this thread caught my eye so i had to look

sure emough:

OP post is

She is the definition of independence. When the world tells her to shrink, she chooses to expand.

Muscle mommies do not ask for permission.

They take what they deserve.

btw this is the same guy that huffed nitrogen

You forgot to mention that they are great cuddlers

surpised this wasnt peggiebigpeepee saying this

posting

All these women are fat nowadays

Muscle mommies is the kind of thing that looks great drawn

Haters to the left

i did not make that mistake that was literally how """he""" wrote it

this post sums it up

Porn Addition: The Thread

I bet whoever made this is really embarrassed now.

also feels like the old internet.

hopefully there will be a trend of small niche websites that takes us back to the web before the giant social media websites took over

[–]Circumin -3 points 15 hours ago

>The Daily Wire. Probably had questions like "Do you agree with Republicans that schools should not be forcing s*x changes on children? Yes or no."

[–]Wyvernrider[S] 12 points 15 hours ago

>This was a NYtimes/Ipsos poll. Are you that dense?

https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documentcowtools/f548560f100205ef/e656ddda-full.pdf

[–]Ok-Bookkeeper6926 -3 points 14 hours ago

>polls dont mean anything

More in the comments

The whole yard is your patio + more time to grill

On tonight's episode:

We begin the NewJeans Saga. Join us for a brief look at the history of the major players in the scandal, as well as the opening volleys of a feud that could alter the landscape of pretty ricefoids shaking their hips on stage for ever.

Who is MHJ?

What exactly is, a NewJeans?

Why do I keep using Twice for the OP?

Find the answers to all of this and more, right after these messages from our sponsor:

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programing.

Christmas Thread Theme

Introduction

On the morning of November 28th, 2024, an official representative of the superstar Kpop group NewJeans announced that the members would be holding a press conference to address the ongoing dispute with their record label, ADOR. Two weeks prior, on November 13th, the group sent a letter notifying ADOR of numerous issues that they considered to be breaches of their contract. Per a (standard) clause in the contract, ADOR had 14 days to respond to and ameliorate these breaches. If it failed to do so, NewJeans would have the option to terminate their exclusive contract, without penalty. With the 14 day deadline set to pass at 12:00 AM KST, November 29th, it seemed premature to call a press conference. However, the group was planning to board a plane to Japan in preparation for promotional activities later that evening, and expressed their wish to update their fans on the situation before ADOR could take advantage of their travel to control the media narrative.

They know what they did

And so, at 8:30 PM, the members of NewJeans and a PR representative met with the press to announce their response to ADOR's failure to rectify the alleged contract breaches. What followed was a bizzare press conference that saw members claim their contract was terminated and that they:

• were no longer under contract with ADOR after midnight

• would not need to pay a termination penalty

• would begin seeking other oppurtunities while finishing scheduled events with ADOR

And the really bizarre part...

• would not seek to confirm the termination of their contract via legal action.

This, of course, raised numerous questions amongst the entertainment reporters present who have a solid grasp on how contract terminations work. I'm sure the dramatards in the audience who understand contract law, or are capable of tying their own shoes, have many of the same questions. Thankfully, the girls took some time to take questions from the press.

An excerpt from the press conference. Did you understand?

Always a good idea to check the specifics after terminating the contract

Leaving the world with more questions than answers, the members of NewJeans boarded a plane to Japan to resume promotional activities, setting the internet ablaze with discussion of what was in the future for NewJeans. Well, in order to predict the future, one must first understand the past.

And that past can only be found...

...In the K-Hole.

The Main Players

HYBE

The illegitimate love child of Kim Jong-Un and Xi Jinping Bang Si-Hyuk

HYBE Corporation, initially founded by Bang Si-hyuk in 2005 as Big Hit Entertainment, is the largest of the big 4 record companies in Kpop, with a market capitalization almost 4x greater than that of their next largest competitor, JYP Entertainment. Their success is directly tied to that of their most popular group, BTS, who during their heyday, generated more GDP for South Korea than the Korean domestic airline industry. This great financial success provided Big Hit Entertainment with the opportunity to acquire numerous smaller record labels including Source Music, which would later go on to debut the girl group Le Sserafim, in 2019 and Pledis Entertainment (Seventeen and Formis9) in 2020

With these new labels under their belt, Big Hit Entertainment restructured itself as HYBE Corporation in 2021, structuring all of their various sub-labels underneath the new Hybe Label division. During the years proceeding the re-structuring, HYBE developed plans to debut numerous gril groups, and leading these plans was the former Visual Director for SM Entertainment, Min Hee-jin (MHJ).

Min Hee-Jin

Born in 1979, MHJ began her career in Kpop as a graphic designer for SM Entertainment (one of the other big 4 companies in Kpop) in 2003. Eventually she was promoted to creative director, where she oversaw all visual branding for a number of SM's gril groups, including Girls Generation, Red Velvet, and f(x). Her impact on the industry in this role was massive, as she shifted artistic direction within the industry towards the idea of more experimental "concepts".

You can think of a group's concept as the overarching theme of the group, impacting everything from album art, photoshoots, music videos, and costumes to public behavior and even the type of music the group produces. The concept of an artist can remain static for years on end (think of how Motley Crue have always been party boy rockstars), or change over time (compare the early music and style of The Beatles to their later work.)

Leaving SM in 2018 due to burnout, it wasn't long before she found herself hired by Big Hit Entertainment to oversee the rebranding to HYBE Corporation. It was also announced that MHJ would be the creative lead for multiple new girl groups, as well as the producer for a label that HYBE would launch in the next few years. MHJ took part in initial planning for a new girl group with Source Music, but in 2021 HYBE established the ADOR sub label and named her as the CEO. The first act to debut under ADOR would be the girl group MHJ had begun developing with Source Music, NewJeans.

NewJeans

Upcoming January 2025 Vogue Korea cover featuring NewJeans

Auditions for Mhj's new girl group began in 2019 under Source Music. Initially planning to debut in 2021, this was pushed back to 2022, ostentibly due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Officially debuting on July 22nd of 2022, NewJeans quickly became one of the biggest acts in all of Kpop. Their achievements speak for themselves:

• First idol group in history to occupy the #1, #2 and #3 spot on every chart in Korea for 3 consecutive months with Ditto, OMG, and Hype Boy

• NewJeans surpassed 5 billion total points on Circle Digital Chart in only 64 weeks, second only to BTS (53 weeks)

• First girl group to ever chart 5 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same calendar year in K-Pop history

• Set a Guinness record for fastest artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify and also became the fastest Korean act in history to reach 3 billion streams

Newjeans debut single and MV, Hype Boy, released July 22nd, 2022.

This groups massive success on the charts led them to become one of the most sought after brand endorsements in the advertising industry , with them eventually going on to work with Nike, Coca- Cola, McDonald's, Apple, Levi's, and Calvin Klein. NewJeans was so successful on this front that In April 2024, Forbes Korea reported that the group had earned ₩30 billion (~$20 million) in advertising in the course of a single year. to put this in perspective, Patrick Mahomes had total estimated off-the-field earnings of $25 million in 2024.

You know you've made it big when even your slop meal gets to go on tour.

Hanni

The Vietnamese-Australian member of a Korean girl group's English male name is Harry.

Born to Vietnamese parents in Melbourne, Australia, Phạm Ngọc Hân's (20) first experience in the entertainment industry was as a member of the Australian kpop dance cover group AEMINA. In late 2019, she was the only person to pass the Plus Global Auditions, the first set of auditions for the girl group that would become NewJeans. Hanni is widely considered to be the best vocalist in the group

Minji

Marcus the Cleanup Queen

Born in Chuncheon, South Korea in 2004, Kim Min-ji began training with Source Music in 2017. She was likely the first member selected for NewJeans, as she was the anonymous face of the Plus Global Auditions that selected Hanni. Often acting as the de facto leader, Minji is the oldest member and one of the best dancers in the group.

Dani

Her male English name is Demitree.

In 2005, Danielle Marsh was born to an Australian father and Korean mother in Newcastle, Australia. Moving back and forth between Australia and South Korea as a child, Dani's first experience in show business was as a child actor in South Korea. She began her kpop career as a trainee at YG Entertainment ( the last of the big four Kpop companies), leaving the company and joining Source Music in July 2020. Probably the most popular member internationally, Dani is a talented vocalist who provided the Korean dub of Ariel for the live action Little Mermaid movie.

Haerin

This Kang's name is Stephen

Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Kang Hae-rin dropped out of middle school in 2020 at the age of 13 to begin training with Source Music, later earning her GED. A taleented singer and dancer, Haerin is also a global ambassador for Dior.

Hyein

(Male name) Collin is the reason we need pedobear.

Lee Hye-in was born in Incheon, South Korea in 2008, making her the youngest member, or maknae, of NewJeans. Getting her start as a child model, she also was a member of a kid's group called U.SSO Girl from 2017-2018. She later went on to star on a YouTube children's channel called PocketTV. She eventually joined ADOR as a trainee in 2021. Despite being the youngest member of the group, Hyein has the most showbiz experience in the group.

Now that we've had a chance to meet the stars of our story, we are finally able to see where the NewJeans/ADOR drama truly began. But first, it's time for a...

Cookie Break

After the success of their debut single Hype Boy, NewJeans quickly followed up with the lead single of their self-titled debut EP, Cookie. As @0BS3SS10N mentioned in the comments of our previous episode, there was something a little off about this song.

With most of the song in Korean, the lyrics, once translated into English, are something else:

Now, these lyrics wouldn't be too bad in and of themselves, at least compared to western music, save for one small problem; the majority of the group was underage when the song was released. At the time of release, Dani and Hanni were 17, Haerin was 16, and Hyein was 14(!). Only Minji was over the age of 18 at the time. This generated a great deal of controversy in western markets due to the sexual tone of the lyrics.

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/wdclrx/newjeans_cookie/

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/wdd6bg/new_jeans_just_officially_debut_with_the_release/

Link

A solid summary of the drama

As @ftincel touched on above, the scandal was complicated by a report of a pattern of weird, borderline pedophilic behavior surrounding MHJ. She had numerous pictures of underage girls and a 15 year old Brooke Shields on her Instagram, and had also been accused of over sexualizing underage idols while at SM Entertainment.

Link

HYBE, ADOR, and NewJeans themselves argued the song was actually about burning a CD for someone (to bake a CD is a euphemism for burning a CD in Korea) and that the translator who worked on the MV above had mistranslated the lyrics. Most Westerners didn't buy this, pointing out that two of the people in the group (Dani and Hanni) were native English speakers. However, as is common with scandals related to Kpop idols, there were plenty of fans who were ready to eat up the cover story.

Link

https://old.reddit.com/r/unpopularkpopopinions/comments/wrsspn/cookie_by_new_jeans_isnt_as_sexual_as_people_make/

https://old.reddit.com/r/NewJeans/comments/wkle0q/serious_discussion_thread_the_cookie_and_min/

Let's see what /mu/ had to say at the time:

You know it's bad when even 4chan thinks you've gone too far

I think this is a compilation of translated comments from Korean sites. If not, someone needs to investigate this guy.

With all of that background info and the Cookie drama out of the way, we can begin our story in earnest.

The Beginning of the End

The Audit

On April 22nd, 2024, bombshell news dropped that HYBE would be launching an internal audit of ADOR and it's executives, due to concerns that MHJ was trying to attract investors to take the label independent. At the time, HYBE owned about 80% of ADOR, with the remaining 20% being held by ADOR executives, predominantly MHJ.

HYBE alleged that MHJ and a VP at ADOR, identified only as Mr. L, were working in collaboration to "free" ADOR from HYBE. The scheme included Mr. L passing classified info about HYBE to MHJ. Mr. L had previously worked with HYBE, most relevantly during its IPO, before being transferred by the company to ADOR. Once HYBE became aware of the plan, the audit was triggered, executives electronics were examined, and plans to remove MHJ as CEO of ADOR were initiated.

Illit

For her part, MHJ released a statement alleging that the audit was an illegal attempt to oust her as CEO In retaliation for her accusing Illit, a new Kpop group under HYBE's sub-label, Belift Labs, and their producers of "copying" NewJeans.

https://www.koreaboo.com/news/min-hee-jin-official-statement/

April 23rd and 24th

The next day, April 23rd, HYBE responded that it had clear evidence that MHJ had been planning to take ADOR independent long before Illit had debuted. The main piece of evidence for this was an unreleased internal document detailing MHJ's plans.

https://m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240423006400315

On the 24th, various ADOR executives tried to distance MHJ from the discovered internal document, but a report from Dispatch (basically the Korean TMZ) revealed that she had almost $73 million in put options on HYBE.

Link

April 25th

The Next day, April 25th, HYBE made public it's initial findings from the audit and stated it's intention to report MHJ to the police.

A leaked conversation between MHJ and another ADOR executive, A

In response MHJ called her own press conference that day, which ran for almost 2 hours.

the entire press conference summed up by mhj lawyers pic.twitter.com/3qrfngiz3H

— 𝓪⁷ (@JlNSONYEONDAN) April 25, 2024

During this press conference MHJ touched on a number of topics, including:

• Reiterating that the only cause of the audit was an internal complaint she filed over Illit's "plaigerism"

• Complaining that her shareholders agreement that she signed with HYBE was unfair and currently being renegotiated.

• Alleging that she was promised NewJeans would be the first of HYBE's new girl groups to debut. Instead Le Sserafim was allowed to debut first. (Remember this one, it will be important later on)

• Claiming that she would take legal action against HYBE for seizing her and other executive's electronics

• Stating that all of ADOR's internal discussions about seeking outside investors and breaking away from HYBE were merely jokes

• Tacitly admitting that she would consult a Korean Shaman to help make business decisions (again, more on this at a later date)

The entire press conference is a trip, and this all is just a snippet. We'll do a deep dive into the press conference and it's after effects next week, but for now, let's see how the internet reacted:

Reddit Reacts

Warning:: May contain spoilers for future parts of the saga.

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/1ca2gc4/hybe_launched_audit_into_ceo_of_newjeans_agency/

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop_uncensored/comments/1ccn2j5/my_takes_from_the_min_heejin_press_conference/

https://old.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1ca90ty/hybe_initiates_audit_of_adors_management/

https://old.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1ca90ty/hybe_initiates_audit_of_adors_management/

/mu/ Reacts

That's all the time we have for this week, but I hope that I was able to whet your whistle for the drama we have ahead, because theres quite a bit of it.

On next week's "In the K-Hole"

• A deep dive into MHJ's April 25th press conference and auxiliary accusations!

• The parents of NewJeans speak up!

• New legal challenges!

• And much, much more, all next week!

I hope you enjoyed this episode, as well as your upcoming holidays. A very merry Christmas to you all and yours...

... From the bottom...

... Of the K-Hole.

Lmao frick jannies !metashit

why did you specifically have an issue with your driver being indian https://t.co/YXSozXoZ1Z pic.twitter.com/r5SepfdVPL

— ralph 🏳️‍🌈 (@TheRocketRalph) January 2, 2025

LOVE a b-word that doesn't back down

tho she did delete the tweet but it's understandable when your account is just posting selfies and shit and then you end up being harassed by a bunch of losers :<

anyway I'm starving and waiting for my frittata to finish cooking so I'm presenting these without any sparky comments, just imagine them yourself

ok but really ugly scrotes i can understand they're always butthurt but there's so many pickme foids calling her racist and supporting death threats against her family as if they secretly wouldn't have the same fear

Pretend you are as chill as him. He is so special

!animalposters !cats

@WootFatigue Frick you b-word neighbor

!metashit !grillers !music

Mayor Adams kicked off the two-day summit with a rousing speech in which he likened himself to a hero in the war against rats.

"I don't think there's been a mayor in history that says how much he hates rats," he said. "I dislike rats."

Exterminators weren't invited to the event, and neither were the city's rats. Kathleen Corradi, whom Adams appointed as the city's first "rat czar" last year, described the event as a space where rodent experts could share their philosophical treatises.

We are already losing the WAR ON RATS

Matt Frye, of New York State Integrated Pest Management, entered the rat symposium espousing a more diplomatic approach for dealing with Adams' public enemy No. 1.

"The 'war on rats' mentality may not be the best approach for our urban areas," he said.

Dr. Chelsea Himsworth, founder of the Vancouver Rat Project, compared the never-ending fight to the WAR ON DRUGS — and said health officials should focus on harm reduction instead of eliminating the vermin altogether.

"It can't be solved," Himsworth solemnly declared. "It can only be managed."

"I've handled 700 rats myself," said Byers, who fondly recalled driving around Vancouver in a "rat van," capturing rats, collecting their feces and urine, and even anesthetizing the rodents to pick fleas off their skin.

"They're symbols about a lack of resources in your community," she added. "Rats live in tight social groups, When you remove some, you change how they interact with each other. You're changing how you fight for their social hierarchy. And they do urinate on each other that whole time."

"They're just like us," Corradi, Rat Czar of NYC tells us as she bounds into a planter, pushes aside long stalks of milkweed, and points out the entrance to a burrow. "They want to live in a nice place, have food nearby, and not get into too much trouble if they can."

VICTORY! Rat Birth Control Trial Passes Unanimously in New York City Council

https://www.peta.org/blog/rat-birth-control-program-nyc/

Instead of using glue traps, poison, snap traps, or other methods that maim and kill rats instead of preventing their presence, break the cycle of violence.

Literally Wannsee'd

Most Based Comments

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔥🔘🔘

...I'm a lesbian. (7)

Then you'd stay silent. (-3)

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔘🔘🔘

Can we please have a moratorium on these kinds of posts? (4)

You mustn't get mad. I'm sure if the male version of this post was made, you wouldn't say anything. Or you would pick a body type, lol. (-2)

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔘🔘🔘

Those are literally both pics of Kim Kardashian. (142)

Blech! 🤮 (-5)

Angriest Comments

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡😡

Dude you're comparing surströmming to human beings with human bodies , plus if he doesn't like abs or whatever he can just reject or not even date people who have em without disrespecting them , I swear if a woman or a fem person said the same thing about short men it'd be a different story now come on (1)

Points is still the same? I've met people who were so morbidly obese that they couldn't properly wash themselves and it resulted in them smelling like death. They were legitimately nauseating. Some body types are disgusting and some are just not attractive and some are. Sugar coating it does nothing to help anyone.And we hear it all the time how women think short men are ugly or gross or "not a man" etc. they're entitled to that opinion too….so not sure why you're bringing that up unless you're just trying to cry about some double standards (which has constantly existed so again…doesn't change anything). (1)

Angriness: 😡😡😡🔘🔘

And I am so tired of it. (1)

I am as well. Reddit as a company had a reputation for being hostile to women for years and you can see it on the platform. Women's concerns are rarely taken seriously and women are allowed to be insulted and picked up for endless deficiencies ("don't be fat" "don't have small breasts" "don't have cellulite" "don't have too much body hair" "don't have a flabby stomach" etc) unless it's a negative comment about Ariana Grande but that's only because she has the most aggressive management team in the world. But otherwise women are routinely denigrated and insulted and posts bashing women's bodies are constantly amplified by Reddit, (2)

Angriness: 😡😡😡🔘🔘

Crazy that all but one of these women would be in the thinnest 10% of the female American population.It's no wonder that dudes think there are no girls to date, if you all think this is a variety of body types, 90% of women don't even exist. Plus throw in the added overlays that they can't be over the age of 29, and the legal overlay that they must be 18, and you are all severely limiting yourselves. (3)

Biggest Lolcow: /u/Dianagorgon

Score: 🐮🔘🔘🔘🔘

Number of comments: 3

Average angriness: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

Maximum angriness: 😡😡😡🔘🔘

Minimum angriness: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

NEW: Subscribe to /h/miners to see untapped drama veins, ripe for mining!

autodrama: automating away the jobs of dramneurodivergents. Ping HeyMoon if there are any problems or you have a suggestion

OP

USAID has pushed nearly half a billion dollars ($472.6m) through a secretive US government financed NGO, "Internews Network" (IN), which has "worked with" 4,291 media outlets, producing in one year 4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people and "training" over 9000 journ*lists (2023 figures). IN has also supported social media censorship initiatives.

The operation claims "offices" in over 30 countries, including main offices in US, London, Paris and regional HQs in Kiev, Bangkok and Nairobi. It is headed up by Jeanne Bourgault, who pays herself $451k a year. Bourgault worked out of the US embassy in Moscow during the early 1990s, where she was in charge of a $250m budget, and in other revolts or conflicts at critical times, before formally rotating out of six years at USAID to IN.

Bourgault's IN bio and those of its other key people and board members have been recently scrubbed from its website but remain accessible at . Records show the board being co-chaired by Democrat securocrat Richard J. Kessler and Simone Otus Coxe, wife of NVIDIA billionaire Trench Coxe, both major Democratic donors. In 2023, supported by Hillary Clinton, Bourgault launched a $10m IN fund at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). The IN page showing a picture of Bourgault at the CGI has also been deleted.

IN has at least six captive subsidiaries under unrelated names including one based out of the Cayman Islands. Since 2008, when electronic records begin, more than 95% of IN's budget has been supplied by the US government (thread follows)

USAID has pushed nearly half a billion dollars ($472.6m) through a secretive US government financed NGO, "Internews Network" (IN), which has “worked with” 4,291 media outlets, producing in one year 4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people and "training” over…

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 8, 2025

4,921 media outlets

You ever wonder why sometimes when you seach for things you get 75 small bull shit news articles making it impossible to find what you are looking for

That was a design, not a bug

"Internews launches new $10M fund supporting independent media at 2023 Clinton Global Initiative"

Removed Internews Network (IN) page of its chief executive Jeanne Bourgault at the Clinton Global Initiative (2023) pic.twitter.com/hKInv2i9m2

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 8, 2025

https://instagram.com/p/C6glYyqrWpl/

USAID-funded Internews went from funding media organizations with George Soros to overthrow governments in Eastern Europe to calling for advertising boycotts to censor free speech online.

This is a textbook example of U.S. regime change tactics being redirected against domestic populism and American citizens.

In the 1990s, Internews partnered with the Soros Foundation to fund media organizations in post-Soviet nations, playing a pivotal role in the color revolutions of the 2000s in Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine.

During Georgia's Rose Revolution, Internews funded and trained journ*lists at Rustavi-2 TV, the leading channel driving the uprising.

"Media was very good at informing the public about what was going on, and it had a huge role in calling people onto the streets." – Marc Behrendt, former Internews director for Georgia

By 2003, in Ukraine, Internews had conducted 220 media training programs, trained over 2,800 journ*lists, and produced more than 220 television and 1,000 radio programs. It also funded Telekritika, an online outlet that played a central role in the 2004 Orange Revolution.

After Brexit and Donald Trump's election in 2016, Internews—now working with the USAID-funded World Economic Forum (WEF)—shifted its focus to pushing advertising boycotts to suppress online dissent.

What was once a U.S.-funded operation to overthrow foreign regimes is now being used to silence American citizens and dismantle Trump's populist MAGA movement.

The Price Tag?

USAID has funneled over $470 million in taxpayer dollars into Internews.

USAID-funded Internews went from funding media organizations with George Soros to overthrow governments in Eastern Europe to calling for advertising boycotts to censor free speech online.

This is a textbook example of U.S. regime change tactics being redirected against domestic… pic.twitter.com/JdNx1gb2FV

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) February 8, 2025

More connections coming from Mike Benz, previously on Joe Rogan Podcast

I can tell you where the bodies are buried here. Beyond funding a parallel Mockingbird Media propaganda army of US state-sponsored journ*lists and media outlets, USAGM plays a major role in the censorship industry through something called the OTF, the Open Technology Fund.

I can tell you where the bodies are buried here. Beyond funding a parallel Mockingbird Media propaganda army of US state-sponsored journ*lists and media outlets, USAGM plays a major role in the censorship industry through something called the OTF, the Open Technology Fund. https://t.co/evZ4SNvi4Y

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) February 8, 2025

Connection to Reddit

Anna Soellner, a Director at Internews Network, also serves as the VP of Communications at Reddit

Anna Soellner, a Director at Internews Network, also serves as the VP of Communications at Reddit. cc: @reddit_lies pic.twitter.com/XMFe7sn0t0

— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) February 8, 2025

I resigned from xAI tonight.
It makes me very sad, but was the right thing to do -- and here's why.

xAI told me I either had to delete the post quoted below, or face being fired.

After reviewing everything and thinking a lot, I've decided that I'm not going to delete the post… https://t.co/8egdL0c8gc

— Benjamin De Kraker (@BenjaminDEKR) February 12, 2025

The Nagus

The cold open drops more foreshadowing than sunshine on my butt: Sisko wants go to Bajor with Jake- he plans to visit The Fire Caverns (later revealed to be home to the Pah-Wraiths and they will be the site of Sisko's last confrontation with Dukat in the final episode)- Rom is acting like Rom and he quotes our first ever Rule of Acquisition (Number One, no less- "Once you've got their money, never give it back". As the episode progresses we get the sixth rule too- "Never allow family to stand in the way of opporunity")- we see Grand Nagus Zek, his weird staff and his huge manservant Maihardu. Loads of important shit gets shown for the first time this episode (EDIT NB: Because some r-slurs need it spelling out- the writers did not preplan anything in DS9 and merely returned to these ideas later on). This is also the first proper "Ferengi Episode"- a controversial concept as a lot of people don't like them. Although there were some rotten Ferengi episodes, there were plenty of good ones and I've always had a soft spot for them because they show a slice of Star Trek life from a different cultural perspective- a window into another way of thinking and existing within a setting we've only seen from one perspective in the past. Also, they're kind of like Fiddler on the Roof in space.

The Nagus has arrived on DS9, apparently on a cooming expedition. He intends to indulge in five of Quark's most popular holoporn programs. They would tone down the gooning implications in later seasons (and the holosuite would be used more for recreations of the Battle of Britain, somewhat-self-indulgent Rat Pack knock-offs and copyright infringing James Bond parodies- no seriously... Paramount got threatened with legal action by MGM after 'Our Man Bashir' in Season 5. How New Line's Austin Powers avoided this I don't know) but here in season 1, the message is clear as to what people are paying for in the holosuite:

_{They were together in real life btw: deal with it...}

_{At least he's not really a Jeet}

Zek invites himself to dinner at Quark's apartment. Side note- Ferengi use chopsticks and a lazy susan. There he explains his real reasons for the visit: he plans to use Quark's bar to host a biznez meeting to discuss Ferengi biznez, especially Gamma Quadrant biznez. He's chosen Quark's bar because apparently only Quark can arrange some uncomfortable-looking Ikea furniture in a room for short men with big ears to sit on. During the dinner Zek expresses disdain for BIPOC attending the hoo-man school so Rom tells BIPOC not to go there any more. BIPOC is less than happy about this and matters are not made better because Chief Obrien is currently teaching classes because the casting budget for this episode was already stretched by the Ferengi characters & would not cover Rosalind Chao's fee while Keiko is on holiday. This is the same Chief Obrien who literally had to fix every replicator on the station a few weeks back- now his wife's away he suddenly has all the time in the world to moonlight as a teachercel.

Getting back to the meeting: Nagus Zek explains that it's important that the Ferengi expand into the Gamma Quadrant so as to exploit a market where the unfounded reputation they have in the Merchant-phobic Alpha Quadrant can't ruin their chances.

Everyone agrees that this is an unreasonable goyim misrepresentation of a simple hard-working people.

But Zek feels he's too old to lead his people into this new frontier and he announces that he will now appoint a successor... Quark.

Nobody's impressed and spend the next few days low key threatening Quark- someone even tries to assassinate him. Compounding his woes, Zek suddenly dies leaving Quark without any support. Odo suggests doing an autopsy but everyone laughs as Zek's body is already gone- upon their deaths Ferengi are vacuum dessicated and the dishes of their remains auctioned off. One piece of Zek is worth 20 bars of gold-pressed latinum and is expected to double in value by the following year.

I'm not sure what Ferengi do with these powdered remains but those of great men like Zek sell for a high price and generally increase in value over time.

Quark tries to play it tough and act like he knows what he's doing which leads to this bizarre scene:

Turns out the bomb was Rom and Zek's useless son. They then try and blow Quark out of an airlock- something they're only prevented from doing by the reappearance of Zek who faked his death to test his useless son. A test his son failed uselessly. So Zek must remain Nagus and exploit the Gamma Quadrant personally, a task which will have huge implications in season 2. Far from being angry at his brother, Quark is just pleased he's not a complete failure as a Ferengi. For some reason Rom does not face charges for attempted murder.

There's a B plot about Jake teaching BIPOC to read which isn't worth getting into except for this bit where they goon over a hot Vulcan girl:

The first true Ferengi episode is... fine.

It lays the foundations for a lot of future Ferengi culture- their society is not one of true capitalism and free markets but rather a rigidly hierarchical one based on monopolies and price-fixing with the Nagus sitting at the center dictating everything and taking a cut of it all. Later we will learn of the Ferengi Commerce Authority which creates an impossible web of red tape in the Alliance which can only be navigated via extortionate bribes. This is why Ferengi have to gouge the life out of any non-Ferengi they do business with: their margins are so narrow due to all the bureaucracy and corruption.

Quick note on gold-pressed latinum: it's not a currency- it's a commodity and therefore it's price presumably fluctuates. Latinum is a metal, liquid at room temperature, which cannot be synthesised or replicated- hence it's intrinsic value. The latinum is traditionally pressed into sleeves of gold (which can be replicated and therefore has no real value besides looking nice) which are shaped as slips, strips and bars. Although the value of latinum fluctuates 100 slips make a strip and 20 strips make a bar. There are also bricks which are massively expensive but I don't know how many bars make a brick. I think that if you consider a slip to be worth about $1 you are in the right ball park. Other non-replicatable materials include dilithium crystals and possibly uridium (a fictional metal, originally invented for the 1980s vidya of the same name, from which starship sensor arrays are made) because the whole reason for the Cardassian occupation of Bajor was to strip-mine the planet for uridium. I suppose it's possible that different materials use different amounts of energy to replicate and it might just be more energy efficient for the Cardassians to mine the stuff. I suppose it's also possible that Cardassian replicators (which the show has established already as being a bit shit) can't do it but Federation ones can. Anyway...

Vortex

Jeff Lynne from ELO (or an alien who looks a lot like him) comes aboard DS9 and gets involved in some plot to rip off a Faberge egg thing Quark's trying to sell to a pair of twins (it is never explained why Jeff's involved in this). In the ensuing fight Jeff shoots and kills one of the twins and is arrested on suspicion of murder (although the twins fired first, it was Jeff who pulled a gun on them) while the surviving brother swears revenge.

I do wonder how they cast these twins and who got the decision on which one lives (and gets most of the speaking lines) and which one dies. Did they share both salaries equally? After all- they wouldn't have gotten the gig unless there was two of them.

Anyway, Jeff is one of those tricksy types who gaslamps Odo into believing he can lead the constable to his people- as proof he shows him a shapechanging butt-plug thing he keeps in a locket (why the heck was he allowed to keep this in his cell?).

Sisko and Dax go to Jeff's home planet and find them to be authoritarian buttholes but this week's interpretation of the Prime Directive demands that Jeff is returned to be executed without trial. Odo gets the gig to take him but re-routes to a nebula where Jeff says Odo might find his people. Of course he can't and it's just a stasis pod where Jeff has stashed his daughter (how did he get it here?). The shapechanging butt-plug is a key. He's a dissident, you see and was just trying to protect his daughter (from what? Are they a persecuted minority? We never find out).

The twin shows up in a sharp pointy-looking starship (must be a nightmare to dock) and there's a bit of action which, I'll grant you, does look nice...

...but this whole story makes no sense and Jeff's bullshit about the Changelings (this is the first time we ever hear Odo's people referred to as such) just feels like the episode itself bullpooping the audience into wasting our time watching this because we thought something important might occur. You might also notice a lot of "never explained" and "for some reason" bits in this review- that's never a good sign. There's also this bit where a rock falls on Odo's head and knocks him out- how the frick does that work? He doesn't have a brain.

It's all so disappointing.

Dramatis Personae

Another alien mind-virus has everybody on the station acting weird except for Odo. It was brought on board by a Klingon ship which asplodes after coming through the wormhole after cutting short their planetary survey mission into the Gamma Quadrant. I can't help but wonder how a Vor'cha class battlecruiser can blow into pieces right next to a busy star port and yet not cause any damage to any other vessels or the station itself.

One Klingon is successfully beamed over before his ship asplodes and mumbles one word before he dies; "victory". He carries his own personal logs which have suffered enough damage as to take a while to decipher (or maybe they got the logs from the cruiser wreckage, I can't remember). While this is happening Odo has a massive spazz in Quarks...

...but quickly recovers. This is never explained but is clearly his reaction to the virus. Quark also doesn't seem affected but his usefulness is restricted for reasons you'll see in a minute. Everybody else starts acting paranoid and weird and turns on each other forming into two groups- one loyal to Sisko and the other seeking to overthrow him, led by Kira. The Klingon logs eventually show that the exact same pattern of events occured aboard their cruiser but the significance of this is downplayed by Obrien (acting as Sisko's enforcer while Sisko hides insolently in his office and DNGAF) who, correctly, points out that Kingons tend to get promoted by assassinating their commanders. How the frick things like a Gamma Quadrant planetary survey mission get done under these conditions is unfathomable. The Klingons found some kind of ancient alien historical archive and it somehow causes people to reenact ancient historical events, presumably this was supposed to happen under more controlled circumstances than we see happening here.

There are two good things about this episode: the first is the subtle way the characters are afffected by the archive- they retain their sense of selves and their motivations seem consistent with their previously established characters. Kira's initial reasons for toppling Sisko is that she thinks he and the Federation are a threat to Bajor, Dax is an old man who is full of reminiscences and Obrien is a chippy and bad tempered Irish shit. The second reason is Kira being crazy hot. I never remember finding Nana Visitor this attractive before but, God-she is sexy AF and some of her antics in this episode are particularly coom-worthy.

God I wish I was Quark right here...

Avery Brooks is quite good doing Sisko's Nero act in this episode (Brooks was always better playing bad guys) and it causes him to make a strange alien clock instead of playing a fiddle. the clock was a really nice prop and we often see it in the background in his office during subsequent episodes:

Possibility of making a Starshit hole

I'm thinking we need to have a hole dedicated to SciFi TV and movies- particularly shows like old school Star Trek, Stargate etc. I'd be willing to put 50,000 DC towards it if other people could help raise the other half of the cost. I also have no ability with CSS or banner creation. IDK, what do you think?

shilling s, a youtube channel, and chris chan.

back in my day we had REAL WRASSLIN' SIGNS

[tumblr_ndppwag1mj1qm9odpo1_500-1416127163.avif]

eddie was mexican but i'm sure i don't have to tell you that everyone knows dead wrasslers

edit: why didn't that first pic work is it just me it's the RODDY HAS AIDS sign

is it gonna work this time does rdrama just hate stuff saved from tumblr

Most Based Comments

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔘🔘🔘

NTA. What's a relationship, worse, a marriage, without trust?Vulnerability is important in all relationships and keeping secrets is so disrespectful, specially when you've been together long enough. (337)

No one is owed every aspect of your history. She has given no reason not to trust her (-43)

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔘🔘🔘

When she had the actual "relationship" OP knew about. The sugar baby stuff was apparently after that, so she'd have been of age. (45)

We don't know that for sure. There's no timeline here. From what I'm reading her sugar daddy stuff was around late teens to early adults (-52)

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔘🔘🔘

Your 1,2, and 3 are certainly questions worth exploring, but your are missing question 4 Can you regain trust with her or has this lie completely undermined your ability to believe her when she tells you anything important (180)

Idk, I think it's fair to ask whether she will ever trust him again, either, or if she ever did. He's not exactly giving "ride or die," is he? (-36)

Angriest Comments

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡😡

As someone who spent 10 yrs in a marriage with a man who judged me for having any type of relationship before him, I can understand why she was scared to tell u. My late husband, who died in May of 2023 of cancer, accused me of cheating, constantly called me a b-word, whore, slut and a c*nt every single day because of the fact I wasn't a virgin when we got together and I had an 8 yr old son when we got together. And he constantly interrogated me at the beginning of our relationship about the size of my son's father's peepee because I told him about the abuse I suffered at the man's hands(he beat and r*ped me for 8 years). And then spent our marriage accusing me of wanting cheating cuz I "needed" a "real" man cuz he wasn't "huge". My late husband was so fricking insecure and it sounds like u, OP, are just like that. An insecure prick who can't handle her past. IT IS HER PAST!!!! LET IT FRICKING GO!!!! Her past is her past. She is more than likely ashamed about that part of her life. But... (-3)

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡😡

ESH. Wow. Okay, so there's a lot to unpack here with the information you provided. Emotional reactions are understandable under the circumstances, but feeling your feelings doesn't excuse a person's behavior. And OP, your words were hurtful, cruel, and disgusting. Regardless of how you feel and view s*x work, you might as well have called your wife a whore. She did not call herself a prostitute, that is a label you put on her. You only know the side that she is telling you, and from the sound of it she was right to feel unsafe confiding in you. If she suspected you would react with such little understanding and empathy, then what is the point in confiding in something she did when she was young, immature, and probably desperate for money? She also might be ashamed of her past actions.Not only were you cruel, but imo you showed some very ugly colors in saying that you never would have even dated her if you knew. Though maybe if she told you, y'all could have gone your separate ways a... (12)

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡😡

Dude! That's fricked up!!! You literally married a prostitute. I know you say you love her, but darn! She lied to you this entire time. I can only speak for myself, but I would get that marriage annulled. She's ok with lying to you to get her way. She's used to whoring herself out to get what she wants (gifts/money). You can never trust her. Luckily you don't have kids. Break that shit off and get the heck out of there. (-1)

Biggest Lolcow: /u/OrganizationBorn2317

Score: 🐮🐮🐮🔘🔘

Number of comments: 14

Average angriness: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

Maximum angriness: 😡😡😡😡😡

Minimum angriness: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

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I can't believe USAID gave 10 million dollars to various girls to ghost, reject or break up with me

— Chairman (@LRH_Superfan) February 6, 2025

!Meowr !fakecels

🚨
THAT WAS QUICK:
Jordanian King Abdullah: “Ready to take in Palestinians, we will look into how to do it”. pic.twitter.com/Xc2lUIxMOi

— Voice From The East (@EasternVoices) February 11, 2025

⚡️BREAKING

Jordan succumbs to Trump's threats

The Jordanian monarch says his kingdom is ready to receive 2000 Palestinian children pic.twitter.com/EnVpjluDCM

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) February 11, 2025

2k kids for now, but open to new arrivals soon

Jordan said they are opening to receiving more people as well.

— Greg (@HotBoyNY1) February 11, 2025

Good, because Israel was hounding EU to take those nightmares as refugees and while we're not an attractive destination for muslims you never now when luck turn against you