The Baltic states are getting more than a little concerned about Russian aggression, now Lithuania has notified the United Nations that the country will withdraw from the treaty banning the use of anti-personnel landmines. This means that after a period of six months, Lithuania will no longer be bound by the treaty.

Now Lithuania falls into line with Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Poland banning the use of anti-personnel landmines. Citing the Russian threat, the Parliament of Lithuania has agreed on the action. The Ottawa Convention that was adopted in 1997 prohibited the use, production and stockpiling of anti-personnel landmines.

When you view a world map identifying signatories, most of the western world has ratified the agreement. Most of Asia [excluding South East Asia and Oceania] is not a signatory, this includes Russia. Looking at the map of the Americas, most of South America and Central America have signed the convention, North America is split, yes Canada is a signatory but the United States is the gaping hole in the map.

Previously more than fifty countries produced land mines, the Ottawa Convention has officially reduced landmine production to India, Myanmar, South Korea and Pakistan. More likely, China, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and Russia produce landmines. As the United States is not a signatory, I was interested to learn if they still produced anti-personnel landmines or they have just stockpiled large quantities of anti-personnel landmines and found they only stopped production in 1997. Sadly, Ukraine is the country with the most landmines, long after the Russian invasion, the people of Ukraine will still be at risk of mines.

The dead cut bounce term still irritates me, my retirement fund would be in a brilliant position right now if I had not taken the advice of my stockbroker. The broker I had at the time cost me a brilliant purchasing opportunity and I am missing dividend returns.

This includes the dividend reinvestment plan where I could be earning compound interest growth on the dividends, instead I had to leave the funds in cash receiving simple interest payments. I was calling him daily, I had picked the bottom of the market, I was advising him to buy and he held off. When prices started rising, I kept getting told this is a dead cat bounce and to not panic, prices were headed way lower. This was people buying in too early, better to wait, when prices went way higher, my broker informed me I had missed the cheap prices.

This is when I made the decision in my mind to get out; however, there was one final annoyance awaiting me. The stockbroking firm contacted me as I was a low value client and they would be shutting my account. Previously, they had shut down my high interest cash account where I kept my investment funds, so I was forced to transfer my cash out to another [low interest] account I had to open at the National Australia Bank.

The decision was not hard, I would now open a share trading account at NabTrade and link the funds to the trading account. However, the stockbroking firm had messed up all my HIN accounts, I had multiple accounts and my superannuation account is missing out on dividend reinvestments. One would think this was a simple process to correct, oh boy was I wrong, the problem continues to this day and my missed opportunity is costing me. It has taken me years to correct this situation and I rue the day I listened to my stockbroker.

The PRX has been a real winning timepiece for Tissot, the Gérald Genta inspired design from the 1970s is very popular. The Reference T137.407.11.091.00 with the dark green waffle [tapisserie] pattern dial with applied metallic markers is my choice. The narrow baton hands with Super-LumiNova makes for a pretty stylish dial.

The 40 mm brushed 316L stainless steel tonneau shaped case with polished accents is very 70s retro styled that seamlessly merges with the integrated stainless steel bracelet. There is no screw-down crown offering a 100 metre water resistance. A sapphire crystal and display caseback is less than 11 mm in height. The triple folding clasp with safety push-buttons ensures a neat bracelet, the bracelet is pretty thin.

The Powermatic 80 is an upgraded ETA 2824-2 automatic movement with Nivachron anti-magnetic hairspring and 23 jewels. The 80 hour power reserve is based on a larger barrel and 21,600 vibrations/hour frequency. The 3 Hz frequency affects accuracy, I am not sold on the larger power reserve with reduced accuracy, I appreciate this is the direction the watch industry is moving. I am in the minority here and accept that I am wrong, I know what the Powermatic 80 is and still choose the PRX as a very good watch for the price.

So, for his next move, Vladimir Putin was trying to get Volodymyr Zelensky removed as the leader of Ukraine as part of the peace deal and an interim government installed. Putin has called for a transitional administration, that really means a pro-Russian puppet government that unlike Zelensky will yield to Moscow’s demands. What that means is the death squads sent into Kiev in the early days of the Russian invasion ultimately failed, now Putin is entertaining another way to get rid of Zelensky.

So far, all of Putin’s special military operation has been a complete failure, so this is now his best chance of getting what he wants. That is eliminating his obstacle to success, that is the leadership of Zelensky. With the Trump Administration and its anti-European stance eager to make a deal, there is concern. JD Vance is embarrassing himself in an international sense, but he is also playing up for the hardliners back home and supporting his base. 

What we are seeing is an anti-European stance with the Trump Administration desperate to make a deal at any cost. Even if Trump and his zealots sell Ukraine out, a bad deal is better than no deal according to the flawed Trump mantra. Now Trump and his hardliners are sidetracked with the Iran/Israel conflict, we will see Ukraine get sidelined until that conflict is under control, this will have a large bearing on global share markets in the coming weeks and months. Putin is looking vulnerable, his invasion of Ukraine has failed and he is looking for a way out to save face.   

Further damage from the 2025 Australian federal election, David Littleproud, the leader of the National Party announced he was dissolving the Liberal Party and National Party coalition over policy differences. The 2025 federal election was a disaster for the Liberal Party under the leadership of Peter Dutton who personally lost his seat of Dickson in the rout. Interestingly, the Liberal Party lost the majority of their inner city seats with the National Party retaining their rural seats and achieved a swing towards the party.

To be fair to David Littleproud, this is not the first time the significantly smaller National Party has broken away from the more dominant Liberal Party. The last time this occurred was in 1987 over policy issues. Former Prime Minister John Howard was the Leader of the Opposition during the last breakaway in 1987 leading the way for Bob Hawke to clinch a third consecutive election victory. What David Littleproud was trying to achieve in this public fight is unsure, this should have occurred in private between the National Party and Liberal Party. A week later, Littleproud reestablished a coalition after consultation with Sussan Ley whom I believe is starting her leadership of the party in a positive manner despite Littleproud undermining her authority.

This 1987 breakdown in the coalition stemmed from the 1986 Joh for PM campaign where ultra conservative Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the Queensland Premier from 1968 to 1987 made a run for federal office. Joh aggressively disliked the socialist Bob Hawke and firmly believed his brand of conservative politics could transform from a state level to a national state. The Labor Party under Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating were behind in the polls and viewed as under pressure looking to lose the upcoming election. The destabalising Joh for PM campaign quickly turned around the Labor Party fortunes and handed the Hawke/Keating government victory.

The National Party is the country party, they address rural issues and is especially important since the majority of Australians live in cities on the coast. Therefore, the National Party holds an important position representing the people of Australia who do not live in the cities. The National Party generally represents more conservative voters from the country whilst I believe the Liberal Party needs to become less conservative and move back to its liberal views. This will have some issues between conservatives and liberals, but they need to overcome these differences.

To be fair to incoming Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley, she has just taken over the party leadership from Peter Dutton and publicly stated that all Liberal Party policies are open for review. What we learned from the election is that the Liberal Party are out of touch with contemporary Australian viewpoints and need to overhaul policies to make them a) electable, b) relevant, and c) pursuing policies in the best interests of Australians. The Liberal National coalition needs to offer Australians an alternative approach and very specific policies. It is my belief that the Liberal Party is being too conservative [or right wing] and needs to return to more centrist liberal policies.

I have been following the news intently and trying to decipher the official Russian statements. Zelensky was scheduled to meet Putin in Istanbul on the previous Sunday, even Trump who is in the middle east was indicating he would attend the meeting. 

Now at time of writing it appears Putin is looking to pull out of the meeting and Trump is looking silly. I was fully expecting Putin would not be attending the meeting and send instead an envoy who will not have decision-making powers. This would be a classic limited authority negotiating strategy designed to stall the negotiation yet try to indicate they are negotiating in good faith when nothing of the sort is occurring.

It is slowly dawning on Trump that Putin does not want this war to end, Trump is starting to work out, Putin is stringing him along, Trump is getting played and now he knows it. So what are the fundamentals here? Putin still believes that Ukraine should be owned by Russia, they want the land and the resources, they want to annihilate the Ukrainian population. Putin and his Russian followers fully believe they are superior to Ukrainians in every way, shape and form. 

The Russian military, despite holding approximately a quarter of Ukrainian territory, is not moving forward. What the Ukrainian front line is doing is slowly withdrawing, this is intentional and they are creating large Russian losses in the process. This is having a destabalising effect on Russian troop morale, causing discontent in the ranks and this is filtering through back home through modern communications. 

So why does Putin want to not give up in Ukraine? Well, apart from his intense hatred of Zelensky and the Ukrainian people, the Russian economy is now restructured as a wartime economy. There is a good to fair chance the economy will collapse if an immediate ceasefire is reached and Putin knows this. Interest rates in Russia are around 20%, all production is aligned to fighting Ukraine and a whole chunk of the productive Russian population has seconded overseas so they are not drafted into the military. 

I woke on Sunday morning and opened my computer to check the news. To my surprise I learned US President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike on Iranian nuclear facilities. So Trump had given the ok to Operation Midnight Hammer forgoing a diplomatic solution.

At this point details were sketchy, what I learned was a mission had taken place and the US aircraft had left Iranian air space without detection or interception. The US flew B-2 Spirit bombers of the 509th Bomb Wing from Whiteman air force base in Missouri, this is the only air force base in the US. All 19 B-2 stealth bombers are based at Whiteman, although the B-2 may be temporarily based at Diego Garcia or Guam for short periods.

There was deception with a group of B-2 bombers flying towards Diego Garcia with transponders active as a decoy operation. The strike group of seven aircraft flew with complete radio silence from a different direction with multiple mid air refuelling and had escort aircraft at different times. I was astonished at the number of aircraft used in the mission and the degree of coordination required. Much of this information was learned from the Defence Department briefing and I would be interested to learn how much real information was omitted.

Prior to entering Iranian airspace, US submarines in the region launched tomahawk cruise missiles towards air defence targets. The B-2 strike group dropped 14 GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs were dropped on the Fordow and Natanz sites. Two GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators [MOP] 13,600 kg tungsten tipped gravity bombs are carried on each B-2 bomber. The Esfahan site was hit with cruise missiles only causing extensive damage. This is the first time the GBU-57 has been used in combat with the US claiming the bomb can travel 60 metres underground on the first charge before detonating although I would expect these specifications to be conservative.

I have seen Alpina for sale in smaller retailers in Perth, Singapore and Manila. This is not a well known Swiss brand that has a high degree of brand awareness and brand recognition. For me, it is a little difficult to review as I have a hard time trying on models in showrooms. Founded in 1883 by Gottieb Hauser as Alpina Union Horlogère, Alpina has been around for a significant timeframe that should carry some degree of prestige at least.

The case shape is extraordinary, the cushion shaped case design is symmetric, the round flat screwed brushed bezel accentuates the case shape yet maintains the Gerald Genta inspired design of an integrated bracelet architecture. The bezel screws have a triangle centre that resembles the Alpina triangle. The angled lugs are designed for an integrated bracelet; however, a rubber strap works well on this occasion. I have learnt the drawbacks of a less than stellar bracelet on more value orientated models, so a rubber strap interests me on these sports models.

The dial is reversing interlocking triangles, the applied index markers with a double marker at 12 o’clock. The red triangle on the second hand offers good contrast on the dial, the straight index markers work well with the angled chapter ring. The second markings on the chapter ring free the dial from clutter. The Alpina name, logo and Geneva/date reference under the 12 o’clock marker are clean, with only an automatic marking under that hand pivot.

The power plant is a SW200, a Sellita 26 jewel automatic movement with 38 hour power reserve beating at 28,000 vph with an Alpina rotor. Since the Swatch Group limited the availability of ETA movements to non-Swatch Group watch manufacturers, Sellita movements are fast becoming industry standard. Sellita provides a number of movements with a varying degree of finishing, typically Sellita provides a dedicated rotor to allow viewing through a display caseback.

The reputation of Sellita has improved dramatically, I tend to believe this was a poorly conceived strategy by Swatch management, they have offered Selitta the opportunity to increase market share and increase brand recognition. The increased sales has allowed Selitta to offer improved versions with quality advances. This is a reasonable quality movement built on ETA architecture that has an ease of supply with no restrictions, it was inevitable that Sellita would seek to unseat ETA at some stage with quality improvements and greater brand recognition.

Whilst Tissot is an entry-level Swiss watch brand, they have some pretty decent products. Whilst I prefer their vintage inspired timepieces, they have some pretty good contemporary designs. I really like the hand wound movement, the lack of a rotor offers an excellent view of the movement, this is the ETA 6498-1 with 17 jewels, a solid mechanical movement.

The Petite Seconde is an excellent example of a 1948 vintage inspired timepiece. I saw some pictures online, so I decided to check out what they had to offer. There is an exhibition caseback to view the hand wound movement. The ETA 6498-1 automatic movement is well finished, I would argue better than standard Tissot automatic movements. My father has a Visodate with the Swatch Group ETA 2824-2, the winding rotor is Tissot but the finish is reasonably standard.

I have an Everytime Swissmatic and the display caseback shows a very low-cost and highly ordinary automatic movement with what am guessing is black plastic bridges. The general finish of the much cheaper Everytime Swissmatic is ordinary at best. The overall finish of the Petite Seconde is much improved, one has to appreciate this vintage timepiece is set at a higher price range and an unfair comparison shouldn’t be made. I am looking for a decent dress watch, very different from the usual dive and tool watch I normally wear.

At home I have a Nespresso machine, it is an easy way to make a reasonable quality coffee without the need to dispose of coffee grounds. My first real coffee machine was a 15 psi DeLonghi manual pump coffee machine, I loved it for 15 years and when it was starting to get a little old I moved it down to our weekend house. So my DeLonghi manual pump coffee machine still gets a run on the weekends I am down the house.

The machine came with some complimentary illy coffee pads, I believe they were pretty common in Europe but a little difficult to source in Australia. I managed to purchase some coffee pads, they were not the right size for the dedicated holder and did not work as well as I expected so I gave away the idea of coffee pads. At the time I was purchasing locally produced Brazilliano coffee and was pretty happy.

We could not source illy coffee in Perth, the David Jones department store imported the coffee but the cost was outrageous so I limited my illy coffee consumption to trips to Europe or South East Asia. Ironic really, it was easy to source in Asia and not in Australia, fortunately, this would not last forever.

First the major supermarkets carried both ground and whole illy beans, this competition halved the cost of illy beans and people started to appreciate the intense flavours. Finally, illy Nespresso pods were released in Australia and this changed my buying habits. No longer did I need to go to a Nespresso shop to purchase their coffee pods, I could just pick up some illy Classico at my local supermarket, pop them in the machine and have quality coffee at home.