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1103372803 - 2003-06-29 I�ve had information overload this weekend. Yesterday I spent seven hours on T�Internet researching independent critical thinking. I found some great essays and printed them out for Alexandra. I was on there so long that the inside of my eyelids felt like sandpaper. I didn�t get back to K*risk*indl until 10pm. Then I sat up with Alexandra until the early hours, putting the world to rights. She read me a speech of hers that she�d written ten years ago. It was a synopsis of her life�s work about how fucked up this planet is. Today I made my way down to Garden Island to see the US War ships on their first stop on their way home from Iraq. I didn�t know what to expect in terms of scale, but as I turned the corner and saw them looming ominously above me, my first reaction was shock and awe (I couldn�t resist that one). They were colossal and had such a strange effect on their beautiful surroundings. I hung around for a while taking photos and watched the marines coming off the ships. Most of them got straight into taxis, which took them into the City. It felt weird if I caught one�s eye. To think what they�ve seen and done in Iraq. I walked to the NSW Art Gallery and looked at the old classical paintings for a change. I really enjoyed and appreciated them properly, for maybe the first time in my life. I could see the marine ships in the harbour through the huge window in the gallery. In the afternoon, I stumbled upon The Domain. An area in the park which is used as Speakers Corner. I was feeling quite depressed about things when I found this bloke on a stepladder ranting about something or other. My initial thought was "religious nutter", but as I got closer I heard he was talking sense. His range of topics was broad and he was obviously a very knowledgeable and intelligent man. He�s a plumber called Steve Maxwell. He has written a book about the history of the soapbox - but you can only buy it in anarchist bookshops. He spoke about Australian history, politics and berated the Australians for being stupid. I agreed with everything he said and I stood there for three chilly hours listening to him and another speaker. After my conversations with Alexandra about the frustration of watching our world go to pot and trying to get people to wake up before it is too late, this was very interesting. It's a prime example of intelligent humans trying to wake people up to the truth behind all the propaganda that we are fed. The majority of us are brainwashed. It was sad because I was the only person there that was under the age of 40, out of half a dozen and I knew about and agreed on most of the topics anyway. All the other listeners were old dossers and other speakers that I imagine turn up every week to argue their point. Alexandra has written a screenplay about the Middle Eastern conflicts and is currently writing a book to convey her ideas and frustrations. Likewise, these men in the park are ordinary working citizens who just need to be heard, but no one is listening. The message that they are desperately trying to communicate is only any real use to the younger generation that can change the dire situation we are in. Tuesday 23rd June �03 I am so content here now, I feel like fate has thrown Alexandra and I together. It is so unlikely for us to meet in such unusual circumstances and to spend so much time together. Her situation was so unexpected and we just happen to be put in the same room. She is such a good teacher and I�m a very enthusiastic student. We have such a laugh together too, she says the whole set up reminds her of her days living in a children�s� home. She has fond memories of that because she was rescued from an abusive home. Some of the stories she�s told me have been eye-popping. She�s even got a documentary being made about her extraordinary life. Sun 29th June �o3 Today was a beautiful sunny day, so I went for a walk from Coogee to Bondi beach. I�d been meaning to do it for ages but had admittedly been too lazy. The surf was rolling in and when the spray caught the sun, it threw little rainbows across the top of the waves. I sat on the cliffs and watched the surfers at Bronte. Amazing, they must be so fit, it looks exhausting but so much fun. I can�t imagine how good it must feel to ride those huge waves. When I got to Bondi I called Cami�s house. I knew she would be home because she was having a birthday party. There was a chance that Ro, who I met in New Zealand would be there, as I�d introduced them via email. He was in San Francisco and said he might go. It was nice to speak to her and she was happy to hear from me. She asked me if I was going to be home in November when she visits. I told her I didn�t know. I really have no idea. I�m going to stay here for three weeks I think, then go and work on a farm somewhere. That way I won�t spend any money. Ro hadn�t turned up at the party, which was a shame. I keep getting flashbacks of completely irrelevant events and insignificant things that I haven�t thought about for months, even years. It�s strange but interesting. My mind is so clear at the moment. It must be the abstinence from weed. I feel like I�m meditating. Although, for the last few days I�ve been occupied with thoughts about the latest John Pilger book � �The New Rulers of the World�. It�s incredible and shocking. It made me so mad and forced me to look at everything in a new light. Politics, the news, humanity, war and �terrorism�. Everything seems so petty to me when I think about what is happening to people all over the world. The dehumanising of people, the oppression, the injustice and the cruelty. The last chapter in his book is about the colonisation of Australia. It is really shocking, and many Australians don�t even know the short history of their own country. It�s only 200 years, they have no excuse. When the country was invaded, the land was classed as uninhabited. I think there were 400,000 Aborigine�s who were living here at the time. They were classed as �fauna� and stripped of any legal rights to the land they once lived on and driven away by force. Thousands succumbed to diseases brought by whites and many suffer from cataracts and other eye related ills; which is especially tragic as they were known to have the most exceptional eyesight, evolved from their hunting. Even as recently as the 1930�s children were stolen from Aboriginal families in a bid to kill the race, albeit slowly. These children were placed in homes. The US causes most �civil� wars. They suppress the radicals, or �communists� who threaten to overthrow the dictatorship with a civilised community, which can�t be controlled. It is all about oil and other valuable resources. The US comes in, fucks shit up and therefore the country, which was previously economically healthy, and socially, becomes dependent on the States and therefore has to do what they�re told. Simple. Indonesia is a prime example. An unbelievable atrocity. Alexandra is concerned about a woman called Linda who lives and works here, She is obviously mentally deranged and on medication (Linda, not Alexandra). She walks around with her thong showing and her trackie bottoms falling down off her huge bottom. She makes most people feel uncomfortable. I think that is why I have taken over her cleaning job from Monday to Thursday. She keeps giving Alexandra dirty looks. There is no obvious reason why she should feel any contempt for her. Except that Alexandra is getting on with Jade (the head cleaner) really well and she may feel jealous. Apparently she is on probation because she was rude to guests. Another long-term resident, Sylvia from the Czech Republic complained to John about her erratic behaviour and Linda must have seen or overheard, so started being overly nice to her and offered her some biscuits a few days later. Sylvia obliged and ate them all. For the next two days she was very sick. She thinks Linda poisoned them with cleaning fluid. She is quite paranoid anyway. She thinks there are hidden cameras in her room. John probably won�t get rid of Linda though because she is cheap labour. He gets money from the government for housing the madwoman and gets her to clean all day too. He is so greedy. Alexandra has been helping him sort out his study. It�s 10 years worth of piles of paper that he wants filing. She is getting nothing for it. She says it is an unbelievable mess, you can�t even see the colour of the carpet. It�s papers to do with these workshops he holds to help young people back to work, but not just any kind of work, it�s specifically hard-selling. He is training helpless kids to sell their souls in sales. This workshop teaches them how to have integrity about the product that they are selling and how to keep customers on the phone to enable persuasion into wanting something they don�t need, and vice versa. This man is supposed to be an honest Catholic! He is so school-masterly as well. He is always berating me for holding the fridge door open for a nanosecond longer than than necessary and therefore wasting energy.
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