Marc Andreessen: AI Plus Woke Equals Dystopia

Someone should tell Politico's senior foreign affairs correspondent Nahal Toosi that Team America: World Police was meant to be a comedy, not an instructional film. Yet on Sunday Toosi was strategizing how to get President-elect Trump deep into the Syria mess that he wants to avoid. Her story in which she ditches any hint of attempting to be an objective reporter in favor of a flat out advocate for foreign interference by Trump is made crystal clear in the title of her more than obvious pitch piece, "How to Convince a Reluctant Trump to Get Involved in a Liberated Syria." “American leadership matters for the whole world,” Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a former ambassador in Washington, said during the IISS Manama Dialogue. “It is time for America, under your presidency, to change the course of this troubled region.” Maybe the prince was trying to boost the ego of a self-obsessed politician, a man whose famous quotes include “I alone can fix it.” Pssst! Nahal, if you want to nudge someone to take your advice, perhaps not the best idea to describe him in public as having "the ego of a self-obsessed politician." Toosi continues revealing that her oozing TDS condescension trumps (pun intended) any sense of diplomacy on her part: ...based on my conversations with half a dozen people in Trump’s orbit and others who’ve worked for him, telling the incoming president that America should take the lead on some global issue is more likely to annoy than persuade him. It might even backfire. The better approach? Show him what you’re doing for the United States, especially if you’re investing in the American economy; lay out your plan to solve the latest crisis; and assure him that you’re willing to take the lead. Then, maybe, he might help you. It’s not what America can do for you, but what you can do for America — if not Trump himself. ...to convince Trump, the regional leaders may have to put a finer point on things. They could, for instance, tout the money U.S. businesses could make helping rebuild Syria. I won’t sugarcoat all this, though. Similar arguments about Ukraine have had limited effect on Trump. Some serious creativity will be needed. But given that Trump is inconsistent and unpredictable, who knows what he will do, even about a country he has described as “sand and death.” Toosi concludes her interventionist appeal by condescendingly suggesting waving what she thinks are the Trump version of shiny trinkets in front of him. “Check the sovereign wealth funds,” one Arab diplomat advised me. He might want to take along some screenshots of those investment portfolios the next time he sees Trump. Now you wouldn't be thinking that Trump could get stuck in a Middle East quagmire would you, Nahal? You only have what are in the best interests of America and Trump in mind without any thought about what happened with Lyndon B. Johnson in Vietnam....or Bush/Cheney in Iraq. 

Never waste an opportunity to trash Donald Trump by dragging him into a story, no matter how tenuously related. That could be Joe Scarborough's motto, given his performance on Tuesday's Morning Joe. Scarborough managed to exploit the acquittal of Daniel Perry in his New York City trial to suggest that Trump was fairly convicted by a jury there. He boasted: "A jury of his peers found him not guilty. A lot of people that were also screaming when a jury of peers found Donald Trump guilty, of course. They [the jurors] were dismissed as hacks. Well, in the same Manhattan jury pool, a jury of Daniel Penny's peers found him not guilty." Scarborough suppressed the glaring differences between the two cases. Unlike the Penny case, Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg boasted during his campaign that he intended to go after Trump, much like New York Attorney General Letitia James did.  As for the jury pool, Penny had never run for office. In contrast, Manhattanites gave Trump only 12 percent of the vote in 2020. So the odds were high that the jury was stacked with people who were, going in, opposed to Trump. And if any jurors were Morning Joe viewers, they would have been immersed in years of Scarborough branding Trump a fascist, and a mortal threat to American democracy.     Even liberals like Jonathan Chait and Ruth Marcus had criticized Bragg's indictment of Trump.  The Penny and Trump cases are apples and oranges. Although, Scarborough's attempt to drag Trump into the Penny case was bananas. The Penny case gave all members of the panel the chance to describe their experiences on the New York subway. When it was his turn, Eugene Robinson let his elitism show. He said: "I'm not a New Yorker. I've ridden the subway on occasion. I usually get lost. I take an express when I should have taken a local, or vice versa. And I end up -- [snickers] I've seen parts of Queens and the Bronx that I really never intended to see. As someone who was born in the Bronx and grew up there and in Queens, I'm so sorry, Gene, that your delicate eyes were subjected to seeing parts of New York of no interest to you. Stick to the tony parts of Manhattan, and leave us Outer Borough types alone.  The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: MSNBC's Morning Joe 12/10/24 6:11 am EDT MIKA BRZEZINSKI: A verdict has been reached in the case involving Marine veteran Daniel Penny and Jordan Neely, a homeless man, that Penny -- who Penny put into a chokehold on a New York City subway that resulted in Neely's death. Penny has been acquitted of criminally negligent homicide after Neely's final moments were captured on video by a bystander that set off weeks of protests and drew national attention. The decision came on the fifth day of deliberations after the jury was deadlocked last week on manslaughter charges, which the judge later dismissed. JOE SCARBOROUGH: And, and, Tom, a jury of his peers found him not guilty. A lot of people that were also screaming when a jury of peers found Donald Trump guilty, of course, they were, they were dismissed as hacks. Well, in the same Manhattan jury pool, a jury of, of Daniel Penny's peers found him not guilty. . . .  EUGENE ROBINSON:  But the New York subway, you know I'm not a New Yorker. I've ridden the subway on occasion. I usually get lost. I take an express when I should have taken a local, or vice versa. And I end up -- SCARBOROUGH: That happens to us all. You wind up in Flushing Meadow when you were trying to get to Macy's in midtown. It's terrible. ROBINSON: Exactly. I've seen parts of Queens and the Bronx that I really never intended to see.

The United States Border Patrol issued a warning to its officers to prepare for potential gunfire following reports that a Mexican cartel had issued a hit against agents.A Border Patrol memo from Thursday, obtained by NewsNation, stated that the San Diego Sector Intelligence Unit received an alert on December 4 "regarding a possible threat" to agents stationed at the Imperial Beach and Chula Vista Border Patrol Stations.'They fear no one anymore, especially the US law enforcement.'"Information received indicated top cartel leaders ordered the shooting towards agents in response and retaliation for an incident that occurred," it read.The memo referred to a November 27 incident in which a Border Patrol officer struck an illegal immigrant with a patrol vehicle. According to the agency, the individual was a cartel member.Video footage of the incident showed a group of men attempting to scale the border wall. NewsNation reported that these men were aiding another person in unlawfully crossing the border when a Border Patrol agent, responding to the breach, struck the alleged cartel member.The agency stated that the driver was fixated on two other individuals who were actively scaling the wall when he hit the man."Therefore, cartel leaders are angered, claiming the incident occurred without cause or remorse," the Border Patrol's memo stated. "The information received indicated the shooting could possibly occur over the next few days."The agency advised agents to remain vigilant. NewsNation's Ali Bradley reported that activists have called for the Border Patrol agent who struck the suspected cartel member to be fired. The incident is still under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office and Customs and Border Protection's Office of Professional Responsibility. "Sources within border patrol leadership tell me that anytime the cartel threatens to shoot an agent it should be taken seriously and the san diego Sector should be on high alert," Bradley wrote in a post on X. The man who was struck "got up and ran back to Mexico," according to Bradley.CBP confirmed that two of the men were arrested in connection with the "human smuggling incident." It is unclear if the man who was hit by the patrol vehicle was one of those detained. The Sinaloa Cartel previously issued an order for its members to shoot at Border Patrol agents in Texas after its co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada was arrested. Victor Avila, a former Department of Homeland Security agent, told NewsNation, "This is the difference of the evolution of the cartels. They fear no one anymore, especially the U.S. law enforcement.""We know that they have no regard, and they do whatever they want in Mexico, and they're running a parallel government over there," he stated. "In fact they do have the resources, and in fact they do have the capabilities and will use them against us."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

New York Attorney General Letitia James is refusing to drop a nearly half-billion dollar judgment against President-elect Donald Trump despite his victory, NBC News reported.Not coincidentally, James campaigned for her office on the promise she'd go after Trump — then gave a bizarre, cryptic speech the day after Trump's election win last month vowing to "fight back" against him.'I dare you to try to continue your lawfare against President Trump in his second term.'In the end, she rejected Trump's request to drop her $486 million civil fraud judgment against him, NBC News noted."This Office will not stipulate to vacate the final judgment" against Trump and his company "or otherwise seek to dismiss the action," a lawyer for James' office said in a letter to Trump attorney John Sauer, the news network reported.Sauer last month asked James' office to voluntarily dismiss the case, saying it could interfere with Trump's duties as president and that she should drop it in order to promote "unity," NBC News said, adding that Sauer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.Judith Vale, New York's deputy solicitor general, told Sauer in the letter made public Tuesday that there's "no merit to your claim that the pendency of defendants’ own appeal will impede Mr. Trump’s official duties as President," the news network said.Vale also eschewed Sauer's assertion that James should mimic special counsel Jack Smith, who dropped his two federal cases against Trump, and the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who agreed to indefinitely postpone, but not drop, Trump's sentencing on state felony charges, NBC News added.However, some judges in a New York appeals court in September seemed receptive to reversing or reducing the civil fraud judgment against Trump, the Associated Press reported. The outlet said the court either could uphold the original verdict, reduce or modify the penalty, or overturn the verdict; a majority of the five appellate judges must agree on a judgment alteration.Odd speechThe day after Trump decisively beat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, James turned quite a few heads with a bizarre and cryptic speech vowing to "fight back" against the president-elect.James spoke somberly with whispered endings to phrases, frequent dramatic pauses, and clipped, halting pronunciations of key words that seemed to reflect anger, shock, and sadness over Trump's victory."We did not expect this result, but we are prepared to respond to this result," James went on to say. "And my office has been preparing for several months because we've been here before. We faced this challenge before, and we used the rule of law to fight back. And we are prepared to fight back once again, because as the attorney general of this great state, it is my job to protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law. And I will not shrink from that responsibility."You can view video of her relevant remarks here starting at the 9:20 mark.'Let me just say this to Big Tish James'One prominent Trump legal ally was having none of James' tough talk — and gave it right back to her.Attorney Mike Davis — founder of the Article III Project, which "defends constitutionalist judges and the rule of law" — blasted James during an appearance on "The Benny Show" podcast Thursday."Let me just say this to Big Tish James, the New York attorney general," Davis said. "I dare you to try to continue your lawfare against President Trump in his second term. Because listen here, sweetheart: We’re not messing around this time. And we will put your fat ass in prison for conspiracy against rights, and I promise you that."Davis also warned James to "think long and hard before you want to violate President Trump’s constitutional rights or any other American’s constitutional rights. ... It’s not gonna happen again."Fox News said it reached out to James' office seeking a response to Davis' comments.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

In an ironic twist of fate, some of the best news recently reported is the news that corporate media platforms like MSNBC and CNN are collapsing under the weight of low ratings and biased reporting. “That is good news because we don’t need propagandists and demagogues,” Mark Levin of “LevinTV” says. “Either you’re an opinion show or you're a news show, but you can’t be both at the same time.” Comcast owns MSNBC, which it is now going to “spin off.” “MSNBC, we know what that is. That’s America Pravda and Al Jazeera. It’s about as sleazy and awful as it gets, and their ratings dead, their hosts are maniacal, it’s just terrible,” Levin says, guessing that “spin it off” means they’ll “eventually sell it to get it out from the umbrella corporation.” “That would be a good thing, but you know, it’ll probably be like garage-sale prices because who wants a losing network of a bunch of Marxists, Islamists, and low-IQ morons,” he continues. And it isn’t just MSNBC that’s changing things up, as even Jeff Bezos made waves when he refused to allow the Washington Post to endorse Kamala Harris for president. “Even though he’s a liberal, the newsroom, as they call it, rose up against him, because he didn’t want an editorial endorsing any candidate,” Levin says. “So he says, ‘We’re going to fix this. I’m changing the Washington Post.’” The owner of the L.A. Times also refused to publish an editorial endorsing Kamala Harris and fired the entire editorial board instead. “What’s happening here is the American people have had enough. They’re not watching MSNBC. CNN is going to have they said, ‘huge layoffs.’ Why? They have no ratings. MSNBC has no ratings, and they’re not making any money,” Levin explains. After Trump’s landslide victory, the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” even attempted to make amends with the president-elect in anticipation of what’s to come. “Mika and Joe Scarborough saw they have a problem as they waddled down to Mar-a-Lago to kiss President Trump’s ring,” Levin says, adding, “‘Hey, Hitler, can we come see you?’” Want more from Mark Levin?To enjoy more of "the Great One" — Mark Levin as you've never seen him before — subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

President-elect Donald Trump announced a plan to encourage business investment in the U.S. for his second term in the White House. Polling after the astounding results of the election found that many Americans voted on the basis that Republicans could be trusted to manage the economy far better than Democrats. Among the economic concerns was the high inflation that hit American budgets during the Biden administration. Wall Street titans, including bankers and investors, expect that Trump's policies will be a boon for big business.Trump said that he would incentivize business investment by cutting regulations. "Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals," wrote Trump on social media. "GET READY TO ROCK!!!" he added all in caps. Trump's second term will likely be very friendly to business interests and expanding the economy. After he was declared the winner in November, the stock market soared to historic highs on the hope that profits might increase under his policies. A poll in 2023 found that 54% of respondents trust Republicans on the economy while only 45% said they trust Democrats on the economy. 51% of respondents said that they believe the economy was in a slump. A New York Times report published Tuesday found that Wall Street titans, including bankers and investors, expect that Trump's policies will be a boon for big business. Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase said that his industry was "dancing in the street" over Republican victories in the Oval Office, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. Trump has also announced a plan to impose heavy tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China in order to pressure them to increase efforts to stop illegal immigration as well as the flow of illicit drugs from their countries into the U.S. Some free-market proponents have warned that Trump's love of tariffs could push the U.S. into trade wars with other nations that would likely lead to job losses and higher prices on imported goods.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

U.S. law enforcement officials announced the arrest of six Guatemalan nationals allegedly involved in the deaths of more than 50 immigrants in an accident related to human smuggling in Mexico. According to an indictment unsealed Monday, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Guatemalan police arrested four of the suspects in Guatemala. Another suspect was arrested at his home in Cleveland, Texas, and Guatemalan officials noted a sixth arrest.'Human smugglers should heed these charges and arrests as a warning: you will be held accountable for your deadly crimes.' The indictments were announced on the third anniversary of a horrendous semi-trailer truck crash in the Mexican state of Chiapas, during which more than 50 immigrants were killed, including children. Officials believe the truck was carrying at least 160 immigrants when it rolled over and crashed into a pedestrian bridge in Tuxtla Gutierrez. Another 100 immigrants were injured in the mass casualty event. The indictment accused the suspects of conspiring to smuggle the immigrants through Mexico to the U.S. for payment and being responsible for the crash. Among the charges against them are conspiracy, placing life in jeopardy, and causing serious bodily injury. Guatemalan officials said the U.S. is seeking extradition of four suspects arrested in Gautemala. They also said the smugglers were a part of a criminal organization called Los Quino. “The tragedy that occurred three years ago today in Chiapas is further proof that human smugglers are ruthless, callous, and dangerous,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. "DHS will continue to disrupt and dismantle illegal human smuggling operations and help bring those who perpetrate such horror to justice.”"Human smugglers should heed these charges and arrests as a warning: you will be held accountable for your deadly crimes,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

It truly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Here in Scotland I've seen my first flurries of snow, caught my mandatory Christmas cold, and had my first sip of Bailey's hot chocolate. As the nights grow darker I've been spending most of my free time on Supervive, spiking unsuspecting foes into the abyss and trying my best to dodge those pesky bullet trains as the storm rolls in. In the wake of a successful open beta, the MOBA brawler hybrid's first winter event is here, and it's going to make League of Legends players oh so very envious. Continue reading Supervive unveils winter event, featuring a snowy map and new powers MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MOBAs, Best battle royale games, Best multiplayer games

While third-party mods flooded Starfield mere days after it launched last year, official Bethesda-approved mod support and tools only arrived in June - and some of the best ones come at a cost, too. Well, here’s a free Starfield Creations mod that absolutely everyone playing the galactic RPG should download, because not only does it give you a suit and weapons based on the iconic Doom series, there’s also a dark new quest to go with it. Continue reading This official Doom themed Starfield mod lets you play a hellish new quest MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best old games, Best FPS games, Best zombie games