In the coming years, HBO wants its new Harry Potter series to become “the streaming event of the decade” as it adapts each of the franchise’s seven original books. The show could very well become a hit that captures the imaginations of a new generation of fans who weren’t there for the first wave of Pottermania that intensified with the releases of each book and Warner Bros.’ subsequent film adaptations. And if this Harry Potter is a success, it could give author J.K. Rowling a reason to consider writing more stories set in the magical world that turned her into a billionaire.

But all of that hinges on whether people will actually watch HBO’s Harry Potter, which is being executive produced by Rowling. In some cases, a franchise’s creator being so closely involved with new versions of their work can be a good thing, but Rowling’s involvement in this show casts a shadow over it that HBO can do very little to counteract. Rowling has made it abundantly clear that she thinks attacking transgender people via the legal system is a worthwhile cause and a good use of her vast personal fortune. And as much as Harry Potter fans might be excited to see what HBO has cooked up, there’s no way to watch this show without supporting Rowling’s bigotry and the structural violence she’s inflicting on a vulnerable minority.

Just a few years ago, most paywalled newspapers let you read a certain number of articles for free every month. So like, you would be granted 5 free articles every month and once you ran out then you’d be paywalled. Nowadays I can’t click on a New York Times or Forbes or Washington Post article without IMMEDIATELY being told I need to pay for a subscription.

I knew it’s been bad for a while but I was so angry the other day because I was trying to give a conservative family member links to reputable articles about how many Americans needlessly suffer and die due to the US healthcare insurance system. And I had to keep digging because SO MANY ARTICLES were paywalled right off the bat.

ezt vastag paywall védi de

Orbán Used Over a Billion Euros Provided by the European Union to Finance Government Media – Bloomberg

Kyiv • UNN

April 28 2025, 04:51 PM • 4510 views

Viktor Orban is accused of funding pro-government media with EU funds, which could lead to a new conflict with the European Union. He allegedly violated competition rules by providing subsidies to government-affiliated media.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has faced a potential new conflict with the European Union over allegations that he funded pro-government media in the country with more than €1 billion in EU state support. This was reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.

Details

The complaint, which is to be filed with the EU executive, alleges that Orban has violated European Union competition rules by subsidizing "government-affiliated media in a way that distorts competition and affects trade" between EU member states.

The complaint by Magyar Hang newspaper and another complainant alleges that between 2015 and 2023, Orban authorized the allocation of €828 million in state support to media organizations, which, according to documents, amounts to more than €1 billion including interest.

The lawsuit alleges that this support was provided through advertising deals with news organizations that helped fund pro-Orban media while suppressing independent opposition media. The Financial Times was the first to report this.

This case could increase tensions between the EU and the Hungarian Prime Minister. Since returning to power in 2010, Orban has repeatedly faced allegations of bribery and erosion of the rule of law, which has forced Brussels to suspend financial support to his country.

Situation in Hungary

The complaint comes as the Prime Minister faces a growing threat to his rule from the upstart party of former official Peter Magyar, which is leading in public opinion polls ahead of parliamentary elections next year.

Magyar has called for an end to more than a decade of dominance by state media and dozens of other media outlets controlled by the ruling elite, when opposition politicians are effectively silenced. This has been the subject of criticism from international election observers for skewing the election process in favor of Orban in several votes.

Hungary ranks last in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index among EU member states. It is also recognized as one of the worst in the bloc for press freedom in the latest Reporters Without Borders report.

These allegations are not new. In a previous appeal in 2021, a contingent of journalistic associations claimed that the Hungarian government had violated EU state aid rules by "supporting pro-government media and depriving independent media of much-needed revenue."

While EU antitrust authorities regularly review national media subsidies, they rarely raise serious concerns. Under EU rules, the Brussels-based executive has the power to require a Member State to recover allegedly illegal aid or prohibit the distribution of subsidies if they have not yet been paid.

Addition

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that US President Donald Trump often calls him and asks when Hungary will leave the EU. He also added that if the EU in 2004 was like it is now, Hungary would not have applied.

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From the sidewalks of Oakland to the halls of the White House, Kamala Harris’ story is the stuff dreams are made of…the American Dream. Because where else could the daughter of immigrants rise to the highest office in the land, shattering glass ceilings all along the way? Only in America.

Of course, she had plenty of examples to show her what was possible. Coming to America from India at only 19-years-old, her mother became a celebrated biologist. Her father had come from Jamaica, studied at UC Berkeley and became a renowned economist and professor at Stanford. So, they raised her not only to see what is and what has been, but to imagine what is possible — not who we are, but who we can be.

It worked because she thrived on that possibility. It took her to Vanier College in Montreal, Howard University and the University of California College of Law, San Francisco. It drove her to organize for justice. It helped her prosecute murderers and rapists as the District Attorney’s chief of the Career Criminal Division and eventually become San Francisco’s district attorney herself, then attorney general, U.S. senator and vice president.

It gave her the moral clarity to fight the big banks who paid for their own misdeeds by foreclosing on working families. It gave her the strength to fight for students and veterans who were taken advantage of by a for-profit education company and it gave her the tools to win bringing rent relief and badly needed resources to low-income communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, to deliver student debt relief to countless American, to help create millions of new jobs and more.

Now, because it’s her time and her turn, she is zooming through and into history and nobody deserves it more. Yes, we recognize that politics is a contact sport and we know that the attacks will come. In fact, some are coming already.

But we also recognize that a lot of the folks wearing different jerseys than we are keep running the same old plays of racism, bigotry, misogyny, ignorance and hate. From birtherism 2.0 and dismissing the vice president as a DEI hire, to claiming she “became Black” and purposefully mispronouncing her name, it’s clear that the closer we get to history, the louder and sicker they become.

That’s OK. She can take it because the contrast is easy to see.

It’s not just about the prosecutor vs. the felon or even the undeniable truth vs. rapid fire lies. It’s about progress vs extremism. It’s about who we can be.

Think about the landmark legislation Vice President Harris helped marshal through Congress and into law. Think about all the executive orders to raise wages, fight climate change, protect reproductive freedom and more that she helped make reality. Now compare that to the four years of deprivation and degradation we saw under Donald J. Trump. 

Of course, elections are about the future forecast. So, compare former President Donald Trump’s all but official endorsement of the plans laid out in Project 2025 to President Harris signing a real bipartisan border security bill into law, protecting a woman’s right to control her own body and make her own health care decisions, extending the child tax credit that cut child poverty in half, building on the more than 15 million jobs she already helped create. 

Compare Trump’s plan to declare martial law to President Harris strengthening the middle class, growing small businesses, expanding health care, keeping medical debt off your credit report and making sure no one raises taxes on Americans who make less than $400,000 per year.

While Harris knows that affordable internet is a must not a plus for all Americans, the MAGA Republicans refuse to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program. And while they’re screaming about imagined crises, we’re talking about raising wages, closing the wealth gap, lowering the cost of childcare and making sure getting sick doesn’t mean going broke.

That’s just a hint of the differences.

Simply put, Vice President Harris is a once-in-a-generation candidate who has generated more power and energy for this country than Duke Power. It’s been less than a month since she announced her campaign for president and she’s already unifying the Democratic base, expanding our coalition, stretching the map and forcing the Republicans to short circuit.

In less than two weeks, Vice President Harris has recruited nearly 200,000 volunteers, sparked nationwide grassroots organization, secured the Democratic nomination and raised $310 million, which is twice as much as Trump raised through all of July. 

From campaign calls to rallies to local volunteers knocking on doors on a Saturday morning, folks are getting tuned in all across this nation like we’ve never seen before. It’s unprecedented. It’s historic.

Vice President Kamala Harris is a once-in-a-generation candidate and this is a once-in-a-generation moment for America. The choice is clear. Will we choose truth or lies? Will we choose hope or hate? Will we choose the future or be doomed to repeat the past?

Well, like the vice president says, we are not going back.