Author Archive: Stephen Green

DEVELOPING…

WOW:

UNEXPECTED HEADLINES: How tampons in the men’s room helped derail the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal.

During the negotiations, while Netflix was telling skeptical GOP lawmakers that it wasn’t a left-wing company looking to get more powerful by snapping up WBD, a delegation of legislators paid a visit to its headquarters, and one was both shocked and disturbed to find a basket containing tampons in the men’s restroom.

To be clear, there are other factors involved in CEO Ted Sarandos’ decision to cancel his nearly completed purchase of WBD’s studio and streaming service. But the “tampon incident,” as it has become known on Capitol Hill, does carry some weight in the unwavering political opposition from the GOP to Sarandos’ ambitions.

“This is 2026, not 2020,” said one GOP staffer with firsthand knowledge of the matter. “What were they thinking?”

Read the whole thing.

THIS:

THEY DON’T LIKE AMERICANS:

SIGN OF THE TIMES:

NEO-FEUDALISM: In California, About the Only Way to Get a House Is to Inherit One.

Inheritance is one of the last reliable ways for younger Californians to own their first home.

About 18% of all property transfers in the state last year, representing nearly 60,000 homes, were made through inheritance, according to a recent analysis by real-estate data firm Cotality.

That share is a record for California in data going back to 1995, up from 12% in 2019. It is also roughly double the national share of 8.8% last year.

Cheryl Norris, a 76-year-old who works as an independent antique dealer, has owned a pair of homes in Northern California for decades. Her two children in their 30s don’t see a clear path toward buying a home there themselves. California’s home prices rank among the highest in the U.S., reaching a median single-family sales price of nearly $900,000 last year.

When Norris dies, she plans to leave her Santa Rosa property, with its low-pitched roof and large picture window, and her more expansive three-bedroom retreat set on more than 2 acres in San Rafael to her daughter and son.

“Even though my kids work as hard as I did, it’s sad that inheritance is their best shot at homeownership here,” she said.

I wonder how she and her adult kids vote.

PRIORITIES:

DEMOCRATS LESS PRO-AMERICAN, LESS PRO-SECURITY THAN EUROPE? FIGURES:

STAND BY: Trump tells CNN the ‘big wave’ is yet to come in war with Iran.

“We’re knocking the crap out of them,” Trump told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I think it’s going very well. It’s very powerful. We’ve got the greatest military in the world and we’re using it.”

Trump addressed a wide range of topics in the interview, including the expected length of the conflict, his surprise at Iran’s widespread retaliation and the country’s expected succession plan.

On how long the war might last, the president said, “I don’t want to see it go on too long. I always thought it would be four weeks. And we’re a little ahead of schedule.”

Asked if the US is doing more beyond the military assault to help the Iranian people regain control of their country from the regime, Trump said, “Yes.”

“We are indeed. But right now we want everyone staying inside. It’s not safe out there.”

And it’s about to get even less safe, the president said.

“We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon.”

More to come… much more.

MORE GOVERNMENT, HIGHER PRICES: We Didn’t Just Get Expensive Electricity. We Built a System That Makes It Inevitable.

When one looks inside the electricity system, the experience is less like analyzing an immense machine than being fed into one, resembling the immortal scene in “Modern Times” where Charlie Chaplin’s factory worker is swallowed by the equipment he’s working on.

The American electricity market is not guided by an “invisible hand” of supply and demand, but an accumulation of misaligned rules laid down over decades. Layer upon layer of regulation, subsidy, mandate, and accounting rules to a point where the system became fixed in an upward, inflationary tilt, impervious to efforts to change.

There are at least a half-dozen federal environmental regulations that have more to do with rising electricity prices than tariffs or the data-center buildout, and a good example to start with is called Construction Work in Progress (CWIP).

As a new issue brief makes clear, it helped change who pays for America’s infrastructure.

Read the whole thing.

NEXT! Iranian VP takes over during wartime, raising questions about Pezeshkian’s status.

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref informed officials of plans to have him take charge of the nation during wartime, according to a report from the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) published on social media late Saturday night.

There was no explicit note of President Masoud Pezeshkian’s ability to carry out presidential duties.

Earlier on Saturday, security forces blocked roads in the Tehran area that is home to Pezeshkian’s offices, witnesses said.

Keep this up, and maybe nobody will want the job.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: The United Freaking States of America. Heck Yeah! “Since January 3, it’s felt less like a news cycle and more like a nonstop adrenaline rush. I don’t think I’ve ever loved this country more, and I am fairly certain I was waving a little U.S. flag the moment my toddler’s hands could hold one.”

Sarah Anderson is filling in for Kruiser today as he recovers from a birthday well spent.