What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist only takes your skin. -- Mark Twain Few professions have been the butt of more jokes or inspired more scorn and derision than a tax collector, known in modern times as an IRS employee. Even Jesus the Christ used tax collectors as the stereotype of humans behaving badly, saying: "For if you only love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" Ronald Reagan joked that, "Government's view of the economy can be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Sadly, there is an element of truth in that joke. But there is always hope for the future...at least one politician running for President in 2016 understands the true nature of America's growing tax-and-spending problem. Senator Marco Rubio said, "We don't need new taxes. We need new taxpayers, people who are gainfully employed, making money, and paying into the tax system. And then we need a government that has the discipline to take that additional revenue to pay down the debt and never grow it again." What we need is a tax system that is designed to fund the government, not a system designed to redistribute wealth under the guise of "fairness." In other words, we need the FairTax. … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 14 April 2015
Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours. ― Yogi Berra Baseball season officially started a week ago, and the Atlanta Braves have already exceeded my expectations by winning six of their first seven games. Of course, the season is long, but after management traded away most of the team's existing stars in the offseason, my expectations were set extremely low. I never expected the Braves to get above .500 after the first game of the season, to be brutally honest. So in honor of the start of baseball season, I thought I'd dig up a couple of quotes from the immortal Yogi Berra, notorious for his verbal gaffes and malapropisms, who allegedly also said that, "Ninety percent of the game is half mental" and "I never said most of the things I said." Quotes like those cause me to wonder if Yogi might have started playing baseball before the catcher's mask was invented. After all, his more memorable utterances sound as if they came from someone who had one too many foul tips bounce off his skull. … [Read more...]
A pleasant surprise
Of my six published books, none have inspired more readers to offer negative feedback than my Counterargument for God. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I routinely offer a free electronic copy to every atheist whom I encounter online -- not in an attempt to antagonize them, but with the sincere hope that my book might inspire future conversation. If there is a viable alternative to rather stupendous good luck to possibly explain our existence without invoking a supernatural God, I'd like to know what that alternative might be. I appreciate fair but constructive criticism and value it as much or more than positive feedback because I believe it is important to learn from my mistakes, so that I won't be doomed to repeat them. As an author it's always nice to know that someone took the time to read what I consider to be a labor of love, even if they agree with me. Naturally, I was quite pleased to receive the email below from C. W. Bobbitt, a retired professor from Mississippi State University: John, I read your book Counterargument for God, some parts several times. It's hard to believe that two people so separated in space and time could have thoughts so nearly coincident on a given subject. No doubt about it, we're on the same page. I would not presume to tell you why you are wrong because I don' know that you are wrong (although I call my paper a hypothesis, and I think that name is defensible, I really see it as a scenario---it could have happened this way.) I need to state up front that my analysis of this subject is based on two propositions which I … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 13 April 2015
A fool and his money are soon elected. -- Will Rogers Hillary Clinton announced her campaign for president in 2016. She is widely expected to "win" the Democrat nomination for president without facing any serious competition within her party. Conversely, Jeb Bush has opposition for the Republican nomination from Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio, as well as from Governor Scott Walker, the current frontrunner. However, once Jeb declares his candidacy, the conventional wisdom says that he will attract the lion's share of Republican campaign contributions, from people who want to see another Bush in the White House. My question is, why? Also, who is funding these candidates? Between them, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush occupied the White House for 12 years in total. While I think Jeb was a pretty good governor down in Florida, that doesn't mean he'd make a great president. I think Jeb's wrong about immigration and Common Core. Besides, enough is enough. In between the Bushes, Bill and Hillary Clinton had 8 years in charge. If you think Hillary had no power in Bill's administration, your memory needs jogging. Before Obama gave us the "Affordable" Health Care Act, Hillary basically tried to nationalize health care by giving us the Health Security Act all the way back in 1993. Furthermore, no one in modern times has done more to destroy the moral fabric of American society than Bill Clinton, who had an affair with an intern, lied about it, and was disbarred for committing perjury while in office. Hillary enabled Bill's clinging to power, … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 12 April 2015
I'd rather be two strokes ahead going into the last day than two strokes behind. Having said that, it's probably easier to win coming from behind. There is no fear in chasing. There is fear in being chased. - Jack Nicklaus I have a confession to make -- I once hated watching golf on television. I thought golf was boring. It usually put me to sleep. Then I happened to watch as Jack Nicklaus come from six strokes back over the last nine holes to win the 1986 Masters with the greatest comeback in golf history -- perhaps the greatest comeback in sports history, period. Maybe I never liked golf because I never knew how to play the game. Because I play left-handed, no one seemed to be able to figure out where my swing would go wrong. But it would... I used to admit that I owned golf clubs, but avoided using them because I couldn't hit even a half decent shot to save my life. The game frustrated and infuriated me. If by some miracle I did hit a straight tee shot right at the flag with an iron on a par three, I'd somehow manage to blow the sure par by three-putting from less than two feet. I truly sucked at golf. In epic fashion. So I stuck with playing tennis, until my left arm became so injured I could no longer play. When I did try to play golf, my driver never left the bag -- I didn't trust anything except my seven wood on longer holes, even the par 5s. One time I was playing so poorly that my friends deliberately aimed me 45 degrees from the flagstick in the tee box. They said that my slice was so bad, that angle ought to put my ball in the middle of the … [Read more...]
