However, with an election approaching there may not be a great dearth of news which is what journalists generally mean by "silly season''.

Be that as it may, there have been a number of events lately which indicate that the heat may be getting to some people.

A magistrate refuses a traffic warden's request to move his car and says he has been working as a magistrate for four years and does not yet have a parking space. "I have to park on the street like anyone who comes to town to shop.'' So? He is also quoted as saying he will be "tried in these courts if I have to''.

Hopefully he will not appear before himself.

This same magistrate, of course, presides over traffic court and fines any number of people for traffic offences, including illegal parking.

This newspaper probably should have run the story on our back page under "Well I never''. We can only recommend that someone gives a reward to the traffic warden.

The Progressive Labour Party's prime candidate for "foot in mouth disease'', even though he is not a PLP candidate in the coming election, decides to take a wide swipe at the Bank of Bermuda. Did he do it with party approval? Who knows but his party was none too happy on previous occasions when he announced that if the PLP were elected they would move to Independence and impose income tax.

Despite the summer heat, one must wonder if he is a loose cannon or a man with secret inside knowledge who happens to have a loose mouth.

The United Bermuda Party holds a huge rally in Warwick to tell us what we already know, Quinton Edness is running for election again. To mark the rally Mr. Edness uses an interview in another newspaper to tell Warwick voters that he and his running mate are "always available'' and will continue to work for their welfare, and that he will continue to represent the residents of Warwick West for the UBP.

Yet it is an open secret that if Mr. Edness and the UBP are reelected he hopes to be Speaker of the House, a post in which he is required to become neutral and cannot "represent the residents''. His running mate would have to be available on her own.

The next thing we know he will rediscover the importance to Bermuda of Colin Coxall! Then there are the silly season stories about a Las Vegas casino hotel which plans to take on a Bermuda theme with Bermuda shorts, Bermuda drinks and, maybe, the Gombeys. Clever local businesses have been telephoning this newspaper asking for the hotel's number so that they can try to sell them things with a Bermuda flavour. At least the heat has not dulled their business sense. That's all very nice but it seems a little odd to model a casino hotel after a Country which forbids casinos. But then, it has been very hot.