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.

But before we get onto the Brief, we want to introduce you to a new Sponsor of the Badlands Substack: Kimchi One, a fermented product by our friends at Brightcore, who are offering the Badlands audience 25% off using the promo code: “Badlands.”

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Now, onto the news from Tuesday, September 17 …

Badlands Media Special Coverage - Trump Town Hall

Our Take: Among a LOT of juicy morsels in Trump’s latest Town Hall (which you should watch on Badlands by clicking the link image above,) his clever aside … ABOUT the concept of asides stood out to me.

Last night, Trump gave us his most direct 'proof' of the INTENT behind his Narrative fighting style yet:

"I give these long, sometimes very complex sentences and paragraphs, but they all come together ... if you couldn't connect the dots, you've got a problem. Many stories were told in that paragraph."

(Trivia: was that an actual quote from Donald Trump … or Burning Bright?)

;)

Say ... I wrote a series about that.

In one entry, I believe I demonstrated that Trumps "asides" aren't asides at all. They're actually the meat of his Narrative Deployments.

To wit, observe the following, from his Daily Mail Op Ed in March 2023:

“Now it's time to hold China—and the corrupt forces who have facilitated this colossal suppression of facts—accountable for the damage they have inflicted upon all of humanity.”

Where's the meat in that statement?

It's in the (aside,) which is usually reserved for ancillary info, but which SOME writers use to drive home narrative intent, which is another way of saying ... the TRUTH is often expressed between beats. —

Sean Combs Is Denied Bail on Sex Trafficking and Racketeering Charges

Sean Combs, the embattled music mogul, was denied bail on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.

In a federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday, Mr. Combs, 54, was described as the boss of a yearslong criminal enterprise that threatened and abused women, coercing them to participate against their will in drug-fueled orgies with male prostitutes and threatening them with violence or the loss of financial support if they refused.

The 14-page indictment against Mr. Combs, a producer, record executive and performer who is also known as Diddy and Puff Daddy, came a day after he was arrested in a Manhattan hotel room, following an investigation that has been active since at least early this year. Prosecutors said Mr. Combs and his employees engaged in kidnapping, forced labor, arson and bribery, and kept firearms at the ready.

In asking a magistrate to deny Mr. Combs’s request to be released on bail, prosecutors argued that he was a threat to the community. One of the prosecutors, Emily A. Johnson, called him a “serial abuser and a serial obstructer,” and said his wealth would make it easy for him to escape undetected. She noted that after Mr. Combs was arrested, law enforcement found what they suspected to be narcotics in his hotel room, in the form of pink powder.

Mr. Combs’s lawyers suggested a $50 million bond. But Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky denied their request, citing Mr. Combs’s anger issues and history of substance abuse, and ordered Mr. Combs detained while he awaits trial. — NYT

Our Take: Five days ago, federal investigators raided the homes and offices of several high profile politicians in NYC, seemingly in connection with racketeering and corruption activities. Two days ago, the NYC Police Commissioner resigned. Among the unconfirmed allegations, speculations really, are pay offs and ‘fixing.’ Organized crime, essentially.

Now Diddy has been federally indicted — and arrested — and among the allegations in the indictment are racketeering and corruption, including payoffs and fixing.

I’m not suggesting that the two federal RICO investigations are connected. But the timing sure is interesting, especially considering the vast amount of people involved in Diddy’s network, according to AUSA Williams.

Also, no big deal, but allegedly Diddy was big on recording blackmail material.

The music industry titan was denied bail during his hearing Tuesday and will remain in the slammer for now. The internet is widely speculating that he will be Epstein’d. There are very few degrees of separation between one percenters, so it’s not unlikely.

Also, no big deal, Diddy was friendly with the Clintons.

Anyone check to see if the cameras are working in his cell? —

Another Take: Taylor Swift, the world's most famous entertainer, endorses Kamala Harris, entrenching herself as firmly Establishment in the normie hivemind.

Days later, P Diddy, one of the world's most powerful music moguls, is indicted on RICO charges for sex trafficking and blackmail operations in the SDNY.

This ALSO happens to be the SAME DISTRICT that convicted and sentenced Anthony Weiner of the infamous "Weiner Laptop" fame ... which may or may not have had an "insurance folder" featuring the Deep State's most infamous names, and that both General Michael Flynn and Erik Prince corroborated.

AND ... Ghislaine Maxwell's conviction is upheld in the same district ... on the same day.

Oh ... and in case it wasn't EXCEEDINGLY obvious ... that day happens to be the 17th of the month, people.

You. Are. Watching. A. Movie. —

War Preparations Build After 9 Killed, 2700+ Wounded In Israel's Pager Attack On Hezbollah

Official Lebanese Health Ministry figures are that nine people were killed in the simultaneous pager explosions, including a young girl, and some 2,750 wounded. The Lebanese government has identified "Israeli aggression" as being behind the attack, while Hezbollah also says it holds Israel "fully responsible". Israel has yet to issue official comment, but there are several reports from the region that war preparations are underway. There are reports of evening Israeli shelling of Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon.

Israel's Channel 14 is reporting that "senior Israeli military officials are preparing for a third Hezbollah war which is expected to begin almost immediately." The US State Department has said the US "was not aware of this operation and was not involved" in the attack. The Biden administration says it is "still gathering information".

The WSJ has offered some initial details on the sophisticated attack, which Lebanese and Arabs have condemned as a major 'terror attack'. "The affected pagers were from a new shipment that the group received in recent days, people familiar with the matter said," WSJ writes. "A Hezbollah official said hundreds of fighters had such devices, speculating that malware may have caused the devices to explode. The official said some people felt the pagers heat up and disposed of them before they burst." — ZeroHedge

Our Take: Let's take a minute and set aside the players of this narrative—Israel and Hezbollah—and focus on the idea that an intelligence agency has the ability to remotely detonate personal communication devices with lithium batteries, which are found in every smart phone in America. It is a rather frightening revelation, and beyond Orwellian.

In past Briefs, we have gone deep into the rabbit hole to explore and document how the entire [future/would-be] "police state" is actually just a matrix of Israeli cybersecurity firms. Not only were those firms responsible for allowing 9/11 to occur—running the security at the airports involved—but they also directly benefitted, financially, from the subsequent creation of the Patriot Act.

Given these facts, it does not at all surprise me to learn that Mossad and its partners have the ability to conduct an operation like this one. One must only wonder how long until dissidents (patriots) in America will be targeted by such operations.

One must also wonder the net effects of this operation, especially since it doesn't seem to have killed very many people, thankfully, but it did gravely injure thousands. Do you really think those people are now deterred from opposing Mossad/Israel? Or do you think their resolve is only now further galvanized?

That presents another point that deserves attention.

Now, I am firmly on record that I believe that Hamas is a creation of those same intelligence agencies, intended to subvert the authority of the Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority, by promoting militant attitudes among the population. Whether Hezbollah has a similar origin story is a separate discussion, and not necessarily relevant, one or the other, to the point I'm about to make, as it is a "chicken or the egg" dynamic.

Consider groups like Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Patriot Front. There are conflicting opinions on whether those groups were started in earnest, or were honeypot operations concocted by intelligence agencies, but I think most people agree that they have now been infiltrated by federal agents, and are being used against to demonize the nationalist-populist movement.

One could imagine what the world may have become, God forbid, had any of these assassins succeeded in killing President Trump, and thwarting the Great Awakening. The movement would likely fracture, turn on itself, and break into partisan factions that would (individually) lack the public mandate to save the country from the globalist cartel.

One could imagine, ten to twenty years from now, given the current trajectory of the nation, how those groups mentioned above could become the Hamas/Hezbollah of America, engaging in partisan terrorist attacks against the Regime.

Would it really be that hard to imagine, once America collapses from the schemes of the Regime, that young people without any hope for their future would turn to violence out of desperation and hatred?

Imagine an apolitical normie going to work tomorrow—completely indifferent to politics—only to return home to find his entire neighborhood has been bombed into dust, and the corpses of his family and friends all buried in the rubble. Would it really be hard to understand why that guy would devote the remainder of his now meaningless life to seeking vengeance for his loved ones in the form of vigilantism?

The question must be asked, are the people joining Hamas in September 2024, doing so because they are indoctrinated "terrorists?" Or are they doing it because they are desperate men without options and otherwise without meaning in their lives? How many of you—proud champions of the Second Amendment—would stand by in silence as tanks of a foreign nation rolled down your street? As foreign soldiers went door-to-door, terrorizing your neighbors and scaring your children?

This is the reality of perpetual warfare; the reality of "forever wars." It has also been the reality for every Palestinian in both Gaza and the West Bank since 1967, when Israel began its military occupation. The overwhelming majority of those living there today were born into it. They had no role in the prior events that created those conditions. And yet, they are expected to live with a boot perpetually pressed into their neck. (A situation that also serves the useful purpose for the Regime to recruit radicalized young men for global operations. It's like a farm for the CIA to grow terrorists.)

Do you understand why President Trump made that promise to Mahmoud Abbas in 2017 to liberate his people from this evil? It benefits the entire world, because it shuts down the factory of radicalization.

Are we really such blind hypocrites that we cannot see the irony in all of this? Have we really succumbed so much to the Fox News propaganda that we cannot see that the Republican Party has become the party of the British Empire?

They are the Redcoats of the modern age, who are every bit as brutal and inhumane as the Democrats. Those cowards in DC who shrill for more war would not have sided with the American colonists. —

Meta Bans Russia's RT From Facebook, Instagram Following Biden Admin Directive

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has responded to the US government's directive urging entities and nations abroad to ban all activities by Russian state broadcaster RT and other Moscow-funded networks.

Meta on Tuesday announced it is booting RT from its apps globally, agreeing with the Biden administration on its charge of deceptive influence operations. "After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity," a Meta spokesman said.

At this point no RT page or channel will be present on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads. RT's Facebook page with 7.2 million followers has disappeared as has its Instagram page with one million followers.

The Kremlin has responded on Tuesday blasting the move, saying: "With these actions, Meta is discrediting itself… This complicates the prospects for normalizing our relations with Meta." And RT stated that "US Big Tech cannot stop RT from making its voice heard" while further pointing out "META/Facebook already blocked RT in Europe two years ago, now they’re censoring information flow to the rest of the world."

Washington starting last Friday took its war against the state-funded English language broadcaster to a global level, urging all nations to block its broadcasts and close down offices. — ZeroHedge

Our Take: Three weeks ago, Mark Zuckerberg claimed the Biden White House pressured Meta companies to censor Americans in 2021 in support of the government’s COVID narrative.

He said, ‘I believe the government pressure was wrong.’ But apparently, he learned nothing because Meta is now complying with White House censorship pressures again in banning Russian media. In only three weeks.

From this ZeroHedge article, ‘So now Meta appears to be dutifully and rather quickly falling in line behind Washington's directives.’

That indeed seems to be the case, as it seems (very obviously) that the Biden admin is setting up RussiaGate Part Deux. Notably, Meta complying with the unconstitutional directive might cut this narrative play off at the knees. Interesting.

The Kremlin is criticizing Meta and Zuck, claiming they’ve destroyed their credibility, but the joke’s on Putin. Meta and Zuck haven’t been credible since 2015, at the latest.

Musk and X have, at least for now, refused to comply with Biden’s latest bad decision. As George R.R. Martin famously wrote:

‘When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.’ —

Negotiate with Moscow to end the Ukraine war and prevent nuclear devastation

The New York Times reported Thursday that the Biden administration is considering allowing Ukraine to use NATO-provided long-range precision weapons against targets deep inside Russia. Such a decision would put the world at greater risk of nuclear conflagration than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis.

At a time when American leaders should be focused on finding a diplomatic off-ramp to a war that should never have been allowed to take place, the Biden-Harris administration is instead pursuing a policy that Russia says it will interpret as an act of war. In the words of Vladimir Putin, long-range strikes in Russia “will mean that NATO countries — the United States and European countries — are at war with Russia.”

Some American analysts believe Putin is bluffing, and favor calling his bluff. As the Times reported, “‘Easing the restrictions on Western weapons will not cause Moscow to escalate,’17 former ambassadors and generals wrote in a letter to the administration this week. ‘We know this because Ukraine is already striking territory Russia considers its own — including Crimea and Kursk — with these weapons and Moscow’s response remains unchanged.’”

These analysts are mistaking restraint for weakness. In essence, they are advocating a strategy of brinksmanship. Each escalation — from HIMARS to cluster munitions to Abrams tanks to F-16s to ATACMS — draws the world closer to the brink of Armageddon. Their logic seems to be that if you goad a bear five times and it doesn’t respond, it is safe to goad him even harder a sixth time.

Such a strategy might be reasonable if the bear had no teeth. The hawks in the Biden administration seem to have forgotten that Russia is a nuclear power. They have forgotten the wisdom of John F. Kennedy, who said in 1963, “Nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war.” — The Hill

Our Take: In the words of Vladimir Putin, long-range strikes in Russia “will mean that NATO countries — the United States and European countries — are at war with Russia.”

F*ck around, find out.

That's the message coming directly from Vlad, though these nutless monkeys from the State Department can't seem to figure it out:

Some American analysts believe Putin is bluffing, and favor calling his bluff. As the Times reported, “‘Easing the restrictions on Western weapons will not cause Moscow to escalate,’17 former ambassadors and generals wrote in a letter to the administration this week. ‘We know this because Ukraine is already striking territory Russia considers its own — including Crimea and Kursk — with these weapons and Moscow’s response remains unchanged.’”

17, huh? Cool.

Why is it that everybody in the State Department—at least the ones who choose to engage with the public—seem like such flamboyant retards? Why do we have such invalids speaking on our behalf, especially in times as deadly serious as what we face today?

For what it is worth, this article was an op-ed penned in tandem by RFK Jr and DJT Jr, and they really get to the heart of the issue right here:

This game of nuclear “chicken” has gone far enough. There is no remaining step between firing U.S. missiles deep into Russian territory and a nuclear exchange. We cannot get any closer to the brink than this.

And for what? To “weaken Russia”? To control Ukraine’s minerals? No vital American interest is at stake. To risk nuclear conflict for the sake of the neoconservative fantasy of global “full-spectrum dominance” is madness.

Very well said, my dudes.

What exactly is the end game of the jabbering baboons at the State Department? What is it they are defending? Could it be vast human/child/drug/organ trafficking operations in the Russian borderlands of Ukraine? Or, as some purport, are they hellbent on defending the Khazarian (Pale of Settlement) homeland of Victoria Nuland and her twisted ilk? (That certainly seems to be what Colonel Macgregor heavily implied in his interview with Tucker Carlson last year.)

Whatever the truth may be, this conflict in Ukraine is not our concern, nor our fight. Let Vlad and the lads deal with it. But what is really interesting is that, despite the fact that Putin is openly threatening to nuke NATO if they don't stop their impotent meddling, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov just said that it is Israel—not Ukraine—that is the number one geopolitical issue in the world right now.

That's funny, because I completely agree. His statement only reinforces the notion that Ukraine and Israel are one in the same, and somehow connected, both spiritually and legally. —

Hillary Clinton: I’m ‘conflicted’ by Melania Trump

Hillary Clinton says Melania Trump reminded her of “a little kid” when she came face-to-face with the fellow former first lady for the first time after losing the 2016 White House race.

The encounter, Clinton recalled in her latest book, “Something Lost, Something Gained,” came last year at a memorial service for Rosalynn Carter.

“Rosalynn’s grandson Jason said it had been her wish that all the First Ladies would come together for her memorial in a show of unity in these divisive times,” Clinton wrote in the book, which was released Tuesday.

“If anybody at the White House or on Bill’s or my Secret Service detail had been briefed on Mrs. Trump’s plan to attend, they didn’t tell me,” Clinton, 76, wrote in the book.

“Now, here she was, standing alone as Laura [Bush], who’d looked to be chatting with Melania when the rest of us walked in, stepped away to say her hellos,” Clinton recalled.

“Melania had a look on her face – very smiley but uncertain – that reminded me of the little kid at the birthday party who doesn’t know anyone and is waiting at the edge of the circle, hoping people are going to be nice,” the former secretary of State said. 

“We were. We all went up to her,” Clinton said of the group of former first ladies, along with President Biden.

“Jill air-kissed her cheek, and Michelle Obama gave her one of her signature big hugs,” Clinton recalled.

“[Former President Clinton] tried to make conversation, asking her how she was, but he was met with a smile and few words. I reached out, shook her hand, and said, ‘Hello, Melania, it’s nice to see you.'”

“I can appreciate how awkward it must have been, not knowing what kind of reception she would get after all her husband’s insults directed at us Bushes, Bidens, Obamas, and Clintons alike,” the former New York senator said. — The Hill

Our Take: “Melania had a look on her face – very smiley but uncertain – that reminded me of the little kid at the birthday party who doesn’t know anyone and is waiting at the edge of the circle, hoping people are going to be nice,” the former secretary of State said.

You keep her name out of your dirty mouth, you filthy skank.

That's about as polite of a response as I could muster, to be honest. Out of respect for Melania Trump, I will refrain from more vulgarity-- as warranted as it may be.

The Lioness has emerged from her cave, and with her comes the stench of death and decay. As CannCon and I covered on Badlands Daily yesterday, Hillary is also now calling for the prosecution of Americans who peddle in "misinformation," whatever that means. (I assume she is referring to outlets like Badlands Media.)

Careful, Hill-dawg. Because you may get exactly what you are asking for, and it is you and your friends who are the most egregious perpetrators.

It's too late. You chose the Chaos Candidate.

PS - I still think that Rachel Maddow simply needs some positive male attention, and her entire worldview may suddenly be fixed. I have some single friends, Rachel, and I think spending some time with a real biological male would change your life. Think about it. —

BONUS ITEMS

Ghislaine Maxwell's sex-trafficking conviction upheld, appeal planned

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld Ghislaine Maxwell's conviction for helping the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

The decision by the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means the British socialite will remain in a Florida prison, where she is serving a 20-year sentence.

A lawyer for Maxwell signaled she will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Maxwell, 62, was convicted in December 2021 on five charges for having recruited and groomed four underage girls for Epstein, her former boyfriend, to abuse between 1994 and 2004.

A three-judge panel rejected Maxwell's claim that Epstein's 2007 agreement with federal prosecutors in southern Florida not to be prosecuted there shielded her from being prosecuted in New York, where she was criminally charged in 2020.

It also rejected Maxwell's claims that her trial was tainted because one juror did not disclose that he had been sexually abused as a child, and that the sentence was too long. — Reuters

Bombshell Whistleblower Report Exposes Major Security Failures In First Trump Assassination Attempt

With Donald Trump now the target of two assassination attempts in two months, a new whistleblower report released by Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has unveiled a series of alarming security lapses by the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and other federal agencies during the attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.

The report, based on information provided by multiple whistleblowers, highlights a pattern of incompetence, mismanagement, and inadequate preparation by the agencies responsible for safeguarding one of the most high-profile figures in American politics.

The report reveals that systemic failures, poor decision-making, and a lack of proper resource allocation within the Secret Service contributed to what is being described as a near-catastrophic breach of presidential security. These findings have sparked a call for urgent oversight and reform of the agency, raising serious questions about its ability to protect national leaders.

Among the most critical allegations in the whistleblower report is the Secret Service's decision not to conduct a standard evaluation of the rally site. The Counter Surveillance Division, tasked with identifying potential threats, was notably absent during the event. This failure was compounded by the fact that the Secret Service reportedly declined multiple offers from local law enforcement to employ drone surveillance technology at the rally. The decision was particularly consequential, given that the would-be assassin himself used a drone to conduct surveillance of the rally site hours before launching his attack. — ZeroHedge

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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