Palantir’s Israel Boast Backfires; Europe Starts Slamming Doors

Leaked Iran Damage Report Shows Israel IN RUINS; Netanyahu’s War Claims Collapse

Right, so this is the bit of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Iran War victory lap that he’s been running for months now, no it wasn’t all about running away from his corruption trial apparently, that he doesn’t want anywhere near, because you can say “contained” as many times as you like. You can say “localised”, “manageable”, “operational”, all those lovely little words officials use when something is on fire but they don’t want anyone making a fuss. But then there’s the footage. There’s the fire. There’s the smoke. There’s the great big orange clue in the sky – flames and heat haze for those of you thinking Donald Trump’s raided the Red Bull and its given him wings. But now there’s been a leak consisting of a damage report and a repair schedule and it very much doesn’t care about the speech, doesn’t care about Netanyahu’s claims, the boasting of total victory, doesn’t care how heroic the evening news package on Channel 14 was supposed to sound. So what we need to look at here, the question that needs asking is not just what Iran hit. The question is what Israel has also tried to minimise, and why Netanyahu is still selling more war while the last one is apparently still sending him invoices and apparently will be for a very long time yet.

Smotrich Gets Torn To Bits On Camera!

Right, so Bezalel Smotrich has looked back at the Hamas hostage story, the families, the people who never came home, the deals he fought, the war his government kept selling as “total victory,” and somehow arrived at the conclusion that what this whole thing really needed was a round of applause for Bezalel Smotrich. Because of course it did. Why have grief, negotiations, pressure, families camping outside government buildings, months of rage and fear, when you could have one far-right minister sitting in a studio going: actually, this was basically me. A hostage story turned into a medal ceremony. For him. But the problem with trying to wear a national trauma as jewellery is that sometimes the people most closely attached to that trauma, the families of those killed, are still around. Still angry. Still bereaved and aggrieved. And suddenly this little victory lap routine starts to look a lot less like leadership and more like a man jogging round a cemetery in his party shoes. So let’s start with the boasting, because, really, you need to see the nerve of it. Well that wasn’t exactly subtle was it? Modesty not exactly his middle name. Placing himself right at the centre of it. Thanks to me. I mean, the sheer neck of it. You could power a small coastal town off that level of ego. The man Israeli reporting says opposed hostage deals at various stages is now presenting himself as the reason the hostages came home at all. Is there an election coming up? Oh just 3 months away now isn’t it?

Palantir’s Israel Boast Backfires; Europe Starts Slamming Doors

Right, so Palantir, the giant US surveillance-tech firm that keeps turning up wherever public systems, police data, health data and state power are being bundled into something shiny and expensive, has just hit a rather awkward patch of road, you’ll be broken hearted to hear I’m sure. Its boss has been boasting about Israel. Europe is starting to back away. France is moving off. Spain has reportedly told state-backed firms to avoid new contracts with them. Even permanently on the wrong side of history Germany has had its own sovereignty alarms go off over them. But here in Britain, because apparently our government sees a warning sign and mistakes it for a sales invitation, Palantir’s UK boss is on television over a blocked £50m Met Police deal, while Westminster still finds room for the corporate hospitality. Any excuse for a buffet. So this story is about the moment Palantir’s politics, its public-sector ambitions and Europe’s growing rejection of US tech dependency all collide, and Britain somehow ends up standing there having still rolled out a red carpet.

Lloyds Cut Off The Canary’s Cash; Only The ‘Wrong’ Outlet Noticed

Right, so Lloyds, one of the biggest banks in Britain, has cut off The Canary from its own cash. This isn’t demonetising a YouTube video. Not suspending a social media account. Not sending one of those cheery little “we’re updating our terms” emails that everyone deletes while making tea. A bank account. The thing a media outlet needs to pay staff, pay contractors, take donations, pay bills, and keep the lights on. The Canary says Lloyds cut off access to its funds. It says it was given no warning. It says it was given no explanation. And it says the damage was immediate. We do not know Lloyds’ reason. It seems no matter how often they are asked, they don’t want to answer. So it’s no good pretending we can read Lloyds’ mind through the vault door, but we will debate the matter and the longer they take to justify their action, the worse it still looks for them, social media full of comments in regards to boycotting them and their subsidiaries. A bank holds the money, a news outlet says it has been cut off from it – their own money - and Lloyds has still not publicly explained why, so functionally it looks like theft doesn’t it? They’ve got your cash, won’t give you access to it, won’t tell you why. But it isn’t just Lloyd’s we should be critical of here, because the only mainstream televised broadcaster to cover this story, actually treating this as a debanking story, is GB News. Yes. GBeebies. Covering The Canary. On debanking and why it should concern us.

Israeli Raid In Syria Left Something Behind; Now The Locals Have It

Right, so Israel invaded Syria and lost the phone. Not a metaphor. Not a joke. Well, it is a joke, unfortunately for the IDF, tiny violin time again, but it’s also the news. Israeli forces went into Abdin, in southern Syria’s Daraa province and the locals said to themselves we’re not having this. Residents blocked roads. Stones were thrown. Young men and boys were apparently among those throwing them and the IDF ran away. The soldiers had to pull back amid the confrontation, and then one classified military communications device somehow ended up exactly where a classified military communications device is not generally meant to end up: with Syrian civilians. So yes, they lost something. Boy did they lose something. Not a lunchbox. Not a water bottle. Not one of those little morale patches soldiers collect so they can look tactical on Instagram, the IDF equivalent of the boy scouts, if the scouts did a most amoral army badge. A classified military communications device, which basically amounts to a Samsung phone by the look of it. But it’s all encrypted, so I’m sure all the classified intelligence on it will be safe right? Right? A heavily armed force entered a Syrian village, hits local resistance, had to pull back amid the confrontation, and then Israeli sources themselves had to explain why a rather important bit of their kit had gone missing. So much for elite security doctrine. Mum I’ve lost my phone! Complete with state secrets on it perhaps? I wonder if the scouts do a most incompetent army badge instead?