CHAMPAGNE BEACH VANUATU

VISITED JAN 2019

Most people's idea of a tropical beach - sweet



LOCATION

CHAMPAGNE BEACH is located in northern VANUATU. At 15 degrees south it is well within the tropics - actually closer to the Equator than CAIRNS on the Australian mainland. So unlike NEW CALEDONIA this place would be a good mid-winter beach visit. NC tends to be a bit cool, unless you find a sheltered location. 
You will find details clearer if you can click-expand image.
(all satellite images modified from GOOGLE EARTH)

CHAMPAGNE BEACH is about 2/3 up the east coast of ESPIRITU SANTO, which is the northern-most big island of VANUATU.
The beach is 54 km north by road (46 km in a direct line) from the island's biggest town LUGANVILLE, another popular call-in for cruise boats. That town is located in the narrow channel between the south-eastern island and the mainland above-left of the "100M" place marker.  

This is a great location for cruise liners because the bay off the beach gives good shelter from the south east trades which blow in this area more often than not.
Note nearby LANNOC BCH - only 0.7m away by foot. I didn't visit because "NOORDAM's" tourist map had a dodgy scale and was unclear in areas. Maybe next visit.
I haven't indicated the village of HOG HARBOUR which is just above the "L" of LANNOC - very low profile: I did't notice it from the ship moored mid-bay as shown.

The beach itself is compact - abt 350m long. The cleared area in back has sheltered market stalls, food outlets and a toilet block. Note the pier close to the beach left side - access to the beach very easy: I even saw from a distance my friend Barbara bring her wheelchair-bound mum Gertie ashore - now I don't say all wheelchair people could do this but Barbara is an old hand at accessing unlikely places with mum and wheelchair.

South part of beach from the ship - north part hidden by small headland. Note smooth ocean. Those protective  headlands do a great job.



THE BEACH

OL' JIMMY WOULD LOVE THIS PLACE
JAMES A MICHENER wrote his "TAILS OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC" when stationed at nearby LUGANVILLE. He maybe had this place in mind when writing his beach descriptions because for sure it is a model for the perfect tropical beach. About 350m long with blinding white sand, plenty wide enough even at full tide, crystal clear water which doesn't shelve too quickly (and LADY TEZZA who likes such things reported plenty of fish - I swam around with no goggles or face mask so things were kinda blurred), no lack of tree canopy shade in back of beach.

Arrivals pier. Plenty of non-pushy locals standing around offering tours so you don't have to take the ships' more expensive excursions. However to me a few hours on this gorgeous beach is a fine way to spend the time.

From the north end. Beach is surrounded by forested headlands and hills on 3 sides which adds to the tropical paradise thing.

From the south end. Note lack of waves - the orientation of the bay combined with typical local winds means this place would rarely get onshore winds and swell from the north and north-east. This is in the latitudes when the SE TRADES blow more often than not.
South end attracted more people as the day went on - has more shade and some coral rocks near the southern headland keeping snorkelers busy.
Outrigger rides were available for a reasonable sum.

No shortage of shade.

South-end fin-flappers. I also noticed a brace of snorkels near a buoy about 80m off mid beach - check underwater rocks on 5th GOOGLE EARTH image from top of this page.
Okay, some of you dudes are wondering why I don't give a SNORKELLING REPORT. Here's the thing - I've seen the best coral in the world before global warming and over-tourism kicked in, so everything I check these days is pretty ordinary (to me). And it might sound conceited but from experience I just KNOW the above locations would not be world class. But for people who have not snorkelled coral and associated fish etc the above would probably be pretty good. Me? At 73 years old I just can't be bothered.

IN BACK OF THE BEACH

Behind the beach is a cleared area with maybe 30 roofed market stalls offering the usual touristy clothing, trinkets, tours, food and drink, massages and hair braiding. There is also a toilet block 2nd row north end.

PROBLEMS
I heard a few people back on the ship complaining of SAND FLIES. Now those little devils love me but I had no bites (it's rare to actuallly NOTICE sand flies). But I did see a few of what we Aussies call BUSH FLIES - these are big bitey flies, the good news being they are a bit slow to avoid the slapping hand. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if some visitors equated bush flies on the beach as sand flies.
BLUEBOTTLES (the Pacific's smaller Portuguese Man of Wars)? Um, I think this beach's orientation and usual winds is all wrong for frequent visits.

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ATTENTION - IF YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR SEE MISTAKES, PLEASE POST BELOW. BUT IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS PLEASE POST THEM IN THE FORUM ACCESSED VIA THE INDEX WHICH I CHECK FAR MORE FREQUENTLY THAN INDIVIDUAL DESTINATION PAGES LIKE THIS.

THE RANT

THE RANT (or is it THE GIGGLE??)

LAST INPUT (not immediately below, but way down at bottom of page) - NOV 18 2022

 As I’ve got older I look at world/local issues and trends and form an opinion more often. Now I”m the last to believe others may be interested in what I think – but this is my blog, others don’t have to read it (few will)…..SO WHAT THE HELL.

Perhaps right now it’s time to present my credentials so you know where I'm coming from. I’m a retired economics teacher. Well that was my main job, but in my time I’ve been paid to do all sorts of other stuff – steel worker, rock band roadie, calm consultant, travel writer, swim coach, yard man. And the economics teacher thing? Well in that career the shortage of teachers in the NSW system meant I’ve taught virtually everything else – Geography, Accounting, Business Studies, History, Social Science. PE, Maths, English, Slow Learners, Science, Health, Personal Development, Night School: I’ve even been a SEWING TEACHER and I don’t know much about sewing. Plus a COOKING TEACHER. In the NSW system, as long as they could put a teacher in front of a class, they didn't care too much about qualifications. Led to some great improvisation.

To some of you, educational training is important. Okay, I’m an economics graduate of SYDNEY UNIVERSITY, back in the day when only 0.5% of all school starters graduated with a degree. University was hard to get into in those days, even harder to graduate from. So I think my degree has a bit more value than these days of universal “college” education and DUMBED DOWN courses (more later).

My post-degree education is not particularly flash – a DIPLOMA OF EDUCATION which all we indentured teachers had to get back in the day.
So that’s my training and work experience. 

But here's the thing - no amount of education beats LIFE TIME EXPERIENCE. And at 74 I reckon I've had plenty of that.

My political leaning is to the liberal left - I guess you could say I'm center-left. I believe in private enterprise and the market economy - trouble is that system FAILS in certain areas and so the government needs to step in. But I'm not a rusted on left winger. If the central-left government is a bad one, I vote for the conservative opposition. I also reckon HARD left ideas are for ratbags - communism and hard core socialism are dumb and proven failures.

My overall philosophy - I believe in the good nature of society. True, there's a whole lot of crap and badness out there, but the fact that in most places we have a system of rules and laws to counteract the badness proves my point. I don't know what you call people like me who believe good will win in the end - but whatever that is, I'm in.

Thing is I reckon I am broad-minded enough and have enough theoretical background and practical life-time experience to have an opinion on what is happening. Or at least to have INFORMED RANT. And there are lots of international and local issues I wouldn’t mind ranting about.
.....like....

 -JAN 9 2019     GOOD OL’ TRUMP (speaking about ranters.....)

IMAGE - THE ATLANTIC

Everyone including the pet shop parrot is squawking about OL’ ORANGE right now. Plenty of the squawkers are supporters – but currently, seemingly more are opponents (yeah I know – forget the "currently" stuff - even when elected THE TRUMPSTER lost the popular vote; he didn’t have the majority of supporters even then).

ME? Well I think the man is a fool and a fraudster (albeit: with no shortage of street smarts)  – but I can see why so many people back him.

Let’s face it – the current system is BROKEN for many: GLOBALISATION and its handmaidens FREE TRADE, INTERNATIONAL DEREGULATION yada, while working to lift nearly all income groups in the DEVELOPING world plus making high/very high income earners even richer in DEVELOPED countries, has been a bummer for the working class/middle classes in the USA (and in quite a few other "advanced" economies). Many have seen jobs disappear overseas to less expensive workers in Asia, Latin America etc – others fortunate enough to stay employed have noticed wages have stagnated or not kept up with prices: their first real income decline in the post war era.

The above is NOT a new phenomena in economic history – as a matter of fact it is chickenshit compared to the massive displacement of the working class caused by the AGRARIAN/INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS. But the big difference back then was those affected didn’t have the vote or much of a say - any type of protest was swiftly squashed. Today’s losers have the vote and know exactly how to protest within the law. So along comes some faker says he can fix everything (HE CAN’T) – and naturally the desperates jump on board.

So far OL’ ORANGE has had a good run economics-wise. His TAX CUTS/INCREASED MILITARY/INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING - it’s a no-brainer that the economy and stock market will respond positively IN THE SHORT RUN to these (just the same as a former high roller responds to a big injection of dope)– the problem is THE LONG RUN; how do you pay for the trillions of dollars of debt being racked up with lower taxes/higher spending?

Hang on tight trendsetters – the cut in tax shit is about to hit the fan; the withdrawal is gonna be painful (UPDATE - DEC 19, 2019 - I can't believe how long it is taking for the shit to hit the fan: how long the sugar hit from lower taxes/increased govt spending has lasted for the US economy)

Have I a solution to the overall problem of a BROKE SYSTEM for many? Afraid not – while acknowledging the PRE TRUMP system was broken, I can’t think of better. Perhaps Bernie Sander"s DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM could do the job, although Americans will never support this. Hell, the furore over the US UNIVERSAL HEALTH SYSTEM shows they wouldn't even support DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM-LIGHT as practiced by places like Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Maybe the best idea is to accept reality - big changes in the fortunes of nations occur every now and then – perhaps the best message to the losers is SUCK IT UP.

But they ain’t gonna suck it up without protest – they are going to turn to far right populist fraudsters like OL ORANGE who are expert at identifying false scapegoats and insist they have all the answers. Stand by for an interesting next few years.

Did HILLARY have the answer? Sadly NO - despite claims of a new way, if she had been elected it would have been more of the same.

But here’s the thing – more of the same would have been way better than the crap being dished up right now.

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JAN 10 2019    BREXIT.

Ah yes, those BRITS aren’t gonna let the Continentals push them around any more. They’ve told the latter to stick the EEC up their arses – the Brits are gonna go it alone.

Well maybe until reality kicks in. Lotsa stuff SEEMS LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME. But in the cool aftermath of evaluation………

So the rest of the world looks on with glee at the approaching train wreck…..the Germans have the prefect word to cover the situation – SCHADENFREUDE.

My prediction – another BRIT vote and no withdrawal. We wait with bated breath (not really).

image - https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/462744930445610257/

Here's the thing - economic unions like the EEC are a good idea (at least for participants) but require members to conform to rules and guidelines - but the Brits want their cake and eat it too: they want the economic gains from union but don't want to conform.

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JAN 25   THE EURO
A common market may be a good idea (at least for most participants - but the BREXITERS don't seem to think so) but a common currency is completely dumb, because in the long run currency union without political union just doesn't work. Sure the advantages are fine as long as members conform to rules including budgetary constraint - but when does a desperate politician seeking re-election stick to budgetary constraint?
And it seems some member countries are prepared to give themselves northern-European levels of wealth, social services etc without the hard work/high taxation needed. This can be done short term by BORROWING - but eventually national debt blows out to unsustainable levels the lenders say no more. Should that Greek guy in the above cartoon look so smug?.... Maybe yes because his country has been rescued from its folly.
So far the richer member countries and the IMF have stepped in and bailed the defaulter out. I predict we will in the future have more periodic crises, particularly when you look at the economic basket cases seeking entry or recently entering the EUROPEAN UNION.
The long run? Will Germany and other wealthy member countries' taxpayers get sick of bailing out the freeloaders? Will the EURO eventually come crashing down with members reverting to their home currencies? Don't hold your breath - I think this whole currency crisis is a long term train crash.

What riles me is that in each crisis we have concerned finance ministers,bank officials and entourages of hangers-on rushing to some big time crisis management meeting - they arrive in top end Mercs and Maybachs, stay in $1000 a night hotel suites and are being paid hundreds of thousands of Euros per year. They take themselves completely seriously and are shown great deference, yet the currency system they are shoring up is a FRAUD as any first year economics student will attest. At least these guys are consistent - they set themselves an amazingly low hurdle which they constantly fail to reach.

FROM THIS BLOG'S "THE WORRY COLLECTIVE"


(cropped image from WILCOX - SYDNEY MORNING HERALD)


The Worry Collective #23
BUDDY CAN YOU SPARE A YACHT?
Q - Any chance we can use your finance guru FastCash Keyne's super-yacht for a meeting of European Financial Stability Fund members in Monaco next week?
Merko and Holla - Brussels.

TWC - FastCash says this is not the time for expensive super yacht junkets. He suggests you restrict your attendance to people who know what they are talking about - that way Princess Caroline's single-kayak should suffice. With room to spare.

European Stability Fund commissioner throws the switch to ACTION (image Colquhoun - Sydney Morning Herald)

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These dudes and their hangers-on along with other government  apparatchiks plus executives and their toadies from the world's top companies are presently junketing at the 2019 DAVOS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM. I read that they flew in on 1500 fuel-gulping/emissions spewing private jets to hear DAVID ATTENBOROUGH speak about how we are wrecking the environment. What can I say? All the gear (private jets/laptop-wielding flunkies/luxury hotel rooms/chauffeur-driven limos yada) and no idea.
And to what end? Well. at the end of the conference they will all agree to return in a year's time for another talkfest and junket.

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FEB 07 2019   TRUMPSTER AND BREXXIT UPDATE.

TRUMP WATCH.
Well DONALDO ain't traveling too well right now. He has recently CAVED on the WALL/GOVT SHUTDOWN (although he seems keen of a face-saving round 2) and is up to his neck in investigations re RUSSIAN MEDDLING IN THE ELECTION, his BUSINESS DEALINGS, TAX, FINANCIAL SCANDALS etc. Gotta say if I had voted for him, I'd be feeling a tad let down right now.

NOT ANYTIME SOON (Image - Know Your Meme)

BREXIT - I feel a bit sorry for poor Theresa: she was anti-Brexit personally but has been given the task of negotiating the exit following the referendum - yet can't get support for the scheme she has negotiated. 

"BLIMEY!! WHY ME??" (image THE  EXPRESS)

Meanwhile exit day gets closer - will my prediction up page eventuate? This is getting very interesting. And entertaining.


TRUMP AND TRADE
Any economist will tell you free trade is a winner OVERALL (but yep, there are losers) and how protection is a dumb idea. Yet OL' ORANGE tells us : "TRADE WARS ARE EASY TO WIN AND PROTECTION IS GREAT!" 
That sounds crazy but I think there is method in his madness - "crazy' is what TRUMP wants the world to think. His opponents are dealing with a crazy man who could start a damaging trade war, so they will be more in the mood for CONCESSIONS when trade negotiations start. The Chinese and Europeans who are worse than most when it comes to unfair trade rules (and dodgy stuff like the Chinese stealing of US IT) etc will have to give. Not that the US has no unfair trade rules - it does, but fewer than many countries or trading groups of countries.

TRUMP AND  FOREIGN RELATIONS
That "crazy man" thing also applies here. Foreign bullies like those Russian and Nth Korean dudes maybe think this ratbag is just nuts enough to bow to his military advisers who would love to nuke the bad guys - so they will give a bit or maybe a lot in negotiations.
In other foreign policy areas? - well many in the know are dismayed at his MIDDLE EAST POLICY, perhaps for good reason. But I have given up on that area - I think things are too far gone for any policy to resolve regional problems - the place was doomed by the way the great powers drew the borders after WWs1/2: and modern Israel has inflamed the situation (although I think the Israelis deserve their homeland). So I don't have an opinion on the Middle East situation.
ELSEWHERE? - well his immigration policy re THE WALL is not going too well. My opinion - THE WALL is a joke: AS IF it would work. Not sure what will finally eventuate. No doubt some compromise.

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FEB-08 2019  THE AUSSIE SITUATION - FINE FOR NOW BUT STORM CLOUDS AHEAD 
Readers (if I have any) are probably wondering why this Aussie is so fixated on the scene in the US and EUROPE. Well for a page which has so far been concentrating on current affairs from an economic viewpoint, the US and Europe are the main games right now.
But for me and Aussie readers (if I have few international readers there would be fewer Aussies) the home situation is just as important, As stated above the current situation is
"FINE FOR NOW BUT STORM CLOUDS AHEAD". This is a matter of head-scratching for me: at both national and state levels we have bumbling centre-right governments who don't have a clue .... so maybe I should enlarge on my heading -" FINE FOR NOW (BUT COULD BE WAY BETTER).........."
Thing is Australia hasn't had a recession for 23 years, economic growth is fair and unemployment the lowest for a long time (but not as low as the land of the sugar hit, and Oz's figure hides a lot of hidden unemployment - people working who would like more hours). But in the future maybe things will not be so rosy - house prices are falling after a crazy period of increases, and things in China (our biggest export customer by far and the main reason Australia has been so prosperous for so long) don't look too good - their economy appears overcooked and this trade war thing could exacerbate the situation. Hell, if my prediction that TRUMP will end up with a lot more pro-US agreements in trade negotiations comes to fruition, that could still hurt Australia's exports because many things we supply China the US also can ALSO supply. OK, the cost will be higher (particularly freight) but this is a cost China may be prepared to bear for trade peace.
So the all important ANIMAL SPIRITS are down a bit in Oz right now - consumer sentiment is falling as are business expectations. Consumer spending and business investment are already beginning to falter. Not enough to signal negative economic growth, but sufficient to see a slowing in the rate of growth. Trouble with those animal spirits is that a slight decline can quickly turn into a stampede for the basement.

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FEB 09 2019  "THE POLITICS OF MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION"
I just came across the above reference to the populism policies of the PRO- TRUMPSTERS and BREXITERS. Good one. Wish I had coined that.


SMARTARSE 101  
It's fun sitting back and poking fun at the US and BRIT situation, but maybe hypercritical if I don't have a better idea.

THE US - as I've said up-page I don't have an answer for all the losers from the  previous period of free-trade/ deregulation/ trickle down theory era  over the past 15-20 years - the people who decided to throw the switch to POPULISM and support some blowhard reckoned he could fix things. And as I said, Hillary would have been more of the past - things may have improved slightly but the structural problem would still be there. All those people who have gained nothing or gone backwards would still be AS MAD AS HELL And as the Democrats learned - the MAD AS HELL have the vote.
Thinking more. perhaps I should't dismiss something like DEMOCTRATIC SOCIALISM. It may be the way to go long term after the experiment with populism ends. Unthinkable at present as the relatively recent BERNIE SANDERS experiment showed, but in the future maybe our loser group will realize POPULISM isn't the answer and will be more prepared to give it or something like it a go.

Captions may be clearer if you CLICK-EXPAND (image POLITICO MAGAZINE)

BREXIT - I believe most of the world thinks this is a case of SUCK IT UP. If the majority of Brit voters want the wide-spread advantages of the common market but are not prepared to accept the rules - then tough.
Wait. Just an idea - maybe Theresa and her negotiators could try on Donaldo's "CRAZY MAN" tactic. Threaten withdrawal UNLESS the EEC authorities agree to fewer of those nit-picking, bureaucratic regulations that so get up the noses of Mr and Mrs typical Brit - the emphasis must be on "nit-picking"; stronger rules and regulations re fiscal and governance issues must remain. 
Problem is I don't think the Brits are negotiating from a strong position - the EEC needs BRITAIN less than BRITAIN needs to EEC (the opposite of the US/CHINA situation) and so the Europeans are pretty hard-nosed in negotiations. They probably think if they give concessions to Britain, they will have to give even more to the basket case Eastern European nations recently joining or to join. And let's not forget some older members, particularly in Southern Europe, are not exactly healthy. 

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16th Feb 2019.
STATE OF EMERGENCY??? 
This is getting good.

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TRENDING - 17th Feb 2019

- (Aust and internationally) - FASHION .... EXPOSED UNDERWEAR.

Women's fashion is in a good place - all those lovely sexy tops with scooped/exposed back, spaghetti straps/halters, big armpits yada. But here in Oz the local sheilas blow the whole deal by wearing extremely daggy industrial grade bras beneath - the sort of stuff should never see the light of day. So what we see is industrial beige/white/black back and shoulder straps broad enough to hawser QE2 + super-size-me cups in the arm-cut outs. Surely if they are gonna spend $90 on a lovely top, they should be prepared to spend a bit extra on a matching support garment, not fall back on good ol' faithful in the wardrobe.
And on a personal note - any frilly black bras don't cut it with me. But then again, I've never been a fan of frilly black underwear. What I want to see modern women wearing is COLOUR-CO-ORDINATED underwear with only thin straps exposed - and not too fancy if the arm holes are way big. 
OK - I realise BIG LADIES need more support than thin straps will give: in such cases they are gonna have to suck it up and wear less revealing tops. 

I think women had it covered back in the 70s and 80s - this was the NO BRA era. But things change. For a start tops were not as revealing. And further, the average lady was maybe 10kg/22lbs lighter back then (females today are in the grip of those serial seducers KRISPY KREME and RONALDO MACCA) and didn't need the support today's beefier babes require.

Elegance lost

DUDES ARE NO EXCEPTION

OK - guys are just as bad. I'm kinda over EXPOSED BOXERS/BRIEFS. How many dudes are walking around right now with low ride baggy shorts/jeans down around their freckle, showing a set of CALVIN's or similar underneath? 

This began many years back in the good ol' US when LA youth began to imitate ex-jailbirds. In the joint young small dudes were issued with a ONE SIZE FITS ALL wardrobe - hence the craze for baggy shorts/jeans which won't stay up. So it gets adopted by the general male young population - LOOK AT ME, I'M A BAD BOY!!

Dunno abt BAD BOY - more FUNNY BOY. 
At least the oversize T is covering the CALVINS.

And it's not just the guys in this exposed briefs thing....

MORE FUNNY STUFF - why would anyone pay EXTRA for a pair of jeans look like they've survived a washing-machine explosion? Hey I notice this one's got the DOUBLE WHAMMY - bonus exposed MOSCHINO boxers!!. Is that cool or what? 

The big question - are all those trendsetter wearing the above trying to identify with our drop-crotch buddies? I mean, ripped jeans were originally worn by urban losers.

SMARTARSE 101 PART 2 
It's fun to highlight absurdities in popular fashion, but maybe not if yer humble correspondent is not exactly a sartorial trendsetter. GUILTY YER HONOR! - my garb 90% of the time is board shorts with a T, purchased for $3 each at the BALI ART MARKET (not too much art sold there but heaps of clothing). Not exactly what you would expect a 74 yo to be wearing (and yes, I have been paid out on this twice recently - to no avail: I grin and larf). 
Thing is, I wear this stuff because I am a TIGHTWAD - can't get much less expensive than $3 -and for COMFORT**. Not trying to make a statement, not trying to regain my lost youth, not trying to identify with some tribe - not trying nothing except save a few bucks in a comfortable way.

** in winter our part of Australia gets a tad cool for boardies and a T. So I substitute a pair of tracky-dacks with a flannelette shirt over the T. Both available in KMART for sub $10 on special - which is the only time I buy. Okay, when I want to look flash, I replace the trackies with a pair of Asian-made jeans - approx the same price/same source/same time.



ALSO TRENDING
BIG BOOTIES

Modern ladies must think they've died and gone to heaven - all of a sudden thanks to the combination of people like the KARDASHIANS and the above-mentioned serial seducers KRISPY KREME and MACCAS, big bums are in. No more dieting or work-outs for the young and not so young misses and ms.s!

MY TAKE - UGLY!! (yeah, I know I'm behind the times and we are moving to a new era of RUBINESQUE female bodies - but I'll stay a fan of fit and sleek).

.....and it don't get much more ugly than when combined with the modern trend to g-string bottoms.

Which brings us to another current craze which can be real nice on the right chassis - G-STRING BEACH BIKINIS.....

.....but which don't combine all that well with the current big booty craze.

Maybe it's not just older babes should be thinking of food intake.

TAN LINE HILARITY - when I see young ladies such as 2 and 3 images above, I can't help thinking of the hilarious tan marks on their upper derriere/lower back. Who sees that? Um, well their boyfriends/husbands/fenale lovers maybe - now they are supposed to be appreciative, not rolling on the floor with laughter.

So how to avoid? Doesn't look much nicer if its a full string rear....

Forget those dopey bits of wide fabric in back - can't beat a string back on a svelte babe..

Ok - gotta admit I wouldn't dare be laughing at the weird tan marks if this were my girl. Still, she'd look way better if she had minimal lines from the suit one pic up. And far worse from 3 and 4 up. The streamlined booty helps too.

Um - I don't think so.

TRENDING - MINI BIKINIS

These seem to becoming increasingly popular. At least this one isn't very see-thru as many are (at least I don't think so).. 

Not sure what sort of lady wears these - maybe nudists wanting maximum tan area when visiting a textile beach. 
And maybe exhibitionists. 
Anyway from this male's point of view, they are NOT ATTRACTIVE. 

The most attractive suites right now are the string-back bikini pictured 2 up plus ladies in those spray-on SPEEDO type one piece racers.

How nice is that??

Another - maybe not so famous. But again - how nice is that??

DISCLOSURE - I'm a lap swimmer, do a km every second day. So I'm no stranger to sights like above. But I never tire of it - even on muscled-up sweeties (I think 2 shots up is one of the world class CAMPBELL SISTERS swimmers) - this lady has the shoulders and hips/thighs of a champ but is maybe not tucked in enough at the waist to make the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED CALENDAR  - but okay, she is good enough to make this promotional shot for A3 PERFORMANCE,
And good for her - people like these are much more talented and work way harder than those supermodel types - usually for little reward.

What do I wear at the pool? Well I think 75yo geezers, even super-fit ones, should not be parading in SPEEDOS or those tight lycra SKINS shorts - so I wear my ol' faithful BOARD SHORTS.

At the beach? - I've been a naturist since my teens so I wear NACING (and no, you aint gonna see any gratuitous nudey beach shots - but for true naturists seeking information, see the associated blog NUDE BEACHES CATELONIA  plus my page on BYRON BAY which has details of several clothing-optional beaches in the area) - but if visiting a textile beach I fall back on the BOARDIES.

MORE ON CURRENT FADS - it is real easy to turn into an old curmudgeon and hate a whole bunch of things - FUCKWIT HAIRDOS, HIPSTERS, CHAVS, BODY ART, BODY SCULPTING MEDICAL PROCEDURES, YADA. But I hope I've avoided the CURMUDGEON STAGE - I'd say my current approach is the typical Liberal Left - which to these things  is....".WHATEVER!!". 

See, even though a lot of popular culture makes me smile, I think WHATEVER FLOATS YER BOAT is in general the way to go. If some dude wants to align himself/herself with HIPSTERS/INKERS/ COFFEE AFICIAONADOS/BAD BOYS/A FOOTBALL CLUB TRIBE and SUNDRY OTHER HARD CASES.....WTF? Who am I to judge? So I sit back, giggle at what I personally think is a bit crazy, frown at what I think stupid and unattractive, but don't condemn anything.
This is the advantage of BEING A GEEZER - no one cares what you think, and you think from the benefit of many years of observation. 

Sundry hard cases


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TRENDING NOW 19th FEB 1019

BACKPACKER DROWNINGS IN AUSTRALIA
Saw a tragic item on the TV news tonight how 2 Brit/French backpackers went for a midnight swim at PORT MACQUARIE on the mid north coast of NSW and got into trouble in the surf, subsequently disappearing. 

This happens time and again despite special vids on airline screens just before landing in OZ warning of SURF DANGER. The surf is not like swimming in your local pool, lake or river. Maybe it is worth-while to read my WHAT TO DO on this page "SOME TIPS ON NOT DROWNING"
Don't think it can't happen to you. Hell, it has happened to me many times (you can get into trouble so quickly even in what seems tame conditions: plus board riders and body surfers use rips as express routes to the "take-off zone "out the back) - but I know what to do.

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FEB 20 2019
ECONOMICS 101
WHAT MAKES NATIONS RICH.

I grew up in a poor family at PORT KEMBLA, a steelworks town south of SYDNEY. My reading was out of the public library and my favourite tome (we are talking late 50's here) was the good ol' SATURDAY EVENING POST from the USA. I used to check out those great car ads plus all the stuff available for households. Which generated the thought: HOW DO THESE PEOPLE AFFORD THIS STUFF - HOW COME AMERICA IS SO WEALTHY?
So when I later got the chance to study ECONOMICS I grabbed the chance - specifically for the answer to this issue.

This is what I came up with -
NATIONS CAN BE WEALTHY IF THEY HAVE:
- an abundance of natural resources
- an educated, skilled workforce (including management) with a thriving work ethic.
- a stable framework of governance and law
- no shortage of investment funds and incentive.

Can nations do the job without one of these? Well Singapore has done alright without lotsa natural resources, simply because of its freakish positioning ideal for entrepot trade. And certain fairly ordinary European countries managed to steal their colonies' resources when lacking their own - we could argue some are still fighting a rearguard having lost their colonies. Some people will mention Switzerland which managed to convince the world they were somehow better at minding people's/corporations' money than most (although I think the place has a lot more going for it - plus they were smart enough to stay out of last century's 2 major wars).

BACK TO THE USA 
This staying out of both world wars thing was PART instrumental - they came in relatively late being owed heaps by early participants - and their GEOGRAPHICAL ISOLATION meant they did not suffer the catastrophic infrastructure damage of Europe.

A FURTHER USA ADVANTAGE
One thing missing from all the above points I've come to realize fairly recently - THE USA HAS ALWAYS HAD A BIG GROUP OF WORKING POOR WHO MADE THE COST OF PRODUCTION IN LABOUR-INTENSIVE AREAS VERY COMPETITIVE. 
Probably started with slavery. Then the influx of Europe's working poor. More recently largely Asian and Latino. Plus we must mention the help of INTERNAL MIGRATION - the movement of millions of low cost mainly black workers out of the south to jobs in the north-east industrial zones post civil war and the 1930's wave of desperate "OKIES" from the drought-ravaged mid-west to the fields of California's Central Valley.

ELSEWHERE - this is an advantage other advanced economies lack: Europe, Australia, Canada etc have STRONG MINIMUM WAGE laws which make a mockery of the USA's farcically minimalist, piecemeal regulations and enforcement.
But in somewhat of an irony, today;s developing Asian and Latin American competitors have EVEN LOWER WAGES than USA's working poor - and with modern technology transfer/piracy and the international flow of investment being what they are, these are the places killing American competitiveness.

REPUBLICAN TURMOIL
The scene must be annoying an important section of Republican Supporters - the BUSINESS LOBBY. This sector depends on a big supply of low cost labour - but here is leader TRUMP trying to lower immigration both legal and illegal which is the major current source of working poor.
As Jack Reacher would say: "BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR".

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

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FEB 21 2019
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Yesterday's Jack Reacher "BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR" quote reminded me of many current demands which tend to have unintended consequences that will worsen other areas of concern. Often the public's wants are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
The classic is the never ending demand for more government spending on transport, hospitals, schools, social services vs. the constant call for lower taxes and reduced government borrowing. Recently we had in Australia the rising angst of  increasing house prices pushing them out of the reach of younger Australians to be replaced by fears of falling wealth as soon as the prices turned south. Those new freeways are terrible, but we want a lower road toll and ever decreasing transport costs of goods and services. The cities are too big spatially, we have the blight of urban sprawl - but the same people seem to be constantly bellyaching about the increase of high rise residential in existing areas. And yes, here in Australia migration is out of control, adding to the problems in housing, hospital, schools and a bunch of other things - but we  welcome the boost to economic growth migration brings. Not to mention the fuzzy warm feeling of supporting all those refugees escaping draconian regimes. Another is the creeping nanny state ("THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW AGAINST THAT!"/"THE GOVT HAS TO STEP IN AND TAKE ACTION!!") vs the erosion of personal freedom and the abrogation of common sense. 

BLISS IS ONE MORE REGULATION AWAY

The latest thing is a worry about excessively small growth in average wages creating economic stagnation yet a short time ago Australia's rapid average wage growth was making us un-competitive.

MY TAKE - some of the above worries are warranted but proponents must be aware there is a cost involved and not bellyache when the negatives kick-in. And if a whinger is moaning about 2 issues that are mutually exclusive, they should grow a brain and shut the fuck up.

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INTERNET SOFT PORN

YOUNG LADIES - DON'T DO IT!!
Been doing some research (hur hur hur) on internet share-foto girlie sites. Not a bad area for the desperates and dateless of this world. 
I have come to the conclusion that much of the stuff shown is REVENGE PORN - some poor sweetie is so in lurv that she gets talked into posing for, or emailing to him, some hot shots. There is a delay until the relationship ends, often with acrimony, and then the pix get sent to friends and internet sites. In other cases the misogynistic boyfriend sends them to his mates immediately, where they get shared around and quickly make it to the girlie sites. 

Pic altered to suite Google Ads' (and some readers') sensitivities

What can I say about the above shot? Young ladies, do you want 74yo sleazes like me (or worse) checking yer bits out? Do you want family, friends, workmates, prospective partners/employers finding this? No matter how much you lurv him, DON'T DO THIS!! 
Of course there are many other scenarios whereby these shots get taken and sent - but no matter how much alky, how daring and bad girl you are feeling, D0 NOT DO THIS!!

And I won't even start on INTERNET SEX TAPES.

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BULLSHIT IO1 
ALL GOVERNMENT DEBT IS BAD

Seems the flavour of the new millennium - any government debt is bad!! "I mean you wouldn't run yer household like that - racking up debt". EXCEPT - this is exactly what households do. Show me the young household hasn't got a MORTGAGE - owes the bank a motza.

Here's the thing - UNSUSTAINABLE GOVT DEBT is definitely bad. What is unsustainable govt, debt? - a level of debt which is gonna be difficult to pay off in the future. The sort of debt that 2nd/3rd rate Euro economies plus many 3rd world countries have racked up. In the past this was considered a certain % of debt to GDP (the nation's output of good and services) but these days that has been relaxed: as long as a nation can meet interest payments on debt - NO WORRIES. Trouble is there's a bunch of nations currently finding this difficult.
Fortunately Australia's debt to GDP ratio is one of the lowest of advanced economies. The USA is not looking too hot however.

DON'T CONFUSE GOVT DEBT WITH EXTERNAL DEBT OR FOREIGN DEBT.
For a start, govt debt is owed both within the country and to external lenders. 
External debt or foreign debt is ALL DEBT, owed by both government and private entities (mainly corporations) to overseas lenders. A further distinction is NET FOREIGN DEBT which subtracts what is owed to the home country.

BEWARE - people with an agenda like to scare the hell out of unwitting punters by quoting the trillions of dollars of GROSS Foreign Debt whereas NET Foreign Debt is the significant statistic and for many countries is much lower.

Here's the gospel:
1-  AS LONG AS GOVT AND PRIVATELY RAISED FOREIGN DEBT IS USED TO BUILD PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY ALL IS GOOD. Trouble is too many indebted countries are using borrowed money to build " TROPHY STUFF" like sports stadiums, presidential palaces yada or on UNPRODUCTIVE THINGS like financing pensions, govt-workers' wage increases and similar.
2  If the borrowed money is used to finance thing that can be used by future generations it is only fair that future generations also help pay for them. The emotive nonsense you hear: "THEY ARE RACKING UP DEBT OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WILL HAVE TO PAY" is complete rubbish. Those children/grandchildren will get the benefit of the spending (as long as it is for productive stuff as above) so why shouldn't they pay some? For most of my life I was helping to repay the loan on the Sydney Harbour Bridge - built long before I was born. But I used the bridge every now and then, so why not?

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MARCH 01/2019 - TRUMP AND BREXIT UPDATE - KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD.


Seems both the Great Negotiator and poor ol' Theresa have been doing the typical politician's thing - not making a decision right now but kicking it down the road to some time in the future.

MASTER NEGOTIATOR....NOT!!! - the TANTRUM IN CHIEF promised us a new paradigm as far as international negotiations were concerned, But concerning his dealings with KOREAN PEACE TALKS + CHINESE TRADE NEGOTIATION it has been the same old stuff - can't come to an agreement right now so what we are gonna do is talk about it in the future.
Now this is the guy who promised to CLEAR THE SWAMP - but the favoured negotiating tactic of swamp denizens pre-Trump was to kick negotiations down the road....Nothing's changed.
OK - I know NEGOTIATIONS 101 has "STEP A - walk out the door." Even unsophisticated dudes like me has always walked in auto and other big purchases the last 30 years. But we are expecting more from a MASTER NEGOTIATOR.

BREXIT - it seems at this time Ms. T is hoping if she kicks the can further down the road as far as exit is concerned, something's going to give - maybe those European dicks will cave (unlikely), maybe someone in her own party or the opposition (nearly as unlikely).
The world waits with a sense of SCHADENFREUDE. This is getting good.

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THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH - March 03 2010

Even the proverbial pet shop parrot is raving about the need for better health facilities/schools/public transport/social sevices yada. 
BIG PROBLEM - the parrot and the general public thinks all these things should be FREE!!!
They don't wanna pay for them.
HERE'S MY TAKE - if I was a politician I could point out that I could provide ALL these things BUT will need an increase in taxation** to pay for them.
(** um, definitely lots could be paid for by GOVT BORROWING - but I have already mentioned how this is considered in the current politico/economic era as NOT ON.
And as I said, this is STUPID reasoning.)
If I was a politician making that sort of promise, I wouldn't be a politician for long. Everyone wants this stuff for free - OR, they want someone else to pay for it....


MIDDLE INCOME WELFARE

So who are these SOMEONE ELSES mentioned above?
- THE GOVT: everyone know that the govt wastes money. So all we have to do is cut this waste and it will pay for EVERYTHING. 
SORRY - despite being my late mum's answer to all the wrongs in the world. this will not go near financing the needed expenditure. See my bit down page on cutting govt waste.
- THE (AUSTRALIAN) MIDDLE CLASSES - in the past, AUST governments, in order to get re-elected, have wasted billions of dollars on MIDDLE CLASS WELFARE. The current LABOR OPPOSITION PARTY is proposing to reverse some of this in order to finance the things we need - you should see/hear the opposition to these moves. NEVER GET BETWEEN A MIDDLE CLASS RETIREE AND HIS/HER ENTITLEMENTS.  
Indeed.
CUTTING RETIREES' unworthy ENTITLEMENTS is part of TEZZA'S ANSWER!!

- the other part of my answer is PAY MORE TAXES. 
Now as a small income earner I think I don't pay enough taxes, so I reckon all those higher than me can afford to pay a bit more - particularly top income earners with their tax minimising TRUST FUNDS and their HIGH PAID TAX LAWYERS. Maybe they should pay a LOT more considering some pay zero tax or near.....Um, make that zero or near INCOME TAX on account these dudes are big spenders and play plenty in SALES/GST/VALUE ADDED - or whatever their nation's version is. 
BUT HERE'S THE THING - I pay plenty of GST - and a lot higher proportion of my income than rich guys. And as said above, even though a small income earner, I reckon I should pay some income tax too. So those high income earners should definitely by paying more.

Of course personal taxes are just part of tax revenue - and there is plenty of evasion and cheating going on in the area of BUSINESS TAX. Businesses must pay more tax too.

It's a world-wide problem
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MARCH 13 2019 - THE DUMBING DOWN OF EDUCATION
I've mentioned up page that when I got my degree I was one of the so-called "top**" 0.5% of school beginners to eventually graduate university - how university was hard to get into and even harder to graduate from. 
How things change - today, EVERYONE can do university++, and in reality anyone in the top 60% can graduate. Which must mean things have been dumbed down (as a school and TAFE teacher for 35 years I can tell you that the top 60% of school beginners includes a lot of very ordinary intellects. Hell this is a RANT, so I can say that 60% includes quite a lot of DUMB-ARSES).

 HOW FAR DUMBED-DOWN? Well I think in Australia it depends on the course - medical and legal areas are still very rigorous but human arts courses way easier - ditto unfortunately teaching, and all those applied sciences like engineering, architecture yada. Some would say the high proportion of foreign students (some of whom have hopeless English language and writing skills) signing up for the latter help dumb-down the scene. But on their own, the lower cohort of Australian born students are doing pretty it pretty easy when it comes to enrolling/graduating the university course of their choice..

**"top half-percent sounds pretty elitist but let me assure you I am no great intellect. From an illegal look at my school record when the careers adviser left the room, I know my IQ is no great shakes at 15 points above average, far below my class-mates who also had a look. But I had the ability to be cram great amounts of info just before an exam, remember it for just long enough and to reproduce it in very good essays - multiple-choice exams were not a big deal back in the day.

++the problem with today is that tutoring fees tend to be fairly high and must be repaid over time - a HECS debt. (Higher Education Contribution Scheme) and there are way fewer alternatives like SCHOLARSHIPS. The short period of FREE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION under the WHITLAM GOVERNMENT is long gone - in fact it was a bit late for me, but I was lucky getting a high enough Higher School Certificate result to be awarded a COMMONWEALTH SCHOLARSHIP and a TEACHERS' SCHOLARSHIP, both to university. 
The former was insufficient for students from poor families so I took the TEACHERS'. Only problem - I had to sign on to be a teacher for a minimum of 5 years (and take subjects making me less suitable for private enterprise after those 5 years). 
Because of these scholarships, high school teachers came largely from the smart kids of poor families in that era. Today the scholarships are pretty scarce and  teacher training is mainly HECS financed - the smart kids from poor families see a much better future in becoming doctors, lawyers, engineers etc leaving teaching to the also-rans, and so teaching has also been dumbed down.

ALL IS NOT LOST
This knocking of the younger generation and decrying falling educational standards is hardly new. Greek and Roman philosophers were doing it. Shakespeare has several references. Yet the world has survived - in fact plenty would say it's heaps better these days. When asked when was the best time to be alive in my 74 years, my answer is "NOW".

I don't think the present older generations should feel at all smug. A dispassionate look at the past few hundred years suggests my generation and the ones before have largely stuffed up big time. To mention a few cluster-fucks:
- The partition of the MIDDLE EAST which has led to the current snafu.
- The partition of EUROPE which led to WW1 and WW2 and COLD WAR tensions.
- The ENVIRONMENT including GLOBAL WARMING
- The MISMANAGEMENT OF GAINS FROM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT which has seen the rise of far-right wing demagogues who claim to have the answer to all losers' problems.
I could go on - you can probably think of a few of your own.

Thing is, I believe the current younger generation is aware of these stuff ups and is better armed to do something about them. I'm optimistic of the future.


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QUOTE OF THE DAY - MARCH 13 2019

"The (NSW) Premier's office is overpopulated with Young Turks who have no understanding of what real people are thinking because they lack life  experience."
Take that youngsters! 
Take that Premier!

Not quite what the quote had in mind

BULLSHIT WAS ALL THE BAND COULD PLAY (to the tune of COLONEL BOGEY)
The above quote was in the Sydney Morning Herald's CBD column, attributed to "....one Liberal MP". Yep, he's bagging his own leader - nothing new in Australian politics of late. 
But even though we center-left readers love seeing disharmony in the center-right ranks, I wonder just how authentic the quote is. I mean  "....one Liberal MP" is real vague. 
As someone once said: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story".
Maybe THE TRUMPSTER sums it up better. FAKE NEWS!

MY TAKE - irrespective of the accuracy of the so called quoter, I think there's a certain amount of truth in the danger of surrounding yourself with all young advisers. Any politician worth his/her salt should be taking advice from both old-experienced people who have been there, done that AND younger hot shots with all the confidence and new skills of youth.

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FROM WANKER!! .... TO WHATEVER - MARCH 14 2019

Reading over this blog, I have come to the conclusion that it is a bit short on RANTING. My general approach is more middle of the road ----the WHATEVER of above. This is no doubt the result of the common mellowing of age, how the passing years develop perspective, how former hard lines on issues tend to get softened over time. But I confess that a certain forgiveness has to be worked on - I do look at some fuckwit fashions, fads and happenings and the first reaction is ....WANKERS! Then the training to accept differences cuts in and I change it to ....WHATEVER.

I mean, there is a sizable demographic gets its kick from FINE DINING or THE COFFEE CULTURE. I look at these people spending a small fortune on stuff doesn't look any better than  LADY TEZZA can do at 10% the cost, and my first reaction is ....WANKERS!! But hell, if someone gets a kick out of fine food or coffee why shouldn't they be devotees (and face it - getting extra pleasure from such a basic thing as sustenance is not wasted time)  any less than people who spend lots of their income on cars, sports, art or clothes? No doubt a lot of them would look at my passions for BUDGET TRAVEL and being a general CHEAPSKATE, and think....FUCKWIT!!

FINE DINING - $44 for THAT? - WANKERS!!

CHEAPSKATE TEZZA buses into MATARANKA HOT SPRINGS on a GREYHOUND out of DARWIN, stays in his (leaky**) $15 dollar K Mart tent, when there are quite good associated motel rooms - FUCKWIT!!

** hence under cover of the group lecture shelter: sunny in shot but each night had epic T -STORMS

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MARCH 19 2019 - THE PROSTITUTION OF NEWSPAPER TRAVEL SUPPLEMENTS

I have used and written for several newspaper travel sites in the past. No more - they will not accept my contributions. say they don't accept unsolicited stuff any more and publish shit like: "THE WRITER STAYED AT HOTEL X AS THE GUEST OF Y TRAVEL BOARD AND Z AIRWAYS". And we expect IMPARTIAL reviews from these dudes?

They might as well rewrite PRESS RELEASES. Which sadly they already do.

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MARCH 21 2019 - THE YUPPIFYING OF TRAVEL

The above bit on the prostitution of travel supplements leads on to how travel these days is dominated by information and venues likely to appeal mostly to upmarket YUPPIES. Travel articles are full of trips to exotic places, staying in top grade accommodation and naturally eating up a storm - all to appeal to cashed-up middle classes and affluent retirees. These dudes fly BUSINESS CLASS ONLY (while ol' TEZZA is hunched up in cattle class at a third of the price), stay in some $500 a night SAFARI TENT at BURKINA FASO. Where to get a grossly-overpriced meal in OUAGADOUOGOUE ?? - these dudes will know.

Ben has just got the travel company invoice and realized the SAFARI TENT at DUEX BALES NATIONAL PARK was maybe not such a good deal after all.

.... and CAMERON is considering that drunken meal in OUAGADOUOGOUE was perhaps a bit over the top. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this - maybe EXCLUDED sums it up best. A long time traveller like me rubs shoulders with all these neophytes been to exotic, out of the way places at no expense - makes me feel a tad inferior.    

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THE YUPPIFYING OF EVERYTHING

Here's the thing. Seems EVERYTHING these days is on what I would classify as a HIGH END YUPPY type standard. The streets are full of upmarket cars - MERCS, BEEMERS, AUDIES, LEXI (LEXUSES sounds wrong). Seems even tradies (the Yanks call them "CONTRACTORS") are being yuppified - the best sellers right now are dual cab utes ("PICK-UPS") - things like the TOYOTA HILUX - doesn't sound too flash but a dual cab with a bit of bling is gonna set you back mid $50k minimum. Not hard to spend $70k or more on things (currently farmers are moaning about a federal govt plan to limit tax deductions for smaller road vehicles to $100k, Say what? What kinda smaller road vehicles are they buying?? - small and mid-sized Mercs and Bemmers sit comfortably below s100k - yuppy farmers?

  Tezza blanches at spending $20k new on his Korean mid size fuel sipping sedan.

Doesn't stop there - EVERYONE under 60 has to have the 4 bedroom show home with ducted aircon, marble benches, Norwegian appliances and other mod-cons.

And all that other PRODUCT - can't get by without the top end phone/tablet/laptop/game machines yada

And as I say up page, the ol' holiday in the family tent down the coast at  ULLADULLA doesn't cut it anymore - let's try the upmarket SAFARI TENT in BURKINA FARSO's DEUX BALES NATIONAL PARK..

Yuppies are into dogs big time - naturally their pooches are way yuppy.

WHAT I FORGET - Yuppies were an 80s thing - stood fer YOUNG URBAN PROFESSIONALS. 

So naturally things these trend-setters were adopting back then have become MAINSTREAM 25+years later. Only trouble is the current users decry the expense - say they can't keep up with THE COST OF LIVING. 

Now OL' TEZZA can remember  the post WW2 years of shortages of everything and so can easily survive without all this PRODUCT on a lower than Australian-average income - it's easy to decry the present complaints - but people of my generation are basing our judgments on A DIFFERENT TIME. As EMILIO ESTEVEZ  would say: THAT WAS THEN AND THIS IS NOW.

Yeah, but that was then. This is now.

WHICH MAYBE EXPLAINS WHY NEARLY EVERYONE IS CRYING POOR....

'

.... more on this later under the heading: YOU AIN'T REALLY DOING IT TOUGH.

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MARCH 23 2019 - THE STATE ELECTIONS

The NSW state elections are today. It's a contest between the sitting government, the center-right coalition the LIBERAL/NATIONALS**  and the major opposition, the center-left LABOR.

It's 1701 - just less than an hour before voting closes so no-one knows the result. Made harder by pre-polling which presented a 50:50 situation.

MY TAKE - I'm an ideological LABOR voter given my working class/poor background, but I have to admit I helped vote the COALITION into government back in 2011 - LABOR was completely on the nose with mega-corruption scandals.

Today I don't care too much. The COALITION hasn't been a bad government with a very strong record of INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT in terms of roads and railways. Naturally there have been protests from the usual suspects - show me any big project where there are not losers who these days know how to scream blue murder (BLUE? - what's that mean? What's the difference between ordinary murder and BLUE MURDER??) There have been a few miss-steps: the idea of tearing down 2 OK sporting stadiums for new was pretty stupid in a state crying for new schools and hospitals. And there were the usual SNOUTS IN THE TROUGH and APPEALING TO THE BIG END OF TOWN scandals. 

Their leader, NSW Premier GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN is pretty good - not pretentious, not a "babe", and low on bullshit. Has looked most uncomfortable when advisers (no doubt male) have urged her to go the mongrel. Gladys does not do the mongrel well.

Glady's is no babe - the daughter of Armenian immigrants she is pretty genuine and hard working.

My major problem with the COALITION is how they've financed all this infrastructure - a combination of SELLING OFF STATE ASSETS and (proven as a failure)  STATE-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS. As an economist I'm a fan of neither. 

Oh yeah, they also got a bucket-load of cash from the end of the real-estate boom, which has finished for the time being. Dumb luck - but any party in power could have had it.

Psst! Wanna buy a power station - one government owner since new. No encumbrances - join the OLIGOPOLY of other formerly govt owned power suppliers in bamboozling the public with bullshit power plans.

The LABOR LEADER, MICHAEL DALEY is pretty good too. But he has some baggage as a former union leader and local politician, and tripped up a few times in the last week of electioneering.

Get back to you in a few hours with the result. Hopefully. Experts are picking a TIED election which will take several days of negotiation with minor parties to determine who governs.

**How can a center-RIGHT party call itself LIBERAL? Well this goes back to the days of formation where they were presenting themselves as alternative to HARD RIGHT parties - some of their ideas were indeed liberal - trouble is these days their policies have drifted to the right to the point where the party is more CONSERVATIVE than LIBERAL.

2330 - not gonna stay out of the sack any longer. With less than half the vote counted it looks like the COALITION will hang on - maybe just enough to form a minority government - but certainly experts agree LABOR'S result has been disappointing.

UPDATE 

- maybe I should have stayed tuned in a little longer - apparently LABOUR leader DALEY conceded defeat at 2330. Results at close of counting a few hours later had THE COALITION losing only one seat to LABOUR, another few in doubt and losing a few in the country to minority party SHOOTERS AND FISHERS. Not enough losses to force a minority government.

I'm not too upset despite my ideological leanings - I'm not too sure LABOR could do a better job. Maybe they deserve another term in opposition given their hopelessness last time in state government.

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APRIL 3 2019 - THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL GOVT BUDGET

IT'S DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

It doesn't seem all that long ago when JOHN HOWARD'S Liberal/National Party govt (center-right), desperate for a lift in the polls for an imminent election, offered in the national budget bribes of big tax cuts, cash-handouts and a whole raft of MIDDLE CLASS and RETIREES' WELFARE measures. I thought it the biggest economic cop-out of recent times - here was a govt flush with tax funds from the MINING BOOM pissing a large amount of it up against the wall in order to BRIBE voters to re-elect it. And it worked. 

Fast forward nearly 20 years and the coalition is trying it on again. Last night's federal budget contained similar tax cuts and cash handouts in an effort to bribe voters to re-elect SCOTT MORRISON'S Liberal/National Party coalition (which is frankly on the nose) despite earlier promises to "bank any upturn in tax receipts to reduce government debt"

Experts say they can afford to do this because of an unexpected upturn in tax receipts from mineral exports, although Scottie claims it is all down to money saved due to their "better economic management". Few mention that this minerals  upturn is expected to be short lived.. 

At least the paying down government debt is something Howard did - but there was so much more he could have been done with the tax bribe money - health, transport, education, defence, social services and many other things at the time were screaming for more government money.

WHAT I DON'T GET .... is how punters think this is a winner. Surely they must realize all the opposition has to do is offer the same tax cuts from the same revenue source. As a matter of fact the LABOR opposition is expected to offer MORE - because they will have a bigger source of funds after they abolish/reduce some controversial coalition vote-buyers introduced in the HOWARD era, including NEGATIVE GEARING deductions, CAPITAL GAINS TAX deductions and DIVIDEND IMPUTATION refunds. If they sound a bit complicated you are right - the AUSTRALIAN TAX SYSTEM is a complex mess.

BULLSHIT WAS ALL THE BAND COULD PLAY - PART 2. 

The Coalition has always claimed THEY ARE THE BETTER ECONOMIC MANAGERS.

Say What???? Their record over the past 30 years is abysmal. We have HOWARD pissing the gains from the 90's MINING BOOM up against the wall, and recent Coalition governments failing to reduce the FEDERAL GOVT DEFICIT, despite claims they could do it in the first year of being re-elected. Now Scottie is going to piss gains from this 2018/19 mini-mining boom up against the wall in order to get re-elected. 

Contrast that with LABOR'S RECORD. The best budget manager in the post-war period was LABOR Treasurer PAUL KEATING (ably supported by his Prime Minister BOB HAWKE) who waltzed so many top reforms thru parliament: THE FLOATING OF THE AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR, DECOUPLING of the choking WAGE INDEXATION program,  an emphasis on PRODUCTIVITY GAINS, the ELIMINATION OF TARIFFS, DEREGULATING  THE FINANCIAL SECTOR, REFORMATION OF TAXATION (including the introduction of CAPITAL GAINS TAX) and  perhaps the jewel in the crown - the start of Australia's compulsory NATIONAL SUPERANNUATION (retirement incomes) SCHEME.

(OK, Keating was not perfect - on his watch we saw the start of PRIVATISATION OF GOVERNMENT BUSINESSES and a period of 17% INTEREST RATES [I had a house mortgage at the time - with a few useful strategies in both paying this and placement of savings I survived quite well], As FERRIS BUELLER never said: "EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING"]).

Also a class act was a subsequent LABOR treasurer, WAYNE SWAN, who was way better than many judge++. When the GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS hit, he rushed thru reduced taxation, a cash splash and some stimulatory govt infrastructure spending. Good ol' Keynsian stimulatory measures. "Rushed" is the key - if these things are to work they have to be done immediately and with emphasis. "GO EARLY AND GO HARD" was the advice. Worked a charm - AUSTRALIA WAS THE ONLY OECD COUNTRY TO AVOID RECESSION AFTER THE FINANCIAL CRASH.

++many but not all. Leading European finance/banking magazine EUROMONEY declared SWAN the WORLD'S BEST FINANCE MINISTER FOR 2011 for his handling of the Australian economy. On reflection, maybe the competition was not all that hot - we had that over-rated dimbulb ALAN GREENSPAN in charge of the FED at the time and Europe's financial ministers were those idiots got tied in a knot over the GREEK FINANCIAL CRISIS soon after.

THE COALITION BETTER ECONOMIC MANAGERS??

Consider the following: 

- Howard and his treasurer Peter Costello were in power in Australia's golden mining boom years - even the pet shop parrot could successfully run a surplus budget in those conditions and have money left over.

- a lot of Australia's economic strength in those years was built on the back of the economic reforms of predecessors KEATING and HAWKE. 

- as said, a lot of the government's booty from the mining boom was pissed up against the wall by the Coalition's great economic managers in order to get re-elected.

- after a period in opposition, a new Coalition government came into power in 2014, but they too were economic midgets, promising to remove the budget deficit in the very first year, but failing to do this every year since. The latest budget is the first one that actually promises a surplus, but that could prove very rubbery. 

- since in power, government debt has grown every year to the present $34B, but as said, instead of banking any current increases in tax receipts to reduce this debt as promised, they too are pissing it up against the wall in electoral bribing tax cuts.

- despite the claim to superior economic management, the present state of the economy is not good. Wage growth is tiny, GDP growth almost stagnant, investment in the doldrums, consumer expectations poor, house prices (and thus animal spirits) falling.

You must also remember that because of Wayne Swan's swift action in the GFC, Australia's economy started this period off a higher base than those overseas. And yet "the great economic managers" haven't managed to keep this advantage.

JOHN HOWARD - BEST PRIME MINISTER EVER??

Nah, far from best PM - but yeah, have to admit BEST PM FOR GETTING RE-ELECTED.

Howard was a hell of a politician - knew how to ring the bells of the ordinary voter. My problem is SO MUCH WAS DISHONEST. Like all these TAX CUTS/MIDDLE INCOME+ RETIREE HAND OUTS to win votes. Not to mention his NATIONAL SECURITY SCARES - he joined in with the WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION scare, not to mention the THROW THEIR CHILDREN INTO THE SEA bullshit which turned so many Aussie voters against BOAT ARRIVING REFUGEES.

But as he clung to power with these dishonest schemes his government didn't do much in the areas of HEALTH, EDUCATION, SOCIAL SERVICES, INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT. His govt was pissing too much money with tax bribes and middle class welfare etc.

THE BIG KAHUNA - but history will judge HOWARD kindly. On account of his GUN BUYBACK/BAN after the PORT ARTHUR MASSACRE in '96. And yep, I admire him for this in the face of his Coalition allies, the NATIONAL PARTY - made up of farmers and rural town voters who are naturally pro-guns. Brave move - and it worked.

Fair enough.

PETER COSTELLO - BEST TREASURER EVER??? (trust me some idiots are saying this).

Costello was (and is) a WIMP. He never had the courage to stand up to Howard's more outrageous fiscal schemes (Keating was never slow in telling his sometimes over-enthusiastic PM Hawke to shove it up his jumper). Many praise Costello in being able to balance the budget, reduce govt debt and start the FUTURE FUND. Trust the experts - even the pet shop parrot could have done that in an economy bursting at the seems with tax receipts from the MINING BOOM.

Costello continued to wimp it out - in the dying days of Howard, he never had the ticker to challenge for the leadership. Even today, as CHAIRMAN OF THE FUTURE FUND (no this is not one of those sensible NATIONAL WEALTH FUNDS a la NORWAY aimed at preserving some of the nation's present bonus earnings from resources for future use, but a fund to finance FUTURE PUBLIC SERVICE RETIREMENTS) he refuses to allocate some of the funds into INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT LOANS, instead relying almost solely on SHARE MARKET INVESTMENTS (so far the best returning area, but in the future??) 

mmm - dude looks like Costello, his head-sitting mate like Howard

...................................................................

APRIL 05/2019 - LABOR'S ALTERNATIVE BUDGET.

Last night BILL SHORTEN, Labor leader, gave his budget reply. As expected, he matched the Coalition's immediate** tax cuts and went better - extending cuts to LOW INCOME EARNERS who the Coalition ignored (after all - poor people don't vote Coalition, so why try to bribe them with a tax cut?)

WAIT - THERE'S MORE! In having such a bounty of cash from the mini minerals boom and cuts to Coalition middle income and retirees tax bribes, LABOR will have money left over for a raft of other areas. Emphasized was the LABOR stronghold of HEALTH, with huge amounts being available to fight cancer and other stuff.

RESPONSE - in general, LABOR'S alternative went down well with the financial and economic pundits. Maybe not so well with Coalition spokesmen - Finance minister MATHIUS CORMANN talks about LABOR'S "high taxing high spending record". He would say that, wouldn't he?

Sure - rich dudes plus some middle income earners (and retirees++) who should never have got HOWARD'S election bribe sweeteners will be worse off. The rest - way better.

**some Coalition proposed tax cuts don't cut in until 5 or even 10 years' time - which all experts say is PIE IN THE SKY. Sensibly, Shorten won't go there.

++you gotta remember I'm a retiree. I figure I have done well out of HOWARD/COSTELLO largess (make hay while the sun shines) - but I will survive ok without (bonus times don't last forever but anyone with half a brain can adapt back to NORMAL TIMES).

SO FROM WHERE COMES THIS BULLSHIT ABOUT LABOR BEING POOR MONEY MANAGERS/HANDLERS OF THE ECONOMY??

From the WHITLAM LABOR GOVT OF THE 70S! Thing was, these dudes after 23 years in opposition went about govt like bulls in a china shop. Spent like crazy - tried to buy back the farm (govt debt and assets) with borrowings from some dodgy middle eastern petro-financed loan shark.

Now I have quite a lot of admiration for GOFF WHITLAM - but yeah, his govt wasn't exactly the model for fiscal rectitude.

THING IS THAT WAS 45 YEARS AGO!! - the COALITION is still clinging to this??

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STATE OF THE ECONOMY - APRIL 11 2019

The Global Economy - headwinds everywhere. Seems like this China/US trade thing is gonna affect future growth. 

Now the Trumpster is threatening to expand protection to Euro auto exports.

And the US scene alone is unsustainable even if the external sector somehow works out ok - soon the domestic sugar hit from the tax cuts/infrastructure-defence spending is gonna end, replaced by doom and gloom as econocrats contemplate how to finance all the extra spending when taxes have  been reduced. Is Trump planning to send the US into Chapter 9?

The Aussie Economy - headwinds too. We have falling property prices causing a doom and gloom mentality, very low wage increases doing the same, all resulting in spending being lower then it should. Factor in the external thing with China - if China had a recession, Australia is in deep trouble (it's our major export market). Similarly if the US succeeds in forcing China to agree to more imports of US mining and farm products, Australia loses because that is what it supplies to China in large quantities.

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APRIL 13 2019 

LOW WAGE INCREASES AS A DRAG ON THE ECONOMY - I GET IT' BUT I DON'T GET IT.

OK - I understand how punters spoiled by the relentless big increases in wages for much of this century are less than whelmed by the present era of very small increases. So they are freaked out - and decide to buy less right now - and in the near future.

SAY WHAT??? Face the facts trendsetters, the national statistician tells us wages, although increasing slowly, have increased more than average prices, which have been increasing even slower. Which means the average punter can today buy a bit MORE than he/she could a short time back. And a short time back they were buying up a storm. 

WHERE'S THE PROBLEM???

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APRIL 15 2019

DECREASING HOUSE PRICES - I GET IT BUT I DON'T GET IT.

For maybe a year, most Australian property prices have been declining - I GET how this makes people feel less rich, downs those all important "animal spirits" which makes them spend less because they think they are less wealthy (google the WEALTH EFFECT).

Thing is, I DON'T GET THIS - IT IS COMPLETELY IRRATIONAL. 

WHO is less wealthy? 

- Certainly not the majority of property owners who plan to hang on to their joints past this short term downturn (ALL such downturns are short term in the general phrase of time, Google post war Aussie property prices). So in the long run they are not worse off - if they decrease their general spending now they are ferkwits. 

WHERE'S THE PROBLEM??

- People selling one property to buy another. Okay, they sell for less, but they re-buy for less. WHERE'S THE PROBLEM?? Maybe people who sell AFTER buying their new joint. FERKWITS - who does that in a falling market? And there will be just as many selling BEFORE they buy the new joint.

- a very small proportion of sellers will be property investors. FERKWITS - if they can't organize their investment plans to avoid selling into a falling market they deserve to lose out. Not that they will lose out all that much. Unless they bought only a few months back  (and only idiots buy property for a short term gain) their investment  will still be showing a handsome gain in price, way more than could have been gained from alternative investments.

- and as far as those investors who are so leveraged they are gonna get caught short in a CALL - FERKWITS. One of the downsides of leveraged investment - they should know this going in.

- People who have recently bought property off the plan - ditto: one of the downsides of buying off the plan which even the pet shop parrot should know. And seeing property prices have been falling for over a year, they must have bought off the plan way back because only idiots and gamblers buy off the plan in a falling market.

-People selling property to give their kids a nest egg. Okay, the nest egg is a bit smaller, but still way way bigger than if the parents had opened a bank account/bought shares/etc for the kids.

 - Builders

Certainly builders will find things slower in the downturn. But having done so well in the long period of price growth, only the idiots would not have put something away for the inevitable reversal.

WINNERS - so as far as I can see only a few ferkwits are real losers here. But there are winners too. For years the press has been carrying on about how Australia's insane property boom has priced the average house out of reach of FIRST HOME BUYERS. Now our kids are finding their property more affordable.

Also winners are the millions of other property owners with mortgages, because in no way will lenders increase interest rates while the market is down. And interest rates are pretty low right now. Hell, we can probably extend the list of winners to ALL people who have a loan, irrespective of whether it is for property or other purposes, because the CENTRAL BANK is not gonna push general rates up in a property downturn.

GETS BETTER - I just read the Aussie Reserve Bank is considering reducing interest rates because of the softness of the economy - particularly the housing market.

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YOU AIN'T REALLY DOING IT TOUGH - APRIL 20 '19

First an apology to low income earners - Australia's income distribution is less unequal than some advanced countries, but at the same time people in Australia on lower incomes are indeed doing it tough. The minimum wage is a joke and there is a growing number of employers taking on the law by paying below the minimum. The unemployment benefit is a farce -way below what the average person needs to exist.

So the "YOU" in the heading refers to people on AVERAGE INCOMES in OZ, not to mention THOSE ABOVE AVERAGE who are also moaning about how tough things are.

SAY WHAT??? Some people have no idea. 

The social and popular media are full of the well-off whiners. 

A few thoughts:

- ELECTRICITY: not cheap in Oz - apparently only GERMANY has higher prices in the OCED. But this kills me when I look out the window and see all my neighbours with EVERY room in the house lit up. I walk the streets at night and hear the aircons whirring - this in a maritime climate that needs aircon maybe 10 days/nights per year - these people run it 24/7/365.

GAS - petrol is less expensive than in most advanced countries bar the US. Diesel is also cheaper including the US. But this does not stop the whiners from carrying on about how tough things are. Yet they still buy heavy SUVS etc which use at least 50% more gas than conventional family sedans. They sit them in parking lots IDLING while the aircon runs - surely this is the most expensive aircon in the world. 

On the subject of SUVS etc - EVERYTHING costs at least 50% more - registration (road tax), tyres, service, insurance. Yet the average person still buys them. FERKWITS.

- HOUSING: was a time when first home buyers went for the minimal 2/3 bedroom/single bathroom joint with the carport or (best) a single garage, the whole joint with the economy fit out. - do your own landscaping and fences. Now the minimum is 4 bedrooms/2 bathrooms, twin garages, aircon, Norwegian benches and appliances, full landscaping and fences.

- AND THE REST: as said up page, average people don't holiday in a tent down the coast these days, they go to some flash resort overseas. Back home they have to have all the latest STUFF - upmarket household appliances and personal communications gadgets.

I personally think expectations have got out of hand - people under 40 in OZ have NEVER experienced a recession in their adult working lives (even if they started it at 15) and thus don't know about tough times. Their expectations have got all out of whack, not helped by the MINING WAGES BOOM where average wages all over Oz (not just the mining areas) reached ridiculous levels for so long (2003-2013) that workers thought this was normal. The sense of entitlement of the average income earner became equal to previous generations' high income earners.

UPDATE APRIL 24. I mentioned above the SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT of workers today. Last night on the TV news I saw some workers hassling a political candidate for more tax cuts - these dudes looked like (their uniforms) power station workers or supervisors and mentioned they were on $aud250000 a year ("many of us work overtime"). A QUARTER MILLION A YEAR!!! .... No worker or supervisor is worth this, overtime or not (the average FULL TIME INCLUDING BONUSES AND OVERTIME INCOME IN OZ was $aud85982 late 18 - maybe 2% more now ($87700) - and the experts tell us AVERAGE INCOME is misleading because it is inflated by high income earners and way higher than the one we want - the MEDIAN INCOME (where half the income earners are higher/half lower) which unfortunately GOOGLE cannot come up with.Anyway a quarter million PA is obscene..... and STILL these dudes want a tax handout! To paraphrase a comment up page "NEVER GET BETWEEN AN OVERPAID JERK AND A TAX HANDOUT".

Jeez - to our list of overpaid fat cats (CEOs, SPORTS STARS, ENTERTAINERS IN GENERAL TRUST FUND BABIES yada, we gotta add WORKERS/SUPERVISORS IN ESSENTIAL INDUSTRIES)

UPDATE MAY 9 2019
I just read some late figures saying that over the past 10 years AVERAGE (use-weighted) PRICES have increased 23.4% while average ordinary time earnings are up by much more - 38%. So ordinary punters can buy many more goods and services now than 10 years back. The stats showed similar results for non-ordinary punters: the young, retired etc who have different consumption and income patterns. So once again - WE AIN'T REALLY DOING IT TOUGH.

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MAY 18 - 2019 FEDERAL ELECTIONS

Today Australian voters decide who is going to govern the nation for the next 3 odd years (yes – we don’t have fixed length terms of government).

The choice is between the incumbent LIBERAL/NATIONAL COALITION conservatives and the main opposition, LABOR. There is also a big rag-tag of independent parties, the main one of which is THE GREENS but which also includes rat-bag conservative reactionary outfits like ONE NATION and AUSTRALIA FIRST.

The LIBERAL/NATIONALS seem mainly to be offering more of the same: “TRUST US, ONLY WE KNOW HOW TO RUN THE ECONOMY”. This might be impressive if it were true – but as I mention up page, all the big time economic advances of the past century have come from LABOR. And the present state of the economy after two terms of LIBERALS/NATIONALS is pretty weak which again doesn’t say much for their claim to economic mastery.

Apart from this dubious claim of economic know-how- the COALITION is running a confected scare campaign of higher taxes under LABOR and offering a bunch of bribes like TAX CUTS for middle and high income earners (not much on offer to low income earners not to mention the fact that the lucky prospective recipients have to wait several years to [perhaps] get most cuts) and the usual PORK-BARRELING that somehow seems to favour N/LP and marginal electorates. Many people are upset about how the FAR RIGHT, SUPER CONSERVATIVE wing of the COALITION will ensure no change in the CLIMATE-CHANGE denial that has featured the past 20 years.

LABOR is offering more substance. They seem to have no trouble matching the COALITION’S tax cuts and then extending them to lower income earners on account they are going to wind back the shameless HOWARD/COSTELLO (COALITION) middle class welfare measures that have so disadvantaged ordinary wage earners. These wind-backs will produce a load of revenue which will not only finance LABOR’S wider tax cuts but also improve spending on health, climate change and a bunch of other areas, plus provide similar pork-barreling to that of the COALITION and reduce government debt more quickly.
Labor also promises to do something about the POOR WAGES GROWTH everyone is moaning about.

The pre-election consensus is that LABOR should just make it. Time will tell.

SUNDAY MAY 19 – THE LIGHTWEIGHT BLUES

                 LIGHTWEIGHTS TO THE LEFT OF ME
                 FERKWITS TO THE RIGHT
                 HERE I AM
                 STUCK IN THE MIDDLE FEELING BLUE


BIG SURPRISE!

Something few experts predicted – THE COALITION GOT BACK IN!

Actually surprisingly easily – with 75% of the vote counted it had 74 seats (76 needed to govern), LABOR only 66 and OTHERS 6.

LABOR leader BILL SHORTEN has conceded defeat and resigned from the leadership. COALITION leader SCOTT MORRISON is a party hero – I personally regarded him as a lightweight clown, but I must admit he campaigned well, way better than expected, and at most stages looked more impressive than SHORTEN. He certainly proved no lightweight clown.

Even though the result goes against my working class roots’ ideology, I firmly believe that WE GET THE GOVERNMENT WE DESERVE** – and if regular voters are lightweight (that word again) enough to swallow the lies and scare mongering of the COALITION, they deserve a lightweight government.

On a personal level, I’m better off – as a self funded retiree I have benefited from the COALITION’S shameless middle class+retirees’ handouts – my income would actually go down a bit under LABOR. But I was prepared to wear this for the greater fairness to people who had missed out on the wins from GLOBALISATION/DEREGULATION/PRIVATISATION yada. Up page I mention that one way the losers of the last 30 years of economic change can catch up a little is to embrace DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM a bit more. LABOR's program was much more democratically socialistic than the COALITION's. However the regular punters have rejected this – looks like they are much more contented with the status quo than their moaning about low wage growth, weak leadership, poor government services, global warming yada would suggest.

**as the circus in the UK and tragedy in the US readily prove.

MAY 21 2019 – FORENSICS 101 – NEVER GET BETWEEN A RETIREE AND A GOVERNMENT HANDOUT – (P Keating).

The post-election analysis of why LABOR lost is pouring in. Seems the biggest single issue was the alienation of self-retired pensioners who felt threatened by LABOR’S plan to modify the unjust DIVIDENDS IMPUTATION REFUND. This proposal would only affect 5% of taxpayers, mostly self funded retirees, but if they tell their kids not to vote LABOR too, it adds up to a hell of a lot of votes. As FERRIS BUELLER never said: “ALWAYS BACK THE HORSE CALLED SELF INTEREST”.

Of course there were plenty of other issues. One of the biggest was SCOTT MORRISON’S personal popularity. He certainly outshone the rather dour BILL SHORTEN. As I overheard a neighbour say: “I voted for SCOTT MORRISON – HE SEEMS LIKE SUCH A NICE MAN”. Hasus wept.

As one wag wrote: “VOTERS DIDN’T SHOOT THE MESSAGE – THEY SHOT THE MESSENGER” Wish I’d said that.

UPDATE - on reflection, when you think about it they shot BOTH the message (ending the dividend imputations refund lurk) AND the messenger.

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JULY 21 2019
Been awhile since my last post, but here's the thing: NOT TOO MUCH WORTH RANTING ABT THESE DAYS.

I put it down to getting old - as I suggest up page, AGE MELLOWS. Sure, I see stuff makes me giggle, not RANT...like the BULLY IN CHIEF....and the ongoing BREXIT train-crash. I mean there has been a lot of action in BOTH areas the past few months, but not too much progress. Like THE TRUMPSTER does not seem to be making too much progress with his WALL thing; the TRADE WAR with China could end up "some things gained, some lost' .
And the BREXIT saga continues - at this date THERESA is finished, BORIS looks likely (did I mention ENTERTAINMENT - that guy should almost be as good as the PROTECTIONIST IN CHIEF). 
And right now there's still NO PLAN fer the actual exit.

The above shares my conviction that the EEC is a fundamentally floored concept - well the currency union bit is. But what do I know? - I'm just a trained economist.

UM - just remembered this is a TRAVEL BLOG. 
OK - just returned from the annual trip to BALI and nearby. This time LADY TEZZA and I did our usual couple of days in KUTA on arrival,  but at a new location even closer to the airport, and a sister property to our usual off the plane, spot - then went across to SANUR for a relax in 2 locations (VALUE ON THE SANUR BEACHFRONT and THE GOOD, THE BAD and the UGLY). After that we normally head up-island for some destination in the mountains or north coast we haven't seen before - but this year we figured we'd seen all the places worth seeing ++ the hassle of moving up country is big time on the horrific roads with typical BALI traffic - so we gave that a miss and headed back to KUTA. Stayed for the first time in POPPIES 2 (detaills HERE), then went across to POPPIES 1 for a few nights, then to our KUTA favourite, BAKUNG SARI RESORT AND SPA - which is close enough to the airport to ease LADY T's exit. 
LADY T went home next day (she missed her grand-kids) and I headed for the SW GILIS (GILE GEDE and nearby) for 10 nights. You can read about them elsewher on this blog page HERE .

Rinjani from south GEDE



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JULY 24 2019

IT'S OFFICIAL - BORIS IS PM!

The pantamine has turned into a circus.
And here is the head clown.
Get prepared for some heavy duty entertainment.

HANG ON TIGHT - THIS IS GOING TO GET INTERESTING!

--------------------------------
SEPT 29 2019
It's been a while since my last entry - been a bit busy with a mega trip to NE US and other things.

THE RANT is a kind of misnomer for me - see at my age (I'm 74) I've seen most things more than once before - but the world survived then, and so getting upset now is largely a waste of time. My personal approach is to have a bit of a larf at the current crises getting so many people upset - and to poke a bit of fun at it - maybe I should rename this section THE GIGGLE.

Now I can picture some earnest types saying the current crises are way beyond a giggle - for instance the state of the environment (wasn't that 16yo a blast??) threatens to end the world as we know it. OK as I said, seen that before - the CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS threatened the end of the world as we know it back in the 60s. But we survived that. Common sense prevailed. As we will survive this present environmental crisis. This is not to denigrate the contributions of GRETA et al- .... people like that are WHY we will survive the crisis.

In the meantime I will giggle away at THE DENIAL OF WARMING, the OBFUSCATION OF VESTED INTERESTS, the OTHER EXCUSES FOR INACTION. The same as I will at the other things get people so upset - brain dead politicians/governments, lack of housing/population/transport policies....yada. Not to mention economic mismanagement and the rest. We have seen this before and yet the world muddled thru. No-ones such as me, jumping up and down achieve nothing. So why not sit back and have a larf?

Aint she great? But I giggled - not at GRETA but at the discomfit she was dishing out to the DENIAL MERCHANTS, the VESTED INTERESTS and the rest. 

MY REFLECTIONS ON THE GOOD OL' USA (Just got back from my second mainland visit)

BEACHES - Mainland-wise I'm restricted to CALIFORNIA and the NORTH EAST (ie north of CAPE MAY - south of CAPE COD). But what I've seen so far is a bunch of big long featureless beaches (apart from the piers) - BORING (LA area), short shitty rocky types with heaps of KEEP OUT signs (would you believe one said "NO WALKING ON THE BEACH") in the BIG SUR region, weed-packed ones at CARMEL, and generally dirty long unappealing types lining the SAN FRANCISCO coast. Oh yeah, the north-east - no shortage of barrier beaches stretching off towards the horizon with no discerning start of finish, backed by low grassed dunes - BORING from my point of view although people who see beaches once a year on holidays think they are the best on earth, PLUS some much more experienced beach-goers prefer the wide open spaces of this type of beach and so rate them much higher than me. Who is to say my preference is tops?
I say.

No headlands, backed by low dunes, high tide narrow, rocky - BORING!

THE PEOPLE - US citizens are the most affable agreeable people in the world - EXCEPT: put them in uniform, give them a bit of power - and the become NAZIS, just looking for an excuse to boss and rule the masses.

--------------------------

DEC 16 2019

Been a time gap since my last entry - it's not that interesting things and rantible stuff has not happened - more a case of been real busy with other things. So maybe some updates....

TRUMPSTER UPDATE - can't keep up with this dude. Right now he's in the early stages of IMPEACHMENT which he and his supporters are either ignoring or denying big time - likewise all the other scandals and inquiries re his administration. 
As far as THE WALL is concerned, he had a kind of win when he managed to convince judges that he could use DEFENSE FUNDS for its construction (dunno how this put him with defense personnel - maybe any bad feeling has been cancelled following recently announced armed forces wage increases).
The TRADE WAR is a confusing on-again, off-again thingo - he and his supporters seem to think ANY "progress" on the CHINA thing is a win - they are calling the part repeal of PHASE ONE tariffs a win, even though the impartial experts are undecided.
 Things don't seem so hot on other trade fronts - he has recently threatened to spread tariffs to EUROPEAN imports after targeting some LATIN AMERICAN economies.

On the personal relations front the TWEETER IN CHIEF is sure to win support from his followers in ridiculing a 16 yo Asperger sufferer. What a winner! What a man!


THE US ECONOMY UPDATE - seems that sugar hit from the tax cuts/infrastructure spending is STILL going, but sooner or later the cost is going to hit. And the impact of the TRADE WAR is going to make itself felt in employment, taxation and inflation areas. 
:"Sooner or later"....maybe MUCH later -  tax cuts etc can be financed by another round of QUANTITATIVE EASING (in effect the US TREASURY printing more money). Already TRUMP is trying to bully the FEDERAL RESERVE into this, along with lower interest rates and a lower US dollar.

BREXIT UPDATE - well BORIS has just won the election. All those "WE AINT GONNA LET THOSE CONTINENTALS PUSH US AROUND" losers have given him a mandate for BREXIT. So the train crash rolls on - as I said this is becoming interesting - and real entertaining. Although many Brits stand to lose jobs, businesses and income if it happens - that won't be so entertaining.

I wonder if some of those flames include the possible loss of SCOTLAND? Not so fine if BRITAIN loses all that NORTH SEA oil revenue. And Northern Ireland is looking shaky. Did someone mention (a future) LITTLE BRITAIN?

AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY UPDATE - things are still in the doldrums with low wage growth/ spending/ investment/ employment growth and GDP expansion. The "great economic managers" who thought their tax decreases would stimulate the above have been proved wrong. But they refuse to give any FISCAL STIMULUS because they still think limiting government spending to BALANCE THE BUDGE has priority right now. Not sure what all those dopes who voted for them think right now - but knowing the average Aussie, it won't be until unemployment starts to blow out, inflation spikes high, wages decrease in real terms, housing mortgage interest rates bite hard yada that they will be nudged out of their stupor. Any time soon.

ECONOMICS 101 - QUANTITATIVE EASING
The theory is neat if a bit pie in the sky - how printing money in exchange for govt bonds will increase liquidity, make borrowing money even easier and get all those dudes out there to buy a shitload more stuff. Only trouble is the the RICH have used all this cheap money to buy shares and property. So the US and other places who have tried QE have had an ASSETS BUBBLE mostly in non-productive areas, but not in places which promote real growth. Not helping TRUMPSTER'S losers but making him real popular in upper income circles. Which is maybe what counts - those dudes contribute to campaign funds, and ALWAYS VOTE.

CAR NUT 
Here's a confession - been a car nut all my life - which at 74 years ain't short.

Car nut.....ho, ho, ho

But that CAR NUT thing conflicts with being a TIGHT ARSE. And I must admit the TIGHT ARSE thingo has won in recent years. 
Time was when certain basic rules that I though set in stone applied: "ANYONE WITH A BRAIN BUYS USED, WHEN A CAR IS ONE OR TWO YEARS OLD..... LET THE ORIGINAL OWNER WEAR THE DEPRECIATION". So I was a great fan of showing up at GOVERNMENT AUCTIONS and buying a one or two years old police pursuit car - a V8 or turbo Commodore with all the special stuff - heavy duty suspension, big wheels, big brakes...yada.
And my plan was when I got old to TRADE DOWN - start with something of reasonable value and every year or so replace it with a slightly older goodie - do you have any idea how all those cars used to light fires back in the day have depreciated? I could see myself in BEEMERS, MERCS, RX8s and a whole bunch of other good stuff** every year or so.

2003 RX8 - $AUD8900 - and I could get it for way less.

DON'T WORK LIKE THAT ANYMORE - here's the thing: back in the day most new models might show new sheet-metal and interiors but not much else. But NOW seems every update has things worth having - new safety measures, new performance measures (was a time not long ago we had to go to the aftermarket for big wheels, big power yada - now they come standard or as an option), new economy measures and often improved driving pleasure (better steering, more road isolation, better roadholding....yada).
It's NEW ECONOMY MEASURES which have caught my notice. I reckon the days of PERFORMANCE MOTORING have gone - unless you can afford TRACK DAYS (how much will that cost you - not only the ROLL CAGE, HELMET, TRACK FEES, but TIRES, BRAKES etc?). So for this enthusiast the only way to get added pleasure from motoring is to become a HYPERMILER - yeah that's right, a fuel-sipping nerd. 

This started with the purchase of my current car back in 2011 - a HYUNDAI ELANTRA. I read an article about cars beating US40mpg (a US gallon is smaller than an imperial gallon) and the ELANTRA was one - and it was drop dead gorgeous and had all the latest safety meaures current at the time. So I changed my plan about buying secondhand/few year's old, and bought one new.

Listen up - the ELANTRA is nothing exciting - steering braking? It does them.....neither offends nor arouses. But it does get brilliant fuel economy - way over that 40USmpg.

Time passes - now with my interest in HYPERMILING, I kinda fancy the latest TOYOTA COROLLA HYBRID which is not only super efficient but is a definite step up in features, safety and driving pleasure from the previous model and my Elantra. Big problem - my ELANTRA is almost new! It has only done 65k km over the years and looks/drives like a new car (car styling has caught up - latest generation new cars look similar but not better than mine). But if I traded the ELANTRA, I'd get next to nothing. Which does not sit well with this long time tight arse.

2011 Elantra

**My biggest dream unfortunately is out the window - I have been a US STREET MACHINE enthusiast all my life - but unfortunately all those great old Yankee cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s have APPRECIATED in OZ, not depreciated. So much so they are way out of this guy's reach: must remember as a general car nut I compare relative values over a whole range of stuff: an iffy un-modified '72 CHEVVY 2 for the same price as a NEW COROLLA HYBRID?.....NUH!!

CHEVVY 2 street machine - modified. To bring one up to this standard would cost 3 times the price of a COROLLA HYBRID.
BTW - a CHEVVY 2 is not my ideal basis for a street machine. My dream is a '57 CADDY ELDORADO, but one of those is near unobtainable in Australia and near priceless in the US.

'57 ELDO

MARCH 19 2020

Whoa, huge gap since my last input! Big apologies, but there have been a whole load of personal health issues plus the normal travel activity.

So all the above stuff on THE TRUMPSTER, BREXIT and whatever has moved on big time.

THE TRUMPSTER - has weathered THE WALL, IMPEACHMENT and a whole load of other stuff - at present he is mired in this CORINVIRUS thing - the general consensus is he hasn't handled it too well (what's new?) but that depends on where you are coming from - Republicans think the whole virus thing is a Demorcrat invention, The circus continues....

BREXIT remains the same old CLUSTERFERK. Boris has managed to withdraw the UK from the EEC, but considering the economic consequences won't kick in for a full year on account the trading rules etc last 12 months after withdrawal, we (smart-arses like me) have to keep our SCHADENFREUDE dry for some time. But maybe some consequences will be felt before then - IRELAND is not happy. Ditto SCOTLAND.

Fixing the Irish border problem

THE CORINVIRUS - so much has been written, so much done. It is dead easy to be drowned under all the information coming from so called "experts". My personal thought is we are being victimised by the FEAR INDUSTRY who make big bucks or at least keep their jobs by scaring the crap out of the public - that the health crisis may not be as bad as the media and social media would like us to believe.

But here's the thing - tell enough people bad times are coming and those bad times certainly will - scare the shit out of the public and they will go panic buying (like toilet paper her in OZ - what a giggle)....

.

... but at the same time withdraw demand for much stuff, which is sure to tank the economy. So to sum up my thoughts: hopefully not a killer health crisis, but certainly an economic crisis ahead.

APRIL 08 - MORE CORONAVIRUS

Seems I was wrong above in my claim that the health crisis is not as bad as made out (yet I won't withdraw my remarks on the FEAR INDUSTRY). Things seem to have developed into twin killer crises - healthwise and economic. Here in Oz the infection and death rates are relatively low thanks to fairly concrete and early steps in the form of personal isolation and shutdowns of non-essential activity. Sure snafus have occurred and some messages have been contradictory and ambiguous, but thankfully nothing major (people whose loved ones have died from the "RUBY PRINCESSS' debacle no doubt judge that incident a major snafu).

Ship had sick passengers on arrival, 4 unloaded into ambulances, yet AUSTRALIAN BORDER FARCE and the NSW DEPT OF HEALTH allowed the 2700 remaining passengers off the ship and to go home, many using public transport, without even a temperature check! Since then many have died, more admitted to hospital. And non-cruisers involved in the shore transfrers have been infected. Right now these august govt departments are trying to shift the blame onto the cruise line itself. This is typical of Australia - govt officials on mega salaries will not take responsibility for their stuff ups - and the politicians support them.

The impact of the isolation and close down on the economy is major but again sensible steps have been taken by the government in the form of major fiscal boosts to industry and individuals and sensible regulation; also by the Reserve Bank in easing the official interest rate and freeing up credit; and by commercial banks in easing hard-line approaches to debt etc.** Credit must be given to PM MORRISON and his government in abandoning their previous neo-conservative small government-nil interference - anti science approach to become raving spend-big KEYNESIANS*** (It'a ironic that the disciples of neo-classical economics become rabid Keynesians when the chips are down). All plans for a surplus budget, their major claim to re-election, have been thrown out the window - the 2019/2020 budged deficit will be huge.

But I give more credit to an even bigger right-winger, BORIS JOHNSTON for announcing similar fiscal action earlier (although hindsite indicates he was way slow in instituting health measures - typical conservative govt: strong on business, weak on people).  Poor ol' Boris is right now in ICU with the virus - hope he does well. Although I reckon BREXIT and his normal politics are nuts, I do like the larrikin as a person.

Of course the true credit must go to KEN HENRY, Secretary Of The Oz Treasury back in the GFC days who advised the government to "GO EARLY AND GO HARD" with a fiscal response to that crisis. The fact that Australia was the only advanced nation to avoid a recession at the time has not been lost on subsequent  politicians and finance ministers elsewhere.

Maybe not even on OL' ORANGE. Dude seems to have done a huge U-TURN from denial (....."something dreamed up by the Democrats" - ("it's nothing, just the flu and will over by Easter"..."we have plenty of ventilators" - to concern (...."it's going to be ugly - many people will die...."). Maybe that concern is half-hearted - I notice face-mask use is "voluntary" and he personally ain't gonna wear one. Plus he still shows open disdain to medical experts and others who oppose the populist line.

Meanwhile his popularity is at an all time high. I don't get it. 

**this is so difficult to do on an economy-wide basis and naturally some businesses and individuals miss out. But credit must be given to this elitist govt in extending aid to the lowly paid and unemployed.

***of course all these hundreds of billions of stimulus must be eventually paid for. I'm not worried - Oz manged it after each world war as did other countries with much higher debts. But for the dreamers who think this will all be free, please understand that taxes and charges in future will be higher than they otherwise would have. I'm kidding if I think the dreamers will accept this - such malcontents will be moaning their heads off. They have had it so good for so long in this country (a mixture of good economic policy, badly irresponsible government handouts and luck), they have no idea of normal times, let alone tough times.

ANOTHER EUROPEAN UNION CRISIS

I notice the Europeans have also announced a big stimulus package. But countries like ITALY and SPAIN are crying out for more - specifically the issue of CORONABONDS (in effect, loans to the governments of these countries) backed by all member countries. The richer northern countries have resisted this - being tired of rescuing the profligate, careless southerners.

That may be fair enough - but it once again highlights the weakness of this economic union. The rich EEC countries are prepared to accept the benefits of union (bigger market = cheaper products, ease of movement etc) without the cost of supporting the weaker parts of it - unlike political unions like the USA or federations like AUSTRALIA - who come to the rescue of poorer states and territories frequently.

Time will tell how this EEC crisis pans out. My prediction - just another periodic crisis which will be papered over by overpaid wishful-thinking bureaucrats, allowing the show to lurch on to another crisis sometime down the road.

April 18 2020     THE WHO - IN BED WITH THE REDS?

At present THE TRUMPSTER is trying to distract from his own COVID 19 early inaction by accusing the WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION of the same. 

Even though I agree they are cosied up too close to CHINA and failed to pass on early warnings I disagree that withdrawing funds is the way to go. The WHO aint perfect and hopefully will learn a bit from this snafu. But the world still needs a central body co-ordinating measures against international health problems . 

05 APRIL 2020

CRISIS PASSED?

Yeah well that's the big question right now. Some countries have reached the point where NEW INFECTIONS are in the minority, and DEATHS rare. So they are trying to work out whether it is too soon to relax somewhat draconian health measures like social distancing and isolation.

The HEALTH EXPERTS say give it more time - the BUSINESS and ECONOMIC experts are saying this more time will really kill us. 

So yeah, some jurisdictions are beginning to relax health rules, with maybe fingers crossed. What gets confusing is that in a FEDERAL SYSTEM like Australia, the PRIME MINISTER is announcing relaxations due to kick in at x time - but some STATE PREMIERS who have the last say, are contradicting by announcing their own timetables.

Must be even more confusing in the good ol' US, with 52 states and a bombastic federal leader who seems more anxious in keeping unemployment down (and thus getting re-elected) than in saving lives. Dude is bullying the states to relax restrictions and open things up - not that all states need bullying - with republican governors they are heeding ol' Orange's and the business lobby's calls. Hey, and the USA has not even reached the point of PEAK INFECTIONS/DEATHS. Some times it's good to not live in THE LAND OF THE FREE. 

JUNE 23 2020

CAR STYLING

BUTT UGLY - SNOUTS.

Seems most new cars are trying to outdo each other in terms of which has the ugliest front facia - HUGE grills are de rigour. What we have is angry faces and gaping mouths in bulk.

2020 MAZDA 2 - nice body with JIMMY DURANTE SNOZ - picture this with a grille-opening half that size

If This were mine, I'd paint that cross-piece behind the tag-plate body colour.

New BMW 4 - GOOD GRIEF!

That's a bit like a supermodel with buck teeth.

This started with some 80s or 90s RAM pickup which introduced a big new grill to make it look tough for all the weekend warriors who buy these things to cruise the local shopping center parking lot at grossly over the top prices.

First all the other PICKUPS, SUVs etc followed - then the car stylists joined in. Before we know it just about all modern cars, despite having outstanding sleek bodies, have a HUGE BUTT UGLY SNOUT.

But there are exceptions - TESLAS  have sleek snouts (refuting the claim that big noses are needed for the crush space to meet modern frontal impact/pedestrian impact regulations).

Okay, I can see all you car nerds saying TESLA 3 DON'T NEED A HIGH FRONT ON ACCOUNT THE ENGINE IS ABOVE THE REAR AXLE - so all that space up front is crushable luggage space. 

So first of all, an all-electric vehicle with a BUTT UGLY FRONT

- THE 2021 BMW iNEXT

Crikey - I mean BMW SUV coupes are ugly enough without sticking a JIMMY DURANTE SNOZ on one. Takes weird to a whole new level.

Next let's find a current auto with a conventional engine, placed up front, which hasn't a DURANTE.

2020 TOYOTA COROLLA is the best selling auto in the world - has a pretty sleek upper front despite most or that space behind containing a bulky combustion engine.

But notice how TOYOTA is bowing to current styling trends - that lower section below the TOYOTA BADGE ain't exactly subtle. In fact it's UGLY.

More ugly from a production model.

Looks like a deranged beaver.

JULY 16 - WOMEN'S FASHION

GYM TIGHTS FER EVERYDAY WEAR

Once again fashion follows function. Got to admit GYM TIGHTS are okay in the right environment - THE GYM. And it doesn't matter if the wearer is svelte or oversize - they are wearing the right thing for the environment.

It's where many outsiders who wanna be associated with the fitness thing, start wearing these as everyday fashion. SORRY - gym tights on fat babes in the high street look ridiculous. Active wear looks okay on slvelte babes as everyday clobber - but the party stops there. (I know I'll have all the PLUS SIZE FASHIONISTAS fat-shaming me for my non-PC comments, but who cares?)

Yes, your bum DOES look BIG in this,

I just realised in this day of big booty KARDASHIAN worship that line is no longer an insult. So - yes, your bum does look UGLY in this.

OK we have seen similar everyday fashion mimicking tough sports in the past. Back in the early 60's the only dudes wore BOARD SHORTS were surfers. These days 90+% of beach going males (and too many babes - thankfully fewer in 2020) are wearing them. Maybe they think it gives them KELLY SLATER top tubeshooter vibe.

But the difference is quite a few surfers were overweight back in the days on account they drank too much beer (they certainly got plenty of exercise surfing, so the weight had to come from somewhere. WAIT - I don't think we surfers were particularly smart eaters back in the day. A pint of chocolate milk and a big bag of fries was my and my mates' favourite post-surfing snack in the 60s and 70s - so some of that extra weight came from not smart food). All the same, surfers drank a hell of a lot of beer too. 

So an overweight dude in BOARD SHORTS doesn't look as ridiculously out of place.

I'm thinking some babes who shouldn't wear gym tights do so because they want the fitness association. 

Others hope the compression thing make them appear slimmer in these outfits.......NADA.

 Still more are just slaves of fashion - if the influencers are wearing them, we all will - despite the fact they look ridiculous on many.

So what are my golden rules for everyday outside wear - 

um:

- gotta be comfortable (which precludes a whole lot of tight stuff)

- gotta be affordable. OK the in-stuff tends to be more expensive. But the bottom line has to be what is affordable for the individual's level of income and spending strain (spending STRAIN? - some people don't earn much, but their thing is CLOTHES against food, electronics, cars, sport etc for others - so fair enough they blow what others think is too much on their passion. Maybe they blow too much for their own level of comfort - this is where the STRAIN comes in)

- gotta look okay. Which precludes a lot of this tight stuff on overweight babes. 

DISCLOSURF - I'm not going to tell you what my everyday wear is. Except the summer stuff is totally inappropriate for a 70s+ old dude. Which brings up the old hypocrites' standard: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO.

JULY 16

MIDDLE CLASS WELFARE AND THE CORONA VIRUS

Just received the PRIME MINISTER'S latest boost to Australian FISCAL STIMULUS: $AUD750 (abt $US520).

As a holder of a COMMONWEALTH HEALTH CARD, I qualify. 

But I don't deserve it. See, these cards are given to retirees who's assets and/or income are just a bit too high to qualify for the OLD AGE PENSION - but too low to qualify as comfortably off. That's me. 

But no way am I doing it tough.

 I get this payment because past PM JOHNY HOWARD decided to buy geezer votes abt 15 years ago - he pissed a whole lot of money (which would have been better used on nation building/fighting global warming and a whole lot of other worthy things) against the wall to ensure he got enough votes for re-election. So he gave geezers not doing it all that tough tax breaks, health cards and sundry other things we didn't really deserve. He didn't get my vote, but enough to get re-elected. My thoughts of JOHNY HOWARD - a bad PM but a very clever politician.

And so we come to this CV19 health/economic crisis - to the present government's credit it decided on cash splashes to increase spending and save jobs. And one group it decided to splash it to are we retired folks who are not quite doing it tough enough to qualify for a government pension.

Now it doesn't matter WHO gets it as long as they are likely to spend it. But my demographic is less likely to spend ALL of it than government pensioners and the unemployed. Thankfully both those groups also got the cash splash, so maybe I shouldn't be too negative.

But me personally? Well I would have made a point of going out and spending it on something guaranteed to boost employment to the max (ie something where ALL the money would stay in Australia, with no leakage overseas), but I had no extra personal needs at the time, so maybe me spending would not be the best overall use of the money.

I had a better idea - split it in two parts and send it to my son and daughter. My son has 5 kids and there is always something needing to be purchased - my daughter has been living  on the government's 3 days a week wage subsidy, so definitely had a shortage of things required.

A bit on the various used of the money:

- lotsa people have bought plasma screens and other electrical components. This helps because around half the money stays in Australia and becomes income for sales staff, warehouse people, transport guys, shop owners etc, who then go on to spend it on more stuff - but half leaks off overseas to where all this electrical equipment is made. Great for China etc.

- there has been a lot of criticism of people who have used the money to gamble, buy booze and drugs etc. Drop the righteousness folks - we are talking economics not morals - we after bang for buck here. And if the staff and individuals in the casinos, clubs/pubs etc have extra work and thus income - all's good. Even better if the drugs and booze is made in Australia which a lot is. And remember that MULTIPLIER EFFECT - the suppliers/pub workers/bookies etc go out and spend this money and it helps prop up even more jobs.

I don't care if the neighbourhood drug lord is doing well - that type of person is a flashy spender, and  is more likely to extend his house than those rich-dude company directors a few suburbs away. And the building industry tends to have a huge multiplier effect.

- some people have used the money to pay down their house mortgage. At first this seems money lost. 

The banks are flush with cheap cash and don't really need more. So we aren't gonna see a boost on loan spending out of this. But we must remember the WEALTH EFFECT - when people have less debt they are more likely to spend more in the near future. 

The experts tell us the spending had to be NOW - but I'm not convinced. This crisis is gonna go on well past the end of government stimulus - I don't mind measures which will increase spending then rather than right now.

This WEALTH EFFECT can even be argued for better off recipients who simply banked all the stimulus money - trouble is many of these folks have no intention of spending any extra anytime soon or in the future - and so the stimulus money is largely wasted on them. I was a bit afraid this might be me - hence my decision to send it on to the kids.

CANCEL CULTURE - ZZZZ

I'm appalled at the treatment of GEORGE FLOYD, not to mention all those other black US citizens....ditto EEC, Australian, Asian and African minorities. So I'm a great supporter of BLACK LIVES MATTER and similar movements.

At the same time, I can't abide all those opportunists who have seen their big chance of hitching a ride to further their agenda. So they are pulling down statues of historical figures who have been  connected to the "racist" past. Not to mention banning books and movies and flaming anyone who questions these actions.

My take - I don't give a stuff re their agenda. A lot seems a repeat of the old PC WARS which were fought some time back. .... ZZZZZZ.

Of course many of these losers will accuse me of being a RACIST which is their usual fallback. Once again ..... ZZZZZ

OCT 09 2020     SO FAR SO GOOD - WHAT NOW?

At  this point of the Corona-crisis Australia is in a pretty good place. By world standards we have had few infections and deaths because of early action and a dose of good luck. Right now each state except Victoria is still imposing personal space restrictions, venue attendance limits, closed borders except for Aussie returnees from overseas (who must hotel-quarantine for 14 days - apart from that no other people can enter the country), but such restrictions are small time compared to a full lockdown which unfortunately Victoria's MELBOURNE area has been subject to following a secondary outbreak there.

But okay, what now? Do we remove all limits and just let it rip? Or do we play it safe and keep some basic restrictions in place? The latter seems the sensible option but there is a cost - to LIBERTY (a great many peoples' goodwill is near breaking point) and to the ECONOMY (restrictions cost jobs and hit some businesses more than others - government stimulus methods miss some folk and ALL of us will have to pay for the increased spending some time in the future).

I have no idea what will happen. 

Our government's 2020 BUDGET was brought down earlier this week - it contains a lot of stimulus but maybe not what was best in the circumstances: stimuli like PERSONAL TAX CUTS bought forward (spending trackers have proved tax cuts lead to less spending than say increasing the dole which was not  done) and BUSINESS TAX RELIEF (will businesses spend more when many outfits are broke? And wasn't TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS the discredited idea of late last century? Cynics would say wealth didn't tickle down but stayed with rich companies which simply bought back their shares or paid higher dividends.  Wealth went to high earners who could afford to speculate - the lack of trickle down to lower-middle incomes and the poor leading to the present era of POPULIST POLITICS which has so many countries tied up right now.

Our 2020 government budget also relied on some HEROIC ASSUMPTIONS like the rate of economic growth of our major trading partners and the 2021 appearance of a VACCINE.

As usual some people missed out on any goodies. The most glaring seems to be FEMALES OVER 35 who are disproportionately a feature of long term unemployment.

Any VACCINE is probably the big thing - if one appears soon 

Australia and all those foreign places way behind us in the fight might come out of this in relatively good shape - if not this crisis could continue for years.

One thing's for sure - if we get back to normal it's gonna be a NEW NORMAL 

And I can't help shuddering about a near future WORLD DEBT CRISIS - that's gonna delay a NEW NORMAL even with a VACCINE.

Oct 09  - THE SUPER SPREADER IN CHIEF 

Right now the positive-reading TRUMPSTER has been out of hospital for a few days. This follows the circus-like and irresponsible limo-ride outside hospital plus a return to his normal denialist behavior back in the White House. Can't beat his statement that CV19 is nothing, can easily be beat. Yeah he beat it (so far) with cutting edge 24/7 medical care and drugs, beyond the reach of the normal person.

And his staff and supporters are dropping like flies - keep this up and there will be no one left to run his campaign or vote for him.

Make America Great Again!

Under the TRUMPSTER'S watch, many ordinary citizens will get to ride in a Cadillac.

---------------------------------

YOU’RE FIRED!!

8^th November 2020 - At this time counting in the long run train crash which is the US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION has progressed to the point where BIDEN has been declared the winner. Not-withstanding the moves by THE LITIGANT IN CHIEF.

Thing which surprised most was THE CLOSENESS OF THE CONTEST. But some people are asking: what is so surprising about a xenophobic ignorant buffoon attracting votes in a country of xenophobic ignorant buffoons? BUT the thing is TANTRUM TOSSER IN CHIEF managed to attract around 70 million votes and their ain’t that many xenophobic ignorant buffoons in the US.

THE TANTRUM TOSSER IN CHIEF

(Cartoon from MOIR, SMH)

TRUTH IS a lot of these non-ignorant TRUMP supporters are hurting – they are losers from GLOBALISM, FREE TRADE etc and see no way to get their share such is the strangle-hold the upper class on the system- so they ignore all the bad behavior etc from the incumbent and vote for someone who promises (falsely) that he can fix the system. I think more than a few are reasonably intelligent people who realisize he can't really fix the problem but their ballot is a PROTEST VOTE (sure, some of Joe's promises could help them but they know the control of the legislature/courts by the winners from the present system is such those promises never will be instituted). 

Certainly if I was lower or middle class (except for the top end) in the USA, I would be very frustrated around now.

LESSONS FROM THE TRUMPSTER ERA

1 – LOOK AFTER YOUR LOSERS

This is not possible in the US because the upper class controls the legislature, courts and other ways to redistribute the gains from GLOBALISM, FREE TRADE etc downstream. But OTHER COUNTRIES must resist the lure of right-wing populism and maintain their social-democratic distribution of pf the gains to the working class and lower/middle middle class.

2 – A LIE IS THE GOSPEL TRUTH TO YOUR FOLLOWERS.

And repeat it often enough it becomes gospel truth to you.

3 – THE SUGAR HIT FROM LOWER TAXES, HUGE GOVERNMENT DEFICITS SURE LASTS A LONG TIME. Nearly 4 years and we still haven’t seen the downside of TRUMP’S reckless boosting of the economy.

4 - A XEONOPHOBIC, IGNORANT BUFFOON MAY NOT HAVE BEEN  THE BEST PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL BU HE SURE WAS ENTERTAINING.

What are all the satirists, cartoonists and moderate-liberal editorial writers gonna do now?

cartoon MOIR/SMH

-----------------------------------------

NOVEMBER 29 2020

THE BIG RESET

Everyone, including the pet shop parrot, is squawking about how we are gonna see a RESET in just about everything because of the pandemic – employment will never be the same (half the workforce will be working from home etc), we are gonna see a whole new world of travel, personal relationships, self-sufficiency ………………...and so on. I know a lot of this has come from the dearth of relevant media infill in this time when lots of readers/viewers have plenty of spare time to peruse – meaning every futurologist, expert and ratbag with a cause has jumped at the chance to give their ideas a public outing.

I have a different theory on how things will be post pandemic – the reset in most things will be SMALL rather then BIG. Some so small that it will almost be back to normal. For instance early on the experts were telling us about the HUGE CHANGES we will see in RETIREMENT LIVING post-pandemic. Makes sense on account that retirement homes etc were baring the brunt of deaths when the pandemic was at its peak. But now in post peak Australia all interest seems to have been lost in this issue – I predict the future will see a few more of the usual ENQUIRIES into this industry, making a bunch of recommendations. Most of which will be swept under the carpet (too hard, too expensive) with only a few improvements being made at the margins.

Changes in other areas will be bigger but not earth-shaking – in effect post pandemic it will be much a case of back to business as normal.

But I admit there will be a FEW BIGGIES – a new post-Trump political era in USA (sanity replaces bullshit) But not really the big reset towards the democratic socialism America needs for a fairer distribution of the gains from neo-economics.

- anther biggie is the new wider recognition that GOVT BORROWING/NATIONAL DEBT ISN’T BAD in times of crisis. (I rabbit on about that way up-page) But I have an idea that conservative governments will only stick with this until interest rates start to inch up.

Ain't gonna happen

INSULAR VIEW - Dec 17 2020

Of course down here in Orstrala we are fortunate** to be seeing the back++ of the pandemic - we haven't had a positive test outside of  hotel quarantined return travelers for weeks. Wheres the USA and Europe are still raging pandemic-wise with often record positives and deaths. USA figures for this month (DEC 2020) show over 3000 deaths some days, In total some 311000 poor folk have died in the US (Australia's total is 908 deaths - admittedly Oz has a smaller population but on a per person basis that still is way disproportionate).

At the same time I bet the media in areas where covid is still raging is full of RESET predictions.

**maybe fortunate only applies in that Oz had the good luck to have a whole lot of things going for it - including quick acting governments who were brave enough to drop their ideology and listen to the scientists and other experts and a population that was prepared to accept short term hardship for the common good^^.

^^Maybe we will have to chuck our embedded notion that Aussies are a bunch of authority-defying free spirits. This probably came from our convict past and looks like it is out of date. Certainly from what we have seen on TV, Americans seem to be more anti-authority. 

WHY ARE THEY SO ANTI-AUTHORITY? Maybe this can partly be explained by the unsmiling unfriendly nature of US cops - "don't do what I say or what the regulations state and I'll bust you big-time!" After seeing minor offenders busted sometimes quite brutally the US public knows not to fuck with their cops and to obey all those stupid "DO NOT ...." signs. And the plethora of of all those "DO NOT...." signs is down to the litigious culture (local authorities are terrified of being sued for even letting people walk on some beaches - a big wave may come and wash them in!! - "Why wasn't I WARNED that could happen - who can I sue?" I put down the litigious nature of the US down to too many lawyers).

The upshot is US citizens are  overburdened with petty rules and regulations and very unfriendly cops to enforce same (why the cops are unfriendly I put down to the gun culture - but that's a topic for another day), No wonder so many citizens are anti-authority.

+++ I think Oz will see more of the virus - despite the vaccines I reckon Covid will be impossible to eradicate totally (what with anti-vaxxers, covid-denialists, freedom of action freaks and other idiots)

and that in future we will see repetitive outbreaks which will need to be controlled - a bit like the common flu each year.

Then again I read about a mystery pandemic called THE SWEAT which appeared in the 16th century, killed a whole lot of people - and then disappeared. Experts today have no idea what it was - it has no similarities to recent pandemics. Here's hoping COVID will just disappear too.

ME AND MY BIG MOUTH - DEC 18 2020

A day after I smugly mentioned Oz had been free of community positives for some time, a covid  hot spot developed on Sydney's northern beaches with 17 positives . While this may be small time compared to cities of comparable size in the US and Europe, it has caused an uproar here. Fortunately NSW HEALTH's contact tracing and treatment protocols are world class so this outbreak should soon be nipped in the bud.

But here's the thing. If a place like NSW with all the advantages in governance and population compliance can have these covid spot-fires, how many similar events will we see elsewhere in the future?

  (UPDATE Dec20  - now up to 48 positives (no deaths) and the northern beaches area has been put into lockdown, other states are banning travelers from the northern beaches or in some cases all of Sydney or even all of NSW, and the NSW premier has announced tighter social mixing controls state-wide). Contact tracing still hasn't found PATIENT ZERO, but it looks like he/she may have been a flight-crew member who didn't obey HOTEL QUARANTINE rules (these are much looser for flight crews. Time we toughened up on them. 

...................................

CARS

LOOKS VERY FLASH, TRENDSETTER, BUT SOUNDS CHEAP 

DEC 25 2020.

Seems the middle-class and higher these days is way into up-market foreign vehicles. And it being 2020, particularly into foreign SUVs, So we have all these MERC. AUDI, BEEMER, RANGE-ROVER, JAG and other expensive imported jacked-up, over-styled, overweight station wagons cruising around, not to mention a plethora of more sensible upmarket Japanese and Korean stuff like ACURAs, LEXI, INFINITIs and KIAs (more sensible because they have a less insane price, better reliability and lower servicing costs, with equal build quality).

Now the thing is at least half these vehicles are running the DIESEL engine option, notwithstanding diesels cost more to purchase, service and fuel (in Oz diesel costs more than petrol - no govt subsidy) . And sale of diesel vehicles will be illegal in 10 years time on account they spew out pollution like crazy. Sure they get better fuel economy, but how is this an issue to people who can afford to stupidly overpay on the initial purchase and can easily afford to run the top petrol option which is usually some killer turbocharged V6/8/12.

The thing gets me is their NOISE – truly the typical diesel sounds like a bag of bolts rattling around inside a wooden box at idle, and not much better on the move. UPDATE DEC '21 - my neighbourhood is turning into yuppie central with all sorts of upmarket stuff like Beeners, Mercs,  Audies yada - lady up the road has a new big BMW SUV with some sort of diesel - sounds like a bucket of bolts in an OIL-fillled box. Upmarket class.

So here we have all these movers and shakers driving around in vehicles look a million bucks and sound like they are worth five cents. Cheap, baby, cheap.

All that bling, but the diesel sure can't sing. 

All this opens up a wider discussion on exhaust notes. Back in the day, the typical 4 cylinder motor sounded low rent. There were exceptions like the glorious metallic brmm of the MGB – some ALFAS were pretty neat too. Of course 4 cylinder racing engines like the COVENTRY CLIMAX in COOPERS/LOTI and the typical supercharged 4s in INDIANAPOLIS RACERS sounded great. But the average 4? Low rent.

Now some time in the recent past the exhaust-research guys did some good work because these days the average 4 sounds pretty good – a quiet hum at the most. Takes the upmarket performance versions to spoil it – today if your sporty exhaust sounds like a typical $100 beater back in the day with all the exhaust baffles rusted out, it’s cool. I recently heard an upmarket MERCEDES with one of those turboed-out-of-its-brain AMG 4s – sounded just like my old VAUXHALL with a shot exhaust – except a touch more frantic. So here we have this high income mover and shaker cruising around in his cool $100k+ MERC A CLASS COUPE sounding decidedly uncool.

Looks like  a million bucks; top-end 4s sound like 5 cents

 Oh yeah, this new Merc would pop and crackle on the over-run too. See back in the day carburetors and early fuel injection were not accurate enough to lean the mixture out on over-run, so all that unburnt fuel would explode in the hot tailpipe – today’s super-accurate injection avoids this EXCEPT when you press the bang-pop button and then it injects a surplus of fuel into the system. Makes a mileage-miser like me shudder.

And all that WHOOSH as the turbo waste-gate dumped surplus boost between shifts does not impress me – hell the tradie next door has that on his old 80s TOYOTA UTE. (actually I think modern non-sporty cars may avoid this with the computers dialing down boost between shifts or something – certainly I tend to hear way fewer WHOOSHES these days despite the fact that more and more vehicles have turbos).

This “rusted out exhaust noise is cool” isn’t restricted to 4s either – Car and Driver reckons today’s best exhaust noise comes from JAGUAR’s V8s in their more sporty cars – I heard one recently and it sounded like some-one had forgot to tighten the exhaust manifold to tailpipe junction – cheap baby, cheap.

Best tailpipe noise? Yer kidding.

Many of these cars have 2 way exhaust systems – on “normal” they sound okay because the gases are going thru a decent muffler: on “noise” the muffler system is by-passed and we have a straight-thru tailpipe. Straight thru sounds okay on track cars – on street cars it sound crap. And in many jurisdictions straight thru is illegal. Cheap baby, cheap

Back to 4s – what’s with this modern trend of 4s to have TWIN TAILPIPES? By 1950 it was well known that the most efficient setup on a 4 was via a SINGLE TAILPIPE (check out those COOPER CLIMAXES and INDY 4s for proof). Sure twin exits were more efficient on 6s, 8s and 12s, but not on a 4. But they look cool and sporty hence a whole bunch of modern 4s have twin tailpipes. Hell a lot of VWs don’t even have their tailpipes connected to the twin openings in the rear facia. Have a look someday. All this has the pacemaker on my bullshit meter maxing-out.

Okay, I’ve dumped on some crap sounding exhaust noises. What do I like? Well don’t get much better than those V8s/10s/12s in Euro supercars. Some yank and Aussie V8s are pretty good – nice when a late model CAMARO, CHYSLERv8, MUSTANG or COMMODORE with the LS2 option burbles past. And AUDI, BEEMER and MERC top-option V8s of a few series ago sounded gorgeous.

Mercedes C63 V8 coupe. - sounds like a lightly-muffled NASCAR racer.

In 4s, I reckon you still can’t get much better than the MGB – I can’t think of any modern 4 lights my aural fire. Except everyday modern 4s have a quiet hum; the don't sound cheap any more.

6s? Well a lot of late model euro cars are ditching the top V8 options for turbo 6s. These are said to sound pretty cool but I really haven’t heard too many. Mind you the people saying this are the same who rate the JAG V8 top of the pile.

 SCREEMIN JIMMIES

Here’s one out of left field – one of the best exhaust notes I ever heard was out of a 2 STROKE DETROIT (GM) DIESEL. Bloke up the road has one in a restored 50s-something PIONEER BUS. When he backs out onto the street and takes off up a quite steep hill, going thru gears like Lewis Hamilton at Monaco, it sounds just like a 50s/60s era V12 FERRARI. Not for nothing this engine was known as the SCREEMIN JIMMY (JIMMY FOR GMC). And GMC built a hell of a lot of them – many fire-trucks, road trucks, boats from fishing thru cruising to patrol, farm machines, military tanks and other off road vehicles used them.

Don't look like any Ferrari

THE HARLEY JOKE.

Talking crap exhaust noise, doesn’t get much crappier than the typical HARLEY DAVIDSON. I once read HARLEY was going to take out a patent on its exhaust noise. Say what? Only idiots would patent a racket sounds like a bunch of cheap fireworks in a steel drum. But wait. Consider at least 80% of HARLEYs have aftermarket exhausts. So what do we get for our extra $500 minimum? The noise is much the same - but LOUDER. Cheap baby, cheap.

Harleys: typically bought by 'look at me" merchants. Well the racket is certainly compatible.

So what sounds good in bikes? – well those multi-cylinder Jap sports bikes of a few series ago sounded pretty cool. Some exist today – but the typical sports bike is into European-like big twins – some say they sound great. Not me.

 TRUMP UPDATE - DECEMBER 28

Right now our favourite buffoon has thrown the switch to become THE PARDONER IN CHIEF as he scrambles to ensure the future will be less toxic to him and his friends. Talking of toxic – he seems to becoming more and more toxic as the end approaches, doing his best to frustrate the will of congress and the majority of Americans. Will be interesting to see if he really boycotts JOE’s inauguration.

 BREXIT UPDATE – DECEMBER 28 2020

Okay, my prediction up page that the final decision to exit the EEC will be kicked down the road WAS WRONG – Boris and his government have stuck to BREXIT.

BUMBLING BORIS leads the way on both the CORONAVIRUS and BREXIT

But what was continually kicked down the road was the final deal on TRADE between Britain and the EEC – we were continually told that the deadline was imminent, only to be informed or a new deadline in the near-future.

Finally at the 11^th hour the negotiators announced A NEW TRADE AGREEMENT. Not sure how this will work – it’s a bit early for details (at least here in Australia (where few really give a stuff). Both sides are claiming happiness with the contents, which usually means one or both sides were royally screwed on some of the details. And each side’s government have not yet ratified the deal.

One thing I do know is that the new agreement is vague on much of the TRADE IN SERVICES. Seeing how TRADE IN SERVICES covers 80% of all trade, it seems this new agreement is maybe lacking just a little. BREXIT TRADE AGREEMENT LITE?

One thing I’m confident in predicting – in the future certain products and services in Britain will be either unobtainable or of poorer quality, in short supply at grossly inflated prices. And the paperwork will be stupendous. But at least the Brits won’t have those pesky Europeans pushing them around with those stupid rules and regulations. Will they?

 2020 IN RETROSPECT

If I had to sum up this year in one word, I would use ‘INTERESTING’ whereas a lot of people are claiming it worst in their lifetime. True, I was only affected by Australia’s devastating bush fires peripherally, was lucky enough to avoid covid contagion and rode out NSW’s pretty tame lock-down relatively easy (it helped that I had 5 separate bouts of surgery this year – the time spent in hospital and recovery + all the pre and post hospital medical appointments would in a normal year have me chafing about being locked out of my normal travel routine. But that travel was not available even for the fittest and healthiest of us. Not that I’d wish these medical procedures on anyone else – two involved long painful and uncomfortable recovery periods and two have led to long term life-changing after effects).

THE COMING YEAR

I’d use the same word “INTERESTING” for what I expect in 2021. Here in Australia, depending on whether we avoid a second wave of infection, the recovery period will be interesting as the economy rebuilds. Overseas where places are yet to reach peak-covid, the fight against the virus and the impact of the vaccines will be interesting. Let’s hope for a positive outcome both home and away, so we don’t have to predict interesting times for 2022.

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2021 ALMANAC

This being a pretty lightweight page, here are my lightweight predictions for the upcoming year.

JAN – TV-only spectators for midnight SYDNEY HARBOUR FIREWORKS show declare display “SO LAST YEAR”.

FEB – ex-president TRUMP confounds observers by claiming the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged.

MARCH – a huge leap in employment ads for Britain is recorded for SHIPPING CLERKS to handle the mountain of paperwork generated by the POST-BREXIT regulations on overseas trade of goods and services. BUMBLING BORIS declares this a “WIN-WIN!!!!”

APRIL – most of Europe is in hard lockdown following the appearance of yet another new virulent strain of COVID. The exception is SWEDEN which declares that HERD IMMUNITY is the way to go.

MAY – KO LANTA THAILAND: Manchester City fans burn down grandstand when their side is beaten in a friendly with a Ban Saladan village scratch team. A later appeal (the Thai ball boy came from neighbouring village Ban Kantiang: CHEATS!) reverses the result.

City fans burn down Saladan waterside fish restaurants in celebration.

JUNE – SWEDEN declares an emergency as hospitals run out of respirators and emergency response beds. Politicians still convinced of the efficacy of HERD IMMUNITY. Some  SOCIAL MEDIA contributors not so sure.

JULY – an INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER is accused of ‘shameless promotion’ when she enters her factory provided AUDI in NASCAR’s QUAKER STATE 400 at ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY. NASCAR officials disqualify her when she qualifies mid pack for "non-compliance".

AUGUST – Britain and France reactivate 1518 TREATY OF LONDON after fighting breaks out between English and French fishing trawlers in the GRAND BANK’s shared zone. BUMBLING BORIS declares the Treaty signing a “WIN WIN!!!”

SEPTEMBER - SOCIAL MEDIA contributors self destruct in a 40000 post online brawl about how 5G is slowing daffodil growth. Some conspiracy theorist contend that covid vaccines are to blame. All further predict 5G and the vaccine will end the world as we know it. 

And I thought it was the fluoride in drinking water. 

OCT – ex-president TRUMP still insisting last year’s election was stolen. Forwards ‘proof’ in an affidavit sworn by Aadit Rolle, a Blossom Village titty-bar owner, that the local LITTLE CAYMAN drug cartel interfered with voting pencils in Wisconsin.

NOV – doctors prescribe BAKE BEAN TREATMENT for HARD CORE REPUBLICANS to remove anal fixation that last year’s presidential election was rigged.

DEC – the INSTITUTE FOR CURRENT AFFAIRS announced a special end of year award to BUMBLING BORIS for his great contribution to eye-darting and emphatic emphasis when speaking. The UK BARBERS’ ASSOCIATION declares him “head of the year (NOT!!)

The WHO gives a special award to SWEDISH UNDERTAKERS for ‘bravery in the face of overwhelming odds”. 

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OUT WITH A BANG AND A WHIMPER - JAN 23 2021

At last, with BIDEN’S inauguration a few days ago, the slow motion train wreck of the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION and the US ELECTION has finished.

Not without the usual drama.

The DRAMA (the  BANG) occurred a fortnight back with the INVASION OF CONGRESS. Egged on by THE PETULANT IN CHIEF, the mob tried to take over the scene. When they failed the old TRUMPSTER tried to save his ass by ignoring his earlier “WITH YOU ALL THE WAY”, calling their actions “heinous” etc. What a circus – unfortunately less entertaining than the usual TRUMP SHOW because 5 poor souls lost their lives.

But yeah, the outcomes reinforces that old saw of BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WITH FOR: things backfired badly for our man in that:

-TRUMP lost a lot of credibility with supporters

- some GEORGIA voters were so turned off that the REPUBLICANS lost at least one sure fire senator (and perhaps two)  – thereby losing control of the SENATE.

- some republican congressmen were so incensed that they helped IMPEACH Trump. This impeachment was the SECOND TIME for OL' ORANGE (the only president that this has happened to).

So then we come to the WHIMPER bit – seemingly chastened by all this, our great leader then spent most of the time sulking in the White House and against all precedent sneaked away to this Florida digs on the morning of the inauguration.

All of this begs the question: WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF LAST FORTNIGHT’S INVASION OF CONGRESS WAS SUCCESSFUL?

But have we seen the last of the TURMPSTER? Hell no! - coming months promise a hell of a lot of legal stuff, exposes,let alone all the self-promotional bullshit he can't stay away from.

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JAN 26 - SAME OLD SAME OLD

Today is AUSTRALIA DAY which commemorates the day the FIRST FLEET stepped ashore on Australia in 1788. So of course we have to do a re-run of all the tired old arguments which appear around this time every year:

- should the date be given some minor flexibility so that it always occurs on a Monday. This would give a 3 day weekend every year which be a lot more workable for employers and employees?

- should we celebrate this day at all, seeing it is a day of mourning for all native Australians? They refer to it as INVASION DAY.

- should the date be moved to a completely different time of year so that AUSTRALIA DAY becomes a proper national day, not commemorating something which was a bad deal for a significant group of us.

- should the Australia Day HONOURS LIST be scrapped, revamped?

- isn't it about time Australia became a REPUBLIC instead of having the QUEEN OF ENGLAND as our constitutional head?

All the proponents of these ideas appearing on TV, in SOCIAL MEDIA and writing letters to or articles for the newspapers are so keen and idealistic, as though this is the first time anyone has thought of this stuff - but trust me having seen it over more than 30 previous years, it is all pretty boring. My reaction - ZZZZZZZZ.

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THE STATE OF PLAY COVID WISE IN OZ.

When I last wrote of this there was a minor outbreak on Sydney's northern beaches. This was bought under control reasonably quickly, but maybe not as easily as a lot of people thought. Since then there have been minor outbreaks elsewhere in NSW and in other states, with similar end-results. So overall we have nothing to whinge about - no deaths, no spiraling amounts of infection etc as seen so widely overseas.

Of course when there is no major crisis to moan about, people are complaining of many MINOR CRISES such as:

- FREQUENT STATE BORDER CLOSURES. These have been imposed by State Premiers under advice of their Chief Health Officers. What whingers forget is that the ability to close state borders is a major reason why the virus has not spread out of  control in Australia. At the same time is has played havoc with key sections of state economies and people moving interstate for personal, leisure and business reasons. And some xenophobic state premiers  (we're looking at you Anna),have used the closures to curry favour with their even more xeanophobic voters. What we need is some sort of national mechanism to regulate state border closures - PRIME MINISTER, where are you? (hiding from the tougher decisions as usual).

- NATIONAL BORDER CLOSURES. The only way to get into Australia these days is - if you are one of the many Australians stuck overseas wanting to return (and this movement is limited to a trickle of its potential, mainly because of a shortage of hotel quarantine) - a very few foreign workers desperately needed (right now we are taking a limited amount of fruit pickers), - and some foreign VIPs such as tennis stars, movie stars, the filthy rich etc, who for some reason don't have to stick to the same rules as everyone else.

Naturally all this has created a storm of protest in the media and a plethora of hard luck/unfair treatment (or favoured treatment) stories for TV and the press. My take? Entertaining - and thank God these are the worst things happening to us compared to elsewhere.

VACCINE STUFF-UP May 4

Long time between updates on account that in my old-age induced mellowness, I cant be bothered getting upset about all the minor SNAFUs occurring and have little to rant about.

About the biggest SNAFU right now is the mess the national govt. has made of the covid vaccine roll-out. In a country of only 25M people it's not expected to be finished by the end of the year. (I just read one expert claiming lucky to finish by end of 2022). Contrast the UK and the US which both have over 100M vaccinated at this stage**. IT'S Kinda ironic that the federal govt having done such a good job in STAGE ONE - REPRESSING THE VIRUS OUTBREAK (okay - the states did a lot of the heavy lifting here with lockdowns, state border closures, mass-testing, contact tracing, hotel-quarantining, hospitalization etc but Scottie's federal mob did brilliantly with fast national border closures and quick and adequate fiscal measures to cope with the economic and personal impact of the virus). But the Feds seem to have dropped the ball in STAGE TWO - NATIONAL INOCULATION 

Sure a  main problem is UNDER-SUPPLY largely because the EU has grabbed a lot of our vaccines for its own use (which is fair enough seeing heaps of people there are still dying from the virus whereas Australia hasn't had a death for a long time - even vaccine-short Aust is diverting some of our jabs to Papua New Guinea which is in virus crisis - this diversion  is also fair enough). But Scottie's federal mob have stuffed up their part of the local vaccine-distribution process:

- first by UNDER-ORDERING (experts say that supply problems of this type should have been anticipated. One reason the feds may have under-ordered the PFIZER jab is that it costs way more than the main alternative at the time; ASTRAZENECA)

- followed by distribution stuff-ups: pharmacists didn't get promised supplies, vaccines were delivered un-refrigerated and thus unusable - etc.  

- then by reverting to typical LP GOVT. behavior like obfuscation, denial of any problems, grand announcements impossible to achieve, secrecy (apparently federal poo-bahs are inherently distrustful of their state counterparts and won't share important information), shifting the blame, particularly onto the states  - etc.

Scottie in denial - everything is going to plan.

All this is such a pity following the brilliant stage one - but for sure it is better to  have a good stage one and a botched stage two than the reverse as occurred in the UK, US and EU.

**no surprise that the Brits are so efficient in their vaccine roll-out - they have always been brilliant at emergency response. And the US is a can-do country. The problem in both these places was that the response in stage one was in the hands of populists, science denying idiots. Which makes me wonder about the EU where both stages seem to be largely fragmented and in the hand of light-weights.

MY RESPONSE -  personally I would not give a ferk. I don't care when I get my jabs (despite being in a priority group I've heard NADA to date). I don't care what vaccine I get - one in a million chance of getting a blood clot from ASTRAZENICA seem pretty good odds to me).

EXCEPT: - this stuff-up means the Australian economy will take longer to fully open up. There are too many businesses with bulk employees and hard working owners which are relying on a fully open economy (it's kinda ironic that the political party which represents business is responsible for its long term suffering)

- Lady Tezza has booked some cruises for late this year and into next year. If the stuff-up lasts long enough they could be affected too.

The other big furore right now is Scottie's inappropriate response to women 's issues and treatment of women. This follows several sexual assaults and other sleazy behavior by members of his government. So he's copping a broadside of criticism from feminists, other females (unfortunately mainly the well educated and articulate types - we  have heard little from Ms Ordinary from the suburbs) and pro-women males.

Quite a few of Scottie's responses attempt to avoid the issue on claims of no personal connection. He likes to throw the switch to DOWN HOME FAMILY MAN and relate issues to members of his household which is not always appropriate.

I must confess I find the whole thing a bit of a yawn. Politicians being sleazy, hypocritical, not responding in an honest manner - what's new? The larger issue seems a continuation of the recent "ME TOO" movement. The present critics claim this time it's too big to  have little lasting impact. 

- We'll see. Thing is these claims have been made many times since the 70's to little permanent impact - unfortunately, I think today's proponents are being a bit optimistic.

BIG MYSTERY - THE ECONOMY IS EXPANDING!!

Despite the doomsayers predicting COVID would plunge the economy into many years of recession, latest GDP figures show the Australian economy is already slightly bigger than before the virus. Unemployment figures likewise have improved for the better. Figures out of the US show a similar rebound. Many experts seem mystified. Doesn't throw this non-expert - what can you expect when the respective govts throw huge amounts of stimulus money in the form of handouts, tax relief, wage-subsidies, infrastructure grants etc?

There is so much money sloshing around that recipients have gone on a spending jag - and of course GDP has leaped - ditto employment. Inflation is static however - but not in real estate, stocks and bonds and other financial assets where we are seeing a real IRRATIONAL ASSETS BOOM.

Pretty soon the sugar hit of govt assistance will finish. Just this week big job retention payments and income assistance cease in Australia - let's see what that does to spending and employment. And stand by for some tears in financial markets.

I WAS WRONG ABOUT JOE

Up page I make a claim about both Democrat candidates in the two last elections that they really didn't have the answers and even though they'd be an improvement on THE NARCISSIST IN CHIEF, their administration would be much of the same as was seen in previous Democrat governments. Ho boy, was I ever wrong about Sleepy Joe! Guy campaigns like ....um.....actually Sleepy Joe, once elected comes out swinging like BERNIE SANDERS LITE. 

The AIMS were crystal clear and anything but lite: Fix the COVID snafu – fix the economy, - rebuild infrastructure - tackle social problems (guns, healthcare, racism, immigtration,/the border, education) – fix climate. Be decisive, bold, move early and fast..

To These ends the following action was introduced:

$1.9Tr FOR INITIAL RESCUE PLAN – PASSED, This was mainly to tackle COVID and the recession. Went thru Congress with 100% Democratic approval.

$2Tr FOR INFRASTRUCTURE – PROPOSED. Not sure how this will go. Surely some Democratic fiscal doves will be unsure enough to oppose - maybe cross the floor.

$2Tr FOR HEATH/EDUCATION AND FAMILY SUPPORT – PROPOSED. Ditto Congress response.

HOW WILL THIS STUPENDOUS SPENDING BE PAID FOR? Biden believes in a paradigm shift – rich have benefited disproportionately at the expense of middle America which urgently needs help – only can be done by swift sizeable govt action as above. To this end he proposes significant hikes in corporate and high income earners' taxes.

MY TAKE? I dunno if the above two measures are sufficient. Just as well interest rates are low and the world is so awash with hot money desperate for somewhere to invest that US govt bonds seem like a good deal.

CHANGE IN TONE

Irrespective of action, most folk are pretty relaxed about the change in tone. No dramas, no major officials fired or interviewed by the FBI. Daily press briefings with the truth, Short president’s speeches. Limited press releases/ twits etc. No surprises, no weirdness.

DRAINING THE SWAMP? Despite the heroic moves above I don't think Joe has the answer to the fundamental problem facing America - that the system of has been taken over by vested interests who are intent on enriching themselves and making the most of the big economic changes with GLOBALISATION, FREE TRADE AND  DEREGULATION while resisting its spread to the regular mob.

As far as the bigger problem of inevitable economic progress leaving the US behind so that places like China become the new world economic leaders - well there's nothing can be done to stop this inevitable change. World leaders like BRITAIN, ROME, GREECE etc have suffered it in the past - it's just the nature of the beast. However in this POST INDUSTRIAL AGE I don't think the US will suffer the type of fall the Roman Empire did - the very nature of globalisation means a whole bunch of countries will benefit from future progress. Let's face it, over the past 100 years when the US has led, so called "second tier" countries like Germany, France, Britain, Australia, Canada yada have also progressed. And in more recent years we have seen this progress being picked up by places like Japan and India. Face it, there are enough smart people in these "second tier" countries to pick up, even improve on developments coming from whoever leads the pack - and to develop new processes themselves which can spread to the others, Only thing is most of these developments will mainly be in the non-industrial sector of the economy - specifically the services sector - and so all those unemployed factory workers in the US Rust Belt who THE FRAUDSTER IN CHIEF was gonna rescue will have to suck it up. Hopefully there will be enough new jobs in the services area to employ them - maybe not for the same hours per  week - maybe we will see a change in the fundamentals of work. One thing's for sure - a lot of these new jobs will be in new geographic areas.So the future will see big social changes - let's hope without the recent social unrest.

THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT BUDGET - once again we have seen the Federal Government bring down its plans for spending and revenue for the upcoming year. Last year this conservatie mob threw the budget leavers far left to KEYNESIAN measures to counteract the CORONACESSION. The big worry this year was that despite having more to do on the economic front they would revert to their usual conservative measures - cut spending like crazy which is just what is NOT needed right now. Fortunately sanity prevailed and the latest budget continued the stimulative trend of high government spending - particularly in areas where this government has been copping some stick lately - AGED CARE, WOMEN'S ISSUES, NATIONAL DISABILITY MEASURES, INFRASTRUCTURE  yada. The usual critics have moaned about how it could have been better - well of course it could have been better - but kudos should go to the government for not reverting to their usual small spending style. Sure some important parts of the economy missed out and there was no timetable for the opening of the economy to the world or for the effective finishing of the vaccination phase, both of which are need to knows for any effective impact of the budget. But once again, the broad thrust of stimulation was there which many critics doubted would happen.

COVID UPDATE - JUNE 19 2021

SCOTTIE AND HIS GOVT HAVE REALLY STUFFED UP STAGE 2

Having done such a brilliant job in STAGE ONE (controlling the outbreak so it never gets out of control) the LIBERAL/NATIONAL federal govt has completely screwed up STAGE 2 - inoculation) :

-they didn't order enough vaccine

- they screwed up distribution of the vaccine (many places didn't get any despite promises and even more didn't get enough). The feds failed in many other areas which are federal responsibility like old folks homes (despite the feds promising priority, less than 20% of residents had been inoculated up til a week ago - hell, the minister in charge did not know how many residents were sick or had died. But he didn't get the sack because the LIB/NATs parliamentary majority could disappear

-  they continually deny any problem exists. eg despite the progress of inoculation being hopelessly behind, they deny this and keep claiming there is no race or rush to get the majority of people jabbed. There is of course - until say 70+% of the population is fully inoculated the national border remains closed. So too will many state borders whenever a minor crisis occurs. And of course the slower the jabs roll-out, the more COVID sickness and deaths in Oz.

-  they shift the blame for any failings onto the states (most voters don't understand the split up of powers between the feds and the states).

- they GRANDSTAND shamelessly - take public credit for any successes (many of which are down to the states) and sweep failures under the carpet or blame the states (despite it being a fed govt responsibility).

All this is down to the LIB/NAT's obsession with SMALL GOVT. Hollow out your public service so there is a shortage of skills and expertise in govt advice and action. If you have an important job to do, cut spending and allocate task to private enterprise but of course don't give them enough funding (unless the owners are govt mates) which makes them shortcut - eg don't  plan or supervise properly, hire amateurs from the local unemployment exchange.

Note not all this short-cutting is a fed or Lib/Nat thing. Some LABOR states are also guilty - eg Vic allocated quarantine supervision to private security firms who got the extra workers from unskilled areas whereas NSW gave the job to the police. No prizes for working out which state has had no outbreaks from quarantine. And the NSW state govt is Lib/Nat

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AUGUST 20 2021....COVID UPDATE 

It’s been some time since my last COVID report, but things have progressed a long way. In the wrong way. Right now we are in a state-wide LOCKDOWN on account BETA covid is out of control.

Ii’s kinda interesting watching the battle between the OPEN IT UP fans and the LOCK DOWN OR PERISH wonks. At present the NSW govt (actually ALL the state governments)- who is/are calling the shots - is/are in the latter category (although NSW premier Glads^^ who is a true blue Liberal is busting to get business going again).

 I personally fit the LOCK DOWN** category too…..my reasoning is you can’t OPEN IT UP until all people who want inoculation can get it, which will be a problem for some time thanks to P.M. SCOTTIE’S ORDERING AND DISTRIBUTION BUNGLING. Until then we will have to persevere with lockdown – what is worse: businesses going broke or a significant number of people dying? 

But once we reach the stage of full vax for all who want it, OPEN IT UP ....and if the anti-vaxxers (we can accommodate those who have legitimate reasons for rejection) still have their heads in the sand.....tough.

**I can see both sides of the argument - the OPEN IT UP merchants say increasing suicides due to business failings, unemployment and isolation must also be taken into account. Even if not suicidal, plenty more lives have been ruined. Thus my support for OPEN IT UP once everyone who wants a shot has got it.

^^Poor old Glads has been copping a lot of stick here for being slow in instituting a FULL lockdown and for initially being too lenient on rule-breakers. But she has been trying to walk the fine line between harsh restricitions and keeping folk happy++. Unfortunately BETA has been too strong.

++It's not only business people who are unhappy with LOCK DOWN. Measures have been particularly harsh on the poor - the have-nots who mainly live in western and south-west Sydney. They are disproportionately impacted by stay at home orders, unemployment, failure to understand the myriad and ever-changing rules and regulations and increasingly strict enforcement of same. The people least affected either live in the rich suburbs and/or are retired dudes like me - no job to lose, income gone up instead of down (due to some govt payments we don't deserve but are automatic, due to Johny Howard's vote buying spree in the past), only affected slightly by lockdown (so I can't go on a cruise and right now even to the nearest big hardware store for a project I have in mind - BOO HOO, life is tough).

JOE AND THE AFGHAN WITHDRAWAL - AUGUST 20

Seems Biden's honeymoon is over. Right now he's copping heaps about the mismanagement and chaos of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Predictably the DENIALIST IN CHEIF has taken advantage and jumped in with all sorts of condemnation - but the thing is, if we judge it by TRUMP'S handling of recent emergencies like COVID; fact is he could not have done better.

Biden says in his defence that nobody could predict the speed of the collapse of Afghan govt and armed forces - and why should the US continue to waste lives when the locals are not prepared to put in an effort?

At the same time the criticism that the US administration and military have not exactly handled this emergency with any sort of aplomb is very valid. And both have form in the past. After all SNAFU is a govt/military term which appeared way back in WW2.

JOE can't afford too much of this sort of shit - gotta lift his game.

NOVEMBER 25 2021

WORTH RANTING ABOUT IN THE PAST – BUT RIGHT NOW I WOULDN’T GIVE A STUFF.

 As I get older things which would have upset me big time back then no longer impact. I’ve lived long enough to realise that no matter the dumb/stupid public decisions made, life goes on/the sun still rises next morning. Things are still pretty good fer us in Oz even though they could be better. Maybe not so good fer other folks (I’m thinking of many – eg of all those near sea level people who are losers from the “kick the can down the road” result of the GLASGOW CLIMATE SUMMIT - many people can’t afford the time it takes fer the can to come down the road. They need action NOW). Plus my heart goes out fer all those refugees trying to get out of AFGHANISTAN/IRAN/IRAQ/SYRIA and so many other places, including those stuck on the border of POLAND/BELARUS.

But the thing is, there are always losers, and if we worried about all then life would be indeed be depressing. And at 76 I ain’t gonna be depressed. Well not too much.

A list of RantIble Subjects:

- COP 26 – there are plenty calling this a success, but from what I can see the can has been kicked on. 30% by 2030 – 50% by 2050? There are countries can’t even bind themselves to this and/or insisting on special clauses protecting their key industries which will make these targets problematic. As 18yo GRETA THUNBERG (with whom most red blooded males have improper thoughs– but I’m too old fer that /wouldn’t [literally] give a stuff) – says: “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.”

My take – climate change is real. But it will take time for some big players to realise this. If big players can do nothing right now, what can I?​​ ​

Thankfully eventual action will be forced on the recalcitrants and won’t be too late. Except sadly for some very close to sea-level folk. It’s gonna work out eventually for most. Right now there’s nothing I can do so what; the use of worrying?

COVID – right now things are kinda quiet in Oz. The Omicron variant is starting to make its presence felt, but my belief from reading is that it won’t he a big deal.

Locally most states have reduced need for masks and de-tightened rules on social distancing etc. But some are still hesitant to open borders to other states and to embrace an open national border to overseas. In this respect we are way behind the northern hemisphere. This Omicron thing has not helped.

Overseas things seem not so good with infections spreading in the northern hemisphere – no surprise given the proximity of winter. Seems this bug loves winter. I just wonder what sort of an uptick we will have in Oz next winter - our sense of achievement might not be warranted.

My personal feeling on covid? Um, I think the world has faced similar crises in the past and survived despite much lower levels of medical knowledge. I got little time for the anti-vaxxers, but I reckon natural selection will sort out that problem. So I’m personally not worried (but once again I’m empathetic to those people in areas haven’t got access to sufficient vaccines.)

AUSTRALIAN POLITICS – right now Prime Minister Morrison seems to be scrambling for his political life. His inaction in the bushfires, floods and covid crisis has caught up to him – he has become known as a DO-NOTHING leader of a DO-NOTHING government. Actions (or maybe inactions) have proved him a liar, a hypocrite, a bully -particularly in relation to women, and a seeker of credit for the hard work done by others (notably the state premiers). Unfortunately the opposition lacks lustre – the leader Anthony Albanese is apparently a good guy with a lot of political nouse, but lacks charisma and doesn’t cut through to voters. His government, scarred by the scare campaigns of Morrison’s lot last election (those dudes do nothing, but led by an ad. Industry veteran, they sure know how to run a good scare campaign) has ditched their more radical proposals and refuses to release others until the last moment. There are a couple of capable/popular people in the party (both women, which would be great if one could become PM) but they are either in the wrong house (the Senate, which can’t supply a PM) or have no wish to become PM.

So we bumble on. The next election is sometime in the first half of next year – my prediction is tha Morrison will release some vote-winning tax cuts/cash handouts + come up with a top scare campaign and will scrape back in.

Personally I wouldn’t give a stuff. If people are silly enough to forget the past and react to stupid come–ons and propaganda bullshit, they deserve the government they get. I have seen many anti TEZZA govts elected in the past – life still goes on, the sun still comes up next morning, Oz still stays a great place to be.

Despite screwing up vaccine orders, SCOMO the advertising veteran can't resist good publicity. This cartoon is drawn from a publicity photoshoot he did with one of the first people to get a COVID shot. He didn't order enough vaccine, but he made sure he was one of the first to get the shot.  (and with the preferred Pfitzer variant too - no AZ fer him) 

DIGITAL MONEY

Answer to the question no one’s asking​?

To paraphrase my hero PAUL KEATING, everyone including the pet shop parrot is talking about digital money. The crazy roller-coaster in the value of BITCOIN and similar plus the huge speculative profits being made by those lucky enough to…...um….. be lucky, have seen CRYPTOCURRENCIES achieve cult status of late.

PS – I have a good tulip farm for sale if anyone is interested.

But DIGITAL MONEY is about much more than CRYPTOCURRENCIES (which will never become a mainstream form of money because they lack stability and are not easy to exchange).

We also have:

*STABLE COINS – before long the online behemoths will have issued their own versions of digital money linked to sovereign currencies and therefore way more stable and less speculative than CRYPTOCURRENCIES. Eg Facebook will have DIEM. And pretty soon the scene is going to be awash with competing versions, most offering payment discounts if you use them. At present APPLE PAY and GOOGLE PAY are linked to credit cards and doing huge business but it won’t be long before they have their own versions of DIEM.

*CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCIES (CBDCs) – this is the official monetary system’s version of STABLE COINS. It’s their attempt to keep some regulation in this new system of payments (and I guess an example of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em). I dunno if any central bank has issued any CBDCs yet, but several are under development and close to release.

What are the benefits?

Well as far as CRYPTOCURRENCIES are concerned, if you are not a speculator or use it as a hedge agin inflation, there are few. Boosters point out that several traders are now accepting BITCOIN as a means of payment. Seems to me just another way these traders can partake in a bit of speculation without having to physically buy BITCOIN.

With STABLE COINS there will be payment discounts for users but this will be paid for by the rest of us as higher prices. Net gain zero. The main winners will be FACEBOOK, APPLE, GOOGLE and other issuers of STABLE COINS who will gleefully clip the ticket on each purchase as usual.

With CBDCs the main gain will be that central banks will be able to have some control which I guess is good for all of us – certainly it will be easier to keep tabs on MONEY LAUNDERING which will be horrifically easy with some of the other types.

Other benefits?

Certainly the BLOCKCHAIN techonology which was developed along with CRYPTOCURRENCIES has applications elsewhere – perhaps this will be the biggest legacy.

The experts tell us that digital payments will be more efficient for some WHOLESALE transactions, particularly international in character. Whether this is passed on to consumers depends on competition in that market – well, we know how that works in the real world. Consumers will gain far less in RETAIL transactions.

Nevertheless the new system will go ahead because the issuers will make a motza from it and consumers, even though there is not much in it for them on the retail side, will enthusiastically adopt it because there is a huge cohort of technological early adopters who grab anything the online behemoths offer.

Seems to me the existing payments system does a pretty good job for consumers. Maybe it should be a case of: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Me personally? Well as I've said earlier: I don't give a damn - hell, I don't even own a smartphone! 

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FEB 29 2022  

PRICE CREEP

There’s a whole lot of causes, but what we have experienced late 2021-early 2022 is a whole bunch of price increases way ahead of rises in the average wage or the general inflation rate:

CARS (or should I say vehicles on account so many sales these days are utes and SUVs.)

I put this down to the ridiculous price people are paying for the latter these days largely because they are getting more metal, they feel safer (debatable) and it’s trendy (these things are the latest in cool). 

Check Fred out in the latest ISUZU truck with the offroad package (bigger, bead-lock wheels, 35”off-road tyres with RAISED WHITE LETTERS (white letters have been scientifically proved to improve all-terrain performance), skid-plates and the must-have snorkel).  Fred will be able to negotiate the K-MART parking lot no troubles.

Other causes are the impact of recent events like the pandemic cutting spending elsewhere, low interest rates and the INCOME EFFECT of rising house prices.

Thing is, if people are conditioned into overpaying for these bigger vehicles then sellers try it on for normal cars. And so the latter are creeping up in price too.

WATCHES.

High end watches are suddenly cool again. I reckon it's because of the surplus cash people have which has boosted demand for luxury symbols in general. Plus retailers know people are flush and are determined to get their share (and more). 

For a long time you could get a good basic battery powered ticker-tocker for a song – now be prepared to pay over the top for brands in vogue 25 years ao.

JOGGERS – 5 years ago a decent set of joggers cost minimum $200. then things got sensible and you could get a good pair for $100 or less, 2022 sees them up at $200 again – often more. I think this is due to the same factors which have caused watch prices to head north.

SPEAKERS speaker design has come a long way since the bad old days of my youth. Then, to get a decent sound you needed giant speakers and a variety which included a woofer. Recently I have been astounded by the sound coming from small speakers – the elcheapo tinies came with my computer sound as good as my giant 70s-era boxes, and phone-speakers are even smaller but most sound okay. But I’ve noticed recently a flood of sound bars onto the market around the $300+ mark. No doubt they produce excellent sound, but at a price multiple of x3+ on recent years?

INSERT YER OWN INFLATION VICTIM. Above I’ve simply listed a few things which have hit me in the eye price increase wise, But fact is, a whole bunch of things have been increasing in price in recent times, out of all proportion to the average inflation rate and increases in average wages.

HOUSING – ANOTHER DISPROPORTIONATE PRICE INCREASE CATEGORY AND A CAUSE OF PROBLEMS ELSEWHERE.

Australian real estate is out of control, having trebled in price over the past few years. Some realty dude recently rang me and said he could get minimum $aud3 million fer my joint (that’s around $us 2.2m and we aint talking a big city location – I live in a coastal town 120km from the big smoke). THE LADY and I paid $13.3K for our land and $35K to have the house built in the mid-late 70s.

Yesterday’s paper had the Sydney median house price at $aud1.6m end of 2021 – that’s about $us1.2m . Thing is $aud1m is needed to buy a pretty ordinary house in a very ordinary suburb. A desirable suburb like Bondi? More than double and yer still looking at a pretty ordinary house. Unit (apartment) prices have also soared – at present the median is almost $900k which means a good newish one in a desirable suburb is way over the million mark.

At the same time even country town prices have been rising – due to tree-changers/sea changers and the factors mentioned below.

Lots of causes but the overall long term problem is EXCESSIVE DEMAND (there’s not much can be done about INSUFFICIENT SUPPLY – the bottlenecks in the system are just insurmountable – anything done to cut red tape/release new land/build affordable housing is just tinkering at the edges so huge is the problem).

This excessive LONG TERM demand is down to 2 vote buying government initiatives maintained by the present conservative govt which is world-class at vote buying.

1 – NEGATIVE GEARING – this allows property investors to deduct interest and other rental costs above the rate of income return of the property from their taxable income. As a result half the tax paying public has a negatively geared house (or three). Which kinda boosted the demand for same.

2 – DISCOUNTED CAPITAL GAINS TAX. In most countries if you sell an asset for a profit, the capital gain is taxed at your full marginal tax rate. Happens in Oz too, except the CAPITAL GAIN is HALVED. This doesn’t hurt the demand for housing assets either.

SHORT TERM CAUSES OF PRICE INCREASES.

Right now we are in a perfect storm of price-increasing factors both long term (as above) and short term. THE PANDEMIC has left many with RECORD SAVINGS because they had fewer opportunitiesto spendon expensive things like holidays, flash clothing, dining out, top-end household goods yada. RECORD LOW INTEREST RATES and SUPPLY CHAIN PROBLEMS have contributed.

GOVT RESPONSE – there is much cynical wringing of political hands about how housing is now too expensive for our kids (true – unless they can borrow from their oldies (the Bank of Mum and Dad), which many do – including my son. Plus the govt has introduced some dumb-arsed vote buying measures like a FIRST HOME BUYERS GRANT and a LOW DEPOSIT INSURANCE GRANT which look attractive but have actually boosted demand further and made the problem worse.

THE PUBLIC RESPONSE

Of course the general public loves this – anything that boosts real estate prices makes them feel much richer and they go buy a whole bunch of stuff which has increased the rate of inflation for all the above and more.

It’s kinda funny – the newspapers rabbit on about house unaffordability and letters to the editor shed crocodile tears about how our kids have been driven out of the market, yet in the same issue are almost joyous articles about the latest increase in house value.

THE GOVT AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC DOESN’T WANT CHANGE.

For every prospective home buyer there are 3 or 4 home owners feeling a whole lot richer. These owners will enthusiastically support dumb ideas like the first home buyers subsidy and ruthlessly veto any proposals to end or modify negative gearing and half price capital gains tax, as the LABOR OPPOSITION found out in the last election. The COALITION GOVT knows this and has no real incentive to curb housing price increases.

WHEN WILL CRAZY PRICE INCREASES END?

Experts have been falsely picking the top of the realty market for several years. I predict prices will slow or even decrease somewhat when the present LOW INTEREST RATES start to increase, probably sometime in the next year or so. However maybe it won’t be the bloodbath many are predicting, because WAGES must begin to rise at a decent rate sometime soon.

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THE BIG PIVOT IN SE ASIAN TOURISM – NOT!

15 March '22

All the travel journal1sts, bloggers, newsletters yada are carrying on about how different travel in SE Asia will be post pandemic. The main change they keep banging on about is how things will move upmarket – the cheap-charlies will be cleared out, dodgy practices will disappear and all will adapt environmentally pristine practices.

Got one word for this – BULLDUST!

Got two words as proof – PHI PHI:

- after the tsunami the experts were saying how things would be different and way better. But in half a dozen subsequent visits I saw little change – people just seemed to rebuild the place much as it was. Cheap accommodation predominated.

OK, there were more upmarket places, but this is the inevitable result of the growth of Thai tourism and has happened in all SE Asian areas. The dodgy practices continued – particularly building in national parks and similar areas.As they say; money rules – forget your fine ideals and wishes.

Environment-wise there WILL be improvements but I’d say this will be more of a CONTINUANCE than a PIVOT – something which started before the pandemic and will continue into the future. Maybe the pandemic has given this issue time to gather strength, but certainly we are not talking a PIVOT.

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THE STATE OF THE PANDEMIC IN OZ.

15 March ‘22

What we have is a hilarious situation where the hopeless Federal (national) Govt has stuffed up big time and is trying to shift the blame onto the states. State wise, NSW new premier PERROTTET, although not of my political leaning (I tend to lean left/liberal with a small l - PERROTTET is right/Liberal with a big L which in Australia means conservative;go figure) is doing a pretty good job – he’s opened the state up by relaxing pandemic restrictions – but this is an area where he is copping lotsa flak: he's damned if he does (should see the letters in my newspaper, the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD-it’s a left leaning rag with a predominantly older readership: most letters harangue PERROTTET for not being cautious) , damned if he doesn’t (if he didn’t ease the lock-down there would be as many letters in opposition  moaning about loss of freedom yada.. Certainly before he relaxed restrictions there were plenty of people complaining about lock-down fatigue). I also like the way he is always upbeat and straight in his public appearsnces - unlike Federal Prime Minister Morrison who is smarmy and insincere – full of PR but not policy. And PEROTTET doesn't take any rubbish from the Feds despite them being the same political party.

Overall things are pretty good in Oz, with 90%+ having 2 injections. Things have been a bit slow with boosters (50..something..%) and kids’ injections. All states have relaxed lock-downs: seems we are treating COVID as endemic and trying to live with it.

On the horizon are warnings of a new COVID variety with a scary boost in infections. Naturally the health officials are calling for a new lock-down and the conservative oldies who write into my rag are all for it and against the government’s open policy.

Looks like the cartoonist has gone with the "DAMNED IF HE DOES" brigade opposing any relaxing of the health restrictions. 

Yeah well - should we be still masked up and working from home 20 years into the future?

I wrote a letter to the HERALD about this. Naturally it won’t be printed (I”ve had 2 out of 15 letters published these past 20 years) but what the heck, you (if I have any readers) don’t have a choice* - here it is:

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If Power Trippers Ran the World.

If the police ran the government we would be snowed under with regulations and enforcement. We’d have a permanent police state.

If the military ran government we’d have permanent martial law.

If health officials ran government we would be in permanent lock-down.

Isn’t it great these hard heads only advise our elected representatives whom we can vote out if we think chose wrong'

*of course you have a choice; you don't have to read any of this

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REFLECTIONS ON THE PIVOT - APRIL 1 2022.

I've been thinking about what I wrote a little up page - thinking in relation to Thailand.....and how people who revisit after last coming say 10 years back will notice some definite changes - like how beach-fronts have been cleared of cheap bars, restaurants yada, how several marine national parks like the SIMILANS etc are closed or have just been re-opened, how THE BEACH/MAYA BAY is way better these days with fewer people, all boat landings the other side of the island yada ----- I put this down to THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT cracking the whip, not to any post-pandemic RESET/PIVOT. Cynics might say I'm wrong - and  point out the military government is pro-business and loath to do anything which will offend their buddies - but the reality is the government is pro BIG business and all those beachfront joints and many of the tour providers were SMALL time operators. 

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COVID UPDATE – APRIL 22

NSW and AUSTRALIA seem to have reached the stage of COEXISTING WITH COVID. Authorities have accepted that the human and economic costs of ruthlessly suppressing the bug are too high (something CHINA has yet to accept) and have relaxed or will soon relax most rules regarding secondary isolation, crowd size limitations and separation, masks etc. Seems like we will treat COVID just like the ‘flu’ bug – can’t wipe it out but can take sensible measures like inoculation yada, It is accepted that the relaxing of COVID rules will see an uptick in cases, but not to unmanageable levels

POLITICAL UPDATE – APRIL 24

NATIONAL – we are into the second week of the Federal election campaign. PM Morrison is campaigning hard but his performance over the past 2 years has been so wanting that it will be a fantastic feat if his conservative LNP coalition can win. The coalition is campaigning hard on its “perceived” strengths of economics and national security, whereas the Labor opposition has adopted a small target policy of “me too”, agreeing with many of the coalition’s populist-vote winning policies, not proposing any of the necessary but vote-losing policies like tax reform and abolition of negative gearing. They have also promised to reform aged care and review the national disability scheme and health staffing in general, but seeing welfare is a perceived strength of Labor, they are on relatively safe ground there. What they have NOT done is highlight the shortcoming of the coaltion in recent years in relation to THE FLOODS, FIRES, VACCINE PROCUREMENT/DISTRIBUTION etc. This must come closer to election day because Scotty and his gang have been abysmal in these areas.

Did I mention PM Scotty often goes missing in times of crisis?

STATE - The state election is not imminent, being March 2023. At present the coalition state government is not travelling too well, being guilty of much the same stuff as their federal counterparts – governing for the top end of town, pork-barrelling, jobs for the boys, fiscal profligacy and more. COVID performance is mixed – they handled the first stage of combating the virus pretty well but maybe opened up the economy a little early and by too much. But the leader, Dominic Perrottet, is the opposite of Scotty – looks young and dapper at 39 (Scotty in contrast looks a daggy middle-aged wannabe), he is upfront, doesn’t obfuscate or try to shift the blame or go missing in a crisis. He also has a good image – young, gorgeous wife, 7 gorgeous kids. But I reckon he will have trouble winning. Time will tell.

Attractive family. Latest baby and one daughter missing.

OVERSEAS. Ukraine is a mess. At present the Russians seem to be gaining the upper hand in southern and eastern Ukraine but the cost has been horrific and the loss of face of both the Russian military and Putin must be huge.

All power to the Ukraine president, people and military, but one thing I don’t get – the US was prepared to start WW3 back in the 60’s over the Cuban missile crisis, but wasn’t prepared to negotiate with Russia over the looming eastward extension of NATO to Russia’s borders, something they promised not to do back when the Soviet Union imploded. This war could have been short-circuited a month ago when loss of life and property was much much lower.

Not looking too great right now.

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MAY 31

Well the federal election was a little over a week ago and still we are not sure whether the winner has enough seats to form a majority which can govern in its own right. One thing we are sure of is that the public repudiated the Morrison conservative government of the past 4 years (the LIBERAL​NATIONAL COALITION) and that LABOR won enough seats to form some sort of government, either in its own right or in coalition with others.

1. Those others will come from the new group of independent TEALS (an outfit protesting the former conservative government’s record on the environment, corruption, aborigines and women) and who managed to win half a dozen seats mainly at the expense of Morrison’s outfit although Labor also lost some support to them.

2. The Greens also may feature if Labor needs a coalition. They did well in the election picking up protest votes from both major parties.

Besides tho old government (the LIBERAL PARTY/NATIONAL PARTY COALITION), doing poorly also were arch right wing minor parties like Pauline Hanson’s ONE NATION and billionaire Clive Palmer’s UNITED AUSTRALIA. Seems Australia has had enough of the hard right.

Conservative apologists point out Morrison faced a perfect storm in the past few years with COVID, the floods, the fires, the recent inflationary spike etc, but the fact is other government leaders also had to deal with crises, sometimes worse, and most came out in an enhanced position. Morrison and his pals were just not up to it.

I read an interesting article about his demise meaning the end of the tricky LIBERAL/NATIONAL approach to governing which started with John Howard’s lies, dog whistling, pork-barreling for votes etc. I mention up page my disdain for the Howard years, so totally agree.

Anyway, we have a new government. All the dreamers are talking about a RESET. I don’t think so, on account LABOR’s "me too"-small target approach in the election means they have agreed to implement many of Morrison’s promises – it’s gonna be a long time before they can throw off the shackles of the huge govt.deficit/borrowing, promised future tax cuts (!!) and other expensive promises the electorate expects to be honoured.

UPDATE SEP 22 2022

Labour has enough to govern in its own right at present. The current debate is whether to implement the LIBERAL'S promised tax cuts to the wealthy (a "me too" pledge). MY TAKE IS WE CAN'T AFFORD IT IN THIS NEW ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT . As Keynes said "when the facts change, I change my mind".

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After a 2 year COVID hiatus I at last got the chance of travelling again. The big difference is that it has all been domestic – overseas can wait until they and we think they are safe bets.

JUNE – CRUISE:”PACIFIC EXPLORER” 4 night to Tangalooma on Moreton Island off Brisbane.

Had the usual benefits of ship life. Got off at the island – the resort is nice and abt 10-12mins north (the walk up the beach was ok but on reflection this walk would be difficult at high tide because high water mark touched the base of the very steep dunes in places) are some small-ship wrecks which are close to shore (100-150m), not deep and easily snorkeled. I had my mask (no snorkel or fins) and went out for a look. Disappointing – the water was very cold, not very clear and after snooping around for 10mins or so I turned back to shore. But I have lost a lot of condition since I had both knees replaced and hit the sand exhausted. At least I had no problem with currents which apparently can get tricky at certain tide levels.

                         water a bit clearer here

We have traveled the PACIFIC EXPLORER before – details up page. Nice small/midsize ship and P&O do a good job. Small number of nights ideal for getting back into the routine.

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JULY – CRUISE: “CORAL PRINCESS” 7 nights to Eden, Newcastle and Tangalooma.

So soon? Thing is we have been so starved of cruising that we jumped on any genuine bargain, and it seemed a few were around post COVID to revive interest in the genre.

Lady Tezza is world class at finding bargain-basement cruises plus I’m a sucker for a guided cruise. And Lady Tezza is world class in guiding the way from cabin to buffet and bar.

Had the usual idyllic ship-board life plus Eden is a sweet little town, a beaut place to get off the ship and walk up-town. Ditto Newcastle – the shuttle bus into town terminated at the extensive riverside redevelopment around the Stockton ferry terminal from where it is a pleasant 15 min stroll across to Nobby’s Beach.

Didn’t get off at Tangalooma – been there, done that.

Eden KILLER WHALE MUSEUM - up the hill from the ship

EARLY SEPTEMBER – CAIRNS.. a $99 Jetstar special fare came up and I grabbed it. Cairns is the perfect base to stock up for a camping trip to Fitzroy Isl. Which I found little changed since my ‘16 trip. Lovely camping area but overpriced with terrible facilities and maintenance. Rest of island idyllic with great walking tracks, nice beaches, a good bar/cafe area etc. Details elsewhere on this blog. 

Back on mainland I went up to Ellis Beach, which is the second of that series of wonderful tropical beaches highway-side north of the Cairns built-up area. Unlike most, it has cabins and a camping area plus a rather food/cafe bar a bit further north. I found the camping area great, with a whole bunch of friendly and helpful regulars and the surrounding beaches nice.

Chez Tezza at Ellis Beach

Lastly I went out for a day to Green Island, a vegetated coral cay off Cairns. Without spending big money there is only enough there to last say half a day – so I found the place a bit boring. Not a touch on Fitzroy.

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MID SEPTEMBER - ULURU, KATA TJUTA (THE OLGAS) AND KING'S CANYON

I originally planned this trip for 2020, but COVID canned it. When JETSTAR offered the same $99 fare this year, I cashed in my flight-credit and went for it. 

Thing is ULURU IS EXPENSIVE. This is partly due to isolation, partly to the monopoly Ayers Rock Resort has. Accommodation at YULARA (the town there which was largely built by Ayers Rock Resort) is mainly in 4 or 5 flash hotels, 3 and 4 star which cost 2 or 3 times their equivalents in Sydney. $600 a night is not uncommon. Good grief!! The only inexpensive sleep is at the spacious and pretty good campground (also run by ARR)- if you don't like tents there are abt a dozen overpriced cabins - book early, they're popular. (as a matter of fact, except for high summer when it gets VERY hot and visitation is lower, book early for all accommodation). 

Or bring yer own RV and rig - of course, all you drive-in dudes in your vans and rigs will find lotsa ok spots and facilities in the campground. There were hundreds of rigs there with plenty of space for more. In comparison the tent areas were running less than 10%.

 

The layout of the resort is pretty good - accommodation, the Town Square, and the Shell station are spaced around a ring road - a free RESORT SHUTTLE BUS circles this every 20-30mins. You can also walk across the duned center on dedicated paths in about 15min. The highest dune has a pretty good viewpoint and attracts a crowd for Ulura/the Olgas sun-ups/downs. Many accommodation options have viewpoints too. None are as good/close as the dedicated viewing spots within the park, of course.

Uluru from mid-circle Yulara dune - Kata Tjuta behind right shoulder

Transport is a joke with rental cars post COVID at $300+ a day minimum. 

Most tours are run by AAP-KINGS or affiliates and are overpriced, so too is the JUMP ON JUMP OFF BUS which at least works out cheaper than the others for much the same thing (I didn't think I'd get any commentary but my driver gave good information -  "SNAKEBITE" (Mick) who was super-informative and a riot to boot). Mick did all my JO/JO trips - I assume other drivers also give info. Their girl at the desk in the tour office, Town Square, was very efficient too and could organise stuff the website suggested not possible. But the JO/JO bus does not have guides who accompany treks as the more exxy options do.

Apart from the free RESORT SHUTTLE the only other bargain transport option is the free coach to/from airport and accommodation.

Food costs likewise are a joke. How about $30 for a burger or $14 for a beer in the hotels? Cafes etc in the Town Square were only a bit cheaper. The camp ground had a food truck with lower but still outrageous prices. The only places with reasonable prices (given transport costs) were the IGA supermarket and the Shell station. In fact the Shell was a gem - need some item of hardware? The Shell probably has it. And a lot of other stuff.

So Uluru is expensive. Here's what I'd do to see the joint at minimal cost:

1 - get on Jetstar's "Specials" email list. This is where I found the $99 return fare (Sydney), These fares don't always come up on Jetstar's "Friday Frenzies".

2 - spend the minimum time at Uluru - I planned 7 nights but experience shows 4 would suffice (if you want to include a daytrip to KINGS CANYON - 3 otherwise) when flying in after mid-day as most do.

Stay in the campground to avoid horrendous hotel costs. If you must have a roof, stay in one of its cabins. Which must be booked early.

3 - buy a "Hop On/Off" 2 day ticket for days 2 and 3. 

On day 2 get up early for its ULURU SUNRISEtrip. After sunrise stay on board for the Uluru circuit where the driver explains a lot of stuff. Stay on until the last near-rock stop (MALA WATERHOLE) from where you do a walking circuit of the rock. This takes 3-5 hours, so arrange to be picked up by the bus after your circuit (the last stop, the Cultural Center is a pretty boring 20mins walk each way from the rock. I was underwhelmed by the stuff at the center) 

You will get back to camp pre-lunchtime-early pm if you don't include the Cultural Center.

Part of the Uluru base walk - Segways and bicycles also popular.

4 - Arrange for the bus to pick you up for the ULURU SUNSET trip. (this is where the website said "overbooked" - girl in office said "no problem"). The dedicated bus viewing area is much closer than Yulara viewpoints and well worthwhile. After the viewing the bus goes directly back to Yulara.

5 - on day 3 get up early for HO/HO bus's OLGA SUNRISE run. The bus then goes to the head of either THE VALLEY OF THE WINDS trek (8km/3-4 hours circuit (but you can shorten this by returning from some viewpoints), tough gradient+surface even for fit/experienced dudes) or the WALPA GORGE trek (shorter almost 3km/1 hour return - gradient milder:should be ok for people of average fitness - surface quite tricky underfoot in parts and as warned by driver some sections surprisingly cold on a mild Spring morning). Note A - the driver does not accompany the trekkers either walk as on some of the more expensive outfits.    B - the shorter trek  gets walkers back earlier, in time to be driven back to Yulara before the driver returns to pick up trekkers from the longer option - this longer option still gets back to Yulara in time for lunch.

6 - on day 4 get up extra early for AAT KING'S one day trip to KINGS CANYON. I found this the most enjoyable day, the guide ANNA and driver JASON were excellent, allowed plenty of sleep time both ways, and accompanied trekkers with good commentary and plenty of rest stops. There was a choice of trek (A - the Rim walk is the tougher starting with 500 very steep/rough steps after which the going is way easier except for dudes like me with 2 new knees where stiffness and lousy sense of balance made some of the rougher sections a bit of a challenge:

Start of 500 steps up to the KINGS CANYON rim. Anna stopped after 200 to allow the unsure to change minds.

and B -an easier/shorter garden walk in the canyon itself which finished early enough to allow Jason to take some participants to the helicopter area for an extra-cost flight.

This KINGS CANYON 1 day visit returns to Yulara late afternoon.

- next morning, get up at a normal time (at last!), pack and wait for the free airport shuttle, hoping your flight hasn't been cancelled (mine was, the first in years they told me - duh! - the incoming flight a week before had been postponed 3 hours. Not looking real good, Jetstar).

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Note the above's what I'd do as a cash-down single aged male wanting to visit the area. Of course it's horses for courses - sooner or later rental car prices are going to return to more reasonable levels which may make my bus transport suggestions not the best option. Also people doing the big trip  via their own van or rig will organise differently. But no way would I drive all the way from the capital cities  (except maybe Adelaide) to visit the area.

Not sure about travelers out of Alice Springs - I know there are 1/2/3 day guided tours out of the Alice into the area but it's a hell of a distance (468km each way Uluru, over 300 to King's Canyon) - you do the figuring as to if it's worth it.

The final big question. IS IT WORTH IT?

Look, there are equal gorges, valleys, mountains, sights and treks much closer to home eg Sydney has them all nearby in the Blue Mountains. Compared to overseas, nothing in the red center blew me away like the Grand Canyon or the Yosemite landscapes or even Spain's higher  areas. 

But face it, Uluru, Kata Tjuta and King's Canyon are ICONIC and should be seen by all Australians and as many visitors as possible - so if you can afford it, do it.

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JUNE 2022

After a 2 year COVID hiatus I at last got the chance of travelling again. The big difference is that early offerings were all domestic – overseas could wait until they and we think they are safe bets.

EARLY NOVEMBER 2022 – Majestic Princess to NZ (Fjordland – Dunedin – Christchurch – Wellington -Auckland – Bay of Islands)

"BULLSHIT WAS ALL THE BAND COULD PLAY" (to the tune of "Colonel Fogey")

This trip was notable because we caught Covid. Well perhaps more notable because Princess's  performance in relation to its Covid response was abysmal and couldn’t match its PR.

For a start the line’s efforts in promoting hygiene, mask-wearing, social distancing etc on board and on official excursions before the situation got out of hand was pretty ordinary, But this was far overshadowed by its pathetic response once Covid hit. True, Princess had cabins set up on deck 9 to isolate the infected. This plan worked a charm as their PR bumff claimed and for which they claimed multi brownies in the media.

Trouble was these measures only took care of the first 10% affected, maybe 100 out of 800  - Princess severely underestimated the extent of infection and was caught pathetically short.

The rest of us were banished to our cabins and told to isolate there. No meds given apart from a bag of RAT tests. I think the line realises that Australians will not pay ridiculous American pices for meds and realising  my infection was not serious and did not require anti-viral meds, didn't waste time offering them. Luckily Lady T tested positive a day later than me which allowed her to shop a packet of cold and flu tabs in Auckland.

‘Isolate’ is the key word, because after that no-one seemed interested in us – we saw about 1 crew member each day (I suspect there was a similar outbreak among the crew at the same time, and Princess decided to limit crew exposure to us in order to leave enough crew for the following trip) no-one would answer 'phone calls to room service or guest services and no-one gave updates over the p.a. - I thought the latter was broken until on the last day it gave a burst of disembarkation info – wrong in its timing of course – we actually left the ship 4 hours later than the info suggested.

The main reason we were fed was because Lady T had pre-cruise uploaded the cruise ap which allowed us to order from room service – but every meal was delivered at least 2 hours after ordering (our record was 5 hours late), This ap was a blessing because it allowed LADY T to communicate and swap war stories with other isolationers who were having a similar or worse time than us. It also allowed the lucky few who had got the special deck 9 cabins and treatment to lord it over us and the usual Princess apologists free reign (“Exaggeration - you got the 'flu….” - “Dunno whats wrong with you ….”)

Finally we left the ship at abt. 1430, walked 500m to Circular Quay station, caught a train to Sutherland where Ladette Tezza was waiting to drive us the final hour to our south coast home.

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BLOG DRIFT.

Seems this blog has turned into a TRIP REPORT rather than a RANT at current happenings. No more - back to ranting.

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THE ENERGY CRISIS. 17 Dec2022

The big energy suppliers' response to the govt's planned scheme to ease gas and electricity prices to households and industry is worth a rant. The situation is pretty complicated - but basically Australian energy prices are set by international prices which are eye-wateringly high right now because of the Ukraine war**. Add this to current high food and other prices caused by the floods, fires, supply chain problems and The War (again!! - that Putin is a trouble maker) and the govt realised something had to be done.

**note not everyone is paying top prices right now, but as customer contracts are renewed, Australians will be faced with progressively more exxy energy over the next year. Seeing bucks-down consumers are already having problems paying their energy bills and big gas-using industries are facing labour-shedding or even closure, things looked dire.

So the federal govt. has proposed a cap on gas prices and promised price subsidies to low income earners + some senior consumers + small industry firms.

Coal has not been ignored - states are negotiating with coal and electricity producers to limit price rises. There is talk of subsidies to producers to make up for lower prices.

The big international gas producers predictably are catatonic, rattling on abt soviet style price control and threatening to produce for export only. The govt. counters with a threat of withdrawing export licences. The greater public points out that the gas is ours anyway - the producers simply extract it and make a decent profit selling it even when prices are below the proposed cap. Sure, setting up mines, treatment plants and export terminals yada costs billions but the profit is still there and there are plenty of other resource firms willing to step into say Santos' shoes if the latter abandons the industry.

 My take is supportive of the govt BUT......someone has to pay the proposed price subsidies to customers and the setup right now is that the taxpayer will. The taxpayer pays a subsidy on gas they actually own?

A fairer system would be a super profits tax on the energy industry in times of high international prices - with the price subsidy being paid out of this tax. But the govt. is gun-shy abt anything looks like a super profits tax having lost an election on it back in Kevin Rudd's time. So no super profits tax even though the public and much of industry is onside this time.