Amazon’s Sweatshop

Posted on Sep 22, 2011

Amazon’s warehouse has brutal working conditions; women are beginning to take over the workforce; meanwhile, a website and app have been developed to tell you how many slaves are working for you. These discoveries and more below.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

The links below open in a new window. Newer ones are on top.

Inside Amazon’s Warehouse
Lehigh Valley workers tell of brutal heat, dizzying pace at online retailer.

Is This the End of Men or the Beginning of Women?
It wasn’t so long ago that American women did all the child-rearing while men worked outside the home, and that was just the way things were. But times—and the economy—have changed.

OMG—Is Texting on the Way Out?
Teens text a lot. Old folks don’t. But in general, it looks like our obsession with texting is beginning to level off, according to the latest numbers.

The Idiot Box: And the winner of the Fox News primary is…
It was a self-inflicted, eye-glazing marathon—50 hours in late August spent watching a full sampling of the Fox News lineup.

Call on Dutch Royal House to ditch allegedly offensive painting
Critics urged the Dutch royal family to get rid of a painting they say is an offensive reminder of wrongs from the Netherlands’ colonial past, but the Royal House defended the 19th-century work as an important part of the country’s history.

Why Israel’s Netanyahu Is on a Roll
Even before President Barack Obama delivered a speech bidding the leaders gathered at the U.N. General Assembly to see the world through Israeli eyes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in excellent spirits.

Company hires adults with autism to test software
The U.S. startup Aspiritech specializes in finding software bugs by harnessing the talents of young adults with autism.

How Many Slaves Are Working For You?
A new website and mobile app looks at your purchases and determines the amount of forced labor that’s gone into everything you own. The number may surprise you.

“Fight Club” for young children in U.K.
Footage of two slender boys wrestling in a cage in front of a cheering crowd in a British social club drew harsh condemnation Thursday from government officials and children’s advocates who blasted the match as barbaric.

Starbucks ejects singing barista
Christopher Cristwell, the shirtless Starbucks barista who sings about his disgruntled co-workers and mocks fussy customers on YouTube, was fired in the middle of his shift Tuesday afternoon in Chowchilla, Calif.

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