Agree, it will take more than just Trump being gone, like some indication that we the people have moved on from an era of Trump.
An indication thatās obvious to the rest of the world, not just Americans.
Tinfoil hat time:
Apparently today, Reddit had a āglitchā according to the site owners and a number of mostly NSFW subreddits were banned. While a lot of these were porn, not all of them were. A number of subs related to drugs were banned, as well as a sub related to transition surgery. In all cases users had the ability to filter the subs out and/or to have pictures blurred by default, and some subs were invitation-only.
The admins claim it was a glitch that banned only subs related to content such as porn, drugs, and transition surgery.
Tinfoil hat says there is a relation to the current political climate. Could they have accidentally pushed something early, or how the hell could that happen?
I think some of those before & after pictures can get flagged for being pornographic, which is one of those hard to define know it when you see it things that AI will probably always be bad at.
I know nothing about Reddit. Is porn generally allowed on there?
Iām sure the transitioning pics has come up before so this canāt possibly be some unforeseen thing that took Reddit management by surprise. Extreme carelessness at best, but youāre right to be skeptical.
Do they normally allow conversation about drugs? What kind of drugs?
Yes, entirely. Subs can have rules and can ban you from that portion of the site if you disobey, but other than sitewide rules like CP/involuntary photography/etc. itās entirely allowed. Nothing off-limits except for the site restrictions that are basically legal requirements.
I am less sure about the rules regarding drugs. Iām pretty sure you cannot sell, but thereās surely background deals happening. However, there has been a loooooong history of various drug subs such as /r/trees for marijuana (and amusingly /r/marijuanaenthusiasts for pictures of trees). Itās not hidden, there were probably millions of subscribers across dozens if not hundreds of drug subs, many of which werenāt openly for selling, whatever people may have done over DM.
I refreshed myself a little bit. There is a sitewide ban on selling, and they do monitor DMs for people doing so. I am beyond certain that people message each other looking for āhelpā and they take things to Whatsapp, etc., but anybody asking to buy/sell drugs is banned from the sub or the entire site if they are reported or otherwise caught.
However, discussing drugs is totally fine. Drugs are legal in many places and thereās nothing wrong with talking about them.
Enforcement can be spotty, but subs will get banned if they misbehave. Some drug subs have been around for a long time. They try to follow the rules.
None of the trans subs that I follow (that sounds deeply inappropriate when written like that!) went down. Iāve seen people say that a number of trans subs were banned, but the only one that people have specifically identified is a surgery subreddit.
Yāknow, I was misinformed and will edit. Iād been under the impression there was a trans discussion sub but it was something else. Rumors are flying around, itās weird nonetheless.
I did say this is tinfoil hat - everything is suspicious in the current climate as social media starts banning topics. Project 2025 explicitly calls for banning porn.
A typical course of action would be āMods get reports and ban users who violate policy ā if mods arenāt doing their job then admins will tell them to get their shit together ā if mods refuse to moderate then admins try to find new mods ā if competent and willing mods canāt be found to stop the behavior, shut it downā
Usually only for egregious situations (like subs where the mods allowed organized harassment of people) or subs that were illegal will they just be shut down.
In this case, sounds like some of the millions of Reddit users called for violence. Elon called it out as āillegalā and they were temporarily banned.
Another day waking up and checking to see whether Trump threatened to colonize Haiti or some shit at 3 AM.
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Reducing car usage makes buses faster and mass transit ridership go up. Who knew?
New York Cityās congestion pricing program has been in place for one month, implementing tolls on drivers who enter certain, often gridlocked, areas of Manhattan. And so far, the results are āundeniably positive,ā transit officials say, with measurably reduced traffic and more commuters choosing public transit.
I am getting a bit of news fatigue tbh.
I think this was always their goal.
I am still trying to figure out how to fight back in the most effective way.
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I think Iām seeing Trumpās plan here on Gaza and Greenlandā¦
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Oh itās absolutely Gish Gallop/flood the zone with shit/firehose of bullshit.
I admit that Iām very prone to being distracted by the squirrels too, like when Trump creates an Executive Order that Obama made planes crash in 2025.
I think Trump is mentally failing, but heās always been a smart man. He knows how to throw the shinies to distract while the looting actually happens.
Am waiting for Trump to issue an Executive Order against congestion charges.
(just reminded of this skit; not intended to be a #bothsides-ing)
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Saw a Cybertruck in my town on the way to work this morning. Havenāt decided yet if it surprises me or not. It made me think of the stressed guy choosing between two buttons meme: itās a Musk car, but itās an EV, but Musk, but EV, but, but, but, gaaaaaaa.
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Canadian friends, Iāve seen some posts of stores voluntarily continuing boycotts of American products despite the tariff postponement. What are you seeing, is this a rarity or common?
Common in Vancouver. Strong anti-American sentiment that retailers are acting on.
In a poll today, 88% of Canadians said they supported the removal of US alcohol from stores, for example.
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I think New Brunswick liquor stores have continued the boycott.
I noticed at the grocery store today that US products seemed to have higher supply numbers than Canadian or elsewhere. Iām trying to figure out how aggressive Iām going to be on boycotting US products. For fresh produce, I think I can largely avoid US products. The exceptions being celery, broccoli, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes. I might be able to switch to Brazilian sweet potatoes. Citrus seems easy to dodge US products as we get a lot here from Africa. Still looking at canned soup. Frozen food might be easy to do as a major US brand quit the Canadian market last year, despite having high market share, so thereās a lot of flux there right now.
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