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.
Some items feature original (and subjective) commentary. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see our writers’ corresponding Substack accounts and check out their other work.
Now, onto the news from Thursday, December 14 …
The Illusion of Democracy by Jon Herold
Our Take: “In his latest feature, Badlands founder
takes some recent reporting on the CTIL files, which detail the relationship between various government agencies and the media industrial complex where it concerns reporting on and investigations into the 2020 election, and expands it by looking at just who is and was in charge of said agencies during the ‘transition’ from both the Obama Admin to the Trump Admin, and the Trump Admin to the Biden Admin.In so doing, he continues to connect dots that makes Actual what most of us have seen as Potential—that being the structure and mechanism of the Deep State’s System of Systems.
From the Administrative Arm that originates, the Clandestine arm that obfuscates, the Narrative Arm that defends and now, the Legal arm that prosecutes, [their] system has never been rendered more stark and clear than it is in this time.
Check it out … AFTER you finish ‘The Brief’” —
Congress approves short-term extension of warrantless surveillance powers
Congress has approved a short-term extension of the nation’s warrantless surveillance powers, punting to the new year a decision over how to reform the law.
Included in the defense policy bill headed to the president’s desk after approval by the House on Thursday is a measure that extends Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until mid-April.
FISA allows the government to spy on foreigners located abroad, but Americans who communicate with those being surveilled have their information swept up in the searches, prompting agreement that reauthorization of the powers must come with reforms that limit documented abuse of the tool by the FBI.
While the National Defense Authorization Act’s inclusion of FISA avoids an end-of-the-year expiration of the powers, it also extends an ongoing battle over whether the government should get a warrant before reviewing information it’s already collected pertaining to Americans.
And several conservative lawmakers voiced frustration over its inclusion in a must-pass bill. — The Hill
Our Take: “This is how liberty dies ...
“This controversially allows warrantless spying of foreign targets and Americans who have communications with those foreign subjects. The new extension in the NDAA authorizes it further until at least April 19.”
If the past two and a half years have taught us anything, it’s that the government abuses its power. Many politicians complain about this to raise money for their campaigns, but the majority of them — in both branches of Congress — just voted for it to continue.
In other words, the Congress has decided that the need to surveil you outweighs your constitutional rights. 118 Republicans opposed the measure in the House, and they are eager to tell you about it.
‘We gave it the ole’ college try. Send us money for 2024 so we can keep living off your dollars while losing your rights.’ It’s surreal to watch the uniparty once you realize it’s a uniparty.
Democracy dies in darkness, but liberty dies under the bright lights of a Congressional floor vote. Everything is fine, trust your government.” —
Investors cheer Fed's dovish pivot, as focus shifts to 2024 risks
A dovish shift from the Federal Reserve has put record highs in sight for U.S. stocks and sent Treasury yields tumbling, even as some investors worry the market may be moving too fast given an uncertain outlook for the economy and corporate earnings.
The Fed held interest rates steady on Wednesday and signaled in new economic projections that the historic tightening of U.S. monetary policy engineered over the last two years is at an end and lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024.
The message was more dovish than many investors were expecting. Plunging Treasury yields helped the S&P 500 (.SPX) rise nearly 1.4% on Wednesday, the biggest gain in the index on a day that the Fed issued its monetary policy statement since July 2022. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield, which moves inversely to bond prices, stood at around 3.96% on Thursday morning, the lowest level since late July. .
"The Fed is done raising rates, and the market could not be more thrilled to have higher conviction in that," said Matthew Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management.
The Fed’s view is now more aligned with that of investors - though markets remain far more dovish in their outlook. — Reuters
Our Take: “I'm not a financial expert, which, these days, tends to make one more accurate than actual financial experts.
That said, the stock market is going through an unexpected late-year surge despite horrific inflationary and CPI data that should be resulting in the contrary, causing Wall Street veterans to throw up their hands in disbelief.
The reason they're shocked is because Powell signaled hawkish (rate hike) sentiment just two weeks ago, before suddenly reversing into dovish (rate cuts,) language coding this week.
This makes no sense, until you consider the fact that the Biden Admin and its aides have been publicly doing an about-face on their 'Bidenomics' campaign slogan entering the meat of the 2024 election cycle. In essence, more maverick analysts, including the fantastic ZeroHedge, believe Powell got a phone call from said Admin, prompting them to price expected 2025 cuts a year early.
This can be seen as partisan politicking at best ... and election interference at worst.” —
FDA & HHS Sued Over Docs Revealing Suppression Of HCQ And Ivermectin
America First Legal (AFL) is suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for failing to turn over documents related to the government’s suppression of the COVID-19 treatments hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and ivermectin.
According to the lawsuit, AFL filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in August 2022 with HHS and the FDA seeking information related to the anti-malarial drug HCQ from March 1 to Sept. 1, 2020. AFL received confirmation and tracking numbers from both agencies that its request had been received.
AFL filed similar FOIA requests in September 2022 with the same agencies seeking information on ivermectin—a popular antiparasitic medication—and also received confirmation that the requests were received, along with tracking numbers, according to an AFL press release.
AFL, a nonprofit “working to promote the rule of law in the United States, prevent executive overreach, and ensure due process and equal protection for all Americans,” sought information to determine when and why government officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, discouraged and suppressed the use of HCQ and ivermectin to treat COVID-19. Neither agency complied with the requests. — The Epoch Times
Our Take: “On Thursday, America First Legal filed lawsuits against the F.D.A & Department Of Health & Human Services, suing them for failing to turn over documents related to the widespread censorship and suppression of information of Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin as effective treatments for Covid-19.
In 2022, America First legal filed multiple FOIA requests in relation to this information.
We were all witness to the ugly and downright totalitarian tactics used to suppress any information or treatment guidelines having to do with the aforementioned medications.
Despite the fact that thousands of doctors spoke of, and hundreds of peer reviewed studies proved the efficacy of HCQ and IVM against Covid-19, the powers that be and three letter agencies (including the FDA and HHS) all took part in obscuring, obfuscating and even withholding valuable information from the public, which could have, and more than likely WOULD have saved lives.
The cracks in the dam are growing beyond repair for those who not only foisted the lie of Covid upon this country, but also went out of their way to stick to said lie.
The truth is an avalanche coming down the mountain. Enjoy the show.” —
Biden "Gave Federal Agencies Greenlight To Go After [Musk]", FCC Commissioner Warns
For further proof that the Biden administration is weaponizing government agencies to target Elon Musk, Commissioner Brendan Carr stated in an X post, "President Biden gave federal agencies the green light to go after him [Musk]."
Musk recently described the apparent 'beef' that the Biden administration has with him. In September, he told All-In Podcast host entrepreneur David Sacks:
"...there does seem to be some significant increase in the weaponization of government and really sort of misuse of prosecutorial discretion in many areas... I think this is really a dangerous thing for there to be partisan politics with government agencies."
Musk continued:
"I don't think the whole administration has it out for me.
"But I think there's probably aspects of the administration... or aspects of interests aligned with President Biden who probably do not wish good things for me."
The weaponization of government agencies against Musk suggests leftist radicals in the White House are terrified of the billionaire's power and must stop him at any cost - even if that means jeopardizing the nation's space race. — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “Sometimes, the more vanilla-sounding news to Anons hits the Normie Layers of the Collective Mind like a ton of bricks, and I believe we're seeing that Macro develop over the course of the last week and change with the influx of lawsuits being submitted by Elon Musk via X, Rumble, Truth Social and even the State of Texas against the Censorship Industrial Complex.
Today, we get even more context for this apparatus, as the FCC commissioner has confirmed that the Biden Admin gave the 'green light' for the agency to pursue its 'concerns' against Musk and X.
In this community, we KNOW that there has been coordination between Federal Agencies and their private enforcement arms masquerading as free market, independent actors. Over the course of the next year, leading up to the most consequential election in American history, the public is going to get a rapid-fire crash course on the System of Systems.
Oh, and word on the street is
’s latest will take this MUCH farther.” —Black Scholar Whose Work Harvard President Allegedly Plagiarized Speaks Out
Award-winning political scientist and former professor Carol Swain sounded off Tuesday morning shortly after Harvard released a full-throated defense of President Claudine Gay. The board’s expression of support came a week after Gay’s disastrous congressional testimony and amid allegations she plagiarized portions of her dissertation, including from Swain’s work.
“I rarely get angry, but I am angry,” she wrote on X, with a red-faced emoji. “[R]ight now about the racial double standards that are TEMPORARILY giving #ClaudineGay an opportunity to resign. White progressives created her and white progressives are protecting her. The rest of us have had to work our rear ends off to achieve success. Some get it handed to them. #Adversityofdiversity #DEI # affirmativeaction #HarvardisAntisemitic #PresidentGay”
In an interview with journalist Christopher Rufo, who broke the plagiarism story with Christopher Brunet, Swain explains it wasn’t just a matter of a few paragraphs of ripped-off work, but she believes that Gay’s “whole research agenda, her whole career, was based on my work.” — Townhall
Our Take: “Head of Harvard Claudine Gay has been under fire lately for her statements providing cover for Jewish genocide speech on her campus, but much more damning for the embattled academic are credible allegations of plagiarism.
The Ivy League enjoys a facade of intellectual superiority, but the facade crumbles when you realize the head of one such ‘elite’ institution is incapable of original thought. Worse that, if true, she assumed a top position and all its trappings by stealing the work of other academics and, ostensibly, making deals.
Now consider that, according to Carol Swain, those deals she was making — to advance herself by leveraging others’ work — were with white leftists.
‘White progressives created her and white progressives are protecting her. The rest of us have had to work our rear ends off to achieve success. Some get it handed to them.’
Now consider that the entire establishment appears to be standing with, protecting Gay — at the expense of institutional credibility and trust. It feels like a deviation. It feels like panic.
If this conflict plays out, Ms. Gay may not just take down Harvard and the facade of the Ivy League scam; she may finally reveal the absolute and unapologetic bigotry of white leftists.
Take her to court, Ms. Swain.” —
BONUS ITEMS
Sullivan: Israel’s bombings in Gaza must ‘match its intent’ to protect civilians; revamped PA should ultimately rule
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, interviewed on Channel 12 news, is asked about the differing US and Israeli visions for post-war Gaza, with US President Joe Biden speaking of a revitalized Palestinian Authority and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposing a PA role.
Sullivan says the US view “is that ultimately governance of the West Bank and Gaza needs to be connected, and it needs to be connected under a revamped and revitalized Palestinian Authority.”
Pressed on what exactly this means, Sullivan says, “It will require reform. It will require an updating of how the Palestinian Authority approaches governance. It will require the participation of other countries in the region to contribute financial resources and other forms of support.”
He says consensus can be achieved on this “if all of us approach it in good faith.”
Ultimately, he elaborates, “The goal should be to have a West Bank and Gaza connected under common leadership that does not represent any form of terrorist threat to Israel. And we are determined to arrive at that.”
He says the Israeli government has been prepared to discuss the issue: “We had some of these conversations today about what the question of governance and civil administration looks like, the question of security and the question of reconstruction. And in each of those areas, there’s work to do to get to clear answers going forward.”
Ultimately, he adds, “At the heart of those answers has to be the aspirations of the Palestinian people themselves. But it also has to take into account Israel’s security needs, and we’re determined to do both of those.” — Times of Israel
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu plans no WHITES holiday party for councilors: Aide accidentally sent group email invite meant only for 'electeds of color'
The Democratic mayor of Boston has sparked outrage after inviting city councilors to a holiday party intended only for 'electeds of color.'
Michelle Wu's invitation for the December 13 'Electeds of Color Holiday Party' appeared to have been sent out to all councilors in error by her aide, Denise DosSantos.
DosSantos followed up the email 15 minutes later apologizing for the invite, clarifying that it was only meant for the city's six councilors of color. The seven white council members were not welcome.
'I wanted to apologize for my previous email regarding a Holiday Party for tomorrow,' DosSantos, a black woman, wrote. 'I did send that to everyone by accident, and I apologize if my email may have offended or came across as so. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.'
There was no apology for actually planning to host a racially segregated party. Wu was slammed by outgoing City Councilor Frank Baker, who told the Boston Herald that it was 'unfortunate and divisive.' — The Daily Mail
80% Of French Support Ban On More Immigration, Two-Thirds Back Referendum
An overwhelming majority of French citizens do not think their government should welcome any more migrants to France and two-thirds of the country backs a referendum on immigration, recent polling has shown.
According to the survey conducted by the CSA Institute for CNEWS published on Tuesday, 80 percent of people in France want a ban on immigration, compared with just 19 percent in favor of further new arrivals.
Opposition to more mass immigration is the majority view among all age groups. The most welcoming demographic is younger people; however, 68 percent remain against more immigration compared to 31 percent in favor.
The age bracket most opposed to open borders is 50-64, where 88 percent are against, five percentage points more than those aged 65+.
While opposition to mass immigration is almost unanimous among right-leaning voters — 100 percent of Éric Zemmour’s Reconquête and 98 percent of National Rally voters are against it — an increasing number of left-wing sympathizers are also questioning the number of new arrivals into France.
A total of 56 percent of left-wing voters oppose more immigration, with the only slim majorities in favor found among supporters of the Radical Party of the Left (55 percent), LFI (55 percent), and the Greens (52 percent).
The survey was conducted on Dec. 11-12 as the French government’s immigration bill was being rejected by the French parliament. Left-wing parliamentary factions believed the bill infringed on human rights, while right-wing politicians including Marine Le Pen said the bill was “pro-immigration.” — 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.
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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Thanks for your Takes today.
Hey BB what do you think of that DS Rat Bastard God Awful Boston mayor's bullshit crackerless party... ain't that some shit!!!
God Wins!
God Bless!!!
“From the Administrative Arm that originates, the Clandestine arm that obfuscates, the Narrative Arm that defends and now, the Legal arm that prosecutes, [their] system has never been rendered more stark and clear than it is in this time.” Our Fearless Tiger has described the governance system in a single sentence!
Ashe’s contribution falls directly within the above system and clearly demonstrates that ‘we the people’ haven’t truly elected our representatives for a while. “It’s surreal to watch the uniparty once you realize it’s a uniparty.” TERM LIMITS for all elected officials must be included in a constitutional convention after the election. Obvious to these readers is that continuing warrantless surveillance is a plan to censor conservative speech prior to the election AND/OR it may open up another huge can of worms for the SYSTEM as the awakening masses will likely rebel.
The markets, too, are clearly included in this SYSTEM as they are totally manipulated. Per BB, “This can be seen as partisan politicking at best ... and election interference at worst.”
As Paul notes, “The cracks in the dam are growing beyond repair for those who not only foisted the lie of Covid upon this country, but also went out of their way to stick to said lie.” Preventing the knowledge of a cure to their created/manipulated ‘virus’ allowed the evil ones to inflate death numbers so they could implement totalitarian policies in preparation for the true bio weapons-- the vaccines.
I told my husband that the elite universities are poised to collapse after the puppets kept the plagiarizing President at Harvard. I’m with Ashe when she advises Ms Swain to sue!! Bring them all down!! The CIA won’t be able to recruit from the dumbed down student population any more.😀
Looks like France has awakened!!
Of course the criminals in DC are going after Elon..next to Trump, he’s truly feared and hated.... Musk derangement syndrome is an obvious mutation of the Trump derangement syndrome.
It’s ALL about stopping the election and the awakening. However.....NCSWIC at this point. Too late. Prepare for a difficult year because the SYSTEM is going to full panic mode.🙏
God bless all of the Badlands citizen journalists. The truth is so very addictive!!🙏🙏