I might be fighting a rearguard action against a number of people entrenched in positions. What is saving me is these guys are not so smart, the longer I hold out, the more opportunities I offer them to fail. Instead, what they resort to is the low-brow tactics of abuse and gaslighting. That is iust fine, I am aware of their strategy and tactics, they do not have a lot going on mentally so their strategy is not refined or well planned. 

So, what opportunities do they offer me? Well, they gossip in an open plan office, so it is pretty easy to work out what they are up to. They are not discrete, so I can usually view them yakking away even if I cannot hear them. Then they will break from the group and the abuse begins, it is pretty easy to work out who the organiser is. There are laws in Western Australia to prevent workplace bullying, they have not really been enacted prior to this, they were strengthened with the WHS Act in 2020 and this will drive change.

So, where do we go from here? This will be interesting, they have had one calamity after another, it always involves the same people. So if upper management was to suddenly apply critical thinking principles, deductive reasoning and critical reflection then they might finally work out a pattern of behaviour. There is too much workplace power concentrated in the hands of a few who are abusing these gifted positions. I am not talking about merit based on a rigorous merit selection process, this is the exact reason why cronyism must be eradicated.

As a manufacturer I like Tissot, they have a broad range whilst keeping prices at reasonable levels. As far as I\’m concerned, Tissot is a fairly decent entry-level Swiss watch from Le Locle in Switzerland that is pretty much considered the centre of the Swiss watchmaking industry.

When I look at the high-end luxury retailers such as Rolex, Omega, Panerai and Breitling I see a pretty narrow product range. Tissot on the hand, has a broad line that probably tries to do too much; their product line is too cluttered without a signature timepiece. Tissot does have collections such as the T-Sport, T-Classic and Heritage with individual timepieces assigned to each broad collection.

What I like about a brand such as Tissot is is has a long history that began in 1853, this isn’t an internet driven pop-up brand or fashion watch. Tissot has serious watchmaking heritage but does compete with a number of the fashion watch brands. Whilst the current logo is ok, I really like the old logo used on the heritage collection – it has a certain style.

Tissot also sponsors a number of sports from basketball with the NBA (National Basketball Association), FIBA (International Basketball Federation) and CBA (Chinese Basketball Association). Then there is cycling with the Tour De France, there is the Moto GP, Superbikes along with ice hockey, fencing and the Australian Football League (AFL).

It is a shame Tissot has been relegated to the entry-level Swiss watch status. However, since Tissot is owned by the Swatch Group, they have a number of prestigious brands in their business and they all need to fit within a market segment. As such, Tissot officially sits in the mid-range of the Swatch Group along with Hamilton, Mido and Certina but I really feel this is a pretty solid entry-level Swiss watch.

Mainland Europe is ill equipped to handle the aggressive expansion of Russia. Poland has determined they have some real issues and are building up their military to defend itself. Germany, France and even the United Kingdom have degraded their military to such an extent that they can no longer act as a deterrent.

The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have real strategic issues, Russian aggression is real and with the coastal enclave of Kaliningrad along with the Suwałki Gap, that is the security threat for Poland. Putin has long felt NATO is divided and indecisive, the sketchy support of Ukraine supports Putin’s theory, Putin feels he has the right to invade the Baltic countries, he has moved the Russian economy to a wartime footing,.

There is some discussion that Putin will attack NATO countries during or after the US elections when the president elect has yet to take office. That means Putin is banking on Trump deposing Joe Biden and a leadership vacuum appears, Biden has no mandate and Trump undermines his position. Trump does no play a team game and would likely trash talk the departing president, that will create tension in an already divided congress.

If the Baltic nations are attacked, I see Poland tasked with stopping the Russian advance further west, they will have the strongest military in Europe in the next five years. Putin is sensing this also, he may see this as the opportunity before Poland becomes too powerful. Poland has had a patriotic surge in enlistment service, the Polish people see the threat to their nation, they do not want to live under Russian occupation again.

Trump has previously undermined NATO with his isolationist policies, he has publicly stated allies and partners need to pay more. Trump has spoken about closing bases around the world, this is sending a message to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping and this is the US is retreating worldwide. China has been aggressive against the poorer nations in Asia, even against Japan who is seeking to build up their military to counter the Chinese threat. We will see some interesting posturing by both Russia and China during the US presidential elections.

Every person connected with the Brittany Higgins case has been tarnished. No one has been left unscathed and Senator Katy Gallagher is another person who has left herself open chasing political gain on a flimsy pretense.

Senator Katy Gallagher saw an opportunity at the Senate Estimates Committee when grilling Senator Linda Reynolds. As it turns out after the text messages between David Sharaz and Brittany Higgins were released, they clearly identified Senator Katy Gallagher was informed despite her denials. Senator Linda Reynolds explained to the Senate Estimates Committee that she had been tipped off two weeks prior of what she was intending to do.

Nobody believes you Katy, when she was finally required to come clean after the phone text messages were released, her denials were staggering. Well, yes the evidence is now insurmountable but I never used that ill-gotten information to my political advantage – yeah right. Gallagher told the Senate Estimates Committee that no one had any knowledge of the Brittany Higgins sexual assault allegation. Senator Gallagher needs to drop the attitude, stop hiding behind the Senate and come clean on her knowledge of this sordid affair.

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When I look at two competing watch brands, I see Baume and Mercier and Longines fighting for the same market segment. The Richemont owned Baume and Mercier compete directly with the Swatch Group owned Longines.

As a duty of disclosure, I own Longines but do not own any Baume and Mercier timepieces, I do not own exactly what I wanted in the Longines product line. I own an older Conquest reference L3.677.4.58.6 that is a decent watch. There are some issues with the crown and crown guard, there are plenty of people who have issues with that styling. The 2023 reference has a much more elegant integral crown guard and crown, I can see that. That being said, pretty robust and chunky, for the best part – I like it.

What I like about Baume and Mercier is their styling, this is the entry level offering from Richemont. The advertising is high quality, they are targeting a fairly refined market and I believe they hit their target market. What Baume and Mercier have to offer is pretty good value for money, there is a sophisticated purchaser who has a high enough disposable income for a luxury watch, but not necessarily the budget for a Vacheron Constantin or an A. Lange & Söhne. The Richemont Group offers some exquisite timepieces in their line-up, Baume and Mercier is their entry-level line up, this is impressive.

Ukraine should consider attacking Kaliningrad, for what reason you ask? Well, Ukraine will have to negotiate an end to the war at some point and they need a strong negotiating base to successfully pursue a positive outcome. The Chinese position is Russia keeps the territory they have gained through aggression, this is an unacceptable outcome.

Putin has his eyes set on retaining Crimea, they illegally annexed this part of Ukraine in 2014 and have held it since. For Putin to give up control of Crimea, if he was to lose control of Kaliningrad, that might be considered a decent trade. We give you back Kaliningrad for a straight swap for Crimea – a reasonable trade.

The loss of Kaliningrad, even for a short period will severely damage Putin’s credibility internally, Russia attacks Ukraine, suffers severe losses, damages the economy, suffers a massive loss of life, and a significant loss of equipment. The reputational damage to the Russian military setting back Russian military prowess for at least another decade. We have learned the Russian troops are poorly trained, poorly equipped, poorly led and are not motivated.

But how would Ukraine pull off such a feat? Already Ukraine has called for a general moblisation, Ukraine for all their fight have suffered horrific losses. If they were to engage in a raid on Kaliningrad and seize the territory, Russia would need to divert forces for a counter-offensive to attempt to take the territory back.

Russia already has Finland on their border as a NATO member, this has been a horrible consequence of their aggression against Ukraine. The small Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are understandably nervous, a short bridge connects Russia to Estonia, it would be a simple maneuver to invade Estonia – even if they destroy the bridge. Russia now has NATO countries at most of their western borders with only Belarus as a buffer.

Yes, the Baltic nations are NATO members, but from what we have seen, NATO has been indecisive and if the US withdraws support from NATO. This is a massive concern if Trump is elected for a second term if Biden is defeated. Trump has previously undermined NATO in his first term, his isolationist policies gives Putin hope that NATO could crumble. Trump is mostly concerned with internal politics and retribution for his political career enemies.

What Putin is hanging out for is the Biden Administration to be defeated and Trump to be returned to power. Putin believes he has Trump’s measure and can easily control Donald. Putin has a point, there is more than a general concern that Trump lacks the prowess to control Putin as he is a one dimensional character with significant flaws who does not put national interests above personal interests.

Following the news updates by Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus of the Israeli Defence Forces, I am impressed by the way he conducts himself. When posed with a difficult question, he offers a rational explanation as to why the Israeli Defense Forces undertake a strategic objective or offers a tactical reply.

I can see him being baited by journalists, he remains calm, he does not get flustered, he does not lash out nor lose his temper. I have to admit, I could see myself getting annoyed and offering short answers to questions posed. There is an anti-Israel sediment, the pro-Palestinian lobby is very strong worldwide, not too many people seem concerned about the Israeli hostages abducted on the October 7 raid on Israel.

There is some irony, for the people who have made the sacrifices and saved for their retirement, they cannot apply for a pension as they may exceed the asset threshold and not be eligible for a government pension. It is my belief that if an individual saves for their retirement, pays tax all their life, provides community services and volunteering – then they should meet public service eligibility requirements.

I have worked and saved hard, I now have assets and despite all the tax I have paid, I do not meet eligibility to draw a government pension. The age where a person can draw a government age pension is currently 67, it is likely to rise to 70 in the coming years. That is going to make a lot of people unhappy, they can either take their complaints to their elected government representatives or get action and make changes. Or they can suck it up and get used to the consequences, there are really just two choices.

For me, retirement at age 60 is a must. I am running  7 km on a regular basis, whilst I have my health concerns, I am still reasonably fit and healthy. Sure my running times are not great, but generally, my 7 km running times of 43 minutes is no world beater, just three years ago, I was posting a 38 minute 7 km time and I had hoped to improve on that number. Once I get my leg fixed, that will require some surgery then my times will improve – I am betting on it.

So, as long as I do not have any major health concerns I will be fit enough to enjoy my retirement at age 60. I have purchased an investment property and set up payments to pay out that mortgage at age 60, to coincide with my proposed retirement age. As long as the war in Ukraine has not escalated to a full European war or China has not invaded Taiwan, then I should be looking at retirement and travel in five years time. So I am busy saving for this proposed retirement age in five years time, I will have to get used to living a cheap life for the next few years.

I got home from work, I was tired so I took a short nap in front of the television. I had switched on the Channel 7 news with Rick Ardon and Susanna Carr. I only saw the news headlines before I was out. I have a slow commute home in the afternoon, it tends to make me tired, so I was ready for a nap when I got home.

You can imagine my sùrprise when I woke up, India was well in command of the match, and Virat Kohli was well advanced in his innings. I was not worried, Australia had been in some pretty tight positions throughout the series, especially the matches against Bangladesh and South Africa

Rohit Sharma was off to a flyer, he was out for 47 off 31 balls by an amazing catch from Travis Head that sent Sharma back to the pavilion. Gill was already back in the shed, scoring just four runs from seven deliveries. Sharma had hardly handed over the strike, even when Gill was caught by Zampa, there were 30 runs on the board.

It was a workday so I had to go outside and water the lawn, make some dinner and make my lunch for tomorrow. You can imagine my surprise when I came back inside, not only was Kohli out but more wickets had fallen. I was expecting a score around 220, so 240 was a reasonable score given the circumstances.

When Australia came to bat, Warner failed scoring only seven runs bringing Mitch Marsh to the crease, he was out in short time scoring 15 runs off of 15 balls. Steve Smith was out leg before wicket for only four runs, he should have challenged the decision. That brought Marnus Labuschange and instead of playing a poor innings like he did against South Africa, he was restrained and played cautiously.

Travis Head played brilliantly, I ended up going to bed after his century, I expected Travis to bat through the innings. I was off to sleep as I had to work the next morning, so I could not stay up later than midnight. Head was eventually out for 137 off of 120 balls falling two runs short of victory. That brought Glen Maxwell to the crease who faced one ball and scored two runs for victory. I don’t think we will count his run rate of 200 as gospel. So I went to work the next day knowing Australia would win the world cup.

What has concerned military analysis since the demise of the Soviet Union is the lack of investment in military budgets. This has led to the downgrading of the core European military powers of Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The country feeling most threatened after Ukraine is Poland, they are fast becoming the European military powerhouse investing heavily their military to counter the threat of Russia. The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are highly exposed and threatened by Russian aggression. Despite the required national service, the Baltic countries lack the manpower and equipment to counter the Russian threat.

The military capability of NATO weapons production struggles to keep pace with Ukrainian requirements, let alone a broader conflict with Russia. Many NATO nations have supported Ukraine with training, weapons and logistical support. Yet, NATO production has failed to keep pace with Ukrainian demands. Sure, they are holding a strategic reserve, but for the best part, they cannot maintain demand. If the Ukrainian war was to escalate to a broader NATO conflict, this lack of depth would be highly concerning.