Bored with Peace
Can Andrew Mountanything-Windsor Sweat Now?
Let’s take a walk around the world and see what is happening.
Lent has begun and will end on the 5th of April. Hope you enjoyed your pancakes! Growing up Catholic, we were all asked at school to declare what we would give up for Lent. The Vatican is currently encouraging “digital fasting” – not using social media for the whole of Lent. Best of luck with that.
It is also the holy month of Ramadan when we celebrate a time of reflection, compassion, and community. It’s a season to pause, reconnect with our values, and share kindness with those around us. Do this.
Quote to Start the Walk: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.” – Mark Twain; “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.” – Machiavelli; “To live is to suffer. To survive is to find some meaning in suffering.” – Nietzsche.
Geneva is busy. In separate meetings, the US and Iran are trying to come to a deal which will prevent the US from attacking Iran – the focus is primarily on nuclear facilities and the danger of nuclear weapons, but the US is also concerned (and this may be a surprise to many), about Iran’s treatment of protestors – they deal with them in the same way ICE does in the US, just in a more determined way. As they engage in talks, Iran is also preparing for war. Tehran is deploying its forces, dispersing decision-making authority, fortifying its nuclear sites and expanding its crackdown on domestic dissent. The moves reflect its leaders’ belief that the survival of the regime itself is at stake
Also in Geneva, Ukraine, Russia, and the Coalition of the Willing, including the US, are meeting to discuss what it would take to secure a cease-fire. To make clear he has no interest in peace, Poo Tin launched 400 drones and 29 missiles aimed at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, already significantly damaged by previous attacks. His message is clear: my terms or else. The talks collapsed after just a few hours, with Zelensky observing that Russia sees these talks as a distraction.
European governments have full access to the Trump-Epstein files. Despite Ghislaine Bondi’s claim that all the files have now been released, European sources suggest that only 2% have been released to date. Journalists at Channel 4 News, a U.K. broadcaster, viewed internal emails that showed federal investigators anticipated processing up to 50 terabytes, while in 2025, officials wrote that they were “looking at approximately 14.6 terabytes of archived data. So far, 300 GB (0.3 terabytes) have been released. Cover-up.
Trump’s Board of Peace (aka World Real Estate Board) met and announced that it has raised $7 billion for the reconstruction of Gaza and that several countries have offered troops and police personnel to police Gaza once Hamas is disarmed (which is not going to happen). It’s a sanctioned fantasy group with grand plans detached from reality. Israel (a member of this club) continues to bomb Gaza and colonize the West Bank, and Russia (a member of this club) continues its war in Ukraine. Several other members repress their own citizens using violence. As the Board of Peace meets, Trump is deciding when to bomb the hell out of Iran – he has given Iran a few more days to agree to his terms. Maybe his club should be renamed Bored with Peace.
ICE have bought an embryonic concentration camp for $128 million. The building and land were bought just 24 months ago for $29 million by a Russian-based real estate company. This is the pillage part of the Epstein-Trump administration.
Sir Keir Starmer (sadly, still Prime Minister of Britain) has done yet another U-turn. This time, he has decided that the May 7 local elections will go ahead as planned, despite having previously agreed to postpone 30 council elections because of a cash shortage. Democracy can now show him just when he must resign – around May 10.
Andrew Mountanything-Windsor had a great 66th birthday present: he was arrested. The charge relates to his sharing of confidential government documents with Jeffrey Epstein during his time as a trade ambassador – misconduct in public office. The last “royal” to be arrested was Charles I in 1647. King Charles III has said that the law must take its course – i.e. “you’re on your own bro!” This arrest represents not so much the beginning of the end as the point at which the Rubicon has been crossed, forever. What a birthday present to receive.
The estate of Jeffrey Epstein has agreed to pay out an additional $35million to forty sex-trafficked victims. This is in addition to the $170 million previously paid to other victims and has nothing to do with Andrew M-B’s $17 million payment to Virginia Giuffre.
One of the most interesting men ever to run for US President, who was ever present on the political stage, has died. Jessie Jackson (84). Without him, Barack Obama would never have become the US President.
As CBS TV demonstrates that it is now a tool of oppression of the Trump-Epstein administration, it forced Stephen Colbert not to air an interview with Democrat Texas Senate candidate James Talarico – you can watch it on YouTube (as several million already have). The Gauleiters and oligarchs fear that the Dems may flip Texas. At the same time, Anderson Cooper announced he is quitting his CBS role on 60 Minutes – he doesn’t like the editorial interference and right-wing fruitcakes who run CBS news. He has had this side gig – his major work is on CNN – for two decades.
Staying with fascist media, Warner Bros. is still up for sale. Netflix still wants it. Paramount (oligarch Gauleiter Larry Ellison and his Trump-loving son David) are also keen. Warner has reopened talks with Paramount but still favours a sale to Netflix. Including debt, the enterprise value of the deal is about $83 billion, or $27.75 per share, and would be finalized after Warner completes a previously announced separation of its cable operations. Shareholders will now vote on March 28th.
Sports: Our women’s tennis players shipped from Doha to Dubai (about a 1-hour 10-minute flight) for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship. Emma Raducanu was in action on the first day in the round of 64, facing Croatian player Antonia Ruzic (23). Emma lost the first set, forced a tie-break in the second, which she won, and forced a third set. Sadly, she lost (6-1, 5-7, 6-2) and is out yet again. Ruzic went on to win her next match and then lost her quarter-final match. In contrast to Emma, Coco Gauff had a great set of matches and will now move on to the semi-finals.
Canada’s women’s ice hockey team were in the final of the Olympic medal game against the US. Outstanding playing, but they lost in sudden death overtime to the US – at least it’s a Silver Medal. Canada’s men’s curling squad is up against the Brit’s in the gold medal game this weekend.
Mitch Marner scored in overtime and Canada narrowly avoided what would’ve been one of the biggest upsets in Olympic ice hockey history with a 4-3 overtime win over Czechia on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals.
Canada has moved up the Olympic medal table – from 15th to 11th thanks to 3 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze medals. Well done team Canada. More to come.
Drink and a Book at the End of the Walk: The book is The Optimistic Leftist: Why the 21st Century Will Be Better Than You Think by Ruy Teixeira. It is time for the left to realize that their romance with pessimism is a bug, not a feature, of their current practice. There is no substitute for optimism and an economic climate that promotes optimism. The time has come, as Ruy Teixeira argues in this book, for the optimistic leftist to assume that people still have a right to vote. As for a drink, I am enjoying a non-alcoholic beer my good friends on Bowen Island introduced me to – Street Legal’s IPA. Street Legal is a Vancouver-based brewery, and this is a fully fermented and matured IPA before the alcohol is removed. This beer is dry hopped with Mosaic hops, giving it a nice hoppy punch and tropical fruit aromas. Really enjoyable.
Soundtrack for the Walk: Johannes Brahms wrote some of the most profound and rewarding duo repertoire for piano with cello and for violin, treating both instruments as true partners rather than soloists or accompanists. The cello sonatas (Op. 38 in E minor and Op. 99 in F major) span his career, moving from introspective, contrapuntal depth to expansive, autumnal richness, while fully exploiting the cello’s lyrical and dramatic range. The violin sonatas (Opp. 78, 100, and 108) similarly combine song-like intimacy with structural rigour, blending warmth, rhythmic tension, and symphonic thinking on a chamber scale. Across both genres, Brahms’s writing is dense yet transparent, with deep motivic integration and an emotional world that balances lyricism, gravity, and restrained passion. I was encouraged to listen to these again after the wonderful Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s performance of the Brahms Second Piano Concerto with Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (winner of the 2024 Leeds Piano Competition) at the keyboard. Wonderful.
TV & Film: As if he doesn’t get enough exposure, Gordon Ramsey is the subject of a TV documentary: Being Gordon Ramsey. The multimillionaire Michelin star chef is shown living a chaotic life between London, Cornwall, LA and his various restaurants around the world. He owns or has an interest in 90 restaurants, his newest being a Hell’s Kitchen here in Edmonton at the River Cree. He is said to be worth US$220 million. He is a tough guy in the kitchen, but his family comes across as caring for each other. The six-part series is on Netflix. The episode of him chatting with Angela Hartnett (who worked for him) and Nick Grimshaw on the Dish Podcast is also worth watching.
Annika (with the wonderful Nicola Walker) – the Scottish detective working in remote areas of Scotland – will be back later this year. Riot Women, Bergerac, Can You Keep Secret, Clarkson’s Farm, Line of Duty will all be back too.
The film is a documentary – Saints and Warriors (2025). Throughout the course of the Haida basketball season, leaders of iconic rez ball team the Skidegate Saints compete for two titles - defending their All-Native Basketball Championship, while also battling for title to their land and waters with the Canadian government that stole it from them with the Indian Act.
Robert Duvall has died at the age of 95. A focused actor with real “presence” – Apocalypse Now, The Godfather (all of them), The Gingerbread Man, Stalin, Great Santini – he has been a constant fixture in movies since the 1960’s. RIP.
Food: Coq au Vin (chicken in wine) can be a time-consuming recipe. Most suggest an overnight marinade of the chicken in wine with onion and a complex cooking process. The Food Network has a “quick and easy” recipe which uses a rotisserie chicken with a simple chicken stock, white wine | brandy sauce (with garlic, celery, carrots , mushrooms, and pearl onions). We cooked our chicken (best from Walmart), cut it into pieces, placed it on a plate, still hot and covered it in the sauce. Serve with green beans, mashed or roasted potatoes and carrots.
Quick Thoughts:
· A panel of independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council says newly released Epstein files point to a “global criminal enterprise” that may meet the legal threshold for crimes against humanity.
· I try to stay fit – I always run straight past the gym.
· “Prints, Andrew” chuckles the custody sargeant.
· If the CEO of IKEA was made Prime Minister of Sweden, how long would it take him to assemble his cabinet?
· It doesn’t matter what the research says, don’t say to the wife: “men who marry fat women tend to live longer!” – saying it out loud will shorten your life.
· Olivia Coleman (actor) offers sage advice: “Just be kind and try not to be a twat.”
· Trump says that the US and Italy have been allies since the days of Ancient Rome. Right. Stable genius eh.
· “If people aren’t calling you crazy, you’re not thinking big enough!” Richard Branson
· The real reason Harry & Meghan left the UK: Prince Andrew kept offering to babysit.
· Keeping fiction and non-fiction separate must be a real challenge for a librarian.
· There are two types of people – avoid both.
· The UN considers the crimes Epstein & Co committed as “crimes against humanity.”
· Documents seem more important than women’s bodies, given the Andrew Mountanything-Windsor arrest.
· Andrew Mountanything-Windsor has indicated he will move to Washington, where pedophiles are 100% protected.
· Ah, Andrew can sweat!
· Melania has been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for pretending to be married to Donald J Trump.
· A winner is a loser who tried one more time.
· Every time you fell stupid, remember Kim Kardashian who wore reflective sunglasses while playing poker.
· In the last 10 years, 110 people died while weight-lifting in a gym. In this same time, 1 person died while eating a donut. Make wise choices.
· Statistics show that women spend more time wondering what men are thinking than men spend thinking.
· These days, the finger is stronger than the sword.
· In the US, flags flown at half-staff for Charlie Kirk (racist, misogynist) and not at all for Jessie Jackson.
· Buying books and reading them are completely different hobbies.
· My wife said if I buy any more art, she will leave me. I’m going to miss her!
In the spirit of I am Sorry I Haven’t a Clue – the Antidote to Panel Games (BBC Radio 4, now in its 54th year): Some remakes of TV shows that used to be led by make actors are now being made with female actors in the lead roles – e.g. Dalziel & Pascoe. Here are other ideas for this transition:
· Jillanory
· Inspector Georgina Gently
· Women Behaving Badly
· Mum’s Army
· Whatever Happened to the Likely Girls>
· Three Women in a Boar
· Mistressmind
· The Likely Lasses
· McMillan and Spouse
· Girls from the Blackstuff
· Lady of the Flies
· Rarely Silent Witness
· I, Claudia
· Postwoman Patricia
· Steptoe & Daughter
· Dame of Thrones
· Blue Petra
· The Dutchess of Hazard
· Geraldine Norton
New Definitions:
· Biology – the study of those who are interested in more than one gender
· Gastroenterology – the study of restaurant front doors
· Geology – the very precise study of the seventh letter of the alphabet
· Cardiology – the study of jumpers and knitwear
· Philology – the study of the habits and behaviours of men called Phil
· Horology – the study of obliging women
· Topology – the study of all things uppermost
· Ecology – the study of the noises people make when startled suddenly
· Apology – the study of the Apple Store and Google Play
· Dermatology – the study of German carpets
· Paleontology – the study of buckets
· Audiology – the study of the driving behaviour of those who buy a particular German-made automobile
· Urology – the study of oneself
· Oology – the study of an exclamation
· Cryptology – the study of tombs
· Histology – the study of pantomime audience reactions to the arrival on stage of the “bad guy”
· Oenology – the study of Yorkshiremen saying “no”
· Ideology – the scientific study of idiots
· Radiology – the study of wireless sets
· Apology – the study of iPhone app
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