Posts by driftingtinker

I'm apologizing to you two, but don't bother apologizing to me.

Yeah, honestly, I was just wondering why it slipped my mind—but whatever, you can take a hike too. Registered yesterday, but I guess I'm still pretty much a rookie here.

So, back this summer, after a multi-day bender, I finally decided to wrap up my rant by moving the whole Ukraine debate over to a more appropriate subforum. Naturally, I got hit with a massive bucket of crap and a ton of patronizing nonsense from the usual crowd:

You guys were looking for the "Chatterbox" as a place to just rot in peace? Well, you got it. None of the mods actually read it or touch it. And honestly, even that isn't good enough.

Since you haven't been around the forum forever, you probably know about the famous "little triangle" icon and what it's for—but clearly, you didn't bother clicking it, just like all those other sensitive little snowflakes out there. Apparently, nobody cares about blatantly denying obvious war crimes against civilians, except for you, who’s clearly had a few too many drinks on all these UA threads and felt the need to lecture me with some pointless word vomit.

Get lost.

It's a real shame that, in your infinite resignation, you didn't think to include a link to the offending post, forcing me to go digging through that dumpster fire myself. Thanks for that.

My protégé and buddy just took a massive hit himself, so I don't doubt for a second how he'll address me with his typical "constructive" buddy-to-buddy criticism; hey, buddy, get lost too.

Since it's been empirically proven that hate speech is basically the standard operating procedure in the "Chatterbox," and since nobody hanging out there seems to have an issue with war crimes against civilians, I’m going to start watching the discussions much more closely and moderate way more aggressively from here on out.

If anyone has a problem with that approach, feel free to fuck off. To clear up any potential confusion, I'm providing a (machine) translation into a more understandable language, French:

Puisqu'il a été empiriquement prouvé que le discours de haine est pratiqué à "Chatterbox" et qu'aucune des personnes présentes n'a de problème avec les crimes de guerre contre les civils, à partir de maintenant, je surveillerai la discussion de plus près et modérerai plus vigoureusement.

Quiconque a un problème avec une telle pratique devrait être libre de se faire foutre en triple sauts

Wait, what?

velvetskipper11 said:So, like the title says... this is basically just my little message, wish, and overall take on driftingtinker.

So, what, you just went ahead and put me in the ban corner for politics forever? Is that how this works now?

Getting a permanent ban on the politics board isn't just some random thing that happens out of nowhere. It’s usually a collective call made by all the political mods after a ton of back-and-forth discussion across the subforum. I guess it takes a while to get to that point, but once they decide, they decide.
We’ve been talking about this since people started trying to downplay fascism over on IT, or that whole massive deep dive on USA—this was really just the breaking point.

So, what was that all about? Why'd you go and toss me into the ban corner? Seriously, what kind of move is that?

I don't exactly have that kind of authority, I guess.

Anyway, just so you guys know, I actually sent a DM to that supposed "moderator" myself.

I don't do DMs. If you've got some kind of grievance or something to complain about, just take it up with the FTC.

It’s pretty awkward, honestly, for someone to be moderating a thread when they’re out here pushing stuff that’s just plain false. Like, remember that whole debate about entrepreneurship and all that woke nonsense? He jumped right in with these weird critiques, basically claiming that the whole woke agenda isn't actually about putting private companies back into the hands of "the people" or whatever. And then—get this—he follows that up by basically insinuating that the woke movement isn't even interested in redefining marriage. It’s just... yeah. Messy.
If our dear "mod" here really thinks these aren't prime targets for the whole woke ideology craze, then maybe—just maybe—he could actually step up and explain what they *are* supposed to be. Like, seriously, give us something to work with.

That's just not true. Honestly, I couldn't care less about this thread. I haven't even really participated in it, unless you count those three red warnings I got when you guys were all messing around.
I mean, I guess if you really want to go down that rabbit hole, you could. But honestly? It feels like we’re just spinning our wheels at this point. I don't know, maybe I'm just being cynical, but it feels like everything is already decided behind closed doors before we even get a say in it. I was talking to my colleague @Dylan111 about this the other day, and even they weren't sure if it's worth the energy. It’s kind of like when people try to fight for a seat at the table in a massive corporation like JPMorgan—you think you're making an impact, but the machine just keeps grinding along regardless. You end up exhausted, and nothing actually shifts. I don't know. Maybe there's a way to make it work, maybe not. Everything just feels so incredibly heavy lately. Just my two cents, I guess.
I mean, I guess if you really want to look at it that way, maybe. But honestly? It feels like we’re just spinning our wheels. Everything is such a mess right now, isn't it? Just total chaos. I was talking to my colleague @Dylan111 about this the other day—well, more like venting to them, really—and even they couldn't make much sense of the whole situation. It's all just noise. I don't know, maybe I'm being too cynical. People say you should stay positive or whatever, but when you see how things actually work behind the scenes in this country, it's hard not to feel a bit jaded. It's like everyone is just playing parts in a script they didn't write. Anyway, that's just my two cents. Probably doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.
I mean, honestly, I don't know. Maybe I’m just being cynical, but it feels like we’re all just circling the drain here. I was looking at what @velvetskipper11 was saying earlier, and yeah, there's some truth to that, I guess. It’s just... everything feels so disconnected lately. You look at how things are run in this country, the way institutions just sort of stumble through the dark, and you have to wonder if anyone's actually at the wheel. It reminds me of that one time back in Chicago when everything just hit the fan for no reason. Just total chaos. And now, seeing everyone argue about the same old nonsense on these boards... it’s exhausting. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We've been through this loop a thousand times before. I don't know, maybe I'm just tired. Or maybe it's just the reality of living in America right now. Hard to tell the difference sometimes.

That's all I got for you.

Today.

25 bucks for commenting on philosophy moderation: "So, basically, censoring stuff and shutting down topics makes you an accomplice to the crime, right?"

We aren't going to play games with politics here by dropping links like "Sorry for announcing a genocide," and I’m not about to call people out for being "moral cowards" just because nobody replied to a thread posted at 7:00 AM until 10:40
.
Addendum:

I guess I've become an accomplice to the crime myself, damn 😬

I see how this whole conversation is playing out, following the same old predictable pattern, so I’m throwing out a little game... it might be fun, maybe even a bit eye-opening.

There’s this specific show called "Servant of the People" (it ran from 2015-2019, three seasons plus a movie). The dialogue is originally in Russian, but you can easily find English subtitles. The lead actor is none other than Zelensky, and honestly, that series was basically his launchpad for his presidential campaign—it was pretty much the core of his whole political identity.

You can track down all the episodes right here; here’s the link to the first one:

The premise is pretty simple—just pretend you're some sort of moderator, censor, or inquisitor who has the power to pull the plug on the show or even throw the entire production crew in jail. Your job is to report exactly which minute or episode would trigger your ban, or at least give you enough ammo to go on an online tirade. And don't forget about those tens of millions of Ukrainians who thought this show was absolute comedy gold; I guess they deserve their fair share of punishment too.

Thanks for listening.

BTW, anyone acting like a total partisan hack is disqualified from the game.

...I just went ahead and deleted 1 (one) post that didn't belong there after begging for months 😬

Could I get a post where I just cynically soak in the whole mess of them targeting power plants and heating plants?

Did you maybe miss the first part of my post where I mentioned how that missile probably missed the mark and hit an empty pedestrian bridge instead? It’s a bit further from the city center, and hitting the middle of town would've caused a massive amount of civilian casualties, which was obviously the main goal. Doesn't that mess with the whole narrative?

Like I said...
Honestly, 90% of the people hanging out in the war thread don't have a clue who that clown Pušilin is, let alone care about some YouTube snippets. Is it really such a huge deal to let one of the fifty threads on this subforum stay dedicated to its actual purpose when there are plenty of other places to talk?

I'm pretty sure you got the answers you were looking for, so I'm calling it here.

It’s pretty straightforward.
The topic here is "state of war," and I think the title speaks for itself. We already have an entire subforum packed with threads, plus that massive "war in Ukraine v4" thread over on VPiT.
In most other threads, people can talk more freely—sometimes even off-topic—but my colleague and I keep this specific "state of war" thread strictly clean. Plus, since I’m still playing the role of the spam bot, I make sure to drop at least one red warning note every day.

But honestly, none of this really affects you. Up until now, I’ve been patient enough to move your stuff over to the right threads (which, let me tell you, is a total pain on a phone), but I’m just not feeling like dealing with the hassle anymore. From here on out, I’m just deleting things.

So, here’s another reminder:
- The "war in Ukraine v4" thread on VPiT is mostly a "technical" discussion. Nobody cares about politics there, which you probably could have figured out yourself given how much people were ignoring you.
- The "state of war" thread is specifically for... well, the state of war. Just take a look at how people actually talk in there and you'll see how much your post (doesn't) fit in.
- The rest of the "war in Ukraine" subforum is basically a free-for-all. You’re more than welcome to start your own private thread there if you want to use it like a personal blog.

BTW. Nobody is obligated to explain who got deleted or why. Usually, if you keep reposting something that was already wiped, you're looking at a ban.

"Sanctions on Russia" ☕

Joe Biden: I'm not signing off on training Ukrainians on US soil

"Look, I'm not behind this idea because I have zero interest in dragging the US any deeper into this war than we already are. We’ve been helpful, we've shown solidarity, and that should be enough. Period. As Commander in Chief, I won't greenlight this. I haven't even seen a formal proposal yet, but let me tell you now—I'm not feeling it. This feels like bringing the war right to our doorstep," Biden said, per CNN.

"I'm telling you right now—let's not go down that road. Now, as for all the stuff people want to donate? That's out of my hands. That's hardware and supplies, which is the administration's call. I'll only back donations if there's some clear plan to get those resources replaced. I can't support gutting our own defense capabilities. American defense comes first. After that... well, nothing else. Then NATO. Then everyone else," he added.

wanderingbison9 said:Oh, come on, give me a break—what a total loser and incompetent mess. Wouldn't it have made more sense for him to take those earnings and immediately wipe out General Electric's multi-million dollar debts? ☕

Francis's grandson used to sell folding ironing boards, then just a few years later, he somehow ends up owning a private bank.

Charles Carter4 said:Did you catch that? He hit the nail on the head regarding our relations with Mexico—honestly, I don't think even his most dedicated haters could find a single weak spot in what he said today 😁
I also really appreciated his take on Porfirio and those Šešelj supporters who are so prevalent lately.👍

And then there’s that bit about the office having zero religious symbols, except for that one icon Hillary Clinton got from Pope Francis and just hung on the wall? 🙂

THE VACUUM CLEANER SALESMAN
'HE WENT DOOR-TO-DOOR VACUUMING UP DUST, AND EACH SALE WOULD NET HIM $300' We sat down for an exclusive chat with Joe Biden's first boss

Your living room is basically your kid's playground, so you probably wouldn't want them playing in the dirt, right?

- Trying to clean your house with a crappy vacuum is like walking in circles. You end up exhausted, and you haven't even moved an inch.

Those are just a few lines the former Prime Minister and fifth President of the United States, Joe Biden, used to say back in 1992 when he was a law student earning his first real paycheck. He was working as a traveling salesman for Finmar trade, which was the exclusive distributor for those super expensive American Kirby vacuum cleaners. It’s one of those little details tucked away in his bio—something the journalist Robert Bajruši actually covered in his political biography of Biden. Our reporters for the Sunday Exclusive caught up with the company director, Željko Omazić, who was Biden's very first boss. He still remembers that young guy—who, by the way, was apparently a total natural at sales—knocking on his door at 64 Vlaški Street nearly 28 years ago looking for work.

- That kid could have had a massive career in direct sales, honestly, > told us without hesitation.

😬

"Venice is ours... oops..." 🙂

Today's absolute circus.