Gentlefolk,
This post describes our main activities during the month of July 2025 (from 1 - 24 July).
The contents of this post are in the following sequence:
Photos of our activities during the period 1 - 24 July 2025.
News items which caught my eye in July 2025.
A brief summary by MSNBC of some key actions by President Trump during the first 3 weeks of July 2025.
Highlights of 1 - 24 July 2025
A number of friends & family events: Laura's birthday celebration (I call her my niece, but she is Oda's granddaughter), catching up with Will Costin, Jen's visit, Julius' birthday, Barbara's visit, wishing Nate all the best for his move to the USA. And, of course, Vera's big raffle win at the Sip, Soup, and Sing night.
This blog post is short because we are travelling 24 July to 24 August: first to Sydney to say goodbye to Caz & Andrew & kids (they will move to London in 2 weeks), then on to Indonesia for the biennial family reunion. The next post will be long.....
Herewith photos of some of our activities 1 - 24 July 2025:
Laura, Oda's granddaughter, is doing an online HR Management course while working at a restaurant in Noosa. It was her birthday on 4 July. Her brother, Lucas, and his partner Ella flew in from Perth. We took them all to lunch at the Boathouse Restaurant in Noosaville (about 1 hour drive from Caloundra).
Birthday girl, Laura. She is so sweet. She loves Australia.
We caught up with old friend Will Costin who moved from the ADB Vietnam to Noosaville in 2011. We met in Jakarta back in 1972 and have kept in touch.
End of term lunch for the U3A Travel Chats group. Front right is Adam Brunner, who was born in Bavaria - his family moved to Australia when he was eleven. He had a good career as an engineer, including two spells in Indonesia (in Jakarta and Surabaya). The lunch was at the Dicky Beach Surf Club.
The view from Dicky Beach south towards Moffat Beach.
We watched the third Rugby League State of Origin game in the Clubhouse on 9 July. The NSW Blues won the first game in Brisbane, then the Qld Maroons won the second game in Melbourne, so this was the decider. NSW were the favourites, but Qld blitzed them winning 24 - 12.
Most of the Village residents are Queenslanders, so there were many happy souls that night. We are from "south of the border" so support NSW, but I must admit that Qld were by far the better team on the night.
It was school holidays, so Jen visited us for a night on 10 July (she works at a Catholic Girls School in Ashgrove). Always great to see our lovely daughter!
The Social committee put on a "Sip, Soup, and Sing" event at the Clubhouse. A dozen residents volunteered to make a variety of soups - all delicious. Songs and dancing followed. The enty fee of $5 went towards a reverse raffle (totalled $450).
The 'reverse raffle' was interesting: house numbers were drawn from a barrell and eliminated until there were only 3 left - Vera (#133) was one of the final three. They all agreed to share the prize of $450 - you can see how excited Vera was to get her share of $150!!!!
We have become friendly with a lovely Indonesian couple, Henny and Julius Sutjiadi, and were delighted to clebrate Julius' 60th birthday at their home. Their daughter Fina came - she works for a firm of solicitors in Brisbane.
Cec Ward organised a lunch at the G'Day Thai Restaurant at Mt Coolum, where Margaret and Cec lived for 20 years before moving into our Village. 35 residents came along.
On 14 July we attended the Indonesian Christian Group's (Eukameni) service in Maroochydore. Unfortunately we couldn't stay for lunch afterwards, as Vera wanted to get back for a Ukulele session. We are hoping that the Ukulele group will last this time.
Most of the Village residents are Queenslanders, so there were many happy souls that night. We are from "south of the border" so support NSW, but I must admit that Qld were by far the better team on the night.
On 14 July we attended the Indonesian Christian Group's (Eukameni) service in Maroochydore. Unfortunately we couldn't stay for lunch afterwards, as Vera wanted to get back for a Ukulele session. We are hoping that the Ukulele group will last this time.
Tom's mother, Barbara Roberts, visited them in Brisbane and came up for an overnight stay with us, with her dog Clover. It was a lovely afternoon, so we did the walk from Bulcock Beach to Kings Beach. Later took her to Bingo (every Thursday night) and then to a Japanese restaurant in Baringa.
We enjoyed your visit, Barb, even if too short!
We enjoyed your visit, Barb, even if too short!
Dinner at the new Spice Hut Indian Restaurant in Baringa, with Ruth and Tim Buick. They spent time in Indonesia.
We went to Brisbane to say goodbye to Nate, who is leaving soon to take up a rugby scholarship at Arkansas State University. Kurt is on holidays in Bali, but the rest of the family went to the Italian restaurant - delicious food!
With Nate the next morning. He is a good lad, and a very good rugby player. What an adventure, to go to college in the USA.
 |
| We went to Brisbane to say goodbye to Nate, who is leaving soon to take up a rugby scholarship at Arkansas State University. Kurt is on holidays in Bali, but the rest of the family went to the Italian restaurant - delicious food! |
This film was part of the German Film Festival at Caloundra Cinema - it was excellent!
......
News items which caught my eye in the period 1 –
24 July 2025.
($ are US dollars unless otherwise shown)
Global
Canada: cancelled plans
to introduce a 3% tax on the earnings (above $20M) of digital companies in
Canada (eg Google, META, etc). Trump said it was anti-American and threatened
higher tariffs.
China: AI driven
humanoid robots played a soccer tournament in Beijing. Work started on the
mega-dam in Tibet ($167B).
UK: the “Sovereign
Grant” to support the Royals is $119M pa; in exchange the monarch hands over
profits from Crown Estates.
France: the Siene River
in Paris was opened for swimming, first time since 1923.
Buddhism: the Dalai Lama
celebrated his 90th birthday.
F1 motor racing: British Grand
Prixwas won by Lando Norris, then Oscar Piastri and Nico Hulkenberg.
Tennis Wimbledon: Iga Swiatek
(Poland) beat Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 to win the Women’s Singles. Jannick
Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to win the Men’s Singles. Novak
Djokovic was going for his 25th Grand Slam, but lost in the
semi-finals.
Golf: World #1
Scottie Scheffler won the British Open played at Royal Portrush course in
Northern Ireland.
Taiwan: Taiwan
Semi-conductor Manufacturing (TSM) profit increased by 61% last quarter.
UNESCO: Trump announced
USA’s withdrawal next year.
Thailand/Cambodia: At least 12 killed in border clashes.
China/EU: economic summit in Beijing. EU wants to reduce its $360B pa trade deficit, and upset at Chinese support of Russia.
Israel –
Hamas & Hezbollah & Iran
I’m going to stop
this section, as Israel’s attacks on Gaza continue unabated. Over 59,000 have
now died in Gaza, mainly women and children and the killing continues. It’s
just so depressing.
The IDF bombed
Damascus in support of the Druze minority.
On 22 July 27
countries (including Australia) condemned the continued killing of civilians
in Gaza, and the Israeli restrictions on entry of humanitarian aid (the UN said people are dying of starvation).
On 24 July Pres Macron said that France would soon recognise a Palestinian State - Israel angry.
Russian
invasion of Ukraine
Same with this
section – this conflict is just crazy!
Trump seems
disillusioned with Putin: he will impose stronger sanctions on Russia if a
ceasefire isn’t agreed within 50 days.
In a reversal of
policy, the USA will sell Patriot missile systems to NATO countries for
delivery to Ukraine.
USA
Trump’s Big
Beautiful Bill passed the Senate by one vote (JD Vance’s casting vote), was
sent back to the House, which also passed it (218 to 214). Trump signed the
Bill into law on 4 July (250th Independence Day). It adds +$150B
for border security, +$150B for military, -$1T Medicaid, tax cuts of $4.5T
over 10 years, and is estimated to add $3+T to America’s debt over 10 years. A
CNN poll showed that 61% of Americans oppose Trump’s BBBill.
Doctors said
swelling in Trump’s legs and hands could indicate veins disease.
Trump wants the
Washington Commanders (NFL team) to revert to its previous name: the
Washington Redskins.
Trump announced
that Federal funding of public broadcasters (PBS and NPR) will be terminated.
Elon Musk founded
a new political party, the America Party.
Six countries (China,
UK, Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines, and Japan) had reached trade deals
with the USA by 24 July.
To put pressure
on countries, in early July Trump had sent letters to countries advising what
tariff rates would apply to imports from them, commencing 1 August, if no
deal was negotiated beforehand.
The US –
Indonesia “deal” seems lopsided: Imports from Indonesia into the USA will
attract a tariff of 19%, while American imports into Indonesia will attract
zero tariffs. Indonesia also pledged to buy $10B pa energy products from the
US, $5B of agricultural products, and buy more than 50 Boeing aircraft (in
2024 US imports from Indonesia totalled $28B, and US exports to Indonesia
totalled $10B).
Under the trade
deal with Japan, imports from Japan will pay a 15% tariff. Japan will open
its market to US products and also promised to invest $550B in the USA.
The USA’s
effective tariff rate has increased from 2.5% to 17%, and rising.
Trump threatened
to impose extra tariffs on BRICS member countries as he said they were an anti-American
grouping.
The USA placed
sanctions on UN expert Francesca Albanese for criticizing Israel’s campaign
in Gaza.
The US State
Department started to reduce staff by a total of 10% (1,870 personnel).
Trump sued the
Wall Street Journal for publishing an article suggesting he was close to
Michael Epstein.
Jeff Bezos
married Lauren Sanchez at a lavish wedding in Venice.
LeBon James (40)
took up an option to stay with the LA Lakers for another year, for $52M. This
will be his 23rd NBA season. Last season he played 70 regular
games, averaging 24.4ppg, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists.
Apple’s new film “F1”
took $56M in its first weekend.
Heavy rain caused
flooding in Texas (the Guadalope River rose 10 metres in 3 hours) resulted in
150+ deaths with many still missing.
Nividia became
the first company with a valuation over $4T.
The original
Birkin Hermes handbag sold at auction for $10M.
Larry Ellison
(Oracle) passed Mark Zuckerberg to become America’s second richest man (Elon
Musk is #1).
JP Morgan announced
profit of $30B in the last half-year.
Australia
The 48th
Parliament opened in Canberra on 22 July, about 2 months after the election
in May. The ALP has 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.
Latest Newspoll
has ALP at 57% and Coalition at $43% on a 2-Party preferred basis. Greens
12%, One Nation 8%, Independents 15%.
PM Albanese made
an official 6 day visit to China, accompanied by a business delegation.
Aust Govt announced some of the sanitary import restrictions on imports of beef from the USA will be removed - win for Trump who said they were unfair?
Erin Patterson
was found guilty of 3 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder,
feeding poisoned mushrooms to relatives on 29 July 2023.
Julian McMahon,
actor and son of Billy & Sonia, died aged 56.
Queensland won
the third State of Origin Rugby League game against NSW 24-12, to win the
2025 series.
German
backpacker, Carolina Wilga, was found alive after being lost in the WA
Outback for 11 days.
Some of Pres Trump’s actions in the week ending 9 July 2025:
MSNBC
Signed the megabill that enacted most of his domestic
political agenda at a Fourth of July ceremony.
Said that Democrats didn’t vote for the bill because “they
hate Trump” and added “I hate them too” because “they hate our country.”
Announced new tariffs on Japan, South Korea, Malaysia,
Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos and Myanmar.
Claimed without evidence that New York mayoral candidate
Zohran Mamdani is an illegal immigrant and threatened to arrest him if he
blocks immigration officers.
Described bankers as “shylocks” in a speech, then said he
was not aware of the anti-Semitic connotations of the word.
Some of Trump’s
key actions in week ending 15 July 2025
MSNBC
Threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with sanctions —
for the fifth time — if he doesn’t reach a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Threatened to take away comedian Rosie O’Donnell’s U.S.
citizenship, a power that he does not have under the U.S. Constitution.
Claimed that nobody cares about the late Jeffrey Epstein,
the late financier and alleged sex trafficker, after years of pledging to
release government records on him.
Announced a 35% tariff on Canada and 30% tariffs on Mexico
and the European Union starting Aug. 1, an escalation from previous tariffs.
Named right-wing influencer Nick Adams, best known for his
“alpha male” X persona, to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia.
Some of Trump’s
key actions in week ending 23 July 2025
MSNBC
Got the first judicial confirmation of his second term:
Whitney Hermandorfer, one of the youngest people nominated to serve on a
federal appeals court in the 21st century.
Posted an AI-generated video on social media that showed
Barack Obama being detained in the Oval Office.
Said he was surprised that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome
Powell had been appointed, even though he was the one who appointed him.
Announced he would sue The Wall Street Journal over an
article about his links to Jeffrey Epstein that he didn’t like.
Claimed that his uncle taught Ted Kaczynski at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which the “Unabomber” did not attend.
......
Global
Canada: cancelled plans
to introduce a 3% tax on the earnings (above $20M) of digital companies in
Canada (eg Google, META, etc). Trump said it was anti-American and threatened
higher tariffs.
China: AI driven
humanoid robots played a soccer tournament in Beijing. Work started on the
mega-dam in Tibet ($167B).
UK: the “Sovereign
Grant” to support the Royals is $119M pa; in exchange the monarch hands over
profits from Crown Estates.
France: the Siene River
in Paris was opened for swimming, first time since 1923.
Buddhism: the Dalai Lama
celebrated his 90th birthday.
F1 motor racing: British Grand
Prixwas won by Lando Norris, then Oscar Piastri and Nico Hulkenberg.
Tennis Wimbledon: Iga Swiatek
(Poland) beat Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 to win the Women’s Singles. Jannick
Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to win the Men’s Singles. Novak
Djokovic was going for his 25th Grand Slam, but lost in the
semi-finals.
Golf: World #1
Scottie Scheffler won the British Open played at Royal Portrush course in
Northern Ireland.
Taiwan: Taiwan
Semi-conductor Manufacturing (TSM) profit increased by 61% last quarter.
UNESCO: Trump announced
USA’s withdrawal next year.
Thailand/Cambodia: At least 12 killed in border clashes.
China/EU: economic summit in Beijing. EU wants to reduce its $360B pa trade deficit, and upset at Chinese support of Russia.
Israel –
Hamas & Hezbollah & Iran
I’m going to stop
this section, as Israel’s attacks on Gaza continue unabated. Over 59,000 have
now died in Gaza, mainly women and children and the killing continues. It’s
just so depressing.
The IDF bombed
Damascus in support of the Druze minority.
On 22 July 27
countries (including Australia) condemned the continued killing of civilians
in Gaza, and the Israeli restrictions on entry of humanitarian aid (the UN said people are dying of starvation).
On 24 July Pres Macron said that France would soon recognise a Palestinian State - Israel angry.
Russian
invasion of Ukraine
Same with this
section – this conflict is just crazy!
Trump seems
disillusioned with Putin: he will impose stronger sanctions on Russia if a
ceasefire isn’t agreed within 50 days.
In a reversal of
policy, the USA will sell Patriot missile systems to NATO countries for
delivery to Ukraine.
USA
Trump’s Big
Beautiful Bill passed the Senate by one vote (JD Vance’s casting vote), was
sent back to the House, which also passed it (218 to 214). Trump signed the
Bill into law on 4 July (250th Independence Day). It adds +$150B
for border security, +$150B for military, -$1T Medicaid, tax cuts of $4.5T
over 10 years, and is estimated to add $3+T to America’s debt over 10 years. A
CNN poll showed that 61% of Americans oppose Trump’s BBBill.
Doctors said
swelling in Trump’s legs and hands could indicate veins disease.
Trump wants the
Washington Commanders (NFL team) to revert to its previous name: the
Washington Redskins.
Trump announced
that Federal funding of public broadcasters (PBS and NPR) will be terminated.
Elon Musk founded
a new political party, the America Party.
Six countries (China,
UK, Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines, and Japan) had reached trade deals
with the USA by 24 July.
To put pressure
on countries, in early July Trump had sent letters to countries advising what
tariff rates would apply to imports from them, commencing 1 August, if no
deal was negotiated beforehand.
The US –
Indonesia “deal” seems lopsided: Imports from Indonesia into the USA will
attract a tariff of 19%, while American imports into Indonesia will attract
zero tariffs. Indonesia also pledged to buy $10B pa energy products from the
US, $5B of agricultural products, and buy more than 50 Boeing aircraft (in
2024 US imports from Indonesia totalled $28B, and US exports to Indonesia
totalled $10B).
Under the trade
deal with Japan, imports from Japan will pay a 15% tariff. Japan will open
its market to US products and also promised to invest $550B in the USA.
The USA’s
effective tariff rate has increased from 2.5% to 17%, and rising.
Trump threatened
to impose extra tariffs on BRICS member countries as he said they were an anti-American
grouping.
The USA placed
sanctions on UN expert Francesca Albanese for criticizing Israel’s campaign
in Gaza.
The US State
Department started to reduce staff by a total of 10% (1,870 personnel).
Trump sued the
Wall Street Journal for publishing an article suggesting he was close to
Michael Epstein.
Jeff Bezos
married Lauren Sanchez at a lavish wedding in Venice.
LeBon James (40)
took up an option to stay with the LA Lakers for another year, for $52M. This
will be his 23rd NBA season. Last season he played 70 regular
games, averaging 24.4ppg, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists.
Apple’s new film “F1”
took $56M in its first weekend.
Heavy rain caused
flooding in Texas (the Guadalope River rose 10 metres in 3 hours) resulted in
150+ deaths with many still missing.
Nividia became
the first company with a valuation over $4T.
The original
Birkin Hermes handbag sold at auction for $10M.
Larry Ellison
(Oracle) passed Mark Zuckerberg to become America’s second richest man (Elon
Musk is #1).
JP Morgan announced
profit of $30B in the last half-year.
Australia
The 48th
Parliament opened in Canberra on 22 July, about 2 months after the election
in May. The ALP has 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.
Latest Newspoll
has ALP at 57% and Coalition at $43% on a 2-Party preferred basis. Greens
12%, One Nation 8%, Independents 15%.
PM Albanese made
an official 6 day visit to China, accompanied by a business delegation.
Aust Govt announced some of the sanitary import restrictions on imports of beef from the USA will be removed - win for Trump who said they were unfair?
Erin Patterson
was found guilty of 3 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder,
feeding poisoned mushrooms to relatives on 29 July 2023.
Julian McMahon,
actor and son of Billy & Sonia, died aged 56.
Queensland won
the third State of Origin Rugby League game against NSW 24-12, to win the
2025 series.
German
backpacker, Carolina Wilga, was found alive after being lost in the WA
Outback for 11 days.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
My 30 year career as an Australian Trade Commissioner gave me an interest in matters related to international trade. I subscribed to Bloomberg's excellent daily newsletter "Supply Lines", but on 10 May 2025 this publication became "pay only", so I no longer had access. But Bloomberg has other, shorter, daily bulletins. The following graphs are from those sources.
......
That's it for this post.
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera & Alex OlahSydney, Australia25 July 2025
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