French prime minister to isolate and be tested for coronavirus

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Trump pushes misleading claim China is interfering in election for Biden

Trump’s echoing of potential Chinese interference while labeling Russian influence a ‘partisan hoax’ is causing concern.

President Donald Trump retweeted a baseless claim that China is interfering to help ensure a victory for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. 

Trump tweeted, “Of course they want Biden. I have taken $Billions from China and given it to our Farmers and U.S. Treasury. China would own the U.S. if Biden & Hunter got in!”

President Donald Trump takes questions after delivering remarks during a news conference at the North Portico at the White House on Labor Day. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

The tweet was accompanied by the sharing of an article about a radio interview of author and columnist Gordon Chang posted on Breitbart, during which he insinuates that the Chinese Communist Party is “trying to make life very difficult” for Trump by “fueling” violent Black Lives Matter protests. 

“From what little evidence we have about China’s troll-farm activity, with its bots and with all of its others, they seem to be favoring Vice President Biden, trying to make life very difficult for President Trump — as well as fueling the protests, of course,” Chang said on Sunday’s broadcast of “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s WABC 770 AM. “I think that Beijing has decided that it’s voting for the Democratic Party candidate.”

Read More: Reporter refuses Trump’s request to remove mask at news conference

U.S. intelligence did assess last month that China and Iran both prefer that Trump loses in November, however, they have offered no evidence that either country is actively working behind the scenes to influence America’s election. 

In a public statement last month, Bill Evanina, the U.S.’ top intelligence official, wrote that while “China will continue to weigh the risks and benefits of aggressive action,” to date, the country is more focused on public efforts like criticizing the Trump administration. 

Read More: Michael Cohen says Trump once leered at his teenager daughter

The intelligence community maintains that Russia is still actively working to get Trump re-elected in efforts similar to 2016, which include the frequent use of social media bots and spreading misinformation, like describing Black Lives Matter protests as violent.  A report from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project released last week showed that nearly 93% of Black Lives Matter demonstrations decrying police shootings were peaceful. 

Trump’s amplification of potential Chinese interference while continuing to label Russian influence a “partisan hoax,” is causing concerns for Democratic leaders. Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, accused Attorney General William Barr of “lying” to the American public when he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that China is more actively meddling in the election than Russia. 

“Bill Barr is just flat-out lying to the American people,” Schiff said, “and it’s tragic, but it’s as simple as that.”

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How to Make Black Economics Matter

It has been over 150 years since slavery was legally abolished; 55 years since the Civil Rights Act was passed, yet our economic state has changed very little, if at all. Once we get past the façades of movements and causes, we must realize that we are and have always been in an economic war. Slavery was an economic war; the Civil Rights movement was an economic war; and today we’re in an economic war. Remember, we were allowed to ride at the front of the bus in Birmingham, Alabama, due to the economic effect of a Rosa Parks-inspired bus boycott—not a newfound sympathy for Black people.

While the Black community has many important causes to fight for, the state of the Black economy is the most important. All issues affecting our community, from healthcare to police brutality to voter suppression and beyond, revolve around economics. To help deal with these issues we must make our economy a priority. Here are four ways we can make Black economics matter:

1) Buy Black.

According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth, people of African descent spent over $1.4 trillion in 2019 in the United States. That’s more than the gross national product of Mexico. Yet, historically, we spend less than 5% of that money in our community. This must change if we are to build anything for our people. “To make Black economics matter we must strengthen our relationships in our own community and rebuild our trade zone and wherever possible practice the principle of buying Black,” says Phil Andrews, president of the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce.

2) Own Black.

Buying Black and why we should buy Black are only the beginning. Recycling dollars in our community increases with owning businesses in our community. According to Black Men In America, a dollar circulates for 30 days in the Asian community, 20 days in the Jewish community and 17 days in the White community but only six hours in the Black community. To change this we must not only buy from Black-owned businesses. We must own distribution points, manufacturing plants and supply chains. This is how strong communities are built.

3) Sell Yourself.

We’re so used to working for others that we don’t know how to promote ourselves. “If you won’t promote you why should anyone else? It’s been my experience that some of the most talented people of color I know are afraid to promote themselves. No one will recognize our value unless we show it to them,” says Daron K. Roberts, Founding Director, Center for Sports Leadership & Innovation, University of Texas-Austin. People buy you before they buy your product or service, especially when you’re just starting your business. Also, we must stop running our businesses as if we’re working for someone else. We must know our value for ourselves.

4) Save For The Next Generation.

We have to reinvent the wheel every generation because we don’t build for the next generation. As a result, we have a tough time building wealth which hinders our ability to pay it forward. “The real test of all the new Black economic consciousness advocates will be the ability to remain consistent and disciplined. We must find a way to maintain the commitment to invest, elevate, support and remain intentional about collectively building Black wealth both online and by brick-and-mortar,” says Daniella Bien-aime, lead online content developer for Bien-Aime Post.

Making Black economics matter can’t be a fad. It must be a mission. While money isn’t everything, it’s an important part of the structure of communities. We must collectively invest in our communities so we can build wealth and pay it forward. I respect those, like Earl Graves, who built and held onto their thriving businesses and passed them on to their children. We need more of them.

When you take the first letter of each point you spell BOSS. Whether it’s a full-time grind or a part-time hustle, we must take control of our economic future before someone else does. Yes, Black lives should matter. But if we’re going to truly rebuild our communities, we must make sure that Black economics matter.

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The ideas and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author’s and not necessarily the opinion of Black Enterprise. 

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2GJQYq9

How to Make Black Economics Matter

It has been over 150 years since slavery was legally abolished; 55 years since the Civil Rights Act was passed, yet our economic state has changed very little, if at all. Once we get past the façades of movements and causes, we must realize that we are and have always been in an economic war. Slavery was an economic war; the Civil Rights movement was an economic war; and today we’re in an economic war. Remember, we were allowed to ride at the front of the bus in Birmingham, Alabama, due to the economic effect of a Rosa Parks-inspired bus boycott—not a newfound sympathy for Black people.

While the Black community has many important causes to fight for, the state of the Black economy is the most important. All issues affecting our community, from healthcare to police brutality to voter suppression and beyond, revolve around economics. To help deal with these issues we must make our economy a priority. Here are four ways we can make Black economics matter:

1) Buy Black.

According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth, people of African descent spent over $1.4 trillion in 2019 in the United States. That’s more than the gross national product of Mexico. Yet, historically, we spend less than 5% of that money in our community. This must change if we are to build anything for our people. “To make Black economics matter we must strengthen our relationships in our own community and rebuild our trade zone and wherever possible practice the principle of buying Black,” says Phil Andrews, president of the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce.

2) Own Black.

Buying Black and why we should buy Black are only the beginning. Recycling dollars in our community increases with owning businesses in our community. According to Black Men In America, a dollar circulates for 30 days in the Asian community, 20 days in the Jewish community and 17 days in the White community but only six hours in the Black community. To change this we must not only buy from Black-owned businesses. We must own distribution points, manufacturing plants and supply chains. This is how strong communities are built.

3) Sell Yourself.

We’re so used to working for others that we don’t know how to promote ourselves. “If you won’t promote you why should anyone else? It’s been my experience that some of the most talented people of color I know are afraid to promote themselves. No one will recognize our value unless we show it to them,” says Daron K. Roberts, Founding Director, Center for Sports Leadership & Innovation, University of Texas-Austin. People buy you before they buy your product or service, especially when you’re just starting your business. Also, we must stop running our businesses as if we’re working for someone else. We must know our value for ourselves.

4) Save For The Next Generation.

We have to reinvent the wheel every generation because we don’t build for the next generation. As a result, we have a tough time building wealth which hinders our ability to pay it forward. “The real test of all the new Black economic consciousness advocates will be the ability to remain consistent and disciplined. We must find a way to maintain the commitment to invest, elevate, support and remain intentional about collectively building Black wealth both online and by brick-and-mortar,” says Daniella Bien-aime, lead online content developer for Bien-Aime Post.

Making Black economics matter can’t be a fad. It must be a mission. While money isn’t everything, it’s an important part of the structure of communities. We must collectively invest in our communities so we can build wealth and pay it forward. I respect those, like Earl Graves, who built and held onto their thriving businesses and passed them on to their children. We need more of them.

When you take the first letter of each point you spell BOSS. Whether it’s a full-time grind or a part-time hustle, we must take control of our economic future before someone else does. Yes, Black lives should matter. But if we’re going to truly rebuild our communities, we must make sure that Black economics matter.

---

The ideas and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author’s and not necessarily the opinion of Black Enterprise. 

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2GJQYq9

This week in TikTok: Everybody wants to be “Heather”

Plus, nobody should have to do PE over Zoom.

Hello from The Goods’ twice-weekly newsletter! On Tuesdays, internet culture reporter Rebecca Jennings uses this space to update you all on what’s been going on in the world of TikTok. Is there something you want to see more of? Less of? Different of? Email rebecca.jennings@vox.com, and subscribe to The Goods’ newsletter here.

Someday, when historians write about the year 2020, there will be an entire chapter devoted to the TikToks students are making while at Zoom School. I think it was a video of dozens of kids doing jumping jacks over the internet for PE class that finally caused me to lose it (the account that posted it seems slightly dubious so I can’t confirm whether it’s from a real school, but the image will remain lodged in my brain forever).

@samboyy01

PE

♬ pour me up - sxmply.niya

But that’s just one of the many videos on TikTok over the past two weeks depicting the unbearable awkwardness of remote learning. There’s one depicting the bored silence of a breakout room with your fellow classmates, one about how teachers basically always know when you’re messing around, and one where a kid is fake-kidnapped in his dorm room. Each one shows how strange and uncanny the phenomenon of internet school is, and how much all of our efforts to make it better have failed.

Beyond making me grateful I’m no longer in school, these videos are fascinating. Nobody knows what the effect of a year or more of social distancing will be on young people — students in 2020 are literally guinea pigs in an experiment none of them signed up for — or how many kids will end up sick or worse due to the financially driven insistence on forcing them to live on campus. What we do know is that Zoom School has bred a new type of gallows humor, and it’ll likely only get bleaker.

TikTok in the news

• Talks of a TikTok sale have slowed due to a new Chinese law limiting technology exports. Nobody has any idea what’s happening!
• People who have signed up for TikTok’s Creator Fund claim it’s causing a major drop in view counts. The fund, which TikTok announced this summer, requires applicants to be 18 or older and have at least 10,000 followers, but many applicants are now saying they’ve been “shadowbanned” and are accusing the company of intentionally hiding videos so as not to have to pay per view — one popular audio about the app said that TikTok pays $1 per every 30,000 views. The audio continues: “Guys, the only people profiting from this are already profiting from TikTok from sponsorships and partnerships.”
• Charli D’Amelio is writing a book on how to navigate social media as a teenager and how to “stay positive in the face of cyberbullying.”
• Here’s a very wholesome story about Dungeons & Dragons TikTok.

Meme watch

There is, as is often the case on the internet, yet another new word to describe a specific kind of beautiful woman. That word is “Heather,” as in, “you’re Heather,” or “she’s such a Heather.” The name comes from the Conan Gray song “Heather,” in which Gray croons about an unrequited love for someone who is in love with someone else, named Heather (“But you like her better/I wish I were Heather”). The song is extremely sad, obviously, with Gray both yearning to be Heather but also sort of hating her, a very relatable feeling for anyone who has been to high school.

When the song blew up on TikTok earlier this year, so too did the shorthand of what a “Heather” is; many girls started making videos of the Heather in their lives and lamenting what they don’t have, often starring happy-looking girls lying in a field of sunflowers on Instagram. Others have made videos like “my mom was the original Heather” with family photographs from the ’70s and ’80s. Sometimes, the Heather is their past self.

@uh.tonatzin

listen I get but u don’t have to remind me everyday #fyp #foryoupage #foryou #heather #sisters if ur a boy don’t follow my sister

♬ youre cute - .roxqna

Over the past few weeks, “Heather” has become less about the inherent sadness of the meme and more of a TikTok trope, like VSCO girls or e-boys. And while many of these types of labels have historically been used to categorize thin, attractive white people, “Heather” is now a favorite term for any woman; comments sections on videos of body-positive TikTokers and users who don’t fit the stereotypical “happy-go-lucky Brandy Melville model” are full of encouragements that they are, in fact, Heathers.

It’s all very cute and melancholy, just like the song itself, and just like this summer in general. But mainly, I personally love that a name that peaked in 1975 is suddenly shorthand for a hot girl in 2020.

One Last Thing

Presenting: the Kidz Bop version of “WAP.” Spoiler: It’s short for “waffles and pancakes.”

@stephanietilneac

make this blow up so kidz bop will hire me #wap #fyp #foryoupage #xyzbca #kidzbop cardi b #megantheestallion

♬ Waffles and pancakes - stephanietilneac

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