You know how annoying it is when your Amazon package isn’t delivered on time? Imagine how pissed-off officials in Northern Virginia must be now that Amazon says it will be late in building its big HQ2 development. While the landmark Helix, a 350 foot tower resembling the Poop Emoji with an outdoor spiral of landscaped trees will be built as scheduled, other buildings on the sprawling development are on hold. So much for the vaunted local economic benefits the retail giant promised in return for big tax incentives.
You may recall that saner jurisdictions rejected the HQ2 project. Northern Virginia neighborhoods under the retail behemoth’s footprint are so embarrassed they’re changing their names.
More:
“Amazon says it is pausing construction at HQ2 in Arlington,” Teo Armus and Rachel Lerman, Washington Post
“Amazon pauses construction of 2nd headquarters in Virginia, dubbed ‘HQ2’,” Max Zahn, ABC News
“The Lie Behind Amazon’s HQ2 Sweepstakes Becomes Clear,” Davi Dayen, American Prospect
“Amazon suspends Virginia HQ2 construction in latest cost-cutting move,” Emma Roth, The Verge
Update:
“As Amazon’s HQ2 Stalls, Incentives Have, Too,” Sarah Holder and Linda Poon, Bloomberg CityLab
Image (“Amazon HQ2 Helix Concept, after Jan Luyken and Willem Goeree, 1682″) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
After saner jurisdictions rejected the project, Amazon selected Northern Virginia for the site of its HQ2 development. Some neighborhoods under the retail behemoth’s footprint will change their names to protect the innocent.
Image (“Amazon HQ2 Helix Concept, after Jan Luyken and Willem Goeree, 1682″) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a package. Amazon has received FAA approval to use drones to deliver packages:
“Amazon did not say when customers could expect drones to drop packages at their doorsteps. Obtaining the F.A.A. certificate was an ‘important step,’ the company said, adding that it would continue to test the technology, which has been in development for years.” — “Drone Delivery? Amazon Moves Closer With F.A.A. Approval,” Concepción de León, New York Times
Alphabet’s Wing and UPS already have FAA approval for drone delivery.
More:
“Amazon Prime Air lands FAA approval for drone deliveries,” Carrie Mihalcik CNET
“Amazon receives U.S. regulatory approval to start drone delivery trials,” Nilanjana Basu and Neha Malara, Reuters
Update:
“No, Amazon Won’t Deliver You a Burrito by Drone Anytime Soon,” Aarian Marshal, Wired
“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will soon introduce legislation that would require large employers such as Amazon, Walmart and McDonald’s to fully cover the cost of food stamps, public housing, Medicaid and other federal assistance received by their employees. The goal, he says, is to force corporations to pay a living wage and curb about $150 billion in taxpayer dollars that go to funding federal assistance programs for low-wage workers each year.”
— “Thousands of Amazon workers receive food stamps. Now Bernie Sanders wants the company to pay up.” Abha Bhattarai, Washington Post
Think about that on Labor Day Weekend.
More:
“Amazon urges employees to tell Bernie Sanders how much they love working there,” Summer Meza, The Week
“Amazon gets huge subsidies to provide good jobs—but it’s a top employer of SNAP recipients in at least five states,” H. Claire Brown, New Food Economy
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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
“At SXSW in Austin last week, as part of a marketing campaign for ‘The Man in the High Castle,’ Amazon launched ‘Resistance Radio,’ a fake Internet-based radio station broadcast by the fictional American ‘Resistance’ from the show.
‘Hijacking the airwaves, a secret network of DJs broadcast messages of hope to keep the memory of a former America alive,’ the website said. Click through, and an interactive image of an antique, dual-knob radio appears while mod tunes drift through your computer’s speakers. In between songs, DJs on three different stations speak about how to fight the ‘Reich’ in America.
Soon #ResistanceRadio, the campaign’s sponsored hashtag, spread like wildfire on Twitter. Some Trump supporters seemingly mistook it for an anti-Trump radio station and expressed their displeasure. (Amazon founder Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.)”
— “Amazon launched a fake radio station to promote ‘The Man in the High Castle.’ Angry Trump supporters thought it was real.” Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post
More:
“The High Castle’s anti-Nazi radio station,” Sean O’Neal, A.V. Club
“Amazon Prime Air is a future service that will deliver packages up to five pounds in 30 minutes or less using small drones. Flying under 400 feet and weighing less than 55 pounds, Prime Air vehicles will take advantage of sophisticated ‘sense and avoid’ technology, as well as a high degree of automation, to safely operate beyond the line of sight to distances of 10 miles or more.”
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