Hermit

I have had that happen to me.
 
I have actually been in a conversation with an anti-theist that began to demand if I thought there was a literal talking snake etc etc...
I told him that much of the old testament was metaphorical, ,symbolism used to illustrate ...
and because I did not believe that every chapter in the bible was literal, he declared that I was not a "real" religious person.
 
There's really no winning with that sort of zealot on either side.
 
 
 

"We'll return to the Democratic debates, but first a word from our Sponsor"
 
 

*And the Corporate Ninjas have a new mission*
 
 

Valveeta, council of 1858, or orthadox Valveeta?

I have had that happen to me.
 
I have actually been in a conversation with an anti-theist that began to demand if I thought there was a literal talking snake etc etc...
I told him that much of the old testament was metaphorical, ,symbolism used to illustrate ...
and because I did not believe that every chapter in the bible was literal, he declared that I was not a "real" religious person.
 
There's really no winning with that sort of zealot on either side.
 
 
 

Many of the non-religious or anti-religious use Biblical literalism as a straw man to denigrate all spiritual beliefs.
 
I remember hearing a cosmologist remark that he considered studying the physics of the universe to be granting us insights into the mind of God. IMHO that's the kind of evolving spirituality the modern world could use more of.

Like the GOP managed to stop Trump in 2016?
 
I'm certainly not a fan of Sanders, but I strongly suspect he's tapping into the same vein that got us Trump in the first place.
 
People aren't happy with the way things have been and offering "more of the same" isn't going to be a strong contender.  Almost the standard rule of advertising, you have to be offering "NEW! and IMPROVED!" or you're just background noise.
 
Trump is guaranteed neither defeat or victory in 2020, but if the Democrats want to win they're going to have to offer more than "I'm not Donald Trump" as their central campaign theme.  Not being a registered member of either party, I'm just waiting for the Dems to stop playing musical chairs so we can move on to the main event.

Been listening too the Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter series. Modern Pulp Detective meets Vampire Hunter D. To much profanity, but still a good listen. the reader is very good. Escalates quickly, but then his group of "superfriends" aren't pikers. Main character is the son of Mina and John Harker, 130 years old, 20% vampire, very strong sorceror and 100% badass. Along the way we meet Uncle Luke Card (Dracula), Gabriel Van Helsing (great grand daughter of Abe, who used to bounce Quincy on his knee), Adam Franks (better known as the creation of Dr. Frankenstein) and many others.

What tickles me is how much for a time the media seemed* to want to avoid mentioning or agreeing Bernie took the lead except in the most odd backhanded ways. THe REAL Sttory is Klouchabar's third place... etc.
The jokes on the internet regarding this have been amusing even if you don't see it that way.
"Bernie stumbles in to 1st place, can he recover?"
"Bernie Sanders loses coveted second place position!"
"Political experts fear for Bernie as Number One is the loneliest number that you ever knew..."
 
 
* saying seemed because it could be my bias in play but the humor some have taken to it with still is golden
 
 
 

For what my opinion is worth, you don't seem to be making fun of dementia at all to me. 
 
 

Finally finished it. I see your points.
 
My own take?
Warren excelled. She should get that bump. I was reminded why she and Bernie have often been tied for my consideration.
Bloomberg his ass handed to him collectively, but especially by Warren. He's not out though. His spin team will earn it's money before it's all said and done and I actually think he's here for a while.
Bernie had shots fired at him, but most missed or tinked right off... and his lead position is secure unless something really hinkey goes on in Nevada.
Buttigieg actually came across as rather unlikable here to me. Seriously, the whole thing about the Mexican President's name felt like he was really trying to get a Nelson from the Simpsons "HAHA" thing going on Klobuchar. With Bloomberg's debut flopping, I see him as getting the moderate group's support more and more.
BIDEN, however, had one of his better debates. Even he got a shot in on Bloomberg, and while he still seemed a bit fuzzy, it was a lot better than some in the past. However, 'better' is not good enough. I think he maybe bleeding slower, but he's still losing blood.
Klobuchar was PEEEEVED and it showed, worse than that, she seemed a bit shook, and some folks are going to say if Pete could do that to her, Trump will wipe the floor with her. Not saying she sucked, but I think next to Bloombeg she had the poorest performance, and unlike Bloomers, she may not have the money to spin it away.
 
Winners Warner and Sanders, in that order.
 

Gods, Religions, and Religious institutions as unimportant and lacking any power or purpose save as healing shops.
It's such a waste of material to use it that way. And it often throws me off. Even if the gods don't feel chatty, religious leaders can still exert enough influence and power to hobble or raise up rulers, they can direct codes as strong as any secular set of laws. And, unless one is speaking of 'chaching, the God of #$#You, Payme!', their entire purpose should never be confined to just taking gold and then curing that STD you got at Madame Stonegate's House of Dwarven pleasures.
 
Not meaning any disrespect to anyone who follows Chaching
 
And I always appreciate when the not priestly types still have a spiritual side, and pay a bit of respect to the gods. NPCs who are farmers, bartenders, or the like who tip their hat to the local holy man, or pray for good weather etc are small touches, but it shows off nicely. Heck, even creative ways of using a god's name in anger can reflect wel. But when a fantasy village seems to be entirely secular to a man, unless there's an in setting reason, it kind of jars me a bit. I don't expect Hozanas and Psalms all the time, but the idea of "Who do these god people think they are anyway?" Should not be the norm unless you're going for a Monty python skit
 
 
But that's just me.. just sort of makes me roll my eyes and disrupts my immersion a bit.
 
 

Yeah, I've been guilty of doing everything I complain about and try to not to be too much of a jerk about stuff like that when running and playing games.  I just chalk it up as a different genre of fantasy.

Nope. Not Lord of the Rings.
Depending on your definition of fantasy, Dr. Seuss and Dahl  might claim earliest
 
But I got into Bullfinch's mythologies , then Narnia before I got into Tolkein. Loved the hobbit, but thought The LOTR spent too much time talking about trees
Then I hit my teen years and things really took off. Belgariad remains 'comfort fantasy' to me (And a fine read on its own if you realize it DELIBERATELY tries to use every trope it can get its hands on), the Myth books made me laugh, and I much preferred Elf stones to Sword of Shanara.
 
 

But it works so well in-genre:
 
I mean, who hasn't had a fantasy about walking up to some high-ranking muckity-muck and just slapping the crap out of him?   Local politicians _especially_.... 
 

 
 
 
 
 

https://nebulas.sfwa.org/2019-nebula-award-finalists-announced/
 
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA, Inc.) is pleased to announce the finalists for the 55th Annual Nebula Awards, including the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book. The awards will be presented in Woodland Hills, CA at the Warner Center Marriott during a ceremony on the evening of May 30th.
 
2019 Nebula Award Finalists
Novel
Marque of Caine, Charles E. Gannon (Baen)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit UK)
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (Tor)
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey; Jo Fletcher)
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing)
A Song for a New Day, Sarah Pinsker (Berkley)
Novella
“Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”, Ted Chiang (Exhalation)
The Haunting of Tram Car 015, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)
This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (Saga; Jo Fletcher)
Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water, Vylar Kaftan (Tor.com Publishing)
The Deep, Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes (Saga)
Catfish Lullaby, A.C. Wise (Broken Eye)
Novelette
“A Strange Uncertain Light”, G.V. Anderson (F&SF 7-8/19)
“For He Can Creep”, Siobhan Carroll (Tor.com 7/10/19)
“His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light”, Mimi Mondal (Tor.com 1/23/19)
“The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 7-8/19)
Carpe Glitter, Cat Rambo (Meerkat)
“The Archronology of Love”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed 4/19)
Short Story
“Give the Family My Love”, A.T. Greenblatt (Clarkesworld 2/19)
“The Dead, In Their Uncontrollable Power”, Karen Osborne (Uncanny 3-4/19)
“And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”, Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons 9/9/19)
“Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island”, Nibedita Sen (Nightmare 5/19)
“A Catalog of Storms”, Fran Wilde (Uncanny 1-2/19)
“How the Trick Is Done”, A.C. Wise (Uncanny 7-8/19)
The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, Carlos Hernandez (Disney Hyperion)
Catfishing on CatNet, Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee (Disney Hyperion)
Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions, Henry Lien (Holt)
Cog, Greg van Eekhout (Harper)
Riverland, Fran Wilde (Amulet)
Game Writing
Outer Wilds, Kelsey Beachum (Mobius Digital)
The Outer Worlds, Leonard Boyarsky, Megan Starks, Kate Dollarhyde, Chris L’Etoile (Obsidian Entertainment)
The Magician’s Workshop, Kate Heartfield (Choice of Games)
Disco Elysium, Robert Kurvitz (ZA/UM)
Fate Accessibility Toolkit, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry (Evil Hat Productions)
The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Avengers: Endgame, Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Marvel Studios)
Captain Marvel, Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck & Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Marvel Studios)
Good Omens: “Hard Times”, Neil Gaiman (Amazon Studios/BBC Studios)
The Mandalorian: “The Child”, Jon Favreau (Disney+)
Russian Doll: “The Way Out”, Allison Silverman and Leslye Headland (Netflix)
Watchmen: “A God Walks into Abar”, Jeff Jensen & Damon Lindelof (HBO)
 
The Nebula Awards will be presented during the annual SFWA Nebula Conference, which will run from May 28th-31st, 2020 at the Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills and features programming developed and geared toward SFF professionals. The Awards Ceremony will be held on the evening of May 30th.

So, that's what the Space Force is for. "I'm sorry, Mr President, but we didn't find anything on Neptune. Should we check Uranus?"

I put forward Too sexy by Right Said Fred.
 
"I'm too sexy for this song"  abrupt end.
 
🙂

Blood makes the grass roots grow! KILL KILL KILL!
 
 

Fact-Checking the Las Vegas Democratic Debate
 
I know this page is on the New York Times website, but the byline says, "Provided by The Canadian Press." If that matters to anyone.

Gods, Religions, and Religious institutions as unimportant and lacking any power or purpose save as healing shops.
It's such a waste of material to use it that way. And it often throws me off. Even if the gods don't feel chatty, religious leaders can still exert enough influence and power to hobble or raise up rulers, they can direct codes as strong as any secular set of laws. And, unless one is speaking of 'chaching, the God of #$#You, Payme!', their entire purpose should never be confined to just taking gold and then curing that STD you got at Madame Stonegate's House of Dwarven pleasures.
 
Not meaning any disrespect to anyone who follows Chaching
 
And I always appreciate when the not priestly types still have a spiritual side, and pay a bit of respect to the gods. NPCs who are farmers, bartenders, or the like who tip their hat to the local holy man, or pray for good weather etc are small touches, but it shows off nicely. Heck, even creative ways of using a god's name in anger can reflect wel. But when a fantasy village seems to be entirely secular to a man, unless there's an in setting reason, it kind of jars me a bit. I don't expect Hozanas and Psalms all the time, but the idea of "Who do these god people think they are anyway?" Should not be the norm unless you're going for a Monty python skit
 
 
But that's just me.. just sort of makes me roll my eyes and disrupts my immersion a bit.
 
 

Found the full debate for those like me who missed it the first time
 
 

When I feel sorry for Bloomberg, start selling some heaters in hell. 
 
Best comment I've seen on online of Bloomberg lately: "He is Trump plus a hatred of soda."

I mentioned this in the Share Your Magic System thread, but I've been plugging away at a document for Myth Adventures in Fantasy Hero.  I actually ran a game of this, long ago.  I'd love to have suggestions, ideas, feedback, and so forth.  
 
Is there anything you'd like to see in it?  More of something?  Less of something?  Suggestions for how to do (thing)?