#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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#Farmers block Lidl site with tractor barricade

Thanks to Danny Fulbrook of BBC News Online for the Headline

The demonstration to block the entrance to the large distribution site for Lidl supermarkets was to protest for fairer food prices. I am pleased it has raised the profile of their campaign and I hope the other supermarket chains such as Sainsburys, Marks and Spencers, Waitrose , Tesco’s Aldi and Morrisons all take note.

In order to guarantee animal welfare we need to ensure that the process of growing food and looking after animals is not loss making. We all have a responsibility for this.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

AI generated Image of Farmers Protesting

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I only do shopping lists and they are not fun

Daily writing prompt
List five things you do for fun.

Only do shopping lists, and they are not fun, they are tedious and the effort of shopping is monotonous. Apologies it was raining all day yesterday and I’ve got the dishes to do.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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#HeadlineTherapy Police fined after officers hurt by petrol bombs

Thanks to George Torr at BBC Online News for the Headline

Apparently the Personal Protective Clothing(PPE) that was issued to four officers on the training for dealing with petrol bombs was defective and caused them to suffer burns which resulted in them having to go to hospital , but thankfully they have recovered and have now returned to normal duties.

PPE has a lifespan and unfortunately those four sets of PPE had reached the end.

The Police Force was sued by the Health and Safety Executive as they didn’t do a proper risk assessment. Thankfully this issue has now been addressed and all training has been reviewed and presumably equipment will be checked before being handed out. I suppose this is important for when the Police are called out on duty for any incident.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

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#HeadlineTherapy Let’s transfer free transport from oldies to our struggling youth

Thanks to Melanie McDonagh from the Standard Online for the Headline

Youth employment has been hit severely by the change in cost structures introduced by various governments, which, while trying to improve the conditions for lower paid workers have been used by employers, particularly in retail, hospitality and entry-level jobs for first time workers to reduce the numbers employed on the basis of the cost to them.

The article suggests transferring benefits that older people in London get for a travel card that enables them on some occasions to travel free throughout the day or possibly just at off peak times to young people who are going to interviews of indeed travelling to work. Frankly I think this is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

However, let’s look at employers calling “foul”. If a young person can do the job then they should be paid to do that job at an agreed rate. If you cannot run your business and employ people fairly, in good conditions and with rewards and training to continuously improve then you shouldn’t be allowed to employ people. That is the other side of the coin. If anyone needs help to travel then they should be considered for help, if it allows them to achieve their goal.

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#HeadlineTherapy The Indian couple who won a $200,000 settlement over ‘food racism at US University

I’m very sensitive to smells in microwaves, indeed I never used “work” microwaves in shared kitchens for this very reason.

We all would occasionally say to someone who was cooking particularly “pungent spicy ” food, my that ‘s a bit strong, but think no more of it. We certainly wouldn’t think that we would get sued for mentioning it.

It tended to be the teenage young men who particularly liked the supermarket bought curry who were the worse culprits as they very often didn’t clean the orange stains plastered to the sides and ceiling of the said microwave and worse the overspill onto the bottom of the microwave. Hence my reluctance to use the microwave.

Still the case in America was a bit different, the husband and wife involved in the case are both tertiary degree Anthropologists and part of the settlement was that they would be allowed to graduate from the University they sued as long as they promised not to return. Interesting request.

I think that to call it food racism is a a bit flavoursome, or just plainly wrong. I mean some people associate garlic with French cooking , but it’s in all sorts of cooking and anyway how about poor Anne of Cleeves who the Dogsbody Papers claimed used the smell of Garlic to put Henry “off” consumating her marriage to him when in fact it was he just didn’t fancy her. That Garlic story entered the realms of history and to this day some people still believe it.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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