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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (322818)	1/24/2007 8:55:19 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 1574091

It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then -- just to loosen up. Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker. I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time. That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's. I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't help myself. I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau, Muir, Confucius and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?" One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job." This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confess, "I've been thinking..." "I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!" "But Honey, surely it's not that serious." "It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college professors and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won't have any money!" "That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently. She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door. I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors. They didn't open. The library was closed. To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night. Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye, "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked. You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster. This is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting. I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed...easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking. I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me. Today I took the final step............I joined the Republican Party.

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (322818)	1/25/2007 2:50:27 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1574091

Ted, > I was saying we need more socialism so that people don't end up living on the street. Now you want socialism to clean up the bureaucratic mess that is King-Drew which took many years to develop. I think that's where our views go askew. Your focus is on providing basic services to every poor person out there, and you're willing to tolerate low quality of service, high taxes, and bloated bureaucracy to get there. Where did I say I am willing "to tolerate low quality service, high taxes and a bloated bureaucracy"? My focus is on maintaining freedom and providing enough opportunities for individuals to create their own success stories. Yes, that's the fictional Ayn Rand world that you occupy. Now let me welcome you to the real world......on your way to work tomorrow, take a detour through Santa Ana. Better yet, take a trip up to East LA this weekend.......its just a few miles up the 5. I promise you.....you won't see a lot of that opportunity about which you and Ayn fantasize. My tolerance for high taxes and government bureaucracy is lower because they greatly hinder those opportunities and create a greater dependency for said public services. And you know this how?