Indian food and Indian cricket

Much to my embarrassment, I do not know much about India apart from Indian food and Indian cricket. Well, apart from the fact that all my interactions with the people I have met have been positive. 

With just over a billion inhabitants and a long history, India is the dominant culture in central Asia. I admit to not knowing much about Indian history, that is even post-British colonisation. Since Indian independence in 1948, I know more about this period of Indian history than the rest combined.

As a cricketing nation, Australia and India have a very fierce rivalry on the field. Hopefully the shared values that occurred through sport can transcend the sporting field to business and cultural interests. What I am going to do is a little research of Indian history, I do have an interest and would like to know more about pre-British colonisation.

Stress with interest

I am really enjoying watching the mayhem unfold, I am a firm believer in returning stress with interest and that is exactly what is occurring. They are not enjoying the attention or the stress that they are experiencing - well, that’s too bad.

Now we have a situation where the special interest group who have only their own interest in mind are failing us again. So where does this leave us? Well, for me it isn't so bad as I just don't care anymore.

Watching them squirm, well that is fun, the lax working conditions they have become accustomed to are now becoming so stressful, it just isn't worth it anymore. As the pressure increases, watching the effects is an interesting case study. 

Bypassing merit selection principles to achieve manufactured consent are their tools of trade, maybe they have a high tolerance to stress - let’s prove this theory. Apparently, promotion without process comes at a cost, now we will see the cost people are willing to pay. 

Back in Brussels

This was not the first time I had been to Brussels, I had spent a couple of days back in around 2004, not long before my brother married his now wife Marieke.

They are still happily married and living in Sydney, I remember this time well as I was happily hanging in Zurich and returned for their wedding - just dont ask me the date or the year. Owing to circumstances, I never returned to Zurich at that time and haven't been back since, it was, I guess, a pivotal point in my life.

As I recall, Brussels wasn't the cleanest city in Europe, in fact, I found it pretty run down. Yes, Brussels has plenty to off the weekender in terms of sightseeing, there was plenty to do.

Now, close to eighteen years later, I’m seeing more of the same. Yes, Manekin Piss is still a drawcard, Grand-Place de Bruxelles is magnificent as is wandering the streets looking at bars, restaurants, waffle sellers and chocolate shops.

I have to ask myself, do you revisit a city you have been to before or an entirely new city. For me, revisiting Brussels was great because we used this city as a central location for visiting other cities in Belgium.

We had our arrival day, that was a bus from Luxembourg City that took over three hours with a midday departure. After finding accommodation, that left the late afternoon and evening to look around the city. We then spent the next day walking around checking the sights of Brussels.

Then a day in Ghent, the next in Antwerp, the following day in Bruges and the final day in Liege. Belgium has a great train network with the major cities easily accessible from a base in Brussels.

Final day in Frankfurt

Well, we came full circle, we began this trip in Frankfurt and we ended in Frankfurt four weeks later. Plenty changed, we arrived at the start of September and the weather was still warm, our final day was warm in Stuttgart in the morning and cool to cold in Frankfurt.

I wanted to get back to the mall where the pop-up bars created such a great vibe on a warm Friday evening but to our disappointment, the bars were all packed up and gone except for one food vendor who was yet to pack up.

I think Frankfurt is a city I could live in, it is large enough without being too big. I liked the vibe of the city, this is interesting as I was never especially interested in visiting Frankfurt. I had been only the once before where I landed and immediately caught the train for Basel and onto Zurich.

I had also transited through the airport on a number of occasions without leaving the airport so I couldn't say I have ever visited this city. Now, I will fly into Frankfurt in the future and begin European trips from this important transport hub, already looking forward to my next visit.

A hydraulic trainer - swing and a miss

So a job came up as a Hydraulic Trainer in Kazakhstan, the remuneration wasn't as good as I expected but I decided to give it a go anyway. The problem is the job was advertised through a recruitment firm and they have been less than professional.

I had seen the position advertised about six months ago so I had some apprehension, why did the last person only last such a short amount of time? Was the incumbent not up to the job? Possibly, but as this was a worldwide search then one would expect a professional selection and recruitment process.

Kazakhstan is a miserably cold country, possibly the conditions were too harsh for the incumbent, there may have been management issues or even performance problems, the facilities were not up to scratch or no resources existed.

I firmly believe that from uncertainty comes opportunity so the more disorganised and under-performing the facility is, the greater chance to turn it around. There is also a worldwide search going on for a Training Manager, this may have something to do with retention. I would be looking forward to such an opportunity - always up to the challenge.

The Oris Divers Sixty-Five

The Oris site tells us that the Oris Divers Sixty-Five shares the retro looks of the 1960s original and enhanced with 21st century watchmaking techniques. 1960s inspired timepieces are currently very popular, especially rugged series divers watches, but I wonder is this is just a fad like over-sized watches.

Unfortunately for me, I incorrectly thought there are no Oris dealers in Perth so I had to check out their timepieces when I am overseas. This wasn't an issue for me as I'm able to check out their watches without the pressure to purchase.

For some unexplained reason, I fell less stress browsing overseas than I do in Australia despite receiving no sales staff pressure despite making the bulk of my purchases in Australia. I then found Hardy Brothers Jewellers in King Street and JR Duty Free at the international airport are dealers. 

The 01 733 7707 4064-07 4 20 18 reference is the 40 mm stainless steel case housing the 733 self-winding automatic movement with bi-directional red Oris rotor, a 36 mm case is available too for smaller wrists. The Oris Divers Sixty-Five is fitted with the Sellita SW200-1 base movement with 4 Hz frequency at 28,800 BPH.

This is a workhorse movement that is gaining a strong reputation although some watchmakers would argue the finish isn't as great as the ETA 2824-2, if you have a display case-back then the movement finish is usually pretty good.

The 26 jewel movement holds a 38 hour power reserve displaying three hands and the date window at the 6 o'clock position. Unlike the Aquis Date, the Oris Divers Sixty-Five isn't fitted with a display case-back to showcase the movement.

The band may be either a black rubber, three link stainless steel, leather or textile; I think my preference would be a NATO strap although I have seen a number of rubber bands on the Oris looking pretty special.

I cannot understand why anyone would want a leather strap on a dive watch, I am a diver and I take my watch diving with me not leaving it in the hotel room or in my dry bag on the boat running the risk of being stolen.

The Oris Divers Sixty-Five is a nice style watch drawing on the watchmaking history to offer a fairly versatile timepiece meeting their customer's needs. I am pretty sure this is their timepiece in most demand, this is based on online comments and conversations with retailers.

Penfolds - the taste of freedom

So with China devastating Australian exports with 200% tariffs, Penfolds needs to expand their export markets beyond China. Penfolds, along with other winemakers need to diversify markets out of China and into the glasses of reliable partners. 

The Chinese market accounts for 30% of earnings; however, Penfolds will be able to reallocate supply to emerging markets. Whilst the tariffs are set until March 2021, they may be extended to August depending on Chinese indecision and the willingness to punish Australian exporters. 

This really gives Penfolds the opportunity to explore new and unsatisfied markets, one has to ask, is China really a trusted partner? If Treasury Wines is able to divest out of the unreliable Chinese market, why would they return when they could suffer the same issues again?

This is a shame, we don’t have an issue with the Chinese consumer, it is the Chinese leadership, or lack of leadership that is the problem. When Penfolds develops new markets, they have the opportunity to step away from the Chinese market and just concentrate on these new consumers.

They have the ability to tell China, thanks but no thanks and supply diversified luxury markets with willing consumers. This is a polite fuck you to the CCP, why should a company like Penfolds deal with such an untrustworthy market? Sure, the Chinese market is lucrative, but Treasury Wines, the owner of the Penfolds brand requires honest conditions to operate. 

A 10 hour flight from Dubai to Perth

It's a long flight from Dubai to Perth, 10 hours flying time is not time well, spent, it is neither entertaining or exciting, it is a means to an end and that's it.

Actually, I prefer train journeys as I find the trip more exciting and even the high speed express train pulls into stations every now and again. Still, there is an entertainment system and I have my tablet to tap away on.

What I have learned about Emirates is their service has dropped, actually, dropped quite significantly. Still, if you had never flown with the airline before you would think everything was just fine. That was before coronavirus grounded aircraft around the world, I would like to see what their service level is now.

What amazed me was they finished the alcohol service early, you ask for a glass of wine and you are told no. Of course they will sell you alcohol on an international flight but I was going for that, we were not drinking excessively.

In fact, we didn't have any drinks after our dinner, it was pretty much a dry flight - I think I will be looking for new flight options in the future. Emirates keeps a prety tight leash on drinks these days, we are not talking about everyone rolling around the aisles drunk, just a drink wit h youf meal and one afterwards.

As strong and active alumni

I have found out that an MBA qualification delivered by a business school without a strong and active alumni really isn't worth the enrollment fees.

When you enrol in a second or third tier business school you really need to undertake a cost/value analysis. As strong alumni tends to be associated with the top business schools across the world.

Business schools such as Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia or Chicago Booth in the US or Insead, IE Business School, ISLE or Said in Europe all attract strong candidates and have strong and active alumni networks.

Recruitment from these schools is strong, recruiters will actually approach these business schools seeking talent. An active alumni is important, there is a sense of shared ownership and the connections to business is invaluable.

Finally, the business school I undertook my MBA got an online alumni up and running but it didn’t help me when I graduated as it wasn’t up and running then. This is unfortunate as Torrens University is a new university but since it is part of the Laureate Network, they should have already invested in such resources.

The two year degree in the US includes internships where candidates work on projects, I guess according to their majors. This employer network is certainly a recruiting tool for both candidates and firms seeking top talent, this is certainly a strong selling point to attract the best candidates.

Universities are really defacto recruitment firms in many respects, internal networking within the MBA group should lead to potential entrepreneurial ideas, potential recruitment and investment. The best business schools have the most strong and active alumni and the second and third tier business schools should emulate these networks.

An MBA is a degree in general management

Business education was once a vocational education domain, so what changed? An MBA was once an entrepreneurial degree for professionals, this changed from the initial syllabus. Whilst MBA curriculum from the leading business schools is still focused on entrepreneurial activity, the trend is moving towards a more general management degree.

An MBA is a degree in general management; sure, specialist degrees exist in areas such as finance, operations management, human resources management, marketing, international business, accounting, supply chain management, media and communications, information systems and strategy.

But the base MBA degree targets a more generalised educational outcome with the ability to undertake a major specialisation. Based on discussions, a number of business schools no longer offer specialisations as they were not popular courses.

The specialisation majors such as marketing, finance or supply chain management are aligned to specialist business schools. Speaking to recruiting officers, the trend has returned to a more generalist MBAs as graduates are seeking a well-rounded education.

Collaborating with Google Docs

I first learnt the value of collaborating with Google Docs during postgraduate study when undertaking group assignments. This was the program of choice, as well all had gmail accounts with the learning institute, it was simple enough to utilise these tools to advantage.

We were able to share and edit documents live, you could also see the edits and who entered what section of text. It was great to watch some working live on the collaborative document while you watched, you could actually see them writing the text.

We decided on an individual text colour so it was easy to identify each individual author although the program indicated each individual. There is plenty to like about using Google Docs as a learning tool, naturally, you have to be careful with anything deemed confidential on an online platform.

I prefer to work live using coloured text so that I know when each section is completed, when I have finished them I change to standard black text. Whilst I used this program for study, I am aware of the applications for virtual teams to work on documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

A program such as Google Docs has the ability to wrestle the monopoly away from Microsoft Office. Now we have greater choices and competitive forces will allow us to move away from Microsoft programs.

How we beat Covid-19 in Western Australia

In Western Australia we never had a first wave of Covid-19, thus far, there has been no second wave. This makes sense since we really can’t have a second wave if we never had a first wave.

The state government acted decisively based on medical advice, the first move was to close the border between the states. Then they created internal intra-state borders preventing movement of people around the state to limit transmission of the virus.

This wasn’t necessary as we really had no community transmission. Indigenous communities were off limits and locked down. This was really required as these indigenous communities are more susceptible to the virus according to expert medical opinion.

As with the rest of Australia, the state government set up quarantine for returning international travellers, this has pretty much stopped Covid-19 all together. We don’t wear masks, we haven’t been locked down like the other states or parts of the world - life goes on as normal.

Our life went on pretty much as before, initially businesses were shut down around the nation and the job-keeper program kept the money rolling in for those affected. For those of us who kept working, we had the option from working from home if we were employed in office roles.

Essential workers kept going to their workplaces, they followed social distancing and retail or customer service staff had perspex barriers erected. There was hand sanitiser everywhere and you were expected to use it.

That being said, our life in Western Australia went on pretty much as normal, there was no international travel but apart from that, Covid-19 pretty much never affected me. Even interstate travel was out for the majority of us - it was required.

Sure, we couldn’t head down the pub, sporting events or a concert for a while but that wasn’t a high price to pay considering what was at stake. People knew what had to be done and just got on with it and we lived in a little bubble free from Covid-19.

How to spot a Chinese troll

When a person reads news stories online, they will invariably come across Chinese trolls, if they comment on social media, especially on news stories related to Chinese indiscretions, then they will no doubt be targeted by state funded Chinese trolls.

Firstly, there is the Great Firewall of China, ordinary Chinese citizens are blocked from a variety of internet sites ranging from Google, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat and all the news media. So if they are commenting, this means they have been given access.

They may have been allowed to move outside of China and whilst Chinese dystopia is always a threatening influence, the sphere of influence is frighteningly hostile. The social credit monitoring allows these individuals to amass points.

Chinese citizen's online options are monitored, and censored by the CCP and whilst offered some Chinese sites such as Alibaba, Weibo and Baidu - their options are limited and highly censored. The xiǎo fěnhóng have been given access to international sites and are reportedly paid 50 cents per post.

The Great Firewall of China can keep its citizens under control, the wumao are enlisted to operate outside of this firewall. They are keen to get in an online stoush with you, they get paid for this. This is their modus operandi - so don't get caught up in this. 

You work them out pretty quick, they are abusive and they engage in racially aggressive slander. Never get caught up in this racial abuse, they are baiting you. These trolls are easy to spot, I do like exposing them online, they try to gang up on individuals, you stir them up, not the other way around.  

The more you argue with them, the more money they get and undoubtedly win more credence with their supervisors. Stir them up, get them to pile on and then sign out of the conversation, block any notifications and then laugh at them.

Chinese propaganda - typical disgraceful behaviour by a regime unable to engage in diplomacy

What the dumbarse politicians from the CCP just don’t get is the transparency that Australia has just displayed in bringing the war crimes to public attention. We all know the CCP is the Corrupt Corona Party who unleashed the virus upon the world through their inaction and incompetence lack any such transparency. 

Certain members of the SASR went rogue over in Afghanistan, they were reported by their peers and an enquiry was opened to investigate the matter - it hasn’t been covered up. Whilst this was a small element, the nation is working to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.

We all know Lijian Zhao is a blowhard, he is trying hard to please his masters in Beijing. He is trying to garnish favours at the CCP - everyone can see that. Even for China, this is a new low in their lack of ability in international diplomacy.

Lijian should think himself lucky he even has a Twitter account. Apart from the xiǎo fěnhóng who are paid to regurgitate CCP propaganda on the internet. Average Chinese citizens have no access to Twitter, Facebook, Google or Youtube and are instead locked behind the Great Firewall of China.

What these deadshits in the CCP fail to appreciate is Australia as a sovereign nation won’t bow down to China. Their plan is they will use Australia’s liberal democracy to undermine the elected government.

The CCP are dirty Australia has successfully orchestrated an international investigation into the origins of the Coronavirus that we know China is working overtime to cover up. This has embarrassed the CCP internationally, they are currently profiteering from manufacturing safety equipment to fight their virus.

The CCP is anything but democratic, they are stuck with a shithead for life. Winnie the Pooh is leading China down a dangerous line and they can’t pull back without getting rid of this patsy faced despot. I just hope the Biden administration is up to dealing with China and hold them accountable for their indiscretions.

The Chinese system is different, the Chinese people are stuck for life with Xi Jinping, they don’t know what a democratic system is with Lijian trying hard to perform favours for him. The CCP needs to be cleaned out, they are a very dangerous regime.

The wumao are masquerading as xiǎo fěnhóng earn very little for their online trolling. Lijian is paid better than the xiǎo fěnhóng who is happy to sell all principles and scruples which were mostly lacking in the first place. He just kowtows to an internal audience intent of keeping Winnie in power and has no international influence whatsoever. 

We all see through Chinese fake images, they are as fake as the lousy products they produce from their stolen intellectual property. They are just a nation of thieves with no morals, ethics, values or integrity and we see this again and again.