It’s no secret that Netflix has flirted with the idea of footing the bill for “big” movie releases in the past, but now we’re finally seeing what that actually means. Next August, the sequel to 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will be hitting Netflix and (select) IMAX theaters simultaneously. Other theaters be damned.

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Whether you’re taking them to the beach, a tailgate, or just using them to boost your iPad’s volume in the kitchen, Bluetooth speakers are incredibly handy, and we’ve found a couple of highly-rated models for just $30 each today.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has twice won elections he was supposed to lose. If Democrats maintain control of the Senate in November, much of the credit will go to the wily Nevada Democrat.

Reid is not on the ballot this year, but his position as majority leader depends on Democrats denying Republicans the net six seats they need to retake the Senate. By all accounts he is working as single-mindedly toward that goal as any of his endangered incumbents. With his stooped shoulders, monotone delivery and occasionally impolitic remarks, Reid, 74, does not shine on the campaign trail. He appears at virtually no public events. Instead his maneuvering takes place behind the scenes and on the Senate floor, where he’s gone to extraordinary lengths this year to protect his Democrats from taking tough votes and deny legislative victories to Republicans.

At the same time Reid has immersed himself in work on behalf of the Senate Majority PAC, a fundraising committee led by longtime confidants that has become the most formidable of the so-called super PACs that are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. Thanks to huge donations from labor unions and wealthy liberals, it has spent more than $30 million and is credited with keeping Democrats competitive in states like Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina where they were forecast to trail. A second committee run by a Reid ally, Patriot Majority USA, has spent more than $7 million independently against Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Reid is legally barred from directly raising money for Senate Majority PAC, but he meets privately with donors to discuss matters short of a direct request for funds. Aides said Reid has attended 116 meetings and fundraisers in 14 cities this election cycle for the Senate Majority PAC, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and other groups. Aside from its chairman, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Reid is the top Senate fundraiser for the DSCC.

Even as he has helped Democrats narrow a money gap with Republicans, Reid has relentlessly attacked the high-spending conservative activist Koch brothers, accusing them of trying to buy the elections. The attacks have sparked accusations of hypocrisy from Republicans but also have forced them to spend money in response. Reid declined an interview but officials with the Senate Majority PAC dismissed any suggestions of a contradiction.

“We have to play by the rules as they stand, not the rules that we want,” said Ty Matsdorf, director of campaigns at the political action committee.

With President Barack Obama in office another two years and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi already in the minority, the GOP has made “Fire Reid” its slogan for motivating voters to elect enough Republicans to replace him as the Senate’s majority leader.

“Harry Reid and Barack Obama — those are the battle cries,” Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said.

Reid and his allies dismiss those efforts as a waste of time since polls show many voters still don’t know who he is. “In a sense it helps the candidates that those people are firing at Reid,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.

Only a politician as skilled as Reid could have won re-election in 2010, a bad year for Democrats, despite abysmal approval ratings in Nevada. But Reid had survived an earlier close call, winning re-election in 1998 by a mere 428 votes. He also had taken a lesson from the loss of former Democratic leader Tom Daschle, who was upset in South Dakota after alienating home-state voters by pressing his party’s national agenda. Reid worked methodically to avoid such an outcome.

He helped make Nevada an early nominating state in the 2008 presidential election, ensuring a boom in Democratic voter registration. Then he and his team meddled in the Republican primary, elbowing out the mainstream candidate in favor of a hard-right conservative. Reid ended up winning handily.

A chief architect of that victory was Rebecca Lambe, Reid’s top operative in Nevada. Lambe and Susan McCue, Reid’s former chief of staff, are now running the Senate Majority PAC. They and other Democratic operatives associated with Reid, including leaders of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, are applying some of the same techniques they used on Reid’s behalf four years ago to help Democratic candidates this year.

“In 2010 they had to re-elect a guy who should have been dead,” said Jon Ralston, a longtime political pundit in Nevada. “I don’t think you can underestimate them.”

Reid, who once complained that tourists to the Capitol smell in the summer heat, is happiest away from the spotlight, finessing deals and parliamentary tricks. He all but shut down the amendment process in the Senate this year to avoid votes on politically tricky issues like the president’s health care law and regulations discouraging coal-burning power plants.

“Harry Reid’s the No. 1 obstructionist,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., groused.

Democrats see it differently.

“He’s done what he had to do to protect his vulnerable members,” said Jim Manley, a Democratic consultant and former Reid aide.

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Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

Coauthored by Jamila Raqib

The Occupy Movement has returned and is resurrecting itself in Hong Kong. But in this case, the “occupying” is not associating itself with the Occupy Wall Street of recent years. Instead, a new political initiative in Hong Kong – called Occupy Central – is becoming an important political force that may threaten China’s continued domination of Hong Kong.

Occupy Central, or OC, was created with the primary objective of attaining universal suffrage – the right to vote as determined by international standards – which Hong Kong currently does not have. This year, OC plans to mobilize Hong Kong citizens and has planned a series of actions, including a sit-in involving more than 10,000 participants to block roads in the central business district of Hong Kong. Its primary means of struggle is the use of nonviolent action and, specifically, civil disobedience as a means to achieve its objectives.

When Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997, Beijing pledged “a high degree of autonomy,” within a one country, two systems model. Yet, candidates for Hong Kong’s political leader position, the chief executive, are currently chosen by an election committee that many believe is loyal to Beijing. Beijing has insisted that candidates must “love country” (i.e. China) and “love Hong Kong” in order to run in the elections.

The good news here is that China is set to grant, albeit with some caveats, universal suffrage to Hong Kong by 2017. Hong Kong citizens fear that Beijing will not honor this agreement, however, which is why Occupy Central is preparing now, in advance. They hope to deter a possible future crisis that could result from China’s failure to honor the agreement and to conduct a struggle if deterrence fails.

Led by Benny Tai, Professor Chan Kin-man and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, OC has a diverse coordinating committee and, according to Tai, major decisions will be made by the participation of every person. The final decision regarding the occupation of the business district, according to OC, will be determined by a popular vote, not by the leadership.

The plan to occupy is the last resort in the OC Hong Kong strategy. They’re first seeking a dialogue with the government in an effort to reach a settlement before a call to direct action. The condition for civil disobedience, according to Tai, is that you have to exhaust all legal channels. If negotiation and bargaining with Beijing fails, then they will occupy, suggesting that the whole city may have to be closed down.

OC’s aims are not solely short-term or suffrage-based. A large component of OC is to educate Hong Kong residents on the benefits of nonviolent resistance and prepare them to use civil disobedience as a means to place limits on the power of leaders they see as illegitimate, empowering Hong Kong to deal not only with this threat but with future threats as well. The movement’s commitment to nonviolent resistance was visible on New Year’s Day, when thousands of Hong Kong citizens marched for political reform. Participants used the march as an occasion to learn and practice nonviolent action techniques, forming human chains and protecting themselves from possible police violence.

The idea that a society can successfully develop and apply a defense policy based on nonviolent struggle is not new. OC, like many movements before it, is attempting to produce a defense capacity that is strong enough and organized enough to convince a potential attacker – in this case, China – not to aggress because the consequences of an aggressive action could be unacceptably costly and ultimately unsuccessful.

By announcing in advance its plans to nonviolently disrupt economic activity in central Hong Kong, OC is keen to increase the cost of Beijing’s potential decision to not grant Hong Kong universal suffrage. The nonviolent strategy here is to make life very difficult for Hong Kong – and, consequently, China – if Beijing does not honor its promise.

OC is transparent and open about its demands and strategy because its members understand that nonviolent action operates differently than violent struggle. Secrecy in a nonviolent movement does little to prevent government surveillance or otherwise protect groups from any well-organized police or security forces. Rather, it closes the movement off from potential support. Nonviolent struggle does not depend on secrecy, but requires openness in order to be effective.

China is clearly concerned with Occupy Central, and has allegedly employed hackers and Beijing loyalists to infiltrate the movement. Going forward, how China handles the demands and actions of Occupy Central may, to a large degree, determine the future of the movement.

If China uses repression against people who are committed to nonviolent struggle it may face significant repercussions. Beijing may not be ready for blowback and the effects of “political jiu jitsu.” China’s capacity to apply punishment may inspire a greater number of supporters for the Occupy Central movement, cause fissures and fracturing within the Communist Party and its local supporters, and build sympathy and support among third parties in the international community. The wise move, then, would be for Beijing to honor suffrage-related promises and to pay heed to Occupy Central demands, because it’s not going away anytime soon.

Michael Shank, Ph.D., is associate director for legislative affairs at the Friends Committee on National Legislation and adjunct faculty at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Jamila Raqib is the executive director of the Albert Einstein Institution, a nonprofit organization founded by Dr. Gene Sharp in 1983 to advance the study and use of strategic nonviolent action in conflicts throughout the world. This op-ed originally ran in US News & World Report in March 2014.

Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean steak season has to be. As we trade our grills in for stove tops, we also re-open ourselves to a whole world of opportunity, courtesy of our fridges and kitchen cabinets. From herbs to citrus fruits to spices, there are countless ingredients we can toss into tasty steak rubs and marinades that go beyond plain salt and pepper (not that good ol’ New York style isn’t delicious as well).

Once again, we’ve asked our friend Chef Frank Deloach to help us think of 10 exceptional ways to season steak to add flavor without adding fat. Directions? Combine ingredients, rub all over your gorgeously marbled beef slabs (think Ribeye, Strip and Sirloin) and pop it in the fridge (two hours max) to soak up all those beautiful flavors. Cook in cast-iron skillet to desired doneness. Easy peasy. Tip: For the juiciest steak possible, salt your beef after you’ve cooked it.

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Tex Mex

•  1 cup ancho chile powder
• 1/3 cup smoked paprika
• 3 tablespoon dried oregano
• 3 tablespoon dried mustard
• 3 tablespoon dried coriander
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• zest of 2 limes

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Kalbi

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• ½ onion
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1 green onion
• ¼ tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)

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Spanish

• 2 tablespoons sea salt
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 oranges, zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

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Kung Pao

• 2 tablespoons Hoisin
• 1.5 tablespoons sriracha
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch scallions, minced
• 1 ounce white vinegar

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Brazil

• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 serrano chile, crushed
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper

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Montreal

• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons crushed black pepper
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon granulated onion
• 1 tablespoon crushed coriander
• 1 tablespoon dill
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

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North Africa

• 2 tablespoons dark chili powder
• 1 tablespoon harrissa paste
• 1 orange, zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

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English Pub

• 1 packet of beef base (soup bouillon)
• 2 ounces olive oil
• 1.2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced

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Carne Asada

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon dried ancho pepper, ground
• 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 4 tablespoons dark Mexican beer (optional)

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Malaysian

• 1 tablespoon shrimp paste
• 1 inch ginger, grated
• 1/2 inch turmeric, fresh, grated
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 1/2 tablespoon coconut sugar
• 1 stalk lemon grass, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 dried red chili

Written by Peter Pham for Foodbeast