What's happening lately.

What's happening? I'm not sure if horse flu is comparable in effect to the flu we humans get, but there is currently an outbreak of the disease in the equine world here. I've never really been into horse racing and betting, so it has little impact on me (besides perhaps feeling sorry for the horses - Phillip means ' lover of horses' - and I have to say I think dogs, cats and horses have a special place in the human family. I don't think we as a species would be were we are without them).

Whats about to happen is APEC. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organisation is coming to Sydney over the next week or so.

"...The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is an economic forum for a group of Pacific Rim countries to discuss matters on regional economy, cooperation, trade and investment. Together, these countries represent about 60% of the world economy...".

Countries such as Malaysia originally opposed this grouping. (Mahatir basically wanted a SE Asian closed club instead. Reality bit him, but not so much Singapore and Lee Kwaun Yew hard in 1997, Australia not only rode out that storm unscathed, but helped bail out some of our not-quite-friends and suddenly silent sometime critics). APEC seems to me to be somewhat similar to the OECD, or even the G20, which Australia is also a member of.

Of interest? There are only 21million Aussies. We are the 13th largest world economy, and the Aussie dollar is the 5th highest traded currency in the world, Australia regularly ranks in the top 3 of the Human Development Index. (HDI - heres a LOT more info on that interesting measure).