Posts by Megan Ruiz13

You shouldn't be able to criticize Israeli policy and then immediately lump all Jewish people into one category. It’s a tactic where they call out antisemitism as a way to deflect any legitimate criticism by bringing up the Holocaust or hate speech.

Criticism should be handled the same way you'd handle criticizing the policies of any other country you disagree with.

The problem is, most people don't dare say anything because they're terrified of being labeled an antisemite. Plus, they have legal protections in most modern democracies under hate speech laws, so if your critique of Israel gets too sharp—beyond just being called a Nazi or an antisemite—you could actually face jail time.

The lobby is incredibly powerful. They have the backing of the USA, they hold the purse strings, and they basically bleed money out of almost every nation that was on the side of the Axis powers during WWII. Very few people dare to stand up to them, except maybe their immediate neighbors.

But like I said, this is about politics. Not every Israeli or Jewish person needs to be targeted.

Personally, I think it's great that Germany finally cooled things down... regarding those payouts.

Everyone who survived the Holocaust has been compensated, quite generously, by Germany. They did what they needed to do.

Anything beyond that is just absurd.

Ethan Allen2 said:Accused him? Look, Grass was in the SS, and that’s no secret. Plus, he lied about the whole thing.

And his views on Jews? Honestly, given he was in the SS, I'm not even surprised.

At 17 years old in 1944, he was drafted into the SS Panzer Division Frundsberg. He fought the Allies until he was wounded right before the 1945 surrender.
He was an active combatant. Until 2006, people assumed he belonged to that generation that was too young for real frontline duty—just some kid in the Hitler Youth, much like our Pope. But he was there until the end, saw the action, killed Allied soldiers, and got wounded.
He admitted all of this publicly himself.

He actually tried to enlist at 15, but they turned him down because of his age. Two years later, he joined the Waffen SS.

It seems to me his political critique of Nazism as a leftist was mostly just because they let Germany lose the war.😁

quieteagle5 said:Who exactly were they paying for WWI?
And why would the Jews be seeking more money if everything has already been settled?

I find myself agreeing with Grasso; one should have the right to express an opinion without being immediately branded by the labels of a totalitarian era where individual agency is non-existent.

The Boston Globe is digging into how we handle historical guilt in Europe. It’s an interesting look at how different nations grapple with their pasts. Some places seem stuck in a loop of apology, while others are busy rewriting the narrative to suit the current mood. It makes you wonder if any country ever truly moves past its darkest chapters, or if we just find more sophisticated ways to ignore them.

quieteagle5 said:Who exactly were they paying for WWI?
And why would the Jews be seeking more money if everything has already been settled?

I find myself agreeing with Grasso; one should have the right to express an opinion without being immediately branded by the labels of a totalitarian era where individual agency is non-existent.

That’s just how they operate.

Under the Holocaust reparations agreements, companies like JP Morgan Chase, General Motors, Ford, and General Electric chipped in about $1.8 billion. Apparently, that wasn't enough for the Jews. Even later on, during the 90s, they kept coming up with more claims for money. They paid out, too, until I guess the Germans finally hit their limit back in 2007 and decided they'd had enough.

quieteagle5 said:Who exactly were they paying for WWI?
And why would the Jews be seeking more money if everything has already been settled?

I find myself agreeing with Grasso; one should have the right to express an opinion without being immediately branded by the labels of a totalitarian era where individual agency is non-existent.

You can't really say what you think. You can, sure, but then they just come for you. At 84 years old, though, I guess the filter starts to give out.

The Jewish lobby has too much influence.

quieteagle5 said:Germans pay annual war reparations to Israel. Perhaps those submarines fall under the agreement as well.

On October 3, 2010, they made their final payment for WWI. German historians basically concluded that for them, WWI didn't actually end until 94 years after the victors called it quits.

The Jews were paid the agreed-upon reparations a long time ago. But back in 2007, some Jews tried to squeeze more money out of Germany. When Germany said no, they came knocking again in 2009 asking for another 450 million euros plus an extra billion, on top of discounts on warships... as far as I know, the Germans refused.

They stuck to the 1953 agreement and settled everything.

At the end of the day, this Nobel laureate didn't say anything wrong; he just spoke his mind, which apparently isn't allowed anymore.

Nicholas King said:Third and final time: I am not advocating for the right to be abusive—what I am contesting is the total lack of timely intervention from the moderators and staff. That failure is exactly what caused this whole thing to escalate, leading to situations that—for days now 🤦—are being sanctioned under the label of "hate speech."

...one of the last points is that users are here for other users, while the mods and administration are the ones making decisions and holding the authority to "shut things down."

In other words, just shut up and mind your own business? Don't get involved, just post and don't ask questions? If we followed that logic, I suppose I could triumphantly toast and say, "Serves him right!"—since I've been told more than once that I've nearly lost my own relatives because of my mouth. But honestly, can you really just sit there calmly "doing your job" while absolute chaos unfolds in the next room? Would you just walk past a literal house fire because, hey, you don't have the authority to grab a hose?

It’s just not going to work. Users aren't just here to "interact with other users"; they are here because they expect the environment to be tolerable. I’m not a proponent of vigilante tactics, but there is a massive difference between someone acting out of pure malice and someone drawing a line in the sand after the "law enforcement" (the mods) has taken a completely indifferent stance.

So you either stick to that or just roll over and take it, regardless of how or why they decide to shut something down.

Fourth and final time 😁: I am neither advocating for nor justifying crude insults—but there is no hate speech occurring here.

and mods are human, maybe some people value freedom more than the rules, so sometimes they overlook things 🤷

😲 😲 😲

Following that logic (which I certainly do not support), Judolina also valued freedom more than the (forum) rules.

But the mods hold the power, not Judo. 😉

That's all I've got to say about that. 🙂

Nicholas King said:And I’m basically giving him a free pass—absolving him of any wrongdoing whatsoever—but where exactly? 😕 Look, I’ll be the first to admit the guy was throwing gasoline on the fire and being straight-up insulting—he absolutely was. But at the end of the day, he was fueling the flames. Now, regarding the moderator's post—it’s sitting right there among the first ten comments in the thread. You can't just hide behind that tired old excuse of "mods aren't online 24/7" when it's that visible. He saw the opening post, and he chose not to step in or issue a sanction. This isn't some minor oversight that requires a user to report it; it’s a failure to act on something clearly presented from the jump.

With that being said, Freedom of speech is something we absolutely have to respect—it’s the bedrock of everything we stand for. I mean, if we start picking and choosing who gets to voice their opinions based on what's considered "acceptable" at any given moment, then we've already lost the plot. It might feel uncomfortable sometimes—and let's be honest, some people say things that are frankly infuriating—but the principle itself remains non-negotiable. If you start chipping away at the right to speak, even for people you personally can't stand, you're essentially inviting the government to decide what your own thoughts are allowed to be. It's a slippery slope, and once you go down it, there's no easy way back. We have to protect the right to dissent, period.And, let’s say, even when it comes to debating racism—the whole "why" and "how" of it all—it's just... well, I suppose we could dive into those discussions too.
So, you can't exactly go around closing, deleting, or handing out punishments to every single thread that dares to touch upon this subject—not if you want to maintain any semblance of fairness.
(...)
That’s what I thought—well, at least that was my initial takeaway when I first sat down to read the opening post. I mean, let's be honest—the way he's positioned is just blatantly racist....

For crying out loud, just make up your mind. 😁

Where on earth did you get the idea that I’m actually advocating for closing things down? Honestly, I have no clue where you're pulling that from—it's a bit of a stretch, don't you think? I suppose I should address this—though I'm not entirely sure where to start given how much has been left unsaid. It feels like we're just drifting through these discussions without any real sense of direction, which is... well, let's just say it's frustrating. Maybe I'm being too pedantic, but there seems to be a recurring pattern here that everyone is simply ignoring. It’s almost as if we've collectively decided to look the other way, which—if you ask me—is a bit much. I guess I'll just lay it out plainly, even if it feels like shouting into a void. What kind of topics would even touch upon this—I mean, what specific areas could we possibly dive into to address such a thing?

It’s still not an excuse for acting like that, and they aren't responsible for shutting anything down. I've been on Reddit for nine years now. I've seen plenty of changes over that time, but one of the most recent shifts is this idea that users are here for other users, while the moderators and admins are the ones making all the calls and holding the power to "shut things down."
The appeal process here? Honestly, I don't think it works. The moderation feels way too heavy-handed, but hey, those are just the rules.

Either you stick to your guns or you just roll over, regardless of how he handled things.

Nicholas King said:And I’m basically giving him a free pass—absolving him of any wrongdoing whatsoever—but where exactly? 😕 Look, I’ll be the first to admit the guy was throwing gasoline on the fire and being straight-up insulting—he absolutely was. But at the end of the day, he was fueling the flames. Now, regarding the moderator's post—it’s sitting right there among the first ten comments in the thread. You can't just hide behind that tired old excuse of "mods aren't online 24/7" when it's that visible. He saw the opening post, and he chose not to step in or issue a sanction. This isn't some minor oversight that requires a user to report it; it’s a failure to act on something clearly presented from the jump.

With that being said, Freedom of speech is something we absolutely have to respect—it’s the bedrock of everything we stand for. I mean, if we start picking and choosing who gets to voice their opinions based on what's considered "acceptable" at any given moment, then we've already lost the plot. It might feel uncomfortable sometimes—and let's be honest, some people say things that are frankly infuriating—but the principle itself remains non-negotiable. If you start chipping away at the right to speak, even for people you personally can't stand, you're essentially inviting the government to decide what your own thoughts are allowed to be. It's a slippery slope, and once you go down it, there's no easy way back. We have to protect the right to dissent, period.And, let’s say, even when it comes to debating racism—the whole "why" and "how" of it all—it's just... well, I suppose we could dive into those discussions too.
So, you can't exactly go around closing, deleting, or handing out punishments to every single thread that dares to touch upon this subject—not if you want to maintain any semblance of fairness.
(...)
That’s what I thought—well, at least that was my initial takeaway when I first sat down to read the opening post. I mean, let's be honest—the way he's positioned is just blatantly racist....

For crying out loud, just make up your mind. 😁

Where on earth did you get the idea that I’m actually advocating for closing things down? Honestly, I have no clue where you're pulling that from—it's a bit of a stretch, don't you think? I suppose I should address this—though I'm not entirely sure where to start given how much has been left unsaid. It feels like we're just drifting through these discussions without any real sense of direction, which is... well, let's just say it's frustrating. Maybe I'm being too pedantic, but there seems to be a recurring pattern here that everyone is simply ignoring. It’s almost as if we've collectively decided to look the other way, which—if you ask me—is a bit much. I guess I'll just lay it out plainly, even if it feels like shouting into a void. What kind of topics would even touch upon this—I mean, what specific areas could we possibly dive into to address such a thing?

I’m all for free speech, but this forum still follows the laws of the country we live in. Under US law, we don't have absolute freedom of speech within those legal boundaries. Since the post was clearly racist, there isn't much point in trying to argue it. Besides, mods are only human; some might value freedom more than the rulebook, so they might let things slide occasionally. 🤷

If Judolino was actually that bothered by it, he had plenty of ways to stir the pot without getting banned. He could've done it without any trouble at all.

Nicholas King said:And I’m basically giving him a free pass—absolving him of any wrongdoing whatsoever—but where exactly? 😕 Look, I’ll be the first to admit the guy was throwing gasoline on the fire and being straight-up insulting—he absolutely was. But at the end of the day, he was fueling the flames. Now, regarding the moderator's post—it’s sitting right there among the first ten comments in the thread. You can't just hide behind that tired old excuse of "mods aren't online 24/7" when it's that visible. He saw the opening post, and he chose not to step in or issue a sanction. This isn't some minor oversight that requires a user to report it; it’s a failure to act on something clearly presented from the jump.

With that being said, Freedom of speech is something we absolutely have to respect—it’s the bedrock of everything we stand for. I mean, if we start picking and choosing who gets to voice their opinions based on what's considered "acceptable" at any given moment, then we've already lost the plot. It might feel uncomfortable sometimes—and let's be honest, some people say things that are frankly infuriating—but the principle itself remains non-negotiable. If you start chipping away at the right to speak, even for people you personally can't stand, you're essentially inviting the government to decide what your own thoughts are allowed to be. It's a slippery slope, and once you go down it, there's no easy way back. We have to protect the right to dissent, period.And, let’s say, even when it comes to debating racism—the whole "why" and "how" of it all—it's just... well, I suppose we could dive into those discussions too.
So, you can't exactly go around closing, deleting, or handing out punishments to every single thread that dares to touch upon this subject—not if you want to maintain any semblance of fairness.
(...)
That’s what I thought—well, at least that was my initial takeaway when I first sat down to read the opening post. I mean, let's be honest—the way he's positioned is just blatantly racist....

For crying out loud, just make up your mind. 😁

Where on earth did you get the idea that I’m actually advocating for closing things down? Honestly, I have no clue where you're pulling that from—it's a bit of a stretch, don't you think? I suppose I should address this—though I'm not entirely sure where to start given how much has been left unsaid. It feels like we're just drifting through these discussions without any real sense of direction, which is... well, let's just say it's frustrating. Maybe I'm being too pedantic, but there seems to be a recurring pattern here that everyone is simply ignoring. It’s almost as if we've collectively decided to look the other way, which—if you ask me—is a bit much. I guess I'll just lay it out plainly, even if it feels like shouting into a void. What kind of topics would even touch upon this—I mean, what specific areas could we possibly dive into to address such a thing?

Look, I wasn't even pointing the finger at you. 😉

Nicholas King said:Moderating "social science" is a lot like working a toll booth at a Vicksburg rest stop on the interstate—twice a day someone rolls up and pays their fee, and the rest of the time you’re just sitting there grinding through Sudoku. 😁

Then, out of nowhere, this massive line starts forming, and you're just caught off guard—totally unaccustomed and unprepared. That's when the chaos kicks in: the mess, the congestion, the absolute shouting matches between pissed-off drivers—and you’re just standing there, paralyzed, not knowing what to do or how to handle it.

That is precisely how this moderated thread regarding racism went down. First off, the topic was opened by some newbie 🙄—highly suspicious. Secondly, they chose to open it on a subforum they know is under-moderated (rather than, say, Politics, where they wouldn't last five minutes)—also highly suspicious. Thirdly, the intro of the thread is dominated by yet another newbie 🙄—suspicious once again. It’s more than enough justification to "locate, lock, and ban."

And then, the most predictable thing in the universe happens: when people see that the firefighters aren't showing up (because there are too few of them, they're inexperienced, or they've lost their way), they start trying to put out the fire themselves, using whatever tools they have. Judolino might be doing it with kerosene, but even that is better—if we're being honest and fair (since he isn't an idiot who ignores the consequences)—than just sitting on one's hands and saying, "Damn, this isn't my fight." At this point, it doesn't matter who anyone is or who likes whom on this site.

To ignore the context in which this whole mess unfolded—to sanction someone without acknowledging that the administration made a massive screw-up (there are plenty of indictable sentences that sat unaddressed for days)—is, at the very least, incorrect.

Did Judolino offend people? Absolutely. But labeling him with "hate speech" suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of what hate speech actually is. Hate speech isn't just any expression of animosity. Even if he gets a permanent ban, the reason behind it matters. It’s not the same thing whether someone ends up in prison for stealing a chicken or for something much more severe.

The man was just fighting the fire the only way he knew how—and he messed up. But where were all of you when things were actually burning?

Edit: On KzB, it was written, "Believe it or not, people have the right to be racists." This is an incredibly, incredibly ambiguous sentence. The question is: does a person become a racist simply by having "racist thoughts" without ever acting on them, or only when they manifest that racism in some "external" form? What someone thinks about others is their private business as long as it remains a thought—though, I suppose, the possibility of never manifesting those thoughts is highly questionable.

However, in this specific situation, this debate is entirely pointless (and the quoted sentence is completely irrelevant), because we are talking about actions—about a clear manifestation of racism that would be punishable by much more serious measures than mere bans or temporary suspensions. The sentence regarding the "logical and necessary action in accordance with that hatred" could have—perhaps?—caused actual legal headaches for Reddit. In that sense, Judolino actually did us a favor, because now you have something to wave around in your counter-arguments.

He could have handled this more politely. He could have just reported the whole thread, or started a new one about the appeal and laid out the argument that it’s about racism in a few sentences.

That said, free speech should be respected, including discussions about racism—the why, the how, all of it.
You can't just shut down, delete, and punish every single thread that even touches the subject.

And it’s especially uncalled for to label participants as Hitler sympathizers. There's a clear line between hate speech and an actual discussion about it.

Having read the original post, yeah, it was definitely framed in a racist way... but there are plenty of ways to deal with that without stooping to that "level."🙂

darksurfer4 said:I’m struggling to wrap my head around one thing here—it’s as if the Soviet regime carried out a full-scale genocide against the Ukrainian people, yet somehow... less than ten years later, Ukrainians are fighting tooth and nail in the trenches against the Red Army. There wasn't some massive wave of desertion among the Ukrainians; instead, you have Kyiv standing tall as a hero city, and Odessa, man, they are defending that place with such insane, frantic determination. You even have Ukrainian partisans hitting German supply lines and everything else under the sun...

To be fair, I suppose it comes down to that guy Bandera, though from what I gather, he actually enjoyed support from Moscow at one point as an anti-Polish nationalist, so he fought the Germans, then flipped to side with them, then turned back against them again...

A truly bizarre individual, really.🤷

The explanation is pretty simple: Ukrainians welcomed the Germans as liberators.
They expected that if they sided with the Axis powers, they would finally gain freedom from the Soviet Union.

However, Goering, Himmler, and Hitler decided to exterminate the Ukrainians because they viewed them as an inferior race. Goering's famous line about doing everything possible to make things work until someone dies is well known.

The atrocities the Germans committed—both against Ukrainians and Russians—after their initial lightning advance through Russia were so horrific that Stalin didn't even seem that bad to the Ukrainians anymore.

Take the first group of POWs, those 600,000 people whom Heinrich Himmler personally visited. After his inspection, he coldly decided they should starve to death. The Germans just watched those people die of hunger for days. There were even instances of cannibalism; people were so starving they turned on each other, which apparently entertained the SS members.

That was just the first group of prisoners and just one example of what started happening to them.

In reality, both Stalin and the Nazis did terrible things to that nation. The difference is the Nazis planned to wipe them out, while Stalin just wanted them obedient and occupied.
So, take your pick. 🤷

Basically, the worst crimes were committed under Nazism and Communism. Though, if you look at the numbers, Communists killed many times more people than the Nazis, simply because Communist regimes weren't in power long enough to match those totals.

A little off-topic, don't mind me 😁:
When the Germans reached Moscow, the great German general Guderian clashed with Hitler. He insisted that the forces, which had been split into three directions, concentrate on Moscow, which was only a few days of fighting away and ready to fall. Instead, Hitler decided on Stalingrad, purely out of spite because the city bore Stalin's name. In Stalingrad, it was just Germans and 5,000 Americans. General Paulus didn't want anyone else in that fight except the American legionnaires; it was the elite of the German army fighting there.

But anyway, that has nothing to do with the Holodomor. It's just how it all started to end...

Just a heads-up: I’m running this on a 17" LCD at its native 1280x1024 resolution. At that size, viewing a 1024 x 768 image isn't an issue at all, even when you're scrolling through threads on Reddit.

Let alone an 800 x 600 shot.

Besides, there are plenty of tools available—Reddit can just scale the images down for you, and if you click one, it pops up in full size. Simple enough.

Even the file sizes shouldn't be a dealbreaker. Sure, you can always link to high-res HD images instead of posting them directly, but stuff like this—plus larger avatars—should fit in just fine without any drama.

Karen Cook51 said:Why would anyone be stuck using a 17'' screen? What are you even talking about?

Look, if someone doesn't care about screen real estate, they just want the thing to work. Plenty of people have much bigger priorities than obsessing over how many inches they can squeeze out of a monitor. I’m telling you this as someone who works on two setups at once—one big, one small. 😉 Right now, I'm typing this from my third setup, a 17''. And honestly? It hasn't ruined my workflow at all. Everything works fine, just like you said. ☕

As for avatars, whatever. I don't link them to what century we're living in. As long as the forum actually functions without throwing constant 503 errors, I don't care about the pictures.

And what's this supposed to mean, "the year of fast internet"? 😕 Speed is just whatever you pay for. Mine hasn't changed in years because I refuse to throw money at service providers for stuff that isn't worth half the price. It’s got nothing to do with 2011, GPUs, or "standards."😁

Maybe because that resolution was standard for CRT monitors, and you can't find those TVs anymore, let alone a computer monitor.

Karen Cook51 said:Why would anyone be stuck using a 17'' screen? What are you even talking about?

Look, if someone doesn't care about screen real estate, they just want the thing to work. Plenty of people have much bigger priorities than obsessing over how many inches they can squeeze out of a monitor. I’m telling you this as someone who works on two setups at once—one big, one small. 😉 Right now, I'm typing this from my third setup, a 17''. And honestly? It hasn't ruined my workflow at all. Everything works fine, just like you said. ☕

As for avatars, whatever. I don't link them to what century we're living in. As long as the forum actually functions without throwing constant 503 errors, I don't care about the pictures.

And what's this supposed to mean, "the year of fast internet"? 😕 Speed is just whatever you pay for. Mine hasn't changed in years because I refuse to throw money at service providers for stuff that isn't worth half the price. It’s got nothing to do with 2011, GPUs, or "standards."😁

Let's break this down.

Someone might just want a car that runs, so they don't need ESP, traction control, AC, or power steering. But that doesn't mean those things aren't standard equipment for most manufacturers today.
Individual priorities don't always align with technological progress. You have to look at the bigger picture.
If we look at current budget PC offers—the kind of cheap junk that falls into the budget category—they come with 20+ inch LCD monitors and HD resolution. VGA ports are ancient history, not to mention everything else.
Just because there are individuals still using prehistoric technology because "it still works" isn't a valid reason to claim that the design and functionality of this American forum haven't moved forward in the last 10 years.

If you're typing on that old 17-inch relic and it hasn't ruined your life, fine. But try opening a screenshot taken on a 24-inch monitor on that same screen.
Besides, if it doesn't bother you, then great. But that's a pretentious stance. Just because it doesn't bother *you* doesn't invalidate the reasons why image scaling still matters on this forum; it stretches and distorts threads on those old junk monitors.

Karen Cook51 said:Why would anyone be stuck using a 17'' screen? What are you even talking about?

Look, if someone doesn't care about screen real estate, they just want the thing to work. Plenty of people have much bigger priorities than obsessing over how many inches they can squeeze out of a monitor. I’m telling you this as someone who works on two setups at once—one big, one small. 😉 Right now, I'm typing this from my third setup, a 17''. And honestly? It hasn't ruined my workflow at all. Everything works fine, just like you said. ☕

As for avatars, whatever. I don't link them to what century we're living in. As long as the forum actually functions without throwing constant 503 errors, I don't care about the pictures.

And what's this supposed to mean, "the year of fast internet"? 😕 Speed is just whatever you pay for. Mine hasn't changed in years because I refuse to throw money at service providers for stuff that isn't worth half the price. It’s got nothing to do with 2011, GPUs, or "standards."😁

You’re missing the big picture again. Just because you personally don't want to pay for high-speed internet doesn't change the facts. Even the most basic, budget plans today are light years ahead of the dial-up speeds we dealt with ten years ago. The current rules are stuck in the stone age.

I'll say it again: back when people actually worried about avatar sizes, the logic was that larger images meant more bytes, which slowed down page loads and ate up bandwidth. From the perspective of outdated, obsolete technology, sure, that made sense. In 2024? Not even close.

Like I said, let's just run a massive Reddit poll and see what's actually happening with everyone's connection speeds and setups.
Then we can ask if an 800 x 600 image is actually a problem, or if a tiny 150 x 150 avatar is supposedly "killing" the connection and preventing pages from loading.

It’s pathetic when an employer tries to cut corners on everything except their own pockets 😁

We should run a poll on Reddit and see if everyone here is actually as behind the times as they seem when it comes to tech 😛

Finally 😁

Welcome to the 21st century and the era of high-speed broadband 🙏

I remember when people used to complain about avatar sizes. They’d say large files would kill your connection—too much data for some poor soul's dial-up modem to handle 🤣

But while I’m wandering through the vast wilderness of the web, seeing Reddit communities where avatars are at least 150x150 or 200x200, this site is still clinging to tiny little thumbnails where you can't see a thing, all because of some outdated image size rule

That feels like it belongs in the age of 17-inch monitors with 1024x768 resolution—which was, wow, massive back then... basically HD. Now, those tiny images just get stretched across the screen and ruin the whole aesthetic 🤣
Was it DirectX 8 or did 9 come out around then? 🤣

Like I said, welcome to 2011: the year of fast internet, multi-core processors, HD graphics cards, and 20+ inch monitors becoming the norm 👍

Eric Collins5 said:I have a massive issue with that bolded part on these American forums.
It’s pretty obvious I don't lean far enough to the right for them, because, frankly, I can post on an actual hardcore nationalist forum without anyone batting an eye.

😳

And then they have the nerve to tell me that the standards here in the US aren't ultra-right-wing.

😳

The issue I run into with the leftists and liberals is their inability to handle a differing opinion. There's this almost fanatical belief that their specific ideology or worldview is the only correct one. You see it all the time in debates—once they realize they can't win someone over with actual arguments, they just pivot to insults and belittling people.

Take the whole conversation around homosexuality. In today's world, it’s supposed to be treated as completely normal and "cool," and heaven forbid anyone openly suggests they don't view it that way.

It gets to the point where most people just stay quiet. They don't want to speak their minds because one single ideology currently dominates everything.

Look at the Weimar Republic. On paper, it was the strongest liberal democracy ever, but it only functioned through force. It eventually gave rise to Adolf Hitler, who won through democratic elections after being banned and even jailed.

You can't force things. Even today, terms like "political correctness" and "hate speech" are often weaponized just to oppress anyone thinking differently.

People should be allowed to decide for themselves what's right and wrong. Let the chips fall where they may.

Internet censorship and content restrictions are hallmarks of dictatorships and totalitarian regimes.

Look at China, for example—it’s still a communist state. They wrap everything up in "national security" and protecting the people from enemies.

Even before the internet, we had terrorists, maniacs, and killers. Long before violent video games, there was actual violence.

It all boils down to this specific ideology—which I see being branded as "liberal" or "democratic"—that basically just pushes its own propaganda while trampling on fundamental rights. They claim to champion freedom and free speech, but only if you’re saying exactly what their ideology wants you to say.

If you think "modernly" and follow their script, you're fine. But the second you have a different take on a topic, they come after you. It's the same deal with manufactured concepts like political correctness or "hate speech." It's all just tools for abuse.

Honestly, we’re always quick to jump on the moderators whenever we get the chance. Sometimes they're justified, sometimes they aren't, but you rarely see anyone actually give them a pat on the back.

No moderator is perfect—there are good ones and bad ones. Lately, I've been spending a lot of time in the politics section, reading and weighing in, and I have to say, Powerlock deserves credit for solid moderation. He respects everyone's take, joins the conversation, and isn't afraid to state his own view. So, yeah, kudos from me. 😁

On another note, if you don't mind my input, whenever I stumble into a subforum where the mods seem off, I just stay away. I don't bother posting because I know I won't be able to speak my mind freely. Trying to push back against a mod or correct a mistake feels pointless; they wouldn't be in charge if the owners didn't think they were doing a good job, and any conflict is just counterproductive anyway. Why even bother? For all I know, my impression might be wrong. The people running this site will shape it however they see fit.

But hey, I can't help but nitpick a little. 😬

If I can pivot to something positive: personally, I find the politics section really easy to read and participate in. Opinions are respected, and you can dive into plenty of topics—even stuff related to politics that doesn't strictly fall under that umbrella. It's especially good that hate speech, incitement to violence, insults, and trolling are penalized. That stuff happens, but it gets handled. As long as you express your views in a civilized way and respect the people you're talking to, you can pretty much say whatever you want.

I need a power supply for this build

ASUS P8P67 Le motherboard, iP67 Rev B3, DDR3, audio, S-ATA, RAID, G-LAN, PCI-E, eSATA, USB 3.0, CrossFire, FW, ATX, socket 1155

Intel Core i7 2600 processor, box, socket 1155, 3.40GHz, 9MB cache, integrated graphics, quad Core

PC-10600 memory, 4 GB KINGMAX, DDR3 1333 MHz, 2x2GB kit

1000.0 GB hard drive, WESTERN DIGITAL Caviar Black, SATA3, 64MB cache, 7200rpm, desktop

PCI-E SAPPHIRE AMD RADEON HD 6970 graphics card, 2GB DDR5, HDMI, DVI, DP, D-SUB, HDTV

Thinking about an Enermax, but would I be making a mistake if I went with Scythe instead? They both have 600 w options. Doesn't seem overkill, but I definitely wouldn't want to go any lower than that for this setup...

Need some advice here. Which one of these two power supplies would you guys go with?

600W SCYTHE Stronger Plug In

or

620W ENERMAX Liberty ECO II

Taylor Campbell4 said:Can memory actually limit CPU overclocking? Like, if I bump up the memory clock slightly, will I be able to push the processor higher?

On older boards—like my old Abit ones—you could either underclock the RAM or set a specific ratio between the system clock and the DRAM so the memory wouldn't exceed its factory speed.

That way, I could hunt for a stable CPU overclock knowing the memory wasn't going to be the bottleneck.
That’s how it should work, really. If you try to crank both at once, you end up guessing whether it's the CPU or the RAM causing the instability.

But this current board won't let me underclock. If I try to run it below 800 MHz, I just get an "overclock failed" error and it kicks me straight back to the BIOS.

There has to be a trick. I tried what wiredmarlin5 suggested regarding adjusting settings, but that didn't quite do the trick either. 🤣

The only options left are what wiredmarlin5 mentioned: stick with 2 gigs, or maybe bump the voltage to 2.2V and set latencies to auto to see what happens.

The board doesn't give you much room to play around; if things go wrong, it just fails to boot and resets everything to defaults. Hopefully, I can get it working again. 😳 😁

Honestly, I have a feeling overclocking this board is actually pretty straightforward and I'm just overcomplicating it. 😁

Looks like I’ll have to mess around with it. From what I can tell, the RAM is likely my bottleneck.

For now, I'm just going to leave it running 24/7. It’s working fine, and I don't see much point in pushing it further.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/8212/hzz.jpg

I mostly just wanted to overclock it a bit to run some benchmarks and see what happens. Just for the hell of it. 😁

There's an option on this board... Auto It’s just the default option. 😁

If I try to change things, it just asks me to enter the values manually, and I have zero clue what numbers I'm supposed to be plugging in for some of those options. 🤣

They say messing with the N/A causes board issues, so I stayed away. But when I actually tried to tweak it, my memory speed options just vanished. I gave up on it.

The worst part is I actually found some solid tutorials online for overclocking a few different CPUs on this board. They had everything—step-by-step breakdowns, BIOS screenshots, the whole nine yards. And yet, I'm still sitting here staring at a screen, having no clue why this isn't working. 😬

I'll give it a shot. There’s gotta be a catch somewhere... though honestly, even at 3 GHz, I'm perfectly happy. 🙂

wiredmarlin5 said:I can't really give you any solid advice here. I'm no expert, and I've never even worked with a board like that. 🙂

Thanks anyway. 👍

I'll check back in if I can figure something out. I'll only dive back into it once I have more time and patience—I really hate rebooting my PC. 😁