Bernie Sanders does not pull punches for an old guy, he discusses freedom of speech and the move to authoritarianism in the United States. Bernie is very blunt, he calls for Republicans to stop using the word freedom. The smarter Republicans see what is going on, the Trump era will be over soon enough and whilst nobody knows if the Democrats will win back the White House at the next election, they will eventually regain power at some stage. Trump will be well and truly gone, but the aftermath he leaves behind will haunt them for some time.

The long-term Republicans know that the new media landscape brought about by Trump’s short-term thinking will affect their chances to communicate with the people in the future as restrictions may be placed on them. Freedom of speech is under attack in the United States, what Trump supporters are not seeing is how it will affect them in the future, they just see what is happening right now. When they finally work it out, they will be concerned as it will probably backfire on them spectacularly.

So good on Bernie, he sees the attacks on the United States constitution and he is calling it out in real time. He sees the rise of authoritarianism in the United States, the misuse and abuse of Presidential powers. The attempts to dismantle the judicial arm of the government to push through an agenda that should be debated and ratified in the Congress, Bernie is old, he has seen many eras in US politics and this rise in authoritarianism is worrying him the most.

My favourite liqueur is Cointreau, I do not drink it often, so when I do I want to make sure I enjoy it. However, Cointreau  is not the only orange liqueur on the market, whilst Cointreau is known around the world as a mixer, this liqueur is best served straight up. 

Cointreau is best known in B-52 shooters, the Margarita, the Sidecar and the Mai Tai. Grand Marnier is also an orange liqueur, the colour is a mid-range brown, and I find this liqueur less crisp than Cointreau despite both being known as a triple sec liqueur. I find Grand Marnier a lot heavier than Cointreau and sweeter as well, there are oak tones with orange peel flavours. 

So I ask myself, how do the orange liqueurs stand up against each other? Well, Cointreau is a reasonably clear liqueur that I prefer to drink chilled. I keep a bottle in the refrigerator to keep the liqueur cold so it does not get diluted through the ice melting. Like Cointreau, I prefer to drink Grand Marnier liqueur neat, this time it is served at room temperature in a shot glass so it is easily sipped. I have never chilled Grand Marnier like I have with Cointreau, this is a room temperature liqueur for me.  

Both Cointreau and Grand Marnier are from France, Cointreau bears the family name of Adolphe and Édouard-Jean Cointreau was founded in 1849 in Angers. Grand Marnier has a similar founding history, founded in 1880 in Neauphle-le-Château by Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle, although the distillery was established in 1827 by Jean-Baptiste Lapostolle. Both liqueurs are excellent, I keep both at home and they get pulled out from time to time and I try a sip of both equally.

On last Saturday afternoon I received a message from my brother and I quickly jumped on my computer to check news outlets and social media to determine what happened. I was pretty surprised, we knew the US fleet was stationed in the Caribbean, they were not about to head home, so something was eventually going to happen. So it was really no surprise when missiles started hitting the capital Caracas, I view this as a flagrant violation of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Venezuela.

Initial reports were that CH-47 Chinook helicopters and V-22 Osprey were flying over the capital. It was later confirmed that modified MH-60 Blackhawk helicopters carrying Delta Force commandos were involved, conducted by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Approximately 150 aircraft were used in the raid to take out air defences to allow the commando forces to fly in for a low level insertion.

President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were stopped just short of their safe room, the raid happened so fast, they were caught in bed and did not make it to this enclosure. I have nothing but respect for forces such as Delta, they are the elite counter-terrorist force of the US Army. The question I ask, is it legal for US forces to enter a country and kidnap the President? This sets a nasty international precedent, can countries openly flout international law without repercussion?

In August, the US deployed three destroyers in Caribbean waters, then immediately grew to three amphibious assault ships with approximately 6000 marines and sailors attached. In September, F-35 fighter jets were dispatched to Puerto Rico, there was also a submarine diverted to the region. The CIA was operating in the region, this goes without saying, they were operating drones over Venezuela and apparently had a human source close to Maduro. The CIA was aware of Maduro’s movements and routine after months of surveillance, they knew where he would be at any given time.

From September 2025 onwards, operations against small vessels in the area were targeted, this included killing people in the water after their boats were sunk, breaching international law. The strikes have been questioned as an overreach of executive authority, the United States does not have the authority to hunt down and execute Venezuelan nationals in international waters. In late October, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the most advanced carrier in the US Navy, was ordered to the region by the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, so we knew this was going to escalate rapidly at some point.

There is certainly a fair degree of irony in the Trump Administration, who themselves attempted to overturn an election in the United States on January 6, 2021. Trump has announced that the United States will now run the country in the interim, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia should be immediately handed power in Venezuela. Donald Trump has viewed Nicolás Maduro as an illegitimate President since the July 2024 elections. Urrutia stepped up at the last minute when opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was ruled ineligible. Machado was forced to flee the country, but popped up in Norway to collect her Nobel Peace Prize – the irony is not lost on me here. We will see if the Trump Administration immediately hands over control of the country to Urrutia as the legitimate leader of that country.

When I first heard about the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, my thoughts drifted to what country supports the move and what countries oppose the military action and what possible ramifications will manifest. We are yet to find out, I am suggesting international law has been breached, there will be an emergency meeting of the United Nations, but what can they do?

The United States is pretty good at invasion planning and execution, they have less than a stellar record in running countries though. With Russia and China both seeking imperialistic expansion themselves, there is some concern that the Trump Administration is seeking to divide up world spheres with the United States taking the western hemisphere, Russia taking Europe and China left to the Asia Pacific and Africa.

So I expected neighbouring South American countries would condemn the military action, that goes without saying. Cuba has been importing Venezuelan oil, with the US blockade has pretty much shut down Cuba, that has already hit them hard. As Cuba is a long-standing enemy of the United States, they should have plenty of concerns. With this new adventurism in the United States, Cuba could well be the next target. We are learning the kidnapping was pretty surgical, Delta are a highly professional force, 150 aircraft took place in the raid to take out air defences, bomb military installations and provide the distraction so Delta Force could slip in and out reasonably undetected.

With the Chinese envoy meeting with Maduro only hours before, this poses a significant problem. Beijing has a financial interest in Venezuela, with $105 billion between 2007 and 2016 as part of theBelt and Road Initiative in Latin America. With a reported $19 billion in outstanding loans, an oil-for-loans programme running through the China Development Bank is now in jeopardy. With Donald Trump announcing the United States will now run Venezuela, it is unclear if China will purchase oil from the United States or Venezuela. What about the people who lost their lives? The death count is still unknown, what about the people who lost their homes, what will become of them?

I am no fan of President Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, that is for sure. The people of Venezuela have been leaving in droves, despite the huge oil reserves, Maduro has left his nation impoverished. But then again, if you are an American citizen, will you be better off after The Big Beautiful Bill where your health insurance premiums rise to unsustainable levels? It is all relative I guess.

The question I ask? Is it legal for the President of the United States to order a military raid on a sovereign country, capture their leader and bring them back to the United States for trial under US law? It would be fair to determine that Congress did not authorise this operation. Therefore, Donald Trump acted without Congressional approval, has Donald Trump exceeded the executive powers of the presidency? We all know Donald Trump is an authoritarian president, he does not respect or follow the Constitution of the United States, this is just another example of his appalling contempt for the American people and judicial processes.

Just a little over a week ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Mar-a-Lago meeting with President Trump to negotiate an end to the war. This is when President Putin phoned Trump and complained that Ukraine had conducted a drone attack on Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region. Donald Trump, not waiting for a CIA assessment, immediately called a press conference and remarked “I don’t like it. It’s not good” describing himself as “very angry.” Every military analyst knows Putin’s residences are heavily protected with missile defences, somewhat ironic as the rest of the country is left exposed. This is actually great for Ukraine as they can target gaps in Russian air defences and avoid his heavily protected residences.

Whilst Trump conceded that it was possible it was a false flag attack, Trump replied “But President Putin told me this morning it did.” The Russians provided no evidence of a drone attack, Putin asked Trump to trust him on this one. Trump was angry that Putin’s private residence had been [allegedly] attacked, but his anger quickly died down when Maduro’s private residence was attacked by US forces and the President of a sovereign nation and his wife were taken prisoner and brought to the United States for trial under US law. Am I the only person seeing the hypocrisy here?

As a nation, Australia has ridden the Chinese economic boom, the Chinese demand for our resources and products has benefited the nation immensely. These very same raw resources have also benefited the Chinese. We had beneficial trade between the two nations, this all collapsed during covid, but this was a really shaky relationship well before that.

We have a free trade agreement with China, the ChAFTA entered into force on the 15th of December 2015. This was supposed to provide significant opportunities for Australian companies marketing goods and services in China. Well, China hasn’t honoured their end of the agreement, they have been remiss, they have targeted the imports that won’t hurt them. Australia has taken China to the World Trade Organisation to get this sorted.

This isn’t entirely true, the CCP targeted coal imports from Australia, what a disaster, a real failure of leadership. Yet Australian coal is making its way into China via India, good luck to Indian businessmen jacking up prices, that’s smart business. They have found a niche, they can now exploit this Chinese need for Australian coal and the Chinese desire to pay inflated prices.

There are two basic types of coal, there is coking coal used for steelmaking and thermal coal used for steam and electricity generation. With climate change, countries are looking for ways to reduce their reliance on thermal coal, the use of renewables will increase in the future as technology improves.

Australia relied on China, but they were not our only market. We needed greater diversification, that has been coming. Whilst we may never go back to the relationship we previously claimed, there is no way we could accept the Chinese demand, it would have changed Australian democracy forever. The Chinese political interference is unheralded, they may not like being told by a country of 25 million what to do, but they are finding out our resolve is strong and we are not backing down.

I typically bypass Orchard Road when I am in Singapore as I am not much of a shopping person. This is where all the major shopping malls are located in Singapore, so we needed to dedicate some time to the area.

We changed hotels so moved a whole bunch closer to the famed shopping precinct, it was a bit of a walk, so I thought no worries. How wrong I was, this was not a fun day – for the best part. She is used to big shopping malls, I know that but I thought she might like to see a place she has never been. OK, it was a warm day, but everyday is warm in Singapore.

The day before her phone pedometer recorded just short of 30,000 steps, I would have been over 30,000 steps easily. I directed her to some escalators whilst I took the stairs, I might be 56 but still love the challenge of jogging up stairs in tropical humidity. Whilst I have downloaded a pedometer to my Samsung phone, it won’t record steps unless the app is open and I did not open the app. By the end of the day, my legs were shot so when she said she wanted to take the MRT back, I was not complaining. She was tired. I have to keep moving at a brisk pace as the tendons behind my knee are damaged and get fatigued standing around or moving slowly.

Forget about a gold credit card, if platinum is too ordinary and passe then there is always the titanium credit card. I must admit, I would love a platinum Patek Philippe, A. Lange & Söhne or Rolex. But I can’t say I’m too excited by the prospect of being invited to be a titanium credit card holder. So I guess many would be happy to hold such a card as they love the exclusiveness of the product.

I started to do some research starting with the American Express platinum card and was astonished to find a $1200 AUD annual fee but this was offset by 100,000 membership points if membership is approved by a certain date a $1500 was charged to the card in the first three months. American Express was the first to offer metal credit cards, these were invitation only and offers a high level of prestige fr cardholders.

Looking to Mastercard, an annual fee of $195 is all that is needed providing a concierge service. The card itself is pretty trick too, instead of the usual plastic we are looking at a composite stainless steel/carbon fibre with Mastercard holding US patents D677,330 and 8,640,948. Westpac has a Black Mastercard offering Altitude or Qantas frequent flyer points, lifestyle and entertainment offers and two lounge vists per year for a fee of $195.

Qantas has a titanium Mastercard with a $1200 annual fee that offers 10% discount on Qantas flights booked, 1.25 points per dollar spent, 20% bonus status credits and two Qantas First Lounge invitations. ANZ has a Black Frequent Flyer card offering Qantas points for purchases, some lounge visits at selected airports, a return domestic flight with a card fee of $425.

We knew a week before, the long range forecast was in and Perth will have a hot one for Christmas day. Ok, so it is summer and it is Perth, so you would expect a summer’s day to be hot, so this is really no surprise.

Since I have been alive, I have never been involved in a rainy Christmas day, although I recall my grandmother when she was alive talking about the day it rained on Christmas. I have missed a number of Christmas days when I was working away. I have heard some people say there was some slight rain in 1991 in some parts of Perth. I was away that day so I do not recall, it was not much rain. So the forecast in the week before Christmas day would be 42°C, that is fine as we will have plenty of white wine on ice. It will be a good day, Christmas is summer, of course it is.