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Mid-day Update

PODCAST: To bartenders, you are what you sip.

Jeff Horwich Jan 11, 2013
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Mid-day Update

PODCAST: To bartenders, you are what you sip.

Jeff Horwich Jan 11, 2013
HTML EMBED:
COPY

At a press conference this morning, U.S. transportation officials said they intend to restore confidence in the Boeing 787. The FAA is beginning a review of Boeing’s latest plane, also called the Dreamliner, after a series of nonfatal safety incidents. The Dreamliner was supposed to be a technological marvel.

California: Biggest state in the country; lately one of the biggest fiscal basket cases. Seems like only yesterday California was tens of billions of dollars in the red. Well, Governor Jerry Brown now says the state’s huge budget deficit is gone.

Electronic medical records were supposed to save us a lot of money. Government policies encouraged and then mandated health care providers make the switch, and those big stacks of manila folders are becoming increasingly scarce at doctors offices. A new study from the RAND Corporation suggests those efficiency gains have failed to materialize, and they think they know why.

Japan’s new government has just unveiled a $224 billion stimulus package to get the country out of recession. The package includes infrastructure spending and incentives for business.

Two months ago, the Met Cinema shut down in Oakhurst, California. That’s a small community near Yosemite Park, and it was their only movie theater. Like lots of smaller theaters around the country, the Met just couldn’t make a go of it. But in Oakhurst, some residents have come up with an innovative subscription-based financial plan to save their theater.

And finally, a new study of more than four million bar tabs answers this burning economic question: Which drinkers are the best tippers? Now because it’s Friday, and maybe you’re heading to the bar later, I have condensed the results into a tidy limerick for you:

When you step to the bar for a nip
to bartenders, you are what you sip.
Bourbon drinkers — top flight.
Rum and Scotch — kinda tight.
On the whole, though, the tipsy do tip.
Whatever liquor you prefer,
turns out just about everybody tops 20 percent.

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