All Content from Business Insiderhttps://www.businessinsider.com2024-03-29T09:38:29ZInsider Inc. 2023All Content from Business Insider Excluding PremiumOklahoma's lax marijuana laws made it a green utopia for the cannabis industry. Then came the mass murder.2024-03-29T09:19:01Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/oklahoma-legal-marijuana-cannabis-laws-industry-kingfisher-county-mass-murder-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6603a7f516bde8d4ead27c3a?format=jpeg" height="281" width="500" charset="" alt="Drone shot of a field"/><figcaption><p class="copyright">BI</p></figcaption></figure><p class="drop-cap"><strong>F</strong>ourteen months after the murders, the garage of the abandoned marijuana farm on prairie tableland northwest of Oklahoma City sits frozen and dark.</p><p>Clothes hangers meant for drying weed dangle from metal poles stretched across the ceiling. Electric fans and plastic footstools are toppled over. The remnants of face-high marijuana plants lie flat on the unswept concrete.</p><p>Electrical outlets and two air-conditioning units are crudely cut into white plaster walls. Under one of those outlets is a sign of the horror that happened here: blood splatter dried to a reddish brown.</p><p>Situated in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, the farm sits on a dirt path about two miles from the nearest paved road, surrounded by flatland. The closest town is Ames, Oklahoma, population 193, about 13 miles to the northwest.</p><p>On November 20, 2022, a man with a handgun executed four people on this farm, inside this garage.</p><p>On the night of the murders, responding officers found a whimpering dog standing beside one of the bodies.</p><p>Today, paw prints are still visible in the dust.</p><p>This inconspicuous rural farm may have seemed like an ideal place for its owners to go unnoticed.</p><p>And if a mass murder hadn't happened here, it may have worked.</p><hr/><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601d41616bde8d4ead1f4a9?format=jpeg" height="3872" width="5163" charset="" alt="Kingfisher, OK"/><figcaption>Broadway Avenue in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, about 30 miles south of where Wu Chen, 47, executed four people at a marijuana farm.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p class="drop-cap">On June 26, 2018, Oklahoma <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oklahoma-medical-cannabis-legalization-2018-6">voters approved</a>, by about a 57 percent margin, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative, becoming the 30th state in the country with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/legal-marijuana-states-2018-1">legal cannabis</a> in one form or another. But rules around how the state regulated it were remarkably spare, making it one of the most lenient states for growing and selling marijuana.</p><p>In Oklahoma, the application fee to start growing or selling medical pot is $2,500, and there is no statewide limit on the number of growers that can be licensed to sell to dispensaries. Compare that to Pennsylvania, where there's a cap of 25 marijuana growers or processors for the whole state, a nonrefundable $10,000 fee just to apply to grow marijuana, and a requirement that each licensed grow operation have access to $2 million in capital, including at least $500,000 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/programs/Medical%20Marijuana/Pages/Growers-Processors.aspx">in the bank</a>. California has dozens of different designations for types of marijuana-growing licenses, which can cost as much as $77,905 a year. Arkansas, next door to Oklahoma, has a strict license cap and restrictions on residential cultivation, and requires license holders to prove they have $500,000 in liquid assets.</p><p>Pretty much <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-legalization-ballot-tracker-new-jersey-arizona-montana-vote-results-2020">every state</a> has designed its own complicated set of barriers to start growing or selling marijuana, except Oklahoma. When Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana, the only real requirement was that Oklahoma residents had to be involved in marijuana growing and selling. Oklahoma, a boom-and-bust state since oil was first discovered there in 1859, exploded with marijuana operations. By October 2021, Oklahoma had more licensed cannabis farms than California, with a 10th of California's population. And marijuana proved a windfall for the state. According to data from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority — known as OMMA, the agency set up to write and regulate marijuana policy in Oklahoma — the state pulled in over $100 million in tax revenue from marijuana sales in 2020 alone.</p><p>But lax oversight of Oklahoma's legal marijuana market invited corruption and violence. Thousands flocked to the state seeking quick profits in cannabis, only to find fierce competition and rampant fraud. As criminal enterprises exploited the system's openness, law enforcement responded with heavy-handed crackdowns, gutting legitimate businesses as well.</p><p>While Oklahoma voters had welcomed in the marijuana industry, its law-enforcement community — and some of the state's law-and-order voters — saw red. And not just because of the threat of violence. Folks paying attention to property records started to see lots of business names connected to investors from around the world, particularly Chinese investors. The panic went national.</p><p>In July 2022, Oklahoma's Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, went on Sean Hannity's Fox News show to warn that Oklahoma was the state with the "No. 1 land purchases by the communists or foreign nationals" in 2020, which he described as "a red flag for anybody."</p><p>A month later, Dan Newhouse, a Republican Washington state representative, wrote an op-ed for Fox News warning of "Chinese nationals buying Oklahoma farmland at exorbitant prices, growing thousands of pounds of marijuana, and distributing it on the U.S. black market. Perhaps China considers this a bonus."</p><p>Then the quadruple murders happened. The name on the growing license for that farm in Kingfisher County was Liu and Chen Inc., and the property was owned by Yi Fei Lin, a Chinese national.</p><p>Afterward, people wondered why no one in law enforcement stopped a Chinese marijuana-growing operation where armed guards were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.enidnews.com/news/armed-guards-a-fixture-outside-lacey-pot-farm-before-4-were-slain/article_41103fe6-6d09-11ed-8d07-9ff9d7e4c936.html">known to hang out nearby</a> before it turned into the site of a mass murder. Legalization was supposed to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/how-legalizing-marijuana-securing-border-border-wall-drug-smuggling-lessons">reduce the incentives for powerful cartels to sell marijuana on the black market</a>. Instead, Oklahoma turned into a playground for marijuana growers — both criminal and not.</p><p>Many grow operations are connected to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-new-york-chinatown-gangs-actually-work-crime-2023-6">Chinese organized crime</a>, said Mark Woodward, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, or OBN, the law-enforcement entity that polices the state's marijuana industry. "These farms are ultimately run by people who are tied to violent crime, human trafficking, labor trafficking, sex trafficking, homicides, extortion, money laundering — there's so many other criminal activities."</p><p>At its peak in 2021, OBN received applications for more than 9,400 growing operations. In 2022, the Oklahoma legislature set a moratorium on new licenses.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601cfdb16bde8d4ead1ef7d?format=jpeg" height="4000" width="5333" charset="" alt="Portrait of Adria Berry."/><figcaption>Adria Berry, the executive director of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, or OMMA, is tasked with regulating and tracking marijuana processing and selling in one of the most open cannabis systems in the US.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p>Adria Berry, the executive director of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, is tempted to say, "I told you so."</p><p>"I'm personally not against the use of cannabis," she said. But the lack of any regulatory framework meant only one thing.</p><p>"It was obviously going to explode."</p><hr/><p class="drop-cap">In 2020, Barb Miuccio, a 52-year-old entrepreneur then based in the northern suburbs of Dallas, was looking for business opportunities during the pandemic. She wanted a new business — one she could potentially pass on to her kids.</p><p>She partnered with Jeremy Grable, an experienced marijuana grower looking to capitalize on Oklahoma's lax laws. Originally from Dallas, Jeremy honed his marijuana-growing skills out West before returning home. Considering Oklahoma's approach to legal weed, Barb and Jeremy saw an opportunity.</p><p>But Barb soon discovered the dark side of the unchecked green rush: minimal oversight, shady players, and criminal practices. After years of thwarted harvests, broken partnerships, and the very real threat of prison time, she said she's burned through a substantial amount of her savings.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601d0b21caec1275a692e3d?format=jpeg" height="3649" width="4865" charset="" alt="Portrait of Barb Muccio surrounded by marijuana plants."/><figcaption>Barbara Miuccio, 52, with some of the strains of marijuana grown for her business, Emerald Treez, in Moore, Oklahoma.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p>Barb, who is admittedly "not a weed person," saw in Jeremy someone with a green thumb who could handle the plants while she handled the business.</p><p>That meant taking the lead on licensing. But Oklahoma required 75% of any marijuana business to be owned by an Oklahoma resident. A quick Google search gave her options for plenty of lawyers offering to help would-be weed entrepreneurs.</p><p>She found Matt Stacy, an Oklahoma City-based lawyer, whose background seemed perfect for helping outsiders navigate his home state. A chummy 44-year-old white guy born and raised in Oklahoma, Stacy served for over 20 years in Oklahoma's Army National Guard, where he's a lieutenant colonel and decorated war hero after serving multiple tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine. He's a member of numerous legal associations and politically connected: Stitt appointed Stacy to lead the state's COVID-19 response team despite Stacy having no evident experience in health or science prior to the pandemic.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601d15b3f923f7dab00fd55?format=jpeg" height="3503" width="4670" charset="" alt="Portrait of Jeremy Grable at plant growing facility."/><figcaption>Jeremy Grable, 45, among plants in the Moore, Oklahoma, building where he grows marijuana for Emerald Treez. <p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p>Barb said Stacy assured them he'd take care of the details, including finding an Oklahoma resident to claim a 75% stake in the business, and guaranteed Barb and Jeremy they'd get licensed.</p><p>Matt Stacy declined to be interviewed for this story.</p><p>By August 2020, Barb and Jeremy had Stacy on retainer and rented a beige, no-frills industrial building in Moore, about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City. Stacy told them that he'd filed their paperwork, and in September, inspectors from OMMA dropped by to evaluate their location.</p><p>"This all happened pretty quickly," Barb said.</p><p>Barb and Jeremy decided on a name — Emerald Treez — and OMMA issued them a license.</p><p>That's when things started to get strange.</p><p>In November 2020, according to Jeremy and Barb, Stacy called them out of the blue and said he was going to send over one of his other clients to buy marijuana plants.</p><p>That their politically connected, Republican war-hero lawyer was, as Barb and Jeremy tell it, acting as a middleman didn't initially strike them as odd. "We're like, 'Hey, this guy's got a network,'" Barb said.</p><p>Barb said Stacy seemed to have a lot of clients who had migrated from China to take advantage of Oklahoma's growing laws. Jeremy and Barb didn't care where they came from. "Money's money," Jeremy said.</p><p>Then, Barbara and Jeremy said, Stacy hooked them up with a "marijuana-friendly" local bank — a necessity since federally backed banks won't accept deposits for marijuana businesses.</p><p>But some of Stacy's advice about banking seemed off, like telling them not to open an account in their names or under the name Emerald Treez. "He told us, 'Go open your bank account in this name. Don't tell 'em it's marijuana,'" Barb said. When she questioned this, she said Stacy responded: "Oh, don't worry. I walk in there with gym bags full of half a million dollars and it's all good."</p><p>Despite the banking irregularities, they continued working with Stacy — he had, after all, fulfilled his promise to set up their license, and he continued to send them clients who wanted to buy plants. They assumed his connections in the state would protect them.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601d54416bde8d4ead1f622?format=jpeg" height="4000" width="5333" charset="" alt="Marijuana saplings."/><figcaption>Some of the various strains of cannabis grown at Emerald Treez.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p>In December 2020, one of Stacy's clients visited Emerald Treez to buy plants but asked to see their OBN license first.</p><p>Barb said it was the first time she'd heard of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.</p><p>Marijuana licensing in Oklahoma was lax but it did require registering with OBN as well as OMMA, which neither Barb nor Jeremy knew about because, they said, Stacy hadn't told them.</p><p>Stacy blamed the mix-up on OBN, Barb said. He texted Barb a screenshot of what was supposedly Emerald Treez's OBN license number. The potential buyer wouldn't accept it because it wasn't an OBN application number — not even close.</p><p>Barb and Jeremy pushed ahead, not knowing the worst was still to come.</p><p>One day in May 2021, Jeremy and Barb left the grow facility to get supplies. According to Barb, the owner of a neighboring building called Jeremy and said, "OBN is at your building. Doors open on squad cars, guns drawn." Their neighbor, Barb said, walked over and the agents told him to mind his business. Barb and Jeremy decided to stay away.</p><p>Ultimately, OBN didn't raid Barb and Jeremy's business then, but they called Matt Stacy and said Stacy marked it up to confusion — OBN probably had the wrong place.</p><p>They assumed their lawyer was right and went back to work.</p><p>On June 30, 2021 — nearly a year after they started the process to grow in Oklahoma — Barb and Jeremy received an email from Stacy.</p><p>"It's like, 'Your grow is not gonna get approved for a license, and if you have any product in your building, I suggest you get rid of it now,'" Barb said.</p><p>They tried to call Stacy but he didn't pick up. They got in the car and drove to Stacy's office, but it was locked up tight with no one inside; it looked to be closed.</p><p>Barb and Jeremy were dumbfounded.</p><p>"We were losing it," Barb said.</p><hr/><p class="drop-cap">The same chaotic, unregulated gold rush that sucked in Barb and Jeremy left four dead in Kingfisher County.</p><p>The garage where three men and one woman — all of them Chinese nationals — were killed in November 2022 was unlocked on the January morning when Business Insider visited this year. The saltbox-roofed building was a refuge from zero-degree temperatures and cutting wind.</p><p>A heavy, gray metal fence slid open on creaking casters. A dirt path led to the building where the killings occurred — the garage with the hangers and the blood splatter.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601d1c716bde8d4ead1f116?format=jpeg" height="3654" width="4873" charset="" alt="Crime scene with blood spatter."/><figcaption>A dried bloodstain remains on the wall of a garage on the Kingfisher County marijuana farm where Wu Chen executed four people on November 20, 2022. Chen pleaded guilty to the killings on February 11.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p>A large mobile-home trailer sat just behind the garage. Inside the trailer, a sign on the door was written in Chinese: "Please shut the door behind you." Clothes were strewn everywhere. In the main room, two refrigerators sat empty, save for some decaying condiment bottles. Dry weed shake lay intermingled with dust on the floor. A hallway adjacent to the main room led to at least six bedrooms with mattresses and Chinese soda and beer cans and cigarette butts on the floor and more shoes and clothing tossed everywhere. In another section of the mobile home, the kitchen was a dusty jumble of pots and pans toppled over in haphazard piles to the floor.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601ce9f3f923f7dab00faad?format=jpeg" height="4000" width="6000" charset="" alt="Destroyed kitchen."/><figcaption>An abandoned mobile home on the Kingfisher County farm where four murders took place.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p>Jonathan Riedlinger, one of the Kingfisher County sheriff's deputies who arrived at the scene after the murders, said the farm itself was mostly empty.</p><p>"Everything was overgrown," Riedlinger said. "There wasn't a whole lot there. There was one barn that had two rooms that had an active marijuana grow."</p><p>Around dusk on November 20, 2022, Riedlinger's office received an emergency call from Yi Fei Lin, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24457727/affidavits-description-of-hostage-situation.pdf">charging documents</a> filed by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Despite a language barrier, Lin attempted to describe a hostage situation at 2372 N. 2760 Road, in Hennessey, Oklahoma.</p><p>Sheriff's deputies arrived and found Lin in a black Ford F-150. He had been shot multiple times and was severely wounded. Deputies cautiously approached the two-car garage, where they found three men and a woman — later identified as Qirong Lin, Hechun Chen, He Qiang Chen, and Fang Lee — dead on the garage floor.</p><p>Deputies found two other people alive on the farm. One survivor, Wenbo Lin, told investigators through a translator that he had been working on the farm for 10 days. On the night of the murders, Wenbo Lin told investigators that he was working in the garage when a man named Wu Chen — whom Wenbo Lin didn't know, but another witness told investigators Chen had worked on the farm a year earlier — arrived unannounced. Witnesses told investigators that once inside the garage, Chen shot one man, identified as "The Boss," in the leg and then shot a dog. Chen then held the four others at gunpoint.</p><p>Chen demanded $300,000, according to the charging documents, and he threatened to kill everyone in the room if he didn't get it. Over the next half hour, workers at the farm made phone calls, desperately trying to pull together the money. While they waited, two of the men in the garage attempted to rush Chen. Chen shot and killed one of the men, and then shot Yi Fei Lin as he attempted to flee the garage. Lin was able to hide and told investigators that he heard multiple shots from inside the garage.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6602dcb91caec1275a696f1e?format=jpeg" height="3814" width="5085" charset="" alt="Farm house under investigation."/><figcaption>More than a year after the murders, the property remains empty.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p>In the aftermath, the shot dog whimpered beside its dead owner. "She wasn't aggressive," Riedlinger said of the dog. "I mean, she was pretty docile for being shot. You would've thought that she'd be a little more mad." A vet came and checked the dog out, but Reidlinger didn't know what happened to the dog after that.</p><p>The Kingfisher murders were a turning point in Oklahoma's marijuana crackdown. "It woke the public up, it scared the public because they're all over Oklahoma — these farms are," Mark Woodward, from the OBN, said. "I think people started saying, 'That could happen across the road from me and my family.'"</p><p>Jed Green, a pro-marijuana activist in Oklahoma, said the murders "reinforced the narrative that the majority — or at least a lot — of the grow operations here are or have been operated by cartels."</p><p>"It's one thing to bust some folks and say, 'Hey, this was a cartel deal,'" Green said. "But when you have a quadruple homicide, it really drives home the narrative point of the shady criminal side of a number of these past operations."</p><hr/><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601d7d91caec1275a693b3f?format=jpeg" height="3761" width="5015" charset="" alt="County court house."/><figcaption>Deputies from the Kingfisher County Sheriff's Office were the first to arrive at the scene of a quadruple homicide at an abandoned marijuana farm.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p class="drop-cap">On October 17, 2022, Oklahoma prosecutors filed 34 felony charges against Matthew Alan Stacy, including five counts of illegally manufacturing thousands of pounds of marijuana — charges that, if he were convicted, could put Stacy in prison for the rest of his life and then some. Barb and Jeremy are listed as witnesses in the charging documents. Stacy pleaded not guilty to the charges.</p><p>The state of Oklahoma isn't claiming that Stacy grew pot illegally in some back room of his law office. It alleges that he led at least six aspiring growers — including Jeremy and Barb — to believe that they had submitted all the necessary paperwork to be licensed to grow pot under Oklahoma's new rules when, in fact, they hadn't. Prosecutors say that since Stacy led the growers to believe they could legally manufacture a controlled substance — literally thousands of pounds of marijuana — he's ultimately responsible for it.</p><p>Stacy also set up a network of "straw owners," prosecutors say, helping out-of-state growers skirt the requirement that 75% of a cannabis business be owned by Oklahoma residents. He was listed as the registered agent for at least 214 different LLCs licensed to grow or sell marijuana through OMMA. He'd put his own name on these license applications, prosecutors say, and then used names of other Oklahoma residents to ensure that each application technically met threshold requirements.</p><p>Straw owners would claim to own 75% of a business while knowing almost nothing about it. "These people said, 'All I know about the business is that I go to the mailbox once a month, and I get a check to say that I'm the owner,'" Woodward said. "They committed fraud."</p><p>During Stacy's preliminary hearing in May 2023, a woman named Helen Carillo, the Oklahoma resident listed on Barb and Jeremey's application, testified that Stacy had paid her $5,000 apiece to be a silent owner for three marijuana licenses — and then placed her name on dozens of others without informing her. Her objection was not that Stacy placed her name on dozens of licenses but that she didn't get paid for all of them.</p><p>Barb and Jeremy are also suing Stacy in civil court. The case is pending, and Stacy has filed a motion to dismiss the allegations.</p><p>"He's personally responsible for ruining our business," Jeremy said.</p><p>None of the state charges against Stacy indicate a connection to violent crimes.</p><p>The abandoned marijuana farm in Kingfisher County was also licensed with a straw owner. The person who arranged that license — Kevin Pham, the founder and CEO of CSI Accounting Services in Oklahoma City — is charged with many of the same crimes Stacy faces, including defrauding the state by providing false information to obtain marijuana licenses. (Pham also faces methamphetamine trafficking and firearms charges.)</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601d2ea1caec1275a69321f?format=jpeg" height="3392" width="4523" charset="" alt="Kevin Pham in court house."/><figcaption>Kevin Pham, 47, covering his face at a January 12 hearing in Kingfisher County. Pham has been charged by Oklahoma prosecutors with defrauding the state by providing false information to obtain marijuana growing licenses, including the one for the farm where Wu Chen murdered four people.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p>Pham has pleaded not guilty in the ongoing case. He declined to speak to Business Insider for this story.</p><p>Oklahoma's primary illegal-drug law-enforcement entity has shut down thousands of marijuana-growing operations, arrested more than 250 people connected with those grows, and confiscated nearly 1 million pounds of illegally grown marijuana, according to internal OBN data.</p><p>"These are grows that are tied to homicide, that are tied to sex trafficking and labor trafficking and environmental messes, gambling operations," Woodward said. "You're talking about nearly 11,000 businesses that were operating in Oklahoma." OBN's job, he said, is to figure out who was doing it legally versus illegally.</p><p>A 2022 report from Whitney Economics, a group that studies the cannabis industry, <a target="_blank" href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2022/12/report-75-percent-of-u-s-cannabis-market-is-illicit-sales-00072206">found</a> that as much as 75 percent of marijuana production in the US is done for unlawful sales. An investigation by ProPublica and The Frontier uncovered evidence of <a target="_blank" href="https://propublica.org/article/chinese-organized-crime-us-marijuana-market">Chinese organized crime</a> groups engaging in human trafficking to support illicit marijuana operations. NBC <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbc.com/nightly-news-films/video/captives-of-cannabis-human-trafficking-in-the-marijuana-industry-part-2/NBCN606981904">spoke to Chinese workers</a> at illegal grows in California who said they were recruited for their jobs through Mandarin-language websites, and a Searchlight New Mexico investigation <a target="_blank" href="https://searchlightnm.org/fields-of-green/">found</a> that Mandarin-language ads run on the social-media app WeChat offered to bring Chinese nationals Stateside to work on illegal farms.</p><p>Woodward said Oklahoma is ground zero for these workers and illegal marijuana production generally. Court filings in Oklahoma seem to back up that belief.</p><p>In February 2023, local law enforcement <a target="_blank" href="https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-city-amazon-van-marijuana-bust/43558431">arrested</a> a Chinese national and accused him of transporting more than 2,700 pounds of marijuana in a fake Amazon delivery truck to an Oklahoma City grow operation for illegal distribution. Another raid led to charges against owners of a Chinese restaurant, who prosecutors say <a target="_blank" href="https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-city-restaurant-the-kitchen-federal-money-laundering-drug-scheme/43902717">concocted a scheme</a> to launder $25 million in illegal marijuana proceeds. In January, local police raided an Airbnb in Edmond, just north of Oklahoma City, and arrested <a target="_blank" href="https://www.news9.com/story/65a847de5e0a905bd8199944/9-arrested-charged-with-drug-trafficking-in-edmond-rental-house">nine Chinese nationals</a>, who are facing charges related to distributing marijuana out of state. And human trafficking is a constant concern: In October, investigators <a target="_blank" href="https://okcfox.com/news/local/oklahoma-city-trafficking-ring-brothel-oklahoma-bureau-of-narcotics-jian-lin-feng-jeng-mark-woodward-new-york-city-prostitution">arrested a suspect </a>on human-trafficking charges, alleging he was involved in an Oklahoma City brothel where many clients appeared to be managers and administrators of Chinese-owned marijuana grows.</p><p>Woodward said one of OBN's goals is to help legitimate growers: "The industry just has not had a chance to even really get off the ground because the criminals immediately came in and undercut prices and workers and labor costs and everything."</p><p>But Oklahoma's marijuana crackdown has sparked accusations — perhaps not surprisingly, given the xenophobic overtones — of overreach.</p><p>A Vietnamese Hmong grower near Tulsa told Business Insider that he and other Hmong growers are targeted by OBN and local law enforcement as though they're on orders from China to grow marijuana and ship it illegally to other states. They "see all Asians as Chinese," he said. The grower, a former schoolteacher, declined to be identified, fearing recriminations for speaking out.</p><p>OBN denied it targeted Asian growers. "OBN has identified and shut down illegal grows, as well as made arrests on illegal farms tied to organized crime from China, Mexico, Russia, Bulgaria, Armenia, and the Italian mob over the last three years, as well as numerous American-owned and operated operations," said Woodward.</p><p>Green, the legal-weed advocate who heads up Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action, described the rocky start in Oklahoma's legalization efforts as growing pains. He talked about the historical booms and busts of Oklahoma industries like oil, shale gas, and wheat, which contributed to one of the most significant environmental disasters — the Dust Bowl — in American history. Oklahoma's aggressive law-enforcement efforts to eliminate marijuana grows are typical for the state. "You get a rush of enthusiasm, then a clampdown," Green said.</p><p>Green sees Oklahoma's marijuana troubles as a hiccup in the gradual movement toward federal legalization. "That's our goal," he said.</p><p>Indeed, it's difficult to imagine Oklahoma's half-decade weed rollout being as chaotic as it has been if Congress passed federal legislation making marijuana legal and regulating it like alcohol — with federal rules around production but allowing each state to make its own rules around sale and consumption.</p><p>Barb and Jeremy have an interest in seeing marijuana legalized at the federal level, too.</p><p>It's been a rough few years for them. They were forced to destroy a crop because of OBN licensing issues, and then their grow operation caught fire, apparently because of faulty electrical work, killing a harvest. They tried to open a dispensary to sell their product, but the deal they were working on went sour. They hope to sell through other dispensaries when their current harvest is ready for sale, but so far Emerald Treez is deep in the red. Barb's hope is that if marijuana does become legal on a federal level, they can expand their business out of Oklahoma.</p><p>Until then, they're stuck here.</p><p>After a steak dinner at Cattlemen's Steakhouse in Oklahoma City in February, Barb considered whether she would have done things differently.</p><p>"Yeah, I'll tell you what I wish I did differently," she said, taking a drag off a Virginia Slim. "I wish I'd never fucking stepped foot in Oklahoma."</p><hr/><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601d47d1caec1275a6935c8?format=jpeg" height="3872" width="5163" charset="" alt="House of the murder occurrence."/><figcaption>The deserted farm in Kingfisher County.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p class="drop-cap">After the murders, Wu Chen fled the scene, but he dropped his phone. Investigators were able to analyze it and determined he was headed to Florida. Police in Miami Beach found him two days later, on November 22, 2022, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/4-people-found-dead-oklahoma-marijuana-farm-chinese-nationals-executed-rcna58463">arrested him</a> without incident.</p><p>Ken Thompson, a Kingfisher County Sheriff's Office lieutenant deputy, traveled to Miami with another deputy to drive Chen back. Thompson said Chen didn't speak a word of English. "It's not like he could tell me anything about his concerns," Thompson said. "But I gathered he feared for his life."</p><p>Investigators said Chen told them through translators that he'd invested $300,000 in the farm and came to get it back. The farm's owner was unable to come up with the money to pay Chen. At some point, he opened fire.</p><p>There are rumors around the Kingfisher County courthouse that the killings may have been in retaliation for another shooting. Court records showed Yi Fei Lin and one of the murder victims, He Qiang Chen, were awaiting trial on charges related to a shooting in 2020, in uptown Oklahoma City, after a dispute over money. Lin and the now-deceased He Qiang Chen pleaded not guilty to those charges.</p><p>A preliminary hearing for Wu Chen had been scheduled for early February, and Yi Fei Lin and others were set to testify about what happened. But prosecutors offered Chen a deal: life in prison with no death penalty. He took it, ending the case. He'll spend the rest of his life in an Oklahoma prison.</p><p>In addition to the uptown Oklahoma City shooting, prosecutors have charged Yi Fei Lin with manufacturing at least 1,000 pounds of marijuana illegally — a charge that could land him in prison for more than 20 years. He's also accused of having used a straw owner to set up the business and has been charged with conspiracy against the state of Oklahoma. Lin has pleaded not guilty to the charges.</p><p>Murders like the ones in Kingfisher happen "more frequently than people realize," said Woodward. "Rule No. 1 is you don't leave a witness. He left a witness." If there are no witnesses, said Woodward, "you bury the bodies in the tree line, you bring another working crew in, and you pick up where they left off — and with a group that will bring you the money that they're supposed to be bringing in. These people are expendable and undocumented — nobody's missing these workers."</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6602dc3b3f923f7dab013d30?format=jpeg" height="3133" width="4177" charset="" alt="Abandoned dog on afar."/><figcaption>At the scene of the murder, deputies found a wounded, black-and-gray pit bull. "She wasn't aggressive," Jonathan Riedlinger, one of the deputies, said. "I mean, she was pretty docile for being shot." A neighbor says he took in this dog he found wandering around shortly after the murders.<p class="copyright">Mike Simons for BI</p></figcaption></figure><p>A half-mile south of the farm, next to a corrugated-steel building on land unaffiliated with Liu and Chen Inc., a man with an electrician's truck was pulling a big wire spool out of the enclosed bed of his pickup. He said the owner was inside the building.</p><p>A man with long brown hair, who declined to identify himself to Business Insider, emerged from the building. He had a dog with him — a black-and-gray pit bull he called Kiki.</p><p>He said that after the murders happened, the pit bull showed up and he took her in.</p><p>"I don't care if she's Chinese or not," the man said, as the dog sniffed a reporter's boots. "This is the best dog I've ever had."</p><div id="1711576221426" data-styles="default-width" data-embed-type="custom" data-script="" class="insider-raw-embed" data-type="embed"><style>
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A mass murder on a weed farm in Kingfisher County sparked a marijuana crackdown.Matt Stroudinsider@insider.comWhy Russian separatists called an exorcist when they discovered a Ukrainian POW was an evangelical Christian2024-03-29T09:08:28Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/russians-called-exorcist-ukrainian-pow-evangelical-christian-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6603f92816bde8d4ead282a8?format=jpeg" height="720" width="960" charset="" alt="Viktor Cherniiavskyi, Ukrainian FPV Kamikaze drone pilot and former POW."/><figcaption>Viktor Cherniiavskyi.<p class="copyright">Viktor Cherniiavskyi</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>A Ukrainian soldier said he was tortured by Russian separatists and forced to undergo an exorcism.</li><li>Viktor Cherniiavskyi said he was targeted because he was an evangelical Christian.</li><li>Some on the US Christian right have ironically shown support for Russia.</li></ul><p>A Ukrainian soldier said he was tortured by Russian separatists and forced to undergo an exorcism , partly because of his evangelical Christian faith.</p><p>Viktor Cherniiavskyi is now a first-person view (FPV) drone pilot, but he said he was a chaplain to evangelical Christians in the Ukrainian army in 2014 when Russia invaded the Crimean peninsula.</p><p>While serving as a volunteer in the city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Cherniiavskyi said he was captured by Russian-aligned forces.</p><p>During his 25 days of captivity, Cherniiavskyi said he was held in a basement cell in a prison in Luhansk, where he said he was beaten with a baseball bat, had unloaded pistols shot at his head, and was <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.kyivpost.com/videos/23681">repeatedly Tasered.</a></p><p>When his captors became aware of his evangelical faith, a Russian Orthodox priest from Moscow was called to carry out a form of exorcism on him, he told Business Insider.</p><p>"When the priest tried to cast demons out of me, he gave me two reasons: First, because of my 'black eyes.' Second, because I'm an evangelical Christian. Crossing his hands, he pushed me to kiss the crucifix," Cherniiavskyi said.</p><p>He added that the Kremlin had a particular hatred of Protestants and evangelical Christians and that Moscow saw anyone affiliated with US churches as "foreign agents."</p><p>By contrast, some on the US Christian right have ironically shown support for Russia as they see Russian President Vladimir Putin's country as an ally in a global culture war.</p><p>By contrast, the Christian right in the US frequently expresses profound admiration for Putin's Russia as <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-u-s-christians-who-pray-for-putin/">a beacon</a> of "traditional Christianity" in a global culture war.</p><h2>"Whose side is God on now?"</h2><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605587f1caec1275a6a2e70?format=jpeg" height="1266" width="2000" charset="" alt="Christian evangelicals attend Sunday service at First Baptist North church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, 2016."/><figcaption>Christian evangelicals in South Carolina, in 2016.<p class="copyright">NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)</p></figcaption></figure><p>Some Christian conservatives have embraced Russia's staunchly traditionalist views on family, sexuality, and gender — to the extent that when Russia launched its invasion of Crimea in 2014, former presidential advisor and paleoconservative Pat Buchanan asked a simple question in a post on <a target="_blank" href="https://townhall.com/columnists/patbuchanan/2014/04/04/whose-side-is-god-on-now-n1818499">Townhall</a>: "Whose side is God on now?"</p><p>Buchanan went on to highlight his admiration for the way Putin apparently upheld Christian values.</p><p>"In the culture war for the future of mankind, Putin is planting Russia's flag firmly on the side of traditional Christianity," he wrote.</p><p>US conservative evangelicals have forged symbolic bonds with the Russian Orthodox Church, drawn to Russia's religious traditionalism and white nationalism, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-u-s-christians-who-pray-for-putin/">Boston Review</a> reported.</p><p>In spite of such links, the Kremlin has not reciprocated any fondness for US Christian denominations.</p><h2>Ukraine's religious pluralism is under threat, experts say</h2><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/660559801caec1275a6a2e95?format=jpeg" height="1331" width="2000" charset="" alt="A destroyed church dome in Ukraine"/><figcaption>A destroyed church dome, Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, southeastern Ukraine, March 20, 2024.<p class="copyright">Dmytro Smolienko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><p>A <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/faith-leaders-highlight-russian-religious-persecution-in-occupied-ukraine/">report by the Atlantic Council</a> said that Russia's occupation of parts of Ukraine was threatening Ukraine's religious pluralism.</p><p>Russia has banned certain religious groups, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, for example.</p><p>Earlier this year, a Russian court sentenced nine Jehovah's Witnesses to substantial prison terms for "extremism," adding to a series of jailings and interrogations of believers since the ban was introduced in 2017, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-jails-9-jehovahs-witnesses-extremism-2024-03-05/">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>Religious sites have also been targeted since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as Putin's forces have sought to eradicate Ukrainian culture.</p><p>Some of <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://zn.ua/eng/crystal-months-how-in-kherson-the-russian-army-turned-a-christian-institute-into-a-military-base-and-looted-it-.html">the roughly 30,000 books in the library of the Protestant Tavriski Christian Institute in Kherson</a> were looted and thrown in the trash, per local reports.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhgLwc2mla0&feature=youtu.be">In a video testimony,</a> Pastor Dmitry Bodyu of the Word of Life Church in Melitopol, occupied by Putin's forces in the first weeks of the war, added, "The Russian military seized our church building. I was imprisoned and told that I would soon be killed. For local evangelical believers under Russian occupation, a deadly threat remains."</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/american-missionary-working-in-ukraine-shares-story-after-released-by-russian-forces/2941842/">Bodyu told NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth</a> that his Russian captors thought he was a spy, which is seemingly a common occurrence.</p><p>Rev. Mykhailo Brytsyn, pastor of the Grace Church of Evangelical Christians Melitopol, told a summit International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington DC in February: "Most priests and pastors like me have been threatened, intimidated, humiliated, detained, beaten and deported," Pastor Brytsyn said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/russian-forces-captured-killed-at-least-29-religious-leaders.html">per The Christian Post. </a>"Some priests and believers are still in Russian prisons today. Some of them were killed."</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023.10-IRF-Ukraine-report-summary-ENG.pdf">The Kyiv-based Institute for Religious Freedom (IRF)</a> said that as of October 18, at least 660 religious sites had been damaged or looted during the invasion, adding that at least 206 of those sites were evangelical churches.</p><p>"In reality, Russian society, and the Kremlin, to be more precise, hates any type of Christian denomination, bar the Orthodox Church," Cherniiavskyi said.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russians-called-exorcist-ukrainian-pow-evangelical-christian-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-29T09:08:28ZViktor Cherniiavskyi said he was tortured by Russian separatists in 2104 and forced to undergo an exorcism.Rebecca Rommenrrommen@insider.comI worked for Beyoncé for a year. She wasn't a diva and wasn't passive — it was a master class in executing a creative vision2024-03-29T09:01:01Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/beyonce-digital-strategist-beyhive-lessons-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6601d21d3f923f7dab00fe82?format=jpeg" height="600" width="1200" charset="" alt="Photo collage featuring Marcus Collins, Beyoncé, a laptop, and three little bees representing the Beehive"/><figcaption>Marcus Collins oversaw Beyoncé's digital ads and social media for a year.<p class="copyright">Marcus Collins; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Parkwood; Alyssa Powell/BI</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Marcus Collins shares the major lessons he learned helping Beyoncé to bring her fan base online.</li><li>Collins said Beyoncé's platforms didn't perform as well as expected in the beginning.</li><li>One lesson was the importance of facilitating an existing community instead of building a new one.</li></ul><p><em>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with </em><a target="_blank" href="http://www.marctothec.com/"><em>Marcus Collins</em></a><em>, author, and professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. It has been edited for length and clarity. </em></p><p><span>For a year, I worked with Beyoncé, overseeing her digital ads and social media. I started working with her in 2009, as her director of digital strategy and new media. During that time, I shifted my focus toward helping Beyoncé bring her fan base online. This is when I learned my biggest marketing lessons from her.</span></p><p><span>She's the most gracious and kind person I've ever met. At the same time, she knew what she wanted from her team. She </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-beyonce-wearing-hat-designed-affected-etsy-business-2023-3"><span>has high standards</span></a><span> for those around her because she has high standards for herself.</span></p><p><span>Here are three big takeaways from working with Beyoncé that have helped shape my career.</span></p><h2><strong><span>1. Don't build community, facilitate it</span></strong></h2><p><span>Part of my job in overseeing Beyoncé's digital strategy was maintaining her Facebook page and Twitter account. The team would put together our recommendations, and we'd present these ideas to her father, Matthew Knowles, who was overseeing Music World Entertainment, which produced her earlier work.</span></p><p><span>If he liked our ideas, we'd share them with Beyoncé. She'd hear us out, say what she liked or didn't like, and give recommendations. Even when she disagreed, she was always gracious. It was during these in-person meetings that it seemed she</span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/09/beyonce-social-media-instagram-studies#:~:text=Beyonc%C3%A9%20doesn't%20seem%20too,occasions%2C%20or%20to%20disseminate%20information."><span> wasn't really excited by social media</span></a><span> or inclined to post on Facebook or Twitter.</span></p><p><span>This was back in 2009 or 2010. The internet felt like the wild, wild west. There were no rules. Beyoncé had just finished the Brazilian leg of her "I Am Sasha Fierce" tour, and it seemed like social media wasn't for her.</span></p><p><span>In fact, for years, she had a Twitter handle </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-doesnt-beyonc-use-twitter-2016-2"><span>she never tweeted</span></a> on<span>. And yet, she had lots of followers waiting for her. So, when we became active on these platforms for her, we expected them to light up with activity. But they didn't in proportion to her stardom, which was a quagmire for us. We kept asking ourselves: "What is going on here? Why aren't any of her platforms taking off?"</span></p><p><span>Then, the team noticed there was already a group that found each other online, and they were far more active than anything we were trying to do. And those folks</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beyonce-16-carriages-act-ii-beginning-pandemic-2024-2"><span>were the Beyhive</span></a><span>.</span></p><p><span>We stopped working on building Beyoncé an online community and instead started engaging with the online community that already existed. We found people who saw the world similarly to Beyoncé, and then we engaged with them based on their shared values and beliefs.</span></p><p><span>People who come together under the moniker of the Beyhive don't just love Beyoncé's music; they subscribe to her point of view. To me, that was one of the biggest lessons of my marketing experiences working with her: You </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-small-businesses-use-online-communities-connect-customers-2023-11"><span>don't build community, you facilitate it</span></a><span>.</span></p><h2><strong><span>2. Dial in and focus on the creative vision</span></strong></h2><p><span>I think Beyoncé's greatest skill as a businesswoman was her ability to be involved in everything we did. It's wild to think that someone as talented and profound to the cultural zeitgeist, would be so nice. You'd expect a diva attitude, but she's so far from that. She's extremely gracious, but she isn't a pushover.</span></p><p><span>As my interactions with her became more frequent, we started making plans to revisit her website, and she wanted to be very much a part of it. She wasn't the passive player.</span></p><p><span>She's dialed in. She was very </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/invest-time-vision-statement-business-owner-entrepreneur2019-10"><span>aware of her creative vision</span></a><span> and I never had one bad interaction with her. I learned that you have to have a point of view about how you see the world. You have to know what you like and be courageous enough to follow it even if it's not the direction most people are going, and folks may not seem to </span><em><span>get it </span></em><span>right away.</span></p><h2><strong><span>3. Engage authentically</span></strong></h2><p><span>It seems somewhat obvious now, but people who went online to engage with each other </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/interesting-things-you-didnt-know-about-beyonce-fun-facts"><span>about Beyoncé</span></a><span> didn't want to be treated like consumers. It felt like when we first engaged with them, they told us: "Don't talk to me as though I were someone with money in their pocket. Talk to me as if I were a human being and engage with me based on your understanding of who I am and how I see the world."</span></p><p><span>Beyoncé's fans use her music to see the world through a cultural lens. The fans liked her authenticity and responded to it. But bloggers at the time took great license in throwing shade and jabs her way. It was at this point that her community started to take shape. The Beyhive became a battering ram for all those bloggers.</span></p><h2><strong><span>Once we were able to shift from focusing on fans to focusing on the community, we connected with the audience in a more meaningful way</span></strong></h2><p><span>When we saw </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/side-hustle-how-to-know-your-target-audience-2021-5"><span>the targeted audience</span></a><span> for who they were, they felt validated. And we learned they were then more inclined to be engaged. The secret was treating this community as a community, not consumers. And then what happens is, those people you've engaged with, in an authentic way, tell other people. Then that community becomes the marketer for you.</span></p><p><span>After working with Beyoncé, I wanted to go into advertising because I felt like the ad industry was using contemporary technologies better than the music industry was. But I learned a lot from my time </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beyonce-country-album-black-artists-reactions-shaboozey-tanner-adell-2024-3"><span>working with Beyoncé</span></a><span>. My book, "</span><a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=4a57861c6ed5491937287e9757efef82fa8b133c8d27691c6183f07d98cc7a05&postID=65fb1c56894bac29c4298301&postSlug=beyonce-digital-strategist-beyhive-lessons-2024-3&site=bi&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FCulture-Power-Behind-What-Want%2Fdp%2F1541700961%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fadgrpid%3D1334808849541268%26dib%3DeyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2aK6MSGNaLU0Cmn_yZV27VGBQg1SHfjxZ39XgMemSFOxa5a5RRpGfuVoV1HHLkX81wKdaFfEjaw6AY13DKL_prBJoRKsv887Yh4ppuMW5P-h0CSAoY0dm5K387lss4ypMQhaJsF-R_1SBUT1sxC-VP2F_NSnN1pbrvrjriKncWU-lpl1YyqGcKMBCyONmYpoP-zmFv710zJWCJogSGVmBTHyRxUAFuVAsKPgpMpfyVE.SItPBraGO-NytCkQDQJ3SRcdkqij7Kt-c7Q4U-V1h_w%26dib_tag%3Dse%26hvadid%3D83425842875512%26hvbmt%3Dbe%26hvdev%3Dc%26hvlocphy%3D92074%26hvnetw%3Do%26hvqmt%3De%26hvtargid%3Dkwd-83426617875342%253Aloc-190%26hydadcr%3D20583_13322609%26keywords%3Dfor%2Bthe%2Bculture%2Bbook%26qid%3D1709582956%26sr%3D8-1"><span>For The Culture</span></a><span>," is predicated on these experiences. Chapter one is all about finding who your tribe is, which is what marketers do.</span></p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beyonce-digital-strategist-beyhive-lessons-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-29T09:01:01ZBeyoncé's ex-digital strategy head shares what he learned from the star and his experience engaging with her fan community, the Beyhive, online.Michelle Mastroinsider@insider.comI'm a Gen Z mom. DINKs showing off their splurging and traveling gave me FOMO, but I don't regret having kids.2024-03-29T09:00:01Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-mom-dink-fomo-having-kids-no-regrets-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/65fd5e74895d822030333551?format=jpeg" height="1613" width="2151" charset="" alt="Megan Pagel and her son at a farmer's market sitting on a hay bale."/><figcaption>Megan Pagel got married in 2020 and has two children.<p class="copyright">Courtesy of Megan Pagel.</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Before Megan Pagel and her husband were parents, they spent their money on going out with friends.</li><li>Now that they have two children, she said they prioritize what their kids need.</li><li>Pagel said she doesn't regret her choices, although she did experience some FOMO around <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dinks-childfree-parents-choice-kids-childless-2024-3">DINKs</a>.</li></ul><p><em>This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Megan Pagel, 24, who lives in Tasmania, Australia, about having children in her early 20s. The following has been edited for length and clarity.</em></p><p>Before I met my husband, Michael, I was pretty adamant I <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/women-dont-want-kids-birth-rate-love-fulfilling-life-2022-4">didn't want kids</a>.</p><p>I was 19, and he was 20 when we met in 2019. We got engaged in September and were married in March 2020. He really wanted kids but said it was fine if I didn't, as he loved me and just wanted to be with me.</p><p>Something about the way he was so understanding made me come around to the idea. I thought having a family with him would be amazing.</p><p>My mum had my older brother at 21. I really like the age gap between her and me, and I thought I'd prefer to be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/young-mom-wanted-freedom-plan-life-around-kids-2024-3">a younger parent</a>.</p><p>We had our daughter in 2021 when I was 21 and our son in 2023.</p><p>Our DINK — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-dinks-winning-childfree-economy-finances-income-vacation-retirement-kids-2024-2">double income, no kids</a> — era was really fun. It was a nice time for us to bond and not take life too seriously — but we don't miss it.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/65fd60382417f97b87ce505b?format=jpeg" height="1460" width="1170" charset="" alt="Pagel and her husband holding hands on their wedding day. Pagel is wearing a white dress with a white and pink skirt and a pink veil."/><figcaption>Pagel and her husband on their wedding day in March 2020.<p class="copyright">Courtesy of Megan Pagel.</p></figcaption></figure><h2><strong>Before having children, we spent money on our enjoyment. Now, we focus on buying our kids the things they need.</strong></h2><p>Before we had kids, my husband and I didn't travel much but spent a lot of our money on enjoying our weekends like most 20-somethings would — partying with friends and going bowling or to minigolf.</p><p>I was an apprentice chef at a café when we met. In 2020, when Covid hit, I stopped doing my apprenticeship and eventually switched to barista work because the hours were a bit more friendly. I now work as a hospitality all-rounder at a different café, earning around 30 Australian dollars an hour.</p><p>I work casually, typically around three days a week, and my husband works full-time as a tree planter and firefighter.</p><p>Now that we have kids, we prioritize spending money on things they need. Groceries cost more now that both kids are eating solid food, and we try to make sure they're eating healthily. I'd say we spend around $AU250 to $AU300, which is about $163 to $200, on groceries a week, which includes things like diapers and wipes, while we spent between $AU100 and $AU150 before having kids.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/65fd5eec895d82203033356d?format=jpeg" height="698" width="1080" charset="" alt="Megan Pagel with her husband and baby daughter sitting on a blanket on the ground outdoors."/><figcaption>Pagel and her husband were together for around two years before having children.<p class="copyright">Courtesy of Megan Pagel.</p></figcaption></figure><p>The cost of living has gone up since Covid.</p><p>We do have to look a bit closer at our bank account than before, but it's very doable, and I think we're quite comfortable because we have backup savings.</p><p>We want to strive to make a little bit more than what we need, but it's not an easy task. It takes a lot of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/how-to-budget">budgeting</a> and is constantly on our minds.</p><p>I don't go out for many social outings, but we have made friends who are parents, and it's nice to hang out with them while the kids run around with each other.</p><p>We're really big on grocery vouchers. My <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-working-to-live-rather-than-living-to-work-2024-1">Gen Z</a> mum friends and I like thrifting to save money for ourselves and our kids. With the rising cost of everything, it's just part of our lives now.</p><p>From March 2022 to September 2023, we rented a house that cost between AU$610 to AU$685 a week, but in October, we <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-living-with-parents-save-money-housing-crisis-cost-2024-2">moved back in with my parents</a>. We don't pay them rent, which is a load off for us. My mom is also happy to babysit the kids when I need to work.</p><h2><strong>I felt FOMO when I saw DINKs trending on TikTok, but I realized I'm not really missing out</strong></h2><p>At the moment, I think it's very trendy to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-delaying-parenthood-and-having-kids-later-is-a-big-deal-2015-6">have kids later</a>. More people seem to be putting it off and prioritizing themselves, which I'm all for. It's good to see people doing what they want.</p><p>Last year, I started to see the term DINK popping up on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-couples-viral-debate-dink-childfree-lifestyle-perks-2023-4">TikTok</a>. People would be showing off all the traveling and splurging they were doing as DINKs, and it made me feel a bit of FOMO. I thought, "Maybe we should have waited. Maybe we could have made more money?"</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/65fd5f9f2417f97b87ce502a?format=jpeg" height="4032" width="3024" charset="" alt="Megan Pagel taking a selfie in a bedroom."/><figcaption>Pagel had her daughter when she was 21 and her son when she was 23.<p class="copyright">Courtesy of Megan Pagel.</p></figcaption></figure><p>I think it is easy to look at things on social media and get caught up on what other people are doing, but at the end of the day, I look at my kids and realize I'm not really missing out.</p><p>When I was a teenager, I thought I'd spend my 20s traveling and having experiences, but our early 20s coincided with Covid. It stopped us from doing most of the things we wanted to do anyway, so we thought we might as well have a child.</p><p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-choosing-dink-lifestyle-child-free-child-centered-world-2024-2">DINK lifestyle</a> is presented on social media as a way to splurge on yourself and do things you wouldn't be able to do with kids, like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/international-travel-with-young-kids-memories-2024-1">traveling</a>, but I don't think that's necessarily true.</p><p>Last year, my husband and I traveled across Australia for four weeks with the kids. I don't think we would have planned far ahead enough to do a trip like that before having kids.</p><h2><strong>I don't regret having kids young</strong></h2><p>I really enjoy being a mom.</p><p>I feel like the advantage of having kids at a younger age is I've had the opportunity to stop and start work as much as I need to. I didn't want to get to a point in my career where I was doing really well and then take a big break. I wouldn't have been happy if I had been unable to go back straight to where I was.</p><p>I don't regret that our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retirement-healthcare-dink-childree-fire-financial-independence-retire-early-2024-1">DINK era</a> was only around two years. We had more financial freedom, but it wasn't super glamorous.</p><p>We're enjoying the family era. We love spending our Sunday mornings making pancakes and dancing in the kitchen to kids' music.</p><p>I think we had children at the right time and it's worked out really well for us.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-mom-dink-fomo-having-kids-no-regrets-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-29T09:00:01ZA Gen Z mom feels FOMO when she sees DINKs flaunting their lifestyle online, but she doesn't regret having kids. Being a young mom has an upside.Charissa Cheongccheong@insider.comChina's property crisis is bleeding into its banking sector, which is being asked to prop up developers 2024-03-29T08:22:21Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/china-property-crisis-bleeding-into-banking-sector-bad-loans-liquidity-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/660643393f923f7dab0277fb?format=jpeg" height="2667" width="4000" charset="" alt="An aerial photo is showing a residential area of Evergrande in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, on January 29, 2024."/><figcaption>A residential area in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, on January 29, 2024.<p class="copyright">Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>China's property crisis has impacted the country's biggest banks, increasing non-performing loans.</li><li>Beijing is urging banks to boost financing for "white list" property developers to help the sector.</li><li>Despite the crisis, Chinese banks say they have sufficient buffers to manage risks.</li></ul><p>China's property crisis has hit the books of its biggest lenders, which are reporting an uptick in non-performing loans.</p><p>Non-performing loans at China's big four banks — Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Agricultural Bank of China — jumped 10.4% in 2023, from 1.117 trillion Chinese yuan, about $155 billion, in 2022 to 1.23 trillion yuan.</p><p>This is according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/China-debt-crunch/Top-Chinese-banks-warn-of-spillover-risks-from-property-crisis">Nikkei</a> analysis based on the companies' earnings, which were released this week.</p><p>The banks were all <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-28/china-s-big-banks-post-scant-profit-gains-as-margins-shrink">profitable</a> last year, but their margins are being increasingly pressured by the fallout from China's real-estate debt crisis.</p><p>Even so, Beijing is urging banks to boost financing for property developers featured on a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-property-real-estate-crisis-white-list-bank-loans-2023-11">"white list" of companies.</a></p><p>China's real-estate sector has been mired in crisis since the second half of 2021, when a liquidity crunch at <a target="_blank" rel="" class="font-medium text-[#4A4A4A] underline hover:text-blue-700 visited:text-blue-600" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-property-crisis-evergrande-81-billion-loss-housing-economic-slowdown-2023-7"><u>Evergrande</u></a> — once China's second-largest developer — came to light.</p><p>Evergrande is now in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/evergrande-ordered-liquidate-china-real-estate-property-crisis-winners-assets-2024-1">liquidation,</a> while <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="font-medium text-[#4A4A4A] underline hover:text-blue-700 visited:text-blue-600" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/evergrande-crisis-other-china-property-developers-in-trouble-outlook-2021-12"><u>other Chinese real-estate developers</u></a> have run into similar issues and have begun <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" class="font-medium text-[#4A4A4A] underline hover:text-blue-700 visited:text-blue-600" href="https://www.caixinglobal.com/2023-07-31/cover-story-chinas-property-crisis-contagion-spreads-to-state-backed-developers-102087880.html"><u>defaulting on their bond payments,</u></a> spurring fears the crisis could <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="font-medium text-[#4A4A4A] underline hover:text-blue-700 visited:text-blue-600" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-xi-jinping-evergrande-debt-american-world-fallout-2021-10"><u>spill over</u></a> into other sectors of the economy, and globally.</p><p>Despite the rise in bad loans, Chinese lenders said they had enough buffers to weather the storm and will control lending risks to property developers, per Nikkei.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-property-crisis-bleeding-into-banking-sector-bad-loans-liquidity-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-29T08:22:21ZChina's property crisis has hit the books of its four biggest lenders, which have seen a notable rise in non-performing loans.Huileng Tanhtan@insider.comA former Apple employee leaked details about products he didn't like from his work iPhone, lawsuit says2024-03-29T07:34:21Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/apple-sues-former-employee-andrew-aude-product-leak-work-iphone-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6606244c16bde8d4ead37977?format=jpeg" height="5233" width="7838" charset="" alt="People walk past an Apple Store on March 25, 2024 in Berlin, Germany."/><figcaption>People walk past an Apple Store on March 25, 2024, in Berlin, Germany.<p class="copyright">Sean Gallup/Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Apple is suing a former software engineer for leaking confidential information.</li><li>Apple said Andrew Aude shared information about products to media and staff at other companies.</li><li>It said Aude still poses a threat because of his knowledge of confidential company information.</li></ul><p>Apple is suing a former employee who it said leaked confidential information, including about products he didn't like, from his work-issued iPhone.</p><p>In a complaint filed on March 18 at a <a target="_blank" href="https://traffic.scscourt.org/search">California court,</a> Apple said former software engineer Andrew Aude shared information about projects, including Apple's Journal app and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-vision-pro-unboxing-what-comes-with-headset">Vision Pro,</a> to media outlets and employees at other tech companies over a period of five years.</p><p>The tech giant is suing Aude, who was hired in 2016, for breaching its confidentiality agreement and violating labor laws.</p><p>The lawsuit was first reported by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.macrumors.com/2024/03/28/apple-sues-former-employee-for-alleged-leaking/">MacRumors</a>.</p><p>Apple said it discovered the leaks in late 2023. When confronted, it said Aude denied his involvement but then feigned a bathroom break and "permanently deleted significant amounts of evidence from his device."</p><p>This included deleting the Signal app — which he used for communications — from his work-issued phone, it said.</p><p>But the lawsuit said that Aude often saved screenshots of his communications on his work iPhone "to preserve them for posterity," and Apple was able to retrieve those.</p><p>According to Apple's lawsuit, an analysis of Aude's Apple-issued work iPhone showed he had over 1,400 encrypted communications with one Wall Street Journal journalist over a four-month period.</p><p>Aude also sent a journalist at The Information over 10,000 text messages, and traveled to meet her, according to Apple.</p><p>Aude's screenshots were attached to the lawsuit. In one particular leak to the Journal journalist around April 2023, Aude's screenshots showed "'giddy anticipation" of the "chaos" awaiting the company following the publication of leaked information, Apple said.</p><p>Aude had also characterized the leak to other colleagues as a "necessary evil," it added.</p><p>"In connection with one leak, Mr. Aude admitted that he violated his obligations to Apple so he could 'kill' products and features with which he took issue," Apple said separately in the lawsuit.</p><p>Aude's leaking of information led to the publication of multiple news reports, according to Apple.</p><p>"His disclosures also have impeded Apple's ability to surprise and delight with its new offerings," the tech company said in its lawsuit.</p><p>While Aude's employment has been terminated, Apple said he poses an "ongoing threat" to the company due to his knowledge of its confidential and proprietary information, as well as his "long and extensive history of disclosing it to third parties intentionally and without authorization."</p><p>Apple is pursuing a jury trial, damages, and an order directing Aude not to disclose the company's confidential and proprietary information to third parties without its consent. It also wants Aude to give up his discretionary bonuses and restricted stock units.</p><p>Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, sent outside business hours.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-sues-former-employee-andrew-aude-product-leak-work-iphone-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-29T07:34:21ZApple accused Andrew Aude of leaking information about projects including the Journal app and Vision Pro to media outlets and other tech companies.Huileng Tanhtan@insider.comInside Big Tech's nasty battle for coveted AI talent2024-03-29T01:04:59Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-ai-hiring-frenzy-big-tech-talent-war-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6602f70e1caec1275a6989ea?format=jpeg" height="1414" width="2119" charset="" alt="Cartoon of recruiter looking for best job candidate"/><figcaption>Big Tech seems to be making it harder for smaller companies to hire AI talent.<p class="copyright">Nuthawut Somsuk/Getty</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-ai-job-career-ibm-nvidia-recruiters-advice-2023-10">Hiring for AI talent</a> is ruthless — and Big Tech may be to blame. </li><li>Recruiters say tech giants offer high salaries to talent that smaller firms can't match.</li><li>There also aren't many workers with the right skills for AI-related jobs, though that will change.</li></ul><p>The fight to hire the best <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatgpt-jobs-career-growth-linkedin-tech-salaries-2023-11">AI talent</a> is heating up as companies large and small compete in the race to create the best products in the booming sector. It looks like the biggest players in the tech industry with the biggest bank balances are winning out right now.</p><p>Last week, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-just-stepped-up-ai-game-against-google-mustafa-suleyman-2024-3">Mustafa Suleyman</a>, the cofounder of Google's DeepMind, left his startup Inflection AI to lead tech giant Microsoft's consumer AI division as CEO. A week before that, Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, said on a podcast he couldn't <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recruiting-ai-talent-ruthless-right-now-ai-ceo-2024-3">poach a top AI researcher </a>at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta">Meta</a> because his startup didn't have enough GPUs, Nvidia's pricey and in-demand chips. Following Sam Altman's brief ouster from OpenAI last November, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-marc-benioff-poach-openai-talent-x-post-reactions-twitter-2023-11">Salesforce</a> tried to lure researchers away from the ChatGPT-maker by offering to match their compensation packages.</p><p>This carousel of labor between companies illustrates the high demand for employees who can build and train large language models — key to getting AI to actually produce the results firms want. But recruiters say that startups and smaller firms struggle to hire workers with technical and non-technical AI skills, with some tech execs believing Big Tech is squeezing them out of the sector.</p><p>"Companies like Meta are stealing away and holding talent," J.T. O'Donnell, the founder and CEO of career-coaching service Work It Daily, told Business Insider. And "smaller companies are not going to be able to lure away that talent because they don't have what they need," O'Donnell says.</p><h2>Big Tech is willing to pay up to a million for AI talent</h2><p>One reason it's so difficult for smaller companies to get workers with the right skills: it's expensive.</p><p>"AI talents are some of the most <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hinge-meta-nvidia-amazon-walmart-offering-high-salaries-ai-jobs-2023-8">highly compensated</a> in today's job market," Alex Libre, the cofounder and principal recruiter of Einstellen Talent, a service that matches job candidates with generative AI startups, told BI.</p><p>And generally, bigger, more established companies tend to offer the most money. He's seen major firms offer <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-jobs-pay-non-tech-companies-how-to-find-2023-7">at least $100,000 </a>for junior positions and nearly seven-figure compensation packages for high-level specialists. That's bad news for smaller businesses with less financial firepower.</p><p>Still, according to Libre, startups are now starting to be "extremely generous" with their offers to early-stage AI hires to compete with the tech giants, including offering equity.</p><p>"I've seen a founding machine learning engineer get 4% of the startup's outstanding shares, which used to be completely unheard of," Libre told BI.</p><h2>There are not enough workers with AI expertise.</h2><p>But uneven financial incentives aren't the only factor in the battle for workers. Many job applicants simply don't have the skills for the job.</p><p>"There is undoubtedly a shortage in AI talent," Libre says.</p><p>Typically, candidates for generative AI roles include "highly skilled' programmers and data scientists with advanced degrees who are well-versed in programming languages like Python, Libre says. They're also familiar with deep learning software libraries like TensorFlow, Ray, and PyTorch.</p><p>However, the recruiter says companies now want to hire <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-ai-freelance-copywriter-editor-novels-memoirs-ebooks-2023-8">copywriters</a>, product managers, and other professionals who may not have a technical background — as long as they have a strong grasp of AI. That includes knowing how to apply the technology to workflows, crafting quality prompts, and understanding bot-generated outputs.</p><p>"This combination of skills is not as abundant as the industry needs and not as abundant as most people think," Libre says.</p><p>Flavien Coronini, a recruiter at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hugging-face-open-source-ai-approach-2023-12">Hugging Face</a>, agreed that a talent shortage coupled with Big Tech's sector dominance has made it tough to fill roles at the open-source AI startup.</p><p>"As a rapidly growing startup in a niche area like AI, we face stiff competition from larger companies and more established players in the industry," Coronini told BI. "Additionally, the skills and expertise required for our team are very specific, and a limited pool of talent is available with the necessary experience and knowledge."</p><h2>Companies are just getting started with AI.</h2><p>Still, recruiters who spoke to BI acknowledge that generative AI is still fairly new, and companies need time to catch up — but will.</p><p>Some do so by hiring a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chief-ai-officer-tech-hot-role-skills-strategy-machine-learning-2024-2">chief AI officer</a>, leveraging consultants, and having internal discussions on how the technology can be deployed across the company.</p><p>Workers, too, are starting to learn more about how to use generative AI through their employers' skills training programs and external online courses. Hugging Face now offers public educational resources such as videos and tutorials to help developers learn about natural language processing, among other related topics.</p><p>Once employers and employees understand the technology more, filling AI-related roles with the right talent may get easier.</p><p>"It's a journey," O'Donnell said. "Anytime you have a new skill set, it's like the wild, wild west, and everyone's racing to get to the cream of the crop regarding hiring."</p><p>But for now, a juicy paycheck and an already established AI setup — whether that's having enough GPUs or other talented workers — may be just what a company needs to offer to secure the ideal candidate. And that leans in favor of big, rich players like Microsoft and Meta.</p><p>"Somebody who's really into AI is going to hold out for an employer that will have what they need to be successful," she says.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-ai-hiring-frenzy-big-tech-talent-war-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-29T01:04:14ZThe fight to hire the best AI talent is heating up, and it looks like Big Tech — and big paychecks — are winning out right now amid a skill shortage.Aaron Mokamok@insider.comThousands of student-loan borrowers got their debt wiped through a new repayment reform. 11 GOP states just filed a lawsuit to block that relief.2024-03-29T00:50:29Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-save-plan-lawsuit-gop-attorneys-general-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/654b9af83cc84b4dfafe71aa?format=jpeg" height="683" width="1024" charset="" alt="Joe Biden"/><figcaption>President Joe Biden listens during an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House on October 23, 2023.<p class="copyright">Anna Moneymaker</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Eleven GOP state attorneys general filed a lawsuit to block the SAVE income-driven repayment plan.</li><li>They argued that the shortened timeline for debt relief through the plan is unconstitutional.</li><li>An Education Department official said Congress allows the authority to set terms for income-driven repayment. </li></ul><p>The lawsuits to block President Joe Biden's student-debt relief efforts are back.</p><p>On Thursday, 11 state attorneys general — led by Kansas' Kris Kobach — filed a lawsuit to block <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-borrowers-apply-income-driven-repayment-save-plan-2023-7">Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment plan</a>, implemented over the summer to give borrowers cheaper monthly payments with a shorter timeline for relief.</p><p>The lawsuit, filed in Kansas' district court against Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, stated that the "lawsuit is now necessary to prevent Defendants from continuing to flout the law, which includes ignoring Supreme Court decisions," referring to the high court's decision at the end of June to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-supreme-court-strikes-down-debt-cancellation-2023-5">strike down Biden's first attempt at broad student-loan forgiveness</a> using the HEROES Act of 2003.</p><p>"Once again, the Biden administration has decided to steal from the poor and give to the rich," Kobach <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ksnt.com/news/kansas/live-kobach-talks-biden-administration-lawsuit-on-student-loan-forgiveness/">said</a> during a Thursday press conference. "He is forcing people who did not go to college, or who worked their way through college, to pay for the loans of those who ran up exorbitant student debt. This coalition of Republican attorneys general will stand in the gap and stop Biden."</p><p>Last month, the Education Department implemented a provision of the SAVE plan ahead of schedule: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-debt-cancellation-save-income-driven-payment-plan-2024-2">$1.2 billion in debt relief for 153,000 borrowers</a> who originally borrowed $12,000 or less and made as few as 10 years of qualifying payments. The lawsuit argued that the relief was "in defiance of the Supreme Court" and asked the federal court to declare the SAVE plan unconstitutional and require borrowers to make payments.</p><p>An Education Department official told Business Insider that while the department does not comment on pending litigation, "Congress gave the US Department of Education the authority to define the terms of income-driven repayment plans in 1993, and the SAVE plan is the fourth time the Department has used that authority."</p><p>"From day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has been fighting to fix a broken student loan system, and part of that is creating the most affordable student loan repayment plan ever that is lowering monthly payments, protecting millions of borrowers from runaway interest and getting borrowers closer to debt forgiveness faster," the official said. "The Biden-Harris Administration won't stop fighting to provide support and relief to borrowers across the country — no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us." </p><p>While the lawsuit makes several comparisons to the debt relief plan the Supreme Court struck down, the legal basis for the two plans differ. Biden's first attempt at broad student-loan forgiveness <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-cancels-student-loan-debt-100000-people-making-125k-income-2022-5?esd">would have canceled up to $20,000 in debt</a> for borrowers making under $125,000 a year using the HEROES Act — a law that allows the education secretary to waive or modify borrowers' balances in connection with a national emergency, like a pandemic.</p><p>The SAVE plan, on the other hand, went through a process mandated by the Higher Education Act known as negotiated rulemaking, which requires negotiations with stakeholders and public comment before its final implementation. The Education Department is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loans-where-does-biden-debt-cancellation-stand-negotiations-relief-2024-2">currently undergoing</a> the negotiated rulemaking process for its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-will-take-cancel-student-debt-higher-education-act-2023-7">second attempt at a broader form of debt relief</a>.</p><p>The Education Department has not yet filed its response to the lawsuit. For now, borrowers who received relief through SAVE are not impacted, and enrollment in the plan can continue.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-save-plan-lawsuit-gop-attorneys-general-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-29T00:50:29ZA group of GOP attorneys general filed a lawsuit to block Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment plan, intended to get more debt relief to borrowers.Ayelet Sheffeyasheffey@businessinsider.comFisker Ocean reservation cancellations top 40,000 as the EV company tries to fight off bankruptcy, leaked data shows2024-03-28T23:48:05Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/fisker-ocean-reservation-cancellations-electric-car-leaked-data-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605cc271caec1275a6aa227?format=jpeg" height="683" width="1024" charset="" alt="Thousands of people have cancelled their orders for a Fisker EV."/><figcaption>Cancellations of Fisker Ocean reservations have crossed 40,000, according to internal data viewed by Business Insider, as the electric carmaker explores strategic alternatives.<p class="copyright">FREDERIC J. BROWN</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mkbhd-fisker-ocean-review-marques-brownlee-video-tiktok-2024-3">Fisker</a> has faced a wave of reservation cancellations, according to internal data viewed by BI.</li><li>Reservation cancellations for the Fisker Ocean recently topped 40,000. Preorders began in late 2019.</li><li>Fisker recently paused production of its EV and dropped its price by 39%.</li></ul><p>Tens of thousands of Fisker customers have canceled their vehicle reservations, according to leaked data obtained by Business Insider, as the electric car company scrambles to find additional financing and a potential bankruptcy filing looms over its operations.</p><p>More than 40,000 out of well over 70,000 reservations for the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fisker-fsr-electric-suv-ocean-range-price-photos-2021-11">Fisker Ocean</a> have been canceled to date, according to internal company metrics viewed by Business Insider. The company first began accepting pre-orders in November 2019, and announced in February 2023 that it had "approximately 65,000" reservations ahead of its first deliveries.</p><p>Fisker was averaging around 70 to 80 cancellations per day in a recent seven-day average, according to the internal metrics viewed by BI.</p><p>The reservation cancellations pose an issue for the company, representing potential sales slipping away during a time when the company desperately needs to generate more revenue.</p><p>The cancellations also represent a drag on company costs. While it costs $250 to reserve a Fisker, that amount is refundable aside from a $25 processing fee, the company's website says. Individuals who reserve more than one of the company's EVs are entitled to a $100 refund<strong> </strong>if they cancel, according to Fisker's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fiskerinc.com/legal/reservation-terms">reservation terms online</a>. The company said a reservation "will hold your approximate spot in our order queue to purchase your Fisker EV."</p><p>It's not clear how many reservation cancellations Fisker has already reimbursed in the years since November 2019, when it <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fisker-ocean-reservations-open-convenient-mobile-app-affordable-pricing-and-all-digital-experience-unveiled-300965984.html">began accepting reservations</a>, but the total cost to date of around 40,000 reservation reimbursements would be in the ballpark of $9 million.</p><p>The company also has a few thousand order cancellations, according to the data viewed by BI, which are different than reservations and not fully refundable. The company says on its website it will keep the $5,000 order deposit, as well as the transportation fee if a cancellation is made after the company has started the process of transporting the vehicle to the customer.</p><p>Fisker has delivered more than 6,000 of the vehicles to date since the automaker released the Fisker Ocean SUV in June 2023, according to the metrics viewed by BI.</p><p>Fisker confirmed the deliveries but declined to comment on cancellations of reservations or orders.</p><p>The automaker <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fisker-ocean-ev-price-cuts-stock-delisting-bankruptcy-2024-3"><u>dropped prices</u></a> for its flagship EV by 39% on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to boost sales — meaning the most affordable version of the SUV is now selling for about $25,000.</p><p>During Fisker's earnings last earnings call in February, it <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/01/business/ev-maker-fisker-says-it-may-go-out-of-business/index.html"><u>warned</u></a> that the company might not have enough funds to survive 2024.</p><p>The company said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1720990/000119312524069658/d784326d8k.htm">regulatory filing</a> earlier this month it had paused production of its electric car for six weeks and it had around $121 million in the bank as of March 15. On March 18, the company <a target="_blank" href="https://investors.fiskerinc.com/news/news-details/2024/Fisker-Announces-Receipt-of-Financing-Commitment-of-Up-to-150-Million-and-Provides-Business-Update/default.aspx">said</a> it had secured a commitment for<strong> </strong>up to $150 million in additional financing from an existing investor. On March 22, Fisker said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1720990/000172099024000029/fsr-20240322.htm">regulatory filing</a> that negotiations with a major automaker had failed and that Fisker was<strong> </strong>continuing to evaluate strategic alternatives.</p><p>The end of negotiations with the major automaker meant that Fisker was unable to meet a closing condition with the existing investor for the up to $150 million of financing previously announced, which meant that the funds were no longer guaranteed, the company said in the regulatory filing. Fisker said in the filing it planned to try to negotiate a waiver to that closing condition or a financing deal with the investor under different terms.</p><p>The company is Henrik Fisker's second automotive startup. The Fisker CEO and Danish car designer's previous startup, Fisker Automotive, filed for <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/report-fisker-lays-off-public-relations-team-2013-4"><u>bankruptcy protection in 2013.</u></a> Fisker launched his second automotive company in 2016.</p><p><strong><em>Do you work for Fisker or own one of their EVs? Reach out to the reporter through a non-work email or device at gkay@businessinsider.com or via Signal at 248-894-6012</em></strong></p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fisker-ocean-reservation-cancellations-electric-car-leaked-data-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T23:48:05ZMore than 40,000 out of well over 70,000 Fisker Ocean reservations have been canceled, according to internal company data viewed by BI.Grace Kaygkay@insider.comLauren Boebert 'makes George Santos look like a saint,' says retired House Republican who she's trying to replace2024-03-28T23:18:48Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/ken-buck-lauren-boebert-george-santos-saint-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605ea131caec1275a6ab709?format=jpeg" height="1000" width="2000" charset="" alt="Former Rep. George Santos and Rep. Lauren Boebert before the State of the Union earlier this month."/><figcaption>Former Rep. George Santos and Rep. Lauren Boebert before the State of the Union earlier this month.<p class="copyright">Shawn Thew/Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Former Rep. Ken Buck recently sounded off against Lauren Boebert, who's now running for his seat.</li><li>He said the congresswoman and her various controversies "makes George Santos look like a saint."</li><li>Boebert has accused Buck of resigning early in order to make it harder for her to win his seat.</li></ul><p>According to audio that recently aired on a Colorado talk radio station, former Rep. Ken Buck doesn't think all that highly of Rep. Lauren Boebert.</p><p>"She makes George Santos look like a saint," Buck can be heard saying on the audio heard on the "Dan Caplis Show." Buck was referring to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/george-santos-expelled-congress-what-happens-next-2023-11">recently expelled</a> New York Republican who's known for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/george-santos-employment-college-pulse-shooting-residence-history-2022-12">his myriad lies</a>; Santos has been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/george-santos-plea-deal-negotiations-prosecutors-criminal-case-2023-12">indicted</a> on 23 charges, including wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty.</p><p>According to Politico, which <a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/inside-congress/2024/03/28/marylanders-plot-a-hill-bridge-response-00149621">first reported</a> on the existence of the audio, Buck made those comments at a Rotary Club event after being asked about the controversial congresswoman.</p><p>"I've been asked about her moving across the mountains to run in the 4th congressional district, and I have not said anything," Buck can be heard saying before he references controversies surrounding her <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lauren-boebert-drops-restraining-order-against-ex-husband-jayson-2024-3">ex-husband</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lauren-boebert-son-tyler-arrested-family-drama-2024-republican-campaign-2024-2">son</a>, as well as her <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lauren-boebert-beetlejuice-groping-see-me-church-colorado-2024-3">infamous "Beetlejuice" incident.</a></p><p>On Friday, Buck told Politico: "I went through a list of issues that I have not responded to that the press has asked me about."</p><p>Boebert, appearing on <a target="_blank" href="https://khow.iheart.com/featured/dan-caplis/content/2024-03-14-rep-lauren-boebert-co-3-responds-to-ken-buck-criticisms-special-election/">the show</a> to respond to Buck's comments, fired back: "Ken Buck is so irrelevant and such an embarrassment to Colorado… I really don't care what he's asked about me."</p><p>The two Colorado Republicans have been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ken-buck-lauren-boebert-colorado-4th-congressional-district-gop-primary-2024-3">at loggerheads</a> recently over Buck's decision to suddenly resign, which has triggered a special election in Colorado's 4th district.</p><p>Boebert, facing the prospect of an expensive reelection campaign and a potential loss to a Democrat in her old district, opted to move across the state and run in the 4th district in December after Buck announced that he would retire.</p><p>She had already faced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-lauren-boebert-define-carpetbagger-debate-district-switch-2024-1">accusations of "carpetbagging"</a> and a potentially tough fight to stay in Congress.</p><p>But Buck's decision to leave even sooner than the end of his term — which also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-johnson-life-is-about-to-get-worse-ken-buck-2024-3">shaved down</a> the House GOP majority upon his departure last Friday — makes her path to staying in office even harder.</p><p>She's already <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lauren-boebert-colorado-special-election-swampy-could-confuse-voters-2024-3">sworn off</a> seeking the GOP nomination for the special election, given that she would trigger another special election in her old seat if she won. Later on Thursday, local GOP officials are set to choose another candidate, possibly one of her current primary opponents.</p><p>That means Boebert may have to run against someone who has been anointed by the local party to serve for at least 6 months in Congress, putting her at a greater disadvantage.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ken-buck-lauren-boebert-george-santos-saint-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T23:17:24ZFormer Rep. Ken Buck made the comments about Boebert, who's running for the seat he just resigned from, at a recent event in Colorado.Bryan Metzgerbmetzger@insider.comSam Bankman-Fried apologized for wrecking the lives of FTX customers while still trying to shift the blame for their losses2024-03-28T21:30:27Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sentencing-ftx-cryptocurrency-prison-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605b6461caec1275a6a8f27?format=jpeg" height="1500" width="2250" charset="" alt="In this courtroom sketch, Sam Bankman-Fried, center, makes notes during his sentencing hearing in March 2024."/><figcaption>In this courtroom sketch, Sam Bankman-Fried is seen during his sentencing hearing.<p class="copyright">Elizabeth Williams via AP</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison.</li><li>Ahead of the sentencing, the fallen crypto king admitted that he "failed" and apologized.</li><li>He expressed remorse for his former colleagues at his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.</li></ul><p>Fallen cryptocurrency king Sam Bankman-Fried spoke out Thursday in a Manhattan federal courtroom ahead of being <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sentenced-prison-ftx-alameda-research-2024-3">sentenced to 25 years behind bars</a>, apologizing to FTX customers who had lost their life savings and the employees who had followed him "across the Earth" before he let them down.</p><p>"They all held something really beautiful," Bankman-Fried said, referring to the fallen cryptocurrency exchange. "They threw themselves into it, and I threw it all away. It haunts me every day."</p><p>Bankman-Fried appeared more subdued than he did during his trial in October. He spoke cautiously, pausing occasionally as he addressed US District Judge Lewis Kaplan.</p><p>"My useful life is probably over. It's probably been over for a while now, from before my arrest," Bankman-Fried said.</p><p>Prior to making his statements, Bankman-Fried listened to impact statements from two people – former FTX customer Sunil Kavuri and Adam M. Moskowitz, an attorney involved in a class action case against Bankman-Fried and other former executives.</p><p>"I lived the FTX nightmare every day for two years," Kavuri said.</p><p>Moskowitz, meanwhile, asked the judge to consider Bankman-Fried's cooperation in the recovery case.</p><p>The 32-year-old cofounder of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX was found <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jury-sam-bankman-fried-guilty-seven-counts-fraud-manhattan-trial-2023-10">guilty on seven counts</a> of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy charges in November after a six-week criminal trial.</p><p>"I failed everyone I care about and everything I cared about," Bankman-Fried told the court before Kaplan sentenced him for what prosecutors described as one of the biggest financial frauds in US history.</p><p>Bankman-Fried said his colleagues "watched me throw away everything they had built."</p><p>"They were very let down. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry about what happened at every stage," he said.</p><p>He added that his pain is less important than that of customers and creditors, noting that it has been "excruciating to watch all of this unfold in slow motion."</p><p>Even so, he said he did not think the story of why customers suffered "has been told or told correctly."</p><p>He again tried to shift the blame for how and why the crypto exchange collapsed, insisting that there are "enough assets" to make customers whole. His attorneys argued that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sentencing-customer-losses-judge-2024-3">customers suffered "zero" losses</a>.</p><p>Customers "could have been paid back" at 2022 prices or current prices, including inflation, Bankman-Fried claimed.</p><p>"I'm hopeful and optimistic that that's finally going to happen," Bankman-Fried said. "They deserve that… There are enough assets for that. There always have been."</p><p>Kaplan didn't buy the argument, calling it "speculative" and "misleading."</p><p>He went on to enumerate three instances where Bankman-Fried perjured himself on the stand: when Bankman-Fried said he didn't know his company was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sbf-yep-ftxs-top-lawyer-no-legal-justification-taking-funds-2023-10">spending FTX customer funds</a>; when he said he didn't know about the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-trial-adam-yedidia-bug-8-billion-alameda-2023-10">$8 billion liability</a> in the company's balance sheets; and when he claimed not to have known that repaying customers would require borrowing additional funds.</p><p>That list was not exhaustive, Kaplan said, adding that it would not be a "good use of time to articulate" all of Bankman-Fried's lies on the stand. Bankman-Fried admitted to making mistakes but didn't show remorse, Kaplan said.</p><p>Before handing down Bankman-Fried sentence, Kaplan <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/molcranenewman/status/1773374147025940939"><u>said</u></a> he wanted to prevent him from committing more harm, noting that he has previously marketed himself to the media to rebrand his image and version of events at FTX.</p><p>"There is a risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future, and it's not a trivial risk, not a trivial risk at all," the judge said, noting that the judgment had to "reflect the seriousness of the crime."</p><p class="premium">Kaplan said that the sentence would be "for the purpose of disabling" Bankman-Fried "to the extent that can appropriately be done for a significant period of time."</p><p class="premium">Bankman-Fried faced a maximum of 110 years in prison following the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ftx-collapsed-due-to-hubris-incompetence-and-greed-debtor-report-2023-4">collapse of FTX</a>. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence between 40 and 50 years behind bars, comparing him to the notorious late Wall Street Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.</p><p class="premium">Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement after the sentencing that Bankman-Fried "orchestrated one of the largest financial frauds in history, stealing over $8 billion of his customers' money."</p><p class="premium">"His deliberate and ongoing lies demonstrated a brazen disregard for his customers' expectations and disrespect for the rule of law, all so that he could secretly use his customers' money to expand his own power and influence," Williams said.</p><p class="premium">The sentence given to Bankman-Fried will prevent him from "ever again committing fraud" and also sends an "important message to others who might be tempted to engage in financial crimes that justice will be swift, and the consequences will be severe," said Williams.</p><p class="premium"><em>This story has been updated.</em></p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sentencing-ftx-cryptocurrency-prison-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T21:30:27ZAt his sentencing hearing Thursday, Sam Bankman-Fried expressed the most remorse for his former FTX colleagues and customers.Natalie Musumeci,Katie Balevic,Jacob Shamsiannmusumeci@businessinsider.comAnyone want to pay an extra 50% for their Spotify subscription? This bill would make it mandatory.2024-03-28T21:27:49Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-cost-increase-bill-adds-tax-apple-music-streaming-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605be8a1caec1275a6a9484?format=jpeg" height="2000" width="3000" charset="" alt="Taylor Swift performs during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at the National Stadium on March 02, 2024 in Singapore."/><figcaption>Taylor Swift doesn't need any more money. Would you pay an extra streaming fee for musicians who do need a boost?<p class="copyright">Ashok Kumar/TAS24</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>A proposed bill would add an extra $4 to $10 a month to streaming music fees.</li><li>Making streaming music work better for artists — especially non-famous ones — is a real problem.</li><li>But this bill won't solve it because it's never going anywhere.</li></ul><p>Lots of consumers like streaming music. Lots of musicians complain about streaming — they say it doesn't generate nearly as much revenue for them as they deserve and need.</p><p>So here's a proposal to help fix that: a tax that would increase American consumers' music streaming bills by 50% — meaning you'd pay an extra $4 to $10 a month for services like Spotify or Apple Music.</p><p>[Record scratch.] What?</p><p>That proposal comes from the <a target="_blank" href="https://d12t4t5x3vyizu.cloudfront.net/tlaib.house.gov/uploads/2024/03/Living-Wage-for-Musicians-Act_Final-Text.pdf">Living Wage for Musicians Act</a>, sponsored by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York).</p><p>And this one is obviously not going anywhere. I don't believe there was ever a time that Americans supported a 50% tax hike on anything, for any reason. But it's clearly not going to happen when lots of them are still trying to figure out how to afford houses or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/consumer-confidence-economy-stock-market-gas-prices-eggs-vibes-recession-2024-1">eggs</a> after a big inflation spike.</p><p>You can also tell Tlaib and the bill's supporters don't really think this tax is going anywhere, either.</p><p>That's presumably why Tlaib's office doesn't spell out the cost of the tax in the <a target="_blank" href="https://tlaib.house.gov/posts/tlaib-introduces-living-wage-for-musicians-act">announcement</a> promoting the bill — it refers to it only as a "small fee."</p><p>The same goes for the <a target="_blank" href="https://weareumaw.org/make-streaming-pay">United Musicians and Allied Workers</a>, the group that helped create the bill. And the same goes for this <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/28/new-law-how-musicians-make-money-streaming">op-ed from Damon Krukowski</a>, a musician and UMAW member. None of them spell out what would happen to consumers' monthly bills if this went through.</p><p>Which, frankly, made me think that Krukowski and his colleagues are trying to accomplish something else with this proposal. Though I'm not sure what that would be.</p><p>But when we got on the phone to discuss the bill this month, he said it's supposed to be taken literally and seriously.</p><p>"This is meant to be a workable solution," he told me.</p><p>Leaving aside the non-starter of a tax, Krukowski has plenty of good points to make about how difficult it is for most musicians to make any kind of money from streaming. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/music-royalties-artist-revenue-compared-spotify-apple-music-pandora-2019-12">Many of which you've heard before</a>.</p><p>One good bit of nuance Krukowski adds that you likely haven't heard: In some cases, the US government <em>already</em> has a role in distributing revenue to musicians (or, at least, people who own the rights to songs musicians write and perform). But that doesn't apply to much of the revenue on-demand music streamers collect.</p><p>And while lots of musicians take issue with deals big music labels strike with the likes of Spotify and how little of that comes back to artists, Krukowski says the bill is explicitly <em>not</em> trying to meddle with those deals. This is just supposed to add an additional revenue source, which would be distributed directly to artists.</p><p>But back to that fee, which the bill spells out as "an additional fee in an amount equal to 50 percent of the subscription fee charged by the service provider, except that such additional fee shall not be an amount less than $4 or more than $10."</p><p>So for a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spotify.com/us/premium/">Spotify premium subscriber, paying a list price of $11 a month</a>, that would be an additional $5.50 a month. (That theoretical money would get collected and distributed by a nonprofit fund; the money would be divvied up based on usage, which would also be capped so that mega-popular artists like Taylor Swift wouldn't soak up all the new revenue.)</p><p>Again: Who's going to go for that?</p><p>And here, I'll note that anyone who spends any time looking at their bill for things like cell service, cable TV, a meal out, or a hotel stay is likely to find all kinds of extra taxes and surcharges on top of the original fee, you thought you were paying. And those fees can be both meaningful — the average "resort fee" at a hotel now reportedly averages $30 a night — and immovable: If you don't want to pay that fee, <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=fb8474cea643c492f233c89e8702ae336d7381c32641c4246e883ba25544cc99&postID=6605bd139c303b96ab8219d4&postSlug=spotify-cost-increase-bill-adds-tax-apple-music-streaming-2024-3&site=bi&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kayak.com%2Fnews%2Fwhat-is-a-resort-fee%2F%23avoid-resort-fees">your options are pretty darn limited</a>.</p><p>While I'm at it, I can also note I often voluntarily — or at least somewhat voluntarily — will throw an extra dollar in a real or digital tip jar when I buy a cup of coffee.</p><p>And that, if I think about it, I'm probably spending north of $4 a month for extra fees on coffee purchases alone. And that while I wish the people making my coffee or delivering my food or cleaning my hotel room got paid more by their employers or gig arrangers, I'm willing to accept that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/money/23978458/tipping-culture-tablet-tipflation-doordash-square-toast-tips">it's kind of on me to help people make a living</a>. So I [usually/sometimes] do it.</p><p>And, maybe, if my Spotify family subscription offered a digital tip jar — and I truly thought that money would go directly to musicians — I might be tempted to throw in a few bucks here and there, too.</p><p>But that's a whole lot different than a government-imposed levy, no matter how well-intentioned it is. Even if I was OK with it, it's hard to imagine a less popular proposal.</p><p>Anyone got a better idea?</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-cost-increase-bill-adds-tax-apple-music-streaming-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T21:27:49ZStreaming music economics are tough for musicians. But a proposal to add a 50% tax to your monthly charges won't fix anything because it won't pass.Peter Kafkapkafka@insider.comUS Army general says the 'future is not bright' for towed artillery, like the M777s America gave Ukraine to fight the Russians2024-03-28T21:26:27Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/future-not-bright-for-towed-artillery-like-us-gave-ukraine-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/64fee6f1a39a1b00190cefab?format=jpeg" height="1333" width="2000" charset="" alt="Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions from a US-supplied M777 howitzer"/><figcaption>Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions from a US-supplied M777 howitzer in Kherson region, Ukraine, in January 2023.<p class="copyright">AP Photo/Libkos</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>A US general said the "future is not bright for towed artillery," weapons like the M777 howitzer.</li><li>Gen. Rainey cited the need for mobile, indirect fires and autonomous capabilities for future conflict.</li><li>The war in Ukraine has put artillery back in the center of land combat, with both sides relying on it heavily.</li></ul><p>A US Army general said the age of the towed artillery cannon may be coming to an end and suggested the prioritization of other, more mobile options.</p><p>The general's comments on towed artillery, systems like the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watching-m777-howitzer-artillery-fire-boom-shakes-to-the-core-2024-3">M777 howitzer</a>, come as these weapons are being used in the war in Ukraine. Artillery pieces, including towed weapons provided to Kyiv by the US and other partners, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-fire-rate-causing-more-than-ammo-shortages-for-ukraine-2024-2">are front and center</a>, with both sides heavily relying on them in combat for indirect fire.</p><p>At the Association of the United States Army's Global Force symposium this week, US Army Futures Command head Gen. James Rainey said towed artillery's days are probably numbered<strong>, </strong>or at least should be.</p><p>"I personally believe that we have witnessed the end of the effectiveness of towed artillery: The future is not bright<strong> </strong>for towed artillery," Rainey said, <a target="_blank" href="https://breakingdefense.com/2024/03/towed-artillery-has-reached-end-of-the-effectiveness-army-four-star-declares/?utm_campaign=BD%20Daily&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=300166046&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_TdZEQcoe4iVUfYbAQkeUO4nmuggbL985cjoVkUoNXrEQW9mcmI-FWJxegDDeNjF3rpO45E4R9RK9-NF-fFkR91lbmcxFKjomwuPzNENtzueEhigQ&utm_content=300166046&utm_source=hs_email">according</a> to Breaking Defense.</p><p>Rainey said, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2024/03/future-not-bright-towed-artillery-army-general-says/395289/?oref=d1-homepage-top-story">per</a> Defense One, that future warfare will demand artillery systems that can "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/troops-must-nearly-invisible-survive-future-battlefields-top-us-general-2023-5">continuously move</a>" with "no displacement" time, talking about the time to relocate the gun after firing it, a task that can take several minutes and put crews at risk.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/65f1e26b90413ab8e1dc2a98?format=jpeg" height="1333" width="2000" charset="" alt="US soldiers fire a M777 towed 155 mm howitzer during an exercise at Vilseck, Germany on Feb. 13, 2024."/><figcaption>US soldiers fire a M777 towed 155 mm howitzer during an exercise at Vilseck, Germany on Feb. 13, 2024.<p class="copyright">Spc. William Kuang/US Army</p></figcaption></figure><p>The four-star general said the Army should instead be prioritizing highly mobile indirect-fire options, as well as autonomous capabilities that don't require troops to load and fire. Rainey said he's "very interested in<strong> </strong>autonomous and robotic cannon solutions" for <span>joint forcible entry formations,</span> Defense News <a target="_blank" href="https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/global-force-symposium/2024/03/27/army-artillery-needs-more-range-mobility-and-autonomy-study-finds/?utm_campaign=dfn-ebb&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sailthru&SToverlay=2002c2d9-c344-4bbb-8610-e5794efcfa7d">reported</a>.</p><p>Rainey also cited the Army's conventional fires study completed in July 2023. The study, he said, was partially spurred by "what's happening in Ukraine" and what may be needed across operational theaters, such as the Indo-Pacific.</p><p>That study looked into what capabilities the Army needs to field going forward, as well as what new technologies are worthwhile for investment and procurement.</p><p>Finding the right artillery solution is a work in progress though. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/army-achieves-first-big-milestone-with-strategic-long-range-cannon-2019-10">strategic long-range cannon</a> with a 1,000-mile range never came about, and the Army recently decided that its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-the-4-long-range-weapons-the-army-wants-for-future-war-2018-10">Extended Range Cannon Artillery</a> simply wasn't what it actually needed for the future fight after some successful tests.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605d50316bde8d4ead36aed?format=jpeg" height="4480" width="6720" charset="" alt="Arkansas National Guard soldiers from Charlie Battery of 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery Regiment conduct training with the M777 Howitzer during Annual Training on Fort Chaffee June 11, 2022."/><figcaption>Arkansas National Guard soldiers from Charlie Battery of 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery Regiment conduct training with the M777 Howitzer during Annual Training on Fort Chaffee June 11, 2022.<p class="copyright">Photo by Pfc. Savannah Smith/119th Mobile Public Affairs</p></figcaption></figure><p>Though towed artillery might not have a future in the US Army, assets like the<strong> </strong>M777 howitzer are seeing major use in the war in Ukraine.</p><p>Multiple military aid packages since Russia launched its full-scale invasion have included howitzers and significant amounts of ammunition. As both Russia and Ukraine <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-key-us-weapons-artillery-shells-for-ukraine-is-soaring-2024-3">burned through artillery shells at astonishing rates</a>, the US and its allies <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/denmark-to-send-all-artillery-ukraine-pm-russia-war-2024-2">prioritized production to keep Kyiv in the fight</a>.</p><p>That support from the US, however, has waned in recent months amid political roadblocks in Congress that have left <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-fires-2000-shells-day-minister-one-third-of-russia-2024-2">Ukrainian units rationing shells</a>.</p><p>But while artillery, including towed units and self-propelled assets firing rockets and shells, has been a dominant element of the war in Ukraine thus far, it's also shown vulnerabilities in a modern fight. Drones, for instance, have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-night-vision-drones-posing-problems-ukraine-2024-3">dominated the skies</a> and have easily targeted artillery systems and denied troops mobility and access to safely move pieces to new positions.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/future-not-bright-for-towed-artillery-like-us-gave-ukraine-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T21:26:27Z"We have witnessed the end of the effectiveness of towed artillery," the four-star general said, arguing the Army needs something different.Chris Panellacpanella@businessinsider.comSam Bankman-Fried appeared to wipe away tears during sentencing while his dad held his head in his hands and his mom stared out the window2024-03-28T21:08:48Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sentencing-parents-tears-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605c7213f923f7dab02592b?format=jpeg" height="1197" width="1795" charset="" alt="Sam Bankman-Fried's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, outside a federal courthouse after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison."/><figcaption>Sam Bankman-Fried's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, face reporters outside a federal courthouse after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.<p class="copyright">DAVID DEE DELGADO/Getty</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday.</li><li>He wiped his red eyes while his parents hung their heads or looked out the window.</li><li>US District Judge Lewis Kaplan said Bankman-Fried didn't express remorse for his crimes.</li></ul><p>The clanging of Sam Bankman-Fried's leg shackles announced his entrance into Manhattan federal court, where he learned that he was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sentenced-prison-ftx-alameda-research-2024-3">sentenced to 25 years in prison</a> on Thursday.</p><p>Bankman-Fried, the fallen cryptocurrency mogul and former CEO of FTX, appeared to wipe tears from his reddened eyes as US District Judge Lewis Kaplan handed down the sentence.</p><p>Standing in brown prison garb without cuffs on his wrists, Bankman-Fried appeared more reserved than he did during his six-week trial, after which he was found <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jury-sam-bankman-fried-guilty-seven-counts-fraud-manhattan-trial-2023-10">guilty on seven counts</a> of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. He departed from the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-gets-haircut-for-first-day-criminal-trial-2023-10">cropped haircut</a> he favored during the trial in October, bringing his <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-hair-higher-bonuses-car-caroline-ellison-2023-10">signature curly black mane</a> out of retirement.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-parents-sentencing-submission-danger-2024-2">His parents</a>, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, sat in a pew near the front of the public gallery. As Bankman-Fried walked into the room and took his seat, his mother trained her mournful eyes on her son. At other points throughout the hearing, she stared out the window and chewed on her lip while his father leaned forward, holding his head in his hands.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605b6461caec1275a6a8f27?format=jpeg" height="1500" width="2250" charset="" alt="In this courtroom sketch, Sam Bankman-Fried, center, makes notes during his sentencing hearing in March 2024."/><figcaption>Sam Bankman-Fried is depicted during his sentencing hearing in a courtroom sketch.<p class="copyright">Elizabeth Williams via AP</p></figcaption></figure><p>Bankman-Fried's attorneys described him as "an incredibly kindhearted and generous person" who is "a beautiful puzzle" of complexities.</p><p>"Really, he's an awkward math nerd. He thinks in probabilities about everything," said attorney Marc Mukasey, who previously asked the court to sentence his client to 6.5 years in prison.</p><p>Speaking before the court, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sentencing-ftx-cryptocurrency-prison-2024-3">Bankman-Fried apologized</a> for the pain caused to customers, maintaining that they could <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sentencing-customer-losses-judge-2024-3">all be repaid in full</a>. He said he made "mistakes" and "bad decisions," though he notably avoided saying he committed crimes.</p><p>Assistant US attorney Nicolas Roos, noting that the defense team had accused the prosecution of villainizing Bankman-Fried, said he's "not a monster, but he is someone who committed gravely serious crimes."</p><p>Fried's head snapped up when Roos called for a sentence of at least 40 years.</p><p>Prior to handing down the 25-year sentence, Kaplan called Bankman-Fried a "mathematical wizard," saying he essentially ran a cost-benefit analysis of getting caught versus getting away with fraud.</p><p>"Mr. Bankman-Fried, no doubt, very well advised and proudly so, says 'mistakes were made,'" Kaplan said. "I think one of his pithier expressions was, 'I fucked up,' but never a word of remorse for the commission of terrible crimes."</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sentencing-parents-tears-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T21:08:48ZAs he was being sentenced to 25 years, Sam Bankman-Fried appeared to wipe red, teary eyes. His parents watched him with their heads hung low.Katie Balevic,Jacob Shamsiankbalevic@businessinsider.comINSIDE QUANTICO — how Marine Corps officers survive the 7-month Basic School2024-03-28T20:40:32Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/marine-corps-officer-basic-school-quantico-training-2024-3<div style="position:relative; overflow:hidden; padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/aPuclTsv-jZbcmOYf.html" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute;" allow="fullscreen" title="INSIDE QUANTICO — how Marine Corps officers survive the 7-month Basic School"></iframe></div><p>We got an inside look at how new United States Marine Corps officers are trained at The Basic School, a seven-month program that challenges newly commissioned second lieutenants physically, academically, and tactically.</p><p>Chief video correspondent Graham Flanagan spent five days inside The Basic School at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, where he observed five different companies in various stages of training.</p><p>While Marine Corps officers lead enlisted Marines in combat, in some trainings at The Basic School, they play the roles of enlisted Marines. These lessons are intended to help them develop hands-on experience performing the tasks that they'll be commanding their subordinates to perform.</p><p>The Basic School culminates with a crucible known as The War, where students are divided into opposing forces and must strategically battle to seize and defend a city.</p><p>Service members from countries like Greece, the Bahamas, and the Netherlands also attend The Basic School.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-corps-officer-basic-school-quantico-training-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T20:40:11ZWe got an inside look at how new United States Marine Corps officers are trained at The Basic School.Graham Flanagangflanagan@businessinsider.comHow drug-money laundering actually works, according to a former undercover agent2024-03-28T20:31:33Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/how-cartels-launder-drug-money-former-undercover-agent-2024-3<div style="position:relative; overflow:hidden; padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/sBQ61KJS-jZbcmOYf.html" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute;" allow="fullscreen" title="How drug-money laundering actually works, according to a former undercover agent"></iframe></div><p>Robert Mazur tells the full story of his time as a government agent investigating drug-money laundering. Mazur went undercover for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service intelligence division, and the Customs Service. </p><p>In Operation C-Chase, Mazur successfully infiltrated the Medellín cartel by posing as a wealthy, mob-connected businessman named Robert Musella. He established connections with Pablo Escobar's lawyer Gonzalo Mora and Escobar's trafficker Roberto Alcaino. At the height of its power, the cartel is estimated to have supplied over 80% of all cocaine shipped to the US, around 15 tons a day.</p><p>In Operation Promo, Mazur posed as an Italian American businessman named Robert Baldasare to expose money-laundering networks associated with the Cali cartel. At its peak, the Cali cartel is estimated to have produced 80% of the world's cocaine supply. It was controlled by Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, Pacho Herrera, and José Santacruz Londoño. </p><p>Mazur is the author of "The Infiltrator," which became a New York Times bestseller and spawned a 2016 film of the same title, starring Bryan Cranston (as Mazur), John Leguizamo, and Diane Kruger. Today, Mazur speaks and consults on the issues of money laundering, drug trafficking, and corruption around the world through his company, KYC Solutions.</p><p>For more information about Mazur's speaking, expert witness, and consulting services, visit: https://www.robertmazur.com/ <br/><br/>Read his latest memoir, "The Betrayal," about his second undercover operation on the inside of the Cali cartel: https://www.amazon.com/Betrayal-Story-Brush-Narcos-Launderers-ebook/dp/B095BKWD8L <br/><br/>Read his first memoir, "The Infiltrator," about his time investigating the Medellín cartel: https://www.amazon.com/Infiltrator-Against-Biggest-Cartel-History/dp/0316077526</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-cartels-launder-drug-money-former-undercover-agent-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T20:31:26ZRobert Mazur tells the full story of his time as a government agent investigating drug-money laundering.Kyle Desiderio,Ju Shardlowinsider@insider.comWhat is Philo TV? Here's everything you need to know2024-03-28T20:21:23Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/what-is-philo-tv<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605ca141caec1275a6a9f1e?format=jpeg" height="564" width="1129" charset="" alt="The Philo app being selected on a Vizio TV that's hanging on a wall."/><figcaption>Philo TV is a low-cost, subscription-based TV streaming service.<p class="copyright">Philo</p></figcaption></figure><p>If you're over the hefty cost and setup of cable, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/best-live-tv-streaming-services">best live TV streaming services</a> offer a solid alternative with tons of popular channels at a lower price. <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?amazonTrackingID=biauto-60484-20&h=7850071630c04a6276122b4d391240df42326fbcf828de3a4ee07c91cf305070&postID=61b8efc8f2a36b1ac9f436ff&postSlug=guides%2Fstreaming%2Fwhat-is-philo-tv&site=bi&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.philo.com%2Flogin%2Fsubscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philo</a> is one of the most affordable and is our favorite angled toward budget-conscious viewers, costing just $25 for over 70 stations.</p><p>Cheaper than all of its direct competitors, Philo stands out with its super low price. It does lack some popular networks in exchange for being so inexpensive, but it's still a great way to get access to live TV without breaking the bank. </p><p>Below, we've broken down all the ins and outs of Philo, including how much it costs, what channels it includes, and what devices you need to stream it.</p><h2 class="faq-question" data-toc-label="What is Philo?"><strong>What is Philo?</strong></h2><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/64dd308dbd8c0900184e9181?format=jpeg" height="1237" width="1649" charset="" alt="A screenshot showing the Philo TV base 70 channels the plan comes with."/><figcaption>Philo comes with over 70 channels, but it's missing major news and sports networks.<p class="copyright">Philo</p></figcaption></figure><p class="faq-answer">Philo is a budget-friendly live TV streaming service that grants you access to tons of TV channels through an internet connection without the fuss of a cable box, satellite dish, or long-term contract. Subscribers can catch popular cable shows as they go live.</p><p class="faq-answer">There are over 70 channels on Philo, and the list includes popular networks like AMC, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, Nickelodeon, TLC, and VH1. It's a pretty impressive lineup for the money, but some viewers may find its selection lacking compared to more expensive live TV services like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/how-to-watch-live-tv-on-hulu">Hulu + Live TV</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/sling-tv-channels">Sling TV</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/fubo-tv-price-channels">Fubo</a>, or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/youtube-tv-channels">YouTube TV</a>.</p><p class="faq-answer">Most notably, Philo is missing local stations like ABC and NBC, and it doesn't have big cable news or sports networks like CNN and ESPN. </p><h2 class="faq-question" data-toc-label="How much does it cost?">How much does Philo cost?</h2><p class="faq-answer">Philo starts at $25 a month for over 70 channels. Plans also include unlimited DVR space for one year (recordings are automatically deleted after 12 months of storage) and support for three simultaneous streams. That's less than half the cost of most competing services, making Philo an incredible bang-for-your-buck option. You can also cancel at any time because Philo doesn't lock you into a contract. </p><p class="faq-answer">Once you're subscribed, you can expand the service by with add-ons for even more content. Here's what Philo offers in addition to its base service:</p><ul class="faq-answer"><li aria-level="1">MGM+ for an additional $6 a month</li><li aria-level="1">Starz for an additional $10 a month</li><li aria-level="1">Movie & more add-on for an additional $3 a month</li></ul><h2 data-toc-label="How to watch Philo">How to watch Philo</h2><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/64db97955e5d5a00195e63d3?format=jpeg" height="4140" width="7360" charset="" alt="A table, smart TV, and smartphone displaying the Philo streaming app."/><figcaption>You can watch Philo from your smart TV, tablet, or smartphone.<p class="copyright">Philo</p></figcaption></figure><p>Philo, just like every other streaming service, is available on various platforms. That includes most of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/best-tv">best TVs</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/best-streaming-devices">best streaming devices</a>, as well as smartphones and web browsers. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with any gaming consoles.</p><p>Here's a list of devices that support Philo:</p><ul><li aria-level="1">Android TV</li><li aria-level="1">Android smartphones</li><li aria-level="1">Apple TV</li><li aria-level="1">Fire tablets</li><li aria-level="1">Fire TV</li><li aria-level="1">iOS</li><li aria-level="1">Roku</li><li aria-level="1">Samsung TVs</li><li aria-level="1">Vizio TVs</li></ul><h2 class="faq-question" data-toc-label="Can I stream Philo for free?">Can I watch Philo for free?</h2><p class="faq-answer">Philo offers a free seven-day trial for first-time subscribers. It's a great way to give the service a try before committing to a membership, and you can cancel anytime. Otherwise, Philo doesn't offer any free plans.</p><h2 class="faq-question" data-toc-label="Can I add local stations?"><strong>Can I add local stations to Philo?</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><figure><strong><img src="https://i.insider.com/65fdbb8d895d822030335b7a?format=jpeg" height="1855" width="2473" charset="" alt="philo tv guide screencap showing the interface"/><figcaption>Philo's user interface isn't the flashiest, but it's easy to browse.<p class="copyright">Philo</p></figcaption></strong></figure><p class="faq-answer">Philo does not include streaming access to local channels like ABC, NBC, Fox, or CBS. And it does not offer any add-on packages to unlock access to those stations. However, you can get free access to local networks on your TV if you buy a digital antenna.</p><p class="faq-answer">If you're someone who wants to stream the cable networks that Philo offers but also wants local channels, we recommend subscribing to Philo and buying a separate indoor antenna. You can find antennas for as little as $20, so this combo is an affordable way to get tons of channels. Check out our guide to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/best-hdtv-indoor-antenna">best indoor TV antennas</a> for our top recommendations. </p><h2 class="faq-question" data-toc-label="Is Philo worth it?">Is Philo worth it?</h2><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/5d91f2fdf4fc2446b87f416e?format=jpeg" height="862" width="1721" charset="" alt="Two people on a couch watching Philo TV."/><figcaption>Philo is an excellent value as long as you understand its limitations.<p class="copyright">Dotshock/Shutterstock</p></figcaption></figure><p class="faq-answer">For only $25 a month, Philo is well worth the money if you're a reality TV, drama, or lifestyle programming fan. Whether you're a sucker for Hallmark movies, AMC dramas, Investigation Discovery series, or Food Network cooking competitions, the service has the programming you're looking for — and your kids can catch cartoons on Nickelodeon with the same subscription. </p><p class="faq-answer">However, if you're searching for a live TV streaming service to get your local news, favorite broadcast shows, and sports, you'll want to look elsewhere. As enticing as its low price is, Philo lacks the networks to truly satisfy viewers with those interests. If that's a dealbreaker, we recommend opting for a competitor like <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?amazonTrackingID=biauto-60484-20&h=150a2720738a87c950bb0c493f4479128b07fa6de59a3e8cd344ac5bd0a2896e&postID=61b8efc8f2a36b1ac9f436ff&postSlug=guides%2Fstreaming%2Fwhat-is-philo-tv&site=bi&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Flive-tv" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hulu + Live TV</a> or <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?amazonTrackingID=biauto-60484-20&h=1e3fb696bbdb86813884158ec2e9e64a5dc2a54ce1cba247f82c951a9c2e37b6&postID=61b8efc8f2a36b1ac9f436ff&postSlug=guides%2Fstreaming%2Fwhat-is-philo-tv&site=bi&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sling.com%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sling TV</a>.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/what-is-philo-tv">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T20:21:23ZPhilo is the most affordable live TV streaming service on the market. Here's what it offers and how to watch.Sarah Sarilssaril@insider.comOwner of ship that crashed into Baltimore bridge will likely try to invoke 1851 law used to cap damages after Titanic disaster2024-03-28T20:59:05Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/ship-owner-baltimore-bridge-crash-likely-invoke-law-cap-damages-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/66032f0d1caec1275a69b8b1?format=jpeg" height="683" width="1024" charset="" alt="An aerial view of the cargo ship that hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge"/><figcaption>In an aerial view, cargo ship Dali is seen after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. <p class="copyright">Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>The owner of the ship that crashed into the Baltimore bridge faces a mountain of potential lawsuits.</li><li>Experts say the owner will likely try to invoke an 1851 law to try to cap potential damages.</li><li>The Limitation of Liability Act was successfully used by the Titanic owner after the 1912 sinking.</li></ul><p>From potential wrongful death lawsuits to property damage lawsuits, the owner of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/francis-scott-key-bridge-baltimore-collapses-after-struck-large-boat-2024-3">container ship that crashed into a major Baltimore bridge</a>, destroying it, can expect to face a mountain of legal troubles.</p><p>Analysts have already estimated that claims from the deadly early Tuesday disaster that caused Maryland's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/livestream-video-francis-scott-key-bridge-ship-crash-maryland-2024-3">Francis Scott Key Bridge</a> to abruptly collapse could <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lloyds-london-firms-face-billions-claims-baltimore-bridge-collapse-2024-3">cost insurers billions of dollars</a>.</p><p>Three maritime legal experts told Business Insider that the owner of the Singapore-flagged vessel called the Dali will almost certainly invoke a 19th-century federal law — that was successfully used by the owner of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/titanic-secrets-facts-2018-4">Titanic</a> — to try to limit its liability in the bevy of lawsuits that are expected to arise.</p><p>"If they're fully successful, it will cap how much they have to pay in damages," Michael Sturley, an expert in maritime law and professor at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Law, told BI.</p><p>Grace Ocean Private Ltd, the owner of the 95,000-ton Dali ship that was bound for Sri Lanka before smashing into one of the bridge's support pillars, has about six months to file a petition in federal court under the 1851 Limitation of Liability Act.</p><p>Grace Ocean Private Ltd did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on Thursday.</p><p>"The chances of their filing a limitation action are somewhere north of 99.99%," Sturley said.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/660415011caec1275a69ced6?format=jpeg" height="2667" width="4000" charset="" alt="The container ship Dali collided with a key bridge in Baltimore Tuesday"/><figcaption>The container ship Dali collided with a key bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday.<p class="copyright">Michael A. McCoy/The Washington Post/Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><h2>Vessel owners could get damage claims capped at the ship's value after an incident</h2><p>The statute allows vessel owners to cap any damage claims stemming from a maritime catastrophe at the post-incident value of the ship, as well as the money owed from the freight the ship was hauling,<strong> </strong>the experts said.</p><p>"In essence, it's treated as though the ship itself is its own one-ship corporation," said Sturley. "So you're, in essence, saying, take all the assets of this one ship corporation and use those to pay the claims."</p><p>"It could save them a billion dollars," Sturley guessed.</p><p>In order for limitation to be granted by a judge under the law, the vessel owner would have to establish that it was not at fault for the maritime incident and that it had no "privity or knowledge" of any negligence or conditions that led to the incident.</p><p>Whether the owner of the ship will succeed if it files a petition to limit liability depends on what the investigation into the disaster turns up, according to the maritime legal experts.</p><p>The Dali's crew had reported that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dali-problem-propulsion-months-crashing-baltimore-bridge-francis-scott-2024-3">ship lost power just before the vessel slammed into the bridge</a> and sent a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/baltimore-bridge-collapse-developing-mass-casualty-event-2024-3">group of construction workers and vehicles</a> plunging into the Patapsco River.</p><p>Two people were rescued from the water after the bridge collapsed. On Wednesday, officials said that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/baltimore-bridge-2-bodies-recovered-from-submerged-pickup-truck-2024-3">bodies of two victims were recovered</a> from a submerged pickup truck. Four others are presumed dead.</p><p>Part of the probe into the tragedy will examine whether <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dirty-fuel-investigated-baltimore-bridge-disaster-francis-scott-key-2024-3">"dirty fuel" had something to do with the ship's initial loss of power</a>, sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/65047099956dba001ace602e?format=jpeg" height="1440" width="2562" charset="" alt="Titanic on the ocean floor."/><figcaption>Titanic on the ocean floor.<p class="copyright">RMS Titanic Inc.</p></figcaption></figure><h2>The owner of the Titanic invoked the 1851 law after the 1912 sinking</h2><p>Sturley said that the limitation act "is regularly invoked, but much less often successful."</p><p>Martin Davies, the director of the Maritime Law Center at Tulane University School of Law, told BI that statistics show that the "majority of limitation petitions fail, whatever the circumstances, because it is relatively easy for the liability claimants to establish 'fault or privity' on the part of the shipowner."</p><p>Still, filing a petition for limitation allows a ship owner to channel any litigation into one court, which Davies called a "significant advantage in itself."</p><p>In the case of the Titanic, the petition for limitation was a success.</p><p>Following the 1912 sinking of the famed ocean liner that left more than 1,500 people dead, the White Star Line sought to limit its liability in United States lawsuits to $92,000, the value of the recovered lifeboats, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2N25W13D/">Reuters</a>.</p><p>The case went to the US Supreme Court, and the court ultimately sided with the White Star Line. Millions in legal claims had been filed against the White Star Line, which ultimately <a target="_blank" href="https://law.lclark.edu/live/files/11855-lcb163art8zekalapdf">settled all cases for a total of $664,000</a>.</p><p>"The Titanic was a brand-new ship," Davies said. "The cause of the casualty was a pure sailing error — going too fast in iceberg-heavy waters. There was no 'fault or privity' on the part of the shipowner there."</p><p>Meanwhile, Oregon-based maritime lawyer Gordon Carey — who in 2019 filed a personal injury lawsuit against Grace Ocean Private Ltd on behalf of a man who was injured on another ship — told BI he does not foresee Dali's owner having success with a limitation proceeding.</p><p>"If you're talking about a situation where there is no power, where the vessel essentially is disabled because of the lack of power, then I can't think of any reason why the owner would not know or should not know that it wasn't being properly maintained," Carey said.</p><p>Davies added, "It's too early to say whether the petition would be likely to be successful, as much will depend on what are found to be the causes of the casualty. However, I must say that the way things look at present, it seems unlikely that a limitation petition will be successful."</p><p>The 2019 lawsuit Carey filed involved an Oregon man who was injured when he fell 25 feet when a rope ladder he was using on a ship owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd broke. The suit was eventually settled.</p><p>Carey said he was reluctant to make any assumptions about Grace Ocean Private Ltd based on this incident.</p><p>Over the past decade, the owner of the Dali and the operator, Synergy Marine Group, have been sued a handful of times for worker injuries in US federal court. Most of the cases were settled, while one was dismissed.</p><p>When reached for comment, a Synergy Marine Group spokesperson referred BI to its latest press release, issued Thursday.</p><p>"We deeply regret this incident and the problems it has caused for the people of Baltimore and the region's economy that relies on this vitally important port," the statement said, in part.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ship-owner-baltimore-bridge-crash-likely-invoke-law-cap-damages-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T20:16:30ZMaritime law experts said Grace Ocean Private Ltd will almost certainly try to limit its liability in lawsuits expected to arise from the disaster.Natalie Musumecinmusumeci@businessinsider.comI steered ships like the Dali for 13 years. Entering and leaving a port is extremely challenging — here's what should have been done in Baltimore.2024-03-28T21:20:48Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/ship-captain-why-port-entry-exits-difficult-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6602b14716bde8d4ead21796?format=jpeg" height="5504" width="8256" charset="" alt="The remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it was struck by a container ship on Tuesday."/><figcaption>The remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it was struck by a container ship on Tuesday.<p class="copyright">Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Sachin Saxena is a former ship captain who spent 13 years navigating the globe on large ships. </li><li>He breaks down the processes of entering and exiting ports in big vehicles like the Dali.</li><li>In emergencies like power failures, a ship can't just stop and there's a lot of pressure onboard. </li></ul><p><em>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sachin Saxena, a 45-year-old former ship captain from Singapore. It has been edited for length and clarity.</em></p><p><span>I captained ships transporting liquid petroleum gas from Asia to the United States for 13 years, from 1997 to 2010. Entering or leaving a port is one of the most challenging parts of any voyage. When you enter a port, you need to consider everything from currents to shallow patches and bridges.</span></p><p><span>When I saw </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/francis-scott-key-bridge-baltimore-collapses-after-struck-large-boat-2024-3"><span>the news about the MV Dali </span></a><span>hitting the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, I wasn't worried about the crew. I knew the crew would be safe because the ship was still floating. I was more concerned about people outside the ship.</span></p><p><span>Hitting a bridge would be a navigation team's worst nightmare. If the</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/baltimore-bridge-collapse-insurance-losses-francis-scott-key-lloyds-london-2024-3"><span>MV Dali's power</span></a><span> had failed after the vessel had passed the bridge, I believe nothing would have happened.</span></p><h2><strong><span>It's not unusual for a ship to hit a bridge, but there are protocols to prevent it</span></strong></h2><p><span>It's not unusual for a ship to hit a bridge. Bridges are a real concern in the</span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/baltimore-bridge-fracture-critical-vulnerable-collapse-2024-3"><span> United States, which has so many sea bridges</span></a><span>. Seeing the MV Dali incident, the crew couldn't do much as there was little distance between the vessel and the bridge and it was the result of a power failure.</span></p><p><span>When I was a captain and used to pass bridges, I would stand on the top of what sailors call "monkey island": a deck in front of the navigating bridge and the uppermost accessible part of the ship. I'd stand there to ensure we had clearance and everything went smoothly.</span></p><p><span>We used electronic charts to navigate in and out of ports, but I also used to double-check the calculations myself. The reason I would do this was because I used to sail on ships carrying liquid petroleum gas. If my ship ran into a bridge the entire city would be blown away, so the safety factor was very high.</span></p><h2><strong><span>The procedure when an incident like this happens</span></strong></h2><p><span>If my ship suddenly lost power, the first thing I'd do would be to drop the anchor. You don't need power to do this. However, anchors aren't always effective if the ship is moving fast. Each ship, whether a container ship, dry bulk, chemical, or LPG ship, will have an emergency generator. This will start about 45 seconds after the ship's power has failed.</span></p><p><span>This doesn't give you full steering, but it gives you emergency steering that you can use to get into clear water and anchor. It takes time to slow a ship down. If you're moving at five knots and put on the brake, it will slowly come down to 4.8 knots, 4.6 knots, and so on — It won't just stop. There isn't a single solution to such a situation. Each case is different.</span></p><h2><strong><span>There are several questions that an internal auditor would want the management of the ship to answer</span></strong></h2><p><span>After I stopped working as a captain, I became an internal auditor for a shipping company, where I carried out internal audits on health, safety, and environment on merchant ships going worldwide.</span></p><p><span>When you first hear that an incident like the Baltimore crash has occurred, there are several questions that, as an internal auditor, I'd want the management of the ship to answer. I'd want to know whether the bridge was mentioned in the passage plan meeting — a meeting before the voyage attended by the captain and senior officers from the navigation team and engineering. You also have another meeting about the next port while at the previous port and will discuss situations such as currents.</span></p><p><span>I'd also want to know what triggered this power failure. Has it happened before, and how often has the ship received maintenance?</span></p><p><span>There is something called the Planned Maintenance System. In the same way that a car manufacturer guides you on what you need to do to the car after 50,000 miles, every piece of equipment on the ship has a guideline on how it should be maintained. So, I'd want to check whether routine maintenance and long-term preventive maintenance guidelines were followed.</span></p><h2><strong><span>How a shipping company would manage a collision</span></strong></h2><p><span>In the event of an incident, the shipping company would establish an emergency control room at the company headquarters in their own country. It will be manned 24/7. They will have everything about the ship in that room, such as drawings of the vessel. The shipping company's staff will communicate with the ship and the agent on the ground who is nominated to speak on their behalf.</span></p><p><span>They will also take a look at the</span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/baltimore-bridge-collapse-cargo-ship-black-box-recovered-2024-3"><span> black box on the bridge</span></a><span>, which contains the voice recordings of everything that was said on the bridge between crew members and what they said when speaking to the authorities or the engine room.</span></p><p><span>Sitting so far away from an event like this makes it easy to comment, but you think about the captain on that ship and what pressure they must be going through.</span></p><p><span>We cannot change what happened, but thousands of vessels trading worldwide can learn from this and become educated about what happened to ensure that such accidents do not happen again.</span></p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ship-captain-why-port-entry-exits-difficult-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T20:13:35ZA former ship captain steering large vessels describes the complicated process of port entry and exit and what happens in an emergency. Claire Turrellinsider@insider.comHow corporate PAC money could end up in the personal coffers of Sens. JD Vance and Markwayne Mullin2024-03-28T20:10:11Zhttps://www.businessinsider.com/corporate-pac-money-jd-vance-markwayne-mullin-2024-3<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/66056fdd16bde8d4ead2e9cc?format=jpeg" height="1000" width="2000" charset="" alt="Republican Sens. JD Vance of Ohio and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma"/><figcaption>Sens. JD Vance and Markwayne Mullin have been paying off personal loans to their campaigns at the same time that they're accepting corporate PAC dollars.<p class="copyright">Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Sen. Ted Cruz single-handedly altered campaign finance rules last year via a Supreme Court case.</li><li>Federal lawmakers can now pay themselves back for large personal campaign loans after an election.</li><li>Two freshman GOP senators have been doing just that — while also taking corporate PAC money.</li></ul><p>Republican Sens. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-photos-ohio-politician-writer-venture-capitalist-2023-2">JD Vance</a> of Ohio and Markwayne Mullin of Indiana have spent the last year-and-change using campaign cash to pay themselves back for hefty loans they sunk into their 2022 Senate bids.</p><p>At the same time, they've been taking tens of thousands of dollars in corporate PAC money — some of which may be ending up directly in the senators' bank accounts.</p><p>Between the 2022 election and the end of 2023, Vance has used $78,000 in corporate PAC contributions to repay campaign debts, while Mullin has done the same with $45,000 in corporate cash.</p><p>Yet it's difficult, if not impossible, to draw a straight line from a single corporate PAC contribution to the checks each senator receives from their campaigns, given the interchangeability of campaign funds. Both men have also been repaying substantial debts to other campaign vendors, and have been accepting donations from other PACs and individuals for the purpose of debt retirement, the sum of which outweighs the corporate PAC money.</p><p>The murky reality of both Vance's and Mullin's finances can be attributed in part to the work of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-campaign-funds-fec-supreme-court-corruption-2022-10">Sen. Ted Cruz</a>.</p><p>In 2018, the Texas Republican moved to challenge the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act, which prevented federal candidates from raising more than $250,000 after their election to repay any personal loans they had made to their campaign. Anything that remained beyond that limit was deemed a contribution and ineligible to be recouped.</p><p>In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Texas senator in Ted Cruz vs. FEC — a move decried at the time by left-leaning ethics experts and liberal Supreme Court justices as opening the door to corruption.</p><p>"Repaying a candidate's loan after he has won election cannot serve the usual purposes of a contribution: the money comes too late to aid in any of his campaign activities," Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her <a target="_blank" href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-12_m6hn.pdf">dissenting opinion</a> in the case. "All the money does is enrich the candidate personally at a time when he can return the favor—by a vote, a contract, an appointment."</p><p>"Thanks to the Cruz decision, lawmakers can now easily lend their campaigns large amounts of money and use corporate PAC contributions to pay themselves back once they're in office," said Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizen for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW). "While disappointing to see it happen yet again, this is the new reality we live in."</p><p>Vance defended the arrangement in a brief interview at the Capitol this month, saying he doesn't "think there's anything particularly unusual about the way that we're doing it."</p><p>"Look, we put a lot of my personal money into the campaign, and the goal is always to pay it back and put us in a good place for 2028," said Vance. "And that's what we're gonna do."</p><p>A spokesperson for Mullin did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Thursday.</p><h2><strong>'Totally normal' or a bad incentive structure?</strong></h2><p>Since that 2022 decision, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ron-johnson-repaid-himself-400000-old-loans-fec-ted-cruz-2023-7">paid himself back</a> $400,000 for years-old loans he made to his 2010 and 2016 campaigns, which he did days before telling Business Insider that he had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ron-johnson-ted-cruz-fec-millions-donor-supreme-court-2023-5">no intention of doing that</a>.</p><p>Cruz, for his part, has no problem with these sorts of loan repayments.</p><p>"If he wants to pay himself back, I think that's fantastic," Cruz told Business Insider in May 2023. "It is perfectly reasonable that Ron Johnson, after 10 years of making an interest-free loan to the American people, can pay back his own money."</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6605b83f3f923f7dab024ccb?format=jpeg" height="1333" width="1777" charset="" alt="Ted Cruz helped create the current system by challenging the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act."/><figcaption>Ted Cruz helped create the current system by challenging the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act.<p class="copyright">Shawn Thew/AFP via Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><p>Vance and Mullin represent two more notable cases of what some left-leaning ethics watchdogs warned about.</p><p>Altogether, Vance loaned $1.4 million to his Senate campaign, paying off $700,000 of that before he was elected. He had paid off nearly the entirety of that loan by the end of 2023, along with more than $306,000 in debts to other campaign vendors.</p><p>Mullin loaned his campaign $1 million and he has paid himself back $153,000, along with repaying nearly $27,000 in debt to GL Pro, an Oklahoma-based political strategy firm.</p><p>The Ohio senator's campaign has earmarked contributions from over 30 corporate PACs — including Comcast, Intel, General Motors, and Walmart — for the explicit purpose of debt retirement. Mullin did the same with 19 corporate PACs, including ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobile, and GlaxoSmithKline.</p><p>The optics of accepting the corporate cash may be a sore spot in particular for Vance, who's made criticism of "woke" corporations central to his <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vance-hawley-republicans-uaw-strikes-shawn-fain-labor-2023-9">political brand</a>. He also promised not to take corporate PAC money during the GOP primary, only to reserve that pledge during the general election against Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who did accept corporate PAC money.</p><p>"We decided that hamstringing ourselves in the general election didn't make the same amount of sense," said Vance.</p><p>Proponents of the arrangement argue that because campaign cash is fungible, with money from various sources going into one big pot, there's little to no risk of bribery. They also argue that debt repayments aren't all that different from other campaign expenses that politicians may benefit from, such as catering or airfare, and that one could make the same "bribery" argument about any politician who accepts large sums of corporate cash.</p><p>"It is a totally normal practice for senators to raise money to repay campaign debt and Business Insider knows that," said a representative for Vance's campaign. "This partisan smear job is even more egregious when you consider that only 6% of Sen. Vance's lifetime political fundraising has come from PACs, a third of the 18% average for successful 2022 Senate campaigns."</p><p>But Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center, argues that what's important is the incentive structure presented to campaign donors, corporate or otherwise.</p><p>"The benefit for the PACs, and even individuals who do this, is that they know at the point when they're putting their money in that it's enriching the candidate," said Ghosh. "The fact that the campaign is sort of the intermediary through which this money is flowing does very little to change that incentive structure."</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/corporate-pac-money-jd-vance-markwayne-mullin-2024-3">Business Insider</a></div>2024-03-28T20:10:11ZSens. JD Vance and Markwayne Mullin are repaying debts that their campaigns owe them while accepting corporate PAC money.Bryan Metzgerbmetzger@insider.com