Australia is in deep doggie---you know the rest!

The announcement that Ford may be moving out of Australia by 2016 is a sign that things are changing for the ‘Lucky Country.’ Not only is the price for what they ‘dig out of the ground’ dropping like the proverbial brick SH, but their manufacturing base; one that has been an integral part of their economy is coming under threat. That threat comes from countries that can do what the Aussies do, only much cheaper. International giants don’t give a rats butt when it comes to caring about workers or regional economies.

We in New Zealand lost our car manufacturing base many years ago and since then, mush of our other manufacturing businesses have gone the same way. Our agricultural sector has adapted to the brave new world and what we grow is still in demand.

We should not be smug about the position our ‘across the ditch’ cousins find themselves in, because what happens in that country, affects us hugely. Yes, China has overtaken Australia as our main trading partner, but if recent events that show how volatile that market can be become the ‘new norm’ then we too are in for a rough ride. Perhaps this is the time to strengthen our ties so that we can weather the storm together. Treating our two countries as one market and manufacturing base may just be the start of defending our South Pacific patch.’ This is one gang that I support!

NZ and Australia compete in many ways but when the chips are down the ANZAC spirit comes to the fore. Now is the time for relationship to grow even stronger. Our sense of ‘mateship’ must go beyond the jokes and barbs we shoot at one another. This time it must be far more than a mere ‘tweaking’ of the bonds that

London's horror----let's try to take a 'balanced' approach.

The horrific attack on a young man in London will stir up a great deal of anger in the UK and that is understandable. When the Brits are attacked we all know that the effect is to solidify opinion against the aggressor, in this case, possible Jihadists type terrorists. However one has to look at the bigger picture.

In many parts of the Middle East, there are on-going conflicts, most of which have their roots in History, political and religious. There are unresolved ‘land issues,’ and of course underpinning this is the access to oil question. The latter is often the driving force h=behind much of the policies followed by the West and China.

Put these issues aside for a moment and we are still horrified at the nature of this latest attack where the young man was hacked to death in a style reminiscent of some of the video execution footage we have seen form extremist groups. The vast majority of the UK populace will be sickened by this attack, including a huge proportion of the Islamic community. There will be a backlash from misguided groups and the target will be innocent victims who are easily identified as Muslim. This is unfortunate and the PM must move quickly to prevent this happening.

At the same time, we need to acknowledge that the actions of the two ‘suspects’ do not arise from a void; they are driven by a belief that their community in the wider sense is being treated unfairly. That is a weak description of the long term problems that have led up to such attacks, both on a small scale and in a more widespread ‘war on the West.’ Such attacks happen because of the unresolved issues and we will continue to see them. Now we await the reaction of the Government and no doubt we will see counter reactions from home grown anti-Islamic groups, some of whom are nothing more than ignorant, uninformed and dangerous ‘haters.’

The history of the UK is ne whereby many groups have arrived in this ‘fortress island’ and slowly become part of the culture, going back to well before Roman times. At some stage the large Islamic group will truly feel ‘British.’ It is the minority hard-line sympathizers of Taliban-like groups that will grab the headlines and force the Government to take actions that are more designed to placate a voting public than result in any real change. To achieve a real co-existence with Islam, the Government of the UK, the USA and China, along with much of the remainder of the community of nations, must come to terms with the mistakes of history and seek a real and lasting understanding. That will involve ‘undoing’ those mistakes.

The Islamic world too will need to move away from the extremist actions that fuel a continuance of these sad events. Will we witness such an ‘accommodation’ in our life time? I guess that depends on whose life-time we are talking about!

It is hard to remain positive about the future, for all of us, while the streets of London are witness to the horrors of the last day.

'Wait until August,' a prominent person behind the legal high industry said.

It looks like that we are going to be ‘assaulted’ with a range of new products once the legal high industry gets its act together and come up with what it considers ‘safe products.’ They are rubbing their hands with glee as they consider the money they are going to make when the legislation is passed to allow manufacturers to go through a process that although expensive, will bring the products that have been proven to be unsafe, especially for our young people, back onto the shelves. Of course these ‘sources’ will find the money to continually ‘re-launch’ their evil products. They will change the formulae to suit the needs of the new laws. It will be very difficult to keep these products off the shelves. The ‘proving is meant to be at the expense of the producers, but they will find the money and will not lack in finding financial backing for their cause. We can expect to see a plethora of ‘new products,’ that have managed to get through the upcoming process. It will then be back to us, the people to send very clear messages, much stronger than we have witnessed so far, that we do not want these ‘purveyors of misery’ on our streets. Maybe we need to widen our disgust and turn in a few ‘P’ cook houses too. Please, Mr Dunne, don’t go assuming that you have won the battle. It has only just begun!

Millions of dollars worth of New Zealand lamb sitting on Chinese docks---Who stuffed up?

What a stupid situation. Picture  a huge shipment of top quality NZ lamb sitting on the docks in China and the buyers unable to lift it until the 'officials' in China grant access. One has to wonder where the problem lies. Is it stupid pedantic Chinese officials, with maybe a hint of corruption or is it New Zealand officials who have not crossed the 'T's and dotted the 'I's? Is it some plan on the part of various sector groups in China who have vested interests in NZ lamb NOT being landed in their country. Perhaps we have assumed too much about the 'Free Trade' agreement between our two countries and that in the end, China doesn't give a stuff about NZ farmers or rules. We in New Zealand after all are just a small blimp in the bottom of the South Pacific,' and China owes us nothing. Why should they? Our ties may be growing and we have all seen the 'photo-shots' of meetings between senior political figures where they state the 'new love' between China and NZ but perhaps we, should take a deeper look at where this is all going? Should we once again 'put all of our eggs' into one basket? I don't think so. I have the distinct impression that we are going back to the future. Remember when we relied on Britain and hell--- we had historic ties with that nation. We died in our thousands defending British 'interests' in three wars and what happened in the long run? They cut us lose when they joined the 'Common Market' in the 1970's, so why on earth would we expect the Chinese to show us any favours? If they can't get their officials to sort out what is a relatively easy issue or our officials lack real understanding of how this huge market operates, then let's take a hard look at the implications of this latest bureaucratic nightmare. Come-on trade officials on both sides---get your act together! MAYBE NZ NEEDS TO TREAD VERY CAREFULLY WITH BIG BROTHER CHINA!

Waterspouts over the Manukau Harbour in Auckland.

I took Perdy for her usual afternoon walk today, knowing that we would have to hurry in order to avoid an incoming storm. Perdy jumped out of the car and waited patiently for me to put my boots on and get the ball-thrower from the back of the car. Having achieved that without her leaping up to encourage me, she was off like a shot, chasing her favourite orange ball across the sand. Two 'doggie walker' friends were returning to their cars and Perdy tired to great them by attempting to jump in their cars. It was then that I glanced towards the South Western horizon, beyond the heavy machinery that is carving out several new beaches on the waterfront.
'Holy hell!'  I yelled, to no one in particular. 'Look at that----isn't that a bloody tornado!'
Other people jumped out of their cars and watched as a sinister grey twisting mass of cloud reached for the surface of the harbour; the distance hard to measure. It was then we noticed a second much more compact deep grey thread of mischief, visibly moving towards us.
'Shit, two of them. One is definitely a waterspout1' I crowed knowledgably. That was pure assumption on my part. What the hell would I know. I did know one thing though and my thoughts were echoed by the others watching.
'Those poor people in Oklahoma.' The scene before us was as different as night and day. Still, 'Mother nature' was giving us a display that truly moves one. Within a few minutes, both spouts had retreated to their parent  clouds. I rang a few people and asked them to watch the news or listen to the radio. A short time later, Perdy and I drove out from the car park, just as a mini maelstrom assaulted us. I turned the wipers to fast and we headed around to the foreshore. By the time I pulled up to the sea-wall, the clouds had a distinctly lighter feel to them and the storm moved east over the city. On the way home I heard several reports of the two spouts. Luckily they did not make land. I once again thought of the massive destruction in Oklahoma. My thoughts went to the dead, injured and the families. We returned to the comforts of home and for me, a huge cup of coffee. Am I correct in thinking that these huge tornadoes in the USA are becoming more frequent and even in little New Zealand, we seem to be seeing more of the smaller versions.

From Russia with love!

From the time I began writing blogs I was pleasantly surprised by the number of readers I seemed to be getting from Russia. I know that initially I made jokes about that, because there is a fairly high number of Russian woman seeking New Zealand blokes for ‘relationships,’ especially in the time when Russia was going through turbulent economic times. I have no idea how that is panning out now. Of course I alluded to the fact that if I was a target for some amorous Russian ‘beauty’ then they were indeed ‘barking up the wrong tree.’ Let’s leave that for now eh, and focus on more plausible reasons for the larger and once again increasing number of Russian readers.

 I now assume that there is a bit of interest on the part of my readers on the land of many time zones and for that I most willingly respond. I would love to get some feedback, especially for my very upfront and maybe a little risky outbursts about your wonderful leader, Mr Putin. I know I have been a little critical of him and liken him to one of the power hungry men from the past. His lust for power is not of course dissimilar to many politicians in numerous countries. The one thing that we can say about the USA of course is that nay President is limited to no more than two terms in office. That Mr Putin manages to ‘change the rules’ about that issue speaks volumes for processes in the modern Russia.

New Zealand and Russia and natural trading partners and I hope that we receive many more Russian visitors and that NZers travel to your huge and wonderful country. My wish is to travel from Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Railway, all the way to the Pacific. Then it’s just a pleasant sail down through the Pacific to New Zealand---- Just a few Islands and pirate-ridden seas to traverse.

Keep reading my blogs my Russian friends. You are once again catching up with Australia. Maybe I have put them off by insulting them. They are tough though, just like Kiwis!

Perdy wants a beach holiday this year at Xmas.

Yes, I was sternly told that it is about time that we took Perdy away for a beach holiday this year. She wants a bach, somewhere on the Thames Coastline and one that welcomes Jack Russells. She said that she won't make a mess and most of the day she will be with us and out and about.  Mind you we already know that doggies are not really welcome in the main street, but we can live with that. I have tried a local agent and I hope that they get back to us so that I can pack Perdy's bags, bones and toys. I hope there are other crazy dogs there so Perdy can make some special new friends. Hopefully Sea raealty will get back to us, otherwise one of you may know where we can find a nice bach.