Winter Olympics 2026

The last time I watched any Winter Olympic sport was some years ago when Team GB's Scottish  women did brilliantly in curling - a sport of which I knew virtually nothing about..

Winter Olympics viewing is often not worthwhile from a timing point of view but the Italian venue this year is only one hour ahead of GMT so ideal watching on TV in this country.

This year having read in the media daily about how Team GB were coming 4th or  otherwise crashing out in their chosen sports, watching for myself seemed worthwhile so yesterday evening I looked at the  the men's skeleton events at Milan-Cortina on BBC TV. 

Pretty exciting stuff as the competitors in skeleton which I had not heard of let alone watched before, can race at speeds of up to ninety mph while lying prone only an inch or two from the racing circuit ice - terrifying.

Matt Weston  of Team GB broke records in all four of his heats and won gold  despite  his previous speculation about giving up his sport altogether, partly because of a back stress fracture as a teenager.

Congratulations to him and all concerned with his win.. 

British Politics and Prime Ministerial Responsibilities

 

As recently as December 2025 my  top prediction for 2026 was that:

The UK Prime Minister will be replaced

Sir Keir Starmer has not so far been replaced as  Prime Minister despite his appointing the disgraced Baron Mendelson as the UK's ambassador to the USA but seems likely imho to be ousted and or replaced this year, perhaps even by May..Mendelson was of course disgraced by his dreadful association with Jefferey Epstein, who committed suicide.

There is an interesting article in today's Times newspaper about scandals affecting UK Prime Ministers going back to C19. Many scandals have affected British Prime Ministers some of which  are detailed  in that newspaper.. 

One of the most interesting scandals to a C21 eye in my view, is that of Prime Minister HH Asquith see Asquith. Yet  neither that nor any  right through to  PM Boris Johnson's scandal of holding  an illegal tea party at  10 Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic when such parties were banned, seem as appalling as the current Prime Minister's appointment of Mendelson though more information is yet to emerge to public view. The scandals of course relate to the dreadful behaviour of Mendelson  with Jeffrey Epstein and  the association with  Epstein of many other political and/or wealthy people, including British Labour Party members..

When one looks at who could replace Starmer there does not appear to be any suitable candidate in his current cabinet..Wes Streeting is a possibility but its is reported that he too had an association with  the current scandal in some way so that surely needs to be clarified first.

Matthew Laza  a back bench Labour MP has no apparent Mendelson connections and has publicly stated that he would not wish to be the UK PM. 

SadaMagazine reports of Mr Laza:

Matthew Laza is a name that has gained significant recognition in both the political and media landscapes. Known for his strategic mind and dynamic career trajectory, Laza has worn many hats, including being a senior adviser, a media strategist, and a commentator on political issues. His work in both media and politics has placed him in the spotlight, particularly within the Labour Party and the broader political spectrum in the United Kingdom

 For all of that Mathew Laza would have my vote.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

 

As one who prefers a quiet,   low holy Mass to  a sung, high  holy Mass, the above book   by Bear Grylls is ideal though he unlike myself, must have read most if not all, of the biblical New Testament and fairly speedily, for writing his biblical accounts.

The book is  not lengthy being but 277 pages long. My oldest son's schooldays  reader's version of the New Testament part of the  Roman Catholic  The New Jerusalem Bible is even shorter at 269 pages. 

In the version by Bear Grylls  the biblical accounts are spoken by 5 different  characters from the time: Mary, Thomas, Simon and John. The accounts are straightforward  and contain the doubts and questions that we would probably have had as eye witnesses had we been present.

Unsurprisingly the book is a best seller and is likely to remain so for some while.

According to Wikipedia:

 Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls OBE is a British adventurer, television presenter and former SAS trooper. He holds several world records...

 

 

Climate Change

 

Certainly UK weather has changed over my lifetime so far. When at Beaumont College as a boy I recall the Thames being frozen solid in Old Windsor. Even upstream in Windsor where the river is wider people were able to walk and even cycle ride  on the ice:

 

 

Today there are reports in The Times that some UK farmers experimenting with rice growing and even with a tea plantation or two. Farming tea or rice in England would not really have been possible in the 1960s.

 

Further afield there are newspaper articles about atrociously cold snow storms hitting large sections of North America with CNN reporting today for example that:

 

• Widespread threat: Two-thirds of the US population is facing down a monster winter storm and extreme cold. The storm’s snow and ice will stretch over 2,000 miles from Texas to New England as it tracks east through the weekend.

• Catastrophic ice storm: Crippling ice accumulations will weigh down and drop power lines and trees in the most serious icing zones in the South. Hundreds of thousands could lose power, some for days. 

Of course global warming affects many other countries very severely. For example in Australia  there was a recent news report of a large number of wild camels which were roaming the outback in search of water. The camels would invade a nearby township raiding the water barrels of some  dwellers and causing many to remain indoors until the camels were seen off.

Camels the humps of which store  fat some of which is transformed into water when required, are usually self sufficient but not this time. 

 

In a Bleak and Dark Midwinter

The title to this blog post is of course that of the well known Christmas carol though photographing in the dark is not within my ken or camera capabilities. 

Here we are over three weeks from Christmas day yet early morning walks are still shrouded in dark. 'Bleak' is not how they appear though. The few people one meets or passes by at 6:30am tend to be more friendly than those at say 12:30pm. 

On Christmas morning well before dawn, maytrees max and his wife Gillian  who had just flown over for Christmas from Jersey in the Channel Islands, maytrees min and  her three week old baby 'atomic dot' well wrapped up and cosily asleep in her pram,  went for a walk over a dark Wimbledon Common to the Windmill with yours truly.

Gillian had not previously visited Wimbledon. Our powerful torch was lit for the beginning of the walk but by the half-way stage when we reached the windmill, dawn had broken and Gillian who is Scottish was pleased to see the  Scottish flag aloft at the golf club house.

We then walked around to the Cannizaro hotel where some had early morning breakfast.I just made it back through Wimbledon Village to the Sacred Heart church in time for early Christmas morning holy mass.

 

 

  

Social Media

Probably for people aged in their 70s like yours truly, social media is rather less relevant than for younger generations. This blog is of course may be a category of social media though it is largely a personal diary open to others to read if they wish.

Australia has banned social media access for children age under 16. This appears  to be wise though of course young people are bound to find ways round this. One of the factors in the Australian ban is I understand, that of young people's brains being altered by their constantly referring to social media

Obviously mobile phones provide children even more opportunities than social media, for distractions or avoiding direct conversation with their fellows. Some schools in England are banning children from bringing mobile phones into schools for such  reasons. Others are requiring mobile phones to be deposited with administration and retrieved only at the end of the school day. 

One of the main reasons for limiting children's social media and mobile phone use, is the apparent effect on young brains resulting from their frequent use.

The furore in the UK at least about the ease by using AI, with which users of  X  can arrange for  images of individuals both adult and children to be  unclothed on-line, is very interesting. The decision by X to require users to pay for this 'service' fails to go far enough. A full ban by X is required in my view though many including GB News  disagree on free speech  grounds, with such a complete ban. 

Indeed on GB News a TV station I often watch, most of the members of the Friday audience agreed with their hosts about not imposing such a ban.

In my view safeguarding children and women should take priority over  free speech.

United Nations Reform?

 

The United Nations is surely after President Trump's removal of the Venezuelan dictator, ripe for reform?   Dictators are not my cup of tea but sadly the world seems full of them. President Trump's actions not so far apparently approved in the USA by Congress, verges on giving him the appearance of being a dictator or if not, moving in that direction.

For a foreign leader to  depose a dictator may be a fairly straight forward  action for a wealthy country with sizeable and well equipped armed forces but ensuring the country is reasonably well run thereafter is hardly easy, as the case of Iraq illustrates. 

The 2003 removal oft the dictator Saddam Hussein, from running Iraq again by USA led forces, was effected in a  relatively straightforward way but governing the country thereafter was, putting it mildly, difficult.

My Catholic friend from Baghdad   initially welcomed the regime change but fairly soon afterwards condemned it. The USA had few if any plans for running Iraq  with the result that fighting and killings took place between various faction for years afterwards.

The USA now appears to have few real plans for Venezuela beyond seeking the country's extensive oil supply although this may of course be incorrect.

More significantly there are many other nations run by dictators not the least of which is China. Thus reforming the United Nations may be the least worst way forward. 

What reforms to the UN should there be? Setting up a committee to consider this way forward is a possibility especially if the committee is required to report back to the UN general assembly within  say 12 months.

My own view is that reform rendering decisions of  the UN Security Council to be capable of being delayed by a year following a general assembly vote to that effect, would be possible. The House of Lords in the UK can currently use such delaying powers as regards many decisions of the House of Commons through which the government generally operates. The power to delay is limited to one month for tax and spending decisions. Presumably not too dissimilar  provisions could be made to work for the UN.