While most of the US celebrated independence day yesterday in Baltimore protestors took offence at the statue of Christopher Columbus and it became the latest of several statues of the ancient mariner to be removed. I have been feeling a little mystified as to why the sea captain who discovered America should be the focus for the BLM protest. Columbus whose name in his own language was Cristobal Colon was a sailor and traveller who set out in 1492 to find a westward route to the orient. He found the Bahamas first and quite by accident as no one in Europe knew they existed. He thought that he had found what he was looking for, The Indies and therefore called the natives Indians. He returned a couple of times and his dealings with the local population was mostly friendly. It was subsequent Europeans that caused such carnage amongst the native population and what the protestors are quite rightly upset about. I can’t help siding with the Trump on this one and say that this is history. If Columbus hadn’t made the discovery, someone sooner or later would have done.
Nothing much changes when it comes to treating people badly, there is always someone who feels they are more entitled to privilege than others less fortunate than themselves. In Leicester it has come to light that workers in a clothing factory are being paid less than half of the official minimum wage. A reporter from The Times took a job there in order to investigate, he was paid £3.50 an hour when the minimum is £8.72. A foreman at the same company who has been there fore five years is still only on £5 per hour. The boss was in line to collect a bonus of £50,000. The factory is a subsidiary of BooHoo who said they would take the allegations very seriously. The same factory had employees working during lockdown and were also allegedly committing furlough fraud. An investigation is underway as it seems there are several cases in Leicester of this type of practice. Lock ’em up I say. Not the workers, the bosses.
An Australian mum became the first person there to give birth naturally to quintuplets three or four years ago. She already had three children and decided along with her partner that another would be nice. Quite a shock when five turned up together. This year the couple decided to separate and the mum has spent lockdown caring for eight kids under the age of twelve. She said she was still finding her feet as a solo mum and it was tough. I can imagine it might be.
Loads of Brits rushed to Spain as soon as they could but those going to the coast might find they can’t get on the beaches there. The police have turned away many visitors once the beaches became too full to maintain social distancing. Quite right too, we should have done that in Bournemouth. Nighty night, sleep tight. 😴💤😴