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Social Media

Tech companies are now responsible for kid’s safety

I have a feeling Facebook and Instagram won’t like this one. On Tuesday, the Senate passed a pair of bills that will drastically change how minors will associate with social media, holding tech companies accountable for protecting children on social media platforms.

After passing the upper chamber 91–3, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) will now move to the House, where their future is yet to be determined.

What do the bills say?

Bipartisan senators first proposed KOSA in 2022 with the intention of shifting responsibility for safeguarding minors on social media platforms to the companies own them.

A 1998 modification to COPPA, COPPA 2.0 would forbid targeted advertising toward children and give parents or minors the option to remove their private data from social media platforms.

Parents of children who committed suicide as a result of online bullying have pushed for legislation requiring social media companies to implement safety precautions on their platforms to lessen the risk of harm to minors from cyberbullying, mental health illnesses, and drug advertising.

It doesn’t have full support

While KOSA is supported by Microsoft, Snap, and a number of child welfare advocacy groups, Meta stated that legislation mandating children to obtain parental consent before installing apps is preferred (expect more tech companies to weigh in with this position).

Other opponents claim state attorneys general will have undue discretion in deciding what children should be allowed to be exposed to and what content is considered detrimental to them.

In addition to being unlawful, the bill might give government officials the authority to take down anything they find unacceptable on the internet, according to the ACLU, privacy experts, and some free speech proponents.

Going forward: The bill won’t be decided on until September, though the House has passed it through to committee.

Crime

The US arrested two of Mexico’s most powerful cartel leaders, including El Chapo’s son

Words of wisdom to cartel leaders: don’t get coerced into boarding a private plane travelling to the United States. US authorities arrested two top Sinaloa Cartel leaders in El Paso, Texas, according to the Department of Justice.

The co-founder and current leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, and the son of the infamous Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Joaquín Guzmán López, were taken into custody by US authorities last week.

The Sinaloa cartel is widely credited for establishing the fentanyl trade and is believed to be the largest supplier of fentanyl to the United States.

How did they catch them?

In Mexico, the two men got on a private aircraft. Zambada was brought on board by Guzmán López under the guise of looking at investment properties.

In reality, the plane was bound for the US.

Guzman (El Chapo's son) had been collaborating with US officials to turn Zambada and himself in. The covert operation was unknown to Mexican authorities until the two were already in jail.

The two were "taken into custody" after being arrested on Thursday, according to a statement from Attorney General Merrick Garland.

What charges do they face?

According to a DOJ statement, both individuals are accused of spearheading the illegal operations of the powerful cartel, including its lethal fentanyl production and trafficking networks.

Over the course of two decades, Zambada García, former partner of El Chapo, has been charged with numerous federal offenses for violating US drug laws.

• The DEA was previously offering a $15 million reward for Zambada’s capture.

Overview: In light of the US's fentanyl epidemic, the arrests are a part of a larger US operation. However, analysts say it's improbable that they'll affect how much drug enters the nation. The extensive drug trade still has an abundance of unknown parties vying for control, and is constantly evolving.

• According to a congressional report, fentanyl is the main cause of death for people aged 18-45 in the US.

• Roughly 74,702 of the estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in 2023 were caused by fentanyl, according to CDC data.

Food

Most people aren’t lovin’ it

Turn that frown upside down Ronald. America’s favorite fast food chain unexpectedly reported this week that international sales fell for the first time since 2020, as customers increasingly distance themselves from costly menu items.

MickeyD’s report

While a drop in revenue can be attributed to a number of things, McDonalds cited a few main reasons why business hasn’t been booming as of late:

• In general, customers are ordering less expensive meals or skipping a side of fries to save money, as a result, same-store sales decreased 1% year over year in the April–June quarter, falling short of Wall Street predictions.

• Strong competition in France and China along with boycotts in Southeast Asia and the Middle East pushed worldwide revenue to slide even further.

• At roughly $2 billion, overall earnings decreased 12% from 2023.

However, it doesn’t seem like investors are too worried since MacDon’s share price has shot up 4.6% since the news broke.

Winning us back: CEO Chris Kempczinski stated that the chain's new $5 meal deal is drawing some customers back, but the downturn that began last year with lower-income consumers has now spread after several years of growing inflation.

This cannabis startup pioneered “rapid onset” gummies

Most people prefer to smoke cannabis but that isn’t an option if you’re at work or in public.

That’s why we were so excited when we found out about Mood’s new Rapid Onset THC Gummies. They can take effect in as little as 5 minutes without the need for a lighter, lingering smells or any coughing.

Nobody will ever know you’re enjoying some THC.

We recommend you try them out because they offer a 100% money-back guarantee. And for a limited time, you can receive 20% off with code FIRST20.

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Grab Bag

The largest IPO of the year isn’t from who you’d expect

Who knew investors could get so hyped about freezers. At a valuation of more than $18 billion, Lineage, the largest operator of cold storage facilities around the globe, raised $4.4 billion at its public debut last Thursday.

Lineage had the biggest initial public offering (IPO) of 2024, demonstrating just how big of a deal it is to keep your ice cream from melting.

Why a freezer company?

Well, they aren’t just a freezer company, they are the freezer company.

In 2008, two ex-Morgan Stanley bankers created Lineage with the hope of modernizing an outdated market that was mainly run by small-town warehouse owners.

Now, Linage manages almost 33% of the United States’ temperature-controlled warehouse space after making over 100 acquisitions.

They had perfect timing:

• According to the American Frozen Food Institute, sales of frozen foods in the US increased by around 33% from 2019 to $74 billion in 2023.

• There has also been skyrocketing demand for perishable goods that need to be kept cold throughout the supply chain process.

Good service and good will: Over half a trillion dollars (yes, with a “T”) worth of food goes bad or is thrown away before it gets to your freezer. That’s a bad figure for everyone from produce giants to consumers, and Lineage’s big IPO is a reflection of it.

The Olympics opened the biggest restaurant in the world

Who wants to bet $100 that I could clean out the whole buffet? The Olympic Village Restaurant, considered to be the largest one in the world, has 200 chefs serving out over 13 million meals.

To maintain the world’s biggest restaurant is a herculean task, which requires a massive amount of oversight, timing, and dedication to make sure each of the 15,000 athletes get the nutrition that’s right for them.

What’s it like?

The Olympic Village Restaurant resides within a nearly 1000-foot-long power plant (which is no longer in use), and dishes out over 45,000 meals per day, every day to provide fuel to the athletes.

80% of the ingredients are sourced from France, with a quarter of all food coming within 155 miles of Paris, to meet freshness and quality standards while also putting an emphasis on sustainability.

• All meat will be sourced from France, the majority of all vegetables will be from France, and the rest will come from Europe.

But what about the menu?

A variety of food will be digested throughout the games, but here are a few examples:

• Chickpea pommade with beets, peas, and a seafood broth.

• Poached-egg croissants with artichoke cream, goat cheese, and truffles.

• Red and white quinoa muesli topped with parmesan.

However, to the dismay of many, there will be no french fries due to fire hazard deep fryers provide. Another staple that won’t be seeing the menu is foie gras, but there sure will be a lot of bananas.

An estimated 3 million bananas have been ordered to make sure participants get a gold medals worth of potassium for their upcoming competitions.

Fun Fact: An estimated 20 tons of coffee will be ground to wake athletes up from their slumber, resulting in double the amount of coffee grounds. The 40 tons of coffee residue will be used as fertilizer to grow mushrooms after the Olympics are completed.

Fast Facts

Southern Spiders: The oldest-known relative of modern spiders was identified in a nearly 500-million-year-old fossil, the specimen lived in what is now the South Pole (and thankfully doesn’t look like its descendant).

French Fighters: French telecom networks were destroyed days after attacks on rail lines, with leftist groups suspected of both attacks.

Gold Grabber: The opening ceremony of the Olympics brought in 28.6 million viewers from the US, the largest audience since 2012. See and updated medal count for your country here.

Arc Warrior: Arc’teryx, an innovating hiking brand, designed the world’s first ‘powered pants’. The wearable tech is capable of providing a 40% boost to your leg muscles and “makes you feel 30 pounds lighter”.

Federal Findings: Donald Trump agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as part of the investigation into the assassination attempt against him.

Apple AI: Apple released a preview of its Apple Intelligence AI features.