Badlands News Brief
A Potato Visits Israel; A Ukrainian Does Not ...
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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 picks news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community.
Items feature original commentary from members of our growing team of citizen journalists, whose stated opinions are their own. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see their other work.
Now, onto the news from Monday, October 16 …
President Joe Biden will visit Israel in high-stakes trip
President Joe Biden will make an extraordinary wartime visit to Israel this week as he seeks to demonstrate staunch support for the country as it works to eliminate Hamas while also pressing for ways to ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza.
The dueling objectives, spelled out by his top diplomat Monday evening, bring with them significant risks for the president as he works to prevent the crisis in the Middle East from widening.
Aides said Biden had expressed a strong interest in making the journey after being invited over the weekend by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Biden has known for four decades. He spent Monday deliberating over the trip at the White House with his top national security and intelligence advisers.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was convening a marathon session with top Israeli officials to discuss opening Gaza to humanitarian aid and preventing civilians from getting caught up in Israel’s response to the terror attacks.
In announcing Biden’s Wednesday trip after more than seven hours of negotiations, Blinken said that the United States and Israel “have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza.”
The US president will also travel to Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah II, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The top US diplomat in recent days met separately with the three leaders – all of whom have condemned the situation in Gaza. — CNN
Our Take: “Nobody has all the answers when it comes to the ongoing Actuals and Narratives spilling out of the Israel chaos, but where it concerns the Normie layer of the Collective Mind, the person or apparatus that is SUPPOSED to have the answers is the US ‘President’ and the administration as a whole.
This week, Biden is going to be front and center in the midst of a crisis that’s drawing widespread, emotional reactions from virtually every demographic worldwide.
In the US, I remarked that polling data demonstrates that older demo’s support Israel, while more than half of zoomers and millennials support the Palestinians.
Focus less on how insane it is to be on one side or the other, and more on the prospect that this is the mass psychological terrain Joe Biden is about to attempt to navigate in full view of an increasingly-tense Collective Mind.
When you do so, you may begin to see how the Potato-in-Chief attempting to stumble across one of the most radioactive minefields in the sociopolitical zeitgeist takes on the feeling of both a dark comedy … and an exposure op all at once.
And all while Donald Trump, the true POTUS, commentates from the most powerful and exclusive peanut gallery in history.” —
‘Not the right time’: Israel rejects Zelensky’s visit
According to sources cited by the Israeli news outlet Ynet on October 16, Israel rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s request for a solidarity visit following Hamas’ attack, explaining that the timing was not appropriate. However, Zelensky was informed that a visit might be feasible at a later date.
Reportedly, Zelensky had hoped to accompany U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on this visit. Blinken had returned to Israel on October 16 to reassure Tel Aviv of Washington’s support during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Previously, Ukraine’s leader condemned Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 and expressed solidarity with Tel Aviv, stating on his Telegram channel, “Whoever uses terror is a criminal against the whole world. Whoever sponsors terrorism is a criminal against the whole world.”
While Israel has shown support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and provided humanitarian aid, it has refrained from supplying military assistance, likely to avoid provoking Russia, which maintains a significant military presence in nearby Syria. — Insider Paper
Our Take: “Zelenskyy is feeling insecure about his relationship status, which is probably why he was trying to tag along on SecState Antony Blinken’s solidarity trip to Israel. Unfortunately, he was told it’s just not the right time.
It’s not you, it’s us, Volodymyr.
This development comes in the wake of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claiming that the bankrupt US Treasury can totally afford another war, and that our economy is doing great. Seems Zelenskyy believes that line just about as much as the American people.” —
Judge Imposes Limited Gag Order on Trump
A judge imposed a limited gag order on former President Donald J. Trump on Monday, restricting Mr. Trump from making public statements attacking the witnesses and specific prosecutors or court staff members involved in the federal case concerning his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump’s free speech rights do not permit him “to launch a pretrial smear campaign” against those people, said the judge, Tanya S. Chutkan.
“No other defendant would be allowed to do so,” Judge Chutkan added, “and I’m not going to allow it in this case.”
But the narrowly tailored order explicitly left Mr. Trump free as he pursues his presidential campaign to continue disparaging the Justice Department and President Biden. It even allowed him to assert that he believed his criminal prosecution was politically motivated. Judge Chutkan apparently left Mr. Trump leeway to attack her as well.
The judge also addressed a particularly thorny question involving former Vice President Mike Pence, who is both a witness in the case and one of Mr. Trump’s rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination. She said Mr. Trump could go after Mr. Pence as long as the attacks did not touch on Mr. Pence’s role in the criminal prosecution. — The New York Times
Our Take: “‘He does not have the right to do and say as he pleases’.
Actually, yes he does. The First Amendment to The Constitution basically guarantees that fact, but I digress.
What more should we expect from the same people who have done nothing but interfere with Trump’s election runs by any means possible dating back to Russiagate in 2016? What we are witnessing is a feckless Deep State throwing the mother of all temper tantrums in a futile attempt to slow the inevitable and incoming freight train known as ‘Trump 2024’.
Clearly, they missed the memo—the one that said ‘nothing can stop what is coming’.
Try as they might, all they are doing is further galvanizing Trump’s support and popularity as we head into 2024.” —
China Says Israel Has 'Gone Beyond Self-Defense' In Response To Hamas Attack
The Chinese regime urged the Israeli government to stop its military actions in Gaza, saying Israel has "gone beyond self-defense" in response to the surprise attack by the Hamas terrorist group last week.
China's foreign minister Wang Yi delivered the message during a Saturday phone call with Saudi Arabian counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
"Israel's actions have gone beyond self-defense," Mr. Wang claimed, urging the Israeli government to stop what he called “collective punishment of civilians in Gaza,” according to the readout from China's foreign ministry.
The conversation came after the Israeli foreign ministry sharply criticized Beijing's lack of condemnation for Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel a week ago, killing over 1,000 civilians and capturing up to 150 more as hostages.
"There was no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organization Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a readout of a phone call between Israeli ambassador Rafi Harpaz and China's special envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun.
Mr. Harpaz has expressed "Israel's deep disappointment" to Mr. Zhai, the ministry said. — The Epoch Times
Our Take: “A Narrative Whiplash cascade is racking the Collective Mind, and it's all spilling out of public reactions TO the Israel-Hamas conflict.
While the majority of Americans support Israel, that support dwindles by generation, with a majority of the youngest Americans (and the cultural Marxists and SJW's,) actually supporting Palestine over Israel.
Internationally, while Iran is aligned with Palestine, Ukraine is seen aligning with Israel, if only because Zelensky is using the conflict in order to stump for trade packages to keep the Western Hegemon pumping fiat into his own proxy state. The irony that Ukraine is full of Nazis isn't being lost on the Collective Mind.
And now, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia are calling for deescalation ... aligning them with bipartisan Americans who've been told all three nations are evil, while the Biden Regime and Globalist West calls for escalation.
What the Collective Mind is being shown is that the only way to beat the game is not to play it.” —
Only 2% Of Americans Have Received New COVID Vaccine: CDC
About 2 percent of all Americans have received the updated COVID-19 booster shot after it was authorized and recommended by federal health officials several weeks ago, according to updated data provided by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
More than 7 million Americans have taken the updated shot, which is authorized for people aged 6 months and older, said an HHS spokesman. That's approximately 2 percent of all Americans.
“COVID-19 vaccine distribution, which has shifted to the private market, is a lot different than it was last year when the government was distributing them," said a spokesperson for HHS about the vaccination data. It added that the agency is "directly with manufacturers and distributors to ensure that the vaccines are getting to" various locations.
The statement added that 91 percent of Americans aged 12 years and older "can access the vaccine within 5 miles of where they live," adding that 14 million updated boosters for COVID-19 have been shipped to pharmacies and other locations. The vaccine was approved about a month ago by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before it was recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shortly thereafter.
It came as some people reported that it's difficult to find doses of the new vaccines at local pharmacies and doctors. Jen Kates, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said on X in September that her vaccine appointment was canceled due to a lack of supply. — The Epoch Times
Our Take: “Yesterday, we talked about Pfizer’s adjusted forecast, and today we get some additional information as to why the pharma giant is resetting expectations: The people aren’t buying the hype any longer.
Only 2% of Americans have been boosted—a devastating indicator for the effectiveness of another Covid election psyop. This is great news for humanity, as it appears the number of people dumb enough to keep injecting themselves with the bioweapon is much lower than I thought. I would have guessed a little less than a third, maybe 30%, but 2% makes me feel all warm inside.
As Trump said about Ukraine, when it comes to Covid shots, ‘I want people to stop dying.’ Just say no to the death jabs.” —
US must be ready for simultaneous wars with China, Russia, report says
The United States must prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China by expanding its conventional forces, strengthening alliances and enhancing its nuclear weapons modernization program, a congressionally appointed bipartisan panel said on Thursday.
The report from the Strategic Posture Commission comes amid tensions with China over Taiwan and other issues and worsening frictions with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
A senior official involved in the report declined to say if the panel's intelligence briefings showed any Chinese and Russian nuclear weapons cooperation.
"We worry ... there may be ultimate coordination between them in some way, which gets us to this two-war construct," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The findings would upend current U.S. national security strategy calling for winning one conflict while deterring another and require huge defense spending increases with uncertain congressional support.
"We do recognize budget realities, but we also believe the nation must make these investments," the Democratic chair, Madelyn Creedon, a former deputy head of the agency that oversees U.S. nuclear weapons, and the vice chair, Jon Kyl, a retired Republican senator, said in the report's preface.
Addressing a briefing held to release the report, Kyl said the president and Congress must "take the case to the American people" that higher defense spending is a small price to pay "to hopefully preclude" a possible nuclear war involving the United States, China and Russia.
The report contrasts with U.S. President Joe Biden's position that the current U.S. nuclear arsenal is sufficient to deter the combined forces of Russia and China. — Reuters
Our Take: “The 'bipartisan' Strategic Posture Commission has released an in-depth (re)action plan addressing the increasing coordination and power projection of Russia & China.
Last night,
and I discussed the fact that a triumvirate or a trinity of superpowers is actually an ideal global position, historically in order to deter war and thus, promote peace; essentially, having three super powers incentivizes all three to promote open communication and direct cooperation in order to ensure that ties between the other two don't override the security and trade interests of the third.Of course, the caveat we introduced to this law of sociopolitical nature is the presence and ubiquity of intel agencies and Deep State disruptor factions within the governments of one or more of said nations, which we clearly have in the case of the US.
The Collective Mind is being shown that the only thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on is the need for preemptive war posturing, and thus, mongering.” —
BONUS ITEMS
Jordan To Force Tuesday Vote For Speaker, With Or Without 217 Votes
Jim Jordan has sent out a "Dear Colleague" letter vowing to bring "all Republicans together" if he's elected speaker.
"The role of a speaker is to bring all Republicans together. That's what I intend to do," the letter reads. "We will make sure there are more Republican voices involved in our major decision beyond the Five Families."
"Our goal will be to empower our committees and committee chairs to take the lead on the House's legislative work through regular order."
According to CNN's Manu Raju, Jordan plans to force a Tuesday vote.
"If you don't have a speaker, so we get a speaker, we get the House open and we get to work on the resolution and supplemental for for Israel. And we get back to work for the American people. That's what I've committed to doing," said Jordan. — ZeroHedge
‘I did it to avenge Muslims!’ – Islamist at large after mass shooting kills 2 in Brussels
Two people have been shot dead and others injured in central Brussels on Monday evening and the perpetrator remains at large, Belgian police announced.
Authorities have confirmed a shooting took place in Ieperlaan at around 7:15 p.m. local time, and two people of Swedish nationality were killed.
The victims are understood to have been supporters of the Swedish national football team and were visiting the Belgian capital to attend the European Championship qualifying fixture between the two nations at the Heysel Stadium on Monday evening.
Amateur footage circulating outline showed the perpetrator, dressed in a fluorescent orange jacket and wearing a white helmet, equipped with an assault rifle rampaging through the city. The suspect arrived at the scene on a scooter before opening fire in the street, causing pedestrians to flee into a nearby apartment building. — Remix 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.
The Badlands Media team will continue to combine our cognitive powers in order to slow things down and find the signal amidst the noise as this series expands.
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.
The constant “China may endanger Taiwan” mantra sounds much the same as “Trump’s big lie” mantra or “Russia is losing to Ukraine.” I’ve lived in Taiwan for almost 14 years now, and I’ve got friends in mainland China. It’s all very peaceful here. And very safe. No gangs of antifa or nazis running amuck (amok?) Probably one of the safest countries anywhere. Someone seems to be pushing very hard to get something negative started re Taiwan. Screw those people.
Thanks for the laugh, BB…referring to Biden as “Potato-in-Chief”…yes, he certainly is!
Janet Yellen stating she has no problem funding the wars in Ukraine and Israel?! This while we are 30 TRILLION dollars in debt? Perfect example of America Last.
I like this from BB: “ While the majority of Americans support Israel, that support dwindles by generation, with a majority of the youngest Americans (and the cultural Marxists and SJW's,) actually supporting Palestine over Israel.” This is a very interesting phenomenon emerging because it seems to be causing some confusion for the younger academic generation. Backlash against the students rallying for Palestine in the wake of the terrorist attack against Israel and Universities (like Harvard) scrambling to correct the wrong image…I get the feeling these university students weren’t expecting the strong reaction against their strong reaction. If they have any independent functioning brain matter left, perhaps they will start to question their world view? It just strikes me as a confusing moment/issue which might be a good thing for these young adult brainwashed minds. Have they been living in a bubble of belief that is suddenly crumbling a bit?
Gateway Pundit had an article referring to the horrible stabbing death of a middle school teacher by an Islamic terrorist which has led Macron to call for “Ruthless’ Deportation of All Migrants with Ties to Islamic Extremism from France”. Will our government under this current Administration heed the warning and preemptively call for similar action? No. They will wait for some horrific event first; they need cover for not having to admit they have put Americans at risk with their intentional welcome sign at our southern border!
Thanks for the Briefs and Takes, you wonderful Badlands contributors! Very much appreciated ❤️🙏