TikTok Executive Order signed Assuring American Public

Trump Signs Order Declaring TikTok Sale Meets US Requirements

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday declaring that his plan to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to U.S. and global investors will meet the requirements in a 2024 law that says the short video app will be banned unless its Chinese owners sell it.

Trump has delayed enforcement of the law until December 16 amid efforts to extract TikTok's U.S. assets from the global platform, line up American investors and win approval from the Chinese government.

The proposed divestiture resolves the national security concerns and complies with the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (Act) by removing TikTok in the United States from China’s control.

The divestiture puts the operation of the algorithm, code, and content moderation decisions under the control of the new joint venture.

The divestiture prohibits the storage of sensitive U.S. user data in a manner that would allow such data to be under the control of a foreign adversary. All U.S. user data will be stored in a trusted, secure, and purpose-built cloud environment in the United States run by Oracle.

The divestiture includes intense monitoring of software updates, the algorithm, and data flows, and it requires all recommendation models, including algorithms, that use U.S. user data to be retrained and monitored by America’s trusted security partners. This ensures U.S. content is free from improper manipulation.

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Tik Tok deal

TikTok Lives: US, China Reach Deal

Beijing has said the US spin-off of TikTok to be sold to American investors in a deal orchestrated by President Donald Trump will use parent company ByteDance’s Chinese algorithm.

Wang Jingtao, deputy head of China’s powerful cyber security regulator, on Monday said US and Chinese officials had agreed a framework that included “licensing the algorithm and other intellectual property rights”.

He said ByteDance would “entrust the operation of TikTok’s US user data and content security”, without elaborating.

TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm has been at the heart of a geopolitical tug of war over the short-video app since the first Trump administration, when Beijing unveiled export controls on algorithms to thwart a forced sale of the app.

The artificial intelligence algorithm underpins the app’s prized ability to serve up addictive videos tailored to individual users, but has also raised fears among national security hawks that it could be manipulated to push Chinese propaganda or polarising material to users.

US officials have insisted any deal must ensure TikTok’s recommendation algorithm is fully severed from ByteDance, warning continued co-operation could allow Beijing to maintain influence over the content seen by Americans.

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U.S. Steel's sale to Nippon Steel blocked

US Steel Boss: Biden's Block of Sale Shameful, Corrupt

David Burritt, the president and CEO of U.S. Steel, said Friday that President Joe Biden’s decision to block the company’s sale to a Japanese rival was “shameful” and “corrupt.”

Biden’s long-awaited decision on the deal came in a presidential order posted Friday on the White House website, declaring Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for the U.S. steelmaker “prohibited.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Biden was acting on a recommendation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States that the acquisition “would place one of America’s largest steel producers under foreign control and create a risk for our national security and our critical supply chains.”

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Read the Government's Statement

Biden made the correct decision on this one.  Trump's statement below--

"I will use tax incentives and tariffs to make U.S. Steel "Strong and Great Again, and it will happen FAST!"
Donald Trump

Bud Light sales down

The Bud Light Boycott Appears to Be Working

Dave Williams of Bump Williams Consulting told industry website Brewbound that packages of Bud Light showed accelerating declines in sales and shares for the week ending April 8, when the boycott started to pick up steam. He cited NIQ data for his assertion.

“That being said, while the increased declines for Bud Light were apparent, they were also not completely earth-shattering in terms of magnitude,” Williams wrote in a note, according to the publication. “Now, this will be interesting to monitor over upcoming weeks to see if this slide continues, but for now, it looks to be rough, but not catastrophic.”

Widespread calls to boycott Bud Light were triggered earlier this month after Mulvaney, a male who claims to be female, posted about getting commemorative cans of Bud Light with his likeness on the label. Mulvaney and Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, confirmed they were involved in a campaign.

Well, I won't be one of the people boycotting Bud Light...hate beer and I don't drink anything stronger than a ginger ale.

The Epoch Times

Home in College Park sells for $4.5M

Home sold for over $4M sets record as largest residential sale in Lake Worth Beach history

Chris Allen Realty announced the closing of the highest residential sale in the history of all sales in the city of Lake Worth Beach. The home, located at 2100 Notre Dame Drive, sold for $4,599,999 and is 4,592 square feet.

The home has five bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and waterfront views from almost every room.

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County Sales Tax Proposed increase - All Lake Worth incumbents want to raise your taxes

A recent Palm Beach Post headline read: "Survey: Many candidates oppose hike in sales tax." This survey is in a link on the right side of my blog.

Let's take a look at what our Lake Worth candidates had to say.

PAM TRIOLO:  FOR
GARY ANTIEAU: AGAINST. His argument? It has not been said what or where the money will go.
DIANE JACQUES: AGAINST. Her argument? I don’t favor a sales tax increase, because low income and middle class families shoulder the greatest sales tax burden. Decreasing property taxes by increasing sales tax favors upper income families who traditionally pay a higher rate of real estate taxes. First and foremost, taxes must be fair and sales tax increases invariably have the greatest impact on low income and middle class families.

ANDY AMOROSO:  FOR. His argument? Tax increase would help fund a much needed infrastructure.
FRANK McALONAN:  AGAINST. His argument?  I would need to learn more about the allocation of those proceeds between the municipalities. At this time I would not support a sales tax increase.

SCOTT MAXWELL: FOR. His argument: The proposed local sales increase speaks directly to funding infrastructure projects
RYAN HARTMAN:  FOR:  His argument?  I support a tax increase if the voters choose a tax increase. My job would be to do what the voters want.

The county has crafted wish lists with $712 million in projects. The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, has a $228 million wish list says the Sun Sentinel. Under state law, cities would be entitled to 40 percent of revenue generated through a sales tax increase.

So, all three incumbents (Maxwell, Triolo, Amoroso)

want to raise taxes...again!

Diane Jacques argument was excellent but all those who voted "no" want to know where the money would be allocated.  They want to know more details on this proposed sales tax that would be in effect for 10 years raising $2.6 billion county-wide.  If it went 100% towards infrastructure, this could be a good thing but there is no guarantee just like in the Lake Worth General Obligation Bond that was defeated by the voters. And even if governments tell you money is dedicated, things have a way of changing when you're dealing with politicians.

The City of Lake Worth is doing that right now with the Utility Bond of 2004 that was for a 13.2kv upgrade and now the city is pushing/considering a 26.4kv upgrade. My question is how do you get taxpayers to pay for a bond that was for a 13.2kv upgrade and now the city wants to change that to a non-standard voltage? We still owe over $50 million on the 2004 Utility System Revenue bonds that were refinanced twice as well as interest of over $12 million. This presentation was supposed to be on last night's agenda.

Things just don't seem to get better and continue to go backwards.

Offices in Lake Worth just sold for $6.9 million

The Chase Bank Professional Center on 10th Avenue North just sold for $6.9 million, a cool $1.1 million premium from its last sale in 2009.

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