The news cycle is impossible to fully track these days. That’s where we come in. The Badlands News Brief is a uniquely curated selection of the stories dominating the info war — with context and commentary from Badlands hosts.
The Pentagon placed two top political appointees under administrative leave on Tuesday after a probe into potential leaks of sensitive information, according to three defense officials.
Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was escorted out of the Pentagon by security officers and had his building access suspended pending further investigation, said two of the officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss an ongoing probe.
Darin Selnick, the Pentagon’s deputy chief of staff, was also suspended as part of the same probe and escorted out of the building, according to one of the officials.
The leaks under investigation include military operational plans for the Panama canal, a second carrier headed to the Red Sea, Elon Musk’s controversial visit to the Pentagon and pausing the collection of intelligence to Ukraine, the other official said. – Politico
and I covered the end of Part II of Government Gangsters by Kash Patel. In discussing reforms, Patel specifically discusses the need to purge officials that are disloyal to the US Constitution from positions of power.
Like these two: Dastardly Darin and Dark Side Dan.
The leaks are telling. Panama, the Red Sea, Ukraine, the Pentagon… so anything and everything that can be turned into a headline to harm the administration?
As Kash says in Chapter 9:
“The Deep State has a lot of power and hatred, but they don’t have a lot of imagination. The strategy of every ginned up Deep State fantasy is the same: make something up, get the fake news mafia to carry your water, and leak classified intel to falsely attack Trump.”
Over and over again. The ability to pull this off requires people in on it to be in the key positions. Like in the DOD with access to intel to leak to the fake news mafia.
Two of those guys just got fired. They should also be prosecuted.
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Does U.S. President Donald Trump’s unprecedented tariff war against China contain an element that could draw Moscow away from Beijing so that the overall global balance of power remains in favor of Washington?
Over the last few days, this question has become an important topic for discussion among the American strategic elites, as Trump’s sweeping global tariffs notably do not include Russia.
Though the sanctions-hit Russia does not have a great trading figure with the Western world, it is speculated that the U.S.-China trade war may marginally increase demand for some Russian products.
Agricultural exporters in Russia may benefit from the China-U.S. rift; they may find South America to be a good market. The supply of animal products from Russia could also gain momentum. In fact, China may emerge as a good market for Russian wheat and energy. Russia may be able to capitalize on the escalating trade war by replacing U.S. energy (LNG) supplies with China, it is said.
The point being made is that if the whole world gets involved in a trade war, everyone will certainly not care about Russia and Ukraine.
However, regardless of whether America’s trade war against China benefits Russia or not, it is important to note that Trump has consistently believed that it is not in the American interest for Russia and China to get closer. – Eurasian Times
Our Take: What's really going on when it comes to the relationship between the US and China over the long term?
We should take our cues from Donald Trump and, yes, Xi Jinping.
The Trade War isn't between the US and China, but between the Sovereign Alliance and the Central Banking System. [more] –
The legacy of colonialism remains a key driver of instability across Africa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Kommersant published on Monday.
He attributed much of the continent’s turmoil to borders drawn by departing colonial powers without regard for ethnic, cultural, and historical realities.
Lavrov argued that colonial map-making practices resulted in the fragmentation of ethnic groups across newly formed national borders. This led to “chaos,” he said, explaining that the colonial authorities drew maps “with a ruler” throughout the continent, dividing entire communities.
He cited the Tuareg people, who are now split between Algeria and Mali, as well as other groups such as the Tutsi and Hutu in Rwanda.
Despite the destabilizing impact of these borders, Lavrov noted that the African Union has made a decision not to revise them.
Evil masterminds: Here’s how Europeans sealed Africa’s fateREAD MORE: Evil masterminds: Here’s how Europeans sealed Africa’s fate
“Yes, they did leave such a legacy. The African Union, in its wisdom, decided that for now it is best to live within these borders, to find ways to reach agreements, and to build good-neighborly arrangements so that people – relatives – can cross borders freely,” Lavrov said. – RT
Our Take: Interesting take from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
When we look at a map of modern Africa, it becomes clear what Lavrov means: The national boundaries lines look very silly, as if they were drawn by a young child.
How many people have died over the past century in order to preserve these imaginary – and culturally meaningless – borders? So, that malignant oligarchs could keep their grip on the resources of a particular region? For the sole purpose of enriching themselves and their business partners?
When you stop and think about it from this perspective, it really dawns on you how evil the whole colonial system really was. (It's one thing that the "woke" movement has got right, and perhaps a notion that we have been programmed to reject out of pure spite towards the leftists; the inherent dangers of a binary political system.)
As Lt Colonel Oak McCulloch has stated on many occasions (at GART and on stream): Changing the national boundaries on a map is a bloody endeavor.
But what if it didn't have to be? What if we could cultivate a new incentive structure that made this process evolve naturally and organically, and in such a way where the struggle to control the natural resources was entirely independent of national borders?
P.S. This was an interesting passage from the article:
“He also noted the unfinished process of decolonization, stating that 17 territories in the world remain under the control of former colonial powers. A similar sentiment was expressed in 2019 by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who stated that ‘decolonization is one of the most significant chapters of the Organization’s history. But this story is still being written, as 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories remain.’” –
We have another ticketholder livestream this Thursday — get your tickets so you can join us! Deadwood tickets are also now on sale for Plymouth ticketholders, and they are going fast!
What are you waiting for? Get your tickets — virtual or in person — today! — Badlands Media
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro unveiled a comprehensive budget proposal on Tuesday aimed at addressing several key challenges facing the state, including significantly reducing homeownership costs. For the first time ever, the budget includes a $1 billion property tax relief initiative through the homestead and farmstead exclusion.
Why It Matters: At a time when many Pennsylvanians are grappling with rising living costs, Shapiro's budget proposal aims to ease one of the most significant financial burdens: property taxes. This initiative not only promises immediate relief to homeowners but also sets a precedent for comprehensive fiscal reforms in the state's approach to housing affordability. – Newsweek
It has been a busy day for Governor Mike Braun,who signed Senate Bill One into law Tuesday after lawmakers sent it to him late last night. The legislation aims to give property tax relief and was a priority bill for the Governor and Senate republicans. Governor Brauns off says it is anticipated to save Hoosiers $1.3 billion in long-term tax reform.
Senate Enrolled Act 1 implements several measures to make them more affordable. The bill introduces new deductions for certain homeowners, reducing the taxable value of their homes. Additionally, it places limits on the total amount of property tax that local governments can impose. – WRTV
Our Take: All the Uniparty governors are trying to get out in front of the collapse of the property tax scam.
If it wasn’t already locked in, planned, and inevitable, they wouldn’t be publicizing it as though they were doing you a favor.
These people legitimately destroyed lives en masse and took pride in it. –
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid today rejected any possible nuclear deal between the US and Saudi Arabia that may allow Riyadh to enrich uranium.
“Israel must demand from the US, our closest friend, that any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia explicitly prohibits uranium enrichment on Saudi soil,” Lapid said on his X account. He said the Israeli government had taken the same position in 2021 and 2022 when he was prime minister.
“I expressed to the US administration our firm opposition to any attempt to allow uranium enrichment in the Middle East. This is how it should be done now,” Lapid said.
Saudi state media, citing US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, said that Washington is edging closer to a landmark energy partnership with Riyadh that could pave the way for commercial nuclear development in the kingdom. – Middle East Monitor
Our Take: So to be clear, even the leader of the opposition party – the party that opposes Netanyahu and his warmongering security cabinet – is saying that Saudi Arabia is not allowed to have a nuclear energy program, because they don't trust the Muslims.
I will remind Mr. Lapid that it was Saudi Arabia who organized food caravans and supply convoys between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv when the Houthis started attacking Israeli cargo ships in the Red Sea and cut off supply lines to Israel. The Saudis did this to make sure the innocent people of Israel didn't starve to death. So it seems that if the Saudis wanted Israel to collapse, or its people to suffer and/or die, they really missed their chance.
I guess this means that, according to the entire Israeli political spectrum, the Muslims will never be allowed to have a nuclear energy program? They will never be allowed to advance past coal/oil energy plants and enter the Golden Age?
Why is it exactly that Israel gets to make these decisions on behalf of their neighbors?
When are we going to start talking about the ILLEGAL AND SECRET nuclear program that has existed in Israel for the past 70 years? The one that President Eisenhower warned JFK about? –
A Yonkers woman made the hellish decision to abort her baby after getting the results of a paternity test — only to find out months later the results were wrong, she said in a lawsuit.
Now instead of planning a baby shower and getting ready for her daughter’s impending birth, the woman is dealing with the emotional wreckage of losing her child and her long-term relationship because of the alleged error by Winn Health Labs in the Bronx and Ohio-based DNA Diagnostics Center, according to court papers.
“My daughter would have been born on the 17th” of April, she told The Post through tears. “I’m grieving. “I just have a lot of emotions. These results were the reason why I decided to do what I did.”
The administrative assistant, 28, and her then-fiancé had been struggling to get pregnant when they broke up for three weeks last summer in part because of the “stress and aggravation” from their inability to conceive, she said in a Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit.
During the hiatus, she had sex with someone else but used a condom during the encounter, claimed the woman, who asked to remain anonymous. She and the fiancé got back together, and by August, she was pregnant for the first time — and confident her longtime love was the dad. “I was tracking my ovulation,” she said.
But wanting to be completely sure — and not wanting to alert her fiancé to the sex she had with another man during their break — the woman sought a paternity test with the other man. – New York Post
Our Take: “My daughter would have been born on the 17th” of April, she told The Post through tears. “I’m grieving. “I just have a lot of emotions. These results were the reason why I decided to do what I did.”
Just to be clear, she killed her 20 week unborn daughter because she believed it had the wrong father. This story is from a few days ago, but I just saw it. And there is a lot to unpack.
This woman attempted to play God, and her deceptively eugenicist plans blew up in her face. In an attempt to deceive her fiancé, she lost him and the child that would have solidified the happily-ever-after plans for which she justified the deception. Poetic.
Sure, this story is the all-too-common example of women regretting their abortions, but it’s also the story of an absolute garbage human from whom this fiancé should, and did, run. Consider from the story:
“So confident that the pending test would show the temporary lover was not the father, she even hosted a gender-reveal party with her fiancé while waiting for the results. But a call from the lab on Halloween left her in ‘utter surprise, disappointment and frustration,’ when she was told her fling was the babydaddy with ‘99.99% certainty,’ according to court papers first reported by NBC News.”
Do you think she held the gender-reveal party because she was “so confident” or because she was keeping up appearances? Either way, the confidence thing is her story, and she is sticking to it.
“By then, she was nearly 20 weeks pregnant and staring down New York’s 24-week deadline for legal abortion. She was forced to reveal the mother of all dramas to her fiancé. ‘He just cried,’ she recalled. ‘He asked, Why would you go through a gender reveal?’ I told him, ‘Because I was positive it was yours.'”
Twenty weeks is a tiny but fully formed human able to survive outside the womb. Legally, murdering her offspring because she believes its father is inconvenient is her choice, but I don’t have to celebrate her. I pity her.
“During a grueling, two-day pregnancy-termination procedure, she had a change of heart. But it was too late and doctors could not save the baby. ‘I wish I could reverse this,’ she said.”
I bet.
The lab blamed an IT error for the unfortunately tragic results, the fiancé reportedly left her after valentines day, and the main character of story is now in therapy.
The moral of the story is that deception kills.
Also, “family planning” convinces mothers to treat their offspring as disposable accessories, and I find that repulsive. –
Former President Joe Biden, while reflecting on his youth and witnessing segregation firsthand, referred to Black students as "colored kids" in his first major address since exiting the Oval Office.
"We lived in an apartment complex, and she'd [Biden's mom] drive us only about half a mile to Holy Rosary School in Claymont. But it was so dangerous, she wouldn't let us walk up," Biden said Tuesday evening while delivering a speech on the Social Security Administration before a disability advocacy conference in Chicago.
"There were hardly any Black people in Scranton at the time … and I was only going into fourth grade. And I remember seeing kids going by, at the time called colored kids, on a bus going by," Biden added in his anecdote to explain the importance of civil rights laws to him and why he got involved in politics. – Fox News
Hollywood star Mel Gibson, a vocal supporter of US President Donald Trump, has urged the American government to reveal the “truth” about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Australian-born actor shared a clip from journalist Tucker Carlson’s interview with former Congressman Curt Weldon, which was published on Monday. The tragedy that took place nearly 25 years ago “might be the biggest scandal in American history,” Gibson wrote on X on Tuesday.
On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger airliners and crashed two of them into the twin World Trade Center skyscrapers in Manhattan. A third plane struck the Pentagon building, and a fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.
“Three buildings collapsed as if they were programmed to do so. Not two – three. To this day, no one has explained how Building 7 fell, even though no plane hit it,” Gibson wrote. He went on to argue that “towers were designed to withstand airplane impacts.”
“What really happened that day? And why is no one allowed to talk about it? Enough with the fear. It’s time for the truth. About 9/11. About history. About all of us,” Gibson added in his post. – RT
Our Take: Very based. Love you, Mel.
Yes, when are we going to learn the truth about 9/11? When are we going to get the answers on who in the US government was complicit in that horrifying act of treason? We know somebody was complicit. That attack didn't happen due to a series of unfortunate mistakes.
It was allowed to happen, by people in the Bush administration. By people in the Republican Party. Perhaps even by people who are now trying to tell President Trump what to do in the geopolitical realm?
When are we going to have this very important discussion? What are we waiting for? –
Two service members have died and another is seriously injured following a vehicle accident near the US Southern border. The incident occurred near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, just west of Fort Bliss, a major Army installation in West Texas.
The base has been instrumental in the deployment of troops and equipment to the border and has served as a hub for military deportation flights. The military has not yet released further details about the accident or the identities of the service members involved. – The Independent
OpenAI is working on its own X-like social network, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. While the project is still in early stages, we’re told there’s an internal prototype focused on ChatGPT’s image generation that has a social feed.
CEO Sam Altman has been privately asking outsiders for feedback about the project, our sources say. It’s unclear if OpenAI’s plan is to release the social network as a separate app or integrate it into ChatGPT, which became the most downloaded app globally last month. – The Verge
The specter of Los Angeles becoming another Detroit, a city built on a specific industry that became a shell of its former self when that business moved out, loomed over a compelling film and TV industry town hall that tackled not only the calamitous drop in production in Hollywood and California, but also the fight to get the state to increase its entertainment production tax incentive.
The event on Monday night drilled down into a later stage of the entertainment production pipeline that is also currently in crisis: scoring and postproduction.
“This is not hyperbole to say that if we don’t act, the California film and TV industry will become the next Detroit auto,” said Noelle Stehman, a member of the “Stay in LA” campaign who spoke at the event. – The Hollywood Reporter
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Good round-up today. GBPH thanks for the hat-tip to Oak. I am looking forward to seeing “the alliance” orchestration of natural resource repatriation. I pray it will be mostly bloodless.
The DNA/baby murder story seems very strange and pathetic. It has the feel of rubbernecking in a traffic fatality, making you feel guilty if you choose to look or choose to avert your eyes.
I'm glad Mel is being vocal about this. The 9/11 *reveal* would change my entire world, and provide so much closure. Prayers.
Good round-up today. GBPH thanks for the hat-tip to Oak. I am looking forward to seeing “the alliance” orchestration of natural resource repatriation. I pray it will be mostly bloodless.
The DNA/baby murder story seems very strange and pathetic. It has the feel of rubbernecking in a traffic fatality, making you feel guilty if you choose to look or choose to avert your eyes.