Complaints about the leftist leaning of this forum

[mrdeltoid]

Well, I too would say what? BUT............. over the last 18 pages of responses the very people I queried about:

Have been bleating like crazy. It's not like I didn't predict it.

Whether a forum is perceived as left or right, it is almost exclusively the Righties on here who have been complaining about how leftist this site has become.

Imagine if I went to some site dominated by Righties and complained constantly about too many Righties. They would be wondering why I am participating on their forum when all I want to do is whine about the rightwing lean of their site.

And this site doesn't even lean left. The issue Righties on here are having, is their perception. ANYTHING left of Far Right they perceive as an attack on them. Imagine the immense amount of insecurity one must have to consider anyone left of far right as being a leftist. It's comical.

Interesting opinion. Maybe the inference drawn by each poster is influenced by their political leaning.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

Interesting opinion. Maybe the inference drawn by each poster is influenced by their political leaning.

I would agree. However, as I stated, the ones complaining the loudest are those leaning right.

 

[Chomsky]

Hi Chomsky,

Is there an appeals process?

When I had first registered, I was banned after having posted maybe 5 messages. Not a single bad word. Nothing extreme. Apparently I broke the rules...

I could not log in. I was blocked. I could see in the message who had banned me though. several months later I went in again with a different account. I approached him privately And asked why he banned me. He simply replied he thought I was someone else, whom apparently deserved to be banned.

Now I agree that this site is pretty well moderated. But appeals process? What process? And quite frankly the reaction when confronted was below what I think I may expect. No apologies for making a mistake either.

Are you guys familiar with 'Stack'? I have posted a couple of things there on a few occasions. The way they moderate the site is awesome, it does leave a lot less room for discussion though, and that kinda the point at DP of course. Maybe it would be an idea to explore the option to see if some of it could be applied here at DP as well.


Joey

I recall an appeals process when I first signed-up, some years ago.

 

[Chomsky]

You get a “like” from me for that Suzanne Vega reference. Much respect. Well done.

Thank you!

The girl's a wordsmith! Seriously. Big time. "Solitude Standing" is just littered with great literary lines & hooks.

But don't even get me started on Rickie Lee Jones, who is just as good with lyrics - but approaches them from the opposite angle of old school cultural references & street-jargon.

Check-out the metaphor Rickie uses, below. Yow! Beautiful. Lyrics that can stand alone as cultural poetry. The highest praise!

 

[exoplanet]

Senator Elissa Slotkin and her speech "A New Vision for the Democratic Party" might offer you some assurance. I'm rather taken by her practicality. The focus is an economic war plan to remove an existential threat to the middle class. Speech is about 25 minutes followed by a 25 minute interview.

Economic issues are a good starting point. In terms of emphasis and messaging, I think that's where Democrats should start.

But if the Democrats don't have a plan to deal with disinformation the US is, quite simply, ****ed. Certainly, people who experience success and happiness are less likely to buy into negative/divisive messaging, but even economic success can seem small when people are caught up in algorithm-induced rage feedback loops. Maybe talking about it directly isn't a way that they think they can win people over, but I do hope they have a plan that is more comprehensive than that.

 

[antiquity]

Not hard to feel superior to people who spend the entire day whining about how they are being perceived. Mind you, this thread is about whiners - those who are constantly whining about too many leftists on this site - so you should feel right at home.

And you rate to be the number one whiner on DP.

 

[antiquity]

I would agree. However, as I stated, the ones complaining the loudest are those leaning right.

There you go whining about the the right....it seems to me the left has enough problems to whine about.

 

[Fearandloathing]

Hi Chomsky,

Proper English is probably a better term then Queens English. But you know where I always go wrong. I have lived and worked through all kinds of echelons... There is no point talking proper English to a dock-worker. And at times I even drop the polite forms and quickly move to the kind of 'lingo' they understand and feel comfortable with. I do not have the pride to keep talking like that if it does not serve the point I am trying to get across. And you know what? I actually like that too. And it works. I was in India about 10 years ago and I met an other Dutch guy there. He was 15 years older than me and came from Rotterdam as well. Rough guy. After lunch he lies down and takes a nap. When he comments on our conversation during his nap I shouted at him something in the lining of 'Shut the **** up and go back to sleep you old man'. He looked at me and smiled. That's how Rotterdam harbour people talk. Do I like it. No because it is wrong. But yes because it works. I did not mean bad. I was not trying to be rude. I spoke in a language that he understood. And sometimes we forget that communication is about getting the message across. We have been friends at work since. But that I am also not going to end up having a discussion with him about astronomy or politics may be clear. That is just not going to happen.

The joy of having a proper conversation is something people can wake me up for anytime though.

Any attempt for me to speak proper English, helps me to improve my own English, makes the conversation more pleasant, and helps to keep the conversation on track. Choice of words. Articulation. etc..

And, differently, for me being a none-native English speaker, I would like to add that I do not know of a language where it is soo easy to express your thoughts so accurately and well defined. Someone once said; English is the easiest to learn, but the hardest to master. I think there is a lot of truth in that statement.

When I was young and barely spoke English, I was a fan of Pink Floyd. I had noticed their English accent was different. For me anyway. But than one day I heard something that triggered my interest in language. I heard an album from Alan Parson. The title is 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination; Edgar Allan Poe'.

So thanks to you I am now listen to a master piece of classical rock music.


Joey

As a retired journalist & broadcaster I have some ideas about language and pronunciation.

First "propper English" is snob country as in England and the Isles accent has been used for centuries as barriers in the class system.

In the "colonies" we have 'language' which is designed to communicate. Not just nouns change, but new verbs are created and being created as we speak. English teaches rules, where true communication makes them. Example - a busy cafe where breakfast orders fly off the lips of waiters and waitress "Two smiling up, banger side - grain on grain in a box" is code, or "industrial language.

Walk into a bar in the US and say "gimme an ale up and a side of bangers" and the waiter will stare at you!

Do it in Canada and the bartender will add a set of darts.

No one in Canada speaks "English". We speak this cobbled together mixture of English, Scottish, French and Indigenous that varies for region to region. Many of us in BC cannot understand a Newfoundlander.

 

[antiquity]

As a retired journalist & broadcaster I have some ideas about language and pronunciation.

Eh!

First "propper English" is snob country as in England and the Isles accent has been used for centuries as barriers in the class system.

In the "colonies" we have 'language' which is designed to communicate. Not just nouns change, but new verbs are created and being created as we speak. English teaches rules, where true communication makes them. Example - a busy cafe where breakfast orders fly off the lips of waiters and waitress "Two smiling up, banger side - grain on grain in a box" is code, or "industrial language.

Walk into a bar in the US and say "gimme an ale up and a side of bangers" and the waiter will stare at you!

Do it in Canada and the bartender will add a set of darts.

No one in Canada speaks "English". We speak this cobbled together mixture of English, Scottish, French and Indigenous that varies for region to region. Many of us in BC cannot understand a Newfoundlander.

This also true in the US as someone from the west coast has a hard time understanding someone from either New Yuk or the south. One time I was in North Carolina and stopped at a gas station and he attendant ask if I wanted my 'all' looked at, just stared at him until realized he meant my 'oil'.
The worst in England is in parts of London where they speak with a Cockney accent. And overall it takes me about a day to adjust to English speaking in the UK.
One of the embarrassing one was when an English co-worker ask to join him for tea and watch the EFL championship. My first reaction was I don't drink tea....
I am more of a collage pie person when in UK as I suffer from to much of their fried food stomach wise. Chips wrapped in newspaper was always to greasy for me. Under cooked bacon is not for me. In the morning it's Canadian bacon if they have it.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

the the right

Calm down

 

[JoeyJoystick]

As a retired journalist & broadcaster I have some ideas about language and pronunciation.

First "propper English" is snob country as in England and the Isles accent has been used for centuries as barriers in the class system.

In the "colonies" we have 'language' which is designed to communicate. Not just nouns change, but new verbs are created and being created as we speak. English teaches rules, where true communication makes them. Example - a busy cafe where breakfast orders fly off the lips of waiters and waitress "Two smiling up, banger side - grain on grain in a box" is code, or "industrial language.

Walk into a bar in the US and say "gimme an ale up and a side of bangers" and the waiter will stare at you!

Do it in Canada and the bartender will add a set of darts.

No one in Canada speaks "English". We speak this cobbled together mixture of English, Scottish, French and Indigenous that varies for region to region. Many of us in BC cannot understand a Newfoundlander.

Hi Fearandloathing,

I like you pointing out the barrier between classes I think it is hard to deny this.

You examples are spot on. When I talk, my main goal is to transfer information from my brain to yours. Not being a native speaker, I know I make mistakes, but that's ok. If I make a mistake, I just repeat myself using different words right?

But, my response was to Chomsky and his claim that proper English in combination with a good choice of words, as illustrated in the video he attached, builds more trust and is And though this is very subjective of course, I agree with that. It is subjective, and just a personal opinion.

And than you give an example on accents. I clearly remember the Newfies are impossible to understand. Similar to the French spoken in the the north of Quebec. It is my understanding that most French people also struggle to understand that. But this is something you see in every country. I grew up in Rotterdam. Just 100km south close to the Belgium border they speak an accent that is almost impossible to follow. Similarly when you go towards the German border where the Ducth and the German language mingles. And in the North-East, the farmers also speak an accent that is impossible to decipher.

And from personal experience. Worked for a week in the Gaspe Peninsula. Visited a small bar every night for a beer, and sure enough after a few days people talked to me. The waitress asked me on my last night to come and talk to a local customer. A 25 year old farmer who had never left the village. My French is not that good, but I can communicate. So I went over, and we talked for 5 minutes. But this was entertainment. We all laughed, him, me and everybody else. He understood my French. Every word. But I never understood 1 single word he said. He tried, he really tried. But nothing. Gaspésienne...

Joey

 

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

I just know that when I reciprocate trash talk, I get nasty grams from the Admins and they don't say anything to the instigating parties...

 

[JoeyJoystick]

I just know that when I reciprocate trash talk, I get nasty grams from the Admins and they don't say anything to the instigating parties...

Hi No,

Nor do they investigate.
Nor do they respond to objections.

Quite frankly, I think DP has had its best day and has been on the decline for some time now. It is difficult to manage a site like this. But, the appearance of showing bias to people because they have been a member for long or are a contributor is the beginning of the end I think. Time to move on to a less rotten place or replace a few members. And since we all know that people do not like criticism and are even less likely to admit and act upon any such criticism makes it clear what my next move will be.

Joey

 

[Hamish Howl]

I do not care. I do think there may be a plurality of left-wing members here, but I think it has something to do with the fact that so right-wingers who have joined self-select out of membership due to breaking the rules more often since they think rules do not apply to them.

Comes from right wing echo chambers that tend to ramp each other up until it's learned behavior.

Left wing sites can be just as funny. I got booted at democratic underground for horse laughing at some lady who said I shouldn't address her until I had 1000 posts.

Don't even get me started on prog forums. They're identical in effect to right wing echo chambers.

 

[Hamish Howl]

I just know that when I reciprocate trash talk, I get nasty grams from the Admins and they don't say anything to the instigating parties...

It's how you do it, dude.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

I just know that when I reciprocate trash talk, I get nasty grams from the Admins and they don't say anything to the instigating parties...

Always the Righties who whine the loudest. Sheesh.

 

[ALiberalModerate]

Having been on here for 20 years, the forum is much more left leaning today than it was when I joined. It is also a lot more vitriolic and tribal.

 

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

Always the Righties who whine the loudest. Sheesh.

Never whined!
I was asked a question and I talk the Truth .............

I think it's the Leftist the quietly push for censorship , and cry to the Admins, when others reciprocate their trash talking.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

Never whined!

AND then proceeds to whine some more.....................

I think it's the Leftist the quietly push for censorship , and cry to the Admins, when others reciprocate their trash talking.

 

[mrdeltoid]

I would agree. However, as I stated, the ones complaining the loudest are those leaning right.

Let's say your opinion is a statement of fact. What then, if anything needs to happen?

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

Let's say your opinion is a statement of fact. What then, if anything needs to happen?

THAT question is SO easy to answer, I am surprised you have to ask me. The Rightwing whiners just need to grow up. That should be obvious.