Wednesday Night ONT - April 15, 2026 [TRex]

Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans.

Welcome to the Wednesday night ONT which means another edition of random overnight fun and games. Pull up a chair and sit a spell. Good will offerings of amusing puns are happily accepted. Pants are optional. Be nice to your fellow commenters and AoS contributors. This is a Tucker, Candace and Megyn free zone. Please.

[Top photo: Bamberg Altes Rathhaus]

From Fodor's:

At Bamberg's historic core, the Altes Rathaus is tucked snugly on a small island in the Regnitz. To the west of the river is the so-called Bishops' Town; to the east, Burghers' Town. The citizens of Bamberg built this extravagantly decorated building on an artificial island when the bishop of Bamberg refused to give the city the land for a town hall. Industrious citizens quickly realized that the river was a tax haven as it wasn't claimed by anyone as property.

Matthew Chapter 9

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

She Works Hard for the Money:

Tax burden state-by-state comparison:

Rich Men North of Richmond:

Quote Origin: Don't Tax You. Don't Tax Me. Tax That Fellow Behind the Tree

[H]umorous verses advocating that taxes be levied on someone "behind the tree" began to appear by the 1930s. These early instances were anonymous.

In March 1932 "Collier's Weekly" ran an article titled "Tax Everyone But Me" which included an instance starting with "Congress! Congress! Don't tax me" instead of the sing-song: "Don't tax you. Don't tax me."

"At the end of the year, and again at the opening of 1932, the hotel rooms and lobbies of Washington were crowded and swarming with citizens who had come to play, in paraphrased adult form, an old game of their childhood:

Congress! Congress! Don't tax me,
Tax that fellow behind the tree."

In September 1973 the "National Tax Journal" published an article that included the verse credited to Long...:

'RUSSELL B. LONG, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has recently been credited with a little doggerel describing "Most people['s]...philosophy about taxes":

Don't tax you,
Don't tax me,
Tax that fellow behind the tree.'"

After taxes:

Willie:

Johnny Paycheck has feelings about the IRS:

Ouch. Well done, Community Note.

The Pittsburgh police scanner keeps giving. Thank you people of Pittsburgh!

Taxman cover by Joe Bonamassa for the big ONT finish:

Written correspondence can be sent to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Are you lurking ?? No, the ONT does not have a second home in New York City worth more than $5m, but thank you for your concern.

posted by Open Blogger at 10:00 PM

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