Well, this morning I managed to get myself up and running at a reasonable time. There’s nothing like a run-around to set you up for the day. I suspect that the painkillers I was prescribed for my wonky shoulder have a soporific effect as yesterday I was decidedly sluggish all day (like the weather), even rather sleepy at times. I am hoping that having been for a run I may have countered some of those sleepy side-effects!
Yesterday’s weather did not help, of course - consistently drizzly and rainy all day. I walked into the village in the rain to do a little shopping and hoped that we might catch a dry point to go for a proper walk - no chance! Maybe today, which is dry so far, will be better in that respect.
The news is still full of discussion of the racism shown towards the black players in the England football team. As many have pointed out, government (in)action and (apparent lack of) reaction to obvious racism earlier in the tournament legitimised the racist abuse that followed. Priti Patel spoke about gesture politics but surely dressing Johnson up in an England support was a bit of gesture politics if ever I saw one!
A wall painting of Marcus Rashford in Withington, Manchester, was daubed with racist graffiti in the small hours between Sunday night and Monday morning. The abuse was swiftly covered with huge pieces of paper or cloth. Since then those abuse-coverings and a large area to either side have been hidden by paper hearts and messages of support from the public. It’s not all bad!
And Harry Kane put his opinion out yesterday in the media:-
“Three lads who were brilliant all summer had the courage to step up and take a pen when the stakes were high. They deserve support and backing not the vile racist abuse they’ve had since last night. If you abuse anyone on social media you are not an England fan and we don’t want you.”
Here’s Michael Rosen again, first on Boris Johnson:-
“Dear Dominic
I've stepped in over this football stuff.I know it's pretty woke of me, but there are limits.People are saying, 'Tu quoque' but my stuff is banter.I didn't really think they were letterboxes. I'm in favour of tolerance, especially tolerance of me.
Ludi et rudi
Boris”
and then on the pain of coming second:
“The hell, the absolute hell, of knowing that out of all the national football teams of Europe, the England team came second. From this we learn that coming second is bad. Only bad people come second. In fact, we're all a bit bad too. We are shamefully second. Badly second. Bad.”
It’s really sad how awful not quite winning is. We see it at Wimbledon, where the runner-up always looked dejected. All the achievement of getting to that second place is simply disregarded. And yet, getting a silver medal, or even a bronze medal at the Olympic is still hailed as a great success. Odd!
Somebody on one of the news discussions was busy saying that football should not be politicised, indeed that all sports players should not be “meddling” in politics. And yet, it is generally accepted that actors, singers and writers can be invited to give their opinions on current events. Surely it’s wrong to dismiss sportspeople’s views because they are not seen as “intellectuals”. After all, they are held up to the young as role models. They are expected to set an example in their behaviour on and off the pitch. So their say in political matters is worth hearing as well!
Talking of writers, here’s a tweet from Philip Pullman:-
“Saying this as clearly as I can: Boris Johnson is removing the Covid restrictions because he WANTS the NHS to collapse, so that he has a political excuse for privatising it. Nothing else, not even stupidity, can explain what’s going on.”
To which somebody replied:
“Agreed. But another benefit for Johnson of failing to get on top of Covid is that it continues to hide the effects of Brexit.”
Hmmmm! Another couple of things to think about!
Meanwhile, our daughter’s class bubble has burst. In other words, one of the little treasures in her class has tested positive for Covid and now all who have been in contact with the child must self isolate. So that’s another class effectively out of school until September, even though their teacher, our daughter, must provide online learning for them for the remaining week and a half of term.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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