Badlands News Brief
Biden Bungles Rafah as Trump Trials Collapse
The News Cycle is almost impossible to track these days. At least, to do so fully.
That’s where we come in.
In the Badlands News Brief, the Badlands Media team hand pick news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community.
Many items feature original (and subjective) commentary. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see our writers’ Substack accounts and check out their other work.
Now, onto the news from Wednesday, May 8 …
Biden says he’ll stop sending offensive weapons to Israel if it invades Rafah
President Biden on Wednesday warned he would stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons like bombs and artillery shells if Israeli forces launch an invasion of Rafah, laying down a clear line amid outcry over the conflict in Gaza.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem,” Biden added.
The White House has urged Israel against sending forces into Rafah without a clear plan to evacuate civilians safely, as the war has already left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead. About a million refugees have settled in Rafah after fleeing fighting in northern Gaza.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been adamant about plans to destroy Hamas, the group that controls Gaza and orchestrated the Oct. 7 attacks that killed more than 1,100 Israelis. And he says that requires going after Hamas leaders hiding out in Rafah. — The Hill
Our Take: “We live in an Age of Cowards, where little dandies like Lindsey Graham sashay around like Elton John at the Troubadour, crying out for war, death, and famine in faraway places that he'll never have to see or deal with.
Whenever I hear elitist scum like Lindsey or Nikki Haley—two people who have never seen combat or even served in the military—shrill at the top of their lungs for mass murder, all I can think about is how deranged these psychopaths sound whenever they speak.
You never hear strong, capable men (especially combat veterans) call for violence or warfare. It's always the petulant cowards and passive-aggressive little dandies who want to hurt people, and they always expect better men than themselves to go do the dirty work for them.
Many people will try to make this political, and have a knee-jerk reaction to a headline, simply because it is coming from the Joe-Biden-Dumpster-Fire-Regime. But the fact remains that right now, there are fleets of tanks and armored bulldozers driving over tent-cities that are full of starving women and children. (If you don't believe me, click the linked article and see for yourself. Israel has shamelessly released their own footage of these armor columns entering Rafah.)
Hamas has never had a political presence in the West Bank, yet now we are starting to see support for their militancy grow, as the IDF engages in its own operations in Samaria and Judea. I suspect that this was very much an intended consequence of Israel's overzealous warmongering. By antagonizing the Palestinians, they can subvert any interest in a lasting peace.
A perfect subversion of the Abraham Accords.
Only a fool would look at this situation and believe that more violence is going to defeat Hamas. Hamas is using that footage released by Israel of tanks and armored bulldozers entering Rafah to recruit more soldiers. There is continued guerilla activity in the northern portions of Gaza, areas that the IDF claims have already been ‘cleansed’ of Hamas fighters.
Netanyahu is giving Hamas exactly what it needs to swell its ranks, and frankly, Hamas is winning the Public Relations battle in the court of public opinion. There has never been more sympathy worldwide for Hamas, because Israel is ruthlessly killing women and children who had already previously fled the northern battlefields, seeking refuge per the guidance of Israel. Even the senile old invalid occupying the White House can see that.
(You, American Taxpayer, are funding both sides of this sick little charade.)” —
Georgia appeals court will hear Trump bid to disqualify D.A. Fani Willis in election case
A Georgia appeals court Wednesday agreed to hear a bid by Donald Trump to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the former president’s criminal election interference case.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in March declined to remove Willis from the criminal case following revelations that she was engaged in a romantic relationship with a member of her legal team.
Trump is charged in the case with illegally attempting to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden in Georgia’s 2020 election. There is currently no trial date set in the case.
Trump attorney Steve Sadow in a statement said the former president is looking forward to telling the appeals court “why the case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution.”
The decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals to take up Trump’s bid to disqualify his prosecutor is the latest setback for Willis’ high-profile case against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. — CNBC
Our Take: “Re: Collapsing Trump Trials ...
The reason this comes as something of a shock to normieville is because humans tend to trend toward binary thinking.
IE: Trump is either going to be found guilty or innocent. The story is going to have an emphatic and codified ending.
That said, one of the interpretations of the ongoing Witch Hunt we've discussed in recent weeks is the Attrition refrain writers like Jonathan Turley often discuss, which posits that, when the foundation of these obvious lawfare cases are built on sand, the System will look for opportune 'outs' or off-ramps in order to stave off even more damages received by the Trump counters.
That sounds counter-intuitive to many. After all, hasn't Trump been damaged by the Witch Hunt?
Has he?
His polling is at record highs, even according to the Establishment, and the entirety of the Globalist Superstate is signal-boosting Trump 2.0 while TIME Magazine runs an 'If He Wins' deep dive into Agenda 47.
Who's really in control, here?” —
Ukraine Lawmakers Back Bill Allowing Prisoners To Join Army
Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday passed a bill that would enable some prisoners to fight in the armed forces, as the nation faces a critical shortage of manpower on the front lines.
Long opposed to the measure and having criticised Moscow's mobilisation of prisoners to fill its ranks, Kyiv has recently U-turned amid fresh Russian advances on the battlefield.
The legislation would need to be signed by the chairperson of parliament -- the Verkhovna Rada -- and President Volodymyr Zelensky before coming into force.
"The parliament has voted 'yes'," MP Olena Shuliak, head of Zelensky's party, said in a Facebook post.
"The draft law opens the possibility for certain categories of prisoners who expressed a desire to defend their country to join the Defence Forces," she said.
Mobilisation would be voluntary and only open to certain categories of prisoners. — Barron’s
Our Take: “What could possibly go wrong with emptying prisons onto the battlefield? Is the goal of this conflict to eliminate all the men in Ukraine, or is that an ‘unintended consequence’ of the blue and yellow money laundering operation?
Not to go right to ‘everything is fake,’ but can we talk about some of these stipulations and parameters?
First, prisoners must volunteer. ‘Do you want to stay in prison or leave?’ Take your time.
Also, ‘former high-ranking officials and those guilty of serious corruption are not eligible.’
Okay, but serious corruption by Ukraine standards? We’re talking about the country where they fired the prosecutor looking into the US Vice President’s son, right?
Finally, ‘prisoners who killed two or people are not eligible.’ Only one-time murderers can apply to die for the glory of Mother Russia, got it.
The US is standing with a country that persecutes religion, gives aid and comfort to actual Nazis, and canceled their elections. Because that’s how we ‘protect democracy.’ Or something.
Have you heard Zelenskyy play ‘Chopsticks?’” —
Private US Firm With Special Forces Veterans To Take Control Of Rafah Border Crossing
Despite the Biden administration repeatedly warning Israeli leadership in public against a full-scale Rafah invasion, President Biden actually greenlighted the IDF's takeover of the Rafah border crossing, Axios has revealed. The report comes amid questions over whether Netanyahu has crossed Biden's "red line" on Rafah.
The report insists that Israel hasn't crossed that line, so long as the scope of the operation remains limited and does not result in mass civilian displacement and humanitarian catastrophe. Speaking of the Biden-Netanyahu phone call on Monday, a senor Israeli official told Axios, "Biden didn't pull the hand break on the capture of the Rafah crossing during the call." So far the IDF has focused on airstrikes and limited ground incursions in the city's east, after dropping thousands of leaflets telling civilians to exit the area.
However, the US administration has taken the unprecedented step of withholding ammo and bomb shipments to Israel in order to send a 'message'.
An Israeli Haaretz report issued Tuesday has further revealed that there was actually some level of cooperation and coordination with Washington on an IDF tank unit's takeover of Rafah crossing. This was reportedly to ensure no weapons for Hamas can pass into the Strip via the large crossing.
The US, Israel, and Egypt have agreed that a private American security firm will take control of Rafah Crossing and oversee it. As of Wednesday, the IDF has announced it reopened the crossing, and it is retaining full control for now. — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “As if we needed yet another parallel between the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. Now we have US mercenaries deploying on both battlefields?
From the NeoCon-Warmonger's standpoint, the advantage in using mercenaries over formal military is that there is no legal oversight of mercenary groups. They are rarely held accountable for their misconduct, and are not required to file any formal reports for the public record. They are not awarded medals, and when they are killed, they don't receive the pomp and circumstance of a state funeral, or the negative PR that comes with it.
Now that the IDF has seized the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, it controls all of Gaza's border crossings for the first time in nearly 20 years, when it was forced to withdraw all soldiers and settlers from Gaza after Hamas drove them out.
So it would seem that Netanyahu has accomplished his mission of re-establishing a military occupation of Gaza, which was lost in 2006. (The IDF had previously occupied Gaza since 1967.)
Bringing in American mercenaries is a move that will likely only antagonize Hamas, and provoke more escalation, as they have explicitly stated that any foreign soldiers who are brought in to fight with the IDF will be targeted. We can only hope that these former SOF operators are good Americans, and will exercise good moral judgement, and even restraint—something the IDF has routinely failed to do.
What I don't understand is why we need SOF operators, armor columns, and 2,000 pound bombs, when you have over 600,000 kids in that refugee encampment. Even if there are Hamas fighters hiding among them—and my understanding is that the fighters all stayed behind up north, to fight the IDF—what is the grand plan, here?
Are you going to start a firefight with over a million displaced civilians standing between you and the bad guys? Or are you just going to bomb them all to kingdom come?
The world is watching, and judging.” —
Lawmaker: State Dept. documents support Wuhan lab leak theory
The Republican chairman of a congressional committee investigating the origins of COVID-19 says after seeing classified State Department documents, he came away with the impression the Wuhan lab leak theory is accurate.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, says there’s enough credible evidence in these documents to support the assertion that the coronavirus accidentally leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, where research on the disease was being done. According to Wenstrup, based on what he saw, this was something the Chinese government attempted to cover up.
NewsNation obtained a heavily redacted version of the documents that Wenstrup and others working for the committee were allowed to see.
Headers above certain paragraphs give some insight into what Wenstrup has said, such as one that asks, “Who Ordered the Cover Up? Signs point to Beijing, not Local Officials,” and another that says, “Beijing Knew Earlier Than They Admit.”
These documents, put together by officials at the U.S. State Department, had been requested by the committee back in February of last year. While the State Department said the committee could not physically have the documents, certain lawmakers and staff were allowed to view them. — NewsNation
Our Take: “Shark Fin Template rising in a big way when it comes to Covid this week.
We've got a series of ‘random’ and simultaneous inflection points piercing through the mass psychological layers to repopulate the Collective Mind.
From ‘reformed’ Covid mouthpieces like Chris Cuomo engaging in some of the most shameful Marxist cuckoldry backpedaling to date, to fresh disclosures regarding Saint Fauci, Wuhan and vaccine injuries to AstraZeneca and others beginning to pull from the markets ...
Something seems to be bubbling just under the surface, and while we've been prepped to expect Covid 2.0, the narrative pattern we're seeing in the War of Stories seems to be one that marks more retreat than advance by the establishment.
In a war based on the obfuscation of information itself, any disclosures codified into the public mind mark permanent ground taken in the Mind War, and the Covid era was the most obvious and recent PsyOp perpetrated against the American people.
What do [they] fear most?” —
Denver Sets Up 'Host Migrants In Your Home' Hotline
The Democrat run city of Denver is encouraging residents to host migrant families in their homes and has even set up a hotline so people can volunteer to take in illegals who have no where else to go.
FOX31 Denver reports that a charity calling itself ‘Hope Has No Borders’ “began pairing migrant workers and their families with hosts in Colorado in late 2023. Now, with help from the United Way, getting paired up is a simple phone call away by dialing 211.”
A news segment details how one resident happily took in a family of four migrants after seeing that they are camping out in airports and on the streets because all the shelters are full.
The woman, Erin Lennon, is “a single mom with a spare bedroom,” according to the report.
Not a rich liberal with an eight bedroom house then.
Imagine our shock.
The report notes that Lennon’s young son “was nervous at first about the idea of taking in strangers,” but she states “Some of the greatest things that, you know, that you do or have done, has been involved with some risk.”
As we previously highlighted, this kind of thing is happening in several cities nationwide. — Modernity News
Our Take: “If you live in Denver and would like to voluntarily quarter NWO troops in your home, just dial 211 and expect a 20 minute vetting process.
Also, the city has cut police and fire funding by $89.9M to support newcomer support programs.
Also, my 7th grader’s feeder High School just canceled graduation at the Air Force Academy because the security requirements to access campus are burdensome for newcomer families.
Also, Colorado’s homicide rate has now surpassed the national homicide rate for the first time in over 40 years. I’m sure that’s a coincidence, and correlation doesn’t equal causation, and wanting to live in a community without skyrocketing homicide is the height of privilege. Nonetheless, murder is literally up.
Also, the government is desperately trying to disarm us.
We are a cautionary tale and, while it may be too late for us here in the Centennial State, if you all out there in still-somewhat-sane America learn from our experiment in rainbow communism, you may still save yourselves. I’m rooting for you guys.” —
President Biden says he would veto resolution countermanding SEC crypto rule
United States President Joe Biden’s office has issued a statement informing lawmakers and the public that his administration plans to veto a joint resolution affecting crypto policy at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if it comes to his desk.
In a May 8 statement, the White House said it “strongly opposes” members of the House of Representatives seeking to pass a joint resolution it claims would disrupt the SEC’s efforts “to protect investors in crypto-asset markets and to safeguard the broader financial system.” H.J.Res. 109, introduced in the House in February, would overturn the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121, which requires banks to keep customers’ digital assets on its balance sheets, with capital maintained against them.
“SAB 121 was issued in response to demonstrated technological, legal, and regulatory risks that have caused substantial losses to consumers,” said the Biden administration. “By virtue of invoking the Congressional Review Act, it could also inappropriately constrain the SEC’s ability to ensure appropriate guardrails and address future issues related to crypto-assets including financial stability. Limiting the SEC’s ability to maintain a comprehensive and effective financial regulatory framework for crypto-assets would introduce substantial financial instability and market uncertainty.” — Coin Telegraph
Our Take: “The implications of this are pretty massive, and I'd say this qualifies as a Devo/Control proof, as G says.
The Central Banking apparatus has leveraged control by leveraging the valuation system. This includes gold, historically.
They can't sell derivatives without the underlying assets to back them up, like they originally did with the gold market before eventually doing it with the very dollar that was itself a derivative of gold.
We're currently in an era of third-order effects from the gold standard, not just our removal from it.
If the Central Banks control the underlying asset, they can then build derivative markets on top of it. If independent custodians hold the underlying asset, and are publicly audited, the music stops, and the shell game with it.
Now, if cabal elements want to custody BTC, they'll have to do it the same way all sovereign individuals are. But the Deep State's system is itself built on mutual corruption and thus, mutual distrust and criminality.
Some see the ETFs as a cabal rugpull. I see them as a rugpull ON the cabal, draining away their financial energy into the new asset class they can't hide from the public ledger.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and it's also deadly to vampires, which is what bankers are, at heart.
In short, these people don't trust each other, hence the need to centralized controlling apparatus like the Central Banks in the first place.
If the banks can't hold the new asset class that will come to define the new base layer in valuation, what leverage do they have?” —
BONUS ITEMS
Democrats Join Republicans To Block Greene's Bid To Oust Speaker Johnson
The House of Representatives on May 8 overwhelmingly voted to block a measure to strip House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) of the gavel advanced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) forced a vote on a motion to vacate after meeting with the speaker twice this week to discuss her grievances and demands.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) then offered a measure to table Ms. Greene’s motion to vacate. Democrats joined Republicans to approve its shelving in a 359 to 43 vote. 11 Republicans voted to move forward with the ouster attempt.
House Democrat leaders had earlier pledged to help protect Mr. Johnson in the event of Ms. Greene’s ouster vote, citing his help in passing $95 billion foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific.
Speaking on the House floor during what was intended to be the final vote of the week, Ms. Greene unleashed a litany of complaints against Mr. Johnson.
She received a loud “boo” from members present when she brought the resolution to the floor.
The Georgia lawmaker was accompanied by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of two Republicans who openly expressed support for the measure.
Mr. Johnson has previously denounced Ms. Greene’s attempt to oust him, calling it a “dangerous gambit.” — The Epoch Times
RFK Jr Challenges Trump To Debate At Libertarian Convention
Hoping to exploit their overlapping appearance commitments, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr on Tuesday challenged Donald Trump to a debate at the Libertarian Party's national convention this month, saying it represents "perfect neutral territory."
Playing to Trump's ego, Kennedy's invitation started off with an expression of gratitude to the former president for spotlighting major media's "rigged polling" against Trump. "We have this concern too," said Kennedy in a lengthy post on X, saying Democrat-aligned pollsters use deceptive methods that result in them "pretending" Kennedy is languishing in the single digits.
Kennedy then shared the results of his campaign's own taking of America's electoral pulse:
This is why we did our own poll with Zogby — the largest and most accurate poll of this election cycle. We had Zogby ask about head-to-head matchups. (1) You versus President Biden. (2) Me versus President Biden. (3) Me versus you. The results? You beat President Biden handily. I crush him as well, by even more. And against each other, I beat you in a nail-biter.
In a three-way, you are ahead but I’m coming up strong. Two new polls (CNN and Quinnipiac) have me above the 15% debate threshold. Another (Activote) has me at 26% among young voters. And you and I are tied among America’s 70 million Independents.
It wasn't all flattery: Kennedy also slid in a shot at Trump's policies, saying many of the former president's supporters are backing Kennedy this time, saying they're "upset that you blew up the deficit, shut down their businesses during Covid, and filled your administration with swamp creatures." — ZeroHedge
AfD Politician Convicted For Warning About Gang Rapes
The Verden regional court in Lower Saxony has upheld a verdict against Rotenburg AfD leader Marie-Thérèse Kaiser for incitement to hatred. The 27-year-old was also found guilty in the appeal hearing on Monday of inciting hatred against Afghan local workers.
For this, the politician now has to pay 100 day fines (a type of fine related to daily income of the convicted) plus a fine of €60, a total of €6,000. In Germany, you are considered to have a criminal record if you are sentenced to pay more than 90 day fines.
The charge was based on a post that Kaiser had spread on her social media accounts in August 2021. In it, she wrote: “Afghanistan refugees; Hamburg SPD mayor for ‘unbureaucratic’ acceptance; Welcoming culture for gang rape?”
Among other things, the politician linked to an article showing that Afghans in Germany are particularly heavily involved in gang rape.
The verdict has now also caught the attention of X CEO Elon Musk. He retweeted a post summarizing the punishment and wrote: “Are you saying the penalty was imposed for repeating accurate government statistics? Was there anything wrong with what she said?” — The European Conservative
We hope you enjoyed this brief look back at the major news items you might have missed in this ever-escalating and ever-accelerating news cycle as the Information War continues to rage on around us.
As always, if you have any thoughts on these news items or the MANY others swirling in the digital ether, drop into the comments below to share them with your fellow Badlanders.
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Anyone interested in voting RFK,jr make sure you do your homework don't let him slide in as was done with Obama. In America a candidate states one thing the people like and they are in love with the candidate. RFK,jr has stated if a bill to eliminate the 2nd amendment was put before him he would sign it, he also thinks climate deniers should be imprisoned. Plus he is a high tax man. RFK,jr is much farther to the LEFT than he lets on. So be very careful.
Honestly, reading your writeup gets me through all this mess. Thank you. God Bless you all.