“Holy shit! That ain’t no weather balloon! That there is a spy balloon! China’s using it to spy on us! Let’s shoot that sucker down so they can’t spy on us no more!”

I said outside of trying to look tough to the fascists.

At this point I just want to know what shooting the thing down actually accomplished outside of trying to look tough to the fascists and giving an excuse to China to be pissy about all of it.

They should’ve just retrofitted a bunch of Canyoneros for it. 

What is “normal”? If the American average is that, meaning more people than not have at least that large a waist, again this is saying that a lot of people have waists larger than 40 so that the average is 40, then a large waist would be normal in America, since normal means typical, usual, or expected. Maybe you’re…

Coupled with the tendency to wear pants low on the hips underneath the gut. I mean, I can fit into 34s but my belly is really a 38.

Vanity Sizing is a thing with men’s pants. Some pants that say they’re a 36 or what have you are actually a 40, so you might have a bunch of folks who think they’re a 36 but are actually 40 or more.

Just having to talk with those people is a pain in itself.

Good. As a former tire-shop owner of 12 years, GOOD. That company is everything you imagine when you think of a company that is just out for more money, no matter the cost. They’re crooks that want to be mentioned in the same breath as Michelin and Pirelli, but in reality they’re no better quality than Cooper or Toyo,…

There are other countries in the world... The Porsche 959 can’t be registered and driven like a normal car, in the States. It has to be registered as “Show and Display”. It’s still a production car.

First, the idea that TikTok is some kind of “national security risk” is completely fucking stupid. By that measure, Facebook and Google are “national security risks” to every other nation on earth. Not a single person has been able to point out what China could do that the US can’t.

“Well they’ll have to get an actual job like the rest of humanity before this sh!te existed.”

First, I meant “our” in the global sense. Kids today see this as a viable career path.

Is TikTok sending my data to the Chinese? Probably. Meta sells my data to Republicans and Google sells it to advertisers. At least TikTok gives me silly little videos to help with my ever-decreasing attention span.

Instead of banning a singular app, why don’t they work towards better digital privacy laws?

Meanwhile all these people think Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon having even more data on users, selling it, actively using it to manipulate people is perfectly fine.

Exactly how? What exact danger is there that isn’t present with Google and Facebook harvesting the same data?

Fucking hell, why is it ok that Facebook and Google harvest the exact same data as TikTok? This is our chance to enact robust privacy regulation so that users of all apps can enjoy privacy.

This^^^.  Everything this.   Ban this crazy-popular app, and you’ve 1) lost the yoots vote (however much they currently vote, which isn’t much), 2) fed the flames of Red Scare #2, and 3) give Hawley a head 3X bigger than it currently is.   None of that is consistent with electoral victories going forward.

It’s all performative bullshit. If the CCP really wanted all that data on Americans, they would just buy it from Facebook or any of the other unregulated data brokers selling detailed information on Americans to whoever wants it. If these guys really cared, they would pass privacy laws that protect Americans from ALL…

Hey Democrats? Big picture, you want to win the youth vote, stonewall this and paint the Republicans as wanting to take away TikTok.