Aric Ellison

Husband and Dad

[Jaylene🐰 @playmatejaylene]

The first trillionaire in human history

- Elon Musk
- Born in South Africa
- Bullied relentlessly as a kid
- Immigrated to North America
- Arrived with a backpack and a dream
- Built Zip2 with his brother
- Sold it 4 years later for $300 million
- Co-founded PayPal with the profits
- Revolutionised digital payments
- Sold PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion
- Bet everything on Tesla and SpaceX
- Got mocked for electric cars
- Got laughed at for reusable rockets
- Nearly went bankrupt in 2008
- Kept building anyway
- Turned Tesla into the world’s most valuable automaker
- Made EVs mainstream and transformed the automotive industry
- Made reusable rockets a reality
- Reduced the cost of reaching space by 95%
- Sparked the modern commercial space race
- Built Starlink and connected millions around the world to high-speed internet
- Turned SpaceX into the most valuable private company in history
- Bought Twitter for $44 billion
- The world said he overpaid
- He was called reckless, stupid & crazy
- Advertisers fled, media declared it dead
- Critics called it the worst acquisition in tech history
- Renamed it 𝕏
- Rebuilt the platform anyway
- Turned it into one of the most influential platforms on Earth
- Launched xAI and accelerated the global AI race
- Sent astronauts to space
- Is trying to get humans to mars
- Created millions of jobs
- Generated hundreds of billions in value
- Inspired an entire generation of builders

Before:
- Failed repeatedly
- Worked insane hours
- Slept in factories and offices
- Got bullied, laughed at and mocked
- Constantly told “it’s impossible”
- Kept building anyway
- Made it possible

Today:
- Richest person on Earth
- First trillionaire in human history
- Largest IPO in history $1.77 trillion

Most people quit when the world laughs at them.

Elon Musk built the future instead.

Love him or hate him…

Nobody has changed more industries in a single lifetime.

Payments. Cars. Energy. Space. Social Media. Communications. AI.

History won’t remember the people who said it couldn’t be done.

It will remember the people who did it anyway.

Congratulations Elon.
The first trillionaire. 🚀

[Jon Karcich @JonKarcich]

That dude that just stole home! Armani Guzman...
That's the same kid who hit .053 his freshman year and was a role player. A Swiss Army knife for his club.

He always had the speed tool. Freshman year they used him mainly as a pinch runner. 1 for 19 at the dish. Most guys would have transferred or quit. He went to a summer league, made adjustments, only hit .248, but came back more prepared.

2025, back on the bench again. Hadn't started in 30 days. Coach noticed two pinch-hit singles in a blowout loss and put him back in the lineup.

He didn't try to do too much, he just contributed. Trust was being built.

About a year ago in the regionals, he hit a walk-off sacrifice fly. Then 4-for-5 with the go-ahead RBI in the 8th. The 2025 Regional MVP batted 9th.

His coach said it best.

"His mentality has been so spot on. You want to talk about a confident guy that's not arrogant. He is in such a strong place competing right now that he knows he'll have success." Coach Sabins, 2025

He wasn't confident because things were going well. Things were going well because he stayed confident!

By 2026 he's breaking the all-time stolen base record at WVU, delivering walk-off hits, and helping send West Virginia to Omaha for the first time in program history.

As a former D1 coach and 7th rounder, I love this story because it's real. The work wins. The best players fail the most, they just refuse to let it stop them.

In a world that wants everything now, let's play the long game.

Belief comes before ability. Always has. Let's let the next wave of athletes embrace this mentality, stay consistent, and stay persistent.

I went down a rabbit hole on Guzman because I saw it wasn't always easy and smooth sailing for him, as that's how most athletes on TV appear. Adversity will always show up. It's how we keep that belief and keep improving. Kudos to Guzman and WVU, fun to follow as a baseball fan.

I pulled much of this information from WVU sports, domainpost and 247sports.

@WVUBaseball @mani_ftn

[The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee]

"This is super helpful."

[Michael Baumgartner for WA-5 @VoteBaumgartner]

Bob, stop the virtue signaling nonsense and just do your job. On behalf of the entire state of Washington, we’d like a lot less posing and a lot more focus on the taxes that are killing jobs in our state. Also,everyone knows you get big business and union donations through PACs and the special interest groups you do favors for, so not all only is your statement preening nonsense, it’s dishonest. Stop the games and do your job, Bob. 🇺🇸

[Peter B @realpeteyb123]

Ok… most of you know I was in the organic baby formula business, but what you don’t know is I dabbled in diapers as well.

I also know this baby2baby “non profit” and have had past interactions with them.. I’ll leave that out for now..

Let’s dive into this absolute grifting nonsense. Prepare to be shocked.

California is about to spend $20 million of taxpayer money to give 100,000 newborns 400 diapers each through Baby2Baby.

Do the math with me:
100,000 babies × 400 diapers = 40 million diapers

$20,000,000 ÷ 40,000,000 = $0.50 per diaper!!!!!

Now walk into any Costco in California and you can buy the same quality diapers for .12 to .15 cents each!

That’s $48 to $60 for 400 diapers.
So the state is paying 8–10x more per diaper than a regular family buying in bulk.

They could’ve just handed every low-income new mom $100 cash and told her to go to Costco. She’d get more diapers, better ones if she wanted, and still have money left for formula, wipes, or whatever the hell she actually needs.

But nah… that wouldn’t let Gavin and his connected “nonprofit” girls running the show there cut ribbons, take photos, do galas and be friends with celebrities and brag about the “first-in-the-nation” program while skimming their cut for “administration” and “partnerships.”

This is peak government stupidity!!!

Spend way more money to feel good and look good, instead of just trusting parents with their own damn money.
We’re not helping babies. We’re funding another bloated nonprofit-government grift.

Math doesn’t lie. The diaper math is brutal.

What a scam and a joke!!!!!

[Brandi Kruse @BrandiKruse]

Update: The women lost.

[Aric Ellison @AricEllison]

@JayInslee Shut up and go away please.

[Luke Falk @coachlukefalk]

Every training camp I had at Washington State University, Coach Leach would share the same story.
The story of two kids. The rich kid and the poor kid.

The rich kid has two choices. He can become spoiled, entitled, lazy, and expect everything to be handed to him because he has been given more. Or he can take every advantage of what he has been given—resources, coaching, opportunities—and use it to become even better.

The poor kid has two choices too. He can say, “I never had a chance. Nobody gave me anything. The world is against me.” He can feel sorry for himself and use it as an excuse. Or he can say, “I may not have what they have, but I am going to outwork everybody.” He can become tougher, more driven, and more relentless than everybody else.

It was a powerful message in a locker room full of people from different backgrounds, different families, and different life experiences. Some guys came from wealth. Some came from almost nothing. Some had every opportunity. Others had to fight for every inch.

But despite all of those differences, everybody still had the same choice.

You can take ownership and use what you have as fuel.

Or you can become victim-minded. You can look for excuses, blame your circumstances, become entitled, and convince yourself that because of what you have—or because of what you do not have—you cannot become what you want to be.

It is not about how you start. It is about what you choose to do with how you start.

The rich kid can waste what he has been given or use it to build something greater. The poor kid can use his circumstances as an excuse or as fuel.

In the end, greatness does not come from starting with more or less. It comes from which person inside of you that you choose to feed.

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[MintyHawk @minty_hawk]

Seattle's Hearing Examiner just blocked WinCo Foods from opening in the old Sam's Club at 13550 Aurora Ave N, a building that's been vacant since 2018. The SEPA appeal was filed by a group called "Lake Washington Working Families."

Sounds like concerned neighbors, right? Let's talk about a pattern. /1

[CooperBaggs 💰🍞 @edgaralandough]

Parents - put your phones out of sight when you’re with your kids. I really mean this. Especially at home. Treat it like a landline and “hang it up” in one place. (Wife and I have a little holder for them in the kitchen) When you need to check it, go over to where it’s placed and look at it, then walk away. Do not carry it around like a digital pacifier. Be present without it in sight. I guarantee this will make a huge impact on their childhood experience.

[Barry @BarryOnHere]

I'm old enough to remember when Tebow first blew up at Florida. Always thought he had to have been hiding some big secret bc there's just no way anybody is really that good of a person.

20 years later he is the only guy I can think of who was built up by the media to be a saint and has actually lived up to it. Also has a higher playoff passer rating than Tom Brady.

[stan verrett @stanverrett]

This is the exact point I made about college football, where the disparity is even more pronounced because of the number of players involved. NIL has made it very difficult for programs outside the major conferences to win big.

[Brad Tower @brad_tower]

If only Washington had a model it could have looked to rather than experimenting on itself.

[Lane Kiffin @Lane_Kiffin]

💯

[Jonathan Choe @choeshow]

NEW: Holy crap! Downtown Seattle Association President and CEO John Scholes is going nuclear.
He annihilated the so called "progressive tax" and says it's crippling the downtown business core in Seattle.
With sobering data, Scholes masterfully lays out his case and also acknowledges Bellevue is quickly becoming the new destination for business owners.
Meanwhile, far-left politicians like Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, CM Alexis Mercedes Rinck, and WA State Rep. Shaun Scott claim the "progressive tax" will help revitalize the city.
So who do you believe, Scholes or these socialist elected officials? 🧵👇
@MayorofSeattle|@GovBobFerguson|@GirmayZahilay|@downtownseattle|@DiscoveryCWP|@washdems|@eyesonthestorm|@weheartseattle

[Brandi Kruse @BrandiKruse]

Even if there were a miracle and the income tax fails, the damage is done. Businesses are fleeing Washington state, innovators are going elsewhere, and our reputation as anti-business will be sealed. I hope you're happy, @GovBobFerguson.

[Zeek Arkham 🇺🇸 @ZeekArkham]

Dear Chuck Schumer,

Hi. Black dude here. I can trace my family ancestry to slavery. I even know where they were slaves. My mom experienced Jim Crow. I think I’ve watched every episode of “Eyes On the Prize” when I was younger.

With that said…

Can you directly explain to me how the SAVE Act is “Jim Crow 2.0?” Literally every black person I know has ID. Literally every black person I know has a car or at least a ride. Literally every black person I know knows how to vote (well… except the ones with felonies… but they don’t count).

With your advanced white liberal thinking, you must know more than me. Apparently, as I experience daily on this app, white liberals are experts on being black; even more so than actual black folks. Perhaps you could explain it like I’m five. I’d look it up on the internet, but Kathy Hochul has already told me I don’t know what a computer is and Joe Biden said I can’t navigate it, anyway.

Looking forward to your answer.

No hugs.
Zeek

[Jason Mercier @MercierOnPolicy]

Just so we're all clear, lawmakers & the Governor are willfully defying legal precedent to set up a court case to overturn nearly 100 years of caselaw since they can't get voter support for a constitutional amendment to allow non-uniform income tax https://t.co/lnhOSfMpuZ #waleg

[Fox News @FoxNews]

FLASHBACK: Then-Senator Marco Rubio tears into President Obama’s proposed Iran nuclear deal, predicting the threat it posed to America and future generations:

“I want to be recorded for history’s purposes, if nothing else, to say that those of us who opposed this deal understood where it would lead. And we are making a terrible mistake.”

The clip has gone viral for how accurate Rubio’s predictions turned out to be as the U.S. and Israel work to end Iran’s threat to the Middle East and the world.

[Blondelady2024 @arva61138]

This is probably the best answer I've ever heard to the question, "Why did God create evil?"

A professor at the university asked his students the following question:

“Everything that exists was created by God?”
One student bravely answered:
“Yes, it was created by God.”

The professor asked :
“If God created everything, then God created evil, since it exists. And according to the principle that our deeds define ourselves, then God is evil.”

The student became silent after hearing such an answer. The professor was very pleased with himself. He boasted to students for proving once again that faith in God is a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said:
“Can I ask you a question, professor?”
"Of course," replied the professor.

“Professor, is cold a thing?”
“What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you ever been cold?”
Students laughed at the young man's question.

The young man answered:
“Actually, sir, cold doesn't exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is actually the absence of heat. A person or object can be studied on whether it has or transmits energy.
Absolute zero (-460 degrees Fahrenheit) is a complete absence of heat. All matter becomes inert and unable to react at this temperature. Cold does not exist. We created this word to describe what we feel in the absence of heat.”

The student continued:
“Professor, does darkness exist?”
“Of course it exists.” said the professor.
“You're wrong again, sir. Darkness also does not exist. Darkness is actually the absence of light. We can study the light but not the darkness. We can use Newton's prism to spread white light across multiple colors and explore the different wavelengths of each color. You can't measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into the world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you tell how dark a certain space is? You measure how much light is presented. Isn't it so? Darkness is a term man uses to describe what happens in the absence of light.”

In the end, the young man asked the professor:
“Sir, does evil exist?”
This time it was uncertain, the professor answered:
“Of course, as I said before. We see him every day. Cruelty, numerous crimes and violence throughout the world. These examples are nothing but a manifestation of evil.”

To this, the student answered:
“Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist for itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is like darkness and cold—a man-made word to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not faith or love, which exist as light and warmth. Evil is the result of the absence of Divine love in the human heart. It’s the kind of cold that comes when there is no heat, or the kind of darkness that comes when there’s no light.”
🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻