u/heyauden

Amazon is expanding payments under its $2.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over allegations that it enrolled consumers in Prime without their consent and made cancellation difficult.

Under a revised court order, millions of additional eligible consumers who used between 11 and 20 Prime benefits in a one-year period can now receive automatic refunds. The maximum total payment for an eligible consumer is $200, up from the previous $51 cap.

As of September 9, 2026, Amazon had issued about $845.2 million in consumer redress. The newly expanded payments are scheduled to begin October 1, 2026.

The scimitar-horned oryx was declared Extinct in the Wild after disappearing from its native range in North Africa.

In 2016, conservationists began returning captive-bred oryx to Chad’s Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve, starting with 23 animals. The population has since grown to more than 600 animals living in the wild.

In 2023, the IUCN downlisted the species from Extinct in the Wild to Endangered, recognizing the successful reintroduction effort.

I know I'm probably about 14 months late, but I finally got around to watching MI8.

This series has been around for 30 years, and I've grown up watching Ethan Hunt progress as a brilliant IMF agent pulling off improbable missions to the face of one of the best action franchises.

Looking back, I think the series really found its identity from the first film onward (with MI2 being the obvious exception).

What I always loved was that the action never came at the expense of the plot. The movies were tightly written, full of twists, clever reveals, and constant tension. You were always trying to figure out who was playing whom while simultaneously watching some of the best practical action ever put on screen. They kept you on the edge of your seat in a way very few blockbusters manage.

The last two films, though, took Ethan Hunt in a direction I wasn't completely sold on. He almost became this mythical, larger-than-life figure, and everyone around him seemed to constantly talk about how extraordinary he was.

It started feeling less like watching an incredibly skilled agent and more like watching a legend that every character had to remind us was a legend. It was a little strange because one of the things I always liked about Ethan was that, despite doing impossible things, he still felt human.

That said, I have to talk about the submarine sequence because I honestly think it's one of the greatest tension-filled scenes I've ever watched. The way it was shot, the sound, the pacing, the constant feeling that everything could go catastrophically wrong at any second - I was completely locked in. It was masterfully executed.

My only gripe is that I think it would have been absolutely perfect if Ethan hadn't uttered those two words in the middle of the sequence. That tiny moment broke the immersion just enough for me.

I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thank you.