Good question. I don't use TikTok but from what I've seen it seemed like it has a huge diversity of content along the lines of YouTube, so it seems unlikely to me that everyone on TikTok would know about this.
Maybe he posted this story on TikTok first and now he's retelling it to his fans who don't use it? I have no idea who this guy is, if he's famous on the internet or something.

You present complaints and concerns about how scary this is (which I agree with, it's a slippery slope for corporations to control discourse - it's actually a pretty often discussed topic in Marxist academic circles, who also see a big issue in this) but offer no alternatives. What is there to be done about this? Pass legislation that lets the state control social media? While that seems like the best option at this point in time, it might set a dangerous precedent. Or have the government make their own social media made specifically for discussing politics, accepting the caveat that it will inevitably be controlled by the government? There's no guarantee that project will take off and have a stable user base, people might still prefer Twitter, Facebook etc. Or ditch social media altogether? I don't think that's possible without some serious authoritarianism. How do we create a platform that unites everyone without the need for people to flee and make their own echo chambers?

Eh, fair enough I guess. I've never played one I've just read a bunch of articles about how it's a grey area of the law and has been used by the Yakuza for money laundering.

But isn't there a type of pachinko that is basically gambling? Yes there are the game ones but there are also pachinko slot machines which have become quite widespread in the last few years.

Getting banned from Twitter is technically not violating his freedom of speech, since the 1st amendment only applies to government prosecution. However, in principle I agree. Social networks have de facto become the public square and a place where a lot of the discourse is happening, and they should be treated and regulated as such.

Huh? It's basically gambling but it's avoiding gambling laws because it's technically not using money but pachinko balls that you exchange for prizes, no?

Ha, didn't even notice that one. Maybe it belongs to the crocodile lol

Well technically her breath and the air she breathes goes above her head, right? So technically unless a tall person with covid coughs into it, it might work...? Idk.
I've seen more bizarre "masks". Such as a man wearing a sleeping mask over his mouth. His nose was out of course because that's not what sleeping masks are made for. And of course a variety of masks being worn wrong, made out of bad materials (no, a mesh mask won't work unless you also have two layers of cotton under the mesh), scarves being worn over the mouth in all kinds of weird manners, and so on.

Cheap cloth masks, no. You're absolutely right about that. It needs to be at least two layers of a tightly woven material, ideally with a pocket for a disposable filter (I make mine out of denim with plain cotton lining, which apart from looking good because the mask holds shape, is also pretty effective because it's such a thick fabric). But in general, masks do work. I've never understood the anti mask people in general, they're saying it won't stop the spread. Yeah well, seatbelts don't stop deaths in car accidents but they sure as hell reduce them, right?

My mom doesn't spill secrets either but my grandma from my dad's side does. Worse, she does it on purpose in front of many people to make the person look worse, and if the situation happened to involve her as well, "embellishes" the story to make herself look better. Needless to say I don't share secrets with her anymore.

According to imdb/wikipedia, it is still going. Season 17 was released in 2019 and they changed the format of the show in that season forward, making each episode one hour long instead of 30 minutes. The last episode from season 18 came out in November 2020 so I guess they're gonna do at least 18 seasons.
Also apparently their theme song was composed by Lynyrd Skynyrd, wow!

I mean yeah, if you get duped because you didn't do your research, that's your problem. Doesn't mean the person doing the duping is off the hook though.
Idk, from what I've seen they didn't seem super clear but maybe they've improved in later seasons. Over here in Czechia they only air the older seasons because they haven't translated and dubbed the new ones yet.

Lol that's why I wrote "most Brits" because I suspected that if I didn't, there'd be people going "Oh yeah?! Well what about Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver!" but oh well.
And yeah Gordon puts way too much olive oil into everything lol.

Old joke but still good lmao

Right, they're low-balling and an informed person who has done their research knows that they can sell it for a lot more elsewhere. Maybe scam is a strong word but there definitely is a big information asymmetry going on there, and it mostly goes unnoticed unless the person has done their research OR it's a rare/precious item that they need to call an appraiser for. Sure, they gotta turn a profit, that's how businesses work. But it's kinda striking when they have an appraiser on the show who tells the customer directly "This thing is worth at least $1000" and then the pawn shop owner goes "$250, take it or leave it". Like, damn, we get that you gotta turn a profit but $750 just for the item to sit at a dusty pawnshop?