Gentlefolk,
This blog post describes some of our activities during the month of July 2023.
The contents of this post are in the following sequence:
Photos of our activities during July 2023.
News items which caught my eye in July 2023.
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| We had 10 days in Brisbane while Jen, Tom & family were winter camping down near Grafton. Looked after their dog, a lovely Rhodesian Ridgeback.. |
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| Jen showed us the development under Storey Bridge. |
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| We took the boys to a golf simulator. You can actually play a round of golf! |
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| Kurt turned 18 in July. Here in his Marist College uniform, in his final year of school. Big lad, he has turned into a lovely young man. Kurt will start an electrician apprenticeship next year. |
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| A typical teenager's bedroom - guess whose??? |
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| We met up with old friend Michael Tjoeng. |
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| Flew back to Canberra to watch Eddie play in the Kanga Cup, biggest junior soccer tournament, 293 teams participated from around Australia (and a couple from overseas). But why it is held in July baffles me - it is the coldest month in Canberra and can be decidedly uncomfortable (although kids don't seem to feel the cold as much as their parents and grandparents!). Eddie's team, Sydney Easts Under 9s, did well but lost in the semi-finals. |
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| Andrew was an "Assistant Coach" for Eddie's team. |
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| The Kanga Cup was held at 6 venues around Canberra; Eddie's team played all their games at Mawson. |
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| Eddie in action, beautifully balanced. He is developing into a very good player. |
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| Another good action shot. |
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| Trophy winners with the Coach and two Assistant Coaches. Eddie got the "Parent's Award for best player" (the other two were the main goal scorers). |
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| We visited the Royal Australian Mint, where Australia's coins are made. |
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| The kids made their own coins - for $3 the machine will create a special coin. |
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| Found a big mob of kangaroos in Weston Park. |
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| Temperature was close to 0C, but never too cold for ice cream. |
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| Heading back to Sydney after the Kanga Cup; from left: Jay, Vera, Eddie, Caz, and Andrew. |
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| We hadn't seen Bob & Siri for a while, so decided to drive to Nambucca Heads for Bob's birthday. Stopped in Sydney to check out the apartment in Artarmon. |
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| Said hello to Geoff and Albert in Palm Lake Resort, Forster. Geoff recently had a hip replacement and is recovering well. |
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| Coffee with Siri and Bob at the RSL Club in Nambucca. I first met Bob 50 years ago when we were colleagues at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta (I was in the Trade Section and Bob was in the Military Section). Great friends. Bob &n Siri attended Jen's wedding and later Andrew's wedding too. |
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| On the board walk along the Nambucca River. |
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| Paddle boarder and friend on the Nambucca River. |
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| Professor Craig Pearson gave an interesting talk to the U3A Australian History group on "Evolution of Australian agriculture". |
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| With Aniko and Peter Carey. |
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| Our weekly lunch group: Noel, David, and Paul (Paul undergoing chemo, doing well so far). |
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| With Health, watched the GWS Giants beat the Gold Coast Suns at Manuka Oval. Aussie Rules players have a great range of skills. |
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| Celebrating Raden Dunbar's 77th birthday. Raden and Iis are special. |
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| Good crowd at the annual Indonesian Embassy fete. |
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| Celebrating Dejon/Tui's 15th birthday. Family photo: Tui, Angie (proud grandmother), Lani, Britt (proud mother), and Nouvie. Tui is turning into a fine young man. Sasha was a surprise visitor from Sydney. |
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| We attended a charity dinner for Nepal. Good way to end the month. |
News items which caught my eye during July 2023.
($ are US
dollars unless otherwise shown)
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Global
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Soccer: 2023 Women’s World Cup, hosted by Australia
and New Zealand, commenced 20 July, final on 20 August; 32 countries are
participating; 64 matches in many cities across Australia and NZ. AI: first human-Robot media conference held in
Geneva. Brazil: The Supreme Electoral Court found former
President Bolsonaro guilty of abuse of power and banned him from running for
8 years; he will appeal. The Netherlands: Dutch King William
Alexander apologized for Holland’s historical involvement in slavery
(abolished in 1863). Stolen treasures will be returned to Indonesia and Sri
Lanka. Mobile phones will be banned in Dutch classrooms. The coalition Govt resigned on differences
over immigration. Israel: strong military operation in Jenin. The
Knesset passed a law restricting the power of the Supreme Court, which triggered
widespread demonstrations. UK: hottest June since 1884 with average of
15.8C. UK joined the CPTPP Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans
Pacific Partnership which was established in 2018. Founding members:
Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, NZ, Peru, Singapore,
Vietnam. Trump pulled the USA out of early discussions. China has expressed
interest. American Brian Harman won the British Golf Open by 6 strokes (13
under); no 3 putts! NATO: conference in Vilnius, Lithuania. Turkey
agreed to support Swedish application to join NATO. Weather: intense heat in southern USA,
Italy; floods in India, China, Japan, South Korea, USA; wildfires
in Greece, Algeria, Canada (990 active fires have burnt 30M acres), California, etc. Wimbledon Tennis: Marketa
Vondrousova (Czech) beat Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) to win the Women’s; Carlos
Alcaraz (Spain) beat Novak Djokovic (1-6,7-6,6-1,3-6,6-4) to win the Men’s
Singles. France: Jane Birkin, English-French singer and
actress, died in Paris aged 76. After cleaning efforts, swimming will shortly be permitted in the
Seine, after being prohibited for a century. EU: Car registrations in the EU in June totaled
1.27M vehicles; sales of electric vehicles up 55%, diesel vehicles down 10%. India: banned the export of non-basmati white rice
to safeguard supplies. F1: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the Hungarian
Grand Prix, his 7th win, and then the Belgian GP. Cycling: Dane Jonas Vingegraade won the
Tour de France for second time. Swimming: 2023 World Acquatic Championships held in
Fukuoka, Japan, 14-30 July. Top 3 Countries: China 20 Gold, 7 Silver, 10 Bronze = 37 Total; Australia 15G, 7S, 3B = 25 Total; USA 4G, 18S, 15B = 37 Total.
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Russian invasion of Ukraine |
The USA agreed to supply cluster
bombs to Ukraine (neither is a signatory of the Anti-Cluster Munitions Treat
signed by 123 countries), as part of a $800M military aid package. A drone attack damaged the Kerch
Bridge, a key link between Russia and Crimea; also, a big ammunition dump at
Krasnohvardiske was targeted. Russia responded with missile attacks on Odesa
and other cities (Ukraine shot down 14 Cruise missiles and 23 drones). Russia did not renew the Black Sea
grain export arrangement which allowed Ukraine to export grain by sea. Russia took control of
subsidiaries of Danone (France) and Carlsberg (Denmark). |
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USA
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The FBI and Pentagon reported that the alleged Chinese Spy Balloon which was shot down in April did not
transmit data to China. Former Pres Trump: Trump was confirmed the strong favorite at “Republican Hopefuls” event in Iowa, despite facing two trials, with two more possible. After being knocked back by the Supreme Court last month, President Biden announced a new income-driven student loan repayment scheme (SAVE = Saving for a Valuable Education). Economy: Foreign trade in March: imports $254B (down 2.7%), exports $163B (down 0.6%) giving a goods trade deficit of $91B. Unemployment rate fell to 3.6%. Inflation rate in May and June 3%. Fed Reserve raised interest rates 0.25%. DJI rose for 13 consecutive days. Supermodel Naomi Campbell (53) had
a son. Joey Chestnut ate 62 hot dogs in
10 minutes to win the 4th of July contest; Miki Sudo ate 39 to win
the women’s contest. Meta (Mark Zuckerberg) launched “Threads”
to compete with Twitter; quickly gained 100M followers, but about half
subsequently left. Meta reported profit of $7.8B in Q2 2023. US customers spent $6.4B in 24
hours on Amazon Prime Day. Hollywood strike: Actors joined writers on picket
lines; key issues are: better wages, residuals, and concern over AI. Dementia: trials of two drugs appear to
slow down dementia: Donanemab by Eli Lilly and Lecanemab by Eisai &
Biogen. Tony Bennett, popular singer, died aged 96; 20
Grammy Awards. Pres Biden nominated Admiral
Lisa Franchetti to lead the US Navy; first female Head of Navy. Seven companies working on Artificial
Intelligence (AI) agreed on safeguard protocols to limit AI. New movies: Barbie took in
$155M on its opening weekend; Oppenheimer $94M. 400 mass shootings (at
least 4 dead, excluding the gunman) have occurred in the USA in the first 7
months. Elon Musk changed the Twitter
logo from Blue Bird to “X”. Tesla reported Q2 2023 revenue of $11.3B
in USA and $5.7B in China. UPS agreed terms of new contract with the
Teamsters Union, avoiding strike.
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Australia |
NACC: The new National Anti-Corruption Commission
began work. NSW-ICAC found that former
Premier Glady Berejiklian had engaged in corrupt conduct in 2016-18 on behalf
of boyfriend Daryl Maguire. Not charged. The critical report of the Royal
Commission into Robodebt found that the scheme was ‘neither fair nor
legal’. Kathryn Campbell, who headed up the Department of Human Services at
the time, resigned from the Public Service. The age to receive the Old Age
Pension was raised to 67 years. The mandatory Superannuation Levy
on salaries was increased to 11%. President of Indonesia, Jokowi,
made an official visit to Australia. The Govt approved the use of psychedelic
drugs (like MDMA) to treat depression. Cricket: Australia retained the Ashes in
England; controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow in the 2nd Test. Nationally house prices
rose 1.1% (after falling for some months due to higher interest rates). Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA):
new Governor Michelle Bullock will replace Philip Lowe in September; no
change in interest rates this month. Weather: Strong El Nino forecast for a
hot and dry summer (last time July 2019 – March 2020, “Black Summer”, fires
burnt 35M hectares around Aust). Ash Barty and Garry Kissick had a son,
Hayden. All States agreed to ban smart
phones and watches in public (govt) school classrooms from next January. The Premier of Victoria, Daniel
Andrews, announced that the State would not host the 2026
Commonwealth Games, blamed cost blow-out. The Voice: latest Newspoll
showed that support for the Voice has slipped to 41% (38% of females, 45% of
males); the referendum will be held in Q4. AUSMIN talks between senior Australian and Americans held in Brisbane (Penny Wong / Richard Marles and Antony Blinken /
Lloyd Austin).
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China |
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
visited Beijing. Govt imposed penalties totaling
$1B on financial companies for violations of consumer protection laws. China’s GDP rose an estimated 0.8%
in Q2 2023, giving a 12 month figure of 6.3%. Urban youth (16-24)
unemployment 21%. Evergrande, once China’s second
biggest property developer, announced losses of $81B in 2021 and 2022. Henry Kissinger visited Beijing; still
going strong at 100! Foreign Minister Qin Gang was
replaced by Wang Yi. Economist Dr Pan Gong Sheng (60) appointed Governor of
the People’s Bank of China (PBoC).
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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').
......
Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the
latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected and is
frequently humorous.
(Winston Churchill loved them).
1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's
still on my list.
3. Light travels faster than sound, some people appear
bright until you hear them speak.
4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.
5. War does not determine who is right – only who is
left.
6. Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a
fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
7. They begin the evening news with 'Good Evening,'
then proceed to tell you why it isn't.
8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism.
To steal from many is research.
9. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out, I
just wanted pay cheques.
10. In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency,
notify: I put "DOCTOR."
11. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
12. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the
street...with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
13. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a
successful man is usually another woman.
14. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
15. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute
to skydive twice.
16. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
17. There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they
can't get away.
18. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.
19. You're never too old to learn something stupid.
20. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit
the target.
21. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
22. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
23. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a
garage makes you a car.
24. I'm supposed to respect my elders, but now it's getting harder and
harder for me to find one.
......
That's it for this post.
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Monday 31 July 2023
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