For years, the best—and virtually only—publicly released statistic tracking illegal immigration in the US has been the number of people caught at the southern border. Now, the US Department of Homeland Security is scrutinizing a lesser known type of undocumented immigrant: the one who comes in legally. In a new report released May 22, the agency has attempted to count the people who overstayed their visas in fiscal year 2016. The results tell a different story than the border apprehension numbers, and suggest that the US should broaden its singular…
Read MoreTax Worker Fired After Biggest Privacy Breach At Revenue Canada – Politics – CBC News
The Canada Revenue Agency has fired an employee for the biggest single privacy breach ever detected involving confidential taxpayer accounts. The employee improperly accessed the accounts of 38 taxpayers in detail, and briefly accessed another 1,264 accounts using a search function to find surnames and postal codes. The incident happened in an agency office in the Prairie region before March 23, 2016, when an investigation was launched, says an internal report. “No changes were made to any of the accounts,” says the document, obtained by CBC News under the Access…
Read MoreThe Older The Doctor, The Higher The Patient Mortality Rate, Study Finds | Ars Technica
The age of your doctor may impact the quality of the care you receive—and even cut your chances of survival—researchers report in the British Medical Journal. Harvard researchers looked over data on more than 700,000 hospital admissions of elderly patients cared for by nearly 19,000 physicians between 2011 and 2014. They found that mortality rates crept up in step with physician age. The stats are adjusted for a variety of variables, such as hospital mortality rates and severity of patients’ illnesses. All the patients were aged 65 or older and…
Read More‘Hard-To-Beat’ Distracted Driving Tickets Shock Drivers Who Think They’re Safe At A Stop – British Columbia – CBC News
Masoud Jahani was “shocked” when he lost a fight to overturn a distracted driving ticket he got for plugging his cell phone into a charger while stopped at a North Vancouver intersection in 2015. Jahani used his legal training and spent $700 appealing the ticket in B.C. Supreme Court but lost this month, because B.C.’s stringent distracted driving laws allow wide latitude for police to target any driver who touches or looks at a digital device. “How does this stop distracted driving? I’m exhausted. I’m not sure I’ll take it further…
Read MoreOil Prices As Little As 4 Years From Collapse Amid Historic Shift In Transport: Report
A new report from a Stanford University lecturer predicts oil prices could collapse permanently as soon as four years from now, as electric cars and ride-hailing fleets bring a rapid end to the age of the personal combustible-engine vehicle. The report points to a significant threat to Canada’s economy, dependent as it is on oil and auto manufacturing, but it also predicts “huge opportunities” for companies that jump into the new “transportation-as-a-service” industry. “We are on the cusp of one of the fastest, deepest, most consequential disruptions of transportation in…
Read MoreUS Utility Offers Clients Cheap Tesla Batteries For Grid Backup
For the first time, a power utility has teamed up with Tesla to use its battery packs for extra grid power during peak usage times. Vermont’s Green Mountain Power (GMP) is not only installing Tesla’s industrial Powerpacks on utility land, it’s also subsidizing home Powerwall 2s for up to 2,000 customers. Rather than firing up polluting diesel generators, the utility can use them to provide electricity around the state. At night, when power usage is low, they’re charged back up again. Green Mountain Power said the idea started after a…
Read MoreTrudeau To Promote Canadian Tech At Microsoft Summit | CTV News
VANCOUVER – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to pitch major multinational companies on investing in Canada’s technology sector on Wednesday, joining top business leaders inside the closed-door Microsoft CEO Summit in Redmond, Wash. Trudeau’s visit comes as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration poses both challenges and opportunities for Canada’s high-tech industry. Trump’s “America First” rhetoric and his plans to slash corporate taxes could mean more investment flows south of the border, but his restrictive approach to immigration could draw talent north, experts say. Trudeau is the first sitting head…
Read MoreA Secretive Silicon Valley Tech Giant Set Up Shop In Canada. But What Does It Do? – Technology & Science – CBC News
It’s one of the most valuable and secretive technology companies in Silicon Valley: Palantir Technologies, a developer of data mining software used by spies, banks and some of the biggest companies in the world. The company was co-founded in 2004 by billionaire Peter Thiel — previously the co-founder of PayPal — and now an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump. Financial institutions are said to use Palantir’s software to detect fraud and cyberattacks, while pharmaceutical researchers have been sold on its potential to more speedily discover new drugs. Hershey says…
Read MoreMotoGP Will Race All-Electric Motorcycles In 2019 – The Verge
The world’s most popular motorcycle racing series is adding an all-electric class. Carmelo Ezpeleta, the CEO of the company that oversees the MotoGP racing series, told Motorsport.com that an electric support series featuring up to 18 bikes could start competing as early as 2019. Four manufacturers have already committed to the series, according to Ezpeleta. The electric motorcycles will have a top speed of around 124 miles per hour, and the races will be about 10 laps long. Read full story here: MotoGP Will Race All-Electric Motorcycles In 2019 –…
Read MoreAeroplan No More? Air Canada To Launch Own Loyalty Program | Globalnews.ca
Air Canada announced Thursday it plans to launch its own loyalty program and will replace Aeroplan in 2020. In a statement, Air Canada said Aeroplan will no longer be the carrier’s loyalty program after its agreement with Aimia – Aeroplan’s parent company – effectively ends June 30, 2020. “The new program, launching in 2020, will offer additional earning and redemption opportunities, more personalized service and a better digital experience for Air Canada customers,” Benjamin Smith, president of Air Canada’s passenger airlines, said in a statement. “Similar to all of Air…
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