One deleted at user's request.

Fixed the misspelling of Cory Doctorow's name in the post title (and slug).

Edited post to fix typos and add another link from the user.

Folks: predictably, a number of comments in this thread have gotten flagged. I think the thread is overall doing alright, and things that needed pushback are getting pushback, so i'm disinclined at this point to leave holes in the conversation. We are keeping an eye on the thread, but please help us out by keeping it on the rails, thanks.

Link to obituary updated in post.

Just a note to please stop name-calling/insulting people’s intelligence. Thanks!

Please drop the Israel derail and bring this back to the actual topic of the post. Continued derails may result in comments being removed.

No comments removed so far. Varion, your comments in this thread are moving away from discussing ideas and into attacking other users, which is not acceptable here. Insisting that people use AI when they clearly do not want to, and framing their refusal as a personal failing rather than a preference, is not how we expect disagreements to be handled on MetaFilter. You can make your point without attacking or belittling other users. Language like calling people “mentally deranged” or saying they “cower in ignorance” is out of bounds because it targets and insults other members instead of engaging with their arguments. Please take a step away from this tread and let the conversation move on.

Fixed a very small typo in the post title.

Two comments removed as requested.

One comment removed as requested.

One deleted. Jokes about running people over/harming certain groups of people is not ok.

One deleted for really aggressively doing the thing i suggested that folks should be mindful about. If you object to a moderation decision, you have multiple channels to avail yourself of in order to complain about it; "emphatically ignoring it to Do the Thing anyway" is not one of those channels. Seriously, everyone, Donald Trump is not reading MetaFilter! Some of the people who are reading MetaFilter are pretty consistently upset by the incontinence jokes (and the fat jokes), and they are your fellow community members. The entire rest of the internet exists, and on much of it you will get endless praise and upvotes for telling those kinds of jokes! Please exercise a modicum of self-restraint on this one site!

Added link to post at user's request.

Some housekeeping notes: The malware attack hit all of Gizmodo yesterday; they seem to have mitigated it now. As ever, if a "captcha" requests that you do anything at all outside of your browser, like scan a QR code or paste commands into your terminal, it's malware and you should not do that thing. Also, symbioid, this comment is right on the line of "wishing violence on people", particularly since it's sexualized violence, and it's upset a few people. I'm not removing it but please be mindful?

One deleted at user's request.

Folks, i'm not deleting anything in here, but this has come up before, so please note that incontinence isn't in any sense a moral failure. It happens to a lot of folks, some of whom may be your fellow MeFites. I get the urge to make fun of every single gross thing that Trump does or is, but there's splash damage on some of those jokes and it would be good to be mindful of that.

Also, folks, as we have noted on past occasions, it's not great to jump into a thread just to be dismissive, particularly in the first couple comments. And it's especially not great in this instance, where there are strong links to African history and the horrors of colonialism. I'm not removing any comments, because folks have pushed back strongly and the conversation seems to be recovering, but seriously, please do better.

Added "football" tag.

Added "football" tag.

Fixed a typo in the post.

Two comments removed: the first at the user's request (wrong thread), and the second for responding to the deleted comment. (mittens: i don't disagree with you that it fit in this thread too! but the user wanted it removed.)

plagued out moggies, your behavior in this thread is not in good faith and your participation is derailing the thread entirely. Also, it is completely inappropriate to use a member's username as a way to sneer/poke at other members. That needs to stop now. Additionally, you need to take a break from this thread. Any further comments will result in a temp-ban.

One deleted. Please flag comments you take issue with and move on. Spelling out damaging stereotypes and tropes to make a point doesn’t actually help anyone, especially the folks being mentioned from said communities.

One deleted. Poster’s request.

No comments removed for now, but let's not use protected classes (sexual orientation, race, and religion) to make a point; this is considered inappropriate here, moreover if it includes highlighting negative stereotypical characteristics historically related to those classes. This comes across as particularly violent towards those classes when you are comparing them to a job, which is not a fair comparison.

Folks, the temperature in here absolutely needs to come down. I'm reluctant to delete a whole swath of comments but you gotta stop sniping at each other.

Added free thread tag.

I just noticed that i'd missed a comment replying to the deleted comment. mrjohnmuller: You're fine, your comment was removed for replying to the one i'd already deleted. Sorry about that!

Hi, folks! Just a quick housekeeping note: this comment by exolstice has picked up several flags for quoting the output of an "AI" tool. As this thread is a discussion about such tools, i think it's within the lines of the current content policy and i have not deleted it. However, i don't love it, and it's definitely not something to make a habit of.

Hi, folks! One deleted as a direct attack on another member. Also, a couple notes on comments that are not deleted: Bryant: "You kind of need to make at least a convincing argument if you want people to take you seriously. Appreciate the candor, though; you’re not here to have a conversation, you’re here to be smug." Please do not snipe at other members like this. zardoz, coffeecat, flamk: it's totally fine to passionately defend Platner, but all three of you have made at least one comment that's really, really close to the line about the DV allegations here, and i need you to be more careful: Graham Platner almost certainly doesn't read MetaFilter. A lot of DV survivors, however, do.

Two deleted as noise. HearHere, you already got a timeout for behavior elsewhere on the site; you really need to stop this. Also, folks, sorry for not addressing those two in my earlier mod note; i'd missed them in the long thread until one picked up another flag.

Whoops! Also added Substack tag. We now return you to your regularly scheduled argument.

Hi there, everyone. This post has picked up a lot of flags! But it's also picked up a lot of discussion. To be completely clear: the calculus for deleting it would be different if it had 3 comments, but it has over 100. The guidelines are in the (slow) process of being revised, and the new guidelines will be rooted in our Values Statement. That statement includes Humanity as a value, and one of the things we've discussed as part of that is discouraging LLM use more strongly. As far as the current guidelines go, this post skates on the edge, but it's not clearly over the line. (Also, let's be honest: if the user hadn't disclosed, it almost certainly wouldn't have gotten flagged nearly as much. And while i may in fact be the "AI"-hatin'-est of the "AI"-haters on MetaFIlter, there are some perverse incentives there that we are going to need to sort out!) alex1965, full disclosure: If i'd seen this post 4.5 hours ago when it got posted, i probably would have deleted it. It's entirely predictable that it was going to get flagged to hell, and we really don't encourage line-stepping wrt the posting guidelines.

Fixed typo in post.

star gentle uterus: "PC inferior race has entered the chat, console chads still winning." Please be mindful that the whole "PC master race" thing, and variations thereof, hit way differently for a lot of folks in the world of 2026. I'd really rather everyone avoided it in future.

URL in post and a typo fixed.

Corrected typo in the post title.

Fixed typo in title. Please carry on.

Folks, parts of this conversation are getting flagged. I think it's all fairly okay and i'm not deleting anything so far, but please try to steer away from making this conversation about surlyben (or any other specific user). If the expressed opinion is objectionable, by all means talk about that, but past a certain point, talking this much about someone specific starts to develop characteristics of a pile-on, which we would like to avoid.

Fixed the YouTube link in the original post after consulting with the user.

Fixed spelling in the post's title.

Edited the original link so that it points to https://dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/

I contacted the OP to amend the post instead of deleting it.

Comment was posted in this thread by mistake. I have removed it as requested.

Removed a duplicate comment.

Content note added to post in consultation with the user.

Two deleted. runsrealgood: The user in question wasn't in the thread at the time of my previous mod note, but "not being in the thread" is not the most salient issue with taking cheap shots at other users. Please stop. The other comment was deleted for quibbling about a moderation decision. I might have made a bad call here, but as always, please take it to MeTa or use one of the other available pathways (like the MOC contact form). mrjohnmuller: I didn't delete your comment because it's as much about the post itself as about the moderation decision, but please do stay on topic. [edited because i forgot to include something]

One deleted; being snarky at another user (who's not even in the thread!) is just not going to add to the conversation. Also, seanmpuckett: yeah, you're not supposed to editorialize to this extent in an FPP, and you know that. This got a few flags but it's also got a reasonable amount of conversation going on, so i'm going to leave it alone, but please don't make a habit of this? (Note: i was an early commenter, without my mod hat on. If it hadn't picked up steam, though, it would likely have been deleted earlier.)

Mr. Yuck: While i understand that you consider this to be completely innocent behavior, (a) the way you are talking about it is making a number of community members incredibly upset, and (b) it's quite possible that the behavior you're describing is illegal. We need you to stop discussing these girls in this way on MetaFilter. You're being given a timeout, and i will follow up with you via email. Everybody else: I am not removing anything from this thread at this point, but this conversation needs to move on and not become the "let's yell at Mr. Yuck while he's on timeout" show.

One comment deleted as a duplicate. ellieBOA, i chose to keep the later of your two comments, since it seems like you clarified your wording slightly. If you'd rather i swap them, let me know!

Added content warning as requested by OP

Fixed typo in title.

Fixed Video URL, please carry on

subdee: I've edited "former CEO" to "former Board Member" in your post, and removed the comment in which you requested the correction.

PareidoliaticBoy: "My reccomendation is just to move to Canada." This comment has received pushback in the thread, so i'm choosing to leave it, but please note that this is not okay. "Just move" is almost never a reasonable or compassionate thing to say, and it should be avoided in general; but it is particularly unacceptable in a thread about trans people (or other minoritized people) having their civil rights taken away.

Fixed link in this comment.

Fixed a broken link in the post.

One deleted. People (including me!) do have strong feelings about Substack, and i understand the temptation to point out perceived hypocrisy, but it really doesn't need to get brought up in every conversation. (And again, i've been guilty of that in the past and am trying to do better myself.)

Added Substack tag.

Folks, we missed leaving an edit note when editing the link in the post earlier. So, just for transparency: we edited a link in the post at the user's request.

Folks, the derail about Substack has definitely run its course; please do refocus on the actual content (or ignore this post if you hate Substack!)

Substack tag added.

One comment removed. plagued out moggies, you have made your point and tiny frying pan has apologized; there's no need to insist. Can we please move on and recenter the conversation around the virtual rave itself?

Deleted two comments for being both deraily and overgeneralizing about a population. Full disclosure: they were my own comments. I would normally avoid moderating my own comments like the plague, but unfortunately i am the only mod available for the next day or two.

Fixed the spelling of "Marcia" in two comments.

Added Substack tag.

Added Substack tag.

JHarris, i fixed the typo in your comment and removed your subsequent comment that was just a note about the typo.

Fixed the link in this comment.

Please be mindful that the first couple comments generally set the tone for a thread, and that coming in hot with a complaint unrelated to the content of a post is therefore not optimal. It's okay not to want to click on a mystery meat link or watch a 4-hour video or whatever, but the better solution in those cases is to go read a different post!

Edited the post to add a sentence, at user's request.

Corrected the spelling of 'Isle of Man' in the post text.

Fixed a typo in the post title and updated all links to be clickable.

A clarification of my previous note, because it's been brought to my attention that it was arguably dismissive and should've done a better job explaining the problem: I am aware that penis size and eugenics/Great Replacement Theory are both discussed in the linked article. However, even in that context the following things are not things that need to be part of this thread:

• Saying or implying that immigrants have bigger penises than non-immigrants. (Penis size comparison is not okay in general; it's a kind of body-shaming. And when you bring immigrants into it, it also bleeds into and reinforces racist narratives).
• If you are cis, using trans people as a rhetorical prop when discussing penis size.
• Saying or implying that it's a good idea for any group of people to outbreed any other group of people to extinction (again, even if you are suggesting that the group to be extincted is "white people", it is still buying into and reinforcing a eugenicist framework and that is not okay).
• Talking about an incident 2500 years ago involving mass sexual violence, because (a) it is not relevant and (b) sexual violence is a thing that generally needs to not end up in people's faces on MetaFilter unless it is relevant.

As ever, if you feel that a deletion was unwarranted, feel free to use the Contact Form or make a MeTa post.

Two deleted. This conversation is not likely to benefit from a derail about penis size, rape, and/or breeding anyone out of existence.

BungaDunga, it's probably time to let the thread breathe a little. You don't need to stop talking completely, but it's kind of becoming the you-vs-the-world show in here; of the latest 20 comments in the thread, you've made 10 of them.

One comment deleted as noise.

One deleted at user request.

Fixed a link in the post, at the user's request.

greatalleycat: "To be honest, Americans don't think about Canada at all." I'm not sure if there's some reason you've decided to come into this thread specifically to antagonize Canadians, but it's unpleasant and breaks the guidelines, and you should knock it off.

Edited post at user's request to remove a bad link.

Folks. One out of every 200 people is half a percent, or 0.5%. If you wanted to write it without a percent sign, it would be 0.005. That said, it's probably worth dropping the derail now.

Added Substack tag.

Added Substack tag.

Folks, this is me with my mod hat on. I'm sorry to have to drop into this thread this way, having already made a comment without my mod hat on, but coverage is tricky right now and a couple of the comments in here are getting flagged to hell. I am not removing any existing comments. However, when discussing indigenous cultural practices, you absolutely need to be aware of your own cultural context, and exercise some caution to avoid falling back on racist stereotypes.

One deleted. Copy/pasting LLM content is against the guidelines; please refer to our generated content policy.

Two deleted for replying to a deleted comment. Kutsuwamushi, you're fine in general. On further reflection, sammyo has been banned for 7 days and we will discuss whether it should be a permaban. (It's my bad; I didn't look carefully enough at the history.)

Two deleted. sammyo: we don't really need to have random racist jokes introduced into the conversation, even if someone else said them and you're linking to them offsite. donnagirl: your comment was removed as a response to the deleted comment; you're fine.

HearHere: "🦋"] HearHere, I'm leaving this up, but just in general, you do need to contribute to the conversation with something besides just an emoji.

Fixed a typo in the post text!

One comment edited (to remove a link) at user request.

Just a note, folks: i started this thread (without my mod hat on), but i'm also the mod with most of the scheduled time for the next day and a half. I am going to be extremely cautious about performing any moderation actions in this thread unless something blows way the hell up, which obviously i would prefer not to have happen. Please FIAMO and try to keep the conversation on rails.