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 White House thinks there will be "big announcements on countries that are coming into the Abraham Accords," the Trump administration's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday during an interview with CNBC.
The Abraham Accords were a development in the Middle East during US President Donald Trump's first term in office in 2020, when the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan agreed to normalize relations with Israel.
"One of the President's key objectives is that the Abraham Accords be expanded," Witkoff told CNBC.
Witkoff also noted that he and his team are working in coordination with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department in order to "get more countries to come into [the Abraham Accords]."
"We are hoping for normalization across an array of countries that people never would have contemplated would come in, so we are excited for that prospect; it will also be a stabilizer in the Middle East," Witkoff added. — Jerusalem Post
Our Take: Iran joining the Abraham Accords? — Jon Herold
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The Iranian foreign ministry admitted that their nuclear facilities were “badly damaged” by U.S. strikes over the weekend after reports surfaced about a low-confidence U.S. intelligence assessment suggesting otherwise.
Numerous outlets reported Wednesday on an early intelligence assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggesting the U.S. strikes only set Iran’s nuclear program back a few months. The White House strongly disputed the intelligence assessment and criticized the leakers within the intelligence apparatus. […]
“The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
Secretary of State Rubio also cast doubt on the intelligence assessment during a panel discussion at the NATO Summit at The Hague on Wednesday, arguing that anti-Trump elements within the intelligence community had manipulated media outlets into reporting unfavorably on the operation.
“There’s no way Iran comes to the table if somehow nothing happened. This was complete and total obliteration. They are way behind today compare to where they were just seven days ago,” Rubio said. — National Pulse
Our Take: “There’s no way Iran comes to the table if somehow nothing had happened.”
Trump boosted this Rubio quote for a reason.
He’s put the enemy apparatus in a pincer wherein they are the ones crying ‘fake news!’
Tucked within the angular, batwing design of the US Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber lies a cramped but meticulously engineered cockpit — a space that becomes home for up to 40 hours during ultra-long-range missions like the recent 37-hour strike on Iran’s Fordow nuclear site.
Behind the clinical precision of the bombing raid lies a story of human endurance, discipline and deep psychological preparation.
The B-2 mission, code-named Operation Midnight Hammer, was the longest since the US assault on Afghanistan post-9/11.
Seven of the Air Force’s 19 B-2 bombers flew halfway across the world from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Iran and back, flying in near-complete radio silence, supported by a constellation of fighter jets and tankers for mid-air refueling.
At the heart of each jet: Two pilots trained not only in warfare but in sleep science, nutrition and psychological resilience. — Gulf News
Our Take: Trump is up-branding the B2, I think. "We have an unimaginable plane" is a good deterrent for war.
It's also a narrative inoculation against believing that new countries are creating a NOOK threat. I mean, there was no radiological contamination event because the labs were soooooo deep in the mountain. That's why there's only the holes. If there is no radiologocal contamination event, then there is no reason not to destroy other weapons and facilities.
The nuclear deterrent is gone.
The world will understand the B2 as the super weapon.
This would end the "nuclear threat" narrative permanently. Very similar to how the vaccine narrative was destroyed. Who's still afraid of climate change? Idiots?
Trump will end up dismantling all of our Existential Threat narratives." — Chris Paul
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has rushed to defend US President Donald Trump’s recent expletive-laden rant about Iran and Israel as merely “daddy” using “strong language.”
Trump on Tuesday lashed out at both countries for allegedly breaching a Washington-brokered ceasefire, telling reporters before departing for the NATO summit in the Hague that West Jerusalem and Tehran have “been fighting so long and so hard that they do not know what the f**k they are doing.” The outburst came hours after he announced the truce, which was reportedly broken soon after by both Israel and Iran.
Asked about the remark during a joint press conference the next day, Trump likened the two nations to “kids (fighting) in a schoolyard.” Rutte, seated beside him, added: “And then daddy has to, sometimes, use strong language.” — RT
Our Take: Even funnier than the clip of Rutte calling Trump "Daddy" is the clip of the reporter asking Trump about it, where Marco Rubio breaks character and starts hysterically laughing.
It's not often that we get to see the TrumpaMania characters break character, but this definitely felt like one of those moments. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
ActBlue officials are being summoned to testify before House Republicans about potential “widespread” fraud on the massive Democratic fundraising platform, according to subpoena letters obtained by The Post — amid a parallel probe by President Trump’s Department of Justice.
A current ActBlue senior workflow specialist, who is unidentified, and former vice president of customer service Alyssa Twomey were sent the summonses on Wednesday from the GOP chairmen of the House Oversight, Judiciary and Administration committees, the letters show.
Both of the lefty officials had been prepared for voluntary interviews with the committee chairs before Trump authorized Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate “the unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make ‘straw’ or ‘dummy’ contributions.”
Danny Onorato, a lawyer for the ActBlue employees, swiftly responded with an appeal to “withdraw requests for transcribed interviews until the Department of Justice completes its investigation or clarifies its position with respect to our clients,” according to the letters. — New York Post
Our Take: Now do WinRed. According to Peter Bernegger out of Wisconsin, one of the primary investigators of smurfing and a frequent guest on Why We Vote, Republican Senator Ted Cruz is the number one recipient of smurfed donations in the nation.
Remember when Cruz dismissed the idea that he was taking donations from AIPAC because the funding was actually from small, independent donors?
On paper, they’re individuals…
But are they?
Or are illegal campaign donations being washed through individual identities without their knowledge or consent — smurfing?
I don’t care who is violating the law and laundering foreign money — being of the party in power does not excuse violating the law.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson on Monday announced that, as part of the FTC’s approval of a merger between two of the largest advertising companies, the advertising giants agreed not to collude or discriminate based on political or ideological viewpoints.
The FTC noted that the two advertising companies were founding members of a cross-industry initiative called GARM through which there was collusion to blacklist center-right outlets such as Breitbart News, Fox News, and the Daily Wire.
Ferguson announced that the FTC had extracted a major victory as part of the agency’s agreement for Omnicom and IPG to merge. The two advertising firms comprise a third of the world’s “Big Six” advertising firms. As part of the merger agreement, the firms said they would not agree to or maintain any practice to discriminate based on political viewpoints.
The FTC chairman wrote that there has been a history of “collusion in the [advertising] market for media-buying services, and the increased potential for collusion post-merger make this a rare instance where the imposition of a behavioral remedy is appropriate.”— Breitbart
Our Take: This is a massive win *if* they actually abide by it.
Two major advertisement conglomerates have agreed to stop coordinating against outlets based on their political views.
This would be like overturning Citizens United for elections by comparison.
Any outlet that dares challenge the official narrative and reported on the controversial issues like “safe and effective” or “most secure election in our history” was ultimately censored and bled dry from any type of quality advertising, no matter if the reporting was factual.
US President Donald Trump has called for an end to the corruption trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, days after Israel and Iran reached a ceasefire.
Trump showered his Middle Eastern ally with praise in a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday evening. “Bibi Netanyahu was a WARRIOR, like perhaps no other Warrior in the History of Israel,” he wrote.
He hailed Netanyahu’s leadership during Israel’s conflict with Iran and slammed the allegations against him as “politically motivated.”
“Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me,” the US president wrote. “Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State.” — RT
Another Take: If we take this at face value, are we really to believe that Bibi Netanyahu is greater than King David of Biblical fame?
Seriously, I think this is Trump trolling, but also keeping "his guy" propped up, while also bringing attention to the corruption trial — which I believe is one of many leverage points being applied to Netanyahu from the Trump team.
There was also this post that was brought to our attention last night on Devolution Power Hour by Boomdiggity. It's about Hollywood executive Arnon Milchan (former Mossad agent) who produced Oliver Stone's film JFK and, according to the article, brought a Bugs Bunny doll to Yair Netanyahu, as requested by his parents.
What's interesting is that Milchan is also accused of helping to steal hundreds of "triggers" that are used to detonate a nuclear bomb.
The allegation is that Milchan used his contacts to facilitate the logistics so the triggers could be exported out of the US and to Israel for the illegal and secret nuclear weapons program. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
Among animals that can regrow their detached limbs, Mexico’s axolotls stand out. These endangered amphibians can also regrow organs, including parts of its brain and heart.
Now, biologists are looking closer at the mucus on these masters of regrowth. The antimicrobial peptides (AMP) in the axolotls’ mucus membranes protect them from pathogens.
Now, a new study believes that this internet-famous animal could hold some solutions to antibiotic resistance. Its antimicrobial peptides were effective against multi-resistant bacteria, including the dreaded methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and helped combat cancer cells.
Our Take: My son Joshua turned 18 yesterday and, when he was a tyke, he had an axolotl as a pet. That little clown-salamander was adorable, and my boy learned everything about the species; but he was also a kid and left the lid of the habitat one day. In a great family trauma, the axolotl was murdered by the cat.
Reading this article, I learned that (1) the species is endangered (yes, I feel like an asshole), and (2) the mucus of the species could cure breast cancer …
Wait, what?
How long has this potential cure been known? Breast cancer has been stealing time from families for generations. Is the species really endangered, or…? Also, extracting mucus shouldn’t be deadly, right?
One more time, how long has this potential cure been known?
Regardless, the littler goobers are adorable. — Ashe in America
US President Donald Trump has called on Republicans to support his campaign to dismantle the state-funded news outlet Voice of America (VOA). Launched in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II, the broadcaster later served as a key vehicle for pro-American messaging during the Cold War.
Trump has argued, however, that VOA has in recent decades veered toward partisanship, and vowed to shut it down as part of his broader push to eliminate wasteful government spending. […]
Earlier that day, senior Trump adviser Kari Lake told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA, is “rotten to the core” and should be reshaped to align with Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda. - RT
Our Take: Now do Fox News!
Seriously, though. The other day Bannon accused Fox of being controlled by Mossad and called for a FARA investigation.
It is absolutely past time to shut down the state media organizations (and those posing as corporate outlets), but also the illegal psychological warfare operations that the intelligence community has been conducting against the US citizenry for the past several years. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved amendments to a spending bill that would authorize U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to issue medical marijuana recommendations to military veterans and support psychedelics research and access.
Two days after the House Rules Committee made the cannabis and psychedelics amendments in order for floor consideration, the full chamber agreed to attach them to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies (MilConVA) appropriations legislation on Wednesday.
One of the accepted proposals from Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Dave Joyce (R-OH)—who are both co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus—would increase veterans’ access to state medical marijuana programs and eliminate a current VA directive barring the department’s doctors from issuing cannabis recommendations. — Marijuana Moment
Our Take: I asked Secretary of Veterans Affairs about this exact topic recently.
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Robert Page, the Orange County Registrar of Voters in California, accusing him of refusing to provide records related to the removal of non-citizens from the county’s voter registration rolls and failing to maintain an accurate voter list as required under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said the case addresses violations of well-established federal election laws:
“Voting by non-citizens is a federal crime, and states and counties that refuse to disclose all requested voter information are in violation of well-established federal elections laws,” Dhillon said in a statement. “Removal of non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls is critical to ensuring that the State’s voter rolls are accurate and that elections in California are conducted without fraudulent voting. The Department of Justice will hold jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal voting laws accountable.” — Badlands Media
Pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists, and medical associations with longstanding ties to vaccine manufacturers like Merck, Sanofi, and Pfizer are joining a new private coalition aimed at bypassing the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), The Washington Post reported.
The effort follows Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent dismissal of all ACIP members over conflict-of-interest concerns. The unnamed coalition, which includes vaccine makers, state health officials, and a new advocacy group, is working with the University of Minnesota’s Vaccine Integrity Project to develop a “nongovernmental vaccine system.”
Their plan includes ordering vaccines directly from manufacturers and following recommendations from medical associations instead of ACIP. — Badlands Media
The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, challenging a standing order that automatically blocks federal immigration enforcement actions.
The court’s order requires clerks to immediately issue injunctions halting the removal or legal status challenges of any alien detained in Maryland who files a habeas petition.
DOJ officials say the Maryland court’s order bypasses essential procedural and legal requirements for preliminary injunctions, ignores congressional intent, and violates Supreme Court precedent. — Badlands Media
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The state-run media is showing it’s ass more and more often and people are no longer interested. I suspect this is happening world-wide. The internet has turned out to be a bitch for the AI fear mongers and 4am talking points brigade.
The state-run media is showing it’s ass more and more often and people are no longer interested. I suspect this is happening world-wide. The internet has turned out to be a bitch for the AI fear mongers and 4am talking points brigade.
Thanks gang for today's Takes, things are moving so fast it is tough to keep up.
GBPH it ALWAYS brings a HUGE smile to my face whenever I read or hear "TrumpaMania"... yeah baby!!!
God Wins!
God Bless!!!