Law Requiring Sale or Ban of TikTok

 

A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to overturn the law — which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — and rebuffed the company’s challenge of the statute, which it argued had ran afoul of the First Amendment.

“The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” said the court’s opinion, which was written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.”

TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, though its unclear whether the court will take up the case.

“The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people,” Hughes said. Unless stopped, he argued the statute “will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025.”

Though the case is squarely in the court system, its also possible the two companies might be thrown some sort of a lifeline by President-elect Donald Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term but said during the presidential campaign that he is now against such action.

The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, was the culmination of a years-long saga in Washington over the short-form video-sharing app, which the government sees as a national security threat due to its connections to China.

The U.S. has said it’s concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect — a concern mirrored by the European Union on Friday as it scrutinizes the video-sharing app’s role in the Romanian elections.

TikTok, which sued the government over the law in May, has long denied it could be used by Beijing to spy on or manipulate Americans. Its attorneys have accurately pointed out that the U.S. hasn’t provided evidence to show that the company handed over user data to the Chinese government, or manipulated content for Beijing’s benefit in the U.S. They have also argued the law is predicated on future risks, which the Department of Justice has emphasized pointing in part to unspecified action it claims the two companies have taken in the past due to demands from the Chinese government.

Friday’s ruling came after the appeals court panel, composed of two Republican and one Democrat appointed judges, heard oral arguments in September.

In the hearing, which lasted more than two hours, the panel appeared to grapple with how TikTok’s foreign ownership affects its rights under the Constitution and how far the government could go to curtail potential influence from abroad on a foreign-owned platform. On Friday, all three of them denied TikTok’s petition.

In the court’s ruling, Ginsburg, a Republican appointee, rejected TikTok’s main legal arguments against the law, including that the statute was an unlawful bill of attainder or a taking of property in violation of the Fifth Amendment. He also said the law did not violate the First Amendment because the government is not looking to “suppress content or require a certain mix of content” on TikTok.

“Content on the platform could in principle remain unchanged after divestiture, and people in the United States would remain free to read and share as much PRC propaganda (or any other content) as they desire on TikTok or any other platform of their choosing,” Ginsburg wrote, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China.

Judge Sri Srinivasan, the chief judge on the court, issued a concurring opinion.

TikTok’s lawsuit was consolidated with a second legal challenge brought by several content creators - for which the company is covering legal costs - as well as a third one filed on behalf of conservative creators who work with a nonprofit called BASED Politics Inc. Other organizations, including the Knight First Amendment Institute, had also filed amicus briefs supporting TikTok.

“This is a deeply misguided ruling that reads important First Amendment precedents too narrowly and gives the government sweeping power to restrict Americans’ access to information, ideas, and media from abroad,” said Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the organization. “We hope that the appeals court’s ruling won’t be the last word.”

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers who had pushed for the legislation celebrated the court’s ruling.

“I am optimistic that President Trump will facilitate an American takeover of TikTok to allow its continued use in the United States and I look forward to welcoming the app in America under new ownership,” said Republican Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, chairman of the House Select Committee on China.

Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who co-authored the law, said “it’s time for ByteDance to accept” the law.

To assuage concerns about the company’s owners, TikTok says it has invested more than $2 billion to bolster protections around U.S. user data.

The company has also argued the government’s broader concerns could have been resolved in a draft agreement it provided the Biden administration more than two years ago during talks between the two sides. It has blamed the government for walking away from further negotiations on the agreement, which the Justice Department argues is insufficient.

Attorneys for the two companies have claimed it’s impossible to divest the platform commercially and technologically. They also say any sale of TikTok without the coveted algorithm - the platform’s secret sauce that Chinese authorities would likely block under any divesture plan - would turn the U.S. version of TikTok into an island disconnected from other global content.

Still, some investors, including Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in purchasing the platform. Both men said earlier this year that they were launching a consortium to purchase TikTok’s U.S. business.

This week, a spokesperson for McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative, which aims to protect online privacy, said unnamed participants in their bid have made informal commitments of more than $20 billion in capital.

227,000 jobs in November

 America’s job market rebounded in November, adding 227,000 workers in a solid recovery from the previous month, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes had sharply diminished employers’ payrolls.

Last month’s hiring growth was up considerably from a meager gain of 36,000 jobs in October. The government also revised up its estimate of job growth in September and October by a combined 56,000.

Friday’s report from the Labor Department report showed that the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.1% in October to a still-low 4.2%. Hourly wages rose 0.4% from October to November and 4% from a year earlier — both solid figures and slightly higher than forecasters had expected.

The November employment report provided the latest evidence that the U.S. job market remains durable even though it has lost significant momentum from the 2021-2023 hiring boom, when the economy was rebounding from the pandemic recession. The job market’s gradual slowdown is, in part, a result of the high interest rates the Federal Reserve engineered in its drive to tame inflation.

Economists also noted that the November job gains were narrow: Just three categories of employers — healthcare and social assistance; leisure and hospitality; and government — accounted for 70% of the added jobs. And the 22,000 jobs that factories gained in November were boosted by the end of strikes at Boeing and elsewhere that restored many workers to their employers’ payrolls. Retailers, by contrast, shed 28,000 jobs.

“I don’t think we should be misled by the solid number of 227,000,’’ said Julia Pollak, chief economist at the employment firm ZipRecruiter.

Pollak noted that averaging the October and November job gains amounts to a modest 132,000 per month.

“This report offers very little evidence of a labor market rebound,’’ she said.

Still, Americans as a whole have been enjoying unusual job security. This week, the government reported that layoffs fell to just 1.6 million in October, below the lowest levels in the two decades that preceded the pandemic. At the same time, the number of job openings rebounded from a 3 1/2 year low, a sign that businesses are still seeking workers even though hiring has cooled.

The overall economy has remained resilient. The much higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses that resulted from the Fed’s rate hikes had been expected to tip the economy into a recession. Instead, the economy kept growing as households continued to spend and employers continued to hire.

The economy grew at a 2.8% annual pace from July through September on healthy spending by consumers. Annual economic growth has topped a decent 2% in eight of the past nine quarters. And inflation has dropped from a 9.1% peak in June 2022 to 2.6% last month. Even so, Americans were deeply frustrated by still-high prices under the Biden-Harris administration, and partly for that reason chose last month to return Donald Trump to the White House.

While comparatively few Americans are losing jobs, those who do are finding it harder to land a new one: The average unemployed American last month had been out of work for 23.7 weeks, the longest such stretch in 2 1/2 years.

The progress against inflation and the slowdown in hiring, which eases pressure on companies to raise wages and prices, led the Fed to cut its key rate in September and again last month. Another rate cut is expected to be announced when the Fed meets Dec. 17-18.

Pollak of ZipRecruiter said she sees some reason for optimism about the job market. Wage gains have been exceeding inflation for two years, for example, thereby strengthening Americans’ buying power. And lower borrowing rates are likely to encourage spending and hiring in the future.

“There are all kinds of mounting tailwinds that should propel this labor market forward,” she said.

For now, though, some businesses are cautious. Chris Butler, CEO of the National Tree Company, which makes artificial holiday trees, wreaths and garlands, said he’s taking a watchful approach to hiring. The company is grappling with subdued spending, and, like its competitors, National Tree has discounted heavily as many shoppers have pulled back on discretionary purchases. Butler is also monitoring the prospect of heavy new tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump has said he will impose on imports from China and other countries.

Although National Tree Company sources a significant chunk of its business from China, it has been moving more production to Vietnam and Cambodia. It plans to be fully out of China in 2026 as it braces for Trump to take office.

For 2025, Butler said, “we’ll probably add a few roles. But it’s certainly not going to be a hiring bonanza.”

Do for Self or Suffer

 

Look at what is going on in our communities around the country. There is a scheme by wealthy White financiers to buy up all of the old property in the ghetto. These same wealthy financiers are also sending money into the Black community to foment gang warfare. The motion picture, “The Warriors,” released in 1979, is a prime example of the glorification of gang warfare, and their preying on the weak and helpless. This type of activity is forcing Black people to leave the inner-city areas.

If this tactic does not work, arsonists are sent in to burn down the houses of Black and Puerto Rican people, many times killing family members while they are asleep, so that the Blacks and Puerto Ricans will move out. These same White financiers and banks then move in, buy up the property, tear down the shabby buildings, and build high-rise condominiums that the poor and Black cannot afford to live in.

This forces us into other ghettos away from the inner city, or out into the suburbs. With the prices of gasoline skyrocketing, unemployment among our people will continue to rise because the poor will not be able to afford to get back into the city to obtain and maintain their jobs.

Financial Institutions and the Black Community

We must make the business world more accountable to us also. Take for an example the situation of banks and their relationship to the Black community. Black people put millions of dollars into these banks, but get little or no benefits in return.

They take our money and invest it, but the Black community reaps nothing, because the banks do not invest within the Black community. They take our money and build houses that we cannot live in. We can no longer tolerate this behavior. The banks that we do business with must become more responsive to our needs.

Another example is the insurance companies, especially Black-owned insurance companies. We want to see these insurance companies invest back into our own communities.

Spend Money Wisely

In the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s monumental book, “Message to the Blackman in America,” he writes, “There is no need for us millions throughout the country, spending our money for the joy and happiness of others. As a result, as soon as we are thrown out of a job, we are back at the doors of White people, begging for bread and soup. How many clothing shops do we operate in the country?

Very few. Yet all of us wear clothes. Who made our clothes for us? Who sold them to us? We have a few grocery stores, but this is not enough to feed 30 million Black people in America. Should we not have clothing factories making clothes for ourselves? Should we not have more stores to sell our people everything that they want or need?”

At one point in the history of this country the Black man picked cotton for White people. We must now pick cotton for ourselves, and turn it into lint and cloth, so that we can make clothing for our people. Why should we continue to be the slaves of these freaks from Europe who are designing the indecent styles of clothing that Black people are wearing?

Look at us. We all wear shoes, but we have no shoe factories. If the cattle gives its hide to the Caucasian people so that they can take that hide, tan it, and make shoes for themselves, would not the same cattle give their hides to you and me? Was it not a Black man who invented the machine which revolutionized the shoe industry? Yet we profit nothing from his genius.

According to economists, Black buying power reached over $1.6 trillion in 2020, according to some estimates that would rank Black America as the 15th or 16th richest country in the world. If we took the aggregate income of Black people, some scholars submit that we would be the ninth richest country in the world. However, countries that are poorer than we are providing education, jobs and medical needs for their people. They are building roads, highways, and all kinds of housing with less money than the Black man in America has to spend.

We are throwing our money away foolishly. Black people spend billions of dollars annually on alcohol alone. If we would stop drinking, and put that money to work, every Black college in America would be finely supported. If we would stop drinking and throwing away money on dope, and other frivolous forms of “pleasure,” we could build up a mighty, independent existence. White people allow us to take money out of their economy, but we refuse to be wise and use that money to build for ourselves.

Our fraternal and Greek letter organizations must also learn to use their monies wisely. Why spend millions of your hard-earned dollars on big conventions, gaining nothing in return of any substance?

The Masons must come today with your square and compass, and build up the Black man to do something for self. Why not use your monies to build a Masonic supermarket that will provide jobs for our young people who are coming out of college? Why cannot the Elks own a hospital which would give treatment to our sick and wounded? This is how our monies must be spent today if we, as a people, are going to survive.

Muhammad’s Example

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad lifted up a mighty example of doing for self for the Black man of America. Many said the Muslims operated mom and pop stores, and made mockery of our humble beginnings. However, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad lifted up a light for all to see. He was not working with the “best minds” in the country, but with those that society labeled as social misfits, the outcasts and the prisoners.

There were very few people who worked with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad who were highly trained and highly learned. Yet, He showed us how to pool our resources, go to the earth and farm, thereby giving us the ability to do that which would one day enable us to be independent, and gain the respect of the civilized peoples of the world.

The Value of Land

Black people in America have lost millions of acres of land through fraudulent tax schemes, ignorance, and negligence. Many Black brothers and sisters have relatives in the South who have land. However, despite having the education necessary to aid them, many of you will not secure the land for your mothers, fathers, and grandmothers, and grandfathers. Therefore, our enemies are allowed to take the land back from them, thus making you and me totally dependent upon them for our sustenance.

Take the responsibility of making sure the taxes are paid, so that the land will stay in the hands of your family. Do not be so quick to sell the land for a few quickly declining dollars. We must hold on to our land, for as the dollar loses its value, the earth becomes more valuable. If that land can produce corn or wheat, it will be far more valuable to us in a few days than all the dollar bills you can manage to accumulate.

Look at all the clay land in Georgia. Why do not we buy some of it to build kilns, make bricks and construct our own homes? Cannot we cut down trees, and turn the trees into lumber, and build homes for ourselves? While the dollar still has a little value, let us purchase as much productive land as possible, for the earth will never lose its value if taken care of and properly cultivated.

Respect Must Be Earned

As I have traveled throughout the country, everywhere I go I see the spirit in the young Black students, which, if properly directed, would cause them to do for themselves. We must remember that if we desire the respect of the world, you and I must do that which will earn that respect. If our former slave masters saw us farming, bringing produce to warehouses that we own, and shipping that produce into the cities where we live;

If White people saw us taking over clothing, shoe, and food stores in our neighborhoods rather than allowing Jews, Arabs and every other nationality to sell us everything, they would then tip their hats, bow their heads and admit, “Now, the Black man is worthy of respect because he respects himself.”

No one respects a beggar, and up until now we are beggars for a job, clothing, and education from the White man. No, Black man, the time has now arrived where you must beg no man. You must get up and do it for yourself.

Lazarus and the Rich Man

Lazarus was at the rich man’s gate, begging for the crumbs from the rich man’s table. The rich man, however, showed no mercy, and sent the dogs out to bite Lazarus. However, instead of biting Lazarus, the dogs had compassion and licked his wounds. The scene changes, and Lazarus is now seen in the bosom of Abraham, while the rich man dies and is in hell, lifting up his eyes, calling out to Lazarus to come and drop some cool water on his parching tongue.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that this illustrates the condition of the Black man of America lying at the gate of White America, begging America to do for us what we have the ability to get up, unite, and do for ourselves. Now the rich man (America) is in hell, and the Black man has a chance to get into the bosom of Abraham, which means to be hidden in the friendship and protection of God.

If we would recognize the time, get up and do something for ourselves, God will aid us. He will bless our land, our crops, and whatever we do, if we will do it for ourselves. The world will then take notice and marvel, and say, “This is a people that were dead, but they are now alive. Look at them. They are now doing something for self.”

In the rebuilding of the Nation of Islam, we will be busy all over the country doing for self, because the time has arrived that we must get up from the foot of the White man. We pray that Allah will bless you, my beloved brothers and sisters, to better understand what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was driving at, that we must do for ourselves. God is with us to do it. Are we with ourselves?

Remember, Black man, we must do something for self or suffer the consequences!

Top albums of 2024: Beyoncé, Charli XCX, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Mk.gee and more

 

“Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé

“Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé

She rode in on a white horse, in patriotic chaps and wielding an American flag. She declared, this “ain’t a Country album” but “a ‘Beyoncé’ album” — positioning herself in opposition to the genre’s rigid power structures. And yet, she made the year’s best country (and then some) release: Beyoncé’s “Act ll: Cowboy Carter,” a 78-minute, 27-track masterclass in inherited and uncelebrated histories, pulling from the Black and brown performers at the core of country’s canon, and providing visibility to oft-overlooked progenitors. It’s heard in the inclusion of Linda Martell, the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry. And it’s heard in Beyoncé’s natural twang, a return to form for the Texas native — at times, a vibrato that pulls directly from the earth. It may only be 2024, but it’s hard to imagine this record not being considered one of the decade’s best.

It wasn’t just brat summer, babes, but a brat movement: English singer-songwriter Charli XCX’s sixth album altered the language of 2024. The music oscillates between hedonism and anxiety — “the euphoria of a late night on the dancefloor and the creeping disquietude of the morning after,” as the AP reviewed it — but also manages to bring the underground’s pop queen into the mainstream without compromising her vision. There was a period where Charli XCX’s collaborations with the future-seeking PC Music collective and producer A .G. Cook seemed too progressive for everyday ears. But “Brat,” and its vomit-chartreuse iconography, resonated. Listeners were ready to return to the rave — or attend for the very first time — and dance-pop music is far more interesting for it.

“Alligator Bites Never Heal,” Doechii

When alligators kill, they do what is known as a “death roll”: They sink their teeth into their prey and spin rapidly, flipping their bodies in and out of the water, drowning, disorienting and dismembering whatever was unlucky enough to get in its way. Florida rapper Doechii’s breakout mixtape, “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” embodies that kind of intensity — not in aggression, per se, but in acuity — for a versatile album that teeters from the romance of her smooth R&B and the particularity of her flows. Single “Boom Bap” made her greatness known. Tracks like “Catfish” confirm it.

“Manning Fireworks,” MJ Lenderman

Last year, AP named “Rat Saw God,” the album from Asheville alt-country indie rockers Wednesday, as one of 2023’s best. The band features MJ Lenderman, whose “Manning Fireworks” is almost frustratingly addictive. It’s a record of hilariously evocative moments from pathetic people (or is it pathetic moments from hilariously evocative people?) atop purposeful, easy slacker rock melodies. From there, it’s a kaleidoscope of brilliant lyrical short stories. (An oft-quoted favorite of his cult following? “Kahlúa shooter / DUI scooter” from “Joker Lips.”) For fans of alternative music, it is an immediate classic. We’d suggest placing “Manning Fireworks” next to Pavement on your record shelf, but it’s unlikely to leave your turntable.

“GNX,” Kendrick Lamar

The holidays arrived early this year when Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar surprise released “GNX” in late November. It is his first album since 2022’s “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” — and perhaps more tellingly, his first since his victory lap over Drake in their recently reignited beef that inspired one of the year’s best songs, “Not Like Us.” In full, “GNX” builds off the promise of his blockbuster single — West Coast hip-hop showboating from one of the greatest living rappers anywhere. But it’s Lamar’s performance that makes this one of the year’s best. As the AP reviewed, it is his effortless ability to “switch cadences and lyrical perspectives mid-song” and seemingly limitless breath control that stand out.

“Hit Me Hard and Soft,” Billie Eilish

It often seems like there is no record Billie Eilish can’t break, no accomplishment she cannot summit. So where was she to go, at just 22, with her third studio album? Up, as it turns out. “Hit Me Hard and Soft” is a 10-track testament to her own ambition. It fuses insights pulled from her first two records — the gothic humor and unusual production of her first record and the classist detours of her second — but wizened. There are the fan favorites of “Lunch” and “Birds of a Feather,” but also standouts like “Chihiro,” with its delicate promise and techno-house crescendo at its coda. No one is doing it like her.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Two Star & The Dream Police,” Mk.gee

Upon first listen, if New Jersey guitar virtuoso Mk.gee confounds, do not worry. He is a 2024 success story who emerged fully formed and completely unusual, only to make fans of everyone from Justin Bieber to Eric Clapton — and their influence is heard throughout “Two Star & The Dream Police.” The record is gauzy, ripe for a “lo-fi music to study to” playlist, but also commands attention for its spaced-out production and sparkling pop, all reliant on the malleability of his guitar compositions. Those range from sticky staccato to a kind of soulful ’80s melodicism.

“The Past Is Still Alive,” Hurray for the Riff Raff

Hurray for the Riff Raff, the musical moniker of Alynda Segarra, has long studied Americana, blues, and folk punk, perfecting their craft with each new release. On the narrative “The Past Is Still Alive,” their eighth studio album, Segarra pulls from their background as a hitchhiker, train hopper and outsider artist to document the kind of life-altering adventures — ugly and rejuvenating — that can only happen far from home. It’s a beautiful portrayal of the U.S. — all big skies, starry nights and idiosyncratic people — as well as dumpster diving, shoplifting, addiction, politics, queer bars and poetry. In a word: America.

“Phasor,” Helado Negro

Nearly a decade ago, Helado Negro — the bilingual musical project of Roberto Carlos Lange — released the single “Young, Latin and Proud,” a celebratory exploration of Latino identity that became a rallying cry for indie kids with similar heritage. It doubles as a kind of framework in which to think about all of his art, in particular, the inventive, breezy, slow synths of “Phasor.” The album, recorded in English and Spanish, uses electronic sounds to express inspirations pulled from nature. It’s a wide-ranging release, effervescent and ambitious, easy to listen to and joy to dissect.

The Light

 1. Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the dawn; 2. From the evil of that which He (Yakub) has created; 3. And from the evil of intense darkness when it comes; 4. And from the evil of those who cast (evil suggestions) in form of resolutions; 5. And from the evil of the envier when he envies (Holy Qur’an 113).

The dawn of a new day has arrived to seek our place in that which is new. We must have a guide. Allah (God) has always provided guides for those who seek to walk in His path.

We should hasten ourselves to the light of truth as we hasten to get ourselves into the light of the day (the sun). The light of Allah (God) is even greater than the light of our day (the sun). We must learn to be intelligent enough to distinguish truth from falsehood and seek refuge in the God of truth.

If we shall know the truth (John 8:32) and that truth will make us free, we can truthfully say that we already have long since known the truth that Jesus was referring to was yet to come and not in his days (John 16:8, 13). If that truth had been revealed 2,000 years ago, there would no be any falsehood in the world. However, Jesus, being a prophet, foresaw the devil’s rule. “Seek the end of the devil’s rule. Seek refuge from the evil of that which He (Yakub) has created.”

The Father (Yakub) of the world created a world of evil, discord, and hate. If you do not agree with their evil-doings, your goodness is then called hate or infidelity and you are called peace – breaker.

This world of Christianity has gone mad and they think that every cry is against them. They are like robbers who have robbed and are afraid that they will be recognized by their victims. Thieves know that light makes them manifest.

Since Christianity has falsely claimed Jesus as her founder, she is now being plagued with spiritual darkness and confusion. Under such darkness the Prophet and His followers (the Muslims) are warned to seek refuge in the light of Allah (God); for under such spiritual darkness the wicked seek to persecute and kill the Prophet of Islam and His followers.

They are mad and cannot see, nor hear the truth. So they call the truth false and the false they call truth. The truth (Islam) has angered them (Christianity). “And the nations (Christianity) were angry. Thy wrath is come. The time of the dead (the mentally dead Black nation – especially the so-called Negro), must come into the knowledge of the truth of their enemies and the enemies’ false religion that was used to deceive them. They shall give reward unto Thy servants, the prophets, and the saints, and will destroy them which destroy the earth.” (Bible, Rev. 11:18).

The White Christians and Jews are the guilty race. They have persecuted and killed the prophets of Islam and their followers (the Muslims or Black people in general). Now should not they be destroyed or get what they put out?

Modest Growth Forecast for Eurozone

 

“After the stagnation in ’23, the European economy is growing again and is set to accelerate over the next two years, however growth remains modest and exposed to important downside risks,” said Gentiloni.

Growth started to recover earlier this year as new wage agreements began partially restoring household finances. The commission said that “the restraint to consumption appears to be loosening.” It added: “As the purchasing power of wages gradually recovers and interest rates decline, consumption is set to expand further.”

Inflation is forecast to come in at 2.1% next year, just above the European Central Bank’s target of 2% and a substantial relief from the peak of 10.6% recorded in October 2022.

Germany, the eurozone’s biggest economy is set for a second consecutive year of shrinking output this year at minus 0.1% percent, with a moderate rebound next year at 0.7%. 

Irish YouTuber turned a niche following into millions

 

Seán McLoughlin wears a lot of hats: YouTuber. Voice actor. Coffee entrepreneur. But McLoughlin, better known by his pseudonym Jacksepticeye, likes to say he would be a therapist if he wasn’t posting video game playthroughs for his nearly 31 million subscribers.

The 34-year-old Irish creator finds that gaming enthusiasts aren’t just drawn by his expressive reactions to the latest action role-playing games; fans also resonate with his candid discussions of mental health. The supportive responses from his niche but passionate following make McLoughlin feel “less alone,” he said, forging the same camaraderie that brought him to online gaming communities as a lonely 20-something living at his family’s remote home.

That shared connection is also central to his annual fundraiser, “Thankmas.” The charity livestream is one of many online specials emerging as a modern spin on the classic telethon. Total donations have increased more than 50% over the last year on Tiltify, a digital platform that integrates giving tools into streams. The spaces are credited for allowing more authentic interactions between nonprofits and young donors — and encouraging benevolence in a corner of the web marked by incendiary rhetoric. “If you want to do good things, the people are there, and they’ll listen,” McLoughlin said. “They’re already following you for what you do for a reason. So they’ll follow you to help out people as well.” Follow they have. His streams have raked in more than $26 million, according to partner Tiltify. This year’s goal is to collect $6 million for two nonprofits supporting mental health: Crisis Text Line and Samaritans.

A seven-figure target would have seemed a longshot when McLoughlin entered the space. The initial idea was to hold monthly fundraisers. He hosted seven charitable streams in 2018, Tiltify records show, for causes including pediatric cancer and clean water. The year culminated in the inaugural “Thankmas,” which pulled over a quarter of a million dollars.

But McLoughlin said the pace became “a bit much.” That same year he announced a brief break from YouTube, in part due to unhappiness from the demands he felt for high content volumes. He resolved to focus on one big holiday event at the end of the year, when he said people are “a bit more giving and heartfelt.”

It wasn’t until 2020 that Tiltify CEO Michael Wasserman said the two began working closely to maximize the streams’ reach. McLoughlin reached out, according to Wasserman, and said he wanted something “more impactful.” With communities worldwide reeling from the pandemic, they put together the #HopeFromHome campaign: a peer-to-peer event where multitudes could simultaneously rally around the same cause. McLoughlin served as a tent pole supporting the other streamers.

Their first effort together yielded $1.9 million for United Way Worldwide and more than one-third came from McLoughlin’s stream alone. The following “Thankmas” generated more than $4.7 million. Wasserman said he’d never seen his technology used so collaboratively. “That’s what really made this a regular, multimillion-dollar event,” Wasserman said. “Not just making it, ‘Hey I’m going to fundraise and just watch me,’ but, ‘We as a community can do this and get involved together.’”

This year’s “Thankmas” will be performed before a live audience in Los Angeles but broadcast online. Recent specials have seen McLoughlin make surprise calls into streams that are also pooling contributions. Comedic segments sometimes feature traditional celebrities; actor Jack Black played a life-sized game of Jenga in 2022.

The idea resembles the star-studded telethon pioneered last century by comedian Jerry Lewis. But new technologies and web cultures enable more engaging experiences. Wasserman said charitable livestreams like McLoughlin’s are not a “passive watching experience.”

It’s “a much more personable approach to giving,” according to Yvette Wohn, a professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology who studies human-computer interaction. A streamer’s audience “cares about them,” Wohn said, and donors flock to their content because “they really like that person.” Social media and chat boxes allow fans to feel seen by hosts in ways television viewers could never expect. Followers might get shoutouts by name upon contributing. McLoughlin has previously shared fan art submitted through specific hashtags.

Fandoms also develop subcultures. McLoughlin’s gaming catchphrases are especially popular among his circles. Jacksepticeye content often starts with him shouting, “Top of the morning to ya, laddies!” and fans have uploaded video compilations of the expression. Members then form friendships with others in the fandom. That creates a “positive social pressure” to donate, according to Wohn, helping new generations “dip their toes into building an identity as somebody that gives.” “Giving habits are things that build over time,” Wohn said. “If younger people start to engage in this culture of giving, I feel like the general culture of giving might expand in ways that cannot be done from a top-down perspective.”

Still, McLoughlin describes online communities as a “double-edged sword.” The “monetization of hate,” he said, is “bigger than it’s ever been.” And the desire for acceptance can introduce lonely people to dark pockets of the internet that nevertheless provide kinship.

“Thankmas” aims to prove it’s easy to do good online. Yes, he acknowledged, charity work is “quite intimidating.” Where is the line between promoting the fundraiser and promoting himself? McLoughlin doesn’t know. He just hopes people trust it’s coming from the right place.

At least one longtime follower was drawn by McLoughlin’s ties to this year’s cause. Jack Worthey, a 20-year-old from Texas, said McLoughlin brought much comfort growing up with “similar family troubles.” It had been several years since he watched Jacksepticeye content, he said, but he was pulled back by an October video where McLoughlin detailed his journey finding mental health treatment.

Worthey said he wouldn’t have looked into “Thankmas” had McLoughlin had not made the promotion so personal. He now plans to raise awareness through digital art. For Worthey, returning to the channel as an adult and seeing the “positive product” has been “really amazing.”

“It makes you see what I was enjoying when I was younger in a different light,” Worthey said. “It brings a different type of joy.”

Deforestation Law

 

The European Union agreed to delay by a year the introduction of new rules to ban the sale of products that lead to massive deforestation, caving in to demands from several producer nations from across the globe and domestic opposition within the 27-nation bloc.

Officials said Wednesday that the EU member states, the EU parliament and the executive Commission reached an agreement in principle following weeks of haggling whether the initial rules would have to be watered down even further than the simple delay by one year. Originally, it was supposed to kick in this month.

The deforestation law is aimed at preserving forests on a global scale by only allowing forest-related products that are sustainable and do not involve the degradation of forests. It applies to things like cocoa, coffee, soy, cattle, palm oil, rubber, wood and products made from them. Deforestation is the second-biggest source of carbon emissions after fossil fuels. The lead negotiator among the different EU institutions, Christine Schneider, called the delay to implement nature protection rules “a victory,” adding it would give foresters and farmers protection from “excessive bureaucracy.” Environmentalists immediately criticized the move.

“With our planet’s forests destroyed further every day, we cannot afford delays to much-needed environmental protection laws like the EU’s anti-deforestation legislation,” said said Giulia Bondi of the Global Witness group. .

Officials from leading exporters of affected commodities — including Brazil, Indonesia and the Ivory Coast — fear the regulation could act as a trade barrier, hit small farmers and disrupt supply chains.

Under the deal, the rules are now scheduled to start Dec. 30, 2025, for large companies, and June 30, 2026, for small companies. The different EU institutions will still have to individually approve the deal but since they agreed on the measures, this is likely to be a formality. In offering to delay the regulation by a year, the EU Commission has said it heeded the complaints of several global partners about their state of preparedness for the rules.

Some EU governments, including in Austria and Germany, have also sought to water down the regulation or delay its introduction.

With the delay, some governments sought to add more measures that would weaken the original rules and allow for more exemptions. Even if that was not agreed to in the current deal, Schneider said that the commission had “committed itself to updating the Deforestation Law within a year.”

Greenpeace has said that the extension would condemn the world’s forests to another year of destruction. It noted a U.N. finding that an area of forest about the size of Portugal is cut down worldwide each year.

“Instead of rolling back its environmental agenda, the EU needs to keep its commitments and show leadership to tackle the climate emergency,” said Bondi.

Gladiator II

 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565376391575

Kendrick Lamar tour

 

“Not Like Us,” it’s like them — Kendrick Lamar and SZA will hit the road together in 2025.

On Tuesday morning, Lamar and SZA announced the Grand National Tour, which will hit 19 stadiums across North America next spring and summer.

The news arrives less than two weeks after Lamar released his latest album, “GNX,” which features SZA on two tracks: “Luther” and the closer “Gloria.” In a review, AP described the album as leaning into the same creativity-juicing pride, self-righteous anger and supreme confidence that fueled the Grammy-nominated “Not Like Us” and won his feud with Drake: “I kill ’em all before I let ’em kill my joy.”

The tour kicks off on April 19 in Minneapolis, then hits Houston; Arlington, Texas; Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Philadelphia; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Seattle; Los Angeles; Glendale, Arizona; San Francisco; Las Vegas; St. Louis; Chicago; Detroit; Toronto; Hershey, Pennsylvania; and Washington.

Tickets go on sale Friday. A presale for Cash App Visa Card holders will launch Wednesday.

Eminem’s mother Debbie Nelson, whose rocky relationship fueled the rapper’s lyrics, dies at age 69

Debbie Nelson, mother of rap star Eminem, appears in Mount Clemens, Mich., on April 10, 2001

 Debbie Nelson, the single mother of rapper Eminem whose rocky relationship with her son was known widely through his hit song lyrics, has died. She was 69.

Eminem’s longtime representative Dennis Dennehy confirmed Nelson’s death in an email on Tuesday. He did not provide a cause of death, although Nelson had battled lung cancer.

Nelson was born in 1955 on a military base in Kansas. Her fraught relationship with her son, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has been no secret since the Detroit rapper became a star.

Eminem has disparaged his mother in songs such as the 2002 single “Cleaning Out My Closet.” Eminem sings: “Witnessin’ your mama poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen. ... My whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn’t.”

In lyrics from his Oscar-winning hit “Lose Yourself” from the movie “8 Mile,” his feelings seem to have simmered, referencing his “mom’s spaghetti.” The song went on to win best rap song at the 2004 Grammy Awards. Nelson brought and settled a pair of defamation lawsuits over Eminem’s statements about her in magazines and on radio talk shows. In her 2008 book, “My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem,” she attempted to set the record straight by providing readers details about the rapper’s early life, writing that Eminem had forgotten the good times they had.  “Marshall and I were so close that friends and relatives commented that it was as if the umbilical cord had never been cut,” she wrote.

She also detailed her own childhood, describing a violent home life in which her dad’s mother, who she spent summers with, was “the one woman in my large dysfunctional family to show us kids love.”

In 2004, she was dragged from her car on Eight Mile Road, the street in a Detroit suburb made famous by “8 Mile,” by a 16-year-old who was later sentenced to more than four years in prison. She suffered bruises and a broken foot.

The highly acclaimed rapper Eminem won for best hip hop act at the 2024 MTV EMAs and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

He announced in October that he was going to be a grandfather, saying his daughter Hailie Jade is pregnant by way of a touching music video that is a tribute to their relationship.

Celsius Network pleads guilty

 The founder and former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network could face decades in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to federal fraud charges, admitting that he misled customers about the business.

Alexander Mashinsky, 58, of Manhattan, entered the plea in New York federal court to commodities and securities fraud.

He admitted illegally manipulating the price of Celsius’s proprietary crypto token while secretly selling his own tokens at inflated prices to pocket about $48 million before Celsius collapsed into bankruptcy in 2022.

In court, he admitted that in 2021 he publicly suggested there was regulatory consent for the company’s moves because he knew that customers “would find false comfort” with that.

And he said that in 2019, he was selling the crypto tokens even though he told the public that he was not. He said he knew customers would draw false comfort from that too.

“I accept full responsibility for my actions,” Mashinsky said of crimes that stretched from 2018 to 2022 as the company pitched itself to customers as a modern-day bank where they could safely deposit crypto assets and earn interest.U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release that Mashinsky “orchestrated one of the biggest frauds in the crypto industry” as his company’s assets purportedly grew to about $25 billion at its peak, making it one of the largest crypto platforms in the world.

He said Mashinsky used catchy slogans like “Unbank Yourself” to entice prospective customers with a pledge that their money would be as safe in crypto accounts as money would be in a bank. Meanwhile, prosecutors said, Mashinsky and co-conspirators used customer deposits to fund market purchases of the Celsius token to prop up its value.

Machinsky made tens of millions of dollars selling his own CEL tokens at artificially high prices, leaving his customers “holding the bag when the company went bankrupt,” Williams said.An indictment alleged that Mashinsky promoted Celsius through media interviews, his social media accounts and Celsius’ website, along with a weekly “Ask Mashinsky Anything” session broadcast that was posted to Celsius’ website and a YouTube channel.

Celsius employees from multiple departments who noticed false and misleading statements in the sessions warned Mashinsky, but they were ignored, the indictment said.

A plea agreement Mashinsky made with prosecutors calls for him to be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and to forfeit over $48 million, which is the amount of money he allegedly made by selling his company’s token.

Sentencing was scheduled for April 8.

Musk’s multi-billion-dollar Tesla pay package

 

For a second time, a Delaware judge has nullified a pay package that Tesla had awarded its CEO, Elon Musk, that once was valued at $56 billion.

On Monday, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick turned aside a request from Musk’s lawyers to reverse a ruling she announced in January that had thrown out the compensation plan. The judge ruled then that Musk effectively controlled Tesla’s board and had engineered the outsize pay package during sham negotiations.

Lawyers for a Tesla shareholder who sued to block the pay package contended that shareholders who had voted for the 10-year plan in 2018 had been given misleading and incomplete information.

In their defense, Tesla’s board members asserted that the shareholders who ratified the pay plan a second time in June had done so after receiving full disclosures, thereby curing all the problems the judge had cited in her January ruling. As a result, they argued, Musk deserved the pay package for having raised Tesla’s market value by billions of dollars.

McCormick rejected that argument. In her 103-page opinion, she ruled that under Delaware law, Tesla’s lawyers had no grounds to reverse her January ruling “based on evidence they created after trial.”

What will Musk and Tesla do now?

On Monday night, Tesla posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, that the company will appeal. The appeal would be filed with the Delaware Supreme Court, the only state appellate court Tesla can pursue. Experts say a ruling would likely come in less than a year.

“The ruling, if not overturned, means that judges and plaintiffs’ lawyers run Delaware companies rather than their rightful owners — the shareholders,” Tesla argued.

Later, on X, Musk unleashed a blistering attack on the judge, asserting that McCormick is “a radical far left activist cosplaying as a judge.”What do experts say about the case?

Legal authorities generally suggest that McCormick’s ruling was sound and followed the law. Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that in his view, McCormick was right to rule that after Tesla lost its case in the original trial, it created improper new evidence by asking shareholders to ratify the pay package a second time.

Had she allowed such a claim, he said, it would cause a major shift in Delaware’s laws against conflicts of interest given the unusually close relationship between Musk and Tesla’s board.

“Delaware protects investors — that’s what she did,” said Elson, who has followed the court for more than three decades. “Just because you’re a ‘superstar CEO’ doesn’t put you in a separate category.”

Elson said he thinks investors would be reluctant to put money into Delaware companies if there were exceptions to the law for “special people.”

What will the Delaware Supreme Court do?

Elson said that in his opinion, the court is likely to uphold McCormick’s ruling.

Can Tesla appeal to federal courts?

Experts say no. Rulings on state laws are normally left to state courts. Brian Dunn, program director for the Institute of Compensation Studies at Cornell University, said it’s been his experience that Tesla has no choice but to stay in the Delaware courts for this compensation package.Tesla has moved its legal headquarters to Texas. Does that matter?

The company could try to reconstitute the pay package and seek approval in Texas, where it may expect more friendlier judges. But Dunn, who has spent 40 years as an executive compensation consultant, said it’s likely that some other shareholder would challenge the award in Texas because it’s excessive compared with other CEOs’ pay plans.

“If they just want to turn around and deliver him $56 billion, I can’t believe somebody wouldn’t want to litigate it,” Dunn said. “It’s an unconscionable amount of money.”Would a new pay package be even larger?

Almost certainly. Tesla stock is trading at 15 times the exercise price of stock options in the current package in Delaware, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors. Tesla’s share price has doubled in the past six months, Jonas wrote. At Monday’s closing stock price, the Musk package is now worth $101.4 billion, according to Equilar, an executive data firm.

And Musk has asked for a subsequent pay package that would give him 25% of Tesla’s voting shares. Musk has said he is uncomfortable moving further into artificial intelligence with the company if he doesn’t have 25% control. He currently holds about 13% of Tesla’s outstanding shares.

Kospi down 1.4%

 

Currency Traders

Global stocks were mixed Wednesday after overnight political drama in South Korea added to regional uncertainties, though the Kospi in Seoul fell less than 2%.

France’s CAC 40 rose 0.3% in early trading to 7,278.18, as the minority government was facing a no-confidence vote Wednesday in parliament following a divisive budget debate. There appeared to be a strong chance the vote might topple Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s Cabinet.

Germany’s DAX added 0.4% to 20,100.80, while Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.2% to 8,343.17.

The future contract for the S&P 500 edged 0.2% higher and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4%.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround the parliament. Yoon accused pro-North Korean forces of plotting to overthrow one of the world’s most vibrant democracies. The martial law declaration was revoked about six hours later. Yoon’s move caused the won to plummet to a two-year low against the U.S. dollar, with losses of up to 2%, the sharpest one-day drop since the market’s seismic reaction to Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory. The won recovered some of those losses on Wednesday. The dollar was trading at 1,412.87 won, down from Tuesday’s peak at 1,443.40.

South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.4% lower to 2,464.00. Shares of Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest company, fell 0.9%. Meanwhile, the country’s financial regulator said they were prepared to deploy 10 trillion won ($7.07 billion) into a stock market stabilization fund at any time, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Elsewhere in the region, in a further step toward an outright trade war, China announced Tuesday it was banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony, and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications. Beijing took the measure after the U.S. expanded its list of Chinese companies subject to export controls on computer chip-making equipment, software, and high-bandwidth memory chips.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended little changed at 19,742.46, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.4% to 3,364.65.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.1% to 39,276.39. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.4% to 8,462.60.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks tiptoed to more records, tacking a touch more onto what’s already been a stellar year.

The S&P 500 edged up less than 0.1% to 6,049.88, setting an all-time high for the 55th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% to 44,705.53, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to 19,480.91, hitting its own record set a day earlier.

Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of October than a month earlier. Continued strength there would raise optimism that the economy could remain out of a recession that many investors had earlier worried was inevitable.The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.23% from 4.20% from late Monday.

Yields have seesawed since Election Day on worries that Trump’s preferences for lower tax rates and bigger tariffs could spur higher inflation. But traders are still confident the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in two weeks. They’re betting on a nearly three-in-four chance of that, according to data from CME Group.

Lower rates can give the economy a lift but also tend to fuel inflation.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 14 cents to $70.08 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 20 cents to $73.82 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 150.65 Japanese yen from 149.59 yen. The euro cost $1.0496, down from $1.0510.