Posts by Kenneth Garcia4

I’ve been feeling this more and more lately. It feels like you can’t just watch a game or follow an athlete anymore without a massive, swirling cloud of drama surrounding them. Every single standout performance or even a mediocre slump gets turned into this giant ideological battleground.

Lately, it seems like the players themselves are getting caught in this cycle. Instead of just playing the game, there’s this constant back-and-forth about who is "targeting" whom, who is being "unfairly criticized," or how the media is "biased." It’s exhausting. I miss the days when we could just argue about stats, coaching decisions, or whether a player had ice in their veins, rather than debating the "intentions" of the people reporting on them.

When the discourse shifts from the field/court to the meta-argument about how the coverage is being handled, the actual sport starts to feel like a secondary character in its own story. It feels like a loop where everyone is just defensive and no one is actually talking about the play itself.

Do you guys think the constant media scrutiny is actually changing how athletes behave, or is it just making the fans more cynical?

rustydrifter10 said:I missed your post on the forum earlier, but I've fixed it now. Regarding why those threads were locked and weren't moderated, I already answered you via DM, and we aren't going to go over the same thing twice. As for everything else, the mods and the Women's Corner staff will get back to you when they can—they don't have to respond instantly.

So, basically, it's checkmate. You pull a quote from a private message, and I’m stuck because if I comment or even try to deny it, I'll get a strike (and then a ban) just for bringing up private messages.

I guess I can't even comment on how long this "instantly" is supposed to take, because then I'd be breaking rules about things I'm not allowed to discuss either.

Thanks, I get it now—both your answer to me and where the priorities lie regarding rape victim threads. 👋

William Bennett53 said:Look, this isn't the Women's Corner. We punish trolling here, and if you think you can just keep up with this nonsense, both this thread and your stay here will be cut very short.

William Bennett53, a moderator for this subforum and the right person to answer any questions about how moderation works here

So why does the rulebook say you're a supermoderator for Politics, not the Women's Corner? And why does it also say that appeals and final decisions are handled by supermoderators?

I really don't mind following clear rules, but maybe you could point out which rule I’m breaking right now, or which one mentions the moderator for this section.

• "Appeals are handled by the designated moderator, though their assistant moderators or other administration members who are familiar with the case may also get involved."
• "The final decision on an appeal is made by a supermoderator who reviews all claims from both sides. If they are directly involved, they might even decide before the moderator responds. Administrators will weigh in if they feel it's necessary."
• "List of supermoderators:
  William Bennett53 - Politics.
  Sabaa - Women's Corner."
• "Appeals submitted in an offensive or vulgar manner won't be considered"

I honestly don't see any designated moderators, assistant moderators, supermoderators, or admins stepping up regarding those three threads about the gray area of sexual assault. All I see is my thread being ignored, and I don't see anything offensive or vulgar about it.

So, yeah, maybe I'm just being slow, but since you're the moderator here, could you please explain the right way to ask these things? I just want to know what kind of questions are allowed and what gets someone banned in the sexual assault threads over in the Women's Corner.

William Bennett53 said:There are probably tons of sensitive people out there who would think we're changing things on them or whatever.
I’m calling question 6 answered. 👍

Yeah, I guess deleting everything and ignoring it all is way less offensive than just picking at little pieces. 🤔 And honestly, nothing is more insulting than labeling a newbie a total moron who can't even remember what they posted a few hours ago. 🤔

I can't wait to see the answers to the rest of these questions. Such "sensitive" topics.

P.S. Question number 9. Why isn't it the actual moderators or supermods of Women's Corner (Sabaa, Nero, Grace Moore11) or the specific mods involved in a topic (6: rustydrifter10) answering me? Instead, it's some random supermod from Politics—who, by any chance, comes from the exact same PDF as a mod who hasn't been moderated or even sanctioned for direct insults, diagnosing people, or flaming? Did I miss something in the rules of unknown? Can the supermod of unknown come explain the policy and the moderation failures over at Women's Corner?

Dorian Gray, I don't know if you're trying to help the Politics mod or the Women's Corner mods, but you're really missing the mark here. 👍

William Bennett53 said:unknown. I mean, I only closed that thread on the forum because I realized it wasn't about the moderator, and I totally missed that it had prohibited content in there. We ended up just deleting the whole thing anyway.

Thanks for getting back to me, but I wasn't really asking why it was deleted—and honestly, it wasn't even about the prohibited stuff. I wanted to know why everything else that *wasn't* against the rules got wiped out too. So, yeah, my question still stands. Along with all the others.

1. Why was the first thread locked, and for how long?
2. Why hasn't the second thread even been moderated for days?
3. Why was the third thread shut down immediately while the second one stayed open, even though they’re basically the same thing?
4. Why are only direct insults—like calling someone a jerk or a loser—getting people banned, but not the insults directed at rape victims or women in general? I mean, there's all this stuff about "risk mitigation" for sexual assault and labeling women as "promiscuous" or mentally unstable. What happened to the rest of Rule 6 in the Women's Corner? If that doesn't count as harassment or flaming, then we might as well just use bots or scripts instead of mods. We don't really need actual humans with common sense if they're just going to hand out bans for direct insults and ignore everything else. If those comments aren't considered offensive or flaming, couldn't they have at least been moved to off-topic?
5. Why were the posts after the moderator's warning and the supposed closing just deleted instead of being left up with a ban applied?
6. Why was my entire previous thread on unknown wiped out because of one single question that got a user banned (by rustydrifter10), yet an identical thread on unknown was opened just before and then closed (by William Bennett53)?
7. Is there even a specific policy or guiding philosophy behind moderating these types of threads (which are meant for support) if one even exists?
a) Is constantly lecturing people about reducing the risk of sexual assault considered off-topic or flaming?
b) Is mourning the victims of false accusations considered off-topic or flaming?
c) Is diagnosing mental or intellectual issues actually allowed under the rules?
d) Is it okay to deny the Penal Code of the United States and just make up your own definitions of sexual assault?
I just want to know so I can avoid them in the future.
8. If the moderators of the Women's Corner don't plan on responding after being asked across four different threads over seven weeks, I guess I'd appreciate it if they just said so clearly.

Thanks.

I only see my cousins who are ten years older or younger than me about once every five years. Honestly, I’m hearing for the first time that that could actually be a struggle for some people. 😲

So, economy is another topic on the table, but honestly, all these debates about the military and taxes always seem to boil down to Americans comparing themselves to everyone else. 😳

Sarah Doyle54 said:Exactly. 👍Exactly what I mean.

Come on, guys. We're already talking about cultural differences—specifically in the business world. Why should we limit the conversation to just food, drinks, or how people raise their kids? 😕

Chloe Roberts2 said:Should we really be allowing all this off-topic stuff over in the Women's Corner? I don't really see why those posts shouldn't just be moved to a new thread. They definitely don't belong in the discussion about expats.

I mean, my posts include comparisons involving people from Denmark and other foreign nationals. 😳

Jamie Newman5 said:Just picked up my Medicare card and the entire thing is printed in American.

It’s pretty obvious that any doctor who takes this thing in their hands is going to be staring at American text, and honestly, it would make sense if it was at least bilingual—if not full English—to actually be useful.

Is there some kind of logical explanation for this, or is it just another case of total incompetence from the bureaucrats and lawmakers?

Every country does things in their own language. I don't think the language even matters that much since the ID number is what counts. Besides, the name, last name, and everything else is always in the exact same spot under that same number anyway.

velvettrucker52 said:Oh, Fesa, you should be the very last person talking about passing gas in a coffee shop.
You let one rip whenever you feel like it and act like it's no big deal.
Some people find your posts fitting, some find them funny, while others report them because they find them out of line, tacky, or rude. Sometimes you actually steer a conversation in the right direction, and sometimes you completely derail it, but generally speaking, you mostly just pass gas in peace.

@Joshua Williams82 - Zelenskyy is going to turn out exactly how you make him. As long as everyone nitpicks every single letter, whines about every misplaced glance, takes offense at every word, and just waits for the next opportunity to start a drama fest... things are going to go south.
Yes, I used the word "whine." That is precisely how this looks to me. Go ahead, crucify me just because I used that word. 🙏

Since other people's posts can also be funny to some and totally inappropriate to others—sometimes helping a thread and sometimes ruining it—do you actually think the whole Zelenskyy forum is basically just full of people acting out? 🤷

velvettrucker52 said:Oh, Fesa, you should be the very last person talking about passing gas in a coffee shop.
You let one rip whenever you feel like it and act like it's no big deal.
Some people find your posts fitting, some find them funny, while others report them because they find them out of line, tacky, or rude. Sometimes you actually steer a conversation in the right direction, and sometimes you completely derail it, but generally speaking, you mostly just pass gas in peace.

@Joshua Williams82 - Zelenskyy is going to turn out exactly how you make him. As long as everyone nitpicks every single letter, whines about every misplaced glance, takes offense at every word, and just waits for the next opportunity to start a drama fest... things are going to go south.
Yes, I used the word "whine." That is precisely how this looks to me. Go ahead, crucify me just because I used that word. 🙏

And man, is there censorship.

rustydrifter10 said:But honestly, that’s just the kind of debate we tolerate over at Zelenskyy's place, and look, as a moderator, I'm not out here defending anything that violates our rules. If someone dropped a post like that on the Green Party board, or Politics, or any of those other sub-forums, they’d get hit with a red card immediately; on some other boards, maybe they wouldn't, but this is one of those places where things are handled differently. In my personal opinion, Modic wrote a post that was just plain stupid and totally unnecessary, but let's be real, there are millions of posts like that on this forum every day. What really bugs me as an admin isn't the content itself, but the way she started coming after the mods personally—that’s where she crossed the line. She just overreacted, plain and simple.

It isn't against the rules, so it's all funny and chill and laid back. It's kind of like farting in a coffee shop—it's not illegal, nothing says you can't do it, so it's just quirky and cool, right? And if you're bothered by it, then I guess you're just being uptight and offensive. 😁

velvettrucker52 said:Look, if we were moderating a Politics sub or some structured PDF with clearly defined rules and specific behavioral standards—where we actually lead by example to show users how to interact according to those guidelines—then I’d say it makes sense to demand that level of decorum.
But that isn't the reality here at ZK. ZK is a messy, loud, and unfiltered PDF.
I don't see the point in moderators modeling a type of behavior that isn't actually required of the users and doesn't fit the general vibe of this PDF.
What, are we supposed to write all these gentle, polite, sterile, and measured posts like we're following the strict academic standards of a Viennese school?
And then what? We expect you all to act the same way? We just banish every argument, every bit of banter, every troll, and every joke?
At that rate, we might as well just shut down the chat and the off-topic section too. 👋
Sure, we could do that, but a ZK that's been stripped of its flavor won't appeal to anyone.
Personally, I wouldn't moderate a place like that, nor would I bother posting there.

I don't know... I'll leave it to the mods and admins to review what happened. I really have nothing else to add.

I just wanted to pop in and say 😂😂😂. Just give it a little more time. 🍿

P.S. I'm on Ace's side with this one.

Michelle Ward3 said:I don't have an engineering degree, but I have an example for you.🙂

I remembered a specific problem that frustrated me to tears. Even back then, I couldn't figure out how to set up the equation for my sixth grader, and even after asking for help on a forum, nothing clicked.😬
To be honest, I still wouldn't know how to teach it today unless I just told her to "guess!" And when it comes to math, I refuse to resort to that.

It goes like this:

Claire and Sarah picked 20 strawberries.
Sarah says, "If you give me two strawberries, we will both have the same amount."
How many strawberries did Claire pick, and how many did Sarah pick?

The catch is that at that age, kids only know basic addition and subtraction.

It’s basically just guesswork, which is why the numbers stay small. 😁

Or they just end up drawing little strawberries instead of actually solving equations.

Michelle Phillips54 said:I totally agree. Especially since the moderator specifically asked everyone to stop making this about Nora, but people just ignored that and started dragging her mother through the mud instead.

So one single post equals a smear campaign?

And honestly, the moderator did such a "great" job asking for space that a former mod and an ex-admin actually had to step in and ask what she was even trying to say or what the topic was.

Elizabeth Baker38 said:I didn't lock the thread because there's some new forum rule banning talk about Nora Fora or anything related to her. It's just that, in my opinion, the discussion crossed a line and stopped being healthy.
Look, everyone shared their thoughts, the money was raised, the little girl went off for treatment—let's just be decent people and stop dragging out one family's business. Let's just wish the little one all the best.🤷

It wasn't the family being dragged through the mud, it was more like the typical American mentality—performative charity and people trying to score political points before an election.
Nobody said a single negative thing about the little girl. Honestly, only one person even wrote one negative sentence about the mother—is that really enough to shut down an entire thread?
Is that where we draw the line on a healthy debate? If it is, I’d be happy to point out about fifty other threads in the Women's Corner where that exact same line has been crossed. Pretty much in every other post, actually.

I started a debate over on the "I don't get it..." thread in the Women's Corner, using this post:

The discussion really took off, and the mods actually split it into a brand new thread:
"Something is rotten in Denmark again, or why certain guys have endless sympathy and a second chance" (I didn't pick that title, by the way)

The first few pages weren't moved so we could steer away from Nora For (that's what isadora and Tupelo suggested), which worked—we ended up talking about healthcare, democracy, socialism vs. capitalism, medical ethics, civil society, civic education, politicians, elections, Iceland, getting treatment abroad, how celebrities get treated, pirate parties, the Catholic Church... you name it.

But apparently, that wasn't enough, because they issued this moderator warning:

Tupelo said:So,
I think we can talk about this without constantly bringing up Nora.
The system and our collective (lack of) awareness have shown so many flaws that we could talk about them for days on their own.
Let the kid go her own way; we have plenty of other material to work with.

Look, maybe I'm being totally biased because I'm a parent, and I'm sorry if I am, but I think this would be fine since we have more than enough to discuss now.

As for politics, the Politics sub-forum is still the better place for those debates, so I suggest moving there. You can touch on it, just don't make it the main focus.

And then, finally, the thread was locked with this post:

Elizabeth Baker38 said:Let's stop dragging the Šitum family through the mud.

We wish little Nora nothing but the best for her treatment.

Thread is going on lock.

I'm honestly confused—what rule says we can't discuss Nora For or even let her situation spark a conversation? Nobody said anything mean about the girl, and literally only one person said something negative about the parents. But apparently, it's okay to drag other famous people into threads (even some who are deceased)? And don't even get me started on other threads in the Women's Corner where people have dragged sick people and minors through the dirt. Some people have brought up the parents of other sick children in a negative light before, and the mods didn't seem to care about that?

If, by some miracle, this doesn't belong in the Women's Corner, then why wasn't it moved to where it actually belongs?

Thanks.

slywolf45 said:Ahaaa, I see where this is going.

Saying "Couple looking to hang out with another couple or individual ;wink wink:" is perfectly fine,
but "Couple seeking partner for sex" is strictly off-limits.

Makes sense. I suppose sex is a sin, and this forum is basically a digital monastery.

It’s kind of like when they used to ban those poor fetishists who wanted to buy used tights or underwear because it was considered illegal commerce... 😳
I mean, personally, I find it weird. I don't know anyone actually buying or selling that stuff, but if someone wants to—what's really the issue? It doesn't seem any weirder or grosser than people selling used makeup on an eBay thread. 🙄

Amanda Hughes37 said:Do you honestly believe an 8th grader doesn't know how conception works? He probably asked that just to see her reaction, especially since they likely covered the basics back in 5th or 6th grade...🤣🤣
Look, take my advice—next time, listen to what middle schoolers are actually doing when they think nobody's watching.☕
That kid probably watches at least two or three questionable videos a day while his mom thinks he's just researching for a school report.

I once saw four high school seniors try to convince a fifth grader that abortion was illegal in America... 🤷
If a teacher spends her time mocking "stupid" questions, she shouldn't be surprised when the smart ones stop coming. They'll just end up on Reddit when they're 22 and dealing with a girl who's late.