Monthly Archives: September 2021

Nonprofit founder to give away $50,000 twice a month for the next 100 years – Face2Face Africa

Posted: September 12, 2021 at 9:33 am

Niamkemudera Muhammad is the founder of The B Network Group, a family-owned company that seeks to among other things make more Black entrepreneurs successful. The company is seeking to give $50,000 twice per month for the next 100 years to Black entrepreneurs with solid business plans.

The firm is not seeking corporate backing, celebrity support, or sponsorships to make the project work but wants the support to come from the American people. A mere sacrifice of not hanging out and a donation of $50, The B Network Group feels the company would be on its way to becoming financially independent and in a position to help individuals that are helping the community, the company says, according to Black News.

The B Network Group says it believes there are hundreds of thousands of African-American people with great ideas that can help and support the Black community but have no finance to get started. Therefore, it wants to fund these ideas that will also encourage millions of people to go after their dreams and live their best life.

The $50, 000 funding support will be given to anyone who has a business plan that has the potential to create jobs and industry in African American communities across the globe. Muhammad plans to choose one company, corporation, or non-profit a year to give $500,000 that aligns with his companys goals, principles, and advocations.

We are simply asking four million people to donate $50. This small one-time donation will provide generational wealth and motivate millions to become entrepreneurs. We believe if we can show the world that by giving up one night of partying, we can provide one hundred years of financial independence. That will be a great start and a true sign of community maturity, Muhammad says.

According to The B Network Group, if four million people donate $50, $200 million will be raised to fund African-American entrepreneurs. In the spirit of transparency, The B Network Group has broken down the allocations in this manner: $120 million will be allocated to the companys $50k giveaways while $50 million will be allocated to the annual $500,000 grant.

Muhammad has worked for over 10 years in finance for companies like Rolls Royce and the Discovery Channel, according to his nonprofits website. The nonprofit says that Muhammad utilized his accounting degree for years before going back to his other love cutting hair. He opened his own barbershop while maintaining a 10-year contract as the barber on base for the United States Coast Guard.

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eCash (XEC) Rapidly Plunges 3.7%: Here What You Should Know About It Own Snap – Own Snap

Posted: at 9:33 am

Currently, the market of eCash (XEC) experiences negative dynamics of 3.7%. eCashs price stalled right at $0.00024050 during this day. The company takes the trading volume by $200,669,482. The cryptocurrency started the trading session at 03:00 with a value of $0.00024991 and slightly declined. However, a couple of hours later r it reached the point of $0.00027289. A little time after it decreased to the volume of $200,669,482. eCash is developed from one of the most well-known names in the cryptocurrency world, BCHA, which was previously known as eCash. With the idea of the great Milton Friedman, eCash aspires to take financial independence to a new level. According to the official website, eCashs objective is to become sound money that anybody may use anywhere in the globe. This is a technology that will revolutionize society and greatly improve human freedom and prosperity. The roadmap gives a high-level technical direction overview of the eCash protocol, allowing various technical teams to collaborate on the projects advancement. The creators of eCash provide high-quality professional software that meets the demands of consumers, miners, and merchants.

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Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Capital One Launch Inaugural Class for the Build to Best HBCU Early Talent Program – StreetInsider.com

Posted: at 9:33 am

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) today announced the first cohort of students selected to participate in the Capital One Build to Best HBCU Early Talent Program, an integrated program to support students attending TMCF member-schools, which are Americas publicly supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). One hundred (100) second-year students have been selected to the program, which will begin in the fall 2021 semester.

This effort is a part of TMCFs larger missionto advance pathways toward economic mobilityfor Black students and intentionally diversify the future work force within corporate America. As the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility and the McKinsey Global Institute found in their recent report, significant economic and human value can be gained when Black Americans are fully engaged in the economy. HBCUs are uniquely positioned to foster such engagement.

This program reflects our intention to invest in communities of color and support the career aspirations of HBCU students, consistent with our mission of preparing the next generation of work force talent through leadership development, said TMCF Chief Programs Officer Dr. Eric D. Hart. We look forward to partnering closely with Capital One to support rising talent in an effective and meaningful way.

The Capital One Build to Best HBCU Early Talent Program will provide professional development to rising sophomores with an emphasis on CreditWise, Capital One's credit management program, soft skills, career readiness training, and personal education plans for on-time graduation.

Through dedicated programming to prepare students for financial independence in their post-graduate careers, TMCF and Capital Oneare addressing some of the nations most difficult issues while creating both short-term impact and sustainable outcomes with underrepresented groups.

At Capital One, we recognize HBCUs and PBIs as champions for academic excellence and the integral role they play in paving career pathways for students, said Shavonne Gordon, Vice President of Enterprise Diversity Recruiting at Capital One. Last year, we committed $1M in grants to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and United Negro College Fund in an effort to support HBCUs and increase the number of Black college graduates across the country, and we are thrilled to continue expanding these partnerships.

The partnership builds off Capital One's Impact Initiative, a $200M multi-year commitment which invests in diverse communities and businesses, and supports organizations that expand economic opportunity, particularly for Black and LatinX communities.

The Capital One Build to Best HBCU Early Talent Program Inaugural 100 can be viewed here.

About the Thurgood Marshall College Fund

Established in 1987, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is the nations largest organization exclusively representing the Black College Community. TMCF member-schools include the publicly-supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions, enrolling nearly 80% of all students attending black colleges and universities. Through scholarships, capacity building and research initiatives, innovative programs, and strategic partnerships, TMCF is a vital resource in the K-12 and higher education space. The organization is also the source of top employers seeking top talent for competitive internships and good jobs.

TMCF is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization. For more information about TMCF, visit: http://www.tmcf.org.

About Capital One

Capital One, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol COF and is included in the S&P 100 index. Capital One was founded on the principle that great talent, great analytics and great technology could revolutionize financial 2 services and democratize credit. We believe that attracting, hiring, and enabling great people can change banking for good. To learn more about Capital One, visit http://www.capitalone.com/About.

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The trial of Elizabeth Holmes: perfect for the age of the Instagram influencer – The Guardian

Posted: at 9:32 am

The end point of unbridled self-belief went on trial in San Jose in California this week, as Elizabeth Holmes founder of defunct health tech company Theranos, and former worlds youngest self-made billionaire appeared in court accused of fraud.

After dropping out of Stanford at the age of 19, Holmes built a company that was valued, at its height, at $9bn (6.5bn), and appeared on the cover of every news magazine in the land. On Wednesday, she sat with her legal team as an assistant US attorney accused her of being a liar and a cheat. It was a thrilling end to the kind of American drama that makes the non-billionaires among us feel good.

The schadenfreude, familiar from other recent executive flameouts most spectacularly, Billy McFarlands catastrophic Fyre festival in 2017 is rooted in a general exhaustion with the mechanics of self-promotion.

The point at which self-belief shades into self-deception and then active fraud is only detectable when the perpetrator is skilled enough to recruit others to their reality. In the case of the average Instagram influencer, it is tempting to think of these exaggerations and distortions not only as victimless crimes, but as the packaged delusions that make up the product itself. (Im envisaging Caroline Calloway, the 29-year-old lifestyle guru exposed two years ago for selling and then refunding underwhelming creativity workshops for $165 a pop, to a crowd it was hard to drum up much sympathy for.)

In the case of Holmes, the scale of the alleged deception, if proven, will have been of a different order altogether, with the potentially serious consequences that come from faking medical technology. And yet what remains striking about Holmes and the case against Theranos is how, in broad outline, it is indistinguishable from any fake-it-till-you-make-it Silicon Valley startup.

Robert Leach, assistant US attorney, set out the case against Holmes in language familiar to viewers of Dragons Den (or its US equivalent, Shark Tank), accusing her of puffing up her company with standard-sounding PR guff. Holmes had, said Leach, exaggerated her revenue projections and used the media to make unprovable claims about her product like so many other companies chasing investment.

She had also, he said, knowingly promoted the companys blood-analysing technology as revolutionary, when in reality it did nothing that standard blood-testing tech couldnt do. If convicted, Holmes could land in jail for up to 20 years for, as her defence attorneys are framing it, the crime of doing what every other dreamer in Palo Alto is doing: simply trying your hardest.

Corporate deceit, when uncovered, is often a lot less sophisticated than the product its promoting, raising the question of why so many people so readily fall for it. In the case of Theranos, the prosecution alleges that, early on in the companys development, it produced a recommendation from Pfizer, in which the drug giant praised the blood-analysing tech for its superior performance. The problem, said prosecution attorneys, is that Pfizer wrote no such thing; it merely appeared on Pfizer-headed notepaper, an astonishingly entry-level scam, if true.

And yet otherwise smart people were allegedly taken in by Holmes, including Henry Kissinger, and former US secretary of state George Shultz, both of whom agreed to sit on the Theranos board. There is a nobility in overreach: it is the typifying American gesture, and the grandness of Holmes claims had a seemingly irresistible pull. Theres also a gender aspect here. Part of the narrative around Holmess success is that, by using her swishy blond hair and big eyes, she conned otherwise sensible elderly men into lending her their credibility. Being a woman has not, historically, worked out well for aspiring CEOs, but Holmes broke the mould here too.

The defence teams approach appears to be to dump a lot of the blame for Theranoss failure on Holmess business partner, Ramesh Balwani, with whom she was in a relationship at the time. She was naive, say her lawyers. Her company failed, and failure is not a crime. The villain the government just presented is actually a living, breathing human being who did her very best each and every day, said her lawyer, Lance Wade an oddly infantilising bid for sympathy that seemed gendered too.

At this stage, recasting Holmes as a wronged woman will be an uphill struggle. As we know from other fallen stars, once theres blood in the water, that which once looked impressive appears ludicrous and cheap. From Holmess wardrobe overnight, the black turtleneck went from uniform-of-a-genius to Steve Jobs Halloween costume to the garbled poetry she texted to Balwani while the pair were still seeing each other, cited in court papers and inviting a short stab of sympathy for the woman in the dock (You are breeze in desert for me / My water / And ocean / Meant to be only together tiger).

Holmes has elected to take the stand, a risky move and one that nods towards some lingering vestige of what landed her here in the first place. At the height of Theranoss fortunes, one got the sense about Holmes that no one found her as impressive as she found herself. The root of so much success and crashing delusion.

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PUBLIC URGED TO ‘KNOW THE SIGNS’ AFTER TWO TEENAGERS CONVICTED OF ONLINE RELATED TERRORISM OFFENCES – Counter Terrorism Policing

Posted: at 9:32 am

The public are being reminded about the dangers young people can face online following todays (Thursday, September 9) sentencing of two teenagers for sharing terrorist material online.

Following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North East, a 15 year old boy from Derbyshire pleaded guilty in June 2021 to the following offences:

He has been sentenced to a two-year Youth Rehabilitation Order and three-year Criminal Behaviour Order. He has been released from custody.

A second boy, a 16 year old from South East London, also pleaded guilty in June 2021 to one count under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006. He has been sentenced to a 12-month Intensive Referral Order and ordered to pay 85 in costs and a 22 court surcharge.

The pair were arrested in September 2020 following a pre-planned, intelligence led investigation.

Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden is Head of CTP North East and says it is important for families, friends and organisations to be aware of the risks online, know the signs of radicalisation and know where to turn for the right help and support.

It is important that we all work together to safeguard young people from the threat of radicalisation. If we dont recognise the signs early enough they may go on to commit very serious offences as weve seen in this case. Encouraging terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications are not victimless crimes and the impact of these offences can be far reaching. The spread of extremist material has the potential to threaten the safety of our communities and may even motivate others.

This case is one of an increasing number we have seen involving young people in the extreme right wing terrorism space. It is of huge concern for the police and our partners.

We are seeing a growth in children being targeted and radicalised by right wing extremists online including through multi-player online gaming, social media and chat forums.

We know that children and teenagers want to spend time online. This is a way for them to communicate with friends, assist with homework or just catch up on what is going on in the world. The internet can be a great tool but we have to be alive to the risk it can pose and know that it is a platform for extremists to spread hate and exploit others.

The ACT Early website provides information about signs to look out for when someone may be getting drawn into extremism and online security. The site also signposts people to support, who to contact if you are worried about a loved one and what help is out there.

Our research shows that family and friends are best placed to spot the signs that someone might be vulnerable to radicalisation. We want them toACTearly so their vulnerable friend or loved one can get the support they need before the situation escalates into something more serious.

Trust your instincts. Act early. If youre worried that someone you know is being radicalised, visit actearly.uk for more information.

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Cambridge resident caught with ‘staggering’ amount of child pornography jailed four years – TheRecord.com

Posted: at 9:32 am

KITCHENER A Cambridge resident caught with a staggering amount of child pornography hundreds of thousands of images and thousands of videos has been sentenced to four years behind bars.

Charges were read out in court against Trevor Hunter, a.k.a. Dakota Hunter. Hunter is transitioning from male to female. The accused asked in court to be referred to as she/her. The judge, Crown and defence agreed to do so.

Hunter, 37, came to the attention of the police after Google identified online media as child pornography and reported it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Waterloo Regional Police searched Hunters Cambridge residence and seized several electronic devices. They found 381,857 unique images and 7,375 unique videos. Some of the files were being shared with others on the internet.

Hunter pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and making it available.

It goes without saying that the facts of this case, the amounts of materials possessed and/or shared and the types of materials possessed and/or shared are staggering in their content and scope, Justice Craig Parry said in Kitchener court on Thursday.

The judge agreed to a four-year sentence recommended by Crown prosecutor Matthew McLean and defence lawyer Tom Brock.

The court is well aware that any offence involving child pornography is reprehensible, McLean said.

The case law makes it clear that these crimes are not victimless as theyre sometimes categorized. Not only are the children victimized in the creation of such materials, but theyre further victimized when these materials are continually shared with other individuals.

McLean said the sentence must focus on denunciation and deterrence.

The judge invited Hunter to address the court before being sentenced. Hunter declined.

Hunter, who has a prior but unrelated record, was given 759 days credit for presentence custody at the Vanier womens jail, leaving less than two years still to serve.

The judge put Hunter on the sex offender registry for life and ordered Hunter to take counselling while on probation for one year.

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Woman charged in connection to spate of shoplifting in Tillydrone – Free Radio

Posted: at 9:32 am

A number of instances also took place in Seaton.

A 27-year-old woman has appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in relation to a series of alleged shoplifting crimes.

The incidents happened over a 2 month period, with the individual charged with 17 instances of shop lifting.

These took place in the Tillydrone and Seaton areas of Aberdeen.

It's alleged a four figure sum of goods were stolen in total.

Constable Susie Mair said:"stealing from shops is not a victimless crime and has the consequences of pushing the loss onto the consumer.

"We actively support local businesses to make them harder targets in order to deter such instances of theft. We actively pursue those involved in thefts, with a view to enhancing community safety.

"We are acutely aware of the reasoning behind persons committing such crimes and actively signpost them to support services when needed"

Hear all the latest news from the North East of Scotland on the hour, every hour, at Northsound 1. Listen on FM, via our Northsound app, on your DAB radio, online at Northsound1.co.uk, or say Play Northsound 1 on your Smart Speaker.

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ATO jails 3 men for attempted $4.6 million theft – Yahoo Finance Australia

Posted: at 9:32 am

Three men have been sent behind bars for attempting to defraud the Government over $4.6 million (Source: Getty)

Thinking of defrauding the Government? Think again.

Three men have been sentenced to jail for conspiring to defraud the Commonwealth $4,632,355 after orchestrating an elaborate phoenix operation.

The instigator and architect of the scheme, Seng Leng Heng, was sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said.

His co-conspirators Nathan Sarinn, and Nay Chy were also sentenced to 4 and 5 years' imprisonment respectively for their roles in the scheme.

The three men have also been ordered to pay back the full amount.

Heng, Sarinn, and Chy established multiple labour hire companies to provide workers to vineyards, fruit and vegetable growers, and meat processors around South Australia and Queensland.

The companies failed to pay both Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Pay as You Go (PAYG) withholdings to the ATO, despite charging their clients GST and including figures supposedly withheld for PAYG on employee payslips, the ATO said.

Significant debts were raised following audits. However, because the men were withdrawing funds from the company accounts on a frequent basis, there were insufficient funds at the time of liquidation to recover the outstanding tax debts.

Over a 25-month period, across all six of their companies, $23,131,414 was withdrawn in cash by the three men.

In some instances, there was some overlap in the operation of the companies, but in most cases, they would close down operations for one and move on to another, beginning the cycle again.

ATO assistant commissioner Ian Read welcomed the sentence and slammed the three men for the scheme.

This type of behaviour is blatant fraud against the Commonwealth, and we will not tolerate it, he said.

Story continues

Phoenixing is an intentional act that requires planning and the alleged behaviour in this case demonstrates a deliberate attempt to defraud the tax and super system.

The trio attempted to hide their illegal activities by appointing shadow directors for the companies, exploiting their relationship with employees or acquaintances living in Australia, at least three of whom were on student visas.

Todays result demonstrates the ATOs commitment to detecting and prosecuting tax crimes. We take our responsibility to protect the tax and super systems seriously, Read said.

Phoenixing is an illegal practice where company directors transfer assets from an existing company over to a new one, leaving the old company with all the debts, according to Morrissey Law.

The old company is then placed into liquidation, but because the company no longer has any assets there is nothing to be used to cover the debts.

Chair of the Phoenix Taskforce Will Day said illegal phoenix activity is an economy-wide issue that costs the Australian community billions of dollars every year, impacting businesses, employees and government.

Tax crime is not victimless. Illegal phoenix operators gain an unfair advantage by never intending to meet their financial or tax obligations, not only disadvantaging honest businesses, but the whole Australian community who do the right thing, Day said.

The taskforce aims to disrupt the business model of phoenix operators, bring them back into the system, or remove them from the business environment and penalise them,

Just like in this case, phoenixing can be done many times over and can cost the Government billions.

Since the taskforce was established in 2014, the ATO has raised more than $1.54 billion in liabilities from audits and reviews of illegal phoenix activities. It has also returned more than $687 million to the community.

If you know or suspect illegal phoenix activity, report it to the ATO by:

completing a tip-off form on our website or in the 'Help & Support' section of the ATO app available from the app store

calling the Tax Integrity Centre on 1800 060 062

emailing PhoenixReferrals@ato.gov.au

Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to the free Fully Briefed daily newsletter.

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Schools struggle to educate about the dangers of vaping; raising tobacco age to 21 could help, officials say – WDJT

Posted: at 9:31 am

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$('#media-container-' + videoId + ' .now-playing-container').css('display', 'block'); $('#media-container-' + videoId + ' .next-dropdown-accordion').css('display', 'block'); } //floating-video $('#media-container-' + videoId + " " + '.page-carousel-wrapper').hide(); setTimeout(function(){ var hWrapper = $('.floating-video .hlsvideo-wrapper').height(); var npWidth = $('.floating-video .now-playing-container').height(); var ndWidth = $('.floating-video .next-dropdown-header').height() + 20; var scrollerHeight = sHeight - (hWrapper + npWidth + ndWidth); scrollerHeight = 180; //scrollerHeight = parseInt(scrollerHeight * 0.5); if(WVM.device_name == 'desktop'){ $('#media-container-' + videoId + " " + " .mobile-list-videos").height(scrollerHeight); } }, 100); }else if($(window).scrollTop() 0){ var container = document.querySelector('#page-carousel-' + fullVideoId); imagesLoaded( container, function() { var screenWidth = window.innerWidth || document.documentElement.clientWidth; if(screenWidth > 850){ WVM.IS_DESKTOP = true; $('#page-carousel-' + fullVideoId + ' .page-carousel-lg-slides').css('display', 'block'); WVM['player_settings' + fullVideoId].slider = $('#page-carousel-' + fullVideoId).bxSlider({ maxSlides: 4, minSlides: 4, slideWidth: 305, infiniteLoop: false, hideControlOnEnd: true, useCSS: true, pager: false, slideMargin: 15, moveSlides: 1, nextText: '', prevText: '' }); }else{ WVM.IS_DESKTOP = false; $('.page-carousel-wrapper').css('display', 'block'); } }); } }; WVM.setupToggleButton = function(fullVideoId, player){ if($('.nextplay-switch-' + fullVideoId).length > 0){ new DG.OnOffSwitchAuto({ cls:'.nextplay-switch-' + fullVideoId, height: 24, trackColorOn:'#F9F9F9', trackColorOff:'#222', textColorOn: '#222', textColorOff: '#222', textOn:'On', textOff:'Off', listener:function(name, checked){ var theVal = 1; if(!checked){ theVal = 0; } $.ajax({ url: '/ajax/update_autoplay_video/', data: { autoplay_on: theVal }, type: 'POST', dataType: 'json', success: function(data) { WVM['player_settings' + fullVideoId]['autoplay'] = checked; }, error : function(){ console.log("Error loading video"); } }); } }); } }; WVM.setupAccordionButton = function(fullVideoId){ var deviceName = 'desktop'; $('#next-dropdown-accordion-button-' + fullVideoId).on('click', function(){ if($(this).find('i').hasClass('fa-chevron-up')){ //hide $(this).find('i').removeClass('fa-chevron-up'); $(this).find('i').addClass('fa-chevron-down'); if(deviceName == "desktop" && !$('#media-container-' + fullVideoId).hasClass('floating-video')){ $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.page-carousel-wrapper').slideUp(); $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.mobile-list-wrapper').hide(); }else{ $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.mobile-list-wrapper').slideUp(); $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.page-carousel-wrapper').hide(); } var currVideoId = WVM['player_state' + fullVideoId]['VIDEO_ID']; var nextVideoId = WVM.getNextPlaylistIndex(currVideoId); //playerId, mediaId, fieldName var myTitle = WVM.getPlaylistData(fullVideoId, nextVideoId, 'noprefixtitle'); //alert("Getting title " + myTitle); $('#video-slider-nexttitle' + fullVideoId).css('display', 'inline'); $('#video-slider-nexttitle' + fullVideoId).html(myTitle); }else{ //expand $(this).find('i').addClass('fa-chevron-up'); $(this).find('i').removeClass('fa-chevron-down'); $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.mobile-list-wrapper').css('display', 'block'); if(deviceName == "desktop" && !$('#media-container-' + fullVideoId).hasClass('floating-video')){ $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.page-carousel-wrapper').css('display', 'block'); $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.page-carousel-wrapper').slideDown(); $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.mobile-list-wrapper').hide(); if(!WVM.player_state165675['CAROUSEL_INIT']){ WVM.setupCarousel(fullVideoId); } }else{ $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.mobile-list-wrapper').slideDown(); $('#media-container-' + fullVideoId + " " + '.page-carousel-wrapper').hide(); if(!$('#media-container-' + fullVideoId).hasClass('floating-video')){ if(!WVM.player_state165675['CAROUSEL_INIT']){ WVM.setupCarousel(fullVideoId); } } } $('#video-slider-nexttitle' + fullVideoId).css('display', 'none'); } }); var currVideoId = WVM['player_state' + fullVideoId]['VIDEO_ID']; //console.log("current Video " + currVideoId); var nextVideoId = WVM.getNextPlaylistIndex(currVideoId); var myTitle = WVM.getPlaylistData(fullVideoId, nextVideoId, 'noprefixtitle'); //console.log("setting title " + myTitle); $('#video-slider-nexttitle' + fullVideoId).css('display', 'inline'); $('#video-slider-nexttitle' + fullVideoId).html(myTitle); }; WVM.sendbeacon = function(action, nonInteraction, value, eventLabel) { var eventCategory = 'Video'; if (window.ga) { //console.log("sending action: " + action + " val: " + value + " label " + eventLabel); ga('send', 'event', { 'eventCategory': eventCategory, 'eventAction': action, 'eventLabel': eventLabel, 'eventValue': value, 'nonInteraction': nonInteraction }); } }; WVM.getNextPlaylistIndex = function(mediaId, returnArrayIndex){ var currId = null; if(mediaId == null){ return null; } for(var x =0; x 20){ if(fullDuration > 1 && ((fullDuration - fullCurrent) > 1) && !$('.vjs-loading-spinner').hasClass('badspinner')){ console.log("hiding spinner"); $('.vjs-loading-spinner').addClass('badspinner'); } } var duration_time = Math.floor(this.duration()); //this is a hack because the end video event is not firing... var current_time = Math.floor(this.currentTime()); if ( current_time > 0 && ( fullCurrent >= (fullDuration - 10) )){ var currId = playerState.VIDEO_ID; var newMediaId = WVM.getNextPlaylistIndex(currId); //if(playerSettings.autoplay_next && newMediaId){ if(newMediaId){ if('desktop' == "iphone" && playerState.AD_ERROR){ console.log("skipped timeupdate end"); }else{ WVM.load_video(newMediaId, true, playerState.ORIGINAL_ID); } } } if(!playerState.START_SENT){ WVM.sendbeacon('start', true, playerState.VIDEO_ID, playerState.VIDEO_TITLE); playerState.START_SENT = true; } var currentTime, duration, percent, percentPlayed, _i; currentTime = Math.round(this.currentTime()); duration = Math.round(this.duration()); percentPlayed = Math.round(currentTime / duration * 100); for (percent = _i = 0; _i = percent && __indexOf.call(playerState['PERCENTS_TRACKED'], percent) 0) { playerState['PERCENTS_TRACKED'].push(percent); } } } }); //player.off('ended'); player.on('ended', function(){ console.log("ended"); playerState.IS_PLAYING = false; WVM.sendbeacon("complete", true, playerState.VIDEO_ID, playerState.VIDEO_TITLE); var currId = playerState.VIDEO_ID; var newMediaId = WVM.getNextPlaylistIndex(currId); //if(playerSettings.autoplay_next && newMediaId){ if(newMediaId){ WVM.load_video(newMediaId, true, playerState.ORIGINAL_ID); }else{ console.log("Playlist complete (no more videos)"); } }); //player.off('adserror'); player.on('adserror', function(e){ //$('#ima-ad-container').remove(); WVM.lastAdRequest = new Date().getTime() / 1000; console.log(e); console.log("ads error"); var errMessage = e['data']['AdError']['l']; playerState.AD_IS_PLAYING = false; playerState.IS_PLAYING = false; // && errMessage == 'The VAST response document is empty.' if(!playerState.AD_ERROR){ var dTime = new Date().getTime(); WVM.firstPrerollTagUrl = WVM.getFirstPrerollUrl(); console.log("calling backup ad tag url: " + WVM.firstPrerollTagUrl); WVM.activePlayer.ima.changeAdTag(WVM.firstPrerollTagUrl + "?" + dTime); WVM.activePlayer.ima.requestAds(); //WVM.activePlayer.src({ // src: masterSrc, // type: 'video/mp4' //}); //WVM.firstPrerollTagUrl = ""; } playerState.AD_ERROR = true; }); //player.off('error'); player.on('error', function(event) { if (player.error().code === 4) { player.error(null); // clear out the old error player.options().sources.shift(); // drop the highest precedence source console.log("now doing src"); console.log(player.options().sources[0]); player.src(player.options().sources[0]); // retry return; } }); //player.off('volumechange'); player.on('volumechange', function(event) { console.log(event); var theHeight = $('#media-container-' + playerState.ORIGINAL_ID + ' .vjs-volume-level').css('height'); var cssVolume = 0; if(theHeight){ cssVolume = parseInt(theHeight.replace('%', '')); } var theVolume = player.volume(); if(theVolume > 0.0 || cssVolume > 0){ $('#media-container-' + playerState.ORIGINAL_ID + ' .mute-overlay').css('display', 'none'); }else{ $('#media-container-' + playerState.ORIGINAL_ID + ' .mute-overlay').css('display', 'block'); } }); WVM.reinitRawEvents(playerState.ORIGINAL_ID); setInterval(function(){ WVM.reinitRawEvents(playerState.ORIGINAL_ID); }, 2000); } if(!WVM.rawCompleteEvent){ WVM.rawCompleteEvent = function(e){ var playerState = WVM['player_state165675']; console.log("firing raw event due to all other events failing"); var currId = playerState.VIDEO_ID; var newMediaId = WVM.getNextPlaylistIndex(currId); //if(playerSettings.autoplay_next && newMediaId){ if(newMediaId){ WVM.load_video(newMediaId, true, playerState.ORIGINAL_ID); } }; } if(!WVM.rawTimeupdateEvent){ WVM.rawTimeupdateEvent = function(e){ var playerState = WVM['player_state165675']; var rawVideoElem = document.getElementById('html5-video-' + playerState['ORIGINAL_ID'] + '_html5_api'); var fullCurrent = rawVideoElem.currentTime * 1000; var fullDuration = rawVideoElem.duration * 1000; var current_time = Math.floor(rawVideoElem.currentTime); console.log("raw timeupdate: " + fullCurrent + " out of " + fullDuration); if ( current_time > 0 && ( fullCurrent >= (fullDuration - 50) )){ var currId = playerState.VIDEO_ID; var newMediaId = WVM.getNextPlaylistIndex(currId); if(newMediaId){ console.log("loading new video from rawtimeupdate"); WVM.load_video(newMediaId, true, playerState.ORIGINAL_ID); } } if(!$('.vjs-loading-spinner').hasClass('badspinner')){ $('.vjs-loading-spinner').addClass('badspinner') } }; } WVM.reinitRawEvents = function(playerId){ var playerState = WVM['player_state' + playerId]; var rawVideoElem = document.getElementById('html5-video-' + WVM['player_state' + playerId]['ORIGINAL_ID'] + '_html5_api'); //COMPLETE EENT if( WVM['player_state' + playerId].COMPLETE_EVENT){ rawVideoElem.removeEventListener('ended', WVM.rawCompleteEvent, false); } rawVideoElem.addEventListener('ended', WVM.rawCompleteEvent, false); //TIME UPDATE EVENT if( WVM['player_state' + playerId].TIMEUPDATE_EVENT){ rawVideoElem.removeEventListener('ended', WVM.rawTimeupdateEvent, false); } rawVideoElem.addEventListener('ended', WVM.rawTimeupdateEvent, false); WVM['player_state' + playerId].COMPLETE_EVENT = true; WVM['player_state' + playerId].TIMEUPDATE_EVENT = true; };

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- With students going back to social interactions at school, there's growing concern from school administrators teen vaping is becoming a problem -- again.

While the latest statistics show vaping among teens was at its lowest rate in four years, there are already signs from school administrators things are taking a turn.

"We started to see a reduction in the use, however during COVID we're seeing an upswing again," said Gregg Wieczorek, principal of Heartland Arrowhead and president of the National Principals Association.

In 2020, the National Youth Tobacco Survey found 1.8 million fewer teens using e-cigarettes compared to 2019. While it's encouraging news, Wieczorek and other superintendents are worried vaping this school year is already becoming an issue.

"We had about 80% of the students face-to-face last year and we saw a pretty significant uptick, along with the number of people getting caught. It was another problem we had to deal with," Wieczorek said.

For students who were not back in the classroom due to the pandemic, tobacco researchers believe online learning may have reduced vaping trends.

On the other hand, if parents were not at home, students could have easily got their hands on highly addictive e-cigarettes.

"We also know during this pandemic a lot of kids are really, really anxious," said Megan Piper, associate director of UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. "And a lot of kids pick up nicotine products, e-cigarettes, to help them cope with the stress."

Vaping Prevention Efforts Pause During Pandemic

Shortly after the CDC began identifying Vitamin E Acetate as the culprit behind thousands of vaping illnesses that sent several Wisconsin teens to the hospital with significant lung damage, state efforts got underway in 2019 to education students about the dangers of these products.

School officials often credit prevention programs in helping curb the teen vaping epidemic, but once COVID-19 hit, these resources came to a halt.

That's because many districts were unable to invite guest speakers to their schools to talk about how nicotine can impact brain development that controls attention, learning, mood and impulse control.

"Until we get kids and parents to under the serious health issues, I think [vaping] will still be fad," said Mark Lichte, superintendent at Lake County School in Delafield.

Tobacco 21 Legislation

Lichte and other school officials are rallying behind an effort they believe will make it harder for students to access vaping products. It's often referred to as "Tobacco 21," a bill that would raise the age from 18 to 21 to buy tobacco products.

President Donald Trump in 2020 signed a bill that raised the federal tobacco age to 21, but Wisconsin is unable to enforce it because legislation has yet to pass to mirror federal law.

The legal purchasing age in Wisconsin for tobacco products remains at 18.

This resulted in law enforcement agencies caught off guard, and many were confused on which law to enforce.

"Until Wisconsin catches up and matches federal law, we're stuck enforcing what Wisconsin has at 18," said Grant County Sheriff Nate Dreckman. "We have issues doing compliance checks on businesses and relators because of this conflict."

A pair of lawmakers, Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. John Spiros (R-Marshfield), are once again reintroducing legislation to raise the tobacco purchasing age to 21 in Wisconsin.

The bipartisan bill never passed both chambers last year, but it wasn't because it lacked support. Instead, lawmakers said they simply ran out of time to get it done.

The hope is once it passes, law enforcement can start enforcing it and tobacco researchers believe it will have a tremendous impact on the number of vaping products in schools.

"If you have to be 21 to get a hold of it, that means the older kids in high school can't be buying it legally, and therefore distributing it through these informal pathways," said Piper.

In the meantime, school administrators and health experts will continue their efforts to deter teens from vaping.

"It's about preventing them from getting started, once they get started they can get hooked very quickly, said Wieczorek.

On Thursday, the Judiciary and Public Safety committee held a public hearing on the Tobacco 21 bill. The co-chairs of the committee and bill sponsors remain confident it will pass the Legislature with bipartisan support.

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Schools struggle to educate about the dangers of vaping; raising tobacco age to 21 could help, officials say - WDJT

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45 Percent of Americans Think Government is Good at Defending Freedom of Speech: Poll – Newsweek

Posted: at 9:30 am

A poll found that 45 percent of Americans believe the U.S. government is doing a good job of protecting the freedom of speech, while 32 percent of Americans believe the government is doing a poor job, the Associated Press reported.

The poll was conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which sought to compare current American perspectives on the state of their rights to data from similar polls conducted in 2011 and 2015. The 45 percent of Americans who responded favorably regarding the government's defense of freedom of speech marked a decrease from the 71 percent who gave the same answer in 2011 and the 59 percent in 2015.

Fewer Americans also believe the freedom of religion is being adequately protected, with about half of respondents saying the government was doing a good job of defending the right compared to three-quarters of respondents who approved in 2011, the AP reported. It's a similar story for the right to equal protection under the law, with 27 percent of respondents saying the government was doing a good job of protecting the right compared to 48 percent in 2011.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

Dee Geddes, 73, a retiree in Chamberlain, South Dakota, said she was frustrated at the government's apparent lack of ability to safeguard the amount of private information available, especially online.

"It bothers me when I can go on the internet and find pretty much anything about anybody. It makes me feel sort of naked," said Geddes, who identifies as a Republican. "It does bother me how much the government knows about us, but that goes back to the fact that there's so much out there period. It's discouraging."

The poll also finds that 54 percent of Americans say it's "sometimes necessary for the government to sacrifice some rights and freedoms to fight terrorism," compared with 64 percent a decade ago. Now, 44 percent say that's never necessary at all.

A majority of Democrats say it's sometimes necessary, which is largely consistent with previous AP-NORC polls. But Republicans are now closely divided, with 46 percent saying it's sometimes necessary and 53 percent saying it's never necessary. In 2011, 69 percent of Republicans said it was sometimes necessary, and 62 percent said the same in 2015.

Brandon Wilson, 23, a business and animation student at College of DePage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, who described himself as a conservative, said he understood that steps taken after September 11 may have initially seemed to constrain Americans' rights, but that he ultimately felt the actions had been for the greater good.

"I think it's a good idea," Wilson said of measures such as increased airline passenger screening. "The government is helping the general public and, overall, trying to make people's lives better."

On the whole, though, Americans have grown more wary of government surveillance in the name of national security, the poll shows.

The poll asked about a variety of rights and liberties, including many of those outlined explicitly in the Constitution's Bill of Rights, as well as several protected by laws and court rulings.

It finds 44 percent now say the government is doing a good job protecting the freedom of the press, compared with 26 percent who think the government is doing a poor job. In both 2011 and 2015, about 6 in 10 said the government was doing a good job.

Americans are about equally divided on how the government is doing at protecting the freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. About one-third say it's doing a good job and about one-third say it's doing a poor job. In 2011 and 2015, views were slightly more positive than negative, though less than half of Americans said the country was doing a good job.

Tony Gay, 60, a retiree who lives in Cincinnati, said that he generally supported the government's moves to protect civil liberties. He said his 10 years of Army service helped reinforce his opinion that sacrifice is sometimes necessary to safeguard freedoms.

"You can't have your freedom 24/7 if there's no one there to protect it," Gay said. "So when they put restrictions on travel, I'm all for that, because it's to make sure that I'm safe, and make sure that the person next to me is safe."

Forty-three percent of Americans think the U.S. government is doing a good job protecting the right to vote, while 37 percent say it's doing a poor job. By comparison, 70 percent said it was doing a good job in 2015 and 84 percent said the same in 2011.

Americans also are now divided on whether the government is doing a good or poor job protecting the right to bear arms, 35 percent to 36 percent, but in 2011, more said it was doing a good job than a poor one, 57 percent to 27 percent.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the government is doing a good job of protecting several rights and freedoms, including the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press and the right to keep and bear arms.

But Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans to say the government is doing a poor job enforcing equal protection under the law, 54 percent to 46 percent. Views among Democrats and Republicans are largely similar on how well the government is protecting the right to vote, and the views among both have become notably less positive than in the earlier polls.

Even if he's relatively comfortable with the government's protection of basic civil liberties, Gay said he feels periodic review of the policies, and those making them, should be necessary.

"It's like when you're in politics, you have free rein," Gay said. "It gives me mixed feelings about who is watching over us."

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45 Percent of Americans Think Government is Good at Defending Freedom of Speech: Poll - Newsweek

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