Divergent ⛧

During these pivotal times in history, my mind tends to wander to my favorite fiction. What I'm sensing on the horizon is an America as portrayed in "The Hunger Games" (Pan Em), but theocratic in nature. An America torn apart by war. youtube.com/watch?v=vZPzZ_…

The most appallingly opportune conditions are being created for the real world implementation of my philosophical project. I would never have hoped for this, or wished upon the world for it to happen this way. It is the way of ultimate and almost unbearable sacrifice, zero moderation, no negotiation, and no compromise ever again. The Promethean path to an American Empire amidst hell, fire, and damnation.

@medihera1111 The fairest of them all.

I finally got mirror for my room

Wow, unbelievable.

@Jason_Jorjani I told a neighbor of mine that we lost the war with Iran. He was taken aback and asked me where I heard that.....I tried to explain, but the average American is far too ignorant to comprehend the situation.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, a tyrannical regime whose main mantra is “Death to America” (the chants of which Ghalibaf led in Parliament), has humiliatingly defeated the United States of America, a country with no dignity, principles, or ethos left other than “the market.”

@M_Sh1ngledecker Thanks, it does seem that way! Next thing you know they'll be saying Bible readings extend your life.

@DivergentThink2 It seems like every aspect of propaganda is pushing religious fundamentalism these days. It’s almost blatant. You’re not crazy.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but could this "science" possibly be influenced by a rise in Christian and Islamic fundamentalism? 😒

@BaronDestructo I couldn't imagine it any other way. A+

Stargate Trivia: Casting Stargate: Atlantis While SG-1 was my first love (We were together for seven years!), my time on Atlantis proved equally memorable. The show was possessed of a similar tone in its mix of high adventure and humor, yet proved distinct in its exploration of Ancient mythology and an unfamiliar galaxy as seen through the eyes of a new set of heroes. Atlantis offered a sense of wonder and camaraderie born of isolation and constant danger. Whereas team SG-1 could always go home at the conclusion of their adventures, the members of the Atlantis expedition (at least for those first few seasons) could only draw comfort from the city of Atlantis itself – and, of course, each other. It was unique and compelling yet, at the same time, comfortingly familiar. Nowhere is this more evident than in its opening theme, composed by the late Joel Goldsmith, which is, at turns fresh, haunting, stirring and, throughout, discernibly Stargate. Stargate: Atlantis wasn’t originally planned as a companion to Stargate: SG-1. It was intended to replace the long-running series. The only problem was, with eight seasons under its belt, SG-1 wasn’t quite done yet. And fans (and the network) weren’t done with it either. And so, instead of passing the torch and segueing to a new Stargate series, we ended up producing both. In retrospect, it was quite an achievement: 40 hours of television in a year! Today's productions can barely manage a quarter that output, but Stargates SG-1 and Atlantis delivered two fantastic 40 episode seasons before SG-1 took its final bow. It wasn’t easy, but it was certainly made easier by all of the enormously talented individuals who made it happen, from the office staff and crew to the cast and my fellow writer/producers. Still, it was not without its challenges. Take casting, for instance. It may surprise you to know that, when it comes to producing a show, not everybody cares about costumes or set design or whether the script’s fifth act denouement is emotionally satisfying - but everybody, and I do mean EVERYBODY, has an opinion on casting. Studio and network execs, producers, hell, even your significant other peering over your shoulder as you screen the auditions on your laptop, will want to weigh in. Of course, the more voices in the mix the more likely there are to be disagreements. So it is with every production and Atlantis was no different. Various individuals envisioned these characters in various ways and, as a result, consensus was only achieved after many auditions, calls-backs, heated discussions, and not-so-gentle reminders that our start date was fast-approaching and we really needed someone to say the lines on camera. The part of Carson Beckett was one of the first we cast. The other producers were in Rob’s office, screening the first batch of local auditions when Brad called me in and told me to check out the guy onscreen. I hadn’t imagined Beckett with a Scottish accent but, after watching Paul McGillion (@PaulyMcGillion) in the role, I couldn’t imagine him without one. He’d brought something unexpected to the part, something we all responded to. Elizabeth Weir was not an easy character to pull off. She had to be smart, confident and strong yet needed to exude a certain warmth and empathy we were looking for in the civilian leader of the expedition. When it came time to (re)casting the role, several established names were considered (One had her own hit genre show back in the day while another went on to break out on a hit show soon after), but it was Torri Higginson (@torri_higginson) who managed to strike just the right balance and vault her name to the top of the list. The role of Teyla Emmagan was a tough one to cast. Like Weir, she needed to be a strong, empathetic leader. But she also required something even more important – quite literally, an other-worldly quality that made her unique. Some equally talented actresses auditioned for the role but, as good as they were, they were never quite able to achieve that gravitas Rachel Luttrell (@rachel_luttrell) pulled off with such grace and seeming ease. Former VJ Rainbow Sun Francks (@RainbowFrancks) won the role of Lieutenant Ford on the strength of a great audition, preceded by an equally great audition with a funny hat. I recall Brad Wright on the phone with our casting agent, advising him to ensure there would be no hat worn in the callback for fear the network would fixate on it. There wasn't, they didn't, and Rainbow delivered. The role of John Sheppard was the second to last one cast. It came right down to the wire and there were several candidates in play. The character was originally conceived as a good ole southern boy, so it only made sense that Ben Browder’s name was bandied about early. However, he was too busy shooting Peacekeeper Wars to warrant consideration. A number of other actors were considered (one went on to play the lead in a hugely popular show the following year while another made his mark as a handsome heart throb on another hugely popular medical series) but it was Joe Flanigan (@JoeFlanigan) who won the part based on his ability to pull off the devil-may-care attitude Brad and Robert were looking for. We come to the final role cast, a character who, in many ways, embodied everything Atlantis was about: exploration, discovery, fun, humor, and seat-of-your-pants-Holy-Sh&%-how-the-hell-am-I-going-to-get-out-of-this-adventure. And he almost didn’t make the trip to Pegasus. Originally, the casting call went out for a completely different character, an earnest young doctor who would lend the team much-needed medical support on their off-world ventures. Unfortunately, no one could agree on an actor to fill that role. If the casting of Sheppard went down to the wire, then the casting of this final part went a step past it. Finally, days away from production, Robert Cooper had an idea: Forget the doctor character. Why not use an established character from SG-1? How about Rodney McKay played by David Hewlett (@dhewlett)? The writers were on board, but some executives weren't weren’t sold on the idea. They found him annoying! I mean, hell yeah, but he’d be sooo much fun to write for! Rob got on the phone and went to bat for Rodney, pointing out that the character had come a long way since first being introduced way back in SG-1’s 48 Hours. He’d evolved, going from annoying jerk to endearingly irritating. To this day, I’m convinced that they weren’t totally convinced but, with production poised to commence, they relented, I suppose figuring they could just replace the character somewhere down the line. No one, even those who loved the idea of having the endearingly irritating Rodney McKay on board could have predicted how hugely popular the character would become. How do you think we did?

@medihera1111 I'm 100% with you. We are regressing as a society. Culture is becoming more traditional and conservative. I grew up with the types of people you're speaking about. They also have a rigid concept of "feminine and masculine" that is "divinely" instituted. Weird, but true.

What’s everyone obsession with calling everything cute and feminine age play? 😭 we are literally going backwards as a society Women can’t have SHIT man

@TheCinesthetic An image of stupidity? He's talking about himself, right? Of course filmmakers despise AI - their careers are on the line.

Guillermo del Toro says AI is a form of "natural stupidity" “We are on the verge of image illiteracy. We are on the verge of cinema illiteracy... The pact between man and image is sacred, but we are in a time when that is in danger... We are told images can be generated by artificial means. The existence of an image is not just to be there. It is to connect us, to make us feel beauty,”

I have to catch up with Jason Samosa's videos.

@Jason_Jorjani I'll be watching this for sure!

Who (even informally) 'heads' an organization, however decentralized, is who controls its funding. Rivals of the Collins Elite within the CIA, angry over the infiltration of the Agency by the Collins Elite, came to the conclusion that this individual is Peter Thiel. The details of that are what I shared with @jason_samosa. In any case, this is a great conclusion to an excellent series on powerful religious fundamentalists who are trying to warp Disclosure in the worst way. youtube.com/watch?si=MT_k3…

@medihera1111 Yes, ma'am!

@DivergentThink2 Get more manga😾

I frequently have dreams about going to the mall and buying manga, cds, and figures and old video games n stuff I also frequently have dreams where Im in a room like this and for some reason there’s always a full stash of hentai manga in the closet🤨

Jordan is one of the kindest people I've met, and I'm glad to see him on @AmericanALCHMY. Looking forward to watching this tonight. Congrats on getting your story out there @Mercifulmartin!

Have you ever asked why after supposedly winning World War II, America lost to Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran? Because America didn’t actually win World War II, and Nazis love humiliating us. Time traveling Space Nazis. Fine, laugh, but you won’t have the last laugh.

Iron Sky was a documentary.

The crystallization of the Psychotron as my seventh original concept marks the completion of the systematic structure of my philosophical project, even if it is not the end of my work as a philosopher. This system was built over the course of two decades, from 2006 to 2026.

Spoiler alert: If you haven't read my novel PSYCHOTRON yet, this essay may ruin it for you. On the other hand, it offers an esoteric interpretive key to the book and may be a hook to read it. In any case, a new philosophical concept is crystalized here. open.substack.com/pub/jasonrezaj…

I've only gotten through about 20 minutes of "Disclosure". It's already annoying.