I read the news today, oh boy!

[Jerome]

two recent news articles that would be literally world headlines if not for the Covid-19 pandemic:

Saudi Arabia abolishing death penalty and flogging minors: https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/sau...spartanntp

and the health concerns surrounding Kim Jong-Un: https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/austra...54nbc.html

The Saudi news is a good thing - should have been done a long time ago. Kim Jong-un is a real oddball indeed. He lives in a fantasy.

For a real insight into the death penalty and all that goes with it read Norman Mailer's 'The Executioner's Song' - changed my mind about things.

One thing that is going to come out of C-19 is that retail / high street shopping is going to die a slow death. Online shopping is already taking over but C-19 is going to be the death knell for retail. Everything from travel to electronic goods is now predominantly online. The only things I go out shopping for is groceries and clothing. (I just have to have that slinky black number). Even that is changing as I have my vegetables delivered from an organic farm in Galway. And it tastes a hell of a lot better than the stuff in the supermarket. Everything else I can do online. Read a book many moons ago by Clifford Simak called 'City'. Strange book, but the main thing I got out of it was that cities have basically become unnecessary entities and are no longer required. Things do seem to be heading in that direction. And do we really need sport at all? Or is it just an addiction that extracts money from brainwashed fans. Note - the word fan is an abbreviation of the word fanatical. Suddenly the Premiership just does not seem to matter anymore. Or the Olympics for that matter. The best thing about that is the opening ceremony. I think C-19 is making a lot of people look long and hard at what is important to them. And they are starting to find routine things they used to do on a regular basis are suddenly not important anymore. Strange times.