Badlands News Brief
Ukraine U-Turn, Taiwan Tensions & COVID Origins
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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.
Some 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.
(You’re going to get a lot of Burning Bright today, for better or worse! Sometimes the rest of the team is occupied in other theaters of the Info War.)
Now, onto the news from the Monday, April 17 …
Before We Send Any More Money To Ukraine - Can We Find Out Where The Rest Of Our Cash Went?
Seymour Hersh is reporting that the Ukrainians have embezzled at least $400 million of the money given them by the United States. Zelensky was confronted with the evidence of the embezzlement by CIA Director Burns and reportedly responded by dismissing a handful of officials but taking no serious action.
None of this should be particularly surprising. Putin may be a thug, but Ukraine is one of the world’s most corrupt nations, and it has been for a very long time.
A 2016 report by the watchdog group Transparency International found that between 38 percent to 42 percent of Ukrainian households said they paid bribes just to access basic public services. The only nation in Europe considered more corrupt than Ukraine is Russia.
This is not even the first documented case of corruption involving funding for the ongoing conflict. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported recently that it had uncovered an embezzlement scheme in which money for food for the Ukrainian military was being siphoned off and ending up in the pockets of unscrupulous contractors. Per the SBU, officials from one ministry department made agreements with the heads of two commercial enterprises regarding the wholesale supply of food to locations where the military is deployed. Funds from the ministry's budget were then transferred to the accounts of firms that "lacked a production base and technological equipment" to provide the relevant services. — AND Magazine Substack
Our Take: “As we always caution when it comes to any media source (including ourselves,) you should always try to examine the potential bias of the writer and keep that in your mind, while ALSO maintaining the ability to engage with the information presented and both examine its underlying logic (or lack thereof,) and, perhaps more importantly, the Net Effects the Narrative Deployment could visit onto the Informational battlefield.
In this case, prominent, left-leaning writers (even a Pulitzer Prize winner) are beginning to advance Ukraine Corruption headlines, pushing the political Overton Window back in the direction of objective analysis when it comes to the gaudy funding American and European taxpayers have been sending to the Deep State’s latest attempt at a Forever War quagmire.
Of course, this particular author considers Vladimir Putin to be a ‘thug,’ which I disagree with, having my own ‘Righteous Russia’ bias, and yet … the Net Effect of this focus on funding to Ukraine in a bipartisan manner is most certainly NOT music to the collectivist enemy’s ears.” — Burning Bright
Elon Musk Says US Government Had Access To Private Twitter DMs
During an upcoming appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show, Elon Musk reveals that the US government had full access to people’s private Twitter DMs.
Musk told Carlson during a segment which is set to air tonight that he was shocked as to the level of penetration the feds had with Twitter.
“The degree to which government agencies effectively had full access to everything that was going on on Twitter blew my mind, I was not aware of that,” said Musk.
“Would that include people’s DMs?” asked Carlson.
“Yes,” responded Musk. — Summit News
Our Take: “This may seem like old hat to most in the Truth Community, but as with the story above, keep in mind that the minds we are trying to reach in the Information War don’t hang out on Truth Social, the Chans and other places awash with Trumpism, deductive reasoning and America First, constitutional rhetoric.
Elon Musk is a fascinating public figure, not JUST because he was the largest civilian Department of Defense contractor during the Trump Administration, but also because he’s the rare public figure that can grab headlines in a manner reminiscent of the MAGA King himself.
Musk is an enigmatic and controversial figure in this community, but when former lefties-turned-centrists hang on his every word, and when his every word seems to pile on more condemnation to the censorious and corrupt nature of leftism itself, signs point to Musk pushing culture in a better direction rather than worse.” — Burning Bright
US Sails Warship Through Taiwan Strait After China's Drills
The United States Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait in its first known transit since China carried out an encirclement exercise around self-ruled Taiwan.
The U.S. 7th Fleet said the transit through the strait by the USS Milius on Sunday was routine. The cruisers “transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State,” the statement said.
Last week China concluded large-scale air and sea drills in the strait in retaliation for Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 5 in California. China said Wednesday that the exercises simulating an encirclement of Taiwan were intended as a “serious warning” to pro-independence politicians on the self-governing island and their foreign supporters.
China protested the transit Monday, saying the U.S. transit was a “public hype” and that the Eastern Theater Command was ready at any time to “resolutely safeguard the country's sovereignty, safety, and regional peace and stability," according to a statement from the Eastern Theater Command's spokesperson Shi Yilu.
China has stepped up its military pressure over Taiwan in recent years, sending fighter jets and navy vessels towards the island on a near-daily basis. After former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August, China sent more and more military vessels over the midline of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that had been accepted for decades. That increasing pressure from China has given greater attention to Taiwan globally. — Military.com
Our Take: “Several months ago, I wrote one of my most popular features to date, an exploration of the WHY behind the Scare Event theory.
In short, I believe a Scare Event can ALSO be a Unifying Event.
A Nuclear Scare is just ONE possible template.
Now, look at the Taiwan Straight ...
- China 'buzzing' Taiwan
- US War Ships posturing
- Resurgent Japan, Australia, India encroaching
- Xi ushering in multi-polar world
Gulf of Taiwonkin 'Near Miss' coming?
Some believe the theory of a Gulf of Tonkin-style Scare Event in the Taiwan Straight flies in the face of the theory myself and many others hold that Xi Jinping is working to help usher in a multi-polar world on behalf of the Sovereign Alliance.
I disagree.
When you focus on the potential Net Effects to spin out of an event like this, I believe Xi could act as a catalyst for solidifying a major Region of Responsibility by solidifying Japan, Australia & India as powers in the region.
Optics.” — Burning Bright
Former Intelligence chief to say a lab leak is the 'only explanation' for COVID
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe says the "only explanation" and "plausible assessment" for the COVID-19 global pandemic is a leak from a Chinese Communist Party-controlled lab, citing U.S. intelligence and "numerous, diverse and unassailable" sources for the information.
Fox News exclusively obtained Ratcliffe’s prepared testimony ahead of his appearance before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Ratcliffe, who was confirmed to serve as director of national intelligence in May 2020—during the pandemic—is expected to deliver an unclassified overview of what the intelligence community learned about the origins of COVID-19.
Ratcliffe is also expected to say the Biden administration declaring the assessment would have "enormous geopolitical implications" that they "seemingly" do "not want to face head-on." — FOX News
Our Take: “In yet another piece of ‘color NONE of us in this community surprised,’ Trump’s former Director of National Intelligence corroborates what we’ve all been saying for several years, now, as the public mind has slowly, agonizingly been guided and massaged in the direction of exposure and disclosure.
There is still hot and healthy debate in this community over not only the origins of COVID-19, but what exactly COVID-19 was. A virus? A bioweapon? A PsyOp? A PsyAct? All of the above?
I say, focus LESS on the Actual and more on the potential.
Whatever reveals are to come to the sleeping Americans in our midst, they will result in the further exposure of the Deep State’s System of Systems in the end.” — Burning Bright
Leaked Document Shows American Smart Bombs Are Failing In Ukraine
American-made smart bombs are failing in Ukraine, based on successful Russian electronic jamming measures, according to a Pentagon document connected to alleged leaker Jack Teixeira.
The highly-classified document not only reviews use of effective Russian countermeasures to make the smart bombs ineffective, but also says that in some cases technical problems are resulting in failure to detonate.
A Biden administration defense aid program has involved sending the Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) to Ukraine in order to turn unguided bombs into GPS guided "smart bombs" capable of hitting targets over 50 miles away.
According to Politico:
A larger problem is that Russia is using GPS jamming to interfere with the weapons’ targeting process, according to the slide and a separate person familiar with the issue who’s not in the U.S. government. American officials believe Russian jamming is causing the JDAMs, and at times other American weapons such as guided rockets, to miss their mark.
"I do think there may be concern that the Russians may be jamming the signal used to direct the JDAMs, which would answer why these munitions are not performing in the manner expected and how they perform in other war zones," said Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon official and retired CIA officer.
The document mentions that "1,000 arming lanyards" were approved for Ukrainian forces, suggesting that over 1,000 of the smart bomb kits will be sent. — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “I see a few interesting data points emerging from these leaks, not the least of which is the much-discussed prospect (to the sleeping Normie) that Ukraine is not, in fact, ‘winning’ the war with Russia.
Additionally, however, I find the idea that the weapons systems the United States is reportedly arming Ukraine with are having little to no effect on the battlefield due to Russian ‘jamming’ efforts and effectiveness.
Curious.
On a surface level, I suppose it’s not TOO shocking. But … when one considers the possibility that the U.S. government is in a state of Devolution, and that the U.S. Military is potentially coordinating with Russia at senior levels in order to avoid the prospect of kinetic war between our respective super states, and ‘simple’ jamming successes take on added significance.” — Burning Bright
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.
No Leak: Intentional release on a global scale. That is the truth.
I totally agree BB! All of us MUST email our representatives in Congress to Demand NO MORE MONEY TO UKRAINE.