Badlands News Brief

Federal RICO, Disaster Opportunism & Putin's Peace

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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 picks news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community.

Items feature original commentary from members of our growing team of citizen journalists. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see their other work.

Now, onto the news from Wednesday, August 16 …

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Mark Meadows Wants To Move Georgia Indictment To Federal Court - And Legal Experts Say He'll Succeed

Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows has asked to move charges against him to federal court, after he was charged this week in Georgia alongside the former president and 17 other individuals.

"Mr. Meadows is entitled to remove this action to federal court because the charges against him plausibly give rise to a federal defense based on his role at all relevant times as the White House Chief of Staff to the President of the United States," said attorney Timothy Parlatore in a Tuesday filing.

Meadows was charged by a grand jury on Monday with violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

"Mr. Meadows has the right to remove this matter. The conduct giving rise to the charges in the indictment all occurred during his tenure and as part of his service as Chief of Staff," his lawyers wrote.

Trump was also charged with "unlawfully soliciting, requesting, and importuning" Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger by asking him to 'find' votes for him - a comment construed by the left to suggest Trump was asking him to break the law, however Trump's attorneys will likely argue that the former president, in context, was referring to the general ballot-counting malarkey and other oddities surrounding the 2020 US election (covering up windows, kicking out observers, overnight ballot drops, major cities stopping their counts at 9pm for the first time in anyone's lifetime, broken water pipe, suitcases under desk, that chart showing the overnight jump, etc.). — ZeroHedge

Our Take: “You’re likely going to see a lot of similar/mirrored takes coming out of the Badlands team, especially

Jon Herold

and

Just Human

during Power Hour sessions when it comes to the confluence of indictments and lawfare deployments emanating from the Trump Witch Hunt.

That said, it’s important to try to view admittedly-frustrating headlines coming out of the Trump Trial orbit through the possible lens of both Devolution and the Disclosure Defense theory, which posits that Trump is using these legal campaigns not only as a means of exposure and disclosure, introducing evidence legally (which itself maps onto some pretty famous drops,) but also as the core of his 2024 campaign itself.

Will Meadows be successful in moving his Georgia indictment to a Federal Court? Time will tell. But the fact that he WANTS to is a tantalizing hint as to where all roads in the Trump RICO case could be heading down the line.

Hey … what’s the Supreme Court up to, these days?” —

Burning Bright

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Why Is There Such A Frenzy To Buy Up The Properties That Were Just Burned Down During The Fires In Hawaii?

Can you imagine calling up a family that has just seen their home burn to the ground and offering to buy their land for below market value?  This is apparently happening in Hawaii right now on a massive scale.  Grieving property owners are being bombarded with calls from very greedy people, and I think that says a lot about the current state of our society.  We literally worship material possessions and financial gain, and the sheer greed that we are witnessing at this moment is absolutely staggering.

Lahaina was hit harder than anywhere else by the fires, and it turns out that property owners in the area have been getting pressured to sell for a long time.

So now that disaster has struck, those that wish to get their hands on these prime properties are in a feeding frenzy.  One local resident made headlines all over the world after she posted a video about this…

Filming herself in the recent video, the Hawaii resident said: ‘I am so frustrated with investors and realtors calling the families who lost their home, offering to buy their land.

‘How dare you do that to our community right now. If you are a victim and they are calling you, please get their business name so we can put them on blast,’ she added.

She claims in the clip that she ‘personally’ knows ‘multiple families’ that were ‘offered money from investors and realtors’.

When 2020 began, the average home in Lahaina was worth about $600,000.

Today, the average home in Lahaina is worth about a million dollars.

Now there is a race to take advantage of those that have just had their homes burned down, and it has gotten so bad that even Hawaiian Governor Josh Green is speaking out against it… — The Most Important News

Our Take: “Disaster Opportunism.

Defined as taking advantage of disasters for personal or financial gain.

Is it bad? Not necessarily.

Bad things happen all the time, intentionally or not. Regardless of who did what or whether it was a crime or not, property that was damaged should be restored and the person restoring it is entitled to reasonable compensation.

Now, if the person or entity doing the restoring charges exorbitant fees and otherwise hampers recovery efforts to make a profit, then such a person is doing something that is, at the very least, ethically dubious.

This isn’t really the issue here, although there are a wealth of ethically questionable investors—vultures, we might call them—who want to swoop in to gain off the losses of others. Again, ethically dubious, but even here, this isn’t criminal.

What is criminal and what is the greater question, I would argue, is this: Was this tragedy curated for the vultures and disaster opportunists? And how deep and dark is the disaster creation machine in general?

Recall when the levees broke in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. It was discovered after the fact that, apparently, the Army Core of Engineers and other regulators failed to maintain the levees properly, and, it is alleged, they let them breakdown so that the next time a watershed moment came down the pike, the levees would break. It’s a real estate investor's dream.

First, settle an area and develop it slowly over time. Second, create public squares, markets, and other high-population services and centers that make the area attractive. Third, manipulate the market to ensure housing supply is always below available demand, thereby ensuring values go up over time. Fourth, zone the area for lower-income workers, and leverage that workforce to build up a higher-income commercial or industrial zone. Fifth, gentrify the area after you force out the lower-income population, through rising costs of living, eminent domain, or, you guessed it, a disaster.

A disaster like what we just saw in Lahaina checks nearly every box a whale investor wants, such as: high population attraction, high growth potential, low-cost, poor quality property that needs investment dollars, recently vacated insofar as lower-income so that higher-income can come in.

The big box is the high barriers to entry—only whale investors with lots of capital and time scales to rebuild can take advantage of the ‘opportunity’ of the disaster area. That’s not the locals. That’s not you and me. It’s fat cat’s with access to large capital flows—the oligarchs.

Now ask yourself, how many times has something like this happened? The answer is probably shocking.

Why would anyone want to queue up tragic losses of human life or property?

Ever heard of a psychopath, serial killer, or parasite?

A psychopath—willfully, consciously—harms, deceives, or coerces others for personal gain. Their modus operandi is gaining the trust of others so that they can effect often-catastrophic harm on their victim—a standard operating procedure for these types. We can lump conmen in this category as well.

Should a person who has demonstrated a capacity for parasitism be disqualified from positions of trust, like government, fiduciaries, etc? I think so. For most of human history, this was the case.

In the modern age, we employ disbursed culpability systems, which is a fancy way of saying, we don’t make people take responsibility for the wrong or bad things they’ve done or the institution they work for have done. Not truly. Institutionally, the policies and agendas that lead to horrors like Lahaina continue on after some figurehead resigns or says, ‘Whoops, sorry about that.’

The fact that this can happen at all reveals the degree to which WE THE PEOPLE have been defanged and made ineffective, so much so that the causes of harm are never addressed, and we accept this as a matter of course.

This disaster opportunism is not new. It’s a very old and effective tool used by the same sadistic parasites that have managed to hijack nearly every part of our civilization.

What I want to know is how many of these intentional disaster scenarios have occurred or are in the works.” —

Justin Deschamps

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West Alarmed As Putin Has Begun To Mediate Niger Coup Crisis

Western nations are alarmed at the prospect of Russia deepening its presence and influence in West and Central Africa, particularly following the tumult in Niger late last month, which culminated in the July 26 coup against democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

The West-friendly group of surrounding nations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has since threatened military intervention towards restoring Bazoum, and there have been persistent rumors that France is encouraging concrete action. Mali has played a key role in all of this given it stands on the other side, and is dead set against any interference in Niger, with fresh reports that Mali’s military leader Assimi Goita has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone. 

Goita announced that in the Tuesday call Putin "stressed the importance of a peaceful resolution of the situation for a more stable Sahel" - and the sides confirmed it was initiated by Mali.

According to a Kremlin statement, "The parties specifically focused on the current situation in the Sahara-Sahel region and emphasised, in particular, the importance of settling the situation in the Republic of Niger solely through peaceful political and diplomatic means."

Putin separately told Tuesday’s Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS) that "The countries of the Sahara-Sahel region, such as the Central African Republic and Mali, were under direct attack from numerous terrorist groups after the US and its allies unleashed aggression against Libya, which led to the collapse of the Libyan state."

The handful of regional supporters of the Niger junta have emphasized the same point of late... — ZeroHedge

Our Take: “While the headline says western states are alarmed, they can’t actually be surprised. Remember that this coup started in Niger as Putin was meeting with African leaders in Kenya to (unsuccessfully) negotiate a grain deal. Western media has been claiming for weeks that the coup in Niger was not a populist uprising, but rather a Russian-led effort to neutralize western influence in the region. Putin’s involvement in negotiating a peace, therefore, makes sense — and western governments’ surprise is disingenuous.

It’s also important to note that talk of further military escalation in Niger is one-sided. It’s coming from France, ECOWAS, and the west. Putin is reportedly negotiating for a diplomatic, peaceful solution while western leaders are planning a military intervention. Following Niger’s public humiliation of US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland last month, it’s not surprising that the west is plotting to use force rather than diplomacy. Saving face and all that.

It’s unclear if military intervention will work to restore the west’s power and influence in the region, but it’s crystal clear that it will further rally the public — both in Africa and western nations — to stand in support Niger’s new leadership. Western efforts in West Africa are broadly seen as modern colonialism, and military force will only affirm and expand that sentiment.” —

Ashe in America

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Fitch May Reassess China's A+ Credit Rating If Debts Balloon As Economy Falters

Confidence across China's financial markets is declining by the week as the People's Bank of China injected the largest amount of short-term cash since February, one day after it cut interest rates. We penned a note overnight titled With China's Economy On "Verge Of Collapse," PBOC Central Banker Calls For Helicopter Money, outlining the deteriorating conditions in the world's second-largest economy. Now Fitch Ratings has warned it may reconsider China's A+ sovereign credit rating should its non-government debt liabilities balloon. 

"We might think again, because the debt-to-GDP ratio is a little bit on the high side for a single 'A' credit," if China decides to expand its balance sheet to support the economy, James McCormack, global head of sovereigns, told Bloomberg TV, on Wednesday. He doesn't expect an imminent downgrade but noted that an increase in corporate and banking sector debt could become "real liabilities for the government." 

McCormack continued, "So if it really does extend its balance sheet to support the economy — and I wouldn't say we're expecting that, certainly recent evidence doesn't suggest that that will be the case — then we might think again because the debt to GDP ratio is a little bit on the high side for a single 'A' credit." — ZeroHedge

Our Take: “After decades of China consistently pursuing a spot atop the mantle of world super powers, it appears as though things may not be as prosperous for the CCP as they would have you believe.

The People’s Bank Of China has attempted—much like our own Federal Reserve—to prop up China’s faltering economy with injections of more paper money. With multiple banks defaulting, interest rates climbing, and the housing/job markets in a free-fall, it is a matter of when, not ‘if’ China will experience a large recession.

According to the Xinhua New Agency: ‘local government finances and the national economy of China are reportedly on the verge of collapse, and the thunder could explode at any time.’

CCP propaganda would have us believe that China is at the precipice of becoming the world’s biggest superpower. However, when peeling back the curtain of CCP driven propaganda, one can easily see that China is closer to falling apart at the seams than it is to becoming the world’s preeminent superpower.” —

Paul Fleuret

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Federal Investigators Were Granted Access To Trump’s Twitter Data And DMs Earlier This Year After Special Counsel Warrant

Federal investigators earlier this year gained access to troves of data about former President Donald Trump from X, formerly known as Twitter, including his draft posts, location data and direct messages, despite the social media platform initially refusing to comply with a search warrant requesting the same as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election interference investigation.

According to court filings unsealed on Tuesday, the search warrant issued in January to Twitter sought access to all tweets made from the former president’s realdonaldtrump account—including deleted posts, drafts, liked posts and retweets.

Twitter was also asked to hand over direct messages “received by, stored in draft form, in or otherwise associated with the subject account including attachments, multimedia, header information, metadata, and logs.”

Twitter tried to fight the request and pushed back against a non-disclosure order attached to the warrant that prevented them from informing Trump or his lawyers before producing the data.

Federal investigators argued that the non-disclosure was necessary to prevent the former president from tampering with data and harming the investigation.

The federal judge who signed the warrant agreed and said Twitter’s request in this case was “extraordinary” as the company conceded it had “never before” done the same for any other user.

At one point during the hearing, the judge asked Twitter’s lawyer if the company’s owner and then-CEO Elon Musk “wants to cozy up with the former President, and that's why you are here?”

Twitter eventually complied and submitted and “produced the responsive documents” on February 9—three days later than the judge’s mandated deadline. — Forbes

Our Take: “Privacy is a myth in the digital age, but, even so, this story is particularly alarming. The weaponized government did more than just collaborate with social media companies to suppress speech; they used the full weight and power of the federal government to access President Trump’s draft messages.

And if they can do it to President Trump, they can do it to you.

Prosecuting based on draft messages is essentially prosecuting thought crimes. If you’ve ever drafted a hasty or angry response and then saved it to let it cool before pushing send, just know that, in Biden’s America, that act can, and probably will, be used against you. The federal government is out of control, and what they do to Trump is a precursor for what they will do to anyone who challenges them. There is a strong case to be made that this action violates the fourth amendment, but it’s clear that the federal government no longer recognizes any limitations on their power. That means you have no rights.

A notable high point of this story is the behavior of Elon Musk and Twitter to fight the government, even receiving a $350,000 fine in an attempt to protect our rights.

Funny, the US federal government literally exists to protect our rights. At least, it used to. Unprecedented times.” —

Ashe in America

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BONUS ITEMS

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Taliban marks two years since return to power in Afghanistan

The Afghan Taliban is marking the second anniversary of its return to power with a public holiday, celebrating the takeover of Kabul and the establishment of what it described as security across the country under an “Islamic system”.

“On the second anniversary of the conquest of Kabul, we would like to congratulate the mujahid [holy warrior] nation of Afghanistan and ask them to thank Almighty Allah for this great victory,” the spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Now that overall security is ensured in the country, the entire territory of the country is managed under a single leadership, an Islamic system is in place and everything is explained from the angle of Sharia [Islamic law],” Mujahid said.

Security was tight in the capital, Kabul, on Tuesday as soldiers stepped up checks.

Convoys of Taliban members gathered at Massoud Square near the abandoned US embassy building. Some of the men carried their weapons, while others snapped selfies as anthems blared and boys sold the movement’s white flag inscribed with the Islamic declaration of faith. — Al Jazeera

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Another Blow To The Petrodollar: India & The UAE Complete First Oil Sale In Rupees

In another blow to dollar dominance, India and the United Arab Emirates settled an oil trade without converting local currencies to dollars for the first time on Monday, as India’s top refiner made a payment for oil in rupees.

Indian Oil Corp. bought a million barrels of oil from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in a dollar-free transaction.

The oil sale was the first after the two countries entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in July. The deal established the Local Currency Settlement (LCS) system, facilitated by the Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates. The system allows the two countries to engage in bilateral trade using the rupee and dirham. According to a statement by the Reserve Bank of India, the agreement will facilitate “seamless cross-border transactions and payments, and foster greater economic cooperation.”

The first test of the LCS involved the sale of 25 kg of gold from a UAE gold exporter to a buyer in India at about 128.4 million rupees ($1.54 million).

According to WIONews in India, the LCS system will reduce costs and speed up transactions between the two countries. — SchiffGold.com

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Russian Military Leadership Accuses US of Working To Manufacture Another Pandemic

Now that the truth about the origins of COVID is finally reaching the population at large – you can read about RFK Jr. discussing this with Tucker Carlson here – it surfaces that the US, via the Biden administration from hell, is allegedly working hard to unleash a new pandemic, to muddy the waters for next years’ presidential election, as well as to derail the imminent Russian military victory in the Ukraine.

The mind-numbing accusations surfaced from the Chief of Protection from Radiation, Chemical and Biological Weapons of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Kirillov.

In a press briefing today, Kirillov detailed the most grave accusations.

Sputnik reported:

• “The United States has started preparing for a new pandemic by searching for virus mutations, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, a Russian senior military official, said

• Announced in July of this year, the Biden Administration created the Office for Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.

• This department’s priority areas include work on creating vaccines and drugs for stopping viruses and their genetically modified variants, Kirillov noted.

• The leading role in the Pentagon’s military biological program will be played by the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, according to Kirillov.

• Documents uncovered during the special military operation in Ukraine confirmed that this institution is involved in accumulating dangerous pathogens in various regions of the world, Kirillov added.” — The Gateway Pundit

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We hope you enjoyed this brief look back at the major news items you might have missed in this ever-escalating and ever-accelerating news cycle as the Information War continues to rage on around us.

The Badlands Media team will continue to combine our cognitive powers in order to slow things down and find the signal amidst the noise as this series expands.

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.