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In recent weeks, President Donald Trump announced a U.S. ban on Tik Tok, an extremely popular application that features short videos where their creators often dance or lip-sync to viral audio clips. Trump issued the ban because U.S. officials have become increasingly concerned that the Chinese government could access personal information about Americans who use TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd.
How does a government remove an application from its users, and can it remove it 100 percent? Randy Magiera, a cybersecurity expert and professor of information technology and information security in Tulane University’s School of Professional Advan-cement, states that it’s not as easy as it sounds.
“Completely banning an app is a very complex task and is very difficult to achieve,” Magiera said. “Countries such as India, which has also prohibited applications such as TikTok, ban the applications at the network level, preventing communication between smartphones and the application servers. This approach has limits, as any user who currently has the app installed on his or her smartphone can easily bypass the block using a virtual private network. VPN’s are readily available in all of the major app stores and are free in many cases, though using a free VPN raises privacy concerns. The government can also ban financial transactions crippling the company’s ability to make money, but end users are still able to use the application in this scenario, albeit in a limited manner.”
Magiera said the necessary steps it takes for a government to ban any application must come with the cooperation of internet service providers, such as Google, Apple and various other commercial organizations. It is nearly impossible to ban any application completely.
“Governments can also ask the cloud computing companies hosting the application’s servers to cease doing business with TikTok. Still, as with the previous approach, there is no guarantee the companies will comply, and TikTok hosts at least some of their servers in their private data center, which makes this approach even less effective. Also, users can install the app on their phone either from a different app store or if they can find the file on the internet,” Magiera said.
According to a recent Associated Press article, TikTok and its U.S. employees plan to take President Trump’s administration to court over his sweeping order to ban the popular video app. The TikTok order would take effect in September, but it remains unclear what it will mean for the apps’ 100 million U.S. users.

DEAR ABBY: My husband’s mother recently told him he no longer matters to her because he is an atheist. His mother is supposedly a Christian, but she rarely acts like one. It has left my husband devastated and feeling more lonely than ever.
I can’t find the right words to comfort him when he’s going through something I haven’t got a clue about. How do I empathize with him to let him know he did nothing wrong and that he never deserved to have those words thrown at him by his own mother?
It infuriates me, but I don’t think it would be right for me to step in and talk to her directly. How do you deal with a narcissist who constantly plays the victim even after all the support you’ve given to her, financially and emotionally?
SUPPORTIVE WIFE IN ALABAMA

DEAR WIFE: I’m glad you asked. Explain to your husband that by emotionally abusing him this way, his mother is attempting to control him. What she said is despicable, and if he is as emotionally dependent on her as you have described, he may need counseling to get past this.
The way to deal with her emotional blackmail is to distance yourselves from her financially and emotionally, because she is manipulative and toxic.

DEAR ABBY: When I was a little girl, my mother died of breast cancer. I always suspected that I might have the gene, too. To make matters worse, my dad got skin cancer a couple of years ago, meaning my risk of getting cancer is higher because of both my parents having it.
I’m turning 18 in a couple of months, and I want to get tested to see what my risk is, but I’m terrified. I sometimes feel a stabbing pain in my chest and think I feel a lump. I’m not sure if I’m imagining it due to my stress and fear or if it’s true. I don’t want to tell my dad until after my appointment, which I plan on doing alone. What do you think I should do? Should I tell him?
AFRAID IN FLORIDA

DEAR AFRAID: Try to calm yourself. The lump you felt may not be what you fear, but a cyst. Breast cancer in teen girls is rare, but cysts are quite common. (It might also be nothing.) That said, because of your family history, you should be checked by a doctor.
I don’t believe in keeping secrets of this nature. If you would like emotional support when you get the test for the BRCA gene, your father — or a female relative — would be a logical choice to go with you. Please give it some thought.

DEAR ABBY: I have a medical alert service dog. People at the store won’t leave him alone to do his job, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to be rude to these people, but my life depends on his alerting. Each time I must shop for groceries, I am very afraid.
Advice?
NO PETTING IN PENNSYLVANIA

DEAR NO PETTING: You are a nice person. Too nice, in fact. When someone attempts to distract your service animal, TELL the person emphatically to stop immediately because he is on duty, working to ensure your safety, and being distracted could cost you your life. It is the truth.
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Abby shares more than 100 of her favorite recipes in two booklets: “Abby’s Favorite Recipes” and “More Favorite Recipes by Dear Abby.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $16 to: Dear Abby, Cookbooklet Set, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447.

Louisiana’s top elections official has proposed an emergency plan for holding this fall’s elections during the COVID-19 pandemic that significantly scales back absentee mail-in options that were available during the summer.
The plan will disappoint many Democrats and voting rights advocates who want to expand the ability to vote by mail, though it is more palatable to Republicans wary of mail-in voting and potential fraud. Legislative committees are scheduled to review the plan Wednesday and Thursday.
During the election held July 11, 19 percent of Louisiana voters who participated voted absentee by mail. Most did not use any of the temporary reasons called for in the last emergency plan; instead, the vast majority were people age 65 and older who always are allowed to vote absentee, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin said Monday.
But that 19 percent is still high by Louisiana standards, and the U.S. Postal Service had trouble handling the volume, he said. With much higher turnout expected in November, Louisiana could be one of a number of states that aren’t able to announce winners on Election Day even without expanded access to voting by mail.
The Nov. 3 ballot includes votes for president, Congress and seven state constitutional amendments among other races.
“We want to be careful about being dependent upon the United States Postal Service,” Ardoin said.
The last plan was contemplated when Louisiana was still under a “stay at home” order, Ardoin said. Currently, the state is in the less-restrictive “Phase Two” of the White House-approved roadmap for controlling COVID-19 and could possibly be in “Phase Three” by November.
Generally, absentee ballots in Louisiana are limited to people 65 or older, members of the military, overseas voters, people who are hospitalized and people who won’t be in their parish on Election Day. Ardoin’s plan for the fall elections would allow voters who test positive for COVID-19 during and after early voting but before Election Day to use the hospitalization exemption but adds no other emergency absentee ballot provisions.
The plan used this summer added exemptions for being subject to a medically necessary quarantine, experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or awaiting a diagnosis, caring for someone who is quarantined, or having a chronic health condition that imparts a higher risk of serious COVID-19 complications. It also temporarily waived the usual requirement that first-time voters must vote in person.
“I’ve devised a plan (for which) I’m assured of legislative success,” Ardoin said. “After the last plan, I was told by numerous conservatives that they wouldn’t be able to vote for the same plan going into November.”
For approval, Ardoin needs majorities in both the state Senate and House of Representatives. Republicans dominate both chambers. He also needs Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards to sign off.
While Edwards has not said whether he could support the new plan, he has previously advocated for greater access to mail-in voting during the pandemic. He supported letting anyone with COVID-19-related health concerns vote absentee this summer, a step Republicans were unwilling to take, and ultimately approved the last plan that included additional reasons for voting absentee.
Ardoin’s plan gives local officials discretion to choose polling locations where physical distance can be maintained among voters and poll workers. The secretary of state would be authorized to enter into agreements with the Louisiana National Guard, Louisiana State Police, parish sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies to provide support to the registrars of voters, clerks of court and parish boards of elections supervisors.
The plan would increase Louisiana’s early voting period for the Nov. 3 election from seven days to 10 days, up from the standard seven days but down from the 13 days allowed for the summer elections.
Registrars of voters would be allowed to offer curbside drop off of absentee ballots after early voting ends, which could alleviate some of the stress on the Postal Service.
Voters dropping off ballots would be expected to show identification. Those leaving someone else’s ballot would be required to fill out an “Absentee-By-Mail Ballot Hand Delivery Certif-ication Statement.”
In-person voters will be encouraged to wear masks but will not be turned away if they do not. Disposable masks will be provided, according to the plan.

LEONVILLE — The muddy Bayou Teche once again served as the artery in which flowed the Fete-Dieu du Teche Eucharistic Procession to commemorate the arrival of the first Acadians in South Louisiana in 1755. The annual event took place on Saturday, which is the Catholic Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the traditional feast day of the Acadians.
The day’s events began with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Douglas Deshotel of the Diocese of Lafayette at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Leonville.
This year’s Mass, said in Cajun French, was to petition for an end of the COVID-19 pandemic and kicked off the diocese’s Year of St. Joseph marking the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius XI declaring Joseph the patron saint of the universal Church.
During his homily, spoken in English, Deshotel said the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is “dedicated as a solemnity because it emphasizes an important teaching of our Catholic faith. It’s also a day in which we celebrate the arrival of the Acadians.”
According to the bishop, the feast day “celebrates the teachings of our faith that has been held in the church since the time of the Apostles and taught by the ancient doctors of the church and as an infallible truth by Pope Pius XII in 1950.”
He continued, “The belief states, at the end of her earthly life, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, did not undergo the normal process of death and bodily decay but was glorified and taken up immediately into heaven. Our celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven is as much a celebration of God’s victory over the ancient enemies of our human race, sin and death.”
Deshotel then remarked on Mary’s role in the church. “From the very beginning of the book of Genesis,” he said, “God foretold He would remedy the consequences of the first sin and that the offspring of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. The woman foretold is Mary, the new Eve. Whereas the first Eve was the cause of sin and death entering into our world, the new Eve, Mary, is the cause of grace and everlasting life entering into our world. Her offspring is Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.”
The bishop went on to explain how this role brought about the Catholic faith which was practiced by the Acadians. “This faith was held by our forefathers who were expelled from their homes in what is now Nova Scotia,” said the bishop. “Because of their Catholic faith, they lost their land and their fortunes, and some even lost their lives. Some of those who left came to South Louisiana where they could freely live their Catholic faith and culture.”
According to Deshotel, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is important to all Christians “because she stands as a sign and reminder for us who will also share in the benefits of her son’s resurrection to new life.” He added, “Our old self dies, but our new life in Christ will rise to a glorious resurrection to also be taken up into heaven following Jesus and Mary.”
He concluded his homily by saying, “Today we beseech the Blessed Virgin Mary, our mother and patroness of our diocese, to pray for us especially during these challenging times. May we always follow her example and answer God’s call with her words, ‘Let it be done to me according to your will.’”
After the Mass, a procession with the Blessed Sacrament and statues of Our Lady and St. Joseph crossed on foot the Bayou Teche Bridge and continued down the boat launch where a caravan of boats was waiting for the procession to continue in the bayou on its way to St. Martinville, where the Acadians settled in South Louisiana after their exile from Acadie.