I saw him on tv a few nights ago. His mop of hair was still ginger, tousled but worryingly sparse now. He looked slightly hunched, as if weighed down by the billions he own. He is Anthony Pratt, son of Richard. Dick was a giant of Australia’s cardboard industry. They both stood in my office back in 1986. Dick taught me a lot about running a business. I was his accountant but he knew more about what the numbers meant. I shan’t be unkind to myself, after all, I was only 28 then. Donald Trump recently proclaimed to his guests at his Mar-a-Lago resort “ Ladies and gentlemen, the great Anthony Pratt”. I did not know Anthony would become great… if only I knew what I know now. The two men made global headlines days ago, together with Australia’s PM, Scott Morrison. Scomo almost appeared as a prop at the opening of Pratt’s cardboard factory in Ohio, in the US. Bringing Back Jobs To America was the message. Both Pratt and Morrison looked confused, shouldn’t it have been Bringing Back Jobs To Australia? It was a pseudo Presidential election campaign for Trump anyway. Anthony Pratt now wears the tag of Australia’s third richest, at $6.9 billion. That’s many noughts after 69. No matter, money cannot buy us health. But maybe it can one day. Hurry up, David Sinclair and Lindsay Wu. We are ageing fast, time is not on our side. Please get cracking on your work on reservatrol as well as on mitochondria and NAD – I can’t remember what it stands for now, another sign of ageing – we need to be able to buy the stuff now; stuff that ultimately will mean ageing is just another disease, and therefore is curable. Lindsay at UNSW wrote to me with the bad news; they won’t let my mother participate in their human trials. Why not, she is 96. Can you imagine how much she may benefit from the research? I digress. This is not about Ma.
Three days ago, Nancy Pelosi announced that the House will commence a formal impeachment enquiry against President Trump following a whistleblower’s letter that almost did not see the light of day. Justice Department under Attorney General Barr declined to open an investigation eventhough the Intelligence Community Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, had deemed it credible and of “urgent concern”. Atkinson, despite the failure of acting Director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, to submit it to Congress, took it upon himself to report the complaint to the Senate and House Intelligence committees 28 days after determining it to be of “urgent concern”. Trump and his cohorts have been totally immersed in their own hubris to not recognise that Trump’s withholding of foreign aid money to Ukraine whilst at the same time, requiring the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, to dig up dirt on potential rival, Joe Biden and his son, was an impeachable offence. No quid pro quo? Even a squid can connect the dots. Many had grown exasperated by Pelosi, her hands would have been kept warm long enough by her backside. Six committees -five House committees and the Senate Intelligence Committee – formed to investigate Trump have been easily stonewalled by the Executive. The man is above the law. He claims he can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and won’t get arrested. He has even verbalised his dream of staying in power for perpetuity. Emperor Trump, no less. Si, si, Nancy Pelosi. The man cannot be above the law. Please make sure he is impeached.
Many prayers have finally been answered. It is important to impeach the imp! In the three years as POTUS, has he made America great again? For me, he has grated and frayed the fabric of society with his divisive policies – his leanings toward white supremacists, the trade wars with many allies, his cosying up to Putin and Kim Jong-Un ( ingratiating himself to tyrants to win the Nobel Prize?), the dangerous war-mongering against Iran and China. Important treaties and accords have been torn up, probably the most damaging so far is his backing out of the Paris Agreement signed in 2016 to tackle global warming. Back then the world talked about reducing greenhouse emissions and tackling global warming, practical methods to fix the impending ecological disaster. Climate change sounds less sinister to me, it may even imply natural causes and therefore lessen the urgency for urghhlings to change their ways. After all, Earth’s climate has changed drastically and abruptly over the epochs, faster or slower. It is worth noting such events occurred during the Younger Dryas around 12,000 BP and The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum some 55 million years ago. No urghhlings back then. So, let us stick to global warming and how to tackle it. Calling it “Climate change” for me cushions the damage humans are wracking on the environment. Make America great again? I agree with the banner that greeted Greta Thunberg, it said “Make America Greta Again.
Many prayers have been answered, indeed. Normally, I ask my friends not to pray so much. Why bother God over trivial matters, right? The Lord needs respite too, right? After all, He did tell us he rested on the 7th day. That’s a hint to me. Do not bother Him unnecessarily. Drought, pray for rain. Deluge and floods, pray it stops. Stop it! Let God have a break! It’s Sunday. But to impeach Trump? Let’s all pray!!
Urghhlings 