Badlands News Brief

Russia Responds as the Fake News Gets Even Faker

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.

Before we get into the meat of today’s Brief, we want to take a moment to thank our sponsor, and to let our Badlands readers know about a fantastic deal they’re offering.

Long-time Badlands sponsor EasyRX is currently offering 10% off all orders of $150 or more. You can take advantage of this offer by clicking the image below and entering the promo code: BADLANDS at checkout.

Now, onto the news from Tuesday, December 17 …

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Russia Says Kyiv Allies Are 'Accomplices' In Moscow Assassination

Russia on Tuesday criticised Ukraine's allies over what it called insufficient reactions to the assassination in Moscow of the Russian army's chemical weapons chief, an attack claimed by Kyiv.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the West in a Telegram post of "approval for war crimes by fighters of the Kyiv regime" and said "all those who welcome terrorist attacks or deliberately hush them up are accomplices". — Barron’s

And …

Alleged chemical provocations exposed by murdered Russian general: The main cases

Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who, along with his assistant, was killed on Tuesday in a Moscow assassination allegedly carried out by Ukraine, was the Russian military’s top official on the hazards posed by weapons of mass destruction.

Kirillov commanded the military branch responsible for protecting troops and civilians from chemical and biological weapons, and from the radioactive fallout of a nuclear strike or ‘dirty bomb’ attack. He was also in charge of military investigations into numerous high-profile cases directly and indirectly involving Russia.

He delivered over 40 briefings about the findings made by specialists under his command since being appointed in 2017. He also regularly offered his expert opinion to Russian officials and the media. His work came as allegations of chemical weapons use became an increasingly frequent tool in Western foreign policy over the past decade. — RT

Our Take: Russia has really taken it on the chin this week.

Not only has Syria—the site of Russia's only two military bases in the Middle East, and from where Wagner Group conducted all operations for its Africa Corp—fallen to the globalist hegemony, but now Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov has been assassinated at his home on Russian soil.

Kirillov is an important figure in the modern information war, due to his involvement in the three investigations listed in the second article.

His biggest claim to fame would likely be the testimony he gave last year, where he asserted during a formal hearing that Hunter Biden's company, Rosemont Seneca, was responsible for developing the COVID-19 pathogen in various bioweapons labs it had illegally operating in Ukraine. During this testimony, Kirillov also connected the US government, the Pentagon, the George Soros Foundation, and The Alamos Laboratory—where the Manhattan Project was developed during World War II.

The other two investigations in which Kirillov was involved are also very interesting and relevant. One was the infamous chemical weapons attacks purported conducted against the Syrian people by recently-ousted Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. It would appear that Kirillov's findings were that these attacks were false-flag operations conducted by anti-government operatives, likely working for the CIA.

The third anecdote involving the highly toxic chemical, Novichok, is also noteworthy. The chemical was developed by the Soviet Union, and has therefore been exclusively attributed to Russia for decades whenever it has been used in attacks. However, through his research, Kirillov surmised that western nations have developed techniques to synthesize compounds that are nearly identical to Novichok, and could conceivably be used in false-flag incidents in order to frame Russia.

Interestingly, a movie was just released last week (December 13) by Netflix, called Carry On, the plot of which centers on the effort of a noble TSA agent to thwart a false flag terrorist attack being conducted on a commercial airliner that utilizes Novichok. In the film, Russia is the intended scapegoat, while it is implied that the actual [unnamed] culprit are special interests in the military industrial complex.

In other recent news on Russia, President Trump said that he wants to speak with Putin, refusing to comment to reporters when asked whether he had spoken to Putin since winning the election last month. I hope the President's comments make the MSM seethe into their pillows. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry

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Putin Claims The West Is Pushing Russia Towards Its 'Red Lines' In Latest Threat To US

Vladimir Putin has accused the West of pushing Russia towards its “red lines” in his latest warning to Ukraine’s allies.

The Russian president told his defence officials that the west is deliberately pushing Moscow to retaliate.

According to Reuters news agency, the Russian president said: “They [Western leaders] are simply scaring their own population that we are going to attack someone there using the pretext of the mythical Russian threat.

“The tactic is very simple: they push us to ‘a red line’, from which we can not retreat, we start to respond and then they immediately scare their population - in the old days it was with the Soviet threat and now it’s with the Russian threat.” — Huffpost

Our Take: Lost in the noise of reports that a top Russian General has been assassinated was the signal Vladimir Putin provided to cut through the War of Stories by revealing it as exactly that.

On Monday, the Russian leader said the following when asked to comment on the seeming pattern of escalation on the part of the western globalist hegemon:

“They [Western leaders] are simply scaring their own population that we are going to attack someone there using the pretext of the mythical Russian threat."

Zoom in. ENHANCE.

The "MYTHICAL Russian threat," you say?

Why, it almost sounds as if Putin is telling the peoples of the west that the Russia they have been taught to fear simply does not exist ... at least, not in the form they believe it does on the back of a century of engineered Hegelian programming.

But he didn't stop there ...

“The tactic is very simple: they push us to ‘a red line’, from which we can not retreat, we start to respond and then they immediately scare their population - in the old days it was with the Soviet threat and now it’s with the Russian threat.”

Vladimir Putin is engaged in narrative warfare because Russia has been losing it for the better part of the modern age ... as have we, by being trapped in one of the longest-running controlled opposition dynamics in history.

It's not RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA you have to fear, western man ... only the story of it you're being told.

Say ... I wrote a series about that, if you're interested. — Burning Bright

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Trump sues Des Moines Register, pollster

President-elect Trump sued The Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer on Monday over a poll released just before Election Day indicating Vice President Harris had a sizable lead in Iowa.

The poll found Harris leading Trump in Iowa by 3 percentage points days before Trump won the Hawkeye State by 14 percentage points as voters sent him back to the White House.

Trump’s lawsuit, filed in Iowa state court in Polk County, accuses the outlet and pollster of violating Iowa’s consumer fraud laws by engaging in deception.

“Selzer’s polling ‘miss’ was not an astonishing coincidence — it was intentional,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount of damages and an order preventing the pollster from “releasing any further deceptive polls” and compelling them to disclose information they relied upon in publishing the November survey.

The lawsuit was first reported by Fox News Digital.

“For too long, left-wing pollsters have attempted to influence electoral outcomes through manipulated polls that have unacceptable error rates and are not grounded in widely accepted polling methodologies,” the lawsuit states.

“While Selzer is not the only pollster to engage in this corrupt practice, she had a huge platform and following and, thus, a significant and impactful opportunity to deceive voters,” it continued.

Trump has increasingly escalated legal fights with the media, including lawsuits against ABC, CBS, journalist Bob Woodward and the Pulitzer Prize board. — The Hill

Our Take: Trump’s army of lawyers are hard at work, setting things right. Earlier this week, we discussed the $15M + $1M settlement between 47 and ABC, and today, we’ve got retribution for the Selzer Poll.

Readers will recall the Selzer poll claimed Harris was going to win Iowa by three points, then Trump actually won Iowa by 14. The substance of this lawsuit, then, is a 17 point variance, which Trump argues was intentional and reported to deceive the public and influence the outcome of the election.

“Selzer’s polling ‘miss’ was not an astonishing coincidence — it was intentional,” the complaint states.

Indeed. Hilariously, the outlet is standing by Selzer, the poll, and the reporting. I bet that position doesn’t last for long. Selzer retired immediately following the election, ostensibly believing she could outrun the Justice phase. Silly woman.

If Trump is successful, this suit could set important precedent and serve as a strong deterrent against poll manipulation and false reporting. Is it wrong for me to hope it goes all the way to trial?

More winning, please! — Ashe in America

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CNN Admits Reporter Duped: Assad 'Victim' Found In Syria Prison Was Regime Intel Officer

The long and colorful history of major media promotion of false, government-serving narratives has a new chapter.

Last week, CNN aired a melodramatic report from reporter Clarissa Ward that was supposed to show a CNN crew amazingly rescuing a victim of the Assad regime from the bowels of a Damascus dungeon. After days of mounting skepticism and pointed questions ricocheting across social media, alternative new sites and here at ZeroHedge, CNN now says the "rescued" man was actually a regime intelligence officer, and there are reports that he himself perpetrated crimes against civilians.

The man identified himself as Adel Ghurbai, and said he lived in the central Syrian city of Homs. However, over the weekend, the self-described Syrian fact-checking site Verify-Sy said he was actually Salama Mohammad Salama, aka "Abu Hamza", an infamous and cruel first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence. — ZeroHedge

Our Take: In a moment that should serve as a white pill for this audience, the internet excoriated CNN after it released an absurdly contrived story from Syria that should bring the validity of the entire situation into question. (Chris Paul and Patrick Gunnels, take a bow. Everything is fake and gay.)

As I pointed out on Badlands Daily yesterday, the largest prisons in the world that house (or previously housed) ISIS terrorists are located in Syria. These prisons were emptied by Netanyahu's "freedom fighters" and the inmates purportedly joined the ranks of the invading force.

The prison (now noticeably empty) where this fake CNN story is being filmed is most likely one of these ISIS prisons—assuming the whole thing wasn't filmed on a sound stage in LA.

The first and most obvious question is, what is this woman doing on the ground embedded with ISIS terrorists in Syria? How did she get access?

The internet was quick to pounce on this contrived story, as it seemed absurdly fake, mostly due to terrible acting by all parties involved on camera, but also due to the fact that the subject of the story—the "rescued" prisoner—has freshly manicured finger nails, a freshly trimmed beard, great hygiene, clean clothes, and is notably clean, overall. He does not have the appearance of a man who has been imprisoned and tortured for months.

It was the internet's reaction that ultimately forced CNN to admit that the reporter "got duped," but I think it is obvious that this was a failed psyop.

After the initial story was released by CNN, a Syrian fact-checking site identified the prisoner starring in the segment as Salama Mohammad Salama, a Syrian Air Force intelligence officer who is also allegedly known [notoriously] as a cruel and wicked man who tortures and coerces Syrians "to become informants for Assad."

Where the MSM's story starts to fall apart is the assertion that this character was suddenly thrown into prison sometime in the past few months, purportedly over a disagreement with a fellow corrupt military officer regarding the money they had extorted from certain figures.

It seems obvious that this guy was never in prison, and if he was, then I doubt it was due to a disagreement with a fellow corrupt military leader. (If Salama is anywhere near as cunning and ruthless as CNN claims, then how didn't he end up on top in this situation?)

Right now, there is a highly concerted effort to destroy all of Assad's credibility in the mind of both western audiences, as well as the Syrian people, so that this emerging ISIS/Al Qaeda government can be baptized as something approaching legitimate. On Monday morning, as Assad was posting his now-famous statement regarding his evacuation from Syria, the MSM was up to its old tricks again, plastering blanket coverage of another seemingly contrived report regarding Assad "airlifting" $250 million dollars out of Syria as he was being extracted.

What should be obvious to everybody is the smear campaign being conducted against Assad, and that should serve as signal that there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye. I expect that we are only at the beginning of a long thread that is now being unraveled. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry

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"You're DONE!": Trudeau Mercilessly Heckled As Government Implodes

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was mercilessly heckled on Monday after a Liberal Party fundraiser at the Canadian Museum of History, as his administration teeters on the verge of collapse.

"You failed Canada," shouted conservative commentator 'Right Blend,' as Trudeau grinned like an idiot.

"You've ruined our country! You're done! Walk away, you don't have an ounce of your father's integrity..."

The epic heckle comes one day after Trudeau's trusted deputy, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, went scorched earth in a Monday resignation letter that left Trudeau in an even more precarious position.

Freeland has publicly opposed a plan by Trudeau for short-term spending on voter-pleasing measures such as tax breaks that will worsen the country's budget deficit.

"Our country today faces a grave challenge," Freeland, 56, wrote in her letter - referring to US President-elect Donald Trump's threat of tariffs.

"That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment." — ZeroHedge

Our Take: It's been said that the Awakening will spread worldwide, but it's probably going to look like a partial collapse in the interim, as all periods of great change do.

While Americans prep for the return of Donald Trump to the highest office in the land, the western globalist hegemon seems to be in absolute freefall preceding the shift, as several of the 'mostest Democratic-est Democracies in freedomworld' appear to be on the verge of political catastrophe.

First, we've got rumors that Justin Castro is set to resign as Prime Minister of Canada on the back of a capitulation campaign to Trump and the very public resignation of globalist stalwart Chrystia Freeland.

This comes on the heels of Macron losing control (literally) of the French government, and it's followed a by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz losing a confidence vote in the German Parliament ... Oh, and did I mention that South Korea's leader just declared Martial Law for ten minutes, leading to a near-immediate impeachment vote and insurrection probe?

The Info War is defined by noise, and it's virtually impossible for us to know what's actually going on in any of these theaters, but on the Macro, the trend line demonstrates an obvious panic pattern developing in the modern globalist-communist superstate, and it seems to be a result of their inability to stop the emphatic rise and solidification of Trumpism in the west.

Now, as these false tyrants scramble to fill their own power vacuums, how do their peoples respond? — Burning Bright

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Nigel Farage meets Elon Musk at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion amid rumours of $100m donation to Reform

Nigel Farage has met Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion amid rumours the tech billionaire is preparing to donate $100m to Reform UK.

The two men met at the Florida club on Monday, alongside Reform’s new party treasurer Nick Candy. In a statement, Mr Farage and Mr Candy described their hour-long meeting as “great”.

They did not mention money but said they had “learned a great deal about the Trump ground game” and would have “ongoing discussions” with the Tesla boss on other areas.

They added: “We only have one more chance left to save the West and we can do great things together. Our thanks also to president Trump for allowing us to use Mar-a-Lago for this historic meeting. The special relationship is alive and well.”

The money would be by far the largest donation in British electoral history.

According to The Sunday Times, leading businessmen and Conservative Party officials believe that Musk could hand over the cash as a “f*** you Starmer” payment as part of his feud with the prime minister.

[…]

Mr Farage has previously described Mr Musk as “very supportive”.

“He thinks that if Reform do well in the UK, we can bring about the same kind of change that he intends to do with Donald Trump in America,” the party leader said. — Independent

Our Take: Does it get anymore "signal" for the Sovereign Alliance than this?

Elon Musk meeting with the guy who spearheaded Brexit at Mar-a-Lago, offering to gift him a war chest so he can finish the job?

This guy?

Full speed ahead, anons. No brakes. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry

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The Economist Admits No Evidence to Democrat Claim Tulsi Gabbard Is a ‘Russian Asset’

British magazine The Economist admitted in a profile of Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard there is “no evidence” to Democrat claims she is a “Russian asset.”

The magazine said in a December 13 article:

Democrats have taken to calling Ms Gabbard, aged 43, a Russian asset. There is no evidence for this, yet the charge—however baseless—underlines their discomfort with her nomination.

It also noted her stance against “regime-change wars,” although it did say her “isolationism often veers into Russiophilia.”

Still, the admission there is “no evidence” of Gabbard being a “Russian asset” by a magazine that endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in 2024, undercuts Democrats’ attacks against her.

For example, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said after President-Elect Donald Trump nominated Gabbard, “There’s no question I consider her someone who is likely a Russian asset,” adding, that she would “essentially would be a direct line to our enemies.” — Breitbart

Our Take: The statute of limitations on defamation is one year, and incoming Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has newly stackable claims as Democrats panic over her appointment.

The Economist gets it, which is why they’re now admitting that there is no evidence that Gabbard is a Russian asset.

The origination of claims that Gabbard is disloyal to the United States is none other than Hillary Clinton. Clinton began this angle of attack on Gabbard during the 2019 democrat primary election.

Now, a who’s who of uniparty criminal co-conspirators are parroting the attack, including Adam Schiff, Victoria Nuland, John Bolton, Susan Collins, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Tammy Duckworth, and more.

Gabbard continues to serve our country with honor and distinction. The swamp creatures in the foreign policy establishment have no honor; they continue to sell out the American people for their own personal gain.

The truth will out. Nothing can stop it.

As DNI, Gabbard will see have access to all the intelligence. The criminals know this, which is why they want to prevent her confirmation. But if screaming “Russia!” is their greatest protest, Gabbard will easily be confirmed.

Panic in DC, now playing on every screen. — Ashe in America

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Moscow Waging 'Intense' Counteroffensive With North Korean Troops in Kursk Region, Kyiv Says

Russia has been using North Korean troops to spearhead an "intense" counteroffensive in the southwestern Kursk region as it tries to drive Ukrainian forces back across the border, Ukraine's commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Tuesday.

"For three days in a row, the enemy has been conducting intense offensive operations in the Kursk region, actively using North Korean army units," Syrsky said in an address to local officials. Ukrainian troops launched an incursion into the border region in early August, seizing large swaths of territory.

"North Korean mercenaries have already suffered heavy losses. The Ukrainian defenders are steadfastly holding the line of defense, destroying enemy personnel and equipment," Syrsky said, without providing further details.

Ukrainian military intelligence, the Pentagon and authorities in South Korea have all said that Pyongyang deployed around 10,000 troops to Russia to fight alongside Moscow's armed forces. Western officials believe that deployment was made in exchange for shipments of air defense systems to North Korea. — Moscow Times

Our Take: The new shiny object (psyop) now seems to be a narrative deployment about a massive North Korean forced being used by Putin in the frontlines of the Ukraine War.

Given the vast number of corporate media outlets in the west running with this story—and reporting different facets of it—I am inclined to believe that the entire thing is fake. However, it involves North Korea fighting bravely in the vanguard on behalf of Vladimir Putin, and that is a storyline that warms the heart, so I am going to indulge it.

Simply put, we are seeing the payoff of the Chekhov's Gun that was presented to us back in the summer, when the budding bromance between Kim Jong Un began to blossom.

As soon as I saw this video I knew we were going to get NorK's fighting alongside Ruskies in the Zio-Nazi controlled regions of the Russian borderlands:

Now we have the Wall Street Journal claiming that a North Korean general has been killed, and other media outlets reporting that the NorK's have experienced heavy losses in what I imagine would be North Korea's only true combat experience of the modern era.

It's quite obvious that the MSM despises Kim Jong Un as much as they despise Vladimir Putin and President Trump, and that is one of the many reasons Un has earned such as special place in our hearts. Here's hoping that we soon hear Dennis Rodman's music start playing, and the two join forces (narratively) to start kicking some corporate-pedo ass.

Go Kim Go! — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry

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BONUS ITEMS

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Drone sightings a combination of ‘lawful’ drones, other aircraft and stars, officials say

Recent drone sightings include a combination of “lawful” drones, other aircraft and stars, federal government officials said in a statement Monday.

In looking into “the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” reads a joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense.

The FBI received more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in recent weeks, with approximately 100 leads generated, and the federal government was supporting local officials in investigating the reports, the statement continued.

“Consistent with each of our unique missions and authorities, we are quickly working to prioritize and follow these leads. We have sent advanced detection technology to the region. And we have sent trained visual observers,” the statement said.

Drone sightings have rattled multiple Northeastern states, most notably New Jersey, over the past month. The White House said Monday that the drones are not a national security or public risk; White House national security communications adviser John Kirby’s words to reporters Monday were similar to the Monday statement from the agencies and departments.

“We recognize the concern among many communities,” the agencies and departments said in their joint statement. — The Hill

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Watch: Syrian 'Moderate Rebel' Removes ISIS Patch At Prompting Of American Journalist

Video footage has recently emerged taken by journalist James Longman advising 'rebels' in Syria that the ISIS logo on their uniforms will be misunderstood by Western audiences. Longman, who is ABC News' Chief International Correspondent, demonstrates a trend of American journalists going to war zones to essentially coach combatants on how to better present themselves to the outside world. Mainstream media has for many years pushed the myth of "moderate rebels" in Syria seeking to topple Assad, which they finally did this month.

One of the militants, who might be a member of the US-designated terror group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or possibly another hardline Islamist faction, attempts to claim to the US journalist that the emblem does not represent ISIS. Still, the man wearing the ISIS patch seems to take the hint and dutifully removes it for the camera. They swear to ABC's Longman that they are not Daesh (or ISIS), even while openly sporting its symbols.

Having examined the disturbing video, Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada - who speaks Arabic - has issued the following reaction: "I've seen this video circulating today, along with the claim that James Longman told the fighter to remove the ISIS patch. He does not do that in this video clip. But it's not much of a 'confrontation' either. And however Longman intended it, the fighters appear to interpret his comments as friendly advice on how to present themselves and in fact remove the patch. Understandable that this is reminding people of how Western media colluded in the rebranding of the Azov Battallion in Ukraine that they had been accurately describing as hardcore Nazis just months earlier." — ZeroHedge

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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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