I sat on a bus this morning listening to a man go on and on about how the fairly newly built comprehensive school in Diggle will almost certainly suffer from flooding at some point. He wasn’t even talking to me but his conversation with another passenger filled the small bus. The newish school, a much needed but controversial replacement for the older very decrepit school building in he middle,of Uppermill, has seemingly been built on a flood plain. It would not surprise me as such a lot of building has gone on around here in the last few decades on what used to be acknowledged as flood plains.
And with the amount if rain that has fallen in recent weeks, and which continues to fall, and which is predicted to continue falling for the next week, I would not be surprised if we had some flooding around here. The river is very full. Hopefully our house if far enough the hill to avoid major problems. Fingers crossed!
Because of the rain I had decided to walk to the market this morning and catch a bus back. Buses were few and far between as the drivers of one of the bus companies are on strike again today. I support their action but oh! it is a nuisance when you have a rucksack full of stuff. It was clearly my day for hearing rants about this and that. As I waited for the bus I somehow got into conversation with a woman who gave me all the details of her bad reaction to the Covid vaccine, all the things she cannot eat, how she avoids toxins and unnatural products, not only in food but also in shampoo, detergent, and just about everything in life! Of course she has a point and I agree with much of what she said but I really didn’t need to hear all the details! So it goes!
I’ve been reading “Eva Luna” by Isabel Allende, set in a fictional South American country, loosely based on her native Chile. As sometimes happens, stuff written decades ago can reflect or inform stuff going on today. In this case it’s the power of the news media.
The director of national television, sending a younger investigating journalist to secretly film some guerrilla fighters in the mountains, says they might have another Sierra Maestra situation on their hands. (The Sierra Maestra in Cuba is where Fidel Castro and others based themselves as they fought to overthrow the Batista dictatorship) The younger journalist asks, Y si así fuera, ¿qué haría? - If that were the case, what would you do?
Answer: Nada, nuestro papel no consiste en modificarc el rumbo de la historia, sino simplemente registrar los hechos. - Nothing, our role does not consist in modifying the course of history, but simply in recording the facts.
Hmm! Do today’s news magnates understand this?
However, even when this was written, back in 1987, the power of the press was recognised. The guerrilla fighters wanted television news to report events in the mountains but the President of this anonymous republic ordered: “No alarmen a la opinión pública, no quiero oír ni una palabra obre la guerilla, vamos a anularla con el silencio. Están todos fuera de la ley y así serán tratados.” - Do not alarm public opinion, I don’t want to hear a single word about this guerrilla warfare, we will crush them with silence. They are all lawbreakers and will be treated as such.” (My underlinings)
When his boss asks him if he thinks the guerrilla fighters he has been investigating will win, reminding him the Fidel Castro succeeded in Cuba, the younger TV journalist replies: “Han pasado varios años y los gringos no permitirán nuevas revoluciones. En Cuba las condiciones era diferentes” - years have gone by since then and the “gringos” - i.e. the USA - will not permit further revolutions.
The television director also advises the younger journalist to hide one of the films he has made, apparently a film which shows both sides as he also fimed the government forces, because the government knows it exists and will want to suppress it. Maybe it can be shown at some future time!!
Hmmm!!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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