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Synthetic nicotine rules widen on April 24, but experts say easy access to vaping devices and refill liquids still leaves teenagers vulnerable.

Major Advertising Agencies Settle Media Censorship Lawsuit With FTC

Authored by Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and eight states secured a settlement on April 15 that will prevent three major advertising agencies from engaging in unlawful media censorship.
An American flag flies at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) headquarters in Washington on Nov. 24, 2024. Benoit Tessier/File Photo/Reuters

The defendants Dentsu US, Inc., GroupM Worldwide LLC (doing business as WPP Media), and Publicis, Inc. will no longer enter into deals that require them to restrict working with certain clients, according to the settlement.

“A coordinated group of woke, powerful individuals attempted to suppress that Constitutional right by manipulating ad agencies into sabotaging the reach, revenue, and credibility of conservative voices,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement released on April 15.

The plaintiffs – including Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia – alleged that censorship deals between ad agencies and companies had been happening in the background during the past decade, which limited rising voices in the alternative and online media space.

The lawsuit accused some of the largest ad agencies of establishing brand-safety agreements that labeled content creators as “misinformation,” making them unable to receive ad revenue.

The alleged brand-safety standards were part of a campaign to demonetize prominent figures in the conservative space such as Glenn Beck, Steve Bannon, and the late Charlie Kirk, according to court documents reviewed by the Epoch Times.

The campaign allegedly attempted to censor and suppress content from Fox News Channel and X, formerly Twitter.

“This is a deeply disturbing violation of antitrust laws and our Constitution,” Paxton added.

“This was an egregious attempt to control public opinion and silence those who speak out against the liberal elites and powerful corporations. I will continue to lead the fight against viewpoint suppression and protect the speech of Americans from corrupt manipulation.”

As part of the settlement, defendants also agreed to have a court-ordered monitor to make sure agencies are sticking with the agreement and no longer censoring political viewpoints.

The defendants agreed not to enter into or enforce any deal that would limit their advertising spending on political or ideological viewpoints or DEI commitments.

“The ad agencies’ brand-safety conspiracy turned competition in the market for ad-buying services on its head,” FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in a statement on Wednesday.

​Ferguson added, “this unlawful collusion not only damaged our marketplace, but also distorted the marketplace of ideas by discriminating against speech and ideas that fell below the unlawfully agreed-upon floor.”

Tyler Durden
Thu, 04/16/2026 – 15:05

Former NBA player and coach Damon Jones reportedly plans to change his plea to guilty on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering that stemmed from two separate illegal gambling cases. ABC News reported that Jones has requested a change-of-plea hearing after originally pleading not guilty in November.Jones’ attorney, Kenneth Montgomery, told the outlet that Jones “is not cooperating.”CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMJones is alleged to have told someone close to him that a “prominent” player on the Los Angeles Lakers, widely speculated to be LeBron James, would not play Feb. 9, 2023, before the information was public. Jones was an assistant for the team at the time.James did not play in the game due to an ankle injury. The game in question took place two days after James scored 38 points to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.Jones also allegedly gave apparent inside information about another “one of the Lakers’ best players” 11 months later, speculated to be Anthony Davis, regarding an injury that was likely to affect his performance. That ultimately backfired because the player “performed well,” and the Lakers won, according to authorities.7 NBA GAMES DOJ SAYS WERE AFFECTED BY HIGH-STAKES WAGERS AFTER INSIDE INFORMATION WAS LEAKED TO GAMBLERSJones is also alleged to have taken part in, and benefited from, rigged poker games, being used as a “face card,” along with Chauncey Billups, to lure victims into playing with celebrities.In response to being coached on how to cheat, Jones replied, “Lol man y’all call Djones in cause y’all know I know what I’m doing!!” according to the Department of Justice.Jones is one of three people to be charged in both gambling cases.Despite being undrafted out of Houston in 1997, Jones played 11 seasons in the NBA. The definition of a journeyman, Jones played for 10 teams and made more than $20 million in his career. Throughout his time, he was teammates with prominent stars, including James, during his three-year stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2008. He also spent a season with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal with the Miami Heat.He became a coach following his playing career, winning a title with James and the Cavs in 2016 as an assistant. Jones joined the Lakers, James’ current team, as an unofficial, unpaid member of the coaching staff for the 2022-23 season.Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

If it’s up to top Senate GOP leaders, the next budget reconciliation package to finally fund the Department of Homeland Security will be on a fiscal cocktail of Wegovy and Ozempic.But other Republicans want this measure to be a high-calorie, political feast. Pop-Tarts, Sour Cream and Onion potato chips from Pringles, topped with Reese’s Pieces and a side of Häagen-Dazs chocolate peanut butter ice cream. All washed down with an entire two-liter of Mountain Dew.Stymied by Democrats — and in many cases themselves — congressional Republicans are now teeing up a reconciliation package to end the two-month-long DHS funding stalemate. By using budget reconciliation as a tool, Republicans can ignore Democrats, sidestep a Senate filibuster and prospectively pass the bill on their own.If they all stick together.GOP INFIGHTING REPLACES CLASH WITH DEMS, DERAILS PATH TO END HISTORIC DHS SHUTDOWNThere’s a push by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to prep a bill as svelte as possible, since DHS has been penniless for so long.”We’re going to move quickly, decisively, and hopefully in a very focused way,” said Thune.This is why Republicans call this a “skinny” bill, devoted to ending the shutdown.”We want to fund ICE and Border Patrol and maybe a few other things. But very narrow. Very focused,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.But not everyone in the Senate Republican Conference is on parliamentary Weight Watchers.Some want to stuff the reconciliation bill with tens of billions of dollars to cover the cost of the war in Iran. Others want to include the touchstone of Trump’s legislative agenda, the SAVE America Act. It requires proof of citizenship in order to vote. There’s a push to tack on farm aid. Others are arguing for disaster relief.HOUSE CONSERVATIVES RAGE AGAINST SENATE DHS SHUTDOWN DEAL”It doesn’t need to be skinny. We need to do the SAVE America Act. We need to fund the war. We need to do whatever President Trump needs to do with DHS and TSA,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Fox Business. “Let’s put as much stuff in there as we can get now.”But loading up the bill could slow it down. Especially when time is of the essence.”The broader you make this, the longer it’s going to take to pass the bill,” yours truly pointed out to Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.”That’s a fair assumption,” replied Hagerty. “But we have some critical needs as well. We’re going to have to debate all of this and decide exactly how far we’re going to go. Speed is critical.”I asked Thune if he was “worried” that some Republican senators may ask to dump “other things” into the legislation.”Well, they could,” replied Thune. “We have members who want other things. I mean, I want other things. But obviously we have a specific mission and purpose here.”Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., opined on what skinny or fat means for the fate of the legislation.”If John [Thune] holds firm, then the bill will remain skinny. If he doesn’t, it’ll jeopardize the bill being passed,” said Kennedy. “If he starts making deals, there will be four or five senators who take a run at it to try to have their stuff included. If he starts making deals to get their votes, it’ll be a huge mistake because you’re talking to one senator, and he is going to insist that [his] stuff be included, too.” Kennedy called adding legislative sweeteners — increasing the political caloric count — into the legislation to convince reluctant senators to vote yes would be “a huge mistake.” Kennedy noted that “this skinny bill is going to become obese very quickly.”So adding Iran dollars into the bill is one option, but some Republicans are reluctant to spend any more money on Iran until they get some answers about what’s next. “It’s going to be very difficult to get my support for any funding, or any additional resources from Congress until I have a clear, articulated strategy, how this is going to be ramping down over the next 60 or 30 to 35 days. Or, if it’s going to be escalated,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. “We need a clearly articulated plan if we’re going to be there for the long term.”‘WE DIDN’T CAVE’: THUNE HIGHLIGHTS SCHUMER, DEMS’ LOSSES IN DHS FUNDING DEALOther Republicans are willing to give the administration some leeway on Iran.”We can’t control the time it’s going to take to accomplish the mission. So the mission should be the goal. Not the time it takes to accomplish the goal. We’re in it. We need to be in it to win it,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. “Look at Vietnam. The reason we lost is because that war was being managed by LBJ from the White House. And when the White House tries to manage the military and call the shots and make the day-to-day decisions, we fail.” This is an apples-and-oranges question, but some Republicans are not-so-quietly getting skittish about how long the U.S. will be on the hook for the war. Especially as the conflict creeps toward the 60-day mark later this month.”I think it will be solved by then,” said a confident Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio.But even if the battle is over, it’s probable the U.S. would still maintain military assets in the region. There’s a running cost on that. That bill will come due at some point. And that’s why this reconciliation bill is such a ripe target for additional items like Iran war funding.But Republicans are already promising an additional reconciliation bill. If the first bill remains lean, GOPers will inevitably push to stash whatever they can in the later package. Still, that’s hard. And with DHS unfunded for so long, that’s why Thune is trained just on approving DHS money.But reconciliation bills are complex. The House and Senate consumed the entire period from early February through July 3 last year just to pass the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act. Thune and the president want the DHS funding bill wrapped up in the next few weeks. So a third bill?”Those who tell us that we’re going to have a third reconciliation bill have been smoking the devil’s lettuce. We will never have a third reconciliation bill,” said Kennedy. “This is the last major piece of legislation that we will likely pass until the midterms. There’s a feeling which I share among the Senate caucus that this is the last train leaving the station. We had better get all our cargo aboard. Now.”Most diets fail. It’s not a question of willpower. But sometimes dieting is a challenge the deeper you get into it.The House and Senate are just beginning the current effort to pass the reconciliation bill for DHS funding. It may start out slender, but maintenance is hard.Here’s something else working against lawmakers: history.Congress is used to piling lots of things into “must-pass” bills. That’s where the extra parliamentary pounds come from.Diets often succeed because someone makes lifestyle changes. Will Congress make a “lifestyle change” and pass a reconciliation that only ends the DHS shutdown?It’s a weighty question.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is sparking more speculation about whether she will launch another presidential run in 2028 by making stops this week in a crucial presidential primary state.Harris is in Columbia, South Carolina, on Thursday after making stops Wednesday in Greenville. For more than two decades, South Carolina has been one of the key early-voting states in the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar, and visits by potential presidential contenders generate buzz about their national ambitions.The South Carolina swing by the former vice president comes less than a week after she dropped a tantalizing comment at the first major cattle call of Democratic presidential contenders.HARRIS DROPS BIGGEST HINT YET ABOUT 2028″I might. I might. I’m thinking about it… I’ll keep you posted,” Harris said last Friday at the National Action Network’s 35th Anniversary Convention last Friday, when asked by the event founder Rev. Al Sharpton if she would seek the presidency in 2028.Harris, who replaced then-President Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee but later lost the election to President Donald Trump, was greeted by the crowd with chants of “run again.”The civil rights organization’s gathering gave Harris and eight other Democratic White House hopefuls an opportunity to speak directly to an influential group of Black leaders and activists who are key members of the Democratic Party’s base.Black voters are also key players in South Carolina’s Democratic Party electorate. And Harris, the first female and Black vice president in the nation’s history, received a warm welcome when she arrived Wednesday at a South Carolina Democratic Party fundraiser and reception in Greenville.HARRIS, NEWSOM, STIR 2028 SPECULATION AT MAJOR DEMOCRATIC PARTY MEETINGHarris is holding a book tour event on Thursday for her memoir, “107 Days,” her look back at her abbreviated 2024 campaign.Harris was mostly out of the headlines for a couple of months after the end the Biden administration. She began stepping back into the political spotlight last spring and summer, including headlining Democratic National Committee fundraisers.Her decision last summer to pass on launching a 2026 gubernatorial campaign in her home state of California was seen as clearing the runway for a 2028 presidential bid. Her nationwide book tour has helped keep her visible while building email lists and boosting donor interest.The former vice president’s current southern swing also includes fundraising appearances for the state Democratic Parties in Georgia and North Carolina, two crucial general election battlegrounds.Harris narrowly lost both those states and the five other key battlegrounds to Trump in the 2024 election.Pointing to Harris’ schedule, a veteran strategist in the former vice president’s political orbit recently told Fox News Digital, “of course we are reading tea leaves.”21 DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028The strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said “no one knows what she is planning to do for 2028, but until she tells us herself, she is going to continue to travel, speak up about the issues she cares about the most.”If she does run again in 2028, Harris would be considered one of the early frontrunners in what’s expected to be a crowded and competitive race for the Democratic nomination.The Republican National Committee (RNC) is giving thumbs down to the White House hopefuls.”Democrats are kicking off the 2028 primary by parading Kamala Harris and a roster of failed governors trying to outrun their own records,” RNC national press secretary Kiersten Pels told Fox News last week as she pointed to potential contenders who appeared at Sharpton’s convention.