Posts by Betty Fowler

Biden: Russia is tearing Ukraine apart, and the countries that egged Ukraine on share the blame!

I wonder if this guy thinks we should have applied that same logic back in '91?

"Mexico is tearing the US apart, and those who encouraged the US are also responsible."?

driftingtinker said:That's not true. I already explained the situation regarding the ban on Ukraine to you, and you agreed to it with the consensus of all the politics mods.

When exactly did you explain that to me? Even now, I have no idea which specific post led to a partial ban regarding the war in Ukraine, because I never received any notification about it.

driftingtinker said:From my side, you got flagged for hate speech on the USA 27.5. thread for this:

And that was clearly sarcasm, for which you actually got off easy.

That's all from me.

I actually received that warning from you for "insulting forum members," not for "hate speech"—you can go check. It was an honest reaction; I deserved the warning, so I didn't bother defending myself, complaining, or filing an appeal.

driftingtinker said:You know perfectly well that you didn't get what you wanted from my proposal regarding the partials in Ukraine.

I'm not sure. I just opened it. Temu. Regarding that matter, I still haven't received an answer. I assumed it was you, given that you've been acting pretty shady toward me from the very beginning.

driftingtinker said:I put a lot of work into my VPiT posts, so I stand by what I wrote. You’ve always had a bit of a knack for hate speech, but you clearly misread my last warning—it was actually meant to be sarcasm.

The first hate speech citation—a Trump supporter gets killed, and because I wrote "one less idiot," it’s suddenly a crime. If an obsessed fan of a local politician lost their head and I responded with the exact same phrase, would that be considered hate speech? You know it wouldn't. We both know this isn't hate speech, nor does it incite violence against anyone.

Another hate speech strike—apparently. I argued that the killing of George Floyd wasn't some grand manifestation of systemic racism, but rather the result of a single officer acting recklessly in a situation Floyd himself escalated. I also noted that my lack of sympathy stems from the fact that he broke into a pregnant woman's home and pointed a gun at her stomach.

This third strike against me is just as baseless as the others; my entire posting history makes it obvious that I’m not trolling. My sarcasm is simply tailored to whoever I'm talking to. Given that I’m well aware of the types who constantly bring up Soros and all those conspiracy theorists, it's pretty clear that many of them are driven by antisemitism. In fact, at this point, any support for Russia could honestly be classified as hate speech against Ukrainians.

Look, I wasn't exactly expecting an honest review from you anyway, so I’d honestly prefer if one of your colleagues took a look at this instead.

The user Jesse Price, who has spent months on this forum making excuses for the Russian invasion of Ukraine—effectively justifying the destruction and crimes committed by the Russians every single day—decided to chime in on my post today.

Unfortunately, the moderator wiped the entire thread, so I can't provide a link here. But in response to my sarcastic comment, Jesse Price claimed that I actually support "Ukrainian Nazism." Just to give you an idea, here are a few snippets from this user's previous posts:

Jesse Price said:Biden and Soros represent the satanic deep state.

Jesse Price said:The truth hurts. These aren't conspiracy theories; they are proven facts. COVID-19 was created in a lab, the West staged a coup in Ukraine to install a Nazi government at the helm, and Zelenskyy was put there by Americans to provoke a war in Ukraine and drag all of Europe into a conflict against Russia.

Jesse Price said:Putin is fighting against the dark forces. Trump has been sidelined; he just tucked his tail and left.

Currently, Putin is the only barrier against the evil deep state, which is primarily responsible for the war in Ukraine.

Jesse Price said:The Russians figured them out; they knew there were plenty of American labs scattered across Ukraine. Now everyone is wondering why they needed Ukraine so badly. It's because Ukraine sits right in the belly of Russia and Belarus. Is there any better place to launch biological weapons against Russia? Hardly.

We don't even realize what's truly happening behind this war yet. This is just the beginning of something much worse and more dangerous.

...and so on. Instead of resorting to the insults I'd normally throw his way, I responded with sarcasm, since having a serious conversation with someone like this is clearly a lost cause:

You’ve got me all wrong... I’m not exactly rooting for Ukraine. There’s just too much mixing going on, and they have a Jew leading the charge. Disgusting.

Azov :flop: Wagner 🔝

I have to admit, when someone labels a country that was invaded—a country that actually elected a Jew through democratic elections—as Nazi, while simultaneously making excuses for a dictatorship fueled by expansionism and genocide, it’s a little hard for me to keep my cool.

driftingtinker—who has already handed me partial bans on two different subforums (the Ukraine War and Military history), probably because I was being a bit too harsh on the Russophiles justifying this invasion of Ukraine—clearly knows exactly where I stand. Back then, I got hit with those bans without much of a debate, which felt a bit insulting. Now, even sarcasm isn't working.

If I’m going to get a ban, just give it to me for trolling, because I haven't committed any hate speech.

So, are Dynamo fans expected to jump to the Ultras' defense just to prove they aren't on Mamić's payroll? The rules for bringing in banners were published well in advance, and the Ultras simply didn't follow them. Not that it matters much—nobody actually stopped them from coming in without any. But then again, if they had followed the rules, where would the defiance be?

slycyclist342 said:If we aren't supposed to be broadcasting Russian propaganda regarding the war in Ukraine, then I don't see why we're still airing Mamić's version of events here.

Mamić was sentenced to six years in prison and is banned from stepping foot in America. At this point, it’s starting to feel like a cult.

Against the darkness, against the force

A handful of users here got slapped with permanent bans. Meanwhile, others—the ones who actually stood up for the fans against those nasty insults—didn't even get a warning. It’s honestly a miracle I didn't lose a thousand points myself; if I had posted earlier, I wouldn't have realized that supporting the police in this specific situation gets you banned left and right.

To be fair, he isn't the only one. Almost every sub-forum operates under this same logic. Moderators don't even bother explaining their bans or partial penalties anymore; sometimes you don't even get a notification. You're left wondering who penalized you and why. If you hold even slightly controversial views, the only way to avoid major trouble is through self-censorship or just playing the sycophant.

In any case, I'm hoping the central committee will review everything and overturn these bans.

Arthur Flores2 said:To be fair, I suspect people are a bit wary of me. They remember quite clearly that ten years ago, I was warning everyone that this war was coming, citing the prophecies found in the Mariana Trench apparitions. Now that they see those predictions actually playing out, they seem nervous about what else I might have in store regarding the future...
.

🤣

Nicole Carter82 said:Where does everyone find the energy to act like such an expert on everything? 🙂

That’s true enough. Give it a shot. I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Could you clarify?It worked for me.

Dennis Hall41 said:Watching your brilliant, libertine work unfold across those heated sub-forums, I have to wonder—do I have any right to hope that you might actually start cracking down on smokers?

You’d think anyone following my updates would have figured out by now that I’m quite the handful. 🙄

What’s the actual payoff for temporarily quitting smoking? Are you just looking for ways to punish yourself? Don't you realize that whatever you give up is returned to God?

God doesn't need your carcinogenic little rolls. Either commit to quitting for good or don't bother at all.

Forum member tremble, who spent a long time posting on the COVID-19 subforum, is now DELIBERATELY spreading Russian misinformation regarding the war in Ukraine, despite using a video that has already been proven to be fake.

briskdrifter3 said:And there's the connection. It all ties back to the economic crisis.

I can't say I'm surprised. 👍

briskdrifter3 said:It feels like we’re just waiting for the next crisis to roll in—one that will inevitably happen "by accident" again.

Yeah, obviously. But you know briskdrifter3—he’s certainly not one to lack common sense. 👍

briskdrifter3 said:Did you listen to the enemy news during the war?
There wasn't a single day where Americans weren't shelling kindergartens, hospitals, or churches, slaughtering innocent civilians and the elderly.
The entire Storm operation was basically an unhinged mob attacking a defenseless people who had to flee for their lives. Back then, the shelling of Knin was portrayed by the other side as intentional targeting of civilian sites.

That's just pure propaganda...
According to the news, it seems like the Russians were the ones hitting nurseries, maternity wards, and schools first.
Every damn day we read about some kindergarten or school being blown up.
Come on!
Use your head for a second...

Whenever you see "kindergarten" or "school" in a headline, you're looking at pure propaganda.

BTW.
Since 2014, roughly 15,000 people have died in Ukraine (including plenty of children).
Were you even interested in Ukraine a month ago?
You were probably sipping coffee in the plaza while people were dying over there.
Now you're all worked up because you saw some heavy-handed headlines on the news portals.

Tone it down a bit; don't be so reactive and susceptible to propaganda.

Take a look at the reports from both the Ukrainian and Russian fronts. The front lines drawn by each side differ by 100 kilometers. They both lie. It's what they do for a living.

When is the mass cull of the vaccinated scheduled to begin?

Keith Williams3 said:Insults aren't going to help you force your opinion on anyone else. You can only do that with actual arguments, and you don't seem to have any here.

Regarding your first point about targeting civilian sites—I'm not sure if you're joking or if you truly don't realize that the moment military forces occupy a civilian building or turn it into a stronghold, that building becomes a legitimate military target. Are we clear on that?

In theory, if an army takes positions inside or around a hospital, the opposing force has the right to strike that hospital, and doing so isn't a war crime. A war crime would be hitting a hospital where there is no military presence. Do you follow?

To be fair, we don't know exactly what's happening on the ground because we don't have our own journalists stationed there. We have someone like Peter Vlahov over in Lviv near the Polish border reporting on refugees, but we don't have anyone on the front lines, in Kyiv, in Kharkiv, and especially no one reporting from territories occupied by the Russians.

So, we don't have a complete picture of the situation. I'm not making any definitive claims.

But you can't claim that the destruction of a hospital or a daycare center is a war crime in and of itself, because it's entirely possible those were Ukrainian military strongholds.

Let's not be naive. Any defense would do this. You station troops in civilian buildings and defend from there, then if the enemy hits or occupies those buildings, you use it for propaganda to smear them.

What kind of Ukrainian would be crazy enough to just stand out in an open field waiting for the Russians to mow them down with superior artillery and force?

I'm not saying they should stand in the open so the Russians can pick them off like pigeons; it's logical that they'll establish positions within a city, and in a city, all positions are civilian ones, which effectively turns them into military targets.

So, I'd suggest holding off on the accusations of various crimes.

I’d give you a card protest for making baseless accusations.

I'll admit, you caught me there. The logic that "wherever a Russian bomb lands, it's an enemy stronghold" is indeed unassailable, and I wasn't prepared for it. I spent hours trying to figure out how to successfully debunk that argument, but no matter how I approach it, it's hopeless. You've exposed my flaw, and I'm feeling a bit embarrassed, though I recognize there's no shame in losing a rhetorical battle to an intellectual of your caliber. Now everything makes sense. The Ukrainians have taken a page out of the book of our defenders in Vukovar and started hiding in hospitals. Honestly, I'd probably do the same. It's brilliant, really: set up a base in a nursing home, a special needs center, or, as we just saw, a maternity ward. Just brilliant!

Only thing is, something puzzles me. How did someone with such a vast range of knowledge and geopolitical insight like yours say this ten days before the invasion?

Keith Williams3 said:That's why these stories about the war are total nonsense; the Russians should be fighting to divide Ukraine...

Keith Williams3 said:What a nonsensical post.

First off, starting a war doesn't automatically make someone a war criminal; you could just as easily call them a warrior or a military leader. Right now, Putin falls into that second category.

To be classified as a criminal, a leader would have to specifically order atrocities, like the slaughter of civilians. So far, we haven't seen any confirmation that Putin has issued such an order. In fact, analysts over at NBC are suggesting that the Russian strategy in this campaign is to encircle cities rather than seize them, supposedly to minimize civilian casualties.

Second, saying the attack was "unprovoked" is your opinion and you’re entitled to it, but that doesn't give you the right to insult those who see things differently.

Does bombing maternity wards count as minimizing civilian casualties? What about cultural sites? Or apartment buildings? Villages? Evacuation routes?

There are no accidents here; the goal is crystal clear—to terrorize a nation into submission. This is a nation that has made it perfectly obvious they want absolutely nothing to do with the aggressor, proving it through blood every single day. If you can't see the glaringly obvious pattern in how Russia and Putin treat neighboring states—turning them into puppet kleptocratic dictatorships—and you still buy into his concerns about "Nazis" being in power in Kyiv, then that's your problem.

As for penalties, if I were moderating, posts like yours justifying this criminal endeavor would earn a heavy card protest along with a mandatory reminder that you're being a fool, though I wouldn't call it bias. Banning people without explanation or notice seems to be the new standard lately, and frankly, it looks like the result of increasingly incompetent moderation.

wanderingdriver17 said:And when it comes to the war in Ukraine, you’re only allowed to write according to the approved narrative, which claims that: Putin is a madman and a war criminal who launched an invasion of Ukraine for NO REASON AT ALL!

Putin is absolutely a war criminal who launched his invasion of Ukraine for NO REASON AT ALL. Of course, by using the phrase "for no reason at all," we're implying there is no moral justification for it. For instance, if you're walking down the street and someone suddenly punches you, you'd be perfectly justified in saying they did it FOR NO REASON AT ALL, regardless of their excuse that you "looked at them the wrong way." Putin's justifications for this criminal invasion are just as irrational and hollow. Now that we've established that, I'll correct your statement above—I actually won a partial point here. Not because of any censorship or official notice, but simply because this place has long been dominated by a culture of petty bickering.

Charles Fox10 said:As a moderator, I can't just assign partial duties; that’s a different matter entirely, and all the mods on this forum would have to agree on it first.

What exactly did I say that convinced all your esteemed colleagues—yourself included—that I’m no longer welcome to read or post here?

brightsailor17 said:Why does it matter which moderator did it? 🙂

Because it’s clearly an abuse of power, likely fueled by some personal grudge on the moderator's end. There isn't a single thing written here that justifies such blatant bias.

I’d appreciate it if you didn't just move this over to another locked thread like you did earlier today; I'm looking for an actual answer here.

Why was my specific post regarding the war in Ukraine removed without any explanation, and which moderator handled this?