Is there a fair tax?

In response to last week’s question, "Is there a fair tax?," my writing and sailing friend Rich concluded, "Fair is when someone else pays.  Justice is when the right someone else pays," to which my Constitutional lawyer friend Phil shared, "Fairness like beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Unlike beauty, however, tax is by its very nature taxing."

My temple friend Richard explained, "When someone says something isn’t fair, my daughter says 'Fair? A fair is where you go to eat cotton candy and ride the Ferris Wheel.'  Since I’m sure there’s a tax on our tickets to the fair, I’ll say yes, there is a fair tax.   Or perhaps you meant 'fare'? I know you pay tax for your taxi cab ride.  Is there a fare tax on Uber rides?"

My birthday bud Jon observed, "Yes—the outrageous price for food at the Fair," to which my cousin Valarie clarified, "It's included in your ticket; once you pay the admission fee, all the rides are 'free.' "  My business coaching friend Lindy pointed out, "I always taught my children, when they talked about being fair, that a fair comes to town once a year. So if there is a fair tax, I think it would only come to town once a year."

My dad's beach buddy Bob called out, "There could only be a fair tax if you could avoid paying it and it was non recurring."  My college roomie John thought, "Maybe it's the sin taxes - like taxes on liquor and cigarettes.  I still keep buying."

My engineering friend Steve replied, "If you can get past tax is theft, well yes, it’s HR25 introduced in Congress every year since 1999 I believe."  My sailing friend Norm added ,     "A  Fair Tax would be if everyone paid the same tax rate whether you made $10 or $10,000,000. At 10% rate, the person making $10 would pay $1 and the person making $10,000,000 would pay $1,000,000.  That is fair.  A flat tax or consumption tax might be a 'fair tax.'  Any tax that attempts to influence buying or social behavior is not a fair tax.   I would be against a consumption tax unless the 16th amendment was repealed.  Otherwise, our government would add the consumption tax on top of the income tax and that is not fair.    When you add up all the taxes the average person pays, you would be amazed at how much our governments take from us.  Real estate taxes, ad valorem taxes, use taxes, sales taxes, income taxes."

My social media friend Mark requested, "Only if we ALL thought and felt exactly the same about everything" to which my PR friend Stan wrote, "Yes, there is a fair tax – and it involves all of us paying according to our ability to ensure that all Americans can have the basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, shelter and healthcare. If we simplified the tax code while making them more equitable, that would put a lot of accountants and professional tax preparers out of work, which could have a trickle-down effect on all forms of retail jobs…and marketing jobs…  Don’t get me started," then suggesting we check out this video about what people know about taxes.

Then please send me your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' ":

What is so bad that it is soap "scum"?

We don't stop laughing because we get old. We get old because we stop laughing.  Make it a priority to have fun and make others laugh.

Hal

My temple friend Henry called out the passing earlier this month of Don Rickles, "Nothing like a little ‘insult humor’ to start your oxymorons for the day."  Click here to see why Henry was on target.

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.   I invite you to call or email me to catch up.

What's the best thing to do with your peeps this Easter weekend?

In response to last week’s question, "What's the best thing to do with your peeps this  Easter weekend?,"  my temple friend Tracey advised, "Spend s'more time with them. The chicks like things kind of mallow."

My writing and Flow Coach cousin Sunny called out, "Eat them with matzoh!"

While my equestrian friend Royce replied, "Hide," my dad's beach buddy Bob shared, "Rest them on the gorgeous flowers coming up this spring."

And my cycling friend Ted used the non-Easter definition of peeps when he responded, "if you are one of my Peeps, then the best thing to do is ride this weekend!"

Then please send me your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' ":

Is there a fair tax?

Tax Freedom Day for 2016 was April 24.  In other words, it took on average 113 days for Americans to earn income to cover their federal, state and local tax bill.

We don't stop laughing because we get old. We get old because we stop laughing.  Make it a priority to have fun and make others laugh.

Hal

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.   I invite you to call or email me to catch up.

Does punctuation matter?

Responses to last week’s question, "Does punctuation matter?" were both text and images (as you'll see below).

My equestrian friend Royce advised, "Only if you are writing" to which my birthday bud Jon called out, "Yes!  Yes? Yes…." as my neighbor Al pointed out "What? What! What."  And my college roomie John excitedly replied, "YES."

My collaboration and running friend Andy announced, "I'm a fan of commas!" and provided most of the images below.

My birthday bud Adam S declared, "Punctuation does not matter. Period. Ha. (see image of Stop A Head).  And my temple friend Vivian concurred, "I must say that since I was a language arts teacher, punctuation does matter,,,!!???!!" 

While my sailing friend Norm declared, "In this day and age of texting - WTF##@@!! cares?" however, my dad's beach buddy Bob responded, "Certainly, it can change the entire meaning of a sentence" and here are great examples:

My temple friend Tracey, "As someone with an English degree... oh dear God YES! It's the difference in "Let's eat, Grandma!" and "Lets eat Grandma!" which my cousin Greg and sailing friend Mike concurred.

Tracey continued, "My daddy just loves cooking and eating, his children, and his pets. OR, My daddy loves cooking and eating his children and his pets. 

My adjunct executive friend Lindy revealed, "As a grammar nerd, I have to say YES! Here are some examples:

·         "That that is is That that is not is not" becomes, when you add punctuation: That that is, is. That that is not, is not.

·         And slightly off-color, but we're all adults here: "Help your Uncle Jack off the the horse", when again a simple comma tells us to Help your Uncle, Jack, off the horse.

And my temple friend Lesley Litt pointed out, "It matters now, but didn't when they wrote the Torah apparently. . .or it mattered, but people didn't know it did."

ENJOY the great collection of image below from Andy and other.

Then please send me your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' ":

What's the best thing to do with your peeps this weekend?

We don't stop laughing because we get old. We get old because we stop laughing.  Make it a priority to have fun and make others laugh.

Hal

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/us/oxford-comma-lawsuit.html?

Wish my friends and family observing these holidays a Happy and Meaningful Passover, and a Happy and Meaningful Easter.

What does a diet water taste like?

In response to last week’s question, "What does a diet water taste like?,"  my writing and sailing friend Rich concluded, "At $5.00 a bottle, it tastes like you’ve been had," to which my hiking friend Kelly added, "It tastes a lot like your money leaving.  Also, there’s probably a nice dose of high fructose corn syrup in it, so high fructose corn syrup and failure."

My PR friend Stan succulently wrote, "Lite" to which my social media friend Mark clarified, "Flavored rice cakes... but wet."

My adjunct executive friend Lindy called out, "The obvious answer is 'like a regular water with fewer calories.'  And then, wonderfully fresh but it causes cancer. Like plastic . . . nothing diet ever tastes as good as the real thing."

My dad's beach buddy Bob surmised, "I don't know.  Where do you get such an item other than from my refrigerator spigot?"  My equestrian friend Royce offered, "A masterful homogenized blend of hydrogen and oxygen without flotsam."

My collaboration friend Tricia explained, "As a girl raised in the South, an ice cold Coke was my favorite beverage. Water tastes like nothing, so diet water would taste worse than nothing. Diet anything tastes worse!  BTW: Unless you can mix diet water with some Skillet sweet tea - hmmmm."  (If you mixed Silver Skillet sweet tea with diet water, would that be a sin, a waste or anarchy?)

My temple friend Tracey shared, "I drink club soda, which I guess is technically diet fizzy water. I think it tastes refreshing and wonderful," so my production manager friend Ray pointed out, "From a purely (pun intended) technical point of view, l am told that water that has had everything removed has no taste whatsoever, and is bottled and sold (oh, there are so many ways to have finished this) .... as Coors beer."

And my dentist friend Ted hypothesized, "Logic would say that since regular water is essentially tasteless, diet water would have a very strong flavor.

Diet water is manufactured in the Puerto Rican city of Caguas. The name is a contraction of 2 Spanish words--Cagar and Agua.  Go look it up Gringo!  As a dentist, I'm not sure that it would rot your teeth. We'll just have to order a few cases of Aguas Caguas and see what happens to the Choppers!"

Please send me your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' ":

Does punctuation matter?

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Hal