JD Wetherspoon to close Twitter, Instagram and Facebook of all its 900 pubs after online abuse of MPs

ECONOMYLeave a comment

JD Wetherspoon is closing its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for all its 900 pubs and head office following the abuse directed at MPs and others.
The pub chain said the move also takes into account recent concerns over the misuse of personal data and the addictive nature of social media.
Tim Martin, the chairman of Wetherspoon, said: “We are going against conventional wisdom that these platforms are a vital component of a successful business.
In a world of social media, J D Wetherspoon has decided to close down all Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media accounts for individual pubs and head office. pic.twitter.com/16BbW7JS3g
— J D Wetherspoon (@jdwtweet) April 16, 2018 “I don't believe that closing these accounts will affect our business whatsoever, and this is the overwhelming view of our pub managers.
“It's becoming increasingly obvious that people spend too much time on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and struggle to control the compulsion.
“..

News Analysis: After Trump Strikes Syria, Syrians Wonder ‘What’s Next?’

WORLD NEWSLeave a comment

After Trump Strikes Syria, Syrians Wonder ‘What’s Next?’ Photo A research center near Damascus that was hit by the American strike on Saturday. Credit Youssef Badawi/EPA, via Shutterstock BEIRUT, Lebanon — The day after the United States and its allies launched missile strikes against the Syrian government, very little had changed for most Syrians who have spent years suffering through their country’s civil war.
In Damascus, hundreds demonstrated in support of President Bashar al-Assad, whose grip remained unchallenged. In Raqqa, which was recently liberated from the Islamic State, teams defused mines the jihadists had strewn across the destroyed city. Thousands of people from Douma, the site of the reported chemical attack that prompted the American strikes, looked for shelter after joining the millions of other Syrians who have been displaced from their homes.
And on the front lines separating hostile parties throughout country, fighting continued as it has for years.
Now that the du..

People don't save enough for retirement because they live longer than they think they will, research finds

ECONOMYLeave a comment

Those in their 50s and 60s underestimate chances of survival to age 75 by around 20 percentage points and to 85 by five to 10 percentage points, study finds
People live longer than they think they will, potentially harming their ability to save adequately for their retirement, new research has found.
It is increasingly important to plan for the future because recently introduced pension freedoms have given people more control over their retirement funds, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.
People in their 50s and 60s underestimate their chances of survival to age 75 by around 20 percentage points and to 85 by around five to 10 percentage points, the study found. For example, men born in the 1940s who were interviewed at age 65 reported a 65 per cent chance of making it to age 75, whereas the official estimate was 83 per cent. For women, the equivalent figures were 65 per cent and 89 per cent.
Read more Pensioners paying £4,300 each to bankroll children and grandchildren Howev..

Employees Jump at Genetic Testing. Is That a Good Thing?

UncategorisedLeave a comment

Employees Jump at Genetic Testing. Is That a Good Thing?

Levi Strauss & Company introduced a novel benefit for employees at its San Francisco headquarters last fall: free genetic screening to assess their hereditary risks for certain cancers and high cholesterol.
Chip Bergh, Levi’s chief executive, said he had hoped that the tests would spur employees to take preventive health steps and in that way reduce the company’s health care costs. But even Mr. Bergh was surprised by the turnout. Of the 1,100 eligible Levi’s employees, more than half took the genetic tests. Now, he wants to extend the benefit to employees in other cities.
“It really is a differentiator,” Mr. Bergh said.
West Coast companies vying for talent offer an unusual array of benefits like college loan repayment, egg freezing, surrogacy assistance and, for new mothers away on business trips, overnight breast milk shipping. Some companies have added genetic screening as well, and employees are lining up for the tests.
Inst..

Maralinga Journal: Australia’s Least Likely Tourist Spot: a Test Site for Atom Bombs

WORLD NEWSLeave a comment

Australia’s Least Likely Tourist Spot: a Test Site for Atom Bombs
MARALINGA, Australia — Maralinga, a barren stretch of land in South Australia’s remote western desert, is the country’s only former nuclear test site open to tourists. And Robin Matthews is Australia’s only nuclear tour guide.
Visitors to Maralinga, a deserted military installation the size of Manhattan, who expect to find their tour guide dressed in a yellow jumpsuit and ventilator mask are bound to be disappointed.
Instead, Mr. Matthews, 65, can be found wearing a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes and a cigarette hanging from chapped lips. His skin, deeply tanned, is covered with a narrative of faded tattoos inked long before they were fashionable.
“Yes, there is still radiation here,” Mr. Matthews said as he drove a minibus to the sites where the Australian and British governments dropped seven bombs between 1956 and 1963, which dotted the earth with huge craters and poisoned scores of indigenous people and their..

Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave

UncategorisedLeave a comment

Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave SAN FRANCISCO — Jason Pressman spent Thursday morning cheering from the balcony of the New York Stock Exchange as shares of the software firm Zuora, which he backed in 2008, began trading.
By the market’s close, Zuora’s stock had soared 43 percent, making his venture capital firm’s $17 million investment in the company worth roughly $150 million.
“Not bad at all,” Mr. Pressman said by phone on Thursday night, before heading to a celebratory dinner with about 60 people at a pricey Italian restaurant in Chelsea. Mr. Pressman, a venture capitalist at Shasta Ventures, said he had been up much of the night before but still expected to raise a few glasses. “I’m running a little bit on adrenaline.”
Mr. Pressman and many other Silicon Valley venture capitalists expect the windfalls to continue. Many of these investors, who back tiny start-ups with the hope that they will someday go public or be sold for nine- or 10-figure sums, have..