Oct 18 (Reuters) – Amazon.com (AMZN.O) said on Wednesday it was using a robotic system at one of its Houston warehouses to improve inventory management and speed up deliveries, building on its years-long bet that automation will help boost sales and worker safety.
The technology, called “Sequoia”, brings together a series of systems including mobile robots and robotic arms.
Amazon said Sequoia can help identify and store inventory 75% faster, while reducing the time to process orders at a warehouse by as much as 25%.
The e-commerce giant has been investing aggressively in automation for years, using them to package orders and creating technology that enables cashier-less retail stores, among others.
Several other major retailers have also recently laid out plans to invest in robotic systems, with rival Walmart (WMT.N) saying earlier this year it expects about 65% of its stores to be serviced by automation by the end of its fiscal year 2026.
Amazon, which has been in the crosshairs of U.S. safety regulators for allegedly hazardous conditions at its warehouses, is also banking on robots to improve worker safety.
The company said it would begin testing a bipedal robot called “Digit” from Agility Robotics, a startup backed by Amazon. Digit, already in testing at Ford, can move, grasp, and handle items in warehouses.
“We are forever grateful for the opportunity to impact our youth!” Wilson said. “Today, we celebrated 10 deserving organizations which will each receive $100,000 to support their remarkable work in health equity, education, food security, social justice, and support for children and youth.”
Through their foundations, Why Not You Foundation and Common Spirit Health, the soon-to-be-parents of four have provided funds for the purpose of education, children’s health, and poverty. The couple started the foundations in Seattle while Wilson was with the Seattle Seahawks.
However, Why Not You has faced some criticism in the past.
A report from USA Today accused the foundation of spending close to only 25% of donations on charitable efforts, and the rest go toward benefits and salaries. The $222,500 2021 salary of chief strategy officer Ryan Tarpley, was highlighted specifically.
The Super Bowl champion chimed in as well to defend the foundation.
“Oftentimes, funds that WNYF raises with our partners are donated from those partners DIRECTLY to people and orgs with immediate needs,” Wilson wrote on Instagram. “We put in the work and we don’t need the credit. Teamwork and making a difference will always come first. As we continue to grow, we will always care more about impact than credit.”
Find Out How Americans Can Save 50 Percent On Amazon Prime Memberships
Amazon offers a lower-cost version of its popular Prime membership to Americans receiving government assistance.
The Prime Access Program was initially launched in 2017 and was only available for people receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC). In 2018, the retailer expanded the program to include citizens who receive other government benefits, including Medicaid, Supplemental Security Benefits, Tribal Assistance, and Low-Income Energy Assistance.
The e-commerce giant often offers more competitive prices, making this program especially beneficial to people living on fixed incomes.
Prime members can save on medical supplies such as blood glucose monitors, compression garments, and assistive devices. Amazon Pharmacy’s RxPass allows Prime members to receive eligible medications for a flat fee of $5 per month.
With its subscribe and save program, parents can receive up to a 20% discount on diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, and other items.
Students can also benefit from the discounted program. Prime Reading allows members to access a plethora of books and magazines via Kindle, tablet or mobile apps. Other educational materials can be found on Prime Video.The library of movies, television shows, and documentaries is often less expensive than cable and other streaming services. This can benefit students in underserved communities where they may not have access to various educational tools.
Prime membership can help improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and those who do not have access to reliable transportation. With free one-day and same-day shipping, shoppers can deliver items to their homes promptly.
Amazon Fresh, the retail giant’s partnership with Whole Foods, offers discounted prices, and groceries can be delivered to their homes within hours.
For more details or to check for eligibility, visit the Prime Access program website.
Williams, who retired from professional tennis in 2022, will discuss details of her upbringing as well as the ups and downs of her legendary historic career in a not-yet-titled book, which currently has no release date but will be the first offering from the deal.
“For so long, all I was focused on was winning, and I never sat down to look back and reflect on my life and career,” Williams said. “Over the last year I’ve really enjoyed taking the time with my growing family to celebrate my accomplishments and explore my other passions. I couldn’t be at a more perfect place to be able to take-on such a personal intimate project, and there’s no one I would rather do it with than the team at Random House.”
The publishing company promises readers an “open-hearted exploration of the experiences that have shaped her life.
Throughout he”r career, Williams became one of sport’s most dedicated voices to issues of equal pay, wellness, diversity, and Black maternal health. The second book with Random House will allow Williams to reflect on her philanthropic efforts.
The publishing house announced that “Williams will offer rules for living that draw on her experiences as a philanthropist and advocate, her career as an investment unicorn with Serena Ventures, and someone who has long sought to lift a diverse and emergent generation of young women whose aspirations are not confined to the court.”
Two Thieves Take Off With 300 Gallons Of Cooking Oil From Georgia Chick-fil-A
Two men are accused of stealing a significant quantity of used cooking oil from a Georgia Chick-fil-A, an unusual yet valuable target, according to an Athens-Clarke County police report.
At approximately 3 a.m. Oct. 5, a U-Haul box truck stopped near a dumpster adjacent to the Chick-fil-A restaurant on Atlanta Highway in Clarke County, Georgia. Two men allegedly exited the vehicle and extracted an estimated 200 to 300 gallons of used fryer oil from a container designed for recycling.
Police found a lock had been severed from the back gate, where the grease trap containing the oil is placed.
“They noticed that a lock had been cut off of the back gate, where the grease trap is located. From there they determined several hundreds of gallons of oil had been taken out of that,” Lt. Jody Thompson said to Fox 5 Atlanta.
This incident was not the first of its kind at this location. According to the restaurant’s manager, this is the fourth time the restaurant’s used cooking oil has been targeted. During the previous theft, a staggering 700 to 800 gallons of oil, valued at $2,000, were taken.
The motive behind such a peculiar crime lies in the substantial market value of used cooking oil. As Thompson explained, it can be refined, sold, or used as a fuel source. The versatile applications of this commodity offer several avenues for recycling companies to harness its potential.
A similar incident happened in April of this year where another Chick-fil-A restaurant had used cooking oil stolen repeatedly in Long Island, New York, perNBC News.
Investigator Patrick McCall, who works for cooking oil companies, told NBC News, “It has a lot of value what we call ‘liquid gold.”
The two thieves were not identified. Thompson urged anyone with information to come forward, but also to stay vigilant. “If you see something, say something. Large vehicles like U-Hauls shouldn’t be around restaurants in the early morning hours,” Thompson said.
WNBA Player Napheesa Collier Calls Out Pay Discrepancy Between Coaches And Players
WNBA Player Napheesa Collier is calling out the immense pay discrepancies between coaches and players in the league. The professional athlete took to X on Oct. 17 to express her discontent with the salary differences.
Collier’s criticism comes after the news that Pheonix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts will become the highest paid coach in the organization’s history. Collier used her platform to draw attention to the fact that some coaches make four times as much as star players.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad coaches are getting paid, but it’s kinda crazy they’re making 4 times more than the highest paid players 🥴
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad coaches are getting paid, but its kinda crazy they’re making 4 times more than the highest paid players,” shared the 2020 Olympian.
Announced by sports journalist Adrian Wojnarowski a day prior, Tibbetts new salary, which is stated to be upwards of $1 million a season, will be the highest ever given out to a WNBA coach. However, according to Front Office Sports, his lack of experience in the women’s league, or coaching women’s basketball in general, is concerning to naysayers.
ESPN Sources: Orlando Magic assistant Nate Tibbetts is finalizing a deal to become the new head coach of the Phoenix Mercury. Tibbetts — who’s also been an assistant with Portland and Cleveland — will become the highest paid coach in WNBA history. pic.twitter.com/4GTw8zsTvW
The Minnesota Lynx forward is a star player in her own right as well, having made the 2023 WNBA First Team roster. Despite her accomplishment in the sport, Collier will not make even half as much as Tibbetts will next season. The 27-year-old will earn a base salary of a little over $208,000 for the 2024 season, a far cry from Tibbett’s check.
The highest-paid player currently in the WNBA is Erica Wheeler for the Indiana Fever, whose salary of $242,154 is still a fraction of the new Pheonix Mercury coach’s pay raise. Pay discrepancy between women and men’s sports has been a longstanding issue, especially in the WNBA, where comparisons of their salary to the male counterparts was brought up by players previously.
Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum spoke on The Residency Podcast last November on why WNBA players should receive an equal percentage of the league’s shared revenue, just as NBA players do.
As the conversations surrounding women’s pay in sports garner attention once again, athletes in the WNBA are not holding back on speaking out for salary increases.
Mississippi Sheriff Shirks Accountability Following ‘Goon Squad’ Torture Of 2 Black Men
Despite reportedly calling the actions of his former deputies the worst case of police brutality he has ever seen, Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey is arguing in court that qualified immunity should protect him from any further liability.
Back in March, an Associated Press investigation discovered that some of the department’s deputies, who had nicknamed themselves the “Goon Squad,” took part in at least four violent incidents involving Black men. One of the Black men was Pierre Woods, who was shot and killed by Rankin County deputies in 2009. Two of those deputies went on to participate in the racist violence enacted against two other Black men – Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker – on Jan. 24. Jenkins and Parker were tortured by the so-called “Goon Squad.”
According to court records, officers handcuffed and assaulted Jenkins and Parker with stun guns, a sex toy, and other objects. The officers also used racial slurs against the two men.
As CBS News reported, on Oct. 6, Bailey’s attorney Jase Dare asked to have the $400 million lawsuit filed by Jenkins and Parker against his client dismissed.
On Oct. 13, Malik Shabazz and Trent Walker, the attorneys for Jenkins and Parker, said that asking to have the lawsuit dismissed was an attempt by the sheriff to dodge accountability.
Walker released a statement that read, “We believe that the totality of the evidence shows the brutality of the ‘Goon Squad’ was a longstanding problem. The brutality was not just limited to these five deputies, and it’s something that has existed during the entirety of Bryan Bailey’s tenure as sheriff.”
Dare’s motion to dismiss contains an argument stating that the allegations of Jenkins and Parker are not sufficient to penetrate the shield of qualified immunity, and thus Bailey should not be held accountable for the actions of his deputies. Furthermore, he says in the motion that the deputies were involved in training that complies with the law, so they were also adequately trained.
The six ex-officers all pleaded guilty on Oct. 16 to a litany of state charges, in addition to the federal charges they pleaded guilty to on Aug. 3. The actions of deputies Brett McAlpin, Jeffery Middleton, Christian Dedmon, Hunter Edward, and Daniel Opdyke as well as ex- Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield could cost Mississippi taxpayers in Rankin County millions of dollars. According to Mississippi Today, Ron Silver, an expert in investigating police brutality and civil rights litigation, says their tax bill could skyrocket.
“There are unquestionably going to be other victims found,” he said. “They will all have strong civil rights cases against the officers and the county.” Silver also warned that, should the investigation go past the lieutenant and chief investigator, “the financial risk to Rankin County increases exponentially in my judgment,” and finally, “Rankin County needs to be prepared for a huge financial toll from what it tolerated by its officers.”
In April, Senators Edward Markey and Ayanna Pressley re-introduced the Ending Qualified Immunity Act; the legislation notes that qualified immunity was an invention of the Supreme Court. The practice is not protected by law enacted by Congress, unlike the ability to sue officials who violate their rights, which is covered under the Civil Rights Act of 1871.
In the press release accompanying the announcement of the Act, Pressley stated, “Police brutality is a crisis plaguing Black and brown communities, and a crisis that will continue to go unchecked until we end the dangerous, unjust, and court-invented doctrine of qualified immunity.”
Pressley explained, “For too long, qualified immunity has prevented accountability and shielded those charged with enforcing the law from any consequences for breaking it. Our bill would restore necessary civil rights protections and is essential to providing the families of those abused by law enforcement with the healing they deserve. Structural change is necessary to address this crisis and save lives, and that must include ending qualified immunity.”
Lizzo’s Dance Captain Demands Lawsuit Dismissal, Claims Behavior Was Justified
Lizzo’s dance captain, Shirlene Quigley, is demanding the dismissal of a lawsuit that features accusations that she sexually harassed and forced her religious beliefs on dancers.
Quigley and Lizzo were named in a lawsuit filed on Aug. 1 by three former dancers, Arianna Davis, Noelle Rodriguez, and Crystal Williams. A copy of the lawsuit obtained by Radar Online stated that Quigley was “not only vocal about her religious beliefs, but took every opportunity to proselytize to any and all in her presence regardless of protestations.”
Davis, whom Quigley was allegedly obsessed with for being a virgin, claimed the dance captain openly discussed her virginity in interviews.
“Ms. Quigley discovered that Ms. Davis was a virgin, and Ms. Davis’s virginity became a topic of extreme importance to Ms. Quigley,” the lawsuit states. “In the months to follow, Ms. Quigley would routinely bring up Ms. Davis’ virginity in conversations with Ms. Davis. Ms. Quigley even mentioned Ms. Davis’ virginity in interviews she participated in and later posted to social media, broadcasting an intensely personal detail about Ms. Davis to the world. Ms. Davis never gave Ms. Quigley permission to share this private detail about Ms. Davis’ life.”
Quigley, who constantly reminded dancers of her religious status, was open about her private bedroom behaviors, which included “oral sex on a banana in front of the rest of the dance cast” and her “sexual fantasy of having ten penises in her face,” as stated in the lawsuit. Quigley allegedly said, “Masturbating is against my religion, but today I had an oopsie.”
The dance captain claimed her behavior was justified and said that the dancers were let go “for legitimate reasons” that were “reasonably related to one [or] more lawful business purpose.” Quigley also was vocal about not wanting the dancers to receive any money from the lawsuit.
Lizzo and her legal team requested accusations by the former dancers to be thrown out in legal documents filed on Sept. 27. The body-positivity advocate’s filing denies all allegations from the dancers and requested a jury trial against the plaintiffs.
Jada Pinkett Smith Talks Return Of ‘Red Table Talk,’ New Season Is ‘In The Works’
Jada Pinkett Smith is ready to return to the table. The veteran actress (Girls Trip, Set It Off) has announced that her talk show, Red Table Talk, will be back for a new season in 2024.
The mother of two revealed the news on Oct. 14 during a TalkShopLive stream as part of her press tour for new memoir, Worthy, when she assured a fan who asked her about the beloved program, which ran for five seasons on Facebook Watch before being cancelled in April.
Red Table Talk premiered in 2018 and featured 129 episodes. More on the way.
“The Red Table is coming back,” Pinkett Smith shared. “We are in the works of a situation right now. So next year. We could not do the Red Table while I was writing this book and while Willow was on her music journey, so we have decided to come back next year.”
The show is co-hosted by the actress, her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and Jada’s daughter, 22-year-old Willow Smith. The three generations of women discuss pertinent cultural topics ranging from conversations on maternal relationships to mental health struggle. In addition to its mainstay cast, the show has also interviewed celebrities from the likes of Ciara, Gabrielle Union, and August Alsina (with whom Pinkett Smith had her infamous “entanglement”) with a seat at the table.
The news is accompanying the release of Worthy,” which reveals more insight into Pinkett Smith’s journey through Hollywood, in addition to her evolving relationship with longtime husband, Oscar winner Will Smith. Red Table Talk also had an episode featuring the married couple of over 25 years discussing the rumors, and actual truth, surrounding their union.
Fans of Red Table Talk, however, will have to wait for further information of when, and on what platform, the show will resume.
X, Formerly Known As Twitter, To Test Charging New Users To Access Key Features
Elon Musk is moving forward with the idea of charging users of X, formerly known as Twitter, a source close to the practice informed Fortune. On Oct 24, the social media platform will test out charging new users in New Zealand and The Philippines $1 to post, reply and quote other users’ posts.
This marks the most significant monetization of the platform since Musk took it over in October 2022, and according to their support account, it is not a cash grab, but a move to stop the spread of bots and spam.
The company told Fortune, “This new test was developed to bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity while balancing platform, accessibility with the small fee amount. It is not a profit driver.”
Twitter/X stressed in a post to its platform that its test of this pilot program will not affect new users and, according to Fortune, it also is murky whether or not the program will be rolled out in other countries. The program, they noted, also differs from Twitter /X’s X Premium, which, for $8 a month, allows users access to “edit” and “undo” features.
Starting today, we're testing a new program (Not A Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines. New, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post & interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users are not affected.
Remember when Elon was like "we're gonna get rid of spam bots" lmao it's a billion times worse than it ever was pre-elon
— Andy Cortez (didn't pay for the blue check) (@TheAndyCortez) October 18, 2023
Musk's claiming a fee'll get rid of bots. 🙄Gotta say, many blue tick accounts are v bot-like, & all pay a fee. I don't trust Musk with my bank details, do u? X, formerly Twitter, rolls out US$1 annual fee for new users in New Zealand and the Philippines https://t.co/7UdGS050fR
Even though Musk is on record as recently as June saying in a tweet that Twitter is in need of money and is in heavy debt, people are questioning whether to take the company at its word that features like Twitter Blue/X Premium are not cash grabs. Part of the reason Musk hired ex-NBCUniversal advertising boss Linda Yaccarino was to signal to advertisers that he is serious about getting them back, after many left due to his breakneck changes to the platform, the outlet reported.
Yaccarino has generally been good at deflecting whenever pressed on some of Musk’s decisions, like the fee for new users. In an appearance at Vox’s Code Conference in September, however, she looked unprepared and defensive as she essentially tried to do PR for the company she is supposed to be in control of.
The platform also outlined its plans through “Not-a-Bot Terms and Conditions,” published on Oct 17. Some users have expressed doubt that Musk, and by extension, the company he owns, is trustworthy with their financial information. Their suspicion comes from the general lack of stability within the company since Musk’s takeover. Musk has pushed 75% of the staff out the door and also initiated changes to advertisements on the platform which may actually be illegal, according to Wired.com.
According to the terms and conditions, “The Not-a-Bot Program is a beta program that X tests for platform integrity improvements. All features and functionality of the Program will be determined by X in its sole discretion, and X may modify, pause, or discontinue the Program at any time with no refund to you.”
