Badlands News Brief
Badlands News Brief
Can You Predict October Surprises?
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 Tuesday, October 15 …
The October Surprise May Be Arriving Shortly
Now that you have read the 500th poll of the battleground states, the thousands of simulations, the scientific and pseudo-scientific calculations, the hourly assertions of how close this contest is, you might want to take a breath and contemplate the possibility that the factor that will determine the outcome may not have happened yet. At least, that’s what our recent political history says.
Again and again, close presidential contests have been overtaken by last-minute events that rendered the months of analysis and speculation inoperative. Historians can debate the ultimate impact of these moments, but they have emerged often enough that they should provide a good dose of humility to any assessment of the outcome.
Welcome to the “October surprise,” which has come to mean any late-breaking event with the potential to change the course of the race, but which first entered America’s political lexicon in 1980.
The idea was born out of fear in Ronald Reagan’s campaign that President Jimmy Carter would manage to win the release of 52 hostages who had been held captive in Iran for nearly a year, providing the embattled president with a significant diplomatic success. Reagan campaign manager Bill Casey publicly warned that Carter might be planning such an “October surprise,” and the campaign urged its friends in the intelligence and military communities to flag any movements that suggested a release was in the works.
Of course, not only did that not happen, but the anniversary of the captivity happened to be on election eve, further reminding the country of the hostages’ plight. The measure of Iran’s distaste for Carter can be measured by the fact that the hostages were released mere minutes after Reagan was inaugurated.
In fact, the real October surprise of that year may have been alleged efforts by the Reagan campaign to persuade Iran not to release the hostages until after the election and deprive Carter of the political windfall. The questions grew great enough that a House investigation of the matter was conducted. Lawmakers ultimately concluded in 1993 that there was “little or no credible evidence of communication between the 1980 Reagan campaign and the government of Iran.” But in his definitive biography of Reagan, author Max Boot looked at new documents about the movements of Bill Casey and the subsequent dealings between the Reagan administration and Iran to assert that the evidence of this theory was “substantial and credible if still circumstantial.”
Other October surprises that did take place have been costly. — Politico
Our Take: This Politico article is wild. It’s basically a deconstruction of the past several decades of US political parties manipulating foreign policy and weaponizing government bureaucracy for political gain.
Like we’ve been saying, the narrative deployments aren’t real. They’re carefully crafted stimulus to generate a desired public reaction which, when successfully managed, leads to specific, desired outcomes. It’s the norm, as this Politico writer says. But we’re conspiracy theorists.
There is no mention of Hunter Biden, a scandal that should have cost Joe Biden the White House in 2020, and did save for election fraud. 51 former intelligence officials likely agree.
The funniest part of the article, though, is the ending:
“So when you read of the remarkable stability of the 2024 race…” — um, what? — “…the relatively minor movement in the polls…” —inexplicable and mathematically questionable — “…the reasonable assertions that issues like immigration, inflation or abortion will be decisive, just keep in mind that if past is prologue, we may still be in for a surprise.”
Kamala allegedly plagiarized her book and faked black relatives, Walz provably lied on his resume and is accused of stolen valor — and much worse — and they’ve already gone multiple times to the same wells on Trump. And by wells, I mean fabricating scandals, weaponizing the justice system, and attempting assassinations.
Gee, I hope nothing upsets the stability of this race.
Oh, Politico. —
Trump Destroys Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief, Receives Standing Ovation In Chicago
Former President Donald Trump sat down with Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief John Micklethwait for an interview in partnership with the Economic Club of Chicago - where he knocked several tough questions out of the park, while starting - and ending, with a standing ovation.
At the beginning of the interview, Micklethwait said Kamala Harris refused to appear to discuss her 'economic vision.' Probably a smart move.
Some highlights:
Trump slammed Micklethwait to his face over tariffs - saying "It must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you're wrong." To which the crowd erupted in applause.
"It’s going to have a massive effect, positive effect," Trump said. "The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States, and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff."
[…]
Trump then roasted the federal reserve, saying "It's the greatest job in government. You show up to the office once a month and say, 'Hmm, let's flip a coin,' and everybody talks about you like you're a god."
"I think it sets a horrible tone," said Trump, adding "There are certain companies you have to have."
Trump landed more hits when the topic moved to inflation. When Micklethwait noted that the WSJ says Trump's economic plan will increase the national debt by more than 7 trillion, Trump replied:
"What does the Wall Street Journal know? They've been wrong about everything. And so have you, by the way..."
"You're trying to turn this into a debate," Micklethwait shot back - to which Trump said "It's not a debate, but you've been wrong all your life on this stuff." — ZeroHedge
Our Take: Trump's takedown masquerading as an interview with Bloomberg was the rare Info War deployment that managed to send shockwaves through multiple layers of the Collective Mind on both Actual and Narrative levels.
First off, if you're wondering what the financial markets think of Trump 2.0, Polymarket tells us that the actual (fake) money is increasingly surging toward him as the election nears, and that it spiked this afternoon.
Second, Trump was able to engage in one of his more masterful asides in the "conversation," ending an exchange in which he said both the Wall Street Journal and the Bloomberg mouthpiece have been wrong about this stuff "all your life," before leading him into an aside about "currency."
Third, sidestepping accusations that he helped destabilize the dollar's hegemony is signal to those of us with asymmetric readings of Operation Warp Speed.
Trump walked into the den of vampires and told them to their faces he's destroying their system.
And he did it to cheers. —
Ukraine Finally Admits To Russian Breakthrough In Kursk As They Evacuate Sumy
For those tracking war maps from both sides of the conflict as well as geo-location data for troop positions, the failure of Ukraine's offensive in Kursk is not a surprise. The movement of their forces stalled out only a couple weeks after their initial push into the territory and the Russians have been grabbing back pieces of land ever since. However, for those people only listening to establishment news sources, the retaking of Kursk might come as a shock.
Russian troops have made significant advances from the western flank of Ukrainian positions, and reports indicate a threat of Ukrainian troops being encircled.
The Telegraph, usually a platform for pro-Ukraine propaganda, notes that sources from both sides confirmed the Russian breakthrough, which occurred during the heaviest fighting on Russian territory since Ukraine began its cross-border incursion in August.
DeepState, a Ukrainian military blogger, said that there was a risk that Russian forces could encircle Ukrainian forces, although they later said that the front lines in Kursk were “difficult but under control”. “The enemy pushed through the left flank of the Kursk grouping of Ukrainian defense forces,” the blogger said. “We are on the verge of another mess due to the repetition of mistakes.” (Keep in mind, major military "bloggers" in this conflict tend to have connections to government and military officials who give them battlefront information)
It should be noted that DeepState has avoided changing his war maps to reveal significant Russian gains in Kursk for many weeks. It is likely that he has been dissuaded from doing so by officials in Kyiv in order to present a facade of success in Kursk. The fact that he is admitting to those gains now suggests the situation is dire for Ukraine.
Russian military bloggers said that marines from the Pacific Fleet’s 155th Guards Brigade had been involved in fighting around the Glushkovsky district of Kursk, where most Ukrainian forces had allegedly been overrun. — ZeroHedge
Our Take: I used the Zero Hedge link that Burning Bright provided in our Brief chat, but I actually prefer the RT version of this article.
(Sidebar: RT is actually a fantastic source of accurate news information. The US State Department—along with every corporate media outlet in its proximity—is a laughing stock, in comparison. I hope the communists from the State Department are reading this right now. They are a disgrace.)
It's our old friend, Major General Apty Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat Special Forces from Russia’s Chechen Republic. We've written about him on the Brief before, and his heroics against the Azov Battalion.
Major General Alaudinov is a fascinating figure, as is the history of Chechnya/Russia, and the Akhmat Special Forces.
The First Chechen War took place between 1994 and 1996. It was an intense and very violent conflict; Though Alaudinov did not participate in it, he lost 20 close relatives who did, including his uncle, his brother, and his father—who was a former officer in the Soviet Army.
The Second Chechen War began in 1999, and lasted 10 years; Though this time, the Chechen forces were divided, with half of them siding with Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. The conflict began when highly trained radical Islamic terrorists infiltrated Dagestan and bombed an apartment building, killing 300 Russians. (The chances that these terrorists were trained and deployed by the CIA is incredibly high.)
The Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Akhmad Kadyrov, is who switched sides, offering his services and men to Putin. Akhmad was named President of Chechnya in 2003. In March 2004, during a memorial parade, Akhmad was assassinated by a bomb set by those same radical Islamicists.
When the Second Chechen War began, Alaudinov was in law school, and after graduating (2001) he began working as a prosecutor in the Interior Ministry's organized crime unit. After Akhmad was killed, his son and leader of the militia, Ramzan, took over and restructured the organized crime unit so it could operate in a more kinetic capacity.
Ramzan took a personal liking to Alaudinov, and in November 2006, Ramzan tasked him with a mission of great personal significance: avenge his father by eliminating the terrorist leader (and traitor) responsible for murdering him.
The target's name was Movladi Baisarov, and he had been a member of Akhmad Kadyrov's security force. It was believed that he had played a role in Akhmad's assassination, and refused to serve as a subordinate to Ramzan. Baisarov was known as a "prominent Wahabi" (a telltale sign that he was connected to the CIA) and had been accused of operating a torture chamber in the prison under his control, as well as an extensive kidnapping and assassination operation. (All hallmarks of Operation Gladio.)
Alaudinov led a team of 50 Chechen police officers out of Chechnya and into the streets of Moscow, where they confronted and killed Baisarov. The Moscow authorities were upset that the operation had been conducted using "methods of the Chechen republic" by Chechen Police, rather than the methods of and by the Moscow Police, and opened a criminal investigation, though ultimately they couldn't narrow down a specific killer, as Baisarov had been struck by so many bullets.
As you could imagine, Alaudinov and Ramzan Kadyrov had maintained a close relationship since then, and that group of 50 police officers became the basis of the legal formation of the Akhmat special forces unit, better known as the "Kadyrovites." Formally known as the 141st Special Motorized Regiment, the group was formed by Ramzan's father in 1999 at the onset of the Second Chechen War. Because it was the Kadyrovites protecting Akhmad when he was killed in 2004, Ramzan disbanded the unit, merging the few people he could trust (including Alaudinov) with Russian law enforcement under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
With the help of Putin, Ramzan outfitted this newly refurbished unit with mechanized armor and other heavy equipment they did not previously possess. Thus, the modern-day Chechen special forces were born. Operating out of a facility in Dagestan, this unit has participated in some of the most notorious conflicts of the past decade, deploying to Aleppo (Syria) in 2017 to "win the hearts and minds" of the local population.
The Kadyrovites were on the ground in Ukraine back in 2014, fighting against the CIA after Langley overthrew the legitimately elected government and installed Israeli Mafia henchman, Oleksandr Turchynov, as interim president. It was also the Kadyrovites who were sent to Rostov last year to subdue the purported "Wagner Rebellion" led by Yevgeny Prigozhin. Now, they are in Kursk, crushing the NATO blitzkrieg.
Now we see why Putin recently went to Dagestan and gave his blessings to the Kadyrovites. —
Why Kamala Harris Needs Joe Rogan to Fix Her Male Voter Problem
Kamala Harris is reportedly planning on appearing on Joe Rogan's hugely popular podcast, as polls suggest the vice president needs a boost in winning over male voters from Donald Trump.
Harris' campaign is said to have discussed the with Rogan's team plans for the vice president to appear on The Joe Rogan Experience before Election Day in November, but nothing has been confirmed, reported Reuters on Monday.
Rogan's podcast is the most popular in the U.S., regularly attracting millions of predominantly male listeners and viewers. Harris' potential plan to appear on the online show arrives as surveys frequently suggest Trump is outperforming Harris among male voters, which could prove vital in the neck-and-neck race.
Harris, who is looking to be the first female U.S. president in history, has recently embarked on a media blitz of talk shows and podcasts over more traditional news outlets. This has included an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, which is very popular with young women.
Trump has also indicated that he will soon be a guest on Rogan's podcast, but offered no specific details. The former president has recently appeared on several podcasts that aim to be popular with young male audiences, such as Flagrant with comedians Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh. — Newsweek
Our Take: Everything might be fake, but not everyone on the game board is in on the fact that everything is fake. That’s my position as we watch the Harris campaign attempt to rehab her challenges with male (all) voters.
This is a terrible idea. The Joe Rogan Experience is a long form, winding and often irreverent format. Kamala Harris could likely have done this format in 2019, when she was running for president, claiming her authentic, Marxist ideology, and be roundly rejected by Democrat primary voters. Harris doesn’t come across as this much of a bumbling moron when she’s speaking to her authentic positions.
Rather, this version of Harris is so cringe because she is attempting to credibly convince voters that she holds her current policy positions — and it’s painfully and obviously inauthentic.
It’s why she flubs talking points.
It’s the reason for the word salads.
It’s the foundation of the laugh.
“Middle of the road moderate” is not natural for Kamala, a career politician, because during her career, prior to her 2024 presidential run, she claimed a different (authentic) worldview — that Americans are evil colonialists, borders are fascist, and we’re living in a post-capitalist society.
Now she’s having to sell herself as a moderate that loves her nation and respects her oath, and it’s obviously killing her spirit. As my friend Holly at Altitude keeps saying, “Kamala may be drunk, but that’s cope for the fact that she’s cracking under the pressure.”
Putting this woman on Rogan, who is unlikely to edit her responses, stick to her questions/script, or game the interview, is a terrible decision by her team. It might be the right play for an authentic candidate in Harris’ polling circumstances, but it will backfire for a candidate that has to sell inauthentic policy positions as believable … for two to three hours in a forum made famous on the idea of authentic dialogue.
TL;DR: She’s a passable politician, but a terrible actress. I really hope she does this interview.
Trump, in comparison, would crush on Rogan. He’s gifted in this kind of format; we know that, because he does it all the time. More importantly, he believes what he is saying. He authentically holds his positions and, therefore, he can confidently go wherever the JRE takes the conversation. I hope he does it as well.
While we’ve relied on rally coverage and debate for the peoples’ “access to democracy” forever, this is better. This format — equal time for candidates to undergo a full and critical examination of their ideas and policies, in long form, so the people can evaluate and make informed decisions — puts the people in the decision making roll without the MSM middlemen. Just make it live.
Keep that in mind for our rebuilding season in the post fake and gay America. —
Musk spent $1bn on coup attempt – Maduro
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused tech tycoon Elon Musk of “investing” at least $1 billion in inciting violence in the South American country after the presidential election earlier this year.
Maduro was declared the winner of the July 28 poll by the national election authorities, though the US claimed that victory had been stolen from opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
During his weekly television program on Monday, Maduro alleged to have direct knowledge that Musk – with whom he has been engaged in a long-running public feud – had spent “no less than $1 billion” on “the coup d’etat, the fascist outbreak, the violence against the electoral process in Venezuela.”
The Venezuelan leader named his political opponent, businesswoman Maria Corina Machado, as the distributor of the alleged funding to “fascist” groups, claiming that the US government was ultimately behind attempts to oust him from power. — RT
Our Take: "Fascist groups," you say? Sounds a lot like Operation Gladio.
Following the vote in July, Musk accused Maduro of “major election fraud,” while the Venezuelan president declared the South African-born billionaire his “arch enemy” who “controls the virtual reality” created by social media. The two agreed to settle their differences in a fistfight, which never happened. Musk has also threatened to singe Maduro’s famous mustache “from space” in response to a threat to suspend his social network X in Venezuela.
Seriously, though, did Chris Paul write that paragraph?
This little feud between Maduro and Elon has departed from strange and entered "laugh out loud funny" territory.
Of course, this spat has been high comedy since back in the summer, when Maduro called Elon his "arch nemesis" and claimed that Musk planned to invade Venezuela with an army of space rockets. Maduro then challenged Elon to a fist fight, to which Elon responded by saying (in Spanish) that a donkey knows more than Maduro.
[From the article]
"The people of Venezuela have had enough of this clown," Musk wrote. Musk continued to reply to posts about the likely rigged election, including one suggesting Maduro won the presidential election with 107% of the votes. In his simple reply, Musk left a laughing emoji.
As to claims Maduro made about Musk invading Venezuela with an army and his space rockets, one user asked if he could confirm or deny the rumor.
"Does he have space lasers? Because I do," Musk wrote.
107%? Hahahahah
Guys, if you don't realize that this is literally WWE pageantry, I don't know what to tell you. Enjoy the show. —
North Korea blows up parts of inter-Korean road and rail links in a symbolic display of anger
In a symbolic display of anger, North Korea on Tuesday blew up the northern sections of unused road and rail routes that once linked it with South Korea, with the rivals exchanging threats days after the North claimed that the South flew drones over its capital Pyongyang.
The choreographed demolition underlines North Korea’s growing anger against South Korea’s conservative government. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of achieving peaceful Korean unification.
Observers say it’s unlikely Kim will launch a preemptive, large-scale attack on South Korea because of fear that an almost certain massive retaliation by the more superior forces of the United States and South Korea would threaten Pyongyang’s survival. — AP News
Our Take: Sometimes, Trump gives us long, winding asides (which he refers to as "weaves,") that let us catch the signal within the engineered noise.
Other times, he directly tells us what's going on, reminding us both of the War of Stories, and the "choice to know" refrain.
Here, in just three clipped sentences, Trump gives us an ultra condensed Hegelian Dialectic, which patriots are using to reverse engineer the enemy's hold on the Collective Mind.
In the first sentence, he lays out the reported Actual as the problem.
In the second sentence, he gives a blunt summation of the reaction the Collective Mind is meant to have to said problem, ie: BAD NEWS!
In the third sentence, he tells us the STORY of the solution, even going so far as to put it in narrative quotes, thereby separating it from the Problem & Reaction thesis-antithesis.
"Trump the Peacemaker" is the last story. Kim, Putin and the other members of the Sovereign Alliance will help him actualize it.
Planned long ago.
Chill out. —
BONUS ITEMS
Inside the secret 'prepping' to get federal death row ready for a Trump presidency
The Justice Department is 'prepping' the federal government's death row for a resumption of executions in the event Donald Trump wins the election, DailyMail.com can reveal.
It is understood a visit was made last week by officials to inspect the so-called 'death range' at Terre Haute penitentiary in Indiana, where the 40 prisoners serving federal death sentences are held.
No executions have been carried out by the U.S. government during Joe Biden's term but Trump has indicated that lethal injections will quickly resume if he retakes the White House. — Daily Mail
Russia, China collaborating with criminal networks in cyberattacks against adversaries: Microsoft
Russia, China and Iran are increasingly collaborating with cybercrime networks to launch a variety of attacks against their adversaries, including the U.S., Microsoft said in a Tuesday report.
The attacks, ranging from ransomware to phishing, were carried out for “espionage, destruction or influence” and involved cybercrime gangs working with these nations to share hacking tools and tactics, Microsoft said in its new Digital Defense Report. Published Tuesday, the report looked at cyber threats from July 2023 through June.
In one influence operation, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) group used cyber personas starting last year to sell stolen Israeli dating website data, Microsoft found.
And in another case, Russian threat actors used new malware and appeared to outsource some cyberespionage operations to criminal groups, the report stated. Last June, one operation compromised at least 50 Ukrainian military devices in an apparent attempt to access information for the Russian government.
Microsoft said these cyberattacks also included attempts to influence the U.S. election ahead of November. Russia has continued various operations intended to undermine trust in democratic institutions, while Iran and China have escalated their influence campaigns in the past year. — The Hill
Georgia Judge Rules County Officials Can't Delay, Decline To Certify Election Results
A Georgia judge has ruled that county election officials must certify election results by the statutory deadline regardless of irregularities or suspected fraud.
Georgia law requires county election superintendents to certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday following the election—or the Tuesday, if the date falls on a federal holiday, as it does this year.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled on Oct. 14 that election officials must stick to that deadline.
“No election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance,” the judge wrote in his opinion.
McBurney added that if a superintendent should determine a need for additional information from the elections board or other election officials, that information should be provided “promptly,” where unprotected by law.
“However, any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so,” he wrote.
Julie Adams, a Republican member of the Fulton County Board of Elections and Registrations, brought the lawsuit after the county’s appointed election director allegedly denied her repeated requests for access to election results and processes. — The Epoch Times
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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Trump was magnificent in his rebuttal of the “expert” in his interview concerning the effects of tariffs. Folks, this is really much more simple if we factor in what we know about the Act of 1871.
America was bankrupt following the Civil War. Both sides were broke, but those who bet on the South to win were clearly going to never be repaid. The North “investors” were in trouble too, that is unless they could bail out the government.
But what actually happened is our Congress agreed to repay the people who funded both sides of the conflict. That is because the same “investors” bet on both sides of our war. Thus, the need for the 1871 Act.
OK, here is why this is so simple today. Between 1871 and 1912 what funded our government? Approximately 50% of revenues came from taxing business and the other 50% came from tariffs. That is what Trump is pointing to but the “expert” has no clue. We have been going away from tariffs since 1913 and the invention of the income tax! Do you see why so many Americans are confused today? Even our experts are confused.
I will not go into how this “new system” of income tax on the rich that was put on us and how Social Security in 1935, LBJ’s expansion in 1968, or Obama’s healthcare debacle in 2009 all were justified to bail out our Ponzi scheme, but all are symptoms of the same problem. America is bankrupt and has been since the Civil War. How we pay for the bailout from 1871 has always been the problem.
Trump solved this seven years ago and even our experts have no clue! I wish everyone could enjoy this show as much as I do. It gets even better each day! I spend so much time laughing at the spectacle that my cheeks are hurting.
Please spend some effort in putting this all together for yourselves. Don’t believe me, but the truth is actually well documented. Not in our history books, but in our Congressional Records. The politicians have created the mess we are in today and they have no way to fix it. Trump has the way and talks about it every day. The key is to understand what he is saying.
I hope I have helped.
Thanks for todays Takes y'all.
Best advice was from BB: "Chill out. — Burning Bright"... although sometimes easier said than done...
God Wins!
God Bless!!!