At the Wednesday market again. Troublesome politicians. Comics.

The Wednesday market was a much reduced, sorry-looking place this morning. Only the fruit and veg man and the fish-man were there. The slipper seller can’t be there as he is “non-essential” and the cheese and biscuits lady is apparently not well. As she was not there, neither was the lady who sells scarves and face-masks, who I think travels with Mrs Cheese’n’biscuits. In fact I am not sure that scarves and face-masks really count as essentials but she does not seem to have been banned. 

 

On the other side of the road was a flower and plant stall. Maybe that is allowed to be there as garden centres are allowed to remain open. Usually there are a lot more plant stalls on that side of the road but they too are reduced. From a distance his display looked really bright and colourful on this yet another dull Wednesday. However, when I got closer I could see that the really bright section was all artificial flowers. Do they count as essentials!

Once again I had to go walkabout while waiting for the deli to open at 10. It’s a good job Uppermill has a good park to go walkabout in! And at least it didn’t rain on me. 

 

Ans once more I was lucky with the weather. The rain began not long after I arrived home.

Leading politicians having problems with their minions continue to be in the news. I read that Donald Trump has just fired the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Why? Seemingly because he wouldn’t back the president’s claims of voter fraud and vouched for the reliability of the election. The language of the headlines to that piece of news is interestingly dramatic, something along the lines of “Christopher Krebs is terminated”. Maybe it’s a consequence of too much Doctor Who in my youth but that word “terminated” always makes me think of Daleks rolling around croaking “exterminate!”

Poor Mr Krebs! Telling the truth does not always serve you well!

I watched a young man telling the truth about the cladding used on Grenfell Towers. He said he watched his bosses fiddle the testing so that the cladding could be passed as safe to use. He was only 23 at the time, in his first job, and thought that this might be standard practice. Maybe he was correct. But it was good to see someone come out and say how things went so tragically wrong.

Then there is the Jeremy Corbyn business - now reinstated in the Labour Party but denied the whip, a decision that is upsetting both sides of things. And on the BBC last night a spokesperson, a Jewish spokesperson, who tried to stand up for Corbyn and explain what he said about numbers of cases was constantly interrupted and even prevented from finishing sentences. So much for balanced reporting.

But to cheer us all up it seems that the Beano comic is producing a pull-out section of their next edition, a section for adults called “BeanOld”. 

“The 82-year-old comic will this week publish its first ever version aimed at grownups with a story that revolves around Sandra and Dennis Sr Menace, parents of Dennis, and the dastardly Wilbur Brown, father of Walter the Softy.

The cast list also includes Captain Tom Moore, Marcus Rashford, Greta Thunberg and, like an adult Dennis and Gnasher, Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings.” 

I need to find a copy. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!