Entertainment

Disney served a big surprise moments ago when it reported reported Q3 revenue of $14.24 bn that missed the average analyst estimate, $14.42, even as Q3 EPS of $1.58, above the $1.55 expected.  That was not the surprise: what was is that Bob Iger's entertainment giant just made what was until recently a simmering war with Netflix, hot when the firm announced it would end its streaming act with Netflix, pulling its new release movies starting in calendar 2019, and instead it would launch it own ESPN direct-to-customer video streaming service in 2018.

Hackers referring to themselves only as "Mr. Smith," which we assume is short for Vladimir Putin, posted a fresh trove of stolen HBO files on Monday, including yet to be aired Game of Thrones scripts, and demanded millions in ransom to prevent additional releases.  Per the Associated Press:

Conservative political pundit and National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch took on The New York Times in an epic new video posted by the NRA in which she vows to "fisk the New York Times" just before concluding "in short, we're coming for you."

"We the people have had it.  We've had it with your narratives, your propaganda, your 'fake news'."

 

Seymour Hersh Says Report of Russian Hacking Is CIA Disinformation

Last night YouTube took to its 'Official Blog' to more or less announce that they would be taking steps to censor content they found to be "controversial" even if it didn't break any laws or violate the site's user agreement.  And while the message vowed to be part of an effort to "fight terror content online," the move was met wth widespread skepticism among YouTuber's as nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to censor conservative speech.