[Frontpage] Marvel's movie sausage factory has scored over $25 billion worldwide.
Disney's theme parks are still profitable, in the billions, but they're one of the least profitable elements of the Mouse Empire. (Forget Mickey and Donald, even Disney may not be able to bribe enough D.C. politicians to hang on to the IP rights.)
Disney still cashes in by exploiting kids, but, much like Marvel and DC, they've long since moved on to adults and the virtue signaling that comes with that.
Adult immaturity is much more profitable than catering to kids and while Disney isn't giving up on cashing in on kids, its business model is acquiring and developing intellectual properties or IP that an older audience is deeply invested in. Adult fandom instead of kid fandom. Is that a smart business move?
$25 billion. Hard to argue with that. And that's not counting licensing and all the rest.
That means going woke and super-woke.
Even when it comes to theme parks, the Disney Adults are the 'whales' who spend a lot of the money and they tend to be lefties. Disney had already begun to shift to accommodate its weirdo base on sociosexual issues. That meant caring a lot less about building a magical wonderland for kids and more about catering to men and women in their thirties who still want to pretend they're kids.
What you're seeing is the end result of that policy.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/01/2022 00:00 ||
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[Blaze] Billionaire and expert Twitter troll Elon Musk commented on the state of Twitter, suggesting that the social media platform failed to provide the requisite level of free speech in any balanced fashion and, therefore, should probably be replaced by a better system.
Chad Prather, host of the "Chad Prather Show," explained that Musk's scintillating missive left the Twittersphere presuming he is toying with buying Twitter outright or perhaps launching his own social media platform. Twitter is well known for its habit of protecting the speech of those with Joseph Stalin's level of ethics while making it a priority to ban the accounts of people who are capable of identifying a man vs. a woman.
Musk's 17 million followers responded with a firestorm of mostly positive replies, which leaves the question of whether he will attempt to buy out Twitter and rebrand the bluebird? Or is this the parallel economy game?
If anyone can pull off a Twitter rival, that person is Elon Musk. And while conservatives do not align with the man on every issue, we need to remember that he's not a conservative. Instead, he holds some conservative views that speak to common sense.
Suppose Musk does create a new form of Twitter? Would the platform devolve the way Twitter has and become another 5-10-year failed social experiment?
"Perhaps going outdoors and soaking in the sunshine will be a better use of time than rebranding or replacing Twitter," Chad said.
#2
^ Exactly two people asked me why I hadn't joined Trump's social media platform. I said "For the same reason I'm not on any of the others. I prefer time-wasters I get enjoyment from..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/01/2022 8:21 Comments ||
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[BBC] Russia’s 331st Guards Parachute Regiment is considered "the best of the best", but BBC Newsnight has been tracing the casualties as the unit battles through Ukraine.
The regiment's commanding officer - Col Sergei Sukharev - died in mid-March. His chief of staff and numerous other officers have also fallen.
The regiment previously served in the Balkans, Chechnya and the 2014 Russia invasion in the Donbas.
Tracking the unit through Ukraine, Newsnight’s diplomatic and defence editor Mark Urban looks at the outpouring of grief and anger from Russia in response to the devastating losses. What went wrong for the once-elite regiment? And what does its fate tell us about Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
This film was produced by Maria Jevstafjeva and Louis Harris-White.
Been seeking less East & West Pravda type news and more actual facts. As they say "Seeing is believing", so I started looking at Ukrainian Live Webcams that are still up and running in the major cities.
The link below is to 1 such collection of Ukrainian Webcams.
There are also Earthcam, Skyline, WWITV, geocam, and "nagix.github.io/ukraine-livecams/#5.5/47.774/31.685/0/45" and others.
Posted by: NN2N1 ||
04/01/2022 08:58 ||
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Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
1st thing I noticed after viewing about 20+ live webcams as I clicked thru.... No military troops, smoke,damages or war scenes.
But I briefly saw a T-72, w/o the painted symbol rolling down a street.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
Google has chosen sides in the conflict
[ColonelCassad] A subscriber sent a new manual from YouTube, which is sent to the platform moderators in connection with the Russian special operation in Ukraine. It is specified in detail which content must be removed and which is removed from monetization.
There will be no full-scale blocking of war-related content. Anything that “goes beyond” will be blocked: the assertion that NATO is responsible for the conflict, Russia’s support, the idea of recreating the USSR by Russia, the letter “Z”, etc.
Example: the video was blocked with the wording “the video begins with the glorification of the “Z” symbol and the rest of it contains support for the war."
Videos will be removed from monetization, which, for example, talk about the genocide of Ukraine in the Donbass, Ukrainian biological weapons, denazification, the thesis that there is no conflict in Ukraine, etc. What is shown are graphics which show part of the manual in English
Ukraine's National Militia says it "polices" the streets. So why does it also fight the police themselves? BBC Kiev correspondent Jonah Fisher reports on the increasing visibility of far-right groups in Ukraine.
Newsnight is the BBC's flagship news and current affairs TV programme - with analysis, debate, exclusives, and robust interviews.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] 1. Mariupol.
Street fighting. The ring continues to shrink, but the task of completely blocking Azovstal has not yet been solved. The enemy also holds a piece of the Left-Berzhny region, the western Primorsky part of the city, the port and the factory of Ilyich. Over the past 2 days, the wounded have been evacuated from the port. Out of 6 Mi-8s and 1 Mi-24, 3 Mi-8s were shot down. The rest of the vehicles were able to deliver a certain amount of cargo to Mariupol and take out up to 30 wounded.
The remnants of the enemy forces in Mariupol hysterically demand a deblockade, stating that without it, the defeat in Mariupol will be the greatest shame of Ukraine.
2. Marinka.
A little progress in the village itself. Fights in the slag heap area. Fighting also continues south of Maryinka in the area of Novomikhailovka and Slavny.
3. Ugledar.
Fighting continues north of Zolotaya Niva and in the area of Velikaya Novoselka. So far, it has not been possible to get to the Maryinka-Kurakhovo highway.
4. Zaporozhye.
On the line Kamenskoye-Orekhov-Gulyaipole without changes. To the east of Gulyaipol, fighting was noted in the region of Malinovka and settlements to the east.
5. Nikolaev.
Attempts to be active in this direction cost the Armed Forces dearly, and, having suffered heavy losses, the enemy again went on the defensive. The RF Armed Forces continue to accumulate forces in the Kherson region. To the north, near Krivoy Rog and Nikopol, no significant changes were noted.
6. LPR.
Fighting continued in Popasnaya, the southern part of Rubizhne and on the outskirts of Severodonetsk. In general, there are no major developments.
7. Avdievka.
Avdievka itself is unchanged. To the north, the troops managed to break through the defenses at Novobakhmutovka and start fighting for the capture of the village, which should help the efforts associated with cutting the rocky road at Novobakhmutovka and Novoselka-2, as well as ensure advancement through Troitskoye to New York and further to Dzerzhinsk.
8. Izyum.
Limited fighting south and southeast of Izyum. Both sides are actively pulling up reserves in this direction, expecting the imminent start of active operations by the grouping of the RF Armed Forces in the Kharkov-Izyum direction. The enemy has created certain reserves in the Artemovsk area, and is also preparing Slavyansk and Kramatorsk for defense. There is also an accumulation of forces in the Pavlograd region, which will act as a strategic reserve in the upcoming battle. Kharkov - battles of local importance.
9. Sumy-Chernihiv.
There is a transfer of significant contingents of the RF Armed Forces to the east. It is not yet clear for what purposes they will be used - for the assault on Sumy or for moving to Akhtyrka and further to Kharkov. There is also the option of transferring part of the forces to the Kharkov-Izyum direction. The pressure on Brovary is currently decreasing. In Chernihiv - no significant changes.
10. Kyiv.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine declare that they were able to restore control over the city of Irpen, but at the same time confirm that Bucha, Vorzel and Gostomel are under the RF Armed Forces. Again they came up with a victory about the capture of Vyshgorod, which was already controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the Pentagon and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the RF Armed Forces are on the defensive here, and part of the forces are being transferred through Belarus to Kharkov and Izyum.
In general, despite the active battles in different directions, we are now witnessing a kind of operational pause, which is associated with the need to regroup troops and pull up reserves. The main events will soon unfold in Left-Bank Ukraine, where the RF Armed Forces will strive to defeat the main grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Also, I would not rule out operations in the Nikolaev direction.
#1
Retire. Offer population to leave then attack from afar followed by physical efforts to conclude. Energy has been secured so needed by Europe. Putin is enjoying increased popularity and unity at home.
"If Russian palladium stopped flowing to market, there would be serious problems, especially for the global auto and computer chip industries. And the same, to a lesser extent, goes for Russian platinum supplies" So no blocks imposed.
So who really has miscalculated.
[MISES] American policy makers have shown a surprising amount of sanity so far in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While some war enthusiasts among the American punditry have certainly been agitating for World War III, the leadership in both the White House and Congress has repeatedly and straightforwardly refused most calls to escalate the conflict.
Unfortunately, a number of foreign parliaments among the US's NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) "partners" have not been nearly as hesitant to escalate matters. Among the most reckless on this issue have been lawmakers from a number of Eastern European states. For example, policymakers in the Baltics in recent weeks have called for a no-fly zone in Ukraine. Newsweek reported this month:
Lithuania's parliament unanimously approved a resolution calling for a no-fly zone over Ukraine—joining other NATO members Estonia and Slovenia in the appeal. Rihards Kols, chairman of the Latvian parliament's foreign affairs committee, also announced [on March 17] his country is calling for such a zone.
But here's the problem: a so-called no-fly zone would be a de facto declaration of war on Russia by NATO. Moreover, when we say "by NATO," we mostly mean "by the United States."
At around the same time, the Polish regime began its own scheme to escalate the war and bring the US into direct conflict with Moscow. Warsaw, apparently without consulting Washington, hatched a plan to send fighter jets to Ukraine via US military bases and then have the US "backfill" Poland's air force with F-16s. This would have constituted a significant escalation as well, and was fortunately quashed by the White House.
This sort of behavior that free rides on the American taxpayer has become an identifiable pattern with countries that see themselves as benefiting enormously from US military spending but who contribute next to nothing to US security or even to the NATO alliance.
#1
Why wouldn't they be in favor of someone else doing the fighting and dying for them? It's an entirely rational policy. Just look at our elites in DC who also think the same way. None of them are in the military, so who cares when C-141s full of coffins come back from their latest war?
When you've got a drunken moron spending his money like water, you're a fool if you don't catch some in a basin. Of course they're free-riding on us. They love it! They have an idiot to pay for their defense!
#2
When you've got a drunken moron spending his money like water, you're a fool if you don't catch some in a basin.
Me, I prefer doing things that are productive toward my own long-term goals rather than getting distracted by trying to catch “free” money, which ends up with little money and no progress. But I admit to being hopelessly bourgeois, and therefore suspicious of the purpose of welfare spending of all sorts.
[Washington Examiner] Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears slammed President Joe Biden's attempts to blame energy prices on Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, saying "the American people aren’t stupid" and aren't falling for it.
"They know that prices were rising from the day that he started," Sears told the Washington Examiner after speaking at an event at American University in Washington, D.C., hosted by the AU College Republicans and the AU Network of Enlightened Women.
"We were a net exporter of energy before he came into office, and he changed all that. So this is pretty much squarely on his shoulders and the shoulders of Democrats."
Of the president's response to rampant inflation, Sears told the Washington Examiner, "We ought to continue to drill," adding that "he should open the Keystone Pipeline."
The lieutentant governor praised the president for news that he is releasing one-third of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve but said, "We should’ve replenished it when President Trump wanted to do so."
She further decried "onerous" regulations that she says prevent companies with current leases from drilling to their full potential. "So, to tell us that the businesses should act on the leases that they already have is stupid, and it’s disingenuous at the same time," Sears continued.
Biden alone is not to blame.
It took a ☺ Village ☺ Liberal Socialist Democrat idiots in DC to screw it up this bad.
Remember Biden in week 1 of his admin, told us he was just signing whatever is put in front of him.
The LSD poorly thought out Eco Agenda did this with Biden.
Actions that stopped a lot of drilling, Fracking, and pipeline delivery. This is what has left us in short supply.
I am sure the DC LSD's understood how their actions would interact with the Free Market Rule of Supply and Demand.
Thus driving up prices that hurt everyone and yes their own voters.
#2
and since the price of oil is based on the world market, some of the blame goes to Countries that won't allow fracking, e.g., the UK and Czech Republic
and also some States that have similar anti fracking rules, e.g., CA, NY
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
04/01/2022 12:01 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Frontpage] Marvel's movie sausage factory has scored over $25 billion worldwide.
Been seeking less East & West Pravda type news and more actual facts. As they say "Seeing is believing", so I started looking at Ukrainian Live Webcams that are still up and running in the major cities.
