This essay by a retired newsman closely reflects my own feelings: What happened to journalists in the United States that they treat this election like a horse race between equals. It is nothing like that. Who could have imagined in the over two centuries of our nation’s history that in the third decade of the 21st century one of the candidates would be a convicted rapist, multiple felon, multiple-bankrupt traitor, and con artist, committed along with the party putting him forward to ending our democracy, and that this would not be the biggest story since the Second World War? I read The New York Times, and The Washington Post and all the other major newspapers, and watch MSNBC, CNN, and Fox Propaganda. With the possible exception of Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell, none of them are covering the news correctly. And, as a country, we are very much the worse for journalism’s failure.
We need to talk about the abominable headline below: Trump Can Win on Character, and how it is we have come to the fatal point where The New York Times and our broken mainstream media seem to need the America-attacking Donald Trump a helluva lot more than the America-attacking Donald Trump seems to need The New York Times and our broken mainstream media.
Aside from platforming maniacal, caustic headlines topping spurious content like the one above (which I promise to get to in a minute), this newspaper’s inability to spot the biggest news story of our lifetimes, and treat it with the heft it deserves, is journalistic malpractice, and […]
Here is the first report I have seen on something I had suspected but not been able to find reliable data on. I see this trend as yet another function of what is happening to the United States because of our grotesque wealth inequality and the reality that as a culture we have no social priority more important than greed and profit. If this is to end we must once again become a society where fostering wellbeing is social goal and purpose. In November, we are going to find out which path we will go down.
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey / Axios
The share of Americans moving has reached its lowest in history — and it doesn’t look like it’s climbing back up anytime soon.
Why it matters: Moving — across town, across the state and across the country — for new jobs and better lives was once a common part of American life. Now, staying put longer is the norm.
By the numbers: In the 1960s, around 1 in 5 Americans moved each year, according to the Brookings Institution.
As of 2022, that’s fallen to 8.7% — even accounting for the pandemic-era moves out of big coastal cities and into places like the Sun Belt.
Breaking it down: A collision of key demographic, social and economic trends is driving the decline, William Frey, senior demographer at Brookings, tells Axios.
Thom Hartmann, Contributing Writer - Raw Story | Commentary
Stephan:
Thom Hartmann, has it right. This is what journalists should be covering, what their editors and producers should be asking them to focus on. I don’t think most Americans really understand what the christofascists and the billionaires who control them are really trying to achieve. But Hartmann gets it just as I do. Have you realized this?
Credit: Raw Story
Republicans have pulled off a coup against an entire branch of government, and nobody seems to have noticed. But if you pay attention, it’s shocking.
Sometimes you can learn as much from attending to what Republicans suddenly stop saying as from what they are talking about. In this case, it’s their half-century-long obsession with convening a constitutional convention to rewrite the US Constitution. Under Article V of our Constitution, when two-thirds of the states formally call for a “con-con” to rewrite our nation’s founding document, it officially comes into being.
They can then make small changes like enshrining the right of billionaires and corporations to bribe judges and politicians, or insert the doctrine of corporate personhood into the document, or simply throw the whole thing out and start over. Many on the right are hoping to insert a national ban on abortion into a new constitution; others want to end the right […]
Here is some good news about the U.S. transition out of the carbon energy era. We are making progress.
The United States increased its electricity generation from utility-scale solar power by nearly one-third in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.
Despite that considerable increase in solar, the climate benefits of this growth were undermined by a rapid rise in electricity demand, which was met in large part by an increase in generation from fossil fuels.
This week, the Energy Information Administration released electricity generation statistics for June, which allows for a close look at where we stand halfway through 2024. The numbers tell a story of a country moving in the right direction, but not nearly fast enough.
First, the topline: Generation from utility-scale power plants was 2.1 million gigawatt-hours from January to June, an increase of 5 percent from January to June of 2023. That’s the highest percentage increase in decades when comparing the first half of a year to the first half of the prior year.
Grid planners and analysts have warned that the country is entering a period of rapid growth in electricity consumption to meet the needs of data centers, factories and other new construction. This follows […]
Michael Osacky, ISA Accredited Sports Appraiser - MSNBC
Stephan:
Convicted rapist and felon, and committer of treason, multiple-bankrupt, and worker cheater, Donald Trump is something from the darkest part of the American Id. Phony steak deals, phony university deals, vulgar gold gym shoes, and on and on, and now trading cards and pieces of one of his suits. Running for the Presidency is a scam to keep himself out of prison, should he win the Presidency the scams and grifts will be endless. I do not see how any voter, of any gender or color could vote for him, yet I know millions will. The media is covered with shame for their poor journalism about him, and what was once the Republican Party is now nothing more than a scammer’s cult. As a society we are very sick, and we need to elect Kamala President for President. Not because she is a perfect politician, she certainly isn’t, but she is oriented towards social policies that promote wellbeing, and that is the path to healing ourselves as a nation.
Screenshot of a digital trading card (NFT) of Donald Trump revealing a monogrammed bodysuit and fire blazing out of his eyes. Credit: Collect Trump Cards
Trading cards have had a healthy resurgence in the past five years. Parents are collecting with their children, card shows are happening all over the country, and private equity and venture capital is flowing into trading card grading companies, auction houses and events.
At the moment it seems everybody wants in on the trading card business, including former President Donald Trump, who recently announced he will be selling a new collection of digital trading cards, called the “America First Collection,” on his website. The Trump trading card NFT’s will feature 50 new portraits of the former president, according to a promotional video Trump shared on Truth Social showing images of the cards with him dancing, holding bitcoins, standing next to a buffalo or a lion, and striking various poses.
By now we’ve learned that mass production and proliferation of trading cards can […]
Here is the latest assessment about AI. What I found notable, and so typically American, is that the assessment has nothing to do with whether AI promotes or degrades social wellbeing. It is entirely a report about profit. Our media and the journalists who staff it don’t seem to have the capacity anymore to even think about social wellbeing; that is one of the reasons we have become the kind of country we are.
Nvidia has ridden the AI hype wave to become one of the most valuable brands on the planet, achieving a $3 trillion valuation that puts it among giants like Apple and Microsoft. Credit: Ann Wang/Reuters
The world’s leading AI chip producer, Nvidia, just delivered a slam dunk earnings report that most businesses would be jealous of. Sales rose 122% in the second quarter. Profits doubled. The outlook for the current quarter? Strong.
In short: The numbers were fantastic.
Yet Nvidia’s shares (NVDA) slumped 7% after its earnings came out Wednesday night, and they stayed down Thursday. For a stock that’s up more than 150% for the year, that’s nothing to fret over.
But the dip says a lot more about Wall Street than it does about Nvidia.
Here’s the deal: Wall Street has been all aboard the AI hype train for the better part of the last 18 months. Wherever investors see potential AI profit, they’re throwing money at it.
Nvidia, once a relatively niche computer chip maker, has been the biggest beneficiary […]
