cows. She can’t have calves, but she is the grand matron of the herd	Max was born in 2009	Mini arrives on the farm.
Here is Mini with her calf Max born in 2009.	Mini with Sessy girl	Molly looking a little dusty after several days of high wind…a shiny coat underneath.

More on David’s Farm Haven

David’s farm cost him more than $40,000 last year and its income was a little over $6,000. It’s essentially a working sanctuary which he funds on his own. He does not separate calves from their mothers during nursing and would never dream of sending them off to become veal.

As for training oxen, he explains, “Animals that are trained to do work and are well cared for live long, happy lives. They often become very dear pets for their owners, whom I will try to screen to make sure they will not use these animals in cruel and inhumane ways; hence I create a way for an animal that would otherwise be someone’s food to not only live but to have an occupation that puts it in demand as something other than dinner, which is a very short occupation indeed.”

David knows that without his farm, most of the cows would become a ”half-eaten hamburger at McDonald’s thrown in the trash.”

This story is brought to you by The Great Animal Rescue Chase.

Related Stories:

Race to Save Yvonne, The Runaway Cow

Old Stray Dog Wins the Lottery

Support a Bill to Help Chained Dogs in Massachusetts

Read more: David Lay, farmer saves cows, great animal rescue chase, humane farming

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/rare-kindness-farmer-saves-cows-from-slaughter-provides-idyllic-life.html#ixzz1pluCGeYb

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For those of you who live in the USA, here is an article I thought you might find interesting. I got this in an email from a long time email friend and I did not know this until I read it. Maybe some of you didn't know it either.

Quote:
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other"
~John Adams

WHY MR. ROGERS WORE A SWEATER!

Captain Kangaroo passed away on January 23, 2004, at age 76 , which is odd, because he always looked to be 76. (DOB: 6/27/27)
His death reminded me of the following story:

Some people have been a bit offended that the actor, Lee Marvin,
is buried in a grave alongside 3 and 4-star generals at Arlington National Cemetery.His marker gives his name, rank (PVT) and service (USMC). Nothing else.

Here's a guy who was only a famous movie star who served his time.
Why the heck does he rate burial with these guys?
Well, following is the amazing answer:
I always liked Lee Marvin, but didn't know the extent
of his Corps experiences.

In a time when many Hollywood stars served their country
in the armed forces often in rear echelon posts where they
were carefully protected, only to be trotted out to perform
for the cameras in war bond promotions,
Lee Marvin was a genuine hero.
He won the Navy Cross at Iwo Jima . There is only one
higher Naval award...the Medal Of Honor!

If that is a surprising comment on the true character of the man,
he credits his sergeant with an even greater show of bravery.
The following is a dialog from "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson."

His guest was Lee Marvin...Johnny said,
"Lee, I'll bet a lot of people are unaware
that you were a Marine in the initial landing at Iwo Jima...
and that during the course of that action, you earned
the Navy Cross and were severely wounded."

"Yeah, yeah... I got shot square in the bottom and they gave me
the Cross for securing a hot spot about halfway up Suribachi.

Bad thing about getting shot up on a mountain is guys getting
shot hauling you down. But, Johnny, at Iwo, I served under
the bravest man I ever knew...We both got the Cross the same day,
but what he did for his Cross made mine look cheap in comparison.
That dumb guy actually stood up on Red Beach and directed his
troops to move forward and get the hell off the beach.

Bullets were flying by, with mortar rounds landing everywhere,
and he stood there as the main target of gunfire so he could get his
men to safety. He did this on more than one occasion because
his men's safety was more important than his own life.

That Sergeant and I have been lifelong friends. When they brought
me off Suribachi, we passed the Sergeant and he lit a smoke and
passed it to me, lying on my belly on the litter and said,
"Where'd they get you Lee?" I told him, "Well Bob...
if you make it home before me, tell Mom to sell the outhouse!"
Johnny, I'm not lying, Sergeant Keeshan was the bravest man
I ever knew. The Sergeant's name is Bob Keeshan.

You and the world know him as Captain Kangaroo."
On another note, there was this wimpy little man
on PBS, gentle and quiet. Mr. Rogers (who has now passed away)
is another of those you would least suspect of being anything
but what he portrayed to our youth.

But Mr. Rogers was a U.S. Navy Seal, combat-proven in
Vietnam with over twenty-five confirmed kills to his name.
He wore a long-sleeved sweater on TV, to cover
the many tattoos on his forearms and biceps.
He was a master in small arms and hand-to-hand combat,
able to disarm or kill in a heartbeat.

After the war Mr. Rogers became an ordained Presbyterian minister
and therefore a pacifist. Vowing to never harm another human and
also dedicating the rest of his life to trying to help lead children on
the right path in life... He hid away the tattoos and his past life
and won our hearts with his quiet wit and charm.

America's real heroes don't flaunt what they did; they quietly go
about their day-to-day lives, doing what they do best.
They earned our respect and the freedoms that we all enjoy.
Look around and see if you can find
one of those heroes in your midst.

Often, they are the ones you'd least suspect, but would most like
to have on your side if anything ever happened.
Take the time to thank anyone who has fought for our freedom.
With encouragement they could be the next Captain Kangaroo or Mr. Rogers!
If you do share it, you will be awakening others to what a HERO is made of...

Thank you Miguel, being raised on a farm, this brought back wonderful memories of my childhood where we had all kinds of farm animals and my mother milked a cow until my dad retired and they started going camping in one of the camp grounds in mountains and they got rid of her because a cow has to be milked twice a day, in the morning and evening. I think growing up on a farm is wonderful and I have many precious memories of that time. :)

Quote:

Hi again Evelyn,

Here is another story involving animals; this one touched my heart. I hope you as well as your friends and visitors like it.

Hugs,

Miguel

Rare Kindness: Farmer Saves Cows from Slaughter & Provides Idyllic Life

• by Laura Simpson
• March 17, 2012

Written by David Lay of Missouri

Traveling with a neighbor to pick up some cows he bought, I ended up with a beef cow of my own. Minnie, a Brangus (a cross between an Angus and a Brahma) was among the 25 other cows my neighbor had bought. The owner asked him if he wanted this one cow who didn’t calve last year. When a cow misses a calving, very often they are “culled” because the farmer can’t take the chance she’ll miss again, costing him too much money.

“No, I really don’t want her,” my neighbor said.

The owner then said that he’d just have to “send her off” himself.

I don’t know why, but I felt sorry for the old girl and piped up “I’ll take her!” and so my neighbor loaded her onto his trailer with his newly aquired cows and off we went back home. I have a small farm with a few milk cows and I just couldn’t imagine what I was going to do with a beef cow, especially one that couldn’t have calves, but I did know I couldn’t stand the thought of her being slaughtered. She had a shiny, jet black coat and big, beautiful eyes, and I soon found out she was very tame and liked to have her tail scratched.

Since Minnie was a cow that couldn’t have calves, I just let her out with the other cows and my bull figuring I just had a big pet. Nine and one half months later, Maxwell, her new little bull calf, was born. It also turns out she’s a great milker, too. She was very easy to train to be milked, and gives a very rich, white milk. Since then she’s had another calf named Maynard, a daughter named Molly, and just last month had a little boy named Mutt. Because she was crossed with a dairy bull, her sons make great oxen, with long legs and powerful muscles, who can, therefore, live long and useful lives with someone who can use these big, beautiful animals to help around the place and eat hay when there’s nothing else to do. As for the heifer calf, I’m training Molly to go through the milking stall with the other cows, and now I’m figuring out a way to start a school to train oxen (and their owners).

Most cows aren’t this lucky. We slaughter more than 3 million cows a day in this country, and Minnie wouldn’t have even been a blip on the radar. Saving one cow doesn’t seem like much, until you meet her and you reallize what an incredible girl she is. She is very intelligent (she figures out how to open gates and finds the shortest path to the feed) and will always walk over to me for a scratch on her back when I come into the field. Minnie will live out her natural life here on my little farm, and will leave a legacy (and a lot of progeny) behind when she goes to that big pasture in the sky. Not bad for the “little” cow that couldn’t.

Maggie is an older cow I bought at the sale barn. She was being sold with the slaughter cows. She can’t have calves, but she is the grand matron of the herd	Max was born in 2009	Mini arrives on the farm.
Here is Mini with her calf Max born in 2009.	Mini with Sessy girl	Molly looking a little dusty after several days of high wind…a shiny coat underneath.

More on David’s Farm Haven

David’s farm cost him more than $40,000 last year and its income was a little over $6,000. It’s essentially a working sanctuary which he funds on his own. He does not separate calves from their mothers during nursing and would never dream of sending them off to become veal.

As for training oxen, he explains, “Animals that are trained to do work and are well cared for live long, happy lives. They often become very dear pets for their owners, whom I will try to screen to make sure they will not use these animals in cruel and inhumane ways; hence I create a way for an animal that would otherwise be someone’s food to not only live but to have an occupation that puts it in demand as something other than dinner, which is a very short occupation indeed.”

David knows that without his farm, most of the cows would become a ”half-eaten hamburger at McDonald’s thrown in the trash.”

This story is brought to you by The Great Animal Rescue Chase.

Related Stories:

Race to Save Yvonne, The Runaway Cow

Old Stray Dog Wins the Lottery

Support a Bill to Help Chained Dogs in Massachusetts

Read more: David Lay, farmer saves cows, great animal rescue chase, humane farming

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/rare-kindness-farmer-saves-cows-from-slaughter-provides-idyllic-life.html#ixzz1pluCGeYb

Thanks Kathleen, I'm glad you enjoyed it just as I did this one you posted.

Now I am on my way to watch the Peter Cetera videos I saw you post just before I logged off to go watch American Idol. :)

Quote:

That was a great video of Steve Urkel up there! (Jaleel White) He's probably thrilled and surprised that 2 of the judges compared him to White Knights and Gregory Hines: