It is only a small winery, I don’t see their product in bottle shops all that often, so when I do, I make sure I grab a bottle or two. I put a wine rack down our holiday house, only 12 bottles, but now I can store some plonk down there too.

One of my favourites is Bowen Estate, a small Coonawarra winery from South Australia, a very small parcel of land not far from Padthaway and Wrattonbully wine regions. Their label doesn’t change so it is easy to spot, the light yellow label with red Bowen Estate naming ensures a degree of consistency, one hopes they don’t employ a marketing firm to change their look.

Speaking of consistency, that is exactly what you get with their cabernet sauvignon, a deep dark red colour, this full bodied cabernet is a great example of Coonawarra winemaking. Bowen Estate is located on traditional prime terra rossa soil of Coonawarra. I love it, whenever I see a bottle in the bottleshop, I make sure I pick one up.

The 1970s styling of the integrated bracelet stainless steel sports watch is in demand again. The often forgotten Chopard came up with their own design in the late 70s to ensure they are not left behind style wise on this trend. The integrated bracelet steel sports watch is highly desired with demand outstripping supply pushing prices to unattainable levels.

The Alpine Eagle XL Chronograph is no exception, Chopard has some outstanding designs and the Alpine Eagle and Alpine Eagle XL Chronograph meet the steel sports watch criteria for industrial styling. what I would consider part of the second tier of luxury integrated bracelet steel sports watch. The screws in the bezel are grouped in double sets at the major indices, this is a slight style modification homage to the base design principles of the Royal Oak. But this is hardly innovative, this is by no means a new design, just a different version of an established design principle.

The date window between the sub-dials is something I find interesting, I am no fan of the date windows at all, mostly as a) I can’t read it anymore, b) because I think it throws the symmetry of the dial out, and c) it clutters up the dial. But, I appreciate that the vast majority of people want a date on their dial so I concede that I am in the minority with these views.

So, the question I ask myself is, would I purchase a Alpine Eagle or an Alpine Eagle XL Chronograph? Well, it depends. The steel sports watch with integrated bracelet is in high demand, even at this price range I sèek value for money, even if it is comparative value. For me, does Chopard offer value for money over its competitors and does the style stand up? Yeah, I think it does.

Why bother with a retrial when it is unlikely to add further value to Higgin’s book deal. The Director of Public Prosecutions had to eventually abandon the retrial, but it was clear that Shane Drumgold SC did not want to abandon the prosecution despite not yielding the result they wanted. There were concerns for Higgins’ wellbeing, this is the reason offered, I tend to think there is more to this.

Negotiated by Lisa Wilkinson’s husband Peter FitzSimons, the book was worth a $325k advance, that is a pretty decent down payment. I would expect it unlikely that Pirate Pete is negotiating a book advance for Bruce Lehrmann in the interest of balanced reporting, his version of events would make interesting reading.

What we do know through trial testimony is that Higgins was drafting book chapters before she reported the matter to police. Since there was no guilt recorded against Lehrmann, Higgins will be highly restricted in what she can put in her book, she will definitely be reviewed by the editor.

Wilkinson was well paid on The Project and along with FitzSimons were heavily involved with Higgins. So should Lehrmann seek restitution, both Lisa and Peter can afford a significant settlement. Wilkinson delayed the trial for three months after her speech at the Logie Awards and that may make the producers of The Project liable. They advertise The Project as news done differently, they might want to revamp their format and offer balanced reporting of the facts.

So now we learned that the Higgins team settled with the government for around $3 million, it was an undisclosed sum, but their initial demand was for that amount. Not a bad financial outcome for a trial that went nowhere. Sure, there will be lawyer’s fees to be deducted from that settlement, it is still a lot of money.

Now we need to find out if the Lehrmann team will go after some, or all of the Higgins settlement. Since there was no trial outcome, he had no opportunity to clear his name, what we do know is that the jury was unable to reach a decision, so this indicates that members of the jury did not believe the Higgins testimony.

When I read comments sections on social media, I am intrigued how people post opinions as fact in an attempt to persuade people’s thinking. Surely they are no so stupid to believe their own lies, or maybe they are starting to convince themselves of their own stupidity. These weak minded attempts to manipulate people’s opinions really only feed their own cognitive biases. They are firstly looking for people to agree with them and then people to argue with who disagree with them.

I have to admit, I do like baiting these simpletons and laughing when they get all worked up. We all have a difference of opinion in so many issues, it is highly improbable that we will agree on all issues. So stop forcing your beliefs on others and getting aggressive when we disagree with your pointless views. You can’t influence us with your silly opinions, so just stop trying. Generally, the intellectuals are not commenting on social media so this sphere is left to the deadheads – who would have thought?

The ethics of whistleblowing involves a number of moral values, one is loyalty, the other is equity principles. The individual has to balance the principles of loyalty to their employer or organisation whilst ensuring their personal values are not compromised.

Whilst loyalty is an admirable quality, one’s responsibility to act in an ethical manner in order to ensure organisational integrity. It takes a strong character to call out wrongdoing, it is a career killer at best and could get you blacklisted at worse. Then you actually have to make your way into work, you may have ethics, but you have to deal with the workplace gossip and associated pressure. 

The moral dilemma of conducting oneself in a morally justifiable manner doesn’t pay the mortgage, the bills or put food on the table. Ultimately one has to consider their personal situation, that is important, but also important is taking an ethical stance when they know it will only bring personal hardship.

So, is whistleblowing an ethical practice? Absolutely it is, the onus is not on the individual who uncovers wrongdoing, the responsibility is of the management to create a culture where misappropriation and wrongdoing is discouraged to such a degree that no reasonable person would even consider engaging in unconscionable conduct.

We are entering a new era, the threats to Australia’s sovereignty are real. We once planned for a ten year build-up period, I believe we are now in this ten year lead-in time frame. Ok, so the defence of the Australian mainland is real, we need a genuine deterrence, the air force is the primary defensive mechanism protecting Australia.

Yes, Australia is a trading nation so the defence of our sea lanes is imperative. The air force is required to provide air support of naval assets. The F-35 will be the primary defensive weapon to support the defence of Australia. Yes, this is deterrence, an invading force will need to determine if it is worth the losses to invade the Australian mainland, we need to ensure it isn’t.

The Japanese swept down through South East Asia in the 1940s, they were stopped in New Guinea, now the air force will prevent any incursion on Australian sovereignty. We saw the Japanese build up in the 1930s, their treatment of Korea and China should be a stark warning to us all. Now Japan is a leading member of our alliance. Prior to that, the Chinese were on our side. This is an ironic turn of events, the geopolitical forces that shape our region are concerning.

The forward operating bases are Australia’s first line of defence. The army is the largest force in terms of manpower, but really the weakest by terms of weaponry. We have limited artillery, armoured vehicles, main battle tanks and our missile defence is rudimentary. We have a limited army, if our shores were invaded, the army is the last line of defence. That capability is actually not all that capable, this is the defence of last resort.

So the air force, working in tandem with the navy is the main defensive structure protecting the Australian mainland. The air force will seek to destroy enemy shipping approaching Australia, the stealth and networking capabilities of the F-35 should first seek to destroy enemy shipping approaching Australian shores. Any attacking force would be airborne initially with naval support, that would include armour, artillery and mobile missile vehicles.

Australia has a vast interior, the potential to house long range missile defences far from the coast is vital to the Australian defensive structure. Sure, medium range missile defences need to be stationed closer to the coast, long range artillery to protect the major cities is not out of the question. This would be a major increase in capability, with the Himars system and the advantages of mobility are an improvement in defence capability. the proposed 500 km range is still very close to the Australian mainland.

The F-35 is the primary air defence aircraft, Australia has no strategic bombers, so fighter aircraft are the primary means of defence. The P-8 Poseidon is the primary maritime reconnaissance aircraft to identify naval assets The F/A-18F is the non-stealth aircraft, this fighter attack aircraft has been the main fighter aircraft in the air force for decades, supported by the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.

Heuer was a leading watchmaker in the chronograph sphere, so I was so surprised when I learned about the Manhattan Chronosplit GMT, this is something I would not want on my wrist. When I look at this design, I am utterly bewildered, what were they thinking at Heuer? People really carry on about TAG Heuer and how they have performed as a business, they show plenty of online vitriol, the Manhattan Chronosplit GMT is unfortunately all Heuer.

People really go silly for a 1970s watch, but this time, I am not seeing it. I am really not seeing it. This was the era of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus, these iconic designs were aiming for a new industrial styling. What Heuer was trying to achieve here is some futuristic model with no notion of what the future would actually look like. It is like a 1950s Hollywood version of the future, it certainly wasn’t that.

This watch has three hands for hours, minutes and seconds with a round dial in a hexagon shaped dial that has a digital LCD in the upper section. The crown for the analog watch is located on the bottom of the case, this is actually interesting for me. Keeping in mind that the Manhattan Chronosplit GMT was released in 1977, the trends of that era were well defined, I see this design as pretty out there. I realise that this is right in the middle of the quartz influence, watchmaking was in a stage of huge upheaval and new products and designs were needed. So it is easy to look back and question their design ideas and to be critical of their designs – maybe I am wrong here.

We were down in Margaret River over the Christmas holiday period, we stopped in at the Evans and Tate cellar door after we had been at Woody Nook Winery and Fermoy Estate. Our next stop was Hay Shed Hill as we were in Wilyabrup, that is always a favourite of mine.

Peter Fogarty was a high level lawyer and businessman before getting into the wine business, he was also an avid sailor as well and could have easily have been Australian champion had he pursued that option. He was too caught up in his business ventures, I have lost money on ERG, that was one of his early ventures.

I really liked this malbec, I found it earthy and fresh. When I read the technical notes I found this malbec was matured in 500 litre French oak puncheons that were 12% new and the remainder used. I have not always been a fan of malbec, I have found it to be a little bland, when I say that, what I mean is it is a middle pallet and lacks the fore and aftertaste, I generally find it a little one dimensional, this isn’t the case here.

So we decided to crack the top out in the back garden on a Friday evening after work. I decided to share this malbec with my father and it is a little different from what we normally drink. This worked really well sitting out on the back lawn on a Friday afternoon, it was early spring and the haze of winter had lifted.

So what happens to the Solomon Islands if war breaks out with China? This poses an interesting dilemma, we have no issue with the people of the Solomon Islands, as a close neighbour they travel to Australia for work and holidays. We have history together, some decisive World War II battles were fought in the Solomon Islands, we see them as friends and equals.

This is all thrown out with the Chinese influences bankrolling Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, this is not good for the Solomon Islands in general and certainly not great for the people of the Solomon Islands. If a military conflict were to break out, any military assets in the Solomon Islands are a target. A naval facility is a direct threat to Australia and must be immediately neutralised.

So, a likely scenario is Chinese military assets in the Solomon Islands are immediately neutralised, that means precision bombed. Why I say precision bombed, the Chinese embassy, Chinese military interests need to be taken out without damage to Solomon Island infrastructure or private assets. We certainly do not want to see Solomon Islander loss of life, so such strikes need to be a precision bombing. We need to remember, the people of the Solomon Islands are our friends, so they cannot be injured or killed.

The Chinese government is building a telecommunications network in the Solomon Islands that far exceeds their population and proposed requirements. So, the question needs to be asked, what are they going to do with this excess capability? This is beginning to look like a spy station close to Australia with the intent to track Australian and allied communications, shipping and aircraft movements. These assets along with the Chinese man-made islands with their military bases need to be the first targets in the event of hostilities breaking out. These Chinese assets in the Solomon Islands will be targeted very early on in any hostilities, that is a given.

My first foray into specialty tea was walking into TWG Tea at Shangri La Plaza with the waiter recommending Eternal Summer red tea. This was a great choice, I was not expecting such a fantastic cold tea; light red in colour and flavoursome.

I was really blown away by the deep flavour blended with rose blossoms and berries, all of a sudden I have an interest in tea. I was [and remain a coffee drinker] but now I am able to enjoy a tea as well as coffee. That means I can drink less coffee during the day and evening – no need for decaf now. Eternal Summer red tea is a little difficult for me to get in Perth, but when I do get hold of this unique tea, I really enjoy the robust flavours and am always wanting more.