Day of the movers and shakers, and the rainmakers
The Daily Telegraph, yesterday:
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has relegated Bill Gates to a mere also-ran at the top end of town, raking in $106 billion in a single year to send his net worth to a staggering $225.6bn. (Bezos) … is now the wealthiest person on the planet, knocking the Microsoft founder off the top of the Forbes rich list for the first time in 24 years.
Yeah, but … smh.com.au yesterday:
World’s richest lose $89 billion as stocks around the world dive … The combined net worth of the world’s 500 richest people fell the most in six months on Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index … The fortune of Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person, fell by $US3.44b on Thursday.
Top line of Bloomberg list, yesterday:
1. Jeff Bezos / Total net worth $157B / Last change (Thursday) -$3.44B / Year to date +$58.4B
Barely a flesh wound. Bloomberg’s report yesterday on Thursday’s slide:
Europe’s richest person, Bernard Arnault, saw his fortune fall about $3.5 billion, the most of anyone on the index … Warren Buffett, the world’s third wealthiest person, was the only billionaire in the top 10 to end the day richer. His fortune climbed $1.2 billion to $90 billion.
There’s money, then there’s power. Financial Review yesterday:
Scott Morrison sought to avert the leadership ballot that led to Malcolm Turnbull losing his job by suggesting the then prime minister send Liberal MPs back to their electorates so they could come to their senses … The discussion, which included Mr Morrison, Christopher Pyne and Mr Turnbull, occurred (the day before) the leadership ballot … (which) also resulted in Mr Morrison being elevated to the nation’s most powerful figure in this year’s Power Issue of The Australian Financial Review Magazine.
He was also elevated, incidentally, to become our first Pentecostal PM. The Fin’sonline headline promoting this story ran uncorrected yesterday:
‘Send then (sic) home and let them come to their senses’: ScoMo’s advice to Malcolm Turnbull
There but for the grace of … Fairfax’s Bevan Shields tweets, September 5:
Scott Morrison is praying for rain: “And I’d encourage others who believe in the power of prayer to pray for rain and pray for our farmers.”
Butter_wizard responded to Shields on Reddit, September 5:
If praying will make it rain, doesn’t that mean it’s God’s fault that there’s no rain?
Ye of little faith. Chip Le Grand in The Australian, yesterday:
Last Sunday … (Scott) Morrison and his wife, Jenny, went for the first time to the Planetshakers Church in central Melbourne. A video that was taken by a worshipper and posted online shows the PM … leading a prayer for the victims of the Sulawesi earthquake and drought-stricken farmers.
What chance the church would be called Planetshakers? And what chance rain? The Australian’s headline, yesterday:
Rain at long last: ‘Filling that dam gives us two years’
9News.com.au headline, yesterday:
Record-breaking rain sees farmers praising ‘liquid gold’
We were warned. Guardian.com.au, September 7:
Pentecostal leaders have warned … “darkness” will spread across Australia and Christians will be persecuted if Scott Morrison does not win the next election … “The Lord woke me up at 4.30am this morning,” (pastor Adam F.) Thompson told the Hope City Church congregation … “if the prime minister … doesn’t get elected in this next election there’s going to be darkness coming. And I’m not being negative. The laws are going to change where darkness is going to come and there will be persecution on the church.”