Watching climate activist Greta Thunberg carry on in front of the camera was laughable. The attempt to bypass the Israeli blockade of Gaza is embarrassing, naturally Israel will have a naval blockade, it would be absolutely negligent of them to allow Hamas to be replenished and rearmed by naval means.

Dubbed the selfie cruise, Greta and her activest friends only had a minimal load of aid, this was a publicity cruise knowing full well they would be stopped, boarded and brought to Israel. What Greta and her friends had hoped to achieve was worldwide outrage as the ship was boarded by Israeli commandos.

Instead, Greta and crew were brought to Israel, processed and deported. Greta was offered the opportunity to view the footage of the Hamas terrorists storming the border on October 7, killing people, engaging in rape, torture and murder she instead declined to watch the bodycam footage of captured and killed terrorists. Why see the truth about the terrorists she idolises?

So, whilst Greta claimed to be a hostage of Israel, they deported her, put her on a flight back to Europe and sat her in front of the toilet. Given Greta’s views on airline travel and climate activism, this was the ultimate insult, how dare they…Then to further play up for the cameras, Greta held her arms behind her back as she disembarked the flight in order to deceive the media to lead them to report that she was handcuffed. This was a fabrication, Greta knows how to manipulate the media, that much is clear.

We all know Donald Trump has no strategy, no consistency and no direction. Trump went from telling Volodymyr Zelensky he had no cards, to he could win the war and claim all the territory back and back to having to cede territory to Russia. Trump’s lack of vision and haphazard approach leads to reactive efforts and a lack of cohesion. Imagine actually having to work in the Trump Administration, he changes his mind frequently and has no actual policy, it would be exhausting.

So now that Donald Trump has had a phone call with Vladimir Putin, the White House meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky was never going to go well. Trump typically changes his tune based on who he spoke to last, so even though Zelensky met with Trump in Washington, a two hour phone call and chance of a meeting with Putin in Budapest has Trump salivating again. Trump wants to use the Presidency for personal enhancement again, to be the centre of the negotiations whilst lacking genuine negotiating abilities.

Putin has been making Trump look stupid, we finally started to see Trump working this out, Trump was getting played. Now Putin wants to have another meeting with Trump, so his fragile ego wants to be massaged on the world stage in a highly promoted meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. So the Europeans will need to go on another charm offensive to get Trump back on track, clearly he has a limited intellect and a short attention span. Trump went from Ukraine winning territory back and getting Tomahawk missiles to freezing the invasion where it is, cede territory and Russia gaining control of the Donbas region.

Whilst still a little subjective, a high net worth individual [HNWI] in Australia is typically defined as someone with total [net] assets of greater than $5,000,000 AUD. This could include investable assets that are greater than $2,000,000 AUD that excludes the family home [primary residence]. A global report by real estate consultancy Frank Knight states $1,000,000 USD [$1,555,000 AUD] net worth, but to get into the top 1% of high net worth Australians requires about $7,500,000 AUD.

This then begs the question, since the median house price is around $1,000,000 AUD in Australia, there are plenty of millionaires in Australia. When we get to net assets, most home loans are around 30 years, so most families pay off the family home close to age 60. This then gives the average family five to seven years to build some superannuation based on the projected retirement age. Yes, these families have assets under their control exceeding $1,000,000, their net worth is significantly less.

For a comfortable retirement, the average Australian, or Australian couple generally use their superannuation that is supplemented with the age pension. That means Australians need to wait until they are 67 before they can retire, that hurts. We have many people that have purchased rental properties [or multiple rental properties], have share accounts, crypto currency accounts, bonds and fixed interest investments. Then we have business owners [including farmers] who have sizable assets and corporate high flyers with high disposable incomes who have investment accounts that tend to hold assets.

Age Balance
25 $26,000
30 $66,500
35 $111,500
40 $168,000
45 $226,000
50 $296,000
55 $377,000
60 $469,000
65 $571,000

So for many, their superannuation is their second largest asset behind the family home. With the superannuation levy increasing to 12%, this will really be important in the future for families as younger Australians have the ability to save higher balances earlier. Baby boomers were pretty much without superannuation in their early work years. Likewise, Gen X began working with no superannuation and then began with lower contributions starting at 3%, moving to 6% then to 9% for most of their working life.

Here is a great song way back from 1980, we loved that song as it had a catchy tune and excellent film clip. I was 11 back when that song came out, I did not know the real meaning of the song until much later in life – much later.

I was working in a dive centre in about 2004, we had a large Japanese clientele and this song was normally played between dives. It was one of the boat surface interval songs, our Japanese clients loved it, the catchy tune and they could all make out the words of “I think I am turning Japanese, I really think so” and were all happy.

As the dive instructor on the boat, I have my group of dive students and one of the women asked me, do you know the meaning of the song? I had to say I did not, she told me to carefully listen to the words and explained to me it was about masturbation. As she pointed out the lines as the song played, it totally dawned on me, she was absolutely right. So after 24 years, she set me straight, this quirky song had a hidden meaning and I was oblivious to it all this time.

So I deal with some pretty incorrigible family members. They are the cousins of my father and have a long history of being arseholes. Held in contempt within the family, the anti-Chris and Rosemongrel display not only display highly narcissistic tendencies, they are self-centred. They frequently act with psychic irrelevance to other family members – not just us.

These are the names they are known as throughout the family. Without giving too many family secrets away, their surname might not be right, and their behaviour is anything but right. They have a reputation of poor behaviour within the family. We are talking about actions leading to legal action here, legal action they have previously lost.

I would rather not use the term bullying, but this is becoming a common term now. I don’t like the term bullying as we are adults, they gang up and use standover tactics. They gang up on individuals and steamroll them, it isn’t pretty. They are used to people folding under the intense pressure they inflict, they have no remorse and have no principles and ethics – they are just horrible people.

What they are not used to is people standing up to them. So I have come in to turn this situation around, they just don’t know what to do now. They don’t work, their trust fund has pretty much supported them their whole life. Their father was a brilliant businessman, his nous never rubbed off on them, they certainly never learnt leadership skills.

This was not the result Fremantle wanted, their form had fallen off late in the season and they were losing games they should have been winning. Sure, they had injuries but every team has injuries deep into the season, this is a tight competition and even a slight dip in form is the difference between winning and losing.

Lining up in the midfield was Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield and Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe, both veterans, both outstanding players and both nearing the end of their respective careers. In a head-to-head battle down in Adelaide back in 2015, Fyfe went head to head with Dangerfield. That time, the Fremantle Dockers were victorious against a very good Adelaide Crows outfit by 11 points. Nat Fyfe came away with three Brownlow votes and Patrick Dangerfield was awarded two votes. We all witnessed a football spectacle where the best two players lined up on each other and played an attacking brand of football.

This time around, Patrick Dangerfield was playing for Geelong and Fyfe was still at Fremantle. Dangerfield transferred from Adelaide at the end of the 2015 season and is now the captain of Geelong since 2023. Fyfe has had a brilliant career with two Brownlow medals and Dangerfield winning the Brownlow medal in 2016. Patrick Dangerfield was a member of the Geelong premiership team of 2022 and has 8 All-Australian team selections. This was not a head-to-head clash like in 2015 where Fyfe v Dangerfield were left to play attacking football, it was a good game nonetheless.

Fyfe finished with 17 disposals with 6 kicks and 11 handballs, with no marks and no handballs. Dangerfield was better with 20 disposals consisting of 16 kicks, 4 handballs, 3 marks and 3 tackles. Dangerfield scored a goal and two behinds, so whilst they did not go head-to-head like in 2015, they did spend some limited time on each other. Patrick Dangerfield at 34 years old had a big impact on the game and was ultimately the difference between the teams. Even with Dangerfield missing a goal from a goal square brain fade where Patrick tried to kick the ball from the ground instead of gathering it up, he had an outstanding game and apart from a laugh, this was a brilliant game.

United States diplomacy is finished, American leadership is over, the United States is withdrawing from international affairs and taking a highly insular view. The leadership, I use that term very selectively, is uneducated, undiplomatic and out of their depth in international affairs.

The statement from Vice President JD Vance of “we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture” is highly inflammatory. The whole Chinese population is offended and I have to agree. What type of idiot would make such a statement, well, we all know that answer. It is Vice President JD Vance, the second in command to Donald Trump, not known for his intelligence or tactfulness, both make idiodic public statements.

I have to question what Vance was trying to achieve here? Sure, Vance was speaking to an internal audience, all hard core Trump supporters who lack the education, world view and intelligence to see the statement for what it is, a racist view of the world. Even if this statement was intended for an internal audience, surely the advisors to Vance were smart enough to work out that such an inflammatory statement would be viewed by an international audience. We all have worked out Vance is not a clever guy, but at least the team around him should have at least the slightest clue.

Watching the Dutch monarchy Queen Maxima openly mock President Trump during a recent European visit was more than mildly amusing, this was downright hilarious. The mannerisms went right over Trump’s head, he never picks up on these things. He just rattles on that he is a smart guy, he is an intelligent guy and the former president was not a smart guy.

The total disdain levelled at the US President is well earned, Trump brought this disrespect upon himself. Trump’s arrogance towards the Europeans is well documented. It was only a matter of time before the Europeans would run out of patience and he would be shunned. Watching Trump stumble at the NATO conference was humorous to watch, he looked lost and looked isolated. He did not even have Vladimir Putin to go and cosy up against, not even Victor Orban was his friend.

Trump’s hard ball, take it or leave it negotiating approach has alienated a vast variety of European leaders. With the tariffs levied against European nations, the threat to take Greenland militarily, and the open hostility with Canada, the Trump Administration is looking out of its depth once again. Now Trump is wanting to charge European nations for aid to Ukraine. Once again, Trump is all about money and looking good in front of peers that he is making a deal.

Do you need to study a degree in journalism to be a journalist? The short answer is no, a journalist does not require formal qualifications or a licence to operate in Australia. There is no requirement for a journalist to actually study a formal journalism course in Australia. Nor does a journalist need to be directly employed by a large legacy, a freelance journalist is  viable option, a digital journalist utilises online formats.

Therefore, a writer and journalist may write for independent publications and as we move from print media to online media, blogging is a viable option for independent writers and journalists. A journalist could be then defined as a person who collects information that may be in the form of written text, audio recordings, video or photographic images, then processes this information into a newsworthy form to disseminate it for public consumption in a news medium. A journalist is typically trained, this does not necessarily mean tertiary education, instead on-the-job learning is acceptable.

When you look at certain professions such as medicine, engineering, law, science and teaching all require degrees and professional practice for acceptance into a professional body. There are registration boards and/or professional associations, and let’s face it, who wants to receive medical advice from a non-certified doctor, drive across a bridge designed by a non-engineer. There is no required professional registration body in Australia, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance [MEAA] is about the closest professional organisation for not just journalists, but all performers. The MEAA is not a required professional body registration for journalists and offers benefits such as insurance for members.

These days, accountants require a degree and registration with a professional body such as Certified Practising Accountants [CPA], and Chartered Accountants [CA]. However, there are grandfather clauses for accountants who were qualified prior to the university requirements who can register as a CPA or CA. A tax agent registration has an age requirement [minimum 18 years of age], be fit and proper person, satisfy qualification and experience requirements, and hold professional indemnity insurance. This is not the case for journalism, there is no organisation that issues press passes in Australia, you publish news content and you are a journalist.

In a free and democratic society, participation by non-formally trained journalists allows broad participation of journalists in Australia that do not necessarily follow organisational and editorial guidelines, this allows freedom of expression. Journalists need to build a body of work, they can do this by a multitude of methods such as print media, online media and blogs, photojournalism and news reports. I have found writing for magazines is not a lucrative business for a general writer, you get paid per article and unless you are an in-house writer, there is no retainer. Sure, you have the ability to build a body of work and that is positive, it is hard to live on though.

A journalism degree is sometimes offered as part of a Bachelor of Arts, or a Bachelor of Communications by some major universities, even a Bachelor of Laws with journalism as a major, that makes sense if they are undertaking investigative duties. As I was reviewing this post, I was able to view a Bachelor of Broadcast Media where journalism is just a small number of units in the complete qualification. So what we see is journalism is this tends to be an amalgamation of qualifications that may offer major or minor specialisations. You learn to write at university, that is positive, ethics is learned in a variety of qualifications. When I review potential careers, a Degree in Journalism is an entry-level pathway for a journalist, freelance writer, a foreign correspondent, media liaison officer, documentary producer, tv reporter or producer, or a newsreader. So really, a journalism degree indicates to a potential employer that you have the skills to write professionally.

The Mille Miglia is an interesting timepiece, I would have never considered it until I pushed open the doors at their Manila boutique at Greenbelt 5 in Makati. The luxury watch market in the Philippines is interesting, they have single brand boutiques in the large shopping malls. This is the first time I have walked into a Chopard boutique after walking past it so many times.

I used to view the Chopard boutique from the mall without actually stepping inside. I viewed Chopard more of a jewellery manufacturer than a serious horological manufacturer of quality watches. What I saw in the Philippines was a large number of dedicated manufacturer boutiques, I worked my way around and finally walked in through the door. What I learned was they were all owned by the same holding company, they had multiple dedicated boutiques in the same shopping mall.

So, when I finally strapped a Mille Miglla on my wrist, I was pleasantly surprised, the timepiece was top notch horology, I had incorrectly viewed Chopard as purely a jewellery company. The history of the watch and its motorsport origins are interesting, known as the most beautiful motor race in the world through Italy. It is not a highly competitive race, more of a fun race that began in 1927 from Brescia to Rome and back again. The heritage of the Chopard Mille Miglia dates back to 1988 when Chapard sponsored the event.