Friday's Odds and Ends

States such as Michigan and New Jersey and New York are going to extremes to collect state income taxes. For instance some trucks hauling goods have actually been stopped in those states and held until the corporation pays income taxes on what is being carried through the state. Local revenue agents have seized out-of-state trucks that are simply passing through and sometimes refuse to release them until the businesses that sent the trucks pay corporate income taxes. In some states, finance departments have sent out-of-state businesses bills for thousands of dollars in corporate taxes just because one worker may have visited the state sometime during that year, perhaps for a convention.

Normally, state income taxes are not levied against a company from another state unless they have branch offices in the other state, so this seems to be quite a stretch to grab some more money.

I read recently where the 2016 GOP national convention is going to be held in Las Vegas. It could've been held in Dallas but I guess the Republicans really wanted to party big.

Anybody but me think this is a colossal waste of money?

Freelance writer Jonathan Look Junior wrote an op/ed piece for the Dallas Morning News about the constitutional phrase "the pursuit of happiness" and made it clear that the Constitution does not guarantee happiness for everyone but it does give everyone the right to pursue happiness. He found a quote that was popular in that 1800s that says, "The U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it your self." For Jonathan Look that means that "happiness is not something the government can ensure; rather, government can help create a habitat for happiness and fertilize the ground in which it grows."

Amen to that.

I had to agree with the writer of a recent letter to the editor in the Dallas Morning News about the Academy of country music awards last Sunday. The letter writer, Ronnie Smith, said he's not normally a country music fan but decided to watch the show anyway, and he thought that it was a good show, "It moved quickly, the humor was funny, and it was done without any profanity in the music and the performances were enjoyable." But what he really noticed was that the ladies were all able to sing very well - and with all their clothes on. He wished other award shows would take notice of how to produce a family friendly show.

Can I hear another, "Amen?"

 And now some fun from the comic strip B.C. by John Hart. In the first frame we see B.C. painting a very large Easter egg. Peter walks up and asks, "What in the world is that?"

B.C. says, "Easter's almost here. I'm decorating and egg."

"That's an egg?!"

B.C. answers, "Yepper."

Peter says, "Where on earth did you find it?"

"Would you believe the world's biggest bunny? Just kidding. It was in the woods over there."

Suddenly Peter's eyes get real big, and B.C. says, "What?"

In the last frame, Peter says, "Don't look. Just run!" Behind B.C. we see at dinosaur - a very angry dinosaur.

Finally, just a quick note of advertising. My police procedural mystery, Doubletake, is free for the next four days for Kindle and Kindle apps. Grab a copy if you are so inclined, and, as always, I would be ever so grateful for a review.

Friday's Odds and Ends

Thomas Sowell had a thoughtful column this past week answering the question, Does Constitution still matter in modern times. This was in response to commentary following the Supreme Court's decision that it is okay to sell violent video games to minors. Some analysts have said that the Constitution is out of date because the framers never envisioned  a world with computers, the Internet, and violent video games. Sowell writes, "Most people have enough common sense to know that a constitution does not exist to micromanage particular "events" or express opinions about the passing scene. A constitution exists to create a framework for government - and the Constiti\ution of the United States tries to keep the government inside that framework."

Thank you Mr. Sowell for pointing out what has been wrong with people's thinking about the Constitution. Here is a link to the entire article. It is well worth the read.

In a recent column Michael Lind wrote that conventional thinking about fossil fuels is wrong. He stated that there is enough natural gas and coal to sustain us for centuries. He also mentioned the studies being done by companies and governments in the U.s. Canada, and Japan to find ways to obtain energy from gas hydrates, which mix methane with ice in high-density formations under the sea floor. "The potential in gas hydrates may equal that of all other fossils."

Lind may have been trying to sound hopeful and encouraging, but I found those facts extremely disturbing. How long can we continue to take things out of the earth before we have more severe reactions than what we already have. Let's do a little physics experiment. Make a ball of rice, breadcrumbs, small nuts, and hold that all together with a paste of flour and water. When it dries, start taking bits of the rice and some nuts out. After a while the ball is going to crumble and fall apart.

Sure, that is a very simplistic example, but it illustrates what is wrong with the thinking that we can continually take from the earth with no bad effects. And the idea of messing with the ice under the sea is just ludicrous. It is melting from the surface of the earth faster than anyone can imagine, so we want to disrupt the foundation?

To end on a more upbeat note, a letter to the editor in The Dallas Morning News written by Arby Mason was clever. The headline was: Time-honored multitasking, and the letter read, "So, we're just now in the Age of Multitasking? That started when Eve had to cook apple pies, applesauce and baked apples while changing Cain and Abel's fig leaves and sweeping snakeskins off the front porch.

Friday's Odds and Ends

In central Texas there is a wide area of devastation where trees are dying, as well as other vegetation. Environmentalists believe the sulfur dioxide emitted by the Fayette Power Plant is to blame. However, the plant's operator and the state's Environmental Regulator deny pollution is to blame for the swaths of plant devastation. Pecan groves in the area have seen crops dwindle from 200,000 lbs a year to 8,000.

Do you really believe the pollution is not causing the problem? 

Anti-gay activist Cindy Jacobs, who is a member of Generals International has posted a video explaining her belief that it was the repeal of the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ that caused all of these dead animals to be popping up all over the country, including the thousands of birds that fell from the sky in Beebe, Arkansas not long ago.  Her reasoning is that because homosexuality is a sin according to the Bible, the barrage of dead animals is a direct message from God.

Hmmmm. Not the God I believe in.

A novel idea. How about we write laws in plain English? This was proposed in a recent editorial by author, Linda Chavez, and I wanted to stand up and cheer when I read it. She pointed out the clarity and brevity of the Constitution, which was written so the common man could understand it.  In contrast, she compared the Health Care Act, weighing in on 2,400 pages to the fact that "we abolished slavery and gave former slaves the right to vote in 100 words.  We guaranteed women the right to vote in fewer than 40 words." "If legislators can't explain what they want to do in 100 pages of less, they probably shouldn't be doing it."

Hear! Hear!

Celebrating 191 years of marriage. Yes it's true. Three brothers who married three sisters over 60 years ago have between them 191 years of marriage.Growing up, the  Waters boys lived not far from the Webb sisters in the little Texas town of Dike, and eventually they all hooked up. Although the youngest couple did resist for a while. "We thought two was enough," the youngest Webb sister said. The couples enjoy traveling together and will be celebrating anniversaries this year by going on a cruise. And the secret to 191 years  of happy marriage? "A whole lot of give and take."

Bravo!!


What about you? Anything catch your eye in the news recently?

Friday's Odds and Ends

It might seem a bit odd to be doing this in the dead of winter, but I have been digging in my garden the last few days, turning a few rows a day. I remember when I used to be able to turn the whole plot in an afternoon. That young person is hidden somewhere under these older muscles that don't care for that kind of work anymore. Here in Texas we plant our first garden the end of January.

Republicans made history Thursday by staging the first-ever reading of the entire Constitution on the House floor as the legislative session began. While that was a noble gesture, I hope those serving in Congress will pay more than lip-service to the document.

Again, I marvel at the short sightedness of government leaders. Obama recently enacted a freeze on the salaries of government employees, starting with the ones at the bottom of the ladder. How about cutting salaries from the top down for a change? Did you know that the man who runs the U.S. Chamber of Commerce earns close to $3.9 million a year?

I am saddened and dismayed at news of the school shooting in Nebraska. We lived in Omaha for almost ten years and know families who had children at Millard South High School. Thankfully, those students have already graduated, so they were not personally affected by this tragedy, but my heart goes out to current students and staff who are dealing with all the ramifications. Back in 1993 I wrote a book about school violence, Coping with Weapons and Violence In Your School and On Your Streets, and I remember hoping that the violence young people deal with would lessen as time went on. This was before Columbine and other school shootings, and I am sad to say my wish did not come true.

To end on a brighter note. I read back in November about a couple who "gave the ultimate gift." Their 13-year old daughter, Taylor was killed in a skiing accident and her parents donated her organs, a gift that saved five lives. The parents then created a Web site for potential organ donors to sign up.  If you have ever thought about being an organ donor but just haven't gotten around to doing it, visit that site. The process for signing up is quick and easy and just may save a life.

A Little Clarification on Separation of Church and State

Right up front, let me say that this post is not intended to stir a debate about religion, forms of religion, or which religion is the best. My personal beliefs are that everyone is entitled to believe, or not believe, and one right does not trump another.

That said, I do want to talk about the separation of church and state. People who want to remove all mention of a god or higher power from schools, public buildings, government and society in general use the First Amendment to the Constitution as their rallying point. But if you read that amendment carefully, you will note that the words "separation of church and state" do not appear. The amendment prohibits "an establishment of religion."  That means no national mandated or tax supported church.

At the time the amendment was written, most of the states had their own official churches and the federal government was not to impose a national official church, like England has the Church of England. Later, the states did away with official state churches, thus establishing a true freedom of religion.

If only we could all honor that.

Separation of Church and State

Let's get it right....

One of the issues to arise in the debate in Texas over school curriculum and textbooks is the Separation of Church and State as mandated in first Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

Those who are against the inclusion in textbooks of any mention of God, religion, or the Judeo/Christian foundation of our country use this mandate as their trump card. If the State is not to be involved in religion, then we need to sanitize everything that our children are exposed to in school.

What these folks fail to realize is that they are trumping with a card that grants people the freedom of religion: The First Amendment to the United States Constitution (part of the Bill of Rights) prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.

The key phrase is the “free exercise of religion,” and that freedom is given to everyone. If I believe in God, I am free to say so. If you don’t believe in God, you are free to say so. I can’t make you shut up, and you shouldn’t have the right to make me shut up. I shouldn't try to force my beliefs on you, and you shouldn't force yours in me. Simple as that, until the PC police get involved.

Banning any mention of God or religion is not going to make either disappear. And by including pertinent reference to religion and our Christian heritage as a nation, children are not being forced to believe in God or religion; they are merely being exposed to some facts. And if those children return to a home that is Jewish or Muslim or some other religion, or headed by Atheists, the parents can clarify that those beliefs they read about in school are not the beliefs of this household, but they are to be respected.

Share your thoughts here, keeping in mind that we will respect diverse beliefs.