Newsletter: 🐶 Dog people unite in mocking Trump’s cabinet pick

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Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr. 

Our top stories today are about: Dog people uniting online to mock a Trump cabinet pick who shot and killed her dog, a truly bizarre Airbnb experience that went viral, a look at an unprecedented First Amendment question that is raised in the wake of Trump’s victory, and an explainer of the “Sir, this is a Wendy’s,” meme. 

After that, our Senior Politics and Technology Editor David has a “Deplatformed” column for you. 

See you tomorrow! 

— A.W. 

⚡ Today in Internet Culture

🐶 WOOF
‘Justice for Cricket’: Trump’s nomination of Kristi Noem for DHS reignites fury over her dog-killing boast

The South Dakota governor is a longtime ally of Trump and had been considered one of the top contenders to be his running mate until revelations she shot and killed her dog helped derail her chances. 

➤READ MORE

🏠 WTF
‘What sort of Airbnb doesn’t allow you to use the refrigerator?’: Guests arrive at Airbnb. Then they notice everything is zip-tied shut

You’ll never guess what this group of women found when they pulled up to their Airbnb. One was terrified of what she’d find in the basement.

➤READ MORE

💻 TECH
Trump and Musk both own social media sites—what happens to the First Amendment when they’re in charge?

President-elect Donald Trump’s sweeping victory in the 2024 election—built on the back of a last-minute alliance with Elon Musk—raises an unprecedented First Amendment question, one that’s never been asked in American history. 

➤READ MORE

🍔 MEMES
Explaining the ‘Sir, This Is A Wendy’s’ catchphrase and meme

Sir, This Is A Wendy’s is a slang catchphrase used in response to someone saying something out-of-pocket, weird, ranty, or inappropriate to the time and place—such as a Wendy’s restaurant.

➤READ MORE

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By David Covucci
Politics & Technology Editor

Bluesky is about to get Russiagated

Deplatformed is a weekly column that looks into the nether reaches of the internet—outside the big few that everyone already covers—to tell you the political discourse online. It runs on Thursdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.

🕸️ Crawling the Web

Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.

🛒 People online are having mixed reactions over Costco using membership scanners at the entrances of locations to prevent non-members from shopping. 

👀 Don’t believe everything you see on the Walmart app or site, at least according to this shopper. It could be misleading you.

💸 “Are you kidding me?” This man is demanding answers after being charged $128 to park at the hospital. 

🍋 An ex-Chili’s employee announced that Chili’s fired her after issuing this warning about putting lemon in your water.

🤣 The Silly Dog In A Propeller Hat meme is for when you feel like a kid again.

👶 From the Daily Dot archive: The many lives of the Dancing Baby, cyberspace’s first cringe meme.

📝 Question of the Day

Everyone’s got opinions, and we want to know yours. Just click a button below to answer the question, and tomorrow we will let you know how fellow web crawlers like you answered. 

HAVE YOU EVER EATEN A SUBWAY SANDWICH?

To answer questions like this in the future, sign up for web_crawlr here.

🤳 Today’s Viral Video

Rosie Perez’s reaction when she found out Barack and Michelle Obama watched Do The Right Thing on their first date! 🤯😂