Bezos
knows best?
Amazon
Prime delivery delays are now as long as a month
Amazon
announced
earlier this week that
it would start prioritizing the most in-demand essential items in its
warehouses, as the e-commerce giant struggles to keep up with
customer demand during the Covid-19
coronavirus pandemic.
On
Sunday, customers and Amazon merchants posted on social media
platforms saying certain non-essential items were showing April 21
delivery dates, even though they were listed as in-stock and shipping
with Amazon’s Prime express shipping service. During normal times,
Amazon Prime deliveries typically arrive
in one or two days in
the US. Now, some Prime deliveries for in-stock items are showing
five-day delivery promises on the lower end, but those waits are as
long as a month on some items.
A
babies and bathwater moment. What is an over reaction? What
triggers a return to normal?
DOJ
seeks new emergency powers amid coronavirus pandemic
Politico:
“The Justice Department has quietly
asked Congress for the ability to ask chief judges to detain
people indefinitely without trial
during emergencies — part of a push for new powers that comes as
the novel coronavirus spreads throughout the United States.
Documents reviewed by POLITICO detail the department’s requests to
lawmakers on a host of topics, including the statute of limitations,
asylum and the way court hearings are conducted. POLITICO also
reviewed and previously
reported on
documents seeking the authority to extend deadlines on merger reviews
and prosecutions. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to
comment on the documents. The move has tapped into a broader fear
among civil liberties advocates and Donald Trump’s critics — that
the president will use a moment of crisis to
push for controversial
policy changes. Already, he has cited the pandemic as a reason for
heightening border restrictions and restricting asylum claims. He
has also pushed for further tax cuts as the economy withers, arguing
it would soften the financial blow to Americans. And even without
policy changes, Trump has vast emergency powers that he could deploy
right now to try to slow the coronavirus outbreak…”
(Related)
Last
night, I read a story on Local.de, a site with news from Germany.
The headline was, “Germany
bans gatherings of more than two to control coronavirus spread.”
Today,
the headline story on the site was ‘You
must carry ID’: Berlin orders strict coronavirus restrictions on
daily life.
You
can see how fears might be raised, particularly since this is
Germany, where demands for carrying ID and papers were a prelude to
being able to haul people off to concentration camps. And no, I am
not saying that is the German government’s intention. Not at all.
But those of us who grew up learning about the horrors of WWII and
concentration camps are going to be concerned — or resistant — to
such measures, however justified they may seem. And of course,
Germany is not the only country limiting citizen’s freedom of
movement.
The
restrictions would be cause for concern under any circumstances, but
when you combine it with hate speech blaming Chinese people or Jews
for the pandemic, it becomes alarming.
The
ACLU
has
been issuing emails and posts about the risks to civil liberties
during this pandemic and seeking to protect rights.
And
while I might have expected the first court challenge on restrictions
to reach the upper levels of state courts might be a case involving
someone refusing to stay at home when they are not sick or
symptomatic or someone trying to keep their business open when
ordered to shutter, the first case that I’ve actually noticed in
the media is a state supreme court case covered on the Volokh
Conspiracy: Divided
PA Supreme Court: Governor can shut down firearms dealers during
Coronavirus emergency
Somehow
it figures that the gun rights folks would get their case heard in a
hurry while other issues may proceed more slowly.
But
do keep watching what happens in tests of government’s ability to
restrict our activities during this pandemic. Will
the courts defer to the government in all cases, or if not, where
will they draw the line?
Worth
knowing.
Food
Safety and Coronavirus: A Comprehensive Guide
Serious
Eats –
People have been “have been confused or curious about the safety of
allowing restaurants to continue preparing and serving food. Is it
actually safe? Should I reheat the food when I get it home? Is it
better to support local businesses by ordering food, or am I only
putting workers and delivery people at risk? And if I’m cooking my
own food, what guidelines should I follow? To answer these
questions, I referenced dozens of articles and scientific reports and
enlisted the help of Ben Chapman, a food safety specialist from the
North Carolina State University and cohost of Risky
or Not and
Food
Safety Talk.
Whether you managed to stock
your fridge and pantry,
or were left staring at empty supermarket shelves, there’s good
news: you can still eat safely, even from restaurants, provided you
follow a few basic guidelines. I’ll start by going over what we
know about the virus, followed by some basic rules to safely shop,
cook, and order food…”
According to multiple health and safety organizations worldwide, including the CDC, the USDA, and the European Food safety Authority, there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 has spread through food or food packaging. Previous coronavirus epidemics likewise showed no evidence of having been spread through food or packaging…”
Don’t
waste all that ‘forced idle’ time.
YouTube
Learning
“Welcome
to YouTube.com/Learning,
a destination designed to inspire and instruct that brings you the
highest quality educational content on YouTube. Here you will find
Learning Playlists, which organize content into chapters and are
designed to facilitate focused study, YouTube Learning Originals to
spark your curiosity, and curated playlists ranging in subjects from
physics to film making. So, whether you’re studying for a test,
want to learn a new skill, or are just curious about the world around
you, Learning has something for you.”
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