Myth Blaster - The Shroud of Turin

Myth Blaster Verdict: Overall, undetermined, but so far undisputedly authentic as the following will explain. Personal research shows that there is more accurate information that proves the Shroud’s authenticity than those who have been trying to disapprove it; and because of this, I believe it is up to the skeptics to disapprove the authenticity because those who have investigated the Shroud through the scientific process should not have to prove anything further. The fact that the Shroud is an natural image of a crucifixion victim is without question – the only question that may remain by skeptics is if it is truly the Jesus of Nazareth that changed the western world, inspired a new religion that developed into the most powerful Church organization in world history.

Nothing is Truly "Free" - Especially From Government

CJ, Wisconsin, Friend of LPJ, sent this email, she received, I thought I would pass on as food for thought …

There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist government. In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, ‘ Do you know how to catch wild pigs?’
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. ‘You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat; you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, free medical, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms - just a little at a time.
One should always remember ‘There is no such thing as a free Lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.
‘A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.’ ……..
Barry Goldwater

[Editor’s Note: The original email attributed the quoted phrase to “Thomas Jefferson”, which is incorrect – it was Barry Goldwater and also used by President Gerald Ford and misattributed to Ronald Reagan. Senator Barry Goldwater was an advocate of limited government.]

In my effort to encourage fellow Americans to push their representatives and senators to enact the Fair Tax Act and rid Americans of the burden, unfairness and intrusive policy of the income tax system, I have read and written much about it. During my research of another subject, I discovered that the income tax system, as it is used today was suggested and sort of invented by Karl Marx, considered to be the “Father of Communism”. This last tidbit of fact should speak for itself in the argument against the income tax system.

As Robert Longley writes:

If you thought the Flat Tax was a good idea that failed, you’re going to utterly love the FairTax.