News With References

Is TikTok different in China compared to the U.S.? A social media analyst compares it to opium and spinach Although they’re both owned by ByteDance, Douyin — China’s version of TikTok — offers a different version of the social media app that is unavailable to the rest of the world, especially for children. “It’s almost like they recognize that technology is influencing kids’ development, and they make their domestic version a spinach version of TikTok, while they ship the opium version to the rest of the world ...“There’s a survey of pre-teens in the U.S. and China asking, ‘what is the most aspirational career that you want to have?’ and in the U.S., the No. 1 was a social media influencer, and in China, the No. 1 was astronaut,” Harris said. “You allow those two societies to play out for a few generations and I can tell you what your world is going to look like.” ...“Whatever you search for on TikTok, that algorithm will be kept. The more you search for things that you like, the

California Celebrates Its New Public Toilet The town threw a party for the opening of a $1.7 million public restroom. San Francisco closed the lid Sunday on the saga of a $1.7 million public restroom. To commemorate the commode’s installation, residents celebrated at a “potty party” they called the Toilet Bowl . Lookie-loos lined up in the Noe Valley Town Square to give the loo a whirl. A band played songs including “ Sloop John B ” by the Beach Boys. Ref: * www.nytimes.com *Links added by the blogger for context and humor

U.S. GDP Growth Disappoints U.S. economic growth for the first quarter fell far short of forecasts. Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 1.6% in the first quarter, according to an initial estimate the Bureau of Economic Analysis released today. That was below the 2.2% growth that economists surveyed by FactSet had expected. The slowdown largely reflected a pullback of growth in consumer spending, as well as exports and outlays by the government. Ref: www.barrons.com

Patriots Owner to Columbia University: Say Goodbye to My Money Robert Kraft, who is paying attention to the antisemitic and pro-terrorist shenanigans happening at Columbia University, his alma mater. The students are taking over, with the campus reverting to an old Ivy League tradition: hating Jewish people. As the faculty have now joined the students, Mr. Kraft said that he’s no longer going to donate to the school. Ref: townhall.com

Biden may miss window to appear on Alabama’s presidential ballot CNN — Joe Biden may hit another bump on his way to getting on state presidential ballots, with Alabama’s top elections official asserting Tuesday that the president and vice president will miss the deadline to be certified as nominees in the state come November given the timing of the Democratic National Convention. Ref: www.cnn.com

"We won't support you": Inside Biden's ultimatum to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu President Biden laid out an ultimatum to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their call on Thursday: If Israel doesn't change course in Gaza, "we won't be able to support you," he said, according to three sources with knowledge of the call. Ref: www.axios.com

'Biden's Border Bloodbath' Former president says Biden's border security, immigration policies 'destroying our country' Ref: www.foxnews.com