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J-William

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Posts posted by J-William

  1. I found this very disturbing

    Not quite sure what you would have found disturbing about it. If you're doing something that doesn't accomplish your stated goal and you keep doing it, then you must be accomplishing some goal other than the stated goal.

     

    In Israels' case they say they want peace and security. They frequently bombard and kill Palestinians to teach them a lesson, or something. So then what are they accomplishing? Bloodshed, suffering and destruction and the inculcation of hate in another generation of Arabs. Their current actions will ensure that the conflict will not end. The troubles in Northern Ireland lasted twenty years after Britain stopped heavy handed tactics to teach the Irish a "lesson".

     

    The IDF knows where civilians are located. Especially if they're in hospitals, mosques or UN shelters. If they wanted to not kill civilians they could. They are not interested in peace and harmony, but punishment and murder.

     

    Also... hey if someone swings a chainsaw around in a crowded room they can claim all day that they were going after some murderer or something, but that has no relevance to the people they kill and maim. 

     

    Ergo the human shield line is propaganda.

     

     

    Gaza conflict: Israel rejects John Kerry ceasefire

    Israel's security cabinet has rejected a Gaza ceasefire proposal put forward by US Secretary of State John Kerry, officials say.

    Mr Kerry has been pushing for a halt to 18 days of fighting between Israel and Islamist group Hamas.

    An Israeli official told Reuters that the cabinet wanted changes to the agreement before ending the offensive.

     

    oops, looks like Israel rejected a temporary peace deal. I guess that means Hamas will now be justified in killing several hundred Israeli civilians.

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  2. I would appreciate some hypotheses.

     

    Here is a map of the world by IQ:

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/IQ_by_Country.png

     

    It seems that generally the further away you are from the equator, the smarter you are. My hypothesis is:

     

    1. You need a high IQ to survive colder areas. You need to be able to foresee the future and plan for the winter. People with low IQs are not good at planning for the future. Surviving the winter, growing food and getting water in the winter forces you to work hard which stimulates brain activity allowing most to achieve a higher IQ.

     

    What do you think?

    It could be that it has a lot to do with industrialization.

     

    that at least would explain South Korea, japan, taiwan, and China... and then in Europe certainly Germany, Italy and the UK are more industrialized than much of the rest of Europe.

     

    Industrialization would explain being further from the equator, and at the same time the east asian countries that aren't far from the equator.

     

    The fact that map looks alot like a map of economic prosperity as well as education... seems unsurprising, but which came first the IQ or the prosperity and education? I don't know.

  3. What language do you use for Andriod (?) development,..., did you use a gaming library?

    I'm using Gamemaker Studio. It's made for 2D games, and simplifies much of the process of making games. It's also not limited to android, so I can make the game and release it for almost any platform out there.

     

    I really like it. It's simple enough that a kid can make a game, but powerful enough that many successful games have been made on it.

  4. Wow, check out this poll: link Younger american, non-whites, are less likely to support Israel.. also more educated people and people who watch more news are more likely to support Israels' actions. aka propaganda works!

     

    I think it's worth having a look at some comments from NYT readers. Even if the main stream media is unfailing in its loyalty to Israel, the average americans are starting to get it. 

     

     

    MM

     Danville, CA 9 hours ago

    Enough Israel, enough. As a father of 2 small kids, seeing these pictures is beyond heartbreaking. This is not going to win you any hearts or minds. You are fast losing the respect of the entire international community whatever is left of it. Yes you have a right to self defense but your actions are leading to indiscriminate killing and maiming of 100's of innocent children - and that is beyond the pale. You simply cannot claim a moral high ground now. What have you unleashed? Do you have any sense of humanity left? And please do not equate your actions to the thuggishness of Hamas and their tunnels and rockets that have caused far, far less damage than the lasting damage you are causing to an entire population of innocent children. Please, at least for the sake of children stop this madness and figure out a way to more effective self defense.

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    NYT Pick Chris  Canada 9 hours ago

    These children don't know the difference between Palestinian and Jew. This conflict is not their fault, yet, they are the ones paying the price.

    This is horrifying. I am disgusted.

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    NYT Pick viola  boston 9 hours ago

    How much blood on Netanyahu's hands is necessary before he feels that it is enough!? How many children must die before he is satisfied? Yes Hamas has brought it on to themselves but enough is enough! What Israel is accomplishing now is to create the next generation of terrorists fueled by the hatred that he is creating anew. This will solve nothing. It only proves that Israel has more weapons and is willing to use them. More tunnels will be built. An ultimately impotent strategy!

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    Midwest Guy  Milwaukee, WI 9 hours ago

    I think it's time for war crimes to be charged against Israel.

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    NYT Pick amaBern  Brooklyn, NY 8 hours ago

    It pains me to say this, but I'm grateful my father, grandparents, great-grandparents and other relatives - Jews who fought tirelessly for social justice, peace and helping those less fortunate than themselves - are not alive to see this. I feel ashamed.

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    nilesh  balitmore, md 9 hours ago

    To see so many children suffering is painful. Not only is Israel responsible but the US is as well as we have supplied so many of the arms. I'm so tired of hearing that Hamas is responsible. The people that pull the triggers or push the buttons to drop these bombs are responsible. Enough.

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    ESH  NY 9 hours ago

    Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD. Since ISR alleges that Hamas puts "human shields" schools and mosques -- and weapons -- doesn't mean the 800 pound gorilla should crush out innocent Palestinian civilians like gnats. 

    Hamas/PA/Gazans/WB Palestinians will never win the "hot" war -- but ISR will never win the PR struggle. The fundamental cause of the problem is Israel's continuing occupation and subjugation of Palestinians/Gazans. 

    How can Israel -- of all countries -- pursue a policy that subjugates the population of Gaza in what amounts to an open-air prison. 

    Where were the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto supposed to go? 

    Where are Gazans supposed to go now?

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    David  Colorado 9 hours ago

    It's time for America to end our blind support for Israel.
    It's time for America to end the billions in U.S. aid to Israel.

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    jim  arizona 9 hours ago

    From what I understand Israel is a member of the UN, and the only member nation that actively occupies foreign lands. Israel continues to eat away at Palestine's lands, consuming more and more all the time. They build settlements in Palestine, and when Palestine protests, and brings up arms against Israel, throwing stones and lobbing low-tech missiles, the western media labels that "terrorism", instead of "war", in an attempt to reduce those actions to something less than human. This is the way poor people fight wars, and the only way this poor nation can afford to fight. I am tired of how here in the U.S. we are not allowed to question Israel in any way, as any non pro-Israel speak is somehow defined as "anti semitic". It is time we have an open, honest, and objective debate about the Israel/Palestine conflict here in America.

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    Lee  Atlanta, GA 9 hours ago

    Shame on the Israeli government. We expect better from a state filled with so many gifted and wonderful people. And shame on the US for enabling this nonsense.

    As bad as Hamas's leadership is, and make no mistake it is horrible, collective punishment of the residents of Gaza only strengthens the position of Hamas. That much is clear to anyone who has been following this tragedy over the last decade. It's time for a new strategy.

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    brooklynforchange  New York City 9 hours ago

    This is absolutely horrific, and I have no words to express my feelings.

    However hard pro-Israeli voices and organizations and corporations want to justify the genocide under Netanyahu and his brutality government, it's absolutely clear to the rest of the world that they're committing war crimes. 
    ...
    But what Netanyahu and his government have been doing deserves a war crimes tribunal -- the Nuremberg way.

    Janice

     Southwest Virginia 9 hours ago

    Why is the United States still in bed with Israel? Why is our tax money going to make carnage of this sort possible?

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    We need to separate ourselves, finally. We've been in league with bullies before, and it did not turn out well.

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    Ben  Chomsky 9 hours ago

    This is OUR doing. We equipped the monster that has been unleashed on a defenseless people. Netanyahu should be prosecuted for war crimes.

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    Ben  Chomsky 9 hours ago

    Israelis living in "perpetual threat" is no excuse to kill women and kids. This is a crude and cruel justification for Israel's war crimes... even for an Israeli apologizer.

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    Alex  Canada 9 hours ago

    This is outrageous. Civilans are being slaughtered and the western media and their masters offer nothing of substance to the public. Compare the reporting on the Ukrainian crisis with what is going on in Gaza. Where is the outrage and condemnation. The hypocrisy is appalling and little wonder that the Russians ignore western moralizing.

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    Richard Huber  New York City 9 hours ago

    It's worse than that; not only are we supplying them the arms but we are doing it free of charge! Our "foreign aid" to Israel totals over $3 billion per annum, most of it spent on US produced arms.

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    Anonymous  CT 9 hours ago

    Would you have the same response if it were your kid's school that was attacked? I think not. 

    There is NO excuse for bombing schools and places of safe refuge for people that have nothing to do with this endless tit for tat conflict among irresponsible parties

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    John S  new york, NY 9 hours ago

    Israel tries to absolve the responsibility for their crimes by stating they warn Palestinians to flee. But when they do they still get bombed-this time in schools. It does not seem that Israel is taking any strong measures to discriminate their targets. To them every Palestinians is a target, even children. This is a campaign of ethnic cleansing. And Israel claims they have the " right to defend themselves ". This is called defending?

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    The conscience of a Mexican phd student  Monterrey 9 hours ago

    The opinion outside de US is broadly against Israel and the slow genocide it is perpetrating in Gaza, after analysing the evidence, and without a lobby group in Mexico that is telling us lies, this is clearly a genocide, no decent human being can say otherwise

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    Sara  New York 9 hours ago

    How can you refer to this mass slaughter of innocents as "proportionate"? Israel has to own these deaths and stop blaming everything on Hamas. Every day this is becoming more of a tragedy. John Kerry was right when he questioned these "pinpoint" attacks. Israel should be held accountable for this huge number of civilian deaths. Proportionate? I don't think so.

  5. You're in the FreedomainRadio board, saying something isn't true unless it gets near universal support. Genius!

    Yeah, guess what? I'm also on the FDR board arguing against traumatizing and murdering children. So I feel pretty good about that.

     

    Even Lefty places that like HuffPo that usually stand behind Obama and Israel are getting in on being against murdering children. 

      America's Israeli JihadistsAmerican foreign fighters are at it again in the Middle East.

    Most recently, they're wearing the uniform of the Israeli state, willing participants in the onslaught of Gaza's population. American volunteers have contributed to thedeaths of at least 633 Palestinian civilians since the recent conflict began. Of the 30 Israelis killed, it has emerged that at least two had dual US citizenship

     

     

     

    AIPAC Is the Only Explanation for America's Morally Bankrupt Israel Policy

    The official name for Israel's latest assault on Gaza is "Operation Protective Edge." A better name would be "Operation Déjà Vu." As it has on several prior occasions, Israel is using weapons provided by U.S. taxpayers to bombard the captive and impoverished Palestinians in Gaza, where the death toll now exceeds 500. As usual, the U.S. government is siding with Israel, even though most American leaders understand Israel instigated the latest round of violence, is not acting with restraint, and that its actions make Washington look callous and hypocritical in the eyes of most of the world.

    J-William,

     

    Here you are again, on the FreedomainRadio board, talking about "World Opinion", and not talking about principles.

    Do you see the problem?

    I never saw Stef having a problem with world opinion being against slavery, even if it wasn't terribly philosophical.

     

    So, being opposed to harming children would be something that most Israelis could stand to learn a thing or two about... unfortunately that's to "controversial". 

     

     

     

    Israeli agency bans radio clip naming children killed in Gaza Calling material 'politically controversial,' Israel Broadcasting Authority refuses to run item by B’Tselem human rights group.

    The Israel Broadcasting Authority banned a radio broadcast made by the human rights organization B’Tselem about children killed in Gaza, claiming its content was “politically controversial.”

    On Wednesday the IBA again censored the clip, after considering B’Tselem’s appeal against the decision.

    The clip, submitted a few days ago, says children have been killed in the fighting in Gaza and mentions a few of their names. The IBA said it was politically controversial and it does not allow clips of a political character.

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  6.  

     

    Israel, not Hamas, turns Palestinians into ‘human shields’

    Speaking this morning as Israeli forces continue a new ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu described the IDF as “a moral army like no other”. He added: “those responsible for the damage to uninvolved civilians are the Hamas, and Hamas alone, who use civilians as human shields.”

    It is a familiar refrain. But in fact, it is the Israeli military itself that turns Palestinians into ‘human shields’, and strips them of their protected status under international law.

    In the aftermath of ‘Operation Cast Lead’, Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article on the legal advice given to the country’s armed forces by the international law division (ILD) of the Military Advocate General’s Office.

    Addressing the subject of IDF-issued warnings to Gaza residents, including the so-called ‘knock on the roof’ tactic seen in ‘Operation Protective Edge’, a senior ILD figure made the following, disturbing admission.

    The people who go into a house despite a warning do not have to be taken into account in terms of injury to civilians, because they are voluntary human shields. From the legal point of view, I do not have to show consideration for them. In the case of people who return to their home in order to protect it, they are taking part in the fighting.

    In other words, the Israeli military strips Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip of their protected status under international law, labelling them ‘voluntary human shields’. In the same article, an ILD official justified targeting Gaza’s “entire governmental infrastructure”.

    As Israel deliberately targets family homes, and the death toll rises, this is an important additional insight into the tactics being used by the Israeli army in its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. It is also further evidence of war crimes.

    World opinion continues to shift away from supporting Israel.

     

    Seems that only government willing to shield Israel from a UN human rights commission inquiry is the old faithful lapdog the US.

    Even Europe is to ashamed to help Israel.post-8886-0-38028300-1406231681_thumb.jpg

  7. Ok, so you universalized the statement that "self defense" doesnt exist for a state,..., so when Poland fought back nazi invasion/ USSR invasion.. that wasnt selfdefense...or in defense of its citizens.

    Err... Poland didn't do a lot of fighting. but yeah, self defense doesn't exist for a state because rights don't exist, and states doubly so. Besides you can tell when something the state does is self defense because they get near universal support. Take for instance the German siege of St. Petersburg in WWII, almost every person in that city supported the fight against the germans. 

     

    Before I embark on the dubious task of responding to mreyallior, I want to present to readers some context about the current conflict in Gaza thus far.

     

    Since Israeli bombs started falling on Gaza roughly 15 days ago

    695 Palestinians have been killed

    of these, at least 155 children have been killed

    87 militia members have died

    4,550 Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli bombings. Palestinian hospitals are at capacity. They are out of supplies

    In addition, Israel's shelling is even targeting a hospital

     

    On the Israeli side, 34 Israelis lie dead, 178 wounded

    32 of the dead and 150 of the wounded are soldiers

    2 of the dead and 28 of the wounded are civilians

     

    From a raw percentages standpoint, 88% of the people Israel kills are civilians, 22% are children

    Of the people Palestinians have killed, 6% are civilians, 94% are invading soldiers.

     

    Thanks for the post.

     

    I think our Israel fanatic friend has clearly shown he is not here for facts and figures, but I agree that paints a pretty clear picture.

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  8. Samir,

     

    Ok, I'm going to vanquish my own illusion and wear a t-shirt that says "Proud Jew" and walk around in Gaza. Let's see if vanquishing my own illusion works. Wait... just to be on the safe side, let's do it step by step. First, I'll wear a t-shirt that says "Proud Muslim" and walk around in Tel Aviv, and let's see what happens. Then, you wear a t-shirt that says "Proud Jew" and walk around in Gaza...

    You go ahead and wear a shirt saying "proud whitey" in a black neighborhood, and a shirt saying "Die motherfucking crackers!" in a white neighborhood.

     

    Does it make the black people terrorists for punching you in the face? Does it make the white people magnanimous saints for merely crossing the street to avoid you in case you're dangerous?

    I'm back with more lies!!!!  :woot:

     

    Looks like they just bombed a UN school and killed 30 and wounded more than 200. 

    That damn dirty UN with their human shields. Israael will teach them a lesson or two!

     

    Honestly no one has to argue with you, the headlines are killing any argument you might make. they are murdering ever more civilians at the same time as Israelis are sipping tea and saying "there's a war on?"

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  9.  

    J-William,

     

    "he has clearly demonstrated that he's not here for the reason and evidence"

    Said the man who posted baseless accusations and outright lies.

     

    This is the Palestinian tactic - lie lie lie in hopes that the other side's position will not be heard and understood.

    Lie lie lie in hopes that something will stick. Very barbaric even for a conversation.

     

    Yes... lies and I'm a Palestinian and... what?

     

    I'm sorry that you are wasting the valuable time of myself and people on this board with your shenanigans.

     

    I'm sure it must rub you the wrong way to see so many people turning against Israel. But it's awfully hard to look at the facts and continue supporting the wholesale slaughter of a caged population. I mean it was pretty bad when the Nazis did it. I seem to recall there were trials after all that. I guess Netanyahu is banking on western governments not considering Palestinians people while he's still alive.

     

    If I were a young man in Gaza who saw his family torn apart by Israeli bombs I would be on my way to the nearest place I could find a gun to kill as many IDF members as I could. The fact you don't see more is a testament to how peaceful the Palestinians are. Not terribly "barbaric" of them to sift through the rubble of their houses and go to the hospital to identify their dead children without once picking up a weapon to seek revenge.

     

    and if I were in Israel I would move to somewhere else because I'd rather not be around people who hate me. 

     

    I'll say it again; if Israel were in Arizona they would have no problem with anybody. It's merely crazy religious BS that makes any of this possible. You are not going to solve the violence with abstract theorizing about how many human shields can dance on the head of a pin.

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  10. I absolutely relate! I first dealt with a therapist at university I went to learn about the counseling they offered. I was terrified just walking in there and asking questions. I thought they'd think I was a fraud and tell me I wasn't really depressed or anxious, or that I was over-reacting... It was seriously tough, but I was just tired of being so anxious and being shit on by so many people. I went through with it because I didn't really have any other choice.

     

    What do you imagine will happen when you see the therapist? Why haven't you talked to this therapist to get a sense about him and to figure out whether he's competent and qualified to deal with your trauma? I think if you did that you'd feel a lot less anxious. and if you've done that and you still feel this way... maybe you should make an appointment with someone else!

     

    Try giving Stef a call, if he's got time available before your appointment I'm sure he could help.

  11. If the topic is of interest to you, he has a few books published.

     

    I'm pretty sure that the topic is of no interest to the OP... as he has clearly demonstrated that he's not here for the reason and evidence, but more here for some sort of emotional thing to do with his religion.

     

    Edit: oh I see you noticed that too...  :turned:  silly me 

     

    well anyhow, lovely weather we're having in this thread... seeing as it's not raining bombs in here  :thumbsup:

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  12. Nice,

     

    I get the feeling the green "blob" is a flyswatter or something...,

     

    Could you add a little extra like when 2 fireflies accidently meet they would multiply... or when you hit a fly they turn into flowers or blocks (obstructing other fireflies).

     

    maybe a frog/cameleon at the bottom using its tungue to catch the fireflies.

     

    I am just brainstorming take everything with a grain of salt and pepper.

    Thanks for the feedback! I hadn't thought about it in terms of fireflies or a flyswatter, but I see how that makes sense. 

     

    I could see multiplying when they hit as being a very interesting game mechanic, and it would literally be a single line of code... You can actually see when they meet because they give off an extra burst of light, and there's a glitch where they get stuck inside eachother. :)

     

    I'm trying to walk the line between too little and too much. It reminds me of play writing. :-P

    I wrote a play in college that was really funny when the cast did a seated reading, but by the time we actually staged the thing it was a hot mess! I rewrote some stuff with the "help" of a friend and added some slap-stick bits and the director had done plenty of messing of her own.

     

    It's very hard to tell when you've gone too far. 

  13. Mostly off topic.I credit Rage Against The Machine(1990,91 somewhere in there) for planting the first seeds of discontent within me regarding The State.Although at that time I in no way shared the same views.I just liked the extreme types of music like Hardcore Gangsta,Old School Metal,Outlaw Country,Punk.

     

    Hey I loved rage too... because I was a very angry young man. Angry music is certainly appealing to angry young men. I wasn't into outlaw country, but I certainly was into the other genres of angry young man music. :-D

    In my experience there were some pretty toxic people who were also into the angry young man music. Obviously angry young men are abused young men who don't have a close connection with their parents.

     

     

    I got into Rage after I'd already read Rand, so I understood that their comminess was total BS. In  some ways they are like Emma Goldman (who could be called an anarcho-communist) I can really get on board with the analysis and anger at the government and injustice.

     

    On the other hand they are way into communism which has killed well more people than nazism and I'm not a fan of many neo-nazi bands even though they may have something interesting to say.... and unlike Emma Goldman who was writing before communism killed millions, Rage was making music in the 90s with full knowledge of the millions communism massacred. 

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  14. I feel like I should stay out of this... but what the hell.

     

    You do know that this "human shield" thing is just propaganda, right?

     

    What's the difference between "human shields" and the Israeli state is recklessly bombing a civilian population? How would you tell the difference between the two?

     

    Also, you're getting deep into the weeds with trying to call what the Israeli state does "self defense". first off it's not a person and so cannot practice "self defense"... and anyway if any of this was about "self defense" then they would have located Israel in Arizona, not the middle east where they continually get into wars with everyone.

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  15. "This is John Galt speaking..."

    Venezuela sounds like Russia in 1925... They're busy blaming all the problem on the bourgeois 

    or China in ... anytime from 48-76 when they were busy blaming the capitalist-roaders for everything.

     

    Maduro is from the wrong century... I just hope he doesn't get too many more Venezuelans killed.

  16. HI,..

     

    First I empathise with your situation and it looks like a funny game. Its people become more selfactualized when toxic relationships are dumped.  this is very true.

     

    Your quote:"...I feel so much more able to do what I set my mind to even if it is challenging..."

     

    Very very true,.., People look at external factors like "need college", "apprentership",..., but again it is people like you who show that a bit of a selfstarter can move mountains and get things done.

     

    PS:

     

    I dont have andriod,.do you have a youtube movie to see the action-motion of your game? I think it would be cool to watch.

    Yes I'll post the video when I've made it :-D

     

    I am trying to get things sorted and actually start promoting my game to get people to buy it.

     

    It's a lot of work and I'm still working on this "being a self-starter" thing. It's a lot to learn, I mean for instance I can improve the game I just released, or I could work on selling it, or I could work on the next project which is a very exciting project, but if I do that I won't make any money from the already released game and I'll feel lousy that no one bought my game... and I haven't done any journaling today! oh goodness what will I do?

     

    anyway you get the gist, just managing my tasks in a sensible way without getting overwhelmed and turning to the internet for some distraction is something I'm still learning to do.

  17. So I just released a game, it's currently available on Amazon's android store, I will soon be launching iOS and Google play versions…It's a fairly simple game, and pretty fun. My daughter even likes it :) 
     
    But that's not really what I wanted to talk about. I made this game after breaking off contact from my family of origin. I do not think I would have been able to make this game if I were still in contact with my family of origin.
     
    About December of last year, I had been doing a good deal of intense journaling and I finally finished the book "toxic parents" by Susan Forward. In the book she recommends writing letters to each parent. I wrote a letter to my father which was fairly easy because he was more obviously abusive angry and nasty. But I think it was after writing the letter to my mother that the decision finally became clear.
     
    About a year and a half before this point I had made an attempt at a direct confrontation and had gotten the usual bullshit and denials. My father who is a retired lawyer and otherwise has excellent memory couldn't remember any spanking that he did. They were also completely unwilling to take any responsibility for causing or failing to stop the bullying which I suffered for the first eight or nine years I was in school.
     
    Another important factor in the decision was my parents pressuring me to video call them on Skype so they could see my daughter. Everytime they would call or e-mail I would feel really annoyed.
     
    My daughter turned two in October. So as negative harmful parents would say she's in the terrible twos… But my daughter has been raised peacefully with two very loving parents (and a very large ocean separating her from my parents) , and so she has been a most delightful little girl.
    Now I think seeing my own daughter turn two was important in the de-FOO process. Because it was so clear the difference between my parents and my wife and I. I mean my parents thought it was hilarious to record me on video when I was just a few months old crying for like eight minutes straight.
     
    Anyhow I broke off contact in December. After that I felt very free and when people asked if I was going to see my parents or speak to them I said "no I don't feel like it".
     
    So after breaking off contact I felt great and eight months later still feel great. But in that time I was looking around and realizing that my current job is not  satisfying and won't be in the future and I need to make a change. After some searching for ideas I decided that software development would be a good field.
     
    In the last few months I have regained the locus of control and have made significant progress in changing careers. I decided to learn to program, and have stuck with it through the hard patches... The first time I decided to learn to program was using BASIC on the commodore 64 in the 80s, then I tried qbasic on a PC and picked up a book on C in the 90s. In university I took an intro computer science for non-majors course and flunked it hard because the going got tough. and most recently I tried learning Python, and again when it got hard I just gave up.
     
    I was always told how smart I was and did not teach me about the merits of hard work. Most things came super easy to me in school so I didn't learn to work hard there, and later when things became harder (like calculus...) I didn't know where to start.
    On a recent podcast Stef is talking to a guy who feels like there's a secret that everyone knows about life that he doesn't know. Stef says that there is no such thing, but in that case he's wrong because there is something that these other people know about that the caller doesn't know. He doesn't know about asking other people for help. That's a secret that is only a secret to people who have been raised by unhelpful parents in a society where no one reaches out to them and tries to help them.
     
     I feel so much more able to do what I set my mind to even if it is challenging.
     
    I mean for instance it is a pain setting up the various developer accounts to distribute the game. especially with all the tax stuff and the fact I don't live in the US. And then of course there's all of the steps of learning how to program and learning how to use various applications that I needed to use to develop my game. And even though it is a very simple game it's amazing just how complicated all of those steps are for somebody who has never really completed anything more complicated than "Hello World!"
     
    The psychological state that I was in whenever I was in contact with my parents was different.I always felt this dread and had a constant need to distract myself.
    I didn't feel free to think or dream big. I didn't feel as free to do something that wasn't very good and fail. I don't really know but I just feel so much different now.
     
    In that same time that I've been learning to program and building apps I've also nearly finished a novel that I started working on when I was in seventh grade. Now maybe it's not worth finishing but it's been sticking in my mind for so long I just have to get it out.
     
    How has De-fooing changed your life and helped you psychologically?
     
    Oh yes, and the link to the game is http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LSH142W Please give it a look. I really think it's fun. Even if you don't I'd appreciate feedback on the presentation, I know the graphics aren't great, but I haven't stopped playing it since the earliest builds (and believe me the graphics were worse then). It should work on any android device.
    • Upvote 4
  18. He then told me that I should reestablish contact with our mother, because she has become depressed aswell. The reason? Because I broke of contact with her, and now she is afraid that my brother will do the same.

     

    I haven't said anything about this yet in my replies to him. Now, the question is, do I just say it? Or is it to much to early yet? To tell him that our childhood was horrible, and that I have no moral obligation to ease her depression? That I don't owe her anything?

    Yeah it sucks to be the last one out that door.
     
    I'm sure he's getting all kinds of pressure from your mother and he doesn't want to have to deal with all that pressure by himself. I understand it and it puts him in a tough spot. On the other hand he is choosing to be in contact with negative abusive people so he can change that anytime he wants.
     
    This is just another example of bad behavior from your parents. What did they do to change or make the relationship better? They've done nothing they just guilt trip your brother and now he's putting some pressure on you because he's got nowhere to go.
     
    You don't have to tell him anything if you don't want, personally I think I would explain some about my reasoning and what I'm doing but then just see what his response is. See if he is curious, you don't have to push if he's not ready.
  19. I wouldn't bother looking at dream journaling apps, but I have seen a number of plain old journaling apps which are fairly good and maybe even free.
    I think the most important feature for your app is that it has to load quickly and you have to be able to add a new entry very quickly so that you don't forget your dream.
  20. As a survivor of an abusive household I found the bomb in the brain series. It really is an exceptional series and should be introduced to everyone. I decided to send the link to my brother who is two years older than myself and has two children. I let a couple of weeks go by and contacted him again. his response was "I don't understand why you sent this to me, they are talking about child abuse" What I gathered from this is " I don't need to watch this I was never abused". I tried to press him more but he had to get off the phone. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him do spontaneous circus tricks.

    Has anyone else met with this type of resistance?

    Yeah I guess you could say that.
     
    My sister has seemingly decided that she has no opinion on me not speaking with our parents. I have mentioned it a few times and she hasn't even asked a single question about my decision.
    She just said something like "that's too bad"and moved on.
     
    I don't even know what kind of response that is… I guess that's not a response.
     
    Needless to say our relationship has not gone anywhere lately. And that's a real pity, but like you said you can lead a horse to water…
     
    How has your brother been treating his children? That may be the more important question in this instance.
  21. This is what I mean when I say the financial system is broken to the point of not mattering how many hours a person works. In Brazil, if you receive the minimum wage, you can work 18 hours a day and still not make enough to provide for your family.

     

    If you're born in poverty here, odds are you will never be able to get good education, medical treatment, food, housing and access to bleeding edge technology. There are red herrings, but exceptions are not the rule.

     

    So when I say that Stefan is wrong when applying his experience with poverty to places outside of Canada and the UK, what I mean is that he had access to opportunities that are almost non existent in poor countries, that is, almost non existent for the majority of the worlds population.

     

    And I'm not even mentioning racism, sexism, xenophobia and other issues here, which are used by the dominant classes to ensure the poor can't compete with them, even if some individuals manage to become smarter and more technically capable than the rich, by simply having the wrong color of skin they will have trouble keeping a job or having a similar level of income when compared to the most privileged.

    Attack those strawmen attack them long and hard!

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