TikTok is done for
+ Drone hysteria, viral prayer apps, QR code undies, a new NYC literary salon, and the manosphere vs Sydney Sweeney
A lot of people seem to be in deep denial about the TikTok ban, which is set to go into effect in about a month. I had Louise Matsakis on my podcast Power User to break down the state of TikTok and why the U.S. is really banning the app (newsflash: it’s not about protecting our data from China).
You can watch the full episode below. We get into how the ban will take effect, what downstream impact this will have on culture and the economy, and how this ban sets the stage for more government restrictions on free speech and expression.
The state of New Jersey has lost the plot
Since mid-November 2024, New Jersey residents have reported a slew of mysterious drone sightings over residential areas, critical infrastructure, and sensitive sites like military installations, as well as Trump's Bedminster golf club.
Despite extensive investigations by federal agencies including the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Federal Aviation Administration, the origins and operators of the drones still remain unidentified. New York Gov. Hochul declared last week that, “This has gone too far,” and asked federal authorities to authorize local police departments to shoot down drones. Trump also he wants the feds to shoot a drone out of the sky. “Let the public know, and now,” Trump said. “Otherwise, shoot them down!”
The problem is, the vast majority of what the public thinks are drones are just stars, planes, or other small aircraft coming and going from Newark and other small airports. All of this has led to a massive public freak out, with average citizens trying to shoot planes down out of the sky or interrupt their flight paths with lasers.
Case in point: former Gov. of Maryland Larry Hogan posted a long thread on X about how he “personally witnessed (and videoed) what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky above his residence.” It turns out what he was looking at was the star constellation Orion and the stars Sirius and Procyon.
In the meantime, the Pentagon says that the mystery drones are not military and are not likely foreign. I’m sure we’ll have to cycle through 5-7 more viral conspiracies before finding out the truth unfortunately.
Do men know what an actual woman looks like?
After candid photos of Sydney Sweeney in a bikini leaked online, thousands of men on X have been having a full on mental breakdown because she doesn’t look exactly the same as when she’s glammed up for an award show or airbrushed in a magazine. They’ve been tearing her apart for her body, her face, and basically calling her an ugly hag and a catfish.
The entire discourse shows just how deluded a lot of men have become about women’s bodies. These men have spent so much time consuming hyper-edited content, porn, and glamorized images of women, that they have forgotten what an actual flesh and blood woman looks like.
Ironically, a lot of these men were the same ones who held Sydney Sweeney up as an example of the “ideal woman” months ago in the first place and claimed she was a harbinger of the “death of woke.”
As one Twitter user posted, “through little/no actual fault of her own, Sydney Sweeney had been embraced by the alt-right as a symbol of traditional femininity. White, blonde, and sexy the way women should be. Now they are turning on her. They hate women and will never truly accept them.”
The entire “controversy” reminds me of the famous quote from philosopher Marilyn Frye, who wrote in her book, The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory, “To say that straight men are heterosexual is only to say that they engage in sex (fucking exclusively with the other sex, i.e., women). All or almost all of that which pertains to love, most straight men reserve exclusively for other men. The people whom they admire, respect, adore, revere, honor, whom they imitate, idolize, and form profound attachments to, whom they are willing to teach and from whom they are willing to learn, and whose respect, admiration, recognition, honor, reverence and love they desire… those are, overwhelmingly, other men. In their relations with women, what passes for respect is kindness, generosity or paternalism; what passes for honor is removal to the pedestal. From women they want devotion, service and sex. Heterosexual male culture is homoerotic; it is man-loving.”
The Kids Online Safety Act is a dangerous threat to free speech
A few years ago, lawyer Greg Lukianoff co-wrote the book the Coddling of the American Mind with NYU Business professor Jonathan Haidt, a man with absolutely zero academic background studying kids and social media, who has recently fashioned himself as an expert on the topic by pushing debunked pseudoscience and moral panic around kids and tech. Now, Lukianoff is coming out against Haidt and Haidt’s campaign to push the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).
His entire piece is expertly argued and raises key issues with the bill:
Christianity continues to trend upward:
More fun stuff
A map that lets you discover Wikipedia pages around the world.
Please do not upload your health data to Elon Musk’s Grok AI, which has become suicidal and schizophrenic.
Sesame Street is for sale after Warner Bros. Discovery opted not to renew the show for Max.
Ben Shapiro randomly did a 20 minute completely technical and informed review of Wicked, talking about how it's different from the Broadway show, comparing Ariana Grande to Kristen Chenoweth, critiquing the staging in Defying Gravity wrong and more. Just another reminder that so many of these red-pilled weirdos are just broken theater kids.
Her identical twin sister passed 5 years ago and she didn’t have the heart to tell her grandparents, so she pretended to be both.
There was a Jason Kelce look-alike competition in Philly, when will this plague end!
Two anonymous stan accounts discover they’re IRL siblings.
Seth Rogan has launched a new brand of THC-infused sparkling waters aka knockoff Cann.
Macho guys are out, noodle boys are in.
Influencer Eli Rallo is launching a literary salon called Prose Hoes early next year.
TikTokers are pitching other platforms to their followers as the ban looms.
Connyct, a social media app for college students, is getting traction.
How much of the Harris campaign was a fundraising scam? A lot, it turns out.
The FDA might finally ban red food dye, which has been linked to health issues and behavioral problems in children.
Over 30 prominent scientists call for a ban on the creation of a "mirror cell,” a microbe made of molecules that are mirror images of their natural forms. It could cause a mind-boggling global disaster
Patreon creators surpassed 60 million free memberships in 2024.
Austin Butler will star as Patrick Bateman in Luca Guadagnino's 'American Psycho.'
Netflix is rolling back its super generous parental leave policies.
Tokyo government workers are getting a four day work week so they have more time to make babies.
According to Twitch, 9.5 million new streamers broadcasted on its platform for the first time in 2024. Twitch also crowned Ironmouse its “cringe demon queen” and credited her with being one of the reasons 2024 was “VTubing’s biggest year yet.”
The MTA is getting rid of the remaining ‘80s orange-and-yellow-seated subway cars in 2025 :(
Amazon is officially in the online car sales business.
2024, the year the memes took over reality – and marketing followed.
UnitedHealthcare CEO killing suspect Luigi Mangione and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers are married! I want to hear what they talk about at dinner.
Is anyone else’s IG full of breast feeding videos? I asked some creators about this and they said that breastfeeding content is a way for women to get around the app’s ban on nipples, so now you see tons of OnlyFans girls holding up fake babies, pretending to breastfeed in order to get boosted in the algorithm.
The fake America’s Got Talent AI slop that’s taking over Instagram is my new favorite form of AI slop.
Forbes 30 under 30 strikes again as two prominent real estate agents featured on the list are charged with sex trafficking.
The rapper Ludacris showed up for jury duty and no one recognized him.
People are posting about their Fortnite stimmie checks after Epic Games settlement with the FTC for tricking players into making unwanted in-game purchases.
Birkenstock published a 700-page book breaking down everything the footwear brand has done over the past 250 years including historic ads, design sketches, marketing materials, editorials, classic collaborations, and unreleased archival content. A great holiday gift for the Birk fan in your life!
What Covid does to the body (it’s a lot worse than you think)
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All about politicians not being able to control the narrative on tiktok. Especially on Israel and pro Palestinian support
OK that what covid does to us link is fucked up and has me scheduled for my updated shot. Novavax has had the fewest side effects in my experience