Posted 12:29 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

To my "World of Bob Smiths", I added Robert Smith, the champion professional bowler. Even though he is usually called Robert, his nickname is "Maximum Bob"... because he throws (considerably) harder than any other bowler.

Posted 10:03 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

Added a home page section about the United Pro Smokers newsletter, which is becoming a great source of news, not just about smoking but about personal liberty in general. I also added a new Bob Smith... the young professional bowler who is the hardest-throwing bowler in PBA history.

Posted 11:04 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

One more media celeb sees the light! Be sure to check the Wall Street Journal article about libertarians.

Posted 7:51 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

Got your duct tape and plastic sheeting ready? I'm in a serious quandry. I don't have any plastic sheeting. Is it safe to go outside to get some?

Have you wondered whether all the government buildings in Washington DC are taping up their windows? I think not. I've heard that all those building have already been hermetically sealed... seems that the environmentalists decided that the hot air from them would have a massive effect on global warming.

Our Bureaucrats are taking other measures as well. Not surprisingly, they're taking personal safety measures they don't want we po' folk to take. They are letting us pay for them though, so we shouldn't feel completely left out.

Our Senators, OTOH, seem to have taken a more fatalistic view, and decided that they will at least die healthy and comfy. They've built themselves a handy new SPA. No jealousy, now... again, they're letting us participate by paying for it.

Posted 10:47 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

Hawk? Dove? As is usually true with political labels, the hawk/dove labels are divisive and incomplete. They have a tendency to force people into one of two extreme positions. Even without the extremist positions, there is still honest debate about the most effective strategy for a nation to use in dealing with other nations. Should the U.S. wait quietly, defensively, thinking that an attack might come? Should the U.S. preemptively attack another nation we think might attack us?

The libertarian ideology takes a clear position of not initiating force. Defensive force, even retaliatory force is justified. Nevertheless, there are still situations in which that position isn't sufficiently clear for some. We hear analogies about a neighbor having a cannon aimed at your house... a potential threat that justifies taking preemptive action.

Surprisingly, there is a game strategy that demonstrates success, even optimum success, in such situations. Tit for Tat is that strategy. It's an interesting story, and the strategy is remarkable as the most successful strategy, of many, in multiple scenarios over an indeterminate number of repetitions... in other words... in unpredictable situations.

Posted 8:43 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

Despite knowing that what I'm about to say is politically INcorrect to the extreme, I've held it to myself long enough.

I'm sick to death hearing about hearing that we must honor those "brave people" who protect us... specifically those in law enforcement, firefighting, and the military. I'm sick to death of hearing that "they put their lives on the line for us". I'm sick of the public pomp trotted out when one happens to be killed while doing their job.

The simple facts are that each cop, highway patrolman, fireman, or military person is in that job voluntarily, and they knew what they were volunteering for. Some would respond that they are making a great sacrifice... deliberately putting themselves in jeapordy to help society, and that by so doing, they deserve great respect and honor.

My response to that is "BULLSHIT".

What most people don't realize is that those jobs are NOT high risk. Certainly, an occasional cop or firefighter or soldier loses their life, but the simple fact is that FARMERS, ELECTRICIANS, AND CONSTRUCTION WORKERS are all more likely to be killed on the job, and some other occupations, like fisherman, are several TIMES as likely to result in death. Our military is now so overpoweringly superior to all others that the greatest danger to a soldier is from "friendly fire". Our police have adopted equipment and tactics that put the PUBLIC at risk rather than them.

Do we praise and honor those other occupations with pomp? Do we hold massive funeral ceremonies when one of them is killed? Do we build monuments to them? On the contrary, their deaths are not even likely to make the news.

Please note that those whose deaths we publicly mourn are all government workers, and all part of a "cadre" of similar workers. They're organized. Note also that there is no alternative for the work they do... no other "cops" we can call on those rare occasions when we need one... no other fire department to call in an emergency, and no alternative military. We are DEPENDENT on them... they hold a monopoly position... a GOVERNMENT position. Maybe it's the uniforms? Are we so germanic in our respect for authority figures that we can't even keep a reasonable perspective?

I really don't know how it came to be this way, but here it is, and it's absurd.

Posted 6:59 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

boBlog BLURT: Cut state aid to local government? Shocking!
Local governments are complaining that they will have to cut important services because of a loss of state funds. Read about the poor librarian griping that her $40,000 salary will be cut. Read about the "Community Development" director whose position may be eliminated or cut back. Similar sad tales will come from each local government.

What ONE thing do all these sad tales have in common?

In each case, they identify a local service that the local community cannot, or will not, willingly foot the bill for. It isn't that the service is of no value to the local community, but it's clear that the local community doesn't think it's valuable enough to pay for. They're useful, maybe even valuable, services if someone ELSE will pay for them. Truth is,it's likely that nobody has even tried to provide the services on a volunteer basis... why should they when state funding was available?

Why in hell should some local program in Olivia, or Richfield, or Sartell, or ANYWHERE, be supported by every citizen in Minnesota? Do those locals even comprehend that THEY'RE supporting similar programs in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, and Edina? Do they feel even a little guilt for being supported by taxpayers who will never even SEE their services? Does it bother them that they're spending sums of money that would be windfalls to many taxpayers?

Let that $40,000 librarian face off against the thousands of Minnesotans who can't even find work, thanks to a depressed economy caused by such gross spending by our state government.

As someone who works for several organizations that have NO public funding... that provide service with only volunteer labor and contributions, I have zero sympathy for all these governmental gripers. It's no trick to provide a service of some value if you don't have to be concerned about funding! Any nitwit can do that.

If it's a good service, there should be local people willing to contribute and volunteer to make it happen.

If it isn't worth that, it shouldn't exist.

Posted 7:09 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

boBlog BLURT: Just what planet does Congress live on?
In the middle of a recession, with ordinary taxpayers struggling to stay financially solvent, our federal officials are claiming to be showing restraint in their spending. YOU TELL ME... IS THIS RESTRAINT?

- INCREASES SPENDING over last year for the departments of Agriculture, Justice, Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Treasury, and for the EPA and National Science Foundation,

- INCREASES PAY by 4.1% for federal civilian employees, and the military, back to Jan. 1.,

- INCREASES the budget for National Institutes of Health by $3.8 Billion,

- INCREASES Congress' own budget by $100 million,

- SPENDS $150,000 for Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to set up new office as the Senate's president pro temp emeritus,

- $1.45 billion for feeding hungry (other) countries,

- $118.5 million for National Endowment for the Arts, $3 million over last year,

- $50,000 more for research on shiitake mushrooms,

- $45,000 for a Korean War memorial in Athens, Ala,

- $400,000 to help the Nevada Wildlife Division return displaced wildlife to their natural habitats.

- $500 million MORE to NASA, plus $50 million to investigate the Columbia disaster,

- $90,000 to create a bilingual audio tour for the cowgirl museum in Fort Worth...

and BILLIONS MORE for thousands of local projects similar to that.

That isn't restraint, it's tossing our money around like it was nothing... it's political vote-buying from the thousands of organizations that lobby Congress, and it's tearing this nation apart!

While you and I and our neighbors have to live on what we can honestly earn, our "elected representatives" spend our tax money like it grew on trees? If we showed "restraint" like that, we would find ourselves in PRISON.

Please... tell me why you continue to let them get away with that? Why do you keep on voting for politicians that SQUANDER your earnings?

IF you want it to stop, we MUST find a way to elect people who WANT to stop it... who WANT you to keep and spend your earnings... NOT more of the liars who SAY they will and then vote budgets like this one. We MUST break the socialistic stranglehold the Democrats and Republicans have on our elections, and replace them with Libertarians.

In order for that to even BEGIN to happen, each of us must work and contribute to help Libertarian organizations. Those VOLUNTEER groups CANNOT do it without the help of a lot more people. Your alternative is to sit back and watch our nation wither and crash. When that DOES happen, don't THEN come crying to Libertarians for help.