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.

Now, onto the news from the Weekend that Was …

Smartmatic president, 2 other execs charged with bribing Philippines election official: DOJ

The president of voting machine company Smartmatic and two other executives were charged with bribing the head of the Philippines election commission in order to get business during the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Between 2015 and 2018, Smartmatic co-founder Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, and Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, together with others, allegedly caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, the former chairman of the Philippines' Commission on Elections (COMELEC), according to an indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida.

The men allegedly overpaid contracts using a slush fund to conceal the bribes.

The co-conspirators then allegedly laundered funds related to the bribery scheme through bank accounts located in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including in the Southern District of Florida, according to prosecutors. — ABC News

Our Take: In April 2000, seven months before Bush v Gore, Alfredo Jose Anzola incorporated a company called ‘Smartmatic Corp.’ in Delaware. The company gained its first client four years later in 2004 — the recall election of Hugo Chavez.

The following year, 2005, Smartmatic purchased Sequoia Voting Systems from British firm De La Rue Plc.

In October 2006, the New York Times published, ‘U.S. Investigates Voting Machines’ Venezuela Ties,’ about a formal inquiry into Smartmatic and its subsidiary, Sequoia Voting Systems of Oakland, CA.

Just two years later, Smartmatic announced it would divest of Sequoia, but it was later revealed that Smartmatic didn’t fully divest and, more significantly, that Sequoia was still using Smartmatic Intellectual Property. (Read: Code)

Two years after that, we get this: ‘Dominion Voting Systems Corporation today announced that it has acquired the assets of Sequoia Voting Systems, a major U.S. provider of voting solutions serving nearly 300 jurisdictions in 16 states…all intellectual property, including software, firmware and hardware, for Sequoia’s precinct and central count optical scan and DRE voting solutions.’ (June 4, 2010)

Dominion = Sequoia = Smartmatic

Realizing this well-documented history of scapegoats and scandals, ask yourself why politicians from both political parties — and their media lapdogs, NGOs, and disinformed influencer class — claim Venezuela’s historical role in US election technology is a crazy conspiracy theory made up by Sidney Powell to help Donald Trump.

Barack Obama knew.

Amy Klobuchar knew.

Eric Holder knew.

John Bonifaz — one of the prominent leftists that coordinated suing me for election denialism (and signed the pleadings) — also knew.

In 2024, as key Smartmatic players get rolled up and US leaders feign shock and surprise, ask yourself why elected officials and institutions are lying about well documented and fully verifiable historical facts.

‘Safe and secure’ is a house of cards, and the wind is blowing.

Shout out to

Russia Begins Heavy Retaliation On Ukrainian Capital As Zelensky Breaks Silence On Kursk Invasion

Now in the sixth day of the Kursk invasion, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky explained the following on Sunday, breaking his silence and giving his first official confirmation of the daring cross-border ground operation, "Today, I received several reports from Commander-in-Chief Syrskyii regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor’s territory." He added: "Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor."

On the same day Russia’s Foreign Ministry has vowed, "A tough response from the Russian army will not be long in coming." But that response appears to have already begun overnight and into Sunday, as the capital of Kiev has come under heavy missile attack. Missiles did not reach the center of the city, but the suburbs were impacted.

The Associated Press has described that at least four ballistic missiles slammed into the capital region along with 57 Shahed drones sent, citing Ukraine's air force, which also said its air defenses intercepted 53 of the drones.

Zelensky has alleged that as part of the aerial assault, Russia used a North Korean ballistic missile. "According to preliminary information, the Russians used a North Korean missile in this attack – yet another deliberate terrorist strike against Ukraine," Zelensky stated on social media. "Pyrotechnic experts are still working to determine the exact data regarding this missile," he added.

The US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink has condemned the new Russian aerial assault, saying it killed a man and his four-year old boy. — ZeroHedge

Our Take: Fascinating that the Ukrainian Nazis have decided to attack Kursk. Did they not read my News Brief take back on May 30, where I explained that the Third Reich's decision to attack Kursk was their ultimate undoing? History doesn't repeat, but it often does rhyme.

From the article:

Some analysts view this ongoing Kursk cross-border offensive as a last-ditch and desperate ploy to force an escalation so that the US and NATO will more directly intervene, or else to gain leverage. Others say this is all PR-driven and that Ukrainian troops are being sacrificed in what's essentially a suicide mission for propaganda purposes and as but a temporary blow to Kremlin morale...

Wow. So they really are making the same mistakes that Hitler made in World War 2?

But it gets better:

Zelensky has alleged that as part of the aerial assault, Russia used a North Korean ballistic missile.

"According to preliminary information, the Russians used a North Korean missile in this attack – yet another deliberate terrorist strike against Ukraine," Zelensky stated on social media.

Oh muh gawd-- it's Kim Jong Un's music! You may have thought I was kidding when I compared Trump's campaign to a WWE pay-per-view event, or highlighted the significance of the Hulk Hogan speech at the RNC, or document the budding bromance between President Putin and Supreme Leader Kim, but this is pageantry at its finest—with the highest production value, and the world's greatest television producer: Donald J. Trump.

(Honestly, I'm just glad that Un finally gets to flex on the globalists. Dude has been waiting for years to take it to them. I guess Trump's nickname "Little ROCKET Man" was rather prophetic, no? Tell me, again, that we are not watching a WWE pay-per-view event, produced by Donald Trump.)

Then I read the last lines of this article...

"Ukraine sent tanks into Kursk, which Russia is taking out via airstrikes..."

Tanks?! The Nazis are sending TANKS into Kursk?! Okay, maybe history does sometimes repeat itself. Zelensky really needs to read my May 30th take, and maybe watch the June 5 episode of Breaking History where I go more into detail about why sending tanks into Kursk was the beginning of the end of the Third Reich. —

Youngkin mandates all paper ballots for presidential elections in Virginia

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is ordering all votes for the 2024 presidential election to be cast by paper ballot.

Youngkin issued Executive Order 35 on Wednesday, which codifies election security protocols established under his governance for all future elections.

"The Virginia model for Election Security works. This isn't a Democrat or Republican issue, it's an American and Virginian issue," Youngkin said in an announcement. "Every legal vote deserves to be counted without being watered down by illegal votes or inaccurate machines. In Virginia, we don’t play games and our model for election security is working."

One of the most notable requirements of the security protocol is the exclusive use of paper ballots with a traceable chain of custody, offering a more concrete record of votes cast than widely-used electronic voting machines.

Other aspects of the Virginia voting security protocol include the use of DMV data to verify voter identity, offline counting machines and more.

"We use 100% paper ballots with a strict chain of custody. We use counting machines, not voting machines, that are tested prior to every election and never connected to the internet. We do not mass mail ballots. We monitor our drop boxes 24/7," Young said. — FOX News

Our Take: I could quibble with the specifics of this. For example, the assertion that Virginia uses ‘machines that are never connected to the internet,’ is suspect, as we’ve been told that by every state at one point or another. It’s never been a true statement, but maybe it is in Virginia now. They’re going to need to show their work, though.

Nonetheless, the VA Governor’s election EO is bold and a slap in the face to a regime that prioritizes election access over accuracy. No doubt Marc Elias and his flying monkeys are drafting multiple lawsuits as we speak.

The buried, but best line in this Fox News article is this:

‘Over the last few elections, both Republicans and Democrats have made various accusations of illegal manipulation of voters.’

Elections shenanigans go back to (at least) 1800, and my forthcoming Badlands Feature drops tomorrow, recounting some of this history in light of the current assault on accuracy and integrity from the progressive election lobby. Be sure to check it out.

The Virginia Governor issued this Executive Order on August 7, exactly 90 days before the election; with this timing, Youngkin clears a timeliness hurdle that thwarted similar efforts in the past.

If Virginia is able to pull off a free and fair election, they could serve as a control and comparison against jurisdictions that opt for shenanigans. That could be interesting.

Unfortunately for those of us not in Virginia, we are officially past the 90-day line for modifying election processes, so the system you have is the system you get, and that’s the system in which you will cast your ballot on November 5.

No matter how demoralizing that is for you — and as a Colorado voter, I promise, I get it — nothing is more important than voting this election.

Your vote is your voice. Don’t be silenced. —

Smotrich fires back at Kirby, vows to maintain opposition to Gaza ‘surrender deal’

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Saturday hit back against White House national security spokesperson John Kirby for singling him out for criticism a day earlier when Kirby said the US would not allow “extremists” to push the proposed Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal off course.

“I respect the US stance and thank it for its support of Israel in the face of regional threats, but I expect it to respect Israeli democracy and the stance of the Israeli citizens and its elected officials in relation to decisions that will affect the country’s security,” Smotrich wrote in a post on X.

“Just as the US would have rejected international pressure to reach a surrender agreement with al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, so Israel will not surrender to any external pressure that will cause harm to Israel’s security.”

He went on to denounce the agreement as a “surrender deal to” Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “that leaves most of the hostages to die, releases many murderers, returns terrorists to the northern Strip, abandons the border, and allows Hamas to smuggle weapons and rehabilitate its forces so it can go back to attacking Israel as an extension of Iran, is bad for Israel and endangers its security.”

“No criticism and no attack will divert me from the goal,” he added. — Times of Israel

And …

Ben Gvir says Netanyahu making a serious mistake with hostage deal ‘surrender’

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Be Gvir denounced the notion of continued talks to reach a hostage and ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza, saying Sunday that it would amount to surrender to the terror group.

In an interview with Radio 103 FM, Ben Gvir also called for cutting off humanitarian aid to the Strip, something Israel’s allies have repeatedly said would cross a red line and cost Israel their support.

His criticism came after last Thursday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said an Israeli delegation will attend ceasefire-for-hostage talks with Hamas on August 15 to negotiate for the release of hostages abducted by the Palestinian terror group and held in the Gaza Strip for over 10 months. The hostages were taken during a devastating Hamas-led attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and set off the ongoing war in Gaza.

“We are crushing Hamas,” Ben Gvir said, claiming that he has been going into the field to receive briefings from local commanders, in addition to cabinet updates.

“So, now we should go to a conference and surrender?” he asked. “This is a serious mistake by the prime minister.” — Times of Israel

Our Take: Here we go, again.

Netanyahu is once again posturing for a ceasefire deal with Hamas, and yet again, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is issuing public veiled threats against him to tread lightly. As I have been saying for months now, though I believe that Netanyahu is a warmongering sociopath who seeks glory in military conquest, He is totally beholden to the even more deranged religious lunatics in his cabinet—a situation that, I believe, was carefully crafted by President Trump during his first term, in order to pin Netanyahu into a political corner.

This was the only way to avert World War 3: inspire the Israeli people to rise up against their ruling political oligarchy, much like the apparent strategy some believe is being deployed here in the US.

Whatever Netanyahu's endgame may be—for now, I think it is merely to survive, politically—it clear that he has become the finite player. His list of moves grows ever shorter, and the people of Israel are growing restless. The Israeli media is now reporting what I had posited a month or so back: that the port of Haifa is a ripe target, full of highly explosive materials (agricultural chemicals, plus an oil refinery that was built by the British after the first World War) that could devastate the region, if bombed. (The Israeli economy is also collapsing, due to fallout from the war.)

If Hezbollah or Iran was serious about killing Israelis and crippling the Israeli government, it would have already bombed it. (Reuters also reported yesterday that Iran is sending hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia, which is an odd move, if they are expecting all-out war with Israel...)

I can't help but laugh at the irony of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's statement demanding that Joe Biden respect Israel's autonomy. Would now be a good time to bring up AIPAC? And the influence it wields over Congress? Particularly the Republican Party? It was something that deeply concerned President John F. Kennedy—so much so that I believe his pursuit of the issue contributed to his untimely demise.

Makes me think of the disclosure Judge Andrew Napolitano made, where he said that after asking President Trump why he hadn't yet released all of the JFK files, Trump said, "Judge, if you saw what I saw, you wouldn't release them, either."

Many have speculated that he was referring to the involvement of the CIA, but I find that analysis rather silly. The overwhelming majority of the American People already suspect that the CIA was somehow involved in the assassination; Hollywood even made a movie about it.

So I think Trump was referring to a different actor. Perhaps a foreign ally. Perhaps our "greatest ally." Assuming that Israel oligarchs do control significant portions of our federal government, what could a disclosure like that do to our country? Could those oligarchs flip a switch, and politically implode America? How would one go about disarming such a caustic and sensitive bomb?

Judge Napolitano interviewed Colonel Douglas Macgregor back in May; here's what he had to say about Netanyahu and his ilk:

Jewish Supremacy, huh? Well, I've never been to Israel, so I can't say whether that accurately reflects the sentiments or political desires of the Israeli people—I suspect that many of them just want to live their life, like the rest of us—though Macgregor's comments do accurately reflect the manifesto of the Finance Minister, which has become known as The Smotrich Doctrine. (Formally titled "Israel's Decisive Plan.") I encourage you to read it for yourself, as it sounds like a Jewish version of Shariah Law. Certainly would explain why 38 [Republican-controlled] American states have passed hate speech laws that prohibit legitimate criticisms of the Israeli government.

Donald Trump did tell Israeli journalist Barak Ravid back in December 2021 that roughly 20% of the Israeli public were "just bad people."

I wonder if he and Macgregor (one of Trump's top military advisors) are referring to the same thing? Will that vocal minority subjugate both Israel and the United States? —

Susan Wojcicki, former YouTube CEO, dies at 56

Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, a tech pioneer who was one of Google’s earliest employees, has died after living with lung cancer for two years, according to her husband. She was 56.

“It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki passing. My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after 2 years of living with non-small cell lung cancer,” Dennis Troper wrote in a Facebook post.

Troper said Wojcicki was “not just my best friend and partner in life, but a brilliant mind, a loving mother, and a dear friend to many.”

“Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable. We are heartbroken, but grateful for the time we had with her,” Troper said. “Please keep our family in your thoughts as we navigate this difficult time.”

Wojcicki – who was one of the most prominent women in Silicon Valley – had been involved with YouTube’s parent company Google from its earliest days, when its two founders worked out of her garage in California to build a search engine. She later became Google’s 16th employee and had worked at the company for nearly 25 years.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed condolences in a post on X early Saturday, saying Wojcicki was “core” to Google’s history. — CNN

Our Take: On Friday, Badlands Media’s YouTube channel was murdered — permanently removed from the platform for “harmful conspiracy theories.”

The following day, the chief architect of YouTube’s dystopian ban hammer died, reportedly of lung cancer.

It might be the fastest boomerang ever and, as a celebration of life for Ms. Wojcicki, let’s go down a rabbit hole.

Susan Wojcicki’s father Stanley was a physicist and Chair of the Physics Department at Stanford. One of her sisters, Anne, is the Founder and CEO of genomics company 23 & Me. Her other sister, Janet, is a pediatrician and anthropologist.

The story goes that, in 1998, Sergey Brin and Larry Page rented Wojcicki's Menlo Park garage to develop Google Search. Brin would eventually marry Anne — the sister with everyone’s genetic material — and Google would go on to become a critical and foundational element of dystopia’s shadow government. Wojcicki died with a net worth of nearly $800M.

It’s unclear why one of the most privileged women in the world — with unblocked access to medical innovation, and with immediate family members in cure-adjacent fields; with indefatigable resources — died at such a young age.

We can certainly speculate.

We just can’t do it on YouTube. —

Pentagon Refuses To Rule Out Strikes On Moscow In Shocking Exchange On Ukraine's Incursion Into Kursk

The Pentagon on Thursday was asked by a reporter during the daily briefing whether Ukraine forces' use of American weapons in its ongoing Kursk incursion is "consistent" with US policy of what Ukraine can and cannot do with US weapons. It has become clear that Ukrainian troops are currently using American weapons to attack Russian territory, troops, civilians, and infrastructure.

Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh answered without hesitation that "yes it is consistent with our policy" and explained that Washington has supported the need for "crossfire" from Ukraine back across the border onto Russian positions from which it is being attacked, even if that is on Russian territory. She framed what is happening in Russia's Kursk oblast—an offensive which has entered day four—as 'defensive' in nature.

Singh still tried to point out that it remains US policy for Ukraine to avoid striking deep into Russian territory using American arms; however, when pressed about the scenario of a direct attack on Moscow, she simply said: "I’m not going to put a specific range on it" and thus refused to rule it out. But she did caveat that "we still don't support long-range attacks into Russia." Singh additionally explained, "I'm not gonna draw a circular map for you here of where they can and cannot strike." The Kremlin is likely to remain unconvinced when hearing this clear escalation in rhetoric from the Pentagon where attacking the Russian capital is discussed, even if theoretically. Watch the full exchange related to the Kursk offensive below … — ZeroHedge

Our Take: The Regime is made up of Bad Actors (both meanings.)

To be nefarious, there has to be some level of competence on display, and all I see in the exchange between the press and the Pentagon Press Secretary on Ukraine's recent incursion into the Kursk region is more signal as to the Deep State Archipelago concept I've been writing about for some time.

This theory runs alongside

The fact that these sorts of statements can be read Bicamerally—alternatively threatening or confused/mystifying—visits the same effect on the Collective Mind:

Unease. Anxiety. Fear.

They are the problem. Trump (and by extension, we,) are the solution. —

BONUS ITEMS

Trump Campaign Hacked, Microsoft Says Iran-Backed Group "Mint Sandstorm" Responsible

Microsoft’s cyber threat assessment unit said on Aug. 9 that a high-ranking official on a U.S. presidential campaign had been hacked by an Iran-backed group, with the Trump campaign later revealing that it had been the target of a cyber attack and linked the breach to “foreign sources hostile to the United States.”

The report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) indicates that an Iranian group called Mint Sandstorm that is connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign from the compromised email account belonging to a former senior campaign adviser.

“Mint Sandstorm similarly targeted a presidential campaign in May and June 2020 five to six months ahead of the last U.S. presidential election,” MTAC said, adding that the same group also tried but failed to breach an account belonging to a former presidential candidate.

No details were released on the official’s identity, but Microsoft’s threat assessment team said that the Iranian-linked breaches related to increasing attempts to influence the U.S. presidential election in November.

“This recent cyber-enabled influence activity arises from a combination of actors which are conducting initial cyber reconnaissance and seeding online personas and websites into the information space,” according to the report.

Following the release of the report, the Trump 2024 presidential campaign confirmed that it had been the target of a cyberattack in which campaign documents were stolen.

The breach, which Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Politico on Aug. 10 has been attributed to “foreign sources hostile to the United States,” marks a significant development in the area of foreign interference in U.S. elections as the race for the White House heats up. — The Epoch Times

London Calling: Police Chief Threatens To Arrest People Around The World For Online Speech

According to a new report, the British punk rock band may have been prophetic in 1979 in a way never foreseen in its apocalyptic lyrics.  This week, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that the police will not necessarily confine its arrests for speech crimes to London or even the United Kingdom. Rowley suggests that Americans and other citizens could be extradited and brought to London for online postings.

London has been hit with days of violent protests over immigration policies, including attacks and arson directed at immigration centers. This violence has been fueled by false reports spread online about the person responsible for an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event that left three girls dead and others wounded. Despite false claims about his being an asylum seeker, the culprit was an 18-year-old British citizen born to Rwandan parents.

News outlets and pundits have condemned the false reports and the violent protests. However, the police are moving to arrest those who are repeating false claims or engaging in inflammatory speech. Rowley is warning that they will not stop at the city limit or even the country’s borders.

He warned “We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you.”

Rowley was asked by a reporter about the criticism by Elon Musk and others over the response of the government. Musk noted a video of someone allegedly arrested for offensive online comments with a question, “Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?”

Pundits and politicians in the United Kingdom have called for an investigation or the arrest of Musk for merely speaking publicly on the controversy. — Jonathan Turley

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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