Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

From the recent Penn Jillette AMA on reddit:

"I'm very very careful with my time. I try to do nothing that someone else could do. So, I write, I perform and I spend time with my family."

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1opzae/penn_jillette_h...

This doesn't answer the dichotomy of work vs. family, but puts it in a different context. What is the most effective way to spend your time?

The president's daughter scrapes her knee, but there's also a school shooting? I think Obama's gonna be giving a speech, and Michelle's on neosporin duty.

(West Wing spoiler alert 2003) The president's daughter is kidnapped? Well, I hope John Goodman is available, it's about to get Season 4 cliffhanger in here. Someone else can be president. Right now it's not the most effective use of Martin Sheen's time.




When the Twin Towers fell, President Bush finished reading the book he was reading to a classroom of kids.

The West Wing President Bartlett stepped down because it would be a national security threat to have the President subject to ransom demands.


I don't particularly think it's important how Bush spent 7 minutes in response to an unprecedented situation. If he spent the next 7 months (or even 7 hours) going on a book reading tour, well... 9/11 was a confusing day. I was actually in a classroom at that exact same time, a mile uptown from the WTC. The professor got a whisper about the first plane, and then another about the second. I recall we broke class after the second. It's an easy target to criticize Bush, because it's a comical situation, but it has no real substance.

I agree in the West Wing situation, there is a national security concern. But why? Shouldn't this "great" man be able to use his power justly for the greater good, and not let things get personal? No, he understands he wouldn't be able to resist that temptation. Relinquishing his power is showing that his family is more important to him.


>When the Twin Towers fell, President Bush finished reading the book he was reading to a classroom of kids.

Which is one of the few things I respect him for, and I never understood why he got so much hate for it.


I don't know. I think it's more of a panic response than the right response.

Imagine this: "Kids, as President of the United States, I'm responsible for a lot of things. I just got a call that I have to take care of. I'm sorry. But I promise I'll come back and finish reading this book to you some other time."




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: