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 Thursday, February 29 …
Biden Challenges Trump to ‘Join Me’ in Tightening U.S.-Mexico Border
President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump made dueling visits to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, with Mr. Biden challenging his predecessor to “join me” in securing the country’s southern frontier and Mr. Trump blaming the president for lawlessness at the border.
The remarks came at a moment of political peril for Mr. Biden, who has faced criticism from both parties as the number of people crossing into the United States has reached record levels, with migrant encounters more than double than in the Trump years.
In appearances some 300 miles apart in Texas, Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump tried to leverage what is likely to become the most volatile policy dispute of the 2024 campaign.
The president called on his predecessor to help pass a bipartisan bill in Congress that would significantly crack down on border crossings. Republicans, at Mr. Trump’s urging, torpedoed the bill — legislation that they themselves had demanded — saying it wasn’t strong enough.
“Instead of telling members of Congress to block this legislation, join me,” Mr. Biden said in Brownsville, a border city in the Rio Grande Valley.
“You know and I know it’s the toughest, most efficient, most effective border security bill this country has ever seen,” he said. “Instead of playing politics with the issue, why don’t we just get together and get it done.”
Mr. Biden’s words amounted to a political dare. But they were also an acknowledgment of Mr. Trump’s power over the Republican Party, particularly when it comes to the border, at a time when many Americans say that immigration is their top concern and they do not have confidence that Mr. Biden is addressing it. — The New York Times
Our Take: “It’s definitely an election year. Democrats are talking about deporting people while Biden is pretending that he is strong on border security and that the invasion of the US is all Republicans’ fault.
While down on the border, Biden babbled on about climate change as President Trump talked about Laken Riley. The contrast between the two leaders is well summarized in a side-by-side clip from Colin Rugg:
Raheem posted this clip of President Trump, where you can hear migrants chanting his name. ‘They like Trump, can you believe it?’ the President laughed.
Boomerang?
The whole world wants Trump back. Can’t come soon enough.” —
Putin Warns Of Nuclear War If West Sends Troops To Fight In Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin used the occasion of his much anticipated annual state of the nation address to directly warn NATO that sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine could result in nuclear war.
He explained that allegations from Western officials saying Russia intends to attack Europe are "nonsense"—after on Monday French President Emmanuel Macron really escalated the rhetoric by telling a security forum in Paris that sending Western troops to Ukraine "cannot be ruled out".
"Everything that they are coming up with now, with which they threaten the entire world – all this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and therefore the destruction of civilization – don’t they understand this, or what?" Putin said.
"They must ultimately understand that we also have weapons – and they know about it, just as I now said – we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory," he warned. — ZeroHedge
And …
If Ukraine falls, NATO will have to fight Russia — Secretary Austin
NATO will likely have to directly engage with Russian aggressive expansion if Moscow emerges victorious in the war against Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a congressional hearing on Feb. 29.
During the hearing in the House of Representatives, Austin stated, “Putin won’t stop with Ukraine; he will continue to push forward and attack the sovereign territory of his neighbors.”
He noted the concerns of the Baltic nations about the Russian threat and their understanding of what to expect from Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
“If you are in the Baltics, you’re very concerned you might be next,” the secretary said.
“They understand Putin and his capabilities. And frankly, if Ukraine falls, I genuinely believe NATO will be fighting Russia.” — The New Voice of Ukraine
And …
Leaked Russian military files reveal criteria for nuclear strike
Vladimir Putin’s forces have rehearsed using tactical nuclear weapons at an early stage of conflict with a major world power, according to leaked Russian military files that include training scenarios for an invasion by China.
The classified papers, seen by the Financial Times, describe a threshold for using tactical nuclear weapons that is lower than Russia has ever publicly admitted, according to experts who reviewed and verified the documents.
The cache consists of 29 secret Russian military files drawn up between 2008 and 2014, including scenarios for war-gaming and presentations for naval officers, which discuss operating principles for the use of nuclear weapons.
Criteria for a potential nuclear response range from an enemy incursion on Russian territory to more specific triggers, such as the destruction of 20 per cent of Russia’s strategic ballistic missile submarines. — FT
Our Take: “5 hours. 3 headlines.
One sees Vladimir Putin himself speaking to his nation in a State of the Union that is serendipitously timed just before the POTATUS makes his own attempt to rally a nation that knows he's a pretender fighting over the globalist scraps of a doomed empire while the true elected leader waits in the wings.
Another sees Lloyd Austin firing back ... the supposed Secretary of Defense for the main enforcement arm of said Globalist regime (also known as the US MIL, which many of us believe has been neutered via the Devolution operation so PsyOps and Narrative Seeding like this triple-decker in Hegelian propaganda can't be actualized like it might have if 'she' had won back in 2016.)
The third header is sourced via "leaked" documents that allege Russia's threshold for defending itself with nuclear weaponry is "lower" than previously thought.
Basically, the MSM is telling Normies that Putin's "Fu*k around and find out" meter is almost out.
And Normies believe them.” —
"I'm Ringing The Alarm Bell, Because Flood Of Illegals Is Crushing The Country!"
Ahead of President Biden's visit to the southern border on Thursday, with former President Trump planning to visit simultaneously to slam the radicals in the White House for sparking the worst migrant invasion this nation has ever seen, a new graphic released by Bloomberg shows the locations of where illegals have ended up after being bussed through the nation via a shadowy network of taxpayer-funded non-governmental organizations.
The latest figure from the US Customs and Border Protection shows a whopping 7.3 million illegals have flooded this nation under Biden's first term.
[..]
The invasion is happening at such a grand scale that Elon Musk posted on X Tuesday night: "I am ringing the alarm bell, because the flood of illegals is crushing the country!" — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “The reveal that a shadowy network of NGOs are driving the invasion deeper into America is actually pretty open warfare, in the context of the fifth generation battlefield. I would venture to say that it's normally much more covert than this;' 5GW is often qualified by the fact that it cannot easily be identified as warfare. It makes me wonder: How much of it is helping normies to see the the plan to destroy America getting more overt every day?
I'm a big fan of a document called The Toronto Protocols, which is essentially a map of the warfare strategy for implementing a New World Order, depicted in two meetings in 67' and 85' by a group who called themselves the 6.6.6.
In my opinion, James O'Keefe exposing the shadowy network of NGOs transporting immigrants deeper into the US, alongside Bloomberg mapping out the depth of the invasion creates a massive red pill for this being run as a warfare operation.
Given that, I am going to share a quote from this document with a question: How close is the general public to having a detailed understanding of precisely what the Deep State is attempting to use mass immigration to do?
’Let us ensure that our agents, who have infiltrated the Ministries of Intergovernmental Affairs and Immigration of the Nation-States, make major changes to the Statutes of these ministries. These changes will essentially open the doors of immigration to Western countries with a large mass of immigrants entering across their frontiers (immigration that we have indeed caused by having taken care to break out here and there, new localised conflicts).
Through well-orchestrated press campaigns targeting public opinion in the Nation-States, we provoke them to accept a large influx of refugees which will have the effect of destabilizing the domestic economy, and increasing racial tensions, in their territory. We will ensure that groups of foreign extremists are part of the influx of immigrants, which will facilitate the political, economic, and social, destabilization of the Nations concerned.’” —
Trump appeals Illinois judge's ruling to remove him from ballot in March 19 primary
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday appealed a Cook County judge's ruling to remove him from the Illinois primary ballot over his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump's attorneys asked the Illinois Appellate Court to overturn Judge Tracie Porter's ruling that he be kicked off Republican primary ballots in the state.
Porter had ruled the Illinois State Board of Elections was "clearly erroneous" in January when it allowed Trump to stay on the state's ballot.
The judge ruled that when Trump filed a statement of candidacy for the Illinois Republican primary on Jan. 4, he "falsely swore" that he was "legally qualified" to run for president again because the Colorado Supreme Court had already ruled that he "had been found to engage in insurrection" in a similar challenge to Trump's eligibility to run for another term.
Trump's name remains on ballots for now, as Trump's attorneys pursue their appeal. — CBS News
Our Take: “The State Election Board voted to not remove Trump from the ballot, but a county judge wants her 15 minutes, so she decided she knows best. Trump is appealing, and this case joins many other challenges awaiting the outcome of Trump vs. Anderson, the Colorado 14A case, from SCOTUS.
The Colorado primary is Tuesday, March 5, and the Supremes will drop another order list on Monday, March 4. Ideally, they will decide before Republican voters cast ballots in the primary. The RNC delegates for the Centennial State will be awarded in April at the party Assembly, so the court has room to delay until then.
The longer the uncertainty of this charade, the greater the harm to the general peace, and the worse the impact to the public trust. The decision should be easy. I hope they deliver it soon.” —
Transnistria Seeks Russia’s Help in Wake of Economic Blockade by Moldova
Predominantly Russian-speaking Transnistria, 60 percent of whose ethnic population are Russians and Ukrainians, declared its independence from Moldova during the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Transnistrian lawmakers have asked Russia for assistance over mounting economic pressure from Moldova.
The legislators put forward a request to both the Federation Council and State Duma of Russia, urging them to implement measures to safeguard Transnistria, especially in light of Moldova’s growing pressure. This request is backed up by the fact that over 220,000 Russian citizens reside in Transnistria.
The bill's authors pointed to the unique and positive experience of Russia’s peacekeeping work in the region and highlighted that Moscow has served as a mediator in negotiations.
"The critical situation requires urgent and maximum active international intervention in order to prevent an escalation of tensions and not allow the situation to develop into a crisis," the document says. — Sputnik
Our Take: “The plea Moldova's breakaway region Transnistria made to the Russian Federation about joining them in keeping with referenda the region has held in favor of such a move dating back to 2006 is a near-identical scenario to the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine circa 2014.
On its face, the US issuing warnings to the region about Russian interventionism is obviously escalatory, and Putin has already responded with more warnings in kind, telling the western hegemon that their intervention in Russian affairs (and those Russia deems its own) will be met in kind.
But I think the most interesting thing about the whole affair is how the globalists seemed to know this was coming, having warned the EU citizenry of Russia's inevitable 'invasion' of Moldova going back to 2022.
Also ... note that the Council of Europe formally ‘upgraded the status’ of Transnistria from territory ‘under the effective control of the Russian Federation’ to ‘Russian-occupied territory’ in 2023.
Problem > Reaction ...” —
BONUS ITEMS
MTG: Hunter Biden Did Not Deny Joe Biden Is the ‘Big Guy’
Hunter Biden did not deny President Joe Biden is the “big guy,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) exclusively told Breitbart News following Wednesday’s deposition.
The Bidens previously did not confirm or deny Joe Biden as the “big guy” designated to receive ten percent of a deal with a Chinese Communist Party entity.
“At one point, we asked Hunter about the ten percent for the ‘big guy’,” Greene said. “We showed him the email that that it laid it all out.”
“And he said, ‘Oh, that was after my father left office,” Greene recounted from the deposition.
Greene said Hunter then tried to excuse the ten percent stake for Joe Biden:
What’s wrong with having a pie-in-the-sky idea? When he [Joe Biden] left office in 2017, it thought he was done. I had no idea was gonna run for president. What’s wrong with just some pie?’ … thinking that he [Joe Biden] could be in the business.
While Hunter did not deny that Joe Biden was the “big guy,” he did deny that the business plan called for a ten percent cut, Greene explained. — Breitbart
Middle East crisis: Biden says killing of more than 100 Palestinians near aid trucks will complicate ceasefire talks – as it happened
Joe Biden said moments ago outside the White House, while on his way to the US-Mexico border, that he’s reviewing the reports of Israeli troops shooting people crowding for desperately needed food aid in Gaza – but he already is clear that that the deadly incident will complicate talks on a ceasefire.
“I know it will,” the US president told reporters gathering on the south lawn at the White House as he left for a visit to the US-Mexico border today, when asked whether the tragedy Gaza unfolding in would complicate negotiations.
Health authorities in Gaza said the IDF fired on people waiting for aid near Gaza City on Thursday had killed 104 Palestinians and wounded 280, with one hospital saying it had received 10 bodies and dozens of injured patients, Reuters adds. — The Guardian
Head of Freedom Caucus bashes funding deal, vows shutdown fight
The head of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus is bashing the nascent funding agreement hashed out by leaders of both parties, warning that conservatives would be willing to force a government shutdown to secure steeper cuts and policy preferences.
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) has led the charge among the far-right lawmakers urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to fight for scores of conservative policy riders to accompany the 2024 spending bills. Absent that, those Republicans want the Speaker to champion a stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to extend government funding at current 2023 levels through the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Oct. 1.
The latter strategy would trigger an automatic, 1-percent cut to federal programs of all types beginning May 1 — a stipulation of last summer’s bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) designed to encourage lawmakers to reach an agreement on 2024 spending or face reductions to popular programs.
Good said that 1-percent cut is far preferable to the deal Johnson endorsed with the leaders of both parties and both chambers, which adopts higher spending caps established by those same leaders in January. He’s also calling for a series of policy changes, including tougher border security measures and a scaling back of the government’s spying powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). — The Hill
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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Amen Ashe: ""The whole world wants Trump back. Can’t come soon enough.” — Ashe in America"
Simon your Take on illegal immigration is the most succinct explanation yet, thanks.
Finally, please shut down the US Government 90-99% of it is useless and/or FUBR. We the People will be much better served without it.
God Wins!
God Bless!!!
I took a negotiation class once, and though I didn’t do very well in it, I learned a whole lot. I can say with confidence that Republicans absolutely suck at negotiation.