Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

đŸŽ¶ Those boots were made for mockin’ đŸŽ”

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

We still have time to mess this up!

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Republicans in disarray!

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

This really is a full service blog.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Let’s finish the job.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

A consequence of cucumbers

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Make The World A Better Place / Acts of Kindness: Facing The Challenges

Acts of Kindness: Facing The Challenges

by | 30 Comments

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This week has felt like a barrage of crappy news due to crappy people. So it seemed this was really needed this week. And I had a few queued up, so wasn’t too much trouble to put together.

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My nieces are both obsessed with turtles and tortoises and I became favorite Auntie when I stopped in the middle of a country road so they could relocate this HUGE snapping turtle. They of course knew to send it on its way going in the direction it was already traveling and successfully moved it out of the road.

Runaway Tortoise Leads Cop On ‘Slowest Foot Pursuit Ever

He has no regret 😂

By Stephen Messenger

Published on 3/3/2023 at 5:31 PM

Sure, slow and steady may win the race. But unfortunately for this tortoise named Seashell, it wasn’t quite enough to escape the law.

Acts of Kindness: Facing The Challenges

For the past 15 years, Seashell has been the cherished pet of Mayda Garcia and her family in Texas. There, he’s provided with plenty of love and treats, and a spacious backyard to call his own. One thing is lacking from his cozy domestic life, though — and that’s unbridled adventure.

But it hasn’t stopped Seashell from seeking it out.

Acts of Kindness: Facing The Challenges 1

Over the years, Seashell has seized the opportunity to slip away from home on a number of different occasions.

One notable incident occurred in 2021 when he managed to break through a wooden gate to explore the world beyond.

Fortunately, Seashell didn’t get too far. A neighbor spotted him and reported it to the police, who then picked him up and returned him home.

This, however, wouldn’t be Seashell’s last brush with the cops.

Earlier this week, Deputy Joe Garza of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office was on patrol when he spotted a tortoise wandering down the street. Garza knew just who to contact.

“[He] reported it to his supervisor, who was the same Sergeant that had found a tortoise roaming in the area over a year prior,” the sheriff’s office wrote online. “The sergeant knew this had to be the escape artist, Seashell!”

And sure enough, he was right.

Seashell evidently tried to make a break for it — but was soon apprehended. Yet again.

Acts of Kindness: Facing The Challenges 2

The fugitive tortoise had racked up quite the criminal record for a reptile. But in the back of the squad car, he showed little regret.

Thanks to Seashell’s prior run-in with the law, authorities knew where the tortoise lives, and returned him home just as they had done before.  Read the remainder here

 

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Alison Rose sent this to me, sweet duck story:

Direct link if you can’t see the embed: Gertrude the Duck

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My new favorite follow on twitter;

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I’ve had this one tucked away for awhile.

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If you need a place to kill some time, several people have sent me this guy and his obsession with clearing drains, making the world a better place, one clogged sewage drain at a time:

I don’t do TikTok, but his videos can be found on tiktok here

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This was just straight-up fun:

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And finally, Miss Bianca sent puppy pictures which I neglected to post in a timely fashion! Here is Susi. Get your squee ready:

Acts of Kindness: Facing The Challenges 3

Acts of Kindness: Facing The Challenges 4

Those two are from when she was a wee thing. Now she’s out exploring:

 

That’s it for now. Share any good news stories in the comments.

Reader Interactions

30Comments

  1. 1.

    Old School

    Sorry for rough week.  I hope it gets better.

    I’ve got to work on either coming up with a better look or growing facial hair.  I don’t think my daughter would be able to have a costume identifiable as me.

  2. 2.

    sab

    Very brave and not for the uninformed. Snappers have long necks, sharp teeth, and generally a bad attitude about being handled.

  4. 4.

    TerryTime

    Lawmakers in Michigan have passed a bill to expand civil rights protections to the LGBTQ community, with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) expected to sign the measure into law when it reaches her desk.

  8. 8.

    TaMara

    @sab:  Luckily, it wasn’t my first snapper, so I was able to give them some pointers on what to watch out for – both are big animal lovers and my oldest niece is now working on her master’s in marine biology.

  9. 9.

    TaMara

    @TerryTime: In similar good news, CO:

     

    Starting in 2023 – Colorado will be is the first state in the country to explicitly include gender-affirming care services in its benchmark health insurance plan for essential health benefits (EHBs). These will be comprehensive services that insurance companies must cover for individual plans (meaning not from an employer) and small group plans (for small employers with 2 – 100 employees) starting in 2023. Find further details about the new benchmark plan on the ACA – Benchmark Health Insurance Plan Selection website and in the Oct. 12, 2021 announcement.

  10. 10.

    sab

    @TaMara: You are good people. I don’t hate snappers. Poor little guys wandering a hostile world. I do hate them chopping friendly fingers off at random.

  11. 11.

    KrackenJack

    Reptilian recidivism! I’m for tough legislation.

    No, not three strikes and you’re soup.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    I wanted to watch that video about the amazing 17-year-old, but then she said the word “equity” so I knew it was bad and scary, that it should be turned off and no one else should see the video. //

    Seriously, she is awesome, I love her laugh, her style, her attitude.

  17. 17.

    sab

    OT I just gave a sustaining membership to my local public media stations. One PBS, one NPR, one just random exfellent classical music.

    Somehow they got there shit together, talked to each other and merged under one umbrella. Also too brought our local classical station back from the wilds of Lorain County to unspellable Cuyahoga County (and its environs.)

    That classical station had been gone for two decades and I have missed it deeply every day. I blame Gore for driving them out. Why I had to hold my nose to vote for him. Tidying up government by selling stuff.

  19. 19.

    Matt McIrvin

    @TaMara:

    an update on Maxwell’s integration.

    I read that phrase and immediately flashed back to trying to teach pre-meds about electromagnetism.

  20. 20.

    Alison Rose

    Wow, Dasia is amazing. What a brilliant young woman, and I love that she’s using her intellect in such a compassionate and helpful way.

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    @Alison Rose: I know!  Science is her thing, but she’s going to study political science in college so she can figure out what it will take to turn equity into a reality.

    Very inspirational!

  22. 22.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I read that phrase and immediately flashed back to trying to teach pre-meds about electromagnetism.

    Did any of them ask if magnets cure cancer?

  24. 24.

    Dan B

    Newsom announced that CA will not renew a $54 million contract with Walgreens because of their caving on selling abortion meds.  Let’s get more states to follow suit!

  26. 26.

    Geminid

    There’s some more good Navy news. Some days ago Navy Secretary Del Toro announced that the cruiser Chancellorville would be renamed for Union ship’s pilot Robert Smalls, and today he said the Navy oceanographic research ship Maury would be renamed to honor geologist and marine cartographer Marie Tharp.

    Tharp was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1920. Her professional career spanned from the 1940s to the 1980s. Although she was not credited at the time, in the 1950s Tharps research and analysis of the Atlantic Ocean floor contributed to the novel theory of plate tectonics.

    Up until April, 1861, Matthew Fontaine Maury had an illustrious career as a pioneering oceanographer. Then he quit the U.S. Navy for the Confederate, and spent most of the rebellion in Europe trying to drum up support for the Confederate States. His statue on Richmond’s Monument Avenue was removed in the Spring of 2020.

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