Stan and Milo A Walk in the Woods

It was a nice day, Milo decided he was going to go for a walk in the woods. Stan was asleep in his shed and Milo decided not to disturb him as Stan had been up late doing his rounds with the Security Guard who went to the Bank with the money from Milo’s businesses in Town.

Milo headed off , it was going to be nice to get some fresh air. It didn’t take long until he reached the woods. It was early and the birds were singing and the warmth of the sun was beginning to wake everything up. The flowers were opening up and the bees and bumble bees were beginning their long day of nectar gathering. It was just what Milo needed after a busy week.

Milo was very happy. He loved the Natural World and really appreciated it when he had the chance to do so.

Stan , meanwhile had woken up and his instincts told him that his friend Milo had gone off by himself. Milo had left a scent trail and Stan decided to follow him. Which was just as well.

Milo had wondered deep into the forest and began to feel quite hungry. He found a little hollow underneath some trees and saw what he thought were delicious mushrooms.

” An ideal lunch, this will give me energy for my walk back home”.

He began to munch the mushrooms, but they weren’t mushrooms at all they were toadstools!

After a few minutes he began to feel very unwell.

Luckily , Stan , his faithful bodyguard was not too far away and found Milo in the little hollow.

Stan realised that he had to get Milo to the doctor as quickly as possible , so he put Milo on his back and then galloped away towards the Doctors Surgery.

When they got there, Milo explained to the doctor what had happened and the doctor was able to give him special medicine to cure him. After a few hours of rest Milo was back to his normal self.

Milo came out of the Doctor’s surgery and said to Stan, let’s go home, I was going to have steak pie tonight , but I don’t really feel like it now. Would you like it? Stan yelped his approval.

So Stan and Milo spent the evening together on the sofa, Stan ate his steak pie and Milo drank a nice cup of tea.

They were both very happy and laughed when the Chef told them that he had decided not to give them the mushrooms that he cooked to go with the steak pie, although they were delicious, so the Chef had eaten them himself.

The End.

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Life in Past Year

Daily writing prompt
What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?

In truth, I face everything with positivity. When surrounded by negativity it is your only choice to neutralise the bad karma. Do I need to participate in situations that are quite frankly manipulative, not really. Does it hurt me to say no. No, I say no many times, and when I say “yes” I truly mean it.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

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#HeadlineTherapy Woman wanted by Interpol over trafficking of tiger parts arrested in India

Thanks to Anbarasan Ethirajan Global News Reporter for BBC News for the Headline

Good News for Tigers in India!

A woman who has been arrested thanks to a coordinated operation between the Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in what must have been a very difficult arrest, given that the woman had skipped bail many years ago and remained at large until she was finally caught this week. Thankfully on her arrest and plead for bail she has now been refused bail, so won’t be able to fade into obscurity again.

The net included tracing transactions in Nepal,Tibet and Bhutan as well as some Indian cities including Dehli.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare who monitors the situation has said that Tiger poaching still continues and that the numbers of tigers killed may be higher than we think. Still it’s good to know that there are organisations who are attempting to stop this evil trade and that they are having some success. Long may it continue.

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Taxing

Just thought I’d share this with you as although it was stressful at the time and probably will be until the outcome is finalized , it was also amusing.

HMRC (His Majesty’s Ripoff Clowns) sent me a confirmation that my tax code had changed.Well a lot has changed with me so I wanted to use the Gateway Government login to update my Personal Tax Account.

Long story, I was probably dealing with the worst IT system in the World,geared to making you pay more.The automated questions do not let you tell your real circumstances.To plead lack of funds I had to say that I  was paid monthly, there was no other option , I actually finished work a month ago.

Having gone through every loop, including facial recognition and being told despite them knowing who I was  I only had limited access to my data.

By that stage my blood pressure was through the roof.So after trying to ring and being told that it was better to go online,I resorted to their chat bot.

After going through the same questions and being given options to click and lists of other sites to go to I just started typing in the chat.

“I want to speak to someone”

It was therapeutic. any thing the chat bot said I retyped

“I want to speak to someone”

It worked.After about 15 lines of

“I want to talk to someone”

I finally did get an answer from them and have actually had an e.mail  from them that I can reply to,

I’d recommend it as a ploy to make any organisation interact with you.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

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UK based Wild Animals

Daily writing prompt
Do you ever see wild animals?

Yes , occasionally I see wild animals , however they avoid people as much as they can which is important and shows that we can live together and should not encroach on each other.

Voles, the odd weasel, foxes, deer, rabbits, toads and frogs are present and actually I find it quite exciting to know that Nature fights the good fight to survive.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading . 🙏

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#HeadlineTherapy Another city bans check-in keyboxes from its streets.

Thanks to Sara Rossi at the Independent Online for this Headline

Following anti-tourism riots in Barcelona, the Milanese authorities have decided to ban check-in keyboxes from it’s city centre streets due to their unsightliness and lack of security as the owners of the rented properties never meet their clients. Hotels, on the other hand ,have to obtain a passport and address details for their records and ask if a newspaper is required in the morning. ( to check if the guests can read)

The private short-term rentals in sought after tourist destinations have made it nigh impossible for long-term renters to find cost effective accommodation and thus have affected those who want to live and work in those areas.

Airbnb who are the most famous of these private rental companies and largely internet based, they blame the hotels for over tourism, interesting concept. Room for room who has more rooms to offer? Hotels offer employment and also people to talk to and then how about youth hostels in prime locations. Again they have a booking in process.

Over tourism will perhaps have it’s day, maybe at the moment wanderlust and disposable income go together for the lower income brackets , let’s face it those who can get premium accommodation will pay for such, those are the tourists the Cities want. They don’t want random key boxes located on streets for a stream of travellers who just want to pick up their key, see a few sites and then disappear to the next tourist site and repeat the process. What will the neighbours think?

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

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The Moon

Daily writing prompt
Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it?

I haven’t visited the moon, but it is one of my favourite places. We were outside taking a photo of it and we managed to see all the craters that mark the surface of it. Amazing. It’s also where the Clangers live.

Namaste and Thank you for reading.🙏

Namaste and Thank You for Reading . 🙏

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#HeadlineTherapy Farage insists Thai-based crypto billionaire wants nothing in return for £9m donation to Reform UK

Thanks to David Maddox Political Editor for the Independent Online

Well my immediate reaction to the above Headline was , the one person in this World who knows that is not how the World works is Nigel Farage. Mr Farage has been foisted on us as a Political Representative by forces unknown. Is he a clown? Is he a political monster that amplifies all that is rotten in the misguided beliefs of a loud minority within any Country , not just ours. Farage’s media profile is huge and as he first came to prominence being an MEP who hated the European Union, along it seems with 49% of the UK population, he is gone from strength to strength, despite murmurs and scandals of a history of racism at school and his potentially incriminating property deals involving his wife and probably him and most likely half of parliament.

So Nigel is a wheeler and dealer, believer of the benefits of Crypto Currency and certainly no altruist. This Headline caught my eye and made me think about who this Christopher Harborne is and why he feels the need to donate to a party like Reform; and if as is the case; our Christopher lives in Thailand why does he choose to want to promote and ( presumably influence) British Political life and thus determine how I live, who am not a millionaire , but who does live on a low income in the UK and has watched as our real economy of jobs, shops , infrastructure has been decimated.

Ah , perhaps someone will one day say ,” let them eat Crypto Currency”. I assure you having checked Wikipedia, I can honestly say that dear ol’ Chris comes from a privileged background, his money seems to have been made from the sale of aviation fuel, and he is an ex Westminster School boy and has a degree from Cambridge and is an ex McKinsey management consultant.

None of this explains why he wants to take an interest in UK Politics, why he; having lived abroad for the last twenty years ;felt that the UK should not be in the EC ( he donated millions to the Campaign to exit it ) worked with Boris Johnson and for reasons best known to Boris Johnson did a joint visit to the Ukraine with him while Boris was in British Politics.

Christopher Harborne knows as much about real life in the UK as I know about real life in Thailand. I suppose the cost of living is cheaper, but it is a Country that perhaps has it’s attractions for tourists with climate and beaches and probably the local people appreciate having a multi-millionaire Crypto entrepreneur on their side, but it’s very different from the mature economy the UK is( or perhaps was). The success or otherwise of an economy in chaos lead by politicians in a panic. Prime pickings for outside interests.

One thing I’d like to know is where does Ol’ Chris buy his aviation fuel, from Russia? We must follow the money.

As for “tethering” us to Crypto Currency and causing our financial markets to collapse, perhaps that is the next step to acquiring the resource which is the “British Economy”. Perhaps that is why Nigel Farage and Christopher Harborne speak on the phone once a month to each other.

Suppose Ol’ Chris had put £9m into a business in the UK that provided jobs and a future for young people in the UK, or even invested in Social Housing, or put his money into something that had a future, not a Political Party which with it’s scandal ridden members and it’s unseemly ability to pick on those who cannot help themselves seems at odds with an altruistic no strings donation.

My suspicion is there are bigger fish to fry and maybe Crypto is more exciting than boring old Aviation fuel and the whole thing makes life more interesting when you’re sitting on a beach in Thailand with nothing else to do than sign cheques.

Namaste and Thank you for Reading 🙏

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Why Five?

Daily writing prompt
Share five things you’re good at.

Why limit me to five?

What is in number. Numbers are finite. The things that I’m good at are many and how do I decide what I am good at , do I compare myself with others or do I just think that I’m pleased that I can do some things which help me in my daily life.

Enough said.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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#HeadlineTherapy Fifth Belgian Reactor is permanently shut down.

Thank you to World Nuclear News for this headline

In 2003 the Belgium Parliament voted to phase-out all of Belgian seven nuclear power reactors.

The process has meant that five reactors are in the process of being de-commissioned , however, due to the start of the conflict in the Ukraine in 2025 the Belgium Government and Electrabel (a subsidiary of the French multinational electric utility Comany ENGIE) have agreed an extension of the life of two reactors Doel 4 and Tihange 3 who will now operate for a further ten years to 2035.

In May this year the Belgian federal parliament voted to repeal the 2003 law, so that the prospect of a new nuclear plant being built was back on the agenda and also whether the life of Doel 4 and Tihange 3 could be further extended. The Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control want clarity on the situation from the Government to allow them to ensure the safety of the proposals.

Interestingly the Headline could have read , Belgium is keeping two Nuclear Power Stations because they might need them.

Namaste and Thank you for reading.🙏

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