Donald Trump Floridian

Cautionary Note
The main rationale of this blog is tax stories that I don't consider Forbes worthy.  Unfortunately, that has practically turned it into all Kent Hovind, all the time as the shenanigans of Kent Hovind and his merry band are rooted in a tax story, but not really appropriate for fobes.com anymore.  Well, finally here is something else.  I worked on it quite a bit (for me) and ended up with something that I didn't think had enough real journalism to it.  Still I thought I couldn't let it go entirely so here it is.
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President Trump speaking about the Tax Cuts and Jobs bill has said "It's going to cost me a fortune this thing".  People who have studied the bill and know how tax returns work, like me just for an example and Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post  are a little skeptical about that claim.

It may be that the President is quite sincere.  By his own account, he was mistaken about how the Tax Reform Act of 1986 would affect him personally.  In the Art of The Deal, he wrote:

Jack Mitnik, my accountant, calls to discuss the tax implications of a deal we're doing.  I ask him how bad he thinks the new federal tax law is going to be for real estate, since it eliminates a lot of current real estate write-offs.
To my surprise, Mitnik tells me he thinks the law is an overall plus for me, since much of my cash flow comes from casinos and condominiums and the top tax rate on earned income is being dropped from 50 to 32 percent.

There is, however, one provision that will clearly hurt President Trump - the elimination of the deduction for state and local income tax.  As a New York resident, he faces very stiff state income tax on his worldwide earnings.  I haven't looked at his returns yet with that in mind - Oh that's right.  He hasn't released his returns.  Regardless, from the fragment of the 2005 return that was leaked we can be pretty sure that his state and city income tax is in the millions, which without the AMT will mean the elimination of the state income tax deduction will really hurt.

So I have an idea for the President.   He should forget about returning to Trump Tower when he is done presiding and declare that Mar-a-Lago is his new permanent home.

But What About The White House?

We know that President Trump was a New York resident in 2016, because we got to watch him vote last year.

But isn't he a resident of the District of Columbia now?  Well, for tax purposes probably not.  And to understand that, you need to understand domicile.

Domicile

Domicile is a concept that is probably outdated at least with respect to the rich and famous, but it persists.  Most states will consider anybody domiciled in that state to be a resident for purposes of income taxation (New York has a peculiar exception for people who remain domiciled in New York while abroad for extended periods, but it pretty clear that President Trump would not qualify for that exception).  Webster's defines domicile as "a person's fixed, permanent, and principal home for legal purposes".  

Many states also have a concept known as "statutory resident".  New York is one of them, probably the first, since it is sometimes referred to as the New York rule.  If you have a place of abode in one of those states and are there more than 183 days (And a day means any part of a day) you will be treated as a resident for income tax purposes.  

So you can be treated as a full year resident of more than one state.  I made up a scenario of a guy called Harry Hedgefund.  He has a monstrous house in Alpine NJ where he spends time with his family.  He also has an apartment for one of his mistresses in Brooklyn and an apartment in the South End in Boston for his other mistress.  On many days he will have morning meetings in New York and evening meetings in Boston or visa versa. Harry will be taxed as a resident of New Jersey by virtue of his domicile and as a statutory resident of both New York and Massachusetts.

President Trump does not have to worry about the statutory resident thing.  The District of Columbia follows the New York rule, but it excepts a variety of elected and appointed officials and only taxes them if they are domiciled in the District - i.e. they have made it their permanent home.  As an example you can look at President Obama's 2012 return and see that he filed as an Illinois resident in 2012 (You need to scroll to page 27).

Could The President Change His Domicile?

There are two steps required to change your domicile.  First you have to abandon your old domicile.  President Trump could simply say that he is done with New York and that he will only go back to visit.  "New York's home, but it ain't mine anymore" as Neil Diamond sang.  That is not enough.  Everybody always has to have a domicile.  Even though you have abandoned your domicile, it remains your domicile until you have established a new one.

Does moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue establish a new domicile? It does not.  The reason is that nobody can make that their permanent home.  I wrote about a foreign service officer who left Georgia and made it clear that he would never return.  Georgia still managed to tax him, because his diplomatic passport did not allow him to live in the UK after his job  is done.  The President might demonstrate in some other way that he intends to stay on the dry land that will be there after he is done draining the swamp, but frankly DC is not a bargain when it comes to income tax so from a tax planning viewpoint it would not make any sense.

How About Florida?

Now you are talking.  Florida has no income tax.  I have been following state residence cases for most of my blogging career, which will be eight years old this month.  New York challenging a move to Florida is one that comes up relatively frequently.  President Trump has already done some of the groundwork to make the move.

According to this piece in the failing New York Times,  President Trump has visited at least one Trump property 103 days this year (That is through November 26).  Thirty nine days were at Bedminster NJ. 

 Here's the thing.  I like New Jersey.  I grew up in Fairview.  But I went to high school in Manhattan. Nobody who has a place near Columbus circle is going to long to make New Jersey his domicile.  Just not happening. 

 Mar-a-Lago comes in second with thirty one days, but that's not all.  There were 18 days at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm and two at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter.  And don't forget that Mar-a-Lago has been designated the Winter White House.

How many days at Trump Tower?  That would be eight.  So President Trump spends more time in his Florida homes than any other home.

What Else?

SALT experts will go through an elaborate checklist of things to consider to establish your domicile change.  That is necessary, because in truth the concept is nearly mystical.  There are some really basic things.  They are are not enough to get win a domicile case, but without them you will probably lose.  Near the top of the list is voter registration.  Then there is the drivers license, but President Trump may not have one.  He certainly doesn't need one.

And that is where this story fell apart as being forbes worthy.  Voter registration records in Florida are public record and available on line.  President Trump has not registered to vote in Florida.

And I found a story that the President got an absentee ballot for the New York mayoral race.  If this was Forbes I would hunt down the link I failed to save, but standards are not as high here.

So when I started I thought I could make a case that Trump might be trying this, but no luck there.

How Can You Tell If He Goes For It?

One of the problems with the New York to Florida switch is that being a New Yorker is a very distinctive identity - Floridian not so much.  And Trump for all his many faults in my mind is a  consummate New Yorker.  He can register to vote in Florida, file a Florida domicile declaration and apply for a homestead exemption on the family residence portion of Mar-a-Lago.  Those are the basics, but what else can he do?

He can read A Land Remembered or at least talk about what a great book it is, even if he never reads it.  He can have one of his minions read it for him.  Beyond that, he can start using his twitter account to signal his change in loyalties.  Here are some suggested tweets.

"Orlando Sentinel really gets it.  So much better than the failing New York Times"

"I'm looking forward to the Dolphins handing it to the Jets.  Jets have been losers since Broadway Joe left"

"Broadway used to be great, it is nothing compared to Collins Avenue"

"The failing New York Yankees are going to get killed, I mean killed, by the Rays this year"

It would be a start.

One More Thought

The best thing about Trump becoming a Floridian is that we could then have headlines like Florida Man Threatens World Peace. 

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Peter J Reilly writes on taxes for forbes.com, a prestigious platform  Then there is Your Tax Matters Partner, a small blog, but there are those of us who love it.

President Trump Needs My Three Bucks To Make America Great And I'm Letting Him Down

As the month of November is closing down, I'm going to be letting my buddy Donald down - again.  It's really not right for me to call the President of the United States by his first name. But you know what?  When he came to Worcester during the primaries, his minions were pretty firm about calling him Mr. Trump.  Mr. Trump wants us to start off with the Pledge of Allegiance - stuff like that.

So I think when he has his minions contact me, they should call me Mr. Reilly.  Donny and I grew up in the same milieu.  He is a few years older than me and lived in Queens while I lived in Fairview NJ which is right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. My father even worked in what would be one of Donny's building - 40 Wall Street.  My old man never made a lot of money.  He was a senior order clerk for Estabrook and Company, long defunct.  But if he had ever passed the test to be a rep and scored big and hadn't died when I was thirteen, he would have loaned me a couple of million to buy a good sized CPA firm after I passed the exam.  Who knows?

Anyway, you called a grownup, you didn't know Mister.  So where does he get off having his minions call me Peter?

Anyway the name thing has me going because of the message I got from the Trump Pence Make America Great Again Committee.  Here is the message I got from contact@victory.donaldtrump.com

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Peter, We’re $73,108 short of our CRUCIAL November Fundraising Goal. Our team has put together a list of top supporters in 01537, and the President just asked if we had received your November end of month contribution yet:

NOVEMBER END OF MONTH RECORD EMAIL: peterreillycpa@gmail.com Where: 01537 Suggested Gift: $3 End of Month Status: PENDING CONTRIBUTE $3 NOW  Our movement works for REAL AMERICA: hardworking men and women who have been forgotten by other administrations for too long. If you’re ready to see an improvement in your day-to-day life, ready to lower your taxes, ready to make America STRONGER and SAFER than ever before…  Please consider making one of the suggested contributions below before MIDNIGHTNOVEMBER 30: CONTRIBUTE $12 CONTRIBUTE $9 CONTRIBUTE $6 CONTRIBUTE $4 CONTRIBUTE $3 CONTRIBUTE OTHER AMOUNT Thank you, Team Trump   CONTRIBUTE $3

_____________________________________________________________ I guess I should give up on the name thing.  I mean if Team Trump only expects 3 bucks from me, I guess I don't rate a Mr. Reilly.  But there is something about the message that is really bizarre.  I had to read it numerous times to make sure I read it right.  Maybe you can tell me what I am missing. Our team has put together a list of top supporters in 01537, and the President just asked if we had received your November end of month contribution yet: There it is the leader of the free world is taking time out of his busy day to think about me.  I wonder if it went something like this: Damn.  We still haven't hit our goal, a very ambitious goal, not a goal anybody else could hit but we can do it.  I was just thinking.  You know Peter Reilly that CPA who writes for forbes.com.   (Those guys never get my net worth right.  They admit I am quite wealthy, but their estimate is very, very low.)  Sad. With all those articles he has written about my Tax Reform bill, he must be having a really good month.  Has he sent in his donation yet?  I was expecting 3 bucks from him.  Has he sent it in yet? Can't make this shit up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Peter Reilly sent a few bucks in to every presidential candidate and a whole bunch to Bernie Sanders.  So it goes.

Hovindology Update

The latest news in the Hovindology/Hovindicator world is rumors of Kent Hovind's divorce from Mary Tocco.  My view is that Hovindologists should pretty much leave the issue alone. 

A bit of background for readers unfamiliar with Kent Hovind, which regulars can skip.



About Doctor Dino

Kent Hovind is an Independent Baptist minister.  A hyper literal reading of the King James version of the bible makes him a young earth creationist - i.e. the universe is roughly six thousand years old.  Kent believes that real science supports that view.  Among the implications of YEC is that people and dinosaurs must have coexisted. 

He created a kind of theme park in Pensacola to teach this doctrine.  He got into a lot of trouble with the IRS which is why I ended up following him starting over five years ago on forbes.com.  . The best summary I have written of that is probably The Trials of Kent Hovind - An American Tragedy.  I declared an end to Kent Hovind as a Forbes worthy tax story over two years ago.

The purpose of this blog - Your Tax Matter Partner - is to follow tax stories that I deem not Forbes worthy. As it happens I have not been able to put much time into other stories that are not Forbes worthy, which accounts for this blog being close to All Kent Hovind All The Time.

Why The Mary Tocco Marriage Divorce Should Be Of No Interest

I appreciate why King James Only former Hovindicators who believe that marriage after divorce is sinful,  (George Lujack for example) were apoplectic about the marriage and are now experiencing  schadenfreude, but the atheists, agnostics, more liberal Christians, etc.among the Hovindologists should consider the matter as evidence of Kent being a regular guy in some regards and not pay it any mind.

Here is my theory on why the purported divorce is altogether unremarkable.

Having spent a lot of time listening to Kent Hovind, I formed the following conclusion.  He strongly and sincerely believes that sexual intercourse outside of marriage is morally wrong.  It has only come up in passing but he has mentioned that self help in that regard is not, as Catholics teach, sinful, which does make things a little easier.

Also listening to him, I would say his interest in sex is probably somewhat above average, but within the range of normal for a heterosexual male.

By his account he was welcomed home by his wife by being told that he had a different bedroom than she did.  I took this as a euphemism for "no nookie". He then got into a heated public dispute with his wife and son about property and she initiated a divorce.

If Kent had more conventional contemporary views, the logical thing to do would have been to sign up with match.com or eharmony.com.  When asked by the algorithm generator whether he thought that sex was a normal part of dating he could answer yes.

Instead he fell in love with the most attractive woman in his conspiracy bubble and was strongly motivated to marry her quickly.  That he had not had sex in ten years was probably a big factor.

Mary Tocco seems like a strong independent woman who is probably not really a good long term match for Kent Hovind's patriarchal views.

The answer to the "Can this marriage be saved?" question in this case is pretty obvious.

Kent's Silence On The Matter

Kent's lack of comment on the matter is an indication of one his rare flashes of good sense. 

Perhaps he learned something from going so public with his family disputes. A divorce after a long separation is altogether unremarkable.  It is not just prison terms.  It is also a problem with military couples.  So he could have just said that it was a private matter if it ever came up instead of getting the Hovindicators stirred up.

A more cynical view might be that publicly attacking Mary Tocco is probably more fraught with peril than publicly attacking Jo Hovind, who would not fight back in the public square.

Something That Really Should Be Of Interest 

There has been a very valuable and fascinating addition to the ranks of the Hovindologists. Jacquelyn Weaver critiques things like the Sovereign Citizen movement from a Christian perspective. She recently wrote - Robert Baty, Retired IRS Appeals Officer And Christian Seeks To Break The Code Of Silence Protecting Kent Hovind's False Legal Narrative
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My first encounter with the tax protest/sovereign citizen world was over twenty years ago with someone I thought of as a friend who had drunk deeply of the Kool-Aid.  He ended up in a lot of trouble himself and the fallout harmed his family and also me to an extent. At the time I thought that it would make sense to reach out to evangelicals for help, since they seemed to have more than their share of this particular form of mishegas. I thought that the common ground of scriptural inerrancy would help.  No luck.

Jacquelyn Weaver embodies what I was looking for.  I have had a bit on an exchange with her.  She is roughly in my age bracket and Kent's.  She became a follower of Jesus when she was 9 or 10 attending a Presbyterian church, but she had to contend with a Unitarian father who tried to shake her of it.

I asked her her views on a few of the topics and here is some of what she shared with me.

Church Tax Issues

 After viewing the disgraces of many of those who have been afforded these great tax privileges, I would like to see all nonprofits, whether churches or corporations or any other legal entity done away with.  Perhaps at some time in the past, these tax benefits were of great help to those of little means who were doing good works which benefited our nation. But over time every con artist for miles around has coveted the benefit of appearing righteous by being a pastor or head of a charity, and gaining tax privileges not afforded the average citizen. I believe it is time to get rid of all 501(c) (3)’s and similar do-gooder tax shelters. Let those who are real charities show forth their true value.  Let churches show forth the light of God through their individual members, and not through their impressive buildings and showy productions on TV, videos, etc.

King James

..in my personal Bible study I only use a King James Authorized Version of the Bible.  However, I am not part of any group who is labeled KING JAMES ONLY.  While I probably walk in agreement in most respects with those who are associated with a KING JAMES ONLY position, the unfortunate reality is that almost all groups that promote a position end up having beliefs added on that do not reflect my thinking. This does not nullify their primary arguments; however it means that one always has to approach these issues with an impartiality that can objectively weigh the evidence presented.
Years ago I got into an “argument” with my father, who was an atheist/agnostic who also later became a Unitarian, about the multitude of Bible translations. His argument was that the Bible is from man and not God, otherwise why so many translations that contradicted each other.  Well, that is a fair question, even if I consider that his answer to his own question is tainted with prejudice.  My father always said that he was the Devil’s Advocate, and he was indeed quite a good one.  As a Christian, I think it only fair to seriously consider if another person’s viewpoint has any merits, and so I studied the Bible translation issue in depth.

... I began to study in earnest the Christian faith, and of course the questions arise, what church denomination, which Bible translation?  This was in the days before the internet and I was living in a small Texas town without many resources, so I began looking up note references found at the end of Christian books I saw, and I started writing the publishers, trying to get some answers.

 One day after proceeding in this search, I found the address for Dr. Peter S. Ruckman’s bookstore, and discovered that he had a wealth of knowledge on the manuscript evidence for the King James Bible, as well as the modern translations.  I spent two years doing my own collating of English translations, and came to the personal conclusion that God had preserved his word as described in Psalm 12,  in the English language through the King James Bible

Young Earth Creationism

I am a Creationist, but I do not believe in Young Earth Creationism because I believe it misreads Genesis 1:1-2, which declares In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
G. H. Pember has argued in his Earth’s Earliest Ages (1876) that the Hebrew words show that essentially God had created the heaven and the earth, and that subsequent to that there was some sort of ruin or destruction of the earth, which God then had to recreate in order to make this planet habitable for mankind and animals and plant life.  If you consider that the Bible are the words of God, and He created the material Universe as evidence of his handiwork, then it follows that what we see around us is a material record which we can examine as a secondary witness to the Scriptures.
Therefore in the debate between the Biblical record and the Evolutionary theories, there ought to be a scientifically verifiable way of approaching this material evidence.  The reason why these so called debates become so absurd is that it is difficult for the ordinary person to sift through all of the so-called proofs on either side in order to know if the evidence has been mishandled or falsified. That is the primary reason I do not engage in such debates, as first I would want to gain a personal acquaintance with such “evidence” and that takes a great deal of time and commitment if one is truly sincere.

The so called debaters of Creation/Evolution on both sides must share the responsibility for contributing to the inability of modern man to look at the Universe in wonder, and to desire to know what the real truth is behind our marvelous earth, the stars and the heavens, and to wonder why we are in a fallen state, in the first place. I stay away from such debates because they do not build up real knowledge, but rather bring us all down into some kind of ditch which is getting muddier each time these debaters open their mouths. It is a shame, because this is a fascinating aspect of life to contemplate.

Rudy Davis et. al.

I do not know much about Rudy Davis except he is from Texas,  is a plumber [Actually Rudy is a systems engineer recently laid off by Cisco PJR], likes to produce videos,   and is a supporter of Kent Hovind, the Bundy’s and other men with a proven lack of integrity.  I have lived in 6 locations in Texas from 1983-2011, beginning in Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Seguin, the Denton area, and ending in Lampasas. I now live in Mississippi.  This has afforded me the chance to visit many Texas/ Deep South churches of different denominations, and to discover what types of individuals are attracted to different congregations.
I am familiar with the type of man which Rudy Davis represents. If you find sincerity in Rudy Davis you are probably dealing with the side of him that has retained something of his individuality.  Yet if you look at his causes which he promotes, and the inherent skewed criminal type thinking and propaganda based orientation which is represented, you are looking at a brainwashed man. Looking at the bare facts of Kent Hovind would not lead the average person to believe that he is a noble cause. To me, Rudy Davis looks like a man who would like to stand out in his masculinity as someone who has noble ideals.
If the day ever comes, when genuine martial law and the Mark of the Beast become the major means of sorting persons out, then we will know the truth about Rudy Davis.  In fact we will know the truth of us all.  In the meantime, he seems to be an unrepentant upholder of the sanctity of Religious Con Artists, particularly those who have made their home in the IFB churches.

There is a lot of good sense there in my opinion.  It happens that I really like Rudy and think he is very sincere, while at the same time thinking much that he believes is preposterous.

And From Rudy

Given the dwindling ranks of Hovindicators, I thought it would be a good time to check in with Rudy.  I have not even been watching his videos of late.  He did one in September about his separation from Cisco, which you can find if you are interested.

I asked him if he still felt the same way about Kent and he responded.

There is no change in our view and support of Kent Hovind. Erin and I have been consumed with our small Christian prison ministry so we don't have the time or inclination to keep up with all the online drama that seems to follow Kent Hovind. In regards to any additional problems that he may be going through, he has our prayers and support.  I will also say that our involvement in advocating for Dr. Hovind's innocence as well as other political prisoners has been an eye-opening education on human nature for both Erin and I. 

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Peter J Reilly writes on taxes for forbes.com.

Billy The Brony On Hovind Hovindicators and Hovindologists

Lately Kent Hovind has been plagued by supporters leaving his fold.  Of those the one I find most intriguing is Billy Summers (Sorry Domineering Deborah. You get most colorful.).  Billy is a truck driver by profession.  His youtube channel Whatever With Billy mainly focuses on pop culture including quite a bit on My Little Pony

I had wrongly assumed that Billy was a YEC believer, but it turns out I was mistaken about that.  Billy gets the Hovindologist Most Like Rudy Davis award, but that is based only on his delivery style, his profession and his youtube channel. 

Recently on Facebook, Billy did a summary of his thoughts on Hovind, Hovindicators and Hovindologists which I found pretty interesting. He gave me permission to share it.  Here it is with some light editing.

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Well folks..... It's been two months since I made my last video on Kent Hovind.... And since Theo's documentary that he did on Kent I have been quiet for the most part.... Kinda just sitting back and watching and listening.

With all that said I am not your normal Christian. I live in a world full of common sense and rationality. Do I know how old the Earth is? No I don't...... But the better question is do I care how old the Earth is.... No I don't care about that either; that just like many other things is nothing but a minor doctrinal issue.... The Bible can be interpreted in many different ways.

But also keeping that in mind.... I mainly started listening to Kent Hovind so long ago.....well first reason I was a baby christian and didn't know any better.... And second he actually came across very personable and very likable and seemed to present things in a very unique manner.... I didn't ever listen to Kent because I necessarily agreed with everything he said but found his point of view interesting. And figured he was a brother in Christ...... I knew he believes some off-the-wall stuff such as chemtrails and fluoride in the water type stuff..... But I figured he was a brother in Christ and he was entitled to his opinion just like everybody else.

And now let's fast-forward a little more than 10 years and here we are.... So let's look at the characters in this soap opera that we call Kent's Kompound.

Kent Hovind

 I used to admire the man... But now I look back and wonder why.... He is nothing less than a complete nut job who believes every conspiracy out there and that most of them center around him. I've heard him more than one time on his broadcast say that there have seemed to be a lot more chemtrails happening since he's moved to Lenox, Alabama.

Theodore Valentine

I've actually talked to Theo a few different times.... He does seem to actually be genuine and what he says.... He also seems to believe conspiracy theories as well such as Illuminati and NWO.....And then there's also the other thing of him seemingly seeing the devil in literally everything.... I don't know about him but as a christian man I'd like to try and see Christ in anything and everything as much as possible as opposed to the other way around.

Billy Summers

The outsider looking in.... I saw something happening over there with Kent and the crew... And as an outsider I figured I would try to figure out what it was.... I didn't really expect to find a bunch of conspiracy nuts.

Deborah Henderson

What can we say about Domineering Deborah....... Except.......Wow!!! What a case!

Mary Tocco

Mary: Kent's "wife"......who seems to be a very nice independent woman(on the surface of course).... But then my wife felt something in her spirit telling her something wrong about her when she saw Mary at Walmart trying to convince somebody that vaccines are bad.

Kent's Followers 

 If you believe that the anti-Hovind people out there are "despicable".... Quotation marks there of course because that's what Kent's followers call people who disagree with Kent...... Kent's followers are rabid, vicious, and some of them are downright hateful.... And the second that you disagree with Kent they pounce.

Anti-Hovinds

Yes this group can be kind of obsessive at times when it comes to Kent..... But I really can't say nothing I've kind of jumped in there with them as well..... But the difference between them and Kent's followers.... Is that they seem to be rational and not so condemning.

And The Rest

There are plenty of other characters that can be talked about when it comes to the soap opera that is Kent's Kompound..... But after being silent for almost a month now on this topic..... I figured I would throw something out there and let everyone know what my thoughts are at the moment.
And when I first started typing this up I figured that this was going to be something quick and simple explaining that I'm pretty much taking the Hovind videos I did down.... And getting my channel back to what it was originally for.... Instead of being poisoned by that Hovind nonsense.... But instead I will leave them up for a couple more days(by chance anyone might need to download them for anything) and then just simply unlist them.... Until Hovind by some chance tries to call me out anytime soon videos.... But I'm sure that's not going to happen because the Chris Jones situation is something he seems to not want to touch with a ten-foot pole

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So if you want to have access to Billy's Kent Hovind videos in the future you need to do something to preserve them.  I'm a writer and I only do video with professional help. so don't count on me.

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Peter J. Reilly CPA has been following the Kent Hovind story since 2012.

Why Ken Ham's Ark Is In Kentucky Rather Than New South Wales

Recently some fellow Hovindologists encouraged me to look into a tax controversy concerning the Ark Encounter - Ken Ham's full size model of Noah's ark, which must have had a carrying capacity of hundreds of thousands of cubic cubits, but I am too weak at solid geometry to work it out.  

Why I took this as practically an assignment is a foreshadowing I fear of what my obituary would look like if I make it to the New York Times - Peter J. Reilly Leading Authority On The Tax Shenanigans of Youth Earth Creationists.  At any rate, the story was forbes worthy and kind of a nothing to see here folks type of thing.

As I was doing my research, though, an interesting comment popped up from someone I spoke to.  It was that Ken Ham is an Australian.  The speculation is that Ark Encounter is in Kentucky rather than New South Wales or the Northern Territory, because Australians have little patience for the mishegas of young earth creationism. I reached out to sometime Hovindologist Nathan Zamprogno. 

Nathan is a high school teacher, city councillor, director and actor in Hawkesbury in New South Wales.  New South Wales is my favorite part of Australia.  Not that I have ever been there or anything.  It is because of the song.

Nathan's response was so good that I am making it a guest post. The title above is mine.  Nathan's title is below.  Here you go.

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An Australian Apologizes For His Nations Contribution To American Idiocracy 


I find myself frequently apologising to American friends for inflicting Ken Ham on you. He's arguably our most disreputable export, despite the fact that your market for swivel-eyed loonies is already saturated with the likes of Kent Hovind and company.

You ask me if Ham saw more fertile soil for his fairy stories in America than in Australia, and I emphatically concur.

Young-Earth Creationism in Australia is far, far less prevalent than in the U.S. The figures I've sourced suggest a figure of up to 47% of Americans adhere to some form of Young Earth Creationism vs 23%* in Australia when questions phrased like "Do you believe that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old" are put.

How to explain this? To claim a fundamental difference in intelligence or the quality of our respective educational systems in our two great nations would be condescending. I'll leave it to others to unwrap the paradox of why the only nation in history capable of putting men on the moon also believes that the Flintstones is an accurate representation of human/dinosaur cohabitation.

However, as an antipodean, I can speak to the prevailing culture in Australia. I say that the milieu that gave rise to the Scopes trial, or the Kitzmiller trial, or the "Ark Park" is next to impossible in Australia. Our education system is centrally governed, in the sense that there are no local school boards.

Our most recent national Census reports that godlessness is continuing an inexorable rise that has been consistent for decades. 29.6% of Australians now report "no religion", nearly double the figure reported in the 2001 Census†.

No wonder that Ken Ham saw the greater opportunities that lay beyond his own shores, in the same way that a gambler is attracted to the winking lights of Vegas across the desert sands.

It is to be remembered, of course, that Ken Ham felt no filial piety to the organisation he left behind in Australia, formerly known as Creation Science Evangelism, and now as Creation Ministries International. Otherwise close kin to Ham's "Answers in Genesis", CMI was raped and left for dead by Ham when he stole CMI's magazine subscriber's list in 2007 (the magazine that CMI produced for AiG's American readers and a substantial source of income for the Australian operation), and substituted Ham's own in-house publication. Ham's recent ploy of recategorising his outfit as a non-for-profit ministry just so he can avoid paying tax is entirely consonant with Ham's consistently unethical, deceitful, mealy-mouthed modus-operandi. CMI, arguably the largest Creationist outfit in Australia, is a shell... a tiny office in the outer suburbs of Brisbane with speakers who are only welcome in fringe churches. I rarely see their material. I've worked in Christian Schools for nearly 20 years. No school I've ever worked at would stock their materials or publications, and all the Christian schools I've worked at specifically repudiate Young Earth Creationism in their foundational creeds.


There is simply no way an "Ark Park" would ever float in Australia. We would look at it with disbelief, and laugh and laugh, until the proponents simply slunk away in shame.

If I was invited to reflect on the differences of character between Australia and the United States, it would be to say that the Australian character is naturally irreligious as an extension of our national character as a bunch of larrakins, blessed with a refined skepticism, a healthy disdain for those professing an inflated sense of authority, a dry wit, resilience and gift for improvisation.

An Australian literary critic, historian and commentator Robert Hughes once stated "Any Australian political candidate who declared God was on his side would be laughed off the podium as an idiot or a wowser (prude, intrusive bluenose)." I don't think that statement could be said of your countrymen. Further, we've had any number of openly atheist Prime Ministers; five since the end of WW2.

 I'm also reminded of the words of one of our famous authors, Tim Winton.

Australia is such a resolutely irreligious culture.  Given our origins, the European origins of this country, it should be no surprise that Australians are pretty doubtful about men in uniform and authority and suspicious of the church.  In America you can rely on some common religious understandings, some spiritual givens, if you like.  Here the soil is pretty thin and bitter.  There is no religious life without the central necessity of imagination.  That historical Australian hostility to the imagination has wounded our culture, I think.  It's hard writing against that flow, particularly when it's joined and reinforced by the anesthesia of consumerism.

Whether the current American tendency to uncritically accept flim-flam men like Ham, Hovind or Trump is ingrained, or a temporary fever which will pass, is not for me to say, but I can say with the greatest of affection from your Australian brethren, that we are worried about America like never before, and despair almost as much as you at the parlous state of your polity, your civic discourse, and the credulity with which once risible ideas are given mainstream currency.

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Peter J Reilly CPA leading authority on creationist tax mishegas appreciates guest contributions which will help him in his goal to become the Tom Sawyer of blogging.

Impertinent Pete, Domineering Deborah And Kent's Kult Kompound

Domineering Deborah

There is a new breed of Kent Hovind critic emerging.  Unlike many Hovindologists, they are not at all disturbed by the notion that the world is only 6,000 years old and that humans and dinosaurs must have existed contemporaneously.

The Anonymous Webmaster

Most vocal and surprising is Theodore Valentine, who anonymously ran freekenthovind.com. Theo, as Kent used to fondly refer to him,has produced an hour and three quarter documentary warning believers about Kent Hovind

The My Little Pony Fan

The one who gets the style closest to Rudy Davis award is Billy Summer of Whatever with Billy

On the other hand I don't expect Rudy will be covering My Little Pony anytime soon.

I don't have a sense of Billy's views on science and theology, but given that he was drawn to Lenox, Alabama by Kent's videos and his issues with Kent are about Kent's behavior,  I'm assuming that he shares some at least some of the young earth creationist viewpoint.

The Theologian

Joshua Joscelyn is the smoothest of the bunch. He was one of the few people from Pensacola on the street during Kent Hovind's trials in 2015

 He takes Kent on theologically calling him a damnable heretic.

The most colorful of the new breed is Deborah Henderson. I really like Deborah.  And in order to explain that, I need to tell you a bit about myself.


What Being A Hard Core Blogger is Like

I spend a lot of time on-line.  I've got three blogs going and a lot of research goes into many of my pieces.  It gets frustrating because sometimes it is the things that I knock out quickly that get the most traffic, but as it happens I don't make my living blogging, which allows my work to have, at least in my mind, a lot of integrity.  Regardless, someone who placed a tracker on me might think that I am not very sociable, as I can go for days seeing no one other than my partner (both business and life).  I do, however have quite a few friends scattered here and there.

And then there are my "blogging buddies".  My tax blogging is mainly based on my reading of original source material, but I end up contacting a lot of different people and then there are comments on the blog that sometimes lead to other communications and various blogs and facebook sites that I end up following.

Good Friends And Friends That Are Good

Of course, Hovindology is a "blogging buddy" phenomenon.  The only Hovindologists or Hovindicators that I have met in person are Dee Holmes and Jonathan Schwartz.  And, as it happens, I recruited Jonathan who I had known for a long time.  I challenge you to find a better video summary of the Hovind controversy than Jonathan's Dr. Dino: Creationism, Conspiracy, Conceit - The Politics of Wrath.

This is a long introduction to a concept.  "Blogging buddies" are like meat space friends in this sense.  They fall into two categories.  Some of them are, as far as I can tell, very likable people.  I would be very puzzled if somebody had a strong dislike for Kelly Erb, The Tax Girl,  or Joe Kristan, who recently hung up his keyboard and rode off into the sunset of an upstream merger or the Reverend William Thornton, the SBC Plodder.

There are others, however, that much as I like them myself, I totally understand why others might not.  I'm choosing not to name any names.  The self-aware ones know who I mean.

Domineering Deborah

To make a long story short, Deborah Henderson falls in the latter category.  Domineering Deborah has managed a remarkable achievement.  She got kicked out of Kent Hovind's work camp or whatever you want to call it which motivated the launch of a youtube channel, which has been quiet for about a month.

That got her invited to Robert Baty's Kent Hovind's Worst Nightmare! facebook site.  Not long after, Bob made the following announcement.

After receiving feedback from one or more members here, I decided to give Deborah Henderson a rest and removed her from the group.

Truly remarkable - both houses wishing a plague on her.

I think the main problem the Hovindology community had with Deborah was her tendency to lash out when people did not understand what she was about and her practice of giving people handles.  Mary Tocco was the unlearned Jezebel, Billy Summers was Boohoo Billy, Dee Holmes was Deiceitful Dee and I was Pansy Peter.

In Her Own Words

Unlike most others, I sought to get a better understanding of what Deborah's point was.  Also I tested what was behind her tendency to give people handles.  I asked her if she couldn't think of something a little better than Pansy Peter.  She responded with Impertinent Pete, which I kind of like.  I dubbed her Domineering Deborah and she like that too.

DD seems to believe that her audience is not people like me who don't accept the King James Version of the Bible as God's revelation to the English speaking.  We are incapable of understanding her criticisms of Hovind which she frames as a warning to fellow believers.  I have learned to not attempt to restate her positions, since I will probably get them wrong and might end up being Poopyhead Pete.  So I had a bit of an email exchange to clarify where she stands on important issues.

Here is her response:

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KJB only in the English language, like Butthurt Baty would say...Affirm

YEC c. 6000.... Affirm

Vaccines.... BAD

Conspiracy Theories...GOOD

Income Tax IRS.... Don't care

Geocentricity..... Affirm

Flat Earth.... Hasn't tickled my fancy to investigate, as of yet...

Yankees vs Red Sox.... Conspiracy

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The Yankees/Red Sox thing was a little joke.  If you had lived in New England for a while, you would get it.  I really like her answer.

I also asked her to boil down her issues with Kent Hovind.  She gave me a bonus by also laying out her issues with the Hovindologists that she considers the Booho Buzzard crew.

Peter, you have arrived late in the game and I do not consider you to be part of the Boohoo Buzzard crew. These people initiated insults, name calling, false accusing, then when I hit back they get all offended. This does not seem to be your character. I haven't checked my email for a while and just got to this. Give me a minute and I will do my best to sum it up, I will say, this I have repeatedly stated to them swarm of buzzards, this is not about attacking the Kult Kompound Klan, it is about Biblically exposing a flase teacher, a wolf in sheeps clothing. I did not speak a word until Billy Dolls decided to attack me in a video for speaking truth, now he plays the innocent. 
I do not know where I ever gave the impression that I was hurt or angry at their decision to kick me off the property, I was having a time there, but once again I remind y'all, the 3rd night I was there, the first night after my Husband left, I texted him and clearly said "This is officially a Kult," Kult and his jezebel knew I knew. Once again these buzzards will cherry pick their lies and use their lies to attack those who call them out, such as believing the unlearned jezebels lies about me, but then discredit other lies they told. 
Here is an Open Letter I sent to Butthurt Baty and Them....
May 2, 2017 An Open Letter To Robert Baty And Them: Part 1 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Matthew 7:6 The hypocrisy of this group is exactly the babel I was hoping for, to gather the evidence needed to point out the insanity that you poses is equal to that of Kent Hovind. The main goal of climbing into a snake pit to conspire with snakes was to confirm all snakes are  of their father the devil, an enemy of Christianity, an enemy of the Gospel. Lowering myself to climb into this pit of snakes, has been of great concern by some of my fellow Christians due to God's warning.... 2 Timothy 2:16. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. God himself, whom through His infinite wisdom, has warned us to not do such things, Due to my experience in this world by being King James only and enduring the backlash of so-called Christians that attack me more then any other group, I have developed thick skin on matters of religion. God has blessed me with a wicked sense of humor and discernment to bring truth out to the open. With full support of my husband, I found it not only necessary but beneficial in my testimony exposing Kent Hovind for the false prophet he is, is to mock the mockers and expose the pure hatred for Christianity you and Hovind have in your hearts. Most of you people here are after Hovind for personal reasons for derailing your egos, you must, at any cost, including your own sanity, prove him wrong in his theology of the Young Earth to justify the misguidings you have been taught and indoctrinated into. The Bible is crystal clear on the earth being being c. 6000 years young, that is the one reason most followers of Hovind have blinders on and cannot discern truth of his deceitful ways. A quote from Hitler “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” My goal is to share my testimony and experience on his compound. To warn others of the ungodly ways of the happenings there. I am doing my Biblical duty to expose a false prophet. 1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called. One must honestly ask the question, which claim about reality is likely to produce a more harmonious world, if carried out faithfully to its logical end? The assertion "God created man in his own image," representing the Judeo-Christian tradition, or the manifesto by atheist/evolutionist Richard Dawkins, representing the ideological epitome of the atheist movement, "the universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but pointless indifference." 

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Other Comments

I asked my favorite Hovindicator, Rudy Davis, for his view on DD.

I don't really know her nor have I ever talked to her. All I heard was that she was living at Dinosaur Adventure Land for free and was asked to leave and got upset and now she is devoting a large portion of her life to helping Theodore's smear campaign against Dr. Hovind.  Other than that, I don't really have any further comment. When I asked Erin if she had anything to say regarding Deborah, she simply said "No Comment". 

Maybe after this post Erin will have something to say on DD's choice of accessorized armament.

 Ernie Land, Kent's consigliere and long time friend wrote me:

Very seriously, I only met her once for maybe 2 hours at a luncheon. That is where she took her photos of me. A volunteer, handicapped and on crutches, had ridden in the passenger seat of my car to the restaurant. This lady moved in front of him insisting she get a ride back and that ladies up front. She started on Kent’s wife calling her a jezebel and asking lots of questions. When we got back to the campus, I told Br. Kent we had a problem in her we were not equipped to handle. Days later I moved to the Board with a request from myself and another Board member to ask her to leave and yes, we graciously offered her bus fare. It was me who speed dialed our Sherriff once they notified me we had an issue. I did so from 80 miles away. It got ugly quick, but it was her rebellion that made it so. She insisted she was a resident, while having signed our terms saying she was not. She wanted hours to pack her 1 small bag of possessions. That’s it, so why is this so important in the scheme of things? It seems to me this is all about spreading lies and gossip on a Ministry that is winning souls and doing a Kingdom work.

Bob Baty wrote me:

Deborah Henderson and her husband Randolf remain mysteries to me.
They appeared, seemingly, out of nowhere with no visible means of support and traveling the country and getting their pictures taken with celebrity, fundamentalist Baptist preachers; while Deborah has accumulated 4,995 "friends" on her FaceBook page.
Deborah has been accused of having a rather "seedy" history, but has not been inclined to actually detail her life story in any meaningful way that might be corroborated to some extent.
Her husband Randolf plays the shy, silent type and, allegedly, was in prison for 20 years or so and, at times (once or more), was transported with Kent Hovind.  Neither Deborah or Randolf, to my knowledge, has made an effort to document that history and I have been unable to find any record of a "Randolf Henderson" with such a history; leading me to the conclusion that "Randolf Henderson" may be a contrived name of some sort to hide his past from scrutiny.
They have become bit players in the Hovind story, and the bit they have played has yet to be fully developed.  Deborah and Randolf, despite my entreaties, have not been inclined to fully explain their involvement in Conecuh County, AL with regard to their efforts, while supporting Kent Hovind, to engage in a seemingly well-orchestrated attack on local publisher of The Monthly View, Jim Allen.
Like others, I wait and watch for the Hovind story to further develop and what, if any, further involvement there might be from Deborah and Randolf Henderson.

Always Remember

I'm not sure what to make of all this and I've got work to do, so I am wrapping it up.  The most important thing that you should keep in mind in all this is that whatever your belief on a particular issue and however misguided you think people with a different belief are, if there should be a disaster in your community, there will be an outpouring of generous support from across this great country of ours.  A significant portion of that support will be from people who believe the opposite of what you believe on creation versus evolution or geocentrism or whatever.  And a significant number of people who agree with you will ignore your plight for a variety of reasons.  Always remember that and try to be kind.

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Peter J Reilly CPA has been following the Kent Hovind story since 2012 and much to his chagrin has lost money doing so.