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Informational Drive-Feeding Retains Imperial Minions Divided & Distracted

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Informational force-feeding through digital information deluge, deliberate disinformation, and divisiveness is popping our brains to pâté.

UPDATE: Monday Dec 8, 3:41 p.m.: Added some further particulars concerning the Saudis & Jared Kushner’s function within the Paramount bid for WBD

Earlier than I begin, let me thank Yves for the phrase “informational force-feeding” from “>her submit this morning.

I can’t actually say who advantages precisely, however I can establish at the least one main participant who’s trying to make use of informational overload for their very own profit.

Hasbara Funds Go Up

From the Jerusalem Put up article:

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and International Minister Gideon Sa’ar agreed on a finances of NIS 2.35 billion (approx. $730 million) for Israel advocacy campaigns, as a part of the 2026 finances offered on Friday.

The finances shall be used for campaigns to boost consciousness for Israel worldwide. The federal government has already approved NIS 1 billion.
…
The finances can even be used, amongst different issues, to fund social media campaigns, collaborate with civil society organizations, and convey delegations of leaders, elected officers, influencers, and others to Israel, the federal government mentioned in an announcement.

“Our enemies are investing enormous sums towards us on this. Israel has acted with very modest means and should now each enhance assets and undertake new and up-to-date strategies. The quantities authorized are nonetheless modest in relation to the challenges that Israel faces on the planet, however this can be a important breakthrough,” Sa’ar added.

And why are they upping the hasbara finances so dramatically?

Maybe Rahm Emmanuel can inform us.

Even Ex-Mayor Rahm Can Inform Which Method the Wind Blows

The disgraced former mayor of Chicago, Biden’s Ambassador to Japan, and Obama Chief of Employees spoke on the Jewish Federations convention in October. Per Mondoweiss:

“Look the place Israel stands in America with individuals beneath 30,” he mentioned. “Neglect occasion. It’s a political danger right now to take a [pro-Israel] place. Israel is extraordinarily unpopular—I wish to drive this level residence for all of us who help a Jewish state– right now, Israel for a technology beneath 30, the final two years shall be as seminal a definition as what the Six Day Conflict was for [an earlier] technology. However we now have to be sincere concerning the job we now have right here.”

The pinnacle of the federation, former U.S. Rep. Eric Fingerhut (D-OH) chimed in:

“We’ve skilled a deliberate and coordinated assault on Israel’s standing in North America and on the Jewish neighborhood that helps Israel. Fueled by billions of {dollars} in darkish cash…. [from ] Iran and Qatar and China and Russia and extra. Unfold by essentially the most superior communications instruments ever invented…”

It’s unimaginable to inform if Fingerhut truly believes Israel is the sufferer of an unlimited darkish cash conspiracy or not. Like most zionists he most likely can’t comprehend the revulsion the Gaza genocide has impressed around the globe.

However zionists do perceive put enormous quantities of darkish cash to work.

A few of Israel’s 2026 hasbara finances will go towards informational force-feeding of Christian zionists within the U.S.

Can’t Let These Pulpits Go Quiet

And naturally, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel is main the informational force-feeding like a French peasant choking noodles down a goose’s neck. From The Christian Broadcasting Community:

Multiple thousand pastors and Christian influencers are within the Holy Land this week. Organizers name it the biggest gathering of its form since Israel’s founding.

A partnership between Israel’s Ministry of International Affairs and the Pals of Zion Museum led to the unprecedented go to.

Pals of Zion founder Mike Evans advised CBN Information, “It’s the primary time in historical past the State of Israel has formally partnered with 1,000 strategic pastors to fee them as ambassadors to fight antisemitism and attain the youth of their technology.”

Evans believes Israel’s battle is not only on the battlefield.

“Proper now, there’s an ideological conflict that Israel is dropping,” he acknowledged. “So, they want the Evangelicals, they want the Zionists, to battle an ideological conflict. Demons don’t clear customs, and this ideological conflict’s large. And it’s being funded by nations like Qatar and others by means of an antichrist-type AI, and to pound away with bots and to marginalize individuals and silence them.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee advised us, “So it’s simply, I feel a rare time for pastors to go to their pulpits and to talk with readability and with boldness and to push again on the antisemitism, the bigotry that’s being pushed towards Jewish individuals and towards the individuals of Israel.”

Pastor Jesse Bailey of Southern California and Tennessee’s Legacy Household Church noticed, “Sadly, the pulpit has turn out to be quiet about these issues. We’ve allowed cultural voices to talk louder to the congregation than the pastors have on these matters. So it’s been motivating to guarantee that we return and convey the message of who Israel is to the Lord. And, our function as Christians is to proceed to help and pray for Israel.”

Ambassador Huckabee, a former pastor, sees a rising hazard within the Church.

“There’s a rising most cancers inside the evangelical motion in America the place individuals are considering, Israel doesn’t matter,” he mentioned, “And there’s nothing biblical about our relationship to Israel. That is very harmful.“

He added, “As a result of this concept that God will break his covenant or he has damaged his covenant with the Jewish individuals – it borders on blasphemy, as a result of if God will break his covenant with the Jewish individuals, what on earth makes me assume as a Christian, that he’ll preserve his covenant with me?”

And whereas we’re on the subject of blasphemy…

Silencing Ms Rachel

Self-styled free speech hero Elon Musk has suspended the account of Ms Rachel, the favored kids’s entertainer who has been outspoken in her sympathies for Palestinian kids.

And who’s Ms Rachel’s nemesis?

Vlogger James Li has extra on Rez and her monetary backers. I ought to add that if Rez is getting cash instantly from the Israeli authorities, it hasn’t been reported anyplace that I’ve seen.

One other agent of hasbara and informational force-feeding that may self-finance is the Ellison household of Oracle and now Paramount fame.

David Ellison Pitches a Match Over Netflix Shopping for WBD

Whereas I actually agree with Matt Stoller that Netflix buying Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is a catastrophe for America, I can’t assist however benefit from the spectacle of David Ellison reacting to it.

Puck zinged the Nepo Child:

Desperation is the one doable rationalization for yesterday’s public tantrum thrown by the Ellisons through a three-page lawyer letter to Zaslav and his advisors. Ellison assumedly noticed this deal slipping away, and claimed that WBD “seems to have deserted the appearance and actuality of a good transaction course of,” thereby confirming all of the rumors ricocheting round city that Netflix had offered the very best supply—or, slightly, the very best supply by the metrics that Zaslav and his board have been utilizing—and that Ellison believed the repair was in. You don’t ship that letter in the event you’re successful.

However first, let’s join the dots between Israel’s propaganda finances and the Ellison household with assist from 972 Magazine’s piece “The billionaire household poised to rewire U.S. media in Israel’s favor” subtitled: “Having acquired Paramount and CBS and eyeing TikTok and CNN, the Ellisons are establishing a pro-Israel data empire with unprecedented attain.”

Key quotes:

A significant Republican donor and political ally of President Trump, the Oracle co-founder can be a serious supporter of Israeli causes, having given $16.6 million to Pals of the IDF in 2017, then the biggest present within the group’s historical past. In 2021, Oracle’s then-CEO Safra Catz advised the Israeli outlet Calcalist that the corporate’s “dedication to Israel is second to none.” If Oracle workers “don’t agree with our mission to help the State of Israel,” she mentioned, “then possibly we aren’t the appropriate firm for them.” That very same yr, Netanyahu, Israel’s opposition chief on the time, vacationed on Ellison’s privately owned Hawaiian island.

The billionaire additionally enjoys a detailed relationship with former U.Ok. Prime Minister Tony Blair, having poured at the least $130 million into the Tony Blair Institute for International Change — which, in flip, has promoted Oracle’s companies throughout the International South. Blair was named as a frontrunner of the Gaza transitional authority within the Trump ceasefire plan that was authorized by the UN Safety Council in November.

See additionally our earlier items on the Ellison household’s extremely bold media acquisitions and ambitions from earlier this yr:

Let’s meet up with the most recent developments.

Bloomberg reported on Netflix’ conversations with POTUS Trump earlier than they made their supply:

Netflix Inc. co-Chief Govt Officer Ted Sarandos ventured to the White Home in mid-November for a gathering with President Donald Trump. Over greater than an hour, the 2 mentioned a spread of matters, together with the public sale of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., in response to individuals acquainted with the interplay.

Warner Bros. ought to promote to the very best bidder, Trump mentioned, in response to the individuals, who requested to not be recognized divulging the small print of a personal dialog.
…
Sarandos left with the impression that Netflix wouldn’t face quick opposition from the White Home, opposite to the claims of his rival bidder, Paramount Skydance Corp. The Ellison household that managed Paramount was overestimating its political benefit and would seemingly underbid, Sarandos determined. That created a gap.

On Friday, Netflix agreed to pay $82.7 billion, together with debt, for Warner Bros. in one of many largest media offers ever. If profitable, Netflix, a Silicon Valley-based streaming service as soon as described because the Albanian military by former Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes will take over certainly one of Hollywood’s oldest and storied studios, in addition to HBO, its one-time inspiration.

The Ellisons have been very open about their eagerness to please POTUS Trump, with Larry and the Donald having mentioned some Trump-pleasing plans for CNN, through The LA Instances:

Ellison typically speaks to connections on the White Home and in at the least one telephone name engaged in a dialogue about probably axing a few of the CNN hosts whom Donald Trump is claimed to detest, together with Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar, the individuals mentioned.

The dialog additionally touched on floating names to interchange Burnett and the opportunity of operating CBS property like its flagship 60 minutes program on CNN air – proposals which have animated the White Home, the individuals mentioned.

That decision, described by individuals on the situation of anonymity as a result of the difficulty is delicate, was characterised as casual since Ellison doesn’t have a proper function at Paramount. Nonetheless, he holds a serious possession stake within the firm, which is run by his son, David Ellison.

Given these efforts, David and Larry can’t be completely satisfied about Trump’s response to the Netflix deal:

“Ought to Netflix be allowed to purchase Warner Bros.?” Trump mentioned, “I don’t know, that’s going to be for some economists to inform. I’ll be concerned in that call, too.” He added, of Sarandos: “He was within the Oval Workplace final week.… He’s a terrific individual. He’s completed one of many biggest jobs within the historical past of flicks and different issues.”

David Ellison went on CNBC this morning and introduced he’ll be launching a hostile takeover of WBD in response:

Paramount will go straight to WBD shareholders with an all-cash, $30-per-share supply. That’s the identical bid WBD rejected final week, which Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison mentioned Monday by no means bought a response from Warner Bros. Discovery. The supply is backstopped with fairness financing from the Ellison household and the private-equity agency RedBird Capital and $54 billion of debt commitments from Financial institution of America, Citi and Apollo International Administration.

“We’re actually right here to complete what we began,” Ellison advised CNBC’s “Squawk on the Road” Monday. “We put the corporate in play.”

Puck had extra on the seemingly financing of the Ellisons’ supply:

the PSKY bid is totally financed by David Ellison’s father, Larry, with assist from RedBird Capital and the Saudis, and each Citigroup and Financial institution of America have been ready to refinance some $54 billion of the mixed debt of the 2 corporations. (RedBird can be a minority investor in Puck.)
…
Larry Ellison has deep pockets—he’s value $275 billion ultimately depend—and the Paramount Skydance crew has enlisted fairness help from the Saudis, however we’re coming into severe squid-eating-the-whale territory. The market worth of Paramount Skydance is $15 billion—down practically 10 p.c on Friday after the Netflix information—making the stretch to one thing like $115 billion for Warner Bros. Discovery appear slightly massive. It might nonetheless occur, although, if the Ellisons are actually decided to win. What’s one other $10 billion or so amongst buddies at this level?

CNBC’s Alex Sherman later tweeted concerning the function of the Gulf States in financing the deal. Ironic, no?

The largest distinction between the Netflix imaginative and prescient for Warner Bros. and the Ellisons’ is that Netflix doesn’t need CNN or any of the opposite cable stations (together with TNT, Discovery, HGTV and the Meals Community) owned by WBD.

In line with the NY Instances, Netflix wins these channels “shall be spun off right into a separate publicly traded firm that, by subsequent yr, shall be known as Discovery International. Gunnar Wiedenfels, the chief monetary officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, will lead the brand new firm.”

The Hollywood Reporter breaks down who’s on which aspect in Hollywood:

Hollywood labor, too, has come out towards the Netflix deal, though that’s to not say that the guilds can be for a Paramount supply both. The Writers Guild of America went scorched earth on the deal (“should be blocked“) and the chief of the Teamsters’ movement image division known as for it to be blocked. Theater homeowners group Cinema United known as it “an unprecedented menace” and its European equal UNIC says it “fails in each regard.”

However SAG-AFTRA, which additionally has a Netflix deal to air the Actor Awards, appeared to withhold judgment, saying the purchase “should end in extra creation and extra manufacturing, not much less.” And the Christopher Nolan-led Administrators Guild simply mentioned the deal raises “important issues.”

Film theaters are deeply suspicious of Netflix as effectively, per CNBC:

“It’s no secret that this was most likely the least desired final result for a lot of theater homeowners,” mentioned Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founding father of Field Workplace Idea. “There aren’t any two methods round that. This can be one of the crucial significant days within the historical past of the enterprise, nevertheless it might but be a constructive one for cinema if Netflix honors early indications that it’s going to preserve the theatrical enterprise mannequin of Warner Bros. properties and lean into these distinctive strengths which aren’t replicable on the streaming platform.”

Cinema United, the world’s largest exhibition commerce affiliation, got here out robust Friday morning towards the sale of WBD property to Netflix.

I also needs to observe that the bidding conflict for WBD has massively enriched WBD CEO David Zaslav whose tenure has been a catastrophe for the corporate since he led the Discovery Inc takeover of Warner Media in 2022.

UPDATE: I initially missed this report about Jared Kushner coming in on the Paramount aspect, one must assume he’ll have Trump’s help. Per Axios:

Affinity Companions, the non-public fairness agency led by Jared Kushner, is a part of Paramount’s hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery, in response to a regulatory submitting.
…
Affinity Companions was not talked about in Paramount’s press launch on Monday morning about its $108 billion bid, nor have been collaborating sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

Per the tender supply, every of these events “have agreed to forgo any governance rights – together with board illustration – related to their non-voting fairness investments.”
Every of them additionally was a part of Paramount’s unique WBD bid on Dec. 1, though fellow companion Tencent subsequently left the group.

We’ll proceed to cowl the battle over WBD because it develops however I wish to shut with some updates about one other American company carefully aligned with Israel’s informational force-feeding efforts: Palantir.

The Palantir Bros Need Extra Dystopia

Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale got here out robust in help of embattled Secretary of Conflict Pete Hegseth with this charming and pithy submit on X:

Maybe Lonsdale wished to up the ante on his rhetoric to maintain up with Palantir CEO and co-founder Alex Karp whose epic interview with the NYT’s Dealbook had Fort Bragg Cartel creator Seth Harp tweeting, “Hey Alex Karp cease taking a lot medicine. Everyone seems to be laughing at how inappropriately amped and giddy you’re. Your wild gesticulations and incapability to sit down nonetheless are apparent indicators of stimulant abuse. Significantly bro you appear to be a idiot. Get assist.”

The whole interview is value severe research by students of informational force-feeding and dystopian nightmares, however I’ll simply spotlight a few Karp’s feedback on Israel:

Alex Karp: While you help allies in in Israel, which I suppose sometimes is essentially the most controversial in public, curiously, typically the least controversial in non-public, um is uh it’s prefer it doesn’t truly, and I do help all these issues, it doesn’t truly imply that you simply help each resolution. It means you help them having a superior place to their adversaries.
…
All these nations and other people I defend in public like Israel is an ideal instance. I feel many of the critiques of Israel, not all, not all, however lots of people simply have like Israel derangement or Jewish derangement syndrome. It’s like they’re like hobbyists. It’s like they give thought to Jews all day. It’s like I don’t know. I grew up within the Jewish neighborhood. How typically do you concentrate on Jews? I don’t take into consideration Jews fairly often.

So, it’s like, hey, I in fact I’m going to defend in a approach publicly that I can guarantee you privately individuals have much less current conversations than the one we’re having. Like I advised I advised the Israeli authorities from the start, most violence to the individuals organizing violence, minimal violence to the individuals on the entrance finish, and I advised each single individual.

As for what Palantir is definitely doing in Gaza…

By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Palantir

New York Journal has a terrifying piece by Mohammed R. Mhawish titled “Watched, Tracked, and Focused Life in Gaza beneath Israel’s all-encompassing surveillance regime” on the fact of life in Gaza because the genocide groans into its third yr.

Israel’s navy assault that started within the aftermath of October 7, 2023, has left Gaza unrecognizable. The marketing campaign of mass killing, of severing communities, of constructing properties unlivable, was pursued with bombs and bullets and tanks. It operated, too, by means of a system of watching, understanding, and gathering us: drones that hovered endlessly overhead, quadcopters that dipped close to home windows and entered homes, facial-recognition scans at checkpoints, actions adopted by means of telephone monitoring, calls that broke with static earlier than an air strike. The Israeli military was utilizing synthetic intelligence to generate kill lists, monitoring our social-media accounts, and storing in bulk the audio of our telephone calls. Journalists, human-rights researchers, and authorized students have mapped items of the surveillance equipment in Gaza. What has largely been lacking is how this expertise landed on our bodies, properties, and neighborhoods; the way it reshaped day by day life for individuals pressured to dwell contained in the matrix; the way it reordered our minds.
…
I heard from greater than a dozen individuals residing beneath this regime of ceaseless watching. Certainly one of these individuals, Marwan, a 60-year-old hospital administrator in Gaza Metropolis, at first objected to my line of questioning. (I’m utilizing solely first names. Giving their full names in a report about surveillance seems like an providing to the occupation.) “Within the face of mass slaughter,” Marwan mentioned, “what distinction does it make that they will see my Fb posts or hack my calls or monitor my residence?”

However quickly Marwan couldn’t cease speaking about how the fixed consciousness of being watched had twisted and narrowed his world. He mentioned he now avoids calling his brother “lest he ask whether or not any rockets have been fired from the realm or whether or not the Israelis had arrived within the space,” and people phrases be misinterpret or distorted by unseen listeners. He described the collapse of connection itself: the best way concern strikes right into a household, one telephone name at a time, till even expressions of affection start to really feel harmful.

Khaled, who labored for practically three a long time as an ambulance driver for Al-Awda Hospital, mentioned that in an interrogation, an officer confirmed him a personal textual content message he’d despatched his household. “All the things we are saying, they will see,” Khaled mentioned. The textual content was mundane; the purpose, he felt, was to point out this 61-year-old father of seven how deeply they may peer into his non-public life. Folks advised me they’ve even extinguished their very own ideas, as if the interrogators and listeners might see inside their heads. “No person doesn’t have political leanings,” one man named Mohammed advised me. “However I’ve killed it. I’ve prohibited myself from talking on this. I’ve locked it with a key.”

Gaza is the top state desired by our imperial informational force-feeders and I concern it’s a preview of coming points of interest for the remainder of the world.

Rule by billionaire idiots with no ethical compass, an ethnosupremacist ideology, and no disgrace is certainly disgusting, despair-inspiring, and dystopian, however in my view I cling to the phrases of 1 whose identify was writ in water: Reality is magnificence, magnificence, reality.

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