Monthly Archives: January 2026

#HeadlineTherapy Outcry after France’s famed TGV rail service bans children from new premium-class carriage

Thanks to CNN Travel ‘s Amarachi Orie and Pierre P Bairin for the Headline

Banning children from a new premium-class carriage has caused a few raised eyebrows in France. Some see it as a attack on the human rights of children. Others well they are thinking wouldn’t it be nice to go somewhere where you didn’t have to accommodate doting parents with their manic hyperactive attention demanding children. Good Headline though, personally if you are willing to pay for a carriage by yourself you should be entitled to, no one expects you to share your hotel suite with someone else’s four year old , do they?

Namaste and Thank You for Reading🙏

AI generated image, I’m sure the woman is holding onto the child’s rucksack and not pushing him in front of the train.

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Wouldn’t you like to know?😉

Daily writing prompt
What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?

What a silly question.Wouldn’t you like to know?😉

Namaste and Thank You for reading.🙏

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#HeadlineTherapy Nelson Mandela’s prison key, sunglasses and shirt can be sold after daughter wins court battle

No doubt the great man would say there were more important things to concern South Africa than his personal items.

It’s all about money and heritage. Whereas Mandela’s life was about standing up for human rights, his life can never be represented by material things, he achieved something that a lesser person could not have and that is what he will be remembered for forever.

Let the crow’s fight over the pickings. They don’t matter

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#HeadlineTherapy Post Office ‘dishonestly’ withheld evidence when suing subpostmaster court told

The Post Office and Fujistsu tried to stop Lee Castleton again from taking them to Court with their fancy barristers saying that the 500 or so compensation claims agreed in 2019 bars Mr Castleton from suing.

Mr Castleton’s point is that the compensation claim, though paid, did not clear his name and only a court of law can do that. He is looking for the 2007 judgement against him to be set aside on the basis that it was ‘obtained by fraud’.

I wish him well , apparently he has got past the first hurdle and there will be a trial and the Post Office and Fujistsu will have to stand up in Court and admit what they actually did. Probably something that they wish to avoid.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

AI generated Image

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#HeadlineTherapy Son-in-law of Venezuelan opposition candidate freed from jail, wife says

So there has been some action on releasing people who opposed the Maduro regime in Venezuela and were put in prison for their opinions.

Apparently some 150 people have been released , however, there are still over 700 in jail for their Political Opinions.

The release of the prisoners , along with the request to hand over 50million barrels of Venezuelan Oil was the first thing that the Trump administration pushed for. The interim Government of Venezuela announced that it was a “gesture of Peace” to release the prisoners.

The stories behind those released and those still held are extremely sad, and the charges against them have not yet been dropped.

At the end of the day the son-in law is back with his Wife and Children whereas his father-in -law is in exile in Spain. There is a long way to go for Venezuela.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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#HeadlineTherapy Japan suspends world’s largest nuclear plant hours after restart

Thanks to Hafsa Khalil at BBC Online News for the Headline

Whether we like it or not, and with the Fukishima disaster in 2011 where a Nuclear Plant was destroyed by a Tsunami, the Japanese public are well within their rights to say that they don’t want Nuclear Power, as we all are.

There is however a rub, in order to achieve zero emissions targets by 2050 Japan realises it must have Nuclear Power and has gradually being restarting their Nuclear Plants.

The latest attempt with Japan’s largest Nuclear Plant was delayed due to a malfunction in an alarm. In truth I can understand why this makes people nervous.

However, since 2015 , Japan has restarted 15 out of its 33 operable reactors, it needs them to generate electricity as we all do. Battery Power, Wind Power or any other source won’t fix the supply of energy as cleanly and as efficiently as Nuclear Fusion.

AI generated image of Power Station, looks more coal fired than Nuclear.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

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Flintfall Cottage

Daily writing prompt
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.

Flintfall Cottage is still there and I still haven’t got around to visiting.

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#HeadlineTherapy Spain to ban ketchup and sugar sachets- and it will change eating out for everyone

Thank You to Farah Mokrani and Euro Weekly News for the Headline

Single use sachets for diners eating on a premises will no longer be offered to customers due to new E.C. regulations which Spain is applying shortly ( effective August 12 2026) and is aimed at reducing plastic waste .

So sugar bowls and salt and pepper pots, vinegar and sauce bottles are returning. Actually I think that’s quite nice. The rules initially will apply to restaurants and bars, however, in future the plan is to cover all areas of hospitality and also to apply the reduction in wasteful packaging to hotel rooms where soaps and shampoos are supplied. These will be from dispensers not little packets. Although this legislation is unlikely to be enacted until 2030.

Food takeaways are not affected as for hygiene and logistic reasons the sachets are convenient.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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#HeadlineTherapy ‘Some form of crisis is almost inevitable’: The $38 trillion national debt will soon be growing faster than the U.S economy itself, watchdog warns

Thanks to Nick Lichtenberg of Fortune Online for the Headline

Oh well, America sneezes and the whole World catches pneumonia. Yes economics as well as decorum is up the spout in America and heaven knows where this is all going to lead.

The warning comes from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. (CRFB) who are non-partisan but will probably have the FBI and ICE after them shortly.

So what might happen.

1 Financial Crisis – Investors will lose confidence, interest rates would spike and devalue existing bonds potentially triggering failures in banks and financial institutions.

2 Inflation Crisis, when money loses it’s value because the government has had to print more to avoid default, but kills the ability of normal people to buy normal things in the shops.

3 Currency Crisis Forget Trump’s tariffs, the dollar will go down in value and America will struggle to afford it’s already hefty imports.

4 Default Crisis, If the USA defaults on the interest payments of it’s Trillion’s of debts then global credit would freeze, stock markets crash and the World would plunge into a deep recession. This is unlikely.

5 Gradual Crisis This is more likely, a gradual erosion where no acute event occurs, but the American way of Life declines with an estimate that the real income per person would be 8% lower by 2050. Like a maggot eating away at an Apple.

Yes very depressing , but a good Headline nevertheless.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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#An Afghan woman judge who escaped from the Taliban: ‘Ireland saved our lives’

Thank you to Hosanna Boulter of the Irish Times Online for the Headline

This Headline intrigued me , it is a real life example of an Afghan Woman and her husband who escaped the clutches of the Taliban when the Americans cleared out of Afghanistan an let the Taliban loose on the populus.

The lady in question , qualified as a ‘judge’ when she was 25 years old, the minimum age for a circuit judge in Afghanistan. While the Americans were present she was still in constant danger with death threats and had to keep a low profile as well as changing cars in order to avoid being attacked. Three of her colleagues were killed in car bomb attacks.

Once the Americans left though, she was a target for the Taliban and their aggression to women having any rights, never mind doing important work. She, her husband and unborn child had to leave very quickly and managed to get Irish Visas for themselves but had to leave the rest of their family behind who are now in hiding.

Thankfully, the little family are now able to begin rebuilding their lives in Ireland and as the lady who escaped says ,’ Ireland saved our lives’.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

The rights of women.

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