NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust regulators will announce on Thursday plans to file lawsuits to block two separate health insurance mergers, Anthem Inc.'s purchase of Cigna Corp. and Aetna Inc.'s acquisition of Humana Inc. , according to a source familiar with the matter.
Reported by Reuters 17 minutes ago.
U.S. regulators to block Anthem-Cigna, Aetna-Humana deals Thursday: source
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A Response To Seth Godin's The Freelancer And The Entrepreneur
Coauthored by Rishon Blumberg, 10x Management Co-Founder
Seth Godin recently re-published a blog post about the fundamental difference between a freelancer and an entrepreneur. His core thesis is that entrepreneurs create scalable organizations that print money, while freelancers simply exchange their time for money. While we agree with many of the differences he's highlighted, we also think the analysis is much too simplistic.
In tech, freelancers and entrepreneurs are interwoven groups -- they each rely on the other and often are the same people shifting from one role to the other and back again. The massive proliferation of startups (which is really just entrepreneurship with a different name) has provided a fertile ground for freelancers to find work. In fact, many freelancers are former entrepreneurs or are budding entrepreneurs working to bootstrap their own startups. It's no wonder that the burgeoning freelance economy has grown in tandem with the growth of funding to startups.
Over the last few decades, as investment into startups has exploded, the size and scope of the Freelance Economy has grown at the same pace. The environment for both worlds has matured and changed in several ways over that same time frame as well. For startups, 2015 was a pivotal year with equity crowdfunding's passage in the JOBS act which allowed, for the first time, millions of individuals to invest in the funding of a startup -- which was once the domain of VCs and other institutional investors. In the freelance world, the passage of the Affordable Care Act has made it substantially easier to obtain health insurance if you're an individual which once was an impediment to leaving a job; and coupled with the massive proliferation of technology within every company and government, the demand for tech talent has been pushed to ever growing heights. It is widely predicted that 50% of the workforce will be freelancing by 2025. Along with this growth has come a range of companies that help freelancers find engagements. But the growth in both of these sectors has helped to blur the lines a little between entrepreneur and freelancer as well as fusing each together in order to survive -- freelancers need startups to provide engagement opportunities and startups need freelancers to build mvp's and find product market fit.
Our own experience offers a perfect example of how entrepreneurs and freelancers are interwoven. We have often been called serial entrepreneurs as we have two for profit and two not-for-profit companies with which we have been deeply involved or founded. There are many other ventures in which we've had a hand in creating and operating. Part of what has always enabled us to build these entities is the abundance of capable freelancers bringing a broad range of skills to meet our ever-changing needs.
In our most recent, and most exciting venture, 10x Management, we've applied our past experience working with freelancers along with our past experience managing talent, in a new talent agency model for the technology industry (yes, we believe developers to be "talent"). At 10x we have a unique vantage point into both the freelancer economy and the world of startups. We deal with both worlds on a daily basis. We see that some of the people we deal with fit neatly into the category that Mr. Godin described as freelancers and some of them fit much more into the category of entrepreneurs.
We represent several former startup founders who have either sold their ventures or handed over daily operations to simplify their lives. Many others are freelancing to build up a war chest with which to bootstrap their next venture. In the span of a career an individual may shift from entrepreneur to freelancer and back again several times. Successfully wearing both hats either separately or concurrently.
This is, perhaps, a long-winded way to say that while some of Mr. Godin's distinctions are accurate, there are many who cross the dividing line in both directions frequently as it suits their needs and desires. In much the same way that the on-demand economy provides access to goods and services where and when we want them, the Freelance Economy is giving freelancers the tools to scale up to be entrepreneurs when it suits them and then just as easily scale back down when they prefer.
That's why we believe it is possible to be both an entrepreneur and a freelancer, and why we are so excited to continue to play a pivotal role in helping those who wish to wear both hats to do so.
Do you agree or disagree? We'd like to hear from you. If you liked this article you might also enjoy reading, The Best Freelancers Use 4 Strategies To Protect Themselves.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 21 hours ago.
Seth Godin recently re-published a blog post about the fundamental difference between a freelancer and an entrepreneur. His core thesis is that entrepreneurs create scalable organizations that print money, while freelancers simply exchange their time for money. While we agree with many of the differences he's highlighted, we also think the analysis is much too simplistic.
In tech, freelancers and entrepreneurs are interwoven groups -- they each rely on the other and often are the same people shifting from one role to the other and back again. The massive proliferation of startups (which is really just entrepreneurship with a different name) has provided a fertile ground for freelancers to find work. In fact, many freelancers are former entrepreneurs or are budding entrepreneurs working to bootstrap their own startups. It's no wonder that the burgeoning freelance economy has grown in tandem with the growth of funding to startups.
Over the last few decades, as investment into startups has exploded, the size and scope of the Freelance Economy has grown at the same pace. The environment for both worlds has matured and changed in several ways over that same time frame as well. For startups, 2015 was a pivotal year with equity crowdfunding's passage in the JOBS act which allowed, for the first time, millions of individuals to invest in the funding of a startup -- which was once the domain of VCs and other institutional investors. In the freelance world, the passage of the Affordable Care Act has made it substantially easier to obtain health insurance if you're an individual which once was an impediment to leaving a job; and coupled with the massive proliferation of technology within every company and government, the demand for tech talent has been pushed to ever growing heights. It is widely predicted that 50% of the workforce will be freelancing by 2025. Along with this growth has come a range of companies that help freelancers find engagements. But the growth in both of these sectors has helped to blur the lines a little between entrepreneur and freelancer as well as fusing each together in order to survive -- freelancers need startups to provide engagement opportunities and startups need freelancers to build mvp's and find product market fit.
Our own experience offers a perfect example of how entrepreneurs and freelancers are interwoven. We have often been called serial entrepreneurs as we have two for profit and two not-for-profit companies with which we have been deeply involved or founded. There are many other ventures in which we've had a hand in creating and operating. Part of what has always enabled us to build these entities is the abundance of capable freelancers bringing a broad range of skills to meet our ever-changing needs.
In our most recent, and most exciting venture, 10x Management, we've applied our past experience working with freelancers along with our past experience managing talent, in a new talent agency model for the technology industry (yes, we believe developers to be "talent"). At 10x we have a unique vantage point into both the freelancer economy and the world of startups. We deal with both worlds on a daily basis. We see that some of the people we deal with fit neatly into the category that Mr. Godin described as freelancers and some of them fit much more into the category of entrepreneurs.
We represent several former startup founders who have either sold their ventures or handed over daily operations to simplify their lives. Many others are freelancing to build up a war chest with which to bootstrap their next venture. In the span of a career an individual may shift from entrepreneur to freelancer and back again several times. Successfully wearing both hats either separately or concurrently.
This is, perhaps, a long-winded way to say that while some of Mr. Godin's distinctions are accurate, there are many who cross the dividing line in both directions frequently as it suits their needs and desires. In much the same way that the on-demand economy provides access to goods and services where and when we want them, the Freelance Economy is giving freelancers the tools to scale up to be entrepreneurs when it suits them and then just as easily scale back down when they prefer.
That's why we believe it is possible to be both an entrepreneur and a freelancer, and why we are so excited to continue to play a pivotal role in helping those who wish to wear both hats to do so.
Do you agree or disagree? We'd like to hear from you. If you liked this article you might also enjoy reading, The Best Freelancers Use 4 Strategies To Protect Themselves.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 21 hours ago.
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What you need to know on Wall Street right now
*Finance Insider is Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours.**To sign up, scroll to the bottom of this page and click "Get updates in your inbox," or click here.*
Some of the biggest names in American business want companies to change their behavior.
Jamie Dimon, Warren Buffett and more signed on to a list of suggested changes for companies to adopt.
The first suggestion is that boards of directors should be "truly independent from the company and meet without the CEO present on a regular basis."
That seems odd, given that Dimon fought to retain his chairman role at JPMorgan.
The Department of Justice has officially brought lawsuits to stop the mergers of four health insurance giants.
Exxon just beat out a competitor for a $2.5 billion natural gas explorer, Komatsu is buying rival Joy Global in a $3.7 billion deal, and Pandora rejected an offer to sell itself for over $3.4 billion.
This is the inside line on how Dollar Shave Club's $1 billion sale to Unilever went down. And here's* *Unilever's CEO on why he did the deal.
The boutique bank Moelis & Company is taking a new tack in developing its junior talent.
Visium Asset Management, a hedge fund at the heart of an insider-trading scandal, is winding down its global fund and changing auditors.
Finally, here are the 32 most expensive homes for sale in the US right now.
*Here are the top Wall Street headlines at midday:*
*Tesla's new 'master plan' defines the end of the fossil-fuel era —** *Tesla published an update to its "master plan" on Wednesday.
*Amazon Prime members can now get a discount on student loans from Wells Fargo* — Amazon Prime is offering a new benefit to members: student-loan discounts.
*GM paid a lot less for Cruise Automation than everyone thought —** *General Motors reported second-quarter earnings on Thursday.
*Goldman Sachs has invested in an Uber for trucks —* Goldman Sachs has led a second round of investment to inject around 35 million reais ($11 million) into Brazilian technology startup CargoX, in a sign of investor confidence despite the deepest recession in decades.
*Apple is about to take a huge risk with its new iPhone strategy* — Sales of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac are all dropping, which is having an effect on Apple's bottom line.
*Former Yahoo employees still 'bleed purple' even as the company faces tough times* — Former Yahoo executive Dan Rosensweig has not worked at the pioneering internet company in nearly a decade, but last week, as Yahoo prepared to sell its core internet business, he was sporting a Yahoo T-shirt.
*This Peter Thiel-backed startup just took a major step toward replacing your bank —** *N26, a mobile banking startup backed by PayPal founder Peter Thiel, just took a major step forward in its mission to replace banks.
Join the conversation about this story » Reported by Business Insider 21 hours ago.
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US stocks weaker as earnings roll out and regulators look to block two health insurance mergers
US stocks fell from previous days’ record highs at midsession on Thursday after the latest clutch of earnings reports rang in, The European Central Bank delivered its post-Brexit prognosis, and regulators looked to put a stop to a health insurance sector mergers worth $85bn. Even news that ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) had agreed to buy InterOil Corp (NYSE:IOC), a US company developing a large onshore natural gas project in Papua New Guinea, in a deal valued at up to $3.6bn, failed to lift the bourse, or their respective shares. ExxonMobil shares were down 0.24% to $93.70. InterOil fared worse, down 0.6% to $48.77. Similarly, buoyant June existing home sales and the lowest US jobless claims since April failed to lift the bourse. The bellwether S&P 500 index was down 0.4% to 2,162, having flirted with the intraday highs just above 2,175 recorded the previous session which itself had followed more than a week of ever-higher record closes and ever-higher record intraday levels. The US Justice Department on Thursday moved to block mergers by suing to prevent Anthem (NYSE:ANTM) from acquiring Cigna Corp (NYSE:CI) and halt Aetna’s (NYSE:AET) planned purchase of Humana (NYSE:HUM). Still, all four insurers made comfortable share gains this session. The S&P Midcap 400 was down 0.6% to 1,540, and led by Graco Inc (NYSE:GGG). The industrial goods maker was down 9.6% to $72.62. On Wednesday the stock reported second quarter earnings which underwhelmed Zacks analysts and they in turn reminded investors of that today in a note. “Graco’s quarterly net income per share of 89 cents missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.1%,” said Zacks. Meanwhile, the S&P Smallcap 600 shed 0.7% to 736 – territory it has been familiar treading for weeks – and was led by Essendant Inc (NASDAQ:ESND), a consumer products maker, which was down a whopping 36.8% to $20.55 but on no specific news. Mario Draghi, the President of the ECB, urged caution in reading forecasts for Eurozone economic data following Britain’s decision to quit the European Union last month. He forecast a 0.3-0.5% annual growth drop for the next three years in the currency bloc, but said that it was too early to make a firm guess. More data is expected in September. The European Union expects Britain’s economy to shrink by 0.3% next year, but the International Monetary Fund sees it growing by 1.3%, albeit down 1 percentage point from pre-Brexit forecasts. Pre-Open Wall Street shares are poised for a mixed to lower open as traders take the cue from lower markets in Europe and await more US earnings. FTSE100 is down 28 in London at the time of writing, while the French and German benchmarks are also lower. US crude is nudging higher, up 0.45% at US$44.85, while gold is also ahead - up 0.14%. Investors are focusing on an update due from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, and for more US macro data and earnings. Yesterday, stocks gained, the S&P 500 bellwether closing up 0.4% at 2,173 – a fresh record high – as well as hitting a fresh intraday record high of 2,175.63, the technology sector did much to power that latest historical achievement. The Dow Jones finished 36 ahead at 18,595, the Nasdaq gained 53 to 5,089 and the S&P500 added 9.24 at 2,173. In futures trading, the Nasdaq is 3.25 ahead; the S&P500 is down 2.25, while the Dow Jones is 28 lower. There's a clutch of companies posting quarterly updates this morning, including General Motors (NYSE: GM), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) and Dunkin' Brands (NYSE:DNKN).
Reported by Proactive Investors 20 hours ago.
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Illinois joins federal suit to block Humana-Aetna merger
Illinois joined a federal lawsuit seeking to block Humana and Aetna health insurance companies from merging, alleging the combination would harm seniors.
The attorney general's office said Thursday the proposed merger would reduce, in about one-third of the state's counties, competition among health... Reported by ChicagoTribune 19 hours ago.
The attorney general's office said Thursday the proposed merger would reduce, in about one-third of the state's counties, competition among health... Reported by ChicagoTribune 19 hours ago.
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Feds Say Health Mergers Would Increase Costs, Threaten Care
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. government is suing to stop two major health insurance mergers, a move regulators say is needed to protect Americans from potential cost hikes and lower quality care.The Department of Justice said Thursday that the combinations of … Reported by Epoch Times 18 hours ago.
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STOCKS FALL: Here's what you need to know
US stocks fell for the first time in 10 days on Thursday, temporarily ending a streak that took stocks to new highs for the first time in 13 months. Intel shares fell the most on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, by 4%, after the company's earnings results on Wednesday showed that its most important business — the data center group — slowed last quarter.
First, the scoreboard:
· *Dow:* 18,515.73, -79.30, (-0.43%)
· *S&P 500:* 2,165.06, -7.96, (-0.37%)
· *Nasdaq:* 5,073.90, -16.03, (-0.31%)
· *WTI crude oil:* $44.75, -$1.00, (-2.19%)
1. *The Department of Justice is suing to stop the mergers of four health insurance giants*. The department filed suits to block the merger of Anthem and Cigna as well as Aetna and Humana. The combined value of the deals was roughly $91 billion. The suits, filed in US District Court in Washington, DC, said that the mergers would be anticompetitive, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a press conference announcing the moves. "If the big five were to become the big three, not only would the bank accounts of the American people suffer, but the American people themselves," Lynch said.
2. *Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon and 11 other corporate titans want to change some of Wall Street's worst business practices*. They signed on to a list of suggested changes for companies to adopt, titled "Commonsense Corporate Governance Principles." Among the six proposals, companies should not have to report earnings guidance, should be clear about the difference between GAAP and adjusted earnings, and boards should have an independent lead director, especially if the CEO has a dual role on it. To the final point, Business Insider's Linette Lopez noted that Dimon is both CEO and chairman of JPMorgan, and has fought hard to maintain control of the bank. Other signees to the letter included GM CEO Mary Barra and ValueAct Capital CEO Jeff Ubben.
3. *Exxon is buying InterOil in a deal worth as much as $2.5 billion*. The energy giant outbid Oil Search to boost its business in Papual New Guinea, where InterOil has a huge presence, and to strengthen its liquefied natural gas position. In a statement on Thursday, Exxon said it will pay $45 per share for the oil and gas company, which has a market cap of about $2.4 billion. In addition, InterOil shareholders will get an additional contingent resource payment of $7.07 per share for each trillion cubic feet equivalent (tcfe) of the Elk-Antelope field that's above 6.2 tcfe, up to a maximum of 10 tcfe.
4. *Something surprising happened with existing home sales in June*. The sales rose 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million, beating an expected fall, according to the National Association of Realtors. But that wasn't it. "The gain is even more surprising given a continued shortage of homes available for sale, with inventory down almost 6% compared to the same time a year ago," noted Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell in a note. She believes limited inventory and high prices will continue to thwart a return to a 'normal' market.
5. In other housing data, *home prices rose 0.2% month-over-month in May, less than expected, according to the **Federal Housing Finance Agency*. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.4%, according to Bloomberg.
6. *Initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week to 253,000*, lower than economists' expectations for an increase to 265,000. Claims have not risen above 300,000 for 72 straight weeks — the longest stretch in 43 years. The data are often volatile around this time of year because of seasonal adjustment issues, but they still send an upbeat message about labor-market conditions, according to JPMorgan's Daniel Silver.
7. *Pandora rejected an offer to sell itself for more than $3.4 billion*. The Wall Street Journal reported that the offer came from Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, whose company controls Sirius XM. It was more of an exploration than a firm offer, and Pandora also lent ears to Apple and Amazon, sources told the Journal. In March, Pandora brought back founder Tim Westergren to be its CEO and help launch an on-demand product to compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. This endeavor has not yet excelled or flopped.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: This video proves the US Navy and US Marine Corps have the best diving boards and swimming pools Reported by Business Insider 18 hours ago.
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Brexit Hurts: Reflections Of An American Expat
Ever since moving to the Netherlands twenty-two years ago from New York to marry my Dutch partner, I've been living as a "European". That cosmopolitan tag has meant a lot to me, especially when I think of my Jewish grandparents who fled Europe a century ago to find safety in America. They left Europe to escape the same xenophobic prejudices that many Brexit voters now seem to embody.
The Europe I moved to in 1994 was a continent of foreigners, moving freely from one country to another without the hassle of visas, work permits, or conflicting health insurance requirements. The "European Project" certainly wasn't perfect, but it opened a brave new world and dampened the ethnic divides that once pervaded this continent and led to repeated and brutal wars. Trade brought peace.
But after Britain's "Leave" vote last month, I was shocked to discover that the world I lived in was diminished and soon might cease to exist.
Brexit is like watching a dear friend commit suicide in slow motion. You can't help him in any way, and you're waiting to see if he's really going to die. It's a painful process.
Nobody expected this. So there was no advance planning. But at 5:00 a.m. the day after the vote, I sensed there was a problem. I woke up suddenly and reached for the radio. The BBC announcer was hesitating and clearing his throat, and I knew that something was wrong. Then he said, with a tremor, "The BBC now projects that the Leave campaign has won the referendum. The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union, by a margin or 51.9% to 48.1%." Then he was silent. The enormity of the thing sank in on us all, weighed down as though we were being crushed.
Since then I've watched both of Britain's major political parties go into self-destruct, and the leaders who created the referendum rush to quit their jobs and leave the stage. And we're seeing mounting racism: banners in the UK that say "Leave Now/Repatriation Now" and black people cursed on London busses. Anybody with dark skin, British or otherwise, feels threatened. In fact, any foreigner, no matter what his or her color, faces an uncertain future.
What does this mean for me as an American in the Netherlands? As a Jew? As a gay man? Suddenly all bets are off. Will the entire European project come crashing down? I fear it will.
The day after the referendum, I went to get a haircut. The nice Dutch lady who has cut my hair for years noticed I was sad. When I told her I was concerned about Brexit, she brightened up immediately. "Shouldn't WE have a referendum like that in Holland?" I know how she and many other working class Dutch people would vote, to "Leave". I let the subject drop.
Britain's momentous decision to withdraw from Europe was, in my view, the greatest European disaster since World War II. It gives strength to the extreme right wing (racist) "Euro-skeptics" throughout Europe, it threatens to tear down the entire European project, and worst of all - I can hardly imagine this - it creates the very real possibility that Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States, Marine LePen will win in France, and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Alternative for Germany will gain power.
I say this because everyone underestimated the powerful of the angry, anti-establishment vote that led to Brexit. And I fear we are underestimating the power of that vote in other countries, as well.
A record 72% of eligible British voters braved storm and rain to vote. Some "Leave" voters were people who voted for the first time in decades. Older, poorer and less educated people were particularly eager to vote "Leave". A revolution occurred that nobody was ready for.
Just as unprecedented numbers of voters swarmed to the polls to support Brexit, we could imagine the same phenomenon in America. Donald Trump is mining the same vein of frustration and dissatisfaction that fueled the Brexit vote.
We have an opportunity to counter that wave if we understand what is powering it. But the mainstream political establishment has been off point until now. Just as Donald Trump caught the Republicans off guard, I fear that Hillary Clinton, a wonderful woman whom I support fully, is conducting a campaign for traditional liberal values that misunderstands the strengths of the opponent she is fighting.
British Prime Minister David Cameron's central argument for "Remain" also missed the point. He argued "Brexit will make the UK poorer." That had little affect, it seems, because many Brexiteers already felt poor. While London glitters with the riches of the financial sector and a booming real estate market, towns in the north of England are struggling. People who have two jobs and still can't pay the rent are watching the millionaires dance at the party in London, and they are livid about it. Nigel Farage's UKIP understood this and used it deftly. So does Donald Trump.
The U.S. and other countries have similar conditions. Both America's and Europe's economies have hardly grown since the global financial crisis of 2008. Most people feel poorer and powerless to doing anything about it. Worse still, the increasing income disparity means that new wealth is rushing to the already wealthy, leaving most people behind. A decade like this has important political consequences. Hitler came to power in 1933 for similar reasons.
So voters are angry and are latching on to "populist", anti-establishment candidates who take their anger seriously. Mainstream politicians on both sides of the aisle are missing the boat, having signed up for unorganized labor, ever freer trade and expanded immigration, without focusing on the role of national governments to protect their citizens from the downsides of these forces with structures to protect employment and share wealth. Their responses are individual rather than structural. They focus on "social issues" like women's rights and same-sex marriage (Obamacare was the exception). But these do not address the core of the problem. People are angry.
"Never waste a crisis" is one of our wisest aphorisms. Brexit's bloodless coup gives us a chance to avoid the worse one that would eventually have exploded. But only if we act wisely and see what really happened.
The failure of both the left and the right to restrain unbridled globalism is what led to this disaster. Investors became the only stakeholders in the nation's economy who mattered and, in the UK and the US, government's role as a mediator disappeared. Unprotected workers saw their incomes decline and the middle class erode. Soon after passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s, Ross Perot's "sucking sound" of jobs whisking out of America started immediately. Manufacturing jobs have declined in America by over 30% since then (only the UK did worse), and nobody protected workers except to tell them to "retrain" for a service economy where they would not be welcome. De-unionized Western manufacturing workers now must compete with Asian wages and employment conditions.
This of course goes back to the Reagan/Thatcher Revolution. But it accelerated in the 1990s, when privatization became the flavor of the day, the force that would save us from government inefficiencies. The fall of the Berlin Wall proved the rightness of this, and we never turned back.
Well, maybe we should look at turning back now. Because the frustrated workers and voters will not stay silent. They will elect demagogues who are happy to grab their votes.
Feeling abandoned by the left, they will turn to the loony right. Hence Trump, Le Pen and Wilders.
I just hope my cosmopolitan life as a foreigner in Amsterdam will continue. I love living here and I want to stay. And I want to be optimistic. But I am fearful for my future here in Europe, if things continue. It feels like the sand is shifting beneath my feet. The world I know could end like it did for my Jewish grandparents who fled European xenophobia a century ago. But in a globalized world, where can you go?
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 18 hours ago.
The Europe I moved to in 1994 was a continent of foreigners, moving freely from one country to another without the hassle of visas, work permits, or conflicting health insurance requirements. The "European Project" certainly wasn't perfect, but it opened a brave new world and dampened the ethnic divides that once pervaded this continent and led to repeated and brutal wars. Trade brought peace.
But after Britain's "Leave" vote last month, I was shocked to discover that the world I lived in was diminished and soon might cease to exist.
Brexit is like watching a dear friend commit suicide in slow motion. You can't help him in any way, and you're waiting to see if he's really going to die. It's a painful process.
Nobody expected this. So there was no advance planning. But at 5:00 a.m. the day after the vote, I sensed there was a problem. I woke up suddenly and reached for the radio. The BBC announcer was hesitating and clearing his throat, and I knew that something was wrong. Then he said, with a tremor, "The BBC now projects that the Leave campaign has won the referendum. The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union, by a margin or 51.9% to 48.1%." Then he was silent. The enormity of the thing sank in on us all, weighed down as though we were being crushed.
Since then I've watched both of Britain's major political parties go into self-destruct, and the leaders who created the referendum rush to quit their jobs and leave the stage. And we're seeing mounting racism: banners in the UK that say "Leave Now/Repatriation Now" and black people cursed on London busses. Anybody with dark skin, British or otherwise, feels threatened. In fact, any foreigner, no matter what his or her color, faces an uncertain future.
What does this mean for me as an American in the Netherlands? As a Jew? As a gay man? Suddenly all bets are off. Will the entire European project come crashing down? I fear it will.
The day after the referendum, I went to get a haircut. The nice Dutch lady who has cut my hair for years noticed I was sad. When I told her I was concerned about Brexit, she brightened up immediately. "Shouldn't WE have a referendum like that in Holland?" I know how she and many other working class Dutch people would vote, to "Leave". I let the subject drop.
Britain's momentous decision to withdraw from Europe was, in my view, the greatest European disaster since World War II. It gives strength to the extreme right wing (racist) "Euro-skeptics" throughout Europe, it threatens to tear down the entire European project, and worst of all - I can hardly imagine this - it creates the very real possibility that Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States, Marine LePen will win in France, and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Alternative for Germany will gain power.
I say this because everyone underestimated the powerful of the angry, anti-establishment vote that led to Brexit. And I fear we are underestimating the power of that vote in other countries, as well.
A record 72% of eligible British voters braved storm and rain to vote. Some "Leave" voters were people who voted for the first time in decades. Older, poorer and less educated people were particularly eager to vote "Leave". A revolution occurred that nobody was ready for.
Just as unprecedented numbers of voters swarmed to the polls to support Brexit, we could imagine the same phenomenon in America. Donald Trump is mining the same vein of frustration and dissatisfaction that fueled the Brexit vote.
We have an opportunity to counter that wave if we understand what is powering it. But the mainstream political establishment has been off point until now. Just as Donald Trump caught the Republicans off guard, I fear that Hillary Clinton, a wonderful woman whom I support fully, is conducting a campaign for traditional liberal values that misunderstands the strengths of the opponent she is fighting.
British Prime Minister David Cameron's central argument for "Remain" also missed the point. He argued "Brexit will make the UK poorer." That had little affect, it seems, because many Brexiteers already felt poor. While London glitters with the riches of the financial sector and a booming real estate market, towns in the north of England are struggling. People who have two jobs and still can't pay the rent are watching the millionaires dance at the party in London, and they are livid about it. Nigel Farage's UKIP understood this and used it deftly. So does Donald Trump.
The U.S. and other countries have similar conditions. Both America's and Europe's economies have hardly grown since the global financial crisis of 2008. Most people feel poorer and powerless to doing anything about it. Worse still, the increasing income disparity means that new wealth is rushing to the already wealthy, leaving most people behind. A decade like this has important political consequences. Hitler came to power in 1933 for similar reasons.
So voters are angry and are latching on to "populist", anti-establishment candidates who take their anger seriously. Mainstream politicians on both sides of the aisle are missing the boat, having signed up for unorganized labor, ever freer trade and expanded immigration, without focusing on the role of national governments to protect their citizens from the downsides of these forces with structures to protect employment and share wealth. Their responses are individual rather than structural. They focus on "social issues" like women's rights and same-sex marriage (Obamacare was the exception). But these do not address the core of the problem. People are angry.
"Never waste a crisis" is one of our wisest aphorisms. Brexit's bloodless coup gives us a chance to avoid the worse one that would eventually have exploded. But only if we act wisely and see what really happened.
The failure of both the left and the right to restrain unbridled globalism is what led to this disaster. Investors became the only stakeholders in the nation's economy who mattered and, in the UK and the US, government's role as a mediator disappeared. Unprotected workers saw their incomes decline and the middle class erode. Soon after passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s, Ross Perot's "sucking sound" of jobs whisking out of America started immediately. Manufacturing jobs have declined in America by over 30% since then (only the UK did worse), and nobody protected workers except to tell them to "retrain" for a service economy where they would not be welcome. De-unionized Western manufacturing workers now must compete with Asian wages and employment conditions.
This of course goes back to the Reagan/Thatcher Revolution. But it accelerated in the 1990s, when privatization became the flavor of the day, the force that would save us from government inefficiencies. The fall of the Berlin Wall proved the rightness of this, and we never turned back.
Well, maybe we should look at turning back now. Because the frustrated workers and voters will not stay silent. They will elect demagogues who are happy to grab their votes.
Feeling abandoned by the left, they will turn to the loony right. Hence Trump, Le Pen and Wilders.
I just hope my cosmopolitan life as a foreigner in Amsterdam will continue. I love living here and I want to stay. And I want to be optimistic. But I am fearful for my future here in Europe, if things continue. It feels like the sand is shifting beneath my feet. The world I know could end like it did for my Jewish grandparents who fled European xenophobia a century ago. But in a globalized world, where can you go?
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 18 hours ago.
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Health insurance for small businesses: three things you need to know
The panelists at Albuquerque Business First's Small Business Health Care Summit and Expo on Thursday all agreed: health insurance is complicated, especially for small businesses. Health insurance tends to eat up a large portion of a business' money, often payroll is the only expense that tops it. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in March 2016, health insurance benefits cost small businesses (with less than 50 employees) an extra $1.61 for every hour worked by an employee. Multiply…
Reported by bizjournals 18 hours ago.
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Justice Department Moves To Block 2 Health Insurance Mergers
The Justice Department and a number of states filed suit today to block two big mergers in the health insurance industry. Anthem was planning to acquire Cigna, and Aetna sought to buy Humana. Justice Department officials said they had no doubt the mergers would reduce competition and hurt consumers.
Reported by NPR 18 hours ago.
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US shares end soft, weighed down by earnings reports
US stocks closed lower on Thursday, weighed down by earnings reports. Even news that ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) had agreed to buy InterOil Corp (NYSE:IOC), a US company developing a large onshore natural gas project in Papua New Guinea, in a deal valued at up to $3.6bn, failed to lift the bourse, or their respective shares. ExxonMobil shares closed down 0.24% at $93.70. InterOil fared worse, down 0.6% to $48.77. Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) fell after issuing a fare warning and missing on Q2 profits. That only added to its woes with flight cancellation in FLordia after a computer glitch first identified on Wednesday. After hours, AT&T, the blue-chip telecoms group, revealed a slimmer-than-expected rise in quarterly sales. AT&T said its revenues climbed by 22.7% on a year-on-year basis to $40.52bn, propelled by the company’s buyout of satellite television provider DirecTV. Wall Street analysts forecast sales of $40.61bn. Net income rose to $3.4bn from $3.1bn in the same three-month period in 2015. On an adjusted basis, which excludes certain items, profits of 72 cents a share matched expectations. The S&P 500 bellwether ended down 0.4% at 2,165, a good ten points off a record intraday high it hit on Wednesday and which it nearly beat this session. The S&P Midcap 400 finished down 0.5% at 1,542, while the S&P Smallcap 600 ended down 0.6% at 736. A slew of positive economic data also failed to inspire the market, while oil prices came off 2.6% to $44.54. And that despite Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield services group, saying the worst of the industry’s downturn is now over. Maybe the bourse is trying to storing up the good news for Friday, one can only speculate. Midsession US stocks fell from previous days’ record highs at midsession on Thursday after the latest clutch of earnings reports rang in, The European Central Bank delivered its post-Brexit prognosis, and regulators looked to put a stop to a health insurance sector mergers worth $85bn. Even news that ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) had agreed to buy InterOil Corp (NYSE:IOC), a US company developing a large onshore natural gas project in Papua New Guinea, in a deal valued at up to $3.6bn, failed to lift the bourse, or their respective shares. ExxonMobil shares were down 0.24% to $93.70. InterOil fared worse, down 0.6% to $48.77. Similarly, buoyant June existing home sales and the lowest US jobless claims since April failed to lift the bourse. The bellwether S&P 500 index was down 0.4% to 2,162, having flirted with the intraday highs just above 2,175 recorded the previous session which itself had followed more than a week of ever-higher record closes and ever-higher record intraday levels. The US Justice Department on Thursday moved to block mergers by suing to prevent Anthem (NYSE:ANTM) from acquiring Cigna Corp (NYSE:CI) and halt Aetna’s (NYSE:AET) planned purchase of Humana(NYSE:HUM). Still, all four insurers made comfortable share gains this session. The S&P Midcap 400 was down 0.6% to 1,540, and led by Graco Inc (NYSE:GGG). The industrial goods maker was down 9.6% to $72.62. On Wednesday the stock reported second quarter earnings which underwhelmed Zacks analysts and they in turn reminded investors of that today in a note. “Graco’s quarterly net income per share of 89 cents missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.1%,” said Zacks. Meanwhile, the S&P Smallcap 600 shed 0.7% to 736 – territory it has been familiar treading for weeks – and was led by Essendant Inc (NASDAQ:ESND), a consumer products maker, which was down a whopping 36.8% to $20.55 but on no specific news. Mario Draghi, the President of the ECB, urged caution in reading forecasts for Eurozone economic data following Britain’s decision to quit the European Union last month. He forecast a 0.3-0.5% annual growth drop for the next three years in the currency bloc, but said that it was too early to make a firm guess. More data is expected in September. The European Union expects Britain’s economy to shrink by 0.3% next year, but the International Monetary Fund sees it growing by 1.3%, albeit down 1 percentage point from pre-Brexit forecasts. Pre-Open Wall Street shares are poised for a mixed to lower open as traders take the cue from lower markets in Europe and await more US earnings. FTSE100 is down 28 in London at the time of writing, while the French and German benchmarks are also lower. US crude is nudging higher, up 0.45% at US$44.85, while gold is also ahead - up 0.14%. Investors are focusing on an update due from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, and for more US macro data and earnings. Yesterday, stocks gained, the S&P 500 bellwether closing up 0.4% at 2,173 – a fresh record high – as well as hitting a fresh intraday record high of 2,175.63, the technology sector did much to power that latest historical achievement. The Dow Jones finished 36 ahead at 18,595, the Nasdaq gained 53 to 5,089 and the S&P500 added 9.24 at 2,173. In futures trading, the Nasdaq is 3.25 ahead; the S&P500 is down 2.25, while the Dow Jones is 28 lower. There's a clutch of companies posting quarterly updates this morning, including General Motors (NYSE: GM), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) and Dunkin' Brands (NYSE:DNKN).
Reported by Proactive Investors 17 hours ago.
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Colorado insurance chief postpones action on Anthem-Cigna merger in light of federal suits
Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar will postpone her office’s consideration of whether to oppose the merger of health insurers Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp. until after a federal lawsuit seeking to block the union of two health insurance giants. The U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits on Thursday to block both Anthem's $48 billion acquisition of Cigna and another proposed merger: Humana Inc.'s $34 billion buyout of Aetna Inc. While the Humana-Aetna merger would not affect…
Reported by bizjournals 15 hours ago.
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U.S. Regulators Sue to Block Two Health-Insurance Megamergers
U.S. antitrust enforcers filed lawsuits challenging Anthem’s proposed acquisition of Cigna and Aetna’s planned combination with Humana on antitrust concerns.
Reported by Wall Street Journal 13 hours ago.
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Event Technology Firm Turns to Artificial Intelligence To Drive Next-Generation Solutions For The Hospitality Industry
EventForte Inc. announces the addition of Artificial Intelligence to complement its data science driven technologies for the hospitality industry, furthering a paradigm shift in the industry's response to the current challenging economic climate
(PRWEB) July 21, 2016
Hotels have been reluctant to change their ways but new methods of increasing profitability have emerged challenging the status quo.
Prior to approximately 30 years ago, the concept of revenue management did not really exist in the hotel industry. Prices would be set based on the intuition of hotel owners and the manual checking of past historical records. So what changed 30 years ago? The airline industry was looking for better methods for filling up flights and getting as much as they could for each ticket. Through somewhat sophisticated mathematical principles, the airline industry was able to do just that - and came the advent of yield management. The hospitality industry adopted the idea and has not looked back. While not all hotels subscribe to the theories of revenue management, many are now on board.
Initially, the hospitality industry hired revenue managers who received specialized degrees from hospitality departments of universities which taught them how to apply these mathematical principles that had worked for the airline industry. However, such methods were still not very efficient as it required revenue managers to sit at a desk all day with little more than pen, paper, a calculator, and a basic spreadsheet program to determine best prices and space allocation based on requests for proposal (RFPs) that were coming in. RFPs are the first step for a group looking to book an event and sleeping rooms for its group in contracting with a hotel. A common RFP is sent by a group which sets out the maximum price they would be willing to pay for event space along with how many sleeping rooms they suspect they will need. But as the years went by, it became easier and easier for groups to send in requests RFPs using hotel websites, with the advent of e-RFP solutions in late 2012. As a result, the RFPs kept pouring in and there were just too many RFPs for the revenue managers to handle, sometimes hundreds in one day.
Now we are up to the present day in the story of revenue management and some hotels who have noticed the problem of RFP influx are scrambling to find the best way to handle their revenue management issues.
On an alternative front, one solution some hoteliers have been looking to is just basic cost cutting without worrying about the complexities of switching price setting methods.
Hotels in Japan, for example, have decided to really embrace the 21st Century by going as far as “employing” artificial intelligence and using them in roles such as receptionists and bellhops. One hotel, the Henn-na Hotel in Sasebo, employs many robots, including one with an animatronic dinosaur head. Aside from providing gimmicky antics that tourists love to see in lifelike robots, the robots do not need health insurance and 401Ks so as one could imagine, this is one method to cut some costs.
Other technological solutions have been more related to ideas such as big data and artificial intelligence. Companies such as up and coming startups like EventForte have been creating products ranging from event management software to RFP analysis and optimization as decision support systems to assist revenue managers to make more informed decisions in lesser time.
To see how it works, let’s take a conventional day for a revenue manager. Hundreds of RFPs are coming in every day. It has been estimated that analyzing each manually, at best, takes 30 to 45 minutes each. If you do the math, that means that a revenue manager can get through maybe 30 RFPs a day. Keep in mind though that as one RFP is selected, that is a price and space allocation. And perhaps while the revenue manager was analyzing that particular RFP, another one came in which turned out to be a better choice for profit maximization. Software, such as EventForte’s, looks at the hotel’s historical data in real time as each new RFP comes in so a revenue manager can see what is the most optimized RFP to pick immediately. Artificial intelligence is used at this point where the software can “learn” in real time what types of RFPs are coming and what type of RFPs the hotel prefers, updating optimization procedures for future RFPs that come in.
Event planners have expressed satisfaction at this type of software as well due to the faster turn-around times with RFPs.
If even 10% (it would probably be a lot more) of revenue manager choices would be improved with the use of big data and artificial intelligence, the profit margins could be dramatically different for that hotel. So while hotels may be hesitant to change their methods, the long term outcomes would speak for themselves.
One other newer industry that has spawned due to the increased demand for new and affordable revenue management solutions is the idea of the independent revenue management consulting firm. These firms are less technology based than other solutions but they have provided a gateway for hotels to take in attempting to maximize profit outside of an in-house revenue manager.
One may ask, however, how a consulting firm would be better suited to revenue management issues than an in-house team of revenue managers. First, depending on the size of hotel, hoteliers generally are unwilling to put enough aside for more than one revenue manager (some hotels have no revenue managers). The average salary of a revenue manager is in excess of $60,000 a year. With a revenue management consulting firm, a hotel is getting a team of revenue managers on an hourly or fixed fee. Additionally, having a team of revenue managers from an independent consulting firm focused solely on revenue optimization has proven to be more effective and efficient than one in-house revenue manager.
Revetality, one such revenue management consulting firm, has been able to make a name for itself with its efficiency. For instance, the general industry standard is that while an in-house revenue manager at a hotel could go through approximately 30 RFPs a day, a consulting firm such as Revitality can handle any volume size, adding consultants during peak demand periods, and reducing them during lower demand periods. Revenue management entering the on-demand industry so to speak..
If companies such as EventForte, Revetality and Henn-na Hotel can succeed by changing the ways hotels think about revenue management and artificial intelligence, it will further prove that hotel industry is making a general shift toward alternate solutions.
Time will only tell if these solutions will be adopted but changing trends seem to indicate these forward thinking hotels are experiencing long term growth.
ABOUT EVENTFORTE, INC.
EventForte, Inc. offers a cloud-based event management, RFP management and event portfolio platform with integrated business intelligence tools, with a mission to revolutionize the event management industry through integration of modern big data and data science methods. Visit http://www.eventforte.com for more information.
ABOUT REVETALITY
Revetality is a premier hotel management consulting firm that empowers hotels worldwide to maximize profitability in both the group and transient segments. Revetality works directly with hotels, allowing hotels to generate savings in software costs, infrastructure investment, personnel retraining costs, and opening them to a world of new revenue opportunities previously only available to large hotel chains. Learn more about Revetality at http://www.revetality.com
ABOUT HENN NA HOTEL
Excitement meets comfort. Introducing state-of-the-art technologies, Henn na Hotel is the world-first hotel staffed by robots. At the front desk, you will be greeted by multi-lingual robots that will help you check in or check out. At the cloakroom, the robotic arm will store your luggage for you, and the porter robots will carry them to your room (only available in A Wing). Mechanic yet somehow human, those fun moments with the robots will warm your heart. Furthermore, once you register your face with our face recognition system, you will be free from the hassle of carrying the room key around or worrying about losing it. One of the definitions of the Japanese word “Henn” is “to change,” which represents our commitment for evolution in striving for the extraordinary sensation and comfort that lies beyond the ordinary. Find out more at http://www.h-n-h.jp/en/ Reported by PRWeb 11 hours ago.
(PRWEB) July 21, 2016
Hotels have been reluctant to change their ways but new methods of increasing profitability have emerged challenging the status quo.
Prior to approximately 30 years ago, the concept of revenue management did not really exist in the hotel industry. Prices would be set based on the intuition of hotel owners and the manual checking of past historical records. So what changed 30 years ago? The airline industry was looking for better methods for filling up flights and getting as much as they could for each ticket. Through somewhat sophisticated mathematical principles, the airline industry was able to do just that - and came the advent of yield management. The hospitality industry adopted the idea and has not looked back. While not all hotels subscribe to the theories of revenue management, many are now on board.
Initially, the hospitality industry hired revenue managers who received specialized degrees from hospitality departments of universities which taught them how to apply these mathematical principles that had worked for the airline industry. However, such methods were still not very efficient as it required revenue managers to sit at a desk all day with little more than pen, paper, a calculator, and a basic spreadsheet program to determine best prices and space allocation based on requests for proposal (RFPs) that were coming in. RFPs are the first step for a group looking to book an event and sleeping rooms for its group in contracting with a hotel. A common RFP is sent by a group which sets out the maximum price they would be willing to pay for event space along with how many sleeping rooms they suspect they will need. But as the years went by, it became easier and easier for groups to send in requests RFPs using hotel websites, with the advent of e-RFP solutions in late 2012. As a result, the RFPs kept pouring in and there were just too many RFPs for the revenue managers to handle, sometimes hundreds in one day.
Now we are up to the present day in the story of revenue management and some hotels who have noticed the problem of RFP influx are scrambling to find the best way to handle their revenue management issues.
On an alternative front, one solution some hoteliers have been looking to is just basic cost cutting without worrying about the complexities of switching price setting methods.
Hotels in Japan, for example, have decided to really embrace the 21st Century by going as far as “employing” artificial intelligence and using them in roles such as receptionists and bellhops. One hotel, the Henn-na Hotel in Sasebo, employs many robots, including one with an animatronic dinosaur head. Aside from providing gimmicky antics that tourists love to see in lifelike robots, the robots do not need health insurance and 401Ks so as one could imagine, this is one method to cut some costs.
Other technological solutions have been more related to ideas such as big data and artificial intelligence. Companies such as up and coming startups like EventForte have been creating products ranging from event management software to RFP analysis and optimization as decision support systems to assist revenue managers to make more informed decisions in lesser time.
To see how it works, let’s take a conventional day for a revenue manager. Hundreds of RFPs are coming in every day. It has been estimated that analyzing each manually, at best, takes 30 to 45 minutes each. If you do the math, that means that a revenue manager can get through maybe 30 RFPs a day. Keep in mind though that as one RFP is selected, that is a price and space allocation. And perhaps while the revenue manager was analyzing that particular RFP, another one came in which turned out to be a better choice for profit maximization. Software, such as EventForte’s, looks at the hotel’s historical data in real time as each new RFP comes in so a revenue manager can see what is the most optimized RFP to pick immediately. Artificial intelligence is used at this point where the software can “learn” in real time what types of RFPs are coming and what type of RFPs the hotel prefers, updating optimization procedures for future RFPs that come in.
Event planners have expressed satisfaction at this type of software as well due to the faster turn-around times with RFPs.
If even 10% (it would probably be a lot more) of revenue manager choices would be improved with the use of big data and artificial intelligence, the profit margins could be dramatically different for that hotel. So while hotels may be hesitant to change their methods, the long term outcomes would speak for themselves.
One other newer industry that has spawned due to the increased demand for new and affordable revenue management solutions is the idea of the independent revenue management consulting firm. These firms are less technology based than other solutions but they have provided a gateway for hotels to take in attempting to maximize profit outside of an in-house revenue manager.
One may ask, however, how a consulting firm would be better suited to revenue management issues than an in-house team of revenue managers. First, depending on the size of hotel, hoteliers generally are unwilling to put enough aside for more than one revenue manager (some hotels have no revenue managers). The average salary of a revenue manager is in excess of $60,000 a year. With a revenue management consulting firm, a hotel is getting a team of revenue managers on an hourly or fixed fee. Additionally, having a team of revenue managers from an independent consulting firm focused solely on revenue optimization has proven to be more effective and efficient than one in-house revenue manager.
Revetality, one such revenue management consulting firm, has been able to make a name for itself with its efficiency. For instance, the general industry standard is that while an in-house revenue manager at a hotel could go through approximately 30 RFPs a day, a consulting firm such as Revitality can handle any volume size, adding consultants during peak demand periods, and reducing them during lower demand periods. Revenue management entering the on-demand industry so to speak..
If companies such as EventForte, Revetality and Henn-na Hotel can succeed by changing the ways hotels think about revenue management and artificial intelligence, it will further prove that hotel industry is making a general shift toward alternate solutions.
Time will only tell if these solutions will be adopted but changing trends seem to indicate these forward thinking hotels are experiencing long term growth.
ABOUT EVENTFORTE, INC.
EventForte, Inc. offers a cloud-based event management, RFP management and event portfolio platform with integrated business intelligence tools, with a mission to revolutionize the event management industry through integration of modern big data and data science methods. Visit http://www.eventforte.com for more information.
ABOUT REVETALITY
Revetality is a premier hotel management consulting firm that empowers hotels worldwide to maximize profitability in both the group and transient segments. Revetality works directly with hotels, allowing hotels to generate savings in software costs, infrastructure investment, personnel retraining costs, and opening them to a world of new revenue opportunities previously only available to large hotel chains. Learn more about Revetality at http://www.revetality.com
ABOUT HENN NA HOTEL
Excitement meets comfort. Introducing state-of-the-art technologies, Henn na Hotel is the world-first hotel staffed by robots. At the front desk, you will be greeted by multi-lingual robots that will help you check in or check out. At the cloakroom, the robotic arm will store your luggage for you, and the porter robots will carry them to your room (only available in A Wing). Mechanic yet somehow human, those fun moments with the robots will warm your heart. Furthermore, once you register your face with our face recognition system, you will be free from the hassle of carrying the room key around or worrying about losing it. One of the definitions of the Japanese word “Henn” is “to change,” which represents our commitment for evolution in striving for the extraordinary sensation and comfort that lies beyond the ordinary. Find out more at http://www.h-n-h.jp/en/ Reported by PRWeb 11 hours ago.
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Kenya: Govt Sets Up Free Maternity Cover for Poor Women
[Nation] The government has set aside Sh4 billion to provide health insurance through the National Health Insurance Fund to pregnant women from poor and under-privileged backgrounds.
Reported by allAfrica.com 7 hours ago.
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LISI Adds Blue Shield of California to Product Portfolio for Brokers
LISI announces a new partnership agreement with Blue Shield of California
San Mateo, California (PRWEB) July 22, 2016
LISI, Inc., a general agent that’s served the broker community for more than 30 years, announces a new partnership agreement with Blue Shield of California. The agreement allows LISI to offer a comprehensive portfolio that includes all major medical carriers across the state of California to its broker partners.
“We’re really excited about this partnership because we know that brokers have been waiting for the opportunity to work with LISI and Blue Shield. This relationship further strengthens our commitment to provide brokers with the resources and solutions they need to successfully navigate their business,” said LISI President and CEO Becky Patel.
“Blue Shield’s goal is to attain #1 Small Group Market share in California. Adding a quality statewide distribution partner like LISI is yet another step in our long term strategy.” “We are looking forward to the additional membership growth LISI will bring with this new partnership!” said Tom Marshall – Area Vice President – Blue Shield Small Group Sales.
About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California, an independent member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is a nonprofit health plan with 4 million members, 6,800 employees and more than $13 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 and headquartered in San Francisco, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare health care service plans in California. The company’s mission is to ensure all Californians have access to high-quality care at an affordable price. Blue Shield has contributed more than $325 million over the past ten years to the Blue Shield of California Foundation. Contact your local agent or broker about Blue Shield of California products and services, or visit http://www.blueshieldca.com.
About LISI
LISI has offices in San Mateo, Sacramento, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego and has serviced the needs of health insurance brokers since 1977. One of the state’s largest general agencies, LISI enables more than 8,000 affiliated brokers to offer Medical, Dental, Vision and Specialty Coverage for large and small employers from over two dozen carriers. For more information on LISI, please visit: http://www.lisibroker.com. Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.
San Mateo, California (PRWEB) July 22, 2016
LISI, Inc., a general agent that’s served the broker community for more than 30 years, announces a new partnership agreement with Blue Shield of California. The agreement allows LISI to offer a comprehensive portfolio that includes all major medical carriers across the state of California to its broker partners.
“We’re really excited about this partnership because we know that brokers have been waiting for the opportunity to work with LISI and Blue Shield. This relationship further strengthens our commitment to provide brokers with the resources and solutions they need to successfully navigate their business,” said LISI President and CEO Becky Patel.
“Blue Shield’s goal is to attain #1 Small Group Market share in California. Adding a quality statewide distribution partner like LISI is yet another step in our long term strategy.” “We are looking forward to the additional membership growth LISI will bring with this new partnership!” said Tom Marshall – Area Vice President – Blue Shield Small Group Sales.
About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California, an independent member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is a nonprofit health plan with 4 million members, 6,800 employees and more than $13 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 and headquartered in San Francisco, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare health care service plans in California. The company’s mission is to ensure all Californians have access to high-quality care at an affordable price. Blue Shield has contributed more than $325 million over the past ten years to the Blue Shield of California Foundation. Contact your local agent or broker about Blue Shield of California products and services, or visit http://www.blueshieldca.com.
About LISI
LISI has offices in San Mateo, Sacramento, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego and has serviced the needs of health insurance brokers since 1977. One of the state’s largest general agencies, LISI enables more than 8,000 affiliated brokers to offer Medical, Dental, Vision and Specialty Coverage for large and small employers from over two dozen carriers. For more information on LISI, please visit: http://www.lisibroker.com. Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.
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Serendipity Labs Upscale Offices and Coworking Center Opens in Aventura, FL, to Serve Entrepreneurs, Mobile Workers and Corporate Teams
Vibrant, modern location offers private offices, coworking, meeting, event space, covered parking and full-service corporate amenities.
Aventura, Florida (PRWEB) July 22, 2016
The Pinnacle Companies and affiliates of Centrum Partners announced the opening of Serendipity Labs Aventura in the Aventura Corporate Center at 20807 Biscayne Boulevard. Serendipity Labs Aventura provides members with nearly 12,000 square feet of vibrant, upscale office space with private offices, open coworking space, meeting rooms and ideation studios. Members have access to an upscale lounge, guest reception, concierge services, high-speed wireless internet, event space, a lab café, outdoor seating areas, a private courtyard patio and garage parking.
“This Class A office facility offers an unparalleled opportunity for individual and company users to work in an upscale environment with best-in-class finishes including polished concrete floors, floor-to-ceiling glass, Steelcase-equipped offices and coworking center -- along with state-of-the-art technology and the convenience of being located in dynamic Aventura,” says Arthur Slaven, principal, Centrum Partners. Centrum is a development company with decades of experience in office, residential and retail projects, and the co-franchisee of Serendipity Labs Aventura.
"We’re offering a full menu of options for today’s changing workforce, whether you are an entrepreneur needing office space, a team seeking to collaborate in an ideation studio, or a mobile worker that wants to network with like-minded professionals,” says Brian M. Stolar, CEO of The Pinnacle Companies, co-franchisee of the Aventura Serendipity Labs. Pinnacle is an award-winning leader in urban redevelopment with a specialty focus on mixed-use, next generation developments. “Our upscale workspace has all the amenities that a full-service corporate office provides, with a level of hospitality, service and support that rivals business class hotels,” continues Stolar.
Serendipity Labs is a fast growing coworking network, with a nationwide rollout underway. The company offers a range of membership options including day passes, monthly coworking lounge access, full-time dedicated private offices, and team rooms for companies needing remote offices or project space.
“Serendipity Labs supports the way people want to work today. Thirty percent of the U.S. workforce now chooses where and when they work. Companies are supporting this mobility and choice with coworking memberships,” says John Arenas, CEO of Serendipity Labs. “As an upscale, lifestyle brand, we empower members with access to an enterprise-class, thoughtfully designed work environment that is infused with hospitality and energy.”
Serendipity Labs Aventura will manage a full schedule of seminars and networking events tailored for entrepreneurs, mobile workers and corporate executives. Corporate memberships provide access across all Serendipity Labs network locations for mobile and remote workers.
All Serendipity Labs locations are PCI (Payment Card Industry), Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability) compliant, and meet the SAS Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 for infrastructure security standards.
For more details, visit: http://serendipitylabs.com/locations/aventura-coworking/
About The Pinnacle Companies
A privately held regional real estate development firm, The Pinnacle Companies is based in Montclair, NJ, The firm’s most recent project is the Montclair Center Gateway Redevelopment Plan (known as CentroVerde), which includes The MC hotel, a 151-room Marriott Autograph Collection property and the mixed-use Valley & Bloom project with 260 residential rental units, along with 50,000 square feet of office and retail space. Pinnacle also developed The Siena, a 200,000 square foot mixed-use building on the site of the former Hahne & Co. department store in Montclair. Other notable Pinnacle projects in New Jersey include Maxwell Place, a 1,500,000 square foot mixed-use project on the site of the former Maxwell House coffee factory in Hoboken, developed as a joint venture with Toll Brothers, and Crystal Pointe in Jersey City, a 41-story, 269-unit luxury condominium tower in a joint venture with Fisher Development. http://www.pinnaclecompanies.net @ThePinnacleCo
About Centrum Partners
Founded in 2009 by Arthur Slaven and John McLinden, Centrum Partners LLC is in the business of creating extraordinary residential, retail, office, industrial and hospitality developments in Chicagoland and beyond. The firm is renowned for consensus building amongst community partners and bringing a dynamic response to new market opportunities. Centrum’s ability to maintain an honest relationship with the public, while creating positive change for the people who call these neighborhoods home, is unmatched in the industry. http://centrumpartners.net/
About Serendipity Labs, Inc.
Headquartered in Rye, NY, Serendipity Labs, Inc., was established in 2013 by industry leader John Arenas. (http://www.serendipitylabs.com). Serendipity Labs delivers an upscale experience for mobile professionals, independent workers and project teams. It offers day passes, part-time and full-time coworking memberships, dedicated private offices and team rooms in its exclusive network, with central billing and reporting are available. The Serendipity Labs mobile app for iPhone and Android means making reservations is quick and easy. Its cloud-based, proprietary OASIS® technology platform is enterprise-class and meets the highest security standards. Serendipity Labs is growing through owned, managed and franchised locations in office buildings, high-rise residential projects, hotels and retail properties throughout the U.S. Reported by PRWeb 5 hours ago.
Aventura, Florida (PRWEB) July 22, 2016
The Pinnacle Companies and affiliates of Centrum Partners announced the opening of Serendipity Labs Aventura in the Aventura Corporate Center at 20807 Biscayne Boulevard. Serendipity Labs Aventura provides members with nearly 12,000 square feet of vibrant, upscale office space with private offices, open coworking space, meeting rooms and ideation studios. Members have access to an upscale lounge, guest reception, concierge services, high-speed wireless internet, event space, a lab café, outdoor seating areas, a private courtyard patio and garage parking.
“This Class A office facility offers an unparalleled opportunity for individual and company users to work in an upscale environment with best-in-class finishes including polished concrete floors, floor-to-ceiling glass, Steelcase-equipped offices and coworking center -- along with state-of-the-art technology and the convenience of being located in dynamic Aventura,” says Arthur Slaven, principal, Centrum Partners. Centrum is a development company with decades of experience in office, residential and retail projects, and the co-franchisee of Serendipity Labs Aventura.
"We’re offering a full menu of options for today’s changing workforce, whether you are an entrepreneur needing office space, a team seeking to collaborate in an ideation studio, or a mobile worker that wants to network with like-minded professionals,” says Brian M. Stolar, CEO of The Pinnacle Companies, co-franchisee of the Aventura Serendipity Labs. Pinnacle is an award-winning leader in urban redevelopment with a specialty focus on mixed-use, next generation developments. “Our upscale workspace has all the amenities that a full-service corporate office provides, with a level of hospitality, service and support that rivals business class hotels,” continues Stolar.
Serendipity Labs is a fast growing coworking network, with a nationwide rollout underway. The company offers a range of membership options including day passes, monthly coworking lounge access, full-time dedicated private offices, and team rooms for companies needing remote offices or project space.
“Serendipity Labs supports the way people want to work today. Thirty percent of the U.S. workforce now chooses where and when they work. Companies are supporting this mobility and choice with coworking memberships,” says John Arenas, CEO of Serendipity Labs. “As an upscale, lifestyle brand, we empower members with access to an enterprise-class, thoughtfully designed work environment that is infused with hospitality and energy.”
Serendipity Labs Aventura will manage a full schedule of seminars and networking events tailored for entrepreneurs, mobile workers and corporate executives. Corporate memberships provide access across all Serendipity Labs network locations for mobile and remote workers.
All Serendipity Labs locations are PCI (Payment Card Industry), Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability) compliant, and meet the SAS Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 for infrastructure security standards.
For more details, visit: http://serendipitylabs.com/locations/aventura-coworking/
About The Pinnacle Companies
A privately held regional real estate development firm, The Pinnacle Companies is based in Montclair, NJ, The firm’s most recent project is the Montclair Center Gateway Redevelopment Plan (known as CentroVerde), which includes The MC hotel, a 151-room Marriott Autograph Collection property and the mixed-use Valley & Bloom project with 260 residential rental units, along with 50,000 square feet of office and retail space. Pinnacle also developed The Siena, a 200,000 square foot mixed-use building on the site of the former Hahne & Co. department store in Montclair. Other notable Pinnacle projects in New Jersey include Maxwell Place, a 1,500,000 square foot mixed-use project on the site of the former Maxwell House coffee factory in Hoboken, developed as a joint venture with Toll Brothers, and Crystal Pointe in Jersey City, a 41-story, 269-unit luxury condominium tower in a joint venture with Fisher Development. http://www.pinnaclecompanies.net @ThePinnacleCo
About Centrum Partners
Founded in 2009 by Arthur Slaven and John McLinden, Centrum Partners LLC is in the business of creating extraordinary residential, retail, office, industrial and hospitality developments in Chicagoland and beyond. The firm is renowned for consensus building amongst community partners and bringing a dynamic response to new market opportunities. Centrum’s ability to maintain an honest relationship with the public, while creating positive change for the people who call these neighborhoods home, is unmatched in the industry. http://centrumpartners.net/
About Serendipity Labs, Inc.
Headquartered in Rye, NY, Serendipity Labs, Inc., was established in 2013 by industry leader John Arenas. (http://www.serendipitylabs.com). Serendipity Labs delivers an upscale experience for mobile professionals, independent workers and project teams. It offers day passes, part-time and full-time coworking memberships, dedicated private offices and team rooms in its exclusive network, with central billing and reporting are available. The Serendipity Labs mobile app for iPhone and Android means making reservations is quick and easy. Its cloud-based, proprietary OASIS® technology platform is enterprise-class and meets the highest security standards. Serendipity Labs is growing through owned, managed and franchised locations in office buildings, high-rise residential projects, hotels and retail properties throughout the U.S. Reported by PRWeb 5 hours ago.
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Florida AG joins justice department suing to block Humana-Aetna merger
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has joined the U.S. Department of Justice effort to block a pending insurance mega-merger of health insurers with a strong presence in Florida. Bondi on July 21 announced that she joined seven other state attorney generals, Washington, D.C., and the justice department in challenging a merger between Louisville, Ky.-based Humana Inc. and Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna Inc.. "Competition in our health insurance markets is crucial to keeping premiums down and the quality…
Reported by bizjournals 2 hours ago.
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Starbucks unveils a private health insurance exchange. Is that a good thing?
To hear Starbucks tell it, the company’s introduction this week of expanded insurance choices for workers represents a major advance in health coverage.
“Providing industry-leading benefits for eligible full- and part-time partners is a cornerstone of who we are as a company,” Ron Crawford, Starbucks’... Reported by L.A. Times 44 minutes ago.
“Providing industry-leading benefits for eligible full- and part-time partners is a cornerstone of who we are as a company,” Ron Crawford, Starbucks’... Reported by L.A. Times 44 minutes ago.
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Starbucks unveils a private health insurance exchange. Is that a good thing?
To hear Starbucks tell it, the company’s introduction this week of expanded insurance choices for workers represents a major advance in health coverage.
“Providing industry-leading benefits for eligible full- and part-time partners is a cornerstone of who we are as a company,” Ron Crawford, Starbucks’... Reported by ChicagoTribune 20 hours ago.
“Providing industry-leading benefits for eligible full- and part-time partners is a cornerstone of who we are as a company,” Ron Crawford, Starbucks’... Reported by ChicagoTribune 20 hours ago.
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