University of California Now Insists It Will Reimburse for Use of E-Hailing Ride Services
Despite what I blogged yesterday, based on an actual circulating email from the University of California system, they announce today that they will and will continue to reimburse official employee ride expenses with e-hailed ride services such as Uber and Lyft.

As Eugene Volokh, who seems to be the first person to have reported the policy and now reports on the turnaround, writes, befuddled, "Why the UC distributed an e-mail to the contrary earlier this week is a mystery to me."
And these services can't rest easy—the new statement does say that "We are, however, reviewing and evaluating issues revolving around the safety and security of our employees when they use such services. We are actively seeking ways to overcome potential liability and safety concerns and would like to work proactively with companies such as these to get everyone to a point of complete comfort with the risks involved."
It seems that, and rightly so, their employees choosing those services are perfectly comfortable already, as is the state of California's own Public Utilities Commission which has normalized the services within the state's transportation regulatory structure. I blogged a few months back on the lastest in Uber's insurance policy policies.
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Bail is an expense of using e-hailed ride services. Will they cover bail?
Medical costs are also an expense of e-hailing, after you've been pounded by an irate DC cabbie.
"Why the UC distributed an e-mail to the contrary earlier this week is a mystery to me."
They circulated the original email because they meant what it said. The newest email is them recoiling from being slapped around for being such idiots.
No mystery.
I'm sure even the most left-wing, pro-government professor or bureaucrat would still use Uber over a regular cab.
Well, yeah.
But YOU can't. Shouldn't. Can't. Whatever.
So - it all makes sense.
Reminds me of how the Soviet Union traded the right to import and sell Stolichnaya vodka to PepsiCola for the right to import Pepsi.
Even the new Soviet Man wanted his Pepsi despite it being a bourgeois capitalist product of exploitation.
I was going to ask for a link, but just googled myself.
And it is awesome
"President Mikhail S. Gorbachev of the Soviet Union has said that ending shortages and poor distribution of consumer goods poses a critical test for his leadership. The Pepsico deal is being closely watched as an indicator of whether Western companies can prosper in the Soviet market, which has 287 million consumers who have had little to buy."
"I'm sure even the most left-wing, pro-government professor or bureaucrat would still use Uber over a regular cab."
Yep. Have you ever seen Baptists buying beer?
No, because we dont make eye contact in the liquor store.
And actually, the liquor fairy who Ive refered to in the past is a southern baptist.
As was I, until I joined my current church after moving, which is non-denominational.
Those employees aren't the ones on the hook for the workman's compensation if they get in an accident with an improperly insured Uber driver, so why should the employer care how comfortable they are with it?
Uber drivers are insured for $1 million from the moment they accept your ride to the moment they drop you off. Quit your bullshit.
1. Said policy was only purchased in February after a high profile accident resulted in bad press
2. Said policy specifically doesn't cover workman's compensation claims
http://blog.uber.com/wp-conten.....policy.pdf
I just read about the accident and they had the insurance in place before hand. the accident was controversial because there was no passenger in the vehicle, the driver did not have the app on, and thus the uber insurance did not cover the victim.
How are Workmans comp claims relevant to passengers? that covers drivers. Why would the University care if the driver is covered by workman's comp as long as their employees are covered by workman's comp through the university?
When you say something stupid don't keep trying to defend it. Just admit you fucked up. I can respect someone who is occasionally wrong but intellectually honest. I have none for turd polishers.
The university's workman's comp insurer cares because they want to be able to subrogate their payments back to the taxi's insurer, or failing that, to the taxi company itself.
The high profile accident was when the uber driver was off the clock, not Uber's responsibility and has nothing to do with what you are claiming when there's a fucking passenger.
Here's the conversation I imagine happening:
UC Policy Maker to Risk Manager: "Are we taking any potential risks if we pay for Uber services?"
Risk Manager: "I dunno. Maybe."
UC Policy Maker: "Are we taking any potential risks if we don't?"
Risk Manager: "I dunno. Probably not really."
UC Policy Maker: "No reimbursements."
PWND
Clueless as usual.
Uber drivers are covered by 1M insurance when they have passengers in the car.
Loaded statement. "Improperly insured Uber driver" is an unsupported assertion.
It's a straight up lie, while you are a passenger in an Uber car you are insured far better than you are in a taxi.
If by ' unsupported' you mean ' false', then you are correct.
One google search shows that in addition to the drivers normal personal insurance which covers them when they have no passengers, they are covered by 1M insurance through uber when they have passengers in the car.
Personal auto insurance doesn't cover commercial use of your vehicle. The fact Uber keeps mentioning it when the only way it can apply is through the filing of a fraudulent claim isn't a point in their favor.
The personal covers them when they are not driving a passenger, the uber insurance covers them when they are.
Give it up. Taxis are the walking dead. they just don't know it yet.
The insurers disagree:
http://www.esurance.com/insura.....rance-myth
Even assuming they could win in court, how is that relevant to university employees sitting in a uber car where the uber insurance covers them?
Even more directly on point:
http://blog.esurance.com/are-y.....rx-driver/
How is that relevant to your original point?
There's a bunch of situations where the driver's insurance will refuse coverage because they consider him working. Uber's coverage may not apply either ("and it doesn't kick in at all unless the TNC driver is found at fault"). Uber doesn't accept any corporate liability since the drivers are independent contractors rather than employees. So the university could end up with a bunch of liability and no one to go after but an individual driver who probably doesn't have much in the way of assets.
I'm not saying Uber should be banned. But I can see how an employer would prefer their employees not use it when on official business. Even if you don't agree with their concern, that doesn't mean it's automatically a big government conspiracy.
Indeed!
You mean completely OFF point? The drivers aren't Uber employees, why the fuck should they cover the driver or cover anything at all when the driver isn't using Uber? And all of your bullshit above is about when there IS a passenger!
You're a fucking lunatic.
No, he's a concern troll.
No, he's a taxi driver.
"Why the UC distributed an e-mail to the contrary earlier this week is a mystery to me."
I work for a company that said on a conference call that my last day would be June 23rd.
I am still showing up to work, and paychecks are still being deposited thus far. Yes, I actually have a red stapler on my desk.
I have come to the conclusion that very large bureaucratic institutions just say shit. Shit comes out of their mouths, they put shit in spreadsheets, the send out memos. The content and meaning of those things is next to meaningless.
Wow, that's tough! Sorry to hear about all that dysfunction.
It's good and bad. Bad because unemployment is always a scary prospect. But good in that there is a kiddie pool in my backyard and a minibar that's calling my name for the summer.
The latest rumour is the last day will be July 19th. There's a "meeting" tomorrow where things will be 'clarified'. But to keep with the theme, we've had no less than 20 or thirty 'clarification' meetings over the last year. I stopped going to them.
Keep us posted. 🙁
That is remarkable.
That makes me think of Idiocracy...and imagine you working in a building where the company name wraps around a corner and is misspelled.
Sorry.
And the scene where Bowers is in the 'In' line to the prison and tells the guard "Hey , I am supposed to be in that line ( the 'Out' line ) and the guard lets him go.
The company I work for is so incompetent and so hopelessly broken, that's actually kind of what's happening here in its own real-life way.
Here is the actual wording of a ticket that came in from the national support desk (the firm that our IT was outsourced to):
Actual text. Everything not in square brackets is exactly as written.
You need to be job hunting Paul.
Keep us in mind. The food is really good here and Louisiana can always use more libertarians.
"The State Department has received confirmation that Meriam Ibrahim Ishag has been released on bail and is no longer being detained at a Sudanese police station. She and her family are in a safe location and the Government of Sudan has assured us of the family's continued safety. The Embassy remains highly engaged in Ms. Ishag's case. We will provide more information as it becomes available consistent with privacy laws."
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/.....228507.htm
Sure, sure. The real question is:
Does her insurance policy cover her if she has an accident at the safe house?
If God smites her for being an infidel, her insurance coverage doesn't include acts of God.
I hope she gets out of the country safely, but why exactly is the US State Department involved in this?
Probably because her husband is a U.S. citizen.
Ah okay, I didn't know that. That makes sense then.
Damn is Heather Cox a babe. That strawberry blond hair is a force of nature.
Brazilian men are pretending to be foreigners in order to hook up with Brazilian women during the soccer season.
http://mashable.com/2014/06/26.....toYXhqdCJ9
Brazilian women go for foreigners? I will be on Orbitz booking a flight.
Sainthood investigation opened for 19th century New Mexico nun who clashed with Billy the Kid and got celebrated in an episode of Death Valley Days
http://bigstory.ap.org/article.....-sainthood
Sheese, they're making everyone a saint these days.
It's only the *beginning* of the investigation.
Still, JPII canonized more people than in the entire church history up to that point. Benedict more than doubled the number again during his papacy. Francis has already canonized more then 800 people.
Some of that is related to the number of martyrs the Church had in the 20th century.
Well, John, you said you like Brazilian women. Here's one:
https://vine.co/v/MjPWlJvt5QH
I think there's also a car in the background or something.
If there is such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as a Brazilian soccer star.
Brazilian women getting excited -
http://www.gettyimages.com/det...../461368043
Man digs deep hole at the beach, dies when hole collapses and buries him
By the time the people near David Frasier knew he was in trouble, it was too late to save him.
Frasier, a 49-year-old from Fredericksburg, had been digging on the beach near this Hatteras Island town Monday afternoon. Authorities say he was tunneling between two holes about 6 feet deep when the sand above him collapsed.
Rescue personnel were called at 2:40 p.m. They found family and bystanders pulling Frasier from sand that was 5 to 6 feet deep. The family told park rangers he had been buried for 10 to 15 minutes, said Cyndy Holda, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service.
He was unresponsive and died at the scene, she said.
Holda said it's been at least 10 years since someone in that area was suffocated by collapsed sand.
"It is rare," she said. "It's probably too deep to be safe if you are using a shovel."
Statistics from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 561 people died nationwide in similar accidents from 1999 to 2010.
Vacationers often dig holes on the beach, Holda said. When wet sand dries out from exposure to the sun, the holes can easily collapse.
Officials say holes should be refilled at the end of the day and should not be dug deeper than the knees.
Digging your own grave? Not quite.
561 people died nationwide in similar accidents from 1999 to 2010.
Why does anyone *need* to go to the beach?
Officials say holes should be refilled at the end of the day and should not be dug deeper than the knees.
"David's Law" in 3, 2, 1, ....
I was just at a meeting today about building a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. They've now got $76 million to pay for this, which will definitely change the look of the iconic San Francisco tourist attraction, which is also a major thoroughfare.
There have been some 1600 suicides since the bridge opened close to 80 years ago, or about 20/year.
Bt comparison, in the USA alone there are 105 completed suicides per day.
Among the questions are the cost/benefit ratio (what else could you do with $76M?), and whether if you prevent the suicide on the bridge, if people will just go somewhere else to kill themselves. And actually, a lot of people are stopped from suicide on the bridge -- far more than actually jump -- so if you make the bridge an impossible site for suicide, will more of these people make their attempts in more anonymous ways, leading to more suicides instead? And do you really want to irrevocably change the look of your greatest local site when you might not actually be helping anyone in the long run?
But if it might save just one life, aren't we obligated to *try*?
Your problem is that you are thinking about this. The important thing to be focused on is to DO SOMETHING!!!11! Preferably something that involves union labor getting paid.
I posted a link relevant to this a few years ago titled something like "silent death, recreational sand holes".
It was an absolutely breathless article from CNN about the hidden dangers of 'recreational sand holes'. Then they cited statistics that showed how few people are killed by them.
That article won my pick as the most unintentionally funny article of the year, because it actually interviewed a 'recreational sand hole activist' who would run around at beaches and yell at kids building sand castles.
'recreational sand hole activist'
LOL
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest explained that the Obama administration was getting impatient with Congress. "[W]e're not just going to sit around and wait interminably for Congress," he explained.
"And fuck those Supreme Court busy-bodies," he added.
..."[W]e're not just going to sit around and wait interminably for Congress," he explained."...
I'd rather not wait until Obo is termed out, either. Can I just hire some folks to go to the WH and start moving stuff out?
The National Labor Relations Board: Defending the right of union activists to cuss out their manager in front of customers and not be fired
Agins believed the assistant manager had previously made derogatory remarks to Agins' father about the father's support for the union. The confrontation escalated, and Agins told the assistant manager: "You can go ... yourself, if you want to ... me up, go ahead, I'm here."
The assistant manager on duty (the same one Agins had cursed at before) admonished Agins, but did not call the police or ask him to leave. On Dec. 12, Starbucks fired Agins, saying he "was insubordinate and threatened the store manager" while also mentioning his union support.
The NLRB initially ruled that Agins was engaging in protected activity on Nov. 21, 2005, and his conduct in the confrontation was not bad enough to override those protections.
But the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...sent the case back to the board.
In the new ruling, a three-member panel representing the full NLBR relied on a different precent, which says a company cannot fire an employee if the firing was motivated in part by union activity and the company does not prove it would have fired the employee even without the union activity.
Sounds like Agins had better switch to decaf.
Two men discussing Nickelback at Idaho gas station arrested by cops
Bizarre story from Idaho, where two men were confronted by two deputies at a gas station, apparently because one deputy misheard a complaint about the band Nickelback as "nickel sack," which he interpreted to be some sort of reference to marijuana.
Note that the men repeatedly give the deputies permission to search their car. (Generally not advisable, even if you're innocent.) Note, too, that it is the deputies who escalate the situation by first using profanity, then refusing to let the men go, even after it's clear that they had done nothing wrong. The two men seem pretty polite, at least until the deputies arrest one of them.
At one point, one deputy dismisses the possibility that he misheard the phrase "nickel sack" as "a bulls? story." Given that the two men were never charged, which means the police never found any drugs, it seems pretty clear that is exactly what happened. Finally, it isn't captured on the video, but the audio seems to indicate that one of the deputies drew his gun just before pulling one of the men from the car and handcuffing him. Again, all of this for nothing more than an alleged uttering of the phrase "nickel sack."
How much weed can you get for $5 dollars? You can barely get a cup of coffee for that anymore.
So much for *your* street cred, jesse.
Everybody knows a "nickel" is five "big ones".
Haha. I had street cred before!?
*dances least hip jig ever*
Oh man, that's the nicest thing I've heard today.
that's the nicest thing I've heard today.
*** ponders moral dilemma of telling jesse "I keed" or not ***
Did you just backhanded Indian give your backhanded unintentional compliment?
I'm impressed.
In any event, I've got to hand it to you.
Have a pleasant afternoon!
Jesse, he's throwing shade at you.
Well it sounds like taxpayer funded vacations coming all around. The guys who were arrested for nothing will get a civil-rights payday, the local thugs will get "more training" and the taxpayer will get it in the ass, again. Nothing else will happen. The end.
Well this comment went right through. I assume that enough virgin comments were sacrificed that the Skwrl Gods are finally appeased?
Which is why you avoid any contact whatsoever with the cops if at all humanly possible. Get the wrong cop or the dumb cop or the angry cop on the wrong day and this is what happens. They're like wild dogs running around; you just never know when they're going to decide to bite.
Oh, you're still here. I expected you to be less here by now.
I had a cop give me diet advice at a donut shop. I just smiled in the most friendly and non-sarcastic manner I could think of.
Recently found out my oldest sister is dating an LA county sheriff's deputy.
While she says he mostly does courthouse security it still makes me wonder what he's like on bad days. Most people on bad days are pissy or withdrawn or whatever. Cops have the outlet of power tripping on regular people unfortunate enough to set them off.
Oh, FFS! So what if he said "nickel sack" or "pickle hack". Let the lawsuits begin. And start with testing that cop's hearing acuity.
"GOP Should Listen to Cheney - Not Paul - on Iraq
"By Mark Salter [former aide to John McCain] - June 25, 2014...
"... Almost any one of the serious 2016 presidential candidates in either of our major parties would be an improvement over the incumbent commander-in-chief.
"The glaring exception is the junior senator from Kentucky. His foreign policy views, steeped as they are in the crackpot theories that inform his father's worldview, are so ill-conceived that were he to win the nomination, Republican voters seriously concerned with national security would have no responsible recourse other than to vote for Hillary Clinton."
http://www.realclearpolitics.c.....z35nTxgCxn
So, GMSM mentioned the warrior cop in another thread. Much to my chagrin, I live in the same area. I hope I never have the misfortune of crossing his path.
It is also fascinating how Mr. Warrior Theologian could not cough up a single Bible verse to support his position. Not even the one where Jesus told his disciples to buy swords.
Did someone order a circumcision thread?
For maximum effect, don't read the URL, just click it. Read. I made it about halfway down. Enjoy.
We had this article already - I think it's about cisgender norms being oppressive or whatever.
D'oh. Shows what I get for doing work.
PM Links discussion.
Couple baffled by legal hurdles to evicting live-in nanny that moved in and refused to do her job
Bracamonte called the police, but the cops declined to do anything, saying it was a civil matter. Lt. John Moore of the Upland Police Department confirmed to ABC News that there is no immediate action that can be taken against Stretton, saying "generally, once somebody has established residency, you have to go through a formal eviction process."
Bracamonte soon realized that this was not Stretton's first time with legal matters. Stretton reportedly has been involved in 36 lawsuits, landing herself on California's Vexatious Litigant Lists for repeatedly abusing the legal system.
"Anyone who looks at her crooked, she sues," said Bracamonte.
She claims that Stretton is now threatening to sue for wrongful firing and elder abuse.
Stretton is still living in the family's home, eating the family's food and Bracamonte said Stretton told her she wanted the family out of the house from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
"I'm not going to bend for her," said Bracamonte. "I'm in charge, this is my house. She's not going to scare me out of my own house."
But Bracamonte fears for her three children staying in the house with Stretton, saying "I worry there's obviously something not right in her mind, and the police won't protect us until someone gets hurt."
"I stay."
Mrs. Doubtfire? More like Mrs. Cantfire, amirite?
Seems pretty simple; install new dead bolts and lock them when she's out of the house.
Stossel's show tonight is about the ExIm bank. One of the Team Red guys defended by saying that Germany's bank is bigger and they have a positive balance of trade. Funny, I thought mercantilism went out of style 300 years ago.
Maybe part of Germany's manufacturing success is that their govt doesn't bail out shitty car companies.
I know, I know- crazy talk.
Abortion buffer zone struck down, police hardest hit -
"...the real loser in today's decision is not Massachusetts, nor is it even abortion activists. It's the police....
"Police will try to make do with local anti-congestion and anti-harassment ordinances, and in particular circumstances, individual clinics will pursue narrowly crafted injunctions?perhaps even renewed buffer zones. But the enforcement approach will necessarily be piecemeal, and a significant burden will be shifted to police to determine precisely who is causing a disturbance and when an entryway is being obstructed. More police will be needed and more judgment and training will be necessary.
"Traditionally, the courts defer to legislatures when determining how best to equip law enforcement to do its job. But today, the Court took a step back from that tradition, elevating its own judgment over that of local officials. Given the unanimity of the decision, perhaps the justices were right to do so. But coming just one day after prohibiting police from examining the phones of arrestees, today's decision must sting in law-enforcement circles. For the second day in a row, the Court has told cops they must work harder."
http://www.newrepublic.com/art.....ign=buffer
and a significant burden will be shifted to police to determine precisely who is causing a disturbance and when an entryway is being obstructed. More police will be needed and more judgment and training will be necessary.
Where's my world's smallest violin?
In other words, the police will actually have to punish people who are behaving badly, instead of punishing tons of peaceful and law abiding citizens.
The horror!
And traditionally progressives have said this is horrible because legislatures consistently give law enforcement too much power.
Oh no! The day after courts said cops can't search someone's private correspondences without a warrant they told police officers they can't infringe on the assembly rights of the American public?
Poor police officers! It's a fucking war zone out there!
Sidenote: I can't remember this many good decisions in a row from the Supreme Court. Those ghouls are spoiling me.
Attention people who hate fun: SUCK IT! Pacific Rim 2 in April 2017, baby.
I loved Pacific Rim. It's like if 12-year-old me came up with an idea for a movie.
Uh, OK...