Tony Porter Ponders : NYE fireworks hijacked, is the UK in Trump's sights?
When did the UK NYE firework display become a political propaganda machine? Has Trump got his sights on the UK and we are so lucky.
The festive season is officially over and I am still fuming.
Not about anything to do with Christmas, that went as planned, but to do with the London firework display on New Year's Eve/Day.
Firstly was it sponsored by Wicked the Movie? There were more than a couple of references to it. Then Jet 2 had their tune played.
The animation centred in the London Eye looked of the standard of CGI when it first started.
Then there have been accusations regarding a flag being "modified".
My main gripe though was why was it more like a political broadcast for Sadiq Khan? Not what I expected at a national celebration of the start of a New Year.
However, it does seem to be that anything these days can used to push an agenda or to normalise things or words that are not commonly used or have other connotations.
I do not by any stretch do anything like that as I am not part of the Fettlers fan club.
Talking of which, my idea last week to change the name of the new market area to Colliers to honour those that built Wigan in the past, and a nod to the money that paid for The Galleries in the first place, has gone down well with many.
I have had some people again in the shop making a special visit to agree with that name. The powers that be will never change it though, sadly.
Over the pond The Donald has successfully ordered the capture the president of Venezuela who has been taken to New York.
The intervention is not too surprising as in the past Trump has said: "He's making cocaine and they're sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his ***".
Added to this the many alleged "drugs boats" blown up in the sea and maybe the huge amount of oil that the country has below it.
He even said at the weekend: "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country."
And themselves?
Adding: “We want to surround ourselves with energy. We have tremendous energy in that country. It's very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves."
Obviously, I am guessing that human rights, stopping elections and coming down hard on any who stood against the former president was a reason too.
Is the UK next? Lots of oil and gas being left underground, elections postponed, free speech curtailed, two tier justice do I need to go on?
On Sunday evening I enjoyed a torchlight Wigan walk along the canal, Leigh spur to Bamfurlong and back via Platt Bridge and Ince Crem.
Even at night it is amazing to have this wonderful countryside all around us.
The repairs have been completed on the canal and even though it was cold, the Flashes and canal were frozen in parts, it was great to get some fresh air and enjoy what is on our doorstep.
I have enjoyed night walks at Haigh Hall and Standish too, plus locally in Porters Woods and Gathurst. We are so lucky to live here in Wigan.