Posted 8:03 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

May you live in interesting times

On this last day of 2005, I am not making that statement to you. Some might recall Robert Kennedy, in a speech, calling that an ancient Chinese curse. Other research indicates that it may rather be Scottish in origin. Stephen DeLong has spent a lot of time trying to find the source.

There seems to be little doubt that it is intended as a curse. "Interesting times" indicates what is happening around us, uncaused by us, beyond our individual control, and affecting our lives. It reflects a common desire that life around us should settle down and leave creating interest to each of us individually.

I'm sorry to say that we are living in interesting times. The news of every day holds surprises that will force an effect on our individual lives, requiring each of us to make small decisions and modifications in response. The war in Iraq, or against terror (whatever... choose a name and an excuse) is one of those "interesting times" abominations. It affects each of us, whether we like it or not. It eats up media space that obliterates good news about what might make our lives easier, or more fun. It depresses each of us to realize that, far away, many Americans and many more Iraqis are being killed in a war that never should have been. That war is taking gross sums of money, from each of us, that could have otherwise been spent creating rather than destroying. That's NOT what I want of my "times".

The war on smokers, also justified by lies, is another part of "interesting times". It is affecting hundreds of thousands of people in ways they didn't ask for and would not choose. Led by people who simply enjoy inflicting their will on others, backed by corporate sponsors, and fueled by greedy legislators, it has made life "most interesting" for those of us who smoke.

The scandalous hammer of "eminent domain" hangs over our heads in an "interesting" manner too. It has taught us that even our personal "castles" are not safe if someone else wants our property and can "outbid" us for it. Our best hope has become that we might be able to prevent it if we spend enough time and money fighting it, and a great many lives have been changed by having to do that... effort and money that, again, could have been spent creating rather than defending what is ours.

Notice a common source for all these "interesting" occurances? Sure... they all originate with government. Virtually every action governmental officials take makes our times more interesting, and it IS a curse. Every law, every ordinance, every regulation will have an adverse, complicating effect on many people who don't even know about it until they run into it like a brick wall, bounce off, and try to modify their individual lives to accomodate it.

Life can be fun, and exciting, and most interesting in an individual way. I can tell you from long experience that it used to be more so, and that each year our lives are more and more constricted by government. Each year we lose more control over our individual lives by having to accomodate ourselves to what others have forced upon us. There's the key word again... FORCE. That is what distinguishes government. Government = Force. When force is used against us, we lose control, and we lose more of our ability to make life good for ourselves. Yes, we are damned good at making life exciting, but we are fighting a losing battle against forceful government.

At the very best, we are wasting a lot of time and money on the battle, and patting ourselves on the back when we occasionally "win", meaning we didn't lose as much as we might have. We write off what we spent, and wait for the next defensive battle, not even realizing how we've changed our lives just to be prepared to protect ourselves.

We've become so beat down and used to being pushed around by government (supposedly our servants) that we're not even surprised at a new outrage being thrown at us. We've come to expect them. We may find a way to work around them, or put up with them, but we're gradually losing our incentive to try to prevent or change them.

My hope for all of us in 2006 would then be that we should live in boring times. Wouldn't it be great to read in the newspaper each day that government (at whatever level) did nothing? That they decided that nothing more was required... that we had no more madates to concern ourselves with, and that we could return to working only on our own personal lives? Sweet!

May you live in boring times.

Posted 7:29 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

A face from the past

This afternoon, while working at the Museum of Russian Art, an older man came in with an elderly woman. As we've all experienced at times, I instantly recognized the man's face. Try as I did, I could not come up with his name. I knew that he was related to the civil rights movement decades ago, and probably to politics. I suppose I would have found his name eventually, but instead I told him, apologetically, that I should know his name but didn't. He said "Bond... Julian, and I'm here with my mother-in-law, who used to attend church here".

Some of you will be too young to remember Julian Bond, but when I was a young man he was part of national news often. My clearest memory was that Bond was unusually attractive... one of those people so good-looking that, to be fair to the rest of us, he shouldn't be too bright. But... Bond was bright, and had charisma. I remember hearing him speak and thinking that he could go anywhere he wanted.

When I returned home, I refreshed my memory using the Internet. There was so much of Bond that I had forgotten. I won't repeat it all here, but he has had a remarkable career. Currently, Bond is Chairman of the NAACP, and their website has a photo and his bio. Reaquaint yourself with one of the leaders of the civil rights movement.

Posted 2:28 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

How government turns a gift into a pain

When my mother got too old to drive, she gave me her car, a 1990 Ford Tempo. In fact, the car was originally purchased slightly used and given to Mom by my uncle. When I got the Tempo, I gave away the car I had been driving... an '87 Chrysler New Yorker that had been given to me by my daughter. It had been given to her by her stepfather, who had inherited it from his father.

That's a whole lot of giving. In every case, the cars had monetary value, but were just given to someone else.

Today, I went to transfer the auto insurance from my mother to myself. It was necessary to transfer title to me first. I had not been able to find the car title in Mom's papers, even though she saved all the old repair orders, copies of license renewals, muffler guarantee, and all the original manuals. Worse, it was titled in Iowa, where she lived. After our conversation, the insurance agent phoned the Dept. of Motor Vehicles, who said they would need to see a certificate of death and a copy of the will naming me as beneficiary. My mother did leave a will, which not only named me as sole beneficiary, but as executor. (I had power of attorney for several years, and had been paying Mom's bills , but all that ends at death).

I took the documents to the DMV office (my all-time least favorite place to visit), but, in person, was told that I would have to do the title change through Iowa. A wasted trip, but they gave me the phone number to call in Iowa.

At home again, I phoned that number, and it rang, and rang, and rang. I tried again, with the same results, letting it ring so long that some recorded voice came on the line and nicely pointed out that my party was not answering, so I should try again later.

Resourceful as I am, I got on the Internet, looked up the Iowa Dept. of Transportation, found a different number, and called it... and got a person. I explained the situation, the clerk looked up the Title number on their computer system, found that it was titled in Johnson County, Iowa, and told me I would have to deal with them, and gave me their number. (no, these are not toll-free numbers)

I phoned the Johnson County DMV, went through the explanation again, and they pulled up the computer info again. Yep, they could transfer the title, but... they would need a form completed and submitted along with the other documentation. So, they're mailing the form to me.

A couple of hours, a couple of long-distance calls, and a trip to the DMV, and now I can wait. ONLY a government mess can create such results. The whole idea of Title being "granted" and controlled by the state is something we may take for granted now, but why? I don't have a title to anything else I own... not to appliances, computers, furniture, etc... why a car? When you buy a car, you receive proof of purchase, but somehow the state has forced us into registering that item with them, and they make us pay for it over and over and over.

Aside from the titling mess, we put up with mandated auto insurance, required driver licensing, and annual plate renewals. Part of our taxes go to paying for the absurd facilities and personnel needed to support all of these mandates. When it comes to our autos, the state has us by the short hairs.

There is nobody else claiming ownership of this Ford Tempo. It has a blue book value of only about $700, which means there aren't even many people who would take it if I abandoned it. I've spent more on the car in the past year than it's worth, yet I'm having to spend more and work just to "own" it, so I can pay more for required insurance.

Who do all these laws effect the most? Poor folks... those who buy/sell or give away cheap cars. These ridiculous laws drive up the hassle and expense of doing everything. I have at times rebelled, going for years without complying... expired drivers license, expired tabs, and no insurance. I gotta tell you... it's tempting to do it again... to skip the insurance and just drive the beater without title.

Posted 10:58 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

Winning is fun, losing sucks

I've been complaining about losing at poker, with terrible cards. Thursday night was the worst ever. For example, in a short period of time, I lost with Aces in the hole, Kings in the hole, and Jacks in the hole... in each case losing to hole-card hands that should have been tossed, if it wasn't play money and if the players were a little less ditzy.

Finally, last night, I got decent cards... not good, just decent, but I can play with them and proved it, taking my 1,000 and leaving with over 5,000. That takes a lot of nursing of hands and careful play.

Tonight, I took that 5,000 and blossomed it into 17,500 in about half an hour, driving 4 players out. I had good cards... good enough to call the stupid bets many people make. There are always one or two jerks who believe they can bluff with nothing.

A couple of new features on SMITH.MN:
1. A tribute to Woody Strode
2. A tribute to the NBA "Little Giants"