So outspoken activist Greta Thunberg boarded another vessel bound for Gaza in what many claimed as another selfie cruise. The humiliation she brought on herself on her first attempt was not enough, she decided on another political campaign with minimal supplies onboard. This will really do nothing for Gaza inhabitants, whilst she does bring a certain level of media attention, she offers little else.

Yet, here I am wanting supplies to be delivered to Gazans, there has to be a better way to flush Hamas out of Gazan tunnels though. I am horrified at the images we see of Palestinians suffering in Gaza. What Hamas has brought to Palestinians is beyond rational, the Hamas hatred of Jews has done nothing for the Palestinian cause. Instead, this hatred has brought nothing but pain and destruction to Gaza, what have they gained out of this? To some degree, they have allowed this to happen to themselves, I am aware once Hamas is embedded in Gaza, they are difficult to eradicate. But it needs to happen, in the long-term, this can only benefit the people of Gaza.

I now believe lawyers are engaged more for intimidation than actual negotiation prowess, this belief of presenting a small target is flawed. A better strategy is the big stick approach, if you want to threaten and intimidate, then you had better be prepared to be belted with a big stick. That is the defensive strategy the accused should be demonstrating, not the offensive strategy that is probably required.

So, naturally, the big stick approach works best when used for defence and not offense. It is a fairly simple strategy, if an individual or organisation believes they have the ability to attack you, then they need to take into account the consequences of the individual defence strategy they will likely encounter. Whilst not literally, in a figurative sense, they can and will be belted with a big stick. That causes organisational reputational damage if it is a workplace, that certainly needs to be taken into account.

Human resources, now renamed people and culture in many organisations is anything but people orientated and the culture of abuse and intimidation is prevalent. The role of human resources is to protect the organisation, it has nothing to do with enhancing learning and growth opportunities including protecting staff. I have learned that the real People and Culture function is to protect the management. It has absolutely nothing to do with the vast majority of staff members who actually work hard for the organisation.

I cannot claim to be the originator of this idea, the credit must go to Anne Applebaum, journalist and historian. Applebaum has written for The Spectator and The Economist, as well as The Atlantic magazine. Applebaum has a pretty decent resume from her roles on the Editorial Board of The Washington Post, and Senior Fellow at John Hopkins University. Regardless of her corporate success, a Pulitzer Prize always enhances credibility.

Whilst Vladimir Putin has made so many erroneous claims regarding his invasion of Ukraine in 2022 from CIA bioweapons laboratories the Donbas region, the Ukrainian NAZI lie, protecting Russian speakers in Donbas, demilitarisation, genocide in Donetsk and Luhansk, and of course NATO expansion. The Putin regime has been invading neighbours for an extended period, the international acceptance of the Crimean annexation gave him hope, Putin thought he could invade Ukraine and Western nations would be unable to act, and just have to accept this loss.

What Applebaum has claimed does have plenty of support, whilst I do not necessarily believe this is the primary reason, this certainly has merit. I believe Putin wants to restore the glory of the Soviet Empire that collapsed in 1991. Naturally, this was glory for Moscow and St Petersburg, not for the neighbouring countries all the way to Poland, Czechia, Hungary, and Slovenia. The people who lived under Soviet rule were not interested in a return to Russian domination and the erosion of their rights or hard earned economic stability.

NATO has expanded, and expanded East but not because NATO wants to encroach on Russian territory. But because Eastern European nations are threatened and require protection for their citizens, their democracies, and their way of life. They know they will lose all their rights again under an expanded Russian Empire that would rival the Soviet Union. Western Europe needs to increase their military capabilities again, they were lazy after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and should have immediately begun rebuilding their militaries in 2022.

What Applebaum is claiming is that Putin invaded Ukraine because they now have a thriving democracy and the idea could take off in Russia. She frames her argument as an existential conflict between the democratic and authoritarian worlds. In this regard, her idea certainly has merit, one only needs to look at Russian allies and partners including Belarus in Europe, China, and North Korea in Asia, Iran in the Middle East, and Venezuela in South America.

Applebaum claims the Ukrainian government falling would reinforce dictatorships globally. At a local level, Russians may start asking that if Ukraine can successfully transition to a free and prosperous democracy, then why can’t Russia? Putin sees free elections, the rule of law, and European integration as deeply dangerous to his regime, for that reason alone, Putin has reason to worry.

In the early days of the Ukrainian invasion, Russian death squads entered Kyiv searching for Zelensky seeking to execute Zelensky. For his part, Zelensky stayed in Kyiv and gave his personal credibility a huge boost, if Zelensky departed, the Ukrainian government may have fallen and Russia had their speedy invasion plans realised. Putin wanted to replace Zelensky with the wealthy leader of the pro-Russian party, Viktor Medvedchuk, who is accused of treason and now residing in Russia.

This is an interesting concept, media owners have bonded together to protest against the proposed media. This goes back a bit, when Scott Morrisson was still Prime Minister, the major Media outlets in Australia ran the open letter including The Australian, and The Sydney Morning Herald.

In the United States, we have Donald Trump and the fake news stupidity, any news organisation that holds his administration accountable and they are not only labeled as fake news, they are potentially locked out of press conferences. This is a feeble attempt to control the news cycle and manipulate the press. I think this is a disgrace, we need variety and multiple sources of news and I follow journalists I trust.

Investigative journalism is dying, there are still good options for quality investigative journalism in Australia from The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Four Corners, and The Australian. This was based on the arrests of Annika Smethurst, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation [ABC] for articles related to The Afghan Files, and Australian government spying on Timor-Leste.

I write an opinion based blog that is researched and draws on references based on current events, business case studies and management perspectives. Sometimes you can rely upon industry best practice; however, some of the best case studies are based on management failures. The failure of values-based leadership, or any real leadership strategies at all.

The Public Sector Management Act 1994, under Section 8 – Human Resource Management Principles cites arbitrary and capricious actions under sub-section (c) stating employees are to be treated fairly and consistently and are not subjected to arbitrary or capricious acts. Well, that is all good if human resources and senior management are doing their job. In reality, human resources should be advising senior management of potential liability, organisational risk and the potential of reputational damage. That is basically taking a cautious approach, fair warning should be given. When human resources are driving this agenda, then you know human resources are the issue based on spite and reprisal.

So what is arbitrary and capricious action? Well, arbitrary is based on a decision made without reasonable justification, or proper consideration of relevant factors. This could include the termination of an employee based on an unsupported hunch, rather than based on evidence. This could include disregarding established policies. Capricious is a sudden or impulsive unmotivated change in attitude or behaviour. This tends to indicate, or suggest a decision made on a whim or out of spite that is not based on reasonable business logic. This is where a half decent industrial lawyer gets to work and holds the organisation accountable in a legal and moral sense.

I was reading a review comparing an Omega Planet Ocean against a TAG Heuer Aquaracer and I was intrigued, these are two timepieces separated by more than price. I would be more inclined to compare the Seamaster Diver 300 against the Aquaracer although that still isn’t an equal comparison.

I was even more surprised to read the reviewer’s opinion suggesting the Aquaracer as his watch of choice. We are naturally entitled to our opinions but I tend to disagree with their review. I would own a Planet Ocean over an Aquaracer in a second given the opportunity although I do like wearing the Aquaracer. Price is always a factor, the Aquaracer is by far a less expensive watch, but prices are creeping up, the TAG Heuer boutique wants to increase prestige.

The Planet Ocean has the superior movement, the in-house automatic is co-axial with a 60 hour power reserve. The TAG Heuer uses either an ETA 2824-2, a 25 jewel or Sellita SW 200-2, a 26 jewel movement with a 38 hour power reserve. There is really not much of a comparison between the ETA or Sellita movements, the Sellita is based on the ETA 2824-2 base, just an extra jewel and the finishing generally isn’t as good. Both ETA and Sellita are solid and a proven design, the Calibre 8900 in-house is a whole new level.

I have an Aquaracer, but not a Planet Ocean. I had the chance to purchase one at a good price and I made a huge mistake as I did not like the orange bezel. I have tried on plenty of Planet Ocean over the years and loved it. The big difference is the bracelet, the pin and retainer sleeve of the TAG Heuer is cheap, there is no other comparison, the Planet Ocean has screw type retainers, a much better, and more expensive option. The pressed diver extension of the Aquaracer feels cheap, the Planet Ocean uses proper screwed links, so much better.

The Planet Ocean has a retail price of $12,500 whilst the Aquaracer is $6,500 so there is a significant price difference here. The Planet Ocean has a 45 mm case diameter whilst the Aquaracer is 42 mm, both are big, but the Planet Ocean is seriously big. The Planet Ocean has 600 metre depth rating whilst the Aquaracer is 300 metre, still pretty good. Naturally, it depends on both budget and perceived value, the Planet Ocean is the better quality but is it worth almost nearly double the price?

There are a multitude of private training providers in Australia, they deliver nationally recognised training from the government agencies of the army, navy, and air force. Then there are the large employers including Woolworths, Coles, BHP, RIO Tinto,and the fast-food retailers that of course includes McDonald’s. There are approximately 4000 private Registered Training Organisations [RTOs] in Australia, enterprise based training is what was originally envisioned, that never transpired so many RTOs opened to train workers across the nation.

So one program that caught my eye is the McDonald’s training program. Up to ten universities in Australia will grant credits to McDonald’s managers and crew coaches can cut up to a year from university courses after engaging in McDonald’s internal training courses. McDonald’s workers can also receive credits leading to micro credentials for internal training programs, this is great news. What is even better is candidates can shave up to a year off a university course and up to $20,000 in tuition fees, a significant amount. This is where on-the-job training is formally recognised, the informal training through procedures is recognised that leads to formal qualifications.

Geez, it has been a while since I was in Singapore, it has hardly changed, the city state is a financial and shipping hub and ideaĺly located in South East Asia. Clearly the richest country in South East Asia, Singapore is highly structured, highly organised and highly motivated. It was once joked that Singapore is a fine city, there is pretty much a fine for everything; however, Singapore is clean, modern and boasts an advanced economy. With high levels of education, some pretty decent universities and reliable government institutions.

Where Singapore excels is their low corruption and business ethics. Yes, there are high penalties for violation of the laws, but what I see with Singaporeans is a penchant for following the rules. You see this in the city every day with road rules, and crossing roads at traffic lights. Singapore works as a society as everyone follows the rules, this is a respectful and harmonious society. I love the organisation and how well run Singapore is, the economic miricle of South East Asia matches Japan and South Korea offering international corporations a stable economic environment to operate.

Its a hard choice to make, a Coonawarra Bin 128 or a Kalimna Bin 28 as both are fairly rocking. The big bold Bin 128 or the softer smoother Bin 28? Let’s get started with the Bin 128, the Coonawarra region is a relatively small and the terra rossa soils are famous for producing concentrated fruit. The Bin 128 is a cool climate shiraz with all the fruit sourced from the Coonawarra region, first released back in 1962, the Bin 128 a a medium bodied wine, for my tastes, a bigger bolder Coonawarra example with intense fruit flavours. 

The Bin 28 Kalimna shiraz is the smoother of the two shiraz, matured in Americal oak hogsheads for 12 months, apprently 10 new and the rest used hogsheads. Known as a warm climate shiraz, the Bin 28 was named after the Kalimna vineyard that was purchased by Penfolds in 1945 from wher the fruit was originally sourced. These days, the Bin 28 is a multi-vineyard shiraz blend, the Barossa Vally region typically provides about 45% of the sourced fruit for this wine. The Bin 28 ws also first released in 1962, so this shiraz comes with plenty of history.  

So it depends on your tastes, it always does, whilst my first choice was the bigger and bolder Coonawarra Bin 128, at this time, I am preferring the smoother Kalimna Bin 28 as my Penfolds shiraz of choice. As always, it also depends upon whom I am sharing this bottle with too, their tastes are taken into account. 

Do current dive instructor courses offer too narrow a focus? Naturally, the core skills of a dive instructor must reflect their role of dive course instruction, yet an instructor must work in a dive centre or dive resort as very few dive instructors work independently. Do professional level courses need a greater retail sales and retail management focus?

The focus of the dive centre is equipment sales, supplemented by dive trips, starting with day trips and then onto moving to dive travel. Yes, dive courses need to make money but dive courses produce the divers to purchase equipment and dive experiences. Some dive centres have been known to just break even to produce the divers to purchase equipment from their retail facilities.

Dive centres frequently offer cheap air fills just to get certified divers through the door. Alternately, the focus of the dive resort is day trips, supplemented by dive courses and some minor equipment sales. Regardless, the dive instructor must on-sell dive courses, dive equipment and dive experiences or there is no business – there had better be retail training otherwise customers walk straight out the door and to your competitors.