#HeadlineTherapy Rudolph reindeer Christmas drone show at Ardingly labelled “disaster” and “shambles”

Thank you to ITV News for the Headline

Sad to say we have moved on from mud ridden Santa’s Grottos and overly thin reindeers needing a good worming treatment wandering around waiting to be petted with no hand washing facilities and the risk of e-coli infections ever present.

Ah yes, Commercial Christmas’s answer to making a quick buck has moved on. We now have what could be , if well orchestrated a wonderful show that would make everyone’s eyes light up in the glow of LED’s . Ginormous reindeers filling the sky with red noses , followed by Giant Snowman floating across the stratosphere and a soundtrack bellowing out the story to bring it all together. How wondrous, what could go wrong in a field in Sussex?

Well quite a lot actually, basically a lot of the drones failed to work, so the light display looked like few LED’s randomly moving through the sky; the display was like nothing really ;and so detached from the deep masculine voice generating the obviously digitised soundtrack, as to make no sense at all to the parents , never mind the poor freezing children standing in the mud and wondering why they hadn’t stayed at home and watched “Frozen” on their bedroom television.

Guilt ridden parents headed for the food outlets , only to find that they were vastly over priced and of inferior quality to what they could make at home.

Anyway by that time the children were demonstrating their lack of faith in their parents choices and screaming to go home.

Even the promised visit to Santa at his Grotto was a disappointment. Santa didn’t seem very enthusiastic to be associated with this bunch of amateurs and actually seemed quite curt. The presents he gave out, for the ยฃ20 cost of the ticket , were left unopened and given to their mothers to carry. Santa had said it couldn’t be opened until Christmas Day.

Understandably the parents were suspicious and sneakily checked what it was, a ยฃ5 bit of cheap plastic in the guise of a tractor, made in China .It would be best thrown out as the paint(probably lead) was peeling off and those bolts were a choking hazard. The parents thought about which rubbish bin it would go in, plastics or metals and if disposing of lead paint was allowed. Perhaps they would have to ring the Council.

The promised Christmas Market had been cancelled and for that the Parents were incredibly grateful, but the children kicked off as they had been given “pennies” to spend by their Grandparents and there was nowhere to spend them and they were never doing this again and what a waste of time it was. The Parents had to agree, but were very hurt when they said that “Johnny and Maggie’s parents had taken them on a trip to Lapland to see the real Santa, ride on a horse and play in the snow”. Thanks Mum and Dad.

And so everyone went home and hoped they could claim a refund for the” Christmas Disaster.” The older children retreated to their bedrooms, and the younger ones did the usual of getting their nappies changed or sitting on their potties and once ready for bed having a story read to them. Tomorrow the baby would have a slight cough which would turn into a full blown cold which would last a week and would make preparing for Christmas relatives “difficult”. The thought of chasing a refund for the “Disaster ” was paling into insignificance.

Such is the expectations and disappointments of Christmas. Still it is the make or break time for “Seasonal Business”, don’t worry it will soon be January.

Namaste and Thank You for reading. ๐Ÿ™

NB If you haven’t guessed already I use the images generated by AI, and I must admit this one is a little bit scary , but obviously a poorly lit drone show is not yet in AI’s digital memory bank.

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Depends

Daily writing prompt
Are you more of a night or morning person?

Whether I am a night or morning person depends on what I have to do. If you rest to be prepared you can be either.

Namaste and Thank you for reading.

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#HeadlineTherapy Truly unprecedented situation-how can you pardon a prime minister who hasn’t been convicted?

Thanks to Adam Parsons Middle East correspondent and Sky Online News for the headline.

The current situation where the Israeli Prime Minister has been on trial for a number of years on corruption charges yet remains in office and is now asking for a pardon as the trial and the required court appearances ( three a week) are distracting him from his public duties as Prime Minister.

It’s indicative of the disordered state of the workings of Law and Order, and how the state can be hijacked by those with their own agendas and objectives, who in reality want to live outside the Laws that apply to the general population and who want to benefit both financially and reputationally from their positions of power.

Unprecedented, no , I think not I’m sure other dictators have used the same methods in the past and it remains to be seen if history will repeat itself.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading ๐Ÿ™

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Death and Protein

Daily writing prompt
What are your feelings about eating meat?

In 1789 , Antoine Fourcroy recognized three distinct varieties of animal proteins, albumin, fibrin and gelatin.

Should we eat them or should we stick to plant proteins, perhaps one day , we won’t have a choice as animal protein will become so expensive.

Science has broken down meat to it’s component amino acids and much research continues to find a protein source to feed the World and protect the environment.

Less living animals will be the result, though of course it will mean less animals dying, for they cannot die if they’ve never been born.

Namaste and Thank you for reading. ๐Ÿ™

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#HeadlineTherapy Thousands of Israelis line up for appointment to obtain Portuguese citizenship

Thank you to Toi Staff and The Times of Israel for this headline

Better to plan and think in advance about your fate. The Portuguese Embassy because of a backlog with their online processing , offered a face to face appointment system for applications and extensions of Portuguese Passports to Israeli Citizens during the months of December and January 2025.

Interestingly this has an historical context , Portuguese Sephardic Jews were subject to the 16th Century Inquisition and many chose to leave Portugal. Portugal in 2015 passed a ” law of return” to let those affected to obtain Citizenship of Portugal and return should they so wish.

Many have applied, but have stayed in Israel with the benefit of having a European Passport. Recent events, however, have caused concern and also the cost of living in Israel is high and there is an attraction in attending European Universities which with European Citizenship is possible.

There were large queues outside the Embassy and those who had the patience were able to start the process of application and extend their documents were happy to complete the process and sad to say , it is a good plan, something anyone who lives in these times has to consider.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading ๐Ÿ™

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#HeadlineTherapy Missing American tourist located after eight-day search in Caribbean.

Thanks to Isabel Keane and the Independent Online for the Headline

It must have been quite a panic for the ship to have lost one of it’s passengers. How strange though not to return to the ship and not tell anyone. Apparently the missing lady booked into a hotel on the French side of the Caribbean Island and decided to stay there. She was found by looking at the Passport Records of the Hotel.

Actually I can quite understand the adventure of this , perhaps she just wanted to disappear for a while, or maybe she didn’t like the idea of a return to the ocean. The French side of the Island sounds rather nice.

Glad it was all resolved, and I suppose she will plead temporary insanity.

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Fleece Tops and Walking Boots

Daily writing prompt
What are your two favorite things to wear?

Fleece Tops and Walking Boots.

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Remote Controls

Daily writing prompt
What technology would you be better off without, why?

Do you remember actually having to get up and change channels. It was really quite nice. No Alexa, no funny rubber buttons and no scanning endless options. Plus you do at least 10 steps to get closer to your daily quota.

Those were the days.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.๐Ÿ™

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#HeadlineTherapy Spain Announces It Will Boycott Eurovision if Israel Competes

Thanks to Haaretz Online for the Headline

Spain is one of the big five investors in the Eurovision Contest, so they have a lot of financial muscle.

They feel it is unfair that other Countries have been penalised for breaking the ethical rules of the singing Contest, but Israel is allowed to continue to participate and perhaps use the contest for nefarious purposes which don’t align with the positivity and neutrality of the Contest.

If only singing about something could bring change, but we’ve had music for time an memorial and it doesn’t really stop anything or influence anything does it?

In fact, the latest crisis in the Middle East was ignited by a Music Festival which was in a location close to a border and the event itself had very little security, as a result it was targeted, would we be in a better place if it had never had happened?

Thankfully, the Eurovision Contest is a very secure event and long may it continue as such. It has a big budget and Spain have every right to say they do not want to participate, which is a shame as they have some wonderful musical artists and probably account for a lot of the viewing figures.

So there it is , I’m pleased Spain is putting an alternative point of view and expressing it in a meaningful demonstration. I just wish politics was removed from the arena of entertainment.

Namaste and Thank you for reading.๐Ÿ™

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A rope unravelled

A spliced rope frayed and worn

A small family bereft and shorn

When the pull was too great

The words of promise scorned by fate

A no fault incident of love or lust

A crowded room crying unjust. unjust.

Who are we to judge or scorn

Just have pity for those unborn

“You should have tied a knot in it “she cried

As regrettably  the love she felt for him  died

He was not sure he wanted it to end

His behaviour though he could not defend

“They say time heals” he weakly murmured

She threw a plate and threatened murder

Time to go he thought very quickly

For the noise and stress made him feel quite s

sickly

The children appeared at the door

Tears in their eyes at what they saw

“Dad , Mum what’s going on?”

“Oh nothing loves. I just want your father gone”

But mum we love you both, they cry in unison

They spoke from  the  heart  but it mattered  not a jot

To their mum “love” was  just a scammer’s

bot,

The unfaithful man looked at the floor

As his young daughter led him to the door

“Dad. for now I think it’s best you go”

We’ll talk to mum and let you know

A picture of a rope came into his mind

As slowly his heart stringsย  began to unwind

He wondered what life would be

Without his home and  family

Would it be possible the rope to splice

To start anew with a new wife.

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