The Lighthouse and the Cottage. (From Travel Diary)

 It is a wonderful treat to have a two-week break in the middle of the school year. Since teaching high school, this time of the season, the winter months, can be breathtaking, so manage to take flight somewhere in this beautiful state in search of new sights, unusual surroundings, intent on moving outside the familiar. I’ve discovered this activity does wonders for one’s general sanity, wellbeing and somehow creates balance to a life that tends to tip too far in a certain direction. Moving out of the neighborhood at least for a few days, is not the key to happiness, but can provide a rest from the banalities, routines and vagaries of one’s day to day existence. 

 Arrived in Apollo Bay after sunset in the midst of a rainstorm. 
 
The Great Ocean Road is truly a sight to behold, only the beginning of a week of sights to excite the senses and move the soul. 
 
The cottage is a lovely bed and breakfast. A two-story, re-furbished house…polished wooden floors, wooden staircase leading to a loft-like bedroom overlooking the rolling green hills reminiscent of Sussex in England. The countryside is vast with cow’s grazing down towards the east and sheep, appearing like tiny white dots to the south against shades of brown and black while shadows travel leisurely across the landscape. As I stand at the window the outstanding quality about this environment is its silence. After the rain had stopped, however, the faint sound of the ocean’s surf gently echoed in the distance. 
 
Entering the cottage for the first time, strangely, on the wall next to the fire-stove, hangs a large print of one of my favorite J.W. Waterhouse paintings: a little girl dressed in white leans over amongst ancient ruins to smell red and white roses in black vases. Why I call this “strange” is that this was the first Waterhouse painting I ever purchased, giving it to my grandmother as she spent her last months in a small room in my mother’s house. She loved this painting, and it seemed to make her happy as it brightened the room. At first startled because I had not seen the painting for years, later it became a kind of comfort, creating a warm feeling in the house. 
 
The next morning, I left the cottage around eleven, driving for only 30 minutes or so, to arrive at the light station. 
 
As luck would have it, the morning was clear and crisp with the sound of the surf and the smell of salt in the air. 
 
The Cape Otway Light Station had been built in 1848 by orders from the Prime Minister at the time because several shipwrecks had occurred in the area. 
 
On the grounds inland from the white tower, stood the old Head Light Keepers Residence, constructed in 1857; not far away was the Assistant Light Keepers Residence which has been turned into a café for visitors. The assistant residence also was used as a schoolhouse for the children, and one can feel the history as you move from room to room, almost hearing the joyous laughter of the students as they learned their lessons and played precariously next to the cliffs. 
 
As an amateur artist, I had brought my sketch book along, sitting in the café and gazing at the magnificent lighthouse, a beacon of hope for lost sailors. Sipping my coffee and drawing with care, a local man walked up behind me, not saying a word. His presence did not bother me as I continued to draw the lighthouse. Once finished he said, “Most people take a few pictures and leave, grumbling about the admission. It’s good to see someone take the time to “look” at this wonderful place. It’s not a bad picture either, mate.” 
 
I think it was the 19th century art critic and writer, John Ruskin, who advised that to truly experience meaning and the beauty of the sights you come upon when travelling, one should sit still and write about them, draw the landscapes, the buildings, the objects of interest, and the experience will be that much more meaningful and memorable. Drawing the light house did indeed create, personally, something akin to “being in the moment” …my appreciation for the place grew the longer I lingered and studied its details, nuances and history. 
 
Later that night at home in the cottage, I stirred the fire, adding more wood causing the flames to come back to life. Showered, clean, fed, warm and tired, I jumped into bed between washed crisp sheets to then fall into a deep sleep with nothing but the scent of the sea. 

Propaganda in Plain Sight: Pretty, blond ‘influencers and the Pro-Genocide Crowd.

 

OPINION. 

One should consider the amount of on-line opinion that is rampaging throughout the internet. Strangely, many of what we used to call ‘opinion leaders’ are now ‘influencers’ who, in many cases, have millions of followers. On a cursory glance, many of these on-line personalities are 20 something women, usually blond, pretty in the conventional sense, and wholly confident in their content about world affairs and geopolitics. The substance of their commentary is superficial, misinformed though highly controversial. On their social media accounts, an Israeli flag is placed prominently next to their anonymous user- name, like MAGA Girl or IDF Babe 241. These accounts are suspicious, particularly if they have hundreds of thousands of followers and attract thousands of ‘likes’ on their posts. One must ask, are people generally this gullible or stupid to follow this nonsense? The answer is rightly no, because as we have recently discovered, many of these accounts are computer generated or financed by political entities for the purposes of pushing a political agenda.  

We know from reliable reports that the Israeli government is on a mission to control the narrative generally and across the board with the younger crowd. It is said that the Israeli government has offered $7000 to young influencers for a single pro-Israel post. This is absurd. Since this lucrative offer, I have seen posts on X with merely the Israeli flag posted 25 times with a smiley emoji at the end. An easy $7000 indeed.  

What is more troubling is the recent American network CBS (Paramount) has been purchased by the multi-billionaire, Larry Ellison, (a strident Israel supporter and Zionist) who has appointed the fanatical Zionist journalist, Bari Weiss, to be editor and Chief of CBS News. I’ve read some of her work, and listened to her interviewed, and the woman is not the sharpest tool in the box. This mediocre journalist wasn’t hired based on her merits but her fanatical Zionist and pro-Israeli position to sway the narrative towards a more positive light for genocidal Israel.  

As of this writing, a USA/Israel peace plan has been set in motion. This ‘plan’ is wholly one-sided and reeks of 20th century neo colonialism. Again, there is no two-state solution, the Palestinians receive no substantial concessions, and the US president is intent on turning Gaza into casino/resort for the elites around the world. Of course, any peace plan or cease fire is welcome, but at what price? Added to this absurdity, the UK war criminal, Tony Blair, is the person proposed to lead Gaza towards its new ‘modern look’ in the middle east!  

The US support for Israel’s mass murder of the Palestinians over the last two years, makes them complicit in this genocide. To deny this is insane. Despite this obvious fact, young ‘influencers’ on social media, usually young and pretty, push the Israeli justifications for mass murder. Perhaps some of these accounts are real, but many if not most of them are computer generated. We’ve come to call them “bots.” What I imagine is rooms full of IDF women in front of computer screens, wearing camouflage and sitting on their fat asses, following and clicking on pro-Israel liars that continue to justify the on-going destruction of Gaza and its people. From a moral standpoint, I simply cannot accept that there are so many people online justifying and promoting this mass murder.  

Propaganda is a necessary tool in war time. Some of the lies are blatant, many were covert in their style and delivery. All sides of a ‘conflict’ use misinformation to push their Cause. What is interesting today, and a product of social media, the propaganda is in plain sight. Wealthy Zionists are buying up the media, paying internet influencers ridiculous amounts of money to push their agenda. “We now own the media, and you will believe our narrative or be algorithm(ed) out of existence.” This is censorship on a grand scale.  

The cornerstone of western democracy is the freedom to express one’s opinion in the public square. Currently the ‘public square’ is the internet. Those who own the public square can exclude certain opinions that ‘they’ deem a threat to their own. In Nazi Germany censorship took the form of book burning in the public square, now it is those who control the algorithm ensuring dissident voices are lost in the cybersphere.  

To be fair, I don’t know where this censorship behavior by our governments and elites is headed. To flood the cybersphere with pro-mass slaughter, justifying a genocide of a people in plain sight, should cause many with a conscience to at least sit back, and ask why?  

E. Che Guevara – The Motorcycle Diaries – Comment.

 

Che Guevara (1928-1967) is likely the most famous or infamous Latin American revolutionary in the modern era. Argentinian born, a trained physician, his specialty was leprosy, a Marxist scholar, author and a military strategist focusing on guerilla warfare; in 1951, he set off with his friend and colleague, Alberto Granado, a fellow physician, on a 500cc Norton to see the places on the continent he dreamed about as a young lad.  

The Motorcycle Diaries is slightly a misnomer because at around page 40 in the text, La Poderosa, (The Powerful One), nickname for the bike, breaks down beyond repair, forcing the young lads to walk and hitchhike along the rest of their journey.  

Much of the text describes the boy’s hardships while negotiating their way across borders, seeking out dry places to sleep and acquiring their next meal. The people they meet are friendly and generous with what little food they own. There is one “con” that Che uses to obtain a meal that is quite harmless. Most people will offer wine, local alcohol, beer etc., though are reluctant to share a meal. After one drink, Che would remark that in Argentina, the consumption of alcohol should always include a full meal. This ploy often worked, their hosts sharing what food they had.  

Che describes the massive mining in Peru at the time. These mines are US owned and run, and the obvious exploitation of the Indian workers, and most resources and profits taken by their American masters. This was the beginning of Che’s revolutionary mission that ended in his assassination years later.  

As mentioned, Che and Alberto’s special study was leprosy. In the diary, he mentioned visiting a few leprosy hospitals, consulting with the resident physicians, and commenting on their debilitated conditions. One scene in the text was quite moving, where the lad’s sat and drank with the patients, all at different stages of the disease. As permanent outcasts, this simple act of kindness and respect significantly raised morale, a bright spot in an otherwise suffering existence.  

Guevara writes of his disgust with imperialist exploitation of these various Latin American countries, primarily by the United States, and one can see this growing dismay in The Motorcycle Diaries. We witness his revolutionary spirit begin in this text after his experiences on the road.  

Many are aware of Che Guevara’s meeting with the Castro brothers in Mexico, and the subsequent overthrow of the US backed Batista regime in Cuba.  

The Motorcycle Diaries is well worth the read for anyone interested in the young mind of the 20th centuries most symbolic activist, dissident and colorful revolutionaries.