Badlands News Brief

Terror at Home and Abroad ...

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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, whose stated opinions are their own. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see their other work.

Now, onto the news from Wednesday, October 25 …

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At least 16 dead in multiple Lewiston shootings; police give few details on overnight search for gunman

At least 16 people were killed and dozens more injured in multiple shootings Wednesday night in Lewiston. That number was expected to rise.

Maine State Police are searching for Robert Card, 40, in connection with the two shootings at Sparetime Recreation and Schemengees Bar & Grille.

Card, who lives in Bowdoin, is a trained firearms instructor who police believe is in the U.S. Army Reserve out of Saco. He recently reported mental health issues, including hearing voices, and made threats to shoot the National Guard base in Saco, according to state police, who said he spent two weeks at a mental health facility this summer.

They warned the public that Card should be considered armed and dangerous.

The car police believed he was driving, a white Subaru Outback, was found near the Lisbon boat dock on Frost Hill Avenue near Route 196. Police were knocking on doors of nearby homes while helicopters remained in the area Wednesday night.

Michael Sauschuck, commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety, held a press conference around 11:30 p.m. at Lewiston City Hall where a staging area for police had been set up. He refused to confirm the number of deaths and injuries and would only say that Card is a person of interest.

Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson and a Lewiston city councilman said at one point that the number of people killed could be as high as 22, but counts continued to shift through the night.

Sauschuck said there were “literally hundreds of police officers working around the state of Maine” to investigate the case and look for Card. — The Sun Journal

Our Take: “It wouldn’t be a day in the Info War without a new Crisis Event being declared in order to terrorize the western populace for reasons we can only speculate on.

Of course, if the Actuals are as reported, this is a horrible tragedy that has and potentially still is unfolding within our own borders, but the timing of it is tremendously suspect for a few reasons:

1. It comes at a time when the western zeitgeist is consumed with a resurgence in ‘War on Terror’ narratives.

2. Donald Trump warned as recently as Tuesday that the Biden Admin’s handling of the US border could pave the way for fresh attacks from within.

3. It comes at a time when the current Admin is embattled by the majority Left AND Right over its mishandling of … well, virtually everything going on right now, at home and abroad.

The same questions abound in the wake of this domestic terror event that tend to crop up with all of them; in fact, many of these questions likely woke you folks up in the first place.

Keep asking them.” — Burning Bright

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Rep. Mike Johnson voted new House speaker

After three weeks without a speaker, the House voted Wednesday to elect Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

Johnson secured the gavel without losing any GOP votes. The final tally was 220 votes for Johnson and 209 for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Here are the key things to know:

Johnson is a Trump ally. The speaker was a key congressional figure in the failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election for former President Donald Trump. He sent an email from a personal account in 2020 to every House Republican soliciting signatures for an amicus brief in the long-shot Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate electoral college votes from multiple states.

He now faces pressing issues, including a potential shutdown. Government funding is set to expire on November 17, and the GOP-controlled House will need to work with the Democratic-led Senate to avert a shutdown. Lawmakers must also consider aid to Ukraine and Israel.

He's pushing for an "aggressive schedule." Johnson said following his victory that the House will move swiftly on several legislation, alluding to the GOP infighting that paralyzed the House. In the first vote under his speakership, House lawmakers passed a resolution in support of Israel with bipatisan votes. — CNN

Our Take: “The second Speaker saga of the 118th House of Representatives has come to an end, with Mike Johnson (R-LA) unanimously elected by the Republican caucus to hold the gavel. Johnson has been strong in committee and holds some of the most conservative views in the House. In a time of institutional trust, he would be a great choice.

But we are not in a time of institutional trust. It is because of that fact that Johnson’s election is anticlimactic. Following the election, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) gave an impassioned speech about the Democrat Communists’ agenda — during which he used highly distracting hand motions — and then it was the new speaker’s turn to address the body.

During his remarks, Speaker-Elect Johnson spoke of his family and his upbringing, was gracious to House Democrats, and attempted to strike a bipartisan tone — which, given the level of division in our nation, felt almost like a betrayal.

For example, his first order of business is funding Israel — not US border security or the American people. His top three priorities were, (1) Israel, (2) the US Border, and (3) Ukraine. These are not the American people’s order of priorities. It’s disappointing.

If we have to have a speaker at all, we need a fighter that will restore America First principles to the institution. I want to believe Speaker Johnson is that guy, but the proof will be in his leadership and his actions. From his first remarks as Speaker, I’m less than optimistic.” — Ashe in America

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Israel Delays Gaza Invasion (Again) As US Scrambles To Put Missile Defenses In Place

Both US and Israeli officials have told The Wall Streat Journal in a breaking major development that Israel has decided to further stall its planned ground invasion of Gaza, at the request of Washington. 

Though airstrikes have been ramped up, resulting in the Palestinian death toll soaring past 6,500 - it has become clear in the last several days that Israel has been waiting in terms of a ground assault. This also as four hostages have been freed due to negotiations involving Qatari mediation with Hamas. The WSJ frames this further delay, however, as related to putting additional air defense from the US in place.

"The Pentagon is scrambling to deploy nearly a dozen air-defense systems to the region, including for U.S. troops serving in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to protect them from missiles and rockets," the report says. "U.S. officials have so far persuaded the Israelis to hold off until those pieces can be placed, as early as later this week."

This is a sign that Washington is bracing for significant escalation to come. US Central Command (CENTCOM) yesterday revealed that last week US troops and installations in Iraq and Syria came under more than a dozen drone attacks, resulting in two dozen troop injuries, albeit described as "minor".

Crude prices jumped, as stocks fade, on the headline portending escalation, given the Pentagon is building up yet more major military assets in the Middle East... — ZeroHedge

Our Take: “The Regime wants you to believe there's an imminent crisis brewing between Israel, Iran and potentially even the US, and that time is of the essence, and that terror cells need to be wiped from the face of the Earth with speed and gusto.

... but also that they're waiting for some nice weather and/or the right sociopolitical climate (ie: funding) to kick off kinetic operations that are of a reactive, emergency nature.

These are incongruent Narrative Deployments, and they are being noticed by the Collective Mind.

At this time, Israel's national 'defense' seems to be taking on the tenor of MLB rain delays. And Ukraine's has been completely forgotten. And the West has not fallen to the red tide of the dastardly Russians at press time.

The sequel to the War on Terror is far less convincing than the original. The American public are tired of remakes, and the Deep State is running out of ideas.

Maybe they should take a page out of Hollywood's book and go on strike ... forever.” — Burning Bright

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Biden won’t appear on New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot. But write-ins are still an option

President Joe Biden won’t file to have his name appear on the 2024 New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot, his reelection campaign said Tuesday, opting to skip a contest that the state plans to hold in defiance of a revamped primary order that the White House has championed.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, manager of Biden’s reelection campaign, wrote in a letter to New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley that “while the president wishes to participate in the primary, he is obligated to comply” with party rules.

“The president looks forward to having his name on New Hampshire’s general election ballot as the nominee of the Democratic Party after officially securing the nomination at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, where he will tirelessly campaign to earn every single vote in the Granite State next November,” Rodriguez wrote.

Biden last year urged the Democratic National Committee to shake up the order of the 2024 primary, replacing Iowa’s leadoff caucus with the South Carolina primary to better empower Black and other minority voters crucial to the party’s base. In February, the DNC approved a new 2024 calendar, beginning with South Carolina’s primary on Feb. 3, followed three days later by New Hampshire and Nevada.

But New Hampshire has balked at the plan, arguing that it has traditionally held the nation’s opening primary — a rule that Iowa only got around by having caucuses. Top New Hampshire Democrats say state law there mandates hosting the nation’s first primary, and officials have vowed to have a primary prior to South Carolina’s regardless of what the DNC says. — AP News

Our Take: “The news that Biden will not appear on the ballot in New Hampshire comes as Gavin Newsom is meeting with Xi Xinping in Beijing. The meeting is being billed as a summit to address climate change and the fentanyl crisis.

We’ve probably got about a month until Biden is out and Greasy Gavin is the Democrat nominee. Hang onto your hats, folks. We are just one year and twelve days away from the 2024 election, and it’s gonna get weird.” — Ashe in America

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BONUS ITEMS

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Jenna Ellis Admits to Criminal False Statements in Ominous Plea for Trump

The image most of us had of former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis was a remarkably cheerful mugshot after her arrest in the RICO case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Ellis made a very different appearance today in state court as she pleaded guilty to intentionally interfering in the election process in the state of Georgia. While the impact of earlier pleas by figures like Sidney Powell is hard to judge at this stage, this plea has more ominous implications for the former president.

[…]

As with the other former Trump counsel, she will not face jail time and was charged with one charge of aiding and abetting false statements in writing.

As part of the plea deal, Ellis will have to serve five years probation and pay $5,000 in restitution to the Georgia Secretary of State within 30 days.

She will also have to complete 100 hours of community service, write an apology letter to voters in the state of Georgia and testify truthfully in future hearings regarding ongoing cases.

Ellis is the type of plea that tends to concentrate the mind.  Powell pleaded to relatively minor charges involving unauthorized access to voting machines and areas. Those charges tend to be easy to prove. It is not clear if she would tie Trump to a conspiracy or racketeering.

Ellis pleaded guilty to false statements that could conceivably implicate the President if she claims that he was aware of the falsity and facilitated the crime. Moreover, Ellis recently broke with Trump. She called him a “malignant narcissist” who cannot admit mistakes — and said that she would never vote for him again. — Jonathan Turley

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With World Focused On Israel, WaPo Boasts CIA Is Behind Brazen Assassinations Of Russians

At a moment the globe's attention is by and large completely focused on events in Gaza, The Washington Post has this week published a bombshell report which vindicates Moscow's worst fears. Up to now, any pundit daring to write that Putin's accusations that the West has for years backed a covert campaign to destabilize Russia while stoking the 2014 (and after) civil war in Donbass, was smeared as a 'pro-Kremlin propagandist'. 

But now, the D.C. establishment's premier newspaper is openly admitting that the CIA is actively running covert ops inside Russia, which has included the killing of journalist and geopolitical commentator Darya Dugina, the daughter of Alexaner Dugin. Another "conspiracy theory" has been belatedly admitted as conspiracy fact.

The report stunningly documents of this "shadow war" that, "The missions have involved elite teams of Ukrainian operatives drawn from directorates that were formed, trained, and equipped in close partnership with the CIA, according to current and former Ukrainian and US officials. Since 2015, the CIA has spent tens of millions of dollars to transform Ukraine’s Soviet-formed services into potent allies against Moscow, officials said." — ZeroHedge

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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.