“Perhaps in anticipation of taxpayer sticker shock, the Air Force also said ‘the engineering required to design, manufacture, conduct environmental testing and obtain Federal Aviation Administration certification’ were all included in the cost.”
“The three companies unveiled an as yet unnamed company to give their U.S. workers and families a better option on health insurance. The statement said the new company will be ‘free from profit-making incentives and constraints.'”
Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/30/news/companies/amazon-berkshire-jpmorgan-health-insurance/index.html
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/01/26/a-list-of-the-500-million-news-orgs-that
“AutoNation may represent the first wave of a coming trend as marijuana becomes more socially acceptable and companies vie for workers in the tightest labor market in 17 years. As more states legalize — Vermont will do so in July — more employees are testing positive on drug tests, according to a Quest Diagnostics report released last year. Positive tests for marijuana rose about 75 percent from 2013 to 2016, the study showed. Results were based on more than 10 million drug tests.”
“Store owners, growers and distributors are being forced to use cash because most banks won’t open accounts for them while the federal government still considers marijuana illegal. As revenues inevitably increase, they will be lugging larger stacks of 50s and 100s to the tax collector, a situation that everyone agrees makes businesses vulnerable to thievery, violent crime, money laundering and extortion.”
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/John-Chiang-lays-out-plan-to-create-a-public-bank-12537099.php
“The robot cop — but not RoboCop — can determine when a violation has occurred on the road, and it can take various actions. It can refer the case to a local speed camera or another connected sensor for corroborating evidence. It could also begin a pursuit of the vehicle in question, or if it’s something simple like a warning or a speeding ticket, it can just wirelessly communicate the violation directly to the offending vehicle, which can respond with an image of the driver’s license to ensure the ticket reaches the right person.”
Read more: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-patents-an-autonomous-police-car-that-can-ticket-you/
“A recent clampdown by the Libyan coastguard means fewer boats are making it out to sea, leaving the smugglers with a backlog of would-be passengers on their hands. So the smugglers become masters, the migrants and refugees become slaves.”
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/14/africa/libya-migrant-auctions/index.html
“Even though the M.T.A. is paying for its capital construction with taxpayer dollars, the government does not get a seat at the table when labor conditions are determined. Instead, the task of reining in the unions falls to the construction companies — which often try to drive up costs themselves.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html
“Trump national security officials are considering an unprecedented federal takeover of a portion of the nation’s mobile network to guard against China, according to sensitive documents obtained by Axios. In the memo, the Trump administration likens it to ‘the 21st century equivalent of the Eisenhower National Highway System’ and says it would create a ‘new paradigm’ for the wireless industry by the end of Trump’s current term.”
“Grocers are under pressure, in an already thin-margin business, to cut costs and make the shopping experience more enjoyable for customers.”