GET WOKE, GO BROKE: What the Hell Happened to Netflix?

Netflix was supposed to be the antidote to the bloated world of cable television. Remember back when you had those low gray boxes on your console? You’d click through hundreds of channels, spending a fraction of a second glancing at one low-budget show after another, and feel — after all that — that there was nothing on TV. Of course, there was plenty to watch, but the problem was none of it was good. So when the pandemic hit, things were very good for Netflix, just as things were good for all kinds of businesses that ask you to do nothing more than sit on your ass. But now Netflix is an expensive, swollen monster of a company that’s not very different from its competitors. Why pay $20 a month for a premium subscription when you’re not even sure if that new show you want to watch is Apple+, or Disney+, or Hulu?

How bad are things? Here’s how Netflix put it in its first quarterly earnings report for 2022: “Our revenue growth has slowed considerably as our results and forecast below show.” During the first three months of this year, 200,000 subscribers decided they’d had enough. This is the first time Netflix has lost subscribers since 2011, according to the number crunchers at Bloomberg. And it’s getting worse: Netflix predicts that another 2 million paying subscribers will bolt by the end of June. This is particularly bad in light of the company’s forecast from January that it would add 2.5 million subscribers during the first half of the year — which was considered really bad at the time, even though the company still thought it would be growing. This most recent report caused Netflix stock to crater about 25 percent in after-hours stock trading, erasing about $38 billion off its market capitalization — usually the kind of punch to the gut that’s reserved for people named Mark Zuckerberg. [Update: Netflix shares fell as much as 37 percent on Wednesday morning, erasing about $50 billion from its market capitalization. That’s the company’s biggest drop in a decade, and the lowest point since January, 2018].

Netflix blames Russia, but that doesn’t account for the gap.

As goofy as all that is, it points to another problem: Netflix spent more than $13 billion on original content last year, and people apparently aren’t watching it all that much. Yes, there have been hits, such as Squid Game and Love Is Blind, but there are also shows that are so bad and pointless — like Is It Cake?, a game show where people guess if things are real or are cakes in disguise — that as I watch them I am forced to consider that one day I will die, and I’ll look back on my life and the part of it when I yelled at the screen that no, that’s not in fact a cake. But I still have a Netflix subscription, so joke’s on me.

They need good shows. They don’t have enough of them. Why? Elon Musk has thoughts:

TRUNALIMUNUMAPRZURE! Biden Was Just Asked About Ending Title 42 For Illegal Immigrants And Instead He Rambled About Masks On Planes.

SCIENCE!

STRATEGERY: The Biden Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review: Assured Survival for Vladimir Putin.

In late March, the Biden administration sent the results of its 2022 Nuclear Posture Review to Congress in the form of a classified document and with no press briefing. This is unprecedented. All that was released to the public was a less than one page “Fact Sheet,” which spoke almost entirely about the “no first use” issue. Why? Is the Biden administration afraid of offending the tender sensibilities of President Putin, the “butcher” of Moscow and war criminal who must be removed from power? Or is it concerned about the public’s reaction to weakening our nuclear deterrent in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the threat of Russian WMD use?

There has never been a larger disconnect between an administration’s perception of the nature of Vladimir Putin, the heavily nuclear-armed Russian dictator, and the requirements for nuclear deterrence. Furthermore, the Nuclear Posture Review decisions could negatively impact our credibility with our allies. With the Russians constantly making threats of nuclear war, the Biden administration has cut an already marginal nuclear modernization program. Additionally, movement toward no-first-use of nuclear weapons is difficult to understand when the Biden administration and the United Kingdom are warning that Russia may use chemical and biological weapons in the current war with Ukraine. This policy change seems driven more by ideological considerations than the requirement for a credible, effective deterrent.

Leftist ideology first, last, and always has been the hallmark of this “moderate” president.

MATT MARGOLIS: Here’s the Tweet Clinton’s Lawyer Doesn’t Want Admitted as Evidence in Durham Case.

IT’S SCHEDULED FOR 11:14 ET. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch on record-tying 12th mission Thursday: Watch it live.

YOU WILL BE MADE TO CONFORM: Biden admin to rescind Trump ‘conscience’ rule for health workers. “The Biden administration is preparing to scrap a Trump-era rule that allows medical workers to refuse to provide services that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, three people familiar with the deliberations told POLITICO.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Duke Divinity School holds worship service to ‘the great queer one.’

WHAT INSURRECTION? Leftists File Suit to Bar Marjorie Taylor Greene From Ballot Because She Supported ‘Insurrection.’

I REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE TOLD THAT HIGHER EDUCATION WOULD PROMOTE TOLERANCE AND REDUCE BIGOTRY: Student leader who wants ‘Black people’ to learn that ‘they are superior’ says his views on race were influenced by higher ed.

Plus: “‘I would be honest to say that like my first true experience with racism probably wasn’t until I came to college,’ the student said.” Time to shut this toxic industry down?

UNMASKING: A REPORT FROM THE FIELD. Jim Bennett writes: “I flew from Denver to San Juan, Puerto Rico today, via Houston. I’d say 95% of the people on the flights and at the airports (and both DEN and IAH are big, crowded airports) were unmasked, and looking happy about it. It almost looked like 2019 again. I can’t imagine what would happen if Biden seriously tried to get them back into masks again.”

Well, since he’s a dotard heading an administration staffed by idiots, we may find out.

BIDEN IS ONLY PRETENDING TO GOOSE DOMESTIC ENERGY PRODUCTION: Feds offering 80% less in oil and natural gas lease sales, increasing royalty rate.

DAN MARKEL UPDATE: Dan Markel murder: Charlie Adelson arrested on murder charges in Broward County.

CAPTAIN HOOK, TINKER BELL NEXT FOR WOKE TREATMENT: Jeff Dunetz of The Lid worked at Disney a lot of years, so he knows a thing or three about the workplace culture there. His latest update will, as he promises, “freak you out” if you grew up when Disney was Disney.

PJ MEDIA VIP ROUNDUP: Don’t forget that VODKAPUNDIT promo code if you’ve been thinking of joining us.

Matt Margolis: The Embarrassing Decline of Kamala Harris. “Frankly, things really don’t look good for Kamala if Biden decides not to run for reelection. As we saw in 2020, she’s a lousy campaigner, and as we’ve seen since January 20, 2021, she’s an awful vice president—in fact, she’s so awful that she’s not even well-liked in her home state anymore.”

Cameron Arcand: Number of Suspected Terrorists Caught at Border Since Biden Took Office Keeps Growing. “Of course, these are just the people that CBP is aware of. It would not be unlikely if there are people on the terror watchlist who made it into the country successfully while avoiding unrest.”

Yours Truly: Russia Is Fighting the Ukraine War on Five Fronts: Where Are They Winning? (Part I). “Russia is actually fighting on five fronts: Military, Propaganda, Diplomatic, Domestic, and Economic. Let’s take a brief (well, as brief as possible…) look at each one and see how Moscow is doing.”

TIMING: Russia says it has successfully tested a new intercontinental missile that can evade defenses.

Russia announced on Wednesday it had successfully launched a new missile that it said could deploy nuclear warheads at hypersonic speeds anywhere in the world and outwit defenses, a move that President Vladimir V. Putin said was aimed at showing Russia’s adversaries that they needed to “think twice” before threatening his country.

But even if the test was successful, the new missile does not appear ready for use. The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday’s test launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile was its first and that it would enter Russia’s arsenal only “after the completion of the testing program.”

The RS-28 Sarmat was originally supposed to enter service two years ago. This announcement sounds more like an effort to turn around the new narrative that the Russian armed forced aren’t all they were cracked up to be before the Ukraine War.

WE’VE DESCENDED INTO SOME SORT OF BIZARRE HELL-WORLD IN WHICH JACK DORSEY IS A VOICE OF SANITY: Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Claims He Witnessed Incident Where CNN Tried To Falsify News.

“Idan’s tweet stemmed from an earlier remark that Dorsey made on the platform when he called out CNN’s Brian Stelter and a columnist for The Washington Post on Monday over a tweet that took aim at Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Dorsey referenced a tweet from Stelter that stated: ‘Tucker Carlson is always selling the same thing, @pbump says: ‘He’s selling doubt…’ Dorsey responded to the tweet by asking in a tweet, ‘and you all are selling hope?’”

COLLUSION: Critics fear Biden helping China leapfrog US high tech.

The Biden administration is loosening up federal patent rules, opening the door for high-tech companies backed by the Chinese government to raid American inventions in the highly coveted 5G space, according to a growing chorus of critics.

In the latest red flag on the topic, three GOP senators are also warning that in watering down intellectual property protections, the administration could be jeopardizing national security at a time when China and other potential foes are outspending the United States on 21st-century technology by a mile.

At issue is the Justice Department’s new draft policy on “Licensing Negotiations and Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary F/RAND Commitments.”

The policy covers patents on technology key to 5G, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. Industry officials told Secrets that the new draft would make it impossible to get an injunction to stop anyone from using that patented technology.

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Tom Cotton of Arkansas warned that the policy change could let Chinese firms steal inventions from the U.S.

“By weakening these remedies, your department’s draft statement also sends a signal to infringers in China and elsewhere that they can simply steal critical American intellectual property with impunity,” said the trio in the letter provided to Secrets.

Communist China has made no secret of its desire to lead the world in 5G and other high-tech arenas no matter what it takes.

Well, to be fair, Biden’s basically on their payroll.

MISTER, WE COULD USE A MAN LIKE PAUL VOLCKER AGAIN: Stagflation, energy crises, and ‘malaise:’ The last time inflation was this high.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Defund the Police — Democrats Lied, Black People Died. “The Ferguson riots play a central role in the Democrats’ incessant disparagement of law enforcement. That’s when His HIgh Holiness the Lightbringer Barack Obama got really comfortable with blaming cops and trusting criminals. What the Democrats did in 2020 was his legacy.”

BE PREPARED: QuikClot Advanced Clotting Gauze. #CommissionEarned

COKE’S CULTURE OF HATE: Coca-Cola Hosts Earth Day Event With Democrat Who Says Jews Control Weather: Giant Food joins event with anti-Semitic DC lawmaker Trayon White.

DON’T GET COCKY: Joseph Campbell: What history reminds us about midterm narratives shaped months before elections.

YOU DON’T SAY: Workers are unhappy to be back in the office, and now they’re getting ready to quit. “Managers stay remote while staff are sent back to the office, further fueling resentment — and the Great Resignation.”

Related (From Ed): Of course, not everybody is back in the office these days: Office Vacancy Rate in San Francisco Hits a Pandemic High.

And to put it into visual terms: Visualizing All the Vacant Office Space in San Francisco.

JEREMY LOTT: The future of space travel according to Branson, Musk, and Bezos.

As billionaires Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk use their private space exploration companies to shoot for the stars, they have been dogged by persistent, progressive criticism that this is all a highly combustible vanity project. “Billionaire Space Race: Shameless Vanity Projects in a World of Want” read one representative headline on the website Socialist Alternative.

But is it more than that? The Washington Examiner asked a rocket scientist for thoughts on what, if anything, these titans of industry are contributing to the future of space exploration.

“We are on the cusp of transition in space transportation comparable to the introduction of the DC-3 in aviation, or perhaps the transition from reciprocating engines to jets in commercial aviation,” said James Bennett, the chief regulatory officer for Immortal Data Inc. “The maritime analogy would be from sailing ships to steam in ocean navigation — perhaps the best analogy because steam changed the way everything was done in ocean transport.”

The man he pointed to as most responsible for this possibility is Musk.

Well, yes. Musk is almost single-handedly pushing the transition from command-economy space to economically sustainable space.

Plus: “Bezos thought he would be the tortoise and beat Musk’s hare, but he forgot that the rabbit has to stop for it to work. Instead, Musk is pushing on like the Energizer Bunny on methamphetamines.”