Israel's economy slaan die Kol

Israel is country is constantly mired in complex problems: the Palestinian issue, extreme political flux in neighbours like Syria and Egypt, nuclear threat from Iran. It has a population about the same as London's - 7.5m people - and occupies a tiny stretch of land not quite as big as the state of Vermont in the USA. But it has one heck of an economy. Economic growth has chugged along at an average of around 4% for many years despite an almost constant state of regional crisis. Inflation is low at around 2% and has fallen steadily over the past decade. The population is rising at around 2% pa. At the head of the central bank is Stan Fischer. Nowadays called an 'Israeli-American' he was actually born in Lusaka, Zambia (which was Northern Rhodesia at the time) - the same country as my Mom. He has an unmistakably southern African accent, even today. Over 130 Israeli companies are listed on Wall St and the country boasts it's own version of Silicon Valley which bristles with hi-tech start-ups. Where the US version has a high percentage of consumer product innovation, Israel is more into business solutions. It simply doesn't have the population to experiment on, like the USA. The next step in the economy is the proposed break-up of its extensive conglomerates to increase competition. Israel is testimony to the idea that a high state of tension is good for the creative juices. The QSL is from Kol Israel, heard on AM 657 in 2000 while I was on a business trip to Istanbul.

Skipping through profitable Schiphol

Another quick roadshow in Europe. This time I really pushed it, doing five cities in three days: Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Stockholm, The Hague and Paris. Last week it was really cold in these places with Frankfurt recording minus 15 but it warmed up in time and everything progressed without a hitch. To get to The Hague you pass through Schiphol, Amsterdam's airport. This is a busy place with nearly 50 million passengers pouring through per annum. For some strange reason, KLM, the national airline, doesn't seem to get very good slot positions at the airport so on internal European flights you always have to walk for yonks before you get clear. The airport is very profitable, booking a net of Euro 194m  last year, up about 15% on 2010. The Dutch government has continued to hang tough with the Germans on Greece and for the umpteenth time there was another cliffhanger through the week as the Eurozone north piled the pressure on Greece to pass swingeing austerity measures to comply with the terms of the second Euro 130bn bail-out - that is not small change! Labour costs in Greece and other peripherals are coming down sharply now which will render them more competitive but they face very tough times before they can reap any benefits. The QSL is from Radio Bloemendaal, the Dutch religious broadcaster, heard on AM from Kent in 2002.

Not enough to go in the Volvo

This year's Volvo Ocean race is just a little bit boring. Team Telefonica has won all three legs and looks a shoe-in for overall winners by the time they reach the final destination of Galway in July. Leg three finished last week in Sanya on the Chinese island of Hainan, having started in Mahe on the Maldive Islands. Leg 2 from Cape Town was distinguished by its finish at a mysterious undisclosed port whence the boats were shipped to Abu Dhabi. This was repeated to get them  to the start at Mahe. All this because of worries about the wretched pirates in the north-west Indian Ocean. I think the Volvo race is a thrilling concept and we saw the start in Cape Town of the previous race in 2008. It was stunning to watch these boats powering through Table Bay, waters I know well from sailing in various yachts. But this year it seems that the designs are too finely tuned and there have been a number of failures. This is not on when you only have a field of six. They should reduce the specs to allow for less equipment error and more sailor skill. This might also attract more entrants. I feel the Americas Cup is making a similar mistake: the advanced design parameters are putting the race out of the reach of many potential competitors leaving it in the hands of all but the very rich. The QSL is from the Maldive Islands Broadcasting Service, heard on short-wave on the strange frequency of 4740 kHz from Cape Town way back in 1968. It's one of those weird cards where they indicate that your report was correct or incorrect. Imagine the disappointment if you got one that was marked 'inaccurate!'

Leave Andaman man alone

The Andaman Islands are in the news. It seems that Indian police and military personnel have organised human safaris to observe remote tribal people living there. The islands first came to the attention of the surfing community in 1998 when a group of professional surfers worked several reefs on the islands. Jack Johnson, the Hawaiian more widely known for his cool pop songs, featured Andaman surfing clips in the movie Thicker Than Water which he filmed and for which he recorded the soundtrack. The islands were also featured in the Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of The Four. We have recently seen the 1987 TV adaptation with Jeremy Brett as the great detective. It starred a savage-looking Andaman islander who shot poisoned darts, one of which ended up in Holmes' scarf. When I was studying economics at university we often used to debate whether 'civilised people' should interfere with and try to change 'indigenous people.' Who says that local tribes living remotely and out of contact with the mainstream world aren't happy? Once exposed to modern society the chances are their ancient cultures will be destroyed. The QSL is from All India Radio, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, broadcasting from Port Blair on 60mb, heard on a DXpedition to Sheigra, north-west Scotland in 1996. One of the classics signed by A.K. Bhatnagar. It was always a thrill when one of these postcards turned up in the mail.

Entymology trumps baseball in the Palmetto State

Back in Cape Town seeing clients. The Santa rally in  risk assets in December has continued into January. It is starting to dawn on investors (and me) that the Eurozone might, after all, commit to providing the funding to firewall the peripheral countries. Primary is the huge $600bn plus of term funding offered to banks by the European Central Bank. And there is more of this to come. But there are other factors, not least that governments like the Italian technocrats under Mario Monti are not sitting on their hands. By being proactive they are also building credit with the sceptical north and this is enabling more financial leeway to help them through the crunch. Anyhoo, on Sunday a steady nor' wester sprung up - unusual for January when the south-easter can blow for days on end. I spent a long time in the water, catching waves at the back. Found myself drifting across the bay and at one point was way beyond the pavilion which I usually use as a boundary. Had to pull myself back from left to right. That's pretty much what happened in South Carolina, where Newt beat Mitt, going away. He started 20 points adrift and in the space of few days had chalked up a resounding win from apparently nowhere. The QSL is from WBSC, Bennettsville, SC heard on AM with 5kW from Cape Town in 1971. It seems the signal was beamed into my backyard. One of those nice, friendly letter QSLs from way back when.

Vuvuzela for the Kuomintang

The vuvuzela was around long before the noisy World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Inspired originally by the kudu horn, aluminium versions were made in the 1960s and supporters of top SA football teams like Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have used it for years. Now it has turned up in the far east in the Taiwanese elections. It has also shown up in Hong Kong at social rallies. Taiwan appears to have come of age in this election with a non-violent campaign and good outturn. The Kuomintang, which set up on the island six decades back, won again but with a reduced majority. Incumbent Ma Ying-jeou has pursued rappochement with the mainland which is completely at odds with the original party's raison d'etre. It is ironic that a vibrant 2-party state delivers a victor intent on rebuilding relations with the mainland, which itself is a country that does not allow elections. Chinese media coverage of the Taiwan elections was muted for the very reason that it does not want its people to track the process of democracy too closely. So instead of the mainland reclaiming the island one day as it hopes, maybe the island will reclaim the mainland - not with force but through fibre optics. The QSL is for a utility test transmission of the Chinese Government Radio Administration (Taiwan was still the Chinese representative at the United Nations until 1971), heard on 9975kHz USB in Cape Town way back in 1967. It was typed on beautiful onion skin paper.

McDonalds fires up in Hampstead

Walking through Hampstead the other evening we saw two ambulances and two police cars with sirens blaring, bullying their way through the traffic. The place was humming as people enjoyed the balmy weather, for this time of the year. Do sirens really need to be so loud? They should have two settings, one loud and one softer, the latter for moving through dense traffic and pedestrians. The ambulances and police cars were one thing but to cap it all a large fire engine bludgeoned its way through Hampstead's main intersection, forcing cars on to the pavement, and pulled up outside McDonalds. This was followed by two more fire trucks over the next 5-6 minutes from different sides of town. So now three fire engines were blocking the main thoroughfare. I love fire engines but in truth none of them were needed. A couple of firemen walked into the back of McDonalds to see what the problem was while the others hung around outside on the pavement. Probably the fat briefly caught fire. Looking through the window we saw that customers in the restaurant seemed unfazed. Hasn't the fire department heard of radio? Once the first one got there the others could have been warned off. I guess it wasn't a busy afternoon in the fire world and the boys needed an outing. McDonalds started life in San Bernardino, near Los Angeles, CA in 1940. The QSL is from the US Coast Guard station at Monterey, CA, heard on 5696 kHz USB in Johannesburg in 1987 in contact with Coast Guard cutter Cape Romain, one of my best utility QSLs.