Who tF asked you?

First day online? You see, when you post on an open forum, you are implicitly asking anyone who bothers to read. Confusing I know, but you’ll figure it out in no time.

It’s crazy right? I guess they hope that blaming the “DEI Boogyman” enough will draw attention away from their actual comic book evil levels of corruption.

Well, if you want to take it from the horses mouth , its supporting DEI and LGBTQ+ rights internationally. Which sounds less like “corruption” and more like “the point”, but what do I know?

And to save everyone a click, here is the link I posted’s full list of “corruption” :

Here are only a few examples of the WASTE and ABUSE:

• $1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities”
• $70,000 for production of a “DEI musical” in Ireland
• $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam
• $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia
• $32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru
• $2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala
• $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt
• Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations — even AFTER an inspector general launched an investigation
• Millions to EcoHealth Alliance — which was involved in research at the Wuhan lab
• “Hundreds of thousands of meals that went to al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria”
• Funding to print “personalized” contraceptives birth control devices in developing countries
• Hundreds of millions of dollars to fund “irrigation canals, farming equipment, and even fertilizer used to support the unprecedented poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan,” benefiting the Taliban

The list literally goes on and on — and it has all been happening for decades.

Under President Trump, the waste, fraud, and abuse ENDS NOW.

edit: they say the list goes “on and on”, but I couldn’t find anything. Presumably stuff not added to the aforementioned post were even less convincing, and as such didn’t make the cut.

Look at Oysters Rockefeller over here showing off their 50g’s

Considering how you thought they weren’t joking, I’d say yes.

It certainly is. Unfortunately for all of us, it’s more complicated than the Dems and “lesser of two evil” voters (of which I was one) have been lead to believe as well.

Or they would have… you know… Won.

But hey, if we want to learn the wrong lesson from this again, far be it from me to stop us.

Technically it is

You are not wrong, but I don’t really think abusing the disenfranchised to the extent that they aren’t getting paid at all while food rots away is what I would call a “good path” to living wages.

First off, no one is getting living wages for the work yet, and we have no evidence to suggest they will.

Secondly, even if this does lead to that, maybe we could have found a path forward without all the unnecessary added suffering?

I dunno, it just feels really fucked up to be spinning this like the only outcome is “living wages” when all it has actually done so far is cause additional harm.

The point was obvious…

Chinese censorship is planned and targeted, with the intent to control and suppress dissent. It works hard to maintain a narrative and prevent excessive and rapid shifts so as to achieve a long term goal of control.

The billionaires running American social media (with a special shout to Musk) are mercurial and subject to the petty whims and feelings of the owner.

So while yes, obviously both change and the heads of the CCP are also occasionally subject to emotional responses, the differences between the two are stark and obvious. So no, “everything technically changes” is not a valid counter to the significant differences in intent and volatility.

Claiming you don’t understand the point they were making is just being intentionally obtuse.

“Kinda sorta” is definitely the best way to put it.

No one thinks it’s a case of “weird racism”, but it does seem politically and/or financially motivated. If it was a legitimate threat, they could have informed the public as to the actual threat. The fact that they didn’t implies doing so would undermine the decision.

Beyond that, most folks are not mad TikTok is getting banned, they (myself included) are mad that obvious and legitimate threats to the public relating to social media and data harvesting are being ignored. And to avoid having that conversation, TikTok is getting a blanket ban.

What if it actually is a very credible threat from an outside actor? Is there a world where that’s possible and acceptable to you?

So to answer this question, yes, that is possible and acceptable in two (not mutually exclusive) worlds. One where the actual threat is revealed so it is obvious why it needs to be addressed. Or two, where the government is (or better yet already was) acting in good faith to protect Americans from the other more obvious threats of social media and data privacy violations.

Without one or both of those worlds, it is extremely difficult to assume this was a decision made in good faith. Afterall, they didn’t create rules to prevent TikTok from harvesting data, nor create rules that propaganda needs to be monitored and labeled. They didn’t draft up a Digital Bill of Rights to protect Americans, and then ban TikTok for violating it. They just dropped the ban hammer with a “trust me bro”.

And given that, it also shows how far the government is willing to go to avoid holding American companies accountable. Which, imho, is the crux of why so many folks are peeved with this ban.