Amazon

COMMENTARY

Weekend humor from Celia Rivenbark: Amazon healthcare — the drone will see you now

BY: - August 13, 2022

“Good morning, Mr. uhhhhh, Broncossuck83! Please sign in with your password and take a seat. The doctor will be right with you.” “Shouldn’t you use my real name? I mean, I know Amazon bought my doctor’s practice and nearly 200 others in large cities across the country, but I don’t feel right about using my […]

COMMENTARY

If competition would kill Amazon Prime, maybe it’s not that great

BY: - June 16, 2022

Amazon and its lobbyists are claiming that passing Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s Big Tech bill would lead to the end of Prime, or at the very least, significantly impair the service. This is such an absurd, desperate lie. What the bill actually does is force Amazon to compete in ways that will benefit consumers and small businesses.

Bernie Sanders at U.S. Senate hearing rips Amazon over union opposition

BY: - May 6, 2022

WASHINGTON — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took Amazon to task Thursday at a congressional hearing, bashing the online giant’s leadership for fighting union drives and questioning whether the federal government should continue contracting with the multibillion-dollar company. Amazon executives didn’t attend the hearing but U.S. senators did hear from labor unions and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

COMMENTARY

Immigration attorney: Amazon tops a list of companies to ditch in support of immigrants’ human rights

BY: - January 19, 2022

Throughout the last year, the Amazon corporation has given American consumers plenty of reasons to question whether we should be using its products and services. The news is filled with horrible stories about Amazon’s treatment of their workers. The company has an astronomical carbon footprint. The billionaire CEO has so much superfluous income he was […]

COMMENTARY

Weekend humor from Celia Rivenbark: We may never know cause of Gates divorce…and I’m OK with that

BY: - May 22, 2021

It’s always sad when a multibillionaire’s marriage breaks up. Not because the marriage failed, although, yeah, whatever, but because the super-rich are so well-insulated there’s very little chance we’ll ever know the true story of what went wrong. In the case of “Billinda” as I like to call Bill and Melinda Gates, I’m pretty sure […]

COMMENTARY

Amazon HQ2 could drive working people and retirees out of their homes

BY: - April 27, 2018

When Amazon announced that it is searching for a city to host a second headquarters, cities across the country lunged at the opportunity. Media releases, slick marketing pieces, and even some goofy social media stunts were soon rolling out of cities from Boston to Los Angeles, including a few communities here in North Carolina. Lost […]

COMMENTARY

Good grief! How many P.R. people does Amazon have?

BY: - April 26, 2018

It appears that you don’t have to be an Amazon Prime customer to get almost immediate, free deliveries from the Amazon P.R. department. Twice in the past week, Policy Watch has posted blog entries featuring stories that appeared on other sites in which the online retailing giant was portrayed in a less-than-favorable light. Last week, […]

COMMENTARY

Two NC firms, Amazon among nation’s 12 worst companies for worker safety in latest rankings

BY: - April 26, 2018

This is Workers’ Memorial Week — a time for remembering the American workers who lost their lives on the job during the past year. In recognition of this fact, the good people at the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health have released a new and important report that shines a light on some of […]

New Elon poll shows views on $5 billion Amazon project

BY: - April 23, 2018

Last week the Elon University Poll took a look at enthusiasm and support for a second Amazon headquarters in the 19 locations in 16 U.S. metros competing for the $5 billion project. The project, which could employ as many as 50,000, has the potential for a huge economic impact. It’s also become a bit of a […]

COMMENTARY

New report: Amazon a top employer of food assistance recipients

BY: - April 19, 2018

Good lord — maybe this is why Amazon is considering coming to North Carolina. A new report for The Intercept by reporter Claire Brown of the New Food Economy (a UNC-Chapel Hill grad) reveals that the retailing giant Amazon is employing lots of workers at such low wages that they qualify for food assistance. This […]

COMMENTARY

National think tank: Why Raleigh should be among top five Amazon finalists

BY: - January 19, 2018

There are lots of legitimate concerns about Raleigh’s efforts to woo a massive new 50,000 employee Amazon headquarters — the city and state’s already stretched and under-resourced infrastructure, the threat of more urban sprawl, and the costly incentives package that’s apparently being offered by state and local officials, to name three. That said, it would […]