A Barbie with Down's Syndrome PLUS We found your parrot!

0:02 The Shark Deck. I'm Johnny Mac with five good news stories. Good news, we found your parrot. You see, Angela was celebrating with her family in the yard and she looked over her brother's shoulder and she saw a shamrock green bird and she was like, that's weird. And then the bird said peek a boo. We were like, wait a minute. What. Angela posted on Facebook soon got in touch with the owner, Brent. Brent had been missing Tiki the parrot for three days. He said, it restored my faith in humanity that they were so nice and that everybody was like the whole Northwest Cape pitched in. It helped me. Brent had wanted a parrot for a decade before he finally got Tiki. His family had an African gray parrot when he was in high school. Before he joined the military, he had a dog, but he always wanted a parrot. Had the parrot get out well, The girlfriend was cleaning the house with the door open, thinking the parrot's cage door was closed, but it was not, and Tiki was like out of here, Tiki's back home now and saying his usual lines, Hello, come here, and of course peek a boo. Hey, good news.

1:00 US cigarette smoking dropped to another all time low last year. In the mid sixties, forty two percent of US adults were smokers. Last year, just one in nine. Bad news, as e cigarettes are up from about four and a half percent the year before to six percent last year. That concerns doctor Jonathan cemet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health. Nicotine addiction has its own health implications, including risk of high blood pressure and a narrowing of the arteries. The American Red Cross has teamed up with Snoopy. If you give blood, you can get a T shirt featuring Snoopy. Snoopy's dressed up as his alter ego Joe Cool, and the phrases be cool, Give Blood. Kathy posted a six second TikTok about her shirt and got four million views. One person commented, they're finally realizing we'll do anything for merch.

1:49 Another set, I'd literally skip class to go donate blood and get my shirt. The Red Cross has done similar projects for Game of Thrones and Wonder Woman nineteen eighty four. Chang said, I'm glad that TikTok got a lot of attention because no one will go out of the way to search out where they can donate blood, but then they see this incentive on social media and they do it. Mattel has introduced its first barbie with Down syndrome. They've worked with the National Down Syndrome Society in the US to make the doll, which has a shorter frame and longer torso than its other barbies. The new doll's face is also a rounder shape and has almond shaped eyes, smaller ears, and a flat nasal bridge. The dollars dressed in a puff sleeve frock adorn with butterflies and flowers, and yellow and blue. Those are colors associated with Down syndrome awareness. This barbie wears a pink necklace with three upward chevrons representing the three copies of the twenty first Cribozone, as well as pink ankle foot athotics. Lisa McKnight is the EVP and Global head of Barbie and Dolls from Mattel and set our goals to enable all children to see themselves in Barbie, while also encouraging children to play with dolls who do not look like themselves.

2:54 I am Patty Callahan Henry, I am Mary kay Andrews. I'm Kristin Harbell and I'm Christy Woodson Harvey. Friends of Fiction is led by four longtime friends, the four of us, with more than seventy five published books between us. Through end depth conversations and interviews, we discussed the books we've written, the books we're reading, and the art of storytelling. We are here with endless stories to support indie bookstores, authors, librarians and readers just like you. We are always seeking innovative ways to introduce dynamic voices and trends in publishing. On this channel, you will find hundreds of episodes with some of your favorite authors, including the four of us, with our new releases.

3:36 As we reveal the stories behind the stories, offer writing tips, and talk about the creation of novels, memoirs, and nonfiction titles. So if you love books and you're curious about the writing world, you are in the right place. You can listen to Friends and Fiction on any major streaming platform. All right, so you've heard all kinds of stories about gender reveals. Here's another one. A couple decided to do it with a cake. All Right, We're gonna eat the cake and we're gonna find out if we're having a boy or a girl. Is the inside of the cake blue or pink? Alyssa cut into the sponge cake and it was yellow. She said, I think they gave us the wrong cake. In case you're wondering what they're having, I don't know, but the cake is yellow. That's your five good news stories for today. Follow the show for free on Apple, podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your shows. Have a great day.