Brian Poel
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realinspectorhound.bsky.social
Brian Poel
@realinspectorhound.bsky.social
42 followers 56 following 5 posts
Professional geek in Seattle (he/him), specialized in financial management, game design, data analysis, RPGs and improv.
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Reposted by Brian Poel
elizhargrave.bsky.social
I hope I don't jinx it, but Sanibel is my first game in a while that hasn't gotten pre-release bombed on BGG with 1 ratings from people who haven't played. 🎉 Gotta say, it feels pretty great to be sitting at 7.5 only a few days after release.

If you played this weekend, add your rating! 🐚
Sanibel
Collect seashells that come and go with the tide on the beaches of Sanibel.
boardgamegeek.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
lakeshorerecords.com
Don’t miss out on this gorgeous release.
The Lamplighters League — Original Video Game Soundtrack (2xLP Vinyl Record)!

Available exclusively at the Materia Store: buff.ly/AkYmSwJ

#Musicsky #vinylrecords #videogames @MateriaCollective.com @JonEverist.bsky.social
January 19, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
adambonica.bsky.social
1/ I recently wrote about Frances Perkins—FDR’s Labor Secretary and first woman cabinet member. She is best known as the architect of the New Deal but she had a lesser-known achievement:

She dismantled her era’s version of ICE.🧵
President Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935, with Perkins among those witnessing the signing (third from right) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Signing_Of_The_Social_Security_Act.jpg
January 14, 2026 at 3:43 AM
Reposted by Brian Poel
jamellebouie.net
over the course of 1871, congress held seven months of hearings on ku klux klan and other white vigilante violence in the south, they took detailed testimony from hundreds of black men and women attesting to klan terror. (1/?)
January 14, 2026 at 2:06 AM
Reposted by Brian Poel
webeharebrained.bsky.social
NEW GRAFT TRAILER—WISHLIST NOW!
Inosculation (n): A natural phenomenon in which the trunks, branches or roots of two trees grow together.
December 13, 2025 at 9:25 PM
realinspectorhound.bsky.social
Seeing Arcadia in London was a highlight of my college theatre experience (the Haymarket production in Jan of ‘95, I think?) While I can’t claim to be an expert on his entire body of work, I still hold a soft spot for his witty and clever style. Rest in peace.
November 30, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Reposted by Brian Poel
andrewamcintosh.bsky.social
Oh, also, while I'm breaking my self-imposed social media hiatus, here's a little chat about game writing that I filmed with Jordan Weisman a while back! youtu.be/TlRPWTLwH-o
Writing Games That Matter | Jordan Weisman & Andrew McIntosh | The Game Mechanics
YouTube video by Adventure Forge
youtu.be
October 28, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
webeharebrained.bsky.social
Always great to see Shadowrun: Dragonfall in such great company on here, cheers @pcgamer.com!
pcgamer.com PC Gamer @pcgamer.com · Oct 20
The 2025 edition of our annual Top 100 list is here, running down the best PC games to play now from the perspective of PC Gamer's 30+ writers and editors.
The top 100 PC games
Welcome to the 2025 edition of the PC Gamer Top 100—our annual list of the best PC games you can play.
www.pcgamer.com
October 20, 2025 at 10:29 PM
realinspectorhound.bsky.social
A talented former colleague... put this beauty in the back of your heart and let it percolate. Never know when you'll want more and need to ask if he's available.
lee.scheinbe.im Lee Scheinbeim @lee.scheinbe.im · Oct 14
Hi #PortfolioDay, I'm Lee! A technical artist with a focus on lighting and rendering with many years of experience. I am becoming old and grizzled.

I'm not currently looking for work, but here are some sheets I put together last time I was and I think they are neat
art from the lamplighter's league art from palia art from battletech art from dragon age inquisition
October 14, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
gregsargent.bsky.social
This powerful JB Pritzker response to Trump's lawless threats is another reminder of what I tried to argue this morning: Pritzker understands Stephen Miller's theory of this moment, and he's responding accordingly:

newrepublic.com/article/2014...
October 8, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
yasharali.bsky.social
Statement from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate. We must now start calling this what it is: Trump's Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state's military troops. I call on Governor Abbott to immediately withdraw any support for this decision and refuse to coordinate. There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent, or cooperation. The brave men and women who serve in our national guards must not be used as political props. This is a moment where every American must speak up and help stop this madness.
October 6, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Reposted by Brian Poel
stickydoodler.bsky.social
I watched "The Hobby" last night with a group of tabletop game designers, and what a treat! The film looks affectionately at board games from the perspective of pro and amateur designers, players, and influencers. It captures how much game design has itself become a hobby in the story of...
1/▶️
October 5, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
jeffsharlet.bsky.social
Expanded my close read of today's Trump Terror Memo, with help from @audiosand.bsky.social & and unnamed federal-adjacent employee. slowcivilwar.substack.com/p/rubber-glu...
Rubber Glue Fascism
A close reading of "NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM/NSPM-7: Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence"
slowcivilwar.substack.com
September 26, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Reposted by Brian Poel
lee.scheinbe.im
had a frank conversation with the 6 year old where it was decided the Disney+ subscription was better off used for buying video games anyway
disney+ subscription has been cancelled
September 20, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
timothysnyder.bsky.social
Here is my best guidance, rendered beautifully by the great John Lithgow. I first published these lessons nearly nine years ago, in late 2016. They open the twenty chapters of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century."
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...
Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow
Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing
snyder.substack.com
September 18, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
lizzielizliz.bsky.social
Mayor Brandon of Chicago responds to a question from a reporter if pushing back will make things harder?

“Can you imagine if my ancestors would have had the same rationale? Let’s not fight against the Confederacy. Let’s just try to get along, and maybe one day they’ll give us our freedom?”
August 28, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Reposted by Brian Poel
afj.org
“The chief justice has no higher obligation than to protect the federal judiciary from attacks by this president, and in my view he has utterly failed.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
The umpire who picked a side: John Roberts and the death of rule of law in America
The chief justice of the US has painted himself as a modern institutionalist over the past 20 years. Experts say he’s emboldening Trump’s drive toward authoritarianism
www.theguardian.com
August 21, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
hcrichardson.bsky.social
An idea:
August 20, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Reposted by Brian Poel
mommunism.bsky.social
Anas Al Sharif had these words to publish if he was martyred which he was tonight as Israel starts the invasion of Gaza City
Martyrs of Gaza @GazaMartyrs This is my will and my final message. If my words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. First, peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you. God knows that I have given all my effort and strength to be a support and a voice for my people since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of Jabalia refugee camp. My hope was that God would grant me life to return with my family and loved ones to our original town of Ashkelon (Al-Majdal), occupied land. But God's will was swifter, and His decree is binding. I lived pain in all its details, tasted grief and loss repeatedly, yet I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is—-without distortion or falsification— hoping God would bear witness against those who remained silent, those who accepted our killing, those who besieged our breaths, and whose hearts were not moved by the shattered bodies of our children and women, nor did they stop the massacre our people have faced for more than a year and a half. I entrust you with Palestine, the jewel of the Muslim world and the pulse of every free heart in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its innocent children who were not granted the time to dream or live in safety and peace. Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart, their remains scattered on the walls. l urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be bridges toward liberating the land and the people until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland. I entrust you with my family. I entrust you with the apple of my eye, my beloved daughter, Sham, whom fate did not allow me to see grow as I dreamed. I entrust you with my dear son, Salah, whom I wished to support and accompany until he grew strong, carrying my burden and continuing the mission. I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose prayers were the reason I reached where I did. Her supplications were my fortress, and her light my path. I pray God to ease her heart and reward her abundantly on my behalf. I also entrust you with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah Bayan, from whom war separated us for long days and months, but who remained faithful, steadfast like an olive tree trunk that never bends, patient and devout, carrying the trust in my absence with strength and faith. I urge you to gather around them and be their support after God Almighty. If I die, I die steadfast on my principles, bearing witness to God that I am satisfied with His decree, believing in meeting Him, and certain that what is with God is better and everlasting. O God, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path to freedom for my people and family. Forgive me if I fell short, and pray for me mercy, for I have remained true to the covenant, never changing or betraying it. Do not forget Gaza... And do not forget me in your good prayers for forgiveness and acceptance. Anas Jamal Al-Sharif 06.04.2025 This is what Anas ordered to be published upon his martyrdom.
August 10, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
profgalloway.com
One of the wonderful things about this business is the opportunity to stumble upon really impressive people. Professor/historian @hcrichardson.bsky.social is one of those people. This week’s No Mercy / No Malice reflects some of her takes on our current moment.

www.profgalloway.com/resist/
Resist | No Mercy / No Malice
My go-to historical frame of reference is World War II. At a staggering global cost of 85 million lives, the Second World War was the crucible of the 20th century — an explosion of unfathomable destru...
www.profgalloway.com
July 19, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
jamellebouie.net
did a video on jim crow as part of my american history series on youtube youtu.be/FdCf0rQmY-s
Nerd Stuff: What was Jim Crow?
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
youtu.be
June 18, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
petitephd.bsky.social
Spitting FIRE holy shit 🔥
A series of tweets from Politico senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney: BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored. YOUNG: "I am hesitant to draw this conclusion, but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it – that this represents racial discrimination. And discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community. That’s what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out." MORE YOUNG: "It is palpably clear that these directives and the set of terminated grants here also are designed to frustrate, to stop, research that may bear on the health – we’re talking about health here, the health of Americans, of our LGBTQ community. That’s appalling." YOUNG still going: "I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this ... I ask myself, how can this be?" "I have the protection that the founders wrote into the constitution, along with imposing upon me a duty to speak the truth in every case. I try to do that. What if I didn’t have those protections. What if my job was on the line, my profession... Would I have stood up against all this? Would I have said, 'you can’t do this?' You are bearing down on people of color because of their color. The constitution will not permit that." "Have we fallen so low? Have we no shame?"
June 16, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
charlotteclymer.bsky.social
Well done, Miss Feldman.
May 16, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
konstantinosd.bsky.social
A reminder of the simple but often forgotten truth that all three of Harebrained Shemes' Shadowrun games were brilliant. If you haven't played them, well, do so.
May 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Brian Poel
jacobtlevy.bsky.social
I had been doubtful that we were going to have a "this is the crisis moment" with Trump, as opposed to "everything about this is a destructive catastrophe."

But the Abrego Garcia case is the crisis moment.

1/
April 14, 2025 at 4:41 PM