Michael Engard
@engard.me
Writer and web developer. Rochester, NY. Of late: WordPress, TTRPGs, the open web. You may never read my book but at least I’m writing it.
Reposted by Michael Engard
This is the part of the thread where I laughed out loud.
January 28, 2026 at 12:16 PM
This is the part of the thread where I laughed out loud.
Reposted by Michael Engard
Reposted by Michael Engard
One thing I hope people take the time to acknowledge: The sea change in public opinion has been achieved because violence, though encourage by a lot of people here online, was never once employed by the movement. Violence was solely the purview of the state and that is why the state is losing.
January 26, 2026 at 7:48 PM
One thing I hope people take the time to acknowledge: The sea change in public opinion has been achieved because violence, though encourage by a lot of people here online, was never once employed by the movement. Violence was solely the purview of the state and that is why the state is losing.
Reposted by Michael Engard
Unironically yes
is the cure for male loneliness showing up early and setting up chairs?
A lot of the Male Loneliness Epidemic can be traced back to the fact that most cis dudes don’t participate in communal logistics.
January 26, 2026 at 4:31 AM
Unironically yes
Reposted by Michael Engard
I think about this post a lot
January 25, 2026 at 8:55 PM
I think about this post a lot
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January 25, 2026 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by Michael Engard
I keep thinking “my god the people they’ve killed seem like exceptionally good folks” and I think the lesson there is that they’re not exceptional, but that wonderful people abound and that a baseline distrust in humanity is a shitty conservative trope that privileges power over collective strength
you don't become a martyr because you were a saint, you become a saint because you were martyred
I agree that we can’t make Alex Pretti a Benedictine monk because that’s a trap, but we can talk about the good things we did because people will see and hear them and think “I do those things too”
January 25, 2026 at 12:27 AM
I keep thinking “my god the people they’ve killed seem like exceptionally good folks” and I think the lesson there is that they’re not exceptional, but that wonderful people abound and that a baseline distrust in humanity is a shitty conservative trope that privileges power over collective strength
Reposted by Michael Engard
I’m completely fed up with elected Representatives saying shit like, “Republicans will tell you behind closed doors that they don’t agree with what ICE is doing”.
Playtime is over. Professional courtesy no longer exists.
Name them, record them, and make it public.
Playtime is over. Professional courtesy no longer exists.
Name them, record them, and make it public.
January 24, 2026 at 11:01 PM
I’m completely fed up with elected Representatives saying shit like, “Republicans will tell you behind closed doors that they don’t agree with what ICE is doing”.
Playtime is over. Professional courtesy no longer exists.
Name them, record them, and make it public.
Playtime is over. Professional courtesy no longer exists.
Name them, record them, and make it public.
Reposted by Michael Engard
Strength, solidarity and love to everybody in the Twin Cities - Minnesota is showing America exactly how to rise up and resist this fascist dictatorship, and your courage in the face of this nightmare is inspiring beyond words.
January 24, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Strength, solidarity and love to everybody in the Twin Cities - Minnesota is showing America exactly how to rise up and resist this fascist dictatorship, and your courage in the face of this nightmare is inspiring beyond words.
Reposted by Michael Engard
For those who can, here are links to donate directly to local efforts on the ground resisting ICE's terrorizing of Minneapolis. Let me know what you donated to where, and I'll match it until I get a panicked call from my bank!
linktr.ee/mplsmutualaid
linktr.ee/mplsmutualaid
@mplsmutualaid | Linktree
Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors
linktr.ee
January 24, 2026 at 11:48 PM
For those who can, here are links to donate directly to local efforts on the ground resisting ICE's terrorizing of Minneapolis. Let me know what you donated to where, and I'll match it until I get a panicked call from my bank!
linktr.ee/mplsmutualaid
linktr.ee/mplsmutualaid
Reposted by Michael Engard
Abolish ICE, prosecute and imprison its leaders, impeach and remove the President from office. This is the only sane reaction to a group of armed men kidnapping and gunning down our neighbors in the street.
As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today.
ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.
January 24, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Abolish ICE, prosecute and imprison its leaders, impeach and remove the President from office. This is the only sane reaction to a group of armed men kidnapping and gunning down our neighbors in the street.
There are things Democrats can do. They’re also still the minority, and the “do something” chorus is grating when they don’t seem to know what they‘re asking for.
More than anything I just want to see some semblance of awareness from Schumer, Jeffries, et al. that this isn’t business as usual.
More than anything I just want to see some semblance of awareness from Schumer, Jeffries, et al. that this isn’t business as usual.
ICE out of Minnesota NOW.
Breaking News: Federal law enforcement agents shot and killed a person in Minneapolis on Saturday morning, state and local officials said. Follow live updates.
January 24, 2026 at 9:28 PM
There are things Democrats can do. They’re also still the minority, and the “do something” chorus is grating when they don’t seem to know what they‘re asking for.
More than anything I just want to see some semblance of awareness from Schumer, Jeffries, et al. that this isn’t business as usual.
More than anything I just want to see some semblance of awareness from Schumer, Jeffries, et al. that this isn’t business as usual.
Reposted by Michael Engard
this is it. this is the level. this is the standard for democratic officials. anything less is intolerable.
January 24, 2026 at 9:09 PM
this is it. this is the level. this is the standard for democratic officials. anything less is intolerable.
Reposted by Michael Engard
I'm thousands of miles away and have a million things to do, but my heart can't stop standing on 26th street in Minneapolis, screaming bloody murder
January 24, 2026 at 6:58 PM
I'm thousands of miles away and have a million things to do, but my heart can't stop standing on 26th street in Minneapolis, screaming bloody murder
Reposted by Michael Engard
It shouldn’t matter, in a just world it wouldn’t matter, but he was a conventionally attractive white man who ticked all their boxes for masculinity and they tackled him, and beat him, and shot him dead in the street, and told the world he deserved it because he was there and saw them.
January 24, 2026 at 7:11 PM
It shouldn’t matter, in a just world it wouldn’t matter, but he was a conventionally attractive white man who ticked all their boxes for masculinity and they tackled him, and beat him, and shot him dead in the street, and told the world he deserved it because he was there and saw them.
I *hate* talking on the phone. I did it. You can too.
www.5calls.org
walks you thru it and the phone numbers are clickable
you do not need to read the scripts, you can if you want. one sentence plus your identity info for verification is frankly enough.
walks you thru it and the phone numbers are clickable
you do not need to read the scripts, you can if you want. one sentence plus your identity info for verification is frankly enough.
January 24, 2026 at 5:54 PM
I *hate* talking on the phone. I did it. You can too.
Reposted by Michael Engard
www.5calls.org
walks you thru it and the phone numbers are clickable
you do not need to read the scripts, you can if you want. one sentence plus your identity info for verification is frankly enough.
walks you thru it and the phone numbers are clickable
you do not need to read the scripts, you can if you want. one sentence plus your identity info for verification is frankly enough.
January 24, 2026 at 5:42 PM
www.5calls.org
walks you thru it and the phone numbers are clickable
you do not need to read the scripts, you can if you want. one sentence plus your identity info for verification is frankly enough.
walks you thru it and the phone numbers are clickable
you do not need to read the scripts, you can if you want. one sentence plus your identity info for verification is frankly enough.
Reposted by Michael Engard
Once again, immigration is not even a problem. Immigrants are not more criminal, they don't cost jobs, they don't harm the economy. There is no reason for any of this. It is hurting ourselves to hurt them.
January 24, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Once again, immigration is not even a problem. Immigrants are not more criminal, they don't cost jobs, they don't harm the economy. There is no reason for any of this. It is hurting ourselves to hurt them.
Reposted by Michael Engard
For some reason, these days I find myself thinking a lot about how SimCity players would eventually get bored and start triggering disasters.
January 23, 2026 at 11:09 PM
For some reason, these days I find myself thinking a lot about how SimCity players would eventually get bored and start triggering disasters.
Reposted by Michael Engard
This. When folks from all walks of life are bravely resisting oppression, they are *living* the aspirational vision of America. Honor that. This isn't inconsistent with recognizing America's deeply rooted history of violence. Many on the front lines are chewing this gum and walking at the same time!
my Blackest opinion is that the presumption of conflict between "America has a long and deeply rooted history of violence" and "we can and should fight against today's version of that, as did those who came before us" is less a philosophical debate about how to treat the past and more a skill issue
January 22, 2026 at 5:56 PM
This. When folks from all walks of life are bravely resisting oppression, they are *living* the aspirational vision of America. Honor that. This isn't inconsistent with recognizing America's deeply rooted history of violence. Many on the front lines are chewing this gum and walking at the same time!
Reposted by Michael Engard
this is exactly where I’m at
If you go to them and say "Actually America is bad and you're bad for liking it," they're going to ignore you. If you say "America is a promise and is good & we have to fight to live up to it, let's punch Nazis like we did in WWII" then more of them will join you, which we need to stop the fascists
January 22, 2026 at 5:23 PM
this is exactly where I’m at
Reposted by Michael Engard
Because one of those people WILL ultimately take office regardless of the total number of votes cast, withholding your vote does not communicate "I don't like any of these."
It says instead, "I do not care enough about this country to decide who gets to run it."
Think that'll fit on my tombstone?
It says instead, "I do not care enough about this country to decide who gets to run it."
Think that'll fit on my tombstone?
Votes are not earned.
It is not a gift to be given.
It is power to be wielded.
You aren't looking at a list of people on your ballot and deciding which you like more. You are looking at a list of people, one of whom will be entrusted with public office, and you're choosing which.
It is not a gift to be given.
It is power to be wielded.
You aren't looking at a list of people on your ballot and deciding which you like more. You are looking at a list of people, one of whom will be entrusted with public office, and you're choosing which.
January 20, 2026 at 5:23 AM
Because one of those people WILL ultimately take office regardless of the total number of votes cast, withholding your vote does not communicate "I don't like any of these."
It says instead, "I do not care enough about this country to decide who gets to run it."
Think that'll fit on my tombstone?
It says instead, "I do not care enough about this country to decide who gets to run it."
Think that'll fit on my tombstone?
Reposted by Michael Engard
"This fiction was useful" is the line that jumps out to me here.
"We largely avoided calling out the gaps between the rhetoric and reality."
Every statement in here is in the past tense.
"We largely avoided calling out the gaps between the rhetoric and reality."
Every statement in here is in the past tense.
Carney: "American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, a stable financial system... this bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition... recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as a weapon. Tariffs as leverage ... "
January 20, 2026 at 4:10 PM
"This fiction was useful" is the line that jumps out to me here.
"We largely avoided calling out the gaps between the rhetoric and reality."
Every statement in here is in the past tense.
"We largely avoided calling out the gaps between the rhetoric and reality."
Every statement in here is in the past tense.
“Do you want to smell it?”
Taskmaster show was so fun! Now the long trek home 🤪
January 18, 2026 at 3:18 AM
“Do you want to smell it?”