A provocative commentary by Cortney Weil appearing at Blaze Media last week warned against “black-pilling.” Weil associated this activity with a misguided right whose members are underestimating Donald Trump’s chances of being re-elected. This unhelpful gloom, we are told, might foster despair among those who otherwise would be working energetically for a Republican victory in November.Although Weil warns against pessimism, she doesn’t quite prove that it’s misplaced. She is just upset to hear defeatist attitudes coming from the ranks, even if they’re justified. Moreover, Weil indiscriminately throws together two groups that are spreading this gloom, both of which she identifies with the right. As someone who most emphatically favors the right, I can’t figure out how I’m in the same camp as National Review’s Jim Geraghty. Like others at his magazine, Geraghty earns his bread by attacking Trump while fronting for the now displaced Republican establishment.It is naïve to believe we are not living through a government-driven cultural revolution, one that the media, the culture industry, and American schools are pushing nonstop.Also, unlike Isaac Schorr, who is published in the moderately conservative New York Post, I have not condemned Trump for naming JD Vance as his running mate. I’m delighted that the former president made that choice. In fact, I would be happy to vote for Vance for any office.Weil unfortunately failed to make an important distinction. The honest right expresses pessimism, while those who profit from their association with the old Republican establishment ridicule Trump. These two groups do not overlap, and they certainly don't question Trump's chances of re-election for the same reasons.Although a distributor of black pills, I am nonetheless rooting for Trump and Vance. I even placed a highly visible sign for them on my front lawn and sent several contributions to their campaign.I would be amazed if they won, for all the reasons other pessimistic right-wingers have highlighted. I believe Democrats cheat, which is why they introduce less secure forms of voting and try to give the vote to illegal aliens they deliberately bring into this country to boost their party’s numbers. The left also controls most vital institutions in the United States, especially government administration, the mass media, and educational institutions.Considering the insanely radical positions of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, which they held until only recently, this election shouldn’t even be close. I’m struck by the absence of a mass outcry that Harris has deliberately avoided interviews and policy questions. In a normal society, I would also expect to find very widespread revulsion for the elementary school gibberish in which she speaks.But this is not the case. Kamala’s popularity has been growing, or is at least staying the same, no matter how hard she runs away from questions and no matter how frenetically the media shields her.Further, the inflation of abortion rights into a leading electoral issue should cause one to doubt the Fox News bromide that American voters are reasonable. Since the Dobbs decision that supposedly stripped women of their “reproductive rights,” more abortions have been performed in America than before. That Kamala Harris is now pinning her race on abortion as her “key issue” and is achieving success by doing so should lead us to question the rationality of about half the American electorate.The fact that the Democratic candidates are tied and possibly ahead in a race against a former president who presided over an excellent economy, well-protected borders, and safe streets indicates how powerful the ubiquitous left has become. This is not a temporary blip in our political and cultural situation. It reflects long-established trends in our national life which go back at least as far as the 1960s.It is naïve to believe we are not living through a government-driven cultural revolution, one that the media, the culture industry, and American schools are pushing nonstop. This transformation has influenced our politics profoundly, which makes me hesitate to designate Trump and Vance as the likely victors in the presidential election.Even if “our guys” prevail and their party does better than expected in congressional races, the battle against an all-pervasive left remains. That left may even accelerate the warfare launched during Trump’s first term. Why would anyone think the left’s attempt to wear down its opposition would stop simply because the Republicans won some elections?Trump’s victory would likely lead to well-planned riots and the further weaponization of the administrative state. Meanwhile, the media would be openly calling for Trump’s removal from office by any means. And oh yes, our adversaries would have ample financial resources to achieve their ends thanks to America’s woke capitalist class.Although the other side may be obnoxious, let’s not underestimate their will to gain power nor their resourcefulness in going after what they want. If pointing that out means serving black pills, then I’ll gladly plead guilty.

The 29-year-old former girlfriend to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday for her part in the massive cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. 'I've seen a lot of cooperators in 30 years here. I've never seen one quite like Ms. Ellison.' Caroline Ellison had been the CEO of Alameda Research, a privately-controlled hedge fund that Bankman-Fried had been improperly funneling money into from the massive FTX cryptocurrency exchange. In Dec. 2022, Ellison pleaded guilty to seven counts related to the scheme, including conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Although she faced up to 110 years in prison for the seven charges, a judge in New York gave her a shortened sentence due to her "very, very substantial" cooperation with the government's case against her former boyfriend and other FTX executives."She cooperated and he denied the whole thing," said Judge Lewis Kaplan. "I've seen a lot of cooperators in 30 years here. I've never seen one quite like Ms. Ellison."Bankman-Fried had previously been ordered by Kaplan to turn over $11 billion in funds to the government in order to compensate the victims of the FTX scandal. He was convicted on seven charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Kaplan went on to note that Bankman-Fried continued to claim innocence while Ellison had expressed guilt and regret. "You are genuinely remorseful," the judge continued. "He's sorry the gamble he took didn't work out, and he's really sorry he got caught."Ellison apologized for her behavior at a podium before the sentence was announced. "I want to apologize most of all to the victims," said a tearful Ellison. "Not a day goes by when I don't think about all the people I hurt."Bankman-Fried has filed an appeal of the conviction on the basis that it was an unfair trial a year after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Argentina’s firebrand leader, Javier Milei, keeps winning. He promised a libertarian revolution in the long-socialist country, and this month, he’s crushing inflation, advancing an austere new zero-deficit budget, and scheduling a high-level sit-down on the future of cryptocurrencies with the founder of Cardano. But unfortunately, there’s another side to Milei’s policy plans — one straight out of dystopian sci-fi. When Javier Milei secured the presidency of Argentina last November, the global far right erupted in celebration. Milei’s landslide victory over the Peronist candidate, Sergio Massa, by nearly 3 million votes ignited hope among populists worldwide. Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro were among the first to cheer their Argentine ally, with Trump confidently predicting that Milei would “truly make Argentina great again” and Bolsonaro praising the win as a triumph for “honesty, progress, and freedom.” The admiration and praise were understandable — after all, the Argentinian people elected a man of the people, someone who promised to do his utmost to work in their best interests. Authorities could potentially detain individuals based on predicted future crimes, stripping away the very essence of free will and personal liberty. Which makes Milei’s latest initiative so baffling and unsettling. Under his leadership, Argentina recently established a so-called Applied Artificial Intelligence for Security Unit. This new agency, part of the Ministry of Security, is tasked with leveraging AI to analyze vast amounts of historical crime data and monitor social media interactions, all to predict and prevent criminal activities. Such an initiative might seem forward-thinking and innovative. The idea that AI can forecast criminal behavior based on historical patterns sounds efficient, and perhaps in a certain way, it is. But it’s littered with potential land mines: overreach, profiling, and unwarranted surveillance. The emphasis on scanning social media for “potential threats” risks devolving into invasive scrutiny of the everyday lives of ordinary citizens, all under a vaguely defined and potentially overbroad mandate. Lamentably, this isn’t just about Milei or Argentina. AI-driven surveillance is becoming increasingly common in countries worldwide, including in the United States. In China, a country I worked in for 18 months, AI is already employed to monitor citizens’ behavior, with those deemed “untrustworthy” facing consequences ranging from travel bans to restricted access to social services. One could argue that the situation has already shifted, with cities like New York and London now resembling Beijing and Shanghai in terms of surveillance. Of course, this dystopian reality is eerily similar to what we’ve seen depicted in episodes of "Black Mirror" or the movie "Minority Report." Authorities could potentially detain individuals based on predicted future crimes, stripping away the very essence of free will and personal liberty. Social media posts, online searches, and even the most mundane activities could fall under the relentless gaze of automated systems designed to flag anything deemed suspicious. As if that’s not bad enough, these systems can easily be misused, leading to unwarranted interventions, the targeting of political dissenters, or the suppression of dissenting voices. As I write this, all across Europe, including in Ireland, my place of birth, "hate speech" laws are being implemented with increasing severity. Individuals found guilty of crossing the line, even through a social media post, are facing lengthy prison sentences. Now is the time for citizens and lawmakers to engage with these developments critically. Ensuring that the pursuit of security does not come at the cost of the liberties it aims to protect is of vital importance. AI can be a tool for good, but only if everyday people have a say in how it is used. The power to shape our future should not be left solely in the hands of governments or tech giants. We must demand transparency, accountability, and a say in how these technologies are deployed. Otherwise, Big Brother will get a whole lot bigger and, without a doubt, a whole lot badder.

A new game from Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series, is a big deal, but that new game, Fantasian, hasn't received the level of attention it seems like it should have, largely because it was originally made exclusively for iOS. After a few years available only on Apple devices, though, we learned that Fantasian would be heading to PC in a newly enhanced format under the title Fantasian Neo Dimension. Now, we finally know when this reworked version of the game will hit PC, and it's much sooner than anticipated. Continue reading Final Fantasy creator’s latest JRPG, Fantasian, just got a launch date MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best RPG games, Best JRPGs, Best fantasy games

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