Gentlefolk,
This post describes some of our activities during the month of May 2021.
The contents of this post are in the following sequence:
Photos of our activities during May 2021 (including Movies and Books).
Some noteworthy events in May 2021.
"Australia Talks" 2021 Survey.
International trade.
Covid-19 pandemic.
First, photos related to some of our activities during May 2021.
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| May is Autumn/Fall in Canberra - many beautiful autumn colours around the city. This photo was taken on Printer's Way looking at our block (our apartment is on the 3rd floor). The weather was great for the first two weeks, and then Old Man Winter arrived! |
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| We went to Mamma Mia at the Q Theatre in Queanbeyan with friends Sue and Frank Tavares. |
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| A view of the impressive Q Theatre; all seats have excellent views. |
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| We attended a recital of the Canberra International Music Festival, held in Fitter's Workshop just near the Glass Works (only a couple of hundred metres from home). |
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| A new ceiling has improved the acoustics of the Fitters Workshop. It was a wonderful concert titled "Waltz to Tango" featuring violins, viola, bass, cello, drums, piano, and interestingly a piano accordion. |
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| My rugby buddies came to watch the Grand Final between our beloved ACT Brumbies and the Qld Reds, played in Brisbane. From left: Andrew Moorhead, Paul Nicoll, me, and Peter Rayner. The Reds scored after the final hooter to snatch victory. |
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| Raden Dunbar congratulating his wife, Iis, on her birthday, while daughter Alexandra looks on. Always a fun party at their place. |
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| Blues singer "Moondog" was excellent. |
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| A rock band performing at Smith's Alternative Cafe. |
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| Yours truly! |
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| Birthday party for Britt's 8 year old daughter Nouvie. |
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| Three siblings at Nouvie's party: Ange, me, and Aniko (giraffe getting very friendly with Ange!). |
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| I attended a 10 week U3A course on the American Civil War run by Greg Bowen. I took this photo after the final lecture. It was a pleasure being with such an expert - Greg prepared excellent lectures and notes. All wars are awful, but Civil Wars are especially so: father fighting son, brother fighting brother, etc. The course helped us understand the North - South divide in America which continues to this day. Thanks for a most fascinating course, Greg! |
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| A very interesting discussion hosted by the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) of the reasons Britain and Australia joined the USA in attacking Iraq in 2003. In both countries the Prime Minister (and Cabinet) made the decision to go to war. Shouldn't such a major event deserve a debate and vote of the whole Parliament??? It is unlikely a Parliamentary debate would have changed the decision (the accusation that Sadam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction was persuasive, although later shown to be false) but at least the public would have been made more aware of the issues. |
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| Heath McMichael, President of the ACT Branch of AIIA introduced the speakers Dr Judith Betts and Prof Mark Phythian and the moderator Allan Gyngell. |
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| Visit to Canberra of Maureen and Les Torok from Sydney. My parents were great friends of Les's parents (all now passed away). It was good to re-connect after many years and to reminisce on family and friends. |
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| We attended a charity dinner for the Nusa Tenggara Association which supports development work in the poor areas of Eastern Indonesia. |
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| Our son Andrew came up for a class reunion (Canberra Grammar School) and Caz, Eddie and Jay-Jay came too. It was good to see them again. |
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| Morning coffee on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, from left: Caz, Eddie, JJ, Vera, & me. |
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| We attended the launch of Bill Birtles' book at the ANU. |
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| Bill Birtles was interviewed by Prof Hugh White about his new book. He was the Beijing Correspondent for the ABC for 5 years. In mid-2020, on the advice of the Australian Embassy, Bill left in controversial circumstances. His rushed departure gave him celebrity status in Australia. I look forward to reading his book which will provide insight into contemporary China, although I thought his comments in this interview were quite superficial. Bill Birtles, 39, went to school in Canberra then University in Sydney. Later he learnt Chinese and worked for Xin Hua in Beijing, before joining the ABC and finally becoming their China hand. His wife is Chinese; they had a son in March 2021. |
Books
I read two books this month: Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe and Watching the Dragon by Jill and Charles Hadfield.
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| Pascoe became an icon of Indigenous culture when this book was published in 2014 (with an updated edition in 2018), although his claims of aboriginality have been disputed. He was born in Victoria in 1947, became a school teacher and later an author and farmer. In September 2020 he was appointed Enterprise Professor of Indigenous Agriculture at the University of Melbourne. |
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| Bruce Pascoe makes a case that the common image of Aboriginals as just nomadic hunter-gatherers is too simplistic (see above summary from the book). Pascoe contends that writings of early explorers during the first 50 years or so (roughly 1788 to 1840) suggest that Aboriginal life was more settled and organised. Unfortunately there is little physical evidence to confirm his hypothesis. Where are remnants of 'houses'? Or villages? Or clothing or footware? Why didn't they invent the wheel to facilitate moving their things? Or a written language? Or more complex dancing/music/painting/cooking? Pascoe has an engaging writing style and the book is well worth reading, but I think the jury is still out on how 'advanced' our indigenous culture was. |
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From mid-1983 to mid-1985 Charles and Jill Hadfield were in Wuhan, China, with 8 other teachers, under a program funded by the World Bank. They taught English to post-graduate science majors who were going to study abroad. This book is based on “Letters” they sent to family and friends about their experiences while in China. The book took me back to our first time in China, at the Australian Embassy Beijing from Dec 1983 – Dec 1986. Our life in Beijing was very different to theirs in Wuhan, but I could still relate to many of their experiences. Similarly, there were some parallels when taught English in Shandong in 2009 – 2016. |
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Jill and Charles worked as teachers and trainers of TESOL
(Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) in China, Madagascar, and
France, with shorter stints in several African and European countries. They authored more than a dozen books about different aspects of teaching English – wish I had heard of them
when we were teaching in Qingdao (2009 – 16)!!! |
Movies
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| This documentary traced the history of Manchester United Football Club. |
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| A film evening hosted by the Australia China Friendship Society featured two fascinating, and very different, documentaries. I highly recommend both films should you get the chance to see them. |
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We saw this newly-released film a couple of nights ago. It is a Canadian-Irish
coproduced production, directed by Matt Bissonnette. The film stars Gabriel Byrne as a college literature
professor in Montreal who must confront his mortality and make peace with his
family following diagnosis with an
incurable brain tumour. Vera thought it was 'slow', but I liked it (3.5 stars). |
A few notable events in May 2021.
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USA |
Bill
and Melinda Gates announced their intention to divorce; they have been
married for 27 years, 3 adult children. Elon
Musk made a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL); he claimed to be
the first person with Aspergers Disease to host a segment. The
Colonial Pipeline Company, which transports 45% of fuel on the US East Coast,
was closed down by a ransomware cyber-attack by Dark Side; Colonial paid $4.4
million. President
Biden ordered his Intelligence Agencies to re-assess the origins of the Covid
pandemic in China (the WHO Expert Mission in February concluded that it ‘most
likely’ originated from animals, and that the source may never be
identified). President Biden has proposed a Budget of $6 trillion (including $2.3T for jobs and $1.8T for families), and tax increases on companies and the wealthiest. But Republicans have labeled it "insanely expensive" so approval by Congress is in doubt (Trump's last Budget totaled $4.8T).
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Australia |
Rugby
League star Jarryd Hayne was found guilty of sexual assault and sentenced to minimum
3 years jail (now in Cooma). He will appeal. Trans-Tasman
Super Rugby competition started; Kiwi teams dominated, in the first 3 weeks of
competition only one Aussie team, The Reds, won. After
3 weeks suspension, flights between Australia and India re-commenced. Victoria
went into a 7 day lock-down as 30 cases of Covid found. Australian
Govt announced that it will fund a new $600 million gas-fired power station
in the Hunter Region. The
Australian Embassy in Kabul will close on 28 May.
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UK |
Liverpool
goalkeeper Brazilian Alisson Becker scored a goal in his team’s 2-1 win over
West Brom. It was the first goal scored by a goalkeeper in Liverpool’s 130
year history. Chelsea
beat Manchester City to win the Champions League. SNL
re-elected in Scotland; First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that they will
hold another referendum on independence from UK.
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Israel |
Palestinian/Hamas uprising crushed by Israel; almost 300 dead (96% Palestinians) many women and children, and many thousands injured and homeless. Cease-fire agreed after 12 days of fighting.
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China |
Zhurong
Rover landed on Mars (320 million miles from Earth).
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Spain |
Migrants
flooded into Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla; most were forcibly sent
back to Morocco.
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Belarus |
Belarus forced
a Ryan Air flight to land (alleged a bomb on board) and arrested a dissident
journalist. The World (except Russia) condemned the action and called it an
act of piracy.
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“Australia
Talks” survey by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
In March 2021 the ABC’s Australia Talks National
Survey questioned a sample of 60,000
Australians.
See results at www.Australiatalks.abc.net.au/results
accessed 28 May 2021. The following list of Questions/Statements is only a selection of what is covered in the Survey.
I have included the figures for the first Survey in
2019 where they were shown.
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Question / Statement |
2019 Survey |
2021 Survey
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M = Men, W =
Women
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We change our bed sheets at least once a month
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M74%, W81% |
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We know our neighbours’ names |
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Metro 58% Rural 72% |
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We are trying to lose weight
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60% |
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We like our boss
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74% |
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We have sex at least once a month
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45% |
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We believe in a Higher Power
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M38%, W51% |
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We are likely to donate our organs when we die
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81% |
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We believe that women and men are NOT treated equally in Australia
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M52%, W81% |
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We would rather spend time with people than pets
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51% |
49% (M53%, W46%) |
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Our physical health and fitness have NOT been affected by the Covid pandemic
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56% |
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Our mental health has NOT been affected by the Covid pandemic
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77% |
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We frequently feel anxious
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25% |
29% |
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We do NOT have money problems
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M63%, W47% |
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We are confident of a comfortable retirement
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M59%, W46% |
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We believe that the
gap between rich and poor Australians is too big
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80% |
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We believe that allegations
of sexual abuse are almost always true
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41% |
55% |
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We believe that Australia
is the best country in the world to live in
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70% |
80% |
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We believe that in
Australia, if you work hard you can be successful, regardless of your birth
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69% |
57% |
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We believe lying
politicians should resign
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94% |
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We believe that Australia
needs a federal corruption watchdog
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89% |
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An
Indigenous Voice to Parliament should be in the Australian Constitution
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77% |
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We think Australia
Day should be changed from 26 January, because Indigenous Australians see
that as Invasion Day
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43% |
55% |
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We think misinformation
is a problem
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94% |
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We think it
is becoming harder to know which sources of information to trust
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79% |
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We think Australia
is doing poorly in addressing climate change
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68% |
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We do NOT trust the USA to act responsibly
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63% |
53% |
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We do NOT trust China to act responsibly
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85% |
91% |
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Smacking
a child is an acceptable form of discipline
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47% |
41% |
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We do NOT believe in extraterrestrial life
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50% |
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We think people
with disabilities should be given the same opportunities as everyone else
|
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M75%, W88% |
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We think Australia
does NOT respect and take good care of its elderly citizens
|
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M55%, W75% |
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We think technology
is NOT good for interpersonal relationships
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54% |
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We believe safety
is more important than personal freedoms
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54% |
70% |
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We are mostly happy
|
|
79% |
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We think it
will be at least 12 months before things are back to normal
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|
80% |
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We are optimistic about our own future
|
78% |
80% |
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We are optimistic about Australia’s future
|
51% |
60% |
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We are optimistic about the world’s future
|
30% |
32% |
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').
