Mediaboss Marketing

Marty Mendoza and his son, Marty Jr. -- who is autistic and nonverbal -- are well-known in Central TX and have nearly half-a-million followers on social media.

BELTON, Texas A Belton father who is an autism advocate says for the last few months, he has been living in fear.

Marty Mendoza claims he and his son have received death threats over the internet and he is hoping the person responsible can be stopped.

Mendoza is a single dad who lives in Belton with his son Marty Jr. Marty Jr. suffers from severe autism and is non-verbal. The two have nearly half-a-million followers on social media and are well known in Central Texas.

Mendoza said a few months ago, he started getting threats from a man online asking where he was from and threatening to kill him and his son. Mendoza said he is an autism advocate and spends nearly all of his time with his son trying to raise awareness about the condition. He is unsure why anyone would want to hurt him or Marty Jr.

"They said they were going to come kill me and my son. Just being a single parent and a single dad with an autistic son, we just try to live our lives and try to spread the word of autism, said Mendoza. All of our formats and platforms is nothing racial, nothing political. It is about the day in the life of my son. To actually get threats and things like that, it hurts me, because we dont know if it is real or not."

Mendoza said whoever is doing this, he wants them to know this is not funny and it is scary.

I've been fighting this fight for 30 years, and this little hate they are doing, it is not going to stop me from doing what Im doing," he said.

6 News reached out to Belton Police about the incident. They said to be cautious when using social media. Social networking brings people with similar interests and life experiences together, but it can also bring unintended consequences, they said.

They said making threats on social media could lead to misdemeanor or even felony charges, depending on the facts. Just do not do it, they said. They advise people use safe practices, be kind, understanding and tolerant of others; this will help you limit negative interactions online.

Belton Police safety tips for social media:

Go here to see the original:
'They said they were going to come kill me and my son': Belton dad, autism advocate fed up with social media death threats - KCENTV.com

One of the biggest stock market stories in the past year has been the growth of social media trading. This phenomenon is called a variety of names such as 'meme trading,' 'Reddit trading,' and WallStreetBets, but it is simply a group of small, aggressive traders that help to create big moves in selected stocks.

The business media likes to portray this as something new, but this sort of trading has been part of markets from their very beginning hundreds of years ago. There will also be groups that question the conventional wisdom of the professionals that control the market. It is no surprise at all that there are small traders with limited capital who have no interest in the idea that they should hold a diversified portfolio of stocks for the long term.

The recent surge in social media trading was caused by a perfect storm of circumstances. The pandemic created a combination of more free time, a need for entertainment, free cash payment, and better social networking. Trading hot stocks was a great way to spend some time, and brokers like Robinhood made it extremely easy to trade small accounts money. There isn't even commissions or transaction costs to create friction and slow things down.

The lack of transaction costs, the ability to trade extremely small amounts of money, and the better organization of social media are what are empowering the trend. One other big difference is that there is a very clear intent that much of the trading is done to manipulate stocks higher, either by squeezing shorts or orchestrating sustained buying.

While there is often some discussion about the fundamentals and long-term prospects of a stock like GameStop (GME) or AMC (AMC) , that is not what is driving the short-term action. Having a bullish narrative is a good cover for trying to catch institutional Wall Street in the wrong position.

Social media is going to exist in various forms as long as there are markets. This is not some new idea that is going to create a steady flow of easy profits. It is a cutthroat business, and if you want to make money trading these stocks you must recognize that other traders are your competitors and not your friends.

The essence of social media trading is to catch a strong move and then exit in a timely way to lock in profits. Some folks on social media have created this idea that it is a political movement of some sort, and if they all work together and hold stocks with 'diamond hands,' then they will conquer evil hedge funds and clueless institutions.

It may be a laudable sentiment, but social media traders that buy into the 'diamond hands' argument will be the ultimate bag holders. You can be quite sure that the folks that are orchestrating some of the action in targeted stocks are taking some profits into strength. If they aren't, then there are thousands of other traders that are.

It is important to recognize that this isn't just small individual traders versus big hedge funds and rich traders. The hedge funds and rich traders are helping to create the big moves in stocks like GME. It isn't just the little guys that are causing billion-dollar moves in social media stocks. It is big, aggressive money, and they don't care one bit about your diamond hands. A couple of big winners will suck people into dozens of bad trades.

I've been engaged in social media trading in various forms for the last 25 years. We see very similar action during the internet bubble in 1999-2000 when small trades would swap stock picks in social settings. Eventually, most of those traders disappeared, and it took years for some to ever trade again. Hopefully, that won't happen to the same extent this time, but we have already lost quite a few amateur traders that were caught at the top in speculative stocks that started in February

Here are some things to watch out for:

- Most of the folks that promote social media trades will spend substantial time bragging about their great success. If you hear talk about exotic cars, you can be sure that a form of social media trading is taking place. They want to create the impression that this sort of trading is simple and easy, and you just have to buy the right stock and hold on to it. There is very little focus on trading tactics. The message is to buy and keep buying. It is pretty easy to understand what is going on there.

- Learn how to pick your own stocks. Social media trading is surprisingly uncreative in finding new stock ideas. They stick with certain names because they are already heavily invested in them financially and emotionally.

- The people on the other side of the trades are not idiots, and they have more money than you do. Put yourself in the shoes of the person on the other side of your trades. What are they thinking when you are buying and vice versa. What is their strategy?

- What social media does best is create higher levels of volatility. Trading volatility is why social media trading is so appealing. The idea may stink and have lousy justifications, but when thousands of traders are focused on a particular stock, then it is going to move, and that is the opportunity that can be exploited.

- This is a zero-sum game. If you are making money, then someone else is losing it or not making it. Other traders are looking to take your cash

Social media trading is fun and can be profitable, but if you want to be a 'real' trader, then you have to educate yourself and lose the gambling mentality that social media trading promotes. The most important issue for professional traders that do this for years is the preservation of capital. You protect capital so you can stay in the game and trade the next opportunity. The YOLO trade is the dumbest thing you can do if you want to be a professional trader. You have to always manage risk. Good traders grind out profits steadily for many years.

The media stories about meme trading are entertaining, but it is just another opportunity in a sea of ideas. Rather than embrace social media trading, look for ways to exploit the price movement that it creates.

Get an email alert each time I write an article for Real Money. Click the "+Follow" next to my byline to this article.

Excerpt from:
Exploit Meme Trading for Fun and Profits - RealMoney

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,who announced the suspension in a statement in Abuja, alleged persistent use of the platform for activities capable of undermining Nigerias corporate existence.

Mohammed also disclosed that the Federal Government had directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence theprocess of licensing all Over-The-Top (OTT) media services in the country.

The current move was triggered by Twitters deletion of President Muhammadu Buharis tweet in which he threatened to treat Nigerians misbehaving in the language they understand on Wednesday, June 2, 2021.

Buhari had in the said tweet cited Nigerias civil war experience between 1967 and 1970 and noted that most of those misbehaving by burning electoral offices and police stations were too young to understand the gravity of war.

In the tweet, he also threatened to deal with the arsonists, saying: Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.

The tweet elicited millions of comments and widespread condemnation, with many Nigerians criticising the President, especially for making reference to the civil war in which millions of Nigerians, mostly of Igbo extraction, were killed.

Some Nigerians had called on Twitter to suspend President Buharis account, claiming that his tweet expresses intentions of self-harm or suicide, as stated on Twitters usage policy. The following day, June 3, Twitter deleted the message, alleging that the post violated its rules. On Thursday, June 4, it took one step further by also deleting the video of the tweet.

Like Twitter, Facebook, another social networking service, also deleted President Buharis post.

In line with our global policies, weve removed a post from President Buharis Facebook page for violating our Community Standards against inciting violence.

We remove any content, from individuals or organisations that violates our policies on Facebook, said a Facebooks spokesperson.

Since the government suspended Twitter from operating in Nigeria, it has adduced reasons upon reasons the social media space should be regulated even as it has, without hesitation, deployed relevant organs and agencies of government to realise the goal.

For instance, on June 10, the NBC asked all social media platforms and online broadcasting service providers operating in Nigeria to apply for broadcast licence. Director-General of the commission, Armstrong Idachaba, gave the directive in a newspaper advertorial wherein he noted that the NBC establishment code empowers the commission to ask the companies to be licensed.

The advertorial read: The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) hereby directs every Online Broadcast Service provider and Social Media Platforms operating within the Nigerian State to apply and obtain broadcast licence for their service(s).

Note that any online broadcast service provider that fails to obtain a licence will be considered an illegal entity.Ironically, a bill seeking to amend the NBC Act 2004 is still under consideration at the National Assembly, likewise the bill to amend the Nigeria Press Council (NPC) Act. The sponsor of the bills, Odebunmi Olusegun, had argued that they were aimed at moderating alleged recklessness of the media.

Speaking at a public hearing on the NBC amendment bill organised by the House on Wednesday, June 16, Mohammed asked the lawmakers to amend the NBC Act to empower the agency to regulate social and online media.

Section two (b) of theNBCAct states: (1) The Commission shall have (the) responsibility of: Receiving, processing and considering applications for the establishment, ownership or operation of radio and television stations including (i) cable television services, direct satellite broadcast and any other medium of broadcasting.

The Federal Government wants the commission to also be able to regulate the online media in addition to other channels of broadcasting.

I want to add here specifically that Internet broadcasting and all online media should be included in this because we have a responsibility to monitor contents, including Twitter, the minister stressed.

Also speaking last Tuesday at an investigating hearing organised by the House of Representatives committees on communication, justice, information and culture, and national security and intelligenceon the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, Mohammed justified the Federal Governments action, citing the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020.

His words: As regards operation of foreign companies in Nigeria, the law provides that a foreign company, which fails to take necessary steps to obtain incorporation as a separate entity in Nigeria for that purpose, but until so incorporated, the foreign company shall not carry on business in Nigeria or exercise any powers of a registered company.

Hence, flowing from this background, a foreign company as Twitter cannot be clothed with the legitimate rights to operate as a company registered in Nigeria, as they are not licensed, accordingly.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is also observed that the operations of Twitter in the Nigerian social space is not legally permissible when it is used in airing of information that endangers the life and security of the majority of citizens of Nigeria.

Mohammed claimed that Twitters suspension is backed by international laws, including articles 24, 25 and 26 of the African Union on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (CCPR).

According to him, the government would not hesitate to suspend other social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Google hangout, if they are found to be promoting posts or statements capable of destroying the country.

The government has been talking tough. But would it succeed, having failed in this very cause before? It could be recalled that efforts by the current administration to regulate the social media began in November 2015 when the then Deputy Senate Leader, Ibn NaAllah, sponsored the Frivolous Petitions Bill, 2015 (SB. 143) in the Senate. The bill, otherwise known as anti-social media bill, was read for the first time on Thursday, November 24, 2015. On Wednesday, December 2, 2015, the Senate debated on the general principles of the bill and after extensive deliberations, read it for the second time and referred it to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, which was asked to report back with its recommendations.

On May 17, 2016, the committee recommended that the bill be withdrawn, stressing that if passed into law, it would affect the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government and do more harm than good to President Buharis administration.

The recommendation read: The Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to which was referred a Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and other Matters Connected therewith, having considered the same, reports negatively thereon and accordingly recommends that the Senate withdraws the bill.

The Chairman of the committee, David Umaru, had also argued that the passage of the bill would conflict with some provisions of extant Acts Penal Code, Criminal Code and the Cyber Crime Act, which, according to him, have sufficient provisions to address the issues that the Bill sought to tackle.

The Senate, in line with the recommendation of the committee, withdrew the bill from further legislative consideration to the relief of many Nigerians who saw it as a ploy to deprive them of their right to freedom of speech and expression and decried it from day one.

But undeterred, in March 2018, the then Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Abdullahi Aliu Sabi, introduced a bill seeking prohibition of hate speech in the country, otherwise known as Hate Speech Bill. The overwhelming public outrage against the bill forced the lawmakers to withdraw it. Nevertheless, in a show of perseverance, the Senate reintroduced the bill in November 2019.

According to the sponsor, the bill was aimed at eliminating all forms of hate speech in the country. The bill defined hate speech as a comment that insults people for their religion, ethnic and linguistic affiliation, among others, and prescribes death penalty for certain offenders.

Any person who commits an offence under this section shall be liable to life imprisonment and where the act causes any loss of life, the person shall be punished with death by hanging, the bill stipulates.

It also proposed jail term of not less than five years or a fine of not less than N10 million or both for offences like harassment on the basis of ethnicity and racial contempt.

It further proposed establishment of a national commission for the prohibition of hate speech that would be saddled with the responsibility of discouraging persons, institutions, political parties and associations from advocating or promoting discrimination or discriminatory practices through the use of hate speeches; promoting tolerance, understanding and acceptance of diversity in all aspects of national life and encouraging full participation by all ethnic communities in social, economic, cultural and political life of other communities.

Also in November 2019, a bill titled Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill 2019 (SB.132) was introduced in the Senate. The sponsor of the bill, Mohammed Musa, had argued that it would help to curb fake news on the Internet.

It is a legislation that will guide how we can tolerate our activities on the social media. False information has been disseminated so many times and they have caused so many chaos in different parts of the world, he argued.

In March 2020, the Senate held its public hearing on both the Hate Speech Bill and Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, where many Nigerians kicked against them, insisting that one of the most important tenets of democracy is citizens right to freedom of expression.

This is the same argument Nigerians are putting forward amid the current attempt by the government to check the excesses of the social media in the country. However, some Nigerians believe the government is in the right direction this time around, as the following report will show. But only time will answer the question of whether the government would succeed or fail in this fresh drive.

View original post here:
Social media regulation: Between failed attempts and Buhari's current move - Guardian

The hashtag #NizarBanat swept social media sites in Palestine, with many denouncing Banat's arrest.

Banat was a human rights activist who was assassinated by the Palestinian security services (PA), at dawn on Thursday, after his house was stormed.

Many activists called him the "Khashoggi of Palestine."

The governor said in a press statement that the Palestinian security forces arrested Banat after the Public Prosecution ordered his arrest. According to the governor, Banat's health deteriorated and was transferred to the Hebron Governmental Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

According to one of Banat's relatives however, "a security force raided his house at 3:30 am, and he was severely beaten by about 20 soldiers." He added that Banat was alive and shouting when he got arrested.

Banat's cousin Ammar Banat said that the Palestinian security forces hid Nizar's body from the family. He added that the family searched for his body in all hospitals in Hebron but could not find it.

In turn, International bodies and UN institutions condemned the assassination by the PA.

Sadness pervaded social networking sites, amid widespread and great condemnation of what they described as a heinous and disgusting crime, during which Banat was brutally murdered in front of his family and children at the moment of his arrest at his home in the city of Hebron, southern occupied West Bank.

Activists likened his death to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside his country's embassy in Istanbul.

An Activist, identified as Yahya Nafeh asked, "How can an authority in an occupied country demand that the world stop the crimes of the occupation while it practices the same behavior towards its people... Freedom is indivisible. #Nizar'sassassination."

The city of Ramallah witnessed demonstrations, with hundreds participating to condemn the assassination of Banat. The participants chanted for the departure of the PA and its trial for the crime.

Another activist, identified as Ahmed Nazzal wrote, "Silence about this crime is no less than the despicable act itself."

Another activist wrote, "Today's event reminds us of the slain cartoonist Naji Al-Ali. He had an intellectual disagreement with the authority some time before his assassination, and he expressed his disagreement with a pen and paper.... It is the same tragedy!"

Activist Ahmed Salem commented, "The assassination of the martyr Nizar Banat must not go unnoticed, and every official must be punished, and this is a crime that every free person denounces."

Read the original post:
#NizarBanat trends on social media sites in rejection of Banat's assassination - Roya News English

Welcome to the Randolph Rundown, our series that informs our readers on new developments right here in Randolph County.

Fourth of July fireworks will be going off all over Randolph County, so join the celebration.

Food on site:S&P Lemonade,Dorsett Funnel Cakes and More,Roadway Dogs,Preacher Steen Icees,The Chill Shak,Kyles Concessions,4 Fosters Slushies,Sunset Slush of HP

Thank you for subscribing to The Courier-Tribune. Be sure to download our mobile app for the latest local news.

Financing with Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI's) is a webinar course part of a series offered by Randolph County Community College onBusiness Recovery and Resiliency following the COVID-19 crisis.

While most small businesses are familiar with lending options with traditional banks, CDFI's provide unique opportunities that no small business should overlook. The seminar will teach small businesses about CDFI's, what they offer, and how to secure funding through them.The speaker will be Dr, Jonathan Thill of VentureAsheboro.

It will take place onWednesday, June 30th, from10:00am to 11:00am. Register here

The North CarolinaZoois asking the public to vote for names for six American red wolf pups born in April.

For the first time in two decades, this red wolf litter was born on the wolves public habitat, givingZooguests a rare chance to view the pups for a limited time. Most litters are born in the red wolf breeding area, which is an area of theZooclosed to the public.

Members of the public cancast their votefor their favorite name among the six chosen by theZoo's red wolf keepers. The names are based on rivers in the Southeastern U.S. where critically endangered red wolves used to range.

The names to choose from are: Catawba, Edisto, Haw, Harper, Warrior, Eno, Fisher, Pearl, Waccamaw, and Swannanoa

Voting closes Monday, June 28th at 4pm.

The public can access theonline pollthrough theZoo's website atnczoo.orgor through theZoo's social media channels onFacebook,TwitterandInstagram.There is no charge to select names. The winning names will be announced on Wednesday, June 30.

The pups were born as part of theZoos red wolf breeding program. There were three litters totaling 12 pups born during three days from April 28 to April 30(the other two litters pups names will be announced soon). This brings the number of red wolves currently in theZoo's breeding program to 35, making it the second-largest pack in the U.S. after Point DefianceZooand Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington.

Only 15-20 red wolves remain in the wild, and they're all in eastern North Carolina. Red wolves are considered the most endangered canid in the world.

Once common throughout the southeastern United States, the wolves were driven to near extinction during the late 1960s, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began an aggressive conservation effort the American Red Wolf Recovery Program that led to new ways to track and protect the species. Those efforts led to increasing numbers of wild red wolves in eastern North Carolina, but changes in how the recovery program was managed have resulted in the wild population again plummeting in recent years.

TheZoohas been part of the American Red Wolf Recovery Program since 1994 and led the successful efforts to have the American red wolf become part of the Association ofZooand Aquariums SAFE (Saving Species From Extinction) program.

Michelle Shen is an Economic and Data Reporter for The Courier Tribune. Feel free to reach out to her with story tips on Twitter (michelle_shen10), Instagram (pretty_photos_by_michelle OR michelle_shen10), or email (mshen@gannett.com).

See the original post here:
Randolph Rundown: What's happening in Randolph County? Fourth of July deals, business classes, and red wolf puppies - Asheboro Courier Tribune