Gentlefolk,
This post describes some of our activities during November 2021.
The contents of this post are in the following sequence:
Photos of our activities during November 2021
Books read.
Some news items which caught my eye in November.
International Trade.
USA & China comparative indicators (final, of series).
Wallabies tour of UK.
Covid-19 Pandemic.
Overview
The highlight for Vera and me was our trip away - first time outside Canberra for about 4 months due to the Covid lockdown - first to Sydney, then Forster, Nambucca, back to Sydney, and home. We drove 1,700 km (used 103 litres of diesel) over the 10 days; nice to be able to get around again.
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| We stayed in Sydney, then Forster (just south of Port Macquarie), and Nambucca Heads (just south of Coffs Harbour). |
In late-October I developed pain in my lower back (perhaps from golf?) which meant that I stopped exercise for the month while concentrating on stretching. I was like a bear with a sore head. Thankfully getting better now, starting gym and hope golf next week.
Canberra had its wettest November on record with over 150mm of rain.
With the lifting of Covid restrictions, life is getting back to normal: we are dancing on Thursday nights; my U3A Current Affairs group and German Conversation group have started meeting again; ACFS and AIIA have recommenced 'in-person' talks; Vera's ukulele groups have recommenced group sessions. And traffic is building up again as schools reopen and people go back to their offices.
We enjoyed watching Danish police drama "Unit One" (Rejesholdt) on SBS and became fond of the main characters: DCI Ingrid Dahl; her 2IC IP Sorensen; sergeants Allan Fischer and Thomas LaCour; pretty office assistant Gaby; and driver (and former soccer star) Johnny Olsen. Good fun.
Herewith photos of some of our activities in November 2021.
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| The AIIA's first "in person" talk since the lock-down ended at the beginning of November. The photo shows President of AIIA Heath cMichael with the guest speaker, Professor John Blaxland from the ANU. |
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| In Sydney 5 - 8 November to see Andrew, Caz and the kids - Covid restrictions were lifted - we hadn't seen them for a few months. Eddie played 4 games of soccer on Saturday (scored 14 goals!) and another game on Sunday. |
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| Andrew is Eddie's strongest supporter. |
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| Eddie took a turn as goalie - not his favorite position - he prefers being in the thick of things. |
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| Visited their house new in Queens Park - it's been a tough 12 months - but the end is in sight now, they hope to move in in March 2022. |
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| Caz has done an incredible job working with the architect on the design and then supervising construction. It is going to be one hellva house! |
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| The staircase to the second floor which contains the massive Master bedroom, and the two kid's bedrooms and bathroom. |
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| View from the garage back towards the main house. Swimming pool on the left. The Living Room will have a "cathedral ceiling" which will be spectacular. Windows and the big sliding doors will be in by the end of November (plagued by delivery delays) and the concrete floor will then be poured. |
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| We had dinner at the Asian Alleys near Central Park. |
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| We visited Geoff and Albert in Forster- Tuncurry, 300 kms north of Sydney. The are moving to the Palm Lake Over 50s Resort in February. We were impressed by the proposed development and wondered whether this could be a place for us in the future? |
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| Stage One of the Palm Lake Resort is completed and 40 houses have been occupied. Geoff and Albert will be in Stage 2. It is a big construction site at the moment (the final plan is for 300 homes, Clubhouse, etc). |
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| Vera discussing colour schemes with Joanne Jessop from Palm Lake Sales. |
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| We drove further north to Nambucca Heads to visit Bob and Siri. |
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| The main beach at Nambucca. |
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| The V-Wall at Nambucca, the break-water which forms the mouth of the Nambucca River. See below for some of the interesting graffiti along the V-Wall. |
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| View of the mouth of the Nambucca River, from near Bob's place. |
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| On our return to Sydney we stayed with Niniek and Paul Milton; bbq dinner with Mega and Liam Ward. We first met Liam in Jakarta in 1988; he was sent by electrical contractor O'Donnell Griffin to open an office there. He met Mega and the rest is history ... |
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| King parotts at the Milton's place. |
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| All the grandparents. From left: Paul Milton, Vera, Eddie, me, Jay, and Niniek. |
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| Adrienne Carey (daughter of Aniko and Peter) was awarded a Police Medal - well done!!! |
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| Professor Jocelyn Chey AM was a guest speaker at the Australia China Friendship Society; she is one of Australia's leading Sinologists. The title of her talk was "Stories from a lifetime's engagement with China." She has had a remarkable career, moving seamlessly between academia, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Trade, and the private sector. Jocelyn held the audience spellbound for 90 minutes with anecdotes, many amusing, of her experiences. |
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| Vera and me with Jocelyn Chey. She was my boss (Senior Trade Commissioner) in Beijing 1985-6; a very special lady! It was wonderful to see her again. Jocelyn gave me her memoir, which I enjoyed reading - see below, under "BOOKS". |
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| Caught up with old mate Patrick O'Hara. |
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| Leo Joseph performing at Smith's Alternative Cafe. He is an accomplished jazz pianist (but his main job is as a scientist with the CSIRO). |
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| Saying hello to Leo Joseph after his performance. |
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| Piano Concert by students of Marcela Fiorillo. |
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| Get together for the Balinese community of Canberra. From left: Ketut Nanik Clynes, Adrian Clynes, Vera, and a gamelan musician. |
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...
BOOKS
I read two books about exceptional Australian women during the month: Jocelyn Chey's memoirs titled "Lodestar China", and Sue Boyd's autobiography titled "Not always diplomatic."
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| Jocelyn Chey came from Sydney to give a talk to the Australia China Friendship Society and gave me a copy of her memoir "Lodestar China". The family came from England in 1954 when her father, CJ Milner, took the position of Professor of Applied Physics at the University of NSW in Sydney. In 1956 Jocdelyn started at the University of Sydney majoring in anthropology; she took Chinese as an optional but soone fell under the spell of Chinese language and culture and it became her life's work. Geoff Raby summed it up in his Preface: "No Australian has been so closely involved as Jocelyn in the relationship between Australia and China over the past half-century, or has contributed more to it." Spot on! |
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| Jocelyn was Senior Trade Commissioner in the Australian Embassy Beijing; I was one of her Trade Commissioners 1985-6, and thoroughly enjoyed working for her. She was fluent in Chinese and also had a deep understanding of Chinese history and culture. I have never seen anyone make Chinese feel comfortable and at ease like she did. She was an inspired choice by the Department of Trade. |
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| Sue Boyd joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1970; in a distinguished career spanning 34 years, she had numerous overseas assignments including four as Head-of-Post: Bangladesh, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Fiji. She was one of Australia's first female ambassadors. She was renowned for her fund of risque stories, hence the title of her autobiography; but she was respected and liked. She regards Vietnam as her best posting - the country was opening up and she could use all her skills to develop bilateral relations. Unexpectedly Fiji proved the biggest challenge. On 19 May 2000 George Speight led a coup which occupied Parliament House and took MPs hostage. The crisis lasted 56 days, until Speight surrendered to Fiji's military commander Frank Bainimarama. Sue says of that time: "it was the most stressful but also the most rewarding experience of my career." When her posting to Fiji ended in 2003 "DFAT offered me an attractive redundancy package, with a re-training component." Incredible that DFAT couldn't find a useful role for someone with her background. Sue retired in Perth and has been involved in many activities including a long stint as President of the WA chapter of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. |
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| I enjoyed reading her story very much: she is a high achiever and did well by Australia. |
...
News items which caught my eye during November
2021.
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Global and others |
The G20 meeting in Rome supported
a 15% minimum tax (aimed at Multinationals trying to minimize tax). Climate Change Summit COP26 held
in Glasgow, slogan “we can do this if we act now.” India announced a net zero
emissions target by 2070. Agreement to protect forests and reduce methane by
30% by 2030; final communique talked of “phasing down coal” was
disappointing. Surprise bilateral agreement by USA and China to reduce
emissions. Cumulative Covid deaths pass 5
million (The Economist thinks the real figure is close to 17 million). UK
authorized the use of Merck’s oral Covid vaccine. Germany’s cases rise, “pandemic of
the unvaccinated”. Several European countries (Germany,
The Netherlands, etc) impose new restrictions in the face of surging Covid
cases. Austria makes vaccination mandatory for all citizens. The Economist estimates
Governments around the world have committed $17T (including loans and
guarantees) to combat Covid (16% of Global GDP). Rugby Union. Australia’s Wallabies
beaten by Scotland (15-12), England (32-15), and Wales (29-28). NZ All Blacks
were beaten by Ireland (29-20) and France (40-25). Cricket: Australia beat New
Zealand to win T20 Championship in Dubai. F1: 22 year old Zhou Guan Yu will
partner Valtteri Bottas for Alfa Romeo (first Chinese in F1). French President Jean Castex and
Czech President Milos Zeman both tested positive for Covid. After 2 months of negotiations, a new coalition Government was announced
for Germany: Social Democrats + Free Democrats + Greens; SPD leader
Olaf Scholz will replace Angela Merkel as the new Chancellor. Biden and Xi Jin Ping held a
virtual summit. Riots and looting in Honiara,
capital of the Solomon Islands; Australia (and PNG) sent police and military
to assist restore order. Angry exchanges between France and
UK over asylum seekers after 27 drowned when boat sank in the English Channel.
About 47K made the attempt in last 12 months. WHO advised new Covid variant “Omicron”
detected in southern Africa; several countries restricted visitors from that
region. Lionel Messi was awarded his 7th Ballon d'Or as World's best male footballer; Alexia Putellas got the women's title. USA, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China meet with Iran in Vienna to discuss re-starting the JCPOA Agreement (Trump pulled out in May 2018 and imposed new sanctions on Iran).
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USA
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Atlanta Braves beat the Houston
Astros to win the Baseball World Series. Republican Glenn Youngkin won
election for Governor of Virginia. Congress passed $1T infrastructure
bill; Biden signed into law. Retail sales up by 8.1% in
September and an estimated 12.3% in October. 18 year old Kyle Rittenhouse was
acquitted of all five charges after pleading self-defence in the fatal
shooting of 2 and wounding of another (all white) during BLM protests in
Kenosha Wisconsin following the shooting of Jacob Blake last year. All three (white) defendants found
guilty of murder of 25 year old African-American Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Kamala Harris became the first
female Acting President while Biden had a health check. To boost supply (and reduce
prices), President Biden released 50 million barrels of oil from the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Thanksgiving Weekend in the USA;
2.3 million Americans flew on 24/11. President Biden nominated Jerome
Powell for a second term as Chair of the US Federal Reserve. Samsung to build a semiconductor chip
plant in Texas, $17B investment. Clint Eastwood's latest movie, Cry Macho, has just been released. What an amazing person, still doing great work at the age of 91.
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Australia |
Fully vaxxed Aussies returning
home did not need to quarantine from 1 November. Eligible visa holders (eg
skilled migrants, students) will be able to enter Australia from 1 December
without quarantining. All Canberra students back to
face-to-face schooling. 97% of Canberrans over 12 are fully vaxxed. 10,000 fully vaxxed spectators watched
Australia’s biggest horse race, the 3,200m Melbourne Cup, won by Verry
Ellegant jockey James MacDonald. 4 year old Cleo Smith found safe
in Carnarvon after missing for 18 days. Australia accused of underhand
dealing by French President Macron when cancelling the A$90 billion submarine
contract. PM announced $500m to build
electric charging stations around Australia. Ash Barty finished the year as
Womens Tennis world #1 (third year
running); announced her engagement to young golf professional Garry Kissick. Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil died of lung cancer aged 68; an Australian icon.
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China
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Yahoo and Linkedin to withdraw
from China. Tennis star Peng Shuai accused
former Vice Premier Zhang Gao Li of sexual assault. After much media, IOC
President Thomas Bach held a video conference with her. Major property developer Evergrande
teetering on bankruptcy. Final preparations for Winter
Olympics in Beijing to start in February 2022.
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...
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
My 30 year career as an Australian Trade Commissioner gave me an interest in matters related to international trade. I subscribe to Bloomberg's excellent daily newsletter "Supply Lines - tracking Covid-19's impact on trade" (former title 'Trade Matters').
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| Eight of the ten indicators on teh Bloomberg Trade Tracker were in "normal range" in the final week of November 2021 (compared with 10/10 two months earlier). Shipments in Singapore, the world's second busiest port by volume, fell to an eight-month low in October. The Ports of Los Angeles and Hong Kong saw similar declines. |
...
USA and China: key indicators (final listing)
To see how the two superpowers compared on key indicators I compiled statistics sourced from the CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/ accessed on 20 August 2021.
Previous Blog Posts have covered:
August 2021 Post Geography & People;
September 2021 Post Economy and Trade;
October 2021 Post Agriculture & Water and Transportation;
November 2021 (today's Post) includes Energy, Air Pollutants, and Communications.
Note: All dollars are US$; est. = estimate (I am puzzled why the CIA still shows some older statistics as "estimates" - surely the CIA must have more recent figures???).
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USA |
China |
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ENERGY
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Electricity installed generating
capacity (2016 est.), of which: ·
Fossil fuels ·
Nuclear ·
Hydro ·
Other renewable |
1,087 Billion kW
70% 9% 7% 14%
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1,653 Billion kW
62% 2% 18% 18%
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Electricity production (2016 est.) |
4.1 Trillion kWH |
5.9 Trillion kWH
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Crude oil (2017 est.) ·
Production ·
Imports Proven reserves |
11.0 million bbl per day 8.0 million bbl per day Not available |
3.8 mill bbl/d 6.7 mill bbl/d (2015 est.) 25.6 bill bbl (2018 est.) |
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Natural gas (2017 est.) ·
Production ·
Consumption
|
773 billion cubic meters 768 billion cubic meters |
146 billion cub m 239 billion cub m |
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AIR POLLUTANTS
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Particulate matter emissions (2016
est.) |
7.4 micrograms per cubic meter |
49.2 micrograms per cubic meter
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Carbon dioxide emissions (2016
est.) |
5,006 megatons |
9,893 megatons
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Methane emissions (2020 est.) |
686 megatons |
1,490 megatons
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COMMUNICATIONS |
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Mobile cellular (2019 est.) Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
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443 million 135 |
1,746 million 126 |
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Internet users (2018 est.) Percent of population
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286 million 87% |
752 million 54% |
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Broadband - fixed subscriptions
(2019 est.) Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
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114 million 35 |
449 million 32 |
...
Wallabies tour of the UK, November 2021
Australia's rugby union team, The Wallabies, played three games in the UK: 8 November against Scotland (lost 13-15); 14 November against England (lost 15 - 32), and 21 November against Wales (lost 28 - 29). I saw the match statistics on ESPN and compiled them into a table (below) to better understand their performance.
The statistics are interesting. We almost won the game against Scotland but the statistics indicate that the Scots deserved to win; in the second game the England team were clearly superior to us; and we could have won the game against Wales (our performance was much improved, despite playing with a man short for most of the game).
The Rugby Administrators really need to do something to reduce the number of penalties, scrums and lineouts. These disrupt the flow of the game, and detract from the spectacle. The game has bercome far too technical, even experienced hands have difficulty understanding many of the rulings.
Wallabies tour of the UK, November 2021, match statistics:
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Wallabies V Scotland Played 8 Nov |
Wallabies V England Played
14 Nov |
Wallabies V Wales Played
21 Nov |
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Total |
Aust |
Scot |
Total |
Aust |
Eng |
Total |
Aust |
Wales |
|
Result |
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13 |
15 |
|
15 |
32 |
|
28 |
29 |
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Tries |
|
1 |
2 |
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- |
2 |
|
3 |
2 |
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Conversions |
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1 |
1 |
|
- |
2 |
|
2 |
2 |
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Penalty goals |
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2/3 |
1/3 |
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5/5 |
6/7 |
|
3 |
5 |
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Possession |
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48% |
52% |
|
40% |
60% |
|
51% |
49% |
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Territory |
|
56% |
44% |
|
37% |
63% |
|
54% |
46% |
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Penalties
conceded |
26 |
14 |
12 |
27 |
18 |
9 |
22 |
13 |
9 |
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Meters run |
|
256 |
361 |
|
262 |
402 |
|
378 |
339 |
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Kicks from
hand |
|
22 |
25 |
54 |
23 |
31 |
|
19 |
17 |
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Passes |
|
99 |
134 |
|
88 |
126 |
|
149 |
131 |
|
Runs |
|
69 |
93 |
|
63 |
96 |
|
110 |
81 |
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Tackles |
|
187 |
207 |
|
166 |
122 |
|
192 |
291 |
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Scrums won |
20 |
6/11 |
5/9 |
12 |
3/4 |
5/8 |
12 |
6/7 |
5/5 |
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Lineouts won |
30 |
13/13 |
16/17 |
26 |
10/13 |
11/13 |
24 |
10/11 |
9/13 |
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Yellow cards |
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1 |
- |
|
2 |
- |
|
1 |
1 |
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Red cards |
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- |
- |
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- |
- |
|
1* |
- |
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Turnovers
conceded |
|
12 |
16 |
|
13 |
12 |
|
8 |
8 |
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Clean breaks |
|
3 |
4 |
|
3 |
5 |
|
7 |
7 |
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Defenders
beaten |
|
17 |
21 |
|
20 |
18 |
|
19 |
22 |
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Offloads |
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3 |
11 |
|
3 |
9 |
|
9 |
2 |
|
Rucks won |
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47/52 |
58/62 |
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41/43 |
65/69 |
|
77/80 |
68/70 |
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Mauls won |
|
7/8 |
7/8 |
|
0/0 |
7/7 |
|
4/5 |
3/4 |
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Total free
kicks conceded |
|
0 |
0 |
|
3 |
1 |
|
0 |
2 |
Source: www.espn.com (‘match statistics’) * Red card to Rob
Valetini in 15th minute for head clash.
Unexpectedly the New Zealand All Blacks lost two of their games: 29-20 against Ireland and 40-25 against France.
...
Covid-19 Pandemic
New case numbers jumped in several European countries during November, and many have reimposed restrictions.
A new variant, Omicron, was detected in southern Africa. Its characteristics are still being determined, but many countries are closing borders to that region as a precaution.
Covid-19 Pandemic top 15
countries ranked by cumulative cases, as at 30 November 2021.
Source:
www.worldometers.info/coronavirus (accessed 30 November 2021)
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Country |
Cumulative Cases 31 July 2021 (millions) |
Cumulative deaths 31 July 2021 (thousands) |
Cumulative Cases 30 Nov 2021 (millions) |
Cumulative deaths 30 Nov 2021 (thousands) |
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Global |
198M |
4.2M |
262M |
5.2M |
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1. USA |
35.7 |
629 |
49.2M |
800K |
|
2. India |
31.6 |
424 |
34.6 |
469 |
|
3. Brazil |
19.9 |
556 |
22.1 |
614 |
|
4. UK |
5.8 |
130 |
10.2 |
145 |
|
5. Russia |
6.2 |
121 |
9.6 |
274 |
|
6. Turkey |
5.7 |
47 |
8.8 |
77 |
|
7. France |
6.1 |
112 |
7.6 |
119 |
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8. Iran |
3.9 |
90 |
6.1 |
130 |
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9. Germany |
3.8 |
92 |
5.8 |
102 |
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10. Argentina |
4.9 |
106 |
5.3 |
117 |
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11. Spain |
4.5 |
82 |
5.2 |
88 |
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12. Colombia |
4.8 |
120 |
5.1 |
129 |
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13. Italy |
4.3 |
128 |
5.0 |
134 |
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14. Indonesia |
3.4 |
92 |
4.3 |
144 |
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15. Mexico |
|
|
3.9 |
294 |
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95. Australia |
|
|
209K |
2K |
Relatively high vaccination rates have encouraged State Govts to relax restrictions. Yesterday Victoria (91% fully vaccinated 12+) had 918 new cases of Covid and 6 deaths, while NSW (92% fully vaccinated 16+) recorded 179 new cases and three deaths . Queensland had no new cases or deaths. Qld is introducing mandatory vaccinations for people working in schools, childcare, prisons, and airports.
All Australian States have now accepted that we have to learn to live with some Covid. This new strain, Omicron, from southern Africa is causing concern although little is known about it at this stage. The Federal Govt is considering earlier access to booster shots.
...
That's it for this post. The Covid curse continues to haunt the world.
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera and Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Tuesday 30 November 2021.
