Badlands News Brief
Trump Turns the Tide as Putin Sends Signals
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.
Many items feature original (and subjective) commentary. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see our writers’ Substack accounts and check out their other work.
Now, onto the news from Wednesday, March 13 …
Judge dismisses some charges against Trump in the Georgia 2020 election interference case
The judge overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case on Wednesday dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump and others, but the rest of the sweeping racketeering indictment remains intact.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee quashed six counts in the indictment, including three against Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee. But the judge left in place other counts — including 10 facing Trump — and said prosecutors could seek a new indictment to try to reinstate the ones he dismissed.
The ruling is a blow for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who already is facing an effort to have her removed from the prosecution over her romantic relationship with a colleague. It’s the first time charges in any of Trump’s four criminal cases have been dismissed, with the judge saying prosecutors failed to provide enough detail about the alleged crime. — AP News
Our Take: “This news broke Wednesday while Brian and I were on Badlands Daily, and the ‘experts’ are split on what this means.
Norm Eisen suggested this development indicates that McAfee is leaning towards keeping Willis, but he admits that it’s a slight lean and still essentially a toss-up. CNN’s Elie Honing says this is an embarrassing setback for Willis, in a long line of embarrassing setbacks going back to the beginning of the case and the grand jury.
On the one hand, the RICO charge is still in place and the case appears to be going forward. On the other, the charges related to the Raffensberger phone call and the oaths of office are out — and the phone call was arguably the strongest part of the state‘s bogus case.
Wednesday’s decision resolved a pending motion, unrelated to the disqualification matter, and we are expecting an answer on the latter any day. Given the corruption, and punishment for profit, that has come to light regarding Ms. Willis — and given that it is an election year — the decision should be both captivating and divisive regardless of McAfee’s take. Stay safe out there, everyone.” —
House Passes TikTok Divestment Bill; Massie, Musk Rail Against 'Trojan Horse' First Amendment Implications
The House has passed the TikTok divestment bill by a vote of 352-65-1.
There were 15 Republicans who voted against it, and 50 Democrats.
It heads to the Senate next, where it already enjoys the support of Senate Intel Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) and Vice Chair Marco Rubio (R-FL).
"We were encouraged by today’s strong bipartisan vote... and look forward to working together to get this bill passed through the Senate and signed into law," the pair said in a statement.
As noted below, Biden says he'll sign it if Congress can put it on his desk.
Prior to the vote, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) took to the floor to rail against the bill, saying that "there's some of us who feel that - intentionally, or unintentionally, this legislation to ban TikTok is actually a trojan horse.
"Some of us are concerned that there are First Amendment implications here. Americans have the right to view information, and don't need to be protected by the government from information." — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “As I noted in another take, we are looking at the Deep State building a pretext for further systems of control.
The pattern is always pretty clear when people you know from experience to be abusive and power hungry tell you they want to protect you. But that’s just the black hat side of things.
Trump is positioning himself in a grey zone once again. What an excellent excuse for some big, free thought on the possibilities.
Based on his recent meetings with Yass (partial owner of ByteDance) and Elon Musk, is it possible that Trump’s media conglomerate is shark circling around TikTok?
And if so, what might the white hat operations be up to when it comes to platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook? After all, they too are the enemy’s weapons, albeit less publicly connected to CCP warfare.
Very thick fog of war. Get comfy in the doubt.” —
Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war
President Vladimir Putin told the West on Wednesday that Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict.
Putin, speaking ahead of a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, added that the nuclear war scenario was not "rushing" up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
"From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready," Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA when asked whether Russia was really ready for a nuclear war.
Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory - or to Ukraine - Russia would treat the move as an intervention. Moscow claims to have annexed four regions of Ukraine and says they are now fully part of Russia.
"(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint," said Putin.
"Therefore, I don't think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this." — Reuters
Our Take: “So, no big deal, BUT ... I think Vladimir Putin may have just delivered his most Devolution-related public comm yet, ahead of Russia's presidential elections on Friday … according to one translation, via ZeroHedge:
‘Apart from (US President Joe) Biden, there are enough other experts in the sphere of Russian-American relations and strategic restraint. So I don’t think that everything is going to go head-on here, but we are ready for it,’ Putin said in the fresh remarks given to Rossiya-1.
This one gets my jimmies rustling something fierce, as I have long argued that one of the key purposes of the Devolution operation
has researched extensively has been its implications to the Globalist regime.With Donald Trump out of (public) power, the entire international game board has been undergoing a rapid shift away from collectivism and toward sovereignty and the multi-polar world concept advanced by Putin, Xi Jinping, Mohammed bin Salman AND ... Donald Trump.
The Scare Event is a Story.
The Sovereign Alliance is real.” —
America on verge of measles MAYHEM: Hundreds feared to be infected in California and Arizona outbreaks as US suffers year's worth of cases in two months
America appears to be on the precipice of a major measles outbreak with cases in the first two months of 2024 nearly outpacing the whole of last year — as doctors warn many young physicians have never even seen a patient infected with the virus.
Hundreds of people are already feared to be infected in California and Arizona after cases were confirmed in people in the states who visited local hospitals.
And there are also fears over an outbreak at a 1,800-strong migrant shelter in Chicago — after four cases were confirmed, including two among children.
Doctors say vaccines have been so successful that many people now no longer 'remember what it was like to live with the disease' — as vaccination rates drop for the third year in a row.
Millions of migrants have also come to America under President Joe Biden's immigration policies, with experts warning that over-crowded shelters and low vaccination rates in other countries could leave the US vulnerable to outbreaks. — The Daily Mail
Our Take: “My reaction to this story is that it is meant to make a majority of Americans cry out in support of vaccines.
America had effectively eradicated measles, and we are told that we have the MMR vaccine to thank for that. The MMR being added to the childhood vaccine schedule correlates to the explosion of autism and childhood cancers. But correlation does not equal causation, and if you mention the connection, you’re a science-denying anti-vaxxer.
Popular response to the Covid vaccines has led to millions of Americans learning the dangers of the pharmaceutical poison for the first time. The regime needs a narrative shift. It’s not an accident that the focus on migrants in the new measles drop will keep Americans divided and provide racially-based narrative cover. Convenient.
Just remember that vaccines might cause autism, and we’re all subjects in pharma’s human experiments. Do not comply.” —
US Urgently Deploys Elite Counterterror Marines To Haiti To Protect Americans
The Pentagon has confirmed it is urgently deploying an elite counter-terror task force to bolster the American embassy in Haiti after armed gangs have taken over much of the capital of Port-au-Prince and the long-simmering situation is now boiling over, with violence spreading, also in the wake of embattled Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation Tuesday. Further there's a threat of a "mass migration" wave potentially inundating US coastal communities in places like Florida as a result.
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced Wednesday that at the request of the State Department the elite Marine Fleet-Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST) has been deployed to the destabilized country to assist in embassy security.
Already for months there has been rising concern for US citizens still in the country, who have been urged by the embassy to immediately depart the Caribbean island-nation, as an utter state of lawlessness reins overseen by criminal warlords. The past years have witnessed a handful of kidnappings targeting Americans, including aid workers, and other foreign citizens.
"U.S. Southern Command is prepared with a wide range of contingency plans to ensure the safety and security of U.S. Citizens in Haiti," SOUTHCOM said in its statement. Not only will the FAST team assist the Marine embassy guard already in place to better secure the embassy in a scenario where it could come under attack, but it will reportedly help in the evacuation of non-essential American personnel.
The US military statement continued, "This week, the Department of Defense doubled our funding for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, and we are working with Haitian, Kenyan, and other partners to expedite its deployment to support the Haitian National Police and to restore security in Haiti." — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “The term that comes to mind for me when considering the Haiti of it all is 'Convergence.'
Typically, I would add the word 'Narrative' to that as a qualifier; that said, this time, I think we're getting both Actual AND Narrative Convergence.
As always in the winding ways of the Info War, it's virtually impossible for us to suss out what's Actually going on on the ground. If we assume SOMETHING like what's being reported by not just media, but US MIL is in effect, there's a transfer of power taking place in Port-au-Prince, where we've seen assassinations and resignations give way to an all-out gang war in short order.
From a Narrative level, I think what the Collective Mind is taking away from the whole affair is chaos. Chaos that COULD spill over onto our shores, and chaos that was at least seeded back in the days of the Clinton, Bush and Obama Admins, specifically the latter.
The Clinton Foundation is firmly entrenched in the Collective Mind re: Haiti.
Is it 2024 ... or 2017?” —
Trans Lobbyists Angry That UK NHS Has BANNED Puberty Blockers For Kids
Transgender lobbyists are upset that the National Health Service in the UK has announced that children will no longer be given puberty blocker prescriptions following conclusions by health experts that there are serious safety concerns.
The NHS commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to review the published evidence on Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone Analogues (GnRHa), AKA puberty blockers, which prevent the body from making sex hormones.
An NHS England policy document published Tuesday noted “NHS England has carefully considered the evidence review conducted by NICE (2020) and has identified and reviewed any further published evidence available to date.”
“We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of PSH (puberty suppressing hormones) to make the treatment routinely available at this time,” the document further noted. — Modernity News
Our Take: “Puberty blockers are dangerous for children, even for what they are FDA approved for. The reason they were originally approved for children was based on treating something called ‘Precocious Puberty.’
The scary part is that, despite the dangerous side effects of the blockers, the risks of Precocious Puberty (early puberty) are generally listed as ‘the child might be short,’ and sometimes ‘they experience social ostracization.’
It is from these shady foundations that puberty blockers were then used off label to permanently halt a child’s puberty for gender affirmative care.
If this is a moral panic then maybe it’s entirely justified? One of the side effects for boys put on this dangerous path of pharmaceutical dependency is that they develop a micropenis. Then, when they are pushed further down the gender affirmative conveyor belt they don’t have enough penile tissue for the vaginoplasty. Doctors end up taking from their intestines or colon.
I’m pretty sure that doing that to children justifies a moral panic. If not now, then when?” —
BONUS ITEMS
Don Lemon says Elon Musk canceled his deal with X after ‘tense’ interview
Don Lemon said Wednesday that his partnership with Elon Musk went down in flames, hours after the former CNN anchor conducted an interview last week with the erratic billionaire for the debut episode of his new independent web-based show.
“Elon publicly encouraged me to join X with a new show, saying I would have his ‘full support,’” Lemon said in a statement, adding that he took Musk at his word that he was “interested in working directly with diverse voices.”
In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday night, Lemon spoke about his exchange with Musk and shared video excerpts from the 90 minute sit-down, in which Lemon asked Musk questions on an array of topics.
Lemon said he pressed Musk about the rise in hate speech on X since the billionaire took over the social media platform last year, asking him if he believed that he and the company had a responsibility to moderate hateful content.
“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters, Don,” Musk replied. “The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not do this interview.”
Lemon also asked Musk about a recent meeting he held with former President Donald Trump. CNN previously confirmed the meeting with Musk, one of several Trump held with donors in Palm Beach in recent weeks as he seeks to raise more money for his financially strained campaign. — CNN
FBI Director Wray Refuses to Publicly Say If Trump, Biden Are Under Counterintelligence Investigations
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray refused to tell House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) at a hearing Tuesday whether the FBI is engaged in counterintelligence investigations into President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump.
During the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s Annual Threat Assessment hearing, Stefanik pressed Wray on the matter. She first emphasized that former FBI Director James Comey “testified that he did not follow the proper protocol regarding the notification of Congress of the opening of the Crossfire Hurricane” – the counterintelligence investigation into Trump in 2016.
The third-ranking House Republican also noted under the Intelligence Authorization Act, the FBI is directed to inform “Congressional leadership of any counter-intel investigation into a federal candidate for office” before asking about potential counterintelligence investigations into Trump or Biden.
After a long pause, Wray attempted to refer Stefanik to Special Counsel Robert Hur, but Stefanik demanded an answer, citing the IAA.
“There is no investigation that I could confirm here, no,” he said. — Breitbart
Hunter Biden refuses to attend public House hearing with former business partners
Hunter Biden is refusing to attend a public House hearing scheduled for March 20 alongside some of his former business associates who have been critical of him.
Neither the first son nor his attorney could attend the hearing on March 20 due to a court date the next day in California. "The scheduling conflict is the least of the issues, however," Biden attorney Abbe Lowell told House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., in a letter Wednesday.
"If you are serious about pursuing this oversight purpose in a legitimate and bipartisan fashion, you would hold a hearing with relatives of former President Trump about whom you indicated you 'would ask.' If you do, Mr. Biden would consider an invitation for that event," Lowell wrote.
Lowell was referring to how during the deposition, Hunter Biden asked about the Trump family's financial dealings, and how Comer said he would ask the Trump family about it.
Hunter Biden had said in November that he would only testify before the Oversight Committee if the hearing were public, although Comer said that he could have a closed-door meeting first followed by a public one. After House Republicans began moving forward with the process to hold the first son in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena, Hunter Biden agreed to appear for a closed-door deposition and the transcript from it was released last month. — Just the News
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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Thanks for today's Takes.
So here is the mental model that I work from:
1. We have it all
2. Stay anchored at the 40k point of view
3. 2024 is the year of exposure
4. Trump & team control the timeline
The Crisis Cascade is happening all around us, the DS Rat Bastards are being exposed on every front.
We can all take an active role by sharing the Truth. The MSM will not willingly go away so it is our job to share the Truth. The DS Rat Bastards have tried to intimidate us into keeping quiet. When we do that it makes the MSM look like they represent the majority. Trump and team have launched 2 major narratives. First, that all MSM = Fake News. Second, they have accelerated the timeline of the DS Rat Bastards plan, making their lies more obvious and ridiculous every time they try to deploy a narrative. Sharing the Truth and not being intimidated by The Party of False Decorum will wake more people up. If we each wake up 1 more person, and so on and so one… We Win!
BTW when we were kids our parents often brought kids together so everyone would get the measles (mumps, etc.) and get it over with (mass immunity). I never knew any friend or anyone at any school my family attended that died from measles. Ignore the fear porn.
God Wins!
God Bless!!!
Rico charge against Trump stand.....almost comical if it weren't true. The Bidens and all of these judges get richer and richer thru their criminal activities and the one president, Trump, that leaves the whitehouse One Billion dollars poorer than when he went in they're trying to indict him on criminal activities.