Let’s Talk About It.

September 20, 2025 / aggiemurch / 1 Comment

Written and Read for you by Muriel Murch with WSM by my side

Several elephants go around and around a circus ring, trunk to tail, holding onto each other, scared to let go and be separated from the herd. But the elephant trainer cracks his whip calling one to the center and perform a special trick. Lets call this elephant Charlie. Charlie is a good elephant, mature, smart, and expressive as he performs his trick and is well rewarded. Until one day something bad happens to Charlie and the show is disrupted.

Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Combined Circus : 5 big herds of performing elephants in 5 circus rings at one time by Boston Public Library

We, the audience, take in this pause, viewing it all around, from one side of the arena to the other. There are few clues in the circus program notes to see what will happen next. We all find different truths for what has happened and we talk to each other following a clip, with no date, on the internet showing Charlie Kirk, answering questions from a woman, “What are you doing, what is the point?” is met by “ … When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence…” And we don’t want to see the elephants stampede. But there is little footage of him engaging with students. He tosses out unsupported statements in his strong, intimidating voice, cowering students not versed in the skills of debate. I sadly find such old-world prejudices that it is hard to believe an educated young man could hold them such as this comment on race from his show on January 23 rd 2024

“If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.”

In the 1990’s, while exploring books and authors for radio broadcast, I slipped into a rabbit hole of the writing of Saint Exupéry. At the same time a new friend, George Nixon, came into our lives. George was among the very first African-American Pilots on a commercial airline, and a captain for United Airlines. He was being recruited onto the board of directors for the Full Circle Program. George was definitely feeling like a duck out of water and knew that the board was eager for him to join as the token black man. George was back-peddling until we got taking and he realized that like Heather, his wife, I was English, and could see I was as itchy at board meetings as he was. George had also become the United Airlines poster boy encouraging us to ‘Fly the Friendly Skies of United.’ When he told Heather he was going to try out for the video she immediately replied, “Oh don’t be so silly George, you are far too black.” But George, with his ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude went for it. And got it. His blue-black face was seen up and down the freeways in and out of San Fransisco with his smile grinning down to the commuters as he dared other young African Americans to reach for their dreams.

Now with my rabbit hole search into aviation, and the writings of Saint Exupéry, I also had a pilot pal with which to explore the friendly skies. Once I flew on a night flight with George from San Fransisco to Boston with a plane load of flatulent first class fellows. I was excited and awake all through the night watching America unfold underneath the plane, until that moment that she didn’t. The hum of the engine was constant as I looked out of the window to see no lights below but only the stars ahead, not even really above us, just there in the night sky. Later, when we sat down together and I turned on the tape recorder we talked about his yearning to fly, I asked about the night sky that I had seen, talking about how Saint Exupéry flew by the stars.

“The stars,” said George, “The stars are my friends.” It is over thirty years since we had that conversation. I wonder how many pilots today still know where they are in the world by following the stars in the night sky. George retired in 1995 and with Heather moved to Tasmania at ‘Blackman’s Cove’ “Only you George, could do that,” laughed Heather and I in chorus. He stayed close to the edge, facing the ocean as he wondered what ahead for him.

It’s well into September now and there are storms coming in from the Atlantic ocean and tumbling over the Welsh hillsides on into the home countries. The winds are squally and the rain spits like a disgruntled snake. This is not a good day for landing a plane at Stanstead as the American President arrives for his second state visit which has been planned out very carefully to suit his tastes. As we work, the US President’s helicopters have just left the US residence in Regent’s Park, flying on their way to Windsor Castle. There will be soldiers standing with a guard of honor on the lawns before a carriage ride around the grounds, and inside in the evening a gold-plated meal – all within the safety of the castle keep. Hopefully the King will be wrapped up warmly and not catch cold.

The King gives his speech after the State banquet. From the Independent news paper

On Thursday the US President will leave Windsor for Chequers where the prime minister will have another guard of Honor – this time a band of bag pipers. There are Churchill’s archives to view, if not read, before getting down to the business of deal-making with the leaders of GSK, Microsoft and Rolls-Royce. Meanwhile Melania will linger with the queen viewing the Windsor Royal Library along with Queen Mary’s Doll’s House. By the time the President and his wife leave they will have seen very little of the people’s displeasure at their feet on our soil.

Friends on the Castle Tower from UTube and The Guardian.

The Trump Baby blimp rises over London’s Parliament Square (in 2018) by Michael Reeve

On Saturday over a 150,000 people came to London joining a far-right street-protest. Billed as a festival of Free speech, Tommy Robinson then eased his people through into racial conspiracies and Anti – Muslim hate speech. Having Elon Musk dialed in on the big screen was not that attractive as he railed against the “woke mind virus” and told the crowd that “violence is coming” and that “you either fight back or you die”. It didn’t sound much like Charlie Kirk’s suggestion to talk about it.

This morning the recycle truck came roaring down the street. The four lads jumped out, and jogging to the pavement, rolled the carts up to the lorry to chuck-in the recycling. The men are quick, laughing, shouting and getting on with it. I stand at our door with my bucket of compost, “Am I too late,” “No Aggie you’re fine, give it ‘ere.” And Nick takes my little bucket of compost and tosses it into the truck’s container. “How’ve you ‘bin Aggie?” “All right, and you?” “I’m retiring in two years Aggie.” “NO. You’re too young.” “I’m 64.” “No, you can’t be.” “I’m 82.” “No, Not a day over 42.” And he gives me an appraising look, as I stand there on the door step in my PJs and not a bit of uplift underneath. Back in the house after this early morning banter, I’m smiling. If Nick and I were having a pub-time drink we would undoubtedly be sharing very different views about the worlds we live in. But we would talk and laugh together and buy just one more round.

This has been A Letter From A Broad. Written and read for you by Muriel Murch

And as always supported by https://www.murchstudio.com

The Limit

March 18, 2025 / aggiemurch / 2 Comments

Written and read for you by Muriel Murch with WSM by my side.

When Winifred Forsyte’s husband, Montague Dartie, stole the pearl necklace that her father had given her for her wedding and then gave it to his mistress before setting sail to South America, she said to her brother: “It’s the limit!” And now, across the country, Americans reacting to the nine weeks of this new government administration, are reaching the same conclusion, with all the bombastic fireworks and scrawled penmanship erupting from the Oval Office at the same time. At first it was hard to see where to focus – which was the point of the mass display of bogus authority. As we each tried to settle on something that meant America to us: immigration, freedom from persecution, a land of opportunity, many people returned to The National Parks that display the majesty of all that this country can offer.

Protest at the Bear Valley Visitors Center in Pt Reyes, California

The Parks belong to the people of America and the people who work in them, coming from all walks and persuasions of life, work for the American people. The wild actions of the President and his puppeteer Elon Musk are enraging ordinary folks from the Rockies to the Mid-West plains and the rivers that join them. The limit may not yet have been reached but it is getting close. The forests and parks are the American Jewels, beloved by peoples of all parties, persuasions, income levels, rural and city dwellers alike. And they – we the people – are coming together, supporting where we can the rangers and Park personal dismissed out of hand by the playboys in Washington.

What are they thinking, strutting around the corridors, cruising into conference and press rooms, wandering along halls leading to nowhere in particular? They are plucking what seems like easy pickings off of the laden fruit of America. Things that they don’t use. When was the last time Elon drove a Tesla into Yosemite National Park? Was there even a first time? It is more than doubtful. Up one aisle and down another he trolls with his shopping cart, as if in a giant supermarket of cheap value. The park service here, an unforgivable rudeness to another nation there, a Palestinian immigrant kidnapped. It is enough to shake up America to join together in saying ‘This is the limit’ But when and how will that be reached? The display of bad manners – the politest words I can find – shown in the Oval Office last week for President Zelensky’s visit was another limit reached.

And this one – that one – has left lasting damage to how North America, not Central or Southern America, is seen across the world. ‘No taxes to Kings’ was the battle cry of the first republic but now this America is being ravaged by a despot and his henchmen.

Sunflower Seeds at an event for guests to take and spread in support of the Ukraine.
Photo by WSM

Meanwhile across the Atlantic, on the boarders of Europe, a real King is welcoming President Zelensky as he should be welcomed, with good manners and concern for his well-being, reminding us all it’s not the title – it’s the person. King Charles III is joined by his Prime Minister and the leaders of a still free and Democratic Europe. Which is poised – understanding that the rise of fascism starts with a slow simmer before reaching a boil. And then it can boil over, like an unwatched pot of soup to be mopped up – or not – by those left in the kitchen that is Europe. The Ukraine, sits boiling on the stove rising to a boil in the kitchen that is Europe, the heart-beat of any home. And America is a home to those who were here before the rest of us who arrived – in free will or slavery. For we all came as immigrants, some in fear, struggling from persecution, some in greed seeking opportunities and some with good heart looking for a better life without the need to hurt another.

As we live, around the block, up the street, in the cul-de-sac or along the lonely highway that weaves from farm to farm our families grow together in community. We celebrate, mourn and disagree together. These times make us who we are. And when some outside force threatens the community – disease, natural disasters, governmental bureaucracy and corruption – then we put aside our differences and come together, clustering like bees to protect our queen, in this case the integrity and sanity of North America who is in danger. The people know that a killer wasp has entered the Bee hive and is threatening all that work there.

It is beginning, the gathering of small groups leading to larger ones, coming together forming bigger and stronger communities and blessed Bernie Sanders out there stomping around in the midwest states. So far it has the smell of “We’re right behind you,” not too many daring to stand along side or step up to the lead. Sanders is a Truth Bomber. He has nothing to lose by speaking out. And as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said of Sanders’ efforts. “You look around — who else is doing it? No one. My hope is that the dam will break in terms of Democrats going on the offense … We need to take the argument directly to the people.” “It’s not about whether Bernie should or shouldn’t be doing this. It’s about that we all should,” she said. “He is unique in this country, and so long as we are blessed to have that capacity on our side, I think we should be thankful for it.” Ocasio-Cortez said she will join him on the road in the coming weeks planning solo appearances in Republican-held congressional districts in Pennsylvania and New York — as now local House Republicans are reluctant to face the angry questions coming at them in their Town hall meetings. Rather than blame the chap sitting in the swirling chair in the Oval office they are turning on Elon Musk and that is a good start.

At this time we feel the threats coming at us nationally and globally and cluster even closer. Each national park is holding rallies that are growing each week and beginning to unite in mass gatherings. Citizens march and protest outside of Tesla Dealerships. Decals are stuck on parked Telsas in America and Europe. They are saying no – and at some point that no could overflow into a protest that will rise from a simmer to boiling point giving this government the excuse to bring in the national guard, pitting Americans agains Americans.

It is called Civil War.

This has been A Letter from A. Broad. Written and read for you by Muriel Murch.

And as always supported by https://www.murchstudio.com

Mourning and Marmalade

January 13, 2025 / aggiemurch

Mourning and Marmalade

Written and read for you by Muriel Murch with WSM by my side

All Saints Church in Crondall, England by Andrew Smith

The year – that year – 2024 has ended and Past-President Jimmy Carter quietly left so as to watch the next chapter of American history unfold from afar. In a sign of respect – not accorded to every US President – the Union Jack at Buckingham Palace was flown at half mast on the days of, and after, his passing. For us the outgoing tides of 2024 carried out with them family and friend transitions that were close to our hearts. Later this week I will rise with the dawn to think about friends and family gathering in the Norman All Saints village church in Crondall that they have attended for over fifty years, as the patriarch of their family will be remembered and laid to rest in the grounds surrounding the church. This is the winter of our lives and the leaves of love and memory are falling.

The gifts – that is – of this time – are the memories that emerge out of our past – even the worst of them – are coated – if not soaked – with love – and often more than a little laughter. So the old year fades, taxes get paid and we look forward to whatever this year will bring.

The changing American administration will take place on January 20th, ironically falling on Martin Luther King day, whose dream seems to be once more deferred. This change is bringing apprehension to Americans and world leaders alike. Gears must be shifted, and wheels oiled. Ukraine’s President Zelensky has to figure out how to dance around the incoming American President who is in turn dancing to President Vladimir Putin’s music. It’s tricky for whatever happens with Zelensky and to Ukraine will ripple through the rest of Europe and beyond. Elon Musk is traveling in person and on X into London chatting with – and then dismissing – Nigel Farrage now saying “Reform needs a new leader.” Well there is egg or custard pie on Nigel’s face – again. Sir Keir Starmer has too many papers on his desk, The National Health System, housing, Nigel breathing down his neck, the conservatives straightening their skirt hems and now this Musk boy putting his finger in the icing of British Politics, not knowing that the cake inside has collapsed completely. Meanwhile Justin Trudeau is stepping down as Canada’s Prime Minister. Another good-looking chap falling under the wheels of Government failure and a touch of corruption. How do they make such silly mistakes swinging in and out of revolving doors? Maybe one needs to be a fly in the soup to understand that better.

It is snowing in England. ’Makes you feel like a kid again’ says another wistful middle-aged man in a Yorkshire pub. And it does. However inconvenient, the snow is and it can be brutal for farmers and those living in small hamlets, throughout the country we are relieved to see this winter weather. Cold to ward away the concerns of global warming.

Nicolas Watts in Lincolnshire, is a farmer who farms among his crops, a fine line in organic bird seed. Nicolas sits down once a month to write a newsletter about his farm, the crops, the wildlife and the weather.

Credit: Tim Scrivener http://www.agriphoto.com

And every month I read it. He has his figures and facts all lined up and this month says “We only had one frost in December and it was far milder than usual, with a mean average of 7.2°C. … There are no fast moves in here, no rushing to embrace this fad or that. But what Nicholas is showing – on his farm and in his newsletters – are the effects of climate change on this small country – this farm – agriculture, and thus us all. He goes on – telling us about how the price of potatoes has gone up – but that is another story. This farmer is working the land and seeing what is happening to the soil and the Earth we live on.

Meanwhile in January, many English women still make enough marmalade – for their family and friends – to last for the whole year. And those of us who do it are very particular about what we use. Each family has its own recipes and traditions, though now it is mostly us grandmothers who ‘have the time’ and care enough to make it. Oranges from Seville are key, and arrive from Spain to England just after Christmas. They are small, squishy, bitter and full of pips. In years gone by, when lemons were a luxury, the marmalade was made solely from these oranges. Lemons were saved for Lemon Curd. Rose’s brought in Lime Fine Cut Marmalade as an exotic and it remains popular today. I’m thinking those limes came from the Caribbean and that Rose’s got a good deal on them. Now marmalades are mixed, and exotic, with and without, whiskey added, but it is hard to find good old chunky cut marmalade. Marks and Spencers and Fortnum & Mason made a stab at it but both are still too refined. And what about those of us, outside of England for whom making marmalade remains as important as making mince pies? We are lucky in California that citrus and Meyer Lemons particularly grow abundantly. And on this farm we are also lucky. About twenty years ago one of our daughters gave me a Pacific Coast Orange tree. I was dubious and the tree felt my lack of confidence in it and so for years it sat, sulking, hardly growing at all but then maybe the nutrients from all the dead pets in the bury patch released into the soil and now the little shrub is a big tree, with bowed branches full of fruit. Truth be told they are the complete opposite of the oranges from Seville. There is as much pith as fruit in each orange and as for juice – to be kind – it is tart. But I go out into the garden, gather those oranges, a few Meyer lemons – that tree for some reason not as strong as the orange – and chop, mixing the fruit together. It gives me a chunky, tart marmalade that can stand ‘toast to toast’ with the old remembered Seville orange marmalade. This week I have my twelve plus and counting jars of marmalade, and I am happy once more.

As I make my marmalade, I remember my mother making hers and the rows and rows of jars put away in the larder. I am thinking again of my friends in England. We are older now and knocked about by the snow and winter weather. The silent whiteness will only be beautiful if they can be safe walking to the church, laying this loved one into his grave, before returning with their memories to the safety of their homes.

This has been A Letter from A. Broad. Written and read for you by Muriel Murch.

As always supported by https://www.murchstudio.com

An Inquiry

November 12, 2023 / aggiemurch / 3 Comments

Written and produced for you by Muriel Murch with WSM by my side.

‘Yes Minister’ first aired on The BBC television in 1980 until it ended in 1988, possibly due to the fact that it was becoming harder to distinguish the comedy series from the nightly newscasts that followed. Among the many quotes attributed to the Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey is “Minister there is going to be an Inquiry” to which the reply from The Prime Minister Jim Hacker is “Oh good, then nothing will happen.” Well yes and here we are again –

Baroness Hallett promises the inquiry would be ‘thorough and fair’. Photo from Piranha Photography.

Last week saw the beginning of “Britain’s Public Inquiry” to understand the Conservative Government’s responses and handling of the Covid pandemic. But for the life of me, I can’t find out who is in charge of “Britiain’s Public Inquiry” and what – after the facts have hopefully been gathered – will happen? Will lessons have been learnt? Will those deemed responsible be held responsible? Will there be any retribution? Will anyone be called before a court of law or those pages of documents produced be filed away rather than read. Last week when Dominic Cummings gave his testimony he asked that the inquiry also focus on the broader failures of the system. Reading – for I can’t listen to them talking – it is clear that as blame is shuffled about like pearls under walnuts, the prize goes to the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Dominic Cummings likened working with Boris Johnson to driving a shopping cart with a wonky wheel.

It is not without irony that the inquiry is taking place at Whitehall just across the river from the Covid Memorial Wall that was created and painted in 2021by people who had lost loved ones, or worked in the NHS, coming together with the good guidance of the group ‘Led By Donkeys’. Over 240,000 painted hearts cover more than a third of a mile alongside the Thames River outside of St. Thomas’s Hospital. During this time the public were afraid and looked in vain for leaders in the government where all the common sense had been bred and educated out of almost anyone in Westminster not yet of pensionable age. It was like putting drones in charge of the beehive to collect pollen and care for their queen, when all they could think about was kingship and sexual obsession.

From left: Rabbi Daniel Epstein, the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and Imam Kareem Farai visiting the wall in April. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe For Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice/Getty Images

People are booking their theater seats. We follow the inquiry like a serialized Charles Dickens story in the magazines of the day. Up to testify next are the past Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his hovering henchman Matt Hancock, and the holder of the chair at the moment, Rishi Sunak. But it is the failings of one particular individual, Boris Johnson, who was ultimately responsible for directing the government, which will continue to be scrutinized in the months ahead. Johnson’s successor-but-one as prime minister, Rishi Sunak — who was U.K. Chancellor during the pandemic — also has questions to answer. All three men — Johnson, Sunak, and Hancock — are to appear before the inquiry in the same week at the end of November.

Sunak has thrown his dead cat into the ring – by hosting an international AI conference on safety issues that was held at Bletchley Park. The conference produced some back-patting for, and from, the UK, US, and European leaders who attended while getting a nod of approval from the United Nations. Elon Musk arrived to give a speech and chat with Rishi at Downing Street. Both men in their uniforms, Elon remains rumpled and a little unshaved while Rishi rolls up his pristine white shirt sleeves possibly looking for his next job opportunity after this gig is over. So will anything happen from this inquiry apart from “Lessons have been learnt”? The Infected Blood Inquiry – the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry – and the Greenfield Tower Inquiry – have each chipped away at this UK government, but not a lot has changed. Could this inquiry be the one showing that Britain’s democracy has really gone up in flames? I’m writing on Guy Fawkes night – our night of fireworks – celebrating the failure of the 1605 attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. We may be holding our breath and will it happen this time? I cannot watch the inquiries – it is too painful – so instead I read.

in an interview, the American thinking and writer, James Baldwin, said “You must realize that if I am starving you are in danger”. And in this simple truth, buried deeply, lies some of the reasons the wars are being fought all around us. Johnathan Freelander writes eloquently and with great heart in this weekend’s Guardian Newspaper, that no side of the Israeli, Gaza, and Jordan triangle conflict are searching for a peaceful conclusion – at this time. In Pulse “Stories from the Heart of Medicine,” I read a translated account from Hadar Sadeh, an Israeli youth psychiatrist working at a Medical Center, about twenty-five miles from the Gaza Strip. Then I open an email from our Palestinian friend and filmmaker, Annemarie Jacir. Each woman weeps at the death of children and physical destruction that they see around them. Each letter could have been written the other.

And see how the war in Ukraine gets roughly pushed to one side even as we know it continues? Old statesmen take planes from one capital city for talks then board another, exchanging their suit jackets for a flack vest as they land in a war zone to encourage young men to face death bravely for their country. Ukrainian President Zelensky rightly worries that this other war is distracting from support to his war – defending Ukraine from Russia’s invasion. How much can we carry in our hearts? And tucked away even further is the news that Russia’s President Putin’s arch-opponent Alexei Navalny’s three lawyers have been detailed. They are facing trial for participating in the so-called extremist group, Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. If they end up in jail then all contact to the outside world will be lost for Navalny. Each of these eruptions is bleeding like an aspirin-fed wound and all the pressure that is applied will not staunch or stop it any time soon.

This has been A Letter From A. Broad written and read for you by Muriel Murch.