Uber’s Self-Driving Cars Start Picking Up Passengers in San Francisco
December 14th, 2016Via: Tech Crunch:
Uber’s self-driving cars are making the move to San Francisco, in a new expansion of its pilot project with autonomous vehicles that will see Volvo SUVs outfitted with sensors and supercomputers begin picking up passengers in the city.
The autonomous cars won’t operate completely driverless, for the time being – as in Pittsburgh, where Uber launched self-driving Ford Focus vehicles this fall, each SUV will have a safety driver and Uber test engineer onboard to handle manual driving when needed and monitor progress with the tests. But the cars will still be picking up ordinary passengers – any customers who request uberX using the standard consumer-facing mobile app are eligible for a ride in one of the new XC90s operated by Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group (ATG).
AUSTRALIA COULD SCRAP THE $100 NOTE
December 13th, 2016India. Venezuela.
Australia?
Via: New Zealand Herald:
Australia looks set to follow in the footsteps of Venezuela and India by abolishing the country’s highest-denomination banknote in a bid to crack down on the “black economy”.
Speaking to ABC radio on Wednesday, Revenue and Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer flagged a review of the $100 note and cash payments over certain limits as the government looks to recoup billions in unpaid tax.
Monday’s midyear budget update will include the appointment of former KPMG global chairman Michael Andrew to oversee a black economy taskforce. The black economy accounts for 1.5 per cent of GDP, given many cash payments are untaxed.
O’Dwyer told the ABC not only is the lost revenue owed to the Australian people for schools and hospitals, but it’s also critical for those who do the right thing and pay tax.
“The whole point of this crackdown on the black economy is to make sure we close down any potential loopholes,” she said.
Despite the broad use of electronic forms of payment, O’Dwyer warned there are three times as many $100 notes in circulation than $5 notes.
“It does beg the question, ‘Why?'” she said.
GM Delivers First Bolt EVs to 3 Customers Just a Few Blocks from Tesla’s Factory
December 13th, 2016Via: Electrek:
While it shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a swipe at Tesla for delivering the first sub-$40,000 long-range electric vehicle before them, it wouldn’t be the first time that GM tries to subtly, or more directly, take a shot at Tesla with the Chevy Bolt EV. Like when it sent out press pictures with a Bolt prototype driving in front of Tesla’ HQ or when they criticized the company for its reservation process.
Today, GM announced that it delivered the first Bolt EVs to 3 customers in Fremont, California – just a few blocks from Tesla’s factory.
Trump Picks Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State
December 13th, 2016Via: BBC:
President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, Rex Tillerson, as his choice for US secretary of state.
In a statement, Mr Trump praised Mr Tillerson, 64, as among the “most accomplished business leaders and international dealmakers” in the world.
Mr Tillerson is said to have a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, alarming both Democrats and some Republicans.
Venezuela Pulls Highest-Value Banknote, Closes Border with Colombia
December 13th, 2016Via: CNN:
Venezuela just made it harder for its citizens to escape the country’s cash crisis.
President Nicolas Maduro announced Monday night that he’s closing the country’s border with Colombia for 72 hours as Venezuelans rush to exchange bills before they become invalid later this week. He accused “mafias” of moving Venezuelan money into Colombia.
It’s the latest twist in a crisis that symbolizes Venezuela’s severe economic depression, which is having a brutal impact on its citizens’ lives.
The Venezuelan government said in a statement that shutting the border with Colombia was necessary “to counteract the criminal attacks against our currency.”
Some Venezuelans are going to border towns in Colombia to exchange their currency, the bolivar, for U.S. dollars or to spend their money — while they still can — in Colombia where food, toiletries and other basics are plentiful.
Pipeline Spills 176,000 Gallons of Crude Into Creek About 150 Miles from Dakota Access Protest Camp
December 12th, 2016Via: CNBC:
A pipeline leak has spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into a North Dakota creek roughly two and a half hours from Cannon Ball, where protesters are camped out in opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline.
Members of the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes, as well as environmentalists from around the country, have fought the pipeline project on the grounds that it crosses beneath a lake that provides drinking water to native Americans. They say the route beneath Lake Oahe puts the water source in jeopardy and would destroy sacred land.
North Dakota officials estimate more than 176,000 gallons of crude oil leaked from the Belle Fourche Pipeline into the Ash Coulee Creek. State environmental scientist Bill Suess says a landowner discovered the spill on Dec. 5 near the city of Belfield, which is roughly 150 miles from the epicenter of the Dakota Access pipeline protest camps.
Fake News: ‘Russia Intervened to Help Trump Win Election: Intelligence Officials’
December 10th, 2016Update: Top U.S. Spy Agency: No Evidence Russia Involved
Via: Reuters:
The overseers of the U.S. intelligence community have not embraced a CIA assessment that Russian cyber attacks were aimed at helping Republican President-elect Donald Trump win the 2016 election, three American officials said on Monday.
While the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) does not dispute the CIA’s analysis of Russian hacking operations, it has not endorsed their assessment because of a lack of conclusive evidence that Moscow intended to boost Trump over Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, said the officials, who declined to be named.
The position of the ODNI, which oversees the 17 agency-strong U.S. intelligence community, could give Trump fresh ammunition to dispute the CIA assessment, which he rejected as “ridiculous” in weekend remarks, and press his assertion that no evidence implicates Russia in the cyber attacks.
Trump’s rejection of the CIA’s judgment marks the latest in a string of disputes over Russia’s international conduct that have erupted between the president-elect and the intelligence community he will soon command.
An ODNI spokesman declined to comment on the issue.
“ODNI is not arguing that the agency (CIA) is wrong, only that they can’t prove intent,” said one of the three U.S. officials. “Of course they can’t, absent agents in on the decision-making in Moscow.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose evidentiary standards require it to make cases that can stand up in court, declined to accept the CIA’s analysis – a deductive assessment of the available intelligence – for the same reason, the three officials said.
—
Open thread, if you can be bothered.
My guess is that there are warring Deep State factions, and Clinton’s puppet masters lost. It might be that the side that didn’t want nuclear war with Russia backed Trump, and maybe they stole the “election,” but I don’t know.
No U.S. national election result is valid.
What I do know is that The Onion is a more credible source than the Washington Post at this point.
Via: Reuters:
U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help President-elect Donald Trump win the White House, and not just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.
U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that as the 2016 presidential campaign progressed, Russian government officials devoted increasing attention to assisting Trump’s effort to win the election, the U.S. official familiar with the finding told Reuters on Friday night, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The president-elect’s transition office released a statement that exaggerated his margin of victory and attacked the U.S. intelligence community that Trump will soon command, but did not address the analysts’ conclusion.
“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction,” the statement said. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.'”
Democrats and some Republicans in Congress are calling for a full investigation into Russia’s election year activities.
“Protecting the integrity of our elections is hindered when President-elect Trump and his transition team minimize or dismiss the intelligence assessments themselves,” Representative Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said in a statement issued on Saturday.
Citing U.S. officials briefed on the matter, the Washington Post reported on Friday that intelligence agencies had identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, to WikiLeaks.
Mexico Says Army to Stay in Streets
December 9th, 2016Via: AFP:
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Friday troops will remain in the streets to combat drug violence after his defense minister issued a rare complaint about the controversial deployment.
Although Pena Nieto acknowledged that the soldiers and marines have been doing law enforcement tasks that “don’t correspond to them in the strictest sense,” he said the armed forces are “determined to continue” policing the streets.
The military deployment has allowed “cities and regions in our country to return to peace and calm,” he said.
Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos said on Thursday that the military “didn’t ask” to be fighting criminals.
“We don’t like it. We didn’t study how to chase criminals,” the general said.
“Our function is something else and it’s been made into something unnatural. We are doing things that don’t correspond to our training because there’s no one else to do them.”
Russian Killer Robot Guns Down ISIS Leader and 4 Others
December 8th, 2016Via: Inquisitr:
A machine-gun-wielding Russian robot was sent in to “take out” an ISIS emir and four other militants in a raid this week designed to stop terrorist attacks in the Republic of Dagestan, according to Russian security services. A video showing the killer robot indicates that the mechanical shooter was maneuvered into position and received supporting fire from a special forces unit.
The Sun reported this week that Russia has acquired a new soldier in the ongoing war against ISIS terrorists — a robot. The device, equipped with a machine gun, rolled into battle against the extremists in Makhachkala, Dagestan, where ISIS emir Rustam Aselderov was reportedly holed up with members of his terrorist group.
A video of the assault on the compound where Aselderov and four other extremists had secreted themselves, which has been uploaded to LiveLeaks, shows the Russian robot trundling up to the building, maneuvered by its handlers into a more effective shooting position. Its special forces colleagues fired into the building along with the robot and, according, to Russia’s FSB (Federal Security Service), killed all five occupants in the structure, including the emir.
Japan Tags Dementia Sufferers with Barcodes
December 8th, 2016Via: AFP:
A Japanese city has introduced a novel way to keep track of senior citizens with dementia who are prone to getting lost — tagging their fingers and toes with scan-able barcodes.
A company in Iruma, north of Tokyo, developed tiny nail stickers, each of which carries a unique identity number to help concerned families find missing loved ones, according to the city’s social welfare office.
The adhesive QR-coded seals for nails — part of a free service launched this month and a first in Japan — measure just one centimetre (0.4 inches) in size.
“Being able to attach the seals on nails is a great advantage,” a city worker told AFP.
“There are already ID stickers for clothes or shoes but dementia patients are not always wearing those items.”
If an elderly person becomes disorientated, police will find the local city hall, its telephone number and the wearer’s ID all embedded in the QR code.
The chips remain attached for an average of two weeks — even if they get wet — the official said, citing recent trials.
