The Daily Populous

Wednesday April 15th, 2020 night edition

image for Amazon’s lawsuit over a $10 billion Pentagon contract lays out disturbing allegations against Trump

Tiefer is referring to the situation that spawned the sensational lawsuit Amazon (AMZN) filed last November, challenging the Pentagon’s awarding of the $10 billion JEDI cloud contract to Microsoft (MSFT).

At the same time — and again, like the impeachment — the suit lays out profoundly disturbing accusations that cry out to be aired, chronicled, and explored.

“And believe me, if I become president,” Trump vowed at a February 2016 campaign rally, “oh, do they have problems.

In July 2019, just before the Defense Department was expected to announce the winner of the JEDI procurement, Trump rotated his turret.

Within hours, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., was predicting that AWS would lose the contract.

A week later, the newly sworn-in defense secretary, Mark Esper, commenced the review Trump had promised.

In the end, the Pentagon decided that the process had been fair after all — but then crowned Microsoft the winner. »

Amazon fires two employees critical of warehouse working conditions

Authored by reuters.com

The Seattle-based firm has been facing public scrutiny over safety and working conditions of warehouse, delivery and retail gig workers in the United States after cases of COVID-19 were reported in some of its facilities.

Amazon said it supported “every employee’s right to criticize their employer’s working conditions, but that does not come with blanket immunity against any and all internal policies.”.

The Washington Post, which first reported the story (here), identified the two employees as members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an employee climate group that has been vocal in raising concerns over protecting warehouse staff. »

Climate change: The rich are to blame, international study finds

Authored by bbc.com

The rich are primarily to blame for the global climate crisis, a study by the University of Leeds of 86 countries claims.

And they warn that, unless there's a significant policy change, household energy consumption could double from 2011 levels by 2050.

The study is likely to ignite future UN climate negotiations, where the issue of equity is always bitterly contentious. »