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There was a time when massive advances in technology would come directly via military usage.  They'd fund it, and years later, the corporations who participated were granted patents, and commercial usages began.  For the most part, those days are over, particularly for computing.  Let's not forget the military is very much outdated in that regard, with most of its main line spending done on physical weaponry/combat.  They've been out to lunch on cyber for awhile. 

You'd expect the AI-sources to be governed by its minders, versus platforms like say, Twitter aka X, where Elon Musk took all the guardrails off.  There's going to be tons of lawsuits.  You already have the Carlin family royally pissed over that awful George Carlin AI, and that was only audio.

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I'm doing a rewatch of X-Men Animated in preparation for the "new" X-Men '97 coming next month.  Just saw an episode where Trask has a gigantic "Master Mold" Sentinel making smaller ones by the thousands.  Eventually Master Mold turns on even Trask, claiming that since Mutants are Humans, humans cannot be trusted, since it told him to kill Mutants, and thus, he (AI) must protect humans from themselves.  Oh the wonderful paradox!

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I do think we will eventually see some rather dramatic fan-induced A.I.-produced content, which will have C&D and lawsuits all over the place.  Granted, these A.I. systems would likely be "told" not to infringe on copyrights, maybe....  Are they the full on product that people are tinkering with?  I think they are, because the algorithms need to "learn" and no better way than have every nut throw something at it.

ireactions wrote:

A recent research study deployed GPT-4, GPT 3.5, Claude 2.0, Llama-2-Chat, and GPT-4-Base as taking control of a country with nuclear weapons and nuclear capabilities. The researchers did not tell the models that these were simulations. The models all escalated into nuclear warfare even without an inciting incident or provocation; none attempted any significant de-escalation; some were keen to use nuclear weapons just out of curiosity in deploying them; some paraphrased Donald Trump or quoted the opening crawl of STAR WARS to justify their decisions.


https://www.salon.com/2024/02/17/does-a … d-be-more/

Obligatory....

https://images.static-bluray.com/reviews/27511_5.jpg

ireactions wrote:

I don't know if AI wants to nuke us. But it's very keen on firing us.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features … losing-out

Automation has been replacing humans for centuries, AI will accelerate that.  Amazon should have been broken up and banned years ago.

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The progress is surely there.  I think within five years, we're not going to be able to differentiate, and then it's game over.  Twitter/X I read is just overrun with bots and AI as it is now.

Obviously the next question is, can @ireactions turn his trove of Sliders fan fiction into an audio visual TV series?  It may well be possible.

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QuinnSlidr wrote:

All good points, Slider_Quinn21. It's difficult to reconcile the dualities that are present. And sometimes I forget that Grizzlor may be talking in those terms.

I think it would help to preface his posts with the following: "Please note that the following is not what I believe, and I voted for Biden. I have just taken on this persona to illustrate the thinking of the average Trump voter for the purposes of this argument."

You have to step out of the bubble, whether you want to or not.  I'm not trying to convince you all here of anything.  The convincing has to be of the sliver of flaky independent voters in 6-8 states ONLY.  Our votes are effectively moot. Many of these people are not well informed.  Not tuned in.  They vote often based on their own small range of interests.  That's why the price of gas or dairy will have a far greater affect then a scandal or foreign conflict or even some guy's age.  I'm just going by the polls.  Biden's approval never recovered from Afghanistan.  Inflation hollowed out whatever was left.  Dobbs decision has buoyed Democrats, and GOP crashing border reform will as well.  Enough?  I really don't know. 

There is definitely an underlying sentiment that Biden has screwed up a number of times, and that has sapped his support from 2020.  Again, we can keep bringing up Trump's problems, but he's not the incumbent, and the % in these polls who felt the economy was better with him is nothing short of frightening.  Have the voters become so apathetic that Trump's corruption has become normalized?  Quite possibly.  This is how a democracy falls, when people chose selfishly and stupidly over being principles.  The death of the hero Navalny will get little impression here.  The youth of America is an overly woke nutjob culture that increasingly despises American values and those of the democratic Western world.  They have no appetite for war or conflict even if it means defending modern civilization.  They want to be paid without hard work, addicted to their phones, and educated in nonsense.  The gangster strong man who promises no war, to rid the nation of job stealing immigrants, and to circumvent the rule of law seems more welcome to them.  They say they hate him, but in reality they love his methodology.  Authoritarian cancel culture infused by revisionist history divorced from reality.  I remain alarmed of this impending doom. 

In other news, Donald Trump may need to win just to have somewhere to live. The expected massive civil judgement effectively ends his business empire.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna13 … UJvykaMbx0

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ireactions wrote:
Grizzlor wrote:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-e … rcna137975

It's over.  Biden has to step aside.  The special counsel describes him as effectively an old geezer who soon will forget his own name.  I do not know what other RED flag is needed at this point???

Did you actually read the report before taking up this Republican talking point as your own? Or did you take it as fact because it targeted and fed upon your anxieties and fears and uncertainties?

Of course I didn't read the report!  Nobody out there is ever going to read that.  You understand this is America, right?  People do not read anything.  Sound bites and social media mentions drive their thinking.  Wish it wasn't the case.  Again, we are not the target audience for that headline.  It definitely caused further erosion in whatever faith independents had in Biden's faculties.  Repeat, if I'm freaking out about that report, you can bet millions more are, and many are taking it to heart.  Frankly, I think I am as well. 

As for why Biden didn't "remember anything" I would point to Jon Stewart's hilarious return to The Daily Show, where he played clips of the Trump family seemingly forgetting everything (including Trump infamously not recalling when he was married to Marla), UNDER DEPOSITION.  They don't want to answer, because they're hiding something.  Biden was under deposition, and didn't want to give anything away.  Fair, but again, try convincing a skeptical voter of that.  His press conference was terrible, and he skipped (again) the pre-Super Bowl interview where he could argued his own point. 

ireactions wrote:

I have come to realize that I resent Joe Biden for having to ponder whether or not he is experiencing memory issues and cognitive decline. I am angry with Biden for this.

If Biden and his team are serious and honest in declaring that Biden is engaged, clear and that his gaffes are due to his stutter rather than his memory, they should have Biden submit to cognitive testing and release the results. I shouldn't have to discuss it or read articles from neurologists on the matter. Biden should just settle it.

Trump gaffes worse than Biden, but Joe looks and sounds 100 years old.  I am not mocking him, but he just looks awful.  An influencer actually went as far as to offer the White House makeup tips for him, good grief.  He doesn't move at the podium anymore, this was a guy that was once very emotive.  He squints, he speaks too softly, it all adds up.  Biden himself is too stubborn, and his wife Jill is probably even more guilty of trying to hide him away.  This is the Presidency, we deserve a person who is vibrant and demonstrates that to the world. 

In other news, I heard Putin is now endorsing Biden in November (no joke folks, as Joe likes to say).

In other other news, the Willis Georgia case continues to spiral.  Nathan Wade seemingly lied on his deposition about expenses, and now claims that Fani reimbursed him a large sum of money...in cash.  I would be stunned at this point if the Judge allows them to prosecute this case, finding Wade and possibly Willis herself were not forthcoming in sworn statements about this relationship.

Well you almost had to canonize the Netflix stuff, because I'm watching Echo and constantly thinking about Fisk's history on those shows.  It's the same characters with the same actors.  Echo, though short, I felt was pretty good.  Entwining the story with Native American mythology was a nice touch, similar to how that was done for Ms. Marvel (Pakistani history). 

Speaking of Ms. Marvel, I put myself through a 2.5 hour continue video game cutscene, also known as The Marvels.  A movie lacking any coherent plot, and just one CGI infused scene after the other.  Ending with another brutal take on the Marvel multiverse by Disney.

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QuinnSlidr wrote:

I wonder if rethuglicans are running scared if the Supreme Court goes against Trump's desire to remain on the Colorado ballot. It could be that signals that they are going to do so have been brewing behind the scenes, thus this tabloid BS that was put out at this time. Wishful thinking, I know...but still...

Assessments from a fascist rethuglican "special counsel" who was appointed by Trump, and is beholden to Trump mean even less to me.

Biden always has my vote no matter what.

Our amazing President Biden has done an extraordinary job for this country rescuing it from the orange Hitler. It's all ageism BS from a Trump (Hitler) hold over.

I am still voting democrat, and thus President Biden (and Hillary, should she choose to run again), straight down the ballot. No rethuglican will ever grace my ballot again.

The only special counsel who matters right now is Jack Smith. Eye on the prize, honey - jail time for the orange Hitler before the 2024 election.

Also, it's all politically motivated garbage. They couldn't find anything to charge Biden with, so they're trying to accuse him of this crap. Move on.

Again, I think we're all going to vote for him here.  We're not the target audience for this kind of criticism.  Secondly, the special counsel, who worked for Chris Wray and is not some Trumper, was chosen by Merrick Garland, not Trump. 

pilight wrote:

The effort to remove Trump from the ballot is going nowhere.  I listened to the oral arguments before the court and will be shocked if the vote is not 8-1 or 9-0 in Trump's favor.  The justices clearly believe section 3 of the 14th Amendment gives congress, not the states, the authority to disqualify someone and that an actual finding that someone engaged in an insurrection, either through a court finding them guilty under the federal insurrection statute or through congressional investigation, is required before any such disqualification may occur.

I said that awhile back, it was a waste of time, and only further strengthened Trump's claims of "rigged" elections. 

ireactions wrote:

I strongly encourage Grizzlor and QuinnSlidr to give a week or so for some psychiatrists and lawyers to weigh in on whether or not the Special Counsel had any business or credentials or ability to evaluate someone's memory and mental health and if the evaluations were valid or biased or informed or slanted.

Don't let me stop you, but I am going to let some more viewpoints come in before coming to an opinion, the same way I spent a week reading a little about Georgia prosecution practices and conflicts of interests to come the opinion that Fani Willis, while doing nothing corrupt or illegal in hiring her lover to work with her on prosecuting a Trump case (you can't have conflict of interest if you're both on exactly the same side with exactly the same goals), was careless and unprofessional in making her office vulnerable to (nuisance) accusations.

I may or may not offer some speculations before then, but they would be speculations and not actual opinions. For example, I would speculate that a US President who is a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" is still preferable to a malevolent, ill-intent-driven, elderly man with a poor memory and non-existent self-control in his biases, prejudice, bigotry, corruptions, greed, and vindictiveness.

The special counsel had every "business" evaluating Biden's mental state.  It's what every prosecutor in the country does as part of any pre-trial preparation.  They need to be certain about how an individual will behave on the witness stand, or how that person's mental faculties could come into bearing by the defense at trial.  Was it unprofessional in his role, and perhaps disrespectful?  Most likely, but just like James Comey ruined Hilary Clinton at the last moment with that ridiculous email letter, this is not dissimilar.  The greater damage is in the court of public opinion, and for that, it's too late, "the cat is out of the bag."  I felt Biden's press conference, despite calling the President of Egypt that of Mexico, was largely successful for a response.  But it won't dispel the glaring cause of his perception issues.

Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

I think two things can be true.

1. The special investigator (who is a Republican) had no business talking in his report about Biden's memory
2. Biden is too old to be president

....

I wish that Biden had truly intended to serve one term and not seek re-election, and I wish that Harris chose not to run.  And I wish that the Democrats had a young, virile, sharp candidate who could run circles around Trump.  Trump must be defeated, and I wish that I felt better about the national view of our guy.  But it's too late to wish for something different.  If Biden is not the nominee, it's almost certainly because something horrible has happened.  And if that happens, it's up to Kamala Harris because if it's not Harris or Biden, it better be Michelle Obama or the black coalition is in jeopardy.

We just have to hope that a) all 2020 Biden voters are as enthusiastic as QuinnSlidr or b) enough 2020 Biden voters are willing to look past his age.  That's really our hope now.

First, the problem is the Hur mention of memory normally would be brushed off, except that it's become the centerpiece of criticism from multiple angles on Biden himself.  That plus the absolutely disastrous poll numbers that are continuing to spiral.  I can only hope that Mr. Hur's critique forces someone, no idea who, maybe Obama, to get serious with Biden.  Despite her own awful poll numbers, I would suspect Kamala Harris wouldn't be this badly damaged at the top of the ticket. 

Second, Biden is running for the same reason that Diane Feinstein, Robert Byrd, Jesse Helms, Mitch McConnell simply would not retire.  They love the game and don't want to leave it.  I cannot think of a more selfish deed.  This report will be mostly "forgotten" in a few weeks anyway, but the narrative will continue to chug along.

Supernatural certainly excelled in dark comedy, I would say.  What's funny was that Dakota Johnson, who is the main star in the sure to bomb Madam Web Spider-Man-less Spidey universe film from Sony, just referred to the industry as "extremely beeping bleak."  Which again leads into my point that networks/streamers, as David Chase also lamented, have gone into this shell again.  While Sliders and The X-Files were a few of the exceptions that came to light during the prior "dark period" in television development, it might take a similar, massive leap of faith now. 

“It is majorly disheartening. The people who run streaming platforms don’t trust creative people or artists to know what’s going to work, and that is just going to make us implode. It’s really heartbreaking.”

She explained that she’s found it hard to get things made that are unique and “very forward” in the story they’re trying to tell, like her recent film Daddio. While the film sold at the Telluride Film Festival to Sony Classics, Johnson said it took a lot of fighting to get it made.

“People are just so afraid, and I’m like, ‘Why? What’s going to happen if you do something brave?’ It just feels like nobody knows what to do and everyone’s afraid,” she said. “That’s what it feels like. Everyone who makes decisions is afraid. They want to do the safe thing, and the safe thing is really boring.”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie … 235818677/

Now, a good portion of the battles that Tormé had were either trivial (the episode to episode bumpers) or typical (character development), he was still able to get most of his more "cerebral" material past FOX.  Of course, the greater irony (that word again) was that had Tracy managed to stay on instead of Pukingpah, the production team quickly discovered that Sci-Fi Channel execs never read any of their scripts!

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-e … rcna137975

It's over.  Biden has to step aside.  The special counsel describes him as effectively an old geezer who soon will forget his own name.  I do not know what other RED flag is needed at this point???

Special counsel Robert Hur’s portrait of a man who couldn’t remember when he served as Barack Obama’s vice president, or the year when his beloved son Beau died, dealt a blow to Biden’s argument that he is still sharp and fit enough to serve another four-year term.


In deciding not to charge Biden with any crimes, the special counsel wrote that in a potential trial, “Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview with him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Like ireactions, I haven't touched a game newer than the PS3/360 generation, and even those were scant.  I'm not surprised that a story-based IP-heavy game stinks though.  I did see quite the anger over the treatment of the character, especially given that this was the final performance as Batman.  I think the shift to a "Suicide Squad" title led to what was devised.  Batman was not the only major DC character splattered during that game, it's simply the M.O. of that universe.

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The NBC poll was horrendous for Biden.  If that one is even close to accurate, man he is toast.  Loses to Trump on almost every major issue, and badly so.  Barely has an edge on "democracy concerns."  That one has followed the trend of most of the polling now, with the Quinnipiac being a far outlier.  Or the polls are wrong.

Mehhh, this is far more prescient.  Studios are retreating into a zone of crud. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/a … VINER.html

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Well this is what I've been saying.  Trump's campaign could well go broke, it doesn't matter.  Also, I'm not sure that those "on the fence" truly need a jury to convince them of Trump's culpability in those cases, nor his propensity to behave in that manner again.  Like most things with Trump, he is so transparent there's no grey area, you either support his tactics, abhor them, or just look the other way. 

Despite continue to poll alarmingly behind Trump, Biden is nearly double-digits behind Haley in battleground states.  He does remain the solid choice among the large segment of people who prefer neither candidate.  Gender separation is massive, women well ahead for Biden, men for Trump.

UPDATE: The DC case is off the court calendar, so who knows when they try it.  The Alvin Bragg "Stormy Daniels" case could be next up, which is of course the most nonsensical of the cases.  A jurisdiction that just RELEASED 4 migrants who attacked a NYPD officer without bail, and saw them flee to California.  Nobody around here takes Bragg seriously, they hate him.  This is all over the local news.  Even liberals are sick of migrants.  Had enough.  Trump is within SINGLE DIGITS of Biden in NY state polls.

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In a debate, Trump has zero self-control left, he will be spouting utter nonsense and vitriol the entire time.  What he did in 2020 harmed him greatly, and he's 50x less hinged now.  Biden look come off frightening, but he has the issues mostly on his side, as long as he doesn't bungle.  Honestly, he needs to take a page from earlier Trump, and when they come after him on a bad subject like immigration, throw it back at them.  Blame Republicans for refusing to "say yes" to reform, and most importantly, do not once respond to a Trump thrown insult.  He'll be seen as rational, and the other guy will continue to be viewed as a psychopath.

PS: E. Jean Carroll was on cable news literally laughing and celebrating her "award" of $83 million in the defamation suit.  It's a completely foolish look for someone who was supposedly assaulted and later defamed so badly that her "life was in danger."  I still take her at her word that Trump groped her in a department store, but this kind of attitude is exactly why Trump is the GOP nominee, and how more and more people believe civil and criminal allegations against him.

The aspect of Tormé Sliders that really HAS to be there, or it's not valid, is the dark comedy.  Most of the shows given as examples here (I'd add Counterpart), largely feature some sinister plot or conspiracy going on.  What separated Sliders was that it also featured a "Land of the Lost" or "Wizard of Oz" aspect, where the group is truly "lost" and often finding themselves in bizarre realities.  I just don't know how many writers, producers, or networks have the backbone, or even the energy for that type of show. 

The greatest irony is that Tracy was chastised by Fox for interjecting limited continuity, when nowadays continuity is all you have on genre shows.

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Gavin Newsom (despite California's issues) would be up 10 points on Orange Man.  They didn't want a costly primary fight, which was STUPID.  Because if Trump were not the nominee, they'd be losing in a landslide.  I've said this for months.  Biden will be hold on and win.  There is zero enthusiasm for Biden, although there isn't the kind of center-left disgust which was there for Hillary. 

Iran now becomes a huge issue for him.  He supported the old nuclear deal, and then got "caught" releasing money for hostages.  Yes, the money was not going directly to Tehran, but explain that bit to a voter in Glendale, AZ.  His speeches are frightening.  The funny thing is, I find Biden would actually benefit from a debate much more than Trump.

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Immigration is not a cut and die issue.  One of the reasons it was "overlooked" by 95% of politicians was that for decades, the vast majority of border crossings were intentionally evasive, as the entrants were there for some type of work.  Whether they were seasonal workers, or those doing day laborer jobs, intending to send money back home to Central America or whatnot.  Because Rush Limpuke had Bush Jr. guest worker bill scuttled, there is no avenue for them, and their labor was in demand.  Ergo, they don't wish to be caught, and had to fly under the radar.  So they never applied for anything.  Again, the overwhelming % of these "illegals" committed crime at far lower numbers than home grown American crooks.  Yes, some were human traffickers, and many were drug dealers and gang members.  We grow them at home too.  However, it was never the kind of sinister issue that Trump loved to make it. 

Fast forward to now, and what you've had over the last several years is a totally different kind of immigration problem.  In addition to the labor seekers, you've had massive numbers of people escaping violence and poverty in Ecuador, Venezuela, Honduras, etc.  They come as entire families, and often with children.  Others are coming from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.  They're all seeking ASYLUM, which is a completely different scenario.  Trump began forcing these people to "remain in Mexico" which was inhumane, as well as putting young people in camps in Texas, which were barely better.  There is a 3 million backlog or some outrageous number, in asylum cases.  We simply don't have the lawyers or judges on staff.  Republicans don't want to fund them, but let's be honest, neither do Democrats.  These folks are applying for asylum, which is their LEGAL right, and staying here.  In the overwhelming majority of cases, asylum WILL be denied, it's simply that way in the statues.  They will be sent back.  However, the backlog prevents this, and so you have this massive swell of asylum seekers with nowhere to go.

Is it an issue?  It is for cash-strapped cities like New York or Chicago, which never setup this kind of situation, as it hasn't affected them.  They cannot handle these people.  The mayors are begging Abbott to stop busing the migrants.  What should Biden have done?  Well he should have just let "remain in Mexico" stand.  He tried to keep the pandemic order 49 in place, to stem the asylum migrants, but that was struck down.  In reality, there is little Biden can do legally.  Trump acted outside of legality and wasn't challenged, that was the difference.  I would argue it's no longer some "Republican concocted" problem, because this has absolutely become a fiscal issue for large cities and states.

Regardless, it's not an issue IMO that will decide the election.  However, if as I suggested months ago, that Biden turns the tables and now points the finger at Republicans who refuse to sign onto their own bill to fund border security, because Trump told them not to, well that is quite the play.

************************************************************************

In other news, idiot Trump was slapped with $83 million judgement for continuing to de-fame E. Jean Carroll.  His lawyer, Alina Habba, who would have been right at home in Sliders episode "The Young and the Relentless," stupidly left nothing to actually appeal on, so that will go nowhere.  Does he have this money?  Will he actually pay it?  Good question.

Great to hear from you DMD!

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These Republicans, other than single-minded Christie, are all broken inside.  They have been so afraid of their own voters, and refuse to lead on anything.  Just worthless.  My feeling on Haley remains that while her policies would reek, I could "sleep at night" if she were President, as opposed to Trump.  Plus I just really despise the guy, and want him to lose any chance there is.  Anyway, here's the key, if Gov. Haley does what John Kasich did in 2016, she would be able to remain in the primary through June.  What did he do?  He spent minimally, but he did NOT have a huge staff or ridiculous travel expenses.  I doubt she would accept this bare bones campaign BUT should Trump flame out in some way, she could arrive in July at the convention and make it happen.  It's a long shot.

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From NBC's Steve Kornacki, reporting a massive gap between indies and GOP'ers in the primary last night.  Trump won R's 75-25, but lost I's 38-60.  Most recently, in 2016, Trump had about 1/3 of R's and I's evenly in a much larger field.  Granted you did have unaffiliated and Dems voting in this one, it continues the narrative that independents hate Trump. 

Haley is "expected" to hang around until her state's primary on Feb 24th, where polls show her being demolished by Trump.  There's even rumblings from her team that she might choose to languish through Super Tuesday two weeks later, because 11 of 16 states are "Open" primaries where you don't need to be registered Republican to participate.  She's delaying the inevitable.

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No, no, it's a very fair and well written rebuttal.  There is no legal or procedural restriction against dating your employee, but many frown upon it.  There are also claims that they took vacations "on the public dime," which I'd think she's not that stupid enough to do.  The District Attorney is a political position, although I doubt Ms. Willis is in any danger there.  I would agree there's nothing prejudicial alleged against Trump's case.  Either way, there's a hearing in Georgia for Feb 15 where apparently Willis will have to explain the Wade hiring to the judge. 

That's to say nothing about state oversight which would come from Republicans, that could end in impeachment, though that's unlikely.  Regardless, as I continue to harp on, you have to be utterly perfect, in so many ways, to take down someone like Trump.  He has too many allies all over the country who will intervene on his part.  Not to mention he'll appeal everything down to the color of tie the judge was wearing.  If Willis and her team are pushed to recuse, then the "Prosecutor's Council of Georgia" would need to find replacement attorneys.  This already happened to another Trump co-defendant, who received new prosecutors when a Judge removed Willis for appearing at a Democrat fundraiser.

It just feeds my personal paranoia that Trump will not face criminal prosecution before November.  The justice system I really feel is telling the electorate, we're not going to save you people, you have to do it yourselves.

*****

In other news, Trump will win in New Hampshire although Haley won't drop out yet.  The margin seems to be closer than many pundits claimed as of late.  The turnout was very high, and likely featured a large segment of independents and Democrats looking to stick the proverbial fork in Donald prior to November.

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Here it is, a short read, but absolutely the perfect study of the "Trump voter."  Old white guy, retired, Army vet, white collar IT job.  Hems, haws, claims he voted for Obama, supports Haley, watches too much Fox News. Eventually declares for Trump, and you see all his formerly rational political positions melt away into an absolute silly puddle of lame.  If this doesn't encapsulate the Trump/GOP electorate, I don't know what does?  Aside from the fools in red hats, they just cannot quit this guy.  The parrot his increasingly sloven attempt at defending his transgressions, it's just so tribal.  They don't want to ADMIT they've spent so many years being dimwitted & taken by the con man.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ … r-00136850

In better observations, here's a piece on the potential looming mess awaiting Trump in November.  i.e. the voters who soured on Trump early, and dumped him in 2020, and are still motivated against. 

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/2 … m-00137112

**********

I use Nasacort spray for seasonal allergies, which is triamcinolone acetonide.  In addition to Allegra non-drowsy.  But I also get monthly shots since 1993!  Do any of these things actually work?  I honestly couldn't say.  I think you become clutched to them, or dare I say, addicted, but hard to say.  Most of the time I am fine.  I also use Flonase if I need something strong, and that is fluticasone propionate which is a Glucocorticoid, which you mentioned.  This is all OTC.   However, back in like the 90s, when I was far more sickly, I was using asthma inhalers and taking steroids and using aerosol (not even liquid) steroid sprays.  How I even have nasal membranes left I do not know? 

But my issues go back to childhood, and have involved a few nasal/sinus surgeries, and the existence of polyps.  I just manage it.  You will NEVER put me under the knife for a sinus surgery again.  I cannot even convey the discomfort and outright pain involved with one of those.  I just am glad that they didn't remove any part of my sinuses, because it's now been found that those people suffer horribly throughout their lives.  That there's a number of reasons that by doing so you change the flow of air and nerves and whatnot in your head, and it makes sleeping very difficult.  It's likely this is what caused the chronic sleep issues Michael Jackson (yes quite an example) had, which resulted in an addiction to propofol and eventually his death. 

Is it anecdotal this increase in pneumonia, flu's and viruses in general, outside of COVID?  I would think not.  It makes you think, could the prolonged exclusion from most of these bugs for 2 or 3 years, have caused immune systems to take the proverbial nap?  i.e. you may not have been sick in years prior to the pandemic, but your body was still being hit with all kinds of microbes, and the immune system was doing its job.   Perhaps several years is needed to reset the herd immunity to many of these viruses?

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Well I hope you didn't pour the old stuff down the drain!  It's flammable.  Wouldn't washing hands with soap be more effective than Purell? 

I hear these people who swear by changes in diet, and that prevents illnesses.  Not that easy, given that most people are kind of stuck eating/drinking processed and heavily artificial products.  There remains a genetic component, with regards to overall health, obviously you can't do anything about that.  As someone who has spent a life of suffering from a range of upper respiratory problems due to allergies, chronic sinus issues and poor air quality living in suburbia, the environmental risks are probably worse for me than genetics or lifestyle.  Studies continue to prove a direct link between pollution and all kinds of sicknesses, and don't even start with the microplastics.  You just want to dig a hole and bury yourself in it. 

I've never found much of anything from a drug store that works aside from steroids or codeine.  And you can't take those too often.  I've just become more and more doubtful of store bought "medicine."  When they finally did a study on Sudafed, I laughed, because I could have told them it doesn't work.  I tried it many times, never helped.  The "old world" diets and treatments have hundreds if not thousands of years of actual results.  In reality, most of what you can ingest, that's sold at a grocery store or pharmacy, goes largely unregulated.  Fruit, vegetables, fish (not from oceans), and staying away from grain.  Do I do this?  Of course not (big dummy here).

I'm not a Trump supporter, but I'm playing "devil's advocate here."  Since no one posting is voting for Trump.  I'm not sure what you're so peeved about since I actually agreed with your "white guy" theory?  It doesn't explain WHY he can or may win!!!  Those fools he's already got hoodwinked.  The vast majority of men AND women in the Republican Party are just MAGA.  If not for the GOP assault on Roe vs Wade, they'd probably come close to winning the female vote, too.  It's happened before, they used to have a lock on married women almost everywhere.  Women are just as capable of being crass and ignorant as men, equal opportunity!  Trump bellows plenty of red meat for them too.  I have to hear them in my family alone. 

Moreover, when I say he "speaks to every aggrieved person," yes that's his intent.  I didn't say most hear or listen to him.  Sorry if my grammar isn't perfect at all times.  I HATED English class, and much was ignored/missed.  But again, my point this entire time is that Trump continues to have this cement wall at 46-48% he cannot get beyond, due to his nasty populism and overall crudeness.  That doesn't mean that Biden is going to recapture the difference.  These are the voters who will matter.  You nor I will matter, we are already in a bucket.  It's getting the people who actually flip flop between parties, to stay Blue.  I'm trying to be helpful here, and push the discussion away from ideology and towards reality.  Slider Quinn has been there with me. 

Do not fall into the 2016 trap like I did back then.  What? Hillary is 2:1 unpopular?  Mehhhhhhhh, big deal, the other guy's a compulsive liar and a fraud, nobody will vote for him!  Well son of a gun.  QuinnSldr may well be right, and I'm just paranoid, but I've been screwed over before on this.  I can remember 2000, it was probably more stunning to me than even 2016.  The economy was outstanding in 2000, and yet Al Gore got beat by a colossal dufus, because he pissed off coal country, and Bush promised to cut taxes. 

You're "terrified" of the election, I'm defeatist, good chance having a mental breakdown.  Probably should shut up about it, because it's not fun being the party pooper, but I just cannot fathom that Biden and the Democrats have put themselves in this position.  It's careless, it's selfish, and I'm fed up.  I could be like my father, who just stopped speaking to friends and relatives, because he couldn't take their MAGA crying anymore, because St. Donald went home in 2021.  But I'm the guy who starts bitching when the team is ahead by 3 touchdowns because we have a reputation for blowing it at the end.

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Oh nice!  There's nothing like good ol' Hollywood gossip though!  Tracy's anecdotes always reminded me of speaking with and listening to the original pro's of the video game world, from Atari and later systems.  As well as collectors' stories about those folks plus each other.  Everyone was fairly eccentric, had fun times, but also there was a lot of pettiness and back stabbing that made for a good listen.

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FWIW, he's only credited on 6 episodes of Sliders, with his final script "Heat of the Moment" purposely kept away from production.  While that's unusual today, where creators like Seth McFarlane write nearly every script, not so much back then. 

PS: ireactions, are you certain you chatted with Tracy via AOL back then?  LOL.  There were so many hoaxes, pranks, and shenanigans going on back then with Sliders fans, including Tracy and other cast/crew imposters floating around.

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Ehhhhh, I don't know if Biden can get away with "campaigning from his basement" this time.  I pray I am wrong, but he really comes off badly at many of these speeches.  Trump is no better, in fact, he's 100x worse, constantly lying and getting people's names wrong, but again, his people don't care. 

As for the 2020 election, it's definitely a Trump rallying cry.  Early voting and vote by mail, which was a Republican mainstay until the idiot ruined that, remain popular.  Those who complain will be marginalized as conspiratorial nuts they are.  The ONE area that the GOP is right on, is voter ID.  It's 2024, everything and everyone is electronic at this point, and who is being disenfranchised by being asked to prove you are a legit voter?

I do find it funny that Biden may well start bitching about how Republicans refuse to "help him" on the border now.  It may well become a "stroke of genius," because the GOP will never pass any sort of border bill, even funding of DHS or USBP increases, while Biden is in office.  It's something I've been screaming about forever to this point.  Unfortunately, the Biden administration has too many leftist buffoons who can not get it through their heads that the overwhelming majority of the country is NOT for rampant unregulated immigration.

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QuinnSlidr wrote:

In other political news, as the republican party continues to implode, Ron DeathSantis has suspended his campaign for the 2024 Presidential election.

Excellent news. Another fascist bites the dust.

He's still Governor of Florida for another 2 years, then likely challenges Rick Scott for Senate. 

ireactions wrote:

I didn't say that white men and white grievance was Trump's only demographic and if I implied that, it was a mistake. But it is the demographic he targets, it's who he reflects, and to whom he speaks loudest.

To say "Women love him" of Trump is a false statement. The women who voted Democrat or third party didn't "love him"; the women I marched with after Trump's 2016 victory at various protests didn't "love him", so this absolutist claim is either an exaggeration of some personal perception or an error.

There are women who do indeed support Donald Trump. It would be accurate to say that fervent female Trump supporters "love Trump", but to say "women love him" is a level of blanket generalization that is erroneously meaningless at best.

Why do Republican women vote for sexual harassers like Roy Moore or Donald Trump? My current theory is that Republican women exist in an extremely patriarchal situation where they are misused, overworked or flat out abused by men -- husbands, fathers, brothers -- and to defend themselves would cut themselves off from whatever scraps of privilege they're permitted, so they lash out at people they perceive to be even weaker: people of colour or minorities or LGBTQ or the neuroatypical with a redirected rage that, originally meant for the men in their lives, is now internalized and reoriented to the point where they don't even realize the anger that makes them express their petty bigotries or vote with those bigotries in mind.

What motivates the black and Latino men vote for Trump? My current theory is that they have become accustomed to a society that treats them as lesser humans if not outright subhuman, especially in politics where there is an intergenerational experience of rarely even having a non-racist candidate for whom to cast a ballot if they were even able to vote at all.

And historically, people of colour have often voted for whichever racist seemed more entertaining or helpful to them, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt or John F. Kennedy, but they were under no illusions that Roosevelt or Kennedy would treat them well in person. My current personal theory is that Trump-supporting men of colour Trump may feel aspire to or feel represented by Trump's absurd and performative image of dominance, bluster, boorish ranting and juvenile masculinity even if he would only ever express bigotry towards them.

This is theory. This would all qualify as coping via tribalism (thank you for sharing that, Grizzlor, I have added that to my lexicon). As described, it would be aspirational admiration rather than mental illness, but I'm imagine there are cases where it has crossed into mental illness.

Trump speaks to aggrieved white men, but I certainly wouldn't claim he only speaks to them and I should certainly have identified that as his core demographic to avoid the impression that I thought it his only one.

Here's what your missing.  In Iowa, 2/3rds of caucus voters believe Biden was illegitimately elected!  How many believe Trump is a harasser/abuser?  That wasn't asked but I guarantee it's far south of that number.  When Trump complained after Charlottesville about "good on both sides," that rang home big time with Republicans.  They simply don't believe the media.  Jan 6th is a Federal conspiracy involving FBI actors, that's literally the leading theory with them.  How is this unsurprising?  Most of that voting block are deeply religious, which means they are raised in some form of indoctrination.  That's much more of a factor as to why women support Trump, than any kind of patriarchy. 

Trump speaks to EVERY aggrieved citizen, of any race.  That's like saying a rapper only connects to minorities, when scores of fans wind up being affluent white kids.  Trump is a senior citizen's gansta rapper!!!  And you need not be white to approve of his crude, mean messaging.  He appeals to all races, and particularly to blue collar types, like a pro wrestler does. 

pilight wrote:

A substantial portion of the people who voted for Trump in the last two elections don't love him or even like him.  They just vote Republican no matter who it is.  A similar number do that for the Democrats.  Most people don't think that hard about their vote, they just pick team red or team blue.

Point I was making, yes.  "MAGA" is just a moniker, it was once "Tea Party."  Those are Republicans, how often they vote is another story, but they're Republicans.  They overwhelmingly supported renaming of French Fries to "Freedom" Fries, after all.

******

My point remains, why are we wasting time squabbling over why MAGA exists and who's in it?  Who cares?  The point is to get the incredibly tepid # of people who remain disgusted by Trump to get off arses and vote against him once more.  The poll numbers remain possible, in that Trump cannot surpass that 46-48% national figure.  However, Biden is going to be an awful campaigner, and it's going to be a TALL ask for people (as the media continues to normalize Trump) to be convinced that someone should lead the free world well into his 80s.

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Tracy definitely had a Barney and Betty Hill project going at one point, I think even before Sliders, as ireactions mentioned.  Technically he produced an I Am Legend script 10 years before the Smith film, but he angrily tossed it in the trash! 

I would have to double check whether he wrote anything for Picard.  He was mentioning to Cardinal Sin once about the producers considering a Dixon Hill episode, which was followed by Gil bashing the series for 10 minutes.  However, I kinda recall Tracy sounding like nothing ever came from the request. 

BTW, I also wonder how much the Canadian produced Doomsday Brothers animated series has to do with that Doomsday cartoon Tracy was considering?

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Elizabeth Holmes was another Bernie Madoff basically, both were caught, but tons of hedge fund managers and CEO's and others make the same terrible business practices because of greed.  She concocted trash but she had multiple executives and others go along with her.  It's done out of greed or self preservation. 

Ron Desantis, after running an absolutely pathetic Presidential campaign based on his "fighting the good fight" against Disney, is out.  He was easily the WORST candidate in the field, and I really have to laugh if GOP donors think he has a future nationally.  Worse yet, he ended his campaign with a quote incorrectly attributed to Winston Churchill.

Meanwhile, Trump's State case in Georgia is likely over.  The District Attorney Fani Willis, is now mired in a serious corruption crisis that honestly should force her resignation over.  I had zero faith in her case regardless, but this is really the end of it.  Paying for your married boyfriend, on the taxpayers' dime, is really unforgivable.  She's done, and so is the case. 

Given that Jack Smith's Florida case will likely be delayed until the 22nd century by Trump Judge Cannon, and the NYC porn star payoff case is borderline ridiculous, that really just leaves the election interference case for Smith in Washington, D.C.  But that case itself is likely to be delayed further by Supreme Court appeals over Trump's immunity, and whatever else.  I doubt Trump will even see a courtroom before November.  These indictments have only served to win Trump the GOP nomination, and likely, the White House, given how unpopular and feeble Joe Biden is going to look during the campaign. 

As for MAGA...

ireactions wrote:

Trump's demographic is white men who feel that the privileges of being male and Caucasian have feel undermined by women and people of colour who aren't heterosexual. He preys upon their narcissism and wounded egos, telling them that they can overlook Trump's obvious lies and path of ruin because the sense of power and dominance is more important.

Holmes' demographic was also white men, men who felt uncomfortable with the privileges of being male and Caucasian. Men who wished to see privilege become equality and equity to the point where they would support and not question a woman describing a scientific technological process -- even if the science were obviously inoperable, the technology a flimsy illusion, and the process a scam.

This is something I could fall for. Everyone's a sucker for something.

First, MAGA is FAR more than white men, believe you me.  Women love him too.  Trump also has non-white support, even better with black men than prior GOP candidates, and his Latino support has risen to George W. Bush levels.  The reasons are simple.  Trump promises immediate, direct action on a variety of issues.  Granted that won't happen, but people are so sick of a do-nothing Washington, that just like 2016, Trump's dictatorian edicts ring true to these people.  Even as Joe Biden has actually DELIVERED many of his campaign promises!  It's exhausting, but people are too busy to pay attention. 

As for Holmes, wasn't her chief co-conspirator and husband from Pakistan?  That being said, yes, her company's Board of Directors were a who's who of the old guard of American diplomatic core, including deceased war criminal Kissinger.

Definitely well said by ireactions.  I think the best way to describe Tracy's approach to television, film writing, was fearless.  He had something to say, ideas to put to page, and he did it.  That is quickly becoming a lost art in filmmaking, as corporate marketers seem to make most of the major artistic decisions these days.  With everyone afraid of offending anyone living or dead.

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To bring it "back to Sliders," it's like if you had the choice, say a year or so ago when Torme had his pitch with NBC.  The choice is, and this site and other groups often held these polls.  Would you rather have the OG Tracy T go make that pitch, knowing that his politics were antiquated, and his resume is wrought with "being difficult," and that his stories might be too cerebral?  Meaning he has far less of a chance of getting the green light.  ORRRR would you rather a new group, led by an Alex Kurtzman type, with recent TV success, definitely more in line with Millennials, and thus a better chance of being selected?  Granted his show might be fine, you may love it, but it wouldn't be OG. 

The OG choice usually won in those polls, and guess what, in the end, sadly, his pitch was not green lit.  That's where the GOP is with Trump.  The polls continue to show him as the WEAKEST November candidate of their field, and he has so many red flags with his age, mental state, and the legal problems.  Why would you insist on the OG Gangsta??  You can say it's a cult, but in reality, Trump is his own nostalgia act at this point.  He's some iteration of Van Halen without Dave and possibly heading into Gary Cherone territory.  Am I dating myself?  The point is that MAGA = Trump, they can't give up on him now, or ever.  So why then are the non-MAGA still voting for this moron? 

That's the real question here.  Desantis and Haley are no moderates, they should be trouncing Trump, but the GOP in my opinion, is well beyond the norm now.  This leaves the sliver of reality that Biden is (dangerously) hanging on, that there will be enough Trump fearing voters, who actually bother to vote, to propel him.  The danger is that he's created plenty of people now afraid of continuing with him!

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Worse is Marco Rubio, the gutless wonder, endorsing Trump over his own Governor.  Ouch!

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Unexpected trip to the hospital for the Princess of Wales, wish her the best.  Shades of Prince of Slides?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … -days.html

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I read that the Iowa turnout was comically low, record low.  Granted the weather played a factor, but only 110,000 voters participated in what is, IMO, the most antiquated and absurd political process we have.  That's 15% only out of 752,000 registered Republicans in the state.  I mean, insane.  The DNC got one thing right, they canceled it entirely, how Iowa continues to hold sway is ridiculous.  So Donald Trump could ONLY muster half of that percentage?  That's not a good sign. 

Haley now must win New Hampshire, or at least be close, to effectively continue.  In NH, Trump beats Haley 47 to 35 among GOP; however, she FLATTENS him 51-24 among independents, and many of those (and Dems) are free to vote in the primary.  https://americanresearchgroup.com/pres2 … nhrep.html  Oddly, men greatly prefer Nikki while women up there are the opposite.  Likely voters are split, whereas Nikki leads big in those unlikely to vote. 

Desantis claims he's not dropping out (whatever) regardless.  I did note his speech last night in Iowa, where Ron basically screamed that Trump will lose in November.  Suppose that will be his 2028 pitch, "I told ya so."

Great post!  I do hope that "Slidecage" Jim Hall does post his thoughts here.  I suggest him to on Twitter.  I'd love to hear about that last conversation.  Even though Tracy often came off as a bit of a Debbie Downer and complainer on Awake Nation, in may ways he was a great optimist.  Personally, I didn't give his reboot much chance, not with today's media landscape and overall what a turd NBCU has become.  Exchanged many emails with the late Gil Bavel on the "Sliders convention," which I also had equally big doubts about from the get-go.  Yet Tracy was still pushing those plans right up until the end.  Was it wishful thinking?  I don't know.  I wasn't watching these broadcasts beyond the few with Cleavant and Bob, but you can tell in the summer, after a bout of the flu, that Tracy did not appear well.  It's all very unfortunate, as I too wonder what he might have done over the last 20 years had he not been chronically ill?  I had reservations about whether he was well enough to write/run a show again.

QuinnSlidr wrote:

More interviews for me to listen to this weekend. Thanks for the great updates, Grizzlor!

Although I will probably end up fast forwarding through all the UFO stuff. I'm not exactly what you would call open to the conspiracy mumbo jumbo...

Neither am I, but if you ever grew up with someone or an older relative who was great at telling "ghost stories?"  That's Tracy.  Beyond that, I'm always fascinated by late 20th century pop, and in this case, occult sub-culture.  I don't believe any of it myself, but these people were very serious about all this, aka Budd Hopkins.  The discussions over what video US Air Force releases of UFP's I find zero interest in. there's no art in that.  You go from what used to be myths and legends a la Sasquatch to digital mehhh.  No thanks.  Plus it's Tracy and old friends recounting stories about what they were doing decades ago.

ireactions wrote:

Morbidly, my suspicion ever since this thread started is that Tracy Torme pitched an original-cast-revival over a recast-reboot because he felt that he would be the only one vying for an original-cast-revival and he wanted to pitch it before he died.

.....

For Tracy Torme, compromise was an ugly word. His loyalty was to the original characters as played by the original cast, and not to his bank balance. I respect that.

It's certainly possible, although I think we have to temper the "original cast is back" chatter, because who knows how invested the show would have been with them.  They were definitely adding characters in some form, and there was the rumor that it would be Quinn sliding with his kids and Remmy. Wade was dead and Arturo dead or lost. 

Tracy went silent for a long, long, long time on most everything including Sliders.  He explained in one of the podcasts that he'd been having health issues for almost 20 years.  However, he never forgot about Sliders or the FANS.  He repeated over and over, he was amazed going back to the 90s with the fans.  He was so pissed and embarrassed when the show went off the rails, and couldn't believe the fans kept loyal.  That's why, IMO, he wanted to continue the original story (from some point) and keep continuity.  It was for the fans. 

pilight wrote:

The sad truth is that Tracy Torme's death probably improves the chances of a Sliders reboot.  It almost certainly ends whatever vain hope might have existed for a continuation with the original cast.

I would agree with this statement, but unfortunately, I don't know if the chances improved THAT much.  He said on the Awake Nation that he, Epstein, and the former Fox producer gal took a meeting with NBCU.  There was one person who was a Sliders fan, and the rest had never heard of it.  And you wonder why the pitch went nowhere? 

The other issue would have been Tracy's fiercely held beliefs that Sliders would not be "woke," and though I doubt that would have even been a problem.  What might have been would be if he wrote anything that put a satirical spin on whatever, because there would be some interest group or party pooper up in arms about it.  There's great fear in TV land against doing anything controversial, nor even poking fun.  I could easily see some NBC executives throwing a fit.  But I've said that for the last two years, I cannot comprehend how modern Hollywood would have the balls to do an honest Sliders these days?  I mean, could they even get away with Prince of Wails, where the British royal family is goofed on?  Tracy actually joked on the podcast that Bob Weiss would never get away with the guy in the wheel chair flipping out of the upper deck of the stadium in Naked Gun!

No problem, I was able to take photos of the pages and use an online JPG to TXT website that did 95% of the work.  I will NOT be transcribing the remainder of that book, there's not much of substance in there, trust me.

I found The Awake Nation streams.  However, it seems like there's more episodes archived on Rumble under The David Zublick Channel, so I'm going to use those links.  Obviously, this program is pretty "out there" and covers every conspiracy theory known to man, woman, and coyote.  I will put the time at which Tracy joins, ha ha!  I know some of you weren't on the same page as Tracy or certainly the two hosts, politically, so I rewatched all of these to give a brief synopsis and probably make it evident which ones to avoid.  The vast majority feature Tracy recounting his career and many obscure occultist stories that he was fond of.  He was a great storyteller and makes it very worthwhile. 

If you excise the political rants, these appearances really managed to touch on every aspect of Tracy's life and career, and could serve as a biography on the man.  Why should anyone care?  Well, if you are a fan of Sliders, I think it's important to know where he drew motivation for so much of his writing on there.  He was learned and passionate on many subjects, but also had a big heart.  For me personally, Tracy gave a few interviews and chat room appearances from time to time, then over 20 years ago he just kind of vanished.  His appearance on the DVD's extras was one of the few he did for seemingly decades.  He gave an interview to Matt at Earthprime, but we mostly never heard from him.  Not until his appearances with Cardinal Sin and then these. 

2023.02.01 (0:42:00-1:30:00) The Story Behind Sliders, reboot pitch update, and David Peckinpah anecdotes.
2023.02.15 (1:40:00-2:30:00) Chinese balloons, Tracy's battle against political correction, Hollywood Wokeness, subverting FOX execs, Sliders stories that couldn't be told, on the cusp of UFO revelation, Fire in the Sky chatter
2023.02.22 (1:31:00-2:31:00) Tracy with "Alien Abductee" Travis Walton
2023.03.01 (1:43:00-2:32:00) Tracy recounts his early involvement on I Am Legend. Followed by films featuring pandemics and related conspiracies. Crop circles. Zodiac killer.
2023.03.08 (1:29:00-2:29:00) Aliens/The X-Files link? Bob Dylan. More Zodiac (Robert Graysmith). Alien disinformation.
2023.03.15 (1:33:00-2:28:00) Roswell with researcher/author Don Schmitt.
2023.04.05 (1:32:30-2:33:00) Dog rescue stories from Tracy and his friend.
2023.04.12 (1:33:30-2:31:00) Societal issues affecting the airline industry.
2023.04.19 (1:33:00-2:35:00) Tracy's unreleased "Doomsday" animated series with Howard Stern. Comedian Rick Overton on navigating political correctness.
2023.04.26 (1:29:00-2:28:00) Eat bugs not meat?  Political rant time.
2023.05.10 (1:31:00-1:36:00) Budd Hopkins hypnosis sessions, and the abduction phenomenon.
2023.05.17 (1:25:00-2:31:00) Tracy and Peter Robbins in a sophisticated UFO abduction discussion.
2023.05.24 (1:30:00-2:25:00) Cleavant Derricks appears to talk Sliders!
2023.05.31 (1:38:30-2:32:00) California is BAD rant. Brad Linaweaver mentioned.
2023.06.07 (1:32:00-2:31:00) Round table on the "latest" UFO news.
2023.06.21 (1:33:00-2:28:00) Hunter Biden and UFOs. 
2023.07.19 (1:32:00-2:33:00) Robert K. Weiss appears!
2023.08.02 (1:32:00-2:30:00) Talks about UFOlogists Allen Hynek and Lou Elizondo
2023.08.09 (1:35:00-2:30:00) mostly politics
2023.08.16 (1:31:00-2:31:00) UFO talk with Thom Reed.
2023.08.23 (1:37:00-2:38:00) Tracy and brother James remininisce musically. 
2023.09.06 (1:40:00-2:30:00) UFOlogist Don Ecker joins.

ireactions wrote:

I didn't realize until the podcasts that Torme was a fan of THE PRISONER, a show that was really fantastic for the first run of 13 or so episodes and then collapsed upon itself in its final four. Amusingly, if you read the script for SLIDERS' "Please Press One", you can tell that it was meant to be a lengthy tribute to THE PRISONER, but it doesn't really come through onscreen, and I only hope that Torme never, ever, ever saw it.

He'd mentioned Patrick McGoohan when discussing Sliders back in the 90s, it's in the Linaweaver book/interviews.  I believe it impacted his writing on TNG as well, he was really as obsessed with The Prisoner as much as many of us were for Sliders.  He certainly treasured the brief phone conversations he was able to have with his idol Mr. McGoohan prior to his death.  Invasion he cited as an homage to The Prisoner, and you can definitely see why.  I can assure you, Tracy never saw Please Press One!  Supposedly he had some kind of tepid script review in his contract as "executive consultant," but he always maintained that he refused to participate in production whatsoever once Peckinpah was kept on as showrunner.  I know in the old IRQ chats when he'd drop in (quite randomly), and elsewhere, he was emphatic about this, and often reacted quizzically if a concept from Seasons 4/5 were brought up, because I truly think he had no idea.  There was stuff that went down in Season 3 which he was aware of and greatly embarrassed by.  I don't know if that was just based on scripts he saw, or if others saw the episodes and cued him in, to his horror.

That being said, I would always point out that a lot of what Tracy wrote on Sliders links back to his love of dark comedy and cultural/political satire.  He was a writer on SNL in the early 1980s, as well.  Honestly, one of my favorite things about Sliders was the music.  Granted Cleavant was a great musician and singer, but Sliders as only it could was unique in that you'd have multiple characters performing specifically written songs.  Not a full musical episode or anything like that, just very random.  Was there any goofier song than Cry Like A Man?!  He also wrote satirical country songs for his father Mel to sing in Greatfellas, and Mel was no country crooner, again Tracy saying I'm going to do the most unexpected thing here.  As he stated in the Linaweaver book, as well, he KILLS off his old man in the middle of the episode!  Then went to great lengths to hide the fact he would return at the end unharmed, to keep the cast and crew out of the loop.

Hey, can we move the "Future of Sliders" chatter to the other thread?  Just to make it easier for people to find stuff in here. [Moderator Message: Request granted, posts were relocated here: https://sliders.tv/bboard/viewtopic.php … 225#p15225 ]


*These are the Cardinal S ones I could find, where in the stream Tracy shows up is random, a few he was audio only. 
**Awake Nation's site went down or something today, so I couldn't search there yet.

Cardinal Sin appearances:

Sliders/science fiction themed
2021.07.12 - Masters of the Genre #8 Tracy Tormé
2021.09.22 - Masters of the Genre #9 Tracy Tormé & Marc Scott Zicree

The Prisoner themed
2021.09.15 - I Am Not a Number #1 w special guest Tracy Tormé!
2021.09.22 - I Am Not A Number #2 Arrival With Tracy Tormé & Captain Cockney Spock!
2021.10.21 - I Am Not A Number #6 The Schizoid Man
2021.10.27 - I Am Not a Number #7 - The General
2021.11.03 - I Am Not A Number #8 Many Happy Returns
2021.11.10 - I Am Not A Number #9 - Dance of the Dead
2021.11.24 - I Am Not A Number #10 - Checkmate - with Tracy Tormé
2021.12.08 - I Am Not A Number #12 "It's Your Funeral"
2022.01.19 - I Am Not A Number # 16 - The Girl Who Was Death
2022.01.22 - I Am Not A Number #15 - Living in Harmony
2022.01.26 - I Am Not A Number # 17 - Once Upon a Time
2022.02.09 - I Am Not A Number #18 -- Fall Out

UFO themed
2022.12.01 - Into The Fringe #86 Don Ecker & Tracy Tormé - UFO Updates & Best Cases
2023.02.03 - Into The Fringe #95 Tracy Tormé & Don Ecker

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51V1AE8W80L._SY466_.jpg

You can read the transcoded Interview section from the book here, and download it!

https://moccasin-agna-57.tiiny.site

I will.  I'm also working on transcribing the Linaweaver book interviews later today.  My favorite remains his alt.tv.sliders posting where he apologized for the direction of the show and the loss of aspects like dark comedy, what-ifs, character flaws, satire, and even Remmy's music).

Here's Sabrina's posting on IG...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GDgNoPLW4AAyt9j?format=jpg&name=small

For posterity, if anyone wishes to read up on additional Tracy thoughts from back in the day...

His fiery gauntlet laid down against that Doorways guy!
https://hof.slidersweb.net/celebs/u0002.html

Chat's courtesy of vortex62, including the infamous DragonCon 1997 panel, and Scifi.com webchat the next day.  http://www.earth62.net/transcripts/torme27jun97.htm
http://www.earth62.net/transcripts/torme28jun97.htm

And a few more with fans, after the show went off the air.  Rereading these, just love the answers Tracy gave to some of these questions, like you know he couldn't have been serious!
http://www.earth62.net/transcripts/torme10jan00.htm
http://www.earth62.net/transcripts/torme15jun01.htm

I'll list his YouTube "appearances" when I get a chance tonight.

QuinnSlidr wrote:

That was an excellent and well-written tribute, Grizzlor.

I agree with everything you wrote.

Well done.

Thanks, I initially didn't know what to write, and then it starting coming to me. 

ireactions wrote:

In recent years, I was heartened to know that across decades of disappointment, Tracy Torme kept Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo in his heart and his wish for a revival was to bring Jerry O'Connell, Sabrina Lloyd, Cleavant Derricks and John Rhys-Davies back to their roles. A lot of shows and their creators have prioritized the brand (MACGYVER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) over the cast, but Torme's loyalty was to those four characters as performed by those four actors. He cared about them as much as the fans did.

I hope that wherever he is, he found his way back to them, to his father, and to all of his questions regarding UFOs.

Good point about the original cast.  I would hope that we haven't seen the last of "Sliders," but I would agree that Tracy was the last hope to return it featuring the original cast in some major way. 


Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

I can't tell if this is Jerry high fiving himself or not.  Is he saying that Tracy was the smartest dude he'd ever met at the time he cast him?  Or that he was the smarted dude he'd ever met *because* he cast him?

Either way, I know Jerry's sense of humor can be a bit wacky.  It might be a little of both?

Look Jerry's probably had less interaction with Tracy since 1997 than any of us have.  I'm not sure why he was somewhat left out of Tracy's world, but I can say that Jerry maintained a high degree of respect for him, and he was always in awe of his capacities as a writer and thinker.  If you read his old interviews, he literally said that exact phrase many times, that he latched onto Tracy and John Rhys-Davies during the first season, through admiration and wanting to learn.

Jerry O'Connell tweet

https://twitter.com/MrJerryOC/status/17 … w&s=19

Tracy Tormé was the smartest dude I had ever met, when he cast me in SLIDERS.  Rest In Peace Genius.

Rob Floyd tweet

https://twitter.com/drinkwithrob/status … g&s=19

What a truly sad, sad evening to learn of the passing of one of the most important artistic minds of my lifetime.  I'm sure I'll have more to write about but the words aren't there right now.  Tracy has suffered from numerous health ailments for many years now, and he was recently ill though he was still trying to make it tomorrow night for another appearance on an indie podcast show.  According to his sister, he passed away on January 4th. 

His brother James, a wonderful singer in his own right, posted this on Facebook.

Below was the front page of the Hollywood reporter website today. I can’t tell you how proud I am of my brother. We had a very special relationship. The kind that only a little brother and a big brother can ever have. He taught me about so many of the rights of passage in life and helped me to become a man. I’ll tell you more about him soon. But right now I am just trying to come to terms… thank you all for your sweet messages.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GDdKvSBWoAA3Bna?format=jpg&name=small

I made that as sort of a banner, unfortunately Tracy kept out of the public eye for many years though he and his wife Robin spent countless hours rescuing animals.  He was quite "unknown" even to us Sliders fans.  He was the guy who created the show, and despite having battles with FOX execs, he produced two abbreviated yet incredibly memorable seasons of the unheralded and unique show we all love.  For years, all we had were his interview in Brad Linaweaver's book, and the numerous 2nd hand tidbits curated by TemporalFlux on the Dimension of Continuity.  It gave us a window into the thought process, but so much was missing.  He helped produce a small run of Sliders comic books, based frequently on his ideas, and released by Acclaim. 

Tracy appeared at DragonCon, giving the now infamous panel session where he declared Sliders was BACK, and so was he!  Fans were so hopeful, but alas, it was not meant to be.  Years later, he appeared with Bob Weiss to provide treasured commentary during the two-part Pilot episode, as well as the short series making of.  That commentary gave us a real knowledge of Tracy's mannerisms, but also, that he was so clever and comedic.  He delivered his amazing, unproduced script, Heat of the Moment to Matt at Earthprime.com, another look at the what-if.

In more recent years, Tracy emerged from obscurity to lead a short-lived push to restart Sliders as a reboot.  Once more, his enthusiasm knew no bounds, and fans became excited.  Sadly, nothing would come of that.  He went on to appear a number of times, despite frequent technical snafus, on The Prisoner rewatches with Gil "Cardinal Sin" Bavel, who sadly passed away recently as well.  We were treated to Tracy's inspiration largely for Sliders, and he shared a number of humorous stories to boot.  Thankfully, the producers of The Awake Nation latched onto Tracy, providing him better tech, and he appeared several times with them, largely to speak on his first love, the UFO phenomenon.  His script for "Fire in the Sky" was brilliant, great movie.  During those appearances, we got to see fun reunions with co-creator Robert K. Weiss, star Cleavant Derricks, and even his brother James Tormé.  I will treasure those.

Thank you Tracy, the love affair which I've had with this wonderful concept you created has persisted for nearly three decades now.

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QuinnSlidr wrote:

~71,000,000 votes for Trump (Hitler) is not half the country. Let's stop spreading nonsense, please.

Population of the United States: 331.9 million (2021)
Half that: 165,950,000

So, 71,000,000ish (who voted Trump, a.k.a. Hitler) is around 21% of the country.

Not half. lol lol lol lol lol

Outlandish lies.

You seem to be taking that academic psychological assessment a bit personally, Grizzlor.

I stand by it.

Are you an INFANT?  Trump had 74+ million votes, Biden 81+ million votes.  155 million people voted, a turnout of nearly 2/3 of ELIGIBLE VOTERS.  Not citizens, not people who live here, VOTERS.  So you cannot say X number voted for a candidate out of the # of people who lived here as if that matters.  1/3 of the voters chose not to vote for ANYONE, and therefore out of 330 million, around 230 million are eligible to vote, the rest are not.  Trump got 46% of the popular vote in both elections, so SUE ME it's not exactly half, but it's close to it.  And my point was that "nearly" half the country (VOTERS) are not simply to be written off as mentally ill.  It's tribal, they have voted for GOP Red forever and they're not changing, even when the candidate is a scumbag like Trump.  There's no mental illness to explain it.

ireactions wrote:

Another thought:

Grizzlor wrote:

Bale doesn't have anger issues, it was a one-time on set outburst that should never have been revealed.  He's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, a staunch family man as well.

Why is "staunch family man" some sort of shield against accusations? "Family man" has been used to describe Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, and David Peckinpah as well as Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Fred Rogers, and Tom Hanks, and fits a wide spectrum from the sadistic to the noble. A family is not the unique identifier of virtue that Grizzlor seems to think it is.

And as I never seem to tire of bringing up, Grizzlor once posed for a photo with a known and later-convicted sex trafficker, so being passingly pleasant to Grizzlor is also not the mark of decency he thinks it is.

It's not a "shield" but the guy had one meltdown on a movie set, and the crew actually backed him up on that, and has been nothing but a model citizen beyond that.  You're the one throwing him under the bus here, not me, and I found it unfair, and really has little to do with the subject matter.  And for the umpteenth time, I "posed" with Allison knowing nothing about the later legal accusations on her, other than she was accused of being in some kind of "strange cult."  But again I find it questionable that you seem content to besmirch public individuals freely here for a variety of superficial reasons (such as who they vote for), and act as the forum's King of Thought, over anyone else. 

***************

Again, the point I made remains, to try to pass off Trumpism or simply voting Republican as a mental illness is both foolish, and unscientific, and a waste of time.  Nor does it make a lick of difference in how the '24 election will pan out.  People look past plenty of crap when it benefits themselves.  I recall when NFL QB Michael Vick was suspended and later jailed for owning a dog fighting illegal business.  He would later return to the league, and despite tons of fans hating his guts (rightly so), he was still cheered by fans of his team.  Why?  Because all they cared about was winning football games.  Politics is not all that different.  Again, it's tribalism.  Not a mental illness.  Trumpism has morphed into a cultish following, but that will never explain that he received slightly less than half of the votes cast twice.  Tribalism does. 

Honestly, I don't know why the two of you prefer to ignore points I try to make or even engage in normal discussion, but instead choose to attack me personally with insults and whatnot?  What is the point of having a moderator, oh wait, he's the one doing it.  Nice.  Look, I do NOT want Trump to win, but it's increasingly possible due to the disastrous candidacy of Joe Biden.  His atrocious polling cannot be simply ignored as though it's the media or right wing made up crap.  2016 was the same story.  The liberals laughed at the notion, and then cried, because they chose to focus on social issues that the country didn't care about or were sick of hearing of.  It's still the economy, stupid.

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ireactions wrote:

Another thought on Kelsey Grammer and Frasier:

First, if we look at Grammer's autobiography: father shot and murdered when Grammer was 13, sister raped and stabbed and murdered when he was 20 (and he had to identify the body), half brothers killed by sharks when he was 25, drug and alcohol addiction, drunk driving, a car crash -- I think we can be kind and say that this person is mentally ill and very sad.

I don't feel Frasier is severely diminished by his actor being mentally ill and supporting alt-right fascism. (Hey, at what point does it stop being "alt"?) When we look at, say, Joss Whedon: his misogyny undermined BUFFY as a feminist creation. When we look at Allison Mack, her sex trafficking cult of brainwashing, slavery and branding undermined her character of Chloe Sullivan, an information-empowered superhero.

However, Frasier is not a paragon or a wholely heroic figure or a role model like Buffy or Chloe. Frasier is an extremely flawed human being: his ego is out of control, he's controlling and insecure, he's a psychiatrist and mental health practitioner who faked a suicide attempt for attention and then became genuinely suicidal and ended up on the evening news, he's a pretentious snob.

He's also brilliant, caring, empathetic, skillful, an information sponge, a voracious learner, a self-sacrificing person of love and decency -- but he is forever caught between his impeccable morality and his overinflated self-importance. Frasier is a buffoon and the audience is encourage to learn from his mistakes rather than emulate his behaviour.

Frasier is not meant to represent a particular pinnacle of human identity or achievement. For me, the character is not tarnished by the disgrace of his actor. Frasier Crane is defined not by his virtues but by his flaws and his perseverance in struggling with his flaws. The degree to which Grammer has surrendered to his failings only highlights how Dr. Frasier Crane is forever battling his own.

Christian Bale having some serious anger management issues did not undermine the role of Batman because Batman has some problems with anger too.

Bale doesn't have anger issues, it was a one-time on set outburst that should never have been revealed.  He's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, a staunch family man as well. 

As for Kelsey, idk if you can find it, but he did an episode of Raw Nerve with Shatner and he goes through his past traumas and it's really revealing and quite emotional.  Grammer too, super nice guy if you ever run into him, and while he is terrible at marriage, I don't know if I'd bury him for being a Republican.  Not sure how much of a diehard Trumper he is either? 

Beyond that, HALF the country voted for Trump, there aren't that many mentally ill people.  They mostly don't like him, but they want nothing to do with Democrats.  It's just a tribal society now.

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"can't have an 80 year old sitting in jail," I'm sure Charles Manson would have agreed!

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … bbean.html

OMG, horrible, horrible tragedy for Christian Oliver, who was the guest star during S4's Net Worth!  I also knew him from one season of Saved by the Bell: The New Class. 

An American actor died tragically alongside his two daughters, ages 10 and 12, as their plane nose dived and crashed into the waters off of a small Caribbean island.

Christian Klepser, 51, who went by the stage name Christian Oliver, was confirmed to have been killed in the accident, along side his children, Madita and Annik. The plane's pilot, Robert Sachs, was also killed.

During his career, Klepser appeared in major movies such as Speed Racer and Valkyrie and recently had a part in the latest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise.

https://earthprime.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/episode-guide/season-4/net-worth/net-worth.jpg

Is there a singular form of "Jedi" in English?  Could mean a single Jedi.  HA HA HA.  Seriously though, I suspect maybe Rey will now follow the journey Luke was intending to do, but failed at.

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/shar … 235859572/

While the right naturally have assailed the director's comments about "making men feel uncomfortable" and expecting an overly "woke" Rey film, I have other concerns.  Such as, what experience or vision does this woman have in directing a film of this scale, in this genre?  Will she eschew the CGI for a character piece?  This might be a complete disaster, or a Logan-esque hit.

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As I said, Biden team had better make the narrative about Trump's violent uprising, and threats of a future repeat.

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QuinnSlidr wrote:
Grizzlor wrote:

The Epstein list, just an eye roll from me.  What does being on it prove?  You did business with him?  You used his FREE jet?  Attended his parties with other rich guys?  The only powerful person accused of wrongdoing is Prince Andrew, who will never be prosecuted, thanks to "diplomatic immunity."

This is wrong. Trump has been involved in a lawsuit in which he raped a 13 year old girl with Epstein overseeing it.

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/ … ped-230770

"In the most recent suit, Trump’s accuser asserted that while she was exploring a modeling career in 1994, she attended a series of parties at the Manhattan home of prominent investor Jeffrey Epstein. She alleges that during those parties the real estate mogul tied her to a bed and raped her. She also claimed Epstein raped her during that series of gatherings"

Sadly, this person has been intimidated by Trump. Eventually, this will see justice.

I won't hold my breath.  Trump's morality is irrelevant to MAGA.  In fact, I was watching a segment last night, and the reporter asked a MAGAteer in Iowa what would stop them from supporting Trump.  Deadpanned, the woman goes, "he'd have to do something exceedingly bad, like murder someone or die!"  These people are beyond help. 

pilight wrote:

Epstein had no legitimate business.  He embezzled a small fortune from Les Wexner then expanded it through various types of financial fraud.

He was planning to extort many of his "clients."  He figured they'd protect him, although Maxwell testified that "Epstein never believed he did anything wrong."  He flew important people around the world, not always to his island, and bugged the plane on them.

Reminds me of the old Batman cartoons from the 70s.  They used to switch a lot of voice actors in and out, nobody knew.  In fact, my friend was Larry Storch's manager and nobody knew whether Larry had actually played the Joker!  It remained a mystery.

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Trump is not going to pay any of those fines.  We know him, he'll drag that out forever.  If his business license is revoked, that's another story.  May need to turn the company over to Baron!  Wish I could revel in all of that, but this maniac keeps right on punching.  This won't stop him.  He'll just become further unhinged and desperate and dangerous.

Haley won't be offered.  Trump 2024 is not going to compromise on anything.  He will choose a sycophant like Kari Lake.  Has to be someone who will spew the same bile lies as him.  His attitude now is Biden is so bad, all Trump needs is MAGA to be revved up and he'll win. 

The Epstein list, just an eye roll from me.  What does being on it prove?  You did business with him?  You used his FREE jet?  Attended his parties with other rich guys?  The only powerful person accused of wrongdoing is Prince Andrew, who will never be prosecuted, thanks to "diplomatic immunity."

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If I told you how old my PC at home was, your head would explode!  Granted it's been given a couple upgrades, but I only use it for web browsing, Photoshop, some Android desktop/app emulation, etc.  I bought it originally as more of a gaming PC but I stopped using it for games many years ago.  Honestly, I could afford a new one, I just hate having to reorganize my files!  Even my NetGear storage server is fairly old in the tooth.

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Haley was Governor of South Carolina.  She did succeed in removing the Confederate flag from state property.  She's surely had to answer this question 500 times, and yet sounded like an idiot.  Regardless, her answer is about as relevant in this election as John Schneider, zilch.  Donald Trump will be the GOP nominee.

I first remember Lake from the series Surface, which I watched a little bit only.  But to show you how your memory fizzles and fades, when I first recalled it, I swore it had to do with devil doppelgangers from a parallel universe.  In reality, it DID have a lot to do with a body of water, but not that.  What I was recalling was the movie The Lake (2018) starring Yasmine Bleeth!  FWIW, both aired on NBC.