Gentlefolk,
This post describes some of our activities during the month of June 2021.
The contents of this post are in the following sequence:
Photos of our activities during June 2021 (including Movies and Books).
Some news items which caught my eye in June 2021.
International trade.
Covid-19 pandemic.
To start, herewith photos of June 2021.
Young Eddie, 7 years old. |
Vera with JJ. |
After being off for a few weeks with broken arm, Eddie was back at soccer. |
After soccer, we had a look at the house in Queens Park - good progress! |
Eddie and JJ after their evening bath. |
One morning we took the tram down to Circular Quay and spent time around the Opera House, always interesting. |
Sydney Opera House. |
A street performer. |
Andrew brought the kids to Central Station to say goodbye as we caught the train back to Canberra. |
President Duncan Souter welcoming those present. |
A view of the dance floor at St Benedict's School hall. Ian Stewart provided the music. |
Your truly at the 4-+1 Ball. Club President, Duncan Souter, is on stage as the MC. |
A little excursion with friends Angie & Howard Eakins; we spent two nights in each of Albury and Wagga Wagga. Albury is 3420km south of Canberra, about half-way to Melbourne. |
First stop was near Gundagai, on the way to Albury. |
The statue of "The dog on the Tuckerbox" which is the subject of a well-known poem. |
The original poem, modified in later versions. When Bill went looking for help to fix the broken axel of his wagon, his dog sat (shat?) on the tuckerbox to protect his food. |
For $1,900 you can buy this 'statue' of infamous bushranger Ned Kelly. |
Then we got to Albury, a city of about 56,000. It is on the NSW side of the NSW-Victoria border (Wodonga is on the Victorian side, across the Murray River). |
We stayed 2 nights in the Manor House Motel, built in 1987. Very comfortable. |
A suit-of-armour in the foyer of the motel. |
Howard and Angie were upgraded to the Elizabeth Suite. |
The War Memorial on a hill overlooking Albury. |
It was chilly (winter) so we rugged up. |
A sculpture on the walk (not many sculptures actually). This sculpture (black/white) was quite interesting. |
A view of Hume Dam. |
The ornate Albury Railway Station was opened in 1881. |
Dean Street, the main shopping street in Albury. We were impressed by the "Old Town" - many attractive, well-maintained buildings. Wide streets and lots of round-abouts. Nice parks. |
The old Albury Post Office on Dean Street. |
St Matthews Anglican Church in Albury. It dates back to the 1850s, |
The alter of St Matthews Anglican Church. |
From Albury we drove to Wagga Wagga (130km due north), via the villages of Culcairn, Henty, and The Rock. |
The Doodle Cooma Hotel in Henty. Strange name - apparently the village was called Doodle Cooma until the name was changed to Henty in 1889. I grew up in Cooma NSW - wonder about the similar names? |
The opening of the Doodle Cooma Arms Hotel in 1888. It was renovated, and a second floor added, in 1918. |
Another great name "The Rock". We drove to the rock formation it was named after (about 6km from town) but ran out of time so didn't climb it. |
We had a look at South Wagga Primary School which Howard attended, still going strong. |
The motto and shield of South Wagga Primary School. |
This Department Store was the biggest for many years. |
The Chico Roll was concieved in Wagga! |
We had a look at the Glass Gallery. |
This piece was by a Chinese class artist, Zhang Xiao Wei. |
No visit to Wagga is complete without seeing the "Wagga Beach". It is located on a big bend in the Murrumbidgee River (they claim it is the 9th best beach in Australia - no way???). |
My sister Aniko and her husband Peter visited Brisbane and caught up with Jen & Tom and the boys Kurt, Nate and Sid. |
Book launch of "The Kindness Revolution" at Muse. |
Books
I read two books this month: The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre and Inspector Singh Investigates by Shamini Flint.
Inspector Singh is a Singaporean policeman sent to Kuala Lumpur to help with a murder inquiry. |
It was a fun read for a "who-done-it?" Being familiar with both Singapore and KL, I was able to relate to many aspects of this story. Published in 2009, this was her first book. |
Some news reports which caught my eye in June 2021.
($ = US dollars)
Global |
WHO renamed
Covid variants: UK = Alpha; South Africa = Beta; India = Delta; Brazil =
Gamma. President Biden
suspended oil & gas drilling in the Artic. Pres Biden commemorated
the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre in which hundreds of
African-Americans were killed. Both the
American and Chinese space ships sent back images of Mars. G7 met in
Britain with Australia, South Africa and South Korea invited as observers. G7
agreed to a minimum corporate tax rate of 15%, and that multinationals should
pay more tax in countries where it is earned (to be confirmed by the G20 in
October). The Economist’s
Global Liveability Index ranked 140 cities; top eleven: Auckland, Osaka,
Adelaide, Wellington, Tokyo, Perth, Zurich, Geneva, Melbourne, Sydney. Least
liveable were Damascus, Lagos and Port Moresby. According to
UNCTAD, in 2020 China attracted $163B in Foreign Direct Investment while the
USA attracted $134B. Bitcoin now about
$30K, down from peak of $65K in April. UNESCO considers
listing the Great Barrier Reef as “endangered”.
|
USA |
JBS, the world’s
largest meat processor, was hit by a cyber-attack. Allegedly paid $11M ransom
(the US was able to recover most of the ransom paid by Colonial Pipelines
last month). The House of
Representatives passed a motion to establish a Commission to investigate the
January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol, but the Senate did not support (got 54
votes but needed 60). First
anti-dementia drug (Aducanumab by Biogen) was approved. Pres Biden watered-down
Pres Trump’s Executive Order placing restrictions on China-based apps Tik Tok
and WeChat. Pres Biden
signed the Juneteeth Act, making 19 June a Federal holiday to commemorate the
end of slavery. Spaniard Jon
Rahm won the US Golf Open, his first Major. Former policeman
Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22 years for murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Collapse of 40
year old building near Miami 12 dead, 140 missing. Elon Musk announced that his Starlink Internet Service has 70,000 subscribers, and is aiming for 500,000 by mid-2022. Starlink has launched1,800 low-earth orbit satellites.
|
Australia |
64 year old rugby
League legend, Steve Mortimer, announced that he had dementia, possibly due
to head knocks during his playing career (he played 13 seasons for
Canterbury-Bankstown, and for Australia). The National
Capital Authority approved the proposed $500M expansion of the Australian War
Memorial in Canberra. Melbourne ended
a two-week Covid lock-down on 10 June; Greater Sydney went into lock-down on
27 June due to growth of “the Bondi cluster” (now 180 cases). Other States
closed their borders. New Zealand has
suspended the “Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble”. Australia
exported 445 million tonnes (valued $40B) of iron ore to China in the first 5
months of 2021. Several dozen 40
Afghans (plus dependents) who worked for Australian military will get special
visas for Australia. NSW Blues won
the Rugby League 2021 State of Origin competition against Queensland Maroons by
winning the first two games 50-6 and 26-0. While getting
the anti-Covid vaccine is voluntary, the Govt has decreed that all aged care
workers must be vaccinated.
|
France |
Ranked world #1
tennis player Naomi Osaka pulled out of the French Open due to mental health
issues. Djokovic beat Tsitsipas in the Men’s Final 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
It was Novak’s 19th Grand Slam (he is now only one behind Federer
and Nadal). In the Women’s Final
Krejcikova beat Pavlyucherkova 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
|
China |
The Govt announced
new “3 Child” policy. China’s trade
surplus with the USA in April was $28 billion. Three Chinese
astronauts are building a Space Station 380km above earth. Big celebrations
planned on 1 July for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the
Communist Party of China.
|
Israel |
After 12 years
as PM, Benjamin Netanyahu was replaced by Naftali Bennett.
|
Iran |
Ebrahim Raisi
was elected President of Iran, on a low turnout rate of only 49%; he is said
to be close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
|
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
My 30 year career as an Australian Trade Commissioner gave me an interest in matters related to international trade. I subscribe to Bloomberg's excellent daily newsletter "Supply Lines - tracking Covid-19's impact on trade" (former title 'Trade Matters').
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