[Benjamin]

Feel like we need a dose of happier news after this week.

Dancing Wheelchair’ Helps Paralyzed Teen Feel ‘Cool’ Being a Different Sort of Dancer

With a little ingenuity, and some modifications to an old piece of tech, 11-year-old Desa Kaiser is back where she belongs: on the dance floor.

Being paralyzed from the waist down is no impediment to the girl from Pennsylvania, who suffered the debilitating injury in a crash that saw her spend Thanksgiving of 2022 at the hospital.

She can spin around—just like she did in ballet, jazz, and funk dance classes before her injury. She can lean all the way back and touch the ground in this flexible “dancing wheelchair.”

Speaking with CBS News 3 Philadelphia, Kaiser said it’s cool to be different.

“It’s cool to be different from other people and more unique in different ways. It’s an amazing chair that’s different from others, because you can be more free in it and you can express a lot more in it.”

Following the car collision, Kaiser was treated at Shriners Children’s Hospital, where she still undergoes physical therapy for her trunk and arms. It takes a lot of puff to spin that chair around to the beat of the music, and physical therapist Maggie Reilly is helping her build up the strength for it.

“We wanted to bring her a chair that would allow her to dance and do what she loves,” Reilly said. “One thing that we strive most to do here at Shriners is letting children achieve their goals in whatever way that may be possible.”

Kaiser’s parents said that unlike 3 years ago, this Thanksgiving they had a lot to be thankful for.

Youtube video

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/danc...-dancer-watch/

[bots]

we really did need some good news

[Benjamin]

Baker Delivers Free Birthday Cakes to Homeless People: ‘They’re Our Neighbors’

Manolo Betancur, owner of Manolo’s Bakery in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been giving out cakes to his homeless neighbors for more than 12 years.



Manolo Betancur believes everyone deserves a birthday cake.

“I arrived to America 25 years ago, and I didn’t speak any English, and I didn’t have any money in my pocket,” Betancur, owner of Manolo’s Bakery in Charlotte, North Carolina, tells TODAY.com.

He left his birth country of Colombia to attend college in Tennessee. Years after going to school, he got married, moved to North Carolina and, in 2005, bought his bakery.

“We are the oldest immigrant Latino bakery in the Carolinas,” he says.

Through his bakery, Betancur has sold tres leches, tartaleta and cheesecakes to his customers, while simultaneously giving back to his community. For 12 years, he’s been donating cakes to celebrate the birthdays of those experiencing homelessness in his city.

“We don’t call them ‘homeless,’” he says. “They’re our neighbors.”

Betancur says it all started when he approached Raise You Up Ministries, a nonprofit focused on the needs of chronically homeless people in the greater Charlotte area, to ask them where they were getting cake for people’s birthdays, and offered to donate from his bakery.

Now, he serves vanilla sheet cakes — some with caramel, some with peaches inside — whenever a birthday comes up.

“To me, that was the coolest idea ever, because nobody thinks about their birthdays,” Betancur says.

This year, Betancur and his employees delivered their 300th cake, marking a hard-fought milestone. He thinks back to one experience that makes it all worth it.

“Somebody from the nonprofit approached me one day and said, ‘Manolo, are you the cake guy?’” he says. When he nodded, the employee told him that the last person he delivered a cake to cried and said it was the first time he had a birthday cake in his life.

Betancur says, “That (was) the most important cake in this bakery.”

https://www.today.com/food/people/ba...ple-rcna235965

[bots]

Scientists are rethinking what cattle are capable of after an Austrian cow named Veronika was found to use tools with impressive skill.

The discovery, reported by researchers in Vienna, suggests cows may have far greater cognitive abilities than previously assumed.

Veronika, a cow living in a mountain village in the Austrian countryside, has spent years perfecting the art of scratching herself using sticks, rakes, and brooms.

Word of her behaviour eventually reached animal intelligence specialists in Vienna, who found Veronika used both ends of the same object for different tasks.

If it were her back or another tough area that warranted a good scratch, she would use the bristle end of a broom.

When a softer touch was needed, such as on her sensitive underbelly, she would use the smooth handle end.

This kind of tool use is rarely seen in the animal kingdom and has never been documented in cattle before.

Dr Antonio Osuna-Mascaro of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna said: "We were not expecting cows to be able to use tools, and we were not expecting a cow to use a tool as a multipurpose tool. Until now this has only been consistently reported in chimpanzees."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj0n127y74go

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by bots

Scientists are rethinking what cattle are capable of after an Austrian cow named Veronika was found to use tools with impressive skill.

The discovery, reported by researchers in Vienna, suggests cows may have far greater cognitive abilities than previously assumed.

Veronika, a cow living in a mountain village in the Austrian countryside, has spent years perfecting the art of scratching herself using sticks, rakes, and brooms.

Word of her behaviour eventually reached animal intelligence specialists in Vienna, who found Veronika used both ends of the same object for different tasks.

If it were her back or another tough area that warranted a good scratch, she would use the bristle end of a broom.

When a softer touch was needed, such as on her sensitive underbelly, she would use the smooth handle end.

This kind of tool use is rarely seen in the animal kingdom and has never been documented in cattle before.

Dr Antonio Osuna-Mascaro of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna said: "We were not expecting cows to be able to use tools, and we were not expecting a cow to use a tool as a multipurpose tool. Until now this has only been consistently reported in chimpanzees."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj0n127y74go

…Veronika……lady loves a back massage…

Youtube video

[bots]

we badly needed some fun news, and Veronika is a cutie

[Benjamin]

I want her.

[Ammi]

…a dad sees colour for the first time…

Youtube video

A 61-year-old father broke into tears when finally seeing color in his world for the first time after receiving a special Christmas gift.

Jim Gogan always had trouble seeing reds and greens. In fact, when he joined the Air Force, he wasn’t able to become a pilot because he couldn’t read the radar screens.

For years, his family talked about gifting him a pair of special colorblind glasses, but in December, his son, Kyle, was finally able to make it a reality—thanks to a bonus from his employer.

A video shared by the family (below) shows Jim in tears after seeing colors clearly for the first time.

“He’s never been able to tell color,” said 39-year-old Kyle, from South Carolina.

“He’ll say things like, ‘grab my blue shirt,’ and it’s green.”


Before giving him the glasses, Kyle had printed out colorblind tests for the whole family to take—and Jim got almost every question wrong.

Then, Kyle handed him the glasses and the results were immediate.

As Jim placed them over his eyes, and looked at the colored drawing of a Christmas tree, tears began to well up in his eyes.


The next day, the family took Jim on a drive to enjoy the outdoors in all its colorful glory.

[Ammi]

Meet Poppy the coppery titi monkey born at Banham Zoo…


A zoo in Norfolk has revealed the name and gender of one of its latest arrivals.

Poppy the coppery titi monkey was born on Remembrance Day in Banham Zoo and has been "doing well".

Her species is considered very rare and is native to the Amazon rainforests of Brazil and Peru.

In December, Banham Zoo announced she was "born to proud parents Izzy and Juanito" but could not confirm her sex or name her.

A spokesman for the zoo said: "We’re pleased to say she’s doing well and she lives with siblings Milo and Ember.



The species can also be found at Chester Zoo and Edinburgh Zoo.

"Her species is considered of least concern; however, due to deforestation, numbers are sadly dropping," the spokeswoman added.

They mainly eat fruit, alongside leaves, seeds, and insects, and visitors will soon be able to see her in the Tropical House.