Joseph Watson3 said:Sure, except I'm pretty sure that kind of unauthorized surveillance on private traffic would be a way bigger legal violation than just running some pirated Windows.
right and apparently everyone’s just out here trading candy bars like it’s a hobby because they’ve got nothing better to do with their lives. 🙂
cosmicskipper39 said:And don't even start with me about those Windows issues, because let's be honest, who in the US is actually going to bother checking that? 😂
Imagine just running a little script for a week straight that quietly harvests serial numbers, then letting it sit for another day to dump everything into a database so they can cross-reference it against a list of legitimate users Or they could even do it dynamically, while the pirate is just coasting along, feeling incredibly smug about how brilliant they are for outsmarting the entire system. 🙂
Not everyone can handle this kind of responsibility, and honestly, the misuse of data like that is a massive, high-stakes mess but really, you have to laugh when these little punks try to threaten me, acting like they’re going to track me down and tear me apart just because they think they’re hiding behind some digital curtain of anonymity. It’s almost pathetic, if it weren't so ridiculous. 😁
We’re all on the same page here and honestly, it’s just a perfect illustration of how certain clones of banned users somehow manage to stick around and survive despite everything else. 🙂
Is there any way to see where someone is actually located—like their specific street or home address—and more importantly, would it even be okay to post that kind of info right here on the forum?
I can probably dig up the exact address and the name registered to the line No, absolutely not; you aren't allowed to post anyone's private information on this forum
And that’s exactly how it goes—someone starts playing games, pushing boundaries, and suddenly everyone feels forced to tighten the screws even harder until eventually, the whole point of both sides just evaporates into nothingness.
Look, it isn't exactly high art to behave like a total jerk, and honestly, neither the users nor the moderators should have to deal with this kind of nonsense in the first place. ruggedfox28, I genuinely have no clue how you expected me to just hand you something that clearly violates the rules of this forum. Isn't there a certain level of sheer audacity in asking for that? But sure, if I go ahead and hit you with a seven-day ban like I’m supposed to, you’ll just be right back here whining about how the Admin team is being too harsh and how nobody understands you.
I’m pretty sure you guys track down every single one of them eventually, so I honestly don't get why you let some slip through to post while others get nuked immediately; does it just depend on how busy the forum is at any given moment or what? It feels like such a massive mystery, this whole principle you operate by.
Leave gjidjimovic alone, man; I have no idea who you are and I’m certainly not reporting you.🤣
We don't catch everyone, 🙂 it's more like we only start digging once someone catches our eye, whether it's because of their specific style, or they say something incredibly stupid, or... well, you get the idea. Then there are those people who are basically clones of banned users, but they've actually cleaned up their act and aren't doing the same things that got them kicked off in the first place, so sometimes the moderators decide to look the other way. The issue is that these folks often forget exactly why they were booted from the site, so they start singing the same old song and then—bam—they're gone again. Unfortunately for anyone relying on various proxy servers, having different IP addresses doesn't guarantee them any kind of stealth status, much like it doesn't work for people who just manually change their own IP address. To be fair, the easiest path would be to strictly allow connections only via an email address tied to a Comcast account, but at the end of the day, this forum is meant to be entertainment, and there's really no point in implementing heavy-handed restrictions.
So, I’ve been wondering—are you actually worried that we aren't turning up any clones, or is it more that you're secretly hoping we might stumble upon one eventually? 🙂
Look, I’m always ready, really—I was before and I’m even more so now that people have started obsessively nitpicking every little thing in a PDF or tearing apart your posts like they're some kind of legal scholars. Sure, you drop some smart, actually useful insights from time to time, but let’s be honest, you also post enough nonsense that I’m genuinely surprised you haven't been banned more often than you have. The moderators are doing their jobs, and look, mistakes are bound to happen here and there, but as long as everything stays within reasonable boundaries and general tolerances, there’s really no reason to claim the mods are incompetent. If I have one major gripe with them, it’s that they’ve been way too soft in the past, letting inappropriate comments slide without any real consequences, mostly because people just don't take their warnings seriously. I think they finally get the point, though, and it seems like they’ll be tightening things up a bit on that front moving forward. On the flip side, you clearly have two main issues going on: first, you keep dragging your private life into the forum, and second, your behavior is just plain rude.
That partial ban on this sub is staying put, and frankly, I think it’s a necessary step toward actually making this place better.
Being gay isn't some kind of choice you make on a whim Stealing, on the other hand, is a choice
It’s honestly like saying being left-handed is a sin and then trying to justify it by scrawling some nonsense on, I don't know, a wall somewhere So, look, homosexuality isn't a choice, nor is it a crime, or even a minor misdemeanor A sin would be darting across a street outside of a crosswalk, or even just having the desire to bolt across the road where you aren't supposed to, but it sure as hell isn't a sin to be left-handed, or blonde, or just plain clumsy
It is entirely possible that I'm failing to explain myself clearly here, but hey, that's why we're all hanging out in places like this—to talk things through and hopefully reach some kind of consensus
no Nick, you could take the Bible, the Quran, and a handful of Vedas, throw them all in a pile, and claim they say being gay is a crime, but the reality remains the same: being gay isn't a criminal offense, and making a claim like that on this forum is a one-way ticket to getting banned. The same logic applies to those people who were given advice on how to physically lash out at their wives, or pretty much any other specific details like that too. Hiding behind the authority of holy scriptures doesn't magically make a statement true or correct.
If something is already codified in the US Constitution, there’s really no need to redundantly include it in the forum rules. The forum is obligated to respect the laws and the Constitution of the USA.
"Intolerance" is such an ill-defined term that it basically just stays at the discretion of the forum administration.
Alright, reading through all those quotes was honestly a bit painful, but I’m glad we finally reached a consensus here. (not that anyone is surprised, I was right all along) 😛
So, look, the alternative medicine section has its own specific set of rules. We aren't going to allow any responses that push standard conventional medicine. Furthermore, the mods are going to step in to make sure these threads don't get cluttered or turn into some massive battlefield for people arguing pros and cons regarding alternative treatment.
it honestly looks like this whole thing is tied up with the local mods here despite all the noise people are making about Big Brother, the truth is we really have no clue what’s actually going on behind the scenes with you or Vixen maybe the smartest move would be to just keep those discussions strictly internal, you know?
bluemason3, just chatting over coffee doesn't count as proof whatever gets written down on a forum stands as solid, lasting evidence
take the legal subforum, for instance, where you aren't allowed to advise anyone on how to commit illegal acts personally, I feel like in the alternative medicine section, we shouldn't be allowing anyone to push people away from official medical advice
bluemason3, just chatting over coffee doesn't count as proof writing something down on a forum provides a perfectly solid and lasting record
for instance, on the legal subforum, you aren't allowed to advise anyone to commit illegal acts in my view, within the alternative medicine section, there really shouldn't be any permission granted to encourage people to abandon official medicine
bluemason3 said:I honestly don't see how you can separate the two. 🤷If someone opts out of conventional medicine in favor of alternative medicine, or even believes the whole medical establishment is some massive conspiracy and posts about it here, that's automatically going to be viewed as "incitement." Every public discussion is a form of influence once it's posted online. And let's face it, people aren't going to add a "this is just my opinion" disclaimer to every single post, which is exactly why we have the site's terms of service. 🤔
There’s always the option of shutting down the sub if things get too volatile, but I don't see how we can have our cake and eat it too—meaning, having an alternative medicine section without the inevitable content that comes with it. 🤷
Alright, let's please stop repeating this tired mantra about banning alternative views. 🙂 If we actually followed that logic, we'd have to ban spirituality and religion too...
As for the legal side of things, try this scenario: go see a lawyer and tell them your brother passed away from an illness because some guy talked him into drinking soap suds instead of getting actual therapy, and ask if you have grounds for a lawsuit. Look, I'm not a lawyer, so everything I'm saying is strictly my own take, but I suspect any decent attorney would be jumping for joy at the prospect of that case, thinking about the percentage they could pull from the settlement; they'd jump at the chance to take it on.
dustypuma5 said:I think we need a rule. And Jose White18, you're being rude. People who start an initiative that actually makes sense aren't just starting petty arguments; maybe they just want to make this place better. I’ve been here forever, and lately, things on the forum only move forward when someone takes charge after an initiative (thanks to the admins 🙏), which is why I've started some stuff myself. One thing I did was push back against radical extremists, and now the site is at a higher level because its rules forbid denying anyone's sovereignty. Even the communication is slightly less trash now.
Maybe you don't remember the days when people were openly selling juice cleanses, emetics, and other homemade concoctions in the alternative medicine section. Remember how many fights it took to get that banned? Back then, the admins didn't care; they’d show up once a month just to ban people or lock threads. Now, we have hollowtrucker77 with a stance that's actually right, we have mellowraven22 who isn't even allowed to say what he thinks because it brings the bulldozer 😬, and we actually have a chance to apply that same kind of rule to the alternative section. Tomorrow or the day after, some admin will show up who doesn't give a damn, and the space for posting nonsense will still be there. Just like any rule will stay if hollowtrucker77 just stuffs it into some paragraph somewhere. That warning everyone talks about? That was a three-month battle over on PZK. The female admin finally wrote it, but it was basically just a compromise where certain people were told: "Fine, we'll put the warning up, but you can never talk about this again." So they're effectively silenced to this day. So, stop acting like it's easy. Let people who actually care choose what's best for themselves.
Why is it that you, as a moderator—who should actually care about the forum's health—won't let users do what they think is good for the community? Instead, you just label them as troublemakers. And why are you defending the very claims that the troublemakers are attacking?
The alternative medicine subforum is a place that can get dangerous, and honestly, it's great to say everyone chooses their own path. But the moderators and admins here still have responsibility in those choices. If they could stop someone from ditching chemotherapy to go follow Braco, then they share the responsibility for that decision. It's the same as the mod who allowed a thread about a bomb that actually blew someone up. When you start taking your job seriously—and yeah, you aren't getting paid, but you should treat it like a job—then maybe we can talk. As long as you don't care whether people forge their own luck or get talked into risking their lives or their kids' lives because of this forum, there's no point in discussing this. You're still a mod on this board. Some long-time users feel that responsibility even if they aren't on the staff, simply because they view this place as "theirs" and care about how it looks. That's why the petty wars happen and why there's constant conflict in the alternative section between real medicine and hocus pocus.
We're talking about one specific subforum within the alternative section that needs different rules because there's a real risk of someone giving advice that actually hurts someone. You're saying it's not worth fighting for?
I think it is.
Just to throw a little defense toward Jose White18 here: look, the alternative subforum exists for a reason. People are naturally going to be interested in various forms of alternative approaches—stuff that hasn't been swallowed up by the mainstream or strictly validated by standard scientific methods. It's just how people work. Coming in here demanding scientific proof for things that aren't even part of the scientific method is honestly a bit pointless, and I think the moderator was spot on when they labeled it as nothing more than trolling and disruptive behavior. If all these different alternative movements and practices actually had a legitimate scientific basis, they would be classified as science and would have moved over to the PZ, health, or some other subforum specifically designed for those kinds of discussions.
silverpuma542 said:So, if I'm following you correctly, you're saying the only hard line is that we shouldn't discourage people from seeking official medical care.
Well, that kind of content is all over the Alternative forums, and it used to pop up on RiD too. I actually remember this one thread about being against vaccinations—the moderator ended up shutting the whole thing down simply because the posts from the common-sense and alternative medicine side were blowing up so fast she just couldn't control the circus anymore.
My bad, I wasn't quite sure if you were being sarcastic or actually serious there. 🙂 Look, people have every right to make their own choices, but nobody has the right to fill someone else's head with nonsense about how mainstream medicine is some kind of poison, suggesting instead that it's better to go visit some local guy at a diner to drink detergent and sit on a washing machine to "detox" the body. It's just as absurd as telling someone they should run off into the woods to play hide-and-seek instead of showing up before a judge to pay the fine for riding a dirt bike without a helmet.