No Land Boundaries

 Let us look at some nations with no land boundaries, not sharing some of the problems and opportunities with another state crossable by road, walkover or possible easy infiltration.

1.    People you want to keep out must sail or fly over to reach your country.   Australia and New Zealand easily come to mind.  At times, you have too much of coastlines to monitor.  Passengers arriving by air have found it easier to overstay once they get into a nation with a tourist visa, especially when the country is vast and government checking resources are inadequate.

2.   The nearest foreign state is relatively far away.

In contrast, Iceland lies not that distant from the European suncontinent - so is the proximity between the Japanese islands and the Korean Peninsular.

Sulu and Mindanao, part of the southern Phillippines, are so temptingly near Sabah, north east of the huge island of Borneo but part of the Federation of Malaysia.

3.    You may truly be a relatively small island state, but technically you do not have a land boundary with a foreign nation.

Singapore is an island state, but have two bridge connections to Peninsular Malaysia.
Her strategic location in the midst of vital trading, air and supply routes has vastly contributed to her economic growth.

Malta and Cyprus enjoy having the Mediterranean Sea waters lapping on their shores, but are easily
accessible from Italy, Greece and Turkey.

4.    You may be surrounded by sea, but you are legally part of another nation far away.

Greenland, Hawaii and French Polynesia come to mind.   So are the areas carved out in the Antarctic. You are subject to the rules, norms and control of a state you do not have land boundaries with.

5.    You do not share a land boundary, but your demographics, culture and economics can be tightly knitted with your nearest neighbour.

Sri Lanka has historically had huge influence in several aspects from the Indian subcontinent.
Madagascar, Seychelles and the Maldives are other examples of this observation.

Mobility of humans,  advanced transportation and significant leaps in trade, technology and geopolitical developments have overcome any isolationist impact of nations with no land boundaries.

#yongkevthoughts

This Suburb

 I am standing along a suburban street lined mostly with unassuming shops.

The only place seemingly abuzz durinv the daytime
is the local cafe, where freshly made barista made cups of Aussie coffee blends set the pace, mostly takeaway.

The sun does shine brightly, accompanied by blue skies, even in winter.   Does the optimistic outlook not reveal the reasons for the otherwise quiet aspects of the place apart from the cafe?

Most of the businesses are basic but perhaps essential.   A hair salon, a small grocery, a vet, a house interior showroom, a dentist, a GP clinic, a newsagent, a physiotherapy, an optometrist, a Vietnamese bakery, a pharmacy. And of course there is the local pub, bought several years ago by well funded corporates from rhe Big Smoke.

Recently a vape and tobacco outlet opened, shattering the placid tones of a little village like community which was essentially defined by strolling dogs, kids on electric bikes and retirees.  I must say a small liquor store already exists, together with a machined gambling venue that firms a critical part of the club network in New South Wales.

There are no fresh produce markets - but the nearest one is only a kilometre away, in another suburb.   All three major supermarkets of the nation are only a ten minute walk away, downhill.

No imposing high rise apartment blocks have nevertheless sprung up.   The hills of the escarpment delude one to believe this is a refuge from the main highway not really far away.   One can view the ocean horizon by just walking up not many steps from the local strip.

A Meditteranean restaurant of repute continues to do well, in its second generation of operation.   Someone has invested in a wine bar yet to open. There are nearby local primary schools.

Families are the core of any growing and vibrant society.    They do appear especially on weekends in this village environment.  Nearby are parks, playing fields and children's playgrounds.

This suburb is pronouncedly bereft of activity on most afternoons.  After dusk, it seems residents sleep early.   The skies above are a riot of striking colours especially on autumn sunsets.  After dusk, the stars are clear and bright, as the place lacks the choking artificial lights of populated cities.

The sunrise from.the Tasman Sea beckons at first light.

Opposed to this, increasing traffic criss crosses this suburb when the main thoroughfares nearby become congested.
No roads have been expanded for the exploding number of vehicles.

The economy here runs on personal consumption and lifestyle,  based on a microeconomy structured on income earned from elsewhere.   This suburb is essentially residential, having  no forward looking hubs of growth.  Though pleasant and with a relatively mild climate, it does not generate tourism.   Youngsters still leave the area for the luring bright lights of other places.

Do aspects of this suburb ring familiar tones in where you live?

#yongkevthoughts

The Current State of Australian Television

 So it is Sunday.

An afternoon to turn to trivial things.

Eatery reviews these days are within an environment post Covid that has to deal with rising rentals, lack of staff, increasing costs of electricity and ingredients and a shrinking eat out market that has to grapple with continuing inflation.  Definitely not trivial.

So I shall turn my attention to the devastating state of free to air television across Australia these days.   Shrinking numbers watch such screens, as wi-fi induced streams and portable anytime diversions attract the competition.

Commercial stations have become more obviously the advertising behemoths that they essentially are.   Ad time is longer and more often.   Proper programmes are definitely after thoughts in these wagons of on screen sales inducers.   And the ads lack imagination, creativity and finesse.   Becoming more uncouth, do ads reflect the mindsets of evolving society in general, or just of the paid creators themselves?

Channel 10 Australia is wholly owned by CBS, part of the American Paramount group, which has merged with Bytedance.
Channel 7 is owned by Kerry Stokes based in Perth.  Channel Nine is part of Nine Network Holdings, owned by the Australian Packer family, the Murdochs and Bruce Gordon of WIN television.

Advertorials are blatantly put down our viewing sensibilities as if they underestimate the intelligence of whatever audience tv still has.   The morning and breakfast shows have followed a formula for over fifty years, first tried in the USA.

Peculiar obsessions of Australian television  are game shows, quizzes and participants driven by cash prizes.   The British and American dominance on the presentation and styles of such shows is evident even in the separately produced Australian versions.  At times, people can watch the foreign version in the early afternoon, followed by the Aussie set in the early evening.

And this leads to the next point.  The domestication of tv programming in Australia has reached one of the lowest points. We are being overswamped by American and British content every day and every night.  At times, I mistakenly think I reside in Leceister or Ohio when I tune on to "Australian" television.

Road accidents, shootings, weather episodes and more are generously sprinkled in news bulletins here - but they are all happening in the UK, Canada and the USA.  By a quirky coincidence, I do however find that very little is reported about New Zealand, a neighbour of Australia.

Although Australia geographically is situated in the Asia Pacific, there is relatively little content about Asia on Australian tv.   The exception is when Asia is mentioned littered with negative matters - a flood, a protest, a collapse, a political quake or a problem.   Rare these days on Australian tv are broadcasts of improving infrastructure, standard of living and cultures of the Asian region ( which is economically the fastest growing in the world).

In recent years, on the other hand, there has been wider presentation of television by SBS addressed to the interests and sensitivities of Indigenous Australians.

Live telecasts of key sports events have been a key landmark of free to air Australian television, but these have been eroded by pay streaming apps.

Australian tv in the past thirty years has achieved successes like her versions of imports like Masterchef - or in originals like Bluey.   Do not even remind me of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Neighbours and other classics from a forgotten past.
What happened?   Australia has become location wise a much cheaper place to produce American movies and that has had implications, especially when Aussie talent has moved Stateside as well.

Moving on, the expanded number of HD channels relegated to each Australian free to air station did not translate into more quality offerings.   Quantity did not translate into quality.   There are more repeats, shows dredged from the past and a startling absence of live presentations.
Having 24 hour transmissions has brought in endless shopping shows that drains us of meaningful watching.

An interesting trend of flagging audio only radio channels on television is only diluting the magic and uniqueness of television's future.   More news bulletins on television from  noon to dinner time has not had much return, especially when anyone can read the latest news readily anytime from the internet.

There is a declining availability of live music shows.  Food themed cooking shows in 2025 are mainly imports.   And the strong television obsession with weather updates is most intriguing.

On to the taxpayer funded tv channels.
Financial cuts by the Coaltion ruled Canberra Federal Government from around 13 years ago  has seen evident
deterioration in programming of SBS and ABC.    Both channels have resorted to providing streamed in news bulletins around the world, but seemingly of USA allied nations, as time fillers especially overnight and during  mornings.  

There is a high propensity of documentaries, detective dramas and politically compliant presentations on both ABC and SBS.   Bright spots perhaps can be in the continued funding for 4 Corners on Monday nights, satirical Charlie Pickering's The Weekly,  Gardening Australia at the end of the working week, the very observant Media Watch, Podcast styled If You're Listening and two servings per week of  Planet America on ABC News.

I recall the days when Aussies living abroad could follow up on things happening back home on the ABC tv service overseas - but has that gone too?

Certain quarters across Australian society have remarked upon the increasing politicisation of news bulletin content across both commercial and tax payer funded channels.   It depends on who calls the shots behind each station.

I try to be realistic that television is a trivial matter - but is it truly?  

#yongkevthoughts

All On That Device

 Why do we continue to put all our eggs in one basket - cyberspace and the smart mobile phone?

Portability, accessibility and convenience.  The days of having to reach a specified physical location to work on a database or effect significant transactions is now so passe. 

The transportability of human beings, the expectation of being able to whizz from one city to the next and the presumption of instantaneous response in more matters has lulled many into the use of wifi connected device dependability.

Answers are expected - and delivered - in a jiffy.  Gone is the opportunity to truly reflect or think about a complex or delicate matter.   Replies are given by a click or instant messaging.   There is increasingly no vocal communication or discussion.

Gone can be the better understanding and exchange of views when one had to meet face to face to negiotiate, compromise or make a revised offer and consideration.

Business and socials are effected on the screen - it is up to you as to when and how you read and respond.

The significant increased volume of gigabytes used is not a problem anymore as videos, images and graphics chomp on much way beyond mere text.

Will storage and usage capacity crash, or be transformed into ever more taken for granted transformations?

Human preoccupation can be ever channeling inwards.  Does it lead to social isolation, spearheading the epidemic of loneliness, as we spend more time with machines and software, rather than with personal interaction and the art of socialability?

There is a decrease of the use of paper, but more exposure to the debilitating consequences of light, dazzle and screen over use.

Communication used to emphasise the art of conversation  and writing.  Now it is silence, the dexterity of tapping fingers and the use of predictivd AI.  Is personal creativity eventually shown out of the room?  Has anyone consciously retained a semblence of still being able to write with a pen or pencil?

And what really happens if we misplace that personal device that contains virtually everything?  Or the big hack corrupting every item in that hand held device, with our personal identity stolen at the same time.

Electronic passes, financial accounts, life's meaningful images, news updates, means of messaging family and friends far and near, health records and more.

Each of us are also at the mercy of rising prices imposed by wifi providers which can be in a duopolistic market.

We may be already too late, having placed all of life's essential needs in a hand held device that needs to be changed or updated faster than the family car or lounge tv.

Well, that lounge tv is already nearly defunct.  No one gathers around to enjoy that screen together.  Instead, individually each of us are glued to the vagaries of our personal concerns, joy and diversions on our individual devices, even when we are seated together at the same table or room.

#yongkevthoughts

1400 in 16 years

 This is my 1400th write up for this blog.

To every one of you who have followed and read my posts even once, occasionally or all this while, I extend my deep appreciation, humility and gratitude.

In this age of temporary things, I am thankful for being able to go back to my previous musings, photographs, articulations, thoughts and moments.  Oh yes,  some of you may wonder why I have stopped posting images for several years now.   I still have not been able to resolve the technical problem, it may have to do with me preventing some thing on Google as part of strengthening my personal security parameters.

In culinary review posts, I had linked to Zomato, which has since gone defunct across Australia.

So many view points in the millions have been channeled in cyberspace, never going into print.    They gush through instant messaging, group chats, comments in apps that gaslight immediate feedback and other opportunities that may not encourage thoughtfulness before reacting.   Response by the masses churn as it is so ready for one individual  to light the fire of discord or inspiration.   We are pushed from checking websites to apps, from providing measured thoughts to spur of the moment gestures.  We need not even write in our response, but utilise symbols, icons and emotional signs.

Many of my previous posts reflect on matters that are no longer pertinent.   Yet I relish other posts that touch on longer lasting and still relevant subjects.    Politics, eateries and encounters can come and go, but meaningful human interactions and inspiration remain embedded.    The nature of passing and insignificant matters is illustrated.   Geographical places visited and experienced remain a joy in my heart.

Have some of my opinions changed in all these ensuing years, especially since my blog Kindlyyours.blogspot.com started in April 2008?   Each of us are evolving creatures and I hope the answer to that is a big Yes.  I may have moved on but I refuse to edit the views from opinion pieces from as far back as sixteen years ago.

#yongkevthoughts