samhexum

Judge temporarily pauses Paramount’s Warner Bros. takeover District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted a temporary restraining order request by a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, to freeze the deal A federal judge has temporarily blocked Paramount Skydance's efforts to complete its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, ruling that the proposed merger "raises serious questions" about whether the blockbuster $111-billion deal violates U.S. antitrust law. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, based in Oakland, on Monday granted a temporary restraining order request by a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, to freeze the deal while the court delves more closely into its impact on markets. The order pauses the deal for 14 days. "This is a critical first win in our case to ensure this megamerger never sees the light of day," Bonta said in a statement. “History tells the tale of what happens when a few people have great power over markets that are central to Americans' lives: fewer opportunities for more people." The ruling was anticipated — but it nonetheless dealt a blow to tech scion David Ellison's efforts to quickly finalize his massive acquisition, which has the support of President Trump. Ellison wants to complete the deal by September to avoid a higher payout to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders. Because of the case's expedited status, the judge said she looked closely at only one of the three markets where the plaintiff states allege the merger could bring anticompetitive harms — wide-release Hollywood films. "Plaintiffs present compelling evidence that the combined firm resulting from the transaction will possess substantial market share in the wide-release theatrical distribution market," Martínez-Olguín wrote in her 10-page order. The order extends to all officers, attorneys, and "other persons who are in active concert or participation with Defendants," Martínez-Olguín wrote. A Paramount spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. The states and Paramount will collide in court again on Aug. 3, when the judge takes up the expected motion for a preliminary injunction — which could tie up the deal for months. The merger is far from dead, Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes said in a statement. "The order is likely to be a speed bump," Benes wrote. "Thanks to the company's symbiotic relationship with Trump, most challenges ahead that could stop the deal will be steamrolled."

https://qns.com/2026/07/assault-liberty-ave-head-injury-s-richmond-hill/ Man assaulted by perp with a pizza on Liberty Avenue sustaining head injury in South Richmond Hill attack That must've been SOME thick crust!

Hempel said “If you stop producing beverages, dairy, or food for even just a few days, there are massive supply chain, retailer, inventory, and revenue disruptions.” For a manufacturing operation like Fairlife’s, getting back online isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. Shane Barney, chief information security officer at Keeper Security, explained the added complexity to Inc. “Production systems depend on specialized hardware and software that wasn’t built for today’s threat landscape,” he noted. Resuming operations safely means validating process integrity, not just IT systems.”

A ransomware attack has curdled Coca-Cola’s dairy operations. In a disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week, the multinational giant said its Fairlife dairy company was hit by a ransomware attack, affecting its production systems and temporarily suspending Fairlife’s operations across the U.S.. The beverage company confirmed that the attack hit its Fairlife dairy subsidiary, forcing the beverage giant to shut down U.S. production operations for the foreseeable future. Since acquiring full ownership of Fairlife in 2020, Coca-Cola has seen substantial revenue gains from the brand. CEO James Quincey noted that Fairlife’s retail value grew from just $10 million in 2014 to nearly $4 billion last year. That growth is part of what makes it such an appealing target for hackers. “Food and beverage manufacturers are becoming some of the more attractive ransomware targets because they sit at the intersection of critical infrastructure and downstream impact,” Gabrielle Hempel, the division chief of cybersecurity education and awareness at the United States Coast.

samhexum Posted July 10 We Asked 3 Dietitians What You Should Never Order at McDonald’s–They All Said the Same Thing anything? https://www.aol.com/articles/asked-3-dietitians-never-order-140000000.html

Heartstopper Forever NETFLIX MOVIE PREMIERE In this full-length film that serves as a series finale, it's a new school year for the Truham-Higgs gang — and as Nick and Charlie's relationship deepens, their thoughts turn to life after the last bell rings.

I've always had multiple shopping carts-for shopping, laundry, garbage. As they have worn out, I've had to replace them. Last year, I ordered a large one and had it sent to my sister's house so my brother-in-law could put it together for me. It was too big and unwieldy and twice when I had it loaded up, it tipped over and I fell on top of it. A week after the second time that happened one of the wheels fell off, and I had to throw it away. I ordered one and had it sent to my house months ago; it's useful, but too small. The last decent full size one I had died a few weeks ago so, like a modern day Goldilocks, I ordered another one from Walmart that would be neither too big nor too small. It arrived July 7, and I shocked myself by actually starting to put it together about 2AM, so less than six months after I actually got the thing (which is my usual normal). Anyhoo... without further ado... I was sitting on the floor starting to assemble things, and I thought I was missing a washer, but it turned out I was sitting on it. however, I only had one cotter pin, which hold the back wheels on, so you need two. I called Walmart at close to 3 AM, got past the AI assistant, and spoke to the usual person with a very heavy Indian accent. I explained the situation and said I'm disabled and it's difficult for me to get around so I don't want to return it, but could they just send me the missing piece? He put me on hold for about a minute while he looked into the matter then came back on the line and said I've initiated a full refund of $63.14 to you because the item was damaged with missing parts. You can just throw it away. I knew that I had some spare parts that came with the big one and the small one, but I thought I had used all of the cotter pins trying to repair the last full sized cart that I had a couple of times before it died. You'll never guess what I found! TWO cotter pins! Anyhoo again... After all that (and not really having been in the mood to assemble the thing anyway) I put my free cart aside (meaning shoved it off to a different part of the floor) and will do it at some point over the (or some) weekend. Then I got the email asking me to rate my call with the rep but never got the email saying we've initiated a refund so I called back at 4 AM and got another rep who checked and said that while the first rep thought he had initiated the refund he hadn't, but the second one did and I've gotten the email saying that the refund is in the works.

he HATES his wife's best friend:

Next time you're desperately searching for payphone, come to the Stop & Shop at 74 –17 Grand Ave. in Maspeth, New York, since there is now one outside the store. I asked two employees when they installed it; neither one even knew it was there.

More than 40 years ago, a then-unknown Whoopi Goldberg premiered her one-woman show that would move to Broadway later in the year. The trailblazing self-titled show is coming back to New York, in a new Off-Broadway revival titled, “The Whoopi Monologues.” The show – reimagined for a new generation – is led by an ensemble of five actresses bringing Goldberg’s unforgettable characters back to life on stage. One of the stars of the production, actress and producer Kerry Washington, joins Morning Joe, along with the show's Tony-nominated director Whitney White, to discuss the new production. https://apple.news/AEliY1EH1S26_JS9iGaTO6g

Netflix's Vegas-set drama "The Roman," starring Oscar Isaac and executive-produced by Martin Scorsese, has added Vincent D'Onofrio, Kate Mara, Clancy Brown, Thomas Sadoski, and Jason Schwartzman to its cast, Variety reports.

Rose Landry continues to have an interesting love life: Sophie Nélisse ("Yellowjackets," "Heated Rivalry") will play Lucy in Netflix's forthcoming adaptation of Carley Fortune's "This Summer Will Be Different." The 10-episode series is described as "a simmering, sun-soaked romance set across multiple summers on Prince Edward Island" where a young woman navigates her twenties and "her first real love with her best friend's brother, the one person she was never supposed to fall for."

Tiny elevators in walk-ups. Formal recognition for tenant unions. A rethink of credit checks and the widely used requirement that apartment seekers earn 40 times the monthly rent. Those are among 23 proposals in a new roadmap released Thursday by the Mamdani administration, aimed at changing how New York City renters find apartments, report unsafe conditions, and confront landlords who fail to make repairs. The 67-page “Rental Ripoff Recap” grew out of five boroughwide hearings Mayor Zohran Mamdani held between February and April that drew 2,419 participants, according to officials who conducted 852 one-on-one listening sessions and received 882 pieces of digital testimony. https://www.amny.com/news/mamdani-23-proposals-reshape-renting-nyc/

Jeff Stryker and I will not be elderly until AT LEAST 8/22/27, the day after we turn 65.