TikTok’s Time Is (Almost) Up & A Wad Of Seaweed Heads To FL
March 23, 2023
TikTok Testifying For Its Life
TikTok is set to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday and fight for its life on American soil. TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is expected to outline how the app separates its U.S. operations from Chinese government interference. He plans to talk about “Operation Texas,” a $1.5 billion restructuring procedure to create a new entity named TikTok U.S. Data Security. Under the new plan, “U.S. TikTok data is stored by default in Oracle’s servers” and “only vetted personnel” can access it. “The bottom line is this: American data stored on American soil, by an American company, overseen by American personnel,” Chew is expected to tell lawmakers.
A few days ahead of his testimony, TikTok gathered various content creators at an event in Washington to explain how making videos on the app changed their lives. “TikTok saved my life, in a sense… It helped me to know that I wasn’t alone,” said one creator. “And I have learned more in the last few years being on TikTok about life and about other people’s lives than I have ever learned anywhere else.”
Lives changed or not, the app is under fire from multiple angles. The bipartisan RESTRICT Act headed for the Senate floor would give the U.S. Commerce Secretary the power to ban foreign tech companies, the FBI and Department of Justice are investigating whether the app was used to surveil users, and the Biden administration has called for the app to be sold to U.S. owners or risk being banned. The only branch of the government not piling on (yet) is the judiciary.
In the face of all this government hostility, the company has upped its spending on lobbyists, from $270,000 in 2019 to $5.3 million in 2022, according to nonprofit Open Secrets. This brings it in line with tech giants like Facebook and Google, which have also faced government scrutiny as of late. We’ll see how loud that money talks in the coming weeks.
Some Good News
- Group of kids stop man from kidnapping student at Maryland school bus stop, police say (NBC)
- Global renewables capacity grew by 10% last year (Reuters)
- Making time for your health can feel impossible. Noom is the answer. Their program uses daily psychology-based lessons, guided coaching, and group accountability to help keep you on track – and you only need 10 minutes a day.
- Their psychology-based approach helps you get to the root of your behavior and build a sustainable routine and see long-term results. Their tracking tools help you hit your goals at a pace that’s comfortable, so you can create a routine that works for you and your lifestyle.
- Say goodbye to yo-yo dieting and restrictive meal plans, and say hello to a new relationship with food, one day at a time. Take their quick quiz to find out how Noom can help, and get started on your health journey today.
Russia Riled By Radiation
- Following news that the U.K. would be supplying Ukrainian forces with tanks and armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to “respond accordingly.” However, weapons experts say that Russia’s leader is misconstruing the issue to push his own agenda, clarifying that the depleted uranium rounds “cannot be used as a nuclear fuel or turned into a nuclear weapon.”
- “[The U.K.] announced not only the supply of tanks to Ukraine, but also shells with depleted uranium,” Putin announced after emerging from a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “I would like to note that if all this happens, then Russia will have to respond accordingly … The collective West is already starting to use weapons with a nuclear component.”
- While “uranium” might make you think the U.K. is handing over glowing green bullets to Ukraine, think again. Depleted uranium is about 60% as radioactive as natural uranium, which itself is anywhere from 14-23% as radioactive as the uranium we use to power nuclear plants. Instead, militaries use depleted uranium because it sharpens on impact with armor plates, and then catches fire once inside an enemy vehicle. It’s fine – they’re lethal in a totally different way!
Mediterranean Military Mutiny
- On Wednesday, Lebanese security forces fired tear gas at protestors trying to break into government headquarters located in Beirut. Most of the protestors were retired soldiers and police officers demanding better pay after many Lebanese banks restricted cash withdrawals in the face of currency shortages caused by an economic crisis that began in 2019.
- The hundreds of protestors threw stones at law enforcement guarding the government headquarters and attempted to tear down a fence surrounding the building. “My monthly salary is $40. How can I survive,” yelled one retired army officer. The Lebanese pound hit a new low on Tuesday, having lost about 95% of its value over the past three years.
- At the currency’s lowest point earlier this week, one dollar could be exchanged for 143,000 pounds. Officially, the current exchange rate is 15,000 pounds to the dollar. Another retired soldier told the AP that he made $1,000 per month before the crisis but now only earns $50 in that same time period.
Additional World News
- French reforms: Macron refuses to give way as pension protests escalate (BBC)
- Powerful earthquake kills at least 13 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan (CNN)
- Japan’s Kishida pledges aid for Ukraine-backing Poland (AP)
- Ukraine to clinch first IMF loan to nation at war (BBC)
- Prince William makes surprise visit to troops near Ukrainian-Polish border (CNN)
- Thick sandstorms blanket Beijing as northern China suffers massive air pollution (NBC)
- China’s Xi leaves Russia after giving Putin a major boost, but no public promise of weapons (CBS)
“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” – Mark Twain
No More Free Loans
- In the wake of bank crashes and a year of record-breaking inflation, all eyes have been on the Federal Reserve to see what their next move would be. It was announced on Wednesday that the central bank will be raising its key interest rate by 0.25%, its ninth consecutive rate hike in a year.
- This moves the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%. Fed officials assured in a statement that the “U.S. banking system is sound and resilient,” though it’s slightly less convincing considering the bank collapses and small-but-still-there decrease in housing prices revealed earlier this week.
How About You “Don’t Say Fraud” Instead
- Joseph Harding, a former Florida lawmaker who sponsored the “Don’t Say Gay” law, entered a guilty plea on Tuesday in federal court in the Northern District of Florida to one count of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of making false statements. The charges stem from Harding lying on his applications to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
- Harding was indicted in December, and resigned a day later. Harding fraudulently obtained more than $150,000 intended for businesses impacted by the pandemic from the Small Business Administration, portions of which he transferred to a bank and used to make a credit card payment. He was elected in 2020, and made a name for himself with his controversial bill that eventually became a blueprint across the country.
Additional USA News
- Lori Vallow won’t face the death penalty, Idaho judge rules (NBC)
- Senate committee delays vote to consider Biden’s pick to lead the FAA (CNN)
- Denver shooting: Two school administrators shot by student at East High School (CBS)
- Stephen Smith’s death is being investigated as a homicide, law enforcement says, 2 years after Murdaugh case prompted a fresh look (CNN)
- What a deluged California means for farmworkers (Axios)
- Arkansas bans trans students from using bathroom that matches gender (Guardian)
- Legal drama surrounding Trump reaches a fever pitch (CNN)
A Seaweed Tsunami
- Though we’re a few months out from hurricane season, Florida is facing something menacing rolling in from the ocean – and we’re not talking about an oil spill, either. Over the next few months, a 5,000-mile-long mass of seaweed is expected to wash onto the shores of Florida, the islands of the Caribbean, and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, coating those tropical beaches with a layer of brown, smelly seaweed named sargassum.
- The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, which is made up of many smaller patches of sargassum, spans the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. In the water, it provides food and a habitat for marine life, but it begins to lose its charm once it reaches land. When the brown algae washes up on beaches, it begins to rot, releasing smelly compounds like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide and prompting hotel workers and other cleaners to constantly remove the waves of seaweed or risk scaring off guests due to the odor.
- This year, scientists estimate that the Sargassum Belt is home to over 10 million metric tons of sargassum, making it “one of the strongest years, but not the strongest,” according to one NOAA spokesperson. The belt started growing early this year, likely fed by “dust that contains iron and other nutrients that comes from the Sahara Desert,” said the spokesperson. It’s unclear if climate change is to blame for this year’s outsize seaweed harvest.
Additional Reads
- ‘Give it a carrot’: Rick Ross thanks community, team for getting buffaloes home safely (USA Today)
- Private opulence, public squalor: How the U.S. helps the rich and hurts the poor (NPR)
- Large ship tips over at port in Edinburgh, causing injuries (CNN)
- Super-size trapdoor spider discovered in Australia (NBC)
- SpaceX’s Starlink and other satellite internet providers are making light pollution worse for astronomers (The Verge)
- Five planets will align across the night sky near the end of March. Here’s how to see them (CBS)
- Scientists think they know why interstellar object ‘Oumuamua moved so strangely (NPR)