Monday's Most Active Threads

The most active thread yesterday was again the thread about Vice President Kamala Harris' choice for running mate. But I've already discussed that thread and will skip it today. The most active thread after that one was titled, "How will the stock market crash impact the elections?" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. A similar thread was also created in the "Money and Finances" forum but I decided to leave both threads since they had different focuses. That thread was the 9th most active yesterday. The thread in the political forum was started early yesterday before financial markets had opened in the U.S. The original poster described stock market meltdowns in Japan and South Korea and predicted a crash in the U.S. market. He wondered how this would impact the election. Normally, the current administration receives blame for any economic problems that occur under its watch. Therefore, several posters thought that blame for a market crash would rest with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. However, as is the case with everything these days, responses mostly broke down along partisan political lines. Conservatives seemed eager, almost joyful, at the prospect of a stock market collapse. They couldn't contain their excitement over the opportunity to criticize Harris due to economic problems. Former President, current cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump posted in all caps on Truth Social that "STOCK MARKETS CRASHING. I TOLD YOU SO!!! KAMALA DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE." Liberals, on the other hand, suggested that we wait and see exactly what happens with U.S. markets. Moreover, they pointed to multiple significant market drops during Trump's administration. Some posters accepted that there might be a significant market collapse, but expected recovery by the Fall. All of this was before the U.S. markets even opened. Posters debated whether we were facing a collapse of the market that could lead to ongoing economic problems, including a recession, that could involve significant job losses or whether this was a simple market correction from which we would soon recover. Fairly soon it became apparent that this wasn't much of a downturn at all, let alone a major collapse. While on a day to day basis most stocks lost some value the market has grown so much lately that the set back was minimal at best. Just over an hour after the stock exchanges opened, one poster wrote, "Well, that market correction was short lived." Despite the constant complaints about inflation and equally common predictions of an imminent recession, the Biden/Harris administrations appears to have pulled off a nearly mythical soft landing. While economists such as Larry Summers predicted 10% unemployment would be necessary to control inflation, Biden and Harris have roped in inflation with unemployment around 4%. Based on today's market opening, I would say that we are already recovering from this "crash" and yesterday will be long forgotten by the November election.

The next most active thread yesterday was posted in the "Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)" and titled, "My GF broke up with me because I canceled the trip". The original poster says that he wanted to go to London in the fall to watch a football game and invited his girlfriend to come along. He also proposed that they visit another city while they were in Europe but could not agree on which city. Therefore, he told her that he preferred to stay in London the entire time. His girlfriend complained that she had already been to London and the original poster then told her to stay home. The original poster's girlfriend then "packed up everything and left". The original poster doesn't think that his behavior was worthy of a breakup but wonders what others think. This story is so outlandish that I am surprised that nobody reported the thread as a likely troll. Indeed, this is a likely troll. I identified two previous threads started by this poster and in both of those, the poster was female and had a boyfriend. Therefore, the original poster appears to have undergone a gender transition. I also found posts in this thread from the original poster which were written in the guise of a woman who thought that the original poster's behavior was wrong. I guess the poster transitioned back. I really don't understand the mentality of trolls of this sort. I sort of understand those that just want to create controversy for sport and I get those who change details to hide their identity. To some extent, I even understand those that create a scenario just to explore other's thoughts on it. But this is just a strange thread. The original poster seems so obviously wrong that negative reactions are basically guaranteed. Of course most posters would side with the girlfriend in this scenario. But, even so, the original poster sock puppeted responses that attacked the original poster. Perhaps the original poster is the girlfriend in the situation and simply wants confirmation that breaking up was reasonable? Regardless, the thread is a 10 page long waste of time.

Next was a thread titled, "Top traffic cameras bring in $1 million PER WEEK" and posted in the "Metropolitan DC Local Politics" forum. The original poster linked to an article in Axios about speed cameras in D.C. which listed the revenue being generated by the cameras. The original poster complains that "progressive Democrats" are raising taxes on the poor and middle class by pretending that the cameras are about safety. Speed cameras have long been controversial in D.C. and have recently become another issue of political partisanship. House Republicans have attempted to add riders to bills that would prohibit D.C. from utilizing such cameras. The original poster repeats two of the common complaints about the cameras. First, that they tend to disproportionately impact poorer residents and, second, that while they are advertised as improving safety, they are really used as a revenue-generating mechanism. One irony of the original poster's complaints is that for years this forum has been filled with allegations that "progressive Democrats" are too soft on crime. Now, suddenly, the same group is accused of too diligently enforcing laws. Furthermore, it is not at all clear to whom the original poster is referring because traffic camera installations are a function of the executive branch and the Mayor is generally at odds with the progressives on the Council. Regardless of the specific politics, posters have a variety of opinions about the cameras. Some posters have no issue with them because the fines can be avoided by simply driving the speed limit. Actually, you can even drive over the speed limit and avoid being fined because tickets are not issued until a driver is at least 10 miles per hour over the limit. Other posters argue that speed cameras make streets even less safe. Their argument is not that removing the cameras would result in safer streets, but rather having a human traffic control officer who would make stops for speeding would catch other infractions such as drunk driving. A considerable number of posters suggest concern about poor people being ticketed by the cameras, though some of that concern may be more for the poster's own wallets than those of poor people. Other posters argue that some cameras are in places where the speed limit is too low. That argument is made with regard to the camera that has generated the most revenue. That camera is located on the Potomac Parkway near the Kennedy Center. Often traffic on that road makes the speed limit irrelevent — you would be lucky to even be able to reach that speed. But, other times the road is fairly empty and invites driving at a higher speed. Some posters think the cameras are effective and others don't. Some posters brag that they speed from camera to camera, simply slowing down as they pass one. In my opinion, the biggest problem with the cameras is that D.C. does not have an efficient mechanism for collecting fines from non-District residents. Cars from Maryland and Virginia have racked up millions of dollars in fines that D.C. has no easy way to collect. As such, those drivers speed with impunity throughout the city.

The final thread that I will discuss today was another one posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Pandemonium in the UK/Ireland", the original poster comments on a recent outbreak of communal violence in the United Kingdom. While the original poster includes Ireland in the thread's title, the violence is actually in Northern Ireland, mostly Belfast, as well as England. The violence started soon after a tragic attack on a Taylor Swift-themed yoga class in which three young girls were stabbed to death. Rumors soon circulated, especially on X (formerally Twitter) that the perpetrator was a Muslim immigrant. This turned out not to be the case, but that doesn't seem to have mattered. Gangs soon began attacking mosques, stores owned by immigrants — especially Muslims — and anyone who appeared to be non-White. Making the situation worse is that many see the attacks as justified. In fact, even the original poster of this thread simply refers to "pandemonium" and describes what is happening as "rebelling about the migrant issue". What is happening might more accurately be referred to as a pogrom. The UK has long had anti-immigration sentiments. Indeed, antagonism for "polish plumbers" was one of the main motivations for Brexit. This antagonism has been increased by immigrants coming illegally across the English Channel in small boats. Anti-immigration feelings spurred far right groups to unprecedented electoral success in the recent election. Throughout this thread posters justify the attacks. For instance, one poster wrote, "Sounds to me like they care more about their country, their culture, their faith, their way of life than they care about PC phoney baloney." Like this poster, several suggest that the U.S. should "wake up" and follow the British example. I don't know if these posters don't fully understand the extent of the violence in the U.K. or they do understand and support it. Several Muslim-owned businesses have been set on fire and buildings housing migrants have been attacked and also burned. Gangs of White people have set up roadblocks and prevented non-Whites from passing. Many police officers have been attacked and injured while trying to prevent the violence. In response, groups of Muslims have organized to defend themselves and communal violence between the groups has broken out. Whereas the violence perpetrated by White gangs is normally played down, especially in this thread, the actions of the immigrants is portrayed in stark terms that stress their danger. By the end of the thread it has completely transitioned from excusing the attacks on Muslims to outrage about the self-defense and revenge attacks by Muslims. Whether Muslims are being attacked or doing the attacking, posters in this thread are against them.