• Fmstrat@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    This story is a stretch.

    pornographic material, including sex toys, handcuffs and nudity magazines, are in “strict violation” of Bahrain law.

    It has nothing to do with the US, other than Naval Command wrote the letter informing them that another country doesn’t allow it.

  • YoiksAndAway@piefed.zip
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    1 day ago

    I love everything about this. They got a bullying letter from the US Navy over something beyond their control, handled it like professionals, turned it into free publicity and a news story, and the reporters got a sheepish “no comment” from both the DoD and Bahrainian officials. chef’s kiss BRB, I think I need to order some butt plugs.

    • xoggy@programming.dev
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      20 hours ago

      They didn’t get bullied. The letter just notified the company the parcel was returned because the US base complies with the host country’s import customs.

      • squaresinger@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        This. No bullying in sight.

        This is to notify you that the parcel was returned to the sender .Please notify the sender that pornographic materials or devices are not allowed into the Kingdom of Bahrein.

        All I can see is an information why the package was returned. The only thing that went “wrong” is that it was returned to the address of the original sender and not to the address of the person who forwarded the parcel to Bahrein.

        If that middle man didn’t put their address on the package, it’s no surprise that it was instead sent to the original sender.

        Tbh, there’s not really a story at all. The package contained stuff that’s illegal in the destination country and thus was returned. A letter was attached to explain that fact. That’s it.

    • khannie@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      BRB, I think I need to order some butt plugs.

      Surely and I mean SURELY this is Streisand effect in full force. I wonder how many they’re going to receive in the coming months.

  • TachyonTele@piefed.social
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    1 day ago

    I thought it was a joke order, and it still could be, but this cracked me up:

    Bennett questioned whether or not the American soldiers stationed in Bahrain have been directly notified on what they are allowed to order to the country.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      19 hours ago

      I suspect they haven’t. I’ve never actually been in the military but I have been a private contractor that has worked with the military and it’s amazing how dysfunctional it can be.

      Everyone involved in any particular situation always seems to be the least competent person they could possibly have had. Often it’s a combination of wilful ignorance combined with a “not my job” attitude.

      I can totally see a situation where no one has bothered it to sit down with the soldiers and actually tell them any of this, while at the same time soldiers are obtrusive enough that it never occurred to them that Bahrain is extremely non-progressive.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Honestly, probably not. Sure stuff like alcohol restrictions, but do you really think kegsbreath is letting the military tell its troops they may very well be interested in buttplugs, but Bahrain prohibits them so they need to leave them with the booze back home.

  • Akasazh@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    It’s not very clearly written. I’m left wondering who shipped the articles to Bahrein, as the company does not ship there. Also there’s lots of meandering and rephrasing.

    • Fmstrat@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      The reason it’s confusing is the headline.

      • Soldiers ordered through third-parties because Bahrain law does not allow adult products
      • US navy intercepted during inspection, and wrote a letter to the sender informing them of what was occurring

      So many things going wrong these days, but this one is spin.