The Badlands Brief is your daily drop of Badlands’ takes on the narratives dominating the info war. Read on, and join the conversation in the comments section.
White House Releases “Wolves in White Coats” Report On Child Mutilation
The Department of Health and Human Services has released a report alleging potentially improper insurance billing connected to gender-related medical treatment of minors and identifying hospitals, health systems and other providers whose claims met criteria established by the report’s authors.
The 64-page report, “Wolves in White Coats,” includes a nationwide claims analysis examining billing for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. One cohort identified organizations that billed for puberty blockers for patients ages 9-17 using a nonspecific endocrine-disorder diagnosis without listing gender dysphoria or precocious puberty on the same claim. Another identified claims involving patients ages 13-17 carrying a precocious-puberty diagnosis.
The report also identified records from 2023 through 2026 in which minors received a gender-dysphoria diagnosis and a same-day cross-sex hormone prescription at facilities in states where restrictions on such treatment were in force. HHS cautioned that further investigation would be necessary to determine whether wrongdoing occurred.
HHS said the underlying data have limitations. The dataset covers treatments billed through insurance but not cash payments or other transactions outside insurance, and some patient ages were estimated from birth year. The report also says an organization’s appearance in one claims cohort does not indicate the number of qualifying claims associated with it.
Reuters reported Aug. 13 that HHS referred health care providers identified in the review to the HHS Office of Inspector General and Justice Department for investigation. Vice President JD Vance also asked the Justice Department to investigate hospitals over the billing allegations. The findings and referrals do not by themselves establish that the named providers committed fraud.
Ashe in America: The Hippocratic Oath is considered synonymous with “primum non nocere”, or “first do no harm.” This maxim of ethical medical care actually came later, the principle goes back to the 5th century, and most Americans think the principle is still part of modern, ethical medicine.
It’s not, and it shows.
Unfortunately, the principles of medical ethics have been transformed by globalists, evolved with the Declaration of Geneva, which was first adopted by the newly established World Medical Association in 1948 — real banger of a year.
Geneva arguably inverts the medical ethics. “First, do no harm” became “The health and well-being of my patient will be my first consideration.” So if euthanasia is considered best for their well-being, then it’s ethical.
“Not to give a deadly drug to anyone who asks, nor suggest such advice” evolved to “I will maintain the utmost respect for human life.” Sometimes deadly drugs are respectful. See above point about euthanasia.
“Not to help a woman procure an abortion” and “To avoid sexual relationships with patients” were removed entirely.
By moving the line from hard-line prohibitions towards abstract guidelines principles, medical ethics became more malleable and manipulable, evolving with shifting cultural consensus — which is also manipulated (see pharma advertising on TV).
I think we’ve all resolved that oaths are meaningless in our society, but if you’re wondering was happened to the medical profession, the reorientation of healthcare professionals’ programming — away from Hippocrates and towards the profitability of narcissistic industrialism — is critical to understanding how ended up with a medical industry that celebrates child mutilation and sacrifice.
Gender affirming care is sexualization, sterilization, mutilation, and psychological torture. These monsters performed this evil on children and called it “healthcare.”
The health industries justify (read: celebrate) this great evil because they prioritize profit and progress — because stopped agreeing that it was virtuous to prohibit doing harm. The maxim might have been virtuous, but the harm is profitable.
The harm creates patients for life.
That’s the point.
Hamas Leaders Tell Jared Kushner They Will Demilitarize Gaza
Jared Kushner met Hamas leaders in Egypt on Sunday as U.S. officials sought to advance the next phase of a Gaza peace plan, with Hamas political leader Khalil al-Hayya among those participating in the rare direct talks.
Hamas leaders told Kushner they remained committed to disarming and demilitarizing Gaza, according to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting cited by Axios. Kushner pressed the group to demonstrate that commitment through tangible steps, including relinquishing governing authority and having no role in Gaza’s future government, the source said. Hamas’ public statement following the talks did not explicitly mention disarmament.
Hamas said it had agreed to a roadmap for the second phase of the U.S.-backed plan. The group said that phase would include a permanent ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, sustained humanitarian relief and the beginning of reconstruction. Hamas also accused Israel of failing to fulfill its obligations under the first phase.
Board of Peace representatives Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blair joined Kushner at the meeting, along with senior advisers Aryeh Lightstone and Liran Tancman. Al-Hayya attended with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Qatari diplomat Ali al-Thawadi and a senior Turkish official.
The Board of Peace wants Hamas to begin decommissioning its weapons and military infrastructure, according to Axios’ source. Proposed corresponding Israeli steps include allowing an international stabilization force to deploy in Gaza, beginning reconstruction in the Rafah area and discussing initial Israeli troop withdrawals.
Kushner was expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the Egypt talks as U.S. officials sought progress on the roadmap. The Associated Press reported that Netanyahu had publicly rejected the roadmap.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: Jared Kushner coming through in the clutch, just as the Israeli government pulls off the mask and goes full-bore ethnic cleansing.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir publicly announced last week that he wants to see 30-40 Gazans killed every night, until the 2 million+ remaining inhabitants abandon the strip and leave for good. According to Ben-Gvir, the Gazans—even the noncombatants—”…are not worthy of life. They are not human beings. I’m doing them a favor by calling them people.”
If there was any doubt that Israel is a terrorist state, this about puts the debate to rest. Ben-Gvir says that there can be no peace deal and that all of Gaza belongs to Israel. Now we will see how Netanyahu handles his meeting with Jared Kushner today, and how Netanyahu handles the psychopaths in his Security Cabinet. I don’t expect there to be peace.
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Massachusetts Governor Takes The Mask Off With New Extreme Abortion Law
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation August 10 that changes the state’s rules governing abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy, replacing specific statutory conditions with a standard based on a physician’s professional judgment. The measure, H.5595, became Chapter 188 of the Acts of 2026.
Under the previous statute, abortions after 24 weeks were permitted when a physician determined they were necessary to preserve a patient’s life or physical or mental health, or in cases involving specified severe fetal diagnoses. The new law removes that list and provides that an abortion may be performed by a physician based on the physician’s professional judgment. It also bars a medical review process from overriding the judgment of the treating physician and patient, or the patient’s health care proxy.
The House passed the measure 119-33 on July 22 before the Legislature completed action on the bill and sent it to Healey. The official House roll call recorded 119 votes in favor, 33 against and six members not voting.
Fox News Digital reported that nine House Democrats joined Republicans in opposing the legislation. Democratic Rep. Jeffrey Turco of Winthrop criticized the scope of the new law and said he believed it went beyond the views of the average Massachusetts voter. Democratic Rep. Chris Markey of Dartmouth said he believed the change created ethical concerns for physicians and exceeded what many of his constituents supported.
Legislative supporters said the measure was designed to allow Massachusetts patients experiencing serious complications later in pregnancy to receive care without traveling to another state. They said decisions about such care should remain between patients and their physicians.
Burning Bright: Once upon a time, I fancied myself a 'liberal.'
Of course, as has been the case with the term 'conservative,' it's clear with the benefit of hindsight that the meaning of that term has not only been subverted over the course of decades and generations, but weaponized entirely.
I came up in the Boston area during the Bush and Obama eras, having been too young to form anything resembling a political opinion (read: programming) during the Bush Sr. or Clinton Regimes in the 1990s.
Of course, it was easy to fall into the Red State-Blue State binary at that time, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks that served as the predicate for a Forever War in the Middle East Donald Trump only recently extricated us from.
That said, I never paid much attention to the abortion debate, though I will admit that, given the 'Blue Team' must be the good guys given everything I knew of the 'Red Team' during my formative years, whenever the 'Choice' debate came up, I simply let it go, and deferred to the 'Choice' argument.
After all, I didn't admit to being what some would call a chauvinist (and by that, I mean a grown adult man who believes both men and women have explicit, ideal roles in a moral, functioning society) until my awakening, which also prompted me to start reevaluating my previous non-stance on the abortion question by first reverse engineering the obvious intent of the industry built around it.
All of which is to say, even before I welcomed a son of my own into the world on the first day of 2025, I had moved from detached apathy on the question to utter disgust and rage at the fact that it even is one in the first place.
Massachusetts is my home. Boston and its neighborhoods is where I was raised.
There are good people here. Hard-working people. Funny people. Irish people.
But they are being led into the darkness by the embodiment of evil, which is now baring its teeth as the emergent Age of MAGA closes in around them.
As angering as these headlines are to see, I'm glad to see the mask come off and the teeth come out, and I'm eager to see how the emergent new Baby Boom that I'm witnessing around me anecdotally, and which has yet to be acknowledged in public metrics causes the MA Blue Faithful to gaze upon the Witch in the State House, and the true master she serves.
Trump Admin Used Kurds As Secret Backchannel With IRGC
The Trump administration established a secret communications channel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in May through Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, Axios reported Sunday, citing three sources with direct knowledge of the effort. The reported channel was intended to determine whether the IRGC supported positions being presented by Iran’s formal negotiating team.
According to Axios, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard contacted Barzani around May 10 and asked him to reach IRGC commander Gen. Ahmad Vahidi. U.S. officials wanted to know whether Vahidi and the Guard backed negotiations being conducted by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the outlet reported, citing sources familiar with the call.
Axios reported that an IRGC official arrived at Barzani’s office in Erbil on May 14 with an encrypted phone that enabled a direct conversation with Vahidi. According to a source with direct knowledge, Vahidi told Barzani that he and the IRGC supported the Iranian negotiators and preferred resolving the conflict through negotiations. Three sources, including a White House official, told Axios that Barzani then briefed Gabbard, who relayed the response to the White House.
The administration later asked Barzani to explore hosting secret talks between senior U.S. and Iranian officials in Erbil, Axios reported. Iranian officials did not rule out the proposal but raised concerns about their security while traveling to Iraqi Kurdistan, and the meeting did not occur.
The Times of Israel also reported on the backchannel Sunday but attributed the central account to Axios rather than separate sourcing. No public White House, U.S. intelligence or Kurdistan Regional Government statement located Monday independently confirmed the reported May contacts.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: This is an amazing story for a number of reasons.
First, it reinforces the notion that Tulsi Gabbard played a far more significant role than she is given credit, as she was the one who established this secret backchannel with the IRGC.
The man responsible for helping her reach the IRGC is what makes the story even more significant: Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and grandson to the legendary Mustafa Barzani, perhaps the most famous individual in Kurdish history. Mustafa led insurgencies against the Ottomans, the British, the Arabs, and the Persians, fighting practically every empire and national government in the Kurdistan region in the early-to-mid 20th century.
The grandson, Nechirvan, has led the Kurds through a tumultuous time in Middle Eastern history, serving as the leader since the formation of the Kurdistan Presidency since 2005.
Barzani attended college in Tehran where he made contacts that have proven useful in his political career. It was these contacts that allowed him to help Tulsi Gabbard reach the IRGC.
Do you remember how Netanyahu and Mossad Media insisted that the Kurds were going to serve as the ground force in the war against Iran? Turns out, the Kurds are actually getting along with Iran pretty well these days, thanks to Barzani.
What Gabbard needed to know was whether the IRGC would actually back President Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Araghchi if they negotiated a deal with the US. She needed to know whether the IRGC preferred peace over war.
According to Barak Ravid’s sources in the White House—which have proven reliable—Tulsi reached out to General Ahmad Vahidi in May through Barzani to make this determination. Vahidi relayed to her that the IRGC did back Araghchi and did prefer a negotiation, raising many questions concerning the narratives that we have been told by Fox News and their Zionist ilk.
What’s most interesting is that exactly a week ago the gay Ayatollah purportedly named General Vahidi as the new leader of the IRGC.
I personally believe that the IRGC, as we know it, no longer exists, and these recent reports are more narrative than substance. Is this new IRGC the same IRGC of Soleimani? Or is this a new organization entirely?
There are too many coincidences happening right now for this not to mean something. Tulsi Gabbard was speaking to people in May—through backchannels—who are now in charge of the Iranian military. And I’m supposed to believe that these people are our enemy?
Trump-Deranged Legacy Media Shits On American High School Kids
The inaugural Patriot Games brought high school athletes from around the country to SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio, for three days of athletic competition tied to the United States’ 250th-anniversary celebration.
Freedom 250, the organization behind the event, said athletes ages 14 to 17 representing states, territories and tribal nations competed from August 9 through August 11. Events included fitness tests, obstacle courses, kickball, dodgeball, tug of war and other team competitions. A $250,000 scholarship pool was divided between the male and female champions. (Freedom 250, 2026)
The competition streamed on the ESPN app before a one-hour primetime special aired on ABC on August 13. The Guardian reported that Kennadi Fuhrman and Rockwell Myers won the girls’ and boys’ competitions, respectively, receiving $125,000 each. President Donald Trump attended the August 11 final and presented the winners with their trophies and scholarship checks. (The Guardian, Aug. 14, 2026)
The selection and demographic makeup of the competitors drew scrutiny during and after the games. CNN host Audie Cornish said a CNN analysis found that many athletes featured on Freedom 250’s Instagram account attended private Christian schools and that the group appeared to be overwhelmingly white. Cornish also said athletes were not chosen through qualifying competitions and that some participants represented states where they did not live. (Fox News Digital, Aug. 13, 2026)
New York magazine separately reported that applicants were required to provide age and location information and submit a video explaining why they should be selected. The magazine reported that Freedom 250 told The Washington Post that applications were evaluated using a composite score combining athletic-performance information with applicants’ essays and videos. (New York/Intelligencer, Aug. 14, 2026)
White House spokesman Davis Ingle rejected criticism of the event, telling Fox News that athletes from across the country received an opportunity to compete nationally and earn scholarships. He described the inaugural competition as a success.
Ashe in America: There wasn’t a lot of buzz about the “Patriot Games”, a physical sporting exhibition where American high school students from all 50 states competed in “American Ninja Warrior” style competitions in celebration of America 250.
The media barely covered it at all — until it was over. Then it was too white, too weird, and too Trumpian.
American kids came together to celebrate America’s 250th birthday in a one of a kind sporting competition, and the globalist media came together to shit on the kids and disparage on the nation.
Combined with the July media ratings I shared in this Brief a couple weeks ago, you have to wonder why this media apparatus continues to exist. It’s certainly not popular demand.
The “authoritative” news voices oppose the will and mandate of the people so rabidly, that they thought it was a good idea to insult young American athletes —15, 16, 17 year olds — in unison across platforms.
The enemy of the people, indeed.
Congrats to all the young Americans that made the Patriot Games a part of American history!
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Badlands Media hits the road four times a year for a 3-day patriot-packed event with our hosts and the Badlands community. Our 13th stop on the Great American Restoration Tour (GART) is September 17-20 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Come meet like-minded Americans, hear powerful content, and be part of something real.
Trump Snubs Military Industrial Complex Over “Very Good” Relationship With Kim Jong Un; South Korean President Proposes Dialogue To Formally End War With North
President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce annual joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the drills were too costly and sent a hostile signal to North Korea. Trump said August 16 that it was too late to cancel the exercises and that he had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to scale them back.
Trump cited what he described as his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises began August 17 as scheduled and were set to continue through August 27, with about 18,000 South Korean troops participating.
The directive came a day after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for renewed talks with North Korea. In an August 15 Liberation Day speech, Lee said the two Koreas should pursue peaceful coexistence and work toward replacing the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War with a peace regime. He said talks could also address measures to curb North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: Based.
Very Based.
Russian media is framing this as a snub against South Korean President Lee, but I actually think that it is a snub against the Military Industrial Complex.
President Lee has demonstrated that he is an ally of President Trump. He agreed to a historic bilateral trade deal last year that became the precedent for the even more consequential deal that Trump later signed with Europe.
I will remind you that President Lee replaced President Yoon—the CIA stooge whose false flag plot was thwarted by Kim Jong Un’s brilliant poop balloon psyact that led to Yoon being charged with treason.
Kim Jong Un remains one of the world’s most interesting leaders, and his stock continues to rise as both Putin and Trump hype him up as one of the greats. President Trump stunned the world by meeting with Un in Singapore in 2018, and then a year later at the DMZ, and now Putin plans to build monuments to Un in recognition of the role that North Korea played in liberating the Kursk region of Russia from Ukrainian control.
I seriously can’t wait until we see Kim Jong Un at the White House. It’s going to happen and it’s going to be glorious.
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Badlands Blitz Episode 29
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This week, Ashe in America and Burning Bright discuss the long-awaited Justice Phase, why it's actually moving along much faster than many believe, and a new interpretation of the Military-Civilian Alliance.
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Ashe, thank you for noting the Declaration of Geneva travesty. I doubt any physician in a very long time has taken the Hippocratic Oath as seriously as patients thought they did - pledges to ancient gods and promises to provide free medical training may have been why barbers and midwives did more medicine than actual doctors - but Geneva threw away the mask.
Ashe: You are correct about the medical institutions. Profits, not care. And I do not mean many of the folks on the ground who still 'do no harm'; especially the nurses who are the front line.
Bright: I was the same as you coming up in the 80s/90s. Choice? My choice is Life with exceptions as I told the nurses through three births: "save mom first".
Ghost: The Kurds have been sovereign friends for the past decades. Hung out with a few in the aftermath of Desert Storm; very patriotic peoples who refused to be used as pawns.