"Now, there’s no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet ... Good luck! ... That’s sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall." That joke delivered a couple decades ago by Bill Clinton hasn't aged well. Countries like China and Russia have done a pretty good job cracking down on the internet, but not just by limiting what people see. Instead, they've followed a model famously described by Steve Bannon. "The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit." The Jell-O can't be nailed to the wall. But the zone can be so flooded with garbage, the Jell-O ceases to matter anyway. And the zone extends from remote areas in Africa to college campuses to a social media account near you. Wait, are we talking about Jell-O or shit or zones or democracy or media or truth or lies? Welcome to the flooded zone. In The Atlantic (Gift Article): Anne Applebaum does a great job explaining The New Propaganda War. "If people are naturally drawn to human rights, democracy, and freedom, then those concepts have to be poisoned." And sadly, these efforts know no borders—ethical or geographic. "Here is a difficult truth: A part of the American political spectrum is not merely a passive recipient of the combined authoritarian narratives that come from Russia, China, and their ilk, but an active participant in creating and spreading them. Like the leaders of those countries, the American MAGA right also wants Americans to believe that their democracy is degenerate, their elections illegitimate, their civilization dying. The MAGA movement’s leaders also have an interest in pumping nihilism and cynicism into the brains of their fellow citizens, and in convincing them that nothing they see is true." 2Cease the Day?"Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a cease-fire to halt the seven-month-long war with Israel in Gaza, hours after Israel ordered about 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent." (Now, let's see if Columbia U agrees to the truce.) This is the Middle East, so let's take any good news with a pillar of salt. But these are the most positive ceasefire headlines we've seen since the war started. It's worth noting that Hamas only budged when the threat on their leadership was imminent. 3The Persuadables"Roughly 244 million Americans will be eligible to vote. But 99.5% of us won't be deciders: We won't vote. Or we always vote the same way. Or we live in states virtually certain to be red or blue." Axios: The titanic Biden-Trump election likely will be decided by roughly 6% of voters in just six states. And those voters are not following each question in the Trump trial or reading 10,000 word articles on the nuances of the campus protests or even basing their political choices on the fate of Kristi Noem's pets. They're harder to reach and the campaigns will spend billions trying to do so. 4Elevator Pitch"In the first half of a January game at Stamford Bridge, the London stadium where the Chelsea Football Club has played since its founding in 1905, seven well-groomed spectators in green velvet jackets stood up together from their seats behind the substitutes’ bench as players raced up and down the field in front of them. They pulled out books and began to read. Then they all brushed their teeth." The sideshow was all part of a marketing effort for an upcoming movie. But it's also part of a trend that's invading England (and no, I don't mean teeth brushing, I mean the Americanization of English sporting events). NYT (Gift Article): When a Bunch of Bloody Yanks Came for English Soccer. "American investors are gobbling up the storied teams of the English Premier League — and changing the stadium experience in ways that soccer fans resent." 5Extra, ExtraImpose, a Challenge: "As much as I don't want to impose a jail sanction, I want you to understand that I will if necessary." Judge finds Trump violated gag order again and threatens jail time. (You'd be forgiven for thinking there's a better chance at peace in the Middle East than Trump ever being held accountable.) 6Bottom of the News"Late last year Randy Smith got a text from a complete stranger. She thanked him for putting her to sleep. Smith was shocked to discover that he was a YouTube star. The Ormond Beach, Fla., retiree was even more surprised about why: A tutorial he recorded and sold as a VHS tape in 1989 on how to use Microsoft Word had resurfaced as 'THE MOST BORING VIDEO EVER MADE' with 3.1 million views and close to 11,000 comments so far." WSJ (Gift Article): Is This the Most Boring Man in the World? Insomniacs swear by dull narrators who put them to sleep, whether on purpose or not.
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