Badlands News Brief
Special Counsels, Island Fires & White Pills
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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 the Weekend that Was …
Attorney general appoints a special counsel in Hunter Biden probe, deepening investigation
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel Friday in the Hunter Biden probe, a surprise move that intensifies the investigation into the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.
Garland noted the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter as he named David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who had already been probing Hunter Biden’s financial dealings, as special counsel after plea deal talks in the case broke down.
The sudden turn of events raises fresh questions about the case against Hunter Biden on tax evasion and a gun charge, deepening an investigation that was close to resolution just weeks ago. Weiss had asked to be named special counsel, gaining broad authority to investigate and report out his findings.
It comes as the Justice Department has taken the unprecedented step of indicting former President Donald Trump, who’s President Joe Biden’s chief rival in next year’s election, in two separate cases. It also puts questions about Biden’s family at the forefront of the 2024 presidential election. — AP News
Our Take: “It is NOT an accident these stories are running in parallel:
A) The 'canned hunt' of Trump by DOJ.
B) The 'cover-up' of Biden Crime Family corruption.
Here's the thing: this is EXACTLY what this community, especially Q followers have been predicting for 7 damn years, and yet, MANY of the same people who follow that logic doom out every. single. time these deployments are made.
Hunter's plea deal falling apart = doom. Except now he's open to FARA.
Trump's Trial will BE his campaign.
Relax.” —
Maui Inferno: 80 Lives Lost, 1,700 Buildings Destroyed; Becomes Second Deadliest US Fire
The death toll from the wildfires that ravaged the resort town of Lahaina on the island of Maui jumped to 80, Maui county officials wrote in an overnight update. Firefighters are still working to contain fires in Lahaina, Pulehu/Kihei, and Upcountry Maui.
At least 80 perished in the inferno, and 1,700 buildings were burnt to a crisp in what is already being described as the deadliest natural disaster to strike Hawaii since a deadly tsunami in 1960 that killed 61 people.
On Friday afternoon, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that it could take weeks to sift through Lahaina's "rubble and ashes" to get a final death toll.
"Over the course of the next week, we'll get as close to a complete assessment as possible.
"Starting tomorrow, we will see a lot more certainty about how many individuals perished," Green said.
The governor continued:
"Sometimes in natural disasters, or essentially wartime disasters, and it does look like a war zone where Lahaina is concerned, you will sometimes discover later that someone has perished, because it was burned to the ground."
So far, the Maui fire is the second-deadliest in the US in the last 100 years, but it could soon be the deadliest if the death toll surpasses the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California that killed 85 people. — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “This is officially the deadliest fire in US history, with the AP reporting late Sunday that the death toll has climbed to 93.
According to this reporting, there is still no cause for the blaze, though some Hawaiians have claimed the fire started due to downed power lines. Once started, winds from a distant hurricane combined with ‘unusual conditions’ in the region reportedly led to the unprecedented devastation. The town of Lahaina is demolished.
Now there are reportedly additional fires on the island, which will likely strain the island’s already overwhelmed emergency services. More than 46,000 residents have been evacuated from Maui, and officials are requesting that people stay away. Over the weekend, conspiracy theories abounded, from HAARP and DEWs to Little St. James comparisons. We may never know the truth about what caused the historic fires, but the victims are real and our prayers are with those left to pick up the pieces.” —
FDA Drops Ivermectin Bombshell
Doctors are free to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID-19, a lawyer representing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said this week.
“FDA explicitly recognizes that doctors do have the authority to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID,” Ashley Cheung Honold, a Department of Justice lawyer representing the FDA, said during oral arguments on Aug. 8 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
The government is defending the FDA’s repeated exhortations to people to not take ivermectin for COVID-19, including a post that said “Stop it.”
The case was brought by three doctors who allege the FDA unlawfully interfered with their practice of medicine with the statements.
A federal judge dismissed the case in 2022, prompting an appeal.
“The fundamental issue in this case is straightforward. After the FDA approves the human drug for sale, does it then have the authority to interfere with how that drug is used within the doctor-patient relationship? The answer is no,” Jared Kelson, representing the doctors, told the appeals court.
The FDA on Aug. 21, 2021, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter:
“You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”
The post, which linked to an FDA page that says people shouldn’t use ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19, went viral. — The Epoch Times
Our Take: “You don't say?
Golly, it sure feels like a few apologies are owed, to say the least.
‘Oh, we denied your mother life-saving treatment because of a bogus, loaded study? We're so sorry about that. ‘Oh, we forced a respiratory tube down auntie's throat and ended up giving her a ventilator induced injury? So sorry!’
‘Aw geez, your peepaw died of seizures brought on by Remdesivir? Oopsie!’
I feel like we could say the same of just about every other ‘I told you so’ revelation that inevitably emerges, that the mainstream media should be forced to issue retractions and at the very least feign apology to the people whose lives have been forever marked with trauma as a result of the narrative war. Whenever one of their intentional blunders cost American lives, they should be forced to report on their own failures. I'd say it should be law, but I can envision how that might backfire in a world built on lies. Not only should they apologize and report on their error, they should tell the whole story. They should report on how the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Goa boldly ignored the guidelines and administered ivermectin to their populations early into the pandemic and saw fatalities drop by 98%!
But they won't, and we can't expect them to. That is why it is incumbent upon us to spread awareness. If ever there was a time to braggartly rub something in your normie friends and family's faces, this is something that might actually reach them.” —
Tucker Ep. 15: Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund reveals what really happened on January 6th.
(CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO WATCH ON ‘X’)
Our Take: “Last week was an insane news week, and the latest episode of Tucker on Twitter was drowned out among the noise.
Tucker sat down with former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, the head of law enforcement at the Capitol on January 6. His story is shocking, and it is now clear that January 6th was not an insurrection by Trump supporters. It was, in fact, the final step of traitors in government to solidify their November 3 coup.
Sund was set up to be a patsy on January 6, as multiple agencies withheld intelligence and denied him support for 71 minutes while the U.S. Capitol was ‘under siege.’ He has been trying to tell his story to anyone who would listen, but like most J6 stories, Sund’s has been suppressed. Tucker interviewed him while he was at Fox, and Fox refused to air the discussion. Sund went on 60 Minutes and they used less than 10 minutes of his side of the story. He was interviewed by DOD and the Senate, but his story has been withheld from the public until now.
Having lived through J6, and having been lied to about that day for two and a half years, I’m livid that the cover up of the government’s actions have been suppressed for so long. We need truth and reconciliation, and the agencies responsible for designing and carrying out this operation on peaceful Americans must be held accountable.
We were gassed and then gaslit and, on this, the buck stops with Nancy Pelosi. Everyone needs to demand Justice for January 6 now. Call your legislators and tell everyone you know to watch and share this interview. Justice is up to us.” —
Sam Bankman-Fried is sent to jail over alleged witness tampering
A federal judge revoked bail for FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, citing probable cause that the accused crypto fraudster attempted to tamper with witnesses.
Bankman-Fried was remanded, at least temporarily, to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, while the parties sort out details of how he will review discovery materials ahead of a trial scheduled for October.
Following the ruling, US marshals handcuffed Bankman-Fried and escorted him out of the courtroom. — CNN
Our Take: “This news item got a little bit lost in the shuffle over the course of what was a pretty insane news weekend, what with island fires and Special Counsels galore.
That said, I don’t think we should miss the forest for the Sam Bankman-Frieds.
SBF isn’t one of the puppet masters of what we recognize as the Globalist Deep State, but his entire financial operation was surely a key node in their centralized machine, and seeing true justice visited upon one of these Deep State nodes provides light in the darkness that many need to see.
There’s plenty more where that came from.” —
Zuckerberg Says "Not Holding My Breath" For Proposed Fight With Musk In Italy
After Elon Musk wrote on "X" -- formerly known as Twitter, last Sunday that he will be fighting his arch-nemesis Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in a mixed martial arts cage match, the internet was excited -- then one day later, upset that the billionaire said, "Exact date is still in flux. I'm getting an MRI of my neck & upper back tomorrow."
Then on Tuesday, hopes of the fight faded when Musk responded to Chris Anderson, host of TED Talks, agreeing that a 'battle of brains' in a "cage match-style debate" would be more "noble."
In a rollercoaster of emotions this week, the internet is cheering once again the fight appears to be on.
"I've been ready to fight since the day Elon challenged me. If he ever agrees on an actual date, you'll hear it from me. Until then, please assume anything he says has not been agreed on," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on social media platform Threads, responding to Elon Musk's tweet about a proposed fight in Italy earlier in the day.
Zuck continued, "Not holding my breath for Elon, but I'll share details on my next fight when I'm ready. When I compete, I want to do it in a way that puts a spotlight on the elite athletes at the top of the game. You do that by working with professional orgs like the UFC or ONE to pull this off well and create a great card." — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “Bread and circuses.
In a world where most mainstream news stories feel like intentional distractions, this is a little on the nose. When this showdown was announced, I didn't think it was going to happen. To be honest, I still don't think we will ever see these two go at it and, according to the article, Elon is going to require surgery before the showdown takes place.
From a business standpoint, this plays as a publicity stunt intended to drum up new support for Meta and X, as the event will be streamed on the two platforms. It will certainly be a draw. The landscape is reminiscent of Gladiator and is sure to be beautifully shot. If we're actually calling the fight, my money is on Zuck, who has more training and experience. Elon, while he has the size advantage, is less experienced and seems more arrogant, and Zuck is experienced enough to use Elon's size against him. That's not easy for me to say, as I am definitely Team X and am anti-Meta.
Watching two billionaires beat each other up sounds like a popcorn worthy evening, but only if it's free. If this goes pay-per-view, I'll catch the replay in social clips. And again, I'll be surprised if this cage match actually happens.” —
BONUS ITEMS
Ukrainians Begin To Despair As Bloody Counteroffensive Yields Small Gains
According to the Washington Post, many citizens of Ukraine are adopting a darker mood about the war with Russia, and national unity is beginning to fray. The change in sentiment comes as Kiev’s spring counteroffensive fails to retake significant territory despite surging casualties.
"Ukrainians, much in need of good news, are simply not getting any," the Washington Post reported Thursday. One Ukrainian, Alla Blyzniuk, interviewed by the outlet, said, "[before] people were united." Now, she described, a sense of collective "disappointment."
The sense of despair is driven by massive casualties in Kiev’s counteroffensive. Blyzniuk said that most soldiers sent to the front die in just two to three days.
Last week, Politico reported that Kiev had committed 150,000 troops to fight along three fronts. Nevertheless, the Pentagon admits that Ukrainian forces have failed to make any significant gains.
Washington publicly claims it has provided Kiev with everything Ukraine needs to wage a successful counteroffensive. However, Western officials admitted to the Wall Street Journal that Ukrainian forces lacked critical equipment.
"When Ukraine launched its big counteroffensive this spring, Western military officials knew Kyiv didn’t have all the training or weapons—from shells to warplanes—that it needed to dislodge Russian forces." The report continued, "But they hoped Ukrainian courage and resourcefulness would carry the day. They Haven’t."
Anna Oliinyk, a Ukrainian soldier, told the Post that she hoped the losses would be worth the price...
"We’ve got all these guys coming back from the front line without limbs," she said. "I want the price they paid to be reasonable. Otherwise it’s just useless, what they went through." — The Libertarian Institute
Taliban’s Massively Successful Opium Eradication Raises Questions About What US Was Doing All Along
The Taliban government in Afghanistan – the nation that until recently produced 90% of the world’s heroin – has drastically reduced opium cultivation across the country. Western sources estimate an up to 99% reduction in some provinces. This raises serious questions about the seriousness of U.S. drug eradication efforts in the country over the past 20 years. And, as global heroin supplies dry up, experts tell MintPress News that they fear this could spark the growing use of fentanyl – a drug dozens of times stronger than heroin that already kills more than 100,000 Americans yearly.
It has already been called “the most successful counter-narcotics effort in human history.” Armed with little more than sticks, teams of counter-narcotics brigades travel the country, cutting down Afghanistan’s poppy fields.
In April of last year, the ruling Taliban government announced the prohibition of poppy farming, citing both their strong religious beliefs and the extremely harmful social costs that heroin and other opioids – derived from the sap of the poppy plant – have wrought across Afghanistan.
It has not been all bluster. New research from geospatial data company Alcis suggests that poppy production has already plummeted by around 80% since last year. Indeed, satellite imagery shows that in Helmand Province, the area that produces more than half of the crop, poppy production has dropped by a staggering 99%. Just 12 months ago, poppy fields were dominant. But Alcis estimates that there are now less than 1,000 hectares of poppy growing in Helmand.
Instead, farmers are planting wheat, helping stave off the worst of a famine that U.S. sanctions helped create. Afghanistan is still in a perilous state, however, with the United Nations warning that six million people are close to starvation. — MintPress 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.
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.
Thanks gang for the great Takes on your selection of Briefs.
I don't know what kind of Doomer whining y'all hear day-in and day-out with the public platforms you have, but for me, I am COMFYAF!!!
Keep up the great work.
God Wins!
God Bless!!!
The news cycle is more like a cyclone these days! Loving it:) And yes, 100%, Trumpers, Truthers, Anons, etc, should be swinging from the chandeliers and shouting "Hallelujah!!!" Trump has said, "We have a plan and it's going well" and "You are going to love the way this turns out". Tho I have known all along that we would win, and win BIG, I am still constantly surprised at the wealth of Exposure and Discovery!
Thankyou Badlands, again. Tho you haven't been around long, you are right up there with The Gateway Pundit, and in some ways, better:)