Apple has allegedly told its suppliers based in Taiwan Friday to follow Chinese customs relations and label products &#8220;Taiwan, China&#8221; or &#8220;Chinese Taipei,&#8221; following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s recent visit to the nation&#8217;s capital city, Taipei.
Nikkei Asia <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/Apple-warns-suppliers-to-follow-China-rules-on-Taiwan-labeling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> the U.S. tech giant urged suppliers to take the matter seriously to circumvent any possible disruptions in shipments of the company&#8217;s products or components. 
Apple&#8217;s announcement <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-06-26/apple-aapl-plans-iphone-14-apple-watch-series-8-m2-macs-for-2022-and-2023-l4vd5unx">comes</a> before the company releases a slew of new devices between this fall and the beginning of next year, including four iPhone 14 devices, iPads, and Apple Watches, among other products due for an update. 
Chinese customs agents have reportedly been ordered to check for any import declaration forms, documents, or cartons that utter the phrase &#8220;Made in Taiwan.&#8221; If caught violating such rules, suppliers could face penalties up to 4,000 yuan ($592), or have the shipment rejected altogether. 
The custom laws have also put suppliers who need to ship materials and other parts from Taiwan to China in a problem as the island requires all exports to carry the words &#8220;Taiwan&#8221; or &#8220;Republic of China.&#8221; 
Before Apple issued the warning, iPhone assembler Pegatron had its facilities in China undergo a review on Thursday, where officials checked imports if the manufacturing origins were mislabeled. 
Nikkei Asia reports the change in shipments came a day after a senior Pegatron executive and other Taiwanese chip industry leaders met with Pelosi in Taipei at a lunch hosted by President Tsai Ing-wen.
Suppliers were reportedly told to review and change their labels on cartons and forms for shipments from Taiwan to China. 
Apple did not respond with comment when asked by Nikkei Asia.
Insider Paper <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://insiderpaper.com/apple-asks-taiwan-suppliers-to-label-products-made-in-china-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that GreatFire, an organization that works against Chinese online censorship, said the move comes after Apple removed the Taiwan flag from its emoji keyboards for users in Hong Kong and China. 
&#8220;Is it a question of time before Apple starts removing apps whose name contains the characters [for] Taiwan without specifying &#8216;province of China?&#8221; GreatFire asked.
&#8220;Unfortunately, we suspect that Apple&#8217;s &#8216;red-line,&#8217; the moment where it will say: &#8216;Stop, no longer, we cannot continue to collaborate with the Chinese regime and enforce its requests for censorship,&#8217; is nowhere close,&#8221; Benjamin Ismail from GreatFire told Register.
Beijing officials have long-considered Taiwan part of its territory and opposed Pelosi&#8217;s diplomatic visits to the island. Following Pelosi&#8217;s trip, Taiwan faced a series of military drills and fighter jet flyovers from Chinese authorities.
China&#8217;s Foreign Ministry blasted Pelosi&#8217;s &#8220;vicious and provocative actions&#8221; in visiting the island, saying it &#8220;constitutes a gross interference in China&#8217;s internal affairs.&#8221;
&#8220;It gravely undermines China&#8217;s sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously tramples on the one-China principle, and severely threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,&#8221; a statement from China&#8217;s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
The Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly warned against the visit, and during a phone call last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Biden that the United States must not &#8220;play with fire.&#8221;
Greg Wilson contributed to this report.

American multinational technology company Apple logo and

Taiwan Suppliers Asked To Use Made in China Label On Apple Products: Report

Taiwan Suppliers Asked To Use Made in China Label On Apple Products

Apple

China

Chinese Communist Party

Nancy Pelosi

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A top U.S. Federal Communications Commission (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fcc">FCC</a>) official called on <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/apple">Apple</a> and <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/google">Google</a> to remove <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tiktok">TikTok</a> from their app stores.
Earlier this month, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access">BuzzFeed News</a> obtained audio showing that <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/china">Chinese</a> employees of ByteDance, the Beijing-based company behind TikTok, have “repeatedly accessed nonpublic data” from American users. Referring to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leaked-internal-audio-from-tiktok-shows-u-s-user-data-accessed-from-china-despite-denials-report">report</a>, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr called on Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook to nix the app from its platforms.
“It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data harvesting being combined with Beijing’s apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data,” Carr <a href="https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1541823585957707776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1541823585957707776%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2022%2F06%2F29%2Ffcc-commissioner-tells-apple-google-to-remove-tiktok-from-app-stores.html">wrote</a> to the executives. “But it is also clear that TikTok’s pattern of conduct … puts it out of compliance with the policies that both of your companies require every app to adhere to as a condition of remaining available on your app stores.”
TikTok <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-was-most-visited-site-in-2021">surpassed</a> Google as the most visited website in 2021. Likewise, TikTok beat Snapchat and Instagram as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-surges-past-instagram-and-snapchat-as-top-app-for-gen-z">most popular</a> social media platform among young Americans.
“TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface,” Carr added. “It is not just an app for sharing funny videos or memes. That’s the sheep&#8217;s clothing. At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data.”
Former President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-says-he-will-take-action-to-ban-chinese-owned-app-tiktok-from-u-s">considered banning TikTok</a> in 2020, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Americans should download the app “only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.” Carr — a Trump appointee — affirmed that Tiktok “collects everything from search and browsing histories to keystone patterns and biometric identifiers, including faceprints.”
“The list of personal and sensitive data it collects goes on from there,” Carr continued. “This should come as no surprise, however. Within its own borders, the PRC has developed some of the most invasive and omnipresent surveillance capabilities in the world to maintain authoritarian control.”
Indeed, the Chinese government uses video surveillance, tracks messaging accounts, and leverages other forms of personal data to promote the goal of “police informatization,” according to the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/how-china-harnesses-data-fusion-to-make-sense-of-surveillance-data/">Brookings Institution</a>. Among other capabilities, officials are able to combine facial recognition data from video systems with geographic information, then send the data to “societal resource integration platforms” in places like Xinjiang, where the Chinese government is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-on-banning-goods-from-xinjiang-slave-labor-and-genocide">detaining</a> members of the Uyghur ethnic group.
An <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/09/executive-order-on-protecting-americans-sensitive-data-from-foreign-adversaries/">executive order</a> from President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-kills-trump-ban-on-tiktok-and-other-chinese-apps-accused-of-spying-instead-asks-for-further-investigation">shelved the Trump ban</a>, which had been blocked in September 2020 by a federal judge.
Biden’s order directed the federal government to “evaluate these threats through rigorous, evidence-based analysis and should address any unacceptable or undue risks consistent with overall national security, foreign policy, and economic objectives, including the preservation and demonstration of America’s core values and fundamental freedoms.”
“By operating on United States information and communications technology devices, including personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including United States persons’ personal information and proprietary business information,” the order said. “Foreign adversary access to large repositories of United States persons’ data also presents a significant risk.”

In this photo illustration the TikTok logo seen displayed on

Federal Official Calls On Google And Apple To Purge TikTok From App Stores

FCC Head Wants Apple And Google To Ban TikTok

Google

TikTok

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A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/maryland">Maryland</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/apple">Apple</a> store became the trillion-dollar tech company’s first outlet to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/labor-unions">unionize</a>, in a blow to the woke company, which sees itself as progressive, but fought tooth and nail to keep employees from organizing.
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Workers at the Towson store, just outside of Baltimore, voted 65-33 in favor of joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Experts believe the move could encourage more Apple workers to join Big labor.
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“We did it Towson! We won our union vote! Thanks to all who worked so hard and all who supported!” Towson organizers <a href="https://twitter.com/acoreunion/status/1538319569214906368" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Workers at the Towson Apple store react to union election results. They are the first in the nation to unionize ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/acoreunion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@acoreunion</a>⁩ <a href="https://t.co/BUo7ptJXG7">pic.twitter.com/BUo7ptJXG7</a>
&mdash; Alison Knezevich☀️ (@aliknez) <a href="https://twitter.com/aliknez/status/1538320803783225350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The vote still must be certified by the National Labor Relations. Once that happens, Apple will be obliged to bargain with the union over working conditions, including wages.
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The effort to organize workers at the store prompted fierce opposition from the Cupertino, California, company. Apple’s head of retail and HR, Deirdre O’Brien, visited the location in May, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/18/apple-workers-in-maryland-vote-for-companys-first-unionized-store-in-us-.html?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=news_tab">CNBC.com</a>. She sought in a recorded message to discourage employees from joining unions, saying unions are not committed to the company’s employees.
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Workers said they want want higher wages and more say over working conditions, including COVID safety measures.
&#8220;We are the Specialists, the Experts, the Geniuses, the Pros, the Creatives, and the Leads,&#8221; Towson organizers <a href="https://www.goiam.org/dear-tim/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in a letter</a> sent last month to Apple CEO Tim Cook. &#8220;We strive to leave the world better than we found it and transform the lives of everyone we interact with, both our customers and team members. To help dreamers become doers.”
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“To be clear, the decision to form a union is about us as workers gaining access to rights that we do not currently have,” the letter concluded.
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The Towson store could be the canary in the coal mine for Apple. Two big New York stores have taken steps to unionize. An Atlanta store was scheduled to vote on joining Communication Workers of America earlier this month, but the union postponed the vote after claiming Apple <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/27/apple-union-push-faces-setback-as-atlanta-organizers-withdraw-bid-.html">intimidated its employees</a>. Stores in Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee, are also in the process of organizing, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/apple/apple-store-union-vote-workers-demand-fair-pay-rcna34256" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to NBC News</a>.
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Other major U.S. companies that claim to be progressive and espouse woke politics as part of their marketing strategy, including Amazon and Starbucks, are also trying to fend off unionization efforts.
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Tim Cook

Workers At Maryland Apple Store Vote To Unionize In Blow To Woke Tech Giant

Workers At Maryland Apple Store Vote To Unionize In First For Tech Giant

Big Tech

Labor Unions

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Apple is moving some of its iPad production out of China “for the first time ever” and relocating capacity to Vietnam, according to a Wednesday report from <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/Apple-to-shift-iPad-capacity-to-Vietnam-amid-China-supply-chain-woes">Nikkei Asia</a>.
The move to Vietnam is in part a reaction to Chinese authorities’ <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/shanghai-workers-cheer-as-covid-lockdown-ends-no-more-bunking-at-the-office-11654167420">aggressive lockdown of Shanghai</a>, which lasted for two months and caused severe disruptions to supply chains. “The iPad will become the second major line of Apple products made in the Southeast Asian country, following the AirPods earbud series,” <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/Apple-to-shift-iPad-capacity-to-Vietnam-amid-China-supply-chain-woes">Nikkei Asia</a> said.
Hudson Institute senior fellow Thomas Duesterberg told The Daily Wire that “we discovered the hard way over the past two or three years that interruptions to the supply chain” can be devastating to the global economy. He predicted that China’s most recent bout of lockdowns will accelerate the “movement outside of China.”
Indeed, COVID-19 and aggressive lockdown policies may be worsening the slowdown of China’s economy, which averaged nearly 10% growth per year since free market reforms in 1978 until recently, according to data from the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview#1">World Bank</a>. Beyond the virus, factors such as low labor force growth, slowing productivity, and lackluster returns to investment are dampening the Chinese economy. Growth is forecast to fall to 5% in 2022.
Meanwhile, Vietnam is becoming more important for the supply chains of Apple and other Western firms. Between 2010 and 2020, the Vietnamese manufacturing sector expanded 170% — from $16.7 billion to $45.1 billion, according to the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.IND.MANF.KD?locations=VN">World Bank</a>. A report from <a href="https://www.bcg.com/publications/2021/asean-manufacturing">Boston Consulting Group</a> shows that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — which includes other rising industrial powers such as Indonesia and Malaysia — averaged 5% annual growth for manufacturing exports between 2015 and 2019, surpassing the global average of 3%.
Apple also asked suppliers to increase inventory for components in several product lines — including the iPhone, iPad, AirPod, and MacBook — as the company continues to wrestle with logistics hurdles. “Ideally, the company hopes these suppliers can prepare enough additional components to fully offset the amount made by those in Shanghai and nearby provinces such as Jiangsu, where the risk of supply chain disruption is higher,” sources told Nikkei Asia.
Despite the end of Shanghai’s lockdown, the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/06/china/china-xi-pbsc-zero-covid-intl-hnk/index.html">announced</a> intentions last month to “unswervingly adhere to the general policy of ‘dynamic zero-COVID,’ and resolutely fight against any words and acts that distort, doubt or deny our country’s epidemic prevention policies.”
According to Duesterberg, Chinese President Xi Jinping is committed to zero-COVID “no matter what the cost is” — including lost business from Western firms. “As long as he is in power and he’s trying to perfect this policy, I don’t think he will back away simply because foreign companies might think about relocating,” Duesterberg said.
However, the editorial board of the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f71be63a-54fc-447a-9033-a3d23333ca59">Financial Times</a> wrote on Tuesday that Xi and other leaders ought to revisit their calculus.
&#8220;Signs that China’s economy, the world’s second largest, may flirt with recession in the second quarter this year are worrying for global growth. But they provide Beijing with an opportunity,&#8221; the editorial board argued. &#8220;It could use these sobering indications to reconsider not only aspects of its ‘Zero Covid’ policy but also its treatment of foreign direct investors; what is good for them is good for China’s own economy.”

CHINA-WUHAN-XI JINPING-COVID-19-EPIDEMIC PREVENTION AND CONTROL-INSPECTION (CN)

Apple Shifts iPad Manufacturing Away From China Due To Harsh COVID Lockdowns

Apple Pivots Some iPad Manufacturing Away From China 'For The First Time Ever,' Report Says

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A Tennessee family visiting Walt Disney World got a frightening reminder of the power of cell phones, saying that their movements inside the park had been tracked by someone with access to an Apple AirTag device on their daughter’s phone.
Jennifer Gaston told <a href="https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/we-were-terrified-family-believes-device-tracked-them-at-orlando-theme-park">Fox 35 Orlando</a> that her daughter Madison received a notification on her iPhone as the family was riding the monorail back to the parking lot. The notification showed someone had <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10773009/Tennessee-family-visiting-Disney-world-discovered-unknown-Apple-AirTag-used-track-teen-daughter.html">tracked</a> everywhere Madison had gone between 7:09 p.m. and 11:33 p.m., including the ride back to the parking lot.
&#8220;We were terrified, we were confused, hurt, and scared,&#8221; Gaston said, adding of her daughter, &#8220;She literally watched it follow us from the tram all the way back to our vehicle.&#8221;
Once the family believed they had been tracked, they unsuccessfully looked inside their car for the AirTag, then locked the doors, exited the parking lot and informed police, but Madison kept checking her phone to see where the device was.
&#8220;As she was refreshing it, it showed the AirTag was still in our parking spot so somehow when we were frantically shaking out clothes and dumping everything out of our bags it fell out,&#8221; Gaston recalled.
Apple writes on its <a href="https://www.apple.com/airtag/">website</a>, &#8220;AirTag is a supereasy way to keep track of your stuff. Attach one to your keys. Put another in your backpack. And just like that, they’re on your radar in the Find My app, where you can also track down your Apple devices and keep up with friends and family.&#8221;
&#8220;We’ve become aware that individuals can receive unwanted tracking alerts for benign reasons, such as when borrowing someone’s keys with an AirTag attached, or when traveling in a car with a family member’s AirPods left inside,&#8221; Apple wrote, <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/02/an-update-on-airtag-and-unwanted-tracking/">admitting,</a> &#8220;We also have seen reports of bad actors attempting to misuse AirTag for malicious or criminal purposes.&#8221;
&#8220;When survivors and advocates warned Apple that AirTags were dangerous, the company refused to listen. They claimed that their technical fixes would prevent abuse,&#8221; Albert Fox, the executive director of Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) has <a href="https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/apple-airtags-privacy-group-demands-tech-giant-stop-selling-trackers">warned</a>. &#8220;Today, we see that they’re wrong and that AirTags are being abused in exactly the way we feared.&#8221;
&#8220;This story could have ended way differently,&#8221; Jennifer Gaston said. &#8220;I’m praising God we have the outcome we have, but it’s because she was diligent and aware of what to do.&#8221;
(Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/introducing-dw-kids">kids entertainment content</a>.)

Coronavirus Pandemic 2022 –  iPhone SE

‘We Were Terrified’: Family At Disney World Says Someone Tracked Their Movements Through Apple Device

Tennessee Family At Disney World Says Their Movements Have Been Tracked Through Apple AirTag Device

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Comedian and TV host Jon Stewart won the 2022 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Sunday.
Stewart, the 59-year-old stand-up comic who rose to national prominence as the host of &#8220;The Daily Show&#8221; from 1999 to 2015, was the 23rd person to receive the <a href="https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/marktwain/">award</a>, which &#8220;recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, best known as Mark Twain.&#8221; The award was presented to Stewart at a gala event in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, which will be broadcast on PBS stations in June.
Tributes to Stewart were given by several comedians and former prize winners, including former &#8220;Daily Show&#8221; correspondents Samantha Bee, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver, stand-up comedian and 2019 Mark Twain Prize winner Dave Chappelle, and rock star Bruce Springsteen, who also performed an acoustic version of his hit &#8220;Born to Run&#8221; at the ceremony. A number of other high-profile guests were also present, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bill-cosby-entertainment-arts-and-talk-shows-dave-chappelle-eb2362ca7076700492493462e78ab7ca">Associated Press</a> reported.
During his acceptance speech, Stewart joked that Hollywood and Washington, D.C., have a number of similarities. “Washington is for people who like the ego and arrogance of L.A. but who think that that city is too well-designed,” Stewart said, via the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jon-stewart-mark-twain-prize-2022-1235134621/">Hollywood Reporter</a>. He changed his tone later in the speech, saying that the future of comedy is uncertain. “There’s a lot of talk right now about what’s going to happen in comedy.&#8221; Stewart said. But the greatest threat to comedy was not &#8220;the fragility of audiences, it’s the leaders,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;It’s not the Fresh Prince, it’s the crown prince.&#8221;
&#8220;Comedy is the bellwether, we’re the banana peel in the coal mine,&#8221; Stewart continued. “When a society feels under threat, comedians are who gets sent away first.” He then said that &#8220;Authoritarianism is the threat to art, theater, poetry. … What we have is fragile and precious, and the way to guard against it isn’t to change how audiences think, but to change how leaders lead.”
While Stewart celebrates his accolade after years of success, his latest project is reportedly not finding any. According to a report from Bloomberg, via The Daily Wire, Stewart&#8217;s new show, &#8220;The Problem with Jon Stewart,&#8221; has experienced a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jon-stewarts-new-apple-tv-show-rumored-to-be-a-huge-flop-report">serious decline</a> in viewership since its premiere in September and is trailing behind its competitors on broadcast and cable TV. The series premiere garnered 180,000 views in the first week, according to measurement firm Samba TV. That viewership number plummeted all the way down to 40,000 by the show&#8217;s fifth episode, which aired in March. By comparison, one episode of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” which also aired in March pulled in 844,000 viewers. Bloomberg gave several reasons for the show&#8217;s poor ratings: the changing nature of entertainment consumption in the age of streaming; the difficulty in making timely and topical jokes on a show that is recorded well in advance; and the sporadic schedule, in which the show premiered new episodes every two weeks at first, but then went on a four-month hiatus.
Apple also defended Stewart and his audience. “We are thrilled that ‘The Problem with Jon Stewart’ has resonated with viewers all over the world,” head of unscripted shows and documentaries at Apple+ Molly Thompson said. “The series has sparked complex conversations about critical issues, and we’re proud to team with Jon for season two and beyond.”

23rd Annual Mark Twain Prize For American Humor

Jon Stewart Wins 2022 Mark Twain Prize For Humor, Even As His New Show Flops

Jon Stewart

The Daily Show

Last week, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner Brendan Carr slammed Apple CEO, Tim Cook, for hypocrisy, after the Big Tech executive gave a speech regarding “Apple’s commitment to running the App Store in a way that promotes human rights.”
Carr <a href="https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1517181456732540934">argued</a> that Cook’s words run counter to the “harsh reality of Apple’s conduct in China.”
In a letter to Cook, Carr noted that while the Apple CEO was speaking in D.C. about his “App Store policies promoting privacy and human rights,” his company was “continuing its well documented campaign in Beijing of aggressively censoring apps at the behest of the Communist Party of China.”
Carr concluded, arguing that it is “past time to stand up” for human rights, and for Apple to “evaluate its overall relationship with China, particularly its extensive manufacturing operations there, to ensure that these relationships reflect the global Apple voices.”
Carr’s criticism follows <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html">The New York Times</a>’ bombshell report from May 2021, in which it was shown that Apple’s self-proclaimed quest for privacy doesn’t apply when it comes to users of its products and services in China.
According to the report, Apple planned to store user data at centers in Guiyang, China — and another in the Inner Mongolia region — after largely ceding “control to the Chinese government.” This involved Chinese state management of the computers, the abandonment of encryption technology not permitted by the Chinese regime, and “digital keys that unlock information on those computers” being held in the very “data centers they’re meant to secure.”
“But to stay on the right side of Chinese regulators, his company has put the data of its Chinese customers at risk and has aided government censorship in the Chinese version of its App Store,” the report said of Cook.
The report also detailed allegations by current and former employees of the Silicon Valley giant that Cook “ultimately approved the plans to store customer data on Chinese servers and to aggressively censor apps” on the Apple “App Store.”
This came despite Apple’s claim to be committed to both “human rights” and privacy. In their “Our Commitment to Human Rights” document, for example, they declared that they “feel a deep sense of responsibility to make technology for people that respects their human rights, empowers them with useful tools and information, and enhances their overall quality of life.” 
According to the Big Tech giant, such “commitment” involves “setting the industry standard for minimizing personal data collection,” by building “ privacy protections into everything [they] make.”
Ian Haworth is a writer for The Daily Wire and contributor to Morning Wire. Follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ighaworth">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/IanGHaworth">YouTube</a>.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Slammed For Human Rights Hypocrisy Over China Censorship

The Left is really trying to make the pregnant man thing work.
Days after Apple released their pregnant man emoji with the iOS 15.4 update, Netflix started promoting a new series called, “He’s Expecting.” The Japanese comedy-drama is slated to be released April 21.
The description <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81030178">reads</a>, &#8220;When a successful ad executive who&#8217;s got it all figured out becomes pregnant, he&#8217;s forced to confront social inequities he&#8217;s never considered before.&#8221; The series stars Japanese actors Takumi Saitoh (Kentaro Hiyama) and Juri Ueno (Aki Seto) as the two main characters. 
“The phenomenon of male pregnancy has been around for more than half a century around the world,” the trailer opens. 
“Mr Hiyama,” the doctor tells Hiyama. “You are a pregnant man.”
“Isn’t a nice world to live in where men can give birth for you,” Ueno says. While telling a friend about hearing the pregnancy news, she quips, “I responded with, ‘Is it really mine?’ Men usually get to use that line.”
The audience also sees Hiyama getting a consent form for abortion. 
He complains about not being able to eat anything without getting nauseous and experiences an embarrassing moment of leaking breast milk at a work meeting. 
The trailer poses another question, saying, “What are &#8216;roles&#8217; anyway? Why put people in boxes like ideal father and ideal mother?” 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="He’s Expecting | Main Trailer | Netflix" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qi3-rN60JE0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“He’s Expecting” is based on the Japanese Manga series “Kentaro Hiyama&#8217;s First Pregnancy.” The series had biological males able to get pregnant before Hiyama experienced it for himself. According to <a href="https://myanimelist.net/manga/135492/Hiyama_Kentarou_no_Ninshin">MyAnimeList</a>, men around the world start becoming pregnant, but have lower chances of conceiving than women do.
The males give birth via c-section. Another key theme of the series is how pregnant men are discriminated against in society. 
Anyone who watched the classic 1994 comedy “Junior” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is well aware that male pregnancy in the entertainment industry is not a new idea. However, the political climate of 2022 is far different, with trans activists insisting on more inclusive terminology, such as “pregnant people.”
It appears from the trailer and the source material that the main character in “He’s Expecting” is a biological male, not a trans person. The timing of the series release, though, comes at a time when a push for trans acceptance has never been stronger. Normalizing masculine bodies bearing children is a pointed goal of the Left.
The announcement of this new series comes shortly after Netflix announced that it lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022 while expecting to lose 2 million more subscribers in the second quarter. Shares of the company dropped more than 20% in after-hours trading, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/get-woke-go-broke-elon-musk-says-woke-mind-virus-makes-netflix-unwatchable-as-shares-plummet-20">reported</a>.
“The woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable,” Elon Musk tweeted in response to the news.

US Online Streaming Giant Netflix : Illustration

Netflix Teases ‘He’s Expecting’ Series Days After Apple Debuts ‘Pregnant Man’ Emoji

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Netflix

Pregnant

Television

Transgender

Woke Culture

It wasn’t too long ago that Jon Stewart was one of the most popular late night hosts on the air. Now, the 59-year-old comedian is allegedly struggling to attract viewers.
“The Problem with Jon Stewart,” debuted on AppleTV+ in September. A new <a href="https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/jon-stewart-s-the-problem-on-apple-tv-joins-streaming-talk-show-slump">Bloomberg</a> report shows viewership trailing behind competitors on both broadcast and cable TV. It appears that Stewart seems to be losing viewers with each episode, too.
The publication shared that “The Problem’s” first episode had a mere 180,000 viewers in the first week, according to measurement firm Samba TV. Viewership then plummeted to 40,000 by the show’s fifth episode, which aired in early March. As a comparison, a March episode of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” attracted viewers in 844,000 U.S. homes, per Samba TV.
Meanwhile Apple TV+ has a different take. Entertainment Weekly reported that the show is the No. 1 unscripted series on Apple TV+, citing sources. “We are thrilled that ‘The Problem with Jon Stewart’ has resonated with viewers all over the world,” head of unscripted shows and documentaries at Apple+ Molly Thompson said. “The series has sparked complex conversations about critical issues, and we’re proud to team with Jon for season two and beyond.”
One defense of poor numbers was the changing nature of content consumption in the age of streaming. “You don’t even know how to get Apple TV, do you?” Stewart quipped in one episode. Plus, a late-night show format filled with timely jokes doesn’t work when episodes have to be filmed well in advance.
“A late-night-style show on a streaming service can’t be very topical because content based on the events of the day would seem stale,” Joe Toplyn, a former writer for “Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” told Bloomberg. 
Another issue is the sporadic viewing schedule. At first, “The Problem” episodes came every two weeks. Then Stewart took a four month hiatus. Any potential loyal fans were likely concerned and frustrated trying to figure out when to expect new episodes. Stewart even made fun of himself for being flaky, saying it’s “like I’m an Etsy store of shows, knitting each one myself.”
Topics range from gun control to race relations, the stock market, and climate change. Even similarly aligned outlets have given Stewart’s show mixed reviews. An NPR critic said it, “feels like a stitched-together pastiche of items from Stewart’s old show and a few other programs he inspired,” while a Variety writer said the show, “has not been what one might expect from the grand return of a superstar.” 
Some episodes are entertaining, though. While discussing racism in America, Stewart promoted the claim that white supremacy is rampant in America and claimed “racist systems” here prove “America has always prioritized white comfort over black survival,” The Daily Wire originally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jon-stewarts-guest-destroys-his-anti-white-extremism-rant-against-racist-systems-in-america">reported</a>. 
Two guests agreed with the comedian’s rant that pinned all America’s problems on white supremacy, but a third panelist, political commentator Andrew Sullivan, had a different take. 
“Well I don’t believe that,” Sullivan said. “I think it’s possibly the most absurd hyperbole I’ve ever heard … I can tell you America in 2022 is the most multiracial, multi-cultural, tolerant, diverse melting pot that has ever existed on the planet earth.”
“And there is no other place on Earth even like it,” he continued. “That’s why 86% of our immigrants are nonwhite. Do you think that they want to come into a white supremacist country?”
He spoke of America’s “great history” and “incredible diversity” as reasons for the country being so appealing.  
“I think you are not living on the planet most Americans are, which is why this kind of extremism, this anti-White extremism is losing popular support,” Sullivan said. &#8220;It’s creating a backlash.”
Stewart implied Sullivan was “racist” for making these types of statements.

2019 Warrior Games – Day 2

Jon Stewart’s New Apple TV+ Show Rumored To Be A Huge Flop: Report

Comedy

Entertainment

Politics

The Daily Wire’s newest sports podcast, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/crain-and-company">Crain &amp; Company</a>,” hit #1 on Apple Podcasts’ sports category in less than one week since its release.
According to publicly available data from Apple, “Crain &amp; Company” was ahead of the sports podcast pack as of Friday, beating out the #2 podcast, “Live Wild with Remi Warren,” and the #3 podcast, “Pardon My Take” by Barstool Sports.
“We are honored and humbled to lead the top sports podcast in the country. Hitting lead off is all about consistency and winning is all about having a great team. We’re excited to be a part of The Daily Wire family as it enters the world of sports,” said co-host Jake Crain in a statement.
The development comes only a day after Thursday’s Apple Podcast rankings showed “Crain &amp; Company” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-daily-wires-crain-and-company-ranks-among-top-3-sports-podcasts-during-launch-week">ranked third</a>, behind only two sports shows: “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,” and “Pardon My Take” by Barstool Sports.
“Crain &amp; Company,” hosted by former athletes and coaches Jake Crain, Blaine Crain, and David Cone, offers in-depth analysis, opinion, and play-by-play breakdowns of the biggest sports stories of the day. It is The Daily Wire’s first sports podcast.
“Hosts Jake Crain, his brother Blain Crain, and former Michigan quarterback David Cone will share in-depth insights on teams, players, and leagues; interview the biggest names in sports; and wager predictions, big and small,” said The Daily Wire in a press release on February 28, the same day the show launched. “The trio’s fans, known as The Booster Club, will also be able to interact with the hosts throughout the program.”
Listeners and viewers can tune in live at 2 p.m. CST (3 p.m. EST) every weekday.
The Daily Wire announced that the show had become its latest offering earlier this week, and comes as the company has been making a foray into culture and entertainment spaces, which have been previously dominated by the forces of the Left. But The Daily Wire isn&#8217;t willing to cede the domain of sports commentary to these forces either.
“The energy and excitement that Jake, Blain, and David bring to the world of sports is contagious and we can’t wait to share it with our listeners and members,” said Daily Wire co-founder and co-CEO Jeremy Boreing in a statement. “From movies to sports and our chart-topping podcasts, The Daily Wire is Americans’ go-to platform for premium content and quality entertainment.”
Over the past year, The Daily Wire has been expanding into the entertainment world with movies such as “Shut In” and the forthcoming “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-hyperions-starring-cary-elwes-debuts-on-daily-wire-beginning-march-10">The Hyperions</a>,” a superhero comedy that debuts March 10, 2022. This summer, The Daily Wire will release “Terror on the Praire,” a highly-anticipated action-western starring former “Mandalorian” actress Gina Carano. The film will be her first since parting ways with Disney last year.

Crain&Co

Daily Wire’s ‘Crain & Company’ Hits No. 1 On Apple Sports Podcasts

Crain &amp; Company

Sports

Peloton Interactive is falling to pieces, replacing its CEO as speculation about a merger continues to grow.
The company — which manufactures stationary exercise bikes through which users can complete virtual fitness classes — has witnessed a remarkable slowdown in demand since the COVID-19 lockdowns that originally presented new growth opportunities. Peloton will slash 2,800 jobs, representing 20% of its corporate workforce. Instructors will not be affected by the move.
Meanwhile, Peloton co-founder John Foley will end his decade-long tenure as CEO, instead assuming the role of executive chairman. He will be replaced by former Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy.
Peloton’s stock began the year at roughly $35; by the end of January, the price declined to $24. In recent days, however, the price has surged above $37 amid speculation over a buyout.
The change in leadership follows recent pressure from investors hoping for a merger, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/peloton-ceo-john-foley-to-step-down-become-executive-chair-11644314403?mod=hp_lead_pos2">The Wall Street Journal</a>:
<blockquote>A little over two weeks ago, activist investor Blackwells Capital LLC called for Peloton to fire Mr. Foley and explore a sale of the company, which the Journal has reported is attracting potential suitors including Amazon.com Inc.
Blackwells reiterated its call Tuesday, saying Mr. Foley should leave the company entirely rather than become executive chairman. Blackwells also released a 65-page presentation in which it estimated a sale could value Peloton above $65 a share. Peloton shares closed Monday at $29.75.</blockquote>
Many have pointed to Apple, Nike, and Amazon as potential suitors for Peloton.
“With media reports swirling that Peloton could be up for sale with Amazon and Nike potential suitors, we would be shocked if Apple is not aggressively involved in this potential deal process,” Wedbush Securities managing director Dan Ives wrote in an investor note shared with the <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/02/07/peloton-stock-up-on-amazon-nike-or-apple-takeover-speculation/">New York Post</a>. “Acquiring Peloton would be a major strategic coup and catalyze the company’s aggressive health and fitness initiatives.” 
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/08/why-apple-wont-buy-peloton.html">CNBC</a> technology editor Steve Kovach, however, does not see an Apple buyout in the cards.
“Apple rarely makes large acquisitions. Peloton’s market cap was a bit more than $12 billion by Tuesday afternoon. Apple has never even come close to buying a company that large. Its largest acquisition to date was Beats for $3 billion,” he wrote. “Besides that, just about every other acquisition has been too small for Apple to meet the requirements to report them. We usually only find out about an Apple acquisition after someone in the press reports on it.”
“Apple is obsessed with making its own hardware and software, and keeping high profit margins,” he added. “Peloton makes giant Android tablets with clunky software, connected to exercise gear. Plus, Peloton continues to lose money and its margins would put a drag on Apple’s own margins if the two companies merged.”
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/peloton-employees-undergo-anti-racist-training-that-claims-grandfathered-in-blacklisted-are-white-supremacist-terms">The Daily Wire</a> revealed last year, Peloton employees were forced to undergo an “anti-racist” training that claimed common phrases such as “grandfathered in” are “white supremacist” terms. 
The firm’s “Antiracism Activation Center” provided employees with resources on “global perspectives” on racism, “antiracism” strategies for allies, strategies for enacting systemic change, tools for creating race-related conversations at home — including “age-appropriate” resources for families — and a “Brave Conversation Speaker Series.”

Latest Consumer Technology Products On Display At Annual CES In Las Vegas

Peloton Fires CEO And Nearly 3,000 Employees As Speculation About A Big Tech Buyout Grows

Nike

Peloton

On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) had a 40-minute phone conversation with Apple chief executive Tim Cook about pending antitrust legislation.
According to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/20/senate-to-mark-up-antitrust-bills-targeting-apple-google-and-amazon.html">CNBC</a>, the Senate Judiciary Committee — of which Cruz is a member — will discuss bipartisan legislation such as the Open App Markets Act and the American Innovation and Choice Online Act at the end of this week. Both bills are meant to curb technology companies’ abilities to give preference to their own services on platforms that they created.
Cruz said that Cook “expressed significant concerns” during their phone call — specifically with the American Innovation and Choice Online Act.
“One issue that he raised, that I thought was a reasonable issue, was a concern that the bill would erect obstacles to Apple giving consumers the ability to opt out of apps monitoring what they’re doing online, where they’re going, and what’s occurring on their phone,” Cruz said, as reported by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/20/ted-cruz-spoke-to-apple-ceo-tim-cook-for-40-minutes-about-antitrust.html">CNBC</a>. “I want to clarify for the record that I don’t read the language of this bill as applying to or as being intended to apply to tech companies giving consumers the ability to to exercise choice or to opt out of privacy-invasive policies.”
Cruz is driven by a desire to ensure that online platforms do not censor debate — an objective shared by many other Republican officials. Last month, for example, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-big-tech-has-become-the-censorship-arm-of-the-democratic-party">called</a> technology conglomerates “the censorship arm of the Democratic Party and political Left, silencing and de-platforming anyone who rejects the chosen left-wing narrative.”
“Silicon Valley oligarchs shouldn’t be the arbiters of free speech in our country. We must fight back!” he added.
More recently, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-just-want-my-silence-rand-paul-quits-youtube-slams-big-tech-censorship">published</a> an opinion piece announcing that he would begin an exodus from “Big Tech” — beginning with YouTube.
“Everyone complains about Big Tech. The Left says Big Tech doesn’t censor enough. The right complains that Big Tech censors too much already,” Paul said. “Many in Congress, on the Left and the Right, want to break up or regulate Big Tech, but few of these loud voices have actually stepped up and quit using Big Tech.”
Paul slammed YouTube for deleting videos — including those he said included substantiated claims about the efficacy of cloth masks.
“A hallmark of the scientific method is to challenge and disprove a hypothesis,” Paul argued. “Yet we have abandoned science and rational debate for an almost religious adherence to the edicts of government bureaucrats like Anthony Fauci. To challenge the data is to be a ‘denier’ or ‘conspiracist’ who must be silenced.”
“An entire generation of young people, who use these platforms exclusively for their news, will never read or hear of opinions or ideas that challenge the Big Government / Big Tech orthodoxy,” Dr. Paul wrote later. “If they do happen to see, for example, an article claiming that the coronavirus could have originated with a lab leak in Wuhan, it is quickly condemned as ‘debunked’ or a ‘conspiracy’ by the invisible, all-knowing ‘fact-checkers’ employed by Big Tech. Until of course, it isn’t — but by then, it’s too late, public attention has moved on, the damage done.”

Ted Cruz

As Senate Weighs Antitrust Bills, Apple’s CEO Called Ted Cruz With ‘Significant Concerns’

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