Hakeem Jeffries had a moment last night. Standing in front of a crowd of well-wishers and hopefuls, he delivered a speech. A speech that will go down in history as a big ole nothing burger. A speech that is now, less than 12 hours later, largely forgotten in the political and collective memory of an otherwise monumental moment. I surmise this is because he lacks the commanding presence and leadership qualities necessary to serve as Speaker of the House.

His charisma, if it can even be called that, is more akin to that of a Home Depot bag of paver sand. You search through the poorly stacked pile selecting the one with the least holes. Yet, despite that effort, it still spills it’s contents all over the cart on the way to the register. Not a good look.

If that does not speak for itself, then consider this. As a potential Speaker, Mr. Jeffries would face the immense challenge of uniting a fractured party that has not managed to maintain a large and diverse tent of voters since Debbie Wasserman Schultz declared Bernie a non-starter. Mr. Jeffries is simply not capable of standing firm in the face of political opposition. Don’t take my word for it. Perhaps, instead, the ever present consumer advocate Ralph Nader may sway you:

More introspection may lead you to ask yourself whether you are up to leading the House Democrats in their immense and immediate tasks of policy and program restorations and adopting our Constitution’s mandated Congressional independence from the Presidency for the protection and advancement of the livelihoods, peace and freedoms of the American people. There is no indication that you are so willing and prepared. Unfortunately.

His record in Congress has not demonstrated the kind of bold, decisive leadership that the position of Speaker demands. Instead, he has often been seen as a cautious, moderate voice. Dare I say, a voice coming from a very real human (I swear) with a spine made of NeeDoh.

Let’s be frank. In times of crisis or when tough decisions must be made, the leader of the Democratic Party and Speaker of the House is not merely about personality. I understand that. Such positions require a deep understanding of the legislative process, the ability to negotiate, and the resilience to withstand the political pressures that come with the position. Jeffries has not consistently shown these traits in his career. For any informed observers, this must raise serious questions about his suitability for such a high-stakes role.

Finally, to convey my firm belief that Mr. Jeffries is not the right person for the leadership role come January, I paraphrase the amazing Forest Whitaker in his role as PFC Edward Garlick in “Good Morning Vietnam”

Hakeem Jeffries sucks the sweat off a dead man’s balls. I have no idea what that means, sir, but it seems very negative to me.

First. This is US politics. I can't seem to post there. Anyways...

While the stunning gains are welcome, a reminder. There is no political solution to the problem of today's United States.

The country remains ignorant, unpredictable, and woefully unable to offer its own people the most important trait of a democracy. Empathy. Yet the results today offer a shred of hope that rebuilding could start early. You have to start somewhere afterall.

However, Its going to be a long two months with the Jan 6th crowd still in power. They need to transfer that power now. An armed and militant paramilitary still does trumps bidding. And many know they might be held accountable in the months to come. I am not optimistic they will wait to see how it plays out.

Stay vigilant down there.

for the first time i realized i cant really [politely] ask people at work about voting. in previous jobs/election cycles its a no brainer.. running around the office 'where's your sticker? did ya vote?'. regardless of affiliation, people should vote..

but theres a palpable embarrassment this year. no one speaks of politics here anymore. i sure as fuck am not going to burst that echo-bubble by askin if they voted.

i just cant really do that in my current location. very strange.

We've been trying to make things work, and some days it feels easier than others. But lately, it feels almost impossible. The constant misunderstandings, the short tempers, the emotional exhaustion, it all starts to take a toll. We're both trying, yet somehow we keep finding ourselves in the same place, feeling drained and disconnected. How do you make things work when even trying starts to feel exhausting?

Reddits moneitized enshitification has finally caused me to use a blocking script to prevent me from even opening their site. They have made browsing impossible outside of their logged in ecosphere. Old.reddit requires a login now. At least for me if I fell into the A/B testing that forced it.

It's tragic. So many niche topics, resources, etc. exist there. Now locked behind the equivilant of a digital border wall. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much. Perhaps the closure of another more familiar space. Perhaps nostalgia for the old reddit. Or perhaps just another example of greed and tech bros taking away and wrecking a digital third space. Perhaps I should have called it when many others did when Spez took over and the process all started.

Alas, poor woodworking, specialty coffee, DMAcademy. Good bye and good night.

Later today (July 27 2026) 2:pm nsw time the government will issue what is called aus alert which means every phone in Australia will have an alarm at the exact same time. If you are someone that uses a safety phone it is best to turn it off for 24 hours. I would also recommend avoiding traffic or any situation that could cause danger to the governments poorly planned aus alert.

it's been while, and i have been very busy with political work, but things are now returning to normal

currently beginning the lengthy commitment of reading Ian Kershaw's double-volume biography of Hitler

This is a vent and probably a trauma dump too, although I'm probably asking for something despite my inability to word it. I'll try not to make it too specific but it needs to come out so bad. I'm so fucking lonely. It's a gigantic painful hole of solitude dug just under the sternum.

I'm slowly pulling myself out of a disastrous marriage. She has issues, I have issues, and we've been feeding each other's issues for years. I haven't existed for a long time. I haven't acted on negative or positive signals from myself in a long time. I just soaked it all up. There's still a lot of sorting out to do and it'll most probably be a whole bucket of pain all along the way.

We have a child. Our daughter's amab and she rightfully hates her mother, who's said horrible things to her throughout her life. She is predictably fucked up. She's only out as trans to me and has basically given up on life at this point. She lives at night, she dropped out of college, she's unable to cope with basic social interactions and it's become increasingly hard to get her to eat meals. She's shutting me out. I have basically no idea what's going on with her emotionally anymore. I'm ridden with guilt on so many levels.

Me and my daughter moved out of home and are staying with relatives. We have our own rooms but it's not an easy situation. We have our own psychologists and our own family doctors.

I knew my sexual orientation's fluid for a long time. I've admitted it to myself for a much shorter time. I've mostly come out as bi in the last days. What I didn't expect is how as soon as I've started to quit the heteronormative role of a cishetero husband, the gender fluidity would hit me so crazy hard. I've made some simple changes to the way I present which feel unbelievably intense and emancipating. I feel things I thought I would never feel again and others that are completely new to me. It's like permafrost thawing but in a good way.

On the other hand I also feel like a pet completely cut off from their species. I'm so. Fucking. Lonely. I have no friends, let alone queer ones. It takes a tremendous effort to maintain the faith that this is valid, that I'm valid. That I'm not being silly. That this isn't one of those mid-life crisis that men go through and that everybody laughs about. I mean I know buying an expensive sports car isn't like buying buttplugs and nail polish but still you know.

So if you read all that thank you so much and please don't be shy. I hope your day is bright! I'll go touch grass for a little while now.

I've been enjoying TTRPGs for some time. A means to meet people. Have some fun. Escape the drudgery of life and get creative. Perhaps I've lived under a rock, or a boulder, but I've come across an entire ecosystem of Professional DMs selling table time. Literal pay to play in a creative world. Where, even with the cash grab of wizards of the coast or the negation of imagination in place of 3D extravagence, we now monetize play, too. Perhaps play isn't the right word. Something that combines camaraderie, enjoyment, a third space, imagination, and kindred spirits. Whatever that is, its monetization of the experience by a for profit dungeon master feels wrong in some way I can't quite place.

Why must everything devolve into this? What do we loose when we monetize creativity, community, meeting people to such a degree?