#HeadlineTherapy A Father and Daughter Forged More Than 200 Artworks by Warhol, Banksy, Picasso and Others- and Sold Them for $2million

Thanks to Christian Thorsberg and The Smithsonian magazine for the Headline

Sad to say, the penalty that this father and daughter may suffer is as much as Twenty years in prison. To be honest some of these people who bought the fake are still have an interesting painting, albeit created by some unknown artist in Poland and presented to the buyer as an original of a famous artist.

What does it matter if they like it? Most of the artists are dead anyway and what is decor , but a choice of colours.

With the costs involved I don’t think that they made that much money anyway. I think it is a waste of time sending them to prison.

Grid of nine colorful squares each displaying the word LOVE in bold letters with different color combinations.
A vibrant grid artwork featuring the word LOVE in pop art style with varied color schemes.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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I think of this quote often.

Daily writing prompt
Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

“Neither be cynical about love , for in the face of aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.” The Desiderata

Text of the Desiderata poem over a peaceful mountain lake during sunset with trees, mountains, and birds.
The Desiderata poem is beautifully overlaid on a serene mountain lake landscape at sunset.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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Thyme Champagne anyone?

Chilled Thyme Champagne

No additives, no sugar, the beautiful taste of fresh thyme and it’s immuno support properties in a fizzy champagne style drink.

Perfect to celebrate with!

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#HeadlineTherapy The crime that never happened and sparked a rage bait frenzy

Thanks to Marianna Spring and BBC Online News for the Headline

There is nothing stranger than human behaviour when the rabble are provoked into action by channels of misinformation which lead to false conclusions and heightened anxiety. The worst scenario, there is a revenge killing, like what happened in an America that hopefully is not regressing back to such events with lynchings of black men accused of raping white women.

For the population of Epsom the reality of this frenzy occurred and vandalism and attacks on property occurred when a group of protesters (or potential lynchers) forced entry into a hotel they thought was housing asylum seekers. It wasn’t , so red faces all around and arrests for criminal damage.

The article is about how Social Media and the Police communicated the information which led to the behaviour. However, the punchy headline says it all to me. Too many people jump to the wrong conclusion on the basis of misguided beliefs backed up by a sound bite of information.

If someone had been killed , all the talking and meetings in the World won’t bring them back or take away their arbitrary sentence.

Apparently now the Police say a Gang Rape did not occur, so I presume the way they handled the “investigation” will be reviewed.

Tornado made of numerous glowing smartphones swirling over a neighborhood at night
AI Generated Image (Epsom is posher than this)

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#HeadlineTherapy Whale carried by barge out of German waters after weeks stranded on coast.

Thanks to Paul Kirkby and BBC Online News for the Headline.

The whale who has managed to strand itself on the German Coastline and became a cause celebre in the German news. All in all the whale has spent three months , and used a special channel dug by volunteers to move back out to sea, but unfortunately moved further down the Coast and ended up stranded off the Island of Poel.

Two entrepreneurs have paid for a barge which will transport the whale out to sea , out of German waters and into the North Sea. Whether the whale will survive is questionable as it’s condition may well have deteriorated , the lack of salinity in Coastal Conditions affecting it’s skin and also the lack of it’s normal diet. It’s really an unclear situation, and they may release the whale and it might just drown.

This certainly is not a warm and fuzzy story, particularly when you consider the whale first got into trouble because it became entangled in netting.

Cargo ship Sea Horse docked near muddy shore at sunset
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My favourite holiday of all?

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

My favourite holiday of all,

In these modern times is to have one at all,

As those above sometimes forget,

That us little people need a rest,

It was decided long ago,

That productivity increased if to the seaside we could go,

For two weeks of the year,

“It does them good and it’s not too dear,”

And then with time holiday entitlement increased,

And Holiday Companies realised the punters could be fleeced,

Five weeks if you were lucky,

Or spoke to personnel and were quite plucky,

The choice was endless of places to go,

By plane or boat to far field places like Ao

Adventures unlimited with opportunities for vice,

Though to talk about that would not be nice,

It was all on offer dependent on the price,

Around the World was a possibility,

If you make it a race you can appear on tv,

Or if you fancy a break from reality,

You can mooch in a field just like me,

For that for me is truly holiday time,

Infact the truth is……. it’s blooming sublime

Elderly woman startled by fast-moving helicopter, airplane, boat, and car near waterfront
AI generated image

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#HeadlineTherapy Reform’s Scottish leader says he owns six houses , six boats and five cars

Thanks to Angus Cochrane and BBC News Online for the Headline.

I’m in hysterics about this, not that I care about the said Scottish Reform Leader’s Lord Offord. In his own word’s a self-made man, worked hard all his life as a banker, moving money here and there and employed loads of people who are now his target for voting for the wonderful Reform Party. Perhaps he should have given more of his ex-employees a pay rise. Perhaps the voting public are not immune to the treatment they got from “6 boat Malc” in the past.

The Greens say one house is enough for anyone, actually I’m inclined to agree with them on that. As for six boats and five cars, jeez I wouldn’t want to see Lord Offord’s back garden, I mean where does he store and more importantly maintain them. Of course he may or may not have “people who do for him and his family” and I suppose that is one form of employment.

And that my friends is his solution for Scotland. The STV Television Debate outlined his proposal, that what Scotland needed was more Lord Offord types and less normal jobs for people who couldn’t rise to the occasion as he has done of being so greedy and constantly worrying about what other people think of them and their possessions. ( Did you hear Mavis , he’s got another Lamborghini?).

I’m not a fan of TV Debate’s, they are just soundbites and the real work of Government is in the detail, but there is so much more to consider than individual success or appearances.

TV Debates are a listen don’t speak, attempt at polarising discussion and reducing it to inane entertainment. Lord Offord sounds a bit of a plonker , but he obviously doesn’t think he is with his houses, cars and boats.

Man in navy blazer presenting waterfront estate with yachts and luxury cars
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How can you say ever?

Daily writing prompt
Have you ever been camping?

Yes, I’ve been camping and it’s wonderful! I’ve done myriads of different formats, but in reality I need a little bit of luxury to enjoy the outside world with no walls. I couldn’t permanently live in a tent. Being a Berber woman would not be my idea of fun.

I ,though, get an itch when in hotels, I feel surrounded by alien activities never mind alien people. Why is it all so formal? Do the staff like working here. When will they repair the wonky sign on the women’s toilet door near the cocktail bar. How early is early breakfast?

And Air B’B’s, not for me I’m afraid. No me and my dog would not enjoy that prospect.

So camping, or in our case caravanning is the perfect outlet for surrounda-air and nature. Cooker , Fridge, Sofa and a duvet and mattress bed. Natural air conditioning and not too worry some insect life. Roll on next time!

Campervan with outdoor seating and string lights at sunset with a woman drinking from a cup
AI Generated Image ( her husband is changing the toilet cassette)

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#HeadlineTherapy Venice opera house drops incoming music director after nepotism remarks.

Thanks to Laura Gozzi and BBC Online News for the Headline

In the realms of what is happening in the World, perhaps the role of Opera seems irrelevant .

However in Italy , well specifically in Venice, at the Teatro La Fenice the appointment and then firing of a new music director has caused much of a furore.

In truth Beatrice Venezi had a bit of a pedigree to qualify for the job , she became an orchestra conductor at twenty two and has worked as a conductor in Italy and Internationally in Armenia, Uruguay and Argentina.

I say a bit of a pedigree, not enough for the old soaks who make up the Musician’s Union and basically the Orchestra which she accused of being “Nepotistic” and that La Fenice needed a thorough broom sweep to rid it of the passing on of orchestra positions to family members.

My experience is that music ability can be “genetic”, but that’s only an opinion and there’s always exceptions to rules. But Beatrice espousing her views on this with an Argentinian Newspaper has lead to her demise.

Hysterically, the fact that Beatrice has been friends with Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy has been one factor that has made her unpopular, as well as protests by the patrons of the La Fenice who left printed leaflets at recent performances with the “Music is Art , Not Entertainment.”

Well perhaps the real problem is finance, get ready to faint Covent Garden Opera Lovers, you can pick up tickets for La Fenice for under a Tenner. ( No pun intended). Perhaps Beatrice wanted to jazz the repertoire up a bit and raise prices, perhaps the old water logged Venitian Building needs updated. A possible venue for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Whatever, it’s never going to happen, it looks like the old soaks have won and people will continue to be able to afford to go and see the Opera, perhaps just as it was one hundred years ago or more. That I think is not a bad thing, particularly in Venice .

Teatro La Fenice opera house with people outside and gondolas on a canal at sunset
Teatro La Fenice in Venice bustling with evening visitors and gondolas

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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There is no time like the present.

Daily writing prompt
When do you feel most productive?

There is no time like the present,

Sometimes this World seems Heaven sent,

I’m not religious but that doesn’t matter,

Yes some would serve my head on a platter,

We all get by doing what we do,

As Dylan and Harrison wrote “If not for you”,

It sometimes works more often not,

The World sometimes seems a gigantic bot,

Never let it get you down,

So what if you wear a permanent frown,

What people think matters not,

As I say modern life is subject to the Internet bot,

But face to face and palm to palm,

That’s when you see who I really am.

Two hands nearly touching on a rooftop with London cityscape and sunset in background
AI Generated Image

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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