It's now fifty years ago

 

You know you're old when one of the defining events of your lifetime is already fifty years ago. The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation.

"All the President's Men" is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the first Watergate break-in and ensuing scandal for The Washington Post. The book chronicles the investigative reporting of Woodward and Bernstein from Woodward's initial report on the Watergate break-in through the resignations of H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and the revelation of the Nixon tapes by Alexander Butterfield in 1973. It relates the events behind the major stories the duo wrote for the Post, naming some sources who had previously refused to be identified for their initial articles, notably Hugh Sloan. It also gives detailed accounts of Woodward's secret meetings with his source Deep Throat, whose identity was kept hidden for over 30 years. Gene Roberts, the former executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and former managing editor of The New York Times, has called the work of Woodward and Bernstein "maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time."

 

Read the book online here

 

The name of the book alludes to the nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty: "All the king's horses and all the king's men / Couldn't put Humpty together again". A film adaptation, produced by Robert Redford, starring Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein, respectively, was released in 1976. That same year, a sequel to the book, "The Final Days", was published, which chronicled the last months of Nixon's presidency, starting around the time their previous book ended.

I must be getting old because all this is now fifty years ago. I remember it well because at the time I was working as "Secretary" (Business Manager - Accountant) for the the British Solomon Islands Electrcity Authority in Honiara in the then British Solomon Islands Protectorate, and Watergate was fiercely debated on the seaward-looking terrace of the Mendana Hotel and around the bar at the Point Cruz Yacht Club and the G-Club. We thought the world as we knew it had come to an end.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!

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P.S. Not to be confused with both the book and movie of the same name about the rise and fall of populist politician Willie Stark (based on Huey Long) - see here and here.

 

Serene Surya

 

Enjoy tropical living in this calm and beautiful complex. Four Mile Beach is less than a minute away, and with just parkland to cross, this quality complex with Asian influences is effectively beachfront Port Douglas."

Now that selling "Riverbend" is again a possibility, I'm reading the sales pitch for Villa 7 in the gated Surya villa complex at Port Douglas. No more acreage, no more endless grass-cutting, no more cold winters.

There are currently two units on sale in what appears to be a 13-unit complex. Both 3-bedders are selling at around the same price. I've emailed the agents to indicate their locations inside the complex, and also to tell me how many units are lived in by their owners and how many are rented out. And how much the Body Corporate fees are.

There has been a fairly regular turnover of owners which bothers me:

 

• Unit 1 sold Oct 1999 $575,000; Jan 1999 $550,000
• Unit 2 sold Aug 2018 $495,000; Jan 1999 $550,000
• Unit 3 sold Jun 2002 $540,000; Jun 2000 $528,650
• Unit 4 sold Aug 2000 $575,000
• Unit 5 sold Aug 2004 $524,000; Aug 2002 $399,500
• Unit 6 sold June'21 $440,000 (?); May'07 $480,000; Jan'04 $470,000; Aug'02 $399,500
• Unit 7 sold Dec'12 $395,000; Dec'08 $410,000; Jul'02 $399,500
  on sale for $589,000
• Unit 8 sold Jul'21 $530,000; Oct'14 $515,000; Dec'04 $530,000; Jun'00 $414,500
• Unit 9 sold Nov 2008 $490,000; May 2007 $480,000
• Unit 10 sold Apr'20 $510,000; Aug'15 $395,000; Apr'02 $387,000
• Unit 11 sold Apr'17 $450,000; Jun'03 $455,000; Nov'01 $372,500
  on sale for $595,000 - UNDER OFFER, then sold for $570,000
• Unit 12 sold Jun 2020 $483,000; Jun 2000 $392,000
• Unit 13 sold Apr'18 $485,000; Oct'02 $525,000; Oct'99 $414,510

Built in 2000, with some buyers having bought off-the-plan in 1999
All villas are 3-bedroom, except Number 2 which is 2-bed and Number 12 which is 4-bed
For sales records on all units click here

 

The current owners of Villa 7 write, "We have been privileged to live in villa 7 Surya, overlooking a tropical garden and 100 metres from the Coral Sea. This setting has inspired pottery, watercolours, drawings and poetry, animated by the ever-changing beauty of this lush and fragrant setting. We hope the buyers are similarly inspired to enjoy this spacious villa and its surrounds." No watercolours nor poetry for me; just sitting by the fountain and reading all those books I accumulated will do me.

It's nice to think we'd never have to pay for another airfare to Bali, nor would we have to remove our two Bali temple gods from "Riverbend"!

It's early days yet and anything could happen or nothing. As my mother used to say, "Erstens kommt es anders, und zweitens als man denkt!"

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P.S. ... and here's the accountant in me talking: why buy when you can rent? These villas rent for about $500 a week on a long lease, or $26,000 a year. That's $26,000 a year without having to worry about repairs & maintenance, insurance, body corporate fees, insurance, or council rates. Council rates are about $2,750 p.a., body corporate fees $14,000 p.a. (of which about half is for insurance), repairs & maintenance inside the villa - well, it's anyone's guess but call it $3,250 p.a. to round things off to an even $20,000 a year. Add to it the income foregone on the (say) $600,000 paid for the villa, which in my share portfolio would yield a consistent net return of 10% on dividends and franking credits alone, so we can add another $60,000 to the $20,0000. That's $80,000 a year I've saved by NOT having bought the villa, out of which I could easily pay the $26,000 in rent and still be $54,000 ahead. What about the capital gains, I hear you ask. What about it? Have you looked at the above sales figures? An amount of $500,000 invested in 1999 in any well-managed company listed on the ASX would today be worth several times that much (BHP in 1999 was $12 a share - I know; I sold some then! - today it is $50 a share, and that's not even counting the consistent high dividend yield). Any well-managed share portfolio would show at least twice that much in capital gains without any of the costs involved in buying and selling real estate, e.g. stamp duty, agent's commissions, legal fees! If ever there was a case of "renting is better than buying", this one is it!

P.P.S. If you want to know what a property is worth, realestateview.com.au is a good starting point.

 

There's just one special contract condition

 

I'm on record as not being one who thinks much of real estate agents. I still don't but I've just had some early discussions with one who seems to be slightly above the rest, and who's currently marketing a trophy house in the five-million-dollar range.

That particular trophy house seems to have caught the attention of a number of prospective buyers from all over the country, and since only one of them can be the lucky buyer, it occurred to me that those who missed out may be interested in "Riverbend". Indeed, some may even prefer "Riverbend" as said trophy house is off-grid (no mains power, no town water, no sewer) and slightly remote on a dirt road which may be a bit of a challenge to someone used to spending millions of dollars.

"Riverbend", being on a bitumen road, with mains power and soon town water and sewer as well, in addition also offers safety in numbers by being part of the village. And it comes with a much lower price tag which we agreed would be somewhere north of three million dollars.

As I wrote, these were early discussions. Something may come of it or nothing may come of it. However, one special contract condition I did already insist on: whoever buys "Riverbend" must pledge to serve our two resident possums breakfast in bed - to say nothing of the feeding of the multitudes of waterfowl on the pond, the dozen or so tame rainbow lorikeets and king parrots, the kookaburras, and the scores of water dragons, chief among them Gonzo who for many years has shared the verandah under which he lives with us. And I want that in writing! 😀

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Early morning at "Riverbend"

 

Early morning at "Riverbend" and I'm considering which of the fifty shades of Earl Grey I'm going to have for my tea this morning. Just a short while ago, the weekly garbage truck came down the lane with its headlights blazing which is always a sign that autumn and the end of day-light saving are not far away.

It's been raining which does nothing to improve my mood even though the ducks on the ever-increasing pond don't mind. Which is the keyword in this highly destabilised world we live in. Don't mind about the war in Ukraine; the trade wars between America and China; don't mind about turf wars between bikie gangs in Sydney; don't mind about drive-by shootings and knife-stabbings, don't mind about lying politicians and corrupt public officials; and don't mind about people complaining about banks lending them too much money (they used to complain about not lending them enough money).

It was so much easier to keep calm when I lived in New Guinea before the internet when there was no television or even a decent radio recep-tion from Australia, and the only news was from a local station called 'Maus Bilong San Kam-ap' in Tok Pisin, New Guinea's lingua franca, where a helicopter is a 'Mixmaster bilong Jesus Christ' which made the latest news about helicopter gunship action in Vietnam sound almost hilarious.

Then there was Burma which was under a 6-to-6 curfew and sealed off behind the "Teak Curtain", and where one couldn't even buy Western toothpaste, let alone hear Western news. The only 'television' to watch were those blue-light electric mosquito zappers which were on the wall of every restaurant and which we called "Burmese television".

And then there was the world's largest sandbox, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where everything was totally censored and a Western newspaper was as stiff as cardboard after all its 'offending' articles had been doused in black ink by censors armed with thick felt-tipped pens.

Of course, we could achieve the same now by simply turning off the radio, the television, the internet, but somehow we are all addicted to the news, especially bad news. Maybe I make today a totally news-free day and just concentrate on my Earl Grey tea.

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The Root of all Evil?

 

To watch Part 2, click here

 

As a card-carrying member of the Freethinkers I can't get enough of Richard Dawkins and his excellent book "The God Delusion".

I had joined the German Freethinkers at the tender age of fourteen on the same day I was supposed to show up at church for my confirmation, much to my parents' embarrassment with their family and friends.

My parents were, at least nominally, Christians which made me a child of Christian parents; it did not make me a Christian child. Christianity did not convince me, and so I became an atheist without even knowing what that meant. If you think that's bad, bear in mind that we are all atheists because we all refuse to believe in the gods that the Vikings or the ancient Greeks worshipped. I just happen to go one god further.

 

Click here to read the book online

 

In today's trawl through Moruya's op-shops, I found three of his DVDs: "Appearances & Events 2007 - 2008", "The Genius of Charles Darwin", and "Root of all Evil?". He adds a question mark to the latter's title which, in my opinion, is a very polite touch but totally unnecessary.

I shall watch them without guilt as I stopped embarrassing my parents when I emigrated to Australia five years after my failed attendance, nor will I embarrass them again as they are both dead and in a place where we are not likely to meet, as I, undoubtedly, will go straight to Hell.

"To an atheist there is no all-seeing, all-loving God who keeps us from harm. But atheism is not a recipe for despair. Quite the contrary. By disclaiming the idea of a next life, we can take more excitement in this one.

The here and now is not something to be endured before eternal bliss or damnation. The here and now is all we have, an inspiration to make the most of it. So atheism is life-affirming, in a way religion can never be.

Look around us. Nature demands our attention, begs us to explore, to question. Religion can only provide facile, ultimately unsatisfying answers. Science, in constantly seeking real explanations, reveals the true majesty of our world in all its complexity.

People sometimes say, 'There must be more than just this world, than just this life.' But how much more do you want? We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they're never going to be born.

The number of people who could be here in my place outnumber the sand grains of Sahara. If we think of all the different ways in which our genes could be permuted, you and I are quite grotesquely lucky to be here.

The number of events that had to happen in order for you to exist, in order for me to exist, we are privileged to be alive, and we should make the most of our time on this world."

So says Richard Dawkins, and I say "Amen" to that!

 

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