I have heard that what NPR really stands for is National Petroleum Radio.
_________________________________________________________________
Isaac Asimov
“Don't you believe in flying saucers, they ask me? Don't you believe in
telepathy? — in ancient astronauts? — in the Bermuda triangle? — in life after
death?
No, I reply. No, no, no, no, and again no.
One person recently, goaded into desperation by the litany of unrelieved negation, burst
out "Don't you believe in anything?"
Yes", I said. "I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement,
and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how
wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous
something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.”
― Isaac Asimov
On 11/27/2018 11:50 AM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
Just to be redundant, NPR has "sold out" to the pressure from
corporate media. No longer does NPR stand for National Public Radio.
It is simply NPR. But it goes right along begging for public support.
All my life I have been under the heavy influence of the corporate
mass media. The radio programs I listen to, the TV I watch, and the
news that I read in my daily papers are all the product of this
Corporate Mass Media. There is no strong balance. Programs like
Democracy Now are picked up by mostly low wattage community channels,
unseen or heard by the main stream Americans. If we lose the
internet...can we say, "Goodbye Freedom"?
Someone suggested to me that I should read more diverse material, and
listen to the opinions of some more conservative than I am. But that
is exactly what I spent the first 40 years of my life doing. I was a
main stream Democrat, a Born Again Christian, a Working Class Man, an
active worker in local politics. A boy scout leader, a Boy's Club
leader, and on and on and on. Many of my friends, family and
neighbors were satisfied in going about their business and taking what
they could take from our Capitalist System. But I, and some others
looked beyond our safe communities and saw the harsh reality faced by
so many Americans. Once we stepped outside our protected little
world, it was impossible to turn our backs on what we discovered.
But we all make choices, dependent upon our needs. Some of us can't
bring ourselves to look beyond our own back yard. But please, I ask
you, don't damn those of us who do.
Carl Jarvis
On 11/26/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On that episode of the Daily that I mentioned, after the description of the
absolutely horrendous conditions of the workers and their treatment, the
reporter was asked if the intervention by the Teamsters' Union, which was
sought by one of the workers, would help to organize the workers. Her answer
was that people were too busy, too stressed, to be organized. Basically,
the NYT was saying that a tiny bit of improvement was caused by the story
they did, which had publicized the treatment of the workers by that one
particular company that contracts with suppliers, but that the situation
seemed hopeless, partly because the jobs would soon be gone anyway, due to
the introduction of robots to do the work in the warehouses. So soon these
workers wouldn't have even these terrible jobs. There was absolutely no
discussion of why we're at this point in our society or whether we ought to
consider making basic changes.
Miriam .
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2018 2:11 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: NPR's Report on Amazon Is Essentially an
Infomercial
The thing is, Amazon is doing exactly what we would expect from a
Capitalistic Corporation. The solution is not in seeking ways to curtail
Amazon's efforts to provide faster service, or to do all in its power to
maximize its bottom line...Profit!
The solution should be on building strong worker's unions, supporting
legislation that keeps the word, "Free" in Free Enterprise.
But before we tackle the breakup of Amazon, or other mega corporations, we
must have strong Unions in place. And it would help if we had a legislature
that supported the needs of the Working Class.
Carl Jarvis
On 11/26/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Today's episode of The Daily, from the New York Times, described the
conditions under which warehouse workers are employed.
Miriam
NPR's Report on Amazon Is Essentially an Infomercial
NPR: Optimized Prime: How AI And Anticipation Power Amazon's 1-Hour
Deliveries "Morning Edition's" segment (11/21/18) on NPR-underwriter
Amazon is sourced entirely to Amazon.
There are dozens of reports detailing how Amazon's shipping policies
negatively effects both the environment and workers, but one wouldn't
have any idea either was a concern after listening to NPR's sexed-up
report (Morning Edition, 11/21/18), "Optimized Prime: How AI and
Anticipation Power Amazon's 1-Hour Deliveries."
The report, detailing the "Artificial Intelligence" behind Amazon's
delivery systems, relies entirely on interviews with Amazon flacks.
The only people NPR speaks to are Brad Porter, the head of robotics
for Amazon operations; Jenny Freshwater, director of software
development; and Amazon VP Cem Sibay.
No outside parties were sought for comment, let alone anyone remotely
adversarial, such as labor organizers or environmental activists.
Indeed, the words "labor," "worker" or "employee" are nowhere to be
found in the six-minute report: Christmas packages simply deliver
themselves with the help of brilliant Amazon execs and this mysterious
AI technology. If Amazon's marketing department wrote and produced a
segment on their AI technology for NPR, it's difficult to see how it
would have been any different. Host Rachel Martin and correspondent
Alina Selyukh all but literally exclaim "gee whiz":
."When Amazon introduced two-day shipping, it was a huge shift in
retail thinking."
."By the time someone clicks buy on Amazon, usually [Amazon's director
of software development] had long predicted it."
."This is key to how Amazon cuts down delivery time."
."But it was Amazon Prime that got Americans hooked on two-day shipping.
Now
it's a race for a one-hour delivery with Amazon Prime Now. Few
companies can afford that, and few rely quite so much on AI [as
Amazon] to control costs while growing."
."AI is woven through it all. In the first mile, when you order, AI
analyzes your search and tells you upfront how fast your item could
ship.. It's AI keeping track of all items in almost a million square
feet of this warehouse. AI constantly arranges those shelves so that
things you're about to buy are ready to go."
The only thing that comes vaguely close to criticism is when Selyukh
points out that robotics are "controversial work in retail, where
layoffs are rampant," then goes on to insist:
"
Economists are divided on how much exactly AI will eliminate or create
jobs, especially for lower-income Americans. In its defense,
Amazonoften points to how much it's actually been hiring. To [head of
robotics Brad] Porter, we are in the latest chapter of
industrialization.
What economists? What does "latest chapter of industrialization" even
mean?
NPR, using Amazon's spokespeople and paraphrasing a nebulous cohort of
"economists," recasts "criticism," such that it is, as a generic,
sanitized critique against an industry trend presumably out of
Amazon's control, rather than directing criticism at Amazon
themselves-a employer notorious for worker abuses ranging from wage
theft, Orwellian working conditions, intimidation, retaliation and
union-busting.
None of these widely documented concerns-all of which make cheap
two-day shipping possible-were mentioned at all. Nor were the equally
well-documented environmental downsides to two-day shipping, a
convenience that, despite NPR's "oh wow, how do they do that"
excitement, creates tons of gratuitous, harmful carbon emissions.
NPR did have a throwaway line about how Amazon was a "sponsor" of NPR,
but it's unclear how pointing out that the company you're writing a
press release for helped pay for the press release makes it any
better. At one point, NPR's Selyukh came so very close to making a
connection between cheap, fast delivery and grinding workers down to
the nub, but instead, again, threw in another AI promo:
"
Sibay and other Amazon executives push this illusion that fast
delivery is magic. Like, the code name for Prime Now was Houdini. But
the reality is [it's] forecasting on steroids, and a meticulous
shaving off of minutes and seconds on the journey of the package.
Selyukh is correct that two-day delivery isn't "magic," but the "reality"
behind Amazon's fast delivery time and its record-breaking $1 trillion
valuation, and CEO Jeff Bezos' record-breaking $150 billion personal
fortune, isn't just "forecasting" or smarter robotics or sexier tech
(though that's likely a small part of it), it's what's it's always
been: a faceless network of millions of workers-abused, neglected,
overworked and underpaid-and environmental externalities the public
will be mopping up for centuries. It would be good if a radio station,
ostensibly set up to serve that public, could mention these
inconvenient realities.
Adam Johnson / FAIR
Adam H. Johnson
