Badlands News Brief

The DOJ Deploys All Assets and an Infamous Politico Dies

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, Burning Bright and Ashe in America 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.

Some items feature original (and subjective) commentary. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see their other work.

Now, onto the news from Wednesday, November 29 …

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Special Counsel Jack Smith Demanded Info On Americans Who "Favorited Or Retweeted" Trump Tweets; Newly Released Docs Show

Special Counsel Jack Smith demanded information on Twitter users who liked or retweeted former President Donald Trump’s tweets leading up to the January 6 riot, according to a heavily redacted search warrant and other documents released Monday.

Smith’s comprehensive search warrant sought the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner’s search history, direct messages, and “content of all tweets created, drafted, favorited/liked, or retweeted” by his account from October 2020 to January 2021.

The special counsel also demanded a list of all devices used to log into Trump’s then-Twitter, now X account, as well as information on users who interacted with the then-president in the months leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, the court filings show.

Among the information Smith sought were lists of all Twitter users who “favorited or retweeted” Trump’s tweets, “as well as all tweets that include the username associated with the account” in “mentions” or “replies.” — American Greatness

BB’s Take: “Somewhat lost in the admitted flood that has become of the various Trump Trials, especially Jack Smith's, is the prosecutor's quote from this week related to the ‘former’ president, whom he called, ‘a sophisticated actor with an expansive platform.’

While the context of this quote comes out of the DOJ's argument to compel Twitter, Inc. to produce @realDonaldTrump's personal user data and history when he was publicly using the platform, it takes on added significance in the context of the public Narrative War that is in the offing between the weaponized DOJ and the America First movement.

The legal arguments are going to continue for months, as Trump's team protests Smith and the DOJ's continued overreaches as unconstitutional in a bid to get these cases elevated to the Supreme Court, but if we truly are watching partisan Deep State actors go after Trump, these legal filings demonstrate their true feelings on what Trump represents:

An existential threat to the System of Systems.” — Burning Bright

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Court Rejects Another Bid To Keep President Trump Off Primary Ballot

A federal district court in Rhode Island on Monday rejected a bid to disqualify former President Donald Trump from candidacy in the 2024 presidential elections, citing an earlier ruling by an appeals court that rejected a similar claim.

Chief Judge John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island on Monday summarily dismissed a complaint by John Anthony Castro, a lesser-known Republican presidential candidate from Texas, who sought to disqualify President Trump from the ballot.

That marked another defeat for Mr. Castro, who has filed lawsuits in more than two dozen states over the past few months, including the one in Rhode Island that was dismissed today, to disqualify Trump from the ballot for the 2024 presidential election.

Mr. Castro has argued in his filings that President Trump engaged in insurrection against the United States by virtue of his actions and words related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, and must be disqualified from holding federal office by Section Three of the 14th Amendment. The Section Three provision bars officials who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding office, and, around its passage in the 19th century, pertained to members of the Confederacy in the American Civil War.

In recent months, courts in Florida, Colorado, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Michigan have dismissed his claims, mostly for procedural or jurisdictional reasons, such as a lack of standing or the courts’ refraining from ruling on a political question.

Judge McConnell’s Monday ruling followed a Nov. 21 ruling (pdf) on the same matter (also brought by Mr. Castro) by a higher court, the Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. The appeals court has appellate jurisdiction over the Rhode Island District Court, so its rulings are binding on the lower court. — The Epoch Times

Ashe’s Take: “By my count, there are 22 states with 14th Amendment, Section 3 challenges to President Trump’s 2024 candidacy. Six states — Florida, Colorado, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Michigan, and now Rhode Island — have declined to prevent President Trump from being on the ballot. But the challenges and the rulings are all over the place.

In Florida, a federal district judge ruled that a lawyer and other voters who challenged Trump’s candidacy didn’t have standing. (August 31)

The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a challenge, ruling that there’s no law barring Trump from serving on the primary ballot; left it open for challengers to retry the case for the general. (November 8)

In Michigan, a state judge ruled that Trump followed state law in qualifying for the primary election. Deferred eligibility questions to Congress. (November 14)

The most severe ruling came in Colorado where, as we’ve been reporting, a state judge ruled that ‘Trump incited an insurrection on January 6, 2021 and therefore ‘engaged’ in insurrection within the meaning of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment’ but that ‘Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to Trump.’ (November 17)

The Colorado ruling is being appealed by both the petitioners and the intervenors to the Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 6. We’ll be covering this one to the end, which statutorily has to come by December 29.

Now in Rhode Island, a federal judge summarily dismissed another challenge, reasoning that the plaintiff failed to show that he suffered ‘injury in fact,’ which is a required component for Section Three of the 14th Amendment. (November 27)

There are similar cases pending all across the country, as those severely gripped by TDS turn to lawfare as a soothing mechanism. Challenges are still in play in Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The lawyers are making a fortune subverting the Constitution. At what point does this become abuse of process? Frivolous litigation? A mental health diagnosis?

As I’ve said before, I don’t believe this 14A lawfare is about keeping President Trump off the ballot.

The first 95 pages of the Colorado ruling affirm the central narrative, the J6 report, the pseudo-science of far right extremism, thought crimes, speech crimes, and the 14th Amendment being superior to the 1st.

The ruling, if it stands, applies to everyone who previously swore an oath who is not the President. Thankfully, President Trump is appealing this dangerous propaganda disguised as a judicial ruling.

Finally, another fun angle to this Rhode Island story is that the Plaintiff — who is involved in a couple dozen of the challenges across multiple states — is named Castro. Because, of course he is.” — Ashe in America

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Henry Kissinger, diplomat who helped to reshape the world, dies at 100

Henry Kissinger, a ruthless practitioner of the art of realpolitik who had an outsize impact on global events and who won a premature Nobel Peace Prize for ending a war that kept going, has died.

A cunning, erudite strategist whose transformative diplomatic efforts helped to reshape the world, Kissinger was 100.

His death Wednesday was announced by his consulting firm. No cause was given.

The former secretary of State will be forever connected with President Richard M. Nixon, particularly for their efforts in three areas: getting America out of the Vietnam War, opening diplomatic relations with China and reducing tensions with the Soviet Union. For decades thereafter, Kissinger’s work with Nixon and President Gerald Ford earned him the role of the Republican Party’s elder statesman when it came to foreign policy.

“The Middle American professional politician and the German-born Harvard professor,” wrote George C. Herring in “America’s Longest War” of Nixon and Kissinger, “could hardly have been more different in background, but they shared a love of power and a burning ambition to mold a fluid world in a way that would establish their place in history. Loners and outsiders in their own professions, they were perhaps naturally drawn to each other.”

In 1973, Kissinger shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Le Duc Tho, his North Vietnamese counterpart, for hammering out an agreement to end the Vietnam War. The accord, which was signed Jan. 27, 1973, had “brought a wave of joy and hope for peace over the entire world,” the Nobel committee said. — Politico

BB’s Take: “The era in which Kissinger made his name was before my time, and while I have attempted deep dives into particular eras of interest to me, like all of us in the Truth Community do, I can’t pretend to have done so regarding either the Nixon Admin or its various connections.

However, Kissinger’s influence—and more importantly, his systemic origins—elevated him to the status of infamous more than famous, his name being synonymous with the concept of shadow government and, as this publication remarks, ‘realpolitik’ for all American generations since.

While the Establishment might attempt to convince the Normie Layers of the Collective Mind that practical politics has always been the way of Kissinger and his ilk, most of us in this community understand that there is a game below and above the game, and that Kissinger was a major player in it.

I look forward to your takes in the comment section.” — Burning Bright

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Authorities Demand Access to Private Social Media Conversations to Spy on Anti-Mass Migration Sentiment

Authorities in Ireland are set to be given access to private social media conversations in order to spy on anti-mass migration sentiment following the riots in Dublin.

After an Algerian migrant stabbed three children outside a primary school, fiery but mostly peaceful protests broke out in the Irish capital.

Authorities reacted by being more outraged at the protesters than the actual would-be child murderer, who should have been deported 20 years ago and was previously released after being arrested for carrying a knife.

Now Irish people who share spicy memes in WhatsApp chat groups are going to be under government surveillance should this new ‘hate speech’ legislation pass.

“Gardai will be able to access and intercept private conversations on social media sites under new legislation, as the Justice Minister promised to crack down on crime following the riots in Dublin,” reports the Irish Times. — Modernity News

Ashe’s Take: “‘The new legislation will also empower authorities to demand ‘cell site location data’ from cellphone companies to help them locate dissidents.’

In Ireland, people are awakening to the surveillance state — and if you just became aware of mass surveillance, this story is shocking. But here’s the thing: The regime has all this info on you already, whether you’re in Ireland or Iowa.

Privacy is a myth. It’s a Godwink this news breaks in Ireland one day after Shellenberger and Taibbi released the CTIL files —which reveal proactive information operations deployed on so-called ‘dissidents’ and ‘bad guys’ — by NGOs staffed with both Americans and foreigners — with tacit approval from government entities.

The global regime doesn’t recognize national boundaries, and they certainly don’t care about your civil liberties. Governments use private entities to defy their statutory restrictions, and in the CTIL Files, they’re admitting it on recording. Paul Fleuret  and I are breaking it all down from a change management perspective on Sunday’s Culture of Change, and we are starting an hour early (5pET) to give these explosive revelations the focus they deserve.

As for Ireland, the sooner everyone realizes that our online activity — public and private — is tracked and accessible by the regime, the sooner we can begin solving the real problems plaguing our homelands around the world.

Our digital self is a (very intimate) extension of our physical self and, as of now, you don’t have any rights to your data. In fact, those in Ireland have greater data privacy rights than Americans because of GDPR and other EU regulations.

Data is more valuable to the regime that any other form of currency, because data allows them to be model and predict against your digital self — staying steps ahead of those they’re tracking — while those they’re tracking believe they’re engaged in protected protest activity.

Data is power. The world runs on data. It’s all about the data.

Unfortunately, at least on paper, the global corporate communists own the physical hardware (server farms), almost all the platforms, most of the services, and the majority of the megaphones. So we have to fight smarter and with intention, and that begins with understanding the digital battlefields.” — Ashe in America

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Sports Illustrated Published Articles by Fake, AI-Generated Writers

There was nothing in Drew Ortiz's author biography at Sports Illustrated to suggest that he was anything other than human.

"Drew has spent much of his life outdoors, and is excited to guide you through his never-ending list of the best products to keep you from falling to the perils of nature," it read. "Nowadays, there is rarely a weekend that goes by where Drew isn't out camping, hiking, or just back on his parents' farm."

The only problem? Outside of Sports Illustrated, Drew Ortiz doesn't seem to exist. He has no social media presence and no publishing history. And even more strangely, his profile photo on Sports Illustrated is for sale on a website that sells AI-generated headshots, where he's described as "neutral white young-adult male with short brown hair and blue eyes."

Ortiz isn't the only AI-generated author published by Sports Illustrated, according to a person involved with the creation of the content who asked to be kept anonymous to protect them from professional repercussions. — Futurism

BB’s Take: “One of the most comically-dystopian stories of the week comes out of the Entertainment Media Industrial Complex, with Sports Illustrated and some of the other brands of The Arena Group coming under fire for allegedly posting AI-generated content from AI-generated writers, each of which they attempted to pass off as human.

What's particularly funny about the reports is that The Arena Group is engaging in Overton's Goalpost regarding the whole affair, initially blaming third-party vendors for the mishaps while denying that AI content was involved.

Of course, this clued their readers in to the fact that SI and The Street content was not original, but was licensed out to third-party vendors, before further backpedaling was forced when the author profiles of the 'writers' turned out to feature AI-generated headshots for sale on a popular database.

The American public is being educated on the prospect that virtually everything they have seen out of the Establishment is, indeed, quite fake.” — Burning Bright

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Disney Admits Woke Strategy Pivot Has "Adversely Impacted" The Company, SEC Filing Reveals

After years of unsuccessfully trying to force its woke agenda upon its customers, the world's largest family entertainment company is finally admitting there may be some truth to the saying coined by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: "Go Woke. Go Broke."

According to its latest filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Walt Disney Company acknowledged that it faces "risks relating to misalignment with public and consumer tastes and preferences for entertainment, travel, and consumer products," and that "revenues and profitability are adversely impacted" when their "entertainment offerings and products" don't "achieve sufficient consumer acceptance."

Conversely, it describes itself as "a diversified worldwide entertainment company" with "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" objectives that include "building teams that reflect the life experiences of our audiences, while employing and supporting a diverse array of voices in our creative and production teams."

According to the filing, the company's revenues for fiscal 2023 were $88.9 billion. While this was a seven percent increase over fiscal year 2022, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Disney was forced to cut spending on television and movie content from $29.8 billion to $27.2, and Business Insider reported in May that Disney entered its third round of layoffs, releasing around 7,000 employees, and scrapping plans to build $900 million corporate campus in Florida. — The Epoch Times

Bright’s Take: “Much has been made of the 'Get Woke, Go Broke' trend in the business & entertainment world over the course of the last few years, and that trend seems to be accelerating of late with entertainment giant Disney in the midst of a financial Crisis Cascade of woke failures at the box office from both male and female-dominated brands.

That said, one of the key informational trends that is developing as the Culture War channels on the mainstream platforms such as YouTube continue to gain in popularity is the subconscious training of otherwise-disengaged Americans into the act of sourcing primary documents and parsing corporate speak and media spin.

For example, while everyone knows Disney is full of crap about the 'success' of their woke agenda, there has been confusion among those adjacent to the Truth Community as to how the company could possibly maintain its current course.

Now, they're seeing that financial filings prove the company knows EXACTLY what's happening.

Red pills abound.” — Burning Bright

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BONUS ITEMS

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Senior CIA Official Posts, Then Deletes Pro-Palestine Content

A senior official at the CIA posted a pro-Palestine photo on her Facebook page amid Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip but later deleted the post and other pro-Palestinian content after it was reported by the media.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the CIA associate deputy director for analysis changed her Facebook cover photo on 21 October to an image of a man waving a Palestinian flag.

The official also published a selfie with a sticker saying "Free Palestine" superimposed on the photograph, which the Financial Times reported was posted to Facebook years before the ongoing war, citing an unnamed person familiar with the image.

The images were deleted on Monday after the Financial Times contacted the official, the report said. Middle East Eye reached out to the CIA associate deputy director for analysis on LinkedIn for comment but didn’t receive a reply by the time of publication.

While CIA officials like those in the directorate of operations mainly work undercover with their identity obscured, others who provide analysis for the agency can have a more public profile. It is extremely rare, however, for officials working in government intelligence, particularly senior officials, to share their political views on current events. — Middle East Eye

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Black Friday "Dud": Retailers Heavily Dependent On Shopping Frenzy Day Saw Sales Drop

Perhaps all the cheer around record Black Friday online sales, fueled by 'Buy Now, Pay Later' options, may be unwarranted, as a new Bloomberg report suggests that this year's most important shopping day fell short of expectations for major retailers.

According to an analysis of Bloomberg Second Measure transaction data, the median decline in Black Friday sales was about 4% for a basket of 40 companies that have a higher percentage of year-to-date sales from the shopping holiday versus peers. The data showed that this year's drop was sharper than Black Friday 2022.

Data from Bloomberg Second Measure is derived from a sample of millions of US credit and debit card users. The retailers in focus heavily relied on Black Friday. 

"Black Friday represented more than five times an average day's worth of observed US direct-to-consumer sales to date, according to the median estimate for the group. That's the highest level since 2019, meaning these retailers are relying more on this one shopping day even as the number of bargain hunters they're attracting dwindled," Bloomberg noted. 

Despite Adobe Analytics data that showed Black Friday spending online jumped 7.5% compared to last year, the data from Bloomberg appears to show a shift in consumers who are gravitating away from traditional Black Friday retailers that Bloomberg tracks to discount retailers (trading down) and or spending more on experiences and travel purchases. 

This might be why Bloomberg Second Measure data shows rising sales for discounters such as Walmart, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls. Even Amazon touted its 'record-breaking' sales to kick off the holiday season. — ZeroHedge

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"I Have No Problem Being Hated" - Musk Tells Boycotting Advertisers To "Go F**k Yourselves"

Click the image to watch on X

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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.

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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