A Southern California family intends to file a lawsuit against Starbucks after allegedly drinking coffee contaminated with human blood. According to the 19-page-long complained filed by the family’s attorney, the family discovered blood smears on their cups and the coffee itself had a strange, metallic taste. The event occurred on the 6^th of February 2016 at the San Bernardino Starbucks.

Starbucks Told Employee that Blood Tests Are Optional

According to Amanda Vice, on the 6^th of February, she went with her husband, Louis Vice, her mother, Rhonda Agles, and her two-year-old daughter to the Starbucks coffee shop located at 601 West 2^nd Street to have a couple of beverages.

When the woman picked up the coffee cup, which she previously shared with her two-year-old daughter, Vice observed a blood stain close to the top. Moreover, the woman declared that after drinking the coffee-based beverage, she sensed a strong metallic smell.

The Starbucks representatives were confronted with the incident. Following an internal investigation, the family was told that the barista who prepared their order bled heavily that day and that she had to be rushed to the hospital after collapsing on the floor.

As compensation, the family received a week’s worth of free drinks. However, the family has decided that Starbucks’ attempt to white-wash the incident is ludicrous, to say the least, and has decided to file a formal complaint against that company.

In the following months, the Vice family had to undergo blood tests after drinking the tainted beverages. Fortunately, all tests, including the one for HIV, came out negative. Meanwhile, Starbucks told the family that it did not force the barista to undergo a similar blood test.

The family hired an attorney, who filed the complaint. In exchange for calling off their lawsuit, the company wanted to offer the family $1,000 in cash. Still, the attorney declared that this isn’t nearly enough to cover the family’s trauma.

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The city of Portland, Oregon, went through an extensive investigation to assess the level Uber reached to bypass regulations. Authorities paid particular attention to the technology the ride-hailing company uses called ‘Greyball.’ This tool knows how to identify and select certain riders in the system to automatically reject their call for service. These personae non gratae are usually ride service regulators whose job is to standardize all companies according to the letter of the law.

Uber’s Use of Greyball Was Discovered This Year Yet the Company Continued to Apply This Strategy against Ride Service Regulators

The Greyball tool was first discovered in March 2017. Uber admitted the use of this technology to evade government regulations starting with the year of 2014. The strategy was applied perfectly in several countries such as South Korea, China, Australia, and the United States. At the same time, the ride-hailing organization promised not to use this software ever again.

Uber arrived in Portland in 2014. After the company received approval to become operational in this city, Uber also promised not to resort to Greyall again. However, the Portland investigation found a different reality.

Portland Investigators Haven’t Taken Any Punitive Actions Against Uber Yet

Since the moment the company became active in this jurisdiction in December 2014, the company denied service to 16 official regulators. Other 29 riders didn’t receive any Uber at their requests. They were all enforcement officers of city transportation. All these cases were possible by employing the Greyball technology.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation issued the report with the findings of their investigation. The conclusion scolded the company for relying on these practices to deny contact with any Uber car to officials who carry out law enforcement actions against Uber drivers. However, investigators didn’t apply any sanctions yet encouraged authorities to put more thought into this sort of relationship with a business.

On the other hand, a spokesman for Uber claimed that the company is “pleased the investigation was closed” and that it seeks to remain cooperative with city officials. Uber’s main U.S. rival, Lyft, was also considered in this investigation. However, authorities found no wrongdoing in the way the service operates on a daily basis.

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Over the previous weekend, Tesla drivers in Florida received an unexpected gift from their car brand of choice. The leading automaker in EV market helped them run faster from the path of Hurricane Irma with a free software upgrade. The additional assistance boosted battery capacity which offered Model S and Model X SUV owners 40 extra miles of range.

A Tesla Client Was the First to Suggest the Free Software Upgrade as a Hurricane Irma Relief Effort

The auto company confirmed the system update to media. The procedure was enabled remotely bypassing customers’ need to visit a showroom. Tesla claimed that the idea came from one of their customers actually.

The anxious client was planning to flee Hurricane Irma and asked the company to boost her battery capacity. Once they received the request, Tesla officials decided to run a time-limited free software upgrade for all affected customers. However, the service is to expire next Saturday.

Numerous Tesla clients appreciated the gesture at a time when the tornado caused landfall in Florida on Sunday. On the other hand, others thought of the long-term effects of this decision and didn’t support it at all.

They criticized the company of putting a lot of pressure on the limited capacities of their products just for the sake of profit and advertising. On top of that, they didn’t have a choice either to refuse this service that could damage their property in the long term.

Some Customers Are Concerned of How Much Control Tesla Owns Over Their Assets

However, there was another side that claimed that the humanitarian mask of this move clouded a serious concern. Tesla just proved that the company could attain control over any of the electric vehicles they manufactured at any time.

However, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, Adam Jonas, explained back in July that Tesla is a pioneer in modern auto technology. Their electric cars can receive upgrades and fixes in real time without the need for a Tesla representative to be anywhere near the vehicle. This innovative feature can save the products from becoming redundant over time.

On the other hand, it offered Tesla the possibility of upsale for battery capacity in 2016 for Model S and X. Clients had the possibility to pay $9,500 extra for a total of 75 kilowatt-hours of capacity. Nonetheless, it is reported that the company stopped offering software-limited batteries.

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One Category 5 hurricane is devastating enough for any national economy. However, what happens when a second natural catastrophe similar in powers hit the same country after only two weeks from the first one? Experts believe the economic toll of this double distress will leave significant financial marks behind for an extended time.

Both Hurricanes that Impacted the U.S. Will Register an Economic Toll of Tens of Billions of Dollars

At the end of August, Hurricane Harvey hit parts of Texas with utmost rage decimating local communities and valuable properties. As of this weekend, Hurricane Irma reached Florida and wreaked havoc across Miami and its coasts. On top of that, the storm is heading towards populous Tampa yet with weaker powers.

In the end, both natural disasters will generate a heavy economic toll. A catastrophe modeling organization, RMS, reviewed the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey only to find that insurances will have to cover damage quotas of between $25 billion and $35 billion. However, the uninsured areas will support a bigger bulk of a total between $70 billion and $90 billion.

However, the company doesn’t have enough data to measure the extent of Irma’s damages. It is too early to predict the economic impact of such a calamity. Not even the state of Florida started all its recovery operations as of yet.

On the other hand, another catastrophe modeling company, AIR Worldwide, claimed that it expects Irma to lead to a sum between $15 billion and 50$ billion of insured losses. The Caribbean Islands might round up the financial damages to $65 billion.

Not Only Local Valuable Properties but the Job Market as Well Were Affected

Nonetheless, Hurricane Irma didn’t follow experts’ expectations. Instead of going straight north, the storm took a detour on the west side. Therefore, it is prone to reach Naples and Fort Meyers before hitting Tampa. On top of that, the hurricane caused landfall in the Florida Keys on Sunday.

However, property damage is not the only factor that impacts the national economy. The job market had a lot to suffer after Harvey, and Irma can only fuel the fire. This can really hurt short-term economic growth which could have helped with natural disaster recovery.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. serves Americans with delicious burritos and tacos in around 2,000 locations scattered across the country. As of recently, the company announced that it is going to introduce the popular cheese sauce, queso, in all the stores with its logo on them. This move makes Chipotle the latest chain of restaurants that takes advantage of this delicious sauce.

Chipotle CEO Claimed that the Delay in Introducing the Cheese Sauce Was Due to Numerous Experiments with All-Natural Ingredients

Chipotle continues to struggle with weak sales that appeared after multiple health safety issues. Therefore, even though the company refrained in the past to answer to the most requested dish among its clients, Chipotle has finally decided to introduce queso in its restaurants. This way, the company joins other fast casual chains such as Qdoba Mexican Eats and Moe’s Southwest Grill.

CEO and founder Steve Ells explained the delay for the introduction of such a popular add-on. He claimed that it was only recently that their teams found the ideal queso recipe with all-natural ingredients that can keep the usual texture and flavor of the cheese sauce. Otherwise, the company would have had to break its own food culture.

“We never added it to our menu before now because we wouldn’t use the industrial additives used in most quesos.”

The New Chipotle Queso Received Great Feedback from Testers

Chipotle started its way to sales recovery after it dealt with illness outbreaks transmitted through their products back in 2015. However, the company suffered yet another similar scandal this summer due to a norovirus outbreak.

Therefore, the chain of restaurants invested a lot of efforts and hopes in this new recipe. Executives intend to refresh their sales through this move. They tested the all-natural recipe through its new “Next Kitchen” location in New York City. From there, the sauce was spread to other 350 locations last month mostly in Colorado and Southern California.

The main ingredients consist of aged cheddar cheese, tomatoes, tomatillos, and different kinds of peppers. The company claimed that their final version of queso scored high popularity among tasting participants.

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The Chinese government is not on board with financial activities based on digital currencies. Therefore, the authorities are reportedly taking a stand against initial coin offerings that began to shape a new line of possibilities for start-ups. This approach will likely lead to the suspension of several pending reviews. On top of that, there is going to be a long time until lawmakers would start regularizing this new territory.

Two Summits This Summer that Gathered Players within the ICO Sphere Were Cancelled under Suspicious Circumstances

One of the signs signs of offensive demeanor against digital coins was the cancellation of the 2017 DACA Blockchain International Summit Forum. The event was supposed to take place in Beijing last Saturday and gather hundreds of ICO and Bitcoin businesses and investors together.

However, organizers made a last minute announcement that the event would no longer be possible. The explanation they offered regarded public safety concerns. There were too many purchased tickets and too narrow a space.

The event cancellation would have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for a similar phenomenon that took place recently. On August 22, Shanghai authorities put an end on the Finwise 2017 Global Blockchain Summit. Most people believed this incident to be a misunderstanding between organizers and business authorities.

The Central Bank of China Is Considering to Label Initial Coin Offerings as Illegal

It seems that an emergency report triggered this chain of events. On August 21, the central bank received a warning that viewed initial coin offerings as a new type of illegal practices. Stakeholders of the central bank studied a large collection of ICO white papers.

Their main conclusion was that 90% of these activities bear signs of fraud or illegal cryptocurrency funds. On the other hand, the study suspects that only 1% of the companies are truly unlocking this new form of financing for technology projects.

As a consequence, the Chinese central bank is weighing in the decision to classify this kind of financial activities as illegal fundraising. The institution resorted to a 1998 act that the Chinese State Council issued which stipulates that fundraisings need legal approval to be considered valid.

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While dealing with the ongoing damages the Harvey phenomenon keeps causing on Texas, citizens also have no other choice than to pay extra for bottled water. Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, condemned price gouging as an illegal and disgraceful practice coming from retailers. However, one of these businesses namely Best Buy apologized for making a mistake that was interpreted as predatory strategy.

Social Media Revealed that Best Buy Resorted to Price Gouging and Other Prefatory Practices in Times of Crisis

According to the Texas Attorney General, prices have been surging all over the state. Hotels have quadrupled their tariffs, fuel jumped to $10 per gallon, and water packs reached $99. Therefore, authorities registered numerous complaints in this respect which was more than 550 in numbers.

However, social media targeted Best Buy as the representative for this predatory price gouging. Several pictures were enough to pour fuel on the fire. A tweet revealed that some water packs in Houston were selling for $29. At the same time, people could purchase other cases of water for $49. As a consequence, this situation enraged a weeping country and backfired on Best Buy.

Best Buy Apologized yet the Texas Law Will Most Surely Penalize This Event

However, a Best Buy person commented on this case as being a mistake some employees made. The person explained that the company doesn’t have thorough protocols when it comes to water cases. That’s because they don’t usually sell them.

“As a company we are focused on helping, not hurting affected people. We’re sorry, and it won’t happen again.”

Therefore, the mistake came from the fact that the employees placed the price for a single bottle of water on top of a pack of water to inform people on the value of a single product. However, by proceeding this way even if it was a mistake, the company broke Texas law. The state preserved a penalty of at least $20,000 for every case of price gouging. In case the victim is aged 65 and above, the fine can reach $250,000.

The Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, claimed that authorities are going to reinforce this legislature. While the seller has the final word when it comes to price changes, they also have the duty to protect citizens of prices higher than those of the market in times of crisis.

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Last fall, Uber launched some controversial privacy settings that might have put in jeopardy drivers’ right to privacy. The company used to allow its platform track random riders for five minutes. However, this routine screening happened after drivers ended serving a client. In a bid to mend the reputation of its brand, Uber announced the annulment of this surveillance feature.

Uber Explained the Extra Surveillance Feature as Source of Valuable Data to Improve Service

On Tuesday, ride-hailing startup Uber announced some beneficial changes for the privacy of its riders. The company received numerous criticisms from both privacy advocates and users when it introduced several setting adjustments last year.

One of them indicated that the company would register data through its app. The starting point would be the moment the driver picks customers up. However, the end of transmission would be five minutes after the trip ended. The company justified this change as a measure to improve customer service, drop-offs, pickups, and safety.

Drivers who didn’t agree with these terms did have the choice to turn the extra surveillance feature off. However, they needed to perform several additional steps for their pickups. They could enter their pickup location manually and shut down location services.

Uber Will Start Asking Drivers If They Allow the Company to Collect Their Location Data from Time to Time

Nonetheless, spokeswoman Melanie Ensign announced that Uber is going to reverse this policy and enable new flexible driver benefits. She claimed that the company ‘paused’ collecting post-trip location data. Therefore, from now on platform users are going to receive on-screen notifications whenever Uber intends to access location data. On top of that, users can choose whether to allow Uber to perform data collection or not.

The new policy claims that the company needs to gain access to such information in order to be able to avert fraud. Nonetheless, riders should have ‘While Using’ setting on to gain better control over the fate of their data. On top of that, the new feature works only for iPhones while the team is working to enable it on Android gadgets as well.

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Uber is continuing its crusade to provide drivers better work conditions. Before this movement called “180 Days of Change,” Uber drivers were just contractors. Therefore, the company which entitled itself as a tech firm was just providing the platform. Drivers had to accept all the demands and obligations. After numerous scandals, Uber decided to turn a new leaf and improve the relationship with public and employees. The company has just introduced new flexible driver benefits.

Uber Executives Announced that Their Drivers Made $50 Million in a Month from Tips

It is already 60 days into Uber’s ‘180 Days of Change’ campaign. So far, the most prominent improvement was something that any type of taxi driver had before, namely a tipping system. The company launched an in-app extra charge that customers can select if they are happy with the service they received.

Uber’s U.S. and Canada manager Rachel Holt announced that this tipping option has already hit the threshold of $50 million. The system was first implemented in three U.S. cities two months ago. However, it was only the middle of July when it rolled out across the entire America.  As a consequence, officials have already interpreted the change as a success.

On the other hand, the rest of the world is not as excited. By comparison, rival Lyft that has had the tipping system for several years now scored $250 million in tips for the month of July. Nonetheless, Uber drivers are content about another feature, the 24/7 phone service. Around 85% of drivers are satisfied with this initiative.

Uber Has Just Added New Flexible Driver Benefits to Their Campaign to Change Relationship with Drivers for the Better

The latest flexible driver benefits will personalize work conditions for each contractor for a more comfortable experience. In the past, drivers weren’t allowed to know how long their next ride would take.

However, now they can add more conditions to the ideal ride to them. For instance, if a person wants to make it on time for a primary job at 10.00 a.m. she or he can introduce the time limit and route into the system. The platform will pick up the ideal customer request for them.

Another new feature is a long-trip notification. The app will inform Uber drivers if the route takes longer than 45 minutes. Besides the fact that this is a bigger source of cash, employees will also have the necessary data to plan for a stop at a gas station or take a break for personal needs.

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Trump administration’s Interior Department has just called off a $1 million-worth comprehensive study. The research would have taken two years to investigate the health hazards coal mining sites would expose people to if they are opened in the Appalachian Mountains. As a consequence, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine had no other choice than to switch off this project that served the interest of citizens.

President Trump Cut $1.6 Billion out of the Interior Department’s Budget which Led to Project Reviews

The academy announced that they received a letter on Friday on behalf of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The text contained a cease order on the mission that a committee of 11 members was ready to start. The offered pretext regarded mostly financial reasons. The Department had to make changes to stabilize the situation of its budget.

President Donald Trump ordered $1.6 billion budget cut at the Interior Department for 2018. This proposal included even the elimination of 4,000 positions. Interior Secretary Ryan Zike agreed with this decision. He stated that the budget took normal proportions after the cut.

On the other hand, the letter let the academy know that there are still chances to go through with their investigation on mountaintop coal mining. The department scheduled a $100,000 review to select which projects should be resumed.

Therefore, the committee responsible for studying the health hazards will still organize meetings in Hazard and Lexington, Ky. until Wednesday. Their hope is to receive green light to start their activity by then.

A Study Indicates that Mountaintop Removal Coal Mines Are too Few to Justify an Expensive Study on Health Hazards

The National Mining Association referenced to two studied when they announced the project cessation. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences conducted the first one that examined several studies of this sort. They concluded that such projects often failed to deliver solid conclusions on health hazards.

Secondly, the U.S. Energy Information Administration discovered that mountaintop mining represents less than 1% of national coal production. Therefore, the impact of a new mining site in the Appalachian Mountains might render no significant side effects to carry on a complex research operation.

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