The Prince is no Pauper

BY DENNIS FITZGERALD

THE WORLD of literature provides a number of tales of royalty and their troubles with Shakespeare giving us Hamlet involving madness and a treachery from a brother whereas Macbeth tells of the plotting by a wife. The consequences of these actions are fairly tragic with nearly all of the major characters dead.

There are some more positive stories that the royal, at present, couple should read before they depart the warmth of their castles. A good starting point would be “The Prince and The Pauper” by Mark Twain which tells the story of two boys switching positions and learning more of the world they live in.

The Prince leaves his royal life behind and swiftly sees the, and suffers from, real world that most of his people live in. He is able to return to his original position although this may not be an option for Prince Harry. Prince Harry, however, is unlikely to live as a Pauper no matter what happens.

The real choice should be a yes or no one, which would mean giving up both responsibilities and rewards of the titled position. Given, however, the work he has done with the Invictus games, there are many out there who could miss out now.

The reality is that whatever the outcome, the search for privacy will be unsuccessful and that is the difference between fiction and reality.

***

There are so many children that bully other children by calling them names or drawing insulting images of them although one person is no longer a child but still acts in this way.

President Trump’s latest tweet, actually a retweet, shows Ms. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wearing headwear and standing in front of the Iranian flag and states that they are corrupt and with the implications that they are terrorists.

This tweet is insulting in so many ways and should be deleted but it is just another of his smokescreen ideas in order to distract people from the impeachment and other concerns.

Why is this childish approach used by the President and why is he allowed to? Turn off his twitter account and the world will rejoice.

***

The city of Melbourne, Australia has just recorded the worst air quality in the world.

Melbourne has previously been listed as the “most liveable city in the world” on several occasions. This air quality decline is a consequence of the fires in Eastern Victoria and is obviously a minor nuisance compared to the disasters of the fires themselves.

There is a reduced level of visibility and the smell of smoke is always concerning although for some it is a health issue. Most people find breathing harder but for a few people including asthmatics it can be dangerous.

This smoke will, hopefully, blow away in the next few days but the question will remain – what can we do to prevent this from happening again?

This issue is not just limited to Melbourne but there are a number of cities around the world where just breathing there is a health risk. There are government spokespeople who are saying this is not the time to discuss this but when will it be?

As a planet, we need to, while we still can, look at the impact we are having on the planet and find a way to stop and hopefully repair the damage we have caused. This should start with looking at climate change and pollution in general.

There is no Planet B.

***

I’m getting a little hot under the collar and everywhere else when I again read of the consequences of climate change and the people who then deny it.

The last decade has been hottest ever measured and this has been confirmed by both NASA and UK Met Office. The blame lies with human beings and the changes that have made and caused.

Please warm up your brains and accept the truth and then try to remedy what we have done.

***

Last night there was a tennis charity match that had been suggested by Nick Kyrgios to raise money for the bushfire victims in Australia. He is better known for moments of brilliance and temper tantrums but this time we saw what he can offer.

Obviously the main people that we should remember and praise are the firefighters and a number of them were in attendance. They raised nearly $5 million which will be gladly received by a number of people and organisations in distress.

The first “match” was a set of champion teams and a few non champion fill-ins such as firefighter Deb who joined her favorite Rafael Nadal for a game which they won and she got to hug him quite a few times.

It was basically a lot of fun and a bit of tennis. This was followed by a set between Kyrgios and Roger Federer which was a bit closer to real tennis.

There have been so many ways of raising money and it a fine example of what people can do. It’s odd how the worst of nature can bring out the best in people.

***

With an hour to wait I got a coffee from one of the many worldwide hamburger places. The coffee was okay but the receipt wasn’t.

Most, if not all, of the fast food companies promote their environmental programs and what they are doing although realistically there is a long way to go. A starting point might be having their in store coffees in a washable cup rather than a paper one.

The receipt was printed out whether you wanted it or not as it contained your order number. It was about 9 inches or over 20cm long and contained 39 lines of information although my coffee order was only three of these lines.

The days of paper orders and receipts should be long gone. Another minor point, please don’t promote your environmental programs on throw away paper receipts.

Let’s actually work on environmental concerns rather than advertising our programs. (dfitzger@melbpc.org.au)/PN

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