Ruben Zandstra

If I had bought BTC from 2009 on instead of some gold coin as I did back then ... I'd be on my own ancap island in the pacific by now

Thanks man, and well, it's a fun gamble anyway

I just bought a litecoin mining rig, paying with those 2 BTC that I bought over the last couple of months ... it's the wild west.

Nothing wrong with a hole in the frontyard ... if you prepared well as a parent you probably have a big yard. The example given is pretty insultive in my opinion. "Your child wants to dig a giant hole in the front yard", it wants to have ice cream for breakfast. Your child is an idiot, to be brief. We are not going to even ask what the reason for any of this is, we are not going to side with the kid on principle, deciding against certain things in some cases, explain and god forbid negotiate. We want to be left alone after the first "No". Your child is a moron, it is digging holes the way dogs do all the time, who cares. Just make it stop. Here's how.

I bought 2 BTC in the past few weeks, and was thinking of making a habit out of it. Right now I'm a bit hesitant to buy another one: I could buy a quarter one, but with these fluctuations going on I'm kind of hanging frozen over the realtime courses.

No, you are claiming that Stef should be more consistent in his comparisons. While being much more inconsistent with your own comparison. No need for me to go into the actual content of your critique after that.

I think this is kind of self-defeating? I mean, you are suggesting that Stef should compare Rob Ford to even worse candidates for the mobster position of mayor instead of doing what he does, which is "comparing apples to oranges" as you say, and then you compare Stef to .... Toronto's Now! magazine? That's not even in the same department I'd say.

Great topic, Kevin. I think fear of being pretentious is a type of self-attack. A pretty nasty one too, since it prevents people from reaching out to the world in a spontaneous manner. The interactions that are not taking place could result in more self-knowledge, personal strength, capabilities of logical thought, debating skill, great feedback etc. And for sure, from the inside, facing pretentiousness is really hard. Here's my current take on it, let me know what you think: If you worry about being pretentious, then to the degree that you are worrying, most likely you are not. At least not about the subject matter itself. Talking for myself, I think it's certain that I will always keep expecting the "you are being pretentious" - attack to come along from some angle when I talk of what is important to me. It probably influences my output, no matter how much I want to erase all traces of it. And I really want that, because it's like blood in the water. ( "Ahah, he's afraid of being pretentious, so let's just go and make him self-attack instead of coming up with anything tangible"). Without being absolutely sure of who I'm dealing with, all I can do is pretend not to be dealing with a bunch of sharks who might sniff me out. Which is pretence, a secondary kind of pretentiousness, since it is not related to any specific topic or argument. It is about the interaction itself. I'm getting confused while writing this down. That must be the pretentiousness kicking in again

That's a pretty awful letter Olle, I'm sorry this is what you are getting. Below is my interpretation of the different lines. I noticed how It's not a particularly coherent letter: it seems to be comprised of a set of loose stabs, meant to manipulate you into compliance from a lot of different angles. Like Kevin, I think that talking to a counselor/ therapist would be kind of essential while going through this kind of thing. Anyway, I hope this is of some help: I hope you read this letter before you throw it away. You are throwing me away. I just want to say that I miss you so damn much. I am upset but if I swallow the crying, I can push away the tears once more. I damn you for making me feel like this. But I can abuse myself into abusing you just a bit more. I do not believe I dare to start crying because I do not think I can stop before I break into pieces. I am so delicate, look how you are breaking me into pieces. Yesterday I read on the internet about your "idol" Stefan Molyneux. What I do not understand is how he could become so important to you. Much more important than we, who love you. You idol does not love you. Whatever it is that you credit him for, you owe us that credit. Sometimes when I am out walking with the dog and I person on a bicycle passes us, she looks up and wags her tail in the belief that it is you. I know you love the dog. Be assured that it is mine, and be assured that it is suffering like me. Do you remember when you were younger, maybe 6-7 years? You told me "mom, when someone is stupid against me at least you're always nice to me" I prefered you when you were six, and you would tell me how, being your Mom, I would be nice to you after having exposed you to people who weren't . I do not know how to reach you but I have attached an envelope, so write down what you feel and if there is something, I can do for you and mail me. Seeing that you lack the spine to get your own stamped envelopes, here's one. I'm not going to give you what you need, I never did, I will not do it now. But I sure will give you everything you need in order for you to give to ME what I need.

Still one of the best libertarian songs I know of: 16 Horsepower, Outlaw Song http://youtu.be/TkrXAexStys early one days morning i came upon a fine young horse i mounted up and led him onward he was gray as the sky above as the sky above i slept down by the river and what a sad dream i had i'm afraid my love it must be true today i will go and leave you today i will be gone i awoke and was surrounded nine of the law stood before me askin me my name and business demanding proof of me demanding proof of me proof of me what do you want from me would you have me your prisoner no but you must give us that horse you must give us that roan gray horse listen he aint for sale never for the law to ride if that should happen none would be safe even the birds even the birds would be afraid to fly so they ask again what was my name they ask again what was my name two were dead before they could move two were dead before they could move thats my name thats my name if you please thats my name thats my name if you please

I've been in EMDR therapy for a short while where the therapist used a headphone / clicking sound generating device on me while talking. The therapist sucked so I left, but I did sense something useful going on with the clicking sounds. So I haven't ruled out that EMDR might be very helpful. Perhaps Youtube / websearches could provide you with audio versions of EMDR. Hope you will post more on your findings!

No. Just don't burn the people that don't show up

What I was trying to get to is how the real torment and grief of Pi's experience is delivered to the reader in a very profound manner, by using imagination, parables, fairy tale recollections so obviously made up that it's obviously exquisitely humorous, evasive, beautiful and prudent in a way. But on the other hand it's utterly ghastly and mind-destroying when we imagine from our end what must have been really going on. There's a major difference between the imaginative force of let's say Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings kind of stuff. (Nothing wrong with any of that btw). The difference being that these books are more or less wonderful but meaningless trains of imagined spectacles, with a central theme usually coming down to an everlasting "good vs bad", no strings attached kind of thing. There is no good vs bad in "Life of Pi". There's just a whole bunch of strings attached to insane events, that turn out to be parables for events too horrible to be properly put into words. And as such he actually puts his experience into words. So no, I personally don't prefer imagination per sé. Not if it's just mind-candy, or meant to subjugate / cover up and misinform. The bible doesn't end with a matter of fact admittance that, "well it's all a bunch of lies of course, and here's why:.."

That's one of my favourite books actually! I've probably lent it to someone I shouldn't have ... I can't find my copy right now. It's been quite a while since I read it. And I absolutely loved it. I'm not sure I agree with the essence of it as you put it here, and of course it's hard to objectify anyway since it's a work of literature. But I would point out that all along, Martell's character knows perfectly well that he is telling a tale, not recounting facts. He knows what has actually happened to him on the voyage: he watched his mother get assaulted, killed, I can't remember the details, but if I remember well he matter of factly presents the facts to the japanese insurance guys at the end. I don't get the impression that Martell is an apologist for religious bigotry at all, the main character is being so religious that it's a hilarious insult to each religion, what the priests and rabbi's keep on telling him more or less ( if I remember well) . They're all making complete fools of themselves, in a delicious way. And the tragedy of Pi's life and voyage is very effectively communicated to the reader when at the end of the book he punctures his own odyssey-like tale and recounts the facts. Which would you prefer? To me it is about the origins of imagination, and as such It had a profound impact on me.

I have a similar approach as Wesley. I've bought the occasional game online after having played it mostly through already, and I'll buy some music every once in a while. With movies though, not so much, even if I would like to on principle. It's mostly because it is just too much work compared to free downloading. The movie industry will simply have to provide me with a service that is less intrusive, and more respectful of my time in order for me to give up the free downloads. I've tried netflix the first day it became available in the Netherlands, and was quite disappointed by what they offer. It would be absolutely great if they had the same amount of content that is available in newsgroups, and I would be willing to pay a decent fee for that.

So, at least for some part, seeking therapy would be about how to deal with the lack of intimacy in your life. Your other ambition: retreating at home and write for a living, what is most appealing to you about this idea?

Hi Marius, I've been in therapy in NL for a couple of times over the years. I would advice you to try and find a therapist outside of RIAGG / municipal / government services. Your family physician will probably refer you to a local RIAGG department. Instead of going with that, ask for a referral after you've made up your mind about who you actually want to go and see. You could have a look here for alternatives: http://www.nvvp.nl/ I hope it works out for you, and it's nice to hear from a local. I'm in the region of Zwolle.

Dayna Martin has plagiarised. Therefore she is not an expert consultant. This is some pretty bad logic.

Culain, that's a horrible story man. All my sympathies. What is it that you would hope to get out of therapy?

Why did you choose to end your 8-year job at this precise moment?

Coincidence! Our youngest daughter ( 4,5) has been taking to her own room the last couple of nights. She's been sleeping in a crib at the foot of our bed up until now, usually sneaking in with us in the early morning. I miss her a little bit, which is all useful preparation for the big goodbye when she eventually leaves the house I guess. We've had no major privacy problems: secret rendez-vous' in the guest room.

I can relate to the self-abuse over parenting issues. I've pretty much stopped reading articles like this, maybe because of what I essentially perceive as to be some pretty bad-vibes all around. It's just a thought, but my tendency to self-attack was there before I had any children. Now that I have children, it's going to be about my parenting for sure. It's real origins probably don't have a lot to do with them. The best books on parenting I've read are PET by Gordon, and Unconditional Parenting by Kohn. Beyond that, if I feel like beating myself up it is either because I am not acting on my principles and need to change behaviour and apologise, or it's because I am confusing my children with someone else and need to do self-work.

I don't stay engaged all day, and yes we have a lot of parallel activities where I keep an eye on them in an age appropriate way. When we're not playing I pretty much just live my life as a housedad, which includes a lot of play for sure, but my life is not limited to them exclusively. I might be doing the household ( where they'll often join or have their gameplay around where I'm busy) , I could be playing some banjo or guitar, I might be cooking a meal, bake a pie ( they'll be helping for sure), I could be mowing the lawn ( where one of them will often want to ride along), be working in the vegetable garden, we could be out for groceries, I might have a break and lie on the couch reading a book, I might be repairing or building something in or around the house, etc etc. All of which will have to be paused every couple of minutes or so in order to check in on them. I trie to plan ahead, so that things that need to be done without kids around can be done when they're off to school or my wife is around.

Hi Nigel, That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. So, if you ask yourself "how will your sister survive without you?", I wonder if that is really a question that originates from within you? Out of a genuine interest that is? It is evident that your sister benefits from you asking yourself whether she will survive. It is also evident how your father demanded you to feel responsible for her survival. But it is not so evident why you should give shit what these people demand from you. They have been blackmailing and threatening you by appealing to virtues that they do not possess themselves.

If he wants to play outside the limits we remind him this is not in line with what we've agreed upon. If it's a big thing for him ( a new exciting game or whatever) then we're OK with some exceptions. Throughout the years we've had a number of re-negotiations, and if he's fundamentally unhappy with a certain rule we can talk about it.