this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2026
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Apparently the US Department of ~~Defense~~War thinks that they can order non-US citizens not resident in the USA to cease and desist from mailing things.

Uh…

Hilarity of the items involved aside, the gall of the US military postal service to give orders to civilians not under their command and not even of their nation is shocking.

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[–] kerrigan778@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

If I recall correctly this was more an amusing story of troops stationed in a country where these items were illegal ordering these things to the base and the military trying to remind people to respect local laws. This is probably more about the military not wanting a diplomatic incident with the host country than them morality policing themselves. Reminding a business to not ship items to a country where those items are illegal seems a pretty reasonable thing. For now the US military doesn't care if you order butt plugs to the base, they care if you bring butt plugs into a country where they are illegal.

[–] OshagHennessey@lemmy.world 4 points 3 hours ago

She should mail a bunch of butt plugs to the Pentagon.

[–] jonsnothere@beehaw.org 1 points 2 hours ago

If only there was a way to smuggle them past airport security...

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 hours ago

The store was in Canada, so DOW can just fuck off, eh, please.

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 1 points 2 hours ago

Finally, an issue we can get behind!

[–] ComradeRachel@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Great we are going to get huge tariffs on butt plugs.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 points 6 hours ago

Would you pay out the ass for things that go in the ass?

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 5 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Apparently the US Department of ~~Defense~~War

You had it right the first time.

Congress hasn't made the name change official.

It's not legally changed just because Trump waved his magic ~~wand~~ sharpie and wished it to change.

[–] hark@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

To be fair, department of war is far more accurate a name.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 92 points 1 day ago (6 children)

This is squarely on the military personnel ordering buttplugs to their work address.

If you did that anywhere else you'd get in trouble.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I'm self-employed, so the address isn't the problem, but I'd have some splainin to do to the wife.

"I KNOW you didn't order that for ME, so you got something to tell me?"

[–] grey_maniac@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Why wouldn't you order them for your wife? Does already have some?

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 1 points 54 minutes ago

Been married a long time, lost that battle long, long ago, before the turn of the century.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Why would I get in trouble for shipping myself something to my work address?

Lots of cities have porch pirates, so shipping to work is done commonly.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 hours ago

Does your work xray packages?

my understanding was military mail gets opened by censors.Β 

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 6 hours ago

High chance it was a "friend" ordering it for them.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 11 points 15 hours ago

This is to their home address. Where do you think they live?

[–] warbond@lemmy.world 57 points 1 day ago (2 children)

They practically only have a work address when they're overseas. In some cases it's literally the only way to get things sent to you. Why anyone knows or cares is another question entirely.

[–] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

I read a previous article about this: importing any sex toys (including butt plugs, but they get the headline because the Republicans in power being squeamish about the existence of gay soldiers) are illegal in the country where they are stationed, so they're getting seized by customs and it's awkward since their soldiers are violating local laws.

[–] PhoenixDog@piefed.ca 28 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Because as a queer bisexual man, I can assure you republicans care more about the genitals of other people than we do.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

they are quite obsessed with gay sex, and trans people.

[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 2 points 1 hour ago

And they have the search history to prove it

[–] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My initial thought was that this is an attempt at a prank (not a very good one) between two military members.

[–] imsufferableninja@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Why do you think it isn't a good prank?

[–] Hozerkiller@lemmy.ca 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Too much of a pain in the ass.

[–] uninvitedguest@piefed.ca 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Hozerkiller@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago

Then it's not enough of a prank.

[–] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago

Its somewhat homophobic in a "Hurr Durr, you are gay and like to take it up the butt" way. Plus the general stigma around men using sex toys.

Ah so it's not just the department of war it's also Bahrain's backwards laws, and the US is obligated to do this any time shit gets sent back I guess.

It's really silly since she even says they have no idea where it's going when they ship to soliders.

[–] KazuyaDarklight@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

In some fairness it sounds like the Kingdom of Bahrain are the weird ones here. But still, it sounds like all other arguments aside, she has no way of knowing if a soldier is any particular place. So asking her to stop sending to soldiers in that region is kind of pointless.

[–] kali_fornication@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Everyone in the Trump admin needs a butt plug, given how full of shit they are

[–] PwnTra1n@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Why do you think it spews out their mouths?

[–] FaceDeer@fedia.io 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's pretty standard for American commenters on social media to unthinkingly assume that American law is somehow "universal." I guess that's the level that the American government in general has descended to at this point.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, you see stories of Americans in foreign countries being detained or arrested and they are like "I know my rights" LOL. Clearly you don't.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 6 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

You also see Canadians citing their First Amendment right to free speech, which is always amusing.

[–] charles@lemmy.ca 1 points 13 minutes ago

I know this isn't what they're doing at all, but I like to think they're actually referring to the first amendment of our constitution. I find it comical to think they're that passionate about either the establishment of Manitoba (technically the first amendment) or strengthening Indigenous peoples' rights (first amendment after 1982 when we achieved full sovereignty).

[–] Gork@sopuli.xyz 12 points 1 day ago

Sounds like Secretary Kegseth doesn't have enough things to do.

[–] tehsillz@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

War on Buttplugs?

[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Willing to bet over half of those orders are gag gifts

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 4 points 15 hours ago

You sound like someone who has never tried butt stuff.

[–] MummifiedClient5000@feddit.dk 28 points 1 day ago (2 children)

That's a bad idea; Using a buttplug as a gag could leave you with a bad taste in the mouth.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Hey, don't kink shame, some people like it like that.

Not me, but some people...

[–] JamieDub86@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago

Also a mild choking hazard.

[–] thejoker954@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Or it will turn out the butt plugs make a great field expedient for some piece of equipment that can't easily be gotten by the soldiers in the field.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 1 points 7 hours ago

Something something amazon workers peeing in cups

[–] malle_yeno@pawb.social 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

So what I find interesting is that this exact story was reported in CTV like a week ago, but in this one, the reasoning has changed somehow?

https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/article/stop-sending-butt-plugs-to-bahrain-toronto-sex-store-receives-letters-from-us-department-of-war/

Originally reported, the problem was that Bahrain does not allow adult items to be shipped to them. But the adult shop said that it actually doesn't ship to Bahrain and most of Asia because of rules like that making it more complicated to do business. Owner said that it was likely forwarded to a base (so a third party shipper, ~~something the shop has zero control over~~.)

But in this one, the rationale has changed to "these objects are dangerous", and I don't see focus being placed on the third-party ~~seller~~ shipper.

edit: shipper, not seller. We don't know if this was after market, just that it's not directly shipped. They might actually have some amount of control over that, if that's the case, because they would have needed to label the original package as being shipped to Bahrain.

The more I think about this story, the more I think that it's being ramped up as a "look how the US military is interfering with canada on behalf of a middle eastern country!" instead of like "someone made a mistake by ordering something not allowed in Bahrain, and the business didn't check whether they were allowed to ship it there or not." I dont get what the big deal here is. This actually kinda looks bad on the business now that I take a second look at it.

[–] grey_maniac@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago

Why would it look bad on the business? You, yourself, said earlier:

the adult shop said that it actually doesn't ship to Bahrain and most of Asia

[–] GreyEyedGhost@piefed.ca 10 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

From the article:

The United States Postal Service and the DOD work together through the Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA), managed by the Army, to provide worldwide mail services (APO/FPO/DPO) for service members. These address formats don't reveal the country, just the person and military unit.

Bennett had no idea her business's products were going to a country where they would be illegal.

So how exactly is it her fault if someone buys something they will have shipped somewhere, she has no idea where it's going, and the MSPA redirects it there? How does she even know where it's going? Certainly, the buyer should have known, as should the MSPS.

[–] malle_yeno@pawb.social 1 points 21 hours ago

Yeah I saw that part in the article too, but you actually can tell what country something is going to from the APO/FPO/DPO code.

Im not denying that the buyer had responsibility in this.