Tag Archives: #HeadlineTherapy

#HeadlineTherapy Judge throws prosecutor out of court and orders leaders of NJ’s US Attorney Office to testify.

Thanks to the Independent via AP News Wire for the Headline.

When the Courts have to fight against big Government to establish proper procedure in a Court of Law , as is happening in New York, chaos ensues.

The case the judge is dealing with relates to sex crimes against children, and the defendant has been offered a plea bargain to reduce the sentence. Not just that but” top people” from central government attended court to advise the prosecutors, which they did by interrupting and talking to the Court directly which is not allowed. Hence the main protagonist Mark Coyne was told to leave the Court Room.

This stinks to high heaven, who is trying to protect who and in such a sensitive case. The Judge involved has asked that the three New York Attorney’s testify in Court under Oath that they are not being told what to do by Central Government Attorney’s or indeed by a recent Trump appointed lady from the Justice Department ( who needs to be ratifed by the Senate before taking up her designated post.)

It’s worrying and why all this activity about a trial for “explicit sexual images of children”, who or what are they trying to protect?

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#HeadlineTherapy Cuban protesters ransack Communist office as energy crisis deepens.

Thanks to Jessica Rawnsley and BBC Online News for the Headline.

Steep Food prices and persistent power cuts have threatened stability in Cuba to the extent that an office of Cuba’s Interior Ministry(Minint) has been vandalised by a small group of people. Some of them were arrested.

It’s sad to see that a Country who tried to do their best for it’s people with good housing and healthcare and enough food to eat for everyone ,and access to education for all, being reduced to penury by blockades on fuel.

Again it’s normal people who pay the price.

You may not agree with Fidel Castro’s politics , but he did achieve a lot for the People. I like the current Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel who said that though the complaints and demands of the protesters were “legitimate”, “violence and vandalism that threatens “citizen tranquility” would not be tolerated. Well said ! You wouldn’t find a British or American Politician putting it quite so succinctly. The citizen is the important one.

No fuel has entered Cuba for the last three months as a result of Trump’s blockade, Cuba is being held to ransom. Personally I think it’s another piece of real estate Trump’s got his eye on. The instability is being generated for nefarious purposes.

Vunerable Cubans will be the first to suffer and they simply don’t deserve it.

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#HeadlineTherapy Bitter times for cocoa farmers as chocolate market slumps

Thanks to Thomas Naadi and BBC Online News for the Healdine

Farming Cocoa Beans has recently became unviable for growers . The crop from which all chocolate , but particularly quality chocolate is mainly produced in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

There is a Government structure in place called the Ghana Cocoa Board( Cocobod) which was set up to support the farmers by guaranteeing a price for their Cocoa which they would get if they could not sell it on the open market. Up to now it has been a profitable business and the Cocoa Growers have not had to worry about the uncertainties of the Global Market.

However, now, the prices have dropped on the Global Market and the buyers don’t want the Cocoa Beans. Cocobod is struggling to support the farmers, being three billion dollars in debt itself.

This has brought great personal hardship for the Cocoa Bean Farmers and the price that will be set by Cocobod for their crops next year will not meet their costs for farming their crop.

One solution might be to look at manufacturing chocolate themselves, which if there already is an oversupply might not work.

Dark chocolate is actually a bit of a health food and I think chocolate( good quality chocolate ) is good for the digestion. I certainly will be thinking of the Cocoa Bean Farmers this Easter and I hope that they find markets for their beans or that Ghana and the Ivory Coast create a product that is popular amongst us foodies.

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#HeadlineTherapy Steven Spielberg Takes Aim at Timothέe Chalamet’s Comment in Comparing Moviegoing to Opera and Ballet.

Thanks to Jack Smart for People Online for the Headline.

Not one for giving flame to a rather damp squib, frankly I don’t even know any of Mr Chalamet’s work, but if good old Steven Spielberg wants to add his penny worth to the fray then so be it. Let’s face it it was a throw away comment, which Mr Spielberg knew would travel.

He just said what we all think colloquially as ” different strokes for different folks”. Mr Speilberg , thought ,because he’s a guaranteed coffer increaser in Holly wood, said it with the gravitas of a wielder of power and influence. Excitement over.

Mr Spielberg probably knows that Opera is dividedly expensive, still most punters when we had cinemas could afford them. Oh and ballet lessons are always popular as are most dance classes.

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#HeadlineTherapy China approves ‘ethnic unity’ law requiring minorities to learn Mandarin

Thanks to Laura Bicker , China Correspondent and BBC Online News.

I was fascinated to learn that the Chinese Government , using a Government Structure which allows them to pass a Law making it compulsory for all school children to learn Mandarin. It was passed without any opposition through the National People’s Congress in Beijing which was inevitable as this structure is basically a rubber stamp.

To be honest all Governments work this way, if they have a Policy that they want to implement , it will go through in a way that means it will be passed. We all know that even in our Government, Bills have been pushed through, stopped and even Budgets allocated through Fast Track Systems which later seemed erroneous.

However, this particular Law , is to force everyone to learn and use Mandarin which is the language used by the dominant “Han” culture in China. “Han” Chinese make up more than 90% of the 1.4 billion of the population of China. Surprisingly, my experience is that they can try and make people learn something but there is no guarantee they will be able to and also if as they say knowing Mandarin( much like knowing English over here )will help them interact more in a Society dominated by “Han” Chinese what indeed is the problem? Well the problem might be Mandarin itself. Not an easy language to master I would think.

The UK’s crazy reform loving ” send them back where they came from” brigade believe that not speaking English is tantamount to not wanting to integrate. Those who have no interest in speaking English and wish to maintain their cultural heritage whatever it is” can go back home” . So I really see a double standard here.

The Chinese are saying that Mandarin is compulsory because it is necessary in a Country where 90% of the population speak and write it. Language and Culture can be maintained and survive where the will is there. Irish Gaelic has thrived , yet it is spoken alongside English and the same applies to the Welsh and there are probably many examples throughout the World of peoples keeping their languages and dialects alive through usage.

In our increasingly digital world and our need to predict people’s behaviour which has become part and parcel of the Silicon Valley Dream World; is it so strange that China would seek to achieve a 100% Mandarin fluent population , to make sure every Citizen can operate fully in their Country.

Will they really use heavy handed techniques to force high grades of achievement on the children who are struggling, will they blame their parents? Reality says I think that is highly unlikely, but there will be clever children who realise that learning a language does not stop them from knowing their culture or indeed knowing many languages. So in essence I don’t find this a scary, autocratic option , but actually quite rational. I wish them success .

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#HeadlineTherapy It’s time to Give Annibale Carracci Some of Rembrandt’s Spotlight.

Thanks to Annika Olsen of Artnet News Online for the Headline.

“The Three Carracci”, founders of an inspirational art school in Bologna Italy in the 16th Century. Annibale Carraci the elder of the three brothers was the driving force behind the school and also a very influential artist. His style championed “naturalism” and was influenced by Northern Italian Renaissance painters like Titian.

This style became popular in genre paintings in later periods and though Rembrandt and Carracci could never have met; being separated by land and time. Rembrandt owned some pieces of Carracci or at least attributed to Carracci and would have known his work. Rembrandt had many influences.

Sadly, as with everything, but more particularly progress in Art, the past is sometimes forgotten and Annibale Carraci’s work in developing his school as well as producing some very memorable “naturalistic” paintings along with developing the methods of producing them perhaps have been overlooked. His visceral style and techniques certainly persists in modern painting today and there is strong evidence that he influenced the great masters of Europe, maybe even Rembrandt.

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#HeadlineTherapy Epstein had two key aides -why do they still control his money and secrets?

Thanks to Chi Chi Izundu,Olivia Davies and Will Dahlgreen of BBC Online News for the Headline.

The article even uses the phrase that I’m very fond of promoting , follow the money , wherever it ends up is the motivator or motivation for criminal activity if such behaviour occurred.

What puzzles me is that the two key aides, Richard Kahan and Darren Indyke who incidentally have rarely been photographed in public have gone about their business as book-keepers to the wealthy receiving large amounts of funds from the Epstein Estate apparently to pay off some of the victims but also to take significant salaries in their role of administrators of the estate.

They are like faceless nameless bankers who facilitated transactions for Epstein’s business’s. The business’s were legitimate; they claim; on the whole, providing in some cases domestic staff for rich clients and each business paid their taxes as necessary which they accomodated. One small fly in the ointment may have been cashing cheques at various banks so as not to attract the suspicion of money laundering. So were they money laundering?

Well there you go , we all wonder how the rich do what they do, without aides they wouldn’t be able to do anything. Would they?

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#HeadlineTherapy Turkey’s Erdogan has tough, no-nonsense reputation- and his message on Iran war is clear.

Thanks to Alex Crawford from Sky News Online for the Headline

Two quotes from President Edrogan in this article struck me.

” I emphasise again that the war should be ended without spreading further in our region.”

and also that

” We do not accept the Middle East geography to be put on the operating table just like a century ago.”

President Edrogan has referred to the other Countries including Iran in the Middle East as “brotherly countries”, an expression to me that says Edrogan knows what is at stake should the disruption thrust upon the area continue and regretfully gets worse.

Erdogan has the best chance of ensuring the Iranians officially contain their revenge, but has no chance with the inevitable ire generated by the fanaticism of an extreme Iranian regime populated by tarantula like factions ready to spread their venom against those who they see as “infidels” but who are in fact innocent populations just wanting to live in harmony.

Land is to be lived in and what does it matter who owns it as long as it is looked after. I’m relieved that Turkey is in Nato, and that they are taking as many steps as possible to reduce tension and have been quite clear to the Americans that Turkish Air Space cannot be used to attack Iran.

I feel President Tayyip Erdogan is one hope that we have, hopefully there are others, but the biggest threat from Iran and America is unpredictability and that even strong Statesmanship cannot always cope with.

Peace without Terror

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#HeadlineTherapy Dancers loved practising in this Singapore walkway. Then the complaints came.

Thanks to Kelly Ng and BBC News Online for the Headline

Singapore is a land-scarce country with more than 8,300 people jostling for each (square?)kilometre. Dance studios are expensive , so budding dancers have got used to practising their moves on a public walk way in a train station which very innovatively has floor to ceiling mirrors that reflect the dancers and thus enable them to perfect their “moves”.

It isn’t really unreasonable for normal commuters to complain, to be honest , art is fine , but to have art thrust upon you when all you are trying to do is get through your day can be irritating. The Landowners have frosted the mirrors and so the dancers cannot practice and have had to find another quieter area, with the same big mirrors which unfortunately is less atmospheric.

However, the article is more about how Singapore sees itself, is it too organised?

Should it loosen the controls on use of public areas. I’m not so sure, when there is little space you have to consider everyone needs, obviously don’t waste space but at the same time ensure people’s welfare by having spaces that they can use and are beneficial to everyone, not just dancers.

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#HeadlineTherapy Labour whip restored to farm tax plan rebel MP

Thank to Richard Moss and Pamela Tickell of BBC Online News for the Headline

A Cumbrian MP , Markus Campbell-Savours was suspended from the Labour Party for opposing increases to inheritance tax on farmers . The Government at the time was pushing for a limit of £1million on inheritance tax but they have now had a rethink and have decided the threshold of £2.5 million will remain.

Campbell-Savours was caught up in the furore of the Government’s heavy handed approach of insisting that MP’s supported the changes despite farmers ( who make up a significant number of his consitituents) being against it.

He felt he had to vote against the Government, and his Party, and as a result he was suspended and became for the few months of his suspension effectively an Independent MP, without the backing of the Labour Party.

Much has changed within the Labour Party in the last few months, and I for one am relieved that the cult of “Peter Mandleson” has gone and hopefully there is more respect for people who actually do the “right ” thing for their constituents and also the modesty that was expressed by the MP who said that his suspension had not been a pleasant experience and one he does not want to make a habit of doing , though ,representing the wishes of his constituents is what he was there to do.

Such a refreshing bit of news about our Parliament , that there are still people who will stand up against policies they disagree with even at great personal cost.

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