When planning a honeymoon, many couples go for obvious destinations like Paris, the city of love, or the Maldives, with its stunning azure waters.

Few, unlike Croatian newlyweds Kristijan and Andrea Ilicic, opt for a freight train carrying wagons of dirty iron ore across the baking hot deserts of Mauritania in northwest Africa.

The couple hit upon their unusual post-wedding experience having already visited scores of destinations around the world as travel influencers — Kristijan has clocked up no less than 150.

“We really saw a lot,” Kristijan told CNN via email. “This time, it had to be something completely different. And we found it in… Mauritania!”

The climax of their trip was a daring photoshoot on top of the iron ore-laden train as it rumbled across the desert on its 700-kilometer (435-mile) journey from the mining town of Zouérat to the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou. (CNN)

Now, you’ve seen everything!

(From Bill Bonner) (A multibillionaire’s prediction)

Clean energy (Windmills and Solar) will not be able to replace the power generated by fossil fuels for 20 years.

And yet we are are shutting down the production of fossil fuels everywhere.

It seems to be the “politically correct” thing to do.

But, we are heading for a lack of energy crisis needed to heat our homes and drive our economy.

Ask questions of your local government.

If not now, when?

Schools and parents are spoiling their kids.

They are doing this by helping the child avoid disappointment.

And yet, disappointment is a part of everyone’s life.

At an exclusive girls high school, one of the students did not get elected to the student government.

So, she persuaded her mother to come to the school and defend her desire to be a member of the student body.

The school created an additional position on the governmental body and awarded it to the complainer.

So, how and when is that young lady going to learn how to cope with disappointment in the future?

The real tragedy of these modern times is the fact that more young people are committing suicide when things don’t go their way.

The “school of hard knocks” is still the best teacher.

Life is a series of ups and downs.

We all must learn how to handle both.

If not today, when?

People who set goals for each day are more productive.

The one thing you always have with you is your cellular phone.

Why not make a list of goals for today and save that list in your cellular phone?

It’s so simple to do and could become a good daily habit for you.

If not today, when?

One day, we decided to get a dog.

So, we began visiting shelters to see if we could find the “perfect” dog.

We went to a number of shelters and found one my wife wanted.

The people who run the shelter said she had delivered a litter of puppies.

After the delivery, her owner sent her out into the streets.

The police found her very hungry and dehydrated.

It took the shelter two months to restore her to full health.

The moment my wife laid eyes on her, it was love at first sight.

She instantly named the dog “Happy” because she knew this dog would make her happy.

“Happy” has been a daily source of joy in our lives.

So, as usual, my wife’s instincts were correct in choosing her and naming her “Happy.”

“Happy” has all the good qualities of a dog: loyalty, affection and friendliness to everyone.

“Happy” has earned her name many times over!

Did the man in the photo above make good choices or is his life strewn with regrets?

The quality of each person’s life is the result of the impact of outside forces over which there is no control and also decisions made deliberately by the individual.

When I hear of the death of young people, I wonder if they had lived long enough to gather wisdom into their decisions.

Or, did they have a low quality of their short life because they didn’t live long enough to know what is truly important.

And how does happenstance impact our view of life.

I know a very poor young man who has had a tough childhood and a mighty struggle in adulthood.

One day he asked me, “Why am I not lucky?”

The quality of his life has been degraded by a terrible mother and his wrong decisions in adulthood.

The only advice I can offer, despite these outside influences, to have a high quality life is that you must try to live by the following virtues: Honesty, loyalty, compassion, charity, forgiveness, humility, patience and gratitude.

It would seem that some people have a far less opportunity for a happy life than others and no one seems to be able to know why.

All we can do to help these people is to demonstrate kindness, patience and support in our daily lives any way we are able.

If not today, when?

44 black mothers per 100,000 die in childbirth in the U.S. each year.

18 white mothers per 100,000 die in childbirth in the U.S. each year

12 Hispanic mothers per 100,000 die in childbirth in the U.S. each year.

Many new mothers also suffer from post partum depression.

I am using these statistics to drive home the point that there is a certain degree of risk for every woman who bears a child.

And the birth is not where her responsibility ends.

Oh no, motherhood and its responsibilities are just beginning.

Each mother will try to nurture, take care of and worry about each child throughout her life.

Never forget the efforts your mother has made on your behalf.

As she ages, it’s your turn to love her and help her.

Never forsake your mother.

And just think of all the single moms in our society trying to raise a child alone.

Honor thy mother!

Washington (CNN)

French President Emmanuel Macron is warning about a “crisis of democracies,” including in the United States, following years of “pressure” and “destabilization” efforts in an exclusive US interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Asked by Tapper if he’s worried about American democracy, Macron replied, “I worry about all of us.”

“I hate lecturing people and saying, ‘I’m worried for you.’ … But I do believe that what is at stake is what we built in the 18th century,” Macron said.

The French leader warned of a global crisis of Western “liberal democracies” when asked by Tapper about the trend in nationalism, populism and racism spreading in Europe and the US.

“I think we have [a] big crisis of democracies, of what I would call liberal democracies.

Let’s be clear about that.

Why?

First, because being open societies and being open and very cooperative democracies put pressure on your people.

It could destabilize them,” Macron said.

Almost 40 years ago, U.S. News & World Report asked more than 1,300 college presidents to rate their peer institutions and published the results in its inaugural “Best Colleges” rankings.

The publication’s easy-to-digest hierarchy of undergraduate institutions — based solely on reputation — was an effort to best competitors Time and Newsweek.

It proved massively popular.

“Best Colleges” soon became a yearly feature and spawned a college rankings industry.

The influence of the U.S. News rankings is undeniable.

Universities tout their rank in press releases and campus brochures, and declare that they want to improve their positions in their strategic plans.

Current students and alumni check the rankings to see how their school fared, and high school students consult them to determine what colleges they should strive to get into.

“There is kind of a culture around rankings that is unhealthy,” said Brennan Barnard, director of college counseling at Khan Lab School.

Still, the rankings endure in popularity. (CNN)

(CNN)

Descending up to 40 meters beneath the Baltic Sea, the world’s longest immersed tunnel will link Denmark and Germany, slashing journey times between the two countries when it opens in 2029.

After more than a decade of planning, construction started on the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel in 2020 and in the months since a temporary harbor has been completed on the Danish side. It will host the factory that will soon build the 89 massive concrete sections that will make up the tunnel.

“The expectation is that the first production line will be ready around the end of the year, or beginning of next year,” said Henrik Vincentsen, CEO of Femern A/S, the state-owned Danish company in charge of the project. “By the beginning of 2024 we have to be ready to immerse the first tunnel.

Leave it to the Europeans to design a tunnel that will carry people under the Baltic Sea just to cut travel time between Denmark and Germany.