March 2, 2026

TOO GOOD TO CHECK: How tampons in the men’s room helped derail the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal.

There were many defining moments featured in the months-long battle for the ownership of Warner Bros. Discovery: sit-downs to woo President Trump, high-profile congressional hearings, a brutal bidding war, and a tampon.

Yes, a tampon.

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?”

Exit quote:

Posted at 6:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

IT NEEDS TO BE SAID AND REPEATED:

“There are moments in history when a Nation must choose its future. We have been told that the state is our protector, the bureaucrat is our savior, and the politician knows more than the free man, that we must obey, that we must depend. But the truth is another: the world has only two types of people: those who live off what others produce—i.e., the parasites, that is, you—and those who produce everything that makes modern life possible.

“While you draft regulations, we create wealth.

“While you promise equality, we generate prosperity.

“While you distribute poverty, we multiply abundance.”

“The true battle of our time is cultural, philosophical, and moral. It is to choose the system that lifted millions out of poverty. It is to stop being an immature nation that squanders the future to hand out benefits in the present and to become a mature nation.”

“Governing with responsibility is governing for the Argentines of today but also governing for the Argentines of tomorrow.”

-Javier Milei

Posted at 6:00 pm by Charlie Martin

HOW THE ISRAELIS DID IT: “Years before the air strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Israeli intelligence had been quietly mapping the daily rhythms of Tehran. According to reporting by the Financial Times, nearly all of the Iranian capital’s traffic cameras had been hacked years earlier, their footage encrypted and transmitted to Israeli servers. One camera angle near Pasteur Street, close to Khamenei’s compound, allowed analysts to observe the routines of bodyguards and drivers: where they parked, when they arrived and whom they escorted.”

Or to put it another way:

Posted at 5:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

DEVELOPING…

Posted at 5:22 pm by Stephen Green

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.

Posted at 4:40 pm by Stephen Green

THIS:

Posted at 4:34 pm by Stephen Green

THEY DON’T LIKE AMERICANS:

Posted at 3:58 pm by Stephen Green

INSURANCE MARKETS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS THE BOND MARKETS:

Posted at 2:58 pm by Glenn Reynolds

SEVENTH CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS:

This may be more like what the Ayatollah be receiving:

Or perhaps this:

UPDATE:

Posted at 2:35 pm by Ed Driscoll

SIGN OF THE TIMES:

Posted at 2:29 pm by Stephen Green