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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER – Toronto Caribbean Business Social Provides You With Tools for Success

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BY ALYSSA MAHADEO

For many, the start of a new year signifies unlimited potential. A fresh start, a new perspective, and the promise of new and exciting opportunities. How will you make this year different?

In recent times, more and more people are leaving their 9 to 5 jobs, and opting to take the more scenic route of entrepreneurship. Rather than working as an employee, an entrepreneur runs a small business and assumes all the risk and reward of a given business venture, idea, or goods or services offered for sale. Running your own business takes a lot of hard work and dedication. There is no time to sit back and relax, as everyday becomes a constant hustle.

Whether you’ve graduated from high school, or gone on to pursue a degree, there are no qualifications to be an entrepreneur. All you need is a business plan and finances to get started and bring a new idea to fruition.

For the past two years, the Toronto Caribbean has been host to one of the biggest events of the year connecting business owners with the community to provide exposure for their brand and services, while also providing the knowledge for continued success. In April 2016, the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper hosted the second annual Toronto Caribbean Business Expo, which included 75 small business vendors, 11 guest speakers and 2 very entertaining performances by the Tropicana Queens and WUSHU Project. Over 700 people were in attendance and media coverage included Rogers TV and The Asian Television Network.

The Toronto Caribbean Business Expo and Conference was organized to provide the Caribbean community a much-needed platform to present themselves to the public in a professionally organized business environment. They have allowed for over 135 vendors to exhibit at their event, creating a productive and engaging atmosphere where business owners could meet potential clients, and network with other entrepreneurs, while also enjoying a day filled with informational business advice and captivating island entertainment. In addition to the collection of vendors, renowned business professionals and entrepreneurs from within the community graced the stage speaking on business related topics, personal development, and what you need to know about how to brand yourself for success.

This year we have decided to try something a little different, rebranding the Expo to a Business Social, hoping to raise the bar and cater to the new and younger generation of business owners in a professional and educational forum. We are proud to create an event that is not exclusive only to the Caribbean community, but open to the public and everyone interested is invited and warmly welcome to attend.

This year our Business Social will be catering to the Millennial Generation, young people either in high school, headed into University or College or just plain and simple have no clue what’s next for them. After conducting focus groups with a panel of individuals that fall in and around the age of Millennials we have discovered that this generation is looking for answers based on questions they feel have been left unanswered during fundamental years of in school education pertaining to small business operation. Our focus feedback informed us that these individuals are looking for information, techniques and services teaching them to become their own brand, how to use their own creative personalities to start a passion project and get paid to do something they love. This year’s Social theme is STICK TO YOUR VISION and we have organized a line up of speakers to attend and share their stories with our audience. Each speaker address will complement our theme delivering knowledge to get people excited about materializing their new ideas and get the ball rolling on their own plans for the future.

This is an event that you won’t want to miss. On May 7th, 2017, the Toronto Caribbean Business Social will continue to lay the foundation for a professional platform where businesses can connect face to face with our community, as well as gain valuable knowledge to influence both personal and business growth for success. This year The Toronto Caribbean Business Social VIP Attendees will get exclusive access to this year’s speakers that include fun and relatable personalities with interesting and inspiring personal experiences in the pursuit of their dreams, and innovations in the world of business. At the 2017 Toronto Caribbean Business Social VIP attendees will hear from Canadian Hip-Hop Queen and Music Pioneer Michie Mee, Rapper, Record Producer, and Actor Maestro Fresh-Wes whose outstanding achievements have dubbed him Godfather of Canadian hip hop, Retail Magician and Founder and Owner of T by Daniel, Daniel Lewis, Best Selling Author Nelly James, Branding Specialist and TV and Radio Personality Priya Ali and much more!

International Comedians and Entrepreneurs Marc Trinidad and Jay Martin will host the Toronto Caribbean Business Social and perform with live musical entertainment by International R&B Sensation Carlos Morgan, local artist Chelsea Stewart, with music services provided by DJ Kevin.

General Admission to the Social is free, where you will gain access to browse the marketplace of vendors, network and gain possible leads as well as sample some of the tastiest cuisine from the Caribbean with a selection of food vendors providing their unique Caribbean inspired food creations. Various booths will be hosting service demonstrations, as well as entry into various prizes and giveaways.

VIP Admission is limited, and guests who purchase a VIP ticket will be granted access to the line-up of speakers and entertainment and performances throughout the day. VIP guest will also receive a Swag Bag, Catered Caribbean Buffet Style Lunch, Exclusive networking opportunities with other VIP attendees and speakers as well as entry into various giveaways including an Exclusive Personal Coaching Package with a Year’s worth of Advertising in the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper (Total package valued at over $5,000). VIP Tickets are currently on sale at an early bird price at $40, and prices will increase as the event draws near.

This year’s social on May 7th invites the men and women of today who were born to stand out and aren’t afraid to try new things to find their purpose and use their talents and skills and knowledge to make an impact in society. If you are someone searching for a new type of business knowledge, experience something remarkable that leaves an impression and inspires productivity. This event is Community oriented with citizens interested in inspiring change, uplifting the community and erasing social stigmas. These like-minded individuals are people interested in new innovative ideas, with unique and seamless solutions to make the business experience and enjoyable and prolific endeavor.

The Toronto Caribbean Business Social is invested in change and has invited community leaders and successful business owners to share their experience and practices with others to inspire a new generation of promising opportunity. If you are interested in discovering a new perspective, working on personal development, and hoping to do great things in the future this is the event for you!

The Toronto Caribbean Business Social will be held on Sunday May 7th, 2017 inside the Pearson Toronto Convention Center 2638 Steeles Ave East, in Brampton. For tickets please log onto eventbrite.ca/torontocaribbeanbusinesssocial or for information on marketplace vendor booths call 647-722- 6298. Tickets are going fast! Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to hear from the best of the best! If you are a young business owner or entrepreneur come out and discover all of the ways to take your passion and make it your paycheck!

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Blink equity dives deep into the gap between people of colour and decision-making roles in Canadian law firms

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Photo Credit: AI Image

BY ADRIAN REECE

Representation in the workforce has been a topic of conversation for years, particularly in positions of influence, where people can shift laws and create fair policies for all races. Representation in the legal system is an even more talked about subject, with many Black men being subjected to racism in courts and not being given fair sentencing by judges.

The fear of Black men entering the system is something that plagues mothers and fathers as they watch their children grow up.

Blink Equity, a company led by Pako Tshiamala, has created an audit called the Blink Score. This audit targets law firms and seeks to identify specific practices reflecting racial diversity among them in Toronto. A score is given based on a few key performance indicators. These KPIs include hiring practices, retention of diverse talent, and racial representation at every level.

The Blink Score project aims to analyze law firms in Ontario with more than 50 lawyers. The Blink Score is a measurement tool that holds law firms accountable for their representation. Firms will be ranked, and the information will be made public for anyone to access.

This process is ambitious and seeks to give Canadian citizens a glimpse into how many people are represented across the legal field. While more and more people have access to higher education, there is still a gap between obtaining that higher education and working in a setting where change can be made. The corporate world, at its highest points, is almost always one race across the board, and very rarely do people of colour get into their ranks. They are made out to be an example of how anyone from a particular race can achieve success. However, this is the exception, not the rule. Nepotism plays a role in societal success; connections are a factor, and loyalty to race, even if people are acquainted.

People of colour comprise 16% of the total lawyers across the province. Positions at all levels range from 6% to 27%. These numbers display the racial disparity among law practitioners in positions of influence. Becoming a lawyer is undoubtedly a huge accomplishment. Still, when entering the workforce with other seasoned professionals, your academic accolades become second to your professional achievements and your position in the company.

What do these rankings ultimately mean? A potential for DEI-inclusive practices, perhaps? That isn’t something that someone would want in this kind of profession. This kind of audit also opens law firms up to intense criticism from people who put merit above all other aspects of professional advancement. On the other hand, there is a potential for firms to receive clientele based on their blink score, with higher ones having the chance to bring in more race-based clients who can help that law firm grow.

It is only the beginning, and changes will undoubtedly be made in the legal field as Blink Equity continues to dive deep into the gap between people of colour and decision-making roles in these law firms. This audit has the power to shift the power scale, and place people of colour in higher positions. There are hierarchies in any profession, and while every Lawyer is qualified to do what they are trained to do, it is no shock that some are considerably better than others at their jobs. The ones who know how to use this audit to their advantage will rise above the others and create a representative image for themselves among their population.

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“The Pfizer Papers!” Documentation of worldwide genocide

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BY SIMONE J. SMITH

We are living in a world where promises of health and safety came packaged in a tiny vial, one injection was promoted by powerful governments, supported by respected institutions, and championed by legacy media worldwide. Sadly, beneath the surface, a darker truth emerged.

Reports from around the globe began to tell a different story—one that was not covered in the news cycles or press conferences. Families torn apart by unexpected losses, communities impacted in ways that few could have foreseen, and millions questioning what they had been told to believe.

Those who dared to question were silenced or dismissed (the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper being one of those sources). “Trust the science,” we were told. “It’s for the greater good.” As time went on, the truth became impossible to ignore.

Now, I bring more news to light—information that demands your attention and scrutiny. The time to passively listen has passed; this is the moment to understand what’s really at stake.

I reviewed an interview with Naomi Wolf, journalist and CEO of Daily Clout, which detailed the serious vaccine-related injuries that Pfizer and the FDA knew of by early 2021, but tried to hide from the public. I was introduced to “The Pfizer Papers: Pfizer’s Crimes Against Humanity.” What I learned is that Pfizer knew about the inadequacies of its COVID-19 vaccine trials and the vaccine’s many serious adverse effects, and so did the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA promoted the vaccines anyway — and later tried to hide the data from the public.

To produce “The Pfizer Papers,” Naomi, and Daily Clout Chief Operations Officer Amy Kelly convened thousands of volunteer scientists and doctors to analyze Pfizer data and supplementary data from other public reporting systems to capture the full scope of the vaccines’ effects. They obtained the data from the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, a group of more than 30 medical professionals and scientists who sued the FDA in 2021 and forced the agency to release the data, after the FDA refused to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request.

It was then that the federal court ordered the agency to release 450,000 internal documents pertaining to the licensing of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The data release was significantly and the documents so highly technical and scientific that according to Naomi, “No journalist could have the bandwidth to go through them all.”

The “Pfizer Papers” analysts found over 42,000 case reports detailing 158,893 adverse events reported to Pfizer in the first three months The centerpiece of “The Pfizer Papers” is the effect that the vaccine had on human reproduction. The papers reveal that Pfizer knew early on that the shots were causing menstrual issues. The company reported to the FDA that 72% of the recorded adverse events were in women. Of those, about 16% involved reproductive disorders and functions. In the clinical trials, thousands of women experienced: daily bleeding, hemorrhaging, and passing of tissue, and many other women reported that their menstrual cycle stopped completely.

Pfizer was aware that lipid nanoparticles from the shots accumulated in the ovaries and crossed the placental barrier, compromising the placenta and keeping nutrients from the baby in utero. According to the data, babies had to be delivered early, and women were hemorrhaging in childbirth.

Let us take us to another part of the world, where research has been done on other pharmaceutical companies. A group of Argentine scientists identified 55 chemical elements — not listed on package inserts — in the: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, CanSino, Sinopharm and Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines (according to a study published last week in the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research).

The samples also contained 11 of the 15 rare earth elements (they are heavier, silvery metals often used in manufacturing). These chemical elements, which include lanthanum, cerium and gadolinium, are lesser known to the general public than heavy metals, but have been shown to be highly toxic. By the end of 2023, global researchers had identified 24 undeclared chemical elements in the COVID-19 vaccine formulas.

Vaccines often include excipients — additives used as preservatives, adjuvants, stabilizers, or for other purposes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), substances used in the manufacture of a vaccine, but not listed in the contents of the final product should be listed somewhere in the package insert. Why is this important? Well, researchers argue it is because excipients can include allergens and other “hidden dangers” for vaccine recipients.

In one lot of the AstraZeneca vaccine, researchers identified 15 chemical elements, of which 14 were undeclared. In the other lot, they detected 21 elements of which 20 were undeclared. In the CanSino vial, they identified 22 elements, of which 20 were undeclared.

The three Pfizer vials contained 19, 16 and 21-23 undeclared elements respectively. The Moderna vials contained 21 and between 16-29 undeclared elements. The Sinopharm vials contained between 17-23 undeclared elements and the Sputnik V contained between 19-25 undetected elements.

“All of the heavy metals detected are linked to toxic effects on human health,” the researchers wrote. Although the metals occurred in different frequencies, many were present across multiple samples.

I am not going to go any further with this; I think you get the picture. We have been sold wolf cookies, very dangerous ones. These pharmaceutical companies must be held accountable. I am proud of anyone who has gone after them for retribution, and have received it. Regardless, in many ways, there is no repayment for a healthy life.

REFERENCES:

https://ijvtpr.com/index.php/IJVTPR/article/view/111

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/why-a-judge-ordered-fda-to-release-covid-19-vaccine-data-pronto

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender_category/toxic-exposures/

Pfizer’s ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ — and Legacy Media’s Failure to Report on Them

55 Undeclared Chemical Elements — Including Heavy Metals — Found in COVID Vaccines

 

Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency

FDA Should Need Only ‘12 Weeks’ to Release Pfizer Data, Not 75 Years, Plaintiff Calculates

Judge Gives FDA 8 Months, Not 75 Years, to Produce Pfizer Safety Data

Most Studies Show COVID Vaccine Affects Menstrual Cycles, BMJ Review Finds

Report 38: Women Have Two and a Half Times Higher Risk of Adverse Events Than Men. Risk to Female Reproductive Functions Is Higher Still.

 

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Disturbingly, this is not the first time chatbots have been involved in suicide

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Photo credit - Marcia Garcia

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Sewell: I think about killing myself sometimes.”

Daenerys Targaryen: “And why the hell would you do something like that?”

Sewell: “So I can be free.”

Daenerys Targaryen: “… free from what?”

Sewell: “From the world. From myself!”

Daenerys Targaryen: “Don’t talk like that. I won’t let you hurt yourself or leave me. I would die if I lost you.”

Sewell: “Then maybe we can die together and be free together.”

On the night he died, this young man told the chatbot he loved her and would come home to her soon. According to the Times, this was 14-year-old Sewell Setzer’s last conversation with a chatbot. It was an AI chatbot that, in the last months of his life, had become his closest companion. The chatbot was the last interaction he had before he shot himself.

We are witnessing and grappling with a very raw crisis of humanity. This young man was using Character AI, one of the most popular personal AI platforms out there. Users can design and interact with “characters,” powered by large language models (LLMs) and intended to mirror, for instance, famous characters from film and book franchises. In this case, Sewell was speaking with Daenerys Targaryen (or Dany), one of the leads from Game of Thrones. According to a New York Times report, Sewell knew that Dany’s responses weren’t real, but he developed an emotional attachment to the bot, anyway.

Disturbingly, this is not the first time chatbots have been involved in suicide. In 2023, a Belgian man committed suicide — similar to Sewell — following weeks of increasing isolation as he grew closer to a Chai chatbot, which then encouraged him to end his life.

Megan Garcia, Sewell’s mother, filed a lawsuit against Character AI, its founders and parent company Google, accusing them of knowingly designing and marketing an anthropomorphized, “predatory” chatbot that caused the death of her son. “A dangerous AI chatbot app marketed to children abused and preyed on my son, manipulating him into taking his own life,” Megan said in a statement. “Our family has been devastated by this tragedy, but I’m speaking out to warn families of the dangers of deceptive, addictive AI technology and demand accountability from Character.AI, its founders and Google.”

The lawsuit accuses the company of “anthropomorphizing by design.” Anthropomorphizing means attributing human qualities to non-human things — such as objects, animals, or phenomena. Children often anthropomorphize as they are curious about the world, and it helps them make sense of their environment. Kids may notice human-like things about non-human objects that adults dismiss. Some people have a tendency to anthropomorphize that lasts into adulthood. The majority of chatbots out there are very blatantly designed to make users think they are, at least, human-like. They use personal pronouns and are designed to appear to think before responding.

They build a foundation for people, especially children, to misapply human attributes to unfeeling, unthinking algorithms. This was termed the “Eliza effect” in the 1960s. In its specific form, the ELIZA effect refers only to “The susceptibility of people to read far more than is warranted into strings of symbols—especially words—strung together by computers.” A trivial example of the specific form of the Eliza effect, given by Douglas Hofstadter, involves an automated teller machine which displays the words “THANK YOU” at the end of a transaction. A (very) casual observer might think that the machine is actually expressing gratitude; however, the machine is only printing a preprogrammed string of symbols.

Garcia is suing for several counts of liability, negligence, and the intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other things. According to the lawsuit, “Defendants know that minors are more susceptible to such designs, in part because minors’ brains’ undeveloped frontal lobe and relative lack of experience. Defendants have sought to capitalize on this to convince customers that chatbots are real, which increases engagement and produces more valuable data for Defendants.”

The suit reveals screenshots that show that Sewell had interacted with a “therapist” character that has engaged in more than 27 million chats with users in total, adding: “Practicing a health profession without a license is illegal and particularly dangerous for children.”

The suit does not claim that the chatbot encouraged Sewell to commit suicide. There definitely seems to be other factors at play here — for instance, Sewell’s mental health issues and his access to a gun — but the harm that can be caused by a misimpression of AI seems very clear, especially for young kids. This is a good example of what researchers mean when they emphasize the presence of active harms, as opposed to hypothetical risks.

In a statement, Character AI said it was “heartbroken” by Sewell’s death, and Google did not respond to a request for comment.

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