Ok, Howlong may be a city by now. I don’t know. I just remember when I asked where we were and someone said, “Howlong,” and I made some comment that made me feel embarrassed because I was clearly uninformed about the geography of the area.

Anyway, I’m feeling less embarrassed now that the Turnbull government…

Mm, I don’t know why I keep refering to them as the Turnbull government, because they seem neither…

Anyway, I’m feeling less embarrassed now that the Turnbull government announced that they’d done no modelling…

Done no modelling? I seem to remember some other time that they admitted as much but I can’t remember when. Perhaps I should ask Arthur whatsisname.

Anyway, I’m feeling less embarrassed now that the Turnbull government announced that they’d done no modelling on the USA pulling out of the TPP, because it was “a hypothetical”.

Now, I could suggest that it should be “an hypothetical”, but nobody does that any more and it’s just part of the whole destruction of English as we know it. (Yes, yes, it’s ok for all you pedants to point out the circumstances when one drops the aitch as in “an ‘onourable” and hypothetical isn’t one of them, but have fun trying to be a prescriptivist in an “alternative facts” world! Why don’t you do what that other pedant did and correct Betty Devos’ tweet, just because she’d fail a grammar test doesn’t mean that she’s not eminently qualified to be Trump’s Education Secretary!)

Ok, let me just ask those of you who have some sort of understanding of “modelling” – and I don’t mean those who made the finals of “Australia’s Top Model” – but surely ALL modelling is looking at hypotheticals. I mean, isn’t that the very nature of modelling. If we do this, then the expectation is that, but if we do the other, then we expect that it’ll result in something else, while a third thing entirely is even less predictable than a Trump presidency…

Speaking of which, it does seem to me…

And let me be clear, I’m no expert when it comes to modelling… Although, I’m happy to be a contestant in “Australia’s Next Top Model” or whatever it’s called and the fact that they won’t pick me is just part of the whole reason that Pauline Hanson has a popularity rating rivalling that of Clive Palmer before even Queenslanders realised that he was slightly (removed for legal reasons). She stands up for fat, old white men like me who are having a hard time lately. And I don’t mind that she gets upset with women who march because, well, if my wife marched, who’d cook my dinner?

No, I’m talking about economic modelling, and while I clearly don’t have a clue, I would have thought that if one of the two remaining candidates says that he won’t go ahead with the TPP, then there’s a chance that he may be elected, which would mean that there’s a chance that the USA won’t be part of it. And when he is elected, then there’s even more of a chance of America not being a part of it.

However, it seems that Turnbull and company were relying on people being able to explain to Trump that this was all about screwing workers by enabling American companies to do whatever they liked, while screwing all the other countries in the free trade agreement.

But like I said, I’m no expert. I’m not even a pretty face. Which is probably why I won’t be on “Australia’s Top Model” even if you start a petition on GetUp! or organise several million women to march.

I guess that’s the thing. They’re marching because Trump is removing the rights of some organisations to comment on abortion, but they didn’t march to support my right to be on that model show. How hypocritical! I look forward to Rita and Andrew and others writing something about how oppressed I am tomorrow…

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