Badlands News Brief
Speaker Trump, Proxy War Funding & Emergency Alerts
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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 picks news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community.
Items feature original commentary from members of our growing team of citizen journalists. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see their other work.
Now, onto the news from Wednesday, October 4 …
Donald Trump Says He is Willing to Serve as Speaker – “We’ll Do Whatever’s Best for the Country”
Several conservatives including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have called on President Trump to serve as Speaker of the House as one way of helping him become President again.
Well, President Trump has good news for these conservatives: he is willing to do it!
Former President Donald Trump confirmed today from a New York courthouse that he has been approached about the possibility of becoming the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Trump stated that he would be willing to take on the role, emphasizing his commitment to doing “whatever’s best for the country and for the Republican Party.”
Imagine Biden and Trump in the same room negotiating. To be a fly on the wall. — The Gateway Pundit
Our Take: “Wow. Speaker Trump has an interesting ring to it, and the drama that would ensue from such a move would be priceless. But how likely is it?
Remember, the RINOs have the voting power to block it. Unless it's truly been sheer kayfabe all along, it's difficult to imagine that RINOs, who hate Trump's guts and are laughing at him being taken to court, are going to vote for him to become Speaker of the House. On the plus side, we will know exactly who the real patriots in Congress are based on how they vote, but all we have to do to ascertain that information is to look at their voting records.
If we want to entertain some deep speculation, assuming the RINOS do end up voting for Trump to be speaker, imagine Trump's ascension to the presidency coming early after a befuddled Joe Biden is removed and Kamala is taken out in some other way. I wouldn't bet on that outcome, as it would require a few acts of God, namely that the Democrats in the Senate would have to vote to impeach Joe Biden, and that is something that the likes of Fetterman and Bernie Sanders will never, ever do, and then they would also have to impeach Kamala. It is an interesting thought nonetheless.” —
Another Take: “One of my favorite things about not knowing what Donald Trump is going to do next as a supporter is the reminder that ... [They] have NO idea what he's going to do next, either.
What is exciting and fun for us is the epitome of existential dread for [them.]
When it comes to the American sociopolitical zeitgeist, Trump's not locked in with them ... they're locked in with him.” —
Defense Stocks Fall As Paralyzed House With No Speaker Puts US Ukraine Aid At Risk
On Tuesday evening, Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, was voted out (216-to-210 vote) as the Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Hardline Republicans were angered by McCarthy's willingness to fund Ukraine's war while arguing that the money could have been better spent to protect the southern border and restore law and order in imploding major US cities. The historic ouster of the speaker has weighed on defense stocks as traders anticipate challenges for the new speaker in securing further funding for Ukraine.
"The conservative revolt that ousted McCarthy has left the chamber in a state of paralysis until a new speaker is found. That raises the chances of a US government shutdown next month and a delay in further Ukraine assistance," Bloomberg said.
In a note to clients, Goldman's Alec Phillips said:
All other things equal, the leadership change raises the odds of a government shutdown in November, though with several weeks left until the deadline, many outcomes are possible. With many policy disputes remaining and a $120bn difference between the parties on the preferred spending level for FY2024, it is difficult to see how Congress can pass the 12 necessary full-year spending bills before funding expires Nov. 17. The next speaker is likely to be under even more pressure to avoid passing another temporary extension—or additional funding for Ukraine—than former Speaker McCarthy had been.
On Wednesday morning, European defense stocks, such as Rheinmetall, Saab, BAE Systems, and Leonardo, slid in the cash market. Bloomberg said this was because of the oustering of McCarthy. — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “It seems that the era of 'easy money' isn't just ending for the big banks on account of the stagflationary death spiral the fiat petrodollar has found itself in ever since Trump ordered the Operation Warp Speed printing of untold billions back in 2020 ... a trend his second Admin (also known as the Biden Admin) continued upon assuming office.
It's also ending for the Military Industrial Complex.
While takes are ALL over the board when it comes to Kevin McCarthy's ouster as Speaker, and theories abound regarding his temporary or long-term replacement, consider the Net Effects the Collective Mind is observing.
The Congressional Chaos we're witnessing is having two major short-term effects, according to legacy media rags like Bloomberg:
Increased odds of a government shutdown beginning in November.
Decreased odds of additional funding packages to Ukraine in the coming months.
As a result, Defense Stocks are hemorrhaging.
In short ... I'm struggling to find the bad news.” —
Emergency alert to ping cell phones nationwide Wednesday
A test of the nation's emergency alert system is scheduled to ping cell phones across the U.S. on Wednesday and send alerts to radios and TVs.
The big picture: It's the third nationwide test of the wireless emergency alert system but only the second for all cellphones, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Federal Communications Commission.
The test message includes an explanation that the alert is not for an actual emergency.
Why it matters: The federal agencies said the test is to make sure "systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level."
The system is used to warn about dangerous weather, missing children and other "critical situations," per the FCC.
The wireless emergency alerts system has been used more than 84,000 times since its 2012 launch.
Flashback: The first test of the wireless system was a "presidential alert" in October 2018.
The last nationwide test of wireless alerts on cell phones was in August 2021. — Axios
Our Take: “As of press time, we seem to have survived. I haven’t encountered a zombie. That said, there were some interesting, albeit anecdotal data points based on people sharing their stories online.
Brian turned his phone off, and he did not get the alert when he turned his phone back on; but a friend in Maryland also turned her phone off, and received the alert a minute after booting up. Both were using iPhones. Other iPhone users reported disallowing alerts in settings — turning them completely off — and still receiving the alert. Android users reported that turning off the notifications worked, and they didn’t receive the alert. Robby Starbuck posted, then deleted on X about the alert giving people headaches. Some circulated their images of the alert, and they were not all the same.
The alert was one of those moments where it felt like the country took a collective, momentary breath because of the varying speculation about what was going to happen. In the end, the alert was like every other emergency alert we receive. But it was fun while it lasted.” —
Another Take: “A lot of the usual grifter fear porn abounded ahead of today's Emergency Alert System test.
That said, it's inarguable that this was a Mass Psychological Event, something that became memetic because it bears the three major markers for doing so:
It's Strange.
It's Funny.
It's Worrying.
Striking those three chords at once is something the Deep State has mastered over the years due to their study and implementation of the Hegelian Dialectic.
Now, I believe that trend has been turned around on them.
Many of us have been asserting that the 'Scare Event,' if it does come to pass would likely be the threat, but not the actualization of a nuclear attack to kick off World War 3.
The Net Effect of this were the enemy in control would be to engineer yet another in a long line of False Flags & their ensuing Money Wars.
The Net Effects if patriots are in control (they are,) would be public mandate for Peacemakers to take center stage.” —
DeSantis Accuses Trump Of 'Mailing In' Campaign
Confident and relatively unscathed through two debates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis looked and acted like former President Trump’s leading challenger for the Republican nomination. All that is missing now is the frontrunner himself.
Trump skipped the first two debates, and his campaign announced that he will be a no-show at a third, prompting DeSantis to accuse Trump of being “missing in action” and, perhaps even worse in the eyes of Republicans, of following the example of President Biden.
“With all due respect to Donald Trump,” DeSantis told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News last Sunday, “we’re not going to beat the Democrats by adopting Joe Biden’s basement strategy.”
The governor was deliberately refurbishing one of Trump’s favorite attacks, namely that Biden hid from voters and the press during the pandemic, setting up shop in his basement rather than stepping into the spotlight for scrutiny. “I got a guy who stays in his damn basement all day long,” the former president lamented in front of a brimming Virginia crowd in September 2020, “and I’m doing this.”
While the rallies remain a staple, Trump is now the one who will not meet his critics or rebut their criticism “mano a mano,” leaving the DeSantis campaign with the distinct impression that the former president might not be the same debate brawler who so easily bullied the last GOP field. They think he may have lost a step. They clearly hope to prod him into a showdown. Mostly, though, they say voters deserve to hear Trump defend his record directly. — RealClear Wire
Our Take: “Imagine being so inept that your biggest potential insult to Donald Trump is to confirm what the rest of the country already knows:
Campaigning for a presidency he never lost against 'candidates' who are nothing but Uniparty shills & RINO cast-offs is beneath his notice, and unworthy of his time or attention.
At least we're all finally getting on the same page.” —
Meta to lay off employees in metaverse silicon unit on Wednesday
Meta (META.O) is planning to lay off employees on Wednesday in the unit of its metaverse-oriented Reality Labs division focused on creating custom silicon, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
Employees were informed of the layoffs in a post on Meta's internal discussion forum Workplace on Tuesday. The post said they would be notified about their status with the company by early Wednesday morning, one of the sources said.
A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the plans. Reuters was not able to determine the extent of the cuts to the silicon unit, called Facebook Agile Silicon Team, or FAST.
If the cuts are deep, they could hamper Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's project to build augmented and virtual reality products enabling access to a set of immersive virtual worlds known as the "metaverse," particularly the AR glasses that he has predicted "will redefine our relationship with technology."
The FAST unit, which has roughly 600 employees, worked on developing custom chips to equip Meta's devices to perform unique tasks and operate more efficiently, differentiating them from others entering the nascent AR/VR market.
However, Meta has struggled to make chips that can compete with silicon produced by external providers and has turned to chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM.O) to produce chips for its devices currently on the market.
A restructuring of FAST has been expected since the spring, when Meta hired a new executive to lead the unit. — Reuters
Our Take: “I have noticed a disturbing trend of corporate layoffs on LinkedIn, as many of my former colleagues — including 80% of one consulting practice — are now looking for work. The top reason cited is 'industry shifts,' as every industry accelerates their digital and AI transformations. Now Meta is laying off their custom silicon lab, and this report says it's due to custom silicon's inability to compete with external silicon producers. Meta is sourcing their chips, making this business unit redundant, or unnecessary.
The Reuters reporter's analysis, however, is detached from reality.
'If the cuts are deep, they could hamper Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's project to build augmented and virtual reality products.'
I don't see how you can come to this conclusion, considering that sourcing silicon chips requires no overhead for Meta, while this business unit is 600 employees (and all their fully-loaded costs). The layoffs will free up significant capital for Meta to reinvest in their vision for the future, and that definitely includes the Metaverse. This is a strategic sourcing decision, not a reaction to a moment in the markets.
Like automation, corporate labor and sourcing initiatives are reducing job counts, and every industry is doing more with less to "optimize" their businesses. It takes less people to deliver in the digital world, and Meta is no exception. Unfortunately, unlike Hollywood writers or Michigan automakers, the laptop class doesn't strike. It wouldn't do any good, anyway. In the age of transformation, businesses must adapt or die. Employees rarely have a say in the matter.” —
BONUS ITEMS
ADL Folds, Agrees To Advertise On X
Almost exactly a month to the date of Elon Musk threatening to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), it appears the advocacy group has had a change of mind.
ADL alleged Mr Musk has failed to clamp down on hate speech on the social media platform since his takeover last year, allowing disinformation to proliferate – something Mr Musk strongly denies.
Which left Musk with no choice...
A month has passed and ADL has been quiet - even with the Canadian government cheering on an actual nazi.
But now, perhaps with the threat of discovery looming (and fighting a legal battle against the man with the deepest pockets in the world), ADL has made the decision to back down from the 'Twitter is full of hate and no one should advertise there' narrative to a 'well, it's not that bad and we are going to advertise to help save the world' narrative. — ZeroHedge
Mayorkas finally admits 'immediate need' to build border wall amid surge in illegal immigration
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has opted to waive a litany of laws and regulations to swiftly construct more border wall in a key Texas hotspot for illegal crossings.
"The Secretary of Homeland Security has determined, pursuant to law, that it is necessary to waive certain laws, regulations, and other legal requirements in order to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads in the vicinity of the international land border in Starr County, Texas," reads a notice posted to the U.S. Federal Registry that Fox News obtained.
Citing the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, Mayorkas noted that "Congress granted to the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to waive all legal requirements that I, in my sole discretion, determine necessary to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads authorized by [the act]."
In total, Mayorkas plans to waive a total of 26 federal laws to expedite construction. The notice further highlighted the 245,000 migrant encounters that occurred over the past year in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, which includes Starr County. Since President Joe Biden took office, law enforcement has encountered more than 7 million people illegally entering the country.
In light of the surge in illegal immigration, Mayorkas found that there exists an "acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas." — Just the News
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.
The Badlands Media team will continue to combine our cognitive powers in order to slow things down and find the signal amidst the noise as this series expands.
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.
Overton goalpost moves coming from all quarters. Interesting and very comfy at this point because all moves the panicked players are making appears good for the world’s patriots. Hmm....seems calm. Wonder what’s next?
God bless our truth journalists.🙏🙏. You are MUCH appreciated!
BB your Take of Trump as Speaker is so true... We can delight in all the possible havoc that Trump as Speaker could bring to bear on ALL the Uniparty clowns while all the Uniparty clowns live in constant fear of Trump officially in control... Glorious. And this is all demonstrated in the next Take on the Military Industrial Complex whining about their Ukraine gravy train getting cut off. Glorious...er.
Ashe regarding the EBS you said you did not encounter any zombies but that is only because you don't live in DC and did not run into any Dimorat politicians (or RINOs).
What a fun day :-))
God Wins!
God Bless!!!