Something important and sad is taking place at MSNBC. First MSNBC and CNBC are being split off from NBC News, and it is not at all clear whether what will become two companies will cooperate, and in what way. If MSNBC loses access the the worldwide NBC network of reporters, it is going to change them fundamentally. Viewers, as this article describes, are also abandoning MSNBC. So their ratings have gone down, while the Fox propaganda network ratings have gone up. That means MSNBC will be less attractive to advertisers, so there will be less income. And then there is Trump’s grudge against the network’s leading personalities. This is all part of the damage that is going to be done during Trump’s reign to limit freedom of the press It’s what all fascists do.
Screenshot via MSNBC
MSNBC is facing a staggering ratings collapse in the wake of the 2024 election, with the network’s audience shrinking by nearly half as Fox News became the only cable news outlet to show post-election growth.
According to Nielsen data, MSNBC’s total viewership has dropped by 47 percent post-election, and its critical 25-54 demographic plummeted to just 63,000 during primetime—a sharp contrast to its pre-election numbers.
The losses are particularly stark compared to rival network Fox News, which solidified its dominance as the most-watched cable news network during and after the election.
While MSNBC pulled in 644,000 viewers in primetime, Fox News soared to 3.2 million, an 86 percent year-over-year increase in total viewers. In the coveted 25-54 demographic, Fox saw a 147 percent surge, averaging 476,000 viewers.
In total-day ratings, MSNBC’s struggles continued, drawing 497,000 viewers and only 49,000 in the 25-54 demo, as shows like Morning Joe recorded some of their lowest numbers in years. The network’s flagship morning program saw a 37 percent drop in viewership after co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski met with President-elect Donald Trump.
Adding to MSNBC’s challenges, several of its marquee programs, including The ReidOut and 11th […]
Here is some good news about an important new development for braking in EVs. Sadly, American automakers are falling further behind technologically, and this is going to be seriously exacerbated if Trump carries through with his Mexican, Canadian, and Chinese tariff schemes. American automakers are heavily dependent on those countries to produce their cars and trucks, and thousands of jobs will be at risk.
Exploded view of the in-drive brake for EVs. Credit: Mercedes-Benz
In the simplest terms, nearly every modern car on the planet uses disk brakes: a rotor attached to a hub with a caliper with brake pads fixed to the control arm at each wheel. The driver presses the brake pedal and hydraulic fluid is pushed down the brake lines into the caliper, expanding the pistons and pushing the brake pads against the rotor, slowing down the rotation of the rotor connected to the hub, thus slowing down the wheel.
There are other systems, like drum brakes, air brakes, band brakes, the Flintstones method, et cetera, that have also been around since the dawn of the automotive industry. The concept almost always remains the same: using friction to slow down. And so it doesn’t go unsaid, yes, there are compression brake systems as well, but that’s entirely different.
Mercedes-Benz has put a new spin on an age-old concept with what it calls “in-drive brakes” for electric vehicles. The system being developed at the company’s research and development department in Sindelfingen, Germany, integrates the […]
When you combine Trump’s tariffs and his deportation schemes, what you get is that you and I are, by Robert Reich’s estimate, going to face about $6,000 in additional annual expenses. It is going to particularly impact Trump working and middle-class voters in Red states. And that doesn’t even address the massive social disruption that will arise from ripping immigrants out of communities, or the loss of the revenue they pay into various government levels, but don’t benefit from. Even in Bue states, as this article describes, the effects are going to be dramatic and negative. How could farmers, construction companies, and meat packing plant owners not understand this. Look at the interview though with this California farmer. Like most of the Trumpers, he just doesn’t get it.
In the days following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, I reached out to a longtime Northern California family farmer to gauge his level of concern.
Trump has, after all, already made full-throated declarations that his administration will conduct the largest deportation of undocumented residents in U.S. history. That should resonate in a place like California, with its estimated 1.8 million undocumented immigrants—and it certainly would shake up a state agriculture industry in which nearly half of all workers are undocumented.
But the farmer, who asked not to be identified to avoid political conflict with business partners, was unruffled. A self-described social moderate and fiscal conservative, he and his family have spent generations in the business. While his own seasonal employees are on work visas, his understanding of the industry’s historical reliance on undocumented workers runs deep, through direct experience, colleagues and a seat on the board of an agriculture lending institution.
He knows the stakes. Even at a time when some farmers use more authorized workers than ever, the industry overall remains heavily reliant on undocumented immigrants.
“I suspect it’ll be like it always has been: If you’re undocumented but stay out of trouble, not much is going to happen,” […]
Here is an aspect of climate change I have not seen previously. It is going to have a significant impact on countries all over the world, particularly developing nations with poor infrastructure. It will though impact large parts of the United States. Humanity is simply not doing what needs to be done, and Trump doesn’t even seem to think climate change is an issue with which he needs to be concerned.
Using data from NASA Satellites, a research team of international scientists has observed a sudden drop in freshwater that started in 2014 and has persisted since then.
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites revealed a drastic decline in global terrestrial water storage, or TWS, between May 2014 and March 2016. The scientists warned that those water levels have still not recovered as of 2023. They shared their findings in a study published in the journal Surveys in Geophysics.
From 2015 through 2023, surface and groundwater levels were about 290 cubic miles below the average stored freshwater levels from 2002 through 2014, NASA reported. According to Matthew Rodell, a co-author of the study and a hydrologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the amount of water lost from 2015 onward was about 2.5 times the volume of Lake Erie.
The freshwater depletion was driven by drought and exacerbated by the 2016 El Niño event and the increasing modern agricultural and municipal demand for water. The team behind the study also predicted that global warming is playing a part in the declining freshwater levels.
Emily Stewart, Senior Correspondent - msn | Business Insider
Stephan:
Another AI problem. I have personally experienced this problem, have you? Not with insurance, but with medical group practices, setting up appointments. I think this trend is going to get much worse.
Credit: Liubomyr Vorona / Getty,
I’ve been fighting with my health insurance company a lot lately. The mundane billing disputes are exactly the type of situation that, theoretically, AI should make easier. That, however, is not what’s going on. The first point of contact is the AI-powered online virtual assistant, which asks what it can help me with but has, thus far, never been able to actually help. After some back and forth, it directs me to an allegedly real person who’s supposed to be better equipped to handle the matter. A lot of the time, I get referred to a phone number to call instead. Once I call that number, I’m presented with a new robot — this time, one that talks. It’s not any better at understanding my problem than the typing robot, but it’s also not so sure I’m ready to get to an agent just yet. Yes, it understands I’d like to speak with a representative, but why don’t I explain what about first? As my frustration grows, […]
