High Noon in Boresville

I just completed another Orwell book:  Keep the Aspidistra flying.

The "hero" is Gordon Comstock - a man who likes to write poetry and sort of rebels against society by trying not to participate.  One of the key features of not participating in society - like holding down a regular job is poverty - which in turn leads to isolation and loneliness for his character.

Orwell has a way of describing things accurately without insulting others - an attribute of a great writer I would say.

The setting is England in the 1930s - the experience ranges from boredom to going out with his girlfriend to suffering insult at the hands of waiters and those with more money than he has.

The character has friends that look out for him along the way.

Orwell has a way of discussing the woes of society without simply walking up to you and punching you in the face with it.  For example during the story Gordon, the main character, gets into a discussion about socialism and the woes of society with his moneyed friend who publishes some of Gordon's poetry in his magazine.

In the end the poet re-joins society and happily surrenders to the system - I don't want to ruin it on you if you wish to read the book but I recommend it highly.

George Orwell remains one of my favorite authors as he was the real deal and participated in the miseries of society as they were at the time.  If you've read "Homage to Catalonia" and "Down and Out in Paris and London" there is some overlap of Orwell's life in the books visible to the initated - a factor lending verisimilitude to the novel.

I've begun reading "The Road to Wigan Pier" which should take some time since I read these books free online on my phone during lunch each day - go to gutenberg.net.au  .

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Where are all the sugar packs?  What happened to all the paper products?

I continue my study of modern American propaganda by living in it and having surrendered to the machine for the time being must hold down a regular, however, interesting job.

I like to skim through the "financial nooz" in an attempt to predict the future so as to know what in the heck to do with my investments which I've been building back up from the last crash.  But the news provides not much help - as the markets seem completely manipulated to me.

Unfortunately I do NOT hold a degree in economics so my opinion has little value to anyone except for myself.  So watching the stock market news I see lots of games going on but can't get a good understanding of how this system really adds up.

I went for a stroll through a  car lot the other day and noted the prices on the vehicles .... 35K-50K for  vehicles - just a year or two old but geez - who has the money to buy all this stuff right now?  Although I was on the lot for about 20 minutes per lot and covered two dealerships not one single salesman came out to talk to me.  I was there because my vehicle was having work done nearby so spent the time walking about looking at things.

The financial nooz tells us to buy buy buy while the stock market indices hit records every single morning.  Perhaps we will have 300 record breaking days this year in the stock market.  Perhaps for the first time in history the stock market will not come back down.  In fact I read an article by a former slleW ograF leader - who said the market can continue going up forever!  Great advice from one of the most ethical businesses on the planet I thought.  (Joking)

The nooz tells us that the employment figures show that everyone is working and making enough money - but another article I read discussed the hiring campaign nozamA is working onwhere they are hiring 50,000 employees.  These are 12 dollar an hour warehouse jobs - I'm  sure those jobs will qualify those lucky enough to find employment at nozamA for a 35-50000 dollar car loan.  The reporter that did the story mentioned how massive was the turnout for these 12 buck and hour jobs - and how many people needed those jobs.  Hmmm - does this sound like a "great economy?"see

While browsing these financial sites I'm constantly bombarded with images of a stock market "genius" named remarC who ceaselessly discusses stocks that sell for hundreds of dollars a share.  Exactly who is he directing his "show" at?

A stock I saw take a jump recently was elohW sdooF which was pushed into selling themselves to nozamA by a so-called "activist investor" who bought a boatload of their shares sending from the 30's up to 42 dollars a share.  After the company was sold the investment group sold their stock and hit the road.  This seems like a heck of a way to value stocks.

I read another good article about stock buybacks being used as a strategy to lift the share price so the CEO's can grab more loot when they beat feet out of a company with their pockets lined.  You can read that article HERE.  Supposedly this strategy is coming to an end as an option for many companies as a way to keep the stock rising when there are no gains in business activity.

So - that's some of the news we have available.  Then, as if the only message out there is to buy lately a Basset Hound came out to warn us that there will be a crash in the bond markets soon - our old friend from the Federal Reserve system Alan Greenspan - you can read that HERE.  So he's contradicting the others.

So we can read this news and try to understand it but it is obvious that we cannot really trust the sources - who are presenting much of this news, I think, to keep the herd entertained or befuddled while they take their money and run.

I've noticed - and this has "worsened" since the last crash around 2008 that eating establishments no longer just put napkins out on the tables and have switched from sugar packs to sugar dispensers - kept at a main coffe sugar and cream station.  Why?  The same reason the hotels stopped stocking spare rolls of toilet paper in the rooms as these years have dragged on - that is - unless you go to one of the ritzier places traveling on a corporate dime.  People start stuffing this stuff in the pockets - sugar packs so they don't have to buy sugar.  Napkins and paper towels - I've seen them doing it.  So the establishments take precautions to save on those losses.

These are the signs of recession to me - when that surplus is not there anymore.  These corners weren't being cut back in the late eighties early nineties.

I've looked at the prices of things and they are too high.  In this town the rents seem also too high to be supported by 12 buck and hour jobs.  How long can things continue this way?

Recently the Federal Reserve raised the interest rate and they claim they are going to do it one more time this year.  This tells me that the pool of buyers willing to take out some stupid loan to finance one of these overpriced vehicles will become reduced as the interest rates will make the payments unaffordable.

The quality of products has dropped as corporate greed has moved the business model from producing something to be proud of that you would sell to your own kids to producing garbage that self-destructs the minute it gets out the door.  Everything is buy buy buy more - hurry hurry hurry and make more money.  Everything is an opportunity to rob the customer - then rob them again - of their money first - then of their time as they spend endless hours fixing broken hardware and software - endlessly running back to Asian mart.    I don't care how many economists you line up with degrees from harvard - and fancy mathematical proofs  - waste is bad economy PERIOD.

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The coffee shop I'm in has really picked up.  There are two folks to my left apparently discussing some sort of writing or something they are working on - I can't hear well enough on that ear to make out what they are talking about.  Somehow a strong coffee-grounds aroma hit me - smells great - better than coffee tastes.  The clink-ring of quarter and nickels hitting the tip jar.  Two girls blabbing to the order taker - then ordering something.  Some big guy in black tshirt, beige sneakers fiddling with a cup lid staring blankly - now he's going outside with two ice coffees - he put the lid onto one of them.

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I took a break from looking up at the chemtrails - it kinda' hurts watching my fellow citizens being sprayed with unknown substances.  I had to stop because it was killing me in a way - looking up at that wrong-headed plan - to turn a beautiful blue sky white - is sick - but who other than a poet or painter or idler gazing into the sky could care anyway?  After all - scientists are always right about everything and they don't see any problem living under a synthetic sky - they don't give a crap about human lungs - and they are the ones with the skills corporate america is willing to pay for.....they are "smart" - so the poison won't hurt as much

As for the political scene it seems that the new world order agenda continues unabated.  Congress remains blind to the needs, safety, and wishes of the average citizen.  And who can blame them?  They are well-finded by highly organized interest groups who have specific goals in mind and the power to remove any Congressperson that gets too cocky and starts asking too many questions about why we have to send to much money to weapons manufacturers, secret agencies and foreign governments when we get nothing but more and more war.  It seems that no one knows what these monsters and war-mongers have in store for us next.

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Coffee grinder noise - stops - music volume seems to have dropped.  Some guy and his wife to my right bouncing baby on knee - music stopped completely now.  A low murmur of voices now, clip clop of shoes walking by - it seems hot in here now - maybe from the two cups of coffee I drank...reflection of yellow VeeDub goes by in the reflection in my computer screen of the street through the window behind me.  The baby quacked - quacked - he hands the kid to her now.

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It's no longer high noon but it is still boresville for now....