The news cycle is impossible to fully track these days. That’s where we come in. The Badlands News Brief is a uniquely curated selection of the stories dominating the info war — with context and commentary from Badlands hosts.
There will be no Badlands News Brief tomorrow or Monday because the Great American Restoration Tour kicks off this week! Get your fix of Badlands Media with a virtual ticket and be a part of the action!
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that China had quietly compiled a list of US-made goods exempt from its 125% tariffs, aiming to ease trade tensions without public concessions.
The list appears to be expanding: For instance, China recently waived tariffs on US ethane imports. This approach allows Beijing to maintain a firm public stance while offering behind-the-scenes relief. Reports emerged last week that China quietly rolled back tariffs on some US semiconductor products, easing pressure on its tech sector, along with certain US pharmaceuticals.
Meanwhile, President Trump defended the 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, saying China "deserves it" and would likely "eat" the costs to shield US consumers. He did acknowledge Wednesday, however, the possibility of supply shortages and higher prices for consumers. – Yahoo! Finance
Our Take: Donald Trump recently defined “INTELLIGENCE” as the ability to predict the future.
Whether through overt control, Game Theory or both, Trump’s political career is defined by this trait.
Simple. Effective. Empowering. Frequency Apps puts your wellbeing into your hands by offering a wide array of affordable, easy-to-use homeopathic patches. Give your body and mind the support they need and thrive on your terms. Badlands readers can take 5% off their purchase with code “Badlands” at checkout.
China pointed its finger at the United States for originating COVID-19 on Wednesday, claiming America was attempting to “shift the blame” after President Trump declared the deadly disease was leaked from a Wuhan lab.
The communist regime argued that “substantial evidence” suggested that COVID might have come from the US earlier than the outbreak in China while insisting the lab leak theory was “extremely unlikely” in a white paper.
“The US government, instead of facing squarely its failure in response to Covid-19 and reflecting on its shortcomings, has tried to shift the blame and divert people’s attention by shamelessly politicizing SARS-CoV-2 origins tracing,” Chinese officials complained.
The report also claimed COVID-19 was circulating around the US earlier than it was officially determined.
The Chinese accusations come after the White House revamped its COVID-19 information earlier this month to push out the assertion that COVID-19 leaked out of a lab in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. – New York Post
Our Take: And here we go...
China is now redirecting the blame for COVID back to the US. I suspect that this is the beginning of a narrative deployment that may incrementally lead back to Ukraine – where, according to Victoria Nuland, the US was secretly funding dozens of covert bioweapons labs, which housed materials so dangerous that the State Department was very worried about Putin and the Russians seizing them.
If this does end up leading back to those labs in Ukraine, then it will implicate the Biden crime family, as Hunter Biden, MetaBiota, and Rosemont Seneca, among others, are all connected to those secret labs in Ukraine.
I'm so ready for this story to blow up and get absurd. The public needs to be smacked over the head with absurdity after the shameful way it responded to the COVID scamdemic in 2020. – GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
United Airlines is strategically revising its international network, introducing some significant route changes that will affect both European and North American markets. The airline will discontinue its service to Tenerife, Spain, while simultaneously expanding its presence at Denver International Airport (DEN) with two exciting new international routes scheduled for late 2025. [...]
While making cuts in Europe, United is actively strengthening its operations at its Denver hub. On October 26, 2025, the airline will launch two new international routes from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic (PUJ) and Mexico City, Mexico (MEX), using the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft for both services.
These new routes are part of United’s broader growth strategy at Denver International Airport, where the airline has been working to secure additional gate space and expand its route offerings… The expansion at Denver is a direct response to increasing competition in the region, particularly from Southwest Airlines, which has a strong presence at the airport. – Travel & Tour World
Southwest Airlines, once famous for its open seating policy, is rolling out a new fare options for travelers before its assigned seating model takes effect next year.
The new fare bundles, which include seating, checked bag and boarding options, will be available for booking starting sometime in the third quarter for flights scheduled to depart in 2026, the discount carrier said.
"With new choices like seat selection and Extra Legroom, our enhanced fare bundles let Customers customize their trip while still enjoying our industry-leading reliability and hospitality," Tony Roach, executive vice president customer & brand, said in a statement.
The airline kicked off the news Tuesday with a promotion offering up to 30% off on all base fares.
The announcement comes after Southwest announced last year that it was ending its decades-old open-seating policy, long a hallmark of the carrier's unconventional business model. The company also said earlier this year that it will end its "bags fly free" policy beginning May 28. – CBS News
Our Take: The airlines are an example of the “efficient” world that will be brought to you by turning your future over to tech. It is perfectly efficient for the monopolists running it and atrocious for anyone participating downstream in the system.
The system completely collapses at the first hint of resistance, and the people operating the system who’ve learned total dependence on the same tech, are either too incompetent to solve any problems or unable to implement solutions because the system prevents it.
This same dynamic applies across society. – Chris Paul
***
Another Take: It’s humorous that United is taking steps to combat Southwest’s competitive pressure at the same time Southwest is taking steps to destroy everything distinctive about their business model.
Open seating going away was the first indication that Southwest was abandoning its brand promises, but “bags fly free” made Southwest a hero in these economic times.
After taking to X to crowdsource answers for what the hell they are thinking, a Badlander in the know brought to my attention the hostile board takeover and subsequent activist direction of the company.
“Southwest Airlines has appointed six new independent directors to take effect Nov. 1, including five that were recommended by activist investor Elliott Investment Management, the carrier announced Thursday. In addition, executive chairman and former Southwest CEO Gary Kelly will step down from the board on that date, earlier than planned… The appointments come as part of ‘cooperation and information sharing agreements’ reached with Elliott, which in June announced it had taken a $1.9 billion stake in the carrier. Since then, Elliott has been trying to oust Southwest CEO Bob Jordan and Kelly, and replace much of the carrier's board.”
There you go.
United has nothing to worry about. Southwest’s new leadership decided to destroy the most distinctive aspects of its brand. – Ashe in America
President Vladimir Putin has described Russia as a nation of winners, praising the country’s role in the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
The Russian leader made the remarks on Wednesday at the Znanie. First educational marathon in Moscow, held ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in 1945.
Putin emphasized the sacrifices made by all Soviet republics during the war, with a particular focus on Russia’s contribution.
“For victory, no one spared themselves,” he said. “Russia, due to its scale, of course made the greatest contribution to this victory. It gave the most – its sons and daughters who died defending the motherland and our common future.”
Putin added that nations defeated in the war are now trying to lecture Russia and “distort the truth.” However, he insisted that Russia is “without a doubt, a nation of winners” and continues to stand its ground.
“When I say ‘nation’, I mean all the peoples, all the ethnic groups of the former Soviet Union, and of course, of Russia,” Putin said. – RT
Our Take: Russia is a nation of winners, eh? Who does that sound like?
We now have Vladimir Putin emulating Donald Trump. How much more evidence do we need to prove the theory of the Sovereign Alliance? – GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated further after a top Pakistani official claimed early Wednesday to have “credible intelligence” that New Delhi will carry out a military action against Islamabad within the next two days.
The claim came as both the United States and China urged restraint.
“Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends carrying out military action against Pakistan in the next 24-36 hours,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in an unusual middle of the night post on X. He did not elaborate on what evidence Pakistan had used to make the claim.
Tarar’s comments come just one week after militants massacred 26 tourists in the mountainous town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, a rampage that has sparked widespread outrage.
India has accused Pakistan of being involved in the attack — a claim Islamabad denies. Pakistan has offered a neutral investigation into the incident. – CNN
Our Take: The Regime will take more war wherever they can get it. – Chris Paul
Kirk Perry, 60, a former United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) program director, pleaded guilty today in connection with a kickback scheme in which he and his nephew, Jamarea Grant, 31, of Cleveland, Ohio, conspired to bill the government nearly $400,000 for work that Grant did not actually perform.
The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. and Special Agent in Charge Jeldrys Lowry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General.
Perry, of Lorain, Ohio, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to conspiracy to commit money, property, and honest services wire fraud. Grant previously pleaded guilty on Nov. 27, 2024, to the same charge. Judge Kollar-Kotelly will determine any sentences for Perry and Grant after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Perry is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 4, 2025. Grant’s sentencing is pending.
In pleading guilty, Perry and Grant admitted that, from August 2015 through November 2022, Perry, who at the time was serving as a USDA Program Director, arranged for Grant to be hired by two companies under contract with the USDA Office of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. Grant reported directly to Perry, who also approved the invoices billing for Grant’s time, and the two of them conspired to bill the government for work that Grant did not perform.
Grant received nearly $400,000 for work he did not do. Perry also had access to Grant’s bank account. As part of the criminal scheme Perry transferred approximately $125,000 of the USDA payments from Grant’s account to his own account. – US Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia
Our Take: By “bill the government” they mean defraud the taxpayers. A USDA program director knowingly and willingly defrauded the taxpayers out of more than half a million dollars.
It sure seems like the Trump administration is prosecuting public corruption.
More please.
Seriously, do Colorado. Start in Jena’s office (and you will quickly arrive at Phil’s… and Jared’s). – Ashe in America
Western countries are targeting Russian vessels with more and more acts of sabotage and terrorism as part of a wider push to impose a maritime blockade on the country, President Vladimir Putin’s national security adviser Nikolay Patrushev has said.
The presidential aide, who chairs Russia’s Maritime Board, made the statement during the body’s meeting on Sunday. “There is a consistent increase in NATO's military activity in the Baltic and North Seas, in the North Atlantic and the Asia-Pacific region,” Patrushev said.
“Western countries have expanded the practice of taking deliberate steps towards establishing a naval blockade,” including “attempts to inspect ships in international waters and to commit sabotage and terrorist acts,” he said.
Patrushev has previously warned that any attempts by the EU and UK to expel Russian vessels from the seas will be met with a “proportionate” retaliation. If law and diplomacy fail, “the security of Russian shipping will be ensured by our navy. The hotheads in London or Brussels need to clearly understand this,” he told the press last week. – RT
Our Take: "Maritime terrorism" = piracy.
Russia is now accusing NATO of engaging in acts of terrorism, sabotage, and blockades on the high seas. It's worth noting that European piracy began in the 16th century in response to Spain finding massive quantities of gold in Mexico and silver in Peru. Rival nations – namely, England and France-- ordered their naval captains to begin attacking the ships carrying to gold and silver back to Spain. They gave these captains special certificates that designated them as "privateers," in case they were caught engaging in the piracy, so they wouldn't be hanged as pirates. (Instead, they would be treated as normal naval captains, given all the considerations and rights under accepted protocols.)
Many of these captains eventually grew tired of taking orders from their mother countries, and just started privateering on their own-- thus, becoming pirates. Though many famous "pirates," such as Henry Morgan (the spiced rum mascot), actually remained commissioned by European governments and were even appointed governors of islands in the Caribbean.
The purpose of the privateers' campaign was primarily to harass and frustrate the Spanish navy, to prevent them from delivering the gold back to Spain. Stealing the loot was a secondary objective, though it became more prioritized in time, especially as the shipments grew into entire armadas.
NATO is now engaging in the same behavior, just without the gold and silver as a potential prize. – GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
The “stunning and brave” new face of the Democrat Party, who took the “bold” step of calling for yet another impeachment of President Trump, looks to be detracting attention from his own issues, including campaign debt of around $800,000, the Independent Sentinel reports.
Earlier this week, Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), who must take hair fashion advice from Connecticut Rep. Rosa Delauro (D-CT), filed seven articles of impeachment against Trump, in one case claiming he had “violated the Supreme Court’s ‘order’ to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a MS-13 gang member, to the United States. Of course, President Trump did not violate any such order. That, however, is not the subject of Thanedar’s issues.
Investigative journalist Laura Loomer has uncovered information that Thanedar is in debt to the tune of $730,313.82, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. [...]
For animal rights advocates, Thanedar was accused in 2010 of shutting down a testing lab in New Jersey, AniClin Preclinical Services, after its parent company, Azopharma, which Thanedar owned, closed, the Daily Mail reports.
Months after the lab closed, local animal rights activists told authorities that 118 beagles had been abandoned in the facility, as reported by HuffPost at the time. – Law Enforcement Today
Our Take: Apparently it wasn’t just beagles. It was monkeys and other animals, too.
If there was a legitimate purpose for PETA commies… The news that the main impeachment manager is an animal abusing scumbag comes after an indictment for illegal dogfighting.
Thanedar is also inexplicably 70 years old and rolls his Rs a little too much to be taken seriously. Can we do something about the fact that he is technically governing us?
Trump administration insiders are reportedly concerned that the United States’ special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is not capable of dealing with Iran, Hamas or Russia, the insiders told the New York Post on Wednesday.
“Nice guy, but a bumbling f***ing idiot,” a member of Trump’s first administration said of Witkoff. “He should not be doing this alone.”
Some of the anxieties surrounding Witkoff’s capabilities reportedly came from his admission during a Fox News interview that he thought the US had successfully brokered a one month extension on the last hostage deal.
“I thought we had an acceptable deal,” he said in the March interview. “I even thought we had an approval from Hamas. Maybe that’s just me getting duped. I thought we were there, and evidently we weren’t.” — The Jerusalem Post
Our Take: For a while now, I have been speculating that we would see establishment NeoCons inside the Trump administration turn on Steve Witkoff – who has been humiliating all of them by demonstrating how easy it is to broker peace, when you are acting in earnest.
“Nice guy, but a bumbling f***ing idiot,” a member of Trump’s first administration said of Witkoff. “He should not be doing this alone.”
Geez, tell us how you really feel, guys. Former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton was more blunt, posting on X Sunday that “Witkoff’s discussions with Iran are a waste of oxygen.”
LMAO. John Bolton should stick to "coup de etat," which he claims he has done many times throughout his career.
This is exactly what I expected, and I think it will only get more ugly from here. The Uniparty is LIVID that Steve Witkoff, Adam Boehler, Massad Boulos, and others are brokering peace around the world. Peace is bad for business, as far as the State Department and Republican Party are concerned, and that is exactly why both of those institutions must be torn down and cast into the trash bin of history. – GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
HOUSE MINORITY LEADER Hakeem Jeffries was asked Monday whether Democrats should continue to advocate for the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and the other men wrongly shipped to El Salvador, by making the trip to the country to put a spotlight on the issue.
“Our reaction is that Donald Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president in modern American history,” Jeffries responded.
But while Jeffries may be publicly agnostic on El Salvador trips like the one Reps. Robert Garcia, Yassamin Ansari, Maxwell Frost, and Maxine Dexter recently took, privately he sees the trips as having run their course. Two Democratic aides and a lawmaker who spoke to The Bulwark said that the minority leader has discouraged further excursions to the country even as pressure mounts within the party to turn up the heat on Trump for sending 238 men to a notorious prison system known for human rights abuses.
“They want to let the El Salvador stuff slow down,” a senior House staffer said.
Jeffries’s office initially declined to comment. But after the publication of this piece, a spokesperson put out a statement calling it false. The spokesperson, Christie Stephenson, said the item was “thinly sourced,” leaving out that their office did not initially push back when contacted prior to publication. Stephenson noted that “Jeffries has repeatedly said, House Democrats will never stop fighting for the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia.” – The Bulwark
Our Take: Jeffries might be smarter than we thought. Then again, while this is the right call, allowing this decision to leak to the press is a bad move.
It’s essentially an acknowledgement that the trips are a stunt, and democrats are in strategic retreat. He will, rightly, be mocked for his clown show caucus, but he will survive… if the stunts stop.
The democrat identity crisis is hilarious, but I am genuinely interested to see where they land. How will Jeffries and his misfit toys find their way back to credibility?
I hope they never do; I’m enjoying their implosion too much. – Ashe in America
The Trump administration and the Ukrainian government finalized a deal Wednesday creating a joint fund to boost the reconstruction of the war-torn nation, calling for investment in Kyiv’s oil, gas and rare mineral industries.
Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posted on X that the fund would be managed 50/50 and that future military aid from Washington could be considered a contribution.
“Together with the United States, we will create a fund that will attract Western investments to our country,” Svyrydenko said. “We will manage this fund jointly with the United States. Neither party will have a majority vote, reflecting an equal partnership between Ukraine and the United States.”
The fund will be filled with income only from new licenses “for projects in the field of critical materials and oil and gas,” which will be split in half between the US and Ukraine, according to Svyrydenko.
The US will also contribute to the fund — and can do so through “NEW assistance — for example, air defense systems for Ukraine.” – New York Post
Our Take:
Okay, so this feels like a total rugpull. Not only is this fund a joint-venture between the US and Ukraine – meaning that the Ukrainian government gets a say in where profits from the fund are directed – but it appears to be designed as an investment fund into the Ukraine war effort against the Russians.
This means that the money generated from this fund will be used to further prolong the war with Russia.
"Svyrydenko clarified that ‘the agreement does not mention any debt obligations of Ukraine to the US,’ which was a key sticking point for Kyiv."
So we won't be reimbursed for the hundreds of billions of dollars that was laundered and stolen from the US taxpayers? I interpret all of this to mean that the Trump administration no longer views the Zelensky regime as a viable partner, and expect Vladimir Putin to continue smashing Ukraine until the regime is completely destroyed. ("De-Nazified")
Signing this deal was probably more of a symbolic gesture than anything else, as I don't see much upside in it for the US, based on this report. But I also think that both the Zelensky regime in Kiev, and the Netanyahu regime in Tel Aviv, will both defiantly pursue their respective wars without the Trump administration's assistance. And I think President Trump will end up siding with Putin and Iran, in the spirit of peace. – GhostofBasedPatrickHenry
Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that Congress could intervene to curtail President Donald Trump’s global tariff regime — but only, he said, if there’s an “imbalance” in the relative powers of the executive and legislative branches.
“I think the executive has a broad array of authority that’s been recognized over the years” related to trade, Johnson said at an Axios event. “If it gets close to where the imbalance is there, then we would step in.”
But he made clear he did not think that, despite the turmoil in the economy, things were anywhere near that point. “I mean, what are we, about three weeks into the tariff policy of this new administration? I don’t think it’s appropriate for Congress to jump in the middle of that and try to legislate.”
Johnson also said he would “call the president and talk with him ... and tell him our concerns” before taking any action. “Right now, I think ultimately, this policy is going to achieve the desired outcome, and it’s going to be good for the country,” he added. – Politico
A nonprofit formerly led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is suing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accusing the agency—now under Kennedy’s oversight—of pressuring doctors to administer COVID-19 vaccines to disadvantaged children through a federal program.
The suit seeks to force the CDC to abandon a “scientifically untethered” vaccination policy. It specifically challenges the Vaccine for Children (VFC) program, which offers free vaccines to Medicaid-eligible children and began including COVID-19 shots during the pandemic.
The lawsuit’s lead plaintiff is Dr. Samara Cardenas, a pediatrician from Anaheim who says her refusal to give COVID-19 shots based on medical judgment cost her nearly 2,000 Medicaid patients and ultimately forced the closure of her practice. According to the complaint, filed April 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the CDC’s actions “punish ethical physicians” and promote an “unnecessary mass vaccination” campaign targeting the nation’s poorest children.
Dr. Cardenas claims the CDC is compelling doctors to offer what she describes as “an investigational COVID-19 vaccine, which has never been shown to confer any clinical benefit to healthy children,” despite the pandemic’s end and what she argues is minimal risk to children. – Badlands Media
Thank you for reading today’s Badlands News Brief. As always, please share the brief far and wide, and drop your comments below to discuss with your fellow Badlanders. The opinions expressed in the Badlands News Brief are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the attitudes or positions of Badlands Media.
The Badlands News Brief is free, but you can support us by becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter. Help our collective of citizen journalists take back the narrative. We are the news now.
Chris Paul's take on the Southwest Airlines announcement is a brilliant statement about the danger of AI: you become too dependent on something you don't understand, and in the process you lose your ability to figure out how to do anything. It will reach the point where it doesn't need to prevent you from doing something different; you simply can't because you don't know where to start.
….The US (DARPA, et.al) has always been behind the catalyst (Covid virus) and the bio weapon (vaccine) in collision with the other 3-letter agencies and big pharma companies. There’s a reason Obama was there in 2005 looking for favorable sites. The traitors around us in the Prussian-style shadow government are all connected and eventually the entire world will know who gave the orders.
Chris Paul's take on the Southwest Airlines announcement is a brilliant statement about the danger of AI: you become too dependent on something you don't understand, and in the process you lose your ability to figure out how to do anything. It will reach the point where it doesn't need to prevent you from doing something different; you simply can't because you don't know where to start.
….The US (DARPA, et.al) has always been behind the catalyst (Covid virus) and the bio weapon (vaccine) in collision with the other 3-letter agencies and big pharma companies. There’s a reason Obama was there in 2005 looking for favorable sites. The traitors around us in the Prussian-style shadow government are all connected and eventually the entire world will know who gave the orders.