Tag: Cost

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World News

5 Reader Feedback Simply Value a Information Web site $124,000

5 Reader Comments Just Cost a News Website $124,000

BANGKOK – Like many online news outlets, Malaysiakini’s Malaysian news site allows readers to post comments at the end of articles. That proved costly on Friday when a court ruled that the news site was legally responsible for reader comments that were viewed as an insult to the judiciary.

A seven-judge appeals court found Malaysiakini guilty of disregard of the court and fined it nearly $ 124,000, more than double the prosecutor’s request, for five comments left by readers.

The news agency’s co-founder and editor-in-chief Steven Gan, who was acquitted of the same charge, said the heavy sentence was an attempt to put Malaysiakini out of business.

“It will have a tremendous chilling effect on the discussion of issues of public concern and will deal a severe blow to our ongoing anti-corruption campaign,” Gan said after the hearing.

Much of the media in Malaysia has been allied with the government for decades, but independent news outlets – mostly online – have sprung up to provide critical coverage and voice to the opposition. Mr. Gan’s supporters said he and Malaysiakini were fined for carefully reporting the point of sale.

Readers’ comments have been published on a story about the Malaysian judiciary that carefully protects its reputation. They were later removed from the article, but not quickly enough to avoid fees.

In their ruling, the judges concluded that Malaysiakini should have reviewed the comments and should not publish those that portrayed contempt for the court.

The panel rejected defensive arguments that Mr Gan and the news agency were not legally responsible for their readers’ comments and that prosecutors should have shown that they intended to publish scandalous material.

The 500,000 Malaysian ringgit fine was way more than the 200,000 ringgit, roughly $ 50,000, that prosecutors requested. The defense had requested a fine of no more than 30,000 ringgits as it was the first time such a case was brought against a news agency.

Within four hours of the ruling, defense fund donors had contributed more than enough to cover the entire fine, according to Malaysiakini.

The website’s defenders had argued that a guilty verdict would affect the freedom of expression of 33 million people in the country, which has been shaken in recent years by charges of high-level government corruption.

Amnesty International Malaysia said the ruling was deeply troubling, calling it “a travesty of justice” and “a serious setback for freedom of expression in the country”.

“The use of contempt of court law to censor online debates and silence independent media is another example of the shrinking space in which people in the country can express themselves freely,” said the group’s executive director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv.

The US embassy in Kuala Lumpur, the capital, also expressed concern about the ruling. “Freedom of expression, including for the press and the general public, is fundamental to public discourse and the democratic principles that support accountability and good governance,” it said in a statement.

The case was brought in June by Malaysia’s Attorney General Idrus Harun. He was appointed to the post by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who took power less than a year ago at the head of an unelected government.

Muhyiddin’s ruling coalition includes former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is accused of withdrawing billions of dollars from a state-owned mutual fund he once controlled.

In one of Mr. Idrus’ first acts as attorney general, the government dropped money laundering against Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz, a Hollywood producer. Critics said he was keeping $ 83 million of the quarter billion government funds he was accused of receiving.

Mr. Najib has been charged with more than 40 offenses and is currently on trial in some cases. Malaysiakini, along with other news outlets, has been reporting on the scandal for years.

“I’m terribly disappointed,” said Mr. Gan. “What crime has Malaysiakini committed that we are forced to pay 500,000 when there are individuals accused of abuse of power for millions and billions running free?”

Categories
Entertainment

Jennifer Lopez Re-Creates “Love Do not Value a Factor” Video

Jennifer Lopez Re-Creates "Love Don't Cost a Thing" Video

Jennifer Lopez takes us back to 2001 in honor of her album J. Lo20 years. On January 23rd, the singer recreated a moment from the “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” music video to celebrate the past two decades. “As I ponder the fact that it’s the # JLo20thAnniversary, I just wanted to thank you all for being with me, loving me, and supporting me through all the ups and downs,” Lopez wrote a second post. “Thank you for all the love over the past 20 years !! I love you so much !!”

Lopez has achieved a lot since its release – most recently she played “This Land Is Your Land” at the President’s inauguration in 2021. We can expect a lot more in the years to come, including a new rom-com called Marry me with Owen Wilson coming soon. Lopez sure knows how to deliver for her fans.

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Business

Why ultra-low price service Spirit Airways is falling behind

Why ultra-low cost carrier Spirit Airlines is falling behind

Spirit Airlines, the low-cost airline known for bright yellow planes, sassy style and cheap fares, helped revolutionize the way we pay for travel. To balance the tariffs, the carrier charges everything from hand luggage to bottles of water.

As of 2019, Spirit Airlines has been profitable for 13 consecutive years. However, since then the airline has gotten into tough times.

With the coronavirus pandemic that crashed passenger traffic, Spirit announced total revenue of $ 402 million in the third quarter, a 60% year-over-year decrease.

To keep passengers safe and on board, Spirit requires face coverings for passengers and crew, disinfects the aircraft with fog machines, and waives some change fees. But is it enough? And will Spirit Airlines be able to recover from the economic fallout from the aviation industry?

See more:

Why GNC filed for bankruptcy protection despite the boom in vitamin sales
Why rural hospitals go bankrupt

Categories
Health

What to Know of Covid-19 Antibody Medication: Price, Availability and Extra

What to Know of Covid-19 Antibody Drugs: Cost, Availability and More

Two new antibody treatments have shown promise in keeping high-risk Covid-19 patients out of the hospital.

Although President Trump, who received Regeneron treatment in October and lauded it as a “cure,” received a boost in advertising, the drugs have not been widely distributed since they were approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration last month.

Now federal and state health authorities are calling on patients and doctors to seek treatments.

Here’s what you need to know.

The two treatments by Eli Lilly and Regeneron are the first drugs specifically designed for Covid-19 and approved by the FDA. They are made from artificially synthesized copies of the antibodies that humans naturally produce when their immune systems fight off an infection. Eli Lilly’s drug consists of an antibody. Regeneron’s is a cocktail of two.

Early data showed that it can prevent hospitalization in people at high risk of serious complications from the disease. Clinical studies continue. The treatments are believed to help turn the virus off shortly after infection.

Treatments can be given to anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus, is at high risk of developing a severe form of the disease, and occurs within 10 days of symptoms first appearing.

This includes people who are at least 65 years old and those who are obese or have diseases such as diabetes.

The treatments are not approved for people who have already been hospitalized or need oxygen, as studies in these groups have not shown the drugs to work well.

Under agreements each company has made with the federal government, the doses are free, although some patients may have to pay for the administration of the drug, which must be infused by a healthcare provider, depending on insurance coverage.

Monoclonal antibody treatments are difficult and time consuming to manufacture, which has limited the number of doses made by drug manufacturers.

The federal government has bought 950,000 cans from Eli Lilly and 300,000 cans from Regeneron. Pharmaceutical companies have already dispensed hundreds of thousands of these doses, with the rest expected in late January.

Nobody knows, but many of the cans that have been distributed so far have remained unused and are sitting in hospital refrigerators.

While the federal government has nearly 532,000 doses of the two drugs available and nearly 291,000 doses have been shipped, neither the government nor the drug companies have complete data on how many of these doses have been given to patients.

The subset of hospitals that report data to the government on the number of doses administered has, on average, used only 20 percent of their supply, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The drugs are used unevenly across the country. Some hospitals cannot get enough doses. Others haven’t even used much of what they got so far.

Several factors have contributed to the underutilization: Hospitals are overwhelmed by the virus flood and are focusing on the first vaccines. And they need to be housed in their crowded facilities where the treatments can be infused over a period of hours without spreading the virus to others.

Some patients have been reluctant to engage in treatments, be it because they are unwilling to go to a clinic while feeling sick, lack of transportation, or because they perceive the drugs as connected people only for patients who are felt to be good. And the scarcity of treatments adds to their underuse as some hospitals withhold supplies for fear of leakage.

There is no single hotline or website that patients can use to find a provider who offers the treatments.

Many health systems have put in place ways to identify and contact eligible patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus at test sites or in doctor’s offices. However, these referral systems vary from municipality to municipality.

Eli Lilly’s support line for treatment is 1-855-545-5921. A Regeneron spokeswoman recommended that patients or doctors contact the state health department.

Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, Eli Lilly’s chief scientist, said he advises friends and family members to call the company’s hotline. “If you are persistent and you qualify, you will get it,” he said.

Categories
Business

Shock Medical Payments Price Individuals Hundreds of thousands. Congress Is Lastly Set to Ban Most of Them.

Surprise Medical Bills Cost Americans Millions. Congress Is Finally Set to Ban Most of Them.

Hospitals and doctors, who tend to benefit from the current system, struggled to defeat solutions that would lower their pay. Insurance companies and large insurance groups, on the other hand, wanted a stronger way to negotiate lower payments to the types of medical providers that can currently send surprise bills to patients.

The legislation nearly passed last December but was sunk in the eleventh hour after healthcare providers aggressively opposed the deal. Private equity firms, which own many of the medical providers that deliver surprise invoices, have put tens of millions in advertisements opposed to the plan. The committee chairs argued over jurisdictional issues and postponed the matter.

This year, many of the same lawmakers who were behind last year’s failed efforts tried again, mitigating several provisions most uncomfortable for influential lobbies of doctors and hospitals. The current version is unlikely to do as much in reducing healthcare spending as the previous version, but will still protect patients.

After years of defeat, consumer interest groups welcomed the new legislation.

“This was a real win over money for Americans,” said Frederick Isasi, executive director of Families USA. “The real point here was for Congress to recognize in a bipartisan way the profanity of families who paid insurance and were still firing financial bombs.”

The final compromise would require insurers and medical providers unable to agree on a payment rate to use an outside arbitrator to make a decision. The arbitrator would determine a reasonable amount, depending in part on what other doctors and hospitals typically pay for similar services. Patients could be charged for the type of co-payment they would pay for in-network services, but no more.

This type of policy is generally seen as more beneficial to healthcare providers than the other proposal considered by Congress, which would have minimized the role of arbitrators and instead set benchmark reimbursement rates. Several states have established their own arbitration procedures and have found that most price disputes are negotiated before an arbitrator is involved.

“If this bill forces them to come to the table and negotiate a solution, it will be a clear win for everyone,” said Christopher Garmon, assistant professor of health administration at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, who outlines the scope of the problem.

Categories
Business

Zoom Lessons. No Probability Conferences. Is Digital Enterprise College Well worth the Value?

Zoom Classes. No Chance Meetings. Is Virtual Business School Worth the Cost?

“I feel very happy,” he said. “The pandemic has forced me to think about my priorities as well. I could step back and pause and ask, ‘What do you really want to do?’ “

Mrs. Reichert had the opposite experience. She did an internship at Chewy, the pet food website, last summer from her parents’ home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia – 1,000 miles from Chewy’s headquarters in Dania Beach, Florida. While she praised the company for its efforts to make the most of a bad situation, she decided to return to the consultation.

Networking is a big part of the MBA experience. It’s the component that could pay the most dividends well after closing. But in a virtual or socially distant world it got stunted.

“The social component was disappointing,” said Emma Finkelstein, a sophomore at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. “When I’m a floating head at Zoom, I will have a different relationship with my professors and classmates than in social situations.”

Mr Garg, who describes himself as an introvert, said he had pushed himself to get out.

“It’s a lot about being proactive,” he said. “I’ve had coffee with people. It takes a lot of effort. There are some days when you don’t want to do this. But then you realize that you’ve been home for three days and haven’t seen anyone. “

And it’s not just less sociable students who feel left out of the social aspect of business school. International students who have not been able to return to the USA and students from underrepresented minority groups are also affected.

“Of course, I would say that the impact of the pandemic on the nature of informal networking on our campus could be more impactful for students who, for some reason, felt less enclosed among their MBA peers,” said Dr. Rockoff from Colombia. “These missed opportunities for networks and connections will have a significant impact on them.”