I usually write a handful of paragraphs and then never look at them again. It’s mainly to get me into character and develop a feeling who this person is. Then I go play. If the DM wants to know more, I can either improv it or review what I’ve written.

Senators up for re-election will remember if we do the following:

1. If you have a dem senator, write to them and tell them that the leadership is out of touch with the demands of the moment
2. If the blue incumbent in your state is retiring in 2026, run a progressive. Use this moment to draw real separation between the progressive and the establishment candidate. Make any contact between them and the democratic leadership toxic
3. If the blue incumbent hasn’t condemned this and the democratic leadership, do the same as above.

Democrats up for reelection in 2026

• Colorado: John Hickenlooper
• Delaware: Chris Coons
• Georgia: Jon Ossoff
• Illinois: Dick Durbin (Retiring)
• Massachusetts: Ed Markey
• Michigan: Gary Peters (Retiring)
• Minnesota: Tina Smith (Retiring)
• New Hampshire: Jeanne Shaheen (Retiring)
• New Jersey: Cory Booker (Chair of Strategic Communications Committee)
• New Mexico: Ben Ray Lujan
• Oregon: Jeff Merkley
• Rhode Island: Jack Reed
• Virginia: Mark Warner

Flipping the senate in 2026 seems unlikely, but transforming the democratic party must start now. Schumer is up for re-election in 2028, but he has to be removed from leadership now.

Much of the creativity that becomes canonized was someone’s house rules first. Zines and meet ups allowed for players and dm’s to exchange stories and rules that made their game fun to play. The game co-evolved with active community engagement and feedback.

It was an important time for its development.

I read this in the voice of Mr. Cody. That was the only way I could get through it.

[T]he ages of eight of the 11 participants in the chat: They appear to range from 24 to 35. Ages for three other participants—Bobby Walker, Michael Bartels, and Rachel Hope—were not publicly available.

The oldest appears to be Joe Maligno, who public records suggest is 35. In the chat, he spoke about gas chambers and used a racial slur toward Chinese people.

Annie Kaykaty, New York’s national committee member who, in response to Maligno’s comment about gas chambers, said, “I’m ready to watch people burn now,” is 28. Alex Dwyer, chair of the Kansas Young Republicans, who wrote a series of numbers used by white supremacists and wrote, “Sex is gay,” is 29; Peter Giunta, former chair of the New York State Young Republicans, who referred to Black people as “watermelon people” and “monkeys” and said, at another point, “I love Hitler,” is 31.

Chat member and supposed “kid” Samuel Douglass is a 27-year-old state senator

I feel like this XKCD comic could be reworked for this.

Marx distinguishes between abstract and concrete labor in Capital Vol. 1. After developing his concepts using concrete labor, be returns to abstract labor in Volume 3. After all, they had scientist and teachers who created surplus value.

So what would be the means of production? Not the workers since they are the ones who uses the means to produce something of social value. The means of production are still made of instruments and subjects. Let’s take teachers as the workers. They work to educate their students. The students are the subjects of labor. The instruments used to do this are textbooks, classrooms, desk, school yards and more.

As I answered in another comment, Marx was open to an agrarian to socialist revolution under specific conditions. He was cautious though.

He modified his views later when speaking to Russian revolutionaries such as Vera Zasulich. He entertained the possibility of an agregarian society skipping over capitalism if, and only if, it was accompanied by a socialist revolution of capitalist societies.

First, hell yes.

Second, if you like being an adversarial DM, just let them know that’s the type of game you like to run. They don’t have to play and you will have to find some players that like that style.

The truth feels like a lie.

Neuropsychologists have the ability to diagnose dementia in all states in America. They shouldn’t be doing it without a full evaluation.

It’s not a passive process and the arising of socialism isn’t guaranteed.

First, I’ll say you’re right. There’s more than two sides. Its a mistake to only highlight the leaders and the fighters. The average inhabitants are primary in my world view.

I shared the long passage because I thought his slide from condemning netanyahu and the right wing of likud to criticizing slogans was important. So I posted a long passage to show the both sides he was criticizing. The second size isn’t Hamas, it’s social media with a “just asking questions” about Hamas.

Its funny to me that he gets that Likud* is a monster that needs to be banished. And I agree, Hamas emerged as a monster. But he fails to ever say who has almost all the cards. And who has all the power and where that is coming from.

Likud knows they can and will get away with ethnic cleansing. They know they are doing monsterous things. And that Israelis will thank them later. There will be no Palestinians left to blame or thank or codemn Hamas. If Hamas ever returns all the kidnapped, I don’t think Likud will stop. Do you?

Do you think what Hamas did on Oct 7th is anything near the scale of what Israel has done since? Israel denies targeting civilians or reporters and yet they seem to just die somehow. Isn’t this a horror that exceeds the terrorism of Hamas. We don’t have a word for it, but it’s worse. And the horror of Israeli control of Palestine, an act whose monstrosity can be hidden because of the power imbalance and the rest of the world pretending like nothing is happening … Again we have no words. We have no power. We pretend to when we scream “Free Palestine”. But we know all we have is sorrow.

* I use Likud to represent their whole coalition. If Likud fails to win the next election, but another right wing government emerges and continues the policy, my analysis still stands.

They both sides it.

I think Netanyahu and his crew of extremists are totally out of control and need to be stopped, and that the international community should put all the pressure it can on them to cease. Their excuse of self-defence has long since worn thin and has been replaced by a transparent desire to take control of Gaza and the West Bank permanently.

I believe this ultra-nationalist administration has hidden itself behind a terrified & grieving people and used them to deflect any criticism, using that fear and grief to further their ultra-nationalist agenda with terrible consequences, as we see now with the horrific blockade of aid to Gaza.

While our lives tick along as normal these endless thousands of innocent human souls are still being expelled from the earth… for what?

At the same time the unquestioning Free Palestine refrain that surrounds us all does not answer the simple question of why the hostages have still not all been returned? For what possible reason?

Why did Hamas choose the truly horrific acts of October 7th? The answer seems obvious, and I believe Hamas chooses too to hide behind the suffering of its people, in an equally cynical fashion for their own purposes.

I also think there is a further and extremely important point to make.

Social media witch-hunts (nothing new) on either side pressurizing artists and whoever they feel like that week to make statements etc do very little except heighten tension, fear and over-simplification of what are complex problems that merit proper face to face debate by people who genuinely wish the killing to stop and an understanding to be found.

This kind of deliberate polarization does not serve our fellow human beings and perpetuates a constant ‘us and them’ mentality. It destroys hope and maintains a sense of isolation, the very things that extremists use to maintain their position. We facilitate their hiding in plain sight if we assume that the extremists and the people they claim to represent are one and the same, indivisible.

If our world is ever able to move on from these dark times and find peace it will only be when we rediscover what we share in common, and the extremists are sent back to sit in the darkness from whence they came.

I sympathize completely with the desire to ‘do something’ when we are witnessing such horrific suffering on our devices every day. It completely makes sense. But I now think it is a dangerous illusion to believe reposting, or one or two line messages are meaningful, especially if it is to condemn your fellow human beings. There are unintended consequences.

It is shouting from the darkness. It is not looking people in the eye when you speak. It is making dangerous assumptions. It is not debate and it is not critical thinking.

Importantly, it is open to online manipulation of all kinds, both mechanistic and political.

I’m gonna post about. I’m gonna post the hell out of it.

Why won’t anyone let the market decide?!? 😭

Taxes. Government handouts are funded by my taxes which the government can only take because I work hard. I don’t mind taxes in principle, but not for handouts.

Not my thinking, but I had to work out the some of the internalized imperialism, so I have some experience with this.

I work hard. I follow the rules. I speak the language. I came here legally. I am a good American.

I work hard. But I always feel like some aren’t. This is a great country and people like me make it great. I don’t want to pay for those who don’t work.

I love my country of origin. People I know were wonderful. But some don’t work hard. And some come to America. They don’t learn the language. They don’t appreciate this great country.

There are other lazy countries and America is letting them in. They claim to be refugees. But they are lying and they are lazy and they are making America weak. America is great and kind. That kindness is allowing lazy people in and making America weak and I am paying for it.

Trump won’t let these lazy people in who don’t follow the rules. Only the hard ones who do follow the rules like me. See I have a green card. A great country like American wouldn’t have let me in if I wasn’t a hard worker. I’m not lazy like those claiming to be refugees or sneaking in. I am so proud that I will show you my green card because I’m doing my part!

They just need will power

There was one question and answer on the past and future of the Democrats. I don’t expect Inskeep to do a hard hitting interview, but this should not have been the title.

From memory, they talked about:
• his beard and how Republicans do like it

• the Epstein files and how the Republicans are reacting
• Pete Buttigieg’s knowledge or lack thereof of Biden’s mental acuity
• Dems going forward
• is President Trump a good president?

So the one question and answer:

INSKEEP: Let me put a proposition on the table, and we’ll see if you agree with it or not. The country has changed. Politics have changed. Republicans figured that out and captured the moment, and Democrats have failed to do so up to now. Do you agree with that?

BUTTIGIEG: I would mostly agree. Yeah. I think that Democrats have been slow to understand the changes in how people get their information, slow to understand some of the cultural changes that have been happening, and maybe most problematic of all, to attach to a status quo that has been failing us for a long time.

Right now, you’ve got an administration that is burning down so many of the most important institutions that we have in this country, which is wrong. It is also wrong to imagine that we should have just kept everything going along the way it was. And I think that my party needs to do a better job of addressing the fundamental problems that have led people to mistrust everything.

I don’t know what his fundamental analysis is, but how can you not lay a mammoth sized amount of blame at the feet of Democrats since Clinton? I’m sure Mayor Pete will find a way to not look backwards, only forwards.