Last night, the media reported the first indictment of a former U.S. president on criminal charges  The next few days will be the:

Yesterday, we looked at one man's view of World War I and several interpretations.  Today, we look at soldier stories from the U.S. Civil War to the Viet-Nam war and beyond.  You might notice a weighting in favor of Steve Earle.  That is because he wrote some of the best ones.

There is a tradition among Irish and Scottish people to remember, commemorate, and lament the times that the young men of a nation have been sent to fight and die to settle the disputes of old men.   The tragedy is that no one really wins in war and the young men and the people who love them pay the price, sometimes for a cause they do not understand. Of course, these songs have been sung by all cultures since wars began.  It seems that the Scots and Irish have developed this tradition into a recognizable art form.  Irish and Scottish immigrants brought these traditions to America and other British possessions including Australia, influencing the folk music of every country settled.  One of the best is by Scottish-Australian Eric Bogle, writing about the slaughter of troops by Turkey in the Gallopoli Peninsula in 1915.  Here are several versions of   "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda." "Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head And when I awoke in me hospit

James McMurtry's music can be clearly seen as a part of the tradition of Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Billy Joe Shaver but he brings a subtle literary quality to his music that makes it unique.  And that's the only subtle thing about him. Lights of Cheyenne           by James McMurtry Look off down the highway at   the glittering lights Like windshield glass  on the shoulder tonight As the diesels come  grinding on up from the plains All bunched up like pearls on a string And I guess time don't mean nothin', Not nothin' at all And out on the horizon,  the broken stars fall Old broken stars they  fall down on the land And get mixed together  with the lights of Cheyenne Well I've been up all night  and I'm down on my back Workin' the counter  to take up the slack 'Cause the money tree's light  and the whiskey stream's low You ain't worked a week  since July You say the gravel pit's hiring  After the first But you don't

One of the best and least well-known songwriters in our generation was David Olney.   Some artists die for their art.  David Olney died while performing his art. Next week, I will be posting a series of songs he wrote about what we know as Holy Week. The series is unlike any secular or religious work you have ever heard. As an intro for those who do not know David's work, here are a couple of favorites:

We Can't Make it Here by James McMurtry There's a Vietnam vet with a cardboard sign Sitting there by the left turn line The flag on his wheelchair flapping in the breeze One leg missing and both hands free No one's paying much mind to him The V.A. budget's just stretched so thin And now there' s more coming back from the Mideast war We can't make it here anymore And that big ol' building was the textile mill That fed our kids and it paid our bills But they turned us out and they closed the doors 'Cause we can' t make it here anymore You see those pallets piled up on the loading dock They're just gonna sit there 'til they rot 'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack Just busted concrete and rusted tracks Empty storefronts around the square There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere You don't come down here unless you're looking to score We can't make it here anymore The bar's still open but man it

As of Sunday, there were 13 mass shootings with four or more dead this year — killing 69 people. Since 2013, there have been at least fifty mass killings at K-12 schools, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press, USA TODAY, and Northeastern University. Today, it was children in a Christian school in Tennessee. It seems that guns have supplanted Yeshua in American Christianity. Here's a question: Do all of these American Christians who insist that guns are a God-given right think it is just part of their culture to murder children in school?

Some of the people in power these days are screaming about the "indoctrination" of children about human anatomy and physiology, art, and what defines sexuality, obscenity, and perversion. It seems to me that indoctrinating children into a religion based, by its own report, on a Holy Bible , should refrain from doctrines, rules, and dogma not contained in that Bible , and made up by priests who have no more right to interpret these scriptures than anyone else.  If Jesus is not cited by that very Bible as making a specific rule, in Christianity's own basic fundamentals, no rule applies.

When one hears songs by James McMurtry, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jerry Jeff Walker, and other songwriters in the Crazy Texas Apologist subset, it is well to remember the influences by whom they were schooled.

 "Lonesome Dove" was written by Larry McMurtry.  His son, James, is a songwriter quite unlike anyone else. Here is a sample that illustrates this concept:

The party which insists on small government and little to no regulation of business wants to carefully and systematically regulate your life in the bedroom and bathroom.  We used to have a name for this.  Now we call it  DeSantanism.

 Stuff that works: I am not a big fan of gimmick songs but this one is an exception.  Stories say it was written in a guitar workshop songwriting class by Verlon Thompson and students.  The songwriting world credits it to Guy Clark and Verlon Thompson. No matter what, it is a gimmick song that works...especially in Guy Clark's voice. Well, I was passing by a pawn shop In an older part of town Something caught my eye And I stopped and turned around I stepped inside and there I spied In the middle of it all Was a beat up old guitar Hanging on the wall "What do you want for that piece of junk" I asked the old man He just smiled and took it down And he put it in my hand He said you tell me what it's worth You're the one who wants it Tune it up, play a song And let's just see what haunts it So I hit a couple of cords In my old country way of strumming And then my fingers turned to lightning Man, I never heard it coming It was like I always knew it I just don't

This is a group of Roman Catholic nuns taking a selfie in front of  Michelangelo 's statue of David, a sculpture whose image has been seen widely in very public places and which has been taught in schools for centuries. It was considered "pornographic" by a Puritanical Florida school and the principal was forced to resign. Florida is racing headlong into the 19th century.

One of the best reasons to listen to Bob Dylan's podcast is to remember some of the great old records.  Here's a true classic:

  The text below was taken from a Facebook post today.  The poster attributes the text to a quotation from Charles Darwin.  A fairly quick examination failed to confirm that attribution.  It is interesting, however, to examine the text and see if there lie within it, any truths. "At some stage, the human species will divide.  Whilst most will continue to evolve, a minority of those lacking the intellectual capacity of thought, will develop as a sub-species.  Being easily led, form into packs, attempting to control the majority.  They will deny biology, attempt to undo the centuries of human development by re-writing history, and gradually revert to, their primitive origins.  They will expect all to conform to their point of view without question."   "At some stage, the human race will divide. Whilst most will continue to evolve, a minority of those lacking the intellectual capacity of thought, will develop as a sub-species. Being easily led, form into packs, attempting t

This post is a reaction to and a commentary on an article by Joseph Green that appeared on the Historic Mysteries website.  (https://www.historicmysteries.com/catholicism-dogma/) The article, " D ogma: Seven Central Tenets of Catholicism with Zero Biblical Support," compares practices in the Roman Catholic (RC) Church with appropriate scriptures which either clearly do not support the practices or which specifically condemn or contradict them. The first practice which Green cites is the wearing of special and elaborate garments by clergy to impress the people: M atthew 23:4-5 English Standard Version 4  They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.     They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,   These garments are said to glorify God but they only glorify the clerics who wear them.  This is a throwback, it

  Religion and the institutions surrounding it have evolved around the world many times and in many places.   It is sad to note that the ways in which religion has been used by men are many times very different from the values attributed to it.   In the main, religion has been used by men to control the behavior of others while attempting to convince those being controlled that the control is in some unseen way, beneficial to them.   I am certain that many readers will not agree with this analysis but, as you will see, the argument here is based on facts and history.   Religion has been used and misused throughout history and no amount of equivocation or denial will change that.       One clear example is the actions of the crusades in the Middle Ages.   The intent was to rescue the Holy Land and specifically, Jerusalem, from the enemy, the Muslim Caliphate.   In the process of liberating Jerusalem from the Muslims, the good Christians killed most of the Jews between France and E