One comment edited in consultation with the user. In general, folks: it's okay to discuss the possibility that Graham was a closeted gay man, and even to mention the fact that some people called him "Lady G" if you're careful, but directly calling him "Lady G" is not something that's okay here. I understand that this isn't true of everyone, but a whole lot of queer folks regard it as homophobic. (Full disclosure: i'm one of them.)

One deleted. Let’s keep comments focused on the thread’s topic and refrain from making digs at users.

That said, please do not tell members to "shut your bitch ass up" even if you use an abbreviation for plausible deniability. That is emphatically against the guidelines. I'm not going to override the earlier decision by a different mod to let it stand, but please do better in future, folks.

plagued out moggies: "Looks like we’ve had some comments deleted without mod notes?" No comments have been manually removed by moderators in this thread; one comment was automatically deleted because the user in question wiped their account. That's not normally a thing we highlight publicly, but i understand that people were (justifiably) confused about a comment disappearing with no note (i was confused myself, unti i logged into this acccount!) and i thought it wise to head off any derails or grar about it.

Fixed typo in Jessie Gender's name in this comment.

krisjohn: ""How Flock Cameras Wrongly Tracked Me for Days Over ‘Stolen’ Plates and Sent Police After Me", or "The Day I Became a Girls' School In Iran"" This comment seems to have upset some folks, but I confess that I'm not sure i'm seeing what people think is wrong with it? It reads to me as a salient point about the world's embrace of computer-aided surveillance systems which are implicated in both atrocities (and many others!) I absolutely might be missing something, so if anyone would like to flag-with-note or MeMail me, I'm happy to revisit.

Added Substack tag.

flabdablet, you're taking up a lot of space in this thread; please let it breathe a little bit.

Fixed broken link in this comment.

Fixed this comment at user's request.

Removed redundant "more inside" from FPP at user's request.

One more removed. What we're not gonna do is rate the attractiveness of folks who died by suicide.

Fixed typo in post, at user's request.

Several deleted. Folks, regardless of whether you think the original joke was sexist or not, mocking another user for calling it sexist isn't great. Also, discussion about moderation needs to be taken to the Contact Form or to MeTa, not left in the thread, even when you're upset.

One comment removed. Please try to be sensitive to context. Dropping a “you'll eat anything if you're hungry enough” joke into a thread that’s about women’s autonomy, captivity narratives, and sex ends up reading as dehumanizing toward women, even if that wasn’t the intent. In this context it treats sexual access to women’s bodies as a kind of generic need, which is objectifying and dated humour. Let's try to drop the derail and keep the focus on the ideas and history in the linked article instead.

Three comments removed. "Panties in a bunch" is indeed a sexist idiom, whether you mean it that way or not; please refrain from that one, thanks.

One comment removed because the link (to a Reddit post) went dead and it was getting flagged.

Three comments removed. Folks, this post has gotten several flags and the conversation is going to some really ugly places. Please try to remember that your fellow community members, including the ones with suicidal ideation, are reading this. It's 100% fine to be angry at the guy, to be clear (i am too!), but jokes are definitely really fraught in this kind of situation and it would probably be better to Not.

Two comments removed, one for being really aggressive to another member and the other replying to that one. Other replies left up for context. Folks, please try to keep the temperature at a reasonable level in here.

Also, corrected typo in this comment at poster's request. (It's me, i was the poster; it was a one-letter typo and it was driving me bugfuck.)

Hi, folks! Just a note that in general posts like this (where it's basically an organic advertisement) are borderline at best, and they get a lot of flags. The conversation here seems to be going well and i'm going to leave this up, but please don't take it as license to go full-on Pepsi Blue in future.

Hi there, folks. Some housekeeping:

• Compact Mag is horrible, their editorial slant is mega-transphobic, and Michael Tracey specifically is a right-wing rape-apologist goon, so this single-link post really doesn't qualify as Best Of The Web.
• However, the conversation in here is lively and i'm pretty hesitant to nuke the whole thing. If it'd been nuked when there were three comments, that'd be one thing, but there are now over 40, including a lot of pushback on the gross aspects of Compact, Tracey, and the post, and i don't really want to memory-hole it all now?
• On the third hand, i invite someone to start a MeTa to discuss this, because i do think there are site policy issues implicated here!

Fixed spelling of "Philippine" in post

Added "USPolitics" tag at a user's request (not the OP's)

Fixed the spelling of Rhiannon Giddens' name in the OP.

I've updated the link in this comment (there's a redirect issue with the https:// version of the link; i've edited it to the http:// version, which will then correctly redirect to https:// ). I've also removed two comments that were entirely about this issue.

Two deleted; a few other replies left up for context. runsrealgood: you are fine, but the form of your pushback was making it personal about another member in a way that was likely to cause more problems. yoz420: you need to take a break from this thread, and from one-note allegations about antisemitism/blood libel in general. If you cannot, the next steps will include timeouts. I strongly encourage you, instead of doing that, to take your concerns to [email protected] or the MOC. Also, because i consider it likely that at least one person will be extra mad that i, specifically, am the mod actioning this particular issue, i want to make it very clear that while we are actively in the process of revamping mod policies and procedures, this kind of thing is not going to be acceptable to any other mod, either.

Full disclosure: my (non-moderator) comment above has been flagged. As i try very hard to avoid moderating my own comments, i am leaving the flag up for the next mod on shift to make a decision. I will avoid commenting further in this thread in my personal capacity until after that happens; speaking in my official capacity, it would be good if the thread didn't get derailed by it.

Folks, everyone is on edge and this whole fireworks thing is bullshit, but please try not to snipe at other users? Thanks!

Fixed link in this comment to be clickable.

Fixed typo in post title and url

Please avoid using “derp” in this discussion. It has been widely used as a slur or mockery of people with intellectual disabilities, and even when someone intends it casually, it can still read as ableist and demeaning. We ask that comments use plain, non-stigmatizing language instead.

Fixed link in this comment to be clickable.

One deleted as a duplicate.

Added tags for AI and LLM.

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.