Posts by dustypuma5

quietseal72 said:You missed one thing though... the difference is, Dalmatia stayed part of the US, just without the Mexicans, because it's our territory even if Mexicans were the majority in that specific part of Dalmatia.

Whatever, we figured that out too. We can be cool now. Since we know you're just here to push Great Mexican propaganda, that's how we'll deal with you.

Mexicans in Dalmatia are just a minority, and they were a minority in "that part" too, since what you guys grabbed under the Frontier barely stretched past the majority Mexican areas.

Dalmatia has always been ours—our White American roots that built this whole country, where so much blood was spilled just to keep it that way.

No grammar tweak is gonna change that, and changing names won't change the facts either.

Go spread that Great Mexican propaganda somewhere else.

quietseal72 said:I guess I was thinking the same thing, basically I'm all for just putting the past behind us and moving on as good neighbors,

And you do that by calling Dalmatia the Frontier? Maybe you should've added the SAO prefix too, just to make sure that reconciliation is totally final.

If you want a real look at how people actually feel, just go to any Mexican forum and start a thread asking "independent Mexico or whatever Mexicans call the province," then you'll see what democracy really looks like. They'll just delete the thread and ban you, and they'll probably lock down the whole database so no new members can sign up.

Look, this is an American Forum, and before you come to this country, maybe learn how to act without insulting the people living here.

Donna Lopez4 said:What a beautifully packaged invitation to hand over the reins of your own life... 🙂

Is Norway going to ban reading de Sade soon? At this rate, the only socially acceptable thing left will be making out in missionary position while carrying a certificate proving you might actually conceive...

Are they actually going to care about the health and beauty of our citizens? They’re busy sending out abortion mandates to pregnant women at high risk for Down syndrome while simultaneously approving food products you wouldn't even feed to a dog...

Do you actually have any real-world experience, or is your entire existence just mental gymnastics and starting internet wars that have zero connection to reality? It’s honestly pathetic how this self-proclaimed medical and scientific elite thinks they have the right to act as a filter for life-altering decisions that belong to others... 🙂 Just wait until life finally hits you with a real disaster; then you’ll be waving that self-styled "Malleus Maleficarum" of yours around with a lot less confidence...

Is it a doctor with an inflated ego, or just a lawyer?... 😁 If I'm just offering this as my first recommendation—and I am absolutely not pushing anyone to do anything... 🙂Insisting on "professional expertise" is nothing more than a blatant intimidation tactic used to silence anyone offering an alternative perspective... 😁

Look, let’s get one thing straight... discussing medical treatments? Absolutely not allowed. But sharing personal experiences regarding alternative options? Sure, that's what this forum is actually for. This isn't about "quackery"; it's about the real-world relationship between a patient and a practitioner—someone who usually ends up facing frivolous lawsuits and navigating a legal system that makes enforcing anything feel like an uphill battle... So go ahead, keep playing judge and jury in your little virtual courtrooms if you must... 😁🤣

Anyway, just letting you know I'm reporting this post for trolling, since besides a bunch of ad hominem attacks on me, there's basically no substance here. Aside from the very end, the ratio of trolling to useful info is like 80% to 20%. And that tiny useful bit was only at the end because you subconsciously realized you went too far. 😁

Who gives you the right to judge someone else's experience? Or their ego?

By taking that right, you honestly just look like an unserious person to anyone watching neutrally.

Whatever, this is just a textbook example of trolling.

I mean, you can find instructions on how to make a bomb out of bleach and baking soda on random forums, but I can't find anything like that on forumu.hr.
Basically, there are moderated and unmoderated forums. Luckily, this one is moderated.

Norway banned its citizens from using credit cards for gambling at any retail outlet globally because they knew people would just fly straight to Las Vegas and blow through their entire limits. People were losing their houses and falling into massive debt.
People complained about the move, obviously, but the law stands. And honestly? The government is supposed to protect its people—even from themselves and their own bad impulses.

That’s what a civilized society looks like to me. I kind of wish this forum, which is basically on the map now, had some higher standards than even the society we live in. Like, maybe it could actually look out for the users and protect them from their own questionable urges sometimes.
I know, I'm being an idealist, but whatever, I can afford to be.

Disclaimer: Just treat this like spam, it's late and my brain is fried. I might be talking nonsense. 😬

hollowtrucker77 said: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.

Personally, I don't have an issue with the Alternative subforum, and honestly, I don't mind the Alternative Medicine one either.
I'm with you on what you wrote and I don't have anything against it. Actually, it’s sometimes nice to pop in there and read through a thread. It can even be pretty funny (the alternative crowd is probably gonna hate me for this, but whatever) seeing some of the ideas people come up with.
But hey, if people want to believe in lizard people, let them have their space to talk about it. Why not?

What I *do* have a problem with is when some mother with a kid suffering from leukemia reads about some bleach trick and, out of pure stress and fear of losing her child, stops chemotherapy because someone told her to and takes the kid to a grocery store instead.

That’s where I draw the line. I think anyone advising someone to do that should get banned and have their posts wiped immediately.

That's really the whole point.

@ Jose White18
My motives are my business. Maybe I do believe in lizard people whispering to me to be a forum warrior for justice, but using my supposed motives just to undermine my points shows how weak your own arguments are.
So, arguing at that level doesn't help anything besides just cranking up the tension between us, so I'm calling it quits.

@ bluemason3
I'm not claiming any rights that don't belong to me as a forum member. My right is to post suggestions in the designated area, and it's up to the admins whether they accept them or not.
I feel like by trying to defend me, you're stepping a bit outside your lane, because it's not your job to decide what other users write in subforums you don't moderate. We're equals here; if you don't like how I write, you can start a thread suggesting I be sanctioned, and then the admins can decide whether to go for it or not.

So, let's just try to discuss the issue civilly and leave the ad hominem attacks alone. You can curse me out in your head, but don't type it, because I don't know how to stay quiet—if you shut my mouth, I'm gonna snap back and tell you exactly what's coming.
Basically, I'm just asking that we don't dive into that tone and keep the discussion within reasonable bounds.

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.

bluemason3 said:Quackery probably isn't actually illegal. What's illegal is practicing medicine without a license. It’s basically the same loophole as dietary supplements—they don't have to meet the same rigorous standards to hit the shelves as actual prescription drugs. If that weren't the case, pharmacies would be packed with the same stuff you see in online ads right now.

I highly doubt sending someone to a bioenergy healer or something similar is against the law; you're just trying to manipulate the definition. You can't legally define everything. Someone provides a "service," and suddenly a bill "happens" to land on their desk. Who's going to police that? Or they could just register the business under some vague umbrella like "consulting services." As long as they don't claim to be a doctor (when they aren't), they likely fall outside the legal definition of practicing medicine without a license. But hey, that's just me speculating, so I won't get too carried away.

The comparison just doesn't hold water, no matter how you slice it.

A software pirate is someone selling protected software without permission. A pirate isn't someone who wrote their own code and you paid them to install it. We're talking about copyright infringement here, which is an entirely different category. Dragging this specific argument into it feels both biased and pointless.

Anyway, like I said, I'm hoping to get an answer from a lawyer soon so we can finally put this to rest. If the answer turns out to be what I'm expecting, we can pretty much write this whole discussion off as trolling—especially if people keep popping up in the alternative medicine circles and acting accordingly. 🙂

Here's the excerpt:

Quackery

Section 244.

(1) Anyone who provides medical treatment or assistance to another without the required professional credentials,

shall be punished by a fine of up to fifty days' income or imprisonment for up to six months.

(2) Anyone who commits the offense under paragraph 1 of this section for reward or profit,

shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for up to one year.

Preparation and production of harmful treatments

Section 245.

(1) Anyone who prepares or produces preparations or products for sale or other ways of being placed on the market that are harmful to human health,

shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for up to one year.

(2) Anyone who commits the offense under paragraph 1 through negligence,

shall be punished by a fine of up to fifty days' income or imprisonment for up to six months.

(3) Products and means of production shall be seized.

The term "quackery" is just the heading for that chapter in the Penal Code, and you basically wrote your own definition. So, I guess quackery isn't illegal, it's just treating people without a license, and since that's how you defined quackery, it's all the same thing anyway. 🤔
Maybe I'm just getting confused here. 😁

But hey, you just keep insisting you're right. 🙂

jadeseal81 said:It’s such a joke, seriously. 😛
Bella got blocked, my torrents are dead, and I can basically only use the web for "school stuff" now.👎😂
Anyone know how they even block Playtoy? I doubt it's because of NSFNET.

I'm pretty sure it is. They're just blocking specific URLs at the router level.

Maybe try grabbing a high-power wireless antenna (like an Air Live 1700) to snag a signal from someone outside the school network so you can play Playtoy.
But then you're back to square one with the torrent situation I mentioned earlier. 😁

jadeseal81 said:I didn't say I was hooked up to anyone's net, I just said I have access to the router (physically).

My bad, totally misunderstood you. 🙂
When I say I have access to the router, I mean I can get into the settings. Mine is two floors away and I haven't actually seen the thing in ages—so no physical access, but I've got what matters. 🙂

As for this whole mess, Jason Harris5 pretty much nailed it. I guess don't mess around with it.

So, you think it's totally fine to refer someone to some hack practicing fake medicine, even though that whole thing is illegal. 😳

The comparison works, you just gotta look at it right.

Basically, in one scenario you're sending someone to a pirate for software, and in the other, you're sending them to some fraud for a tumor. The only difference is that hooking someone up with a software pirate is a crime, whereas actually going to see a tumor quack isn't technically a crime itself.

But I guess that's just how people in Florida handle it: it's not crap, it's just sweetie having a little accident...

Jose Barrett said:And who actually reads those warnings?
Do you honestly think this site is legally bulletproof just because some former moderator scribbled a few lines after we spent months practically begging her to write them?

If someone still can't figure out where they are after everything, and decides that advice from someone like steelsurfer42, Chronic Vlado, vjekos30, or even Jose Barrett is more valuable than what a licensed specialist with a real medical degree has to say... well, let them.

People get emotionally fragile when they're dealing with serious illnesses, so let's not act like we have all the answers here.
The internet can be a dangerous place, no matter how much we pretend otherwise.

Are you suggesting there's some kind of balance between alternative and conventional medicine over on that Health PDF?

You missed my point, though I see dustypuma5 clearly ☕

We should let the forum members who oppose alternative medicine speak their minds, whether they actually know what they're talking about or not.
If someone starts insulting people or trolling, their post gets deleted, they get a warning, or they get banned. I don't see the issue.

That sub-forum has been a ghost town since the discussions stopped, and you can't really have a "discussion" when everyone is just echoing the same opinion.

👍

Man, you basically just said exactly what I was thinking...

And yeah, forums can be pretty sketchy.
But if someone posts a recipe for a bomb, the cops will show up asking why it wasn't taken down immediately.
If someone explains how to rob a Chase Bank, the feds will be right there too.
Or if people share pirated software and tutorials on how to use it, the BSA will swoop in and shut the whole domain down....

Nobody makes a scene over that stuff... There are zero consequences and it's all just a free ride...
So that's that.
Like, on an IT board, you can talk about illegal stuff all day, seriously. But nobody can say:

"hey, ditch those genuine Windows and grab these cracked versions. You can do it like this and like this..."
Because that gets you an instant ban. 🙂

What's even the difference between that and this:
"just skip the cancer treatment and go see some magic healer, I'll give you his number..."

There isn't one. It's just hypocrites who only care about following the law when it suits them seeing a difference.

Every few months this exact same thread pops up and the answers are always the same...
- you gotta cough up some cash
- you gotta give them *the business
- you have to be part of some exclusive club
- you gotta be a registered Democrat
- you probably need to be a vegetarian and best buddies with Luke Omar

Let's try something different here....

Nah, impossible, because you're just a human and the admins and mods are straight up lizards... 😁

jadeseal81 said:I've got a similar issue.
Our torrent ports are blocked, so we can't download anything.😳
I have access to the router, so could I unblock them using that tutorial above?
And if I do unblock them, is there any way to find out who did it?
Is there some other method, like switching the torrent to a different port? I tried messing around in the client, but nothing's downloading.
Proxies aren't working either.

Hm, so you basically hopped on someone else's Wi-Fi and now you want to open ports on their router to download stuff via BitTorrent...

If that's what's happening, you gotta realize that torrents can seriously tank the connection speed, plus opening ports on a router just creates potential security holes in their system.

If I'm right, I'd probably rethink if this is even worth doing to someone else.

You can open ports following that guide above, and I guess they might be able to see you in the router logs (not totally sure, but I think it stays logged under which account and local IP made the changes).

Haven't messed with torrents in a while so I don't know if there's another way, but there used to be a tutorial on this forum about torrenting, so maybe ask those guys if there's a way to bypass router ports through the client itself.

Wise words...

Everything's already been said, I guess. Nothing else to add. 🙂

Whatever. But if you spent half an hour actually figuring out how ports work, you might actually learn something. I guess since you're always messing around with this stuff, knowing the basics isn't the worst thing in the world.

Just don't be lazy or act like a know-it-all. That'll cost you. If you actually put in some effort, maybe you'll get that feeling of, "yeah, I fixed this myself..."

Carl Fowler said:Can someone please explain this?
Just give me a straight answer, not some random links.

Get your $83 ready and I can swing by your place later to check it out for you. 🙂

Look, I sent you a link where you gotta find your router, click it, pick which app needs the ports opened, and then it'll give you a step-by-step guide on how to do it.

So yeah, you can do it that way, or I can just come over and fix it for you based on my rates above.

I could also just type out the tutorial right here, but that’ll cost you about the same amount via Venmo.

Up to you...
🙂

Jose White18 said:Are you maybe thinking of that debate where you alternative dismissed right out of the gate as just some quacks? here

👏

That was quite the discussion...

But look, if someone drops some theory or a new method, they gotta prove it. Until there's actual proof, most people are just gonna think it's nonsense.

I don't see anything weird about that. That's just life.

It wasn't me labeling them, it's just what science says, and science is pretty much what our laws are built on. And the law says that trying to treat cancer by rubbing your hands on your head is definitely quackery.
As long as those laws are in place, you kind of have to follow them. 🙂

Jose White18 said:If we had a debate like that, what would be left of the alternative? 🤷

So what’s left of that vegetarianism thread on the SoN forum? I mean, the moderators are clearly meat-eaters themselves. It’s not like anyone is banned from sharing their views on being a vegetarian, but it’s also not against the rules to push back with actual scientific evidence and show how harmful it can be.

So, I guess the debate would just keep going.

I guess the whole point of this forum isn't to be some kind of advice column, even if it helps sometimes. It’s more about just throwing arguments back and forth to see what sticks.

Look, hollowtrucker77, that’s exactly my point. The alternative medicine section is crawling with losers trying to sell urine, bleach, or water diluted 237 times, plus people pushing sun-gazing nonsense or setting up shady meetings with local con artists and random hustlers...
It needs a massive cleanup, just like that one purge we had before.
On any cancer treatment thread, every single piece of advice like, "If I were you, I'd ditch chemo and go see that magical Uzguz guy who cures 47 types of cancer with dipole radiation from his big toes..." should be banned, in my opinion.

I think this forum is supposed to be a serious place, and if that's the case, you shouldn't let this slide.

That’s one issue, and honestly, I think it's an easy fix.

Then there’s the second issue: people posting in the alternative sections take every scientific fact as a personal insult. I see it all the time, but on a site like forumu.hr, which is actually meant to be legitimate, people with actual scientific backgrounds should be allowed to debunk theories posted by people who clearly have no clue what they're talking about.

It’s not even about democracy or free speech or whatever—it’s about safety. When someone gullible and easily led stumbles onto a thread, they need to be able to read something backed by science or a warning about how dangerous these methods are. That's huge. If you ban guys like steelsurfer42, Chronic Vlado, and the rest, or if you stop someone like Endimon from posting in the alternative section like they used to, then you'll need a disclaimer way bigger than the one we have now. I guess that current one was already a compromise after long negotiations and barely made it through.

Look, I don't care if someone writes about the healing properties of bleach, but I do care if someone deletes a naturalist's description of how much damage bleach does to your stomach flora...

As for insults? Ha! Where have you seen a conflict between Catholics and Muslims, believers and atheists, or vegetarians and meat-eaters... without some insults flying?
That’s already covered by the forum rules regarding conduct. 😁

Besides, saying "sun-gazing is dangerous stupidity" isn't an insult, just like saying a Mig 29 is garbage or that Button is a bad driver isn't an insult to VP.
🙂

Oh, and maybe show some thanks to the people who actually have knowledge and the guts to call stuff out over there. 😉