Posts by frozenseal55

Nancy Bishop4 said:Honestly, you’re reaching again. Your argument might actually hold water if she had ended up with some guy running a local bagel shop who looked like Steve Buscemi, but let’s be real—even then, a couple of isolated examples don't prove much. As it stands, Manu Ginóbili is nowhere near that description.

Oh, really? And how exactly am I supposed to support an argument if not with specific examples?
And how did you back up yours? Based on your own personal life experiences? ☕

Is there some grand statistical study tracking how many gorgeous women end up with unattractive men?
If such data exists, cough up the sources, the references, the links, the hard numbers, the percentages... anything.

Otherwise, you're just talking out of your ass.🙂

Nancy Bishop4 said:What a joke. Personally, I’ve run into dozens of guys like this who have had massive success with women, and they were chosen over those "intellectually stimulating" or "spiritually deep" types every single time, for very obvious reasons.

Yeah, right...

That's exactly why Adriana ended up with Mark... his looks completely knocked her off her feet. ☕

She doesn't need his money because she probably has more than he does... 🙂

Jason Ortiz5 said:Nope. ☕

The swamp stinks, but at least it's warm.

Man, it’s a sad state of affairs, but someone has to say it.

analogviper9 said:Name one school in America that teaches kids how to swear. You can't.
Therefore, profanity isn't socially or culturally acceptable.
Just because it pops up in slang or casual everyday speech doesn't mean it aligns with our social standards.

The reason I included that specific word is quite simple: because there is always another way to express an idea without resorting to a swear word.

Oh, absolutely, it is.

That is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you this entire time!
You’re stuck on "must" versus "should." It’s honestly pathetic when you serve people absolute garbage and then act all high and mighty because they have the nerve to call you out on it. You’re being incredibly condescendingly polite about it, too—it’s nauseating. I suppose if the presentation is served up on a silver platter at a five-star level, it somehow makes swallowing that filth a little easier to stomach. 🙄
Who cares what you want or what anyone else thinks? The only thing that actually matters is the message being sent.
Language is nothing more than a tool for communication. And let’s be clear: true knowledge isn't something you just pick up sitting in a classroom. We aren't even going to get into the weeds regarding unconventional ways of learning and passing down information, because frankly, it’s obvious.
Look, saying "a onom u Manhattan" is perfectly normal to say. Get lost. The professor just stands there for half an hour right in the middle of class, and for what? Absolutely nothing. It’s a complete waste of everyone's time.

Look, I’ve had enough. I am absolutely done arguing about this here.
Look, I’ve already laid this out for you: you have every right to use profanity if that's how you talk. Nobody is coming after you for it. But the second you start trying to police someone else's language, you're asking for trouble. Just mind your own business and everyone stays happy.

Vitalina As I was saying:
Wikipedia:

A swear word is nothing more than an offensive term, phrase, or sentence that fails to meet basic standards of social etiquette. It’s considered plain old rude and completely inappropriate.

Well, I guess I have to quote myself since apparently nobody here is actually reading with any attention to detail! 😁
Isn't that exactly what I just finished saying? Honestly, using Wikipedia as a primary source for references drives me absolutely insane, but fine... I'll swallow my pride just to keep this sluggish conversation from stalling out completely.

frozenseal55 said:Societal norms are what set the rules, and not every society operates by the same standards (just like the example you gave about the elderly—a word that is hilarious to us today was considered the height of vulgarity to them).
Therefore, swearing is a perfectly normal way of expressing oneself.

Aha, so basically you want to leave an impression like a pile of garbage wrapped in cellophane?

So instead of telling someone to "go to hell," you should just control your emotions and tell them, "Please head toward that unpleasant odor."

Look, everyone makes their own choices, and I'm not disputing yours.

frozenseal55 said:You're being completely contradictory.
You claim the topic is vulgarity and assert that nobody goes without cursing. Then you say we aren't talking about things like screw you. What exactly is that supposed to be? A mild little slip-up?
Would a "heavy" curse word be something like: you're a loser? 😁

There is no such thing as "mild" or "hard" swearing. Profanity is profanity.

And are curses a normal way to express oneself? Yes, they are.
Whether they are socially acceptable depends entirely on the society you're in.
As for whether they indicate weakness or an inability to control emotions, that's a debate for individual cases. However, if you're saying that everyone has a choice in how they express their emotions, then you have a point.

analogviper9 said:Wikipedia:

A profanity is an offensive word, phrase, or sentence that is not accepted within general standards of etiquette and is considered impolite and inappropriate.

That specific term used by the older generation wasn't "vulgar" or offensive in the way we think—it had nothing to do with modern cursing. It was more of an "exhaust valve" for a particular situation.

I don't think everyone needs to act all prim and proper—you know, wrapping garbage in fancy cellophane—but shouldn't we strive for some level of self-control? (You know, emotional intelligence!)
In that scenario, provocations and outbursts would be kept to an absolute minimum.

Then I honestly have no idea why you even bothered putting her in a thread about profanity—especially since you didn't even bother to point out which specific word you were talking about!
Don't even bother coming back now. I’ve lost all interest because you clearly aren't capable of having a serious discussion.

analogviper9 said:Wikipedia:

A profanity is an offensive word, phrase, or sentence that is not accepted within general standards of etiquette and is considered impolite and inappropriate.

That specific term used by the older generation wasn't "vulgar" or offensive in the way we think—it had nothing to do with modern cursing. It was more of an "exhaust valve" for a particular situation.

I don't think everyone needs to act all prim and proper—you know, wrapping garbage in fancy cellophane—but shouldn't we strive for some level of self-control? (You know, emotional intelligence!)
In that scenario, provocations and outbursts would be kept to an absolute minimum.

They could have, or they should have... but let’s stop trying to force everyone to follow some arbitrary social standard of "emotional intelligence." If someone chooses to swear, that is their personal way of communicating. Period.
Or are you suggesting that profanity is some kind of addiction? 😁

analogviper9 said:Contradictory? Perhaps—if we're going to lump someone who lets a single word slip into the same category as someone who swears like a sailor.

I’m not making excuses for "mild" swearing, either. If you read my previous points again, you'll see: both are signs of weakness.

Even though I find myself swearing from time to time, I simply cannot agree that it constitutes a "normal" mode of expression.
If it truly were considered normal, wouldn't they be teaching us that in our American schools? Wouldn't we stop hearing those constant bleeps on network television?

I remember spending time years ago with people from a much older generation.
The absolute peak of their vocabulary when it came to profanity was a single word—one I can't quite recall at this exact moment.
Nowadays, everyone would just laugh at that word. You see, it had nothing to do with sexual connotations, nor was it a curse or anything inherently vulgar. Back then, it was just a word used to denote weakness.
The bottom line is: you can absolutely convey deep emotion without ever resorting to profanity.

The real question is how self-aware a person actually is—how aware they are of their own impact and the impression they leave on everyone else.

Societal norms are what set the rules, and not every society operates by the same standards (just like the example you gave about the elderly—a word that is hilarious to us today was considered the height of vulgarity to them).
Therefore, swearing is a perfectly normal way of expressing oneself.

analogviper9 said:Contradictory? Perhaps—if we're going to lump someone who lets a single word slip into the same category as someone who swears like a sailor.

I’m not making excuses for "mild" swearing, either. If you read my previous points again, you'll see: both are signs of weakness.

Even though I find myself swearing from time to time, I simply cannot agree that it constitutes a "normal" mode of expression.
If it truly were considered normal, wouldn't they be teaching us that in our American schools? Wouldn't we stop hearing those constant bleeps on network television?

I remember spending time years ago with people from a much older generation.
The absolute peak of their vocabulary when it came to profanity was a single word—one I can't quite recall at this exact moment.
Nowadays, everyone would just laugh at that word. You see, it had nothing to do with sexual connotations, nor was it a curse or anything inherently vulgar. Back then, it was just a word used to denote weakness.
The bottom line is: you can absolutely convey deep emotion without ever resorting to profanity.

The real question is how self-aware a person actually is—how aware they are of their own impact and the impression they leave on everyone else.

Aha, so basically you want to leave an impression like a pile of garbage wrapped in cellophane?

So instead of telling someone to "go to hell," you should just control your emotions and tell them, "Please head toward that unpleasant odor."

Look, everyone makes their own choices, and I'm not disputing yours.

analogviper9 said:Have you actually grasped the point of this discussion?

There isn't a single person on Earth who hasn't let a swear word slip at least once. So, there's really no need to be so exclusive and categorize people into "pure" versus "profane."

The whole point here is about vulgarity. We aren't talking about the occasional "damn it" or a mild slip of the tongue; we are talking about people who use profanity so constantly that it becomes their primary mode of expression.

In either case—whether the swearing is mild or intense—from a psychological standpoint, it represents a lack of restraint and an inability to manage one's emotions. But that's a conversation for another day.

I honestly don't understand why it's considered bad to suggest that profanity isn't a standard way of communicating.🤷

You're being completely contradictory.
You claim the topic is vulgarity and assert that nobody goes without cursing. Then you say we aren't talking about things like screw you. What exactly is that supposed to be? A mild little slip-up?
Would a "heavy" curse word be something like: you're a loser? 😁

There is no such thing as "mild" or "hard" swearing. Profanity is profanity.

And are curses a normal way to express oneself? Yes, they are.
Whether they are socially acceptable depends entirely on the society you're in.
As for whether they indicate weakness or an inability to control emotions, that's a debate for individual cases. However, if you're saying that everyone has a choice in how they express their emotions, then you have a point.

darkcanyon10 said:There it is. Can't even swear properly anymore.
I mean, I can, but... gotta watch my mouth. Everything they taught me about what's "acceptable" to say is just total BS. 🙂

Swear at this, but don't touch that. Watch what you're cursing at. 🧐
God hears you if you start taking aim at Him or His saints, but a donkey? That's fair game.

😁

Don't go disrespecting God, the Lady, or the apostles... but honestly, calling someone a donkey or other colorful insults is perfectly fine when you need to vent some serious emotion. 🤣

hollowtrucker77 said:And just how exactly does Skatte handle things??
They politely and civilly ask people to stop acting like idiots.
And then what?? Does that magically mean the nonsense stops, or does it just mean someone actually understands that being a complete jerk isn't exactly a great look??

How does she handle it? Like a normal person.
She communicates like a regular human being instead of acting like she’s sitting on some high throne with a divine mandate to "discipline" a rowdy mob... and sure, she deletes posts and shares warnings, but nobody calls her out for it either. Why? Because she acts—normal.

Charles Davis88 said:I don't think we need a dedicated subforum—I mean, who would actually post there? 😕
Most of us are already losing our minds over the thousandth identical question. We don't even need special threads; everything can be handled in the existing ones (po zemlja).
To me, the priority should be educating new users—it’s on them to adapt. They should look at the Diaspora as if it were a foreign country they need to integrate into! 😍

That’s exactly why I think it’s a brilliant idea. Let them have one dedicated thread where they can post the exact same questions a million times over. If some user wants to be the hero—answering those same questions repeatedly, writing entire essays, and dropping links just to be helpful—then fine, let them go for it. But for everyone else who doesn't want to deal with that repetitive nonsense? They can just give that thread a wide berth and move on with their lives in peace.
Look, I’ve noticed there’s a group of "newbies" drifting through here who seem to have one single question stuck on loop. They post the exact same thing under every single thread, regardless of the topic. If we don't address their little inquiry in the thread about the US, they'll just turn around and dump the same damn question in discussions about Kuwait or New Zealand. It’s repetitive and honestly, it's getting old. 🙄 )

Charles Davis88 said:Here’s how I see it: Steven Ruiz was actually the most chill mod—reasonable vocabulary, kept things civil.
You guys gave her a hard time. Then ambermason16 stepped up with a more authoritative vibe (though not aggressive, unlike certain users here!), all in an attempt to establish some order since apparently Steven Ruiz's approach "wasn't working."

I think we're all being a bit too sensitive. We shouldn't take Reddit this seriously; nobody ever died from a cardboard cutout.
And if the rules state that moderator actions shouldn't be debated based on who's having a bad day, then maybe we could put that extra "effort" toward complaining where it actually matters. Whining and jumping down a mod's throat over every single move isn't productive for any subforum. For what it's worth, I was offered the chance to moderate the Diaspora section twice in the last three years, and both times I decided that taking on such an ungrateful job would be like shooting myself in the foot.

I don't see what ambermason16 did that was so terrible to warrant this much instant resentment. If my memory serves, some people decided right out of the gate that she couldn't be a mod because she's "unknown," doesn't live in the Diaspora, or "moderates Television." They never gave her a fair shake—just shut her down immediately.

Anyway, that's just my perspective as a user who rarely has issues with mods or the community in general.

Maybe ambermason16 should take a page out of Skette's book and actually study how they tackle problems before trying to apply it to their own mess.
Look, someone needs to step up and join this debate. Let's just clear the air, sweep all this unaddressed nonsense under the rug, and finally get a fresh start. 🤷

Charles Davis88 said:As for comparing the Diaspora to Reddit...

The people over on Reddit are also all different types of individuals with totally different perspectives on life—people who post their creative work there, or at least their attempts at it. They comment on each other's stuff, throwing out their own value judgments on what others have produced.
If that isn't a powder keg of a situation, then I honestly don't know what is. 🙂

Exactly, but let’s not forget the fact that we're talking about one very specific niche here; every single topic on Reddit revolves around photography.
I think the Diaspora is a much more complex beast because it covers such a massive range of subjects... though I see where you're coming from.

wiredsailor7 said:What if we just opened a dedicated sub-forum on the Diaspora site specifically for relocation Q&A?

Honestly, I think that’s a brilliant idea.🙂>

I honestly believe the core issue here is the relationship between the mods and the users—specifically in this instance, it’s about ambermason16. It all comes down to her tone and how she carries herself, acting like she's the absolute boss who holds all the power while everyone else is just expected to bark at the stars.
Look at this: first, she drops an unnecessarily defensive post, and then she snaps back at Satru, arrogantly claiming his suggestions won't even be considered and suggesting the thread be shut down entirely. Instead of actually engaging in the discussion—especially now when everyone is participating in good faith to fix things—she should be trying to find common ground and contribute to a solution.

Besides, deleting posts that don't actually warrant deletion happens to anyone. Skatte has done it a few times herself, yet nobody says a single word against her because she’s a reasonable woman in terms of her behavior and communication.

As for clones, they really need to be punished immediately by having their profiles deleted or whatever the standard forum protocol dictates. I didn't even realize there was such an epidemic of clones within the Diaspora 😲.

By the way, comparing the Diaspora sub compared to Photography is like comparing apples to watermelons.
Photography is a niche thematic forum tied to one specific interest, whether it's a hobby or a profession. On the other hand, the Diaspora section is far more complex. People go to the photography forum to talk about photography, and that’s it. You don't see massive, explosive drama happening there.
Conversely, people come to the Diaspora section because they live abroad, used to live abroad, or have a deep desire to move overseas. It attracts a massive spectrum of people from all over the world, with wildly different careers and life interests.

It's a completely different matter if you view the Diaspora section strictly as a place for visa information and logistics.
If that's the case, it will die out incredibly fast, because regular users aren't going to keep visiting constantly just to answer the exact same repetitive questions.

@ Steven Ruiz, who is desperately trying to prove on this thread that everyone in the Diaspora is totally clueless

It’s completely normal that there will always be someone looking for a fight. There is no such thing as a person who is perfect for everyone, but even though there have been plenty of mods in the Diaspora, the users have collectively targeted only a few.
One of them was Steven Ruiz, who is now working overtime to argue that Strikalica's tone and "conversation style" is perfectly fine—claiming it's only like that because of the way these Neanderthal users write. 🙄

Since I've been on this forum, out of all the moderators, only three have ever caused issues: Steven Ruiz, Marica carica (who was actually fine until she got "authority"), and now Strikalica, who stormed into the Diaspora with an attitude that wouldn't pass for decent human interaction in any civilized corner of America.

mistyhound2 said:frozenseal55 👍 I am right there with you. That miserable PDF has basically turned into nothing more than an info desk for all the stuff you mentioned. And honestly, what’s even the point of shutting down new threads? You can always squeeze some topic under a broader umbrella—like Canada, the US, or Australia—but that defeats the whole purpose. It just kills the vibe, makes people frustrated, and eventually, nobody even bothers starting anything new. 😢

That was the one about American confidence versus European confidence. Finally, something actually worth reading! It was up for a hot minute, then they shut it down, then moved it somewhere else—who knows where, honestly... just pointless. And look, Stephanie is a woman with actual life experience and a solid way of looking at things; she writes beautifully, and I love her quotes. And I'm definitely not the only one who feels that way. 🙂

And it’s irritating—honestly, it couldn't be any more annoying. Eventually, you find yourself rarely even visiting the forum; you just skim through the threads, see the same repetitive stuff over and over, maybe open one or two, and then dodge the rest in a wide arc just to get out of there.
You can't even go to the CHAT because apparently, you have to stick to specific topics there too 😕 ... and good grief, how am I supposed to know how to troll in a chat if I have to follow rules? 😕

The Diaspora should be a place where people can actually connect and talk about real issues facing those of us living abroad—discussing our outlook on life, the cultural diversity we encounter daily, how that shapes us, the integration process, the hurdles we face, and the perks too. But what has this forum turned into? An endless loop of answering the exact same three questions: how to get out of America, how to snag a visa, and how to find a job overseas.
It’s become a glorified information center for people who join the forum just to ask the same question in a million different ways... "I'm a carpenter, how do I get a job?" "I'm a mason, how do I get a job?" "I'm a complete loser, how do I get a job?"
Any other topic, or even a slight tangent away from those repetitive questions, tends to get shut down by moderators who just swoop in to kill the thread and lock it.
Here’s a fresh example if you don't believe me: Stephanie started a thread about self-confidence or something along those lines (not my cup of tea, personally), but plenty of people were actually interested in the discussion until, of course, our diligent moderator stepped in and locked it down.
And then we’re right back to the usual discussions on how to become a truck driver or how to apply for a visa to some random country...

ambermason16 said:Your little proposal was rejected. Both parts of it.

My actual suggestion to my colleagues is this: just shut this whole thing down because... honestly, I mean it. 😁

There goes the typical ambermason16, playing the victim and demanding we close the thread just because you can't handle the heat. This discussion was only opened here because you insisted on it after you started deleting and splitting empty threads once people began debating things in the chat.

coppernomad28 hit the nail on the head. Look, Skate Mus arrived at the exact same time you did, and she’s been nothing but professional, doing her job perfectly without anyone raising an eyebrow.
You, on the other hand, are a completely different story.

@ ZgSash,

I sincerely hope you actually bother to find and answer my question amidst this endless sea of useless filler posts.

Betty Wright64 said:Regarding the forum I moderate, I have every right to respond if I feel like it.
New York City will give you an answer too, so don't worry about that.

And if this is what passes for a "polite inquiry" regarding a ban, then I am honestly speechless. I’ll quote:
"Now why don't you geniuses tell me exactly why I got banned?", not to mention the fact that the question was posted in the completely wrong section.

🙄

First off, my response was perfectly polite considering the "reasoning" you provided for the ban:

'Oh please, do you think we're stupid? Betty Wright64'

Secondly, you aren't running the whole forum, you are just one of the moderators on this PDF, so stop cluttering this thread with your endless explanations.
You've already made your point several times; how many more times are you planning to repeat yourself?

Respect your interlocutor if they ask you not to address them.
If you had asked me that, I would have respected your wish simply because I respect myself.

Whatever. Bye.