[Zizu]

No more international breaks in the football season until March apparently


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[The Human Santapede]

Cat wriggles through drainpipe - but with less-than-purrfect results

A female cat called John was found with her head poking out one end of a pipe and needed to be rescued by firefighters.



The female black cat, called John, was found with her head poking through one end of the pipe, which was connected to a garage in Clevedon, North Somerset.



Firefighters were called at 9.55am on Saturday and used small tools to rescue the feline before she was whiskered away to a local vet, where the rest of the pipe was removed.





Posting on Facebook, Clevedon Fire Station said the cat suffered no serious injuries.

"John (Yes John) the cat had get [sic] herself (Yes John is a girl, it's a long story) stuck in a garage drainpipe from the inside of the garage," they added.

"The crew used ladders and small tools to cut John out. The easiest and least distressing option was to cut a section of the pipe out with John in situ."

Vets4Pets Clevedon said in a statement shared by the fire station that John was "cuddled and pampered" before being reunited with her "relieved owner".

They added the cat was given oxygen therapy and sedated while the pipe was removed by the fire brigade.

https://news.sky.com/story/cat-wrigg...ccess-13259673

[Ammi]

…the unfortunate case of the mis gendered cat and the drainpipe rescue is a Christmas story that we all need to be made into a musical…she doesn’t look like a John, I have to say…look at that smile with all of the firemen buzzing around her…I’m glad she’s ok……

[Ammi]

Last Friday, Coffee Milano Cafe in Middleborough, Massachusetts posted a sign advertising a deal offering customers free coffee if they danced into the shop.

“Want a FREE COFFEE?? Walk in and give us your BEST Dance moves for 5 seconds!!” the sign read, adding that their marvelous moves would be recorded for social media — and it turns out people were not shy in the slightest.

On Sunday, the coffee shop posted a TikTok showing what happened after the sign was posted.

The clip is set to Los del Río’s “Macarena” and starts with a woman who kicks off her shoes to bust a move, followed by folks doing Irish jigs, waltzes, flossing, conga lines and so much more.

The happy faces of the dancers is also reflected in the comments section of the video, which garnered more than 7 million views and over 15,000 comments.

“This is such a good way to spread positivity,” commented one TikTok user.

“Girl took off her shoes and moonwalked! She deserved 2 cups,” wrote another, and someone else added, “1st girl is vibes.”

“Why am I crying?! This makes me sooo happy,” wrote another TikTok user, and many replied saying they were moved to tears, too.

The cafe’s owner, Josh Rashid, tells TODAY.com he got the idea after he saw a pizza shop do the same dancing deal for free slices on social media. “I was like, ‘This is genius.’”

The next day his social media manager teased the promotion on the cafe’s Facebook and he posted a sign on the door.

“We had probably 15, 20 people show up and dance for us,” he says. “It was kind of cool.”

Rashid says he’s thrilled the comments section is overwhelmingly positive.

“You know, life isn’t always easy,” he says. “Sometimes you just see something that puts the greatest smile on your face, and it brings tears to your eyes.”

Rashid says customers have been asking if he plans on throwing more dance-for-coffee parties, so the shop’s social media pages are already hinting at the next one.

“Just keep dancing,” he says. “Enjoy life. It’s short. It’s fun. We have good days, we have bad days, but sometimes a coffee and a dance makes it all better.”

Youtube video

[Merry Mockmas]

Originally Posted by Cranbenny Jamin

https://news.sky.com/story/cat-wrigg...ccess-13259673

At least John is okay now.

[Holly Christmas]

A couple are celebrating the unexpected arrival of their premature son who was born in their car after it got stuck in flood water.

Becky Whittle and Luke Browning, from Newent, were on their way to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital on Sunday when their son Noah was born.

They were already on a detour to avoid flooding caused by Storm Bert but got stuck outside Malvern Tyres in Gloucester.

"We’ve had fun along the journey and we realise how lucky we are because it could have gone really badly," Becky said.

Mother and Baby are doing very well.

[Zizu]

Originally Posted by Kate!

A couple are celebrating the unexpected arrival of their premature son who was born in their car after it got stuck in flood water.

Becky Whittle and Luke Browning, from Newent, were on their way to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital on Sunday when their son Noah was born.

They were already on a detour to avoid flooding caused by Storm Bert but got stuck outside Malvern Tyres in Gloucester.

"We’ve had fun along the journey and we realise how lucky we are because it could have gone really badly," Becky said.

Mother and Baby are doing very well.

Fabulous !


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[Ammi]

World's oldest known wild bird lays egg at 74….


The world's oldest known wild bird has laid an egg at the approximate age of 74, US biologists say.
Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was filmed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge in the Pacific Ocean with her latest partner looking after the egg.
Members of the species usually only live for 12-40 years, but Wisdom was tagged in 1956 when she was about five.
Her last offspring hatched in 2021. She is thought to have had more than 30 chicks in her lifetime.
The USFWS said on X that Wisdom was with a new partner this year and that her previous partner Akeakamai had not been seen for several years.
The species generally mates for life but she is already thought to have outlived at least three mates.
Jon Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at the refuge, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Wisdom was one of two to three million Laysan albatrosses who travel to Midway to breed.
He said biologists were unaware of any other birds even close to her age, the oldest being 45.
"It's really been remarkable," he said. "Wisdom seems to pique the interest of people across the world. We wait each year with bated breath for her return."
He said Wisdom still appeared to have the energy and instincts to raise another chick, and that there was a 70-80% chance of the egg hatching.
Albatross parents share incubation duties and, once the chick hatches, feeding duties.
Wisdom was first identified and tagged in 1956 after laying an egg. Laysan albatrosses are not known to breed before the age of five.
Midway Atoll is part of the Hawaiian archipelago but does not fall within the US state of Hawaii and is described as an unincorporated territory of the US.
The wildlife refuge is home to the largest colony of albatross in the world.

[The Human Santapede]

An 84-year-old used a pair of jeans to help repel a masked man who twice tried to rob him in a launderette.

Ron Croker was drying his clothes in Maltby, South Yorkshire, when the would-be robber burst in and demanded: "Give me you ********** money now!"

Mr Croker stood his ground and refused to give up his wallet.

He slowly walked towards the man and managed to force him out - all while holding a pair of his jeans in one hand.

The man came back for another try but was again met with stiff resistance from the retired building site foreman.


As the attacker tried to grab him, Mr Croker screamed "get off!" and whipped him with the jeans as he again bundled him out the launderette.

"I've worked all my life for my money. He's not having it," Mr Croker told the BBC.

"I gave him an almighty shove and he went rolling into the road," he added.

https://news.sky.com/story/man-84-fi...altby-13289281

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

https://news.sky.com/story/man-84-fi...altby-13289281

……a jeanius use of a clothing item…?…

[The Human Santapede]

Bringing picture books to life for blind and visually impaired children

For over 30 years, Living Paintings has been helping blind and visually impaired people enjoy art through touch and sound. Here, we explore the hard work involved in adapting a two-dimensional book for its readers

In his garage workshop, 88-year-old Len Webb uses a chisel to carve the underwater creatures that were originally illustrated by Axel Scheffer for Julia Donaldson’s picture book, Tiddler. Having previously worked in set design, Webb has been volunteering for Living Paintings for more than 20 years. “Len is an absolute diamond,” says Living Paintings’ head of communications Nick Ford.



Living Paintings’ CEO Camilla Oldland with Nick Ford at the charity’s headquarters in Kingsclere, Hampshire.“Reading a book to your kid is one of those special things in life, and it’s heartbreaking to imagine [missing out on that],” says Oldland. “Books should be for everyone.”



A tactile version is in the works of Under the Love Umbrella by Davina Bell, which involves turning Allison Colpoys’ original illustrations into line drawings so that they can be carved. Living Paintings is reproducing the book thanks to fundraising by Lucy Mellon-Jameson, whose five-year-old son Jude died following a neuroblastoma diagnosis. “Neuroblastoma can cause blindness, and although Jude didn’t experience that, his mum wanted to adapt his favourite book into a version that blind and visually impaired children can enjoy through touch and sound,” Ford explains.



Webb uses a fine sandpaper to smooth down the surface of his carvings. “The main challenge,” he says, “is carving tactile images that our visually impaired library members will find easy to follow.” Once he has completed the master artwork for Tiddler, multiple copies will be reproduced with a Thermopress machine that creates moulds and presses the shapes into heated plastic. Around 35 copies of each book will go into the Living Paintings library, which is free to join.



Once pressed, volunteers meticulously apply several coats of paint to each copy. Here, one volunteer paints a seahorse’s scarf, while another adds detail to a portrait of Peppa Pig. Pictures of Spot the Dog dry on racks in the background. Living Paintings has around 120 volunteers, from carvers and painters, to Braille proofreaders and scriptwriters, who write audio guides, as well as blind and visually impaired people who check the books are ready for the public.





“We’re often asked why the books are in colour,” Ford says. “The majority of blind and visually impaired children have some level of sight, but also, these books are designed to be shared.” One visually impaired boy felt a “bit isolated” at school, Ford recalls, until he received a Living Paintings book. “Suddenly he had this unusual, colourful object just for him, and all the other children were flocking over. It was a catalyst that helped him talk to his classmates.”



A finished copy of Tiddler. The process of bringing a book to life, from gaining the publisher’s permission to ending up on the library shelves, takes around six months. The audio component is also crucial, Ford says, in “guiding little fingers over those raised pictures, so readers can build up a picture in their minds”. Living Paintings’ books have been voiced by numerous celebrities, including Dame Joanna Lumley, Sir Derek Jacobi and radio host Greg James.

https://www.positive.news/society/br...ired-children/

[Thotmas]

^^^^ nah I genuinely love this story

[Ammi]

……that’s such a work of love…Len Webb……the carvings are gorgeous ….

[Ammi]

[bots]

i love the idea of australia, but i just couldn't cope with their wildlife

[Ammi]

Now from Turkiye comes the story of an annual spring reunion that has captivated the hearts of a nation for 14 years.

It involves a simple rural fisherman Adem Yilmaz, waiting in his boat for the return of a dear friend: a white stork named Yaren.

Casting his lines and nets upon the beautiful Uluabat Lake near Yilmaz’s home of Eskikaraagac Village in the region of Bursa, he has waited patiently, eagerly, for the white stork’s arrival.

“Yaren generally comes at the beginning of the month, and when it didn’t show up, I feared something had happened to it,” Yilmaz told national news. “I spent a week in sorrow, thinking it might have faced danger on the way. But thankfully, Yaren has returned. This morning, it came to my boat and ate the fish I had brought for it.”

It is the 14th year that Yaren has come to the lake to perch on the prow of Yilmaz’s rowboat after making a 2,500-mile journey from the species’ winter breeding grounds in sub-Saharan Africa.

The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) flies this route, via the Balkans, Greece, and Turkiye, or via Gibraltar, every year before returning in spring to nest and raise its young. Eskikaraagac is part of the European Stork Villages Network, an organization that honors and celebrates towns whose members prioritize and engage with stork conservation strategies.

Alper Tuydes, a wildlife photographer from Turkiye, traveled to the lake to wait for Yaren along with Yilmaz for the chance to photograph the charming bond between man and bird that has captivated even the political elite.

“Spring has come, longing is over… That heart-warming reunion happened again on its 14th anniversary,” Ibrahim Yumakli, the Turkish Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, wrote on X. “Uncle Adem and Yaren are together again.”

“It’s a beautiful reminder of the importance of nature, friendship, and the deep connections that can transcend the barriers of species,” wrote Turkiye Today. “For those lucky enough to witness this annual reunion, it’s a heartwarming sight that continues to inspire and delight.”

Youtube video

[The Human Santapede]

He Was Injured with Crutches When a Group of Scary Teens Offered ‘the Kindness of Strangers’

From the Guardian comes the story of a man who at his most vulnerable received commendable kindness from a source all unlooked to.

Part of the paper’s “Kindness of Strangers” series, the report tells the story of Richard Munoz, who broke his ankle playing basketball and needed corrective surgery which left him on crutches.

Living in an urban environment, a typical day in the life of Mr. Munoz involved a lot of walking beyond the door of his flat, where he says there lay a park routinely occupied by groups of teenagers.

Every day after school, these teenagers would assemble there to smoke cigarettes and make snide remarks at occasional passersby. Munoz never got involved, but the route to the corner store was through that park, and though he could order groceries for delivery to his unit, there were times when certain small things were needed for expediency.

And it was pursuant to one such need that he entered the park on his crutches one day coming home from the corner store with milk only to see the gaggle of teenagers there. Attempting to pass by without rousing them, he heard one call something out to him—the particulars of which Munoz did not catch.

He tried to ignore them, but his pulse quickened as a few stood up and began approaching him.

To his surprise, they came to offer a helping hand with his bags, which he accepted nervously.

“A lot of people were kind to me during that injury experience—and a few weren’t kind at all—but by far the most helpful were those teens,” Munoz wrote.

Throughout the rest of his recovery, the park-loiterers were a constant helping hand, taking his garbage out, letting him cut in front of them in line at the store, and regularly asking if he needed a hand with anything.

By the end of the experience, he wrote a letter to the school administrators explaining the good deeds of the teenagers and suggesting they be recognized for their kind efforts, though the author admitted he didn’t know if the letter had been received.

“I’d been bullied a lot in high school and the experience helped me resolve a lot of the residual wariness I had about groups of teenagers,” wrote Munoz. “It also showed me that we can’t define strangers from the small glimpses we see of them, even if we see them every day. Those teens were more than their stereotype—and I’m grateful for it.”

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/he-w...-of-strangers/

[Ammi]

A Dutch nursing home has found a brilliant, mutually beneficial model: free housing for college students in exchange for companionship with elderly residents.

At Humanitas in Deventer, students live rent-free-with one condition: spend at least 30 hours a month connecting with residents through conversation, shared meals, and simply showing up.

This intergenerational living setup doesn’t just tackle loneliness-it boosts mental well-being, breaks down age-related stereotypes, and gives everyone involved a greater sense of purpose.

I will always promote the importance of having a life full of loving relationships of all kinds; platonic relationships feed our souls too

[bots]

Two bears who sparked the evacuation of a wildlife park involving trained firearms staff and police had headed straight for the honey store, the park has said.

Wildwood Devon, a conservation charity near Exeter, said European brown bears Mish and Lucy made their way to the food store after breaking free - and then consumed a "week's worth of honey".

The park was evacuated after the alarm was raised at about 15:00 BST on Monday - 16 people including children were locked into a play barn for their safety.

Mark Habben, director of zoological operations at Wildwood Trust, said emergency procedures were deployed and the public was "not in harm's way".

The trust has now launched an investigation into how the pair of "young bears", weighing about 180kg (397lb) each, escaped as there were no signs of enclosure damage, it said.

Mr Habben said: "Both bears are extremely happy. The team were very, very calm, as were the bears at all points.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrxn4x7yx2o

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by bots

Two bears who sparked the evacuation of a wildlife park involving trained firearms staff and police had headed straight for the honey store, the park has said.

Wildwood Devon, a conservation charity near Exeter, said European brown bears Mish and Lucy made their way to the food store after breaking free - and then consumed a "week's worth of honey".

The park was evacuated after the alarm was raised at about 15:00 BST on Monday - 16 people including children were locked into a play barn for their safety.

Mark Habben, director of zoological operations at Wildwood Trust, said emergency procedures were deployed and the public was "not in harm's way".

The trust has now launched an investigation into how the pair of "young bears", weighing about 180kg (397lb) each, escaped as there were no signs of enclosure damage, it said.

Mr Habben said: "Both bears are extremely happy. The team were very, very calm, as were the bears at all points.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrxn4x7yx2o

….ahhhhh, I read this story yesterday……all’s well that ends well and when honey is in the local area, they should always be pre-beared and ready for the breakout…I’m glad all are safe, though…these stories/events can sometimes end tragically….

[Candy Annie Cane]

Please stop discussing other members. Keep it to actual good news

[bots]

I don't think Mish and Lucy are members here yet

[Ammi]

Man left paralysed by shooting takes on marathon…


A Londoner left paralysed from the waist down after being shot in the back and told by doctors he would never walk again is preparing to take on the London Marathon.
Darren Awol was targeted in an unprovoked attack in Anerley, south-east London in 2011. His attacker has never been found.
The former Post Office cashier from Bromley, south-east London, said he had contemplated suicide during long periods of feeling "dark and gloomy" before he "had a conversation with myself" and "built my self confidence".
He said: "Your limitations are as far as you allow them to be: it's not about the medal but being able to do something I never thought I'd be able to."
'Gym is therapy'
He added: "My whole thing is just whatever you're going through, believe in yourself and rely on yourself because ultimately you've only got yourself."
During Sunday's race, the 42-year-old will be supported by his brother and a physiotherapist he met during his first three months of treatment.
He uses elbow crutches and has splints on each leg to remain balanced but can't feel as much on the left side of his body.

The south-east Londoner plans to walk at the start and end of the race and along the Embankment and Tower Bridge. He will use a wheelchair for the rest of the route.
"It's been daunting because I haven't been in wheelchair for 10 or 11 years so going back to learn how to use a wheelchair has been hard," he said.
"I'll be so happy to cross that line – it's about raising awareness for the next person.
"I want people to think: a guy who defied all the odds did it and they can do it and turn up for themselves."

He revealed his son, who was aged just two at the time he was shot, was his "biggest motivation" to recover.
He said: "It gave me the momentum to see me walking again.
"Going to the gym is therapy for me: movement is a wonderful medicine.
"If we can uplift each other and change someone's life, it's free. No matter what I go through mentally and physically, I show up for life."
The money he raises will go towards opening a unit for people to train with spinal injuries, multiple sclerosis, strokes and cerebral palsy.

Spoiler:

[Ammi]

Tortoise found 2.8 miles from home after 16 days on the run…


A runaway tortoise was found nearly three miles from home, 16 days after escaping from its pen in Devon.

Shelly the leopard tortoise vanished from Shillingford Abbot, near Exeter on July 9.

The 40lb reptile was then discovered near The Orange Elephant ice cream parlour, close to the A379 near Kennford, some 2.8 miles away as the crow flies.

Nick Phillips, Shelly’s owner, said: “She was spotted by the farmer, who thought she was a big rock. Luckily, he realised rocks don’t usually move and gave us a call.”

The family had looked for the tortoise in verges, undergrowth and local woods, and used thermal imaging to try and spot her.

Mr Phillips said Shelley’s appetite had diminished after returning home, adding: “We tried runner beans, cabbage, cucumber, the full monty. She wasn’t interested. I’ve no idea what she’s been eating, but clearly it wasn’t salad.”

Mr Phillips’s daughter Becky said: “She’s quite big and can travel nearly a mile a day. It seems people don’t know what to do when they see a tortoise on the loose, because she was just left there.

“We think she escaped by clawing under the chicken wire of her pen.”

Spoiler:

[Merry Mockmas]

At least she's safe now.
@Ammi