Victoria Fox's Blog, page 269
March 15, 2023
The Biden administration demands that TikTok be sold, or risk a nationwide ban
Enlarge this image The Biden administration is demanding that TikTok be sold away from Beijing-based ByteDance, rejecting the company’s plan before U.S. national security officials. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The Biden administration is demanding that Chinese-owned TikTok be sold, or the popular video app could face a ban in the U.S., according to a TikTok spokesperson.
Whether federal officials have given TikTok a deadline to find a buyer remains unclear. Regardless, it is a major escalation by White House officials who have grown increasingly concerned about the safety of Americans’ data on the app used by more than 100 million Americans.
It is the first time the Biden administration has explicitly threatened to ban TikTok. President Trump attempted to put TikTok out of business, but the actions were halted by federal courts. The new demand from U.S. officials will almost certainly be met with a legal challenge from TikTok.
The company is “disappointed in the outcome,” said the TikTok spokesperson, about the new demand from U.S. officials.
An American company acquiring TikTok would require the blessing of Chinese officials, who for years have been hostile to the idea of selling off its first global social media success.
For two years, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS, has been examining whether U.S. data is properly safeguarded.
In response, TikTok has committed to spend $1.5 billion on a plan known as “Project Texas,” which would enact a stronger firewall between TikTok and employees of its Beijing parent company.
The plan relies on the data supervision of Texas-based software company Oracle. It also includes independent monitors and auditors to ensure that neither corporate owner ByteDance, nor Chinese officials, would be able to access U.S. user data.
CFIUS appeared at first to be satisfied with the safety measures TikTok was enacting, though the deal had not been formally approved.
Now, however, CFIUS has rejected TikTok’s proposal and is demanding that ByteDance sell the app — something ByteDance has vigorously resisted for years.
During the Trump administration, a media outlet aligned with the Chinese Communist Party called a forced divestiture in the U.S. equivalent to “open robbery.”
TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, is scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee next Thursday. This comes after a bipartisan bill was unveiled earlier this month that would provide President Biden with the authority to ban TikTok.
CFIUS’ demand that TikTok divest from ByteDance would not solve the data concerns lawmakers have with the app, Oberwetter said.
“The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification, which we are already implementing,” TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter said.
A spokesperson for the Treasury Department declined to comment. ByteDance has not returned a request for comment.
A lawsuit picks a bone with Buffalo Wild Wings: Are ‘boneless wings’ really wings?
Enlarge this image Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Buffalo Wild Wings
Can a “boneless chicken wing” truly be called a wing?
That’s the question posed by a new class-action lawsuit filed last week in federal court by a Chicago man who purchased a round of boneless wings in January at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Mount Prospect, Ill.
Based on the name and description of the wings, the complaint says, Aimen Halim “reasonably believed the Products were actually wings that were deboned” — in other words, that they were constituted entirely of chicken wing meat.
But the “boneless wings” served at Buffalo Wild Wings are not. Instead, they are made of white meat from chicken breasts.
Had Halim known that, he “would not have purchased them, or would have paid significantly less for them,” he claims in his lawsuit. Furthermore, he alleged, the chain “willfully, falsely, and knowingly misrepresented” its boneless wings as actual chicken wings.
The only response from Buffalo Wild Wings has come in the form of a tweet.
It’s true.
Our boneless wings are all white meat chicken.
Our hamburgers contain no ham.
Our buffalo wings are 0% buffalo.
— Buffalo Wild Wings (@BWWings) March 13, 2023
“It’s true. Our boneless wings are all white meat chicken. Our hamburgers contain no ham. Our buffalo wings are 0% buffalo,” the chain wrote on Monday.
According to a report last month by the Associated Press, breast meat is cheaper than bone-in chicken wings, with a difference of more than $3 per pound.
In fact, wings were once cheaper than breast meat. The lawsuit dates that change in price difference back to the Great Recession, citing a 2009 New York Times story about the steady popularity of chicken wings, even as price-conscious consumers had cut back on eating out.
Around that time, chicken producers were trending toward larger, hormone-plumped birds, a 2018 story in the Counter noted. Yet no matter how much white meat a bigger chicken could produce, it still only had two wings.
Halim’s lawsuit asks for a court order to immediately stop Buffalo Wild Wings from making “misleading representations” at the chain’s 1,200 locations nationwide.
Some of the bar chain’s competitors, including Domino’s and Papa Johns, call their chicken breast nuggets “chicken poppers” or “boneless chicken,” the lawsuit notes. “A restaurant named Buffalo Wild ‘Wings’ should be just as careful if not more in how it names its products,” it said.
The suit also demands unspecified compensation for monetary losses suffered by Halim and all other customers of Buffalo Wild Wings locations in Illinois.
Class action lawsuits against food and beverage companies have grown more frequent in recent years. Many accuse packaged food products, such as the kind available in grocery stores, of deceptive or misleading labels, packaging or advertisements.
Such cases have risen from 18 in 2008 to over 300 in 2021, according to Perkins Coie, a law firm that tracks food and beverage litigation and represents corporations. The number slowed last year, the firm found.
Press 1 for more anger: Americans are fed up with customer service
Enlarge this image This you? RichVintage/Getty Images
RichVintage/Getty Images
A recent survey shows Americans are more unhappy with the customer service they’re getting than ever. The poor guy above has been on hold for 24 months (we assume — it’s a stock photo).
Who are they? The thousands of Americans voicing their discontent with customer service. You can find them on basically any Yelp page out there.
Plenty of industries have been upended by the pandemic, and it turns out that customer service and hospitality at large have declined in the eyes of many Americans. 74% of Americans say they’ve had product or service problem in the past year, according to the 10th edition of the National Customer Rage Survey, which tracks satisfaction and incivility. The incidence of problems has more than doubled since 1976. And on the other side, consumers are described as increasingly vocal about it — literally. The survey found 43% of customers yelled or raised their voice to express displeasure about their most serious problem, up from 35% in 2015. If you’ve spent any time on the rage-inducing side of customer freakout TikTok, you’ve probably seen enough to know things feel… off. The survey is conducted by Customer Care Measurement and Consultancy, in collaboration with the Center for Services Leadership/W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
Enlarge this image Turn that frown upside down. Carol Yepes/Getty Images
Carol Yepes/Getty Images
What’s the big deal? Well, there’s a lot of unhappy people out there.
There are a number of reasons why customer service may feel worse, like a shortage in workers in some industries, the proliferation of tech as a part of the process, and a lack of incentive for companies without competition. (Have you ever tried to contact your internet provider about anything?) Amas Tenumah wrote a book on the subject of customer service, and he cites increased customer expectations not being met as the biggest part of the problem. “Today, we live in a society where the expectations are rising by the brands. Just think about the commercials. They promise you the world … and then the objective reality hits. And you try to reach customer service. And you are met with a bot. You are met with wait times … that’s really where the chasm is. This gap between expectations and objective reality just continues to get wider and wider.”What are people saying?
Tenumah is the author of Waiting for Service: An Insider’s Account of Why Customer Service is Broken and Tips to Avoid Bad Service. He’s also the founder of a management consulting firm, and spoke with NPR about what everyone seems to be unhappy with.
On how tech’s role often frustrates more than it optimizes:
I’ll tell you, Americans are incredibly gracious when they start. If it’s on a scale of 1 to 10, most people start at nine or nine and a half.
But then you start this interaction and you’re met with an automated system — press one, press two — or a machine you’re trying to communicate with. They can’t understand you, or you’re met with a chatbot on the website, and then you get past that and then you give them your information.
And then you finally get to a human, and the human asks you to repeat your information. Now, your grace started at nine. At this point you were like a four, and then, God forbid, they transfer you.
By the time you are transferred, after dealing with the machine, repeating your information, you are at zero and lots of people are in the negative. This is now where the abuse and the rage really intensifies on the part of the customer.
On how worker empowerment makes a better experience for everyone:
It’s still a human to human business. And so what I tell clients is first and foremost, your first customers are your service employees.
Making sure they have the right tools, they are compensated appropriately, and your policies and procedures do not put them in the middle of you and the customer.
So this is why I encourage these organizations to empower that professional. You’ve trained them. You’ve invested in them, so that when the customer makes a reasonable request, they can just fulfill it and they can be a hero. And the customer doesn’t have to ask for a manager and escalate in the calls and the emails get transferred in power.
Want to hear more from Tenumah? Listen to the NPR interview by clicking or tapping the play button at the top.
So, what now?
Despite the increase in AI chatbots and automated customer service systems, Tenumah says customer service is a business that is extremely difficult to calculate with a formula or algorithm. Improving that system starts with valuing workers.“I usually say customer service is harder than rocket science. And the reason it’s harder is while there are formulas they can calculate [to] put a rocket on the moon, there is no formula for putting two strangers on the same phone call to resolve an issue.” Tenumah says we need to change the social contract and not think of these employees as “low skill workers.” “These are complicated requests, because if they were easy, a bot or a machine could do it. And the quicker we evolve as an industry, the better off we will be,” he said.Read more:
There were 100 recalls of children’s products last year — the most since 2013 The unexpected American shopping spree seems to have cooled Credit Card Nation: How we went from record savings to record debt in just two yearsShop These 15 Women-Founded Accessories Brands Now & Thank Us Later
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As you either already knew, or learned from the headline of this article: March is Women’s History Month in the United States. That means many things to many people, so here’s how I’m choosing to celebrate: Surprise! It’s shopping!
Sure, I’m doing some reading, some listening, and liking pastel slideshows on Instagram, too, but I’m a shopping writer, so I’m playing to my strengths.
One of those strengths lies in my ability to delve into the wonderful world of women-founded brands. You’re likely familiar with the idea that there’s an enormous number of women-founded brands to choose from. Plus, new launches happen every day. How are you to narrow it down?
I got you. This week, I’m focusing on accessories: Think crossbody bags, weatherproof shoes, chic scarves, actually cute lunch bags for adults (yup), and even more. All from lines and labels by women, for women.
So, show your support for women during Women’s History Month, and buy yourself (or anyone, really) something from one of the incredible brands below.
March 14, 2023
The Maine lobster industry sues California aquarium over a do-not-eat listing
Enlarge this image A lobster rears its claws after being caught off Spruce Head, Maine, Aug. 31, 2021. A group of Maine businesses and trade groups filed a lawsuit against a California aquarium Monday, March 13, 2023, for recommending seafood customers avoid buying lobster. Robert F. Bukaty/AP
Robert F. Bukaty/AP
PORTLAND, Maine — A coalition representing the Maine lobster industry is suing an aquarium on the other side of the country for recommending that seafood customers avoid buying a variety of lobster mostly harvested in their state.
Industry groups including Maine Lobstermen’s Association are suing the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California for defamation, arguing in a lawsuit filed Monday that their prized catch shouldn’t be on a “red list” published by Seafood Watch, a conservation program it operates.
Last year, Seafood Watch put lobster from the U.S. and Canada on its list of seafood to avoid due to the threat posed to rare whales by entanglement in fishing gear used to harvest American lobster, the species that makes up most of the U.S. lobster market.
Endangered North American right whales number only about 340 and they’ve declined in recent years.
But the lobster industry is arguing to the U.S. District Court in Maine that the aquarium’s recommendation relies on bad science and incorrectly portrays lobster fishing as a threat to the whales. The lawsuit asks the court to force the aquarium to remove “defamatory statements” from its website and materials, court records state.
“This is a significant lawsuit that will help eradicate the damage done by folks who have no clue about the care taken by lobstermen to protect the ecosystem and the ocean,” said John Petersdorf, chief executive officer of Bean Maine Lobster Inc., one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, in a statement.
The aquarium says its recommendations are correct based on the best available evidence. It says right whales are indeed vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear.
The lawsuit ignores “the extensive evidence that these fisheries pose a serious risk to the survival of the endangered North Atlantic right whale, and they seek to curtail the First Amendment rights of a beloved institution that educates the public about the importance of a healthy ocean,” said Kevin Connor, a spokesperson for the aquarium.
Another group, Marine Stewardship Council, last year suspended a sustainability certification it awarded Maine’s lobster industry over concerns about harm to whales. The loss of sustainability recommendations has caused some retailers to stop selling lobster.
The U.S. lobster industry is based mostly in Maine. The industry brought about 98 million pounds of lobster to the docks last year. That was less than the previous year, but historically a fairly high number.
Maxine Waters will return political donation from Silicon Valley Bank
Waters remembers speaking with someone from Silicon Valley Bank around 2020 about FinTech issues, but said she couldn’t remember the specifics.
“Everyone knows I have an open door policy,” she said. But she maintained that she had not spoken with the bank about the 2018 bill which relaxed the regulation of banks like SVB. Waters opposed the bipartisan measure, which has come under intense scrutiny since the California bank’s collapse. Silicon Valley Bank lobbyists were among those lobbying for the bill.
“Philosophically I’m opposed to deregulation, I always have been, I’ve been consistent, and I will continue to be,” Waters said.
Between 2017 and 2022, Silicon Valley Bank’s PAC gave more than $50,000 to the campaigns of nearly two dozen senators and representatives, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission. The donations went largely to members — Republicans and Democrats — who served on relevant committees, including the House Financial Services Committee or the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Patrick McHenry (RN.C.) received the most from the PAC, each bringing in $7,500 over the six-year span.
Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker has also maxed out individual campaign donations to Warner and the Senate Majority Leader. chuck schumer (DN.Y.) in the 2022 cycle, according to FEC records. A spokesperson for Schumer said on Tuesday that the contributions had been donated to charity.
Representatives from Warner’s offices and others who received PAC money from the bank did not return requests for comment. Warner previously released a statement praising regulators’ response to the bank run, while McHenry did the same confidence expressed in financial regulators.
The bank’s abrupt collapse brought the 2018 deregulation law, which exempted mid-sized banks from conducting regular stress tests, back into the spotlight.
Lobbyists from the Franklin Square Group, which has worked on behalf of Silicon Valley Bank and other financial services clients, have also made individual contributions to some lawmakers ahead of the vote on the 2018 law. recipients included Sen. Kirsten Sinema (I-Arizona), which received more than $8,000 in total from three lobbyists weeks after the bill passed the Senate but before it was submitted for House approval, including Sinema was a member at the time.
A lobbying disclosure by Franklin Square Group in 2018 lists this bill as one of its lobbying activities.
representing Ruben Gallego, a Democrat challenging Sinema in the 2024 Senate race, has sought to make donations a campaign issue, highlighting the contributions at a press conference in Tempe, Ariz., this week. Sinema has yet to announce whether she is a candidate for re-election.
“When we were presented with the same information, I voted to protect Arizonans,” Gallego said. “She voted to give the banks free rein.”
A spokesman for Sinema said the senator questioned regulators on how they were handling SVB’s unique level of specific concentration risk. In a tweet about the bank this week, Sinema tweeted that “the feds must now make sure those responsible are held accountable, while maintaining stability for all Americans who depend on our banking system.”
Not all news on the site expresses the point of view of the site, but we transmit this news automatically and translate it through programmatic technology on the site and not from a human editor.
Meta to lay off 10,000 more workers after first cuts in November
Meta will lay off 10,000 more workers and incur restructuring costs ranging from $3 billion to $5 billion, the company said on Tuesday, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg warning that economic instability could continue for “many years.”
Shares of Meta rose about 5.5%.
“Here’s the timeline you should expect: Over the next two months, organizational leaders will announce restructuring plans focused on flattening our organizations, canceling lower-priority projects, and reducing our rates. hiring,” Zuckerberg said in a message to employees, which was also posted on Meta’s blog.
He added that the company plans to close an additional 5,000 vacancies that it has not yet filled. In a nod to the continued economic uncertainty, Zuckerberg noted that the company should prepare for “the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years to come.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives in federal court in San Jose, California on December 20.David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images FileIn a filing with the SEC announcing the cuts, the company also said it expects total spending in 2023 to drop from $86 billion to $92 billion.
The new round of layoffs follows a series of cuts announced in November that affected more than 11,000 workers, equivalent to around 13% of Meta’s total workforce.
Zuckerberg touted 2023 as the company’s “year of efficiency,” in which the company aims to become “a stronger, more agile organization.”
“We’re a technology company, and our end result is what we build for people,” Zuckerberg said. As part of the restructuring, the company will also increase the number of direct reports to each manager.
Zuckerberg told analysts in February that the Meta plans to “cut projects that aren’t working or may no longer be critical” while “simultaneously eliminating layers of middle management to make decisions faster.”
“A leaner organization will execute on its highest priorities faster,” Zuckerberg’s post said.
Yet Meta continues to spend billions of dollars developing the virtual reality and augmented reality technologies needed to build the digital universe known as the Metaverse. The company’s Reality Labs division, responsible for creating the metaverse, lost an estimated $13.7 billion in 2022 on $2.16 billion in revenue.
Amazon announced a new round of layoffs in January, affecting 18,000 employees across multiple divisions.
Twilio, Dell, Zoom, and eBay also recently announced major workforce reductions. In January, Google revealed plans to lay off more than 12,000 workers, Microsoft announced plans to cut 10,000 employees, and Salesforce announced plans to cut 7,000 jobs.
Not all news on the site expresses the point of view of the site, but we transmit this news automatically and translate it through programmatic technology on the site and not from a human editor.
Knicks beat Trail Blazers to end road trip 2-2
PORTLAND, Ore. — Splitting four games west will have to be enough for the Knicks, especially since star point guard Jalen Brunson has only played two quarterbacks on the road trip.
Tom Thibodeau’s team recovered to a 2-2 record over the past six days after losing the first two games, with wins Sunday against the Lakers and Tuesday night against the Trail Blazers, 123-107, at Moda Center .
“It was huge. Because obviously when you don’t have one of your best players, sometimes teams fall apart, or they go on a little losing streak,” Josh Hart said after nearly scoring a triple-double during his first game in Portland since being traded to the Knicks. last month. “We gave one in Charlotte (last Tuesday at home) and then we had two tough ones to start the road trip.
“So to complete the .500 road trip and get home, we’ll take it.”
Immanuel Quickley scored 26 points with 10 rebounds and Julius Randle had 24 points and 10 boards as the Knicks improved to 41-30 overall, including 11-3 since Josh Hart joined the roster after a deal with Portland February 8.
Josh Hart, who nearly scored a triple-double, celebrates after hitting a shot in the Knicks’ 123-107 win over the Trail Blazers.PA
With the win, they moved one game ahead of the Nets to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings.
Hart contributed 16 points with nine rebounds and eight assists in 37 minutes, while Cam Reddish was held just two points off the bench for the Blazers in the first game between the teams since those players were traded during the exchange.
“I thought we got off to a slow start, then I thought our bench came in and gave us a huge boost,” Thibodeau said. “And I think a lot of that could be attributed to Josh. I love, I mean, you watch the boxscore, and it’s very telling.
Immanuel Quickley, who scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, dribbled past Jusuf Nurkic in the Knicks’ win.PA“And then when the starters came back, they brought good energy, and they closed the gap. … It was a good solid team win.
Miles “Deuce” McBride recorded a career-high 18 points and RJ Barrett added 22 as the Knicks overcame a 16-point first-half deficit. Damian Lillard scored 38 points and Anfernee Simons added 22 for the Blazers (31-38), who are down 12 of 17 since Feb. 4.
“I thought the rebound was great. Josh, almost a triple-double, Quick had some big hits and Deuce, you can’t say enough about what he did,” Thibodeau said. his best game as a pro.”
Miles, McBride, who scored 18 points, goes up for a shot in the Knicks’ win.NBAE via Getty ImagesHart, who was previously dealt with by the Lakers as part of the Anthony Davis trade in 2019 and by the Pelicans as part of the CJ McCollum deal last year, didn’t seem particularly concerned about his return. in Portland for the first time since becoming a Knick.
The Knicks missed their first seven shots, including four from Randle, and trailed 33-20 after one quarter.
Early treys from McBride and Obi Toppin (11 points) in the second cut the deficit to eight, and McBride also fended off a dunk attempt from Simons. Randle sank three late free throws for 13 points in the half as the Knicks climbed into the six, 55-49, by intermission.
Isaiah Hartenstein grabs one of his 10 rebounds in the Knicks’ win.NBAE via Getty ImagesA left-sided 3-pointer from Quentin Grimes and a driving dunk from Randle fired the Knicks still less than two minutes into the third. Randle’s traditional three-point play with 3:54 left in the period put the Knicks ahead for their first lead of the game.
Two more long-range buckets from McBride and another from Quickley helped the Knicks open a 91-81 advantage early in the final period before retiring in the fourth.
“I think that’s the mental strength of this team. Nobody was really freaking out at first,” Quickley said. “Portland is a great team. We just felt like we could come back. Sticking to the game plan, trying to make it difficult for Lillard or Simons.
“But really no one is panicking, I think that’s the main thing that helps us to be able to stay in the games.”
Not all news on the site expresses the point of view of the site, but we transmit this news automatically and translate it through programmatic technology on the site and not from a human editor.
Ulta 24-Hour Flash Sale: 50% Off Murad, Stila, Erborian, and More
A BB cream is great for those days when you don’t want to go bare-faced, but you want something with a little bit of coverage. This one comes in four versatile shades and it has SPF 20 sun protection. This buildable formula is hydrating, illuminating, pore-minimizing, and plumping.
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Melissa Gorga Accuses Luis Ruelas of “Manipulating” Teresa Giudice
Melissa Gorga isn’t buying Teresa Giudice‘s apology tour.
After Teresa buried the hatchet with frenemy Margaret Josephs on the season 13 premiere of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Melissa is now accusing her sister-in-law’s husband Luis “Louie” Ruelas of being behind her decision to make nice.
Melissa revealed as much on the March 14 episode of the Bravo series when co-star Rachel Fuda shared that Teresa had given her “warnings about being friends with Margaret.”
Rachel added, “Teresa actually specifically said it’s better to have Margaret as a friend than an enemy.”
The news prompted Melissa to call B.S.
“I know fake when I see it and Teresa running to Margaret at my roller skating party was the fakest s–t I’ve ever seen,” she ranted. “She hates f–king Margaret. She can’t stand f–king Margaret, she can’t stand me.”
In her confessional, Melissa blamed Louie for Teresa’s contradictory behavior.
“I see Louie for what he is and he’s charming, but he’s also very manipulating,” she alleged. “So, it’s so obvious that Louie told her, ‘Be good to Margaret, don’t f–k with Margaret.’ Because we’re going to need Margaret to stop telling all of the truth about us. That’s what we’re gonna need.'”
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