Self-promotion Potion

“ Everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. .

. “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not ashamed at all.” Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, 27 centuries ago

“In the home of the brave, Jefferson’s turning over in his grave. Fools glorify themselves trying to manipulate satan.” American Prophet Dylan, 44 years ago Glass half-Full

Losing My Head?

Am I losing My Head at the tender age of 73? Wait, not so fast. Back it up a bit. Funny thing happened on the way to Jan 10th, 2025. I woke up from dreaming about Richard Nixon, with an idea that I should forgive him. Okay. Maybe it was the new mattress. Our kids gave us a new mattress for Christmas, which I didn't think was necessary. But hey! It worked like a charm. I slept very comfortably, but an odd thing did happen in the morning. My first awakening on this new mattress seems to have sparked all kinds of gracious things running through my head. Yesterday, we had driven through a town where, in previous years, we had visited my mother and father-in-law when they were living in Davidson twenty years ago. It's a very pleasant, idyllic sort of place. Nothing could be finer than to be driving through that Carolina village in the morning. But my mind was playing tricks on me. There had been a few periods, back in the day, when I had felt slightly resentful of my father in law. May he rest in Peace; don't get me wrong, he was a very good father-in-law, an Irish, a civil engineer, builder of bridges, good husband, and father of nine, one of whom has been my perfect wife for 45 years.  But my mind was disturbing me because it had taken a rather morbid turn. It seemed to me that as I was driving through Davidson yesterday, the thought came to me. . . I am the same age now as my father-in-law was when he was living in that town. What does that mean?. . . and he is dead now so that means I too will be dead some day! But hey! This is getting out of hand. But wait; there's more. I should tell you, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story. So I wake up the next day, today, dreaming of Richard Nixon!? What's up with that? In the dream I had been sitting across from him and listening, as if I were a journalist interviewing him. But, but. . . with the strange feeling that I should forgive Richard Nixon! For what? You tell me! Sending goons to the Watergate hotel? Well then, anyway, a little later today, I was having breakfast and pondering the Beatles song from the Sgt. Pepper album. . . When I get older, losing my head, many years from now. . . All that to say: if you get a new mattress, read all the labels. There's no telling what memories are stuffed into your old dreaming platform. And the old memories - at least in my experience - will try to sneak back into your golden slumbers while you're dreaming. This is what the Beatles were singing about on Sgt. Peppers: "When i get older, losing my head. . . when I'm sixty-four." But now I'm seventy-three! Way past sixty-four. . . and wake up thinking of Nixon and pardoning him, and - Dare I say it! Does this mean. . .? maybe even pardoning Donald Trump for his leading the insurrection on Jan6, four years ago. And I'm wondering what George Washington would have thought about such a thing.

I better sleep on it again, and besides I want to read Jack Smith's report before I do such a thing. And I am wondering what George Washington would think of what happened on Jan6, 2021? King of Soul

4000 Holes

It’s funny to contemplate how pop culture affects my g-generation. My g-generation was the first to grow up with a TV in the living room. We were the second generation to grow up with radio. I have a memory of—I think it was 1962—laying in bed, ready to sleep, but listening in the dark to my transistor radio. . . pop music, rock ’n roll . . . when, out of the darkness, I heard this: “She was just seventeen; you know what I mean, and the way she looked was way beyond compare.” As it turned out, that was only the beginning of a pop-culture phenomenon that would become a decade of chart-topping Beatles songs. In the annals of popular music, only the Elvis phenom of the ’50’s could compare with it. But these guys—the long-haired rockers from Liverpool. . . there were four of them. So it seemed that the cultural and musical impact of their songs was four times as potent as the Elvis phenom had been. The Beatles had an incredibly innovative—almost revolutionary—impact on of the music of the ’60’s. These guys were progressive; their fourfold lyrical presentation on the Ed Sullivan show was like nothing that ever happened before. As the 1960’s rolled on and on, their magical mystery tour of rock’n’roll innovation set a course of musical exploration that dominated the the pop music of the 1960’s, and contributed widely to the impact of the rock groups of the 1970’s. The entrance of their Sgt. Pepper’s LP into my teen youth was unprecedented in the history of 20th-century entertainment. Their impact dumped the love song requirements of pop music into the “been there/done that” barrel of history. I have a life-long memory of John Lennon, in ’67, singing these words: “ I read the news today, oh boy. . . the English army had just won the war. A crowd of people turned away; but I just had to look, having read the book.” The generation before us—our parents—now THEY were the ones who had the real burden. . . halting hitler’s assault on mankind. Our baby boomer experience was like a walk in the park compared to the world war they endured, from 1939-45. . . By the mid-’60’s, we were living in a fantasy land, an unprecedented magical mystery tour that- compared to what our parents—the “greatest generation” experienced when they defeated hitler and mussolini and their Jap allies in the Pacific realm. Compared to their ordeal, the 1960’s were a walk in the park, like growing up in a dream world constructed by Howdy Doody and Disney and Elvis and . . . and suddenly, there they were: the Beatles, appearing unexpectedly out of a Liverpool fog. By 1967, disguising themselves as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, this foursome had re-branded themselves as a new English myth that would rival Camelot, or the shire— a dream world that became our LP-spun magical mystery tour. An LP track or two past Ringo’s intro, it was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play; they been goin’ in and out of style, but they’re guaranteed to raise a smile. . . After a few minutes of breaking musical precedents, suddenly there’s John’s explanation: “I read the news today. . . four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire; and though the holes were very small, they had to count them all.” Say what? What the hell is he talking about? John went on to explain: “Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall. I’d love to turn you on. . . “ Now I’ve been wondering about this for half a century. Recently, I came across something on the world web that explains John’s sketchy mention of the mysterious holes.

So now we know what the 4000 holes was all about. I had thought that it was Lennon’s lyrical criticism of rich people hearing music in the Albert Hall, at the expense of laboring people in Lancashire. But according this snippet, it was really about fixing road holes in the north of England. On the other hand, maybe it was really about four thousand seaside holes, which I discovered in 2019, in St. Andrews, Scotland:

Smoke

Electoral Count Reform Act

In January, 2021, donald trump summoned a mob of rebels to mount an insurrection against the Congress of our United States. The mob violently attacked our Capitol; their intent was to disrupt the Constitutionally-mandated counting of Electoral votes, so that trump could unlawfully take possession of the presidency. Those maga insurrectionists were not successful in their attempt. Now, in January 2025, an alliance of concerned citizens has taken on a similar mission, although legally - yes, this time, legally and peacefully - to demand a Constitutionally-prescribed procedure whereby Electoral votes will be re-evaluated, according to Constitutionally-mandated prescriptions, and recounted by Congress. This impending indictment is based upon donald trump's (January 6, 2021) criminal violation of the 14th amendment of our Constitution, and the Electoral Act of 1800, which was revised by Congress in 2022.

Now, in January 2025, a growing coalition of law-abiding Americans are calling attention to our US Constitution. In section 3 of our our 14th amendment, we find: "No person shall. . . hold any office, civil or military. . . who having previously taken an oath . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against (the United States), or given aid or comfort to (insurrectionists)" As inauguration day 2025 approaches, an alliance of concerned, law-abiding citizens are now raising - based on the 14th amendment exclusion cited above - a Constitutionally-mandated resistance against the scheduled January 20 installation of chief insurrectionist donald trump, who had summoned up and incited that illegal, unlawful insurrection against our Congress in 2021. To learn more about this last-minute call for Justice, tune into Jessica Denson's podcast: Glass half-Full

I Got a Hammer

(with a nod of appreciation to brothers Bob and Peter and Paul and sister Mary) Oh where have you been, my American nation? And where have you been my Constitutional one? I've stumbled on the slime of a trump insurrection. I've waited and I've litigated onRule of Law litigation. I've stepped in the middle of many media muddles. I've been out in the middle of a wrecked Rotunda. I've waited for a Special Prosecutor litigation. But it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard gavel gonna fall. Oh what did you see, our American nation? And what did you see in the Jan6 insurrection? I saw a domed Capitol with vandals all around it. I saw a Capitol window with glass that was shattered. I saw a rebellion and a Constitution all tattered. I saw a Congress attacked with duties all scattered. I saw a Senate a-fleeing with resolutions all shattered And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard gavel gonna fall. And what did you hear, my American nation? And what did you hear, my Constitutional son? I heard the sound of rebellion that signaled a warning. I heard the roar of wave that could drown our Republic. I heard one hundred drummers from the 1700's. I heard ten thousand tweets and nobody thinkin' I heard the ringing of liberty from a bell that was crackin'

And its a hard; it's a hard, it's a hard insurrection It's a hard insurrection gonna squall. And what'll you do now, my American nation? Yeah, what'll you do now my endangered one? We're a going to prosecute those unruly rebels. We'll send our special prosecutor to call 'em to Justice. We'll send Counselor Jack to in Justice represent us. Cuz the maga rebellions will not overcome us. Cuz we shall overcome, we shall overcome some day Deep in my heart, I do believe. . . we shall overcome the lawbreakers some day! Glass half-Full

Carter the Peacemaker

I was a teenager in the 1960's. We baby-boomers were coming of age during that troubled decade, wanting to experience life to the fullest extent possible, and yet being drafted into an Asian war. In the midst of all that noise and confusion, a president was assassinated; another president felt so troubled that he chose not to seek a second term. Another president was driven out of office after his criminal activity was exposed and prosecuted. Another president was appointed instead of being elected. Gerald Ford was a decent guy; he served well as caretaker of the Oval office and this nation, until the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976. America was crying out for stability, for decency, for honesty and integrity. Jimmy Carter stepped into the Oval office as a man of sincere faith and honesty, just when we needed a leader who could call for the anchor of integrity to be cast into the troubled waters of the 1970's. President Carter was a true evangelical Christian; he was not afraid to speak, boldly, his testimony of faith, even to an interviewer from the nation's most widely circulated girlie magazine. Carter literally fulfilled the Christ-mandated role of Peacemaker. Having invited Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David, he guided them into a peace agreement that lasted for a while, until other leaders later fell again into the quagmire of bellicose behavior. In his last address to the nation, President Carter explained: "The struggle for human rights over-rides all differences of color, or nation or language. Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity, and who suffer for the sake of justice - they are the patriots of this cause. I believe with all my heart that America must always stand for these basic human rights, at home and abroad. That is both our history and our destiny." As President Carter's term was expiring, his strenuous efforts to resolve the Iranian hostage crisis resulted in a last minute release that was completed as his successor, President Reagan, accepted the mantle of Presidency. In post-Presidency retirement, Jimmy Carter put his old tool belt on again and returned to building houses for people who needed them.

Carter's Habitat for HumanityPresident Jimmy Carter was an outspoken Christian, a patriot, and a Nobel laureate. But more importantly, he was a true Peacemaker in the sense of that word that Christ had spoken in his sermon on the mount, Matthew 25. During his time at the nation's helm, he worked earnestly to manifest, for every American, the privileges of our collective citizenship: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Today, the last day of 2024, I reflect on the legacy of Jimmy Carter, who passed from this life two days ago. He was a hundred years old. Now he enters the Heavenly realm, being led by the carpenter from Galilee who conquered death. I look forward to meeting brother Jimmy Carter when Jesus Christ accepts me, likewise, into our eternal home.  King of Soul

Leonard, oh Dear Leonard

I was a university student in 1971 when Maureen and I were walking on campus one night talking about political and cultural stuff of that era. Maureen was a rather butchy gal who hung out with our little campus network of hippie wannabees and campus rebels. We had just seen a documentary flick that presented a very negative view of Nixon. As we were walking out into a dark night, she told me not to do anything rash. That was one thing I remember she said. The other thing I remember she said was, "Leonard Cohen is down!" . . . which is to say, if you're feeling "down" and you want some music appropriate to your state of mind, listen to Leonard. I hardly knew anything about Leonard at the time. But apparently she did. She was from New York, y'know. . . the eastern center of the media universe. But she had also been to Los Angeles, the western center of the media universe. Since that time, I have spent five and half decades living a wonderful life. In 1977, I became a follower of Jesus. In 1980, I became a husband. In 1981 I became a father. Becoming a Christian, a husband and a father changed everything. All along the watchtower of those years of us boomers growing up, we've all gone our separate ways. Most notable among our musical stars were the Beach Boys, Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Crosby Still Nash and Young. After my born again experience came Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith. Rich Mullens. In the late 1990's I was fascinated with Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which I called the earliest rock music. Along the background sound tracks of my many years, I have appreciated a diverse string of so many incredible symphonies, songs and concerts that covered a multiplicity of influences and geniuses. Now, in 2024, I find myself amazed at Leonard, a rather oddball songwriter who has, at the sunset of his life and his life's work, presented an international blockbuster hit! There he was all along, plugging away; he never had a chart-topping hit - "Suzanne" was the closest - but who suddenly took the musical world by storm with his song "Hallelujah!" All the principal singers of our time have lately covered Leonard's "Hallelujah." Considering Leonard's life opus and his last-act victory with that amazing song, "Hallelujah" I stand amazed. I've been reading the Bible seriously for 54 years. It is a collection of historical, spiritual and evangelical documents that extend back in time for, I guess, four of five thousand years. When I ponder Leonard's profound Hallelujah treatise, I see the quintessential, historic Jew who, like King David, put the Lord to the test, and who, like Jacob, wrestles with God. There is something very special - absolutely unique to Leonard himself, going on in his song. Yet the song is also indicative of the ancient Jewish dialogue with YWHW Creator of the universe. Leonard hardly made a dent in the history of baby boomer music, but he sure came through in the end with this blockbuster hit: Hallelujah! I am amazed at the impact Leonard's Hallelujah! has made in the superstructure of popular music. Leonard, in cahoots with his YWHW Lord, has taken the song-world by storm. He has made his life-exit like the King David of psalm/song. In "Hallelujah" he expresses it in this final verse:

"I've done my best. It wasn't much. I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch.I didn't come here just to fool you (his audience). And even though it all went wrong, I'll stand right here before the Lord of song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah! Hear Maestro Andre Rieu with his JStraus orchestra and singers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRY2tAlvtZ0 Leonard in London, 2009 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q King of Soul