Who Needs some "Happy News"

[Jolie Rouge]

http://www.HappyNews.com

There is so much bad news in the world. How about a website that concentrates on the good things happening, good news, happy news! Happy News has 'all the news that's fun to print,' 'real news, compelling stories, always positive!' The stories are categorized for finding just the article you need to bring that bright spot into your day International, National, Heroes, Health, Opinion & Editorials, Science & Technology, Environment, Arts & Entertainment, Sports, Business/Money. As one reviewer states, "The Happynews glass is always at least half-full, and sometimes it bubbles right over." Come browse and fill your own glass!

[Jolie Rouge]

Surgeon rides child's bike to get thru traffic nightmare for surgery

Aug 22, 2012 3:45 PM CDT Updated: Aug 22, 2012 3:45 PM CDT

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BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Baton Rouge surgeon, Catherine Baucom, MD of Elliot Mastology Center, was on her way to surgery at BRASS Surgery Center Wednesday morning when she found herself caught in the traffic caused by the accident that shutdown Interstate 10 early Wednesday morning.

According to officials at BRASS Surgery Center, Dr. Baucom tried to navigate the gridlock to no avail, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. Dr. Baucom remembered a friend that lived a few blocks from her position in the mayhem and made her way to his house. She knocked on the door and asked to borrow a bicycle to make her way through the traffic. Her friend gladly loaned her his seven year old daughter's bike and helmet and the nearly six foot tall surgeon resumed her journey to the surgery center.

When she reached I10, she was stopped by police. After explaining the circumstances and where she was headed, she was escorted through to meet her patient. Her patient and the staff of BRASS are grateful and amazed, but not surprised, by her dedication to patient care and service excellence.

http://www.wafb.com/story/19344633/surgeon-rides-childs-bike-to-get-thru-traffic-nightmare-for-surgery

[Jolie Rouge]

Tragedy Averted through Quick Action
Posted on23 August 2012.

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Five year old Jaxson Scott and his two year old sister Jaycee were visiting family in Central last week when Jaycee fell into the family pool. As Jaxson explains, "Jayce put her feet in the water and when she did she slipped. And I went to go get her and I take off my shoes and my socks. She was trying to come back up and I went and got her. Babies can't run in the water. I pushed her to the steps." Jaxson added "I took swimming lessons this summer at Crawfish Aquatics". While the parents were very close by, and the children had only been out of their sight for about 30 seconds, the incident reminds us all that accidents can happen quickly and a few swimming lessons and quick actions can often make a difference.

http://www.centralspeaks.com/2012/08/23/tragedy-averted-through-quick-action/

[Jolie Rouge]

Goodwill Painting Bought for $9.99 Auctioned for $27K
By Suzan Clarke | ABC News Blogs – 22 hours ago

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(Image Credit: Courtesy of Beth Feeback)

Beth Feeback had a really good weekend. The North Carolina woman who bought a painting for $9.99 from a Goodwill store sale saw it sell for more than $27,000 at a Sotheby's auction.

"It's a great return on $9.99," Feeback said Sunday night.

The sale price listed on the Sotheby's website, $34,375.00, reflects the final gavel price plus a premium the buyer must pay, she explained. The painting had been expected to sell for between $15,000 and $20,000.

Feeback of Concord bought the painting, "Vertical Diamond" by Ilya Bolotowsky, in April. She wasn't attracted to the style at all, but she wanted to re-use the canvas to paint cat portraits, which are her specialty.

A friend cautioned her to check out the labels on the painting before she put paintbrush to canvas, and after a few months during which the painting languished on the floor of her art studio, she did.

Now, Feeback has a whole new appreciation for Bolotowsky and his work.

"The first time I Googled that artist's name, I was like, 'This is the most beautiful damned painting I've ever seen in my life,'" she said, tongue in cheek.

The auction took place Friday, and Feeback gathered family and friends from a viewing party online.

She was nervous at first.

"I like to set my expectations low because … Murphy's Law is my religion and I was just afraid that it wouldn't sell at all … ," she said.

As she and the others gathered at her home watched the auction, she added, "we could see that some of the paintings sold for much more [than] the value that the auction house had put on them and some sold for much less and an uncomfortable number of them did not sell at all, so that's how come I was concerned."

Feeback doesn't know who the buyer was, but, she said, "I wish that person very well and I hope they re-sell it for twice as much as they bought it for."

Asked about her plans for her windfall, Feeback said she and her husband plan to perform necessary and long-delayed improvements to their home and pay down debts.

She also plans to do a series of knockoff "Vertical Diamond" paintings with big cat heads in the middle of them, she said.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/goodwill-painting-bought-9-99-auctioned-27k-130823785--abc-news-topstories.html

[Jolie Rouge]

NBC NATIONAL NEWS — A Florida eagle cam has gone viral in just two short months.

In October, Dick Pritchett Real Estate spent thousands to install an infrared camera above an eagle's nest on their North Fort Myers property.

The images are broadcast live 24/7 on the internet.

The stream shows the two bald eagles nicknamed Harriet and Ozzie's every move.

Realtor Andy Pritchett told us Wednesday they can't believe how many people have logged on.

"The best part is watching them eat," said Pritchett.

He said the camera has already chronicled the animal's every triumph and challenge.

"Everybody has a fascination with eagles. Whether it is our nation's symbol or because they're magnificent creatures," remarked Pritchett.

Read more: http://bit.ly/VFchEN

[Jolie Rouge]

GOOD NEWS: A stressed mother wrote into Marvel Comics after her son refused to wear his hearing-aid because "superheroes don't." She heard back a few weeks later with good news. Her son was made an honorary Avenger, named and drawn as "Blue Ear."

And there's even more to this story. http://wtvr.com/2013/02/25/hearing-impaired-boy-gets-every-kids-dream-becoming-a-superhero/

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Hearing-impaired boy gets every kid’s dream: becoming a superhero

Posted on: 9:36 pm, February 25, 2013, Kristina Sgueglia

CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) — Five-year-old Anthony Smith didn’t think superheroes wore hearing aids, until he became one.


His mother, Christina D’Allesandro, says the epic journey began in May, when her superhero-fanatic son, who is deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other, refused to wear his blue hearing aid because “superheroes don’t wear hearing aids” either.

Desperate, she decided to consult the experts. She found a general e-mail address on the Marvel Comics website and sent a message “into the ethers,” asking if there were any hearing-impaired superheroes.

A few weeks later, the mother of two was shocked to get an overwhelming response from Marvel, including comic book art that honored her son.

“When he first saw the comic book cover, he said, ‘Oh my God, it’s me,’ ” she told CNN. “He was very excited.”

“We decided to make him an honorary Avenger,” a member of the Marvel Comics superhero crime-fighting team, said Bill Rosemann, a Marvel editor.

Two artists, Manny Mederos and Nelson Ribeiro, sent the D’Allesandro family comic book covers featuring their very own versions of honorary Avenger Blue Ear, inspired by Anthony, whose blue earpiece gives him the power to hear a pin drop from the other side of a state.

One cover features a younger Anthony and his buddy Hawkeye ready to fight crime. The other shows an older version of Blue Ear perched on a rooftop, tapping into his superpower and listening to a faraway call for help.

On Tuesday, the young New Hampshire boy is being welcomed as a special guest at an event at the Center for Hearing and Communication clinic in New York City, where he will get to meet a fellow crime-fighting partner in the Marvel Universe, Iron Man.

“The reason why it was so easy for us to respond to this is because our characters, which were invented around the ’60s, all have real challenges.” Rosemann said.

He talked about how each character “became superheroes despite of — or because of — the challenges they face.”

Under his elastic Spidey skin is a skinny Peter Parker, who constantly gets picked on at school, Rosemann said. As a boy, superhero Daredevil was blinded in an accident that also gave him a radar sense. And Iron Man first created armor to fix his heart, which he then developed into his famous suit.

“We link challenges with their superpowers,” Rosemann said.

“Our mantra is what (Marvel Comics chief) Stan Lee said: With great power there must come great responsibility. Our guys thought, ‘If I have the ability to draw, I am going to use it to help someone like Anthony feel comfortable about his hearing aid.’ “

Rosemann and his team collaborated with Phonak, the maker of Anthony’s hearing aid, and came up with a poster to be distributed in doctors’ offices across the country in an effort to destigmatize kids with hearing aids. The poster, to be unveiled at Tuesday’s special event, features none other than fearless Iron Man, whose message is that kids who use hearing aids are just like him because “they are using technology to be their best self.”

“It will be an Iron Man and Blue Ear team-up,” Rosemann said about the event.

Closer to home, all the attention has brought excitement and meaning for Anthony and his mother.

“In this house, we are looking forward to meeting Iron Man,” D’Allesandro said. “He is a big Avengers fan.”

The experience has given Anthony the confidence and the ability to talk about his disability, she said.

“He goes up to kids and says, ‘Hey, I have a little ear and a blue ear. Do you want to play?’ “

People have reached out to her, and she says her family is grateful that this experience has connected her and her son to a wonderful network of families with special needs children.

When asked if there is a comic book series on the horizon featuring Blue Ear, Rosemann said, “There is nothing planned right now, but with so many people responding to Blue Ear, you never know what’s next …”

“People should just stay tuned.”

[Jolie Rouge]

8-Year-Old Girl Gets Gifts From Crows She’s Been Feeding For 4 Years

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Many people leave out birdseed for feathered-friends in the neighborhood, although few get anything in return besides a lovely view of the birds, and a patio polluted with seeds. Eight-year-old Gabi Mann from Seattle, Washington started feeding the crows in her family’s garden, and now this lucky little girl gets gifts from the crows.

Gabie keeps her gifts in specially labeled bags tucked safely inside a bead storage box. After all, these are her most treasured possessions. Her labels are detailed, for instance one containing a broken light bulb reads: “Black table by feeder. 2:30 p.m. 09 Nov 2014.”

Gabie has received all kinds of gifts from the crows, including Lego pieces, beads, buttons, paper clips and pieces of foam. Her favorite gift of all is a pearl colored heart, she said, “It’s showing me how much they love me.”

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Gabi started feeding the neighborhood crows by accident, as she was prone to dropping food. She’d climb out of the car and a chicken nugget would fall off of her lap, prompting every crow on the block to circle in for a snack. Gabi noticed and started rewarding the bird’s quick and hungry behavior, feeding them food scraps on her way to and from the bus stop with her brother.

It didn’t take long for the crows to learn who Gabi was and wait for her to get off the school bus each day. The crows were consuming most of Gabi and her brother’s packed lunches, but Lisa, Gabi’s mother, didn’t mind one bit. She said, “I like that they love the animals and are willing to share.”

It was a slow transformation, but soon the whole family became more interested in the crows. By 2013, Gabie and her mother made offering food to the crows a daily habit. The pair now spends each morning filling the backyard birdbath with new water and spreading out plenty of peanuts and dog food. As they set up, the crows gather around and call out to them.

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It was this routine that started the gift giving. The crows consume all of the peanuts left out in the feeders and sporadically leave behind a treasured trinket in return, such as an earring, polished rock, or hinge. Basically anything shiny and small enough to fit inside of a crow’s mouth has been found in the feeders.

Some of the gifts are truly incredible, like a piece of metal with the word “best” stamped on it. Gabi finds it funny to think one of the crows is wearing the matching half that says “friend.”

Want your own gift-giving crow friends? John Marzluff, professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington advises, “If you want to form a bond with a crow, be consistent in rewarding them.”

Marzluff has conducted numerous studies on crows, and he has found humans and crows can form very meaningful relationships, although gifts are never guaranteed. Marzluff has never personally received a gift from a crow, but he has seen crows give items to others.

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They are not always shiny trinkets though; sometimes gifts from crows can be a bit gory. Marzluff said, “Some people, their presents are dead baby birds that the crow brings in.”

Gabi has received some disgusting gifts, one time her mother had to throw away a rotting crab claw left behind.

Gabi’s third favorite gift from the crows is a screw, although she prefers not to touch it she considers it a favorite because, “You don’t’ see a crow carrying around a screw that much. Unless it’s trying to build its house.”

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Lisa’s favorite treasure gifted by the crows was her camera lens cap. She had lost it in an alley near her home while capturing photos of a bald eagle. Before she had a chance to go out and look for it, she found it sitting on the edge of the birdbath.

Lisa just had to know if it was really the bird’s that brought the cap back. She logged onto her home computer and checked on the bird cam. Sure enough, “You can see it bringing it into the yard. Walks it to the birdbath and actually spends time rinsing this lens cap.”


http://www.earthporm.com/girl-gets-gifts-from-crows/

[Jolie Rouge]

March 29, 2015

‘Tree of Life’ Gemstone Necklace Saves Bank Employee From Point-Blank Gun Blast
A raw gem crystal “Tree of Life” necklace is credited with saving the life of a Tennessee woman who was shot in the chest by a would-be bank robber.

Janeice Frisbee, a 20-year Bancorp South employee from Humboldt, Tenn., said the dollar-coin-size necklace, which features colorful, uncut birthstones strung on sterling silver wire in the form of the “Tree of Life,” deflected a .40-caliber bullet aimed at her heart.

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On the morning of March 18, police say Frisbee was accosted at her home by Dominic Williams and forced to open the Bancorp South branch, which was only a few blocks away. Once inside, Williams demanded that Frisbee open the bank vault, but she did not have that authority. The assailant then shot Frisbee twice at point blank range.

“I couldn’t do what he wanted me to do, and that’s why he shot me,” Frisbee told WMC Action News 5.

The first shot, which was aimed at the middle of her chest, never penetrated her body because it deflected off of the handmade sterling silver necklace that had been given to her as a birthday present by her son and daughter-in-law. According to The Jackson Sun, Frisbee sustained only minor injuries from the first bullet — a broken sternum and a bruise bearing the shape of her “Tree of Life” necklace.

“No one can believe that bullet didn’t go through that necklace,” Frisbee told WMC Action News 5. “It was just a miracle the way it worked.”

The second shot did more damage, but was not life threatening. The bullet hit her in the shoulder, went through her chest cavity and exited just above her heart.

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Despite the injuries, Frisbee was able to dial 911 as the assailant jumped out the bank’s window and fled on foot. Police captured the suspect minutes later.

“They told me as they were putting me in the ambulance to take me to the helicopter that they already had him in custody,” Frisbee told WMC Action News 5.

The twisted sterling silver wire necklace that saved Frisbee’s life was designed by Amanda Toddings of Colorado-based Mandala Rain, which specializes in Family Tree and Tree of Life necklaces and pendants.

Frisbee’s daughter-in-law, Brandy, reported that, despite being hit by a bullet, the necklace is still intact. It may be a while before Frisbee gets it back because the FBI is holding it as evidence in the felony charges against Williams.

The brave bank employee was hospitalized for only one day and is recuperating in her home with the support of family, friends and other well-wishers.

“They’re sending cards, letters, flowers, gift cards — I’m just so amazed,” Frisbee told WBBJ-TV. “I didn’t even know I knew this many people.”

https://thejewelerblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/29/tree-of-life-gemstone-necklace-saves-bank-employee-from-point-blank-gun-blast/