This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareHouse lawmakers investigating Amazon for antitrust violations demanded Friday that Jeff Bezos, the company’s chief executive, agree to testify at an upcoming hearing or face a potential subpoena that would force him to appear.The dramatic escalation between members of Congress and the e-commerce giant follows reports that Amazon employees tapped data from in the company’s marketplace to make decisions about launching its own competing products, despite initially telling Democrats and Republicans that it did not engage in...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareHouse lawmakers investigating Amazon for antitrust violations demanded Friday that Jeff Bezos, the company’s chief executive, agree to testify at an upcoming hearing or face a potential subpoena that would force him to appear.The dramatic escalation between members of Congress and the e-commerce giant follows reports that Amazon employees tapped data from in the company’s marketplace to make decisions about launching its own competing products, despite initially telling Democrats and Republicans that it did not engage in...WW…

Tech's titans set the agenda for U.S. employers in early March, sending staff to work from home as the coronavirus started to spread near their West Coast headquarters.And despite pressure from the president and other politicians to begin to reopen society to resuscitate a moribund economy, those same giants - Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter - will likely be among the last large employers to reopen their office doors and welcome staff back.Google and Facebook told employees that many workers who can do their jobs remotely should plan to do so until 2021. Amazon said its...…Tech's titans set the agenda for U.S. employers in early March, sending staff to work from home as the coronavirus started to spread near their West Coast headquarters.And despite pressure from the president and other politicians to begin to reopen society to resuscitate a moribund economy, those same giants - Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter - will likely be among the last large employers to reopen their office doors and welcome staff back.Google and Facebook told employees that many workers who can do their jobs remotely should plan to do so until 2021. Amazon said its...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSEATTLE — As the coronavirus pandemic rapidly spread across the United States in March, Bill Gates peppered his longtime friend Jeff Raikes with the science behind testing for the disease during dinner at his home in Medina, Wash.The two men ate sushi — at an “appropriate” social distance, Raikes said — while Gates detailed the challenges of using nasopharyngeal swabs that reach deep into nasal passages to test for the novel coronavirus. Instead, Gates offered that self-testing with simpler, shorter swabs could be more...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSEATTLE — As the coronavirus pandemic rapidly spread across the United States in March, Bill Gates peppered his longtime friend Jeff Raikes with the science behind testing for the disease during dinner at his home in Medina, Wash.The two men ate sushi — at an “appropriate” social distance, Raikes said — while Gates detailed the challenges of using nasopharyngeal swabs that reach deep into nasal passages to test for the novel coronavirus. Instead, Gates offered that self-testing with simpler, shorter swabs could be more...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareKIRKLAND, Wash. — Half a mile from the nursing home where the coronavirus first ran rampant here, the Gardens at Juanita Bay senior home received troubling news this week. A resident had tested positive for the virus. Managers urged residents on Monday to stay in their rooms. Meals would be delivered.On Tuesday morning a pipe-smoking resident rolled his motorized wheelchair down one of the compound’s paved, tree-shaded paths. He said he did not believe covid-19 was there, and that restrictions were “overblown.”“They’re...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareKIRKLAND, Wash. — Half a mile from the nursing home where the coronavirus first ran rampant here, the Gardens at Juanita Bay senior home received troubling news this week. A resident had tested positive for the virus. Managers urged residents on Monday to stay in their rooms. Meals would be delivered.On Tuesday morning a pipe-smoking resident rolled his motorized wheelchair down one of the compound’s paved, tree-shaded paths. He said he did not believe covid-19 was there, and that restrictions were “overblown.”“They’re...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareThe spread of coronavirus around the country showed few signs of slowing on Wednesday, as the disease known as covid-19 claimed two more lives on the West Coast, clusters of new infections surfaced in California and New York, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill raced to finalize an to combat the deadly outbreak.California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency, after officials there announced the state’s first coronavirus-linked death, bringing the death toll in the United States to 11. The fatality, which occurred...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareThe spread of coronavirus around the country showed few signs of slowing on Wednesday, as the disease known as covid-19 claimed two more lives on the West Coast, clusters of new infections surfaced in California and New York, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill raced to finalize an to combat the deadly outbreak.California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency, after officials there announced the state’s first coronavirus-linked death, bringing the death toll in the United States to 11. The fatality, which occurred...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLast week, as leaders in Silicon Valley, China and Washington raced to seal the fate of one of the world’s fastest-growing social media companies, a shouting match broke out in the Oval Office between two of President Trump’s top advisers.In front of Trump, trade adviser Peter Navarro and other aides late last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin began arguing that the Chinese-owned video-sharing service TikTok should be sold to a U.S. company. Mnuchin had senior leaders and was confident that he had rallied support...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLast week, as leaders in Silicon Valley, China and Washington raced to seal the fate of one of the world’s fastest-growing social media companies, a shouting match broke out in the Oval Office between two of President Trump’s top advisers.In front of Trump, trade adviser Peter Navarro and other aides late last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin began arguing that the Chinese-owned video-sharing service TikTok should be sold to a U.S. company. Mnuchin had senior leaders and was confident that he had rallied support...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSEATTLE — Amazon has fired two employees who were outspoken critics of its climate policies and who had publicly denounced the conditions at its warehouses as unsafe during the coronavirus pandemic.The virus has spread widely, infecting workers in at least 74 warehouses and delivery facilities across the country, according to Amazon and media reports. Some warehouse workers have staged small demonstrations in response.And Amazon acknowledged Tuesday that a manager in its Hawthorne, Calif., warehouse died on March 31 from...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSEATTLE — Amazon has fired two employees who were outspoken critics of its climate policies and who had publicly denounced the conditions at its warehouses as unsafe during the coronavirus pandemic.The virus has spread widely, infecting workers in at least 74 warehouses and delivery facilities across the country, according to Amazon and media reports. Some warehouse workers have staged small demonstrations in response.And Amazon acknowledged Tuesday that a manager in its Hawthorne, Calif., warehouse died on March 31 from...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareCalifornia reported its second case of community transmission of the coronavirus Friday, and Oregon and Washington announced others just hours later, providing fresh evidence that the deadly virus is circulating in the United States.Authorities in Santa Clara County, Calif., said a 65-year-old woman had come down with the covid-19 disease without traveling to any countries hit hard by the outbreak or coming in contact with anyone known to have the infection.In Oregon, officials said a person from Washington County, in the...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareCalifornia reported its second case of community transmission of the coronavirus Friday, and Oregon and Washington announced others just hours later, providing fresh evidence that the deadly virus is circulating in the United States.Authorities in Santa Clara County, Calif., said a 65-year-old woman had come down with the covid-19 disease without traveling to any countries hit hard by the outbreak or coming in contact with anyone known to have the infection.In Oregon, officials said a person from Washington County, in the...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareAmazon Web Services is seeking to depose President Trump and Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper in a high-stakes protest over the Pentagon’s handling of a $10 billion cloud computing contract, court records show. in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims significantly raises the stakes in a bitter procurement dispute over a long-awaited defense contract to create the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, known as JEDI. The contract would create a powerful, centralized computing system for use by the military and operated by...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareAmazon Web Services is seeking to depose President Trump and Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper in a high-stakes protest over the Pentagon’s handling of a $10 billion cloud computing contract, court records show. in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims significantly raises the stakes in a bitter procurement dispute over a long-awaited defense contract to create the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, known as JEDI. The contract would create a powerful, centralized computing system for use by the military and operated by...WW…

This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareJ.C. Thompson works the night shift at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., a job he started after his work as a hospice chaplain dried up at the beginning of the pandemic.He says he’s not anti-union but was never a supporter of the effort at the facility. He appreciated the stability of the job and felt the pay and benefits that the company provided were as good as anything a union could negotiate.His experiences with organizers gave him no reason to change his mind, Thompson said. He received some text messages and...…This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareJ.C. Thompson works the night shift at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., a job he started after his work as a hospice chaplain dried up at the beginning of the pandemic.He says he’s not anti-union but was never a supporter of the effort at the facility. He appreciated the stability of the job and felt the pay and benefits that the company provided were as good as anything a union could negotiate.His experiences with organizers gave him no reason to change his mind, Thompson said. He received some text messages and...WW…