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Was Greg Brockman the right executive all along?

The report, which spans several discrete cybersecurity compromises, is the most complete accounting of the incident to date.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the preeminent leader of the nation’s anti-vax movement, is suddenly blaming the Covid-19 lockdowns for the current surge in measles-related deaths.

Two unvaccinated people died from measles in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, this month, spurring calls for Kennedy’s resignation. So far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 2,777 measles cases, far exceeding the tally for 2025 by hundreds of cases.

Yet despite having made a career out of pushing anti-vax falsehoods, Kennedy dodged any responsibility for the recent uptick, telling reporters at a conference on school nutrition Wednesday that the blame should be directed at the regional lockdowns that took place during Donald Trump’s first term in 2020. Kennedy suggested that lapses in vaccination records six years ago had deleterious effects on America’s current measles immunization rates.

“This is a worldwide epidemic, and it’s happening because of the lockdowns, because many kids did not get vaccinated during the lockdowns,” Kennedy said.

Sec. Kennedy on measles deaths in Pennsylvania: “We're doing a better job than any country in the world at controlling the measles outbreak. This is a worldwide epidemic, and it's happening because of the lockdowns, because many kids did not get vaccinated during the lockdowns.” pic.twitter.com/mU5Tk1Ta2K

— BulwarkClips (@BulwarkClips) August 26, 2026

Yet publicly available data published by the agencies Kennedy oversees proves him wrong. While it’s difficult to know exactly what percentage of the American population is actively inoculated against measles, the vaccination rates of children—who are most likely to contract the illness—are recorded by federal agencies.

According to CDC data, vaccination coverage for U.S. kindergartners fell by nearly three percentage points—from 95.2 percent to 92.4 percent—between the 2019–2020 school year and the 2025–2026 school year. The dip is more significant than it seems at face value: The lowered figures place the age groups below the threshold for herd immunity (95 percent), which would protect even unvaccinated members of a community.

Measles does not have a cure. The disease can cause a blotchy rash, pink eye, a high fever, white spots inside the mouth, full body aches, pneumonia, and severe dehydration. It can result in hospitalization or even death.

Fortunately, however, it is highly preventable thanks to a vaccine that was developed by a couple of American scientists in 1963. Less than a decade later in 1971, researchers created yet another vaccine capable of preventing measles as well as two other contagious illnesses—mumps and rubella—due to miraculous developments in modern medicine. The joint shot was named the MMR vaccine, an acronym for “measles, mumps, and rubella.” Kennedy has railed against the three-in-one shot, baselessly claiming that it was not “safely tested.”

The vaccine that Kennedy so loathes was so effective that measles was declared eradicated from the U.S. in 2000, a status determined by the lack of continuous transmission of the disease over a period of 12 months or more. That designation could be lost in November, when the U.S. is scheduled to undergo another review.

America’s diminishing herd immunity is due to a growing movement of anti-vax parents—whom Kennedy champions at the federal level—who refuse to provide their children with the same public health advantages that they received in their youth, mostly in fear of thoroughly debunked conspiracy theories that, at one point, linked autism to the jab.

During the deadly measles outbreak in Texas last year, Kennedy advised that state residents take extra vitamins rather than receive the vaccine, and justified a local religious community’s decision not to receive the vaccine by claiming that the measles vaccine contains “aborted fetus debris” as well as “DNA particles.” Fact check: It does not.

But the 72-year-old has a lot to gain from pushing disinformation about the jab: The more doubt and division that Kennedy sows, the more money he’ll make. Ahead of his appointment, Kennedy disclosed that he made roughly $10 million in 2024 from speaking fees and dividends from his anti-vaccine lawsuits. He’s also made cash from merchandising handled by his nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, which bungled anti-vaxx messaging in Samoa so badly that it started a 2019 measles outbreak that resulted in the deaths of at least 83 people, the majority of whom were children under the age of five.

“No one needs to die from measles in 2026,” Republican Senator Bill Cassidy—a medical doctor who still voted to confirm Kennedy to lead HHS—wrote on X Wednesday. “Misinformation and misguided policies are leaving children unprotected against a disease we know how to prevent. The vaccine is safe and effective. Parents should talk to their doctor about protecting their children from this disease.”

As a reminder: Since their invention, vaccines have proven to be one of the greatest accomplishments of modern medicine. The medical shots are so effective at preventing illness that they have effectively eradicated some of the worst diseases from our collective culture, from rabies to polio and smallpox—a fact that has possibly fooled some into believing that the viruses and their complications aren’t a significant threat to the average, health-conscious individual.

The US government disclosed that crims targeted more than 100 internet-exposed water systems during July cyberattacks. That's the first time the feds have put a number on the digital intrusions, but they have yet to attribute the campaign, widely suspected to be linked to Iran, to a particular group. “In July 2026, CISA observed malicious cyber activity targeting over 100 internet-exposed systems in the Water and Wastewater Systems (WWS) Sector, commonly via programmable logic controllers (PLCs) connected directly to a cellular modem,” America’s lead cyber-defense agency said, adding that connecting PLCs directly to the internet “can create significant security risks.” Suspected Iranian attackers targeted water and wastewater facilities across at least a dozen states in July, including internet-exposed PLCs. While neither federal nor state officials have identified all 12, we know that the cyberattacks occurred at mostly small, rural utilities in Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia, South Dakota, and New Jersey. “This is very serious. What stands out isn't any single incident. It's the scale,” Matt Hartman, chief strategy officer at the Merlin Group and CISA’s former acting head of cyber, told The Register. “More than 100 water systems with internet-exposed assets were hit in a single month, which points to a systemic vulnerability across the sector, not a run of isolated, unlucky targets,” Hartman said. “Much of this infrastructure runs on operational technology that was built for closed, physical environments. It was never designed with the assumption that it would be reachable from the open internet.” John Gallagher, VP at Viakoo, an OT and IoT cybersecurity provider, told us that while 100 systems represent a small fraction - only about 0.5 percent - of water utilities in the US, the “real threat is that these are test runs for a larger-scale attack.” While the 100-plus water incidents occurred in July, just last week five US federal agencies warned that attackers are using AI-generated exploitation scripts to break into internet-exposed Siemens S7 Series PLCs at water, manufacturing, energy, and other critical facilities. “This appears to be a continuation of the same suite of activity we suspect is affiliated with Iran targeting PLCs,” Halcyon Ransomware Research Center SVP Cynthia Kaiser told The Register a week ago. “Iran-affiliated actors and adversaries are actively targeting a wide swath of operational technology because these PLCs underpin essential health, safety, and critical infrastructure across society,” Kaiser, a former FBI cyber division deputy assistant director, added. While third-party analysts have largely blamed Iran for the intrusions, the federal government has not attributed the attacks to anyone. “Attribution in cyber incidents is inherently difficult and often takes time. Adversaries deliberately obscure their infrastructure, reuse tools and techniques, and route activity through compromised systems, so the government needs to be diligent before publicly assigning responsibility,” Hartman said. “In this case, CISA has done the most important thing: quickly getting actionable information into the hands of water-sector operators so they can defend their systems,” he added. “From a defender’s perspective, the ‘who’ matters less in the immediate term than understanding how the attacks are occurring and taking steps to stop them.” In its advisory, CISA recommended organizations disconnect PLCs from the internet and ensure any remote access goes through a VPN or gateway device rather than connecting directly to the PLC. The cyber-defense agency also advised owner-operators to enable password protection (we suggest multi-factor authentication) and change any default passwords. Also: ensure that allowlist IPs only allow remote access from known engineering laptops or other critical OT assets.®

In a move that is sure to make conservatives apoplectic, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has said what much of America is thinking: One day, we’re gonna blow up that atrocious White House ballroom. And he wants to keep a souvenir. “In about 10 to 15 years, we are all going to be sitting here with smiles on our faces,” he said Tuesday. “And I’m going to have a paper weight…

Source

President Trump’s renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is continuing to fail. 

Freelance photographer Joe Flood posted a video Wednesday of workers dealing with large chunks of sealant peeling off the dry concrete at the bottom of the pool, which was full of water before Trump turned his attention to it. 

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the pool was vandalized, with the Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office filing charges in July against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn for allegedly ripping a large gash from the pool’s blue paint and lining. Those charges were baseless, as the pool’s paint was peeling off due to the application of hydrogen peroxide to kill algae. The U.S. Attorney’s Office was forced to drop the case against Hearn and all other so-called “vandals.”

The state of the pool Wednesday would seem to confirm that Trump was wrong all along, although he has yet to admit it. Last week, court filings revealed that the Trump administration knew the pool’s paint was peeling almost a month before bringing charges against Hearn and other defendants.

Trump gave the renovation project to a business owned by a longtime Republican donor, curiously named  Greenwater Services, through a no-bid process. The Justice Department has admitted that the damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by Greenwater’s “flawed” installation of the pool lining, not vandals, and it doesn’t appear to be over yet. 

Not only is the pool still in an awful state, but Trump could face legal action from Hearn over the false claims his administration made against him, and Democrats in Congress want to investigate why the administration pushed the made-up charges. This long, drawn-out, failed project that wasn’t even necessary in the first place is emblematic of Trump’s presidency. 

Nearly half of the states in the U.S. have filed a lawsuit to stop the United States Postal Service from imposing new restrictions on mail-in voting ahead of the midterms in November.

The 55-page complaint, filed by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Washington D.C., and 23 blue states, comes two days after the Supreme Court halted an injunction on President Trump’s executive order requiring changes to mail ballots.

Under the new U.S. Postal Service rules, states must submit mail-in voters’ information into a USPS portal, and meet strict requirements for their ballot envelope designs.

“We’re suing to block USPS’s rule restricting mail-in voting. This rule is an unlawful overreach that shows just how far President Trump will go to control elections—and we won’t stand for it,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday. “Your vote is your voice. We’re asking the court to ensure every person has the right to make theirs heard.”

“One need not look further than the White House to explain USPS’s unprecedented and unlawful conduct. President Trump has long opposed mail voting, expressing that it would ‘LEAD TO THE END OF OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY,’” the lawsuit read. “Since reassuming office, the President has aimed to—in his words— ‘get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS.’”

“I’m suing to block the Trump administration’s new rule that allows the USPS to intercept and reject lawful ballots, threatening millions of Americans’ right to vote,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “With the midterms less than three months away, this will create confusion and unacceptable risks for voters.”

This policy is voter suppression masquerading as fraud control, led by a president who can’t accept the will of the electorate. The Trump administration sees it as a major win.

“Radical Democrats continue to oppose commonsense measures that protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans are electing American leaders,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said. “The Trump Administration will continue to lawfully enact the agenda President Trump was elected on—which includes the safety and security of our elections.”

Was she a saint? A goddess? An angel with a hairspray halo? Dolly Parton knew how people saw her, and embraced her role as pop culture fairy godmother. She had her wings onscreen at least, having worn them in no fewer than three roles over the years (two of them Christmas movies, naturally). When “What Would Dolly Do?” became a cliché, Parton used it for the name of a podcast. Divine or not, she never turned down a good branding opportunity.

Those who ascribe to Dolly Parton a supernatural strength got a sad reminder that she was all too human when she died at age 80 earlier this week. Especially in recent years, celebrity deaths tend to prompt a public rehashing of their work, personal life and any unsavory offenses. Not so with Parton; no caveats, no complications, no questions. Just adoration and sadness, much more often citing her philanthropic work and various good deeds than anything about her career as an artist and entertainer. Below the grief there’s a sense of losing something endangered, the idea that while we’ve got a fair number of great musicians, paragons of virtue and kindness feel harder and harder to come by.

The road to Saint Dolly, though, was a longer one than it might feel given how overwhelming Dolly-mania has been, especially over the past decade or two. Before that, especially during the period of her greatest artistic and commercial success, she was patronized and mocked—known better as a punchline than as the virtuoso she’s been all along. She owned the boob jokes from the beginning—who knows, maybe she even started them—but either way they were relentless, from all corners. She handled them and all the other patronizing comments and questions about her background and looks with grace and good humor, offering gentle retorts that would, decades later, become memes. If we like and share them enough maybe we can prove we’ve been Team Dolly from the start, pure and true rather than snarky and superficial. After all, Dolly was the same all along, from the apocryphal day she stepped off a Greyhound bus in Nashville to the very end. The rest of us just finally caught up.

Dolly was the same all along, from the apocryphal day she stepped off a Greyhound bus in Nashville to the very end. The rest of us just finally caught up.

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” It’s one of Parton’s most famous quotes, one recycled into something pat—but there’s no question that she lived that mantra. Her steadiness, certainty and self-assurance made all those around her, the would-be detractors and skeptics, seem weak and small. Everything she did was a choice: the devotion to music and songwriting, the country wit of her public persona, and of course, the style she cribbed, according to her, from a local sex worker. “When people would say, ‘She ain’t nothing but trash,’ I would always say, ‘Well, that’s what I’m gonna be when I grow up,’” Parton told The Guardian in 2023.

That last choice proved to be a mirror for American pop culture, one that reflected nothing good. By the late 1970s, Parton had more or less conquered Nashville on her own terms—including the sexy ones (“It does things to people,” read a 1965 ad for her second single, next to a picture of a sultry young Parton). She’d escaped the long shadow of Porter Wagoner, whose variety show served as her jumping off point—even then, women needed duets with men to get their start on the country charts—and gotten a string of country No. 1 hits that included the iconic “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” (she later distanced herself from the claim that they were written in the same day, a trivia tidbit beloved by those posting Dollybait). When she sought to raise her star higher with a pointed pop crossover, she almost instantly succeeded with “Here You Come Again,” which reached No. 3 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 chart (a feat Parton would never match). Yet in the press, her looks were the beginning and end of the story; her music, talent and general beneficence landed somewhere in the middle.

To some degree, the fixation was to be expected. This was Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975)–era Nashville, and Parton supersized all the clichés about gaudy country glam. Still, it was the start of another perennial Dolly conundrum: the way people have projected their hopes, dreams and insecurities onto her. “A certain amount of fantasizing is impossible to avoid,” wrote Chet Flippo in the lede of a 1977 Rolling Stone profile of the singer, one of her biggest national media portraits to that point. He went on to describe imagining swimming naked with her in a river, spilling a few hundred words about his horniness before getting to anything about her career or art (the way she inspired “quasi-religious experiences” and “cleansings of the soul” did wind up making the story, though). She could flaunt her virtuosity on Johnny Carson but not until after he offered up some random innuendo; Barbara Walters, in an interview that is perennially, posthumously, getting dunked on online, asked her if she’d had such big boobs when she was “11, 12, 13.”

But she never wavered. The wigs stayed high, the rhinestones remained abundant, the backwoods Barbie attitude unequivocal. “I’ll save you the trouble of askin’,” Dolly Parton said in a 1978 interview with Playboy. “Why do I choose to look so outrageous?” (Yes, she posed in the classic bunny garb with all the critical bits covered; she also made good on a promise from that interview and reprised the look at 75). The answer, again, came back to that same hard-fought agency: “I have to look the way I choose to look, and this is what I’ve chose.”

She never wavered. The wigs stayed high, the rhinestones remained abundant, the backwoods Barbie attitude unequivocal.

Following that first peak of national visibility in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, however, Parton did slightly recede into her fanbase—mostly the Venn diagram of women and the LGBTQ community—with both musical pop crossover and the releases of 9 to 5 and The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. A series of health issues forced her offstage for extended periods; her releases and the opening of Dollywood in 1986 were then framed as “comebacks” rather than the latest moments in the reign of an untouchable pop icon. They were covered mostly by women’s magazines, whose focus remained on her body via how much weight she had or hadn’t lost rather than how much the author wanted to touch it. Parton still responded with typical self-deprecation and candor, even sharing that she had been so deep in depression during her convalescence that she had contemplated suicide. “I got close once,” she told Ladies Home Journal in 1986. “I put the gun down. Then I prayed.”

The Dolly of the late ‘80s and ‘90s was a little quieter; perhaps, in her ever-abundant self awareness, Parton realized how little use American pop culture has historically had for women between the ages of 30 and 60 (Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, as they approach middle age, are both currently pushing against this grain). She was never a massive film star and no longer a fixture of country radio but she kept doing Dolly things, expanding her empire, embracing camp, launching the Imagination Library—her best-known philanthropic effort, sending free books to children under 5 to encourage the literacy her father never had—and most critically, writing and releasing music even through stretches of dormancy, never waiting for the tide to turn but, maybe, trusting that it would.

It ultimately did, right around her 60th birthday—the age when women either get forgotten completely or become beloved mascots (her fellow mononymous country star Reba has had a similar, albeit even more social media-driven late-era renaissance). She got back to touring arenas and amphitheatres, and composed a Broadway musical version of 9 to 5. Somewhere along the way, the boob jokes got a lot less funny while Dolly kept being Dolly; by the time she headlined Glastonbury in 2014, it seemed the consensus had come back around in her favor — even if it was one based more on her image, five biggest hits, and country-fried witticisms than remarkable musical talent and prolific output. She embraced the streamlining of her persona, the glitter and pink and blonde, always giving people what they came for.

Considering how much she gave, it is shocking how much she also kept to herself. Her marriage, chiefly, and other aspects of her personal life (whether or not her entire body is covered in tattoos has been subject of considerable debate). She was candid about putting on the costume of Dolly Parton, about the world knowing the one version of her that she was OK with sharing and only her intimates knowing all the rest. It is hard to fathom that with all she was for her fans and popular culture as a whole, there was still so much that she intentionally left a mystery—a mystique that only made her seem more superhuman. She left space for people to make her whatever they needed her to be, and they certainly used her that way up until the end. Two of the biggest recent Dolly books, Sarah Smarsh’s She Come By It Natural and Lynn Melnick’s I’ve Had to Think Up a Way to Survive—are as much about what her fans got from witnessing her as the icon herself.

That projection is how we get over-the-top conceits like Dolly Parton’s America, and the idea that she’s our last “great unifier” or some kind of supernatural presence right here on earth—almost overcompensating for all those years of snide comments. “It took me probably years longer to be taken serious, but I wasn’t willing to change,” Parton said. She tried to diffuse some of the reverence—“There ain’t nobody that good. I’m not all that… I’m not even all there,” she said in the same interview—but it only grew, and probably will grow faster now that she’s gone.

The fact is, her only superpower (besides the ability to pick a banjo with acrylic nails) was her sheer humanity, her insistence over and over that she and the rest of us were the same. “The biggest freaks in the world for me are my favorite people, like you, like me,” she told Andy Warhol and Maura Moynihan in Interview magazine in 1984. She rejected Dolly exceptionalism and we should try to as well, as tempting as it might be—instead, may we all find our own larger-than-life characters, our biggest, brightest, most generous selves in her honor.

Flipboard is acquiring Bluesky feed-building startup Graze, bringing its privacy-friendly ad technology and creator monetization tools into Flipboard’s growing open social web ecosystem.

GitHub Actions stumbled again on Wednesday, days after the code host renewed its promises to improve reliability. Wednesday’s problem, as has so often been the case, hit Actions, GitHub’s CI/CD platform for automating software builds, tests, and deployments. According to the incident report GitHub put out for the disruption, things started going south at 1511 UTC. The source code host identified an issue with a database primary and failed over to a replica, but said the move "did not fully mitigate" the degradation. GitHub then throttled inbound traffic while investigating upstream Vitess issues before gradually restoring traffic. By 1800 UTC, it said Actions was operating as expected and inbound queues had recovered. The latest disruption isn’t particularly reassuring given that GitHub claimed last week that it’s now serving double the commits it was dealing with in April, which wasn’t exactly a good month for GitHub either. No month this year has been great at the ‘Hub, really. The history archive on GitHub’s status website indicates there were 26 issues with the platform in April. There were 23 in May and June, 26 in July, and there’ve been 23 so far in August with just under a week left to go. Whether this month can top March, with 32 incidents, or February’s 37, remains to be seen. There were 25 in January, too, meaning GitHub has suffered at least 23 reliability issues every month this year. GitHub Actions is arguably a central part of the platform for many developers using CI/CD workflows and other forms of automation, and it has been among the services hardest hit by GitHub’s ongoing reliability problems. As everyone who uses a software-as-a-service product knows, uptime is a key element in measuring reliability, and Actions isn’t exactly at triple nines right now - as of Wednesday, GitHub’s uptime page for Actions shows it at just 98.13 percent for August - nearly in danger of slipping into 97 percent reliability territory. That’s a bad place to be when you’re supposedly dealing with 2.9 billion commits, 24 million new repos, and 130 million merged pull requests a month, as GitHub claims it is. While GitHub’s issues this year have been many and frequently reported on here at The Register, August has been a particularly bad month for the operation. August 17 saw GitHub suffer from a nearly eight-hour outage that hit multiple services, with Issues, Pull Requests, APIs, Actions, and Copilot all producing elevated errors and hamstringing customers’ ability to do work. GitHub has pointed the finger at AI for many of its issues, blaming bots and agents for skyrocketing usage it hasn’t been able to cope with. The same went for that August 17 outage, with GitHub CTO Vladimir Fedorov issuing a mea culpa for the incident, saying that his operation had let users down and promising, just like he did back in April when GitHub admitted it was having issues, to scale enough to support its growing user base, human or otherwise. “We'll earn your trust through the scaling and reliability of the platform,” Fedorov wrote in last week's postmortem of the August 17 outage. Six days after he promised to fix things, here we are with reliability slipping and the issue count growing. GitHub didn’t respond to questions for this story. ®

The company won't say if medical devices are affected or if any customer data was exfiltrated.

⚡ Quick Take

• Superman flies back to theaters in summer 2027, with enemy turned ally Lex Luthor. Here’s everything we know so far about Man of Tomorrow.
• Man of Tomorrow wrapped filming in late August 2026.
• The film will take place two years after the events of Superman.

James Gunn’s Superman became the fan-favorite superhero movie of 2025, officially launching the new DCU on the big screen. And in 2027, we’ll get our first continuation, which DC Studios has called the next chapter in the “Super Family Saga.”

And, as of August 2026, Man of Tomorrow is done filming. Gunn shared the news with fans on Threads along with a couple of photos, which you can see here.

Although we at Nerdist thought Supergirl was a perfectly fine movie, it is widely perceived as a fumble for the DCU. But when asked “about any revision to DC’s strategy in the wake of Supergirl,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav rejected the notion. He offered, “Director and DC co-chief James Gunn is focused on Man of Tomorrow… I saw some pictures yesterday that looked amazing. Actually, yesterday was James’s birthday, and he’s out working. He’s working 16, 18 hours a day. It looks fantastic. We’re super excited about it.” 

Here is everything we know so far about the much-anticipated return of the Last Son of Krypton to the big screen in Man of Tomorrow.

Title DC Studios

The official title of the Superman follow-up is Man of Tomorrow, and not Superman: Man of Tomorrow, as many have speculated. According to James Gunn, Man of Tomorrow is “as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman movie.”

DC Studios Man of Tomorrow’s Plot

The plot of this sequel will have Superman and his arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor, team up to take down a greater threat, which we know will be the despotic alien android, Brainiac. Based on the teaser art released by Jim Lee to go with the title announcement, Lex Luthor will wear his comic book-accurate warsuit in the film.

James Gunn

Via Threads, James Gunn also gave us our first look at Lex in his Power Armor in the Superman movie, Man of Tomorrow. And damn, it looks good. He additionally let us know that Man of Tomorrow would take place in “basically real time” on the DCU timeline. Meaning Man of Tomorrow will be set approximately two years after Superman.

Nerdist Behind-the-Scenes

DC Studios co-head James Gunn is once again back as writer/director. John Murphy and David Fleming are expected to return to score the sequel as well.

Man of Tomorrow’s Cast DC Studios

Much of the cast of Superman will return for Man of Tomorrow. David Corenswet is back as Superman/Clark Kent, naturally, and Rachel Brosnahan also returns as Lois Lane. Nicholas Hoult will co-star as Lex Luthor, and Frank Grillo is also returning as Rick Flag Sr. Most of the Daily Planet staff are presumably also returning. This includes Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, and Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant. And as the evil Brainiac, Gunn has cast German actor Lars Eidinger.

Netflix/DC Comics

Isabel Merced has confirmed she is also flying back into Metropolis as Hawkgirl. There’s no official word on Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, or Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho. But we expect at least some of these Justice Gang members to return. Some storyboards seen in Superman special features suggest Supergirl (Milly Alcock) will also feature in this story in some capacity. Oh, and we think there will be riots if Krypto doesn’t come back as well.

According to Variety, Aaron Pierre will also join the cast of Man of Tomorrow. This news was ahead of his debut as John Stewart in the Lanterns TV series, which is garnering fandom praise. Adria Arjona has also been cast in the DCU for this movie. But we don’t yet know which role she is playing.

Finally, Matthew Lillard has come aboard the movie. He’s truly having a career Renaissance with Five Nights at Freddy’s, Scream 7, and Daredevil: Born Again. It is not clear who he will play.

Man of Tomorrow’s Release Date

The official release date for DC Studios’ Man of Tomorrow is July 9, 2027.

Originally published December 30, 2025.

Nerdist writes about movies, TV, games, comics, and all things nerdy for Nerdist.

The post MAN OF TOMORROW Superman Sequel Is Done Filming appeared first on Nerdist.

The Pacific Ocean appears to have cranked the thermostat—and misplaced the remote.

El Niño is officially underway, and NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says it could become “very strong” this fall. That’s what often earns an event the unofficial—and slightly dramatic—nickname “Super El Niño.”

El Niño happens when parts of the tropical Pacific warm above normal. That extra heat can shift the jet stream and influence weather around the world. In July, NOAA measured temperatures from approximately 2.2°F to 4.9°F above average across key areas of the Pacific.

Closer to home, a marine heatwave has raised water temperatures off the West Coast roughly 3°F to 4°F above normal. If you’re a Santa Cruz surfer, you may have already noticed—especially while overheating in your trusty 4/3 wetsuit.

A strong El Niño doesn’t guarantee that every storm will be severe, but it can increase the likelihood of a wetter, more active California winter. For Central Coast residents, that could mean heavy rain, saturated soil, falling trees, flooding, landslides and extended power outages.

Of course, storms aren’t the only threat to the grid. Wildfires can damage electrical infrastructure, while high fire danger may lead utilities to shut off power to help prevent new fires. Whether it’s a winter storm, wildfire or Public Safety Power Shutoff, losing power can quickly become more than an inconvenience.

A properly designed backup battery can keep essential circuits running, including refrigerators, lights, internet equipment, medical devices and well pumps. When paired with solar, batteries can recharge during the day and provide greater resilience through a prolonged outage.

Sandbar Solar & Electric is one of the Central Coast’s leading installers of solar, battery backup and advanced off-grid energy systems. Our experienced team can design a solution around your home’s actual needs—because resilience isn’t one-size-fits-all.

The best time to prepare is before the forecast turns red and everyone starts searching for flashlights. Contact Sandbar today to make sure your home is ready for whatever Mother Nature sends our way.

The post The Pacific is preheating. Is your home ready? appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

⚡ Quick Take

• The NFL and Disney gave each team its own Mouse House mascot.
• Some NFL teams picked very obvious Disney mascots. Others made nonsense choices. Very few did a good job.
• Nerdist’s Take: We let a Patriots fan review each team’s selection. He might have been a little biased.

The NFL and Disney have a lot in common. They’re both ubiquitous American institutions with a century of history and generations of fans, each is seemingly more popular than ever, and they also are overflowing with mascots they put on all sorts of merchandise. So it makes sense they decided to team-up with Fanatics for a pop culture crossover so they can sell you stuff. The two iconic brands let fans pick Disney characters to represent their favorite teams.

As a fan of both the NFL and Disney, I have some thoughts. Specifically, I have some thoughts as a fan of the New England Patriots. Does that make my analysis on these mascot choices biased? My editors and everyone else would say “yes,” but no. As you’ll see, six Super Bowl titles means I am best equipped to judge other teams with fairness and solemnity. [Editor’s Note: This was a huge mistake.]

NFC EAST Disney/NFL/Fanatics

Dallas Cowboys – Woody

You might think the Cowboys picked the rootinest, tootinest Disney-Pixar character because of his job as an Old West Sheriff, but no. That’s a coincidence. It’s actually because, as always, the organization wants you to associate them with something that was really popular and successful in the ’90s.

New York Giants – Wreck-It Ralph

As a Patriots fan, it’s hard for me to trash talk the Giants, so I won’t be pointing out how fitting it is they picked a mascot who looks like he hasn’t bathed in a year, probably can’t read at a fifth grade level, and definitely doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s been doing on the internet. I’m not going to say any of that.

Philadelphia Eagles – Doctor Doom

Eagles fans chose a green-and-silver clad villain every other character hates and always wants to crush, a big overly-sensitive baby with a ridiculous chip on his shoulder determined to prove he’s the best at everything while always knowing in his heart he never can be. Nailed it.

Washington Commanders – Hamm

In the ’80s, the Washington professional football team called its stellar offensive line “the hogs.” So four decades later it chose a pig named Hamm. You get it? Do you get it? You get it. Cause it’s boring, like Washington’s team history since all the hogs retired. Anyway, the Commanders have won four playoff games since 1996, which is even sadder when you remember Toy Story has had as many sequels since then.

NFC NORTH Disney/NFL/Fanatics

Chicago Bears – Baloo

You know what? I like the Bears. I like their fans, too. So I don’t have anything bad to say about them. I just think it’s strange they picked The Jungle Book‘s Baloo as their Disney mascot since he’s from India. If I rooted for the Chicago Bears, I would not want to be represented by a mascot that makes me think of India-na. Don’t worry, though, if your owner does move the Bears out of Illinois, I’m sure it’ll be fine and you won’t want to be eaten by a literal a bear every time you cross state lines to see your favorite team, Daaaaa Hammond Indiana Bears.

Detroit Lions – Simba

Awful pick. Makes no sense at all. Sure, Simba was a non-factor in the Pride Lands for almost as long as the Detroit Lions were a total non-factor in the NFL, but Mufasa’s son eventually earned his title and crown. The Lions can’t even make a Super Bowl.

Green Bay Packers – Chewbacca

“Loyal to the cause in the cold, snow, sleet, and rain. Whether it’s Hoth or Lambeau, Chewbacca stays until the job is done.” —official description for the Packers mascot

Quick followup: What the hell are you even talking about? This is less intelligible than Shyriiwook. If the Packers wanted to go Star Wars they should have picked Palpatine. He pretended he was a good guy before revealing himself to be pure evil, just like Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

Minnesota Vikings – Thor

The rare “obvious” pick in this draft that is honestly great, but not because Thor is a Viking. Unlike the Lions, the Vikings have made the Super Bowl. Four times! And they lost all four of them, so it’s perfect they’re represented by the fourth most important Avenger who also blew the big game against Thanos.

NFC SOUTH Disney/NFL/Fanatics

Atlanta Falcons – Millennium Falcon

There is nothing I could say* that would be funnier than the Atlanta Falcons picking the Millennium Falcon because “it has built a passionate and cross-generational following that sticks with it through every twist, turn, and unexpected journey.” Amazing work as always from this organization. This pick makes infinitely more sense when you remember that everyone who sees the Millennium Falcon immediately think it’s trash.

Carolina Panthers – Bagheera

Look, anytime you can pick the fourth most important character from The Jungle Book just because he’s a panther, you gotta do it. Or at least you have to when your organization passed on both C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. so it could take Bryce Young.

New Orleans Saints – Louis

Yup, this one fits. The jazz-loving alligator from the Bayou was a big part of the wonderful 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog and the 2009 New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. And, ever since then, the Saints have honored the trumpet-playing Louis by blowing playoff games.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Captain Hook

The Buccaneers picked a pirate and then tried to justify their shocking lack of creativity by saying Captain Hook is “expressive and unmistakable.” Considering their current starting quarterback Baker Mayfield finds something new to complain about every month they should have drafted Chicken Little.

NFC WEST Disney/NFL/Fanatics

Arizona Cardinals – Jafar and Iago

This makes complete sense. One loser isn’t enough to represent the Arizona Cardinals.

Los Angeles Rams – Sulley

The Rams, who have no fans, went against expectation and drafted a character everyone loves. Classic Sean McVay zag! I also assume that, like McVay, this means Sulley doesn’t know how to preserve his timeouts.

San Francisco 49ers – Stinky Pete the Prospector

This is the worst 49ers pick since Trey Lance. But hey, at least they didn’t have to trade a bunch of future first round picks for the rights to draft Stinky Pete.

Seattle Seahawks – Finding Nemo “Mine, Mine, Mine” Seagulls

The Seahawks just whopped my Patriots in the Super Bowl. It was a fraction as traumatizing as the Malcom Butler Game, but still, you know, it stung. This absurd Seahawks/Seagulls pick is the first time I don’t feel so badly about the loss.

Okay let’s take a quick video break before moving to the AFC.

AFC NORTH Disney/NFL/Fanatics

Baltimore Ravens – Diaval and Maleficent

Malificent is a thin-skinned narcissist famous for overreacting to a minor transgression who then lost despite being a heavy favorite with home field advantage. Fantastic pick. She truly represents both the Ravens and their fans.

Cincinnati Bengals – Shere Khan

A bengal for the Bengals? Oh wooooooooow. This pick is about as inspiring as the entire existence of Cincinnati’s football team. If they put Shere Khan in a walking boot he can also serve as Joe Burrow’s personal mascot.

Cleveland Browns – Pluto

Cleveland went with a dog to represent its “Dawg Pound,” but there’s no way Browns fans think this pick represents them or their team. Pluto is full of joy. What makes this even worse is that there was a perfect Disney mascot available, Billy Butcherson from Hocus Pocus. He was killed by the very thing he loved, spent years rotting from the inside out, and wanted nothing more than to crawl into a literal grave so he could finally get some peace.

Pittsburgh – Pete

The Steelers went with Goofy’s loud-mouthed, obnoxious frenemy, the big, dumb, wholly unlikable Pete. Wow. I’m genuinely impressed you yinzers are even capable of introspection.

AFC SOUTH Disney/NFL/Fanatics

Houston Texans – Jessie

Gotta think the Texans targeted Jessie because she’s the second most important cowpoke in Toy Story and always will be, just as Houston will always be the second most important NFL team in Texas. When expansion comes to either San Antonio or Austin, they’ll instantly get the rights to Jessie.

Indianapolis Colts – Horace Horsecollar

Jacksonville Jaguars – Pepita

Unlike other obvious mascot picks, I am a big fan of the Jaguar’s going with Coco‘s jaguar. Big fan. Jacksonville wasn’t going to do better than a mascot who is a harmless little cat in the real world where NFL games are played.

Tennessee Titans – Thanos

The NFL’s most boring team went with a Titan most famous for losing. No complaints.

AFC WEST Disney/NFL/Fanatics

Denver Broncos – Maximus

Solid. Tangled‘s Maximus is a horse who also looks like John Elway. [Editor’s Note: This is the best you got? Denver remains un-roastable.]

Kansas City Chiefs – Big Bad Wolf

I was going to make fun of this lame pick, but Patrick Mahomes complained to my editors until they made me change it.

Las Vegas Raiders – Darth Vader

“An iconic villain in black who also had a brief reign at the top before suffering a total organizational collapse and whose son then failed trying to rebuild an institution.” Since that is true of both Al Davis and Darth Vader, this is one of the best picks of the draft.

Los Angeles Chargers – Hercules and Pegasus

This is actually pretty inspired. I can’t believe I am saying this, but Chargers fans should actually feel good about what their te…oh no. Hercules just missed a Megara-winning field goal. She died in Hades. The Chargers Stink killed Meg.

AFC EAST Disney/NFL/Fanatics

Buffalo Bills – Beast

Yeah, absolutely. To win in the end, Beast needed both someone else to screw up and literal magic, which is what it will take for the Bills to ever claim a championship. Also, Drake Maye made a Super Bowl before Josh Allen. That has nothing to do with Disney, I just wanted to mention it.

Miami Dolphins – King Triton

Oh, yeah, yeah, this is fun because it’s ironic, like when you call a big guy “Tiny.” But if Dolphins fans are looking for something more sincere they should adopt Ursula’s poor unfortunate souls as their own symbol. Also, Drake Maye has already made as many Super Bowls as Dan Marino did in his entire career. That has nothing to do with Disney, I just wanted to mention it.

New York Jets – Buzz Lightyear

Real good. Buzz Lightyear thought he was a real Space Ranger until he realized he’s a joke. Every Jets fan eventually experiences something similar when they realize they don’t root for a real NFL team. Also, Drake Maye won as many playoff games last year as the Jets won in the regular season. That has nothing to do with Disney, I just wanted to mention it.

New England Patriots – Captain America

Captain America is a symbol of all that is good, yet enemies constantly try to besmirch his integrity with outrageous lies and accusations. Despite it all, though, he perseveres. He endures. Even when you think you’ve defeated him he gets back up. And that’s why the New England Patriots made the best Disney mascot pick.

And like all of these, that is a totally unbiased opinion, kid.

*Well, nothing besides “28-3.”

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He doesn’t actually hate your NFL team. Not unless you root for the Steelers or Ravens. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post A New England Patriots Fan’s Biased Review of Every NFL Team’s Disney Mascot appeared first on Nerdist.

President Donald Trump called up right-wing pundit and conspiracy theorist Glenn Beck to brag about how great things are going. First, Beck asked Trump about his costly trade war with Canada. “They are one of the worst countries in the world to deal with,” Trump complained. “And you saw the Lake Ontario—you know, people thought I was kidding, but maybe I wasn’t—because the last one you…

Source

⚡ Quick Take

• How many dragons are still alive on House of the Dragon after three seasons? Here’s the status of all of them going into the show’s final year.
• Fewer dragons have died than you might think, but many won’t survive the show’s fourth season.
• Nerdist’s Take: We think we know which new dragons Ryan Condal is teasing for the show’s last season.

A family civil war fought with dragons means dead dragons. After three seasons of civil war on House of the Dragon, how many of those beasts who are fire made flesh are still alive? More than you might think. Here’s which dragons (and their riders) can still make their fiery presence felt in House of the Dragon‘s final season.

HBO BOTH DRAGON AND RIDER ALIVE

Syrax – Rhaenyra Targaryen

HBO

Queen Rhaenyra rode Syrax to claim King’s Landing in season three. The large yellow-scaled beast then returned when she flew off to learn why Daemon lied about Sheepstealer’s rider. Syrax attacked the dangerous dragon before Rhaenyra grabbed Rhaena and flew away.

Caraxes – Daemon Targaryen

HBO

The Rogue Prince and his beloved, long-necked Blood Wyrm dragon remain a formidable duo on House of the Dragon. Like his rider, Caraxes has plenty of experience on the battlefield. It’s just too bad in season three Daemon that let both Sheepstealer and Silverwing escape without chasing them down with his far superior dragon.

Vhagar – Aemond Targaryen

HBO

Vhagar is the biggest, most dangerous dragon in the world, but the humungous beast spent the majority of season three apart from his rider. Aemond couldn’t believe his mount would abandon him at Harrenhal after his injuries. But Alys thought that was Vhagar’s way of protecting his rider. No one was able to locate the restless Vhagar despite the dragon burning large swaths of the Riverlands.

Sunfyre – Aegon Targaryen

HBO

Sunfyre had his very own Tiny Tim moment in season three. Turns out the dragon DID NOT DIE. He rose like a monstrous phoenix when his rider Aegon needed him most. Despite suffering what appeared to be fatal injuries, the once beautiful Sunfyre can still fly despite his burns. He took Aegon to Harrenhal to confront Aemond for trying to kill them both.

Seasmoke – Addam of Hull

HBO

After Seasmoke claimed Addam of Hull in season two, the pair went into service of Rhaenyra in season three. Addam and Seasmoke spent time with Hugh and Ulf before going on lengthy and challenging reconnaissance missions across the Riverlands with Baela.

RELATED ARTICLE

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Squishmallows Are Fiercely Adorable

Seasmoke technically has two dragon riders, since as far as we know his last one is still alive. Laenor Velaryon faked his own death and moved to Essos in season one. Seasmoke taking another rider while his previous one lives is show created dragon lore. So could Laenor return and reclaim Seasmoke? Especially if Addam were to die? No one ever knows what House of the Dragon might do.

Moondancer – Baela Velaryon

HBO

Moondancer and Baela helped Rhaenyra’s forces win the Battle of the Gullet, but they did so without the Queen’s blessing. Baela then tried to atone for her actions and Jace’s death by pushing both herself and her dragon past the point of exhaustion in service to the Queen. They never did find Vhagar, though.

Vermithor – Hugh Hammer

HBO

Hugh and Vermithor began season three waiting for Vhagar and Aemond before Harrenhal quickly freaked them out. The pair then alternated shifts with Ulf and Silverwing outside of Tumbleton. Hugh did not mount Vermithor during the big season ending three battle at the market town, though. He went in on foot to find his wife.

Silverwing – Ulf the White

HBO

A disenchanted Ulf defected to the greens in infamous fashion when he used Silverwing to burn Daemon’s army of river men and Northeners at Tumbleton. For good measure, he then burned Ormund Hightower and the city.

BOTH DRAGON AND RIDER WE THINK ARE STILL ALIVE

Tessarion – Daeron Targaryen

HBO

House of the Dragon‘s season three finale ended with a big dragon question unanswered. It left the fates of Daeron the Daring and his smaller blue cobalt dragon Tessarion a mystery. The show looooves its death fake outs, so we expect to see both of them in season four. But technically they might not have survived.

BOTH ALIVE BUT APART

Sheepstealer – Rhaena Targaryen

HBO

Sheepstealer began season three by burning friends and foes alike at the Gullet. The dragon contributed to Jace’s death. The last time we saw the violent dragon, it limped away from a big beast showdown looking very worse for the wear. No one knows where the injured Sheepstealer went because the only other being it ever bonded with abandoned him. Rhaena reluctantly returned to King’s Landing with Rhaenyra where her sister Baela is very worried about her.

LIVING DRAGON, DEAD RIDER

Dreamfyre – Helaena

HBO

Helaena was a Dreamer who saw the possible futures that awaited her. In one, she and her dragon Dreamfyre burned their enemies alive. She never wanted to do that, and when she saw no future for herself, Helaena ended her life at the end of season three. Her sad death means there is now a very large, very formidable dragon without a rider in King’s Landing’s Dragon Pit. It is currently under Rhaenyra’s control.

SEEN BUT NEVER RIDDEN

Baby Dragons Stormcloud and Tyraxes

HBO

In season two, we saw two baby dragons, Stormcloud and Tyraxes. The former is bonded with Rhaenyra’s young son Aegon. Tyraxes is bonded to Rhaenyra’s other son with Daemon, little Viserys. Neither dragon is large enough to ride, nor are the princes large enough to ride them. Rhaenyra first sent them to the Vale, where Lady Jeyne was expecting much larger dragons for protection. Stormcloud, Tyraxes, and the boys then headed to Pentos. Rhaena was supposed to go with them but she instead ran off to pursue Sheepstealer.

BOTH DEAD

Meleys – Rhaenys Targaryen

HBO

The Queen Who Never Was and her dragon died in season two fighting Aemond and Vhagar during the Battle at Rook’s Rest. The greens then paraded the dead Meleys’ head through the streets of King’s Landing as a show of strength, but the display horrified the people of the capital. Dragons are closer to gods than animals. Seeing a dead one only weakened House Targaryen’s position.

We saw the rest of Meleys’ remains at Rook’s Rest in season three.

HBO

Vermax – Jacaerys Velaryon

HBO

Rhaenyra’s eldest son and heir died along with his dragon during the Battle of the Gullet. Vermax was dragged into the water and drowned first. Archers then killed Jace while he floated in the sea.

Arrax – Prince Lucerys Velaryon

HBO

Aemond lost control of Vhagar while taunting his nephew and his much smaller dragon above Storm’s End in House of the Dragon‘s season one finale. Vhagar chomped down on Arrax’s neck, sending both the dragon and its rider to their death.

YET-TO-APPEAR DRAGONS

Morghul and Shyrkos

HBO

In Fire & Blood, Aegon and Helaena’s twins, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, both bonded with dragons. Jaehaerys never got to ride Shyrkos before Blood and Cheese killed him. We won’t talk about Jaehaera and Morghul to avoid any potential spoilers, but that’s probably us being way too cautious. House of the Dragon hasn’t named or referenced either dragon. However, we did see the twins sleeping with what appeared to be dragon incubators under their beds during that fateful night.

Wild Dragons Grey Ghost and Cannibal

HBO

House of the Dragon’s two biggest dragon omissions from Fire & Blood are the missing wild dragons Grey Ghost and Cannibal. They might not be missing for long. Showrunner Ryan Condal has said the series’ final season will introduce new dragons. He could also have been hinting that we’ll see Morghul and Shyrkos hatch. We could also see other dragons born.

Note: There’s no reason to expect the not-wild dragon Morning to appear on House of the Dragon because its future dragon rider already claimed one.

UNHATCHED DRAGON EGGS Max

In season one, Daemon tried to claim a dragon egg for his paramore, Mysaria. He also learned Syrax laid three additional eggs in season two, which is also when Rhaenyra sent four dragon eggs off with Rhaena and her two youngest boys as a backup plan. And in season three Alys Rivers revealed a clutch of old, secret dragon eggs at Harrenhal.

Considering the Dance of the Dragons is only going to get more violent, more dragons are certain to die in House of the Dragon‘s final season. Game of Thrones fans know soon all dragons will disappear from the world. The good news for the living is three of House of the Dragon‘s eggs will eventually hatch to replace their dead dragon brethren. They just won’t hatch until Daenerys Targaryen becomes the Mother of Dragon.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow Mikey on Bluesky at @‌burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

This post has affiliate links, which means we may earn advertising money if you buy something. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, we just have to give you the heads up for legal reasons. Click away!

The post How Many Dragons Are Still Alive After HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 3? appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• The Love Hypothesis movie is coming to Prime Video, and its first trailer has been released.
• The Love Hypothesis is based on the book of the same name, which has received significant attention on TikTok.
• Nerdist Take: Who doesn’t love some fake dating shenanigans?

Fake dating is a popular fanfic trope, if there ever was one. But now, this trope about unnecessary confusions and elaborate schemes when two people could just be together is hitting the mainstream. Based on a popular novel, The Love Hypothesis, fake dating is here. (But sadly, it’s not queer.) After becoming wildly popular on TikTok, the novel will now be adapted into a movie. You can watch the elaborate romantic ruse unfold below in The Love Hypothesis movie’s official trailer.

The description for The Love Hypothesis from Amazon MGM Studios is as follows: “Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis follows Olive (Lili Reinhart), a brilliant Ph.D. candidate focused on her future in academia. But when she realizes her best friend Ahn (Rachel Marsh) has fallen for her crush Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay), Olive impulsively kisses intimidating professor Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman) to prove she’s moved on. What begins as a desperate act of friendship spirals into a fake relationship with rules, boundaries, and a mutually beneficial agreement. When their arrangement begins to blur the lines between performance and reality, Olive is forced to test her most daunting hypothesis yet: that love might actually be worth the risk.“

Prime Video Nerdist Take: The Love Hypothesis Seems Like Fluffy Fun

Naturally, Olive just has to prove to her friend she’s not into their mutual crush. And Doctor Evil/Adam just needs to show he’s a serious guy with a serious gal. The only answer possible is fake dating! Honestly, why not. This seems like good fun, and we’re not opposed. We need a little fluff in our lives.

The Love Hypothesis will release on Prime Video on September 23. Until that happy day comes, snag the novel by the same name for the thrill of immediate dating shenanigans.

This post has affiliate links, which means we may earn advertising money if you buy something. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, we just have to give you the heads up for legal reasons. Click away!

Rotem Rusak is the Editor-in-Chief at Nerdist. She is a great lover of the anti-hero and is always ready for a new ship to set sail. In her work, she likes to combine fandom passion with journalistic sensibilities. Follow her on Instagram.

The post Fake Dating Goes Mainstream in LOVE HYPOTHESIS Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

This article was contributed by BuyStufz

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• Players receive 30 spins per day for ten days.
• Qualifying spin winnings have no additional wagering.
• The lobby includes slots, table games, video poker and live dealer content.
• Bitcoin and multiple altcoins support withdrawals.

Key Conditions For Real-Money Bonus Use

• The first deposit must be at least $10.
• Each daily spin batch expires after 24 hours.
• The full spin package has a $100 maximum win.
• Spins apply only to the selected daily game.
• A first or unusual withdrawal may require manual account review.

4. BetOnline: Multi-Product Welcome Package

BetOnline combines casino games, sportsbook markets, poker, racing, live betting, cryptocurrency payments and VIP rewards. Its current combined welcome package uses separate sportsbook and casino components, which means each promotional balance must be evaluated under the rules of its product.

Welcome Bonus For U.S. Players

The combined welcome package provides free-bet credit equal to 50 percent of the first qualifying deposit, up to $250, plus 100 casino spins. A minimum first deposit of $50 is required. The spins are released as ten per day for ten days, beginning within 24 hours of the qualifying deposit. Each daily allocation expires within 24 hours.

BetOnline also publishes a separate 100-spin welcome option after a first deposit of $10 or more. That package does not require a manual entry and uses the same ten-day release structure with a $100 maximum win.

Wagering And Maximum Cashout Rules

Free-bet winnings normally return net profit, while the promotional stake remains excluded. Casino spins, poker rewards and matched funds use separate release and rollover structures, so each active wallet should be checked before withdrawal.

Eligible Casino Games And Free Spins

Daily spins apply to the selected slot shown in the bonus section. Other casino games remain available for cash play, while sportsbook free play cannot complete casino wagering.

Banking And Withdrawals

BetOnline lists Bitcoin withdrawals from $20 with no stated maximum and processing within 24 hours. Multiple altcoins also list 24-hour processing, while wire, courier check, person-to-person and money-order methods use longer windows and different fees. Several crypto assets list unlimited request frequency, subject to cashier limits.

Special Features

• Casino, sportsbook, poker and racing access
• Live betting and around-the-clock live dealer games
• Broad cryptocurrency support
• VIP levels and recurring account rewards
• High-limit and multi-product features

Advantages Of The BetOnline Welcome Offer

• The combined package provides up to $250 in sportsbook free bets plus 100 casino spins.
• Casino, sportsbook, poker and racing share one account.
• The casino includes slots, originals, tables, video poker and live dealer games.
• A broad range of cryptocurrencies is available.
• Many crypto payout methods list processing within 24 hours.

Key Conditions For Real-Money Bonus Use

• The combined offer requires a first deposit of at least $50.
• Free-bet credit and casino spins remain separate.
• The promotional free-bet stake is not normally included in the withdrawal.
• Casino spins are issued as ten daily batches.
• The full spin component has a $100 maximum win.

5. Bovada: Casino, Poker And Sportsbook Welcome Offer

Bovada combines casino games, live dealer tables, poker, sports betting and horse racing under one account. The platform has operated since 2011 and uses an offshore licensing structure rather than a U.S. state gambling licence. Its current casino welcome package differs according to the deposit method, with crypto users receiving a larger match percentage than fiat depositors.

Welcome Bonus For U.S. Players

Crypto depositors can receive a 125% casino match up to $3,750 plus 50 free spins, distributed across three qualifying deposits. Each tier requires a minimum $20 deposit. Fiat depositors receive a 100% match up to $3,000 across the same three-deposit structure.

The first crypto deposit carries a 25x wagering requirement based on the combined deposit and bonus. Later qualifying deposit tiers carry a 50x rollover requirement, also calculated on the combined deposit and bonus amount. 

Wagering And Maximum Cashout Rules

For the first crypto welcome tier, the requirement is 25x the combined deposit and bonus. Subsequent qualifying tiers carry a 50x requirement on the combined amount. For example, a $20 qualifying deposit receiving a $25 bonus creates a $45 wagering base. At 25x, that would require $1,125 in qualifying wagers. Later tiers should be calculated using their specific 50x requirement.

Eligible Casino Games And Free Spins

Bovada’s casino lobby includes slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, video poker and live dealer games, giving players several ways to use the platform beyond its welcome promotion. The 50 free spins attached to the crypto welcome package apply to eligible slot titles rather than the entire casino catalogue. 

Slot play generally provides the most direct contribution toward the casino wagering requirement because eligible slots contribute at 100%. Live dealer games and other excluded categories should not be used as a substitute for qualifying slot play when clearing the welcome requirement. 

Banking And Withdrawals

Bovada supports several cryptocurrency options, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, USDT and Bitcoin SV, alongside selected traditional deposit methods such as Visa and Mastercard. Crypto deposits are generally presented without a processing fee, while card deposits can carry an applicable processing charge.

Special Features

• Casino, poker, sportsbook and racebook services can be accessed through the same Bovada account.
• Several major cryptocurrencies are supported for eligible transactions.
• The poker section includes Zone Poker and other poker formats.
• Eligible users can receive referral rewards under the applicable programme terms.
• Bovada can be accessed through compatible mobile browsers on supported iOS and Android devices.

Advantages Of The Bovada Welcome Offer

• Crypto depositors can receive a 125% match up to $3,750, plus 50 free spins.
• Players using qualifying fiat deposits can receive a 100% match up to $3,000.
• The welcome package can provide up to six months to complete the applicable wagering requirements.
• Once the required wagering is completed, the welcome offer does not impose a separate maximum cashout cap on qualifying winnings.
• Casino, poker, sportsbook and racebook products are available through one account, providing broader use beyond casino play.

Key Conditions For Real-Money Bonus Use

• Each qualifying welcome tier requires at least $20.
• The first crypto tier uses a 25x requirement on the combined deposit and bonus.
• Subsequent qualifying deposit tiers use a 50x requirement on the combined deposit and bonus.
• Eligible slots contribute fully, while selected table games contribute at reduced rates and excluded games may contribute nothing.
• Identity checks may be required before a first withdrawal can be processed.

What Is A No-Deposit Casino Reward?

A genuine no-deposit reward is credited without requiring an opening payment. It may take the form of free spins, a small casino balance, a free chip, free play, or tournament entry. Registration, email confirmation, mobile verification, age screening, identity checks and accepted-location rules can still apply.

The promotional balance is not automatically cash. Winnings may remain restricted until wagering is completed, and the offer can impose selected games, a maximum bet, expiration and a cashout ceiling. A first-deposit spin package remains deposit-triggered even when its winnings carry no further wagering.

How No-Deposit Casino Bonus Codes Work

A code links a promotion to an eligible casino account. The entry field may appear during registration, in the cashier, or inside the promotions area. Some rewards are activated through a tracked link or an account notification instead of manual entry.

Before submitting an entry, check capitalization, spacing, expiration, player type, location, eligible platform and whether another welcome package is already active. A correctly entered code can still fail when the offer is limited to new customers, available only through a partner page, restricted to selected accounts, or incompatible with a payment method.

This guide does not publish live code strings. Availability can change quickly, and an expired or account-restricted entry may no longer produce the advertised reward.

No-Deposit Bonus Without Code

Automatic activation may follow registration, email verification, phone confirmation, or selection from a bonus wallet. Link-based activation can also attach the reward to the account without requiring manual entry.

Automatic does not mean condition-free. The player should still save the offer page or confirmation message and review wagering, eligible games, maximum cashout, expiration, account limits and verification requirements.

Why Casinos Offer Payment-Free Rewards

Casinos use payment-free promotions to introduce new accounts to the game lobby, promote selected slots, reward existing customers, encourage participation in tournaments, or reactivate players who have not recently used the account.

The reward is controlled through wagering, game selection, expiration, cashout limits and account rules. Players should evaluate the full terms rather than treating it as unrestricted cash.

How Bonus Availability Was Evaluated

Every featured package was checked against current official promotion or help pages on July 17, 2026. The review covered the advertised amount, activation type, first-deposit threshold, wagering base, spin schedule, expiration, maximum win, game eligibility and published banking information.

Bonus pages can change after publication. Before registration or payment, users should confirm the live account offer, save the accepted terms and check the personalized cashier for current methods, limits and fees.

US Access, Offshore Casinos and Player Eligibility

Online casino rules in the United States vary by state. Offshore platforms operate outside state-regulated online casino systems, so licensing, complaint handling, geolocation, tax treatment and player-protection routes can differ.

Check local law and accepted locations before registering. Do not use a VPN to bypass restrictions, and use account and payment details belonging to the registered player.

Types Of No-Deposit Casino Promotions Free Spins

Free spins provide a fixed number of slot rounds at a preset stake. The offer controls the game, spin value, expiration, wagering and maximum win. Some spins arrive together, while others are divided into daily batches.

Free Casino Credit

Casino credit adds a promotional balance after registration, verification, or another qualifying action. It may appear similar to cash in the account but remain restricted until its conditions are completed.

Free Chip Bonus

A free chip is promotional casino funding. It can work on selected slots and, less commonly, other approved games. The original chip value may be removed during withdrawal while eligible cleared winnings remain.

Free Play

Free play can provide a period or balance for selected casino activity. Modern free-play promotions often convert the result into bonus funds governed by wagering and cashout rules.

Freeroll Tournaments

A freeroll allows eligible users to enter a tournament without paying an entry fee. Prizes may be cash, free spins, bonus funds, or another reward. Entry may still depend on account status or previous activity.

Cashback And Loyalty Rewards

Cashback, points, birthday rewards, prize-wheel outcomes and VIP drops can arrive without a fresh payment at the moment of issue. Earlier deposits, wagering, or tier qualification can still be required.

Limited-Time Account Promotions

Email, holiday, game-launch and account-targeted campaigns may remain available for a short period or to a limited number of users. The terms should be saved when the offer is activated.

No-Deposit Bonus Vs Deposit-Based Welcome Bonus FeatureNo-Deposit RewardDeposit-Based Welcome PackageActivationRegistration, verification, or another nonpayment actionA qualifying paymentTypical ValueSmall free spins, credit, chip, or tournament entryLarger match, spin package, or combined rewardPersonal Funds RequiredNo for activationYesWageringOften applies to bonus or winningsDepends on the calculation baseMaximum CashoutCommon and usually fixedCan be higher but remains offer-specificAvailabilityLimited, targeted, or short-livedCommon on welcome pagesMain UseTesting selected games and account toolsAdding promotional value to a planned deposit Can A No-Deposit Reward And Welcome Bonus Both Be Claimed?

Some casinos allow a payment-free reward followed by the standard first-deposit package. Others require the player to choose one, or remove welcome eligibility once the free reward is used.

Casino and sportsbook wallets can also follow separate rules. Before activating either offer, check whether the rewards can be combined, claimed in sequence, or used only as alternatives.

Can A No-Deposit Bonus With Real Money Withdrawal Produce Cash?

Eligible winnings can become withdrawable after wagering, eligible-game rules, verification and cashier conditions are completed. The original promotional credit may remain nonwithdrawable and can be removed when the request is settled.

For example, a $10 bonus with 35x wagering on the bonus requires $350 in eligible play. If the same promotion has a $100 maximum cashout, no more than $100 can be paid from the reward even when the displayed balance is higher.

This is why no-deposit Bonus Code should be assessed through the route from activation to withdrawal, not only through the amount credited at the start.

How To Claim A No-Deposit Casino Bonus Step 1: Confirm Location And Age Eligibility

Review the casino’s accepted locations and the applicable gambling age before creating an account.

Step 2: Read The Complete Promotion

Confirm that no opening payment is required. Check the reward, player type, wagering base, eligible games, maximum bet, expiration, maximum cashout and verification conditions.

Step 3: Register Accurate Details

Use a legal name, current address, date of birth, email and phone number that match future verification documents.

Step 4: Complete Basic Verification

Confirm the email and phone number promptly. Uploading documents early, when the account supports it, can simplify the later withdrawal stage.

Step 5: Activate The Reward

Enter the required information in the stated field, follow the qualifying registration path, or select the promotion from the account. Do not make a payment unless the offer specifically requires one.

Step 6: Confirm That The Bonus Was Credited

Check the cash balance, bonus wallet, free-spin section, or promotion history before playing. Contact support before wagering when the expected reward is missing.

Step 7: Play Only Eligible Games

Use the exact title or category listed in the terms. A restricted game can provide no contribution or affect promotional eligibility.

Step 8: Track Wagering And Expiry

Monitor the wagering meter and keep the cash balance, bonus funds and spin winnings separate. Stay below the maximum promotional stake.

Step 9: Prepare The Withdrawal

Confirm KYC status, minimum payout, maximum cashout, available method, wallet network, fees and request-frequency rules before submitting.

What To Do When A Bonus Code Does Not Work

A bonus code may fail because of a typing error, expired promotion, account restriction, location rule, or incorrect activation process. Do not deposit or start playing until the reward appears in the account and its terms are visible.

Check The Code Entry

Enter the code exactly as provided. Review spelling, capitalization, numbers, spaces and special characters. Avoid copying an extra space before or after the code.

Confirm The Promotion Is Still Available

Check the expiration date, eligible location, player type, supported device and qualifying games. Some promotions are available only to new players, selected accounts, or users arriving through a specific promotional page.

Review Existing Account Bonuses

A code may not activate when another welcome package or promotional balance is already attached to the account. Some casinos allow only one welcome offer, while others require the previous reward to be completed or removed first.

Check The Activation Stage

Certain codes must be entered during registration, while others belong in the cashier or promotions section. Deposit-linked offers may also require activation before the qualifying payment is made.

Contact Customer Support

When the reward still does not appear, contact support before depositing or wagering. Provide the promotion name, registration time, code entered and a screenshot of the error where possible. Ask support to confirm eligibility and activation in writing before proceeding.

Best Casino Games For Bonus Wagering Selected Slots

Slots commonly provide full contribution and are the usual destination for free spins. The exact title matters because similarly named versions can use different settings or bonus eligibility.

Lower-Volatility Slots

Lower-volatility games generally produce smaller, more frequent outcomes. They may help a limited balance last longer during wagering, although no game guarantees successful completion.

Video Poker And Table Games

Blackjack, roulette, baccarat and video poker may provide reduced or zero contribution. They should be used only when the promotion explicitly permits them.

Live Dealer And Jackpot Games

Live tables, progressive jackpots, crash games and specialty titles are often restricted. A game can accept cash wagers while rejecting promotional funds.

Game Providers And Software Restrictions

Some offers apply only to games from a named provider or platform. Provider filters can help identify eligible titles, but the written promotion terms remain more reliable than the general lobby category.

Crypto Casino Banking For Bonus Winnings Bitcoin

Bitcoin is widely supported and can provide same-day delivery after approval. Network congestion, fees and price movement can affect receipt.

Litecoin

Litecoin often provides lower network costs and faster confirmation than Bitcoin. Some casinos also publish relatively high transaction limits for it.

Tether And Other Stablecoins

Stablecoins reduce major price fluctuation, but the selected blockchain network must match the receiving address. An unsupported network can make recovery difficult.

Ethereum

Ethereum is broadly supported, although network fees can rise. The exact asset and network should be checked before confirming a transfer.

Cards And Traditional Methods

Cards are familiar for deposits, but offshore sites may not return withdrawals to them. Wire, check, person-to-person and money-order alternatives can take several business days and may use higher minimums or fees.

What A No Pending Period Casino Means

A pending period is the interval in which a withdrawal awaits review or remains reversible. A casino described as having no pending period may lock the request immediately instead of allowing the player to cancel it and continue gambling.

This does not remove KYC, bonus settlement, fraud screening, cashier limits, or payment-network processing. The advertised clock may also begin only after approval, so players should check whether the stated time is measured from submission or release.

Casino Payout Speed Categories Instant Or Near-Instant After Approval

This generally refers to payment delivery within minutes or about one hour after the casino releases the funds. It is most realistic for a verified account using a supported digital method.

Same Day Casino Cashout

Same-day payment normally means the approved request reaches the user within 24 hours. Crypto commonly fits this category, but a first withdrawal or additional review can extend the total timeline.

One To Three Business Days

This range is common for selected bank, card and manually reviewed payments. Clear publication of the window is more useful than an unsupported instant-payout claim.

More Than Three Business Days

International wires, checks, unresolved verification, payment disputes and installment limits can take longer. The player should check account messages and support instructions before canceling or resubmitting the request.

No-Deposit Bonus Terms And Conditions Wagering Requirement

The multiplier states how much eligible play is needed. The base may be the bonus, bonus winnings, deposit plus bonus, or another stated amount.

No-Deposit Bonus Without Wagering Requirements

A 0x reward allows qualifying winnings to move toward cash settlement without additional playthrough. Other conditions can still apply, including selected games, expiration, maximum win, verification, or a minimum transaction before withdrawal.

Game Contribution

Slots often count fully. Blackjack, roulette, baccarat, video poker, live dealer games, jackpots, crash titles and specialty games may count less or remain excluded.

Maximum Bet

A promotion-specific stake cap applies even when the game accepts a larger wager. Autoplay settings and stake increases should be checked before play.

Expiry

Separate deadlines can apply to activation, free-spin use, wagering completion and withdrawal. Missing one deadline can remove the reward while leaving the account open.

Maximum Cashout

The cashout ceiling limits how much can be paid from promotional winnings. A balance above the limit may be adjusted when the offer is settled.

Minimum Deposit Before Withdrawal

Some payment-free offers require a small deposit before winnings can be withdrawn. The payment may also need 1x play. This is a withdrawal condition, not the original activation trigger.

One-Account And Household Rules

Eligibility is commonly limited to one account per person, household, address, device, or payment method. Accurate registration information supports account protection and promotion integrity.

Consecutive Free-Bonus Restrictions

Some casinos require a qualifying real-money deposit between two payment-free promotions. If the previous account transaction involved a free reward, another free claim may not be valid until the intervening condition is completed. Ranking code databases frequently display this rule alongside wagering, expiration and maximum withdrawal information.

Verification

KYC can include government ID, address evidence, phone confirmation, a selfie, payment ownership, wallet evidence, or source-of-funds information.

How To Calculate The Real Value Of A Bonus

Start with the nominal value, then calculate required wagering. A $20 reward with 40x bonus-only turnover creates $800 in eligible play. If 40x applies to a $20 deposit plus a $60 bonus, the base is $80 and the required action becomes $3,200.

Next, check spin value, game contribution, maximum stake, expiration and cashout cap. Fifty spins at $0.05 have a nominal play value of $2.50, while twenty spins at $0.25 represent $5.

The most useful offer is the one whose complete conditions fit the player’s planned games, time and withdrawal method.

Common Mistakes To Avoid Treating Every Welcome Offer As Payment-Free

A match, free-spin package, or casino credit can still require a qualifying payment. The activation rule should be checked before registration.

Choosing Only By Headline Size

A larger match can create much more wagering. The calculation base and cashout limit matter more than percentage alone.

Ignoring The Maximum Withdrawal

A large displayed balance can be reduced to the promotional cashout ceiling during settlement.

Playing Restricted Games

Excluded games can provide no contribution or affect eligibility. Check the list before changing titles.

Exceeding The Maximum Stake

One oversized wager can breach the promotion. Review autoplay and stake settings before starting.

Claiming Consecutive Free Rewards

A second payment-free offer may require a real-money transaction after the previous free promotion.

Delaying Verification

Preparing identity and payment-ownership documents only after winning can extend the first withdrawal.

Using A Third-Party Payment Method

Cards, bank accounts and wallets should belong to the registered player.

Selecting The Wrong Crypto Network

The coin, network, address and any required memo must match. A valid address on another network can still lead to loss.

Responsible Gambling

A free reward can still encourage longer sessions and later deposits. Set time and spending limits before playing. Do not increase the budget to finish wagering, chase losses, borrow money, or use funds needed for housing, food, healthcare, education, debt payments, or savings.

Deposit limits, time-outs, promotional opt-outs and self-exclusion can help keep gambling controlled. Stop when play is no longer affordable or entertaining, and use recognized problem-gambling support available in the relevant location.

FAQs Are No-Deposit Casino Bonuses Really Free?

A genuine offer can activate without an opening payment, but wagering, eligible games, verification, expiration and maximum cashout conditions may still apply. Some promotions also require a later minimum deposit before withdrawal. Free therefore describes the initial activation, not the absence of every account requirement.

Can You Withdraw No-Deposit Bonus Winnings?

Yes, when the player completes the applicable wagering, uses eligible games, passes verification and follows the cashier rules. The original promotional credit may be removed during settlement, and a maximum cashout can limit the amount paid from the reward.

Is A Deposit Required Before Withdrawing Bonus Winnings?

It depends on the promotion. Some rewards allow withdrawal after wagering and verification without a deposit. Others require a minimum transaction and 1x play before payment. This condition should be checked before the reward is used.

How Often Can A No-Deposit Bonus Be Claimed?

Signup offers are usually limited to one per person, household, address, device, or payment method. Existing-player rewards may recur, but a deposit or qualifying activity can be required between claims. The current account terms decide frequency.

Can A Bonus Code Be Used On Mobile?

Usually, when the casino supports browser or app-based bonus activation. The code may need to be entered during mobile registration, in the cashier, or in the promotions area. The mobile offer should carry the same eligibility, wagering, expiration and cashout rules shown in its terms.

Which Instant Withdrawal Online Casino Pays Out Fastest?

There is no universal fastest option for every user because internal approval and method availability vary. A verified account using a supported crypto method can receive funds quickly after release. First withdrawals, active bonuses, large requests, or account changes can add review time.

Which Casino In The U.S. Pays Out The Same Day?

Several offshore platforms publish crypto processing within 24 hours after the request meets account and cashier conditions. Wild Casino, SuperSlots and BetOnline currently list 24-hour processing for many digital assets, while Cafe Casino publishes shorter windows for selected cryptocurrencies.

What Online Casino Withdrawal Method Is The Fastest?

Crypto is commonly the fastest practical method at offshore casinos, especially when the account is verified and the correct network is used. The payment rail matters only after wagering, KYC, internal review and cashier conditions have been completed.

Do I Need To Verify My Identity Before A Casino Withdrawal?

A casino can request identity verification before approving payment. The process may include ID, proof of address, selfie verification, payment ownership, or source-of-funds evidence. Crypto use does not automatically remove these checks.

Are There Limits On Fast Casino Withdrawals?

Yes. Minimums, per-transaction maximums, weekly limits, fees, request frequency and installment schedules can apply. A fast method may have a different limit from a slower traditional option, so both speed and capacity should be checked.

Do Any Casinos Cash Out In Under One Hour?

Some casinos publish payment times of about one hour for selected methods after approval. This normally assumes completed verification, no unresolved bonus and a routine request. It does not guarantee the same result for every account or transaction.

Conclusion

The strongest no-deposit Bonus Code explain activation, eligibility, wagering, game access, expiration, maximum stakes, identity checks, cashout limits and withdrawal methods before play begins.

Bovada and BetOnline combine casino access with other betting products. Wild Casino and SuperSlots provide structured daily spins after a qualifying deposit. Cafe Casino offers a larger crypto match with detailed public banking information.

The featured welcome packages currently use deposit-triggered activation, while loyalty and account-targeted promotions may follow different rules. Check the live terms, save the accepted conditions, complete verification early and keep gambling within a fixed entertainment budget.

The editorial staff of the Pajaronian was not involved in the creation of this content. The content is for general information and does not constitute the financial, medical or professional advice of this publication. Readers should consult qualified professionals regarding their individual circumstances. The Pajaronian disclaims any liability for loss or damage resulting from reliance on this content.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for its newsletters.

With only six days left in the legislative session, lawmakers refuse to back several of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s controversial proposals for reducing how much for-profit utility companies must pay after causing a wildfire. 

Assembly and Senate lawmakers oppose the governor’s proposals to limit survivors’ compensation for pain and suffering, curb reimbursements to insurance companies for massive payouts to homeowners when power lines spark a fire and limit how much local governments can recoup for incinerated infrastructure, according to legislative sources and internal memos obtained by CalMatters. 

Those are among the most contentious parts of a high-stakes package of wildfire policies Newsom has been negotiating behind closed doors at the end of his final legislative session as governor. 

Neither the governor’s office nor leaders in the Senate and Assembly have released the text of the proposals they are negotiating, setting the stage for them to potentially push through a complex package of policies with little public hearing in the final days of the session that ends Monday. 

Newsom’s office has not responded to inquiries about lawmakers’ opposition to parts of his proposal. If they can’t reach an agreement by Friday, the legislative deadline to publish bills before they get a vote, they would punt the issue of rising utility liabilities to the next governor. 

At a news conference last week, Newsom said he’s open to amending his proposal but insisted some reforms must be made.

“I feel very strongly that we need to move on this,” he said.

Newsom is concerned, his staff says, with ensuring fire victims’ damage claims get paid faster while freeing utilities from other lawsuits that could shake investors’ confidence in the companies’ financial standing and lead to higher power bills for customers. But opponents, including local governments, wildfire survivors, consumer advocates and insurance companies, argue the plan helps utilities escape accountability. 

Though any changes they make would apply only to future wildfires, the negotiations have stoked the anger of a group of Eaton fire survivors who traveled to Sacramento this week to protest the proposals. Earlier this month, state and Los Angeles fire officials found investor-owned utility Southern California Edison responsible for the January 2025 fire, which ignited under a decades-old decommissioned Edison transmission tower. The blaze claimed 19 lives and destroyed 9,400 structures.

“My job is not to ensure that we’re increasing profits for shareholders for these companies,” Sen. Sasha Renee Perez, a Democrat who represents Altadena, said at a rally with the group on Tuesday. “And we certainly, as a Legislature, are not going to negotiate with companies that want to act like terrorists.”

Lawmakers diverge

Perez was referring to a report that executives of Pacific Gas & Electric and Edison have told Wall Street analysts the companies plan to take unspecified actions to protect their shareholders if lawmakers do not pass laws this year helping them reduce their financial responsibility after fires. 

Newsom and Democratic lawmakers agree on a proposal that would curb utility CEO bonuses after a destructive fire and increase fines for utilities with safety violations. Sources familiar with the negotiations said a Senate proposal would go further, targeting utility profits by directing regulators to scrutinize company spending and to consider limiting rate increases in line with inflation. 

Lawmakers also agree with Newsom on improving community wildfire mitigation projects and using future insurance taxes to pay for home hardening. And they generally agree on limiting fees for attorneys who represent victims and other plaintiffs in suing utilities for damages after a fire, though the Senate plan would also curb fees for the utilities’ attorneys. 

But neither Senate nor Assembly leaders agree with Newsom on eliminating subrogation — the right of insurance companies to recoup their costs for claims from utilities or other corporations responsible for a fire — according to memos of the Assembly’s counterproposals and Senate sources familiar with the negotiations.

The insurance industry has been vocal about the possible effects, arguing it would increase insurers’ costs and lead them to raise their rates.

 ‘A massive new strain’

Sen. Ben Allen, a candidate for insurance commissioner and Democrat whose district includes the Pacific Palisades, which also experienced a deadly fire last January, said killing subrogation to try to address one problem (high electricity rates) could create another problem (even higher insurance rates). 

“I fear we will create a massive new strain on the insurance system that could break basic questions of affordability for Californians,” Allen told CalMatters. It could also exacerbate problems in the state’s already challenging insurance market, he said. 

Lawmakers are aligned with the governor on limiting the number of middlemen who are entitled to benefit or profit after a disaster, or at least capping how much they can get. Lawmakers in both chambers want to bar insurers from selling their claims and subrogation rights to hedge funds. The Senate plan would still allow it if insurers get approval from the insurance commissioner, which smaller insurers might seek if they need cash quickly to pay claims after a fire. 

Assembly leaders also are pushing back on Newsom’s proposal to reduce the amount local governments can recover from utilities after a wildfire by limiting claims to the depreciated value of burned infrastructure, rather than the full cost of rebuilding it. The proposal had sparked outrage from the California State Association of Counties, the League of California Cities and groups representing school districts. 

Under pressure from the powerful California Professional Firefighters union, Newsom appears to be backing away from that effort. 

On Monday, the union wrote Newsom a letter supporting his overall package and thanking him for “adjustments to ensure that local governments are not unduly impacted by this proposal.” Newsom spokesperson Anthony Martinez did not respond to an inquiry about that proposal.

A fraught proposal

Newsom’s office, lawmakers and the utilities (via their Wildfire Victims First campaign, which includes few fire victims) say their motivation is ensuring fire survivors’ damages are prioritized over other plaintiffs. That means determining which survivors are most deserving, which is among the most emotional and fraught of Newsom’s proposals. 

The governor would limit survivors’ damages for pain and suffering to those who lost a family member or suffered an injury. Other survivors would only get to make a non-economic damages claim if they were in the burn perimeter and had to flee, with a cap of $150,000 per person to avoid overdrawing from the state’s wildfire fund, which is paid for by utility customers and shareholders. 

Gayle Nicholls Ali, an Eaton fire survivor, protests outside the governor’s mansion in Sacramento on Aug. 24, 2026. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / CalMatters

In response to survivors’ objections, the Assembly’s proposal would expand eligibility for those non-economic damages without caps, while the Senate plan would not limit eligibility and instead raise the legal bar for survivors outside the perimeter to prove the fire caused their trauma.

But a month of protests by Eaton fire survivors opposing Newsom’s plan shows choosing how to prioritize victims remains complicated. Their group, Every Fire Survivors Network, objects to anything seeking to differentiate among fire victims. 

“We are the real wildfire survivors,” a few dozen of them chanted outside the governor’s mansion Monday night, where Newsom was hosting state lawmakers for an end-of-session reception. 

Gayle Nicholls-Ali’s house in Altadena burned down, and she is starting to rebuild. Her son’s home, around the corner, was not destroyed but has smoke damage. He and his wife have been living in a donated RV on the property, waiting for his insurance company to approve his claims so they can begin repairs.   

Under Newsom’s proposal, she’s not sure whether her son would qualify for non-economic damages because he is a survivor who evacuated but was not physically hurt and did not lose his home.

“The mental stress alone” has been immense, she said. A retired public school teacher, Nicholls-Ali and her husband have lived in Altadena for more than 30 years, and it was her son’s dream to buy a home in the same city. 

“He wanted to live near home,” she said. 

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The post With clock ticking, California lawmakers reject key parts of Newsom’s wildfire plan appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

⚡ Quick Take

• Netflix is using AI to recreate Gene Wilder’s voice for its upcoming competition series Wonka’s The Golden Ticket.
• You can hear Wilder’s AI voice in the new trailer for the series.
• The whole show looks pretty cringe.

For some reason, Netflix is making a competition reality show based on Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. No, it is not about an eccentric rich man who kills children and gets away with it. This show will have 12 golden ticket winners who have to “navigate a series of Wonka’s games, tests, and temptations designed to challenge them physically, mentally, and morally.” The sets take inspiration from the infamous 1971 movie starring Gene Wilder as the titular character. And, in groan-inducing news, Netflix will use AI to recreate Gene Wilder’s voice for Wonka’s The Golden Ticket. 

You can check out a taste of what to expect in this show in the video above. Apparently, Netflix and Eureka Productions got permission from Gene Wilder’s estate to use an AI generated version of his voice. Wilder passed away in 2016 before AI really started to gain the foothold it now has in the entertainment industry. We don’t know what his feelings would’ve been about this choice. But we are sad that he doesn’t get to have a choice about his likeness in this show. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, his wife is in charge of his estate and made a statement supporting this move.

Netflix/Paramount Pictures

“More than five decades after Gene brought Willy Wonka to life, people of all ages and backgrounds around the world continue to find joy, laughter and inspiration in his performance,” said Karen B. Wilder, Gene Wilder’s wife, on behalf of the Gene Wilder estate. “Gene had a remarkable ability to bring humor, wonder and heart into people’s lives, and that connection has endured for generations. We are delighted that Wonka’s The Golden Ticket celebrates the warmth and imagination that he brought to the role, introducing that magic to a new generation while honoring the fans who have cherished it for decades.” 

Wonka’s The Golden Ticket will premiere on Netflix on September 23.

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Originally published on June 30, 2026.

Tai Gooden is the Features Editor for Nerdist, a fictional villain apologist, and a horror aficionado who is forever waiting for her trip in the TARDIS.

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