Tag Archives: #HeadlineTherapy

Thanks to Nathan Briant and Alex Meakin, South of England BBC News Online for the Headline

The Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) means that anyone who is sleeping rough should be given a safe place to stay to get them out of the dangerous temperatures they would experience outside. If temperatures drop below zero three days in a row then the protocol comes into operation.

This means that to find and support SWEP, the Homeless workers both from Charities and the Local Agencies must be out and about approaching those who are in need of help. It must be heartbreaking and dangerous work( considering they may have to travel and walk around in poorly lit areas).

So they need both emotional and physical resilience.

There is an app called Street Link where members of the public can notify the relevant people should they spot someone who they think needs help.

I can appreciate how difficult this job is , I remember seeing a story on a News Programme of a homeless man in a village in Wiltshire who died in the street during a particularly harsh winter. The village made a real effort to give the man a funeral and acknowledge and celebrate his life. I think though , the feeling was they all had wished they’d done something more to prevent his death from the cold

Perhaps experiences like that one generated the need for SWEP and all we can be is grateful for organisations like St Mungo’s and the Salvation Army who continue to do the work in what are very difficult circumstances.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

Thanks to Fergus Burnett of the Civil Society for the Headline.

Ah perhaps that’s why Rachel Reeves has had a bit of a breather, my she and the Treasury must feel that their boat has come in. I wonder what Boris Johnson would have done with the money.

The “National Fund” was set up a 100 years ago to pay off the “National Debt” incurred during the First World War. The fund was started by a banker Gaspard Farrer with the amount of £500,000. The fund received other donations from other philanthropists , but has received no new donations since 1985.

There was a court case in 2023 to see if the now £600million fund could be given to existing Charities in the UK, but the Courts have now decided that the money should go to the Treasury and will be used to write of a £670 million gilt.

So there you go , Gaspard Farrer wishes have been followed and the Charity will be wound up and MP’s will still be hiving off expenses and giving their friends Government Contracts and using everyone else’s money for their own purposes. They don’t miss a trick , do they?

Nevertheless , the money was supposed to be used for the National Debt and we have got plenty of that. The Charity itself is being wound down , I wonder though who was living off the interest of all that money, no doubt the Charity had expenses?

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thanks to Holly Lennon of STV News for the Headline

Unfortunately , commercial interests of Road Haulage firms are overriding the safety concerns of their drivers when it comes to harsh weather.

A driver who refuses to take his /her rig out due to bad weather , can be made subject to a disciplinary. This is simply not safe if there are serious weather warnings, perhaps we should just accept that we might not get our Grocery Deliveries or Santa’s Toys may not arrive in time for Christmas.

Of course the Conspiracy Theorists could say that all these Amber and Red warnings are generated by our Climate Change Obsessed Meterologists who just want to bring our economy to a halt and slow down global warming (if it’s happening). Let’s face it they can live in the cold , are vegan and all their children make their own toys out of string.

Apologies for the cynicism, but I do have empathy with anyone who feels that driving a large truck on black ice is not a good thing to do and is not just risking their lives but everyone else’s.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

Thanks to Abhimanyu Mathur ” X“ “and the Hindustan Times for the Headline

The film “Dhurandar” has not been given an official release in several Middle Eastern Countries ( including United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Quatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia) due to an “Official Ban”

The film is about an Indian Spy in Pakistan.

“Dhurandar” has emerged as one of the biggest hits in Indian Cinema and it’s refusal to be shown in the Countries that have banned it is viewed as a direct act of suppression against Freedom of Expression. The approach to PM Modi has been made by the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association( IMPPA).

Apart from the Indian Film Industry being quite powerful, I’m not sure what PM Modi will be able to do . Mind you it makes me want to see the film , apparently it has had a significant success in India amid the Hindi’s, perhaps it is not regarded as a very positive film for Muslims, but they won’t know until they see it and anyway I can’t believe that it would be so biased and negative. Perhaps it reflects a time in history or even the present that needs reflection .

Banning does not solve anything, and I will be interested to see if PM Modi can affect change or indeed is interested in taking up the case.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thanks to Janey Doyle , Wiltshire BBC Online News for the Headline.

Apparently the solar panels with this construction would be four miles wide and two miles long with panels that would stand roughly the height of a double decker bus.

Not surprised the Council and the locals are objecting to it , sounds an absolute monstrosity and apparently the substation is some distance away from the site that would connect it to the National Grid, so where would all the power go?

Oh well, it’ll have to go to Central Government for approval and guess what will happen.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thanks to Reuters News and BBC News Online for this Headline

It’s hard to know how this could possibly be happening. Apart from the fact that Chrystia Freeland does have Ukranian heritage, and just happens to have played Trump at his own game when it came to negotiating tariffs on behalf of Canada when she was Minister of International Trade (2015 to 2017). Ms Freeland also is an ex- journalist, which seems increasingly a qualification to be successful in Politics.

Interestingly enough on her mother’s side during the aftermath of World War two her mother was born in Germany in a hospital administered by the US Army. Chrystia herself was born in Canada and until her recent appointment by Zelensky was MP for Toronto.

So Zelensky is beefing up his International Economic Power with the aim of reconstructing Ukraine when the War is over , if it is ever over. Meanwhile with houses in Canada, Ukraine and London, Chrystia is well placed to cover the ground wherever she is needed.

Thanks to Michael Ribbeck of the Swindon Advertiser for the Headline

In my mind to keep everyone that is frail safe they should have access to this service for free. Also we should value the service and the people that work to provide it. It should be like how the Japanese view their care, that it is an “honour” to care for people who cannot care for themselves.

Apparently those that do have the telecare service pay what they have always paid along with the budgeted increases but have noticed a deterioration in the service. That is not right. If they pay more the service should improve

With the modern digital culture and high speed broadband, everyone should have access to help if they need it . It should not be a question of if people need to pay for a better service.

The opportunity should be to review what is needed , where it is needed and what is the most effective technology and human input to achieve it. In the long run that will save money and reduce distress for those who need the support.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thanks to Euro News online and Gregory Holyoke for the Headline.

This article is inspiring as it tells me about a place called Arwa Amba in northern Ethiopia where a group of Ethiopian’s have set up a community that has the values of equality , peace and pacifisim. The purity of the idea came from a young Ethiopian man who saw the unfairness in his daily life and wanted to live a different way.

It has survived and thrived successfully and consists of around 500 to 600 people currently living in the northern mountains of Amhara over 550 kilometres from the capital , Addis Ababa. It’s principles as a community have addressed poverty, exploitation and gender inequality. For me it represents a beacon to everyone else not just in Ethiopia but throughout the World.

It has faced challenges to survive over the last thirty years it’s been part of the Ethiopian Landscape. At the moment, however, it faces it’s biggest challenge . As the Peace Lovers are surrounded by warring factions on all sides.

My hope is that the conflicts that they are surrounded by do not destroy what surely should be preserved as a better way to live than arguing about money and land rights.

We shall have to wait and see.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏