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What a weekend! Trump gets shot at and survives by millimetres and England lose the football .
Of course the Trump conspiracy theories start straight away - it's like it's impossible that anything is simply what it appears nowadays - it would be an extraordinary complicated plot whichever side had set it up). God saved him of course, but left it very late (he likes to up the dramatic tension so rather than just smiting the potential assassin before he got anywhere near the event, God allows him to shoot and get Trump's ear, but saves Trump's brain. In the mean time, God doesn't seem too bothered about the guy who got killed or the ones who got injured, that He could also have saved if He'd got in a bit earlier (or even if He hadn't- He is God). Presumably God didn't care about the by-standers and just needed to save Trump, which you can understand as Trump is such a moral person and Christian.
It seems most likely that this was all just a combination of bad luck, incompetence and blind luck on the part of the shooter (up to the point where he was shot and killed). But the human brain seems to want to believe everything is controlled or pre-ordained, rather than a vast jumble of accident and stupidity. I don't know why anyone would think that. It all seems like a load of random stuff that's happening to me.
And England fans thought God and fate were on their side too or just that because we haven't won anything for 58 years (in the men's game) that it was our turn and it would be ridiculous and a sacking offence if we didn't win again (and still a sacking offence if we still won but in a manner that they felt was inappropriately glorious). I thought we might win and to be fair football is random enough that the best team can still lose, but Spain deserved the victory and England fans should be very proud of the incredible achievement of a second consecutive Euros men's final. But they weren't proud and decided to punch each other instead.
I had a fun afternoon gig in Sheffield with a terrific up for it audience and a nice topical joke about Trump that occurred to me in the moment. We'd made the decision to move the gig earlier long before England were in the final (because we believed) but the venue had put it at 5pm start when I wanted 4pm start, so we had to change it again this week. Luckily it seemed everyone turned up and I was exactly right about it too. The venue were showing the football and the fans were lined up to get into the bar as I sold books at the end and the venue thus got an extra hour of beer sales (or I'd have done the second half with loads of drunk men in the next room). I didn't get into my hotel room until an hour before the match, so if we'd gone up an hour later I think people would have been leaving for their parties.
I watched the match eating a free birthday pizza from Pizza Express whilst chatting to Phoebe on the phone. I was sad not to be with her to share the fun, so I believe God made the team lose so that I'd be able to share the inevitable England victory with my daughter. Seems mean of God to do stuff like this for the convenience of one person and the inconvenience of others. But that's just the kind of guy He is.
