Badlands News Brief
Contempt, Combat Tactics and Cuts?
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 with some Badlands flavoring to help wash it down.
Now, onto the news from Wednesday, June 12 …
House GOP votes to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt over Biden audio recordings
House Republicans voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interviews with former special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified material and declined to bring charges.
The vote marks a major escalation in a monthslong dispute over the recordings between House Republicans and the executive branch that came after Biden asserted executive privilege over the files. The vote was 216 to 207 with one Republican – Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio – voting against it.
Garland said in a statement after the vote that it is “deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon.”
“Today’s vote disregards the constitutional separation of powers, the Justice Department’s need to protect its investigations, and the substantial amount of information we have provided to the Committees,” Garland said.
Now that the contempt resolution against Garland has succeeded, House Speaker Mike Johnson will certify the report to the United States attorney for the District of Columbia. Under law, this certification then requires the US attorney to “bring the matter before the grand jury for its action,” but the Justice Department will also make its own determinations for prosecuting. — CNN
Our Take: The Merrick Garland deployment is a fascinating one, especially if you've been paying attention to the enemy's framing over the course of the last few months, and even more so if you subscribe to patriot control theories.
In fact, Garland, to me, represents one of the most firm examples of patriot control we've seen to date, and you can go Bicameral with that.
A) If Garland is [theirs,] then the fact that Politico ran a headline about him just a few days ago saying, "Everyone hates him," despite being a Biden appointee should let you know that, from where the establishment is sitting, he hasn't been doing his job.
B) If Garland is ours, whether by hook or by crook, then his pariah status is granting Narrative Shielding to however investigations conducted under his DOJ are used against the Deep State under Trump 2.0.
The media establishment doesn't seem to know what to do with the GOP's contempt deployment, in keeping with both scenario A and B.
That's good for us. Bad for them. — Burning Bright
The Russian submarine that just showed up off of Cuba is one of a new class of subs that has worried the US and NATO for years
One of Russia's most concerning new submarines has pulled up off the coast of Cuba ahead of planned military exercises in the area.
The Kazan, a nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, is one of a relatively new class of subs that has worried the US and Western militaries for years due to its stealth and strike capabilities.
Three Russian ships, as well as the Kazan, arrived in Cuba on Wednesday for a five-day official visit before a large, simultaneous air and maritime exercise in the Caribbean. The deployment includes the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, which is armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, another challenge for Western militaries.
While US officials have said they're monitoring the vessels and don't anticipate any imminent danger in the region, the Kazan's arrival is notable. US and NATO officials have long expressed anxiety over the capabilities of the Kazan and other subs like it. — Business Insider
Our Take: Okay, so there appears to be layers of comms happening here.
The first, and more obvious, are the Q comms.
On nearly a dozen posts, Q alluded to the Tom Clancy film/book, The Hunt for Red October: The story of a legendary Soviet submarine commander who is given command of the USSR's newest nuclear sub, the Red October, equipped with a high-tech "caterpillar drive" propulsion system that allows it to move through the water without being detected by sonar—meaning it could feasibly sneak up on Washington DC, nuke it, and escape without anybody knowing it was ever there.
From the beginning of the story, the commander has decided to defect to the United States—though nobody knows—so both the Americans and Russians are hunting this sub, seeking to destroy it. Only the virtuous CIA analyst, Jack Ryan, who has studied this commander extensively, understands him enough to believe that he is defecting, and goes to absurd lengths to prove it. (Honestly, that element is the best part of the story, because I personally believe that diplomacy is really about interpersonal relationships between leaders. Which is why it is so important that we elect good men to lead us.)
The most notorious scene of the film can be seen here:
As Q posted:
"Combat tactics, Mr. Ryan. By turning into the path of the torpedo, the Captain closed the distance before it could arm itself."
Q was referring to the COVID pandemic, in the context of his post. But I believe that it applies to the accelerationism inherent in Operation Warp Speed, which was about far more than a vaccine approval.
This real-life new Russian sub—the Kazan—carries the Zircon hypersonic missile, which can reach speeds of Mach 9, utilizing its kinetic speed to destroy its target, instead of a large warhead. This gives it a smaller, but more powerful, blast radius, making it ideal for taking out precision targets—such as aircraft carriers—while having the speed to penetrate any missile defense system.
The second layer of comms, which is my own more obscure musing, is the name of the sub: Kazan.
Kazan is a city in southwest Russia, on the banks of the Volga and Kazanka rivers. Once the capital of ancient Tartaria, it remains one of the most important cities in Russia. Traditionally, Russia's "three capitals" are Moscow, St Petersburg, and Kiev—though the latter is no longer a part of the country. However, in 2009, Putin officially designated Kazan as "The Third Capital" of Russia.
Kazan also has an ancestral connection to neighboring Kazakhstan, which I believe is part of a "dark triangle" of occult mysticism, along with Ukraine and Israel. (A theory I am developing) Kazakhstan has been enduring some wild (coup) events lately, which we won't indulge here, but I will note that yesterday Putin launched the BRICS Games in Kazan (think Olympics), and on July 4, Putin will be hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana. He also announced yesterday that he intends to meet with Turkey's President Erdogan in Astana, and use the Astana Platform to help mediate the civil war in Syria.
Also notable: Kazan will be the site of the highly anticipated BRICS summit Russia is hosting this October.
Perhaps it's just my overactive imagination, but there is something about the term "Kazan" that telegraphs "Peace," in my mind. At the very least, it seems to be important to Putin. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
Voters have real doubts about Kamala Harris as potential president, poll shows
With voter concern about President Joe Biden’s age haunting his chances of reelection, a new poll shows his next in line, Vice President Kamala Harris, facing serious doubts about her ability to win the presidency herself, or to perform the job well were she to inherit it.
The POLITICO/Morning consult poll reveals that only a third of voters think it’s likely Harris would win an election were she to become the Democratic nominee, and just three of five Democrats believe she would prevail. A quarter of independents think she would win.
That skepticism extends to her potential future role as the head of her party. Forty-two percent of voters described her as a strong leader, including three-quarters of Democrats but only a third of independents.
The poll shows that Harris shares the same poor ratings as Biden. Both are well underwater, Biden at 43 percent favorable and 54 unfavorable, Harris at 42 percent favorable and 52 percent unfavorable. — Politico
Our Take: Desperate for some silver lining on this Morning Consult poll, Politico does the unthinkable:
‘She outperformed Biden among Black voters, a shift from when the two competed for the Democratic nomination four years ago.’
This is a fatal unforced error for a couple of reasons. First, Politico just reminded voters that Biden was more popular than Kamala with black voters during the 2020 Democratic Primary. The current narrative was that she helped the old racist with communities of color, and Politico just fact checked that in a truly delicious way.
The second error is that this result reinforces Biden’s falling support with black voters. Kamala hasn’t gotten more popular in the past four years. She is only beating Biden in the demographic because his support has and continues to tank.
There’s also the fact that pitting two candidates on the same ticket against each other is a confounding effort to convince voters that either is popular.
My takeaway from the poll and this story is that white leftist women are the only people still pretending Kamala is a competent world leader or even remotely electable.
Maybe Burning Bright is right (gasps in horror). (*unbiased editor’s note: this is often the case,*) … Maybe Politico is doing a thing with these self-owning storylines. — Ashe in America
The Fed now expects just one interest rate cut this year — but there's still time for that to change, Powell says
The odds of an interest rate cut this year just got slimmer.
On June 12, the Federal Open Market Committee announced that it would hold interest rates steady as the nation's central bank continues to work to lower inflation to its 2% target.
Notably, alongside the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, the FOMC also released its Summary of Economic Projections — and the committee now has just one interest rate cut penciled in for 2024, with further cuts expected in 2025.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during the Wednesday press conference that when looking at the FOMC's projections, they should be viewed as just that: projections. There's still time for them to change based on upcoming economic data, he said, and it's "plausible" that a rate cut could happen as soon as September.
"We want to gain further confidence. Certainly, more good inflation readings will help with that," Powell said. — Business Insider
Our Take: Yesterday’s CPI print is demonstrating the latest in a long line of Kobayashi Marus (impossible tasks,) the establishment and its representative Biden Regime are caught in.
The shortest answer as to why they're screwed when it comes to economic messaging is that they're trying to pitch a slow down in how rapidly things are getting more expensive as a GOOD thing to Americans, without addressing the underlying issues ... that being, you know, the money in the first place, and its custodial banks.
I've been saying for months that if the FED keeps hiking rates, they're increasing the pressure cooker the stagflationary economy is trapped in, but as soon as they cut, we're going to get a blow-off top of inflationary combustion that could tank what's left of the dollar.
All of this is occurring against the backdrop of Donald Trump making inroads with Bitcoin maximalists, while promising to cut taxes across the board, both of which this same establishment are demonizing.
Not ... a great plan. — Burning Bright
Israel’s Wartime Government Just Collapsed. Does It Matter?
On Sunday evening, Israel’s government was hit with its biggest internal shock since October 7. Benny Gantz, a centrist opposition leader, announced his party’s departure from the country’s emergency war government. In a prime-time speech to the Israeli public, the former general rapped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for putting his personal interest ahead of the national interest, saying that “fateful strategic decisions are met with hesitation and procrastination due to political considerations.” Gantz’s move made news around the world, as many observers asked if it heralded the beginning of the end of Netanyahu’s rule. But there is less to this drama than the headlines suggest.
The reason for this is Israeli political math. At a glance, the numbers would seem to favor Gantz: The parties in Netanyahu’s current coalition are unpopular; they did not receive a majority of the vote in Israel’s November 2022 election, and only took power thanks to a quirk of the country’s electoral system. Well before October 7, polls were finding that Gantz’s party would receive the most votes if new elections were held, while Netanyahu’s Likud party would lose much of its support. Since October 7, large majorities of Israelis have said they want early elections, and most surveys find that Gantz—a political pragmatist, Biden ally, and former chief of the Israel Defense Forces—leads Netanyahu as the preferred candidate for prime minister in those elections. Sixty-two percent of Israelis say they won’t vote for any party that backs Netanyahu for leadership.
But Netanyahu doesn’t have to worry about any of these numbers, because he has the only figure on his side that matters: 64. That’s how many seats his coalition holds in Israel’s 120-seat Parliament, and it’s enough to prevent the body from calling early elections in the first place. The prime minister may not have the support of the Israeli public, but so long as he has a majority in the Knesset, barring any internal defections, no one can force him to face his rivals before the currently scheduled elections in 2026. — The Atlantic
Our Take: "That troika will have one thing going for it: the preferences of the Israeli public. Most Israelis support the cease-fire and hostage deal promoted by President Biden. Most Israelis oppose resettling Gaza. Most Israelis want Netanyahu out of office. But with Gantz gone, those Israelis no longer have a voice in the current Israeli government."
This sure feels like Trump's play-calling, if you consider his remarks in that video, which ran on Israel's Channel 12 on December 21, 2021.
As the article says, Yoav Gallant is Biden's inside man. So it is possible that Gantz is Trump's agent, even if unwittingly. Assuming that to be true, Gantz's next move would be to persuade Gallant to join him and resign. Doing so would compel the government to dissolve, forcing new elections. If Gallant backed Gantz, he could likely beat Netanyahu in a fair election, and initiate a ceasefire so this whole thing can be untangled. Assuming Gantz is Trump's guy.
Mahmoud Abbas (Fatah/Palestine) is ready to deal. Saudi Crown Prince MBS and the Arabs are ready to deal. Iran is about to elect a new president, so they may be sidelined for the time being.
Hamas is cultivated/controlled opposition. Their recruitment thrives off the threat of violence, and appetite for vengeance. You kill it by cutting off its food source (and funding.) If you want to go after the Muslim Brotherhood (MI6), stop the war and talk to the Saudis. Ask them to rally the Muslim Ummah (57 nations)—and maybe Russia and China—against the Muslim Brotherhood (MI6).
Things could get really interesting from here. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
Voting machine contract under scrutiny following discrepancies in Puerto Rico’s primaries
Puerto Rico’s elections commission said Tuesday that it’s reviewing its contract with a U.S. electronic voting company after hundreds of discrepancies were discovered following the island’s heated primaries.
The problem stemmed from a software issue that caused machines supplied by Dominion Voting Systems to incorrectly calculate vote totals, said Jessika Padilla Rivera, the commission’s interim president.
While no one is contesting the results from the June 2 primary that correctly identify the winners, machine-reported vote counts were lower than the paper ones in some cases, and some machines reversed certain totals or reported zero votes for some candidates.
“The concern is that we obviously have elections in November, and we must provide the (island) not only with the assurance that the machine produces a correct result, but also that the result it produces is the same one that is reported,” Padilla said.
More than 6,000 Dominion voting machines were used in Puerto Rico’s primaries, with the company stating that software issues stemmed from the digital files used to export results from the machines. — AP News
Our Take: In a devastating blow to the election narrative, Dominion Voting machines caused a primary disaster in Puerto Rico earlier this month.
The very last line of this AP article is critical, as it affirms many of the independent cyber expert opinions about voting tech vulnerabilities:
‘More than 6,000 Dominion voting machines were used in Puerto Rico’s primaries, with the company stating that software issues stemmed from the digital files used to export results from the machines.’
In other words, Dominion admitted that a corrupted digital file for exporting election results changed the outcome of the election. What protections are there against corrupted digital files entering the system?
A pinky promise.
Our election system is highly centralized. Centralization creates complexity. Complexity breeds and hides corruption.
Notably, we were sold this centralized complexity under the guise of accuracy and security. That was just another lie. Like ‘machines can’t connect to the internet,’ and ‘there’s no foreign involvement in US elections.’
It’s always been a pinky promise of trust.
Should we accept a pinky promise from people who always lie? — Ashe in America
Western hegemony not sustainable — Lavrov
At some point, the West will realize that its efforts to preserve hegemony through blackmail and ultimatums are doomed to fail, but this won’t happen soon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"[The time will come] when the West realizes that its efforts to preserve hegemony through blackmail, illegal sanctions, ultimatums and even military force are doomed to failure, and I hold out hope that this happens at some point, but I do not expect it soon. But if it happens, and the West realizes the need for an equal dialogue with the rest of the world, I assure you that the BRICS member states and other countries of the world majority will be ready for it. But, of course, it will be necessary to agree on the terms of this dialogue," Lavrov told a press conference following the meeting of BRICS foreign ministers.
The top diplomat noted that BRICS does not seek to isolate itself from the West. "We still have the opportunity to communicate within the framework of the United Nations, although even there the Americans and their allies are trying in every possible way to substitute collective work with certain ideas that they formulate among themselves and then try to impose through the secretariats of international organizations that are strongly dependent on them. But, I repeat, there is a platform," the foreign minister pointed out. — TASS
Our Take: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is pulling no punches.
"[The time will come] when the West realizes that its efforts to preserve hegemony through blackmail, illegal sanctions, ultimatums and even military force are doomed to failure, and I hold out hope that this happens at some point, but I do not expect it soon."
Wew, lad.
The Hegemony seems intent to fight until the bitter end, though.
On Monday, the Pentagon quietly lifted a 2018 Trump-led ban on sending American weapons to the notorious Neo-Nazi group, the Azov Battalion, "a sign of desperation," according to ex-Pentagon official Michael Maloof. (Why America is allying with actual Nazis is a fascinating question, which we will cover next week on Breaking History.) As Lavrov explained just ten days ago, Eastern Europe has seen an explosion in Neo-Nazism ever since NATO has expanded into the territory.
A 2018 CIA-led color revolution in Armenia seems to have succeeded, with Armenia announcing yesterday that it will be withdrawing from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, while also announcing that its top military brass will be taking part in NATO Military Committee meetings—a move that signals that one of Russia's oldest allies (Armenia) is abandoning it to join the Western Hegemony, as the US and Armenia announced a Strategic Partnership Commission.
Similar developments are unfolding in Armenia's northern neighbor, Georgia, which drew the ire of the CIA when it recently passed legislation that would impede the State Department's ability to infiltrate and subvert the Georgian government through foreign NGO's. The Georgian Prime Minister has been threatened with assassination by his EU counterparts, and has accused the CIA of launching "two failed color revolutions" against his government. Russia's defense chief publicly accused NATO of facilitating the unrest. Congress has helped envelop the Georgian leadership in a pincer move, by issuing individual sanctions against its leadership.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin has accused the EU of using a "monitoring mission" in Armenia to spy on the government of its eastern neighbor, Azerbaijan. Back in September 2023, the two nations—who have been at war since 2020—saw their ceasefire broken by a kinetic engagement that lasted 24 hours, and resulted in Russian troops deploying to restore peace. This warzone is less than 50 miles from the site where Iran's president was killed in a helicopter crash last month.
Personally, I suspect that all of these moves amount to a desperate attempt by the Hegemony to gain control of the Caucuses, in order to sever the North-South Transportation Corridor—the new trade route developed by the Shanghai Cooperative Organization, which will subvert the Hegemony's iron grip on the global supply chain. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
BONUS ITEMS
U.S. scrambling to prevent Israel-Hezbollah war amid Gaza ceasefire push
The Biden administration has grown extremely concerned that escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah in recent days will deteriorate into an all-out war — and is scrambling to prevent it, according to U.S. officials.
Why it matters: Amid the highly sensitive push to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza, a full-blown war with the Lebanese militant group would dramatically exacerbate the regional crisis and draw the U.S. deeper into the conflict.
Behind the scenes: The Biden administration has cautioned Israel in recent weeks against the notion of "a limited war" in Lebanon — warning that Iran could intervene and flood Lebanon with pro-Iranian militants from Syria, Iraq and even Yemen who would want to join the fighting. — Axios
DONALD TRUMP COMMITS TO CHAMPIONING BITCOIN MINING IN DC
Today, Donald Trump met with Bitcoin Magazine's CEO David Bailey and several prominent U.S. Bitcoin miners. The meeting saw Trump commit to championing Bitcoin mining both in Washington D.C. and on the global stage.
Among the attendees were representatives from leading Bitcoin mining firms, including CleanSpark, Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital, and other notable industry players. Key figures present included S Matthew Schultz from CleanSpark, Jason Les and Brian Morgenstern of Riot Platforms, Salman Khan of Marathon Digital, and Amanda Fabiano of Fabiano Consulting, formerly Head of Mining at Galaxy and Director of Bitcoin Mining at Fidelity.
After the meeting, Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social saying that he wants all "remaining Bitcoin to be made in the USA" and that "It would help us be energy dominant." — Bitcoin Magazine
America First Legal files FEC complaint against Alvin Bragg and Biden campaign for Campaign Act violations
America First Legal (AFL) has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. and Biden’s principal campaign committee, Biden for President, for violating the Federal Election Campaign Act.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg hired Matthew B. Colangelo in December 2022. Colangelo, a former senior official at the DOJ, was brought on to advance his office's investigation of President Trump, due to Colangelo's history with Trump-related cases. Colangelo, who had previously worked for both the DOJ and the New York Attorney General’s Office on investigations related to Trump, had also contributed to Bragg's campaign.
AFL claims that Bragg’s prosecution of Trump was coordinated with Joe Biden, aiming to influence the 2024 presidential election. Attorney General Merrick Garland, during a congressional hearing, did not deny the existence of communications between the Biden DOJ and Bragg’s office but refused to disclose them. — Badlands 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.
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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For Garland, I love both of your takes. But my favorite by far is in the War of Stories. Garland's DOJ just ordered Steve Bannon to prison for 4 months for . . . contempt of Congress. His defense was executive privilege. Garland is just slapped with the same Contempt of Congress charge, giving the same Executive privilege defense.
You may argue the minutia all you want, but in the war of stories it is the same thing.
Kinda like the Trump Docs case that afforded Biden's DOJ with a shoot to kill order to retrieve the documents vs Biden turning over whatever he "found" in his garage and Philadelphia office.
Minutia aside, the story is the same. And if the patriots could play it right, the narrative works in their favor.
This report is packed full. I have so many thoughts. I will pick just one: The BRICS march across the developed and developing world is the most obvious indicator of good things to come. Normies still hear Charlie Brown’s teacher when you mention it and with a negative inflection at that. But it ain’t no conspiracy theory. Pretend money is getting less and less appealing to EVERYONE.
Thanks to you all!