2025, The Positives

2025 has been...well, it's been a year, hasn't it? It's been rough for a lot of people. However, it hasn't been all hopeless.

That's right, 2025 did have some positives. Allow me to show you some, courtesy of the Good News Network.

- The fisher returns to Ohio. For those not in the know, a fisher is a carnivorous mammal native to North America. They're mustelids, meaning they're related to weasels, otters, and badgers. Ohio used to be a major home to the fisher, until the 18th century, when they were nearly hunted to extinction by fur trappers. Since 2013, fishers have been spotted more and more in the state, the fruit of efforts by conservation groups to maintain healthy ecosystems. 

- King Amenhotep III statues rise again. 1,200 years ago, a pair of statues of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III were damaged by an earthquake. Since the late 1990s, a team of Egyptian and German experts have worked to reassemble and repair the statues. On this month, the fully-restored statues were displayed in Luxor. 

- Fluor Field revitalizes a South Carolina town. Fluor Field is a baseball stadium located in Greenville, South Carolina. Since 2006, the 6,700-seat stadium is the home of the Greenville Drive, a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Boston Red Sox. The field is meant to replicate Fenway Park, the Red Sox's own home stadium, even having its own version of the famous "Green Monster". Since the field was built, it has helped revitalize the city. It has generated nearly $300 million for the city's economy and transformed a seedy part of the city into an area full of high-rises and hotels. The power of sports indeed.

- ANEW celebrates 20 years of recycling office furniture. On Earth Day 2005, interior designer Rose Tourje founded ANEW. She found inspiration by seeing some office furniture being accidentally tossed out a window to the ground where forklifts were filling dumpsters to go to landfills. Since then, ANEW has worked with numerous companies to reduce office waste while helping benefit the less fortunate. 

- Blind man cooks barbeque. In Duncanville, Texas, there is a barbecue restaurant that is rather unique. That's because the chef, Christopher Jones, is blind. Having lost his eyesight due to diabetes, he started a restaurant here he cooks his grandfather's recipes using his other four senses, mainly smell. Just goes to show that just because one is disabled, doesn't mean they still cannot contribute to society.

- Japanese college student becomes American football hero. Kansei Matsuzawa was a talented soccer player in his native Japan during his high school days. After graduating from Makuhari Sogo High School in 2017, he went on a trip to the USA. He would end up seeing his first NFL game there, and he saw himself in the kickers. Inspired, he returned to Japan where he learned how to kick footballs by watching YouTube videos of Seattle Seahawks player Jason Myers. He would go on to play for the University of Hawaii's Rainbow Warriors, where he not only became known as "The Tokyo Toe", he became the very first University of Hawaii player to be named an All-American in 2025. Just goes to show that talent knows no borders. 

- Frenchman saves family from a burning building in Paris. Fousseyneu Cisse never expected to be a hero. But when the 39-year-old immigrant receptionist saw that a group of people were trapped inside a burning apartment building, his inner Superman emerged. Cisse climbed to an adjacent building and helped rescue two adults and six children. A spectator had filmed his heroic act, and it went viral in France. He would be invited to be a guest of honor at the country's Bastille Day parade by French President Emmanuel Macron, and Paris Police Chief Laurent Nunez awarded him a ceremonial medal. Through it all, Cisse was humble, saying that he was told to act by his heart. 

- A scorpion's venom may be able to fight breast cancer. Scientists in Brazil have discovered that the venom of the Amazonian scorpion known as Brotheas Amazonicus appeared to fight breast cancer cells much like modern chemotherapy medicine does. They discovered that a peptide in the venom called BamazScplp1 is the reason, and it could lead to a new therapy to help save the lives of people with breast cancer. 

2025 was full of bright spots. Scientific advancements and people working to make the world better. Hopefully, 2026 will continue to provide little bits of light like against the darkness. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time, and have a very happy and safe New Year!