“What might be surprising is just how dependent some companies are on government spending for their existence.”
“A measure extending the bank through 2019 was included in a massive transportation bill that cleared the House and Senate Thursday and is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama. The small federal agency makes and guarantees loans to help foreign customers buy U.S. exports. Business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce say it’s necessary for U.S. competitiveness, since most overseas competitors rely on similar government help. But conservatives decry the bank as corporate welfare and government interference in the free market. A rarely used procedure in the House forced a floor vote on the bank over the objections of top GOP leaders.”
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-export-import-bank-20151204-story.html
“According to the police, 2,800 taxi drivers are protesting today against UberPOP, the European equivalent of UberX (as UberX in France is Uber in the U.S.). With UberPOP, everybody can become an Uber driver — taxi drivers see the service as unfair competition as they have to get a special license. Yet, this doesn’t really explain why cabbies are now attacking Uber drivers, burning and breaking their cars. Many countries are trying to ban the service. It was banned in Brussels, the Netherlands and, yes, France. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve already issued a statement, saying that he asked Paris police chief to issue a decree making UberPOP illegal (once again).”
“Paris got its first driverless line (Metro 14) in 1998. A second (Metro 15) opened in 2012, and Metro 1 will go fully driverless soon. The Parisian system seems to work very well: trains on Metro 1 will arrive and depart, on full autopilot, every 85 seconds, massively increasing capacity by reducing human error. In an emergency, a human in the central control room can take charge of the train by remote – there’s no need for an overpaid, over-unionised button-pusher on board. And while some Luddites may be afraid of driverless trains, the truth is that machines are far less likely to make mistakes than people.”
“The NHS droids will move medical supplies, linen, food and waste around the £824m South Glasgow University Hospital when it opens on April 27. The robots – known as automated guided vehicles (AGVs) – will use a network of underground tunnels and a dedicated lift to navigate the 14-storey hospital. Jim Magee, who is in control of the 26 Swiss-built porter-bots, said they will be a ‘massive asset to the campus’. Facility Supervisor Billy MacDonald, who boasts 25 years’ experience with the NHS, said: “The AGVs will help make things run efficiently and smoothly. ‘Watching them go about their work is hugely impressive and they don’t ask for holidays of course.'”
“A federal jury has concluded that an Atlanta grocery warehousing firm must pay two employees a combined $2.2 million for forcing them to submit to a buccal cheek swab to determine if their DNA was a match to feces being left throughout the facility. Atlas Logistics claimed the ‘genetic information’ at issue wasn’t covered by the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). Atlas Logistics asserted that GINA excludes analyses of DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins, or metabolites if such analyses do not reveal an individual’s propensity for disease.”