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Warren Buffett gives away another $1.1B and plans for distributing his $147B fortune after his deathWASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers, meet your latest lobbyists: online influencers from TikTok. The platform is once again bringing influencers to Washington, this time to lobby members of Congress to reject a fast-moving bill that would force TikTok's Beijing-based parent company to sell or be banned in the United States. On Tuesday, some influencers began a two-day advocacy event in support of TikTok, which arranged their trip ahead of a House floor vote on the legislation on Wednesday. But unlike a similar lobbying event the company put together last March when talks of a TikTok ban reached a fever pitch, this year’s effort appeared more rushed as the company scrambles to counter the legislation, which advanced rapidly on Capitol Hill. Summer Lucille, a TikTok content creator with 1.4 million followers who is visiting Washington this week, said if TikTok is banned, she “don’t know what it will do” to her business, a plus-sized boutique in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It will be devastating,” Lucille said in an interview arranged by the platform. In an unusual showing of bipartisanship, a House panel unanimously approved the measure last week. President Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation if lawmakers pass it. But it’s unclear what will happen in the Senate, where several bills aimed at banning TikTok have stalled. The legislation faces other roadblocks. Former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump, who holds sway over both House and Senate Republicans, has voiced opposition to the bill, saying it would empower Meta-owned Facebook, which he continues to lambast over his 2020 election loss. The bill also faces pushback from some progressive lawmakers in the House as well as civil liberties groups who argue it infringes on the First Amendment. TikTok could be banned if ByteDance, the parent company, doesn’t sell its stakes in the platform and other applications it owns within six months of the bill’s enactment. The fight over the platform takes place as U.S.-China relations have shifted to that of strategic rivalry, especially in areas such as advanced technologies and data security, seen as essential to each country’s economic prowess and national security. The shift, which started during the Trump years and has continued under Biden, has placed restrictions on export of advanced technologies and outflow of U.S. monies to China, as well as access to the U.S. market by certain Chinese businesses. The Biden administration also has cited human rights concerns in blacklisting a number of Chinese companies accused of assisting the state surveillance campaign against ethnic minorities. TikTok isn’t short on lobbyists. Its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance has a strong lobbying apparatus in Washington that includes dozens of lobbyists from well-known consulting and legal firms as well as influential insiders, such as former members of Congress and ex-aides to powerful lawmakers, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will also be in Washington this week and plans to meet with lawmakers, according to a company spokesperson who said Chew’s visit was previously scheduled. But influencers, who have big followings on social media and can share personal stories of how the platform boosted their businesses — or simply gave them a voice — are still perhaps one of the most powerful tools the company has in its arsenal. A TikTok spokesperson said dozens of influencers will attend the two-day event, including some who came last year. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about how many new people would be attending this year’s lobbying blitz. The company is briefing them ahead of meetings with their representatives and media interviews. Lucille, who runs the boutique in North Carolina, says has seen a substantial surge in revenue because of her TikTok page. The 34-year-old began making TikTok content focusing on plus-sized fashion in March 2022, more than a decade after she started her business. She quickly amassed thousands of followers after posting a nine-second video about her boutique. Because of her popularity on the platform, her business has more online exposure and customers, some of whom have visited from as far as Europe. She says she also routinely hears from followers who are finding support through her content about fashion and confidence. JT Laybourne, an influencer who also came to Washington, said he joined TikTok in early 2019 after getting some negative comments on videos he posted on Instagram while singing in the car with his children. Laybourne, who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, said he was attracted to the short-form video platform because it was easy to create videos that contained music. Like Lucille, he quickly gained traction on the app. He says he also received more support from TikTok users, who reacted positively to content he produced on love and positivity. Laybourne says the community he built on the platform rallied around his family when he had to undergo heart surgery in 2020. Following the surgery, he said he used the platform to help raise $1 million for the American Heart Association in less than two years. His family now run an apparel company that gets most of its traffic from TikTok. “I will fight tooth-and-nail for this app,” he said. But whether the opposition the company is mounting through lobbyists or influencers will be enough to derail the bill is yet to be seen. On Tuesday, House lawmakers received a briefing on national security concerns regarding TikTok from the FBI, Justice Department and intelligence officials. AP Journalist Didi Tang contributed to this report. This story was originally published on March 12, 2024. It was updated on December 23, 2024 to clarify a quote by TikTok content creator Summer Lucille.
Witnesses told police that James McIntyre, 33, of Chicago, shook Mace's hand in an “exaggerated, aggressive” manner after approaching the South Carolina Republican in the Rayburn House Office Building on Tuesday evening, according to a police affidavit. Mace, who is identified only by her initials in a court filing, posted a string of social media messages about the incident. She said she was “physically accosted” at the Capitol, and she thanked President-elect Donald Trump for calling her Wednesday morning to check on her condition. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts “I’m going to be fine just as soon as the pain and soreness subside,” Mace wrote. Mace declined to be treated by a paramedic after her encounter with McIntyre, who was arrested Tuesday by the Capitol Police, the affidavit says. Mace told police that McIntyre said, “Trans youth serve advocacy,” while shaking her hand. Last month, Mace proposed a resolution that would prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” Mace said the bill is aimed specifically at Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride — the first transgender person to be elected to Congress. A magistrate judge ordered McIntyre’s release after an arraignment in Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Efforts to reach an attorney for McIntyre weren't immediately successful.
ORLANDO, Fla. — It was a season of Iowa State comebacks. And fittingly, that's how it ended for the Cyclones. Game MVP Rocco Becht scored from a yard out on fourth-and-goal with 56 seconds remaining and No. 18 Iowa State capped the best season in school history by rallying past No. 15 Miami 42-41 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday. Becht finished with 270 passing yards and three touchdowns for Iowa State (11-2), a program that entered this season — the 133rd year of Cyclone football — never having won more than nine games in a year. “If you look at this team, it’s really who they’ve been all year,” coach Matt Campbell said. The win marked the fourth time in 2024 that Iowa State got a winning score with less than two minutes remaining. For this one, the Cyclones rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half — with Miami quarterback Cam Ward watching after a record-setting first half — to get win No. 11. Carson Hansen rushed for a pair of touchdowns for Iowa State. And as the MVP, Becht got the honor of choosing which flavor Pop-Tart was to be sacrificed in a giant toaster. “There's only one,” Becht said. “Cinnamon roll.” Ward passed for three touchdowns in his final college game, while Damien Martinez rushed for a career-high 179 yards for Miami (10-3), which dropped its sixth straight bowl game and lost three of four games to end the season — those three losses by a combined 10 points. "Disappointed that we couldn't pull out a victory," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “These guys have always fought and always competed and this was no exception. ... It's painful. It's as painful as it gets when you don't win. But there's a lot to build on.” NEBRASKA 20, BOSTON COLLEGE 15: Dylan Raiola passed for 228 yards and a touchdown as Nebraska built an 18-point lead through three quarters and hung on for its first bowl victory since 2015. Raiola hit Emmett Johnson with a 13-yard TD pass on fourth down with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter for a 20-2 edge and the Cornhuskers (7-6) held on for the win at Yankee Stadium. Raiola completed 23 of 31 passes in front of a sizable Nebraska crowd that celebrated the team's first bowl win since topping UCLA in the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl and first winning season since 2016. Raiola completed passes to 10 receivers, including Jahmal Banks, who finished with four receptions for 79 yards. Grayson James finished 25 of 40 for 296 yards as Boston College (7-6). ARIZONA BOWL MIAMI (OHIO) 43, COLORADO STATE 17: Kevin Davis had a career-high 148 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just nine carries, and Jordan Brunson also ran for two TDs to help Miami (Ohio) wrapped the season at 9-5 by beating Colorado State (8-5) in Tucson, Ariz. Davis scored on a 4-yard run with 12:35 left in the third quarter, Matt Salopek forced a fumble that was recovered by Silas Walters and quarterback Brett Gabbert's first rushing touchdown of the season — a 10-yard scramble that capped a 47-yard drive — made it 22-3 about 2 minutes later. UCONN 27, NORTH CAROLINA 14: Joe Fagnano threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns to help the Huskies (9-4) beat the Tar Heels (6-7) at Fenway Park, embarrassing incoming coach Bill Belichick's new team in his old backyard. Mel Brown rushed for 96 yards for UConn and Skyler Bell caught three passes for 77 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown that gave the Huskies a 10-0 first-quarter lead. Chris Culliver returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, but that would be Carolina's only production in the first half. TCU 34, LOUISIANA 3: Josh Hoover passed for four touchdowns as the Horned Frogs (9-4) routed the Ragin' Cajuns (10-4) in Albuquerque. Hoover was 20 for 32 for 252 yards with an interception. Eric McAlister had eight catches for 87 yards and a TD for the Horned Frogs. TCU's defense also had a solid day, holding Louisiana-Lafayette to 209 yards, including 61 on the game's final possession. LATE FRIDAY LAS VEGAS BOWL USC 35, TEXAS A&M 31: Jayden Maiava threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Ford with eight seconds left to give Southern California the victory over Texas A&M (8-5) in the Las Vegas Bowl. A graduate of Liberty High School in nearby Henderson and a transfer from UNLV, Maiava helped the Trojans (7-6) overcome a 17-point deficit. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!
When T.M. Krishna received a standing ovation from an overflowing audience at the Music Academy on a bright Christmas morning this year, it marked a momentous point in his musical journey and, indeed, in the history of Carnatic music and the cultural history of South India. Here was a venerable institution, established nearly a century ago to uphold values in Carnatic music, announcing its coveted award to the “enfant terrible” of that world with the cream of the Carnatic audience cheering and congratulating him at his concert leading up to the conferment of the award. Krishna has antagonised many in the Carnatic community by calling it out on its hypocrisies and its exclusive and elitist practices. Over the past few months, there have been embarrassingly shrill protests from a section of the community over the Music Academy’s Sangita Kalanidhi award being conferred on him and by the calls for a boycott of the Academy. But, the large turnout on that day showed that Krishna does not seem to have lost the support of a large section of the community for the sheer brilliance of his music and also showed, possibly, the capacity of this highly intelligent community to acknowledge the truth behind his often abrasive statements. It was not a crowd of liberal, left-wing ideologues but the usual, typical crowd of Carnatic rasikas of the December music season with a generous sprinkling of NRIs. A lady sitting a couple of seats away was the nightmare of every concertgoer. She excitedly identified the ragas for the benefit of everyone around; she sang along and impatiently completed phrases for Krishna whenever he sustained a swara in a kaarvai . It is all about the music If Krishna’s political statements lack nuance and restraint, his music is a stark contrast. “He is completely immersed in his music. It is bhakti, surrender, without a god necessarily in the picture,” observed a friend who teaches at IIT Madras. Also Read | The Carnatic wars As befitted the momentous occasion, Krishna made two remarks about his journey. He had sung on that very same stage 30 years ago with the same accompanists—R.K. Shriram Kumar and Arun Prakash. Amidst all the controversy and anger about Krishna, these two men, especially RKS since he is “orthodox” and not expected to brook Krishna’s “ anti-Brahminical stance ”, have faced the ire for continuing to play with Krishna. In the second historical reference and homage, Krishna sang “ Pankaja Lochana ”, the Swathi Tirunal composition in ragam Kalyani, a song one associates with Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Krishna’s guru. Without naming him, he remarked, “We have heard him sing this at this very venue— avar paadi kettirukkom .” Krishna has evolved as a musician like few others have, challenging the norms and expectations of a Carnatic concert. In an early departure from the norm, Krishna did away with “the list”. The list is just that—a list of songs that are to be included in a concert in a certain order. It is meant to give structure to the concert as a whole and help the audience to relate and anticipate better. And it incorporates “variety”—a range of composers, of talas and ragas. Musicians take great pains to craft a perfect list for every concert. Variety is a strange obsession with the Carnatic audience, and more curious is their taking pride in “the variety” that Carnatic concerts incorporate. Unable to reconcile expectations of offering variety with his artistic quest, Krishna abandoned the list. A fresh take The going was not easy since the list is beloved, but today we go to a Krishna concert without any expectations of what he will include in it and how he might present it. The exquisite “ Javali Jaanaro ” in Khamas was positioned early on in the concert preceded by a Ragamalika alapana ; he sang similar ragas like Mukhari and Manjhi, which does not serve the purpose of variety; he sang a Todi alapana and then switched to Kalyani —nothing surprises us anymore. He has managed to draw the Carnatic audience’s attention towards the quest for the raga rather than exhibitionism of any sort—of repertoire, of vocal prowess, or virtuosic skills. Thoughts, reminiscences, and musings swirled amidst the exhilaration of listening to a gripping concert. What is a raga? Wherein lies its identity? As president of the Academy’s conference this year, Krishna has had a strong role in curating it around the theme of raga, and the historical, technical, aesthetic, and philosophical issues around it were very much in the air. Somewhat adventurously, he sang the raga Poorna Shadjam after a sublime Mukhari. The list would not have permitted such a juxtaposition since the two ragas draw from the same basket of swaras. He entered Poorna Shadjam with tara sthayi avarohi phrases using the swaras Ga Ri, swaras that are common to both ragas. Here were questions of raga aesthetics and identity that are central to this music. Tonal material is inevitably shared between multiple ragas since we only have a very limited number of swaras. Phrases, too, are shared as in this case; Ga Ri Ri is common to both ragas. Should they always be rendered in such a manner—the accent, the srutis, the gamakas —that there is no mistaking which ragam is being sung? In this case, dare I say that Mukhari’s Ga Ri Ri is generally launched from a starting point of an elongated Ri? So that it is always Ri...Ga Ri Ri? And the final Ri is launched from the Sa, while in Poorna Shadjam the final Ri is rendered as a janta prayogam ? Once the raga is established, can one take liberties with this? Unless one does so, expansive alapanas are probably difficult. Or are they? What is the value of an expansive, long alapana ? The audience at the vocal concert of Sangita Kalanidhi T.M. Krishna at the Music Academy on December 25, 2024. | Photo Credit: SRINATH M And why is it important to identify the raga? Why was the lady sitting next to me so invested in figuring out the raga and announcing it excitedly? Consumption of Carnatic music and how listeners engage with it at multiple levels is another large question that teased the mind. As musicologist Dard Neuman has pointed out, listening to this music for some is like reading: an important dimension of listening for one kind of listener of Carnatic music is that we translate into swaras that we hear, and when there is a mismatch anywhere, the experience is thwarted. What implication does this have for this “oral/aural” tradition? Krishna rendered Dikshitar’s “ Jambupathe ”, a wondrous creation, in the majestic version of Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini, with a sensitive accompaniment by RKS that moved me to tears. I was reminded of the description of the rasika gayaka, a type of singer in Sarangadeva’s Sangita Ratnakara and Sangita Samaya Sara , the 12th century treatise by the Jain scholar Deva. Rasika gayaka is he who is himself suffused with rasa and moves the listeners to tears, the treatise says, and lists several other kinds of singers. Where did all this vocabulary go? Why do not we have something similar or even dissimilar to talk about Carnatic music? Paying tribute As an artist, Krishna not only pushes the boundaries to render compositions of Perumal Murugan and Narayana Guru, but also reclaims legacies such as the courtesan repertoire and the recensions of compositions in the landmark treatise Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini . This latter task, which RKS too is engaged in, throws into sharp focus the downside of the oral tradition, which is not always successful in the preservation of compositions. These reconstructed compositions glow with austerity and simplicity, which have been lost, no doubt, to the demands of exhibitionism at concerts. “ Varugalaamo iyaa ”—May I come in to have just a glimpse of you? Krishna sang this song almost as if he were singing it to himself. Held together by a quiet rhythm of melancholy and not the tight one of the Misra Chapu, it flowed gently, with Arun Prakash anticipating every phrase with masterly command. It was quite remarkable that the team rendered the composition without the structure of a tala. Why does tala dominate Carnatic concerts so much—that is another big question. Also Read | Can Carnatic music concerts stand alone without the violin? The Carnatic community redeemed itself that December morning by its show of support for Krishna. But it is sobering that those who came to listen to him and support him exultantly were predominantly from the same community he has repeatedly ruffled with “complicated questions and conversations”. It is an interesting community, to say the least. And it is also interesting that Krishna’s efforts are yet to yield newer audiences. A more open stage When Krishna accepted the award, many of his admirers struggled to make sense of his return to the fold. About a decade ago, Krishna had announced his withdrawal from the December season in Chennai for having become excessively commodified and exclusivist. The Sangita Kalanidhi is the highlight of the season and when Krishna accepted it this year, there was a clear contradiction in his stance, to say the very least. Has he been drawn back into the fold, thus nullifying his politics? I would disagree. Not only can we expect Krishna to continue with his work towards greater inclusivity, but the conference at the Academy this year had a distinctly unusual complexion. It included, for instance, a “lecdem” (a portmanteau of lecture and demonstration) on oppari (grief performance) on the hallowed stage of the Music Academy, which would have been deeply repugnant to Brahmanical sensibility. In levelling the field and discussing the music of oppari, gana , and koothu along with ragas as handled by Thyagaraja and Dikshitar, Krishna appears to have stood his ground. Lakshmi Sreeram is a musician and faculty at Ahmedabad University. CONTRIBUTE YOUR COMMENTS SHARE THIS STORY Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp RedditeBron James, , owes much of his success to the unwavering support of his wife, . A four-time NBA champion, 20-time All-Star, and the league's with over 41,000 points, wouldn't be the same without the foundation of stability that Savannah provides. 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