DShomshak

Oh, hey. While we're invoking works of fiction in our lawsuits, perhaps the Trumpkins can argue that all the election officials who say Biden won were under the Imperius /Curse from the Harryt Potter books. If the Trumpkins are willing to pay me a lot of money, I'll produce an affidavit to this effect, based on my impeccable expertise with the supernatural. It would make as much sense as some of the crap they're citing. Dean Shomshak

There was a fair bit of the Mystical in Babylon 5, handled (IMO) very well, evoking ancient tropes without being locked into them. Like, souls are apparently real, but can be captured and stored by apparently technological means? ThirdSpace brought in Lovecraftian horror, even more than the Shadows did. I could mention more. As for the City of Man, conurbites and urban elementals were written up in the SuperMage Bestiary, for 4th ed. Our forum colleague Lawnmower Boy wrote an excellent vignette about Babylon that I wish I'd thought of. To the extent my opinion matters, I heartily endorse it. I hope he stops by and reposts it. Dean Shomshak

ATC interview with reporter who watches QAnon fora says significant numbers of people say they feel like fools or that they were conned, Wondering what they can say to the friends and families they alienated. People waiting for Trump to swoop in at the last minute with THE PROOF to arrest Biden and blow the Satanic conspiracy wide open, and them... nothing. But many others remain faithful. Reporter expects QAnon will schism as people seek new interpretations and new messiahs. My thought: Just like every other millennarian movement, when the world doesn't end on schedule. (And QAnon is totally millennarian, with Trump as savior to bring the new heaven and new Earth.) Some people still believe, try to re-interpret the clues from Scripture (or the Q-drops), to find the new date. It's a little rough, but I was moved to dash this off: World didn't end, Savior don't descend. Feeling like a moron in my robe so white. Standing on a hill, To the prophet's will, We believed so hard, how could he not be right? No, I mustn't doubt: God will pull us out. Wicked world replaced with something clean and pure. Read the signs again. World, won't you end? Find another prophecy -- this time, for sure! Dean Shomshak

As an article about Rep Boebert linked a few pages back notes, many of the 2030 freshmen Republicans seem to think their job is to pull stunts to please the base. Who cares about legislation, when there are libs to own? But this didn't begin even with Trump. A few weeks back, center-right columnist David Brooks had a column about the Capoitol insurrection, and about Ted Cruz. Brooks says he was in the Senate dining room a bit after freshman Sen. Ted pulled his stunt of shutting the government down by filibuster, achieving nothing real. When Cruz walked into the dining room, Brooks says he felt the temperature drop fro the raw contempt senators of both parties felt for Cruz and his stunt. Cruz made himself hated. And yet... bad as it was for government and the prestige of the Senate, boy howdy it sure worked for Cruz. The base lapped it up. Cruz became a fundraising machine. The lesson was clear: This is what the Republican base wants. And politicians took the lesson to heart. Boebert and Greene are just giving the voters what they want. Or at least an especially committed and profitable segment of the voters. Cruz hasn't suffered for his stunts, and probably neither will they. Dean Shomshak

Oh, and last week All Things Considered interviewed the content director for Forbes magazine. He had a warning for any company that hires any of Trump's former press people for their publicity teams: Forbes will assume that any press release from that company is a lie. Because you don't hire shameless liars unless you plan on telling shameless lies. Dean Shomshak

A bit of humor from the Marketplace public radio program. First there was "Hamilton." Biden joked that there sjould be a musical about his Treasury nominee, former Fed chai Janet Yellen. Marketplace contacted someone named Dessa, who was on the "Hanilton" mixtape, and, well, here it is. Or at least a 90 second song. A "Hamilton"-style song about Janet Yellen by Dessa - Marketplace www.marketplace.org/2021/01/21/yellen-hamilton... When then-President-elect Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Janet Yellen for secretary of the treasury, he joked that “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda should write a musical ... [HOOK] Oooo, who’s Yellen now? Who’s Yellen, who’s Yellen now? [VERSE 1] Doves on the left Hawks on the right Crosstalk in the flock tryna fight mid-flight But here comes Yellen with that inside voice Never mind the mild manner, policies make noise She’s five foot nothing, but hand to god She can pop a collar, she can rock a power bob Bay Ridge represent! Brooklyn’s in the cabinet! Damn, Janet, go and get it— Fifth in line for president! She knows the kinda stimulus it takes to pass a buck I heard she called the housing crisis She’s qualified as ffff— It only took a couple centuries The first female secretary of the treasury [BRIDGE] Don’t want no tax evasion Forgers faking In her treasury Trying for higher wages For the nation Less disparity [VERSE 2] Watch your step, there's busted glass Janet broke another ceiling You can bet your brass That the Lego guy is leaving Last check to cash —'Scuse me, Janet has a briefing and a flight to catch And Janet She’s the first that’s led The Council of Economic Advisors, Tresh, and the Fed She needs a three-sided coin that always comes up heads To put the triple crown down when she goes to bed Call the decorators New boss in the office Spenders and the savers Watch the confirmation process We got to meet her Now let’s let her settle in And lift up your mojitos— Cause she manages the mint [HOOK] Dean Shomshak

Point #2 reminds me of what happened after the Oklahoma City bombing. IIRC, bomber Timothy McVeigh thought his grand, vile gesture would awaken the sleeping giant of Real Americans and start the revolution. Instead, many people saw where the crazy talk actually ;led and were repulsed... and the FBI caught McVeigh and his co-conspirators PDQ, showing that the government was *not* a paper tiger that would fold under the first challenge. As for the Proud Boys' rejection of Donald Trump, that's one for Mr French's argument. Dean Shomshak

I don't doubt that Trumpism will continue its corrosive path for years, even if Trump is kiboshed. But my sister recently read an interesting article by conservative Evangelical anti-Trumper David French in which he suggests that a Trump downfall -- he dealt with impeachment, but I think a business crash and burn might work as well -- will *not* result in Trump Martyrdom Myth. French says that his tour of duty in Iraq gave him some experience with insurgents, and insurgents love power and winning. A Trump who has clearly failed and been defeated doesn't feed that hunger. (I'd provide a link, but my sister says it's a subscribers-only blog post.) My own thoughts: Trump is a brilliant grifter, but he has some real problems becoming a martyr. First, he won't be dead. It's important that martyrs be dead so they can be simplified into stories that believers can tell. Second, martyrs don't whine. At least in their myth, they walk to their doom with head high, eyes open and a psalm on their lips. Slain, but undefeated, knowing that the enemies who think they have won have actually lost. Trump never frickin' shuts up about how victimized he is. He's skilled at telling his cultists that his victimization is theirs, too, but... he's still a whiner. Not good form for a martyr. (I also suspect the "We're victims together" story also works in large part because Trump remains rich and apparently "winning" despite his victimhood. He's still winning, so you're still winning too! Doesn't work as well if he has clearly, unambiguously, suffered a major loss. Losing the election is a start. If he ends up seeking political and business asylum in Saudi, it looks even worse. But he's been counted out before, only to come back as obnoxious as ever, so I still can't call this a certainty. Merely that his comeback isn't certain, either.) Dean Shomshak Also, just heard on my local public radio station: WA Sec'y of State Kim Wyman, last West Coast Republican in a statewide elective office, says that post Jan 6, she's not sure she can stay in the Republican Party anymore. Dean Shomshak

Oh, and my newspaper today carried a Bloomberg News story about Trump's post-presidential prospects. He's been cut off from the major social media outlets; PayPal and other major online minancial services have cut him off, too; his brand is toxic with retailers; banks say they won't do business with him; his name is being taken off real estate. Oh, and there's a stack of criminal investigations and civil lawsuits. But apparently he's still popular in Brazil, India and the Middle East, especially with populist leaders and petro-despots. So his future may be in Saudi Arabia or the UAE, and never mind about that "Muslim Ban." EDIT: And here's the link: Citizen Trump: The many paths ahead for the ex-president www.gctelegram.com/story/news/2021/01/19/citizen... Citizen Trump: The many paths ahead for the ex-president. By Tina Davis. Bloomberg News/TNS. Most ex-presidents spend their time out of office playing golf, getting their libraries in order ... Dean Shomshak

I'd like to read more about this. Source, link, please? (Yes, I can Google, but my service is real slow.) Dean Shomshak

Oh, hey, I thought of some more "gamerish" things to do with a few hundred million $$ that might still be considered somewhat socially laudable. First: Privately funded space probe. NASA can send small Mars missions for about $250 million, which IIRC is about the budget of Titanic. So maybe you could give NASA, the ESA or some other space agency the funding to send a small probe to Mars or (better, IMO) to some place with a lower priority such as a return visit to Ceres or one of the outer planets. (Uranus and Neptune have only been visited once, so briefly that more questions were raised than answered. Even a modest probe could be useful.) Second: Doomsday archives. As a hedge against the possible end of civilization (whether from nuclear war, climate disaster, a much worse pandemic, religious crazies or just cascade failure from an increasingly fragile and ill-understood technosphere). Could be stashes of books printed on payrus (it provably lasts millennia in dry conditions), engraved aluminum plates, or wall carvings in caves. Hide some vaults of useful basic tools, too. For instance, a set of tablets that tell how to grind lenses, the principles of geometrical optics, and how to make a simple telescope and microscope; or basic germ theory and vaccination. As a hedge against crazies who want to destroy knowledge as a way to make the worlkd righteous, each trove includes clues to the location of a weapon of such power that whoever owns it can rule the world. The clues are nonsense and there is no weapon, but it will keep people looking for more archives and preserving what they have. (And there's your post-holocaust game premise. You're welcome.) Third: Perhaps a bit more selfish: Fund a Champions Universe movie or TV show. Let the rest of humanity know about this wonderful thing that gives us such joy. Dean Shomshak

I am already lucky in that I have enough food, a roof over my head, and do not live in immediate fear of bandits killing me for my shoes or for being in the wrong tribe. Winning a jackpot would be nice, though. It would relieve certain fears for my future. I could repair the house, and maybe add a second floor to hold all the books, records, CDs and movies my hoarder brother has collected. I could maybe buy HERO Games and make more material available. Support some social/political causes that I think could make the world a better place, even if my support would still be small compared to global needs. I don't know if these tickets are even available in my state, though, and I am for all practical purposes housebound, so my chances are nil. Dean Shomshak

Huh. Sounds like it could be adapted inoi a pretty fair fantasy novel, the way Paula Volsky adapted the French Revolution in Illusion. Though I thought that book was a little too on the nose; Mexican politics would likely be less familiar to most readers. It would certainly be less familiar to me! Dean Shomshak

Yesterday, All Things Considered talked to an actual Capitol Police officer and asked why there was not more attempt to arrest the Capitol invaders. The officer replied that their first duty is to protect the members of Congress. So, they tried to get the people who threatened Congress out of the Capotol as quickly as possible. Trying to make arrests would have been slower, and increased the danger. Okay, that's fair. And given that so many of the people involved left social media trails a mile wide, possibly not a serious impediment to eventual arrest and prosecution. Dean Shomshak

So as to how vigorously to investigate and prosecute the people who organized and participated in the Capitol Insurrection... My concern is that the FBI and other agencies won't push too hard or attempt too thorough a sweep because of "Weaver Fever," the decades-long policy of treating right-wing anti-government extremists with kid gloves lest they be riled into committing worse acts, as the Ruby Ridge incident helped provoke the Oklahoma City bombing. I think that policy is wrong. Instead, I offer the advice given in the PoiSci textbook People, Power, and Politics, by John C. Donovan, Richard E. Morgan, and Christian P. Potholm. The chapter on "Revoutionary Change and Counterelites" ends with a section on "Some Practical Advice for the Ruler in Dealing With Revolutionary Counterelites: Machiavelli Brought Up to Date." "1. Don't worry about the disloyal opposition. There will always be some people who will oppose your government, no matter what you do! Jail these chaps or send them into exile, but don't waste time trying to convert them. Those who are bent on the violent overthrow of the political system should not be placated or coddled. And don't be too quick to grant them amnesty. Remember the examples of Stalin, Castro, and Hitler [23] [Footnote 23: For advocating the violent overthrow of the Weimar Republic and marching at the head of a group of men bent on the same, Hitler spent one year in a luxurious prison, where he wrote Min Kampf. Once in power, Hitler did not make a similar mistake in dealing with his opponents.]" So find the organizers, the funders and manufacturers of internet fakery, and Gitmo their asses. Still, this does not mean that everyone who believes Trump's lies is culpable. The authors also suggest: "2. Do worry about the loyal opposition. There will always be people who oppose specific policies of your government but who are basically loyal to the system. These people will seek the government's overthrow only if you force them into it. Do not jail, torture, harass, or exile the loyal opposition. when in doubt, assume the opposition is loyal until definitely proven otherwise. You will lose far more than you will gain by treating this part of the body politic harshly." Sen. Josh Hawley has definitely placed himself in the "disloyal opposition" camp. ATC noted that he has a Harvard law degree and taught Constitutional law as a college professor. He knows perfectly well that his claims have been false and his actions seditious. Oh, and that First Amendment rights are not violated when a private company decides it doesn't want to publish his book after all. Dean Shomshak

Yesterday's episode of The Daily (the NYTimes radio show) featured the reporters who've followed the Trumpist "Stop the Steal" movement since the election. They say people were talking about storming the Capitol weeks ago, setting up carpools so people could bring their guns without being blocked by airlines, posting images of the carpools on social media saying "Here we are, armed, on our way to attack the government," etc. There would seem to be quite an adequate trail for the FBI. OTOH they also explained some of the timidity of the Washington, DC and Capitol Police preparation. After views of Black Hawk helicopters menacing BLM protesters went around the world, there was some serious fear of backlash if they made a show of force and nothing happened. Apparently not realizing that there might be a significant difference between people with the avowed goal of peaceful protest, and people with the avowed goal of overturning the election through at least the threat of violence. Also, on All Things Considered: Dem senator asks Capitol police why they aren't arresting more people as they clear the Capitol. Senator said they told him they can't walk and chew gum at the same time. I assume that's a free interpretation of what they actually said. Maybe there's even good reasons for it, but it's still disappointing. Segment on Georgia senatorial elections found that some Georgians were rather not charmed with Loeffler's "More conservative than Attila the Hun!" slogan. I'm speculating here, but just possibly comparing yourself to a marauding, scorched-earth destroyer doesn't fly well in the state that remembers the burning of Atlanta and Sherman's march to the sea. Who knew? Also, some Georgians interviewed say they like splitting the ticket and divided government. With Loeffler and Perdue both claiming to be Trump rubber-stamps, some Georgians saw no need to elect both of them. Dean Shomshak

Aw shucks, I'm blushin'. Credit where it's due: Tyrannon and the Vandaleurs were originally created by Allen Varney in Mystic Masters, for... Third edition? Newton's comment about standing on the shoulders of giants applies here. HERO author Scott Bennie occasionally posts in these forums. I consider him my sifu in writing character descriptions, for supplements such as Villauny Unbound and the 4th ed VIPER book. Teen hero games can be a lot of fun, though mine wasn't for HERO System. My "Scion High" campaign was for the SCION game by White Wolf, of modern children of mythic gods a la Percy Jackson. In addition to modern demigods, the students of Avalon High encountered giants, werecreatures, jinn, and other mythic creatures. Much of the fun comes from the teen part, and how you interweave it with the super-adventure part. Cars, afterschool jobs, dates for school dances, and other "mundane" things become weird and wonderful -- and can be just as important to ultimate success as any battle. Dean Shomshak

Washington State Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers, hitherto a complete Trump loyalist, has withdrawn her intent to object. So that's something, at least. Dean Shomshak

Hey, someone used Dr. Teneber in their campaign! Happy author woohoo! The Doctor of the Dead isn't just a villain I created for Arcane Adversaries. He's my PC from a "dark supernatural" campaign inspired by the "Midnight Sons" line of titles Marvel did for a while. Doc turned out to be far and away the "darkest" PC. Okay, he ended up crashing the campaign, but I had a lot of fun with him. Dean Shomshak

And as I posted before, how or why did the Dems fail to work their magic fraud down the ballot to produce a Blue Wave in Congress and state houses? The Conspiracy is always omnipotent where it needs to be, but childishly idiotic where it needs to be. Dean Shomshak

I should add that I think there's zero chance of Trump staying prisident. Republicans don't have the votes in Congress to block certification of the electors. If Trump tries ordering martial law, his toadies at the Pentagon may go along but the generals will say no. Armed insurrection by the Proud Boys and such ilk might happen, but they've actually been more timid than I expected. As a few people here have suggested, many of them seem to be LARPing insurrection with no taste for the real thing. So they aren't going to overthrow the government. But Iit doesn't tak outright civil war to cause a lot of damage. I hope the Democratic party leadership understands, bone deep, that while some Republicans may still be "the loyal opposition," much of the party is implacably hostile. Dean Shomshak

On KUOW yesterday, former Washington State Republican Chairman (and former but no longer Republican) Chris Vance shocked the interviewer by calling Trump "fascist," and likewise the Republicans who support his challenge to the election. Not "authoritarian tendencies." Not even "proto-fascist," anymore. Vance went there. He said that nothing in The Phone Call actually surprised him, but it was so blatant an attempt to throw out the rule of law that he thinks "fascist" is now justified. As for whether this would be a turning point that made any more Republicans finally turn against Trump, Vance said, "How many turning points do they need?" Vance thinks the social/political damage will continue for decades. Dean Shomshak

My local newspaper's editorial today actually called this "subversion" and "a coup attempt." And while the editorial board has never had much good to say about the Trump administration, this is by far the strongest condemnation I've ever seen from them. In a way, I can see the Republicans' point. Just as all the "Obama is Kenyan/Muslim/Socialist" rhetoric was code for "Obama is BLACK, but we can't say that out loud," all the frittering about signature matching and drop boxes is code for "Millions of votes were cast by people we don't consider Real Americans." Which is true. I mean, I don't consider myself a Real American: I'm a semi-liberal atheist, not a conservative Christian; I don't give a rat's ass about the flag; I think the Second Amendment was never a great bulwark against tyranny, and has become a license for criminals and nutjobs; I recognize the need for military force, but do not worship it. I see the United States of America as a tool for implementing certain social goods and philosophical ideals, not as an end in itself. In so many ways, I am not loyal to the team. And yet I can and do vote, and I do what little I can to make America not be the country Trumpists think it was and should ever be. So, yeah. Of course millions of conservatives are flipping out. Shey should be. For people like me to vote, and for our candidates to win, is not merely political defeat; it is defilement. Dean Shomshak

OP's question seems to assume hat summoned entities are an "otrdinary" problem that mundane authorities believe they can handle on their own. They don't just wait helplessly for some wandering hero/murder hobo to resolve the problem for them. Or at least they can try. (PCs get involved when the situation concerns them personally, the mundane authorities have failed or ar blocked/insufficient in some way... or if the PCs *are* part of the mundane authorities, such as the lord of the city's "special problems" squad.) A lot depends on the feasibility of detecting who did the summoning. Depending on the entity, it may be difficult even to know that something was summoned. (Part of what scares people about magic -- and attracts them to it -- is that it's often a *secret* way to work your will. Kill your enemies with voodoo doll curses, invisible imps, projecting your soul as an astral vampire, etc... and nobody can tell it was you!) So, how do the authorities know that a summoning occurred? Is it only when the entity is obvious, like an elemental tearing up buildings? Or are there ways of detecting the presence of subtler entities? Also, are there ways of telling who summoned an entity besides finding catching them red-handed, or finding elaborate and permanent paraphernalia (summoning circle, distinctive consecrated tools, etc.)? For instance, are there divinatory magics that can tell if a person has worked magic recently? Can these methods be spoofed or redirected to implicate the innocent? (Depending on the detection method, gold may be a sufficient "redirection.") Dean Shomshak

It should be obvious, but... Read up on real jungle and savannah cultures. You will get better ideas than anything we can suggest. I'm rather fond of Gassire's Lute, a a West African "epic" (actually quite brief), about the fall of the city-state Wagadu and how a son of the ruling family becomes his people's first bard. Here's a bit of the introduction: Four times Wagadu rose. A great city, gleaming in the light of day. Four times Wagadu fell, And disappeared from human sight. Once through vanity. Once through dishonesty. Once through greed. Once through discord. See? You've got the start of a tragic and epic history right there in eight lines. Dean Shomshak