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(2,626 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Grizzlor wrote:

3. Mask wearing is down to about as limited as pre-pandemic, from my personal observations.  The majority of mask wearers I SEE these days ON TELEVISION or IN PERSON seem to be the obnoxious, terrorist sympathizing, anarchists screaming "genocide" re: Palestine.

MODERATOR NOTE: This poster has declared that mask wearers are "terrorist sympathizing". It's one thing to call mask wearers obnoxious and anarchic. But this poster has declared that people who wear a mask for health and safety are supporting acts of mass murder against civilian populations.

This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

This poster will either apologize for this remark in his next post, or he will be banned for a week upon his next post.

Where did I call you a terrorist?  Yup, the majority of the "mask wearers" that [I'M SORRY], I MYSELF PERSONALLY SEE WITH MY OWN EYES, are the obnoxious, I will add, professional and amateur protestors that Americans are forced to indulge lately.  I literally prefaced the whole statement being my personal observation, but after re-reading I suppose if one opted to ignore that, well then I guess sky's the limit as to what could be inferred.  I should have been absolutely literal myself then, leaving no room for the incorrect interpretation, free of any nuance, by adding "IN PERSON or ON TELEVISION."  I "fixed" that above.

The great irony is now that the symbol of the face mask has become those who don't wear them for health reasons at all.  Which would entirely rule people such as YOU out of my social commentary.  I'm surprised you're not offended at how the pro-terrorist flunkies have subverted "public mask wearing" for those who are extremely health conscious and instead, made it a tool used for disguising the face of anarchists and anti-Semites.  Now, rather than respond and ask me to clarify, or something a civilized person would do, we get the moderator notes followed by another trip to the principal's office. 

Excuse me if I am a little perturbed that the radical left, which virtue signaled their adherence to their conformity by wearing masks everywhere and all the time, and then tried to publicly guilt or vilify anyone who chose not to, as if they were somehow inflicting violence over them.  Again, not YOU or anyone here, who had their own personal/medical reasons to do so.  No, these same "conformists," who's doctrine now ignores unprovoked violence on innocent civilians living in a democratic society, in order to score perverse, reverse racist "points" among themselves, by shouting colonialism and genocide.  Because after all, the fair skinned are the root of all evil on the planet, and to be blamed for whatever may occur.  They are incredibly warped, indoctrinated by professional idiots who teach at these institutions charging obscene money, not to mention social media platforms which are heavily influenced and programmed by hostile foreign entities. 

The same so-called progressive pols who cowardly stood by and allowed BLM protests to turn into riots, allowed city centers to be overtaken by professional anarchists and drug addicts, and to turn a blind eye to criminals causing billions in theft and damage; they're the buffoons who nearly cost Joe Biden the 2020 election.  Had they allowed a repeat on college campuses recently, you could kiss whatever chances he had bye-bye this time.  Thank God city and state politicians stepped in, and had the police toss these idiots out of there.  The President said yesterday "they cannot be allowed to cause chaos."  Joe Biden's gravest threat is losing the middle of the country, not the left.  Those who are willing to blow up his work on climate change, women's health, student debt, and infrastructure by supporting 3rd parties or even Trump, just so that they can conform with their lunatic comrades, be my guest.  Society is losing its grip on reality.  The younger generations have absolutely no concept of what an economy is, how it works, and why the traditional American way of life, as well as foreign policy, should be understood and supported. 


I do hope that clears things up, because I have had an absolutely awful week personally, and the tribulations of a message board visited by dozens is not going register a blip on my radar full of grief, stress, uncertainty, and ambivalence.  Didn't wish to shove any of that on anyone here.
..........................................................................................................................................................................

By the way, my past "false" statements, the ones that you jumped down my throat for, and tried to gag me over, were actually supported by major public health policy makers, including those in the United Kingdom.  They questioned the efficacy of large scale mask-wearing, and the affect of mask mandates on the spread of the virus, making my skepticism in line with the leadership of the supposedly highly respected British National Health Service.  Fine.  I really didn't care to discuss the subject further at the time, since it personally does nothing for me, and the pandemic was ending.  The science was not conclusive, I provided actual scientists questioning studies, and was crapped on.  Throwing a gag order on dissent and skepticism is entirely illiberal.

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RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

This is sad and reflective of how hard it is to put together these events

https://xfilespreservationcollection.co … -fest-2024

The guest list was lousy.  Nobody is traveling to Saratoga for Mitch Pileggi (who does a million conventions) and a few other dinky names.  Saratoga is in the middle of nowhere, which again, nobody wants to go to, because you would have to fly in somewhere else then drive hours to get there.  Obviously the couple who run the museum live up there, but that's just a tough sell.  They had a better guest lineup last year, which was still overshadowed by PhileFest in Minneapolis a few months later that featured Chris Carter.  I went to something called X-Fest 2 outside Chicago in 2019, which had a nice lineup itself.

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I saw some of that series, Quiet on Set.  In general, I will say this, none of it surprised me.  Something very nefarious began at Viacom around that time, a rot from the top down.  Who should be surprised that it's teenage entertainment would be directed by such filth, and protected from the top by greedy executives?  Much of it happened in plain sight.  When MTV & VH1 desired higher ratings, they shifted programming from music into reality, and with it quickly any semblance of decency and respect.  Producers coached these participants/contestants into promiscuity, substance abuse, and occasionally violence.  They promoted raunchy behavior, as long as it sold. 

I myself was well beyond the age of Nickelodeon by time Dan Schneider, who I'd only known from Head of the Class, had taken over.  My favorite show was Hey Dude, which was dorky and wholesome.  Now, people like Brian Peck existed long before those shows.  He worked on Growing Pains, and there was disturbing footage from that.  The show runner of GP was convicted of having child porn in 2010.  Should Will and Rider be crucified?  Look, these pedophiles often get away with it for a long time, because they may be completely normal and friendly with 95% of the people who know them.  Often you don't suspect.  Will and Rider had a positive relationship with him, and naively supported Peck.  I understand the victim's family's anger at the time, but I'm not going to vilify them, they weren't the criminals. 

Is this a Hollywood problem?  Well it has been for decades upon decades.  It's simple, there's a lot of under supervised children working in Hollywood.  If you are a pedo, that's where you would wish to be.  As with the long history of child abuse from clergy in the Church, again, those with such depravity, are going to go hang out where they can have access to victims.

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(2,626 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

1. I don't see what the Supreme Court is doing?  There was a case decades ago in which it was found in Nixon vs. Fitzgerald that the President cannot be sued for official acts, but could be prosecuted. 

2. I vaguely watch the polls, they are repetitive and boring. 

3. Mask wearing is down to about as limited as pre-pandemic, from my personal observations.  The majority of mask wearers these days seem to be the obnoxious, terrorist sympathizing, anarchists screaming "genocide" re: Palestine.

MODERATOR NOTE: This poster has declared that mask wearers are "terrorist sympathizing". It's one thing to call mask wearers obnoxious and anarchic. But this poster has declared that people who wear a mask for health and safety are supporting acts of mass murder against civilian populations.

This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

This poster will either apologize for this remark in his next post, or he will be banned for a week upon his next post.

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I mean, Nikki getting 30% in PA despite bowing out months ago cannot be a "great" thing for Trump.  That said, I saw some of the mail in results, and they were incredibly bad for Don, so one could assume that many people voted Haley, by mail, some time ago.  I dunno.

As for those podcast points....

1. "Even the idea that Trump isn't able to campaign right now may not matter six months from now."  I've said it before, being stuck in court for six weeks is crippling for a campaign.  The loss of time is massive.  If the US Supreme Court does not scuttle the DC trial, Trump will be sidelined up to THREE MONTHS during the summer, which will be a huge disaster for his campaign.  Nikki Haley has to be cackling about this.

2. "People that are going to care the most about this issue are people who were going to vote anyway, and the rest of the people that care are probably voting anyway because it's a presidential election." This is entirely the POINT of how you win elections.  You get the people most likely on your side, to physically DO IT.  This is not something to brush aside.  Enthusiasm is a major factor, and when the vote is very close, that is tantamount.

3. And Biden has way more feet on the ground to go out and convince people.  They basically said it was the same thing in 2016 - Trump had a much worse campaign effort than Hillary and she outspent him 2-1, but Trump got so much free media coverage that it didn't matter in the end.  First off, Hillary lost because she overspent in states she probably wasn't going to win, and ignored ones she was struggling in.  Biden is expanding the campaign, on certain issues, but that will help down ticket Dems anyway.  Having people working the campaign is really important.  Take Florida, which Trump will likely win, but Biden is spending there.  Trump's issue is that Desantis hates him, so he won't get much help from him, forcing his team to spend more than they normally would.  Biden is basically trolling Trump down there.

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Trump's $175 million bond was confirmed by the judge after some changes, so he'll be able to appeal without "losing assets."  That appeal likely will take quite some time, into next year I'm sure.

Hush money trial has begun.  I think that Alvin Bragg will present a fairly strong case with evidence and compelling witnesses.  The focus will be on accounting/business practices mainly.  Whether Trump wins or loses, he will be stuck in court, pouting, for up to 6 weeks while Biden is basically all over the place campaigning. 

Meanwhile, beginning at Columbia University and spreading to many schools nationwide, we have the pro-Hamas putrid protests, which I cannot expect will bode well for the DNC convention in Chicago this summer.  Frankly, it's probably going to be an utter disaster.

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Look, I think it's tantamount to support Ukraine, regardless of the November outcome.  Unrest is building in Georgia, and has been in Moldova.  Putin is a thug.  Israel vs. Iran hopefully shall tamp down again. 

Here's where I see this thing....

There is a clear move to Biden among older, whiter folk, particularly in the Midwest.  That was evident in the Haley vote, and these are people who vote all the time, and they are sick of Trump.  They were turned off permanently by January 6th, and these are the voters who Biden has to hammer away at Trump's election cabal from 2020.  A portion were two-time Trump voters, and losing anybody is a major problem for Orange.

Abortion access may or may not play a massive role in swing states, particularly Arizona now, but others to come.  Younger woman are the most likely, but they're already backing Democrats big time anyway.  What it will do is to fortify their resolve to get out and vote.

The youth vote?  Particularly young men of color.  They have clearly moved to Trump, possibly RFK Jr.  Will they even vote?  All hard to say.  You also have the uber-left who have Palestine on the brain, now upset with Biden.  Where do they go?  Definitely not Trump.  Could be a problem in Michigan, although the DNC has been very successful up there.

Lastly, there's the economy.  Most indicators are very good for Joe.  Inflation is a problem, no question, it's not going away.  Cost of living is a disaster, causing widespread angst, but people are still spending like drunken sailors, so what does it really prove?  I do think the casual, less-informed voter, is probably going to favor Trump to a degree on this.  Will it matter?  Like the youth vote, just really don't know how motivated these disgruntled are to vote?  They don't seem to like either candidate, and most likely will not vote.  Voting third party is a waste of time, and these are unmotivated people in the current climate. 

As "Mr. Hopium" Rosenberg continues to stress, it's been a good month for Dems, bad for Trump.

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Trump is either using the Charles Schwab cash account as collateral somewhere else, or he's wishing to continue earning interest on that $175 million.  Versus paying the bond fee.  I would say his underlying business "philosophy" is probably most notable, which is to avoid using your own money, for anything. 

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2 … s-00152863

Meanwhile, the current DC crisis is whether Speaker Mike can get anything through his caucus of block heads?  He has bizarrely proposed to offer four separate bills to aid Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and I believe the border.  Absurd considering, if they get a vote (will pass), they'd likely be repackaged as one bill that goes to the Senate.

Beyond that, a PAC affiliated with a bitter Kevin McCarthy are running ads against the GOP (and Dem) members who voted him out.  Ironically, the "American Prosperity Alliance" is running spots in GOP primaries against those who rejected the bipartisan Border bill, infamously scuttled by defendant Trump. 

The Supreme Court are currently hearing arguments from a January 6 defendant over whether the charges of Obstructing an Act of Congress should stick.  If they vote that down, obviously that would derail countless insurrection cases, perhaps including a good portion of Trump's.

Looks very dreary.  I thoroughly enjoyed the highly Canadian scifi series Dark Matter from about 10 years ago, though.  Unrelated.

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Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

My friend is a bit of an expert on evangelicals, and he wonders if the Trump messaging on abortion is going to drive some of them away.  To them, any surrender on abortion is unacceptable.  They didn't even like that he used the term "abortion rights" at all.  I don't buy it...maybe some of them will leave the top of the ballot blank, but I assume it won't actually matter.

Simply, NO.  Nothing will dissuade them.  One thing to keep in mind is this, the idea that "Evangelical" voters are in love with Trump is a misnomer.  They are Republicans mainly, so they vote that ticket.  They don't particularly care for them.  Furthermore, just because a block is ID'd as evangelical, doesn't indicate how "devout" one might be.  You could ID me as Catholic, but I don't practice at all. 

Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

I feel better than I did a few weeks ago.  And that's before you take into account any of the abortion measures (which makes Arizona more likely and even puts something like Florida in play) and left-leaning polling errors.

Food inflation continues to be an outright disaster, and that is driving blue collar voters away.  Arizona is back in play after that ridiculous abortion situation.  Trump is trying to have it both ways, he can't.  He boasted about Roe vs. Wade being stopped, and this is the result.  "Leave it to the states" is the most putrid cop out there's been, with regards to rights being abandoned.

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LOL, I follow Ron also.  It's nonsensical to blame President's for gas prices, and in most cases, inflation, given there's not a ton an administration can do about that.  However, the messaging from Biden is flat out terrible.  He needs to stop boasting about the economy as if it's absolutely supreme.  For many people, it's not.  Even if they're doing well, there is tremendous anxiety and anger over the ridiculous way in which you're being ripped off for every day expenses.  He has to be more empathetic. 

I saw something this morning about Biden will now openly question whether he has the authority to "close the border" with executive actions.  Trump tried many of these, they were usually shot down in court, but it took time.  Biden should have been issuing these orders 6 months ago.  Even if they are eventually stopped, who cares, at least you can say you tried SOMETHING! 

To me, the reason Biden approval is this bad is inaction.  He seems to just let issues fester and fester, allows the media to drive the entire narrative, gets beat up, and still does nothing.  Frankly the border inaction is just stunning at this point.  And while he has no control over Netanyahu, he looks completely sidelined.  To think, a US President has zero control?  Why are you still sending military aid without strings?  What is your leverage then?  Ukraine is another one, where there's been zero action on aid.  Yes, the GOP is holding it up, but the net result is a big negative for Biden, because he's let completely neutered.

Biden is never going to reclaim an advantage with the economy or immigration, he's sunk by close to double digits on those, and it's largely his own inaction, or worse messaging, to blame.  If abortion or threats to democracy creep up the latter in importance, he will do better.  It's really about what are the crucial issues in the months leading up to voting.

TemporalFlux wrote:

Looks like we could see a return to slightly askew projects that play off nostalgia.

https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/a … uture.html

As mentioned in the article, J J Abram’s homage to Spielberg’s E.T. with his film Super 8 could be an example.  Looks like Abrams may be attempting the same thing with Back to the Future.

HURL!  Abrams has no shame.

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RFK Jr. campaign director literally admitting they are running to allow Trump to win.

https://twitter.com/IsaacDovere/status/ … 5685517814

Never saw it, but I'm still upset to lose any kind of quality science fiction TV.  There's simply almost none of it anymore.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20TAkcy3aBY

Absolutely brilliant take down of those who are pushing for increased AI, by the maestro Jon Stewart.  These IT billionaires will destroy us all, and no, I'm not kidding.

Larry definitely crossed a line, but it was much more a line of common theatrical integrity.  Larry has no affiliation with Elmo, and was appearing on Today as a guest.  I realize it's a puppet, but it's incredibly disrespectful for another performer to basically unscripted trash someone else's for no good reason.  He's a huge star who will get away with it.  Look, I revere Larry David, the main is a comic genius, and that's what drove his impulsiveness in that moment.  But that was highly unprofessional, in that setting.

I actually agreed completely with Wheaton, about Larry's ego and lack of control, and to an extent how children could have been frightened by what happened to Elmo.  Granted most children are not watching Today Show if they can help it.  All right up until the point where he once again made it about HIM.  Wil once more is unrealistically theatrical, in comparing Larry's behavior to that of his abusive father's.  Larry KNEW he was screwing with a fake puppet/unreal character performed by another adult, on television.  This was not Dan Schneider screaming at a 12 year old actress on set.  It's completely exhausting that any sort of thing that happens must be completely abhorred and attacked because it "triggers" someone.  Or that one's opinions are unassailable because "I'm a victim."  We get it, you feel you were grossly abused by trusted family, it's terrible.  Clearly Wil has not moved on at all, and his entire world view is shaped by who does or does not remind him of his parents.  He's miserable, it's very sad.

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hmm, didn't realize Coogler was pitching a reboot.  I think the obvious focus has to be on AI, which is IMO the gravest threat to humanity ever created.  Aliens and other such traditional conspiracies are no longer believable.

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And few if any will change their minds.  If you have any sort of acceptance of Trump being the psychopath he is, but that his "policies" somehow helped you, there will be no changing of minds.  I think the greater risk is that people will simply not vote against Trump.  They will stay home, or will vote for a bigger nutcase like Kennedy.  Biden is not getting those voters.  They think he's too old, and blame him for inflation and crimes of migrants.

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Yes, Biden now has the support of women by a 2 to 1 margin, although he's flipped the other way with men.

There was a polling report that between 2020 Nov exits, and now, Joe Biden remains around 40% with white folks.  He's lost very large % with Hispanic and black "voters."  That is where the overall polling has changed.  Now, is that real?  I still say that some of that has to do with outdated polling metrics.

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At least some of them get prosecuted.  New York lets countless violent offenders right back onto the streets.

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Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

The justice system jumped out of its way to protect Donald Trump again today.  It's outrageous how he continues to claim he's being persecuted when he's probably the most protected citizen in the world today.  He just never faces any consequences for his actions.

Let's be honest, how many times have you seen a jury award $700 million in damages against a company, only to have that appealed down to $15 million?  It pays to be wealthy.

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I would say that The Spinners were the bulk of the inspiration, given that Tracy considered himself a "Philly" guy, and they were part of the Philly soul/doo-wop scene back then.  The Tops were a Motown group, and originated as far back as the 50's.  The viewer technically had to "suspend" belief a tad when it came to Rembrandt Brown, who in actuality would have been even older than Arturo, had he actually been a 60's soul/RnB crooner, in the style of the songs that Tracy haphazardly concocted for season 1.  However, the character likely was "just out of high school" in the early/mid-70s when the Topps hit it big.  Maybe not fully in line with what actually went down in music back then, but it's a TV show after all.

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https://nypost.com/2024/03/23/us-news/d … rank-lutz/

Pollster Frank Luntz claims that AG James seizing Trump properties will help him in polls.  I'm not sure it will matter either way.  Unquestionably the Colorado stunt was baseless and counterproductive, but to me, I just don't think people care.  Gloating over what the AG does to Trump really gets us nowhere.  He's likely to be dictator this time next year, so whether he no longer owns a building or a golf course seems awfully petty and insignificant.

“I say this to the Attorney General right now, if you play politics on this — this is what the secretaries of state did in Colorado and what they did in, I believe, is Maine. His numbers went up in both states,” Luntz said.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/politics … index.html

Here's more headaches with polling, just in Michigan.  CNN released a poll showing Biden being crushed by Trump, in line with another January poll of that state from another pollster.  Without boring everyone with numbers, this poll seems to claim that voters under 35 favor Trump by a wide margin, and "voters of color" showed a huge move away from Biden.  These could be accurate, in which case, Biden is likely to lose as badly as John Kerry.  Is that simply the younger voters being so disgusted with both candidates?  Keep seeing these polls showing a massive, almost inconceivable shift from D to R among both groups nationwide.  However, electoral results continue to dispel this?  Again, I continue to question the metrics, because it's likely very difficult to get a real read on those demos.

However, this is pertinent I feel, and goes to the potential notion that youth voter apathy will drive them towards throwaway to Kennedy.  I personally believe these people, who are massively undecided, simply won't vote.

A hypothetical four-way matchup including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Cornel West in addition to Trump and Biden suggests significant support for Kennedy in both states. In Pennsylvania, 40% choose Trump, 38% Biden, 16% Kennedy and 4% West, while in Michigan, it stands at 40% Trump, 34% Biden, 18% Kennedy and 4% West. In both states, fewer than one-fifth of those backing candidates other than Biden or Trump say they are enthusiastic about their choice, with about half in each state saying they back their candidate mostly because they don’t like their other options.

Both Biden and Trump are viewed unfavorably by majorities of Michigan and Pennsylvania voters, and about 1 in 6 in each state are so-called “double-haters,” holding an unfavorable view of both Biden and Trump (17% in Michigan, 18% in Pennsylvania). In the hypothetical matchup including third party candidates, a plurality of these double-negative voters in each state break for Kennedy, despite large shares of that group also saying they don’t know enough about him to have an opinion.

Meanwhile, Emerson has them even in MI.

https://emersoncollegepolling.com/michi … -biden-44/

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Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

The problem is that he's in too deep.  If he doesn't run for president, he won't be able to delay the trials against him forever.  He needs to be president to get the federal charges dismissed against him and get the state stuff delayed/ignored until he's out of office.  And when he gets in, I think he'll still maintain that he has total immunity.  And there's no question he'll try and stay in office after 2028 so any "I'll get indicted once I leave office" wouldn't even happen.

Also, the fact that SCOTUS even took the case (and delayed it so long) doesn't take off the table the idea that they'll side with Trump and give him total immunity.

Trump knows fully what he's doing.  This is his life's skill, screwing people and entities over, and living to do it another day.  Truth Social is likely to have a massive IPO, despite most analysts having no clue why anyone would invest in it.  He'll make a ton on that.  His financial problems really aren't central to the campaign.  His legal issues are.  I think Bragg's case WILL see a courtroom in about a month.  Can't say the same for the others.  Judge Cannon's rulings have left legal experts baffled, and most believe she is angling on delaying the case for months and/or dismissing it entirely.  The problem is Bragg getting a conviction is mehhh, as the penalty would at worst result in probation or home confinement, and a fine.  The DC case remains the critical one, if the Judge can have it proceed in the summer without the USSC derailing it.

Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

Anyway, the podcast goes into whether or not polling is bad and where the numbers are good for both Biden and Trump.  What's crazy about polling is that Biden is losing all the swing states (Michigan recently was tied), but the democrats are winning senate races in all the states. So there are people who are voting democrat for senator but Trump for president.  There will certainly be *some* people who do that, but I assume as the race gets more real, people are going to go back to their respective camps.

I've made this point since last year, Biden is a terrible candidate.  The voters are not lost, they are largely undecided. 

Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

Unfortunately, RFK Jr. is likely to appear on a majority of November ballots, that could be the difference in pulling additional votes from Biden.

Regarding RFK, he's only on the ballot in a handful of states (but they are key states).  When I was pulling the link for the podcast above, I found this:

https://abcnews.go.com/538/rfk-jr-party … =108346487

I know the Biden campaign is worried about RFK, but they're being aggressive about it.  RFK has the Kennedy name, but he's not a true Kennedy.  Polls that have Democrats voting for Kennedy show that Democrats don't agree with his policies.  It's going to take a media blitz to get it done, but right now, RFK is getting Democrat votes based off his name.  If Biden can tell Democrats who RFK really is, I really think he's going to struggle to get Democrat support.  I mean maybe there are hardcore anti-vax Democrats who would otherwise vote for Biden, but I just can't imagine that's the case.  DeSantis voters line up pretty hard with RFK voters so that's a much more logical fit.

But again, it's going to mean getting through to those people.  Biden's going to have a ton of money to spend, though.  He's crushing Trump in fundraising, and Trump actually pulled in less money last month than Nikki Haley.

Kennedy will be on more ballots, because many states have these dumb rules where if you align with a political party (often a fly by night), you don't need that many signatures.

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First Trump HAS a lot of money, it's just not cash.  Nobody has "cash" in that amount because it would be completely counterintuitive to do so.  With low interest rates, maintained at that level for years by Trump, holding cash was not a good investment.  He did lie of course about having it to the judge, because he's crippled with insecurity, and cannot tell the truth about his portfolio.  Anyway, his assets are real estate, and you can't just roll that over into cash overnight.  AG James will be going to the Judge for liens on various Trump assets.  Ironically, some of them are actually not going to fetch the state of NY very much.  Several are so heavily mortgaged, that Trump actually retains very little actual ownership. 

The immunity filing was comical.  Trump's lawyers quoted Justice Kavanaugh out of context, claiming he said in a law review once that the "President cannot function when under threat of indictment."  They missed the 2nd part where he also said, that such immunity would end once you leave office, i.e., you can be charged for things you did while in office at that time.  Again, they know they will lose, it's all about delay. 

Poll-wise I continue to point at some horrible cross tabs for Biden, whereby he won Latino vote by 30 points in 2020, and now leads by just a few points.  It's one of the numbers which keep me up at night.  Meanwhile, while Senator Sinema and Menendez have just elected NOT to run as independents, helping Democratic Senate hopes....former Maryland Governor, moderate Republican Larry Hogan, is running double digits ahead of the Dem field.  Unfortunately, RFK Jr. is likely to appear on a majority of November ballots, that could be the difference in pulling additional votes from Biden.

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Reagan was an ACTOR!  Not a particularly good one, but he was known as the "Great Communicator" for a reason.  Joe Biden was a gaffe machine, but in the past he was at least better at impromptu stuff.  His team hides him from the press far too often, it's a terrible look.  Now ironically, it's Biden who is left standing from the old days of the anti-Communists.  A shocking consideration, compounded by the younger generations' feelings about Israel.  America remains supportive of Ukraine, but it's not like it was in the 1980s, when the very idea of Communism scared people to death.  And honestly, in retrospect, it probably should have.  Trump's vow to retract America from the world stage is appalling and would have Reagan vomiting.

Anecdotal, but I was hanging with a friend, whose brother is a real estate lawyer in New York, and absolutely despises Trump, though he is a Republican.  He said that what Trump was actually penalized for (property devaluation shenanigans) are done by most of the real estate corporations, accountants and lawyers throughout Manhattan.  Said he probably has a good case for appeal, because the statutes have rarely if ever been enforced to this degree.  Of course it's now comical that the Artist of the Deal cannot find any bonding company to back him for that gigantic amount, and may be unable to exact an appeal.  Oh well. 

The problem with being convicted in the "Stormy Daniels" case is that few if any voters are going to make a decision based on that.  They were fine with this disgusting Access Hollywood tape, so this really won't have any effect.  It may do the opposite, and galvanize his support.  The critical voters in up to 7 swing states are concerned with immigration, inflation, crime, and those effects on the economy, which Trump buries Biden in the polling.  The DC "January 6" case is probably the only one with enough teeth, but again, the polling is shocking in that most Americans believe Trump IS a criminal, and yet prefer his "policies" by large numbers to Biden's.  I really don't know what Biden can even do at this point?

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Slider_Quinn21 wrote:
QuinnSlidr wrote:

"Sleepy"? You do see why I think you're secretly a republican agent posing as a democrat?

Attacks on dems, attacks on Joe, insulting Joe, etc...

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he was just making fun of Trump calling him that when he was anything but Sleepy.

Thanks, sarcasm is a lost art.

Garland was not the problem here.  How is it his fault if Trump and most of the GOP and media decide to be deceitful?  The whole point of Biden/Garland was to restore the guard rails.  As for Hur, look, his comments even at face value are basically worthless.  He found no evidence of wrongdoing, end stop, everything else he wrote should have been discarded.  The problem is the MEDIA.  They blew up what he said.  Garland released the full transcript which proved that Hur was "selective" and even then, all he was claiming was that Biden would present himself as a nice old dude.

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Slider_Quinn21 wrote:
Grizzlor wrote:

I don't know that sports necessarily did much to/for the Quinn character.  I think it was something that interested him far more as a child/teenager than now, where his intense study and experimentation seemed to take place of all over interests.

Do they ever mention sports outside of the fact that Rembrandt is signing the national anthem at a Giants game?  I would think one of the sorta fun aspects of sliding would be to see how my teams performed from Earth to Earth.  Was I lucky to be from my Earth (where at least my teams won sometimes) or was I seriously unlucky (and my teams won way more on all other Earths).

ireactions, I could've helped with the sports references smile

There was the infamous OJ Simpson reference, and a few others here and there, but most of that seemed to be in The Pilot.  Obviously the big one was Eggheads, where Quinn played the Math Club version of Basketball.  Plus whatever episode Quinn mentions the 49ers Super Bowl victory, but if I recall it was actually the wrong year.  Something like that.  There were plenty of pop culture references beyond sports that seemed to vanish by season 2, and completely out with Tracy's departure.  If anything, I found that to be disappointing, and further example of the laziness and ineptitude of the writing staff. 

ireactions wrote:

My personal opinion, shared by maybe nobody, is that Quinn was not actually smarter than Arturo. It's just that Quinn was willing to make leaps of logic and take guesses that sometimes turned out to be right and express guesses with more certainty than was warranted and improvisationally correct on the fly.

Arturo, however, did not like to make leaps and was a more methodical, deliberate and calculated thinker, which Arturo mistook for being slow or foolish when it was in fact more cautious and less reckless. Arturo would never have gotten everyone lost in the multiverse. Quinn was a daredevil and a gambler. Arturo wasn't dumber or smarter; he just had different strengths.

I would agree, but again, Arturo was highly learned on many subjects.  Quinn seemed to know sports, computers, and quantum physics.  He was much younger and thus hadn't had the time to gain more knowledge.  He was certainly the risk taker, especially with his invention.  Max was conservative, and that fit his nature.  This was also seen during Last Days when he seemed to hit many walls, only to have a baked Benish come up with answers like it was nothing.

ireactions wrote:

Well, Quinn has to exercise at least as much as Jerry O'Connell, and the sports justified why Quinn clearly did some running and weightlifting every day.

Thinking about it now, I imagine that Quinn's interest in sports, strategies, game theory, and how to throw a football, hit a baseball and sink a basketball led to his interest in mathematics, physics, engineering and quantum mechanics.

I can attest that being physically fit and spending time in the gym does not make one all that much better at sports!  I mean, there's that infamous O'Connell "duck walk" that the old Scifi board had a field day with.  Ha ha.

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Plenty of "nerds" or "geeks" who excel in engineering or math have huge sports passions.  It's usually something that is passed down from father to son or daughter.  Professional sports today have become dominated strategically by math wizards who analyze metrics and statistics. 

My feeling was that Torme viewed Quinn's childhood as fairly routine for suburban Americans of the 1980s.  That would have included sports playing and watching.  At some point, he becomes highly interested and excels in subjects like mathematics and physics.  Tracy often mentioned that Quinn's brilliance came naturally, easily, and that he often took it for granted.  This annoyed Arturo, a highly intelligent man, yet more of a bookworm than possessing unique analytical gifts. 

I don't know that sports necessarily did much to/for the Quinn character.  I think it was something that interested him far more as a child/teenager than now, where his intense study and experimentation seemed to take place of all over interests.

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I saw some clips.  Sleepy Joe sounded like he was ready to rumble.  Trump spent the week hanging with Viktor Orban.

A brief remembrance posted by "Spacetime" Matt Hutaff on his site, which we may have missed.  He mentions seeing an add during The Simpsons for Sliders, and later watching and becoming hooked, the numerous Sliders projects he's done, and meeting Tracy.

https://earthprime.com/etcetera/tracy-torme-obituary/

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ireactions wrote:

Well, that is the kind of store that is clearly also not existing in Canada, certainly not as a chain. Why wouldn't it exist in the US?

In terms of why it no longer exists in Canada, there are clearly a number of factors. Factory Direct bought refunded-returned items from Best Buy and Amazon and Staples and whatnot for pennies on the dollar (an exaggeration), engaged in cursory inspection, discarded any items that were clearly too broken to sell, and put the rest on the shelves. A $800 smartphone retailed for $400, and went down by $50 a year, and Factory Direct made a good profit on that for a long time.

I personally never had a bad experience, but some Factory Direct customers reported that their products were defective and had to be exchanged repeatedly to get a working item. I suspect that Factory Direct's inspections of their inventory were limited, and they relied on customers exchanging defective items rather than pre-sale quality control.

For a long time, their sales were strong enough to withstand it, but Factory Direct may have built a bad reputation if too many customers had too many exchanges to the point where customers started paying more money elsewhere so that they wouldn't need to do repeated exchanges.

In 2020, Factory Direct probably saw increased sales of electronics due to people staying home, and may have overpurchased in anticipation for rising sales in 2021 - 2022 only for inflation to hit hard in 2023.

There's the fact that Factory Direct couldn't really raise their prices very much. If refurbished products go up in price, then the value of buying refurbished versus new is eliminated. Also, in 2023, Factory Direct's main customers were probably shopping there less. People on already low budgets who were now finding anything from Factory Direct now too expensive for them and viewed Factory Direct as a luxury.

People with more disposable income had probably always bought the full-priced latest and greatest. People who were tech-savvy enough to see Factory Direct for the great deals that it had may have also preferred to buy their items from online retailers who shipped products directly to buyers' homes and didn't require an in-store visit.

The people who once turned to Factory Direct for affordable tech were probably not buying any tech at all. In addition, Factory Direct didn't own its locations; it was renting those properties, and the rent against diminished profit led to an unsustainable situation.

Personally, I think Factory Direct offered amazing value, selling 2 - 4 year old smartphones that were so powerful that they wouldn't really suffer in terms of performance, while admittedly missing out on the latest screen refresh rates and low light camera lenses of newer technology. What could Factory Direct have done to survive?

They might have considered ending their existence as a bricks and mortar shop and taken their business entirely online, although it would have required more extensive review of their refurbished goods to avoid wasting shipping costs on exchanges.

They might have been able to focus exclusively on phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. Factory Direct was probably wasting its shelf space and time on selling blenders, coffeemakers, kettles and ice cream makers.

In a world of $2,000 smartphones, laptops and desktops, Factory Direct might have been able to carve out a niche in offering $300 - $800 prices on phones, tablets, laptops and desktops that were refurbished, 2 - 6 years old, not the latest and greatest, but affordable and good enough to run the latest and greatest software and apps even if the hardware was a little aged.

I wonder where I'll go now to find refurbished items.

Refurbished electronics (in the USA) is a tough business.  I actually have read about a few that do okay out in rural areas that don't have many big boxes.  The parts and labor to fix broken items often doesn't make sense.  However, there are a ton of these business out in Brooklyn, NY, for instance, but they are entirely run out of warehouses, and often deal with parts imported from China.  If it doesn't work, you stick it back in the box and mail it back, and they probably toss it.  In any case, ditching the retail piece probably saves quite a bit of money.

I have several friends who operate video game stores where they do repairs, but you're also talking about electronics that can be decades old by now. 

ireactions wrote:

In other news, HP wants to stop selling bubble jet printers and start renting them to customers at about $36 a month for 700 pages and charge you $270 if you want to cancel your two year subscription. Wade Welles would advise that you skip this deal and buy a laserjet.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/2/24088 … nstant-ink

Given how little people print these days, it's another rough business to be in.  You are kind of forced to make this stuff up.  For years they've taken a bath on the hardware, with the hopes of sticking ppl with exorbitant ink and toner charges.  I presume this was their last lifeline.

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Slider_Quinn21 wrote:
Grizzlor wrote:

Does that mean either judge will actually start the cases prior to November?

I think the DC case will start if they can before the election.

So Trump has done a couple of wily things.  He suggested an August trial date for the documents case.  Even though that case should be open and shut, Cannon can really make it difficult on the prosecution, plus the fact that it's a Florida jury.  If Cannon accepts the August trial date, it could mess with the timing of the DC case.  Then Trump can either hope the documents case continues to get pushed back, or he gets a pre-election acquittal from a friendly jury.

Would've been really nice if the Supreme Court just kicked back Trump's ridiculous argument.

I'll go one further, the Supreme Court could take forever, and then make a narrow decision, and kick it BACK to the lower courts to rule again, delaying trials even further.  Cannon had no choice but to deny Trump's claim to classified documents, and other confidential FBI material.  Still hasn't ruled on the trial date. 

ireactions wrote:

What will Trump's campaign be like given that his financial penalties and legal fees are much higher than his fundraising and more than what the Republican National Party can provide him?

I've already "warned" that Trump has no designs on paying those penalties.  The lawyers will be paid by the Super PACs. 
It may sound futile, it may sound insane, he's not paying.  He will delay and post his bonds (that he'll never pay back), whatever.  Same as the criminal proceeding, his goal is to win and/or steal the election, be inaugurated, and then hit whatever entity is coming for him or his money with the Dept. of Justice.  E. Jean Carroll is already complaining she'll never see the money, and there's a good chance she won't. 

There was a NY Times/Sienna poll out yesterday, it shows Trump ahead 48-43.  The crosstabs are wild.  A clear majority of people think Trump is a criminal, and don't really favor him that much on issues.  Biden's unfavorability is monstrous, far worse than Trump's, and if it's even close to accurate, he cannot win.  That being said, I still think the sample is not realistic.  It was taken by landline/cell phone survey, and I'm increasingly skeptical of those.   The party affiliation, and demographics in the poll seems off to me, I think it's far too Republican.  Does it mean Biden is ahead?  Again, I cannot see that, given the sheer consistency in his poor standing. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/202 … stabs.html

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Wow, that is the kind of store that would never exist in the USA, certainly not as a chain.

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One tidbit from today's legal wrangling, in the Florida case, the DOJ advised Trump judge Cannon that the "60-day rule" does not apply.  That is the DOJ rule that they don't wish to bring charges which may affect a contest within 60 days of election day.  However, it was clarified that Trump's case does NOT apply, because he was already indicted and the cases have begun being litigated.  I presume the same can be said for the D.C. case.  Does that mean either judge will actually start the cases prior to November?

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Slider_Quinn21 wrote:
Grizzlor wrote:

Trump has yet to pay, he's yet to see justice, and at this rate, as I said months ago, and was laughed it, very likely that will never happen.

Well if he loses the election, he'll face justice.  Not saying he won't get away with it, but he'll face the trials.  He can only delay it so long, and the government will press for it.  If he wins, of course, he'll get away with all of it.

The New York trial is the weakest case in the sense that Trump wouldn't even really face jail time, but remember that people aren't plugged into this stuff.  Swing voters that barely pay attention will know that Trump is a convicted felon.  Swing voters that start paying attention will realize that Trump paid a porn star hush money while he was cheating on his wife.  That doesn't matter in MAGA Land, but it matters in a lot of places.  That will absolutely cost him votes one way or another.

But all in all, I'm very disappointed in SCOTUS.  The legal system is way too slow, and guys like Trump are more than happy to take advantage of that.  Also, this goes back to Garland taking his sweet time.  This should've gone to trial a year ago or more.

This is why I keep saying, the slimeball will avoid prosecution.  As for Supreme Court, I was watching Neal Katyal, USSC lawyer extraordinaire, and he gave an interesting reasoning for this move.  First, yes, we know they could have taken the case directly when Smith wanted them to in December.  Why did they wait until now?  One explanation is that the Trump/Bush appointees wish to play politics and allow Trump to win.  Most legal experts says there is ZERO legal reasoning for an immunity claim, none, it will be rejected.  So why did they take this case?  Katyal says that Trump was also preparing to claim immunity on the Florida documents case, which would be AFTER he's left office.  That might have resulted in a differing opinion in Florida circuit vs DC, and so the Supremes decided this needs to be settled once and for all.  Okay fine, but why April 22 for arguments???  What is the delay?  They took the 14th Amendment case right away!  Albeit, they still have not ruled on that, either. 

Joe Biden's campaign need to come up with some kind of economic message or he's a goner.

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Supreme Court just announced they will hear Trump's bull crap immunity appeal beginning April 22.  Even if they accelerate their time table and have a judgement in a few weeks, that would push the Election DC case back to June or July.  Merrick Garland probably won't allow them to go through with it near to an election.  The Georgia case remains embroiled in the Fani Willis affair.  That leaves only the Bragg hush money case, which even if Trump loses, will get appealed immediately, and most people think it's a stupid case.  Trump has yet to pay, he's yet to see justice, and at this rate, as I said months ago, and was laughed it, very likely that will never happen.

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Shockingly, Desantimonious (the dumbest moniker yet) is still a state Governor. 

More on the uncommitted, which is as expected, very large in the Arab/Muslim populated areas around Dearborn, and the college towns.  Biden is over 80% total, uncommitted is high but trending below 14%.  Here's the key, these votes are STILL Democratic votes, and if anything, this may have buoyed Democratic turnout in an otherwise mehhh primary for them.  Much better that these voters protested with uncommitted versus Dean Phillips or Marianne Williamson.  I still believe that Biden's biggest weakness in MI is not Gaza, it's General Motors.  The Biden push for electric vehicles is very unpopular among union households, because EV's mean less autoworkers, just the way it is. 

Trump meanwhile trending about 2/3 of the vote, Nikki Haley slipping below 28%.  Tons of votes to be counted, Michigan is beyond slow, despite early voting.  Obviously, once again, it's a lot worse of a look to be missing 1/4-1/3 of your primary electorate to another identifiable different candidate.  Haley of course, got clobbered here again.  She has the money to compete through next Tuesday, but probably will be mathematically eliminated.  She may still keep going anyway, although the money is going to be thin.  Trump again underperforms polling.  Michigan's GOP is also a total disaster, with warring factions of Trumpers battling over the last several years, to the point where today's vote will have almost no affect on delegates.  They will be mostly award in next week's state convention, which is sure to be a real farce.

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So far the "uncommitted" total is likely to be quite higher than usual in MI.  Idk what to even make of that, especially with Biden getting 5 out of 6 votes.

The last thing a billionaire wants to do is throw away money!  A million or two maybe, but 10 or even 60 million, no shot.  Sheldon Adelson was his last big one, he's dead.  Even the Home Depot guy is now unfriendly to Trump, and had backed Desantis.

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The collateral would be quite large on the $83 million, but I cannot even fathom for the $455+.  I read that his lawyers are currently trying to get the judge in the Carroll case to lower the bond, and I would suspect they'll "try" likewise on the other case.  Bond companies don't want property, and even less if mortgaged, they want cash/stocks/bonds.  Most all of his property, especially in New York, are highly leveraged because he is an imbusel who fails at business regularly.  I am hearing he could probably need to pay them 3% fee as well as collateral that both would exceed $10 million and $60 million, I think.  These are BIG numbers.  However, Trump could ask the appeals court in both cases to lower the bond requirement, or freeze the penalties entirely.  Somehow I doubt they'll do him any favors. 

I have no idea if he'll ever go to trial on the stolen documents case, but Trump completely admitted it's something he would, could, and should have done on Hannity last night.

https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/sta … 4588687546

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The poll taking can be problematic but so can the poll analysis and how the results are weighted.  I guess at this point, hell with them.

Michigan votes Tuesday, that should be interesting as supposedly many up there blame Biden for Gaza being demolished. 

Trump's CPAC speeches may be his most unhinged and plain deteriorated he's ever sounded.  Gaffes constantly not to mention tons of insanity spewed.  Fox News of all things have often been overlaying the hosts fact checking his lunacy in real time.  Meanwhile, MSNBC/CNN don't even cover him.  I think this is a mistake.  People NEED to see how quickly the man is losing it at a mental level.  He will only get worse.

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We have South Carolina results, and surprise, it's Trump winning.  Duh, you don't get more MAGA than SC.  The story is he once again under-performed badly vs. the polling, by about 7 points each time.  On to Super Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/admcrlsn/status/1761578567345815818

Iowa Caucus:
• Final 538 Avg: Trump +37 (over RDS)
• Final Result: Trump +30

New Hampshire Primary:
• Final 538 Avg: Trump +18
• Final Result: Trump +11

South Carolina Primary:
• Final 538 Avg: Trump +28
• Estimated Result (per NYT): Trump +20

ireactions wrote:

Because you like Amanda the Jedi, my opinion of you just went up by several notches.

The idea that Dakota Johnson didn't realize a Sony superhero movie wasn't a Marvel Studios movie seems too ridiculous to be true... except Johnson, after completing filming on MADAME WEB, fired her agent. There's a rumour that she held her agent responsible for not knowing the difference between Sony and Marvel.

Her editing skills are impressive, and coming up with jokes is not easy.

She also pointed out how several actors who worked Sony "Marvel" movies had no idea they weren't working for Disney/Marvel, including Matt Smith.  Not unique to Dakota, who has been whining during the entire press tour.  Dakota Johnson is a lousy actress, and is not capable of carrying a film.  The rising star was Sydney Sweeney, who was not the lead and probably should have been.

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Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

Biden seems to be underperforming in polls, which is odd.  The problems with polling recently have been underestimating Trump (he won in 2016 when he was polling to lose, and he lost in 2020 closer than the polls implied).  The thought was that there were "shy Trump voters" that were unwilling to admit to pollsters that they support Trump.  Maybe it's possible that people are saying they support Trump when either a) they won't when push comes to shove or b) they just don't like Biden enough that they're willing to tell pollsters that.

I still think the more people know about Trump, the more support he'll lose.  And once normal people start hearing some of the Trump stuff (once they start caring or once the mainstream media starts covering him more), polls will turn.  I'm not fully ready to abandon all polling, but I'm willing to say that polls are really tricky to get right these days.

I have a couple theories to explain those thoughts, which I stole.  First, Rosenberg points out that Biden's approval on almost anything with Republicans is like comically bad.  Granted the opposing party is rarely going to give the President high marks, and I don't know what the norm has been, but Biden is in SINGLE digits with R's!!!!  Yes who cares right, they aren't voting for him!  However they probably represent 25-35% of the respondents in these surveys!  When you weigh that in, it drops Biden's approval numbers to record lows.  That's how badly MAGA hate him.  Even Obama was nowhere near this.  Will I sleep better knowing this?  Not really but it does dispel these approval ratings somewhat. 

Second, on the voter polls, as Sabato remarked, they've become almost useless.  The trick is in weighing who are your likely voters and such.  Pollsters get this wrong a lot.  They're also mistaking Trump's diehard ceiling with a soft one for Biden.  Again, I think over 50% of the electorate wishes to vote against Trump.  Will Biden be able to shuffle well enough to continue to be their alternative?  I remain concerned but it's really about Third party spoilers at this point. 

ireactions wrote:
Grizzlor wrote:

He won't ever pay, so there will be a protracted legal fight over those assets.

What a strange remark. If Trump doesn't pay the fines, the state of New York will simply take his assets and sell them.

For 99.9% of the population.  Not for a Trump who's plan is always to litigate and delay.  Yes, eventually the AG will likely seize but he'll still try to block it.  Again, he knows he will lose but delaying buys him time to maneuver.  The Judge was alerted again that Trump Org tried to transfer assets to Florida.  I don't know what he has up his sleeve but this is his career, litigation.  I know this sounds counterintuitive but Trump has operated this way for 50 years.  He's beaten numerous bankruptcy courts just like this.

Yes Amanda is a gas.  The actors confusing Sony with the Disney MCU is quite funny.  Madame Web I think falls victim to exactly what  Marvel is suffering, which is that these obscure characters and off shoots, created by comic scribes because they were writing dozens of books a year and needed content, is not ideal.  Especially when you are missing what they had back then, the principle characters!

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Jim_Hall wrote:

"Reddit has struck a deal with Google that allows the search giant to use posts from the online discussion site for training its artificial intelligence models and to improve services such as Google Search."

-https://apnews.com/article/google-reddi … 21d3c6a708

There goes the neighborhood!

ireactions wrote:

Would any of us survive an AI war of autonomous drones?

https://www.salon.com/2024/02/24/swarms … d_partner/

When I first read that I thought it said autonomous drivers, which yes, will be the death of us all.

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TemporalFlux wrote:

Something I could see in a Sliders story:

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024/02 … cnnphotos/

But it brings up an idea I had a long time ago. We define reality by what we see; what we feel; what we know.  But what if the Sliders landed in a remote area and all they had was something like these guidestones.

With no way to build further reference, would they believe those were the norms of that world?  What if the perception of reality for four people was shaped by just one man acting alone in his solitary beliefs?

Can't be any worse than using a discarded newspaper or an old fence gate!

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https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tyl … 28879.html

Megaproducer Tyler Perry has put a planned $800 million expansion of his Atlanta, Georgia, studio on hold after seeing the capabilities of OpenAI’s new model Sora, which lets users create video images from text prompts.

“Being told that it can do all of these things is one thing, but actually seeing the capabilities, it was mind-blowing,” he told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday of Sora, which debuted on Feb. 15.

Perry, whose new film, “Mea Culpa” premieres on Netflix on Friday, said the expansion would have added 12 more sounds stages. However all that is “currently and indefinitely on hold,” a decision Perry made in response to Sora’s potential impact on filmmaking as we know it. For one, Perry envisions a scenario where the need for filming on location or building sets would be a concern of the past.

“I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it’s able to do. It’s shocking to me,” Perry said.

“I no longer would have to travel to locations. If I wanted to be in the snow in Colorado, it’s text,” he continued. “If I wanted to write a scene on the moon, it’s text, and this AI can generate it like nothing.”

Perry called Sora a “major game-changer” that could potentially let filmmakers produce movies and pilots at a fraction of the cost, but added, “I am very, very concerned that in the near future, a lot of jobs are going to be lost.”

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Trump is seriously effed by the recent financial judgements against.  I imagine AG James will be seizing assets in the near future.  Once the court in NY completes it's official filing, which keeps being put off, because the independent observer continues to find Trump Org corruption, the clock will start ticking.  He has 30 days to file an appeal.  He won't ever pay, so there will be a protracted legal fight over those assets. 

More troubling for Don, and even worse for GOP, are the RNC's finances.  RNC and Trump PAC's are barely raising any money, and the January reports are horrendous.  His PACs are diverting every last dollar to his legal bills.  The perceived power play that seeks to replace Ronna McDaniel with Lara Trump, is specifically to directly move RNC funds to Trump's lawyers!  This not only shows how awful his campaign is going to be financed, but it's a further disaster for Republicans nationwide. 

As for Nikki, like SQ21, not a fan overall, but the biggest HA HA remains that she would likely beat Biden, and yet MAGA is too cultish and stupid to get that through their heads.  Would her policies stink?  Of course, but as I've said in the past, I can SLEEP AT NIGHT with a President Haley.  First of all, she is vehemently anti-Putin and pro-Ukraine.  Her husband is an active duty commander, as well.  Haley's plans seem to be to stay in the race all the way, and why not?  She's being backed by both GOP sources, Never Trumpers, and even Democrats, all desperate to weaken Trump.  Nikki will gain some delegates, and should Trump be a raging disaster by summer, maybe she can be in position at the convention....

It was just reported, as I'm sure many knew, that the Impeachment of Biden based on the Hunter trash, was led by a now twice arrested, Russian agent, who the FBI has announced lied to them about everything.  Will Mike Johnson continue to embarrass his party by proceeding?  Fools!!!

Today in fact, it was also reported that a MAGICIAN admitted to created the fake Biden robocalls in New Hampshire.  Who he says paid him?  An operative for the dufus Dean Phillips, one of two Democratic primary opponents.  Dean Phillips was already a joke, and this seals it. 

Recently, Rajin' Cajun James Carville put out a video whereby he says the time for questioning Joe Biden as the nominee is over, and Democrats should be fighting for him, instead of afraid of him.  I think a big part of that was a series of polls released recently that show that several perceived "replacments" from Kamala Harris to Gavin Newsome to whoever currently poll worse or the same as Biden.  While much of that is due to their NOT being the nominee, I mostly agree with him.  However, I remain on pins and needles that Biden, who maintains a robust schedule far from a golf course, can have the vigor for the actual campaign to come in the late summer and fall.

Lastly, I saw a podcast on Meidas Touch with long time Dem strategist Simon Roseberg, who remains unwavering in his belief that Biden will not only win, but win BIG.  Besides the President's achievements, Simon's primary evidence are election results, particularly from 2022 forward.  It's true, Democrats continue to outperform skeptics, and the Dobbs decision has been a big reason.  This Alabama IVF insane ruling only further damages Republicans.  The podcast was boring but I would invite a read of his blog.  Simon is not some rah rah homer, he's been very good at predicting and whatnot.

https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/trum … winning-no

Now about those polls?  Recently the Detroit Free Press released one that found that a clear majority in Michigan believe Trump is GUILTY of felony in just the Jan 6th case, which is yet to begin.  And yet, he's safely ahead of Biden in the same poll?  This makes little to no sense.  Rosenberg believes that Biden is sagging partially because Democrats have no true primary, and that at some point, the "coalition" will again reveal itself.  I HOPE SO!

One thing is for sure, polling is broken, badly.  I also saw a recent interview with Larry Sabato, LONG time pollster.  Larry said you can't count on any of it.  Used to rely on polling averages, but there's so many trash Republican fed polls in those, and the websites won't exclude them.  Simon mentions this also.  Furthermore, who are the samples taken from?  A lot come from land lines, a technology far more popular with older folks, who in turn are more likely to favor Trump.  Attempting to source cell phones and other online methods are haphazard and costly.  What I would agree with is that Trump seems to definitely have a ceiling around 46-48% nationally and in several states.  Even in the "friendly" polls to him.  Biden trails by a few, but you have often 10+ point undecided, which is quite a lot.  Obviously the hope is, as it happened in NY-3 special, that most of those go against Trump/for Biden.  The presence of a third party spoiler is now my greatest fear moving forward.

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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.