493 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
493 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
Thinking Magazine (TM) Issue #4 01-19-92
|
|
Copyright 1991 by Marc Perkel - All Rights Reserved
|
|
|
|
Editor Marc Perkel
|
|
Computer Tyme
|
|
411 North Sherman, Suite 300
|
|
Springfield MO. 65802
|
|
|
|
417-866-1222 voice
|
|
417-866-0135 fax
|
|
417-866-1665 bbs
|
|
76505,1120 CIS
|
|
|
|
Thinking Magazine is a Trademark of Marc Perkel
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thinking Magazine is a BBS distributed publication. Any BBS may carry
|
|
this magazine under the following conditions:
|
|
|
|
1) That it be published in unaltered complete form. No corrections,
|
|
additions or deletions.
|
|
|
|
2) No fee is charged to access it over your regular access charges.
|
|
|
|
3) That unless I personally upload it to your system that I be
|
|
granted a no charge access account on your system upon request.
|
|
|
|
4) That it be published electronically and not in any other form
|
|
unless you have my written permission.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contacting US:
|
|
|
|
If you write me a letter, I reserve the right to publish it unless you
|
|
specifically ask that it not be published. If you don't want it
|
|
published you better say so.
|
|
|
|
|
|
About Donations:
|
|
|
|
If you want to send me money feel free to do so. I am not a tax exempt
|
|
organization. Any money I receive is considered a gift and will be
|
|
reported on my taxes as such. Although at this point I'm not looking at
|
|
this as a major source of income, I have a 14 year old daughter
|
|
(princess type) who wants to go shopping.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why Thinking Magazine?
|
|
|
|
Thinking magazine is a collection of my ideas and views of reality as I
|
|
see it. I am totally frustrated with the general stupidity of society
|
|
and as a way of relieving my frustrations I have decided to publish my
|
|
views. My views are not always correct, but I do guarantee them to be
|
|
well thought out and interesting. My purpose is to provide you, the
|
|
reader, with information that will stimulate you intellectually whether
|
|
or not you agree with me.
|
|
|
|
This publication is dedicated to those readers who are thinkers. That is
|
|
why I have decided to distribute this electronically. The minimum IQ
|
|
test here is that you have a computer and a modem and you are a sharp
|
|
enough user to download a file and read it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....
|
|
|
|
I'd like to start out by thanking the sysops on Compuserve Issues forum
|
|
for announcing issue #1 of Thinking Magazine in their "News Flash". I
|
|
really appreciate that. I hope interest in Thinking Magazine grows on
|
|
Compuserve so that it can get it's own subject line in the Issues Forum.
|
|
(And maybe I can get free access. Hint, Hint ....)
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEWS FLASH ***** GEORGE BUSH VOMITS *****
|
|
|
|
Isn't it interesting what makes the top story of the day. Several
|
|
networks cut into programming life to cover the big news. A very
|
|
dramatic seen where Bush duck under the table to get rid of his dinner
|
|
as a flock of secret servicemen swam around him. I'm surprised there
|
|
wasn't a camera under the table.
|
|
|
|
So why is it so interesting that George tossed his cookies? Is he the
|
|
first president that ever threw up? I doubt it. The thing that makes it
|
|
such a big story is Dan Quayle, mister heart beat away, who would be the
|
|
one to walk right into the job.
|
|
|
|
Reality never ceases to amaze me. The president of the United States,
|
|
the most powerful person on the planet, the man with his finger on The
|
|
Button, at any moment could be Dan Quayle! A man who's IQ is lower than
|
|
his body temperate! What is wrong with this picture.
|
|
|
|
Imagine this! A spaceship orbits our planet. Aliens from an advanced
|
|
civilization from millions of light years away beam down to Earth to
|
|
make first contact with humanity. They say, "Take us to your leader!" So
|
|
we escort them to the White House to meet Dan Quayle? I tell you what.
|
|
If that happened I would be so totally embarrassed. Wouldn't you? Do you
|
|
realize how poorly that would reflect on us as a species?
|
|
|
|
|
|
WHAT BUSH ACCOMPLISHED IN JAPAN ...
|
|
|
|
George Bush made some accomplishments on his recent trip to Japan. One
|
|
of which was to point out why the Japanese don't buy American made cars.
|
|
I didn't know that none of the big 3 made cars with the steering wheel
|
|
on the left side. I had assumed that they did. I look at that and I have
|
|
no sympathy for Detroit whatsoever. I for one am rather bored hearing
|
|
the American car industry wine for protectionism. Bush is for free trade
|
|
and the elimination of artificial barriers and whether or not he
|
|
intended to, he really made the American car industry look as stupid as
|
|
they are.
|
|
|
|
We've all seen a lot of "Buy American" adds on TV lately and heard a lot
|
|
about the issue of protecting American jobs. The thing that they are
|
|
telling us to do, in effect, is to buy an American made product even if
|
|
the Japanese product is better and cheaper. And this is supposed to be
|
|
good for America to do this.
|
|
|
|
But they are wrong. If you buy an inferior product that is made in
|
|
America you are hurting America instead of helping. You are subsidizing
|
|
American industry to continue to produce low quality products instead of
|
|
quality highly competitive products. Our industry need to either shape
|
|
up or close down. If we subsidize our industries then our industries
|
|
will continue to weaken while our competitors will be spurred to produce
|
|
even better products. That's how we got in the shape we're in now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
SO WHAT'S HAPPENED IN AMERICA?
|
|
|
|
To answer this I want to first pose the question, "What is America?". We
|
|
can point to America on the map and say, "It's right there!". But where
|
|
is it really doesn't say what it is. "Well, it's a country!". OK, but
|
|
there are lots of countries. What makes America special?
|
|
|
|
Americans believe that we are the number one country on the planet. The
|
|
best country that ever was. We believe that if Christ came back to Earth
|
|
that he would want to be an American. Why do we believe this? Are we
|
|
still number one? And how is it that we determine this?
|
|
|
|
I think that if I were to define the single aspect of what identifies
|
|
America and Americans as special, it would have to be our culture or
|
|
dream of what an American is supposed to be. It's our Constitution, our
|
|
philosophy of Freedom, Justice, Fairness, Generosity, and Honesty.
|
|
Americans are the good guys. We where the white hat. We defend the poor,
|
|
the weak, and the helpless. We defend the defenseless. We feed the
|
|
hungry. We clothe the naked. (Unless you have cable TV)
|
|
|
|
An American is strong, trustworthy, hard working, honest, friendly,
|
|
resourceful, intelligent. We are a proud people. A true American would
|
|
never be unemployed. We're to smart and resourceful for that. We'd find
|
|
another job. We'd start our own business. Americans are too proud to
|
|
accept a government handout. We'd never live off welfare when we could
|
|
work. We would never elect crooked leaders to our government. We would
|
|
never produce poor quality items in our factories. Americans don't do
|
|
drugs. We don't steal from our neighbors. We don't file phony insurance
|
|
claims.
|
|
|
|
Of course nobody is perfect but I'm trying to make a point here. The
|
|
point is that there is a gap between the dream and the reality. There
|
|
always has been, but the gap is widening. I think the gap has widened so
|
|
far that the dream is being forgotten.
|
|
|
|
When Bush went to Japan he became a Wimp again. He went over there to
|
|
whine and beg for America. I would have found that to be humiliating.
|
|
The reason America is whining is because the spirit of America is
|
|
fading. We have become fat, lazy whiners. We are no longer willing to do
|
|
good work. We hate our employers. We want the government to support us.
|
|
We don't want to think anymore. We have no pride, no sense of honor, and
|
|
no respect for anything.
|
|
|
|
Over time the spirit of America has eroded. The America that our
|
|
forefather founded two hundred years ago no longer exists. We have
|
|
allowed the American dream to be stolen from us. We have allowed it to
|
|
be perverted into the society we have today. And it's our fault and it
|
|
is only ourselves who are going to correct it.
|
|
|
|
And by ourselves I mean ourselves. People like you and me. I don't mean
|
|
"the government" because the government is part of the problem and not
|
|
part of the solution. We the People are going to have to take back
|
|
America and recapture the American dream. We must first see ourselves as
|
|
true Americans and start doing things that true Americans are supposed
|
|
to do. American are heroes. This will take a heroic effort. In the
|
|
process of taking back America we will need to earn the title. And we
|
|
either will succeed, or we will take our place in the history books
|
|
along with the Roman Empire to be studied by future societies.
|
|
|
|
"OK Marc, you've made some interesting points here. But what can I do?"
|
|
I'm glad you asked that question because revolution begins at home. If
|
|
we are going to recover America we must first become Americans
|
|
ourselves. How can America be America if it isn't filled with Americans?
|
|
Each one of us individually must make a personal commitment to live the
|
|
dream. To think like an American and live the life that Americans are
|
|
supposed to live.
|
|
|
|
If we are to become Americans we need to start doing the things that
|
|
Americans are supposed to do. We need to identify ourselves as smart
|
|
resourceful people who can take care of ourselves. People who can pull
|
|
our own weight and then some. We need to do things like:
|
|
|
|
1) If you are unemployed. Get a job. There are plenty of jobs out there
|
|
for people who want to work. If you say "But I can't find a job.", I
|
|
say BullShit. If you really can't find a job then create you own. If
|
|
you really decide you want to be an American, you'll figure out how.
|
|
|
|
2) If you are living off the government then pull your own weight.
|
|
Charity is for the needy and the crippled.
|
|
|
|
3) Learn how to be a good productive employee. Do quality work. Love
|
|
your boss. Create the type of work environment that is like the
|
|
Japanese where you and your employer are on the same team and you
|
|
are working together so that you both can continue to eat.
|
|
|
|
4) There is no US and THEM. We are all US. We all live in the US
|
|
|
|
5) Live and understand the concepts of personal integrity. Do unto
|
|
other as you would have others do unto you. Don't cheat, don't
|
|
steal, and don't tell too many lies. Be fair, honest, trustworthy.
|
|
|
|
OK these 5 suggestions should give you the idea. Obviously this is the
|
|
short list and we could go on and on. So OK, lets say a lot of you do
|
|
this and you becomes good upstanding American taxpayers. Is this going
|
|
to cure America? I doubt it. But it is the first step.
|
|
|
|
"So what's the next step?", you ask. The next step is to spread it. Once
|
|
you become an American then make sure the people around you behave like
|
|
Americans to. This is an issue of who's in control. Are they going to
|
|
bring the standard down, or are you going to bring the standard up? And
|
|
if you decide that you are going to bring the standard up, then how are
|
|
you going to become the dominate influence?
|
|
|
|
The answer is simpler than you think. It all comes down to one magic
|
|
word. This word is a timeless word that has been passed down through
|
|
eons of time. It's the word that has started every revolution know to
|
|
man. The most powerful word in the English language, and what the hell
|
|
could it possibly be? The magic word is NO!
|
|
|
|
I can't stress enough how powerful the word No is and learning the art
|
|
of how to say it. No is the word that created America. That is when we
|
|
said no to England. If I were to describe the most important freedom we
|
|
have in America in one sentence, I would say that we in America have the
|
|
right to say No.
|
|
|
|
"So what's this big deal about saying No?", you might ask. "That's Nancy
|
|
Reagan's idea. Just say No.". But I ask you, can you say no under
|
|
pressure? Can you say no when everyone else wants you to say yes? Can
|
|
you say no when you are right and everyone else is wrong and it will
|
|
cost you if you say no?
|
|
|
|
One of the problems in America especially in government is the idea
|
|
that, "You have to go along to get along." What I'm telling you is no
|
|
you don't! If it's bullshit then you need to say, "This is BullShit!"
|
|
You might want to word it more tactfully and say something like, "I just
|
|
bought a new pair of boots and I don't want to ruin them." But, America
|
|
is going down the tubes and America will continue to go down the tubes
|
|
unless America learns to say no to those who are ripping this country
|
|
off.
|
|
|
|
In order to learn to say no effectively you need to assess you ability
|
|
to assess reality and your ability to face the consequences of saying
|
|
no. I have observed that when a person is faced with a situation where
|
|
he knows what is right and wrong, but is not prepared to face the
|
|
consequences of saying no, that he will lie to himself rather than view
|
|
himself as a coward. I've been in situations where I'm right on the
|
|
verge of realizing something and say to myself, "If I realize what I
|
|
think I'm about to realize it's going to cost me .....". And if I'm not
|
|
prepared to pay the price, then I probably won't have the realization.
|
|
|
|
Let me give you an example. A Jehovah's Witness comes to your door with
|
|
a stack of Watch Towers in his hand. He want's to convince you things
|
|
like giving up Christmas is important. That it's a sin to get a blood
|
|
transfusion. That only 144,000 people are going to heaven. So you're
|
|
there listing to this babble wondering how any person in their right
|
|
mind can believe this garbage. So you start arguing with the guy and you
|
|
quickly realize that no matter how logical you are or how convincing you
|
|
are that you are not going to change his mind.
|
|
|
|
You see, the Jehovah's Witness has his personal identity tied to this
|
|
religious culture. His circle of friends are in it and he is dependent
|
|
on this for his emotional well being. If he were to become convinced
|
|
that you are right, then he would have to drop out, lose his friends,
|
|
and redefine his identity. If this person isn't prepared to do this then
|
|
they are not going to be convinced. Their mind will block this out and
|
|
it will stay blocked out until he is ready to tell the Jehovah's
|
|
Witnesses no.
|
|
|
|
Not it is easy for us on the outside to look at this. But perhaps there
|
|
is a Jehovah's Witness inside us where we are taking a position on an
|
|
issue that is just plain wrong but we aren't prepared to accept the
|
|
reality of what it would take to say no. If the Witness can fool himself
|
|
then how are we to know that we are not like him. If we were then we
|
|
would be fooling ourselves and not know it.
|
|
|
|
It's like a joke I heard on Saturday Night Live where they were talking
|
|
about UFOs. They said, "The thing about UFOs is that as soon as you see
|
|
one, they shoot you with a Ray Gun that makes you forget you saw it. So
|
|
if you never saw a UFO, it's probably because you are seeing them all
|
|
the time!"
|
|
|
|
This joke is not as far fetched as you might think. Not that I believe
|
|
in UFO with Ray Guns, but can you remember a time in your life where you
|
|
went along with or got involved in something that you not look back at
|
|
and realize it was dumb? Where you changed you mind on some basic issue
|
|
that you believed in because you had an emotional investment in?
|
|
|
|
If you can't think of anything then I think it is more likely that you
|
|
are under a lot of illusions as compared to someone who has come up with
|
|
several examples. Lets look at some situations here and see if we are
|
|
under such illusions:
|
|
|
|
1) If you smoke, why do you smoke? Some people might just say, "I can't
|
|
quit. I have tried but I am addicted and I just do not yet have to
|
|
will to succeed." Other might simply say, "I like to smoke. I don't
|
|
want to quit. My grandfather is 150 years old and has been smoking
|
|
ever since he fought the Civil War and it hasn't hurt him. Everyone
|
|
has to die of something you know."
|
|
|
|
2) On your job you become aware that another employee is stealing from
|
|
the company. What do you do? Do you squeal on them? After all,
|
|
company profits are down and you haven't seen a raise in a long
|
|
time. On the other hand, you have to go along to get along. Everyone
|
|
else knows what's going on. Are you prepared to say no? That's what
|
|
is hurting America.
|
|
|
|
So, catch my drift here? But todays culture has not taught you how to
|
|
say no. You've never done it before. You want to do "the right thing"
|
|
but you don't want to make waves. You're looking at change and putting
|
|
out the effort to learn a new skill and a difficult skill to learn. And
|
|
it's going to cost you to learn this and it's not going to be easy. But
|
|
America is going down and you are a patriot and you want to be part of
|
|
the solution rather than part of the problem. And you are going to make
|
|
the sacrifice for your country and learn to say no.
|
|
|
|
In order to say No you have to start thinking No. Take a piece of paper
|
|
and write the work No about 100 times:
|
|
|
|
No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!
|
|
No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!
|
|
No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!
|
|
No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!
|
|
|
|
I cheated. I used the copy block command in my editor. But don't do what
|
|
I do, do what I say. The next step is to verbalize the word No. Look in
|
|
the Mirror and tell yourself NO! Try not to wake up the rest of the
|
|
family. You might want to practice with a friend. Go out in the back
|
|
yard and yell NO at each other for a while. Pose questions to each other
|
|
where the answer is NO.
|
|
|
|
You can practice with your kids too. You say, "Pretend I'm a stranger,
|
|
'Want a piece of candy little girl?'". The children respond "NO!".
|
|
"Let's smoke a cigarette, want one?" NO! "Can I play with you dad's
|
|
gun?" NO! Great family fun and educational. And you're teaching them how
|
|
to say No.
|
|
|
|
The next step is to start saying no to little things that you normally
|
|
say yes to but wish you had said no. Everybody has pushy types around
|
|
that seem to con you into doing things you really don't want to do. A
|
|
relative is over at your house and says, "Mind if I smoke?" You say,
|
|
"Yes I do. I do not allow smoking in my air space." (In this case Yes
|
|
means "No you can't smoke." so saying yes is really saying no.)
|
|
|
|
Now you are becoming an American. Americans are courageous and stand up
|
|
for what they believe in. You regain more control of your life and not
|
|
only improve yourself but those around you. And you make America
|
|
stronger so that we can go out and kick some Japanese butt out in the
|
|
free market.
|
|
|
|
The next step is to start voting No. There is too much government and
|
|
you aren't going to get them to cut spending by giving them more money.
|
|
When the government wants to increase you taxes vote No. On you tax form
|
|
when they ask you if you want $1 to got to finance the presidential
|
|
election, just say no.
|
|
|
|
If you are in court (and not the defendant) and the bailiff says,
|
|
"Please rise.", don't rise. Just sit there. The judicial system in this
|
|
country is corrupt and not rising is a way of saying no to judicial
|
|
corruption.
|
|
|
|
Here's another example and it's a true story. I had to send some demo
|
|
software to someone in New York. I used Federal Express and sent it
|
|
Priority Mail so that it would be delivered before 10:30 the next
|
|
morning. The New York airport was fogged in and the delivery was one day
|
|
late. But, Federal Express still charged me the full price of $30.
|
|
|
|
I considered this a mistake. It could be argued that I should have
|
|
gotten the delivery for free since I had specified priority shipment.
|
|
But I wanted to be fair and found that the normal 2 day delivery rate
|
|
was $14.95. So I called them up and pointed this out. They said that it
|
|
was an excusable event and they were going to charge me the full rate.
|
|
|
|
I acknowledged that it was excusable that it wasn't delivered on time
|
|
but that it took 2 days to deliver and I should only have to pay for the
|
|
service that I actually received. They opened up their policy manual and
|
|
quoted that on page whatever that it says that I have to pay full rate.
|
|
|
|
So I said, "Maybe you aren't hearing me. I am not calling you to discuss
|
|
what your policy is, I am calling to inform you that I will not be
|
|
paying the extra $15.50 on this bill." Having gotten nowhere I sent in a
|
|
check marked "Paid in Full" for $14.95 with the following letter:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Angry Customer Department
|
|
Federal Express Corporation
|
|
P.O. Box 1140 Dept. A
|
|
Memphis Tn. 38101-1140
|
|
|
|
December 18, 1991
|
|
|
|
We got you invoice 4-507-42340 and we refuse to pay the amount shown.
|
|
The package was sent next day priority and arrived one day late.
|
|
|
|
It is our position that if we get two day service that we should pay
|
|
for two day service instead of one day service. Enclosed is that
|
|
amount that we would have been charged at the 2 day service rate.
|
|
|
|
I can't believe that you have the nerve to charge us for next day
|
|
service on this.
|
|
|
|
I am extremely angry about this charge. I can accept the reason why
|
|
is wasn't delivered on time, but I can't accept paying for next day
|
|
delivery when it wasn't delivered on the next day.
|
|
|
|
Now we can continue to argue about the amount, but I'll guarantee you
|
|
one thing. I'll spend more than the difference on your 800 number
|
|
arguing with you about it.
|
|
|
|
I've decided to move all my overnight business to UPS. The next time
|
|
"it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight", I'll be using
|
|
the "tightest ship in the shipping business" to get it there.
|
|
|
|
Sincerely,
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marc Perkel
|
|
|
|
|
|
Now here is a good example in the art of saying no. Federal Express has
|
|
dropped the charge. Was it worth it? I think so because it was helping
|
|
America stay strong. Suppose some Chinese express company comes to
|
|
America to compete with Federal Express. Do you think they would have
|
|
charged me full rate? Not on your life! They want my business! They
|
|
would have said "No Charge, No Charge" and I would have been impressed.
|
|
|
|
This is but one example of why we are losing the trade war. Federal
|
|
Express has a dumb policy and they make their customers angry. You'd
|
|
think they were the post office or something. So when I see American car
|
|
companies whining about competition I am not moved. They had built junk
|
|
for many years and now they have to pay the price. American cars are
|
|
still inferior and I for one am not going to buy one.
|
|
|
|
|
|
VICKI WRITES A POEM ...
|
|
|
|
A few years back my wife Vicki wrote a poem after taking our cats to get
|
|
neutered and me teasing her about cutting the cats balls off.
|
|
|
|
|
|
To Be "Neutered" Or Not to be "Neutered"
|
|
- that is the question.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our Kittens loved to romp and play
|
|
among the Daffodils;
|
|
But now they've grown and love to chase
|
|
the felines on the hill.
|
|
|
|
Instinct churns and the Tomcat learns
|
|
of the joy of love's fruition -
|
|
But the enrapturing bliss of a feline's hiss
|
|
demands a high tuition!!
|
|
|
|
"To roam, to roam," the young Tom moans,
|
|
"my home's the streets and alleys."
|
|
"But to be laid to rest in a trash can's breast
|
|
is more than I can savvy!"
|
|
|
|
So to all you Toms who have been struck
|
|
by love in the back of a pickup truck -
|
|
In all your travels have you unraveled
|
|
the consequence of your _____! (Rhymes with "luck.")
|
|
|
|
And to all you Toms who loathe the hunger and thirst,
|
|
have a talk with your vet about becoming the first -
|
|
Cat, that is, who bought a first class act;
|
|
Went from "he" to an "it" and then got fat!
|
|
|
|
'Cause Tom Cats like you, needn't run helter skelter,
|
|
you need love too -- but won't get it in the shelter!
|
|
Becoming an "it" can mean good times for you!
|
|
A warm loving home and warm milk too!
|
|
|
|
By: Vicki Perkel
|
|
Dedicated to "Snowy"
|
|
The IT Beast
|
|
|