My Orthogonal Mind

Seldom linear and definitely not the shortest distance between any two points. Debate is fine - just bring your 'A' game. Check out my 'expanded' bio...

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

NOBODY beats Nonna..... nobody! 👍

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

In America, I sat down to dinner at an Italian family's house, and I have not eaten that much since the famine years, and there was no famine.

The grandmother — the nonna — set a plate of pasta before me. I cleared it with honor. The moment the plate was empty, a fuller one landed in its place, before I had set down my fork.

I understood. This was a test of endurance. A siege. She would press until I broke, and I would not break.

I cleared the second plate. A third arrived, heavier.

"Eat, eat, you're too skinny."

Too skinny. So this was the charge against me — that I had arrived weak, and she meant to repair me by force before I left her gate. I respected it. I straightened my back and cleared the third plate to defend my honor as a guest.

A fourth came. Meatballs now, reinforcements brought up from the kitchen.

"There's plenty more, hon, don't be shy."

Don't be shy. She was telling me the enemy's supply lines were endless, that her larder could outlast any man's stomach. A lesser warrior would have surrendered. I loosened my belt one notch — a tactical withdrawal, not a retreat — and advanced on the meatballs.

I began to sweat. My vision narrowed to the rim of the plate. Somewhere a man was speaking of the football. I could not turn my head.

A fifth plate approached, carried in her two small hands.

"You barely touched anything."

Five plates. My fork had stopped halfway to my mouth, trembling. I searched, in my swimming head, for a defense worthy of the moment, some final stand a warrior might make at the gates of his own ruin.

Her grandson, watching from the doorway, just shrugged at me.

"Yeah. Nobody beats Nonna."

I had nothing.

Silence.

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

@DigitalSamIAm Well, Sam, to be fair, the guy you're responding to does say right in his handle that he's a punk. In my experience, punks are long on mouth and short on ears and usually don't have the cognitive skills of a turnip...

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

Not your house - not any longer and it hasn't been since y'all moved out, pulling childish pranks like taking certain letters off of the computer keyboards.

It's not your house because the American people saw that you would be a horrid president. You've been denied again and again. And deservedly so.

But when you were in that house, you got to use it as you saw fit, did you not? But, now you try to score cheap political points with chicken-shit topics. And why is that? Because Trump is succeeding in ways that you never could.

This is not a gender issue. This is an issue of someone who truly loves America and is trying to keep this country strong and vibrant - not somebody who lies, cheats and finds loopholes in both ethics guidelines and statutes to line their own pockets.

Time to age gracefully and head to the old folks home.

[Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton]

Remember, during today's literal cage match on the White House grounds:

No matter what, it's not his house. It's our house.

Get a hat, coaster, or sticker to support groups and candidates who will respect the form AND the function of the people's house. https://t.co/yGDgJciDQZ

[Spencer Pratt @spencerpratt]

When I said this throughout my campaign, CNN people called me cruel and unhinged. Now, after they helped secure the election for the 2 dorks responsible for all these problems, CNN is now echoing my campaign talking points as gospel. Fascinating!

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

@JamesHu27192912 And it was fuckin' glorious!!!

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

@japan_nobunaga What is worse is that we pay our past and not our future...

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

If Thomas cannot go after the Democratic Party and liberals for interfering in all levels of US elections, how in the hell does he expect any credibility in trying to 'expose' the 'Israeli lobby' in interfering with his sole election. Sounds like someone who bought into the "I'm elected into the club and should be here forever" mentality.

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

$500 per vote.

That’s what the Israeli lobby spent to beat me,

and they still couldn’t do it with factual ads, or even fake ads based on policy.

They ran with personal lies and AI videos to convince elderly voters I was sleeping with Ilhan Omar and AOC at the same time.

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

@rickenstrom @COParksWildlife Marlon's 'dream' - when 'feel good' trumps common sense, science and reality....

[The Fat Electrician @Fat_Electrician]

The US has 1 trillionaire and 988 billionaires. Their combined net worth is about 8.4 trillion dollars.

If we would just tax these people “fairly,” it would totally solve the $40 trillion national debt. And every other problem in society.

Do the math, guys…

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

So, this will probably make a lot of people mad, but I think it bears saying, just to foster some thoughts - in agreement or opposition, it's all good for the exercise.

'Wokiesm' isn't 100% flawed, wrong or evil. There are golden nuggets embedded in it, as in any philosophy or ideology. Where it goes left (pun intended), IMO , is when it becomes unflinching, convinced that it is 100% correct regardless of inherent flaws or when it becomes the 'only' acceptable creed.

Let me take, as one case in point, the concept of feminism. My wife and I were watching a movie recently (for the purposes of this post, it doesn't matter at this point). When we were finished, my wife said that she thought it was a bit 'heavy handed' on the feminishm. I actually disagreed, and pointed out that I saw the themes of individual initiative and drive, the refusal to play the victim, to believe in oneself (and not a 'narrative' that someone tells you) and to never give up. This is not 'feminism' - this is individual strength.

But it is so very interesting that so many 'woke' narratives invoke underlying concepts that are not, by necessity, 'woke'. Instead of strong individuals, we have 'victims' who need support of their 'abused' categories (gender, race, religion, sexual preference, etc.). Instead of individuals who believe in themselves, regardless of their unique characteristics, skills and capabilities, we are inundated we groups of individuals who cannot see their strengths because they've been taught to believe that the only value they own is as victims.

I refuse to believe this - about myself, about my fellow humans and, especially about those who have had their individualism, their strengths, and their futures stolen by these lies.

Back to the case in point - we, each of us, grow stronger by being challenged and by pitting ourselves against competition and adversity. Strong men do NOT fear, nor demean, nor look down on strong women. We cherish strong women, precisely because of their strength and that they challenge us to be better men. And, I would fervently hope, that strong women would cherish strong men in the same fashion - that we would challenge them to be better (and stronger) women.

None of us improve without work, effort, accomplishment and overcoming challenges. When we challenge each other, when we grow into each other.

The same is true of any defined 'groups' that we would care to consider. We strengthen each other when we choose to challenge each other, not to diminish each other, but to build stronger and better versions of ourselves and each other.

So, see 'wokeism' for what it is - a cheap, shoddy lie for those who want the easy way out, the way of comfort and laziness, the way of being given everything and earning nothing.

Wokeism is not 'feminism', 'racism', 'homelessness', 'poverty' or your 'gender or sexual orientation'. These are the lies to keep you in servitude and within the colony of 'victims'.

Deny it, refute it, and abolish it. Take for yourself the mantle of individualism - both your rights and your accountability for they come bundled together. But own yourself, not what someone else tells you.

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

And the very basic human tendency to seek comfort and the path of least effort to achieve one's goals. And, if some benevolent benefactor (such as, say - 'The Government'???) comes along and drops manna from heaven making the path so easy as to not require effort at all, so much the better. So, yes, sloth along with the other deadly sins you mentioned...

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

A perennial favorite movie quote of mine that bears periodically repeating: "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

What the quote left out was that liberals, Democrats, socialists and communists are "ultra-dumb, special 'chicken-little' panicky dangerous animals who constantly display the worst traits of envy, jealousy and hatred towards anyone who demonstrates how wrong these animals are by achieving success by taking individual initiative, accountability and willingness to take risk - in other words, a smart person.

So, Lizzie, Bernie, and the ever increasing numbers of dumb, panicky dangerous animals - STFU.

[Lachlan Phillips exo/acc 👾 @bitcloud]

The left won.

The world's richest man is an electric vehicle manufacturer who is decarbonising the atmosphere while helping quadriplegics, restoring space travel, and making the internet and freedom of speech widely available across the globe.

Unfortunately most of the people who identified as "left" were simply pathological grief merchants with oppositional defiance disorder. They build nothing. They stand for nothing.

[Mandy @MarindaVannoy1]

Can someone please explain it to me like I'm five, why members of Congress are more upset that Elon became a trillionaire than they are that Somalis have defrauded our government out of hundreds of billions of dollars?

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

The Canadian National Anthem is beautiful and moving. The lyrics are (were) poignant and meaningful:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

The emphasis on the last three lines is mine. For it seems that Canada, like the US and much of the world, has succumbed to 'feelings' rather than a focus on freedom, accountability and the concept that every individual can work towards a better life and succeed. A decline into many believing that the government is the only source of basic sustenance and support. And that any who do show courage, fortitude, acceptance of risk and then who do succeed are somehow evil, greedy, callous and uncaring. All whilst the politicians are pretending to be puritanically altruistic saints while at the same time robbing Canadians blind.

Oh Canada, please let your people stand on guard for thee...

[My Orthogonal Mind @OrthogonalMind]

Yet, once again, we have yet another reason to lament the Canada which was and to ignore the Canada which is...

[The Globe and Mail @globeandmail]

Opinion: SpaceX IPO makes Elon Musk the first trillionaire. Here’s how to properly hate him https://t.co/qAQVdquwCP

[Justine Bateman @JustineBateman]

Truth.

[US Oil & Gas Association @US_OGA]

Hello Senator....

This November it will be 50 years since you were first elected to Congress, so we want to be the first to say .

"Happy 50th Anniversary of drawing a taxpayer funded salary."

That is quite an achievement.

In fact - you are 2nd longest-still serving member in Congress.

It has been a long time since you held a private sector job.

AND yes 50 years ago - in 1976 (it was America's Bicentennial that year) - people still punched clocks back then. The world has changed a lot.

During your 50 years in Congress - you watched as the creators and inventors and producers changed the world, creating trillions in new wealth, millions of new jobs and dramatically raising living standards for everyone rich and poor alike.

And for 50 years you have voted to raise taxes and regulate and oversee every move of the private sector.

You have never created or invented or produced. Just taxed and regulated and outraged.

But thank you for using the platform the "TRILLIONAIRE class" has provided to the entire world for free to tell us all how disgusted you are.

We would never know otherwise.

[Margot Cleveland @ProfMJCleveland]

. . . like bring home stranded astronauts?

[Western Lensman @WesternLensman]

Elon responded to Warren calling him a “freeloader" in 2021:

“I'm actually paying the most tax that any individual in history has ever paid this year. Ever."

"And she doesn't pay taxes basically at all. Her salary is paid for by the taxpayer, like me. If you could die by irony, she would be dead."