Voices in My Head

Thank GOD we have replaced the broken washer/dryer combo with a new washer/dryer combo. Clearly, I could not have handled one more trip to the Laundromat. I’m not a prude or above Laundromats, I’m just totally insane. That’s all.

Obviously, it digs up too much shit in my head. Some nasty past version of my life and before I know it, I start loosing my shit in an impressive steep decline. My mind is a terrible thing.

Making a difference, one load at a time.

Every week I’ve been going to the dentist, and while I’ve been told by Martha not to talk about it, because well, she’s done and can not stomach another conversation about my teeth. I can however use the wonderful world of photography to convey a few emotions.

Pain

Moving on.

In 2007 there were over 8.3 million people living in all five boroughs of New York City. 1.6 million in Manhattan, 1.3 million in the Bronx, 2.5 million in Brooklyn, 2.2 in Queens and almost 500,000 in Staten Island.

If you add up the totals in Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens that is the current number of unemployed in this country. Now, that is based on people who are collecting some form of government assistance. Food stamps, unemployment benefits, welfare, etc. The actual head count, (yes there is one, a rather weird one but there is one) is another way of gauging the overall numbers. Sort of a bleakness pulse check. No matter what kind of economy we have, boom or busted beyond repair, there is always a certain level of unemployment.

The Department of Labor and Statics carries out a Current Population Survey (CPS) every month to determine the unemployment numbers. What the survey does is ask a series of employment related questions to about 60,000 random households in the United States. Kind of like Neilson but different. Nielsen Media uses roughly 20,000 households in local markets.

Somehow, I thought there would be more than a 40,000 household difference between the two surveys.  I thought the total number of homes contacted for the Current Population Survey would be much, much higher. 60,000 homes does seem a little low to measure a country by.

I understand that you cannot talk to everybody, but 60,000 residences is only about 1,200 homes per state. The population in the United States is somewhere around 306 million, about every 13 seconds or so a new person is added to that number. Every 12 seconds someone dies, but anyway, our unemployment numbers for the entire Nation is estimated by what comes out of the mouths of residences living in 60,000 homes.   The crap they spoon-feed us on network TV is based on the viewing habits of 20,000 households.

All combined 80,000, homes in this country are dictating how all forms of services regarding state and federal benefit extensions and allocations to the IQ level of national televised entertainment.

Call me crazy, but I though that a country with over 5 million unemployed citizens would have a little more manpower dedicated to unemployment data collection then what is currently working to determine if a new sitcom is picked up.

So, right, if you have a job you still don’t have any money because your savings is gone and you are scared out of your goddamn mind. If you still have a home and a TV there is nothing but a constant stream of stupid shit to watch. The only legal way to ease the pain and ground in fear is through alcohol and prescription medications. But, only if you have money and health insurance are these options available. The industry that is expanding the most is healthcare and that is because massive parts of the 306 million people in this country are getting ready to retire and die.

And that is just the United States.

Not to be all doomy and gloomy here but are we on TV? The planet I mean. Is Earth just some other galaxies version of television? If so, the United States is without a doubt Network TV; retarded and predictable. The Earth does seem to be like 800 channels of cable insanity. From PBS to the blow shit up channel, it’s all there for the other worldly viewing pleasures.

The Earth Channel:  Hysterical Rotations.