<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> filed a lawsuit against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> on Wednesday, claiming that the company limits price competition through its practices.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an antitrust suit against the company. The lawsuit only applies to California, but if it is successful, it could have a major effect on the rest of the country.
“If you think about Californians paying even just a little bit more for every product they purchased online over the course of a year, let alone a decade, which is what is at issue here, the collective magnitude of harm here is very far-reaching,” Bonta said during a press conference, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/technology/california-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-amazon.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. “The everything store has effectively set a price floor, costing Californians more for just about everything.”
The lawsuit alleges that Amazon has acted against California antitrust laws in a way that harms consumers and limits competition.
“The policy and spirit of the California antitrust laws are to promote the free play of competitive market forces and the lower prices to consumers that result,” the lawsuit <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/2022-09-14%20California%20v.%20Amazon%20Complaint-redacted.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>. “Amazon, the dominant online retail store in the United States, has violated the policy, spirit, and letter of those laws by imposing agreements at the retail and wholesale level that have prevented effective price competition across a wide swath of online marketplaces and stores.”
The suit centers on how Amazon places punishments on people selling on the site if they place their items on other websites at a lower cost, the Times noted. If the company sees an item on the website of a competitor for a lower price, many times it will take away buttons like “Buy Now” and “Add to Cart,” which significantly impact the sales of businesses using Amazon.
When sellers agree not to allow lower prices to be listed on other sites, this results in the prices for consumers actually being higher than they would naturally be if there were fair competition, the suit noted.
“Competing sites do not offer lower prices the way they would in a competitive market, not because Amazon competed successfully, not because Amazon is a more efficient retailer and marketplace, but because Amazon forbids it by contract,” the suit stated.
Earlier this year, a similar lawsuit from Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/technology/amazon-dc-antitrust-suit.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed.</a> A judge decided Racine didn’t prove that Amazon’s practices were anti-competitive.
Bonta said he believes his case will be successful as opposed to D.C.’s suit because they are offering much more information about how the company has harmed consumers. He said there was more research “than any other case has ever seen,” and also noted it will be successful because it is being brought under stricter California law. The state has been carrying out an investigation of Amazon for over two years.
The case is seeking damages from Amazon and said it “must also give up its ill-gotten gains and pay penalties,” as well as “cease its anticompetitive behavior.”

F18DEA05-010F-4F34-97E3-5670833D430A_1_201_a

California Sues Amazon In Antitrust Case

California Attorney General Rob Bonta Files Antitrust Lawsuit In California Against Amazon

Amazon

California

Court

Lawsuit

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/entertainment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drama</a> drags on as its official Twitter account just posted a statement of unity with its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/television" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cast</a>, denouncing any fans who are allegedly harassing them.
“We, the cast of ‘<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rings of Power</a>,’ stand together in absolute solidarity and against the relentless racism, threats, harassment, and abuse some of our castmates of color are being subjected to on a daily basis,” the Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/LOTRonPrime/status/1567640086954790912/photo/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> begins. 
“We refuse to ignore it or tolerate it. JRR Tolkien created a world which, by definition, is multi-cultural. A world in which free peoples from different races and cultures join together, in fellowship, to defeat the forces of evil. ‘Rings of Power’ reflects that.”
The statement assures, “Our world has never been all white, fantasy has never been all white, Middle-earth is not all white. BIPOC belong in Middle-earth and they are here to stay.”
The statement concludes by thanking “fans supporting us,” especially the “fans of colour who are themselves being attacked simply for existing in this fandom.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We stand in solidarity with our cast. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YouAreAllWelcomeHere?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YouAreAllWelcomeHere</a> <a href="https://t.co/HLIQdyqLmr">pic.twitter.com/HLIQdyqLmr</a>
&mdash; The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) <a href="https://twitter.com/LOTRonPrime/status/1567640086954790912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This official statement echoes what so many other critics&#8217; reviews have been saying about the Amazon series. They <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/painful-to-watch-viewers-hate-lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-which-critics-insist-is-another-example-of-racism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insist</a> that negative reviews reflect a deeply racist worldview from fans criticizing the series simply for having black actors in lead roles. 
However, the less-than-favorable reviews are more likely to mention weak character development, bad writing, and an overall failure to adhere to Tolkien’s original work. Most of the <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lord_of_the_rings_the_rings_of_power/s01/reviews?type=user" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reviews</a> on Rotten Tomatoes don’t mention the race of the actors at all.
That hasn’t been enough to stop mainstream media from insisting that the main reason viewers don’t like “Rings of Power” is because of the diverse cast. Even the actors from the Peter Jackson “Lord of the Rings” adaptation have been speaking out on what they perceive to be racist criticism.
Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and others posted to social media wearing hats and clothing that says in Elvish, “You all are welcome here,” with several ears of different characters in various color skin tones.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You Are All Welcome Here <a href="https://twitter.com/LOTRonPrime?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LOTRonPrime</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DonMarshall72?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DonMarshall72</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RingsOfPower?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RingsOfPower</a> <a href="https://t.co/8txOhlHa2f">https://t.co/8txOhlHa2f</a> <a href="https://t.co/nWytILT0zG">pic.twitter.com/nWytILT0zG</a>
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) <a href="https://twitter.com/elijahwood/status/1567538865203970048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
&nbsp;

In this photo illustration, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings

‘Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power’ Releases Official Statement Denouncing ‘Racism, Threats, Harassment’

Entertainment

Racism

Television

Twitter

The women of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/the-view">The View</a>” believe that people who don’t like the new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon">Amazon</a> series “Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power” and the “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon” are just racists. 
Co-host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/whoopi-goldberg">Whoopi Goldberg</a> took the lead in calling out detractors, claiming critics had a problem with black actors in the casts. She reminded them that the fantasy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/television">shows</a> are fiction and reiterated that both “are not real” and “there are no dragons, there are no hobbits.”
“Are you telling me black people can’t be fake people, too?” Goldberg said. “I don’t know if there’s, like, a hobbit club, I don’t know if there are gonna be protests. But people: What is wrong with y’all?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
CRITICS SLAM CASTING IN ‘LORD OF THE RINGS,’ ‘HOUSE OF THE DRAGON’: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheView?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheView</a> co-hosts react to criticism of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheRingsOfPower?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheRingsOfPower</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HouseoftheDragon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HouseoftheDragon</a> series casting diverse characters. <a href="https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA">https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA</a> <a href="https://t.co/4XrGBJQspt">pic.twitter.com/4XrGBJQspt</a>
&mdash; The View (@TheView) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1567213733746712577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“What I think is fascinating is like, dragons are OK, fire-breathing dragons, and people with white hair that are born like that when they’re little, and violet eyes, but the black people in it is just a bridge too far for these folks,” panelist Sunny Hostin chimed in.
“The View” newbie Alyssa Farah Griff said anyone leaving negative comments should “get a hobby.”
“It’s just racist. Call it what it is,” Joy Behar said.
Goldberg predicted that viewers would be equally opposed to the upcoming live-action remake of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” because that movie has a black lead. As for “Rings of Power” reviewers, she says they should focus their attention on something else.
“All of y’all who have problems because there are black hobbits? Get a job!” she said. “Get a job! Go find yourself, because you are focused on the wrong stuff.”
However, evidence suggests that most of the negative reviews of “Rings of Power” have little to do with adding diversity to the cast. The backlash got so intense that Amazon suspended user reviews for the first 72 hours, claiming critics were “review bombing” the series.
Many negative comments mention clunky dialogue, a lack of depth, and bad acting, but don’t take issue with the skin color of any actors. Even the detractors give credit for beautiful sets and scenery. However, they’re saying the storytelling leaves a lot to be desired.
“The writing is terrible, it is unfathomably dull and nearly unwatchable altogether. Rocks look down? Ridiculous. Lazy. I had a hard time staying awake and will likely give the rest of it a pass,” one Rotten Tomatoes reviewer <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lord_of_the_rings_the_rings_of_power/s01/reviews?type=user">wrote</a>. “It&#8217;s just not connective or interesting or even related to the LotR except in some ham handed attempt to be ‘like’ it.”
“How can so much money end up in such a disastrous production? The only achievement here is the set. Everything else, costumes, acting, dialogues, script is horrendous. It turns out that money alone cannot buy talent; it cannot even buy quality, apparently,” another person shared.

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‘The View’ Hosts Also Think ‘Rings Of Power’ Viewers Are ‘Racist’ For Not Liking It

'The View' Hosts Also Think 'Rings Of Power' Viewers Are 'Racist' For Not Liking It

The View

Whoopi Goldberg

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> is weighing in on the new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon">Amazon</a> series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” and it sounds like the billionaire Tesla CEO is not a fan.
“Tolkien is turning in his grave,” Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1566849074762059777">tweeted</a> Monday in response to the series, which just released episodes one and two last Thursday.
“Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both,” the world’s richest man shared in a follow-up tweet. “Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.”
The tweet attracted several quick responses, but most were from bots, Musk claimed in yet another follow-up. The South Africa-born investor filed paperwork to back out of a historic deal to purchase the social media company, alleging that Twitter undercounted the number of fake and spam accounts.
Bots aside, many viewers agree with Musk’s assessment of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/television">Rings of Power</a>.” The new project is the most expensive television series ever created, but Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is betting big on creating the next “Game of Thrones.” Amazon paid $250 million for rights to Tolkien’s intellectual property in hopes of capturing his large, devoted fan base.
Early reviews have critics raving about “Rings of Power” while user reviews are abysmal. Things got so bad that news outlets accused trolls of “review bombing” the series, which is the practice of leaving 1-star reviews despite never watching the show or movie. Amazon suspended user reviews for three days because of these allegations.
<a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lord_of_the_rings_the_rings_of_power">Rotten Tomatoes</a> reviewers are still weighing in, however. The new “Lord of the Rings” has an 84% critic rating and a 39% audience score. Most take issue with the writing and acting, and they agree with Musk that the character development leaves much to be desired.
“A disgrace to Tolkien. Music and cinematography are good but everything else is a betrayal to Tolkien&#8217;s world. The integrity of the story is ruined,” one person <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lord_of_the_rings_the_rings_of_power/s01/reviews?type=user">shared</a>.
“Beautiful but boring,” another agreed. “The main characters were two dimensional and unlikable. The dialogue is unnatural, the story is bland, and my suspension of disbelief was broken several times. The music was nice and the visuals were beautiful. I would have preferred it be a music video.”
Super fans hated that Amazon took so many liberties with the storytelling, saying it was an offense to Tolkien’s original story.
“Using names of characters and places from a book do not make this related to Tolkien,” one Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote. 
“The locations look nothing as described. The characters are absolutely, all around, nothing as described. The plot is entirely invented. This is a random dnd fantasy show with b-tier casting masquerading under the guise of names Tolkien used in his separate, entirely unrelated successful books.”

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‘Tolkien Is Turning In His Grave’: Elon Musk Shares His Review Of Amazon’s ‘Rings Of Power’

Elon Musk Shares His Review Of Amazon's 'Rings Of Power'

Elon Musk

Jeff Bezos

Despite accusations of “review-bombing,” the new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon">Amazon</a> series “Lord of the Ring: The Rings of Power” just became the most-watched <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/television">premiere</a> ever on the platform with a record 25 million views in the first few days.
&#8220;Rings of Power,&#8221; based on J.R.R. Tolkien&#8217;s classic &#8220;The Lord of the Rings&#8221; novels, released two back-to-back premiere <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/entertainment">episodes</a> Thursday in 250 countries and territories, per <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/lord-rings-power-becomes-amazon-prime-videos-most-watched-premiere-ever-25-million-viewers">Fox News</a>. 
&#8220;It is somehow fitting that Tolkien’s stories – among the most popular of all time, and what many consider to be the true origin of the fantasy genre – have led us to this proud moment,&#8221; Head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke said.
&#8220;I am so grateful to the Tolkien Estate – and to our showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, executive producer Lindsey Weber, cast and crew – for their tireless collaborative efforts and boundless creative energy,” she continued. “And it is the tens of millions of fans watching – clearly as passionate about Middle-earth as we are – who are our true measure of success.&#8221;
Amazon was certainly banking on the project taking off. &#8220;Rings of Power&#8221; has made headlines for being the most expensive show of all time, with a $465 million bill for the first season alone. It’s expected that the show will top $1 billion in costs for all five projected seasons. 
But the 25 million people watching “Rings of Power” are not necessarily thrilled with how it turned out. The show currently has an 84% critic rating and a 39% audience rating on <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lord_of_the_rings_the_rings_of_power">Rotten Tomatoes</a>. Fans say the sets are gorgeous and were a great use of all that money. However, they claim creators spent too much effort on making the fantasy world look gorgeous and skimped on storylines and dialogue.
“Good cinematics, but poorly written script and subpar acting. With Amazon&#8217;s budget, why can&#8217;t the producers hire more established actors and screenwriters?” one person shared.
“Unwatchable,” another person agreed. “Excruciatingly bad dialogue.”
Some of those critics are willing to keep watching to see what happens, however, if only because they’re such diehard fans of Tolkien and the original “Lord of the Rings” story.
“I don&#8217;t hate it. I don&#8217;t love it. I am a lifelong Tolkien fan,” one Rotten Tomatoes reviewer said. “I think that the first two episodes are world-building. The scenes are beautiful! The acting is bland. The story telling is jumbled. If I didn&#8217;t know the background I&#8217;d be confused. Because I know the background I&#8217;m frustrated at how it&#8217;s being told. I will wait and reserve final judgement [sic] as the season unfolds.”

‘Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power’ Gets 25 Million Views, Becomes Amazon’s Most-Watched Premiere Ever

'Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power' Gets 25 Million Views, Becomes Amazon's Most-Watched Premiere Ever

There’s been a lot of hype leading up to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon">Amazon&#8217;s</a> “Lord of the Rings” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/television">adaptation</a>, “The Rings Of Power,” but now some fans are saying it’s a huge flop.
The series premiered the first two <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">episodes</a> Thursday and currently has an 84% critic rating and 36% <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lord_of_the_rings_the_rings_of_power">audience rating</a> on Rotten Tomatoes. 
This certainly isn’t the first time critics and viewers disagreed on whether a show was a triumph or a fail. But some reviewers are accusing fans of being “racist” for their one-star reviews. A <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-racist-backlash-1235211341/">writer</a> for The Hollywood Reporter likened these reviewers to “miserable little trolls” who were “review bombing” the series simply because casting directors chose to add black actors into it.
However, the reviews tell a different story. Many of the people panning “Rings of Power” say it’s a visual masterpiece with an impressive score, but the dialogue is clunky and it’s difficult to connect with the characters. They are not angry about diversity initiatives. They just think it’s an unworthy adaptation. 
“Complete disaster of a show, boring story, horrible characters (especially Galadriel), poorly written dialogs [sic], and it&#8217;s just two first episodes of the show. Above else, no respect for Tolkien and his work,” one person shared.
“The first episode was painful to watch. Not even the gorgeous CG backgrounds could save this mess. The dialogue was baffling. It sounded like they asked an AI to write it. The acting was uninspired and the protagonist was unsympathetic and unlikeable,” another agreed.
“While the visuals do not disappoint, not once did they manage to make me care about any of the characters,” another person shared. 
“They forgot to spend their big budget on what matters: the dialogue is robotic and lifeless, the way the story is written conveys little to no emotion, and everything feels generic as if it was an unlicensed adaptation. The soul is just not there.&#8221;
“Rings of Power” had a lot to prove. First, it’s the most expensive television series ever made, costing a jaw-dropping $715 million to produce the <a href="https://www.xfire.com/rings-of-power-most-expensive-tv-series/">first season</a>. That’s more than seven times as much as HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” cost per season which is currently airing a spinoff prequel “House of the Dragon” in direct competition with “LOTR.” Amazon spent $250 million acquiring the rights to Tolkien’s intellectual property in the first place.
It’s worth mentioning that “House of the Dragon” also added black main characters to the cast and they managed to maintain an 85% <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/house_of_the_dragon">critic rating</a> and 84% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

BRITAIN-CINEMA-ENTERTAINMENT

‘Painful To Watch’: Viewers Hate ‘Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power,’ Which Critics Insist Is Another Example Of Racism

Viewers Hate 'Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power,' Which Critics Insist Is Another Example Of Racism

Amazon’s “Rings of Power” is not J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” It’s not Tolkien’s “Hobbit.” It’s not even Tolkien’s “Silmarillion.” These will, naturally, be the standards by which fans of the greatest author the fantasy genre has ever known will measure the series. And by those standards, some are already deeming it a failure.
There are proto-Hobbits (the migratory Harfoot people) where, according to Tolkien’s timeline, no Hobbits should be. Galadriel has been downgraded to a garden-variety warrior queen, de-mythologizing the ethereal feminine power she previously wielded. And the dialogue manages the weird trick of wedging modern American vernacular into otherwise self-consciously stiff folklorian speech.
But for those who are able to separate the show from the high bar Peter Jackson set with his original trilogy and the inestimably higher bar of Tolkien’s novels, the first two episodes of “Rings of Power” represent a win for those who’ve been longing to see more truth and beauty in popular entertainment.
To illustrate just what a victory the show marks on the small screen, consider what Jeff Bezos reportedly said he wanted from his streaming service’s blockbuster fantasy series: another “Game of Thrones.” When news broke that “Rings of Power” was looking to hire “intimacy coaches” and actors who would be willing to do nude scenes, it seemed like his producers were going to deliver on that request.
Whether it was the horrified mass outcry from Tolkienites or simply that good judgement mercifully prevailed, audiences have been spared such a travesty. The series is as far from the pornographic and bloodthirsty spectacle that was the HBO hit’s hallmark as mud-wrestling is from ballet.
Every scene of “Rings of Power” offers some immersive vision of loveliness, some personality flourish that, if not directly drawn from Tolkien’s work, feels stylistically a piece of it. The underground waterfalls within the halls of Khazad-dûm, the infectious friendship between the elf-politician Elrond and the dwarf-king Durin IV — all of it delivers on the promise of a fully realized mythical world with not a sex or torture scene in sight. Co-writer Patrick McKay promises there won’t be any going forward either, telling <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/amazon-the-rings-of-power-series-first-look">Vanity Fair</a> that his aim was “to make a show for everyone, for kids who are 11, 12, and 13.”
McKay went to say, “This is material that is sometimes scary — and sometimes very intense, sometimes quite political, sometimes quite sophisticated — but it’s also heartwarming and life-affirming and optimistic. It’s about friendship and it’s about brotherhood and underdogs overcoming great darkness.”
In other words, he seems to get what draws people to Middle Earth, and it’s not Game of Thrones-style cynicism.
It’s not just the show’s visuals and relative wholesomeness that honor the spirit if not the exact letter of Tolkien’s imagination either. There is also a transcendent morality in the beginnings of this multi-layered story.
Some have been justly bothered by brief lines like “speak your truth” that exemplify a post-modern worldview. But I’m inclined to chalk those up to thoughtless boilerplate, a crime of ignorance rather than indoctrination. Relativism is the air Hollywood breathes, and they know not always what they do when they pen such drivel. The broader arc of the storyline so far alludes to singular truth, even creator-ordered truth, as when Galadriel speaks of “a power greater than fate,” or when her brother counsels her to keep her eyes fixed on the light to guide her. One of the most powerful moments in the first episode comes when a ship is sailing to Valinor, and as the clouds break open to reveal a great illumination, the elves spontaneously break into a sort of worshipful hymn. Someone on this production has some notion of the true purpose of Heaven.
All of this could, of course, change, but so far the series shows enough commitment to the ethical foundation of the source material than I’m inclined to interpret its missteps charitably until it offers clear reason not to.
As for those take umbrage at any creative license being employed to invent new stories within Tolkien’s world, I would point to words the Inkling himself wrote to a friend in 1951:
<blockquote>I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many others only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama.</blockquote>
Could “Rings of Power” break our hearts in the long run? Of course, and my pessimistic side puts the odds of it at better than even. But if we dismiss even good faith (if imperfect) efforts from Hollywood to give those of us who believe in transcendent virtues what we want — pop-culture that honors whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, then we’ll have only ourselves to blame if they stop trying.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” World Premiere

Tolkien Fans Should Not Reject Amazon’s ‘Rings Of Power’ Too Soon

Film Reviews

Readers Pass

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> powered off the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/solar-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">solar</a> roofs helping to supply <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">electricity</a> at its fulfillment centers after multiple fires and electrical explosions, according to a report from CNBC.
Internal documents viewed by the outlet <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/01/amazon-took-solar-rooftops-offline-last-year-after-fires-explosions.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> that six out of 47 sites in North America with solar installations experienced “critical fire or arc flash events” between April 2020 and June 2021, costing an average of $2.7 million per incident. Among other examples, an Amazon warehouse in Perryville, Maryland, <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/harford/aegis/cng-ag-amazon-fire-20210609-6a2bxr5hr5ddfnif33cvpjdlya-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caught fire</a> last year and caused $500,000 in damages.
“The rate of dangerous incidents is unacceptable, and above industry averages,” an Amazon employee reportedly wrote in one of the documents.
According to a <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/sustainability/amazon-is-making-big-global-investments-in-renewable-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> published last year, Amazon is “the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy globally” and maintains 206 green energy projects around the world. At the time, Amazon had been on pace toward “100% renewable energy” by 2025.
In 2019, Amazon committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. The e-commerce giant is also a founding member of the First Movers Coalition — a group of companies brought together by the World Economic Forum and the Biden administration to <a href="https://www.state.gov/launching-the-first-movers-coalition-at-the-2021-un-climate-change-conference/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leverage market power</a> and accelerate global green energy adoption.
“We welcome the Biden administration and the World Economic Forum’s decision to launch the First Movers Coalition, which will help further accelerate our efforts to decarbonize our operations through real business change and innovation,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a recent <a href="https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/2021-sustainability-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> on the company’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts. The report did not mention the expenses incurred by the solar panel fires.
Amazon spokeswoman Erika Howard told CNBC that the company powered off all onsite solar installations in North America and commissioned an outside firm to inspect each facility. “As inspections are completed, our onsite solar systems are being powered back on,” she said. “Amazon also built a team of dedicated solar experts overseeing the construction, operations, and maintenance of our systems in-house to ensure the safety of our systems.”
Amazon is losing $940,000 per month for each of the 47 facilities at which the solar panels remain offline, according to the documents. Whole Foods, a grocery chain owned by Amazon, also has multiple solar roof systems.
The Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $369 billion in spending for various climate policies, established 30% tax credits for new solar installations. According to a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/15/by-the-numbers-the-inflation-reduction-act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fact sheet</a> from the White House, the legislation allows for the installation of 950 million new solar panels by 2030.
As gas prices increased following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other top Biden administration officials have repeatedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/energy-secretary-lays-out-the-only-way-to-avoid-high-gas-prices-and-its-not-producing-more-oil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged</a> the rapid adoption of renewable energy to compensate for high costs at the pump.
“The real truth is that as long as our nation remains overly reliant on oil and fossil fuels, we will feel these price shocks again,” Granholm said earlier this year. “This is not going to be the last time. The next time there’s a war, the next time there’s a pandemic or another hurricane, these extreme weather events we are experiencing — they will impact the access that we have to fossil fuels.”

Get Woke, Go Broke: Amazon Installed Solar Panels In An Attempt To Go Net Zero. They Kept Catching Fire And Were Turned Off.

Amazon Powered Off Solar Panels After They Kept Catching Fire

Climate Change

Energy

Solar Power

World Economic Forum

A primitive jungle dweller who became known as the world’s “loneliest man” and “the man of the hole” after his entire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/brazil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brazilian rainforest</a> tribe was wiped out nearly three decades ago has been found dead.
The man, who lived alone for at least 26 years after poachers, ranchers, and plunderers killed off all his fellow tribe members, had no contact with the civilized world. He lived in the Amazon’s Rondonia state, where he wore only a loincloth and dug deep holes to hide in, according to researchers, who tracked him and sometimes left supplies for him.
“No outsider knew this man&#8217;s name, or even very much about his tribe — and with his death the genocide of his people is complete,” said Fiona Watson, advocacy director for <a href="https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/13331" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Survival International</a>. “For this was indeed a genocide — the deliberate wiping out of an entire people by cattle ranchers hungry for land and wealth.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&#39;Man of the Hole&#39;: Last known member of uncontacted Amazon tribe dies <a href="https://t.co/Bz6sAOEg91">https://t.co/Bz6sAOEg91</a> <a href="https://t.co/VnATAhyxnA">pic.twitter.com/VnATAhyxnA</a>
&mdash; New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1564226004285067264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The man’s body was last week found lying on a hammock, and he appears to have died of natural causes, according to Funai, Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency. Officials will conduct an autopsy.
The man was first spotted in 1996, but would always flee when he saw outsiders, many of whom sought to give him seeds or tools. He once shot and seriously wounded a Funai agent with a bow and arrow.
Government officials left him alone after that, and the man is believed to have sustained himself by gathering fruit and hunting and trapping animals while living in a thatched hut.
Brazil released a video in 2018 that showed the man chopping down a tree with a hand-made axe.
<div id="attachment_430183" style="width: 1031px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-430183" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-430183 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-29-at-8.31.45-AM-1021x576.png" alt="The elusive man wore only loincloth and fled at the sight of strangers. " width="1021" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-29-at-8.31.45-AM-1021x576.png 1021w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-29-at-8.31.45-AM-300x169.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-29-at-8.31.45-AM-768x433.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-29-at-8.31.45-AM.png 1106w" sizes="(max-width: 1021px) 100vw, 1021px" />The elusive man wore only loincloth and fled at the sight of strangers. (Survival International)</div>
No one knows exactly how long the man lived alone, but it is believed that a final attack by farmers in late 1995 killed his remaining five fellow tribe members,
“After the last farmer attack in late 1995, the group that was probably already small — from reports, the local staff believed [it] to be six people — became one person,” Funai officials said in a statement accompanying the video. “The guilty were never punished.”
Funai officials estimate there are 113 uncontacted tribes in the Brazilian Amazon. They occasionally fire arrows harmlessly at aircraft flying overhead and run and hide if people from the civilized world approach.

Screen Shot 2022-08-29 at 8.23.29 AM

‘World’s Loneliest Man’ Found Dead Decades After His Jungle Tribe Was Wiped Out

'World's Loneliest Man’ Found Dead Decades After His Jungle Tribe Was Wiped Out

Brazil

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> revealed on Wednesday that it will close its <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/health-care" target="_blank" rel="noopener">health</a> service Amazon Care, reflecting a reversal in trajectory from the e-commerce giant’s recent ventures into the healthcare sector.
Amazon Care, which was initially intended for employees and their families living near Seattle, Washington, began expanding round-the-clock telehealth services across the United States, including among corporate clients such as Hilton Hotels.
“This decision wasn’t made lightly and only became clear after many months of careful consideration,” Amazon Health Services Senior Vice President Neil Lindsay said in an email to staff reportedly obtained by <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2022/internal-memo-amazon-care-to-shut-down-not-a-complete-enough-offering-for-corporate-customers/">GeekWire</a>. “Although our enrolled members have loved many aspects of Amazon Care, it is not a complete enough offering for the large enterprise customers we have been targeting, and wasn’t going to work long-term.”
Last week, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/08/19/amazon-care-patient-safety-concerns/">The Washington Post</a> reported on internal conflict within Amazon Care, which allegedly occurred as the company’s “aggressive ambitions” distracted from establishing healthcare best practices. Two former nurses told the outlet that management asked whether employees could store medical supplies at home and stabilize blood supplies using centrifuges in their cars out of a desire to avoid the construction of new physical hubs.
The Post also detailed an incident in which a nurse found herself on the phone with a suicidal patient, upon whom she had to hang up because she had no way to transfer the call. “We didn’t even have an ability to locate where they were calling from. We didn’t know where they were,” the nurse explained. “That was a huge concern from the clinical side.&#8221;
“Many Care employees will have an opportunity to join other parts of the Health Services organization or other teams at Amazon — which we’ll be discussing with many of you shortly — and we’ll also support employees looking for roles outside of the company,” Lindsay reportedly continued in the memo.
The move comes weeks after Amazon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-makes-foray-into-health-care">announced</a> a deal to acquire One Medical, which runs a membership-based primary care practice accessible through a $199 annual subscription, in a $3.9 billion all-cash transaction. The merger followed the $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods in 2017 and the $8.45 billion purchase of MGM earlier this year to mark Amazon’s third largest acquisition.
In addition to One Medical, the e-commerce company acquired Health Navigator, a startup that provided technology to digital health companies, as a function of Amazon Care in 2019. One year earlier, Amazon bought online pharmacy company PillPack, which paid the Department of Justice nearly $6 million in penalties this year for fraudulently overbilling on insulin prescriptions.
Amazon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/subsidizing-the-abortion-industry-amazon-to-fund-abortion-tourism-for-its-employees">said</a> in May that it would cover as much as $4,000 in expenses for employees traveling across state lines to procure an abortion. Yet hundreds of employees recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-employees-of-all-genders-beg-management-to-stop-doing-business-in-pro-life-states-make-other-extreme-demands">signed</a> an open letter demanding more action over the loss of their “basic human rights.”
“As part of Amazon’s wide-reaching efforts toward a more inclusive and diverse workforce, we believe that Amazon cannot let this recent decision go unanswered,” the letter said. “We ask Amazon, the world’s best employer, to actively defend against this assault on our liberty.”
Among other actions, the authors are requesting that Amazon “allow employees of all genders the space and time to grieve, express their frustrations, and protest against this assault on our rights.” They requested that the company “donate and match donations to bail funds” to help “women and pregnant people” seeking abortions in states with protections for pre-born babies.

Amazon Backs Off From Health Venture As ‘Aggressive Ambitions’ Reportedly Distract From Patient Care

Amazon Backs Off From Healthcare Initiative

Business

Health Care

Superstar Russell Brand warned about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon">Amazon</a>&#8216;s new palm payment convenience system the company launched in California and Texas and said it&#8217;s one step closer to giving away our freedom.
During the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/actor-russell-brands-unloads-on-nancy-pelosi-youve-gotta-be-fing-kidding-me">47-year-old</a> actor&#8217;s &#8220;Awakening with Russell&#8221; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0ISGLpWXUI">show</a> Monday, Brand highlighted the fact that Whole Foods stores were installing palm-scanning payment systems and all it takes is a &#8220;wave of the hand&#8221; to pay for one’s groceries. In the video titled &#8220;It&#8217;s Happening,&#8221; the host talked about the &#8220;nefarious nature of big tech&#8221; and asked if this kind of biotech is like another &#8220;snitch&#8221; from the company which he said has a history of &#8220;stealing your data&#8221; and giving it law enforcement. It starts at the :57 minute mark <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0ISGLpWXUI">here</a>.
&#8220;Move over freedom more like,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trying-to-f-up-ordinary-people-russell-brand-rants-against-the-great-reset-green-energy-agenda">Brand</a> said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not only ApplePay who&#8217;s the competitor here. It&#8217;s the concept of liberty.&#8221;
He added that the &#8220;mentality behind these ideals, behind these advances often includes data capture, increased power for companies like Amazon.&#8221;
&#8220;When we know Amazon have relationships with the police state, with CIA, with the FBI, with the government, have been guilty of handing over data without consent before,&#8221; Brand shared. &#8220;Oughten we be querying whether or not this is simply for our convenience or right from the get go.&#8221;
Throughout the piece, the star played various news segments with reporters/anchors talking about how all it takes is for a person to &#8220;hover their palm over the device&#8221; to pay for your items, repeating the same mantra, just a &#8220;wave of the hand.&#8221;
&#8220;&#8216;All you gotta do is see Kylie there&#8217;s a little device down here&#8230;&#8221; The actor said in a character voice. &#8220;&#8216;It&#8217;s not like it says literally in the Bible that the mark of the beast will be rendered in the palm of your hand or anything like that. Don&#8217;t worry just walk face first into Armageddon without questioning it. It&#8217;s convenient having an Apocolaypse.'&#8221;
He then mocked one reporter claiming how inconvenient it&#8217;s been to pull out a card out of one&#8217;s wallet to pay for things, before he took a swipe at President Joe Biden.
&#8220;We&#8217;re not all Joe Biden that can&#8217;t carry out rudimentary, simple procedures,&#8221; Russell said, adding sarcastically. &#8220;Are we? Or if you got nothing to hide, you&#8217;ve got nothing to fear. Just give all your data to Amazon and let them give that data to whoever they want.&#8221;
&#8220;Let&#8217;s just hope there&#8217;s never a point when they start saying &#8216;what are your political beliefs?'&#8221; he added. &#8220;The social credit score you. &#8216;Do you have the medications we want. Do you believe what we want you to believe. Are you interested in freedom are ya? You&#8217;re not interested in controlling your own life are you?'&#8221;
&#8220;Just wave your hand,&#8221; Brand continued. &#8220;Bye, bye freedom. Bye.&#8221;
Brand later pointed out that &#8220;in the past&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon">Amazon</a> made similar assurances to customers worried about devices like Alexa and the Ring camera and that they could be used to &#8220;spy on&#8221; people.&#8221; He said it seems like every time Amazon &#8220;introduces some new convenience&#8221; it turns out to be some &#8220;little snitch&#8221; telling the CIA and the FBI exactly what&#8217;s under your bed.&#8221; He said the company promised that all that data is uploaded to the cloud and said, sarcastically, it&#8217;s nothing to worry about.
The &#8220;Get Him to The Greek&#8221; star went on to explain how those concerns were later found to be warranted after the company admitted to storing &#8220;Alexa voice data,&#8221; selling &#8220;biometric facial recognition services to the U.S. law enforcement&#8221; and the Ring camera company working with police as well, citing an article from <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/10/amazon-expands-palm-scanning-payment-tech-to-65-more-whole-foods-locations/">Tech Crunch</a>.

An Evening with Russell Brand at Esquire Townhouse with Dior

‘Move Over Freedom’: Actor Russell Brand Warns About Amazon’s New Convenient Way To Pay

Actor Russell Brand Warns About Amazon’s New Palm Payment: ‘Move Over Freedom’ 

Celebrities

Technology

Whole Foods

YouTube

Former Navy SEAL and author of &#8220;The Terminal List&#8221; Jack Carr said Amazon was &#8220;nervous&#8221; about a &#8220;lot of risks&#8221; they took in the series but said all that changed after it &#8220;tested off the charts&#8221; with test audiences.
On a Tuesday episode of Mike Rowe&#8217;s <a href="https://audioboom.com/posts/8127355-jack-carr-is-a-tomahawk-kinda-guy?fbclid=IwAR0t-x4k_Dgyq2IBnQN4E9RCweYxGTWtOtRuWz_d38unNLK0HCbqLDYPoXc">podcast</a> &#8220;The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe,&#8221; Carr opened up about how he really learned on the job about writing a show for the hit TV series based on his bestselling book by the same name. He admitted they took &#8220;a lot of risks&#8221; with the series that paid off. But he said the streaming site was initially nervous about some of it.  It comes at the 1:10:03 minute mark <a href="https://audioboom.com/posts/8127355-jack-carr-is-a-tomahawk-kinda-guy?fbclid=IwAR0t-x4k_Dgyq2IBnQN4E9RCweYxGTWtOtRuWz_d38unNLK0HCbqLDYPoXc">here</a>.
&#8220;I learned a lot about screenwriting over the last couple of years,&#8221; the best-selling author explained. &#8220;Took a lot of risks. Broke a lot of rules. And Amazon was nervous about a few of them.&#8221;
&#8220;But in the end they [Amazon] took those risks right with us,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We had a great team. And then when it, when they screened it for test audiences, I think they were still nervous. But then it tested off the charts. I&#8217;m not sure I&#8217;m allowed to say that. But it tested off the charts.&#8221;
&#8220;And they infused it with some marketing and advertising dollars after those initial test audiences got back,&#8221; Carr continued. &#8220;And now we have what we have today which is I think 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and low on the critics score. But that was expected.&#8221;
Rowe asked Carr what he thought about the &#8220;disparity on Rotten Tomatoes&#8221; between the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/critics-media-trash-chris-pratts-anti-woke-terminal-list-audiences-love-it">critics view of his hit Amazon series</a> and the audience. It starts at the 1:18:51 minute mark.
&#8220;What I hope it does, what I think it does is Amazon…..they [Amazon] have the data,&#8221; the former Navy SEAL responded.
&#8220;I think what it shows is &#8216;hey, there&#8217;s a market here,'&#8221; he added. &#8220;And no matter how loud some of these critical voices are who are we making this for.&#8221;
He said the point of this project was to &#8220;make something that spoke to those who have been downrange in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places, something special for them. And that’s what we set out to do with that authenticity piece that guided our every move.&#8221;
At one point, he talked about one of those things the streaming site was &#8220;nervous&#8221; about — the use of a &#8220;Tomahawk,&#8221; a single-handed axe, that is seen throughout the series. It starts at the 1:31:19 minute mark.
Carr said he realized when he got to the end of his book he needed a logo and he ended up putting two Tomahawks on the ground together he got from his children. Snapped a picture and it became the symbol for his main character James Reece. It appears in the opening credits of the show and throughout the series. It also ended up being something used on giant billboards in Los Angeles showing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chris-pratt-sends-message-to-fans-and-amazon-after-the-terminal-list-soars-to-number-1">Chris Pratt</a> holding one.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-didnt-make-it-for-the-critics-author-of-the-terminal-list-responds-to-triggered-critics-trashing-chris-pratt-series">&#8216;We Didn’t Make It For The Critics&#8217;: Author Of &#8216;The Terminal List&#8217; Responds To &#8216;Triggered&#8217; Critics Trashing Chris Pratt Series</a>

Chris Pratt The Terminal List-2

‘The Terminal List’ Author Says Amazon Was ‘Nervous’ About ‘A Lot Of Risks’ In Series And Shares What Changed Their Minds

'The Terminal List’ Author Says Amazon Was ‘Nervous’ About ‘A Lot Of Risks’ In Series And Shares What Changed Their Minds

Chris Pratt

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