Devin Nunes and other Congressmen say: Trump's Tariffs are “threatening the economic livelihood of our businesses and communities” - Especially Almond Farmers.

California Republicans complain Trump’s farm aid plan unfair...
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article215654035.html

Devin Nunes, who traditionally is a Trumpist Zombie... Chooses to Represent his ACTUAL Constituents instead of "Our Glorious Leader, Czar Donald The First."

Trump's Tariffs cause sales of Almonds and Walnuts to drop... Because China, India, Canada and Mexico have raised Tariffs of their own... and the 12 Billion Dollar Farmer Bailout is for Soybean, Corn, Wheat and Sorghum ONLY...

Great Book: "Bad Stories" by Steve Almond. What the hell just happened to our country?

Like a lot of Americans, Steve Almond spent the weeks after the 2016 election lying awake, in a state of dread and bewilderment. The problem wasn’t just the election, but the fact that nobody could explain, in any sort of coherent way, why America had elected a cruel, corrupt, and incompetent man to the Presidency. Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country is Almond’s effort to make sense of our historical moment, to connect certain dots that go unconnected amid the deluge of hot takes and think pieces. Almond looks to literary voices―from Melville to Orwell, from Bradbury to Baldwin―to help explain the roots of our moral erosion as a people.
The book argues that Trumpism is a bad outcome arising directly from the bad stories we tell ourselves. To understand how we got here, we have to confront our cultural delusions: our obsession with entertainment, sports, and political parody, the degeneration of our free press into a for-profit industry, our enduring pathologies of race, class, immigration, and tribalism. Bad Stories is a lamentation aimed at providing clarity. It’s the book you can pass along to an anguished fellow traveler with the promise, This will help you understand what the hell happened to our country.


https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Stories-What-Happened-Country/dp/1597092266

Lyrics to my songs: Earthsong, Big Medicine, Mescalita, Wilson Bridge and City of the Future.

...eARThsong...(lyrics)

This was written at a time that we were living in Chico California and were surrounded by a corral with 4 horses. We were also growing many plants including morning glory flowers that eventually got so tall that they climbed up to the roof of the little house. The tomato plants produced an abundance of food... quite a miracle...

Bm A D G

Planting, planting, planting seeds

D A D

May our garden grow...

Bm A D G

May God bless the earth and rain

D A D

And sprout the seeds I sow

D A D

And sprout the seeds I sow

CHORUS:

G Bm

We've been tilling soil since the dawn of time

A E

The fertile loam of home is nature most divine

G Bm

The lady with the hand upon the plow

A E

is identical, then and now

Weeding, weeding, weeding weeds

feed 'em to the horses

may God bless the new-born foal

and teach it natures forces

and teach it natures forces

Riding, riding, riding steeds

just like long ago

May God bless the hay they eat

and set their eyes aglow

and set their eyes aglow

********************************

BIG MEDICINE SONG (lyrics)

wrote at an Amerindian Christian Tent Revival Meeting we attended.

The lyrics simply appeared in my mind full formed while playing the Father Drum. 

Chorus: 

Awaken the giant within...(E,F,F#,F)

Awaken the giant within...(E,F,F#,F)

Verse:

Went down to the river (E,G,D,D*,D)

Went down to the sea (A,A*,A) 

Drank deep of the water of life (E,G,D,D*,D) 

and set my soul free,my soul free (A,A*,A,E,E)

Ya Way is the mountain 

the ocean and the sea 

may the four winds of the ancients 

become one with thee,one with thee 

...sing chorus here... 

Ya-way,your way (E,G,D) 

lead on mighty spirit (A,A*) 

Ya-way your way 

fill me with light 

Ya-way, your way 

the path is calling 

Ya-way, your way 

Rainbow warriors to the fight 

Ya-way use me 

make me a healer 

Ya-way, use me 

Big medicine is yours 

Ya-way, use me 

flowing waves of compassion 

Ya-way, use me 

My hands are your tools...

...sing chorus here...

The spirit of the buffalo (E,G,D,D*,D)

the spirit of the bear (A,A*,A) 

teach us to live in balance (E,G,D,D*,D)

mother eARTh we will share, we'll share (A,A*,A,E,E)

********************************

WILSON BRIDGE (lyrics)

Wake up early in the morning, (CHORDS) D C 

gotta go to work. G D

gotta drive across that Wilson Bridge, D C

my mind it just starts to hurt. G D

10,000 fools in 10,000 cars, D C

cross it every day. G D

as I sit behind my steering wheel, D C

I know there's got to be a better way! G D 

CHORUS:

Because every day in every way, D A C G

life gets more annoying. D C D

every day in every way, D A C G

life gets more boring. D C D

I escaped from D.C.

and I burned my car.

Ride the light rail in San Jo se.

It's better by far.

10,000 fools in 10,000 cars,

still drive every day.

writing lyrics on this magic train,

I know I've found the better way!

CHORUS:

Every day in every way,

It's not so annoying.

Flirting with ladies on the subway train,

Sets my heartbeat soaring!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CITY OF THE FUTURE!(lyrics)

we are living in the city of the future

all of us have hi-tech jobs...

we don't give a dam about unemployment

that only happens to low tech slobs

be a nurd!

be a nurd!

I'm a high-tech wizard

BE A NURD!

They used to laugh @ me

when I was in high school

the social in set was so very proud

but now when those people

are searching thru the want ads

they say "I want to be one of the 

computer crowd

be a nurd

be a nurd

be a high-tech wizard

BE A NURD!

http://www.zazzle.com/gregvan/future+gifts

********************************

MESCALITA (APACHE INDIAN GOD)

I MET A GIRL NAMED MESCALITA

WITH COARSE BROWN HAIR.

SHE TAUGHT ME A SONG IN A DIFFERENT KEY.

NOW I LIVE THERE.

MESCALITA, MI HIJITA.

YOU SHOWED ME HOW TO LIVE.

MY LIFE WAS FILLED WITH SORROW.

BUT NOW I CAN GIVE.

I USED TO SING IN THE KEY OF "E"

A KEY OF BLUES AND PAIN.

NOW I SING IN THE KEY OF "g"

AND I'LL NEVER GO BACK AGAIN.

MESCALITA,MI AMIGA, YOU SHOWED ME HOW TO DANCE.

MY LIFE WAS FILLED WITH SORROW.

BUT I'LL GIVE LOVE ONE MORE CHANCE.

I WROTE THIS AFTER EATING PEYOTE

AT THE "RAINBOW GATHERING" IN PENNSYLVANIA.

THOSE DEADHEAD LADIES ARE SO SWEET...

********************************

My Invisible Friend (lyrics)

(Hay-Seuss) 

I've got an invisible friend 

and I call him Hay-seuss. 

not Dr. Seuss or mother goose 

but JESUS. 

If you don't believe 

in Hay-seuss or mother goose 

you'll got to HELL (or Pittsburg) 

and burn for eternity. 

Oh, me and Jim Jones 

we believe in Hay-seuss 

and cyanide suicide 

will get you quicker to his side. 

I didn't eat for three days 

and I heard voices 

God talked to me 

like I was on LSD 

and said you're SATAN (or Peter Pan)

********************************

Direction (lyrics)

Wandering this world

Without direction we were lost

(I was)

We will build our life together

I can't, we can

Now I found you

And you found me

Never, never, never, never

Go on a first date again

No more lonely nights

No more lonely days

Then there was us

What a wonderful phrase to say

Because you trust me

And I trust you

Thank you, Lord, for Victoria (gregory)

The clouds have lifted and

I can see our future

We will be us

Forever

(Together)

all original lyrics by greg vanderlaan ...

The blurry photographic effect was caused by the camera melting inside my truck... 110 degrees in Chico in the Summer...

I was using a disposable film camera and most of the pictures were ruined but some just looked goofy!