I Don't have much hope for the Future... I Believe there will be a Global Economic Collapse and the Only People Left Alive will be Subsistence Farmers... As Soon as Money Becomes Valueless, Grocery Stores Will FAIL... One Billion People Will Survive...
Many Disasters Could Trigger this...
The USA Defaulting on Its Loans by Failing to Raise the Debt Ceiling...
A Computer Virus or Ransomware Makes the Internet FAIL Completely...
Gasoline Price Rises to $30.00 a Gallon Making Driving a Truck filled with Food to the Grocery Store Impractical...
Climate Change increasing to the Point where the Entire Western USA Burns and 100 Tornadoes blast the Midwest and Hurricanes Wipe Out the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic Seaboard...
Christmas and New Years Eve Superspreader Parties this year... Millions of Americans At Family Gatherings will spread the COVID-19 Virus... No Masks, No Vaccines... Massive Kill Off of Idiots...
Pretty Damn Likely One of these Will Happen...
and as the Entire World Self Destructs... Will Someone Set Off All the Atomic Bombs? Will the Only Life forms that will survive be Insects and Plankton?
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Maybe I'm Wrong... Maybe We'll have Global Economic Collapse within 20 Years... What if Czar Donald the INSANE declares the USA Bankrupt? That's What He Does Best!
If the GOP wins the House in 2022 and Appoints Trump Speaker... and Then Impeaches or [REDACTED] Both Biden and Harris... Instant CZAR Donald. They will Outlaw Elections... Replace Democracy with Monarchy...
Some Hydro, Solar and Wind Electric Power Plants will Continue to Function and a Civilization will be rebuilt... by people that live in remote areas and grow goats, sheep, cattle and vegetables... Like the Islands off Scotland... or Iceland... Indians on the Yucatan... Bedouins... The'll be Drinking Camel Milk and Eating Dates... Just Like They Have Done for Ten Thousand Years...
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The Only Thing that gives me hope is... I've been Predicting Global Economic Collapse since the 1980s... and It Hasn't Happened Yet! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sP7wGwfGdw
and Maybe I'll be Dead before the Disaster Strikes... I'm 67 Years old and You Kids will be left with the Mess we Made...
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SE on FaceBorg Said: I took this picture of my TV yesterday during a news broadcast. In case anyone is unaware of the difference in El Nino 2016 vs El Nino 1998, this proves it. El Nino 2016 has been a joke.
I Replied: I remember El Nino 1998. I was working at the Saratoga Ave Radio Shack on Quito Road. It Rained so much I felt Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and took a Vacation to Las Vegas to Improve My Mood... The High point of that trip was the Star Trek Ride at the Hilton.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Experience
SE SAID: I remember it too. I was so happy. I remember how it rained and rained for days on end. I spent a weekend staying with a friend in San Francisco, and it rained the entire time. I loved every second of it. Now, every time I go to San Francisco, it’s SUNNY. Whatever happened to that beautiful fog which SF was famous for? Nothing but sun, sun, sun now. I HATE IT.
I Replied: Climate Change is Real... Expect Phoenix Like Weather From Now On... Plant a Cactus Garden...
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On a different subject!
Conservatives point to the Fall of the USSR as Justification for all the Trillions of Dollars and Thousands of Lives wasted on the Cold War, The Vietnam War and The Korean War. They say "SEE? It was all worth it because WE WON!" --->A Temporary Victory at best<--- Putin has Come Back as Strong as Kruschev if Not Stronger...
Did we REALLY "Win" The Cold War? Now There are Three Superpowers... China, Russia and the USA... And Russia has become so powerful that they put their Agent as President of the United States! We Built Thousands of Atom Bombs... Financed the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and 58,000 Americans Died in Vietnam... and The War Against Godless Communism FAILED... They Still have not Converted to Christianity! and BOTH of the Other Superpowers have reworked their economic system to be Capitalist...
Communism was Doomed to Fail Simply Because it was Absurd! No Need for the USA to Pay Pay Pay to Fight Proxy Wars Like Korea, Vietnam or Afghanistan...
In 2021 The Pentagon Budget is Even Larger than Ever Before... We Ended the War in Afghanistan and so a "Peace Dividend" is due to the American Taxpayers but... NO... Lockheed, Raytheon, General Atomics and DOW Want More Money to BUILD POINTLESS WEAPONS! I'm especially angered by having to pay for DRONES... Killer Robots in the Sky like the Terminator Movie!
Check out the Movie Charlie Wilson's War with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts... all about Winning the Cold War...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Wilson%27s_War_(film)
Part of the Financing of "Freedom Fighters" in Afghanistan was the CIA Training Base that was used by Osama bin Laden... Was THAT "Winning?"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_assistance_to_Osama_bin_Laden
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and on another different subject!
While Listening to the "Saturday Night Alive for the Global Peace Tribe" Show... We Were asked to Name our Most Influential Teachers... People that Made a Difference in our lives... Many People mentioned RAM DASS... and I Too Have learned from Him... and then I started thinking about WHO Really Changed the World... many Mentioned Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, John Lennon, John F Kennedy, Paramahansa Yogananda, Buckminster Fuller...
and Then I Made May Own List...
Dr, Albert Hofmann... He Invented LSD...
Abbie Hoffman: Founder of the YIPPIES!
Ken Kesey and the Grateful Dead...
Sonya Sophia and the World Tapping Circle Webinar...
don Miguel Ruiz: author of The Four Agreements Book...
Carlos Castaneda: author of the Teachings of don Juan and a dozen other books...
Mark Sims: Leader of the Harmonic Convergence a Group Online Contacting Aliens Event...
William Wilson: Creator of Alcoholics Anonymous... aka Bill W.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak: Founders of Apple Computer.
George Carlin and Thomas Chong... Comedy...
Dr Timothy Leary
Firesign Theater... Comedy!
The Whole Earth Catalog... Stewart Brand... He also was a test subject of Project MKULTRA at Stanford University with Ken Kesey and Robert Hunter (Lyrics Grateful Dead)
The Diggers - a Street Theater Group from the San Francisco Haight Ashbury District late 1960s...
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What Names Have I Forgotten?
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Speaking of Paramahansa Yogananda... there is a Commune in Northern California of His Followers... Right Now it's Closed to Outsiders due to COVID-19 but... I'd like to Visit it Someday... In the Foothills near Grass Valley or Nevada City...
https://www.anandavillage.org/
While I was Listening to the Saturday Night Alive for the Global Peace Tribe show... I Noticed that Every Guest had a Website... Where they Show Their Special Talent...
So... I Did a Total Makeover of MY Blog to Create a Positive Space... and Make it Easy for Random Web Surfers to Find What They are Interested In... I decided that MY One Biggest Talent is the Black and White Line Drawings that I Ask People to Print... and Color using Felt Pens or Pencils... Hopefully there will be Thousands of My Drawings Worldwide...
https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2021/08/my-digital-paintings-of-ezekiels-wheel.html
I have Published My Words, Pictures and Songs... and I Realized that by using FREE Platforms... my stuff will be Online After I'm Dead... Google Blogger, Youtube, Wordpress and a Dozen Social Media Sites... If you pay a FEE, Your Content Vanishes when You Stop Paying...
A Collection of My Artwork is at Google Image Search=gvan42
LINK! https://tinyurl.com/gvan42-art
Story Plot: That Came to me in a dream last night...
One day a man who worked as a scientist was working in his lab and... a stranger kidnapped him and made him think of new ideas or die... Held the Scientist Hostage! anf the Scientist had the most productive week of his life... and then the stranger just took the Ideas that he had written down and said... "Thanks! You are free to Go About Your Life... " and Let the Scientist Go...
and It Turned out that The Scientist was only one of a Dozen People Held Hostage that week... by a Dozen Strangers... and ALL the Ideas were published for free on the internet that week...
Then The Police tracked down the Kidnappers and arrested them, put them in Prison for years...
Time Passed...
and Another Scientist, A Lady, was thinking back to her Own Time as Hostage and said: "I'm Bored. I Haven't Done Anything Revolutionary Since That Time I Was Forced to Think or Die."
So She went to Visit The Original Hostage and... They Spent a Week Making Love and Designing the Future... and They Published all their Ideas online... "That was FUN! Why Didn't we Think of that Before?" - "Well... I Guess we didn't have a Gun To Our Heads! and THAT'S Why we didn't Have The Mind Sprout... "
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*JUST JOKING* A Step by Step Guide to the Violet Overgrow of the Ruling Class - A Novel by Gregory Vanderlaan *JUST JOKING*
Step #1:
Boycott Everything Until Prices Come Down.
Corporations owned by the 1% keep on raising prices and collecting windfall profits. They will keep on doing that until people quit buying. If they could, they would charge $100.00 for a Quart of Milk...
Step #2: Sneak Marijuana Cookies onto the Buffet Tables of the Hotels near Capitol Hill in Washington DC. If the "Suits" that Run the Government had a Cannabis Trip... maybe they would think twice about doing evil for a living. Place some Cannabis Edibles in the Senate Dining Room also... At the very least they would change the CrazyLaws® about Marijuana...
Step #3: Cut the Pentagon Budget in Half. This will really anger the Ruling Class as They Profit Greatly from Corporate Welfare. Remember: Since 1945 the US Military has Never Defended the USA... Not Even Once... So all that money being spent at the Pentagon is Just a Way to Transfer Wealth from the Taxpayers to the Owners of Defense Corporations... The same Owners Finance the Campaigns of the Senators and Congressmen that Write the Bills that Fund the Pentagon... So the Money Travels in a Tight Circle... and YOU GET NOTHING...
Step #4: Stop Funding Fossil Fuel Corporations. "U.S. taxpayers spend tens of billions of dollars a year subsidizing new fossil fuel exploration, production, and consumption, which directly affects how much oil, natural gas, and coal gets produced—and how much clean energy doesn’t." https://generation180.org/the-absurd-truth-about-fossil-fuel-subsidies/
Step #5: YOUR IDEA HERE! Email Me: gregvan (at) yahoo (dot) com
and then on FaceBorg:
SE SAID:
When you go out to hear live music, please DON’T ask the band if you can go up on stage and sing with them. You are not a member of said band, and you have no business expecting them to allow you to perform with them as if you were. You can make a request, but it’s up to the band whether or not they want to play your request - and if they do, THEY will be the ones to perform it, not you. The band is working and playing music to entertain you, and all you have to do is listen and enjoy the music. If you don’t like the music, you are free to go. But if you choose to stay, please show some respect and appreciation for what they do.
MM Responded:
So last night a young well groomed inebriated man started requesting a song for us to play. Before we could respond he said that he would like to join us onstage and sing it.
We’ve tried to be polite and said we do not play that song. He walked away and then a few minutes later came back to demand again. Again we said NO and we explained that if he wanted to do anything like that with us, he needed to audition and rehearse with us beforehand. We didn’t know him nor his singing abilities at all.
But he felt entitled to keep on harassing us to demand the song of us. We politely said we do not play the song (and it’s not a song that we would play—Hootenanny has stringent criteria about what tunes are acceptable for our list) and it’s not on our list of rehearsed songs. He then started to tell us that it’s only four chords—C Am… but we said that we are NOT a karaoke band nor a jukebox, and that he should get his own band.
“Worst band ever!” was his response as he staggered off. He probably won’t even remember any of this exchange tomorrow.
Meanwhile we also had a scruffy homeless guy visit us. He was a bit loud and all, but he was very appreciative of our music. His deep appreciation showed as he gave me two crumpled one dollar bills from his pocket afterwards, looked me in the eyes, and said “thank you” to me. He really meant it. Who knows what sort of battles he was fighting in his own head to get to the point where he became homeless but he was grateful enough to give back for entertaining him. Those two dollars were a gift of extreme value coming from him. I graciously said thank you back to him.
The young drunk man left us no tip. He danced with his partner for many songs too. We didn’t matter to him—we were beneath him. It was all about him and his needs.
In a weird Sci-fi twist ending, it would be weird if these two completely different people were one in the same—separated by 30 years of life lessons. My mind works like that sometimes.
and MM Continued:
Thanks SE. It doesn’t happen all the time—but on occasion we get someone who thinks that we can simply download from the cloud how to play a song into our brains, especially if it is a simple tune. Personally, I know how to play Stand by Me on guitar, bass and drums—but that doesn’t mean an audience member can ask us to do it so that they can sing it onstage with us. The good people that join us for a number or two—we know them and we know that they are good enough to sit in, or have rehearsed with us beforehand.
There are karaoke bands out there that can play pretty much any tune they can look up. We don’t do that. And the stuff we do is often deceptively simple but in reality quite challenging for a trio. Some people simply think musicians know all the songs by every artist. Yes, we’ve heard the song. We may even like it. But that’s not the same as rehearsing the song several times and getting the parts right before playing it. I think it’s the Disney sitcom mentality that people get used to—that someone asks for a song and the band miraculously plays it flawlessly without ever rehearsing it. Maybe for a piano player at a bar who can fake their way through a song on their own, but for a real life band it’s not as easy.
and I Replied:
Quite an unusual story... I don't think I've ever heard of a member of the audience joining a band onstage... It would be totally rude! It would be really easy to just go find a Karaoke Bar and Sing there!
I've played guitar and sang in public in the Central park in Chico and on the street... I was delighted to be in the center of a group of singing people... "Yellow Submarine" is a good group sing along song... so is "People are Strange" by the doors... and "Witchy Woman" by the Eagles... mainly because people can really freak out when they get to the lyric "Oooo, oo, oo, oo, ahh, oo, oo, ahh, ahh, ahh, oo, oo, oo, ahhhhhhhh, Who!" and then I liked to play the song "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" a Traditional Spiritual... That Way I Took the People to the Gates of HELL and then Brought them Back into the Light... saving their Souls at the Last Moment!