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When News Isn’t News

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The formula for successful entertainment is short and sweet… conflict. Without conflict movies and television would have no viewers.

By Michael Caporale

When news programming learned this lesson, they introduced opposing pundits to create conflict under the guise of being “fair and balanced.” Whether it’s a police chief and an attorney for the mother of a slain Afro-American son, a hypocrite politician and an emotional constituent, a Republican and a Democrat, a conservative and a progressive, an idiot and a scholar, a scientist and a religious fanatic, all are designed to further conflict.


PLEASE NOTE:  Mobilized is apolitical.  We do not endorse any political party or candidate. However, in these divisive times, we recognize that open discussion is necessary for the resolution of divergent opinions.  Consequently, we have added a new section called FORUMS that will host important OPINIONS posted my Mobilized Members.  These are the opinions of the members alone and do not represent Mobilized News.


It’s time we realized that Pundit news is unwittingly deepening the American divide and stimulating violent conflict on the streets, an expression of the divide, thus propagating real news that can be filmed and displayed. News without a defined editorial purpose has become an agent of chaos rather than clarity.

But there’s another problem. The news is diluted and whitewashed to be palatable to the lowest common denominator, thus rendering it something fit for children rather than adults.

Now I’m really talking about cable news which is not subject to the strict regulations under which broadcast news is licensed. Cable channels can safely use fowl language in the context of reportage of statements made by on camera interviews, yet it is constantly replaced by proxy language such as “the n-word,” the “F-bomb”, the “s-word,” the “c-word” and so on, thus it dulls the effect of hearing such bad language from the mouth of a person not worthy of our respect. It also limits the emotional outrage of the expression itself.

Another example of how news dumbs down content is the ever-present block digitization that obfuscates an image, usually that of children or violent acts. The practice began with legal advisors telling journalists not to show the faces of children when photographing the news. This practice was originally initiated to deny would-be kidnappers and sexual deviants from identifying children on the playground and taking action against them. Now the out-of-focus haze is applied to the faces of migrant Latino children crossing the border in large groups, and wounded children in Palestine and Ukraine and other conflict zones for what reason? To protect them? How does this practice protect them? It denies them the full empathy they deserve, the kind that motivates viewers to get involved and take action.

And let’s also get real about the depiction of violence. Granted it’s not something anyone wants to see, but to assume that an audience cannot withstand the shock of violent imagery is foolhardy in an age where extreme bloody violence is an every-day occurrence in mass entertainment. From video games to Wrestling, to movies like “Braveheart,” it’s not just the kids being conditioned to watch violence in its extremes. Blood is everywhere but news depicting face-ghosted children being carried to an ambulance in a war zone. It blunts the reality and horror of violence, especially that done on our behalf. Once it was brought home in the seventies, it ended a war in Viet Nam. News has the responsibility to deliver objective facts whether distasteful or otherwise.

To see the extreme depths that the practice of obfuscation has plummeted, just take a look at this screen grab from a recent CNN news story, showing the view of a police dashcam. It’s utterly useless and absurd. That should tell you a lot of how we are regarded, not as potential agents of change but as hapless, entranced viewers basking in the golden glow of pure drivel.

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Behind Closed Doors: Putin, Power & The Private Empire

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Behind the Curtain: Putin, Power & The Private Empire

A bold new book rips the veil off Vladimir Putin’s secret life — exposing the mafia ties, personal betrayals, and power plays that shaped modern Russia.

Courtesy: Organized Crime and  Corruption and Reporting Project

The Tsar In Propria Persona by Roman Badanin & Mikhail Rubin pulls no punches.

Why it matters

Russia’s president has crafted an image of tradition, discipline, and moral superiority. But behind that curated façade is a reality of strip clubs, criminal mentors, marital collapse, and oligarchic favoritism — a parallel system that helps explain the logic behind modern authoritarian rule.

“Putin’s private life is many times more important than his public life.”
Roman Badanin

Key revelations

  • Mob mentorship: Putin’s early mentor was violent gang figure Leonid Usvyatsov — possibly instrumental in his law school admission.
  • Marital breakdown: His marriage collapsed under “constant humiliation,” lavish living, and affairs housed in state-owned apartments.
  • Strip club diplomacy: Putin held meetings at Luna, a St. Petersburg strip club protected by a mob boss — his signed photo still hangs there.
  • State-sponsored scandal: Putin helped orchestrate a “honeytrap” against the General Prosecutor to secure the Kremlin’s loyalty.

Big takeaway

Behind the nationalism and war rhetoric lies a man of wealth, revenge, and relationships — not values.

“Oblivion is Putin’s main ally… The bad guys are erasing our memory of them.”
Roman Badanin

Systemic decay

  • Courts and archives sealed
  • ️ Media crushed
  • Truth-tellers exiled

“This book cost us our homeland.”
Badanin, now in exile with Rubin in the U.S.

The deeper system

  • Kremlin-controlled media
  • ✝️ Orthodox Church as political tool
  • Family & friends profiting from Putin’s power

This book joins the canon of Putin’s Kleptocracy and Putin’s People — offering a uniquely personal lens into authoritarian power.

Bottom line

The real Putin isn’t the one behind the podium. He’s the one behind closed doors — where power is personal, history is rewritten, and no one is safe.

Available now in Russian.
Translations pending.
MobilizedNews.com/PutinFiles

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Uncovering Brazil’s Devastation Law Project

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A national rollback with global consequences

The Big Picture: Brazil is on the brink of enacting PL 2159/2021, a sweeping environmental rollback known by civil society as the Devastation Law Project — a move that risks accelerating deforestation, gutting oversight, and violating Indigenous rights.

“This isn’t just bad for Brazil — it’s a global threat.”

⚠️ Why it matters

The Amazon and other Brazilian biomes play a critical role in climate stability, biodiversity protection, and carbon absorption. Weakening Brazil’s environmental licensing system will:

  • Accelerate legal and illegal deforestation
  • Increase greenhouse gas emissions
  • Violate Indigenous peoples’ rights and global climate treaties
  • Undermine EU-Brazil trade negotiations, especially the EU-Mercosur deal

What’s in the bill (PL 2159/2021)

If passed, the law would:

  • ✅ Allow self-licensing of polluting activities via online forms
  • ❌ Remove requirements for environmental impact assessments
  • ️ Shift licensing power to states and municipalities, creating regulatory chaos
  • Exempt entire sectors like agribusiness from federal environmental review

“This bill legalizes deforestation and fragments national environmental protection.”
— Civil society organizations in Brazil

What this means for the world

For Brazil:
Undermines national climate targets, weakens biodiversity safeguards, and threatens Indigenous and Quilombola communities.

For the EU:
Contradicts core values of human rights and environmental protection — and could derail the EU-Mercosur agreement.

“This law is incompatible with EU environmental and human rights standards.”
— Members of European Parliament

️ How we got here

Brazil’s current government, under pressure from agribusiness and extractive sectors, has prioritized deregulation over protection — enabling this law to pass the Senate in May 2025. A vote in the Chamber of Deputies is expected soon.

“Environmental governance has been dismantled. What remains now is resistance — and international solidarity.”
— Brazilian civil society leaders

What the experts say

“The bill poses serious and irreversible risks to human rights, climate stability, biodiversity, and Indigenous sovereignty.”
— EU Special Rapporteurs

What must happen next

EU leaders are being urged to:

  • Denounce the law publicly
  • Condition trade agreements on environmental protections
  • Delay ratification of EU-Mercosur until this law is defeated
  • Stand in solidarity with Indigenous and environmental defenders

Bottom line:

PL 2159/2021 isn’t just a law — it’s a climate test for Brazil, the EU, and the planet.

  • It will set the tone ahead of COP30 in Belém.
  • It will reveal whether global leaders walk the talk on environmental justice.

Environmental protection is not a local issue. It’s a global pact.

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Behind the Scam: How Fraud Rings Steal Millions

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Modern scammers aren’t lone wolves — they’re global operations backed by shell companies, software, and social media ads.

Source: Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project

A new investigation by OCCRP reveals the architecture behind two major international scams — and the businesses powering them.

Why it matters

Fraud is no longer just a crime — it’s an industry.
Scammers rely on marketing pros, tech platforms, shell firms, and unregulated payment systems to siphon billions from victims around the world — and often go unpunished.

️ The Scam Blueprint

Fraud follows a 3-step pipeline — each powered by a network of legitimate-looking service providers:

1. Catching Victims

Scammers use slick digital marketing to lure victims:

  • Affiliate marketers create fake ads with phony celebrity endorsements.
  • Ad platforms like Meta, Google, and Taboola profit by running the ads.
  • Goal: Capture personal info from “leads” — then sell them to call centers.

Notable marketers involved:
MGA Team, Sierra Media, Oray Ads, CRYP

2. Running the Scam

Once leads are in, call centers act fast:

  • CRM software tracks every interaction and deposit.
  • VoIP tools spoof international numbers.
  • Admin firms hide the true operators.

Tech & Services Used:
Getlinked.io, PumaTS, AnyDesk
VoIP: Coperato, Squaretalk
Admin: Za Traiding, Maximateam, Clear IT

3. Getting the Money

Scammers guide victims through transferring funds:

  • Payment service providers use fake documents and shell firms to move funds.
  • Shell companies obscure the final destination of money.

Financial enablers named:
Revolut, Wise, Santander, BBVA
Payment networks: Bankio, Britain Local
Shell firms: Selterico SL, Greencode, Purplesun

The Takeaway

This isn’t petty crime — it’s infrastructure-enabled fraud.

“Billions are stolen through an industrialized pipeline of deception,” OCCRP reports.

Each piece — the ad, the call, the fake platform, the fake company — builds the illusion.
⚠️ And the same systems that enable startups and remote work also power global crime rings.

️ What’s next?

Governments are behind the curve.
Enforcement lags while scams scale up.
Without accountability for tech platforms and tighter oversight on shell firms, these scams won’t stop — they’ll grow smarter.

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