[goldie0608]

Asteroid the 'Size of a Box Truck' Expected to Fly 2,200 Miles Over Earth: 'Extraordinarily Close'

Asteroid 2023 BU will make "one of the closest approaches by a known near-Earth object ever recorded" on Thursday, NASA says



An asteroid "about the size of a box truck" is expected to come closer to Earth than most space objects in recorded history, according to experts.

Asteroid 2023 BU "will have a very close encounter" with the planet on Thursday, according to a news release from NASA.

Experts predict the asteroid will fly over the southern tip of South America at about 7:27 p.m. EST, and will only be about 2,200 miles above Earth's surface.

The asteroid will likely be "well within the orbit" of some satellites, NASA said in Wednesday.

However, the space agency claimed "there is no risk of the asteroid impacting Earth."

Even if it did enter the atmosphere, NASA said, the object would "turn into a fireball and largely disintegrate harmlessly."

Amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov discovered the asteroid Saturday from his MARGO observatory in Nauchnyi, Crimea, according to NASA. It is is believed to be about 11.5 to 28 feet feet across.

NASA's Scout impact hazard assessment system "quickly predicted the near miss," per the Wednesday's release.

Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at JPL who developed Scout, said the system also predicted the asteroid would get "extraordinarily close" to Earth.

"In fact, this is one of the closest approaches by a known near-Earth object ever recorded," he said in NASA's news release.

Experts believe the asteroid's path around the Sun will be "significantly altered" after coming in close proximity to Earth. Its orbit "will be more elongated" as a result, extending from 359 days to 425.

[Fatima99]

Passers-by in hysterics after spotting dog chewing through the front door



Locals in Fife, Scotland, were allegedly all smiles after spotting a dog that had chewed through a front door in the village of Kelty. A photo of the four-legged pooch was snapped by a passer-by on Thursday 26 January and shared to social media where it quickly rocketed in views.

The stunned local shared the hilarious snap of the dog popping its head through the uPVC door of the property on Croftangry Road. Sharing the image to popular Facebook page Fife jammer locations - which boasts more than 144,000 members to date - the photo showed off the hole which had shockingly stretched to the size of the property's letterbox.

While the light-coloured dog was captured with its head hanging out the door, its front paw was dangling through the hole also, appearing as if it was keen to make a quick getaway.

Since posting, the Facebook post has raked in over 700 comments to date and a whopping 2,700 interactions.

Captioning the post, Fife jammer locations wrote: "Different kind of ring doorbells in Kelty."

The image left people questioning whether it was real, while other Facebook users appeared to be in hysterics over the snap.

However, after flocking to the comment section, one person claimed to have spotted the dog during their walk to Kelty's local nursery.

"A walked past it going to the nursery was just sitting with its tongue out looking about," one person wrote alongside two laughing emojis.

Meanwhile, a second said: "I wonder what I was hearing earlier. OMG!!!"

Egypt discovers 4,300-year-old tombs in ancient burial ground
Egypt hopes recent discoveries will help revive its ailing tourism industry.

CAIRO -- Egypt on Thursday said it uncovered several 4,300-year-old tombs in Saqqara as it continues a series of discoveries in the ancient burial ground.

The tombs date back to the Fifth and Sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 B.C.), officials said in Saqqara, which lies some 19 miles south of Cairo.


Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, the director of the Egyptian excavation team, works at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 15 miles southwest of Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, who led the team that made the discovery in Saqqara's Gisr Al-Mudir area, said "12 beautifully carved statues" were also found as well as two deep burial shafts, one of which includes what he described as possibly the "most complete mummy found in Egypt to date."

"The most important tomb belongs to Khnumdjedef, an inspector of the officials, a supervisor of the nobles, and a priest in the pyramid complex of Unas, the last king of the fifth dynasty. The tomb is decorated with scenes of daily life," Hawass said.


Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, the director of the Egyptian excavation team, speaks during a press conference at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 15 miles southwest of Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

"The second largest tomb belonged to Meri, who held many important titles, such as keeper of the secrets and assistant of the great leader of the palace."

Another tomb featured a handful of statues of unidentified individuals, including two couples.


Egyptian antiquities workers watch recently discovered artifacts at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 24 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

Hawass said the main highlight was the uncovering of a 15-meter-deep burial shaft where a "large rectangular limestone sarcophagus" was found at its bottom.

The mummy of a man called Hekashepes was found inside, he revealed. It is covered with gold leaf.


An Egyptian archaeologist restores antiquities after the announcement of new discoveries in Gisr el-Mudir in Saqqara, in Giza, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

“This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date,” Hawass added.

Wooden and stone statues were also uncovered in another 10-meter-deep shaft, as was a stone sarcophagus that included a mummy of a man called Fetek, according to the inscriptions found on the coffin.


Recently discovered artifacts at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 15 miles southwest of Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

Egypt hopes a string of discoveries will help revive its ailing tourism industry, a key source of hard currency.

Extensive excavation efforts in Saqqara in recent years have led to several high-profile archaeological discoveries, including the unearthing of a 4,400-year-old tomb of royal priest Wahtye in 2018 and the discovery of hundreds of mummified animals and statues a year later.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/eg ... d=96684870

[PennySerenade]

If you can't beat them, join them. If you can't join them because you weren't born into an excessively wealthy family, eat them. If you can't eat them (the rich) because they're people and that's illegal, steal from them. And then brag about it on Twitter.

This is my loose understanding of the thought pattern behind a marked increase in social media users proudly declaring for all the world to see that they've been shoplifting from major Canadian grocery stores (or supporting those who do so) in retaliation against rampant "greedflation."

Have we finally hit the point where shopliting from oligarch-owned supermarkets has become a socially-acceptable crime? Like jaywalking? Or sneaking into an R-rated movie when you're only 14?

I can't answer that, but I can tell you that consumers are starting to lose patience as grocery prices rise far beyond the rate of inflation while corporate giants pull in record profits.

Some are so fed up with this bullsh*t, it seems, that they're willing to risk criminal charges (theft under $5,000) to stick it to the system... or, you know, avoid starvation.



Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, a frequent media commentator and senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Halifax's Dalhousie University, reported this week that, while grocery theft "has always been a major problem" for the industry, it is now "worse than before" after more than a year of price hikes due to (or under the guise of) inflation.


"According to some industry data, an average-sized food retail store in Canada can have between $2,000 and $5,000 worth of groceries stolen per week," he wrote in a piece published Jan. 10.

"With the relatively narrow profit margins in grocery, this amount is huge. To cover losses, grocers need to raise prices, so in the end, we all pay for grocery theft."

With the average family of four expected to spend more than $16,000 on groceries this year — roughly $1,066 more (or seven per cent) than they did in 2022 — and food bank use spiking to new all-time highs, some might argue that Canadians are already paying dearly for "grocery theft" of a different kind.

"Galen Weston and his family are thieves who have profiteered for decades, and if you think it's wrong to steal food (product insured for loss) in order to survive... you're a clown," wrote one Twitter user of the trend this week.

"If you're too poor to afford food and the government doesn't give you any options, taking food from a corporate grocery chain to survive doesn't sound like THEFT to me," wrote another, inspiring a now-viral response from Charlebois himself.



"You think it is appropriate to shoplift while grocery shopping, just because you think food prices are too high? Crazy," wrote Charlebois when retweeting the author of the aforementioned tweet, who had been responding to another reponse on his recent grocery theft article.

Since they went live around 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, these words from the professor have now been viewed more than 6.2 million times, soliciting more than 4,300 replies but less than 1,000 likes.

The majority of people commenting on the thread appear to disagree strongly with the assertion that shoplifting from grocery stores right now is "crazy," as Charlebois put it.

"You think it's appropriate to raise food prices while people starve? Crazy," replied one Twitter user.

"I dunno, boss," wrote another. "I think suggesting that people should starve rather than take what they need from the billion dollar corporations ain't gonna get people on your side."



Many appear to be of the mind right now that shoplifting is an appropriate response to what's been happening with grocery prices in Canada, and that consumers should avoid ratting on those who steal, as they may be in a desperate situation.



Others are going after Charlebois personally, decrying him as a shill for Galen Weston's Loblaw Companies Ltd. and surfacing how much money he makes per year (a lot.)



"On the one hand, people who are starving. On the other hand, grocery chains making record profits," wrote one person in response to the professor's viral tweet.

"Takes a real dork *ss loser to take the side of the grocery chains."

Many debates are now raging within the thread about the merits of capitalism, human rights, corporate greed, excessive food waste and who, exactly, is the bad guy in all of this.

"Laws are created to serve wealthy and/or powerful and in this case do nothing to protect most vulnerable," wrote a Toronto-based doctor in response to Charlebois.

"Charging a poor person who steals food for survival does nothing to address poverty and reinforces wealth of those who exploited pandemic to steal from all of us."

Many retweeting the thread are including the phrase "if you see someone shoplifting, no you didn't," to express how they feel about reporting these crimes under current circumstances.

Compassionate as many Canadians may be, it's important to note that shoplifting is a federal offence, punishable under the Criminal Code of Canada with fines of up to $2,000 and potential jail time.

The fact that more people than ever are willing to risk landing this charge to put food on their tables is, perhaps, something worth paying more attention to — and doing something about — than Galen Weston's potential profit losses.

Surgeons extract condom-wrapped banana man ate in ‘hormonal rage’ fit



Was he trying to get some sexual peeling?

A 34-year-old man had to be hospitalized after eating a banana wrapped in a condom in a fit of rage — which resulted in a serious bowel blockage. A case study describing his bananas contraceptive calamity, deemed to be the world’s first case of its kind, was published earlier this week in the journal “Cureus.”

The bizarre case came to light after the unidentified patient had reported to the hospital after experiencing abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Meanwhile, he wasn’t able to tolerate any food or drink and hadn’t had a bowel movement for over 24 hours, Jam Press reported.

Doctors performed a CT scan, which revealed that the poor soul had a condom-wrapped banana obstructing his small intestine.

The patient, who reportedly had a history of depression, copped to swallowing the prophylactic-covered fruit in a fit of “hormonal rage.”

This is the first known instance of someone swallowing a banana in a condom.

The inadvertent fruit mule was subsequently rushed into surgery, where doctors were able to remove it from his poop chute. Accompanying photos snapped post-extraction show the contraceptive-swaddled bruised fruit next to a pair of surgical tongs.

Authors noted that small bowel obstructions are rare and usually result “from the ingestion of drug-filled condoms to smuggle illicit drugs.”

This isn’t the first time someone has swallowed an unusual object, however. Earlier this month, doctors were flabbergasted after discovering that a 4-year-old’s “colicky” pain turned out to be caused by a magnetic bracelet that he’d swallowed.

The man was discharged three days after the potassium balloon’s removal, whereupon he recovered to the point to where he could eat and poop without issue.

“Two weeks after the operation, he was tolerating a low-fiber diet without nausea or vomiting,” the report read. “He had a return of normal bowel movements, and his pain was well-controlled.”

They added, “At six months, he continued to endorse normal bowel patterns and diet. He was able to slowly resume his active lifestyle and did not have major concerns.”

https://nypost.com/2023/01/27/man-ate-a ... -rage-fit/

[lush]

⇧I wonder if that "hormonal fit of rage" was because he originally attempted to use it up his wazoo, failed, and was determined to get it inside his body one way or another

YouTuber’s Pet Fish Commit Credit Card Fraud on Nintendo Switch
January 25, 2023*

• If you give a thousand fish a thousand credit cards, they’ll make the greatest purchase known to man.

There are few things worse than finding out someone’s swiped your credit card info. It can happen if you buy something from a shady website or use a compromised ATM, for example.

But you’d never suspect your goldfish could be behind the crime.

Unlikely as that seems, it happened. The residents of a Japanese YouTuber’s fishbowl managed to make a purchase on his Nintendo Switch. Not only that, they leaked his credit card info to the internet.

The bizarre incident was due to an experiment where a motion detector controlled a video game character based on the fish’s movements. But the game crashed and left the fish free to explore the features of the internet-capable game console.

Through an immensely unlikely chain of commands, the fish managed to find their way to the Nintendo eShop. By the time their owner noticed what was going on, it was too late — the fish had made a purchase.

So, what have we learned? Don’t leave your little ones with your credit card unattended, even if they’re fish.




Gamer Fish

The unfortunate owner of the fraudster fish is a Japanese YouTuber who goes by the nickname Mutekimaru. He uploads and streams video game content on his Mutekimaru Channel — but the stars of the show are his fish.

Mutekimaru has rigged up a system that can control video games by reading the ways the fish move. A camera monitors the aquarium and motion-tracking software translates the video feed into inputs that it feeds to various video game consoles.

His channel has nearly 93,000 subscribers, so the fishy gamers are clearly fairly popular. And they have had some success too.

In 2020, Mutekimaru’s fish friends managed to beat Pokémon Sapphire in merely 3,195 hours, according to Techspot. Sure, a human can do it about 100 times faster but hey — it’s still pretty impressive for fish.




A Fishy Shopping Spree

The fish were in the mood for another challenge, so Mutekimaru decided to see if they can beat both Pokémon Scarlet and Violet on Nintendo Switch. He hooked up his fishy gaming system and fish went at it.

Now, thousands of hours of fish-based gameplay can get pretty boring. Mutekimaru often leaves the fish to their gameplay unattended. After all, he’s not supposed to help them.

So, that’s just what he did. Mutekimaru went about his daily life and the fish successfully won several Pokémon battles on livestream.

But then, after 1,144 hours, the game unexpectedly crashed. The game application shut down and threw the system back into the main menu.

However, the crash didn’t affect the motion capture software. It continued to receive input so it did what it was supposed to do and started operating the Switch.

After hours of aimlessly clicking and scrolling, the fish activated Nintendo’s web store. Then, in an event that defies all likelihood, they managed to buy 500 yen (about $5) worth of Nintendo eShop points using Mutekimaru’s credit card.

And while they did so, they broadcast his credit card information live on the internet.

After buying the points, the fish used them to purchase a new premium avatar for Mutekimaru. They also downloaded the Nintendo 64 emulator, and changed his account name from “Mutekimaru” to “ROWAWAWAWA¥.”

Appropriately aquatic.


No Harm Done

The fish had free reign of the console for seven hours until Mutekimaru realized what was going on. He immediately powered down the system and began checking what havoc the fish had wreaked.

Seeing that they’d spent some of his money, the YouTuber did the one thing anyone in the situation should. He contacted Nintendo and asked them to refund the purchase.

We’d love to know how he explained to customer service that his fish used his credit card without authorization.

But whatever he said, it was convincing. Nintendo agreed to reverse the purchase and gave Mutekimaru back his five bucks.

All in all, the whole debacle cost him only 10 Nintendo points for his new avatar. Perhaps that’s worth it to have a story nobody who hears it could possibly believe.

And perhaps he learned that as dull as watching them can be, he shouldn’t leave his fish to game without a watchful eye.

[Misstee]

Mouse at San Diego Zoo believed to be world's oldest at 9 years old
By Ben Hooper



The San Diego Zoo said a Pacific pocket mouse born at the facility more than 9 years ago is now believed to be the oldest living mouse in captivity. Photo by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Wikimedia Commons


Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Officials with the San Diego Zoo said it is seeking Guinness World Records recognition for a Pacific pocket mouse believed to be the oldest in the world at the age of 9.

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, which operates the zoo, said a Pacific pocket mouse named Pat -- in honor of actor Patrick Stewart -- is believed to be the oldest living mouse in the world at the age of 9 years and 5 months.

Pat was born at the zoo on July 12, 2013, and the wildlife alliance said it will hold a special event Feb. 8 to celebrate the mouse's longevity and attempt to secure the Guinness World Records title of oldest living mouse in human care. A GWR adjudicator is slated to attend the event to verify Pat's age.

The Pacific pocket mouse is the smallest species of mouse in North America, and the zoo established a breeding and reintroduction program for the species in 2012 to help offset population declines.

The oldest mouse ever recorded by Guinness World Records was named Fritzy and died in 1985 at the age of 7 years and 7 months.

[Fatima99]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
SATURDAY JANUARY 28
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -6)
3:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)
on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

I caught a terrifying ‘It’ clown fish — its teeth have teeth



More like 20,000 screams under the sea.

Footage of a bizarre, ocean-dwelling wolffish that has two sets of scary-looking teeth is making waves online.

The clip of the deep sea denizen’s nightmarish visage was posted earlier this month by Roman Fedortsov, a Russian trawlerman stationed off Murmansk, who photographs nightmarish critters he’s accidentally snared while trying to hook fish.

Some of this alien bycatch, which Fedortsov uploads to his more than 642,000 followers, has included bearded sea dragons and a marine monster with a Kim Kardashian-esque “trout pout.”

The angler’s latest unintended haul reportedly entailed an oceanic predator called a spotted wolffish, which lives at the bottom of the North Atlantic and parts of the Arctic oceans.



As captured on video, it boasts googly walleyes and two rows of undulating snaggle-teeth like an undersea clown from the horror movie “It.” At one point, the camera zooms into the monster’s maw, giving viewer’s a prey’s-eye view of the impressive dentistry.

The iron maiden-mouthed critter made quite the splash on Instagram, with one commenter shuddering: “Yeah, no … it’s a no for me.”

“Dude needs to brush,” quipped another, while one viewer exclaimed, “Good grief … the teeth have teeth!!!!”

Indeed, the wolffish, which can grow over 5 feet long, is equipped with two rows of chompers. It uses these jawsome mandibles to crunch hard-shelled prey such as sea urchins, sea stars, various mollusks and other bottom-dwelling invertebrates.

Speaking of dentally-endowed dwellers, Fedortsov shared pics in July of a deep-sea crab that sported human-like teeth as if wearing old-time dentures.

He also went viral in May with footage of a fish shaped like a pair of testicles.

https://nypost.com/2023/01/26/i-caught- ... ave-teeth/

[ozswede]

It's a Mars bear! Image resembling Paddington is seen on the surface of the Red Planet

As any schoolchild knows, Paddington comes from Peru. Or does he?

This quirky picture from Mars seems to have captured the marmalade sandwich devotee smiling back at us from the fractured surface of the Red Planet.

The image was taken by a Nasa orbiter from 155 miles above Mars.

The spacecraft used its HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera; the most powerful ever sent to another planet.


This quirky picture from Mars seems to have captured Paddington smiling back at us

The space agency explained: ‘A Bear on Mars? This feature looks a bit like a bear’s face. What is it really?

‘There’s a hill with a V-shaped collapse structure (the nose), two craters (the eyes), and a circular fracture pattern (the head).


As any schoolchild knows, Paddington comes from Peru. Or does he?

‘The circular fracture pattern might be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater.

‘Maybe the nose is a volcanic or mud vent and the deposit could be lava or mud flows?

‘Maybe just grin and bear it,’ they add.

[Fatima99]

For the First Time Since 1977, Zero Rhinos Were Poached In India’s Parks



In May 2021, a new Chief Minister of the Indian state of Assam set out to thoroughly put an end to poaching in the state’s protected areas.

Now 20 months later, the forestry and police departments of the state have reported that 2022 saw no rhinos lost to poaching, the first time that’s happened since 1977.

Located on the borders of Tibetan China to the north and Myanmar to the east, Assam is one of the richest biodiversity zones in the world and contains Kaziranga, Manas, and Orang national parks as well as Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

Together these four protected areas make up most of the one-horned rhinoceros’ range in the country, and of the 2,895 rhinos in the state, nearly all of that number can be found inside them.

Chief Minister Sarma put together a special anti-poaching task force led by Special Director General of Police G. P. Singh. The task force created a database of past incidents of rhino poaching with details of when, how, and where they took place. Convicted poachers had their phones monitored, and local fishermen and villagers were brought on as informants.

When the work came to inside the park, the rhinos were treated like presidents. Sophisticated police commando teams patrolled the parks with night vision equipment and drones, and the number of teams increased on full moon nights.

When flooding in Kaziranga drove the rhinos to higher ground during the 2022 monsoon season, the teams stayed in the field 24-7 until the animals could disperse again after the waters receded.

“If we continue with this pressure, rhino poaching will stop completely,” Singh told the Hindustan Times. “For this, the cost to poachers has to be higher than the profit they earn.”

A colleague notes that the coordination has become so thorought that poacher arrest rates are now being measured weekly, rather than monthly as before.

It’s this kind of devotion that has seen the numbers of one-horned rhinos climb from just around 100 individuals in 1910, to almost 3,000 today.

[goldie0608]

Delta Flight Attendant Consoles Fearful Passenger and Photo Goes Viral



Everyone has their phobias—spiders, elevators, loneliness, but unfortunately for one Delta Airlines passenger, hers was flying.

Molly Simonson Lee was flying from Charlotte near her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, to New York when it became clear that a passenger in front of her was not comfortable flying.

The frightened woman began to cry, and that’s when Lee witnessed a touching act of humanity when a flight attendant posted up on the floor next to her and explained he would be there for her every step of the way.

“He just was so reassuring, so calming, and said, ‘you know what? I got you,'” Lee explained to ABC 7. “‘I’m gonna be there for you, just anything you need to let me know.’ And he was so wonderful and reassuring. With every little noise, she’d be like, ‘what’s that?’ He’s like, ‘that’s okay. That’s just the jet bridge pulling away’ or whatever the case may be. And that really helped her.”

The flight attendant was Floyd Dean-Shannon, and a photo of him holding the woman’s hand, snapped by Lee, went viral on her Facebook wall, racking up nearly 12,000 shares.

“He didn’t have to do that, you know, and to just see someone extend their heart in that way to a stranger was just beautiful to me, and I wanted to capture it,” she said. “I just really hope that Floyd gets what he deserves, which is everyone’s love, everyone’s praise, everyone’s admiration. I’m so happy that he’s getting that recognition. And I really hope it leads to good things for him.”

Good things indeed, as her GoFundMe set up to “show Floyd some love” has raised $2,250 so far—a nice little end-of-year bonus.

[PennySerenade]

Shelter Reunites Homeless Woman with Her Dog and Vows to Help Both After Finding Pet with Note



A Tennessee animal shelter reunited a homeless woman with her beloved dog, Lilo, after the rescue found the canine left with a note from the owner saying she couldn't afford to keep her.

According to a Jan. 24 Facebook post from McKamey Animal Center (MAC), Lilo was found wandering around Chattanooga with a note attached to her collar by a Good Samaritan, who brought the pup to the shelter.

"Please keep my name. My name is Lilo," read the note attached to Lilo's collar, according to the McKamey Animal Center's post, which also included a photo of the dog. "Please love me. My mom can't keep me and is homeless with 2 kids. She tried her best but can't get help. I cost too much for her."

"She really loves me, and I'm a great dog and loved to be loved on," the note continued, adding, "Please don't abuse me."

In its Facebook post about the situation, MAC wrote its own note, directed "to Lilo's mom," hoping to reach the dog's owner.

"We want you to know she is safe, and we will take the very best care of her. She will be loved by our staff and volunteers, we will keep her name, and we promise you we will do our best to find her a wonderful new home. But if you are reading this, we hope you will come forward to reclaim her," the shelter wrote to Lilo's mom.

"We will help you with whatever you need to care for her, to the best of our ability. Lilo definitely misses you, and we would like nothing more than to see her go back to the family she loves. Either way, please know that we understand, we will not judge, and we are here to help in any way we can," the McKamey Animal Center added.

Not long after compassionate messages started pouring in for Lilo's mom, the shelter updated the post saying the owner had been found.

In a social media post on Jan. 25, the McKamey Animal Center shared a photo of Lilo and her owner embracing.

"While we can't share a lot of the details with you yet, we are actively working with the family to set them up with a safe haven, shelter, and resources to stay together and tackle homelessness. We are thankful for everyone who has advocated for the family, and shared our post. We are amazed at the outpouring of support. It truly takes a community, and you all have certainly shown us how powerful ours is — thank you so much," the shelter added in the post.



MAC closed the post by encouraging animal lovers moved by the story of Lilo and her owner to consider adopting a rescue pet. The shelter also shared ways pet owners can pay it forward and help other humans.

"We want Chattanooga to be a community where pets are truly family, not just for the economically privileged, but for everyone. That means reaching out a hand of support to your neighbors, donating to emergency care funds like MAC's Angel Fund, spreading the word about low-cost and free services, and supporting the lifesaving work MAC and other local organizations are doing every day," the shelter wrote in its Jan. 24 post, before reminding followers that MAC is dedicated to providing resources to any person or pet who needs them.

Reptile wrangler removes snake from toilet at Australian home



A snake catcher in Queensland, Australia, responded to a home to help with an unusual situation -- a 4-foot snake in the toilet.

Drew Godfrey of Hervey Bay Snake Catchers said his wife and fellow snake catcher, Katie Airey, responded to a Harvey Bay home recently where the owners found a snake in the bowl of their toilet.

"They went to use the bathroom and found it when they lifted the toilet seat," Godfrey told Newsweek. "I'd assume they were quite surprised."

A video posted to the snake catching business' YouTube channel shows Airey removing the 4-foot common tree snake from the commode. Godfrey said the snake is not a dangerous species.

"They are very inquisitive and friendly towards people," Godfrey said.

[Misstee]

31-foot-tall unicycle breaks Guinness World Record
By Ben Hooper




@guinnessworldrecords Tallest ridable unicycle: 9.71 m (31 ft 10 in) by Wesley Williams - The One Wheel Wonder ♬ original sound - Guinness World Records

Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A Florida man earned a Guinness World Record after building a 31-foot, 10-inch tall unicycle and taking it for a ride.

Guinness World Records said Wesley Williams' latest unicycle broke his own previous record for the world's tallest rideable unicycle.

Williams, 25, of Florida, broke the record just over a year after breaking his back during a unicycle crash in the semi-final of Spain's Got Talent 2021. Williams survived a fall of 27 feet that required five surgeries.

Guinness World Records required Williams to ride his tall unicycle a distance of at least 27 feet, 10 inches, which he accomplished Dec. 29 at Weltweihnachts Circus in Stuttgart, Germany.