Category: Political / Governments / Nations / Countries /

Some People Here Game,

and maybe you’ll get a good laugh out of this news I read on Showercap’s blog. Apparently Musk cheats and isn’t really a very good player. Earlier Sat. evening, I saw Musk on an old Big Bang Theory, acting at working in a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving. This was fun news to read after seeing that!

Now I’m not at all a gamer, though once upon a time I did all right at PacMan & Asteroids. I couldn’t care less about this sort of thing, but I find it funny to learn it about Musk. Two story snippets below:

Elon Musk Vs. Asmongold—The Gaming Feud, Explained

Elon Musk is currently in the midst of a feud with Twitch streamer Asmongold, after he was accused of boosting his ‘Path of Exile 2’ account, leading to Musk leaking Asmon’s private DMs.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is in the midst of a heated feud with gaming streamer Zack Hoyt, better known as “Asmongold,” who is accusing Musk of cheating at Path of Exile 2.

Asmongold is not the only gamer accusing Musk of cheating, as the larger gaming community, particularly Path of Exile players, believe that Musk is paying people to play games for him, leveling up his characters and arming them with powerful equipment—a practice known as “boosting.”

After Musk played Path of Exile 2 on a livestream, gamers quickly noticed that his actions did not match that of a proficient player, and compiled a list of evidence on Reddit that strongly implies that Musk is boosting his characters.

Commentators responded in bemused disbelief—one wrote that Musk “doesn’t seem to understand why he can’t pick up items when his inventory is full.”

It should be noted that Path of Exile 2 is a very difficult game that requires a serious time commitment to reach the level that Musk’s character achieved (level 97 on hardcore mode).

The prevailing sentiment is that a man who is running multiple businesses simply does not have time to do this.

What Happened With Elon Musk And Asmongold?

Like many gaming streamers, Asmongold watched Musk’s livestream of Path of Exile 2 and came to the conclusion that Musk did not know how to play the game properly.

Asmon took it a step further, and challenged Musk to prove that he had reached level 97 by himself.

If Musk could prove this, Asmon promised that he would stream on X (Twitter) for a full year. Once the news of Asmon’s challenge made its way to X, Musk didn’t take the criticism very well. (snip-More)

Elon Musk riles up a new corner of the internet: Gamers

Musk’s livestreams in which he plays a popular role-playing game have sparked some in the gaming community to speculate that he’s not the gamer he claims to be.

Elon Musk is battling critics on the internet, again. This time, it’s the video game community.

The tech titan has in recent days taken time away from his roles as SpaceX CEO and adviser to President-elect Donald Trump to call out some of the gaming world’s niche content creators, firing back at accusations that he is not quite the gamer he purports to be. 

The allegations amount to a sort of stolen valor for video games and center on some recent livestreams in which Musk played Path of Exile 2, a popular online role-playing game in which players select from a number of characters to end corruption spreading through the fictional world of Wraeclast. When playing on hardcore mode, as Musk does, when a character dies, its death is permanent. As gamers play, their characters level up, increasing in power and capability. 

But many gamers have pointed out what they say is a crucial discrepancy. Two of Musk’s characters were particularly powerful — among the top 100 most powerful in the world — when they were “alive” (two characters tied to Musk have since “died” and are now ranked in the 30s and 200s, respectively). The levels of Musk’s now-deceased characters would require dozens if not hundreds of hours of gameplay, depending on the gamer, to achieve. His skills, however, appear to be lacking, according to some gamers.

“I’m a huge fan of Elon Musk — but this is embarrassing and very silly,” Zack Hoyt, who is known as Asmongold to his 3.29 million subscribers on YouTube, said in a video posted Sunday. “It makes him look bad and it’s for absolutely no reason. It’s of no consequence and it achieves no goal.” 

Criticism toward the X CEO — who has for years described himself as an avid gamer — began gaining traction online after he livestreamed himself playing Path of Exile 2 on Jan. 7. Days later, in the Reddit community for the game, some accused Musk of having someone “boost” his account, or play for him. Others suggested he’s playing using a more skilled player’s account.  (snip-More)

Peace & Justice History for 1/19

January 19, 1966
The Georgia State House of Representatives refused to seat black state representative Julian Bond despite his election the previous November.
Their stated objection was his endorsement of a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee statement accusing the United States of violating international law in Vietnam.
In December 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Bond’s exclusion unconstitutional, and Bond was finally sworn in the following month.
Julian Bond
Read more  
January 19, 1991
25,000 marched in Washington, D.C. to protest massive U.S. bombing of Iraq in the first Gulf war, Operation Desert Storm.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjanuary.htm#january19

I Really Hate That This Made Me Snicker-

Be A Shame …

Mike Johnson’s Biblical World View And Help For California Wildfire Victims

I like what he says about the idea that you have to earn god’s love, you have to earn salvation.  This is in relation to the maga in congress not wanting to give aid to California for the fire assistance.  He points out that if you have to earn your salvation then you did it not Jesus.  And if you can do it on your own why need god?  He points out that the Jesus never required people to prove they were worth before he helped them.  Hugs

MAGA Policies and Christian Nationalist Rhetoric: America First Policy Institute Fills Trump’s Cabinet

https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/maga-policies-and-christian-nationalist-rhetoric-america-first-policy-institute

I keep saying these people won’t stop ever until they get their way.  They believe they are on a mission from their god to turn the entire country Christian.  But not just Christian, the kind of Christian they themselves are.  They want to force everyone to live according to their church doctrines.  Why?  I don’t understand it, but they think taking away the public’s freewill will make their god so happy he will return to give them their reward of a paradise on earth.  But I thought god’s kingdom was in heaven, not on earth?  But this idea that they and they alone know what god wants, that they and they alone have the right to tell others how to live, how to think, how to have sex, who to have sex with, what they can watch or listen to, even what god they can believe in, and how they are to pray to that god.  As they demand.  I do not get or understand what makes these people think they can rule other people, rule others lives, do all to others I have written above.  Why can they not give others the same rights they demand for themselves, the right to live their lives and worship as they please?  But please notice the wealthy person bankrolling so much of the effort to turn Texas in to a theocracy.  Think about his actions when others try to stop him to protect democracy?   He smears them to try to destroy them.  This is the type of Christian warrior he is and they are.  Do as I say not as I do, or the big one, it is OK to do bad things in the name of Jesus.   Hugs.

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Donald Trump in a tuxedo speaks at a lectern in front of logos for the America First Policy Institute and its political arm, America First Works.
Donald Trump at a November 2024 gala for America First Policy Institute and its political arm America First Works
 
by 
Peter Montgomery

The America First Policy Institute, a MAGA movement think tank founded by former Trump aides, has raised millions in tax-exempt funds to promote policies that would undermine public education, restrict access to abortion, limit voter registration and voting, roll back environmental protections, gut government’s ability to regulate corporate behavior, pursue campaigns against transgender people, and more.

AFPI has provided money, an institutional home, and political platforms to many of the people Trump has nominated to run the country; quite a few high-level Trump nominees have AFPI connections, including:

  • Pam Bondi, Attorney General (Chair, AFPI Center for Litigation; co-chair Center for Law and Justice) 
  • Kash Patel, FBI (Senior Fellow, AFPI Center for American Security)
  • Linda McMahon, Education (Board chair; chair, Center for the American Worker)
  • Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency (Chair, China Policy Initiative & Pathway to 2025)
  • John Ratcliffe, Central Intelligence Agency (C-chair Center for National Security)
  • Doug Collins, Veterans Affairs (head of Georgia AFPI Chapter)
  • Brooke Rollins, Agriculture (Co-founder, President and CEO)
  • Kevin Hassett, National Economic Council (Chair, Board of Academic Advisors)
  • Matthew Whitaker, NATO (Co-chair, Center for Law & Justice)
  • Casey Mulligan, Small Business Administration, chief counsel (Board of Academic Advisors)

Trump’s first public speech after winning the 2024 election was at an AFPI gala at Mar-a-Lago, where he was joined by other MAGA luminaries, including HHS nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and “Department of Government Efficiency” leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

AFPI founder Rollins has bragged about the group’s “revolutionary” plans to seize control of the “administrative state.” The group’s agenda for the incoming administration—its “transition project”—is in some ways even more radical than the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. AFPI believes Trump should be allowed to fire and replace any federal employee at will – potentially converting the entire federal workforce into a massive and corrupt political patronage system. AFPI has reportedly prepared 300 executive orders for Trump.

As an officer at the America First Policy Institute, Bondi tried to undermine special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of Trump by arguing that his appointment was unconstitutional. She oversaw what the Brennan Center has called “a number of troubling voting rights and election lawsuits,” leading the pro-democracy organization to conclude, “Her record on voting and elections raises questions about her ability to be the attorney general the American public deserves.”

In a case in which AFPI sought to empower local election officials to delay or block certification of elections, AFPI’s arguments were “meritless and radical,” according to the Brennan Center. In another case filed shortly before, even notorious pro-Trump Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk rejected AFPI’s “emergency” request to block a Biden executive order on voter registration that had been in place for several years. Kacsmaryk wrote that AFPI’s request provided “no direct evidence” to support its claims. The Brennan Center noted that the lawsuit “served to amplify baseless conspiracy theories about noncitizen voting.”

AFPI is funded in part by Tim Dunn, who the Texas Monthly has called “the billionaire bully who wants to turn Texas into a Christian theocracy.” Dunn is notorious for funding smear campaigns against Texas Republicans who don’t fall in line with his demands. Dunn poured millions of dollars into the effort to elect Trump to a second term, and supports other right-wing causes, like the Convention of States’ efforts to rewrite the U.S. Constitution. In a 2019 speech to Convention of States, Dunn argued that the Bible is “mainly about politics” and said that COS is triggering a Great Awakening.

Not so surprisingly, AFPI promotes Christian nationalist rhetoric; AFPI leaders have described their efforts as part of a “spiritual war.” AFPI’s political arm, which is chaired by Dunn, partnered with dominionist Lance Wallnau—who believes right-wing Christians are meant to control the government and every other sphere of influence in society–to help Trump return to power. Dunn himself reportedly told former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, who is Jewish, that only Christians should be in leadership positions in the legislature.

Also in leadership at AFPI is Trump spiritual and political adviser Paula White, who has repeatedly called Trump’s opponents demonic and kicked off his pre-insurrection rally with a prayer for “holy boldness.” White chairs AFPI’s Center for American Values.

AFPI’s faith director Richard Rogers, who took part in Wallnau’s “Courage Tour,” appeared on The Jim Bakker show this week, where he said there will be a “faith director” in every government agency in the new administration.  He predicted that the “prayer warriors” who “rose up” on Trump’s behalf in 2024 will “have more power than Elon Musk.” He described AFPI as a “data-driven machine” that worked “hand-in-hand” with the RNC to boost turnout among low-propensity voters.

AFPI claims “biblical foundations” for each of the ten “pillars” of its right-wing policy agenda, which it calls “10 Pillars for Restoring a Nation Under God.” It asserts, “The Ten Commandments and Christian teachings have been the foundation that created the American legal system.” AFPI’s website declares, “This fight is not just about the culture of America; it’s about the kingdom of God and the Church’s divine mission to be the salt and light of our day in an era of increasing darkness.”

NO ONE HAS ENACTED “ANTI-CHRISTIAN” POLICIES, EVER. That would be in direct violation of the Constitution.

These fucking loons think that if something is not 10000% pro-christianity, then by default it is 100000000% ANTI.

100% separation of church and state is just as important to the church as it is to the state, and possibly more so.

 

Let’s talk about Americans learning from Canadians…

This post asks a great question.  Why when Canada is a poorer nation relative to the US can their people have so many government services like universal healthcare and why is their happiness level so much higher than experience by people in the US?   The answer is Canada values its people, the public.  The US values its greedy million and billionaires.  Sucks to be us in the US.  We need a total revolution to overthrow the oligarchy.  Hugs

Treaty of Waitangi 101

The US is not the only people who have indigenous people who they have not treated fairly or with respect.  Friend of the blog Barry has a wonderful video detailing how simple it is if you want to respect the agreements and the people.  Best wishes.  

Treaty of Waitangi 101

META is “becoming” anti-woke with the announcement of moderation changes, but really…

A few of my recent favorite clips of The Majority Report.

As Zuckerberg Goes Around Whining About Biden, He Made Sure To First Get His New Approach Approved By Trump

As Zuckerberg Goes Around Whining About Biden, He Made Sure To First Get His New Approach Approved By Trump

from the you-realize-how-that’s-worse,-right? dept

Fri, Jan 17th 2025 09:23am – 

Remember how Zuckerberg was “done with politics”? Remember how he promised that he was going to stop doing what politicians demanded he do?

Now it turns out that he not only did his big set of moderation changes to please Trump, but did so only after he was told by the incoming administration to act. Even worse, he reportedly made sure to share his plans with top Trump aides to get their approval first.

That’s a key takeaway from a new New York Times piece that is ostensibly a profile of the relentlessly awful Stephen Miller. However, it also has a few revealing details about the whole Zuckerberg saga buried within. First, Miller reportedly demanded that Zuckerberg make changes at Facebook “on Trump’s terms.”

Mr. Miller told Mr. Zuckerberg that he had an opportunity to help reform America, but it would be on President-elect Donald J. Trump’s terms. He made clear that Mr. Trump would crack down on immigration and go to war against the diversity, equity and inclusion, or D.E.I., culture that had been embraced by Meta and much of corporate America in recent years.

Mr. Zuckerberg was amenable. He signaled to Mr. Miller and his colleagues, including other senior Trump advisers, that he would do nothing to obstruct the Trump agenda, according to three people with knowledge of the meeting, who asked for anonymity to discuss a private conversation. Mr. Zuckerberg said he would instead focus solely on building tech products.

Even if you argue that this was more about DEI programs at Meta rather than about content moderation, it’s still the incoming administration reportedly making actual demands of Zuckerberg, and Zuckerberg not just saying “fine” but actually previewing the details to Miller to make sure they got Trump’s blessing.

Earlier this month, Mr. Zuckerberg’s political lieutenants previewed the changes to Mr. Miller in a private briefing. And on Jan. 10, Mr. Zuckerberg made them official….

This is especially galling given that it was just days ago when Zuckerberg was whining about how unfair it was that Biden officials were demanding stuff from him (even though he had no trouble saying no to them) and it was big news! The headlines made a huge deal of how unfair Biden was to Zuckerberg. Here’s just a sampling.

Image

Notably absent from this breathless coverage was any mention that Trump was the one who actually threatened to imprison Zuckerberg for life. Or that his incoming FCC chair threatened to remove Section 230 if Meta didn’t stop fact-checking.

Also conveniently omitted was the fact that the Supreme Court found no evidence of the Biden administration going over the line in its conversations with Meta. Indeed, a Supreme Court Justice noted that conversations like those that the Biden admin had with Meta happened “thousands of times a day,” and weren’t problematic because there was no inherent threat or direct coordination.

Yet, here, we have reports of both threats and now evidence of direct coordination, including Zuckerberg asking for and getting direct approval from a top Trump official before rolling out the policy.

And where is this bombshell revelation? It’s buried in a random profile piece puffing up Stephen Miller.

It’s almost as if everyone now takes it for granted that any made-up story about Biden will be treated as fact, and everyone just takes it as expected when Trump actually does the thing that Biden gets falsely accused of.

With this new story, don’t hold your breath waiting for the same outlets to give this anywhere near the same level of coverage and outrage they directed at the Biden administration.

It’s almost as if there’s a massive double standard here: everything is okay if Trump does it, but we can blame the Biden admin for things we only pretend they did.

I’m used to hypocrisy in the political world, but this is beyond ridiculous. It’s now being made clear that the Trump admin is actually doing the exact thing that people were (falsely, misleadingly) blaming Biden for.

And it’s just a random aside in a story, and no one seems to be calling it out. Other than us here at Techdirt.