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 While most of the country was focused on war with Iran or the NBA Finals, the President decided to hold an a "celebration" of America on his birthday:

 

 

 

  Like the video explained: he's a Christian and an American, so what could be the problem with him besides ideology and racism?

 

 

 

 

From CBS News : A performer at Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show unfurled a flag emblazoned with the words Sudan and Gaza in a protest over the two wars roiling the Middle East. Security personnel at the stadium detained the performer shortly after the flag was waved atop a car used as a prop in the performance. New Orleans police said the man was ejected from the stadium after the incident, and no arrest or summons was issued.  The NFL said the person would be banned for life from NFL stadiums and events. "We commend security for quickly detaining the individual who displayed the flag. He was a part of the 400-member field cast. The individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show. No one involved with the production was aware of the individual's intent," the league said. The company behind the halftime show, Roc Nation, said the protest was "neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal." They then ...

 

  Five familiar names are joining forces : The biggest names in late-night television are teaming up for a new podcast. Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and John Oliver will host “Strike Force Five,” a new limited series podcast debuting Aug. 30, on Spotify, according to a news release from the streaming service. “Late night unite! Your new favorite podcast Strike Force Five premiers tomorrow with all of our proceeds going to staff and crew affected by the ongoing writers strike,” Fallon wrote on Instagram on Aug. 29, alongside the first look. “Check it out on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.” According to this story , the proceeds from the podcast will go to people who work on each host's perspective show. 

This is what dystopia looks like. Like a bunch of thought-controlled automatons mindlessly marching toward ecocide and omnicide to a beat played out by screens who tell them every day and in every way that there is no higher purpose than this. Like military industrial complex-funded feminist rock operas about drone operators and Cookie Monster helping Samantha Power psychologically colonize Iraqi children. Like Bono coming home from singing a heartfelt number about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr to illustrate a cover for a war propaganda piece in The Atlantic. It’s like they’re pouring concrete over our hearts. Sewing blindfolds over our souls. Numbing us, distracting us, sedating us, so that the local riff raff won’t interfere in the workings of the imperial machine. They’re killing off something beautiful and sacred in humanity, and they’re doing it to roll out some of the ugliest visions this planet has ever seen.  -- Caitlin Johnstone, summarizing how " mainstream...

 Trying to avoid what happened to Erol's and Blockbuster before them, Netflix is looking to capitalize on the success/popularity of programs like of Stranger Things, Cobra Kai and The Umbrella Academy and be home to their own "Star Wars"-like franchise .  I think one key difference is that the companies Netflix is trying to emulate (Disney, Warner Bros, Sony, etc.) are more than just TV and movies and dabble in all different forms of entertainment, both as products and services. Netflix may be better off trying to make/purchase their own phone or internet service first.  

 It owns the press through the Washington Post, has a stake in what people eat via Whole Foods, and now will have a stronger foothold in entertainment via their merger with MGM Studios . And let's not forget Amazon Prime, their answer to Netflix and Disney Plus as well as the fact that about 50% of online purchases go through them. Amazon's MO has been about market share first, profits as a side effect. And they are at the point now where not only can they sell you practically anything, they have the means to entice you to buy what they want you to buy.