Wednesday, January 15
Amazon fined nearly million over warehouse labor quotas
23Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Business

Amazon fined nearly $6 million over warehouse labor quotas

An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement that the company is appealing the sanctions and denied that the company used "fixed quotas." Spokeswoman Maureen Lynch Vogel said that “individual performance is evaluated over an extended period of time, compared to the performance of the entire site team” and that workers can “review their performance whenever they wish.” . California law also prohibits quotas that interfere with employees' ability to take mandatory breaks or use the bathroom, or that prevent employers from following state health and safety laws. Experts said the law was among the first in the country to regulate algorithmically tracked inventory quotas and require employers to make quotas transparent to workers. The fines announced Tuesday are the largest under the law. The ...
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The setback deals a severe blow to Neuralink’s first brain implant patient, but he remains optimistic
23Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Health

The setback deals a severe blow to Neuralink’s first brain implant patient, but he remains optimistic

All work is strictly regulated by the FDA, which evaluates the risks and benefits of the procedures and is expected to first consider the use of these devices in people with severe disabilities or degenerative diseases. (The agency did not comment specifically on Neuralink, but said it requires routine reporting of expected and unexpected events in such studies.) Beyond that, researchers are divided over the prospect of widespread use by people without disabilities, who might want an implant to communicate without speaking or to download a language, as Musk has mused. Some researchers predict that availability for general consumers will occur decades from now. Others argue that activities such as surfing in the shower will never be allowed, given the risk of contagion from repeated brai...
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Crisis in the Middle East: The United States imposes sanctions on the Israeli group for blocking humanitarian convoys in Gaza
22Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Recent News

Crisis in the Middle East: The United States imposes sanctions on the Israeli group for blocking humanitarian convoys in Gaza

The State Department announced Friday that it will impose sanctions on a right-wing Israeli group that tried to prevent aid from reaching people in the Gaza Strip by blocking trucks traveling from Jordan to the coastal enclave.The department's statement said the sanctioned organization, Tzav 9, was "a violent Israeli extremist group that blocked, harassed and damaged convoys carrying life-saving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza."Members of the group have tried for months to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza, the department said. They blocked roads on which aid trucks travel between Jordan and Gaza, including the West Bank, and in some cases broke into trucks, damaging them and dumping aid packages on the road, the agency said. Some Israeli activists have...
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UAW reaches agreement on pay and safety at electric vehicle battery plant
22Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Business

UAW reaches agreement on pay and safety at electric vehicle battery plant

GM and Ultium released statements saying they were pleased with the deal. The union has said it wants to use the Ultium Cells contract as a model to negotiate local deals at other battery plants that GM and its Detroit rivals are building. GM began production this year at a battery plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and has another under construction in Lansing, Michigan. Ford Motor plans two battery plants in Kentucky, one in Tennessee and one in Michigan. Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles, plans two battery plants in Indiana. Aside from a Ford location, these plants involve joint ventures that were brought under the umbrella of the UAW as part of national contracts the union signed with Ford and Stellantis last fall. The Ultium Cells contract includes movin...
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As Ukraine expands its military draft, some men are in hiding
21Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Recent News

As Ukraine expands its military draft, some men are in hiding

Tymofii Brik, a sociologist at the Kyiv School of Economics, said polls “suggest that the willingness to defend the nation among Ukrainians has remained constant” throughout the war, with about a third of people indicating a willingness to serve. However, Ukraine's mobilization has opened up painful divisions in society. Vitaliy Bondarenko, a 29-year-old conscript officer from Lviv, said the men ran away every time his vehicle stopped. “They see us and run away,” he said. Many Ukrainian soldiers resent those who try to avoid the draft, arguing that their actions weaken their country's war effort. “Given the intensity of the current fighting, the army cannot fight without a regular replenishment of personnel,” said another recently enlisted Mykyta, 25, who gave only his first name accordi...
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Google CEO testifies in Ozy Media founder’s fraud trial
21Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Business

Google CEO testifies in Ozy Media founder’s fraud trial

At the center of the federal criminal trial is an incident in 2021 in which Mr. Watson's deputy deceived Goldman Sachs employees on a fundraising call by posing as a YouTube executive. The revelation of the call precipitated Ozy's downfall. Defense lawyers for Mr. Watson and Ozy accused his deputy, Samir Rao, of the false phone call and of misrepresenting Ozy's financial details to potential investors. Ms. Frison said in her opening statement in May that Mr. Rao was “incompetent for the role he was filling.” Mr. Rao and Suzee Han, Ozy's former chief of staff, pleaded guilty last year to fraud charges. Watson's defense continued to point the finger at Rao during cross-examination this week, pressing prosecution witnesses about Mr Watson's personal involvement in the alleged illegal conduc...
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Health officials tried to circumvent public records laws, lawmakers say
21Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Health

Health officials tried to circumvent public records laws, lawmakers say

In one of those emails, from June 2021, Greg Folkers, Dr. Fauci's former chief of staff, was discussing global biosafety practices and referenced an EcoHealth fact sheet. Folkers rendered the group's name as "Ec~Health," a misspelling that lawmakers said appeared to be a deliberate attempt to prevent the email from being caught in keyword searches to satisfy FOIA requests related to EcoHealth . In a separate email the same month, Folkers rendered the last name of Kristian Andersen, a prominent virologist who has investigated the origins of the pandemic and faced scrutiny from lawmakers, as “anders$n.” Experts on records retention policies said the comments reflect the lax practices of federal government agencies, with officials strategically misspelling words in emails, missing deadlines ...
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John Jaso gave up baseball to enjoy life on a boat
21Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Sports

John Jaso gave up baseball to enjoy life on a boat

He also took several trips to Europe, discovering a passion for exploring his father's ancestral land in the Basque Country in northern Spain. And he drove a camper van around Australia and Indonesia. But the boat was his greatest pleasure. “I want my life to be simple and there's nothing simpler than being on a sailboat,” she said. “You treat the boat well and it treats you well. That's all. Before the pandemic, the Roaming Rose docked in Turks and Caicos. Due to travel restrictions, she was stuck there for almost two years. When he was allowed to return to the boat in 2022, she took her girlfriend, Jayden Davila, with her for a three-month sail around the Caribbean. They docked in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. “John is ...
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The young people have spoken: wallets are not cool. Go digital.
21Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Recent News

The young people have spoken: wallets are not cool. Go digital.

In a survey that asked just over 2,500 Americans about digital payments, about 80% of Gen Z respondents said they use mobile wallets, and among them, half were eager to use their phone much more than pay, according to recent data. from Pymnts Intelligence, a research firm that studies trade. Younger people are increasingly using their phones for purposes that older adults would use a traditional wallet for, such as carrying around documents like driver's licenses, boarding passes and event tickets. Some of these digital items can be added to Apple and Google's Wallet apps, while others, like insurance cards, can be downloaded through third-party apps. The change in behavior reflects the journey mobile wallets have taken. About a decade ago, when I talked about emerging mobile payment ap...
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When the only way out of the war in Gaza is to buy your way out
20Jun Avatar photoBy John K. FombyNo Comments
Recent News

When the only way out of the war in Gaza is to buy your way out

In February, when Dr. Ghayyda traveled to the Egyptian capital to register his parents, sister and nephew, he took his 23-year-old son with him to avoid carrying more than $10,000. By then he had raised about $25,000. “The whole process was quite long, complex and uncertain,” he said. In an interview in his office in Cairo, Mr. Organi spoke at length and in detail about Hala's activities, although he said his role in the company was limited and that he was just one of many shareholders. Hala has long been listed on Organi Group's website as one of the conglomerate's companies, but the reference appears to have been removed recently. Organi Group did not respond to a request for comment when asked why they removed Hala from their website. Mr. Organi described Hala as a tour company, “jus...
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