Badlands Brief
Mossad Bait & Labor Tackles
The Badlands Brief is your daily drop of Badlands’ takes on the narratives dominating the info war. Read on, and join the conversation in the comments section.
Ukraine Attacks Turkey-Linked Gas Export Facility
Russia’s state-controlled energy company Gazprom said Ukrainian drones targeted the Krasnodarskaya compressor station serving the Blue Stream natural gas pipeline, which transports Russian gas to Türkiye across the Black Sea. Gazprom said the attack caused minor damage to a building at the facility but did not interrupt gas deliveries because repairs were carried out promptly and backup measures kept supplies flowing. Ukraine had not publicly commented on the strike at the time of reporting.
The Blue Stream pipeline is one of Russia’s key gas export routes to Türkiye, while the separate TurkStream pipeline also carries Russian gas through Türkiye to several European countries. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the attack as a threat to critical international energy infrastructure and said Russia expected countries affected by the pipeline, including Türkiye, to respond.
The reported strike comes as Ukraine has expanded long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, while Russia has continued missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy facilities.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: According to RT, this attack was intended to disrupt flows of natural gas to Turkey. This comes just days after President Trump visited Turkey to attend the NATO summit, where he repeated high praise for President Erdogan and Turkey—a move that triggered widespread rebuke and condemnation among the Israeli Diaspora and Mossad Media assets.
It seems reasonable to surmise that all of these events are connected and that Ukraine’s indirect attack against Turkey was on behalf of Israel—which has been pounding the war drums toward Turkey for months.
Early this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also identified Greece as one of Turkey’s intended targets, completing a constellation of datapoints for a theory I have been evolving over the past month.
I had originally conceded that the likelihood of this development seemed low, considering how close President Trump appears to be to bringing these wars to an end, though I could also argue that those same circumstances create a sense of desperation and panic that could lead to such a reckless move. In any case, it now seems more likely than ever that we will see Ukraine and Turkey engage in some kind of conflict, with Greece potentially coming to the aid of Ukraine.
We should keep an eye on the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as the TurkStream pipeline running across the Black Sea. The west coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea is also another potential target of a NATO/Israeli op.
Israel would love nothing more than to see European countries at war with Turkey.
Trump Guts EAC Again As Election Stories Dominate Headlines
President Donald Trump on Thursday dismissed the remaining members of the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the independent federal agency that certifies voting systems, accredits voting system testing laboratories, administers federal election grants, and maintains the national mail voter registration form. One Republican commissioner resigned while the two Democratic commissioners were notified by email that their positions had been terminated. The White House has not announced replacement nominees, though the president has authority to appoint new commissioners subject to Senate confirmation.
Election-related legal disputes, rule changes and court decisions continued across multiple states Wednesday, with developments affecting ballot counting, primary elections, election administration and federal voting policy. In New York, officials paused ballot counting in a closely contested Onondaga County Legislature race after allegations of voting irregularities prompted a court challenge, with the dispute expected to be resolved through further judicial proceedings.
In South Carolina, the state Republican Party filed suit seeking to end the state’s open primary system. Georgia’s State Election Board approved a rule requesting access to the Secretary of State’s election operations center on election night, while Colorado enacted an omnibus elections bill passed during its 2026 legislative session. Meanwhile, a federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to keep its citizenship verification database offline pending further litigation, and the Trump administration continued pursuing efforts to encourage states to adopt additional election integrity measures through federal grant conditions.
Ashe in America: Election news in an election year is always a heavy lift, but this year it’s downright transformational.
The topline is Trump finishing off the EAC. The EAC has been the “expert” that assures the public that erroneous code, or a code read error, or a glitch, or a database coding mismatch, for example, are no big deal. Even if there is a big deal, the EAC will downplay it – public trust requires it.
Once you realize that these bureaucracies will always speak to the public about elections with the primary goal of preserving trust in elections – even if it means lying to the public – you begin to question every election story you’ve ever been told.
And you begin to realize that elections are just that: stories.
US elections are incapable of delivering outcomes that the people can trust, because US elections are run in unauditable black boxes with fake voters, fake ballots, fake counts, and a whole lot of obstruction.
And so many stories.
I believe real elections are possible. But we can only have real elections if there is honesty and accountability for how fake they’ve been.
Firing the EAC principals (and letting that other one just resign) is not enough.
They should be prosecuted along with everyone else who participated in lying to the public about fake elections under the banner of “preserving trust.”
Man, that is uncomfortably Orwellian.
Accelerate.
Futures Rise & Oil Falls as Markets Shake Off Latest Middle East Escalation
US stock futures moved higher Thursday while oil prices retreated as investors looked past the latest US-Iran military exchanges, with markets signaling confidence that the conflict would not significantly disrupt global energy supplies. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted solid gains during Thursday’s session, led by technology shares, while West Texas Intermediate crude fell about 2% to near $72 per barrel as concerns eased over a prolonged interruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite renewed US strikes on Iranian targets and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks on US facilities in the Gulf, traders largely focused on the absence of major damage to oil production or export infrastructure. Analysts said market participants increasingly expect energy flows to continue despite heightened tensions, although oil prices remain on track for weekly gains as geopolitical risks persist.
Burning Bright: Okay, so this is going to be a weird take, but that’s what I’m here for.
On Wednesday night’s DPH (which was good, you should watch it,) Jon and I spent some time talking about the on-again, off-again real and fake war with Iran, which itself has been a perpetual on-again, off-again narrative Badlands has been tracking for most of the year.
The thing is, aside from the geopolitical effects, macro economic impact and even the culture clash that has resulted in nearing six months of Iranian discombobulation, a pattern has formed.
And even the normie and alternative layers of the Mindscape are catching on.
On the alternative layers (the financial alt. media and even much of the earnest, albeit often incorrect alt. media outside of the Truth Community ... think the voices who are actively trying to figure out what’s going on, but make the mistake of thinking everything they’re being told about is happening in corporeal reality as they’re being told about it,) skepticism is the blanket reaction to not just every de-escalation between Trump and the so-called Iranian Regime, but also escalation.
To wit, markets (which are largely influenced by major market makers, from hedge funds to banks) are somewhat ignoring this week’s major escalations.
Which is actually shocking.
Sure, there was a momentary dip in US futures, and a rise in oil futures on Trump’s bombastic restart of the fake war with Iran that they all think is real, but by week’s end, markets have basically absorbed the shocks.
How?
How are they absorbing shocks now when, just 3 months ago, every Truth Social post by Trump was being met with 72 hours of total market chaos?
I would say this is the end result of Trump’s Discombobulator, in which he is increasingly forcing futures markets and oil markets to price in ACTUALS.
Meaning ... supply and demand dynamics rather than the STORIES about those things.
By crying wolf on war AND peace every week for six months, Trump and the so-called Iranian Regime have the Collective Mindscape (and the markets from which it derives its financial value) locked in a clarifying pincer.
(Of course, this unstable stability in said markets also probably has to do with Trump’s direct threats to the US Oil Cartel.)
On the Normie layers, a similar story is playing out ... in that the story of Trump’s war with Iran is, well, played out.
This apathy isn’t a side effect, in my growing estimation. It’s one of the core features of Trump’s distillation process.
The discombobulator isn’t meant to confuse permanently. It’s meant to clarify, and to separate the real from the unreal.
Trump has NEVER been waging a real war. He is literally telling you this every chance he gets.
But he HAS been waging a War of Stories.
And honestly, this team, and this readership are the only people in the Info War talking about that, even if the rest of the Mindscape is beginning to live according to its broader implications.
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Israel Shared Intelligence With US of Alleged Iranian Plot to Assassinate President Trump
US officials were recently informed by Israeli intelligence of what was described as a new Iranian plot to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to multiple media reports citing officials familiar with the matter. The reported intelligence had not previously been identified by US agencies and is now being evaluated. Neither the White House nor the Iranian government has publicly commented on the reported intelligence.
According to the reports, the alleged threat is consistent with longstanding Iranian vows to retaliate for the 2020 US strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Speaking during the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump acknowledged that he remains a target of Iranian threats and said he has been aware of assassination risks for years.
The report comes amid renewed US-Iran hostilities following the collapse of the recent ceasefire and a new round of US military strikes on Iranian targets.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: You got to be kidding me, right?
The best part about this development is that it was President Trump who actually seeded this narrative into the news cycle during his NATO press conference the other day.
I could be wrong, but it seems that he is baiting Mossad Media and the NeoCon-wing of the Uniparty into running with this. They have been saying for the past two years that it was Iran who tried to kill President Trump at the Butler campaign rally in 2024.
In reality, it seems far more likely that it would have been Israel. The net effects of a successful assassination attempt against Trump are actually quite positive for Israel. They would immediately blame Iran for the hit, and then be granted instant permission to pass all the necessary measures to tighten the grip of power as far as surveillance of the American People. Israel would also be given a free pass to wage war against Iran and any suspected co-collaborators—like Iraq and Afghanistan all over again.
And just like with Charlie Kirk, taking out President Trump while he still ostensibly has a positive public relationship with Israel would immediately “freeze” that position (Trump’s opinion of Israel) forever in place for the rest of time—meaning Trump could never narratively turn on Israel and reveal its leadership for the scoundrels that they appear to be.
Given President Trump’s very public relationships with the various Muslim leaders in the region—this week, highlighting Erdogan and Syria’s al-Sharaaa—it seems reasonable to presume that the IDF and Mossad are not very pleased with Trump’s foreign policy initiatives in the region. I doubt that they are likely thrilled over President Trump’s bromances with all the Muslim leaders of the Middle East.
For these reasons, and many more, only a fool would rule out Israel as a suspect in any assassination attempt against President Trump.
Department of Labor Launches Major H-1B Visa Fraud and Human Trafficking Investigation
The US Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) launched a major investigation into fraud and human trafficking tied to the H-1B visa and Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) systems.
“These abuses undermine the integrity of Department of Labor programs designed to address genuine labor shortages — not to line the pockets of bad actors at the expense of American jobs,” the press release stated. “This investigation reflects the OIG’s unwavering commitment to dismantle human trafficking and forced-labor networks that exploit the foreign guest worker visa system. The OIG is determined to root out every scheme that preys on vulnerable workers and take jobs from American workers.”
Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito said, “This isn’t just paperwork fraud—it’s the exploitation of vulnerable workers, forced labor, the displacement of American workers, and abusive human trafficking. As the Inspector General, my top priorities are exposing fraud, protecting American workers, and putting criminals in cuffs.”
The OIG is launching a nationwide reporting campaign urging US and foreign workers to report suspected program abuses. Officials said rewards may be available for information that leads to successful prosecutions.
Ashe in America: D’Esposito appears to be front-running a “this is just paperwork” narrative from the administration’s critics, and human trafficking is mentioned several times in the press release. “Abusive human trafficking” … is there any other kind?
This is encouraging. It’s also a callback to the 2024 H-1B scandal that nearly tore us apart and ultimately cost us Vivek.
From The Badlands News Brief on December 30, 2024:
“You can’t have ‘America First Globalism.’ Trump has promised to reinvest in American workers, companies, and industries, unleashing a golden age for Americans. This goal is at odds with the global world order, whose exploitation of the people of the world, including Americans, is the actual problem statement. The fact that Americans spent a week on [H-1Bs] is a good thing. Everyone elevated their knowledge of visa types and talent pools and skill gaps. Americans seem more united around the goals of the America first movement and have a more sober view of the barriers to achieving them. Nothing worth doing ever came easy…We should never sacrifice what is right for a consensus outcome. We are not trading one set of globalists for another. America First.”
Still true.
The 2024 H-1B outrage educated and elevated the public mind to actually grasp the widespread corruption and criminality of US labor markets – and it seeded the conditions to build legitimate American support for accountability and change.
What a timeline!
BONUS ITEMS
The Science is Very Upset at the Trump Administration’s Proposed Federal Grant System Overhaul & Climate Skepticism
The Trump administration is advancing changes to the federal research grant process that would require agencies to place greater emphasis on national priorities, transparency, and practical outcomes when awarding scientific grants. The proposal has drawn criticism from many researchers and university groups, who argue it could reduce funding for basic research and increase political influence over grant decisions.
Separately, the administration established a new White House climate office led by climate policy critic David Legates, a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official who has questioned aspects of mainstream climate modeling. Administration officials say the office will review federal climate science and policy to ensure analyses are objective and free from political bias. Critics contend the move could reshape how climate research informs federal policymaking and weaken existing climate initiatives.
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I have a gas station at the end of my street. I now watch the price of gas. I haven't seen it move since this latest tiff. Which is surprising and quite encouraging. I keep waiting for it to drop again - which is hasn't yet. This lack of movement on the price, for me, gives credence to the commentary by BB.
Grants founded on REAL science AND transparency?? "Reduce funding for basic research...." Oh - you mean they won't get government money to study the feeding habits of the "said endangered insect" that no one has ever heard of? How sad. Or they won't be able to use government money to research and create more fake viruses? How crushing. I guess they will have to become REAL scientists studying REAL useful science. OR we just stop needlessly and cruelly studying things designed to kill us.
Thank you to the Badlands crew for helping me to be informed but not emotional. What a tremendous gift in these times.
@GBPH - thank you for articulating what many of us believe to be true re: israel. The Lee Harvey Oswald 2.0 CK saga is imo the biggest "tell" going on right now. Saga #2: The on-again, off-again iran war saga has become so exhausting that many of us (who seemingly know what's coming) types aren't even paying attention anymore bc no matter what appears to be happening, two days later, a new narrative is seeded. Many of us just roll our eyes and figure: oh well! I can only hope that this narrative battle fatigue is going to climax by the midterms, bc most MAGA and conservatives I engage with have become so annoyed & disenchanted by these insane, never ending, never justice fulfilled events that ignoring all news is what keeps us sane. It's beyond exhausting at this point. NCSWIC is now a seemingly butt of a joke ~ as my fav Badlands contributor: thank you for your being brave enough to tell us what we're all thinking. I pray we start to see something truly substantive by summer's end. (Unsealed indictments, arrests, raids, israel & ukraine fully exposed, NATO destroyed, why trump isn't interested in the Butler assassination anymore, who really is behind CK's assassination, etc)
God bless America 🇺🇸