So that "Spy balloon" was shot down

[Artemis]

I saw an interesting perspective on this issue recently. I think it's worth the watch.




I'm not going to pretend I'm anywhere near knowledgeable enough on these issues to say I could have done better, or to judge what was done by those in charge. I do hope that we don't see any serious fallout from this, though.

[wildmaven]

Now people are saying that shooting down the balloon will cause a rift in China/US relations. Um, then don't send a balloon over our country? How would the Chinese government react if we did something similar?

[Pearson]

Feb 7, 2023 9:09:05 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

Now people are saying that shooting down the balloon will cause a rift in China/US relations. Um, then don't send a balloon over our country? How would the Chinese government react if we did something similar?

My guess would be they would shoot it down, and not worry about the lives that might be put in jeopardy.

[bigballofyarn]

[Linette]

Feb 20, 2023 16:39:55 GMT -8 bigballofyarn said:

🤣😂 I like the humour in those guys. lol

[📚 Dianne 📚]

Now China has a good excuse to join up with Russia. We are in trouble. I've never thought of myself as an 'end of times' worrier. But I can easily see it coming now. So now the question is - who do we end up surrendering to?

[Robyn]

Feb 21, 2023 4:51:21 GMT -8 📚 Dianne 📚 said:

Now China has a good excuse to join up with Russia. We are in trouble. I've never thought of myself as an 'end of times' worrier. But I can easily see it coming now. So now the question is - who do we end up surrendering to?

The world has been "ending" since humans believed in religion.

I remember when I was a teenager thinking the world was ending when President Obama was elected. Or when gay marriage became legal in the united states.I remembering thinking the world was ending when the boston bombing happened. And when the Sandy Hook school shooting happened. I especially remember really thinking the world was going to end when former president Trump was becoming public friends with North Korea.

The media will create and encourage fear as much as they can to produce clicks. And fear drives the public to act irrationally. Notice how quickly the media was able to divide so many of us during the pandemic? Mask wearing, vaccines and social distancing also became political overnight.

As for balloons, it's not that these aren't a big deal, but we get a lot of unknown visitors frequently. It's just that the media became interested in one of them, and now suddenly the nation is paying attention to ALL of them. Trump's reign of the country encountered many balloons too, many which did not get equal attention.

The world isn't ending. Religious people will continue to speak of end of the times long into the future. Politicians will continue to encounter scary things. As long as the media can keep our eye glued on the TV, phone or computer, they will make headlines that keep our attention.

But in the event that someone presses a nuke button (which could have happened while president Biden visited Ukraine yesterday!), the whole world knows that despite our deepest flaws, we have a powerful military and are not afraid to use it. We will be okay.

[📚 Dianne 📚]

Feb 21, 2023 6:35:01 GMT -8 Robyn said:

Feb 21, 2023 4:51:21 GMT -8 📚 Dianne 📚 said:

Now China has a good excuse to join up with Russia. We are in trouble. I've never thought of myself as an 'end of times' worrier. But I can easily see it coming now. So now the question is - who do we end up surrendering to?

The world has been "ending" since humans believed in religion.

I remember when I was a teenager thinking the world was ending when President Obama was elected. Or when gay marriage became legal in the united states.I remembering thinking the world was ending when the boston bombing happened. And when the Sandy Hook school shooting happened. I especially remember really thinking the world was going to end when former president Trump was becoming public friends with North Korea.

The media will create and encourage fear as much as they can to produce clicks. And fear drives the public to act irrationally. Notice how quickly the media was able to divide so many of us during the pandemic? Mask wearing, vaccines and social distancing also became political overnight.

As for balloons, it's not that these aren't a big deal, but we get a lot of unknown visitors frequently. It's just that the media became interested in one of them, and now suddenly the nation is paying attention to ALL of them. Trump's reign of the country encountered many balloons too, many which did not get equal attention.

The world isn't ending. Religious people will continue to speak of end of the times long into the future. Politicians will continue to encounter scary things. As long as the media can keep our eye glued on the TV, phone or computer, they will make headlines that keep our attention.

But in the event that someone presses a nuke button (which could have happened while president Biden visited Ukraine yesterday!), the whole world knows that despite our deepest flaws, we have a powerful military and are not afraid to use it. We will be okay.

Except you missed one crucial point, I made. Plus, it's been a while since we had a President who thought to spend a lot on our defenses...our taxes have been going to entirely different things. I'm a bit of a right winger about certain things. I suspect you knew that, though, with your comment about Trump. And again, sorry but I  don't mean the "end of times" as in religiously - I meant the end of the USA as we knew it. (I chose "knew" for a specific reason)

www.npr.org/2023/02/22/1158529106/nuclear-treaty-new-start-putin