Badlands News Brief
Bicameral Puppets & Dark Money Muppets
The news cycle is impossible to fully track these days. That’s where we come in.
The Badlands News Brief is a uniquely curated selection of the stories dominating the info war — with context and commentary from Badlands hosts.
Now, the news from January 30th...
ICYMI: Badlands Media Continuing Coverage of Trump Cabinet Senate Confirmation Hearings
Our Take: For nine hours on Thursday, we listened to establishment Senators panic at the prospect of losing their secrecy. Many Badlands hosts have nuanced takes on the individual hearings below; here are my high level takeaways:
Kash Patel terrifies the regime, and they are extremely concerned about his sealed grand jury testimony. Bought and paid for senators also wailed at Patel raising funds for the political prisoners they persecuted.
Tulsi Gabbard terrifies the regime, and they are extremely concerned about losing warrantless searches and an unaccountable intelligence apparatus. It seemed clear that their IC handlers provided their questions.
Robert Kennedy, Jr. terrifies the regime, and they are extremely concerned about the impact his appointment will have on the pharmaceutical industry. He also body slammed Bernie on special interest funding:
The votes will be telling for Senate Republicans who are overexposed in their defense of powerful lobbyists and the unaccountable surveillance state.
Can you believe it’s still only week two? –
Kash Patel Testifies at Senate Confirmation Hearing for FBI Director
Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, insisted to deeply skeptical Democrats on Thursday that he did not have an “enemies list” and that the bureau under his leadership would not seek retribution against the president’s adversaries or launch investigations for political purposes.
“I have no interest nor desire and will not, if confirmed, go backwards,” Patel told a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. “There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by the FBI.”
The reassurances were aimed at blunting a persistent line of attack from Democrats, who throughout Thursday’s hearing confronted Patel with a vast catalog of his incendiary statements. – PBS News
Our Take: If you haven't seen the Kash hearing, allow me to cut through the noise.
... on second thought, you could literally just watch this clip and get the gist.
"None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me." –
***
Another Take: Damn.
I remember when he sorta said he wasn't into Devolution and some Q followers went absolutely ballistic. I wonder if they're going to attack themselves after hearing this. –
***
Still Another Take: I like how Grassley was the first to ask Kash about “Q-Anon.”
He, of course, asked him about “Q-Anon” — Which we all know doesn’t exist.
(There is Q. There are Anons. There is no Q-Anon).
This gave Kash plausible deniability, while also taking that arrow out of [their] quiver for this hearing. It was absolutely brilliant. –
HHS Nominee RFK, Jr. Defends Vaccine Skepticism, Still ‘Won’t Take Sides on 9/11’ in Fiery Final Confirmation Hearing
Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his long record of vaccine skepticism — maintaining he did not believe he was wrong to cite links between immunizations and rising childhood rates of autism — in his fiery and final confirmation hearing on Thursday.
Kennedy also fielded questions from members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee about mounting health care costs, high US rates of obesity, his “Make America Healthy Again” movement, Lyme disease as a possible “bioweapon,” fatalities due to COVID-19 vaccines and “conspiracy theories” about 9/11.
“I’m pro-safety; I’m pro-good science. … I believe vaccines have saved millions of lives and play a critical role in health care,” Kennedy told members of the HELP panel, adding that MAHA moms were partnering with him on “one of the most powerful and transcendent movements” to end chronic disease in the US.
But the three-hour tour into the mind of the 71-year-old environmental attorney and recovering anti-vaccine crusader left several Republican and Democratic senators unconvinced he was ready to be the nation’s chief public health advocate at HHS. – New York Post
Our Take: I have zero problem with RFK Jr. saying he “supports vaccines“ or Kash Patel saying he “disavows baseless Q “ during these hearings.
They have to take those stances for the political optics. Not their fault, dealing with the establishment propaganda matrix is a bitch. –
Trump Intel Nominee Tulsi Gabbard: ‘I Am No One’s Puppet’
Tulsi Gabbard insisted Thursday she’s no one’s “puppet” and pushed back against senators’ accusations that she supports foreign dictators and a famous U.S. whistleblower who fled to Russia.
Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s choice to become director of national intelligence, repeatedly refused to answer a question posed by several members of the Senate Intelligence Committee considering her nomination.
“Is Edward Snowden a traitor?” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) asked, noting that the GOP chairman of the committee has called Snowden a traitor. Gabbard didn’t directly answer the question, as Bennet grew visibly angry.
“Yes or no?!” Bennet fumed. “Is Edward Snowden a traitor to the United States of America?” – Daily Beast
Our Take: If you watched EOTS on Tuesday and our interview with Patrick Byrne, you saw him assert, quite confidently, that 2020 will be exposed.
Know what Kash, Tulsi, and Bondi have in common?
None of them would admit Biden won 2020 in their testimony.
Kind of interesting, no? –
Where Trump's Cabinet Nominees Stand in Senate Confirmation Process
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel testified before Senate committees on Capitol Hill on Thursday as urgency builds to confirm President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominations… Elise Stefanik, nominee for United Nations ambassador, testified before the Foreign Relations Committee last week, and the committee voted to advance her nomination to the Senate floor on Thursday. [...]
Thune moved to end Senate deliberations for Energy Secretary nominee Chris Wright and Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins. Both nominees await a procedural vote on the Senate floor ahead of the confirmation vote. Trump’s nominee for Interior secretary, Doug Burgum, passed the cloture vote on Wednesday and awaits his confirmation vote on the Senate floor.
As of Thursday, the U.S. Senate has confirmed seven of Trump’s Cabinet nominations, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin. – Fox News
Our Take: Democrats are throwing temper tantrums (again) because they have no power.
I wonder if this has something to do with it:
We cannot move forward until we have legitimate, verifiable elections.
Legal votes matter. –
***
Another Take: Everyone is on the edge of their seats, watching “political theater.”
Elections are fake, government is illegitimate, Congress and the Senate are retarded clown shows of corruption and compromise AND YET, everyone is groveling and fretting over their ‘votes’ to confirm the Fantasy Team nominees to positions in unconstitutional agencies that must be removed and disbanded.
Have people decided to grovel forever? –
Syrian Al-Qaeda Affiliate Announces Dissolution
Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din has announced its dissolution, weeks after an Islamist-led alliance toppled longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. In a statement online Tuesday, the group announced "the dissolution of the Hurras al-Din organisation", adding that the move followed a decision from "the general command of Al-Qaeda".
The statement was the first time the group, which is on Washington's "terror" list, had officially identified itself as "the branch of Al-Qaeda" in Syria. Hurras al-Din said the decision came "in light of developments" in Syria, where a rebel alliance led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Assad on December 8 after a lightning offensive. – Barrons
Our Take: January 29: Syria's Al-Qaeda group, Hurras al-Din, announces that it is dissolving.
January 30: CENTCOM drops a bomb on the Hurras al-Din leader's head.
The US military has been killing Al-Qaeda and ISIS operatives in Syria ever since the fall of Assad. Yet, a career head-chopper from Al-Qaeda consolidated his power and named himself President on the same day that his presumed rival within Al-Qaeda is killed in an airstrike-- the day after that rival announced the dissolution of his militia.
Something about all of this seems strange. –
Trump on Whether DEI Led to Potomac Plane Crash: It’s ‘Common Sense’
President Donald Trump on Thursday morning spoke about the midair collision that occurred Wednesday evening near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at a press conference at the White House.
The collision just outside of Washington, D.C., involved a regional jet operating as an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, and an Army UH-60 helicopter on a training flight that originated at Davison Army Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
According to the District of Columbia fire chief, a recovery operation is being conducted in the Potomac River, but there are likely no survivors of the crash.
Trump called the event a “real tragedy” after holding a moment of silence for the victims of the crash. – The Daily Signal
Our Take: The details of the black hawk incident may be interesting, but I focus on the Macro.
On the tail end of a week in which AI and drone tech have saturated the zeitgeist, a major incident occurs over the skies of the swamp itself.
Trump's signal flare is that it's not as it seems. –
Rwanda-Backed Rebels Bed Down in Congo's Goma and Push South for Further Gains
The United Nations expressed deep concern at reports of M23 rebels and Rwandan troops advancing south towards the Congolese city of Bukavu on Thursday, as the militants sought also to assert their control over east Congo's largest city Goma.
The Rwandan-backed insurgents' seizure of Goma this week and ongoing offensive southwards are the biggest escalation since 2012 of a decades-old conflict the U.N. says risks spiralling into another major regional war. A sustained and successful push by M23 into the neighbouring province of South Kivu would see them control territory previous rebellions have not taken since the end of two major wars that ran from 1996 to 2003, in which millions of civilians died, mostly from malnutrition and disease.
The absence of U.N. peacekeepers in South Kivu heightens the humanitarian and security risks of an escalation in fighting there, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. – Reuters
AND
Kagame Threatens South Africa’s Ramaphosa Over DRC Intervention
They may be on opposite sides of the Congolese battlefield only by proxy, but Pretoria and Kigali are now trading barbs. The war in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is also stirring up old disputes between the two countries.
The mission in eastern DRC is turning into a serious quagmire for South Africa’s government. First, it must reckon with heavy losses: 13 soldiers were killed in the battle for Goma on 23 January, launched by M23 rebels and their Rwandan backers. South Africa supplies the largest contingent to the SAMIDRC, a regional military force dispatched by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Next, Pretoria faces criticism at home, where the public questions sending troops to fight in a far-off country. Thirdly, South Africa must deal with threats from Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame. He rejects blame for the conflict and regards the South African intervention as hostile.
– The Africa Report
Our Take: On Wednesday, Kenyan president William Ruto organized a virtual conference between eight African countries, concerning the recent outbreak of violence on the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where a militia group known as M23 has taken control of the city of Goma and its surrounding provinces, and are now pushing south.
The M23 group are allegedly being aided by the Rwandan military, and Rwandan president Paul Kagame was part of the virtual conference. Notably absent from the call was DRC president Felix Tshisekedi, who was said to have a scheduling conflict.
I'm still gathering intel on this situation, but I believe that it is related to the geopolitical conflict I have come to call the War of Sovereignty between the Sovereign Alliance and the Globalist Regime.
Paul Kagame is a former rebel leader who sponsored several wars in the 1990's. One of these wars installed Laurent Kabila as president of the DRC. It was Kabila's son, Joseph, who befriended Israeli oligarch Dan Gertler helped grant him the necessary mineral rights that effectively gave him (and his partners) a monopoly over the Congo's precious metals market, which is estimated to be worth in excess of $24 trillion. Joseph replaced his father as president of the DRC, after the elder was assassinated in 2001.
Joseph Kabila left office at the end of 2018, when Felix Tshisekedi won the election. (Kabila did not run for re-election, after the corruption between him and Gertler was exposed to the DRC people.)
Now Kagame is angry at South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, who has become a close ally of Putin, because South Africa had its army deployed in eastern DRC, and they are fighting alongside the Congolese security forces to drive out the rebels.
Here is a map showing the distribution of resources:
I have circled the city of Goma, which the Rwandans have seized. Note the coltan mine nearby. The DRC is the world's leading producer of coltan, which is a very rare metal that is essential in the production of electronics such as lap tops and cellphones. In 2021, the DRC produced of 700 tons of coltan. The global market for coltan was valued at $1.5 trillion in 2019, and is expected to be worth nearly $2 trillion by the end of 2026.
After a British court ruling in 2023 stripped the mineral rights from Gertler and his partners, an investment firm from the UAE signed a multi-billion dollar agreement with the DRC government to take over mining operations in the eastern region.
More on this story to come. —
Trump Warns Canada, Mexico Tariffs are Coming on Saturday
President Trump on Thursday said he plans to follow through on Saturday on his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada.
“We’ll be announcing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a number of reasons,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He cited the influx of migrants at the southern border, the flow of fentanyl into the United States and the trade deficit the U.S. has with its neighbors.
“I’ll be putting the tariff of 25 percent on Canada and Mexico, and we will really have to do that because we have very big deficits with those countries,” he said. “Those tariffs may or may not rise with time.”
Trump added that he would decide Thursday night whether to include oil among the items subject to tariffs. “We may or may not. We’re going to make that determination, probably tonight, on oil.” – The Hill
Our Take: As Trump tightens the screws on Mexico and Canada, other related headlines were breaking on Thursday.
Newsweek is reporting that, “Canada is clamping down on border control as the threat of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump looms. The U.S.'s biggest trading partner has launched a crackdown on fentanyl crossing the U.S.-Canada border after Trump threatened to place taxes as high as 25 percent on Canadian imports.”
That seems like a good idea, eh? Down south, the Federalist is walking right up to the line on war with Mexico.
“The incident illustrates why it’s time to start treating Mexico as a hostile foreign power that represents a direct threat to the American homeland — not just for the way the Mexican state has facilitated and encouraged illegal immigration, but also because it has allowed the cartels to take control of vast swaths of Mexican territory, infiltrate the Mexican government at the highest levels, and carry out sophisticated operations on both sides of the Rio Grande.”
They aren’t wrong. Trump, Noem, Homan, and the rest have promised to take on the cartels. Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin, after his strong man kayfabe Thursday, asked Kash Patel to join them (notably indicating that Patel will be confirmed). —
OpenAI Partners With U.S. National Laboratories on Scientific Research, Nuclear Weapons Security
OpenAI said Thursday that the U.S. National Laboratories will be using its latest artificial intelligence models for scientific research and nuclear weapons security.
Under the agreement, up to 15,000 scientists working at the National Laboratories may be able to access OpenAI’s reasoning-focused o1 series. OpenAI will also work with Microsoft, its lead investor, to deploy one of its models on Venado, the supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to a release. Venado is powered by technology from Nvidia and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the partnership at a company event called “Building to Win: AI Economics,” in Washington, D.C. According to OpenAI, the new partnership will involve scientists using OpenAI’s technology to enhance cybersecurity to protect the U.S. power grid, identify new approaches to treating and preventing diseases and deepen understanding of fundamental mathematics and physics. – NBC News
Our Take: It sounds like OpenAI is putting massive resources behind a huge workforce to outcompete all those people refining DeepSeek.
Centralized control over AI is the aim. It's the only way to get everyone back on the same page. –
Grayscale Seeks SEC Approval to Convert XRP Trust into Exchange-Traded Fund
Grayscale Investments has submitted a proposal to convert its XRP Trust into an exchange-traded fund at the New York Stock Exchange.
The move comes as part of a broader effort by asset managers to introduce regulated investment vehicles for digital assets. If the SEC grants approval, the Grayscale XRP Trust, currently holding approximately $16.1 million in assets, would transition into an ETF.
Grayscale argues that converting the trust into an ETF would enhance accessibility while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards under a national securities exchange. – Bezinga
Our Take: Grayscale is a parasitic financial firm that built its empire catering to Bitcoin maximalists, only to pivot to XRP once its original grift collapsed.
For years, Grayscale was a stronghold, pushing the Bitcoin-only narrative while dismissing XRP and other assets as "unregistered securities" or inferior tech. They actively promoted the Bitcoin cartel’s self-serving ideology, helping funnel institutions into GBTC while ignoring Bitcoin’s scaling failures, centralization issues, and diminishing real-world utility.
Now that Bitcoin’s fee crisis, mining centralization, and lack of adoption have exposed the delusion, Grayscale is suddenly trying to ride the XRP wave. After dismissing XRP as a “banker coin” and pretending it had no future, they’re now desperately pivoting to stay relevant.
But their track record is clear: They are not innovators; they are bandwagon investors.
Grayscale represents everything wrong with institutional crypto adoption. XRP doesn’t need them. Their involvement is a cynical attempt to exploit an asset they once ridiculed. Let’s not pretend that Grayscale’s XRP interest is anything other than desperation from failed maximalists looking for their next swindle.
–
FDA Approves Painkiller Designed to Eliminate the Risk of Addiction Associated With Opioids
Federal officials on Thursday approved a new type of pain pill designed to eliminate the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid medications like Vicodin and OxyContin.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Journavx for short-term pain that often follows surgery or injuries.
It’s the first new pharmaceutical approach to treating pain in more than 20 years, offering an alternative to both opioids and over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. But the medication’s modest effectiveness and lengthy development process underscore the challenges of finding new ways to manage pain. – AP News
AND
FDA Ban of Red No. 3 Dye to Take Effect in 2027
Brightly colored candies, cookies and cupcakes have long been sweet treats, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is removing a specific color due to health concerns. Red No. 3 dye, also known as E127 or erythrosine, gives some beverages, candies, cupcakes and icings their bright red appearance. It was approved for use in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals in 1969, but some studies show it may cause health risks.
Red No. 3 first caused concern in the 1980s when some animal studies showed a link between the dye and thyroid tumors in male rats. The FDA then banned Red No. 3 in some external-use products such as cosmetics in the 1990s; however, Red No. 3 was still permitted in some foods.
Christi Evans, Oklahoma State University Extension food safety specialist, said manufacturers have until Jan. 15, 2027, to reformulate their products and remove Red No. 3 from their ingredients. Products imported from outside the United States must also abide by the new regulations. – Morning AgClips
Our Take: All of a sudden the FDA is moving away from opioids and poisonous dyes.
Gee, what happened? –
Syrian Officials Ask Russia to 'Pay Compensation, Hand Over Assad': Report
A Russian delegation made an official visit to Damascus on 28 January for the first time since the collapse of former president Bashar al-Assad’s government and the fall of Syria to extremist groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Syrian officials reportedly requested “compensation,” and that Russia hand over Assad to authorities in Damascus, according to Reuters.
The delegation was led by Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. During the meeting, Bogdanov met with the de facto ruler of Syria and head of HTS military operations, Ahmad al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani), as well as Syria’s ministers of health and foreign affairs.
“The meeting was generally good, it lasted three hours and included an official dinner … In general, the meeting was constructive and the atmosphere was positive,” Bogdanov told reporters. – The Cradle
Our Take: As Syrian "President" al-Jolani anoints himself ruler of Syria, he is stonewalling Putin and demanding that he surrender Assad.
You can bet your last dollar that the reason al-Jolani wants Assad is so the Globalist Regime can make an example out of him. If history is any indication, they will probably turn him over to a mob of deranged killers, who will butcher him alive and livestream it to the internet.
This is a symbolic moment for Putin, as Bashar al-Assad represents the last surviving member of the original Sovereign Alliance from 20 years ago. Jolani's demands are really the Globalist Regime's demands, and everybody knows it. If Putin yields to them, it will demonstrate to the rest of the world that the Sovereign Alliance is weak, and incapable of protecting any of them from the Regime.
It will mean that the world is not yet ready for the Multipolar World.
But this isn't just about Assad. Those two Russian bases in Syria are the lifeline to Africa. Those bases are the launch point for the Wagner Group's Africa Corp's operations. The Russians have spent the past few months moving supplies to another location in Libya, but it should be noted that Libya fell to the Globalist Regime back in 2011, and The Atlantic Council has identified the relationship as a clear and present danger.
The Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dabaiba has expressed apprehension to the Russians using Libya for the Wagner Group's operations, and the African nations seeking sovereignty are in a fragile state. –
BONUS ITEMS
Federal Workers Reeling Over Trump’s ‘Buyout’ Offer: ‘This is the Last Lifeboat in Town’
A federal workforce of some 2 million people is still reeling after receiving a mass email that offered them a chance to preemptively resign ahead of additional and unspecified Trump administration efforts to shrink government. With the terms of a stark but murky ultimatum unclear and likely subject to legal interpretations and challenges, upwards of hundreds of thousands of individual employees were struggling with what to do, increasingly uncertain about the stability of their jobs and their agencies.
“Chaos, mistrust, confusion,” said one employee at the Department of Justice who, like others, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the situation without fear of retribution. – Politico
Ravens' Justin Tucker Accused of Inappropriate Sexual Behavior By Six Massage Therapists
Two spas say they banned Tucker. He denies the bans and the behavior that women say has left them emotionally scarred.
Ravens kicker Justin Tucker engaged in inappropriate behavior at four high-end spas and wellness centers in the Baltimore region, according to six massage therapists, including exposing his genitals, brushing two of them with his exposed penis, and leaving what they believed to be ejaculate on the massage table after three of his treatments. Several therapists said Tucker’s behavior was so egregious that they ended his sessions early or refused to work on him again. And, at two spas, management said they banned him from returning. [...]
Tucker released a lengthy statement on X after the story published denying the allegations and criticizing The Banner’s reporting process.
– The Baltimore Banner
Thank you for reading today’s Badlands News Brief. As always, please share the brief far and wide, and drop your comments below to discuss with your fellow Badlanders.
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Why should it take until 2027 to get rid of the dye? Isn't it already outlawed in the UK? If they sell products there. Sheesh
Truer words were never spoken BB: “Trump's signal flare is that it's not as it seems. – Burning Bright”
I believe that since Trump Won in 2016 he and his team have been dismantling the DS Rat Bastard’s false reality. I only really began to realize that over the past year or so, and now see the wisdom and need for the Pause Phase. Knowing this has allowed me to stay ComfyAF no matter what noise is echoing across the DS Rat Bastard MSM landscape. I have never been a consumer of Reality TV and this current round of confirmation hearings is nothing more that Reality TV and consequently I have had absolutely zero interest in watching any of it. However, Kash Patel is a Beast and something told me that I should tune into this event. I was not disappointed! This live commercial for Trump-A-Mania was hilarious as the Kash-N-Ator (sorry GBPH I may have over stepped my bounds by naming characters for you) character went Full Beast Mode😊It was a total beat down, the only thing missing was a body slam from the top of the turnbuckle!
GBPH whenever you put tickets on sale for Trump-A-Mania 1 please hold 2 front row seats for my wife and me… this show is LIT 🔥🔥🔥
Have a great weekend, I already can’t wait to see the Takes on Monday!
God Wins!
God Bless!!!