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Cheers everybody I have enjoyed all your knowledgeable insights. The world is now being taken over by clickbait computer algorithms that send you content based on your posts.. I feel like many are being deceived and manipulated by social engineering or the psychological manipulation of the masses through the power of tech. Every day I see people out and about mesmerized by their cell phones instead of what is going on around them.
Studies have started to show a causal link between teen social media use and reduced well-being or mood disorders, chiefly depression and anxiety. I guess social media is another form of addiction and for some their way of seeking validation. Social media and the way news is delivered online is vastly different than the landscape of 20 years ago. The internet is now optimized for maximum addiction.
As Richard pointed out when the internet went from "informational" to "transactional" it changed things by cutting humans out. In my neighborhood many now do most their shopping online even their supermarket food and supply shop. I like to see what I'm getting before I buy mostly I use cash for small transactions. I miss things like butcher shops now it is all one stop shopping.     

Piri that is brilliant. Though you made it up I' am sure that poem could be some poor older persons reality. Loneliness and age seem to go together in the most populated parts of the world. Yet in smaller populations people tend to be more friendly.     

Cheers Piri and Jim plus Brian, a pint of beer has risen a lot here in the last few years as the government raises its excise tax on alcohol. Pints vary in price from $7 to about $14 dollars depending on where and what you drink. At my local club for a pint what you  pay $7 dollars for will cost you around $10 at our local pubs in our town.  In the main city prices vary depending on which bar you go to.  A pub I go to  sometimes to have lunch at in the city food prices have skyrocketed from last year. Last year $10 to $25 for a basic pub grub this year.  Back to the poem we very rarely use to see street beggars in this part of the world but now they are everywhere. Many are on drugs and don’t want to work or contribute. Also like the rest of the world we do have a housing and cost of living crises creating the working poor.
These people  do it hard but keep on going, doing it tough but not begging. One friend of mine is getting ahead by living of grid in a caravan and growing his own veg and keeping chickens while him and his wife hold down full time jobs. Some  people I know who have full time jobs are living in camper  vans they have fitted out themselves  to save on rent to get ahead. A young couple I know are paying $800 a week to rent a house in my area when only two years ago they were paying $600 a week for rent.  Energy and food bills have skyrocketed for some. The guy that I gave $15 to is a professional beggar and caught me in a weak moment. That didn’t really hurt me but also in the same week I saw a true story on TV of  “Mr Gates Verses The Post Office” which got me thinking about government and corporates who for want of a better word are destroying lives and get away with it. So that in a nutshell  is where my poem comes from. The other reason why I put up two poems this week was to see if I could prompt people to comment by talking about frustrations with the human condition that affect us all. My gripe is not with the poor but the bludgers and scammers. I am not against giving a hand up but against giving hand outs. if you don’t know about “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” please check it out on Tv or the internet.. Alan Bates was one of 900 UK subpostmasters wrongly accused of theft by the British postal service in the early 2000s. In an attempt to cover up the failings of faulty accounting software, British post office management "dug themselves into a deeper and deeper hole" with false accusations. Ruining many lives innocent people put in jail and so on. The British post office in real life became like the Mafia . Here endeth my rant and thank you for reading this.     BTW a NZ  dollar  is equivalent very roughly to 50pence Uk or 60cents USA. So $6 USA buys $10 NZ and 50 pence UK buys $1 NZ.

Piri,   I get your humour. I am one of those warped people who enjoyed the Goons back in the day, especially Eccles and Bluebottle.
They were all brilliant eccentrics on their. One of the things that Spike Milligan wrote that always makes me laugh is.
The detective entered the room inside the blinds were drawn ....   but the furniture was real.

Reading your last comment on here made me laugh and also immediately made me think of Spike. Keep on writing those comedic lines.     

Thank you. Piri, and Brian for taking time to read and make a comment. I wrote this poem after talking to a friend of mine about how teenagers can go from bad to good. When a teenager goes through a bad stage sometimes parents struggle and you wonder if the kid will ever stop going of the rails.  But when and if they do come right you have to put those bad experience behind you. C S. Lewis summed it up well when he wrote,” Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”     

constellation
credit
frozen
deny     

Grah that is brilliant. My mum lived to 103 . She ate everything that was good and bad for you. Though her only health considerations were eat porridge every morning and as she was a dancer keep moving use your body don't sit down all the time. Media and advertising infiltrates people's brains in an unhealthy way it is what they call marketing. when maybe it should be called brain washing. Good to hear that you and your wife health is coming right after a challenging time for your wellbeing and ability to get out and do the things you enjoy.

That is a good song.     

Makes me wanna rock excellent collabration. Guitar vocals and organ work great while the bass and drums  keep it moving along nice. Great work guys thanks for sharing.     

Thank you, Jan and Richard, for having a listen.  Since our last moggy passed away we now Maree and I  just make do with patting the neighbour's cat.