eightpix

Yes. Almost every time.

This is an impossible question to answer. But, I'll give it a shot anyway. I've expanded the meaning of "franchise" to include "all properties sublicensable for the purposes of profiteering."

If "popular culture" refers to the recognizable and persistent elements of living in society that the majority people share in common without having to communicate that recognition, I'd regard the following franchises as having broad impact worldwide:

• McDonalds/Subway and all attendant advertising as a signpost for food. Franchises abound.

• Esso/Shell/BP as gateways to modern conveniences and transportation. Every gas station, residence, farm house, hen house, outhouse, and dog house is connected to these franchises in some way.

• G4S/Securitas/Garda as the front line protecting the 'haves' from the 'have-nots'. Franchises abound.

• Most athletic, luxury vehicle, and brands as the status symbols they want themselves to be. Franchisees promote the brands as a means of collecting clients.

If, on the other hand, "popular culture" is, 'traditions and material culture of a particular society. In the modern West, pop culture refers to cultural products such as music, art, literature, fashion, dance, film, cyberculture, television, and radio that are consumed by the majority of a society's population. ... types of media that have mass accessibility and appeal' (ThoughtCo.) then the following are some fairly strong indicators of popular culture:

• Hello Kitty (be pleasant)

• Pokémon (pursue goals)

• Superman/Batman (masculinity, vigilantism)

• Paw Patrol (institutions are essential)

• the Olympics (do athletics)

• Michael Jordan (be excellent)

• Mickey Mouse (dream big)

• Star Wars/The Bible (G vs. E)

The ones I wish would take hold and have more of an influence:

• X-men (biodiversity is good)

• the Expanse

• Battlestar Galactica (genocide, rebellion, impersonation, terrorism, coups d'état, civil war, infidelity, succession, military conflict, asymmetrical warfare, treason, mutiny, pirate broadcasts, nuclear warfare... and that's just the first half of the series)

• Tony's Chocolonely (ethical economics)

Charging for cell phones. So much better than a decade ago.

By the same token, and I consider these a different category, headlamps. Camping got a whole lot better with a solid headlamp setup. The red light is crucial.

Sledge Hammer series finale from 1988.

This... somehow... works. Nice work.

Right, because being America's whipping boy (yeah, I said it) is really working out for Ukrainians.

America needs Ukraine to buy obsolete weapons now, use them against Russia's current military capacity so that there's real-world applications for next generation weapons. Also, all the strategies designed to contain a more militant Russia needed to be gamed out. Ukraine will be paying this war back for generations. Think Haiti's reparations to France, but with bigger numbers.

A years-long conflict also "softens" Russia up for the next round of sanctions — maybe they'll be effective this time!

Chomsky said, in effect, 'Nope, that's dumb' (not a quote). Also, there were months and months of Russian build-up on the border. Before that, years of signals, comments, and overt actions showing that they are legit pissed that NATO came knocking. There should've been diplomacy, dialogue, deal making. 'Nope, that's dumb. War is profitable.'

NATO (read: USA) wasn't about to be told who can be in their little club. Russia wasn't about to be told that ICBMs would be parked on their doorstep. So, conflict.

So, what else has Chomsky said?

"the U.S. seems to be fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian, reiterating the conclusion of Diego Cordovez and Selig Harrison that in the 1980s the U.S. was fighting Russia to the last Afghan."

"It is, surely, worthwhile to think seriously about the history of the past 30 years since Bill Clinton launched a new Cold War by violating the firm and unambiguous U.S. promise to Mikhail Gorbachev that “We understand the need for assurances to the countries in the East. If we maintain a presence in a Germany that is a part of NATO, there would be no extension of NATO’s jurisdiction for forces of NATO one inch to the east.”

"Those who want to ignore the history are free to do so, at the cost of failure to understand what is happening now, and what the prospects are for preventing “much worse.”

Sources: Chomsky.info and Truthout

Dissident voice: Noam Chomsky

The greatest of all time make changes to whatever game they are playing. Chomsky changes the realm of ideas. He questions narratives and provides damning evidence in support of his claims. His books reveal the inner workings of the Military-Industrial complex. He contests the positions of US Presidents of both parties. He follows the money, the use of language, and the differences between official fantasies and concrete realities. He raises others up, never sought fame, just did the hard work. Took all the heat that naysayers threw.

Read:

• Manufacturing Consent (1988)

• Understanding Power

• Hegemony or Survival (2003)

• On Palestine (2015), w/ Ilan Pappé

View:

• The Corporation (2003) - features Chomsky

• Imperial Grand Strategy

• Distorted Morality (2003)

The Power of Nightmares was very good as well.

A straight rainbow IS queer.

Frantz Fanon — Black Skin, White Masks (90% on audiobook)

Mary Shelly — Frankenstein (chapter 7)

Andrea Levy — Small Island (p. 229)

Robert A. Heinlein — The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (chapter 8)

I can't keep track of the physical copies of books. I grab whatever is closest.

Frankenstein, I read a chapter each evening I'm able, alongside my son's reading.

Small Island is some fascinating insight into my family history, at least the segment of my family that emigrated to the UK.

Fanon is for the car. Some insight into my distrust of the mainstream discourse for psychotherapy.

And, I need a sci-fi on the go. Touring the classics these days.

Worth it.