Yesterday turned into a fine and sunny day, not so warm as it had been over the weekend and into Monday but a fine day nonetheless. We went for an after dinner stroll at about 7.30 - that’s how nice it was. Phil was considering cutting the grass again today and so, with that in mind, yesterday evening I checked the weather forecast. The weather app offered us thunderstorms for Tuesday evening! That didn’t happen but the rain did. And today there has been heavy rain all day. Even flood warning! I went into Manchester to have lunch with friends and had to change my tights on returning home as my feet were soaking wet. I should have worn wellies!
The forecast for tomorrow and Friday is “light rain and a gentle breeze”. We’ll see how that pans out. I would like it to stay fine on Friday as Friday is the Whit Friday Band Contest, when bands from far and wide descend on Saddleworth and play their hearts out. The local schools will all be closed but my daughter works at a school outside the area and will have to work as usual. The small people, whose schools are closed, will come to us. Maybe then weather will be less wet than currently,predicted and we will be able to go and see the marching bands … and play in the park!
On a news broadcast last night, most probably Al Jazeera, there was a report of children in the Palestine’s occupied West Bank playing “Israelis and Arabs”. They make pretend weapons made from bits and pieces of rubbish they find lying around - quite realist-looking missile launchers made of cardboard tubes. One child explained that Arabs are shot and wounded by “Israeli soldiers” who then come along and finish the wounded off. The children move and run like real soldiers, not, the commentator explained, from having played computer games, but from observing real life. The children enact funerals and even erect “houses” rebuilt from the rubble.
Just as I was thinking that this was a way for the children to rationalise their experience and make some sense of all that they have seen, up popped a psychologist saying the very same thing. What a sad situation!
We’ve seen reports, and film footage, of Israeli settlers attacking aid convoys, pouring he supplies they carry onto the ground, and setting fire to the trucks. There have been reports of police and soldiers standing by and doing nothing to stop it. This article tells how soldiers and police are actually facilitating such attacks by giving the settlers information of when trucks will be coming through. It beggars belief.
Meanwhile here’s a bit of Michael Rosen, which rather sums up the way news reports work:
'Do you understand 'framing' and 'reframing', sir?' said the King's tutor.
'Picture frames, you mean?' said the King.
'No,' said the tutor, 'this is about framing and re-framing what's going on.'
'Really?' said the King, 'how do you do that?'
'Indeed,' said the tutor, 'that's the nub of the matter.'
'Go on,' said the King.
'Well let's say that Jack has a fight with Jim,' said the tutor, 'how I tell that story will alter the way people view that fight.'
'How?' said the King.
'If I tell you that Jack is a bully and picks fights on a regular basis,' said the tutor, 'you will immediately have a view of this fight. If, on the other hand, I say that Jim is a bully and picks fights on a regular basis, you will immediately have a different view.'
'That's very interesting,' said the King, 'I had never thought of that before. By the way, what happened to Jack and Jim?'
'Jack killed Jim,' said the tutor.
'O dear,' said the King, 'so why are we talking about framing and re-framing?'
'Because if Jim is on our side, then we must make clear that Jack is to blame,' said the tutor, but if Jack is on our side, then we must make clear that Jack is not to blame.'
'I'm confused,' said the King, 'but it sounds as if you've got it very well sorted.'
'I have,' said the tutor.”
Hmmm!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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