Thursday's Most Active Threads

The most active thread yesterday was titled, "Who are foreign people always talking to?" which was posted in the "Off-Topic" forum. The original poster says that whether she is in a taxi, an Uber, or a nail salon, she encounters people speaking loudly on their telephones in foreign languages. The poster thinks this is strange behavior and wonders to whom these people are talking. When I first saw this thread yesterday, I assumed that it would be offensive and result in lots of upset posters. But, for the post part, that was not the case. Even those who objected to the original poster's observations kept their responses calm and substantive. I don't think any noteworthy fights broke out in the thread which is a pleasant surprise. Instead, those responding took the topic seriously and tried to provide useful responses. For instance, one of the first to respond said that her foreign-born mother is just gossiping with anyone available to take a call. Another poster who describes herself as an immigrant admits to being guilty of this and explains that she talks to a broad range of friends and relatives. She says that it is a cultural norm for them to keep in close touch and that they communicate about about a wide variety of topics. Several posters bring up the culture aspects and say that they come from much more communal cultures where people are rarely alone. Talking on the phone replaces the in-person communication to which they were accustomed. Several posters mentioned that they speak foreign languages and can often understand those on the phone. They report hearing themselves being talked about in many cases. On the other hand, a poster who described herself as a foreigner said that neither she nor her husband spend much time on the phone. She suggests that the original poster has "observational bias" and is simply more likely to notice and remember those speaking in foreign languages. Similarly, another poster has encountered many non-foreigners speaking loudly on their phones in the grocery store. One poster says her husband, who has no foreign ties, is also always on the phone and has a need to constantly be chatting. For some posters, the language being used on a call was of little matter. They hate hearing people talking on their phones regardless of the language.

The next most active thread was posted in the "Website Feedback" forum. On Wednesday, one of the most active threads that I discussed was about homophobia. I mentioned that I had locked that thread due to the repeated inappropriate posts that I had to remove. Prior to my posting that blog post, a poster started this thread, titled, "Question about the homophobia thread" asking why I had locked the thread and suggesting that it is useful to hear different opinions about "LGBTQIA+ activism". I replied much as I would later in the blog explaining that threads involving transgender topics almost always get out of hand and that I was tired of removing posts from that thread. We then had some back and forth about the poster's frustration about the inability to have discussions on such topics. The thread could have ended there, but the next day a poster responded saying that her child, who has mental health issues, identifies as trans and accused the "medical community and trans community" of "preying on" the child. This started a big debate, of which I was very much a part of, about whether being trans is a type of mental illness or whether gender identity is real and should be accepted. Because this was a thread in which I was participating and, therefore, could monitor easily, I decided to give some leeway to those posters who always argue for the opportunity discuss the topic. While there has been some vitriol, for the most part things haven't gotten too bad. There are posters who insist that men are men and women are women and that any confusion is purely down to mental illness. On the other hand are posters, including me, who distinguish between the sex of an individual assigned at birth and the gender with which the person might identify. As usual, the anti-trans posters fixate on medical transitions and claim that children having their body parts removed is common and widespread. Proponents of trans rights argue that transition is personal to the individual and can come in many flavors with medical transition, especially among children, not being common. Ironically, what is glaringly missing from this conversation is almost any participation by those like the original poster of the thread who claim to support trans rights in general, but quibble with some aspects of the trans agenda. Obviously, these posters would be more comfortable discussing locker rooms and sports participation, but as self-described supporters of trans people, I would hope that they would object to those who deny the existence of trans people and claim that they are simply mentally ill.

The next most active thread yesterday was titled, "S/O What are the major parenting ‘you do what??’ triggers" and posted in the "General Parenting Discussion" forum. The original poster explains that this thread was inspired by discussion in another thread involving a parent taking a stoller on vacation for a 5-year-old. Apparently, that had upset several posters though I am not familiar with the discussion so I really don't know. At any rate, the poster wants to know about other practices parents have that set others off. She then proceeds to list some of the perennially controversial topics that always cause DCUM dumpster fires. Given this type of introduction, I am surprised that this thread is only the third most active for the day. Some of the first to respond added even more controversial topics to the list. As a result, I expect that this thread will either become extremely long or get locked. The original poster listed stroller use past a certain age, age of potty training, breastfeeding vs. formula, and daycare vs. nanny vs. stay at home parent. I would immediately add to that "circumcision", and "redshirting", but there is no need for my contribution because other posters suggested those. Others added screen time, spanking, and divorce. As would be expected, the thread soon turned to posters discussing and debating these topics. Any day of the week, a thread about circumcision can generate 20 pages. The same for a thread about redshirting, and the same for a thread about breastfeeding. Put all of those topics in the same thread and you are at risk of setting our servers on fire. But, so far, no particular topic has really caught on. I suspect that is only a matter of time, however.

The final thread at which I'll look today was posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Biden falls again at The Airforce Academy Graduation", the original poster embedded a tweet from the "Daily Caller" showing President Joe Biden tripping over a sandbag and falling down on stage. The original poster claimed that is evidence that Biden is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief. This is, of course, a ridiculous assertion. Anyone can trip and fall down. Heck, just a couple of weeks ago I tripped and fell while going up some stairs. Unlike in Biden's case, where there was an unexpected sandbag, the stairs were right where I expected them to be and I still manage to trip. I guess that makes me ineligible to be President so I will put my 2024 campaign on hold. I came pretty close to removing this thread because there are so many bad faith posts. In 2016, Republicans made a cottage industry of inventing health scares involving Hillary Clinton. They are eager to do the same with Biden. So, this incident was quickly exploited to that end. The timing was fortuitous for Republicans because Biden, who some claimed is senile and incapable of getting dressed by himself, had just pulled off an unexpectedly promising compromise agreement concerning the debt ceiling. That bill, which is currently on its way to Biden's desk to be signed into law, contains few of the Republican demands but, nevertheless, passed both chambers of Congress easily. With regard to Biden's tumble, the most surprising reaction came from former President Donald Trump. Trump was uncharacteristically gracious, wishing Biden well and hoping that he wasn't hurt. Trump went on to joke about his struggle descending a ramp at West Point. "You have to be careful", he said.