The identity of this hero has been confirmed as Captain Smit Machchhar!

I am so proud of our Desi brothers and sisters. ❤️

There has been a fairly spectacular bout of moderator drama in the UAE (EDIT: United Arab Emirates) corner of Reddit involving r/UAE, r/ourUAE, three moderators, English beer, Reddit perma bans, two extremely short-lived replacement mods and, somehow, r/Acoustics.

The important caveat up front is that Reddit has never publicly confirmed that the three original moderator accounts belonged to the same person. That is the allegation at the centre of the drama, and the surviving moderator, u/ epiDXB, explicitly denied it.

What is easily verifiable, is that u/ CertifiableBee and u/ RamblingMan2 were banned by Reddit - and the story of that is outlined below.

With that out of the way:

Act I: three r/UAE moderators somehow take turns in the same beer argument

At the time, r/UAE was being moderated with full permissions by three accounts:

• u/ epiDXB
• u/ CertifiableBee (banned)
• u/ RamblingMan2 (banned)

Users of r/ourUAE noticed something pretty unusual.

All three accounts had appeared in the same quick-fire argument on r/dataisbeautiful, of all places, about whether English beer was the best beer in the world.

The exchange went roughly like this:

1. A user arguing that English beer was not objectively the best replied to CertifiableBee.
2. epiDXB then jumped into that same exchange.
3. The other user replied to epiDXB within the same hour.
4. The argument was then picked up again by RamblingMan2.

So, over the course of one heated, fast-moving conversation on an entirely unrelated subreddit, the person arguing about beer found themselves successively debating all three moderators of r/UAE.

Here is the original r/dataisbeautiful comment chain and the r/ourUAE thread documenting the exchange, including screenshots.

That led r/ourUAE users to suggest that the three accounts might actually belong to the same person.

Commenters pointed out very similar writing styles, similar formatting habits (breaking the post they replied to into quotes, and addressing each separately) and the fact that all three accounts were not just in the same comment thread, but were all taking the same side, against the same person in rapid succession.

At that point the evidence basically amounted to "this is a very strange coincidence" rather than proof that the accounts were alts.

Act II: two of the three original moderators are banned by Reddit

Not long afterwards, CertifiableBee and RamblingMan2 were banned by Reddit.

That left epiDXB as the only surviving account from the original three.

Over on r/ourUAE, moderators then published a post asking users not to brigade, harass or contact people involved, and reminding everyone that discussion of subreddit drama still has to comply with Reddit's rules.

That post is here: Recent developments on other subreddits.

Act III: two brand-new replacement mods appear — and both are banned within hours

With two of r/UAE's three moderators gone, replacement moderators were needed.

epiDXB added two new moderators.

Users immediately noticed something weird - both were created just few hours ago.

Given that the ongoing controversy was already centred around allegations that one moderator was operating multiple accounts, appointing two hours-old accounts as replacements was perhaps not the most reassuring possible choice.

The discussion is preserved in this thread:

Congratulations to new mods of r/UAE, our sister sub!

One commenter asked:

"Why did you accept 2 people with literal fresh accounts"

And then the situation continued escalating, as one after another, as the accounts were being created and added as mods with full permissions, they were getting banned by Reddit. All within hours.

In the thread, one commenter summed it up nicely as they were watching this happen in real time:

"I wonder why accounts that are only a few hours old are being made mods and subsequently being banned in rapid succession?"

The sequence was pretty incredible to observe:

1. two moderators get banned
2. two brand-new accounts are made moderators
3. both brand-new accounts get banned within hours.

Later, r/UAE added other moderators with more established accounts, although their permissions were limited to "Users, Flair, Posts & Comments, Wiki", with epiDXB retaining sole control over ModMail. Previously, all three mods had permissions set to "Everything".

Act IV: epiDXB personally comes to r/ourUAE to deny the alt-account allegation

Eventually, epiDXB showed up in r/ourUAE and addressed the accusation directly.

The response was later deleted, but its substance was preserved in this thread:

Accusations of using alt accounts to moderate r/UAE addressed by the mod

As epiDXB claimed (screenshot in r/ourUAE post) - they were three individual people:

"united by their enjoyment of beer"

The post contained a sarcastic recap of coincidences: all three accounts had moderated the same subreddit, all three had arrived in the same r/dataisbeautiful beer argument, all three had taken the same position, and users believed their writing styles looked strikingly similar.

epiDXB also threatened the OP with legal action - leading to the post talking about "inevitable jail sentence" for the OP.

One commenter noted:

"It's ok, we'll just say that you went away for family matters."

That became a running joke on r/ourUAE because "family matters" had previously been offered by epiDXB as an explanation for moderators disappearing.

Act V: the completely unrelated r/Acoustics subplot

Here's a plot twist.

RamblingMan2 was also the sole moderator of r/Acoustics

When RamblingMan2 was banned, r/Acoustics lost its sole moderator.

So the subreddit went under reddit admin control, and started a public search for new moderators.

Among the the people who submitted an application to become a new moderator of r/Acoustics was u/ epiDXB.

The sole surviving account from the original r/UAE trio applied to become a moderator of the separate subreddit that had just lost RamblingMan2 as its sole moderator.

Again, caveat: This does not prove that epiDXB and RamblingMan2 were the same person.

It is, however, an almost comically perfect epilogue to a story that started because the same two accounts, together with CertifiableBee, somehow ended up taking turns arguing with one person about English beer on r/dataisbeautiful.

What is actually established

The sequence is:

• epiDXB, CertifiableBee and RamblingMan2 were all moderators of r/UAE.
• All three appeared in the same rapid-fire r/dataisbeautiful argument about English beer, successively responding in the same exchange.
• Users accused the three accounts of belonging to one person.
• CertifiableBee and RamblingMan2 were subsequently banned by Reddit.
• epiDXB remained and explicitly denied that the three accounts were controlled by one person.
• Two fresh Reddit accounts were then appointed as replacement r/UAE moderators
• Both of those fresh replacement accounts were banned by Reddit within hours.
• RamblingMan2 had also been the sole moderator of r/Acoustics.
• After r/Acoustics lost its sole moderator and sought replacements, epiDXB applied to become one of its new moderators.

So we've got two broad interpretations being argued about.

One is that several moderators who knew each other had very similar interests and online habits, as well as identical writing style, sent each other threads, happened to pile into the same beer argument, later suffered unrelated Reddit bans, and that the surviving moderator also happened to be interested in taking over a second subreddit previously moderated by one of them.

The other interpretation is the one r/ourUAE users have spent several threads discussing.

Main threads

1. r/UAE moderator busted - all three r/UAE mods replying to the same /r/dataisbeautiful post
2. Recent developments on other subreddits
3. Congratulations to new mods of r/UAE, our sister sub!
4. Accusations of using alt accounts to moderate r/UAE addressed by the mod

Original beer thread

• r/dataisbeautiful comment chain

The UAE is the chosen home for an incredible 90% of its population!

Interested to hear what made you decide on moving here.

It certainly wasn’t the weather!

Anyone else facing delays from Amazon pickups for returns?

I had an item last month that I tried to return, and after two weeks of waiting they just issued my refund without picking up the item.

I am trying to make another return now. It’s been a week and still no calls from couriers and no one came home.

This is highly unusual for Amazon.

They always come to pick it up the next day.

Did anyone else face such difficulties with Amazon returns recently?

Tell me he is dead without telling me he is dead! ☠️

Guys I’m curious, which of the two is your go-to AI?

Recently, Chat GPT released GPT 5.6 Sol, and Claude released their Fable 5.

Im a GPT purist, and Sol blew me away! Codex with full computer access and remote access through my phone has been a life changer.

Wondering what everyone thinks. Maybe I am missing out on Claude.

View Poll

السلام عليكم اخواني.

حابب اسال عن تجاربكم مع استرداد الضريبة بعد بناء مسكن.

مسونه في موقع هيئة الضرايب EmiraTAX بس للحين عالق checking eligibility، لا و ها ترا المرحلة الاولى 🤦🏻‍♂️

اللي جربو و قدمو، طول وياكم الاجراء ولا سريع كان؟

Today, we are proud to see one of the men who dedicated his life to keeping the UAE safe recognised on the world stage.

Congratulations to Staff Major General Musallam Mohamed Saeed Al Rashidi, Director of the Office of the Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on being awarded the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Medal.

The past months have reminded us of something important: strong alliances matter.

We thank our American allies for this recognition and for a partnership that continues to strengthen the security and prosperity of the UAE.

The UAE has never apologised for working with allies who contribute to our security, stability, and prosperity. Nor should it.

🇦🇪 Proud of our Armed Forces.
🇦🇪 Proud of our Leadership.
🇦🇪 Proud of our Allies 🇺🇸

I thought she loved me…

I can’t be the only one who is so infuriated by the way rental deposits are held here.

For some reason, landlords assume it’s part of the rent amount, and will go to extreme lengths to ensure not a dirham is returned.

Like how many times were any of you successful in getting your deposit back at moving out?

Heck, even if your deposit was a check, they will cash it on day one!

It goes both ways too! If you are a landlord and had genuine damages in your property, how many times did you try to cash out a post-dated check only to bounce?

The current system sucks really bad. Our rent dispute authorities require a hefty upfront charge that will price out any one trying to claim their deposit back.

Pesky brokers and landlords make use of this lack of oversight, and seem hellbent on never giving you back your deposits.

I mean, what are the chances that every time you move out, you get a repair bill thats almost exactly the deposit amount?

I was chatting with an Aussie friend the other day. She told me than in Australia, rent deposits are held by governmental authorities, and that if both the landlord and tenant do not MUTUALLY agree on releasing it, they must go to tenancy tribunal where an independent expert would assess the damages and make the decision on any deductions from the deposit.

How awesome would that be if it was the case here in the UAE?

Obviously leaving the deposit at the hand of the landlord creates an incentive for them to not return it.

Am I the only one who thinks we should have the Australian model, where the deposit is held with the authorities and not the landlord, and all damages are surveyed by independent expert who assess the deduction amount?

Anyone knows a good vet for dental cleaning for my dog? Preferably in Abu Dhabi.

I was quoted AED 1400! I legit pay 200 for my own teeth!

Appreciate any recommendations. I aint getting my dog a hollywood smile makeover wtf.

جماعة ملاحظ شي غريب.

من يومين ثلاث واحد كان يسال اذا يروم يدخل الجيش لانه مواليد البلاد و كلنا استانسنا ع همته.

اليوم جفت ثلاث بوستات ع نفس الموضوع، وافدين يبون يدشون الجيش.

ماعرف اذا انا اوسوس ولا جنه في حملة ع نفس الموضوع؟