Skender Alicka

[Department of State @StateDept]

SECRETARY RUBIO: "This is a weird rule, where you ask a question and I can't answer?"

[Skender Alicka @alicka_s]

@GK_DC_Greece @MGMNH_Poker @BrandonF65190 @michael_lisman @RobbieWillifor1 @_ChrisMcCall_ Great run, congrats

[Mike Matusow(code:Mouth) @themouthmatusow]

Like I said 2 years ago that nobody argued with me! The high roller scene is fake as fuck! End of story!

[Live! Poker Room Maryland @LivePokerRoom]

📢The Live! 200 Updates
💥833 entered, 85 advanced with Skender @alicka_s leading the way with 1.29mil.
💰$133,280 Prize pool w/ $24K Up Top!
🕰️Restart Sunday at 11:15AM.

[Live! Poker Room Maryland @LivePokerRoom]

🌸The Live! 200
204 entered A & B with 21 advancing to Sunday. Will you join them?
Flight C: 11:15AM
Flight D: 6:15PM
💰$100,000 Guaranteed!💰

[Walter Kirn @walterkirn]

I accidentally watched CNN for an hr last night & am here to assure you without reservations & in the strongest terms that its "news coverage" is a reality show meant to pacify, propagandize, & confuse. Nothing else, nothing but. And the hosts are the lowest form of crap actors.

[Wolf of X @WolfofX]

A dad will do almost anything for his little one..

[Gabriele Corno @Gabriele_Corno]

Running to the frozen lake. A wild Gray Wolf is trapped in the icy water!

[Epic Clip Vault @EpicClipVault]

Dad of the year.

[Live! Poker Room Maryland @LivePokerRoom]

🎉 30/30 Results Are In! We continue to close out '25 with a 💥, the largest 30/30 in @LivePokerRoom history!
👀 282 players
💰 $69,372 prizepool
After an epic day of play, a 3-way deal was struck between Mike, @alicka_s, & Dom, w/ Dom taking the title & lion’s share! #MAPOprep

[Skender Alicka @alicka_s]

Favorable weather to place wreaths for fellow vets

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🇨🇳 WINGS OF DECEPTION: CHINA’S AIR FORCE IS BUILT TO BLUFF, NOT BATTLE

China wants you to believe it owns the sky. And at first glance, why not? It’s got over 3,000 aircraft, stealth fighters that look like they were sketched by Marvel concept artists, and bombers so big they cast shadows over the Pacific.

If there’s a global leaderboard for “most intimidating PowerPoint presentations,” the People’s Liberation Army Air Force wins gold. But dig even one millimeter below the polished propaganda and what you’ll find is less Top Gun, more Top Prop.

Start with the J-20, the so-called “Mighty Dragon.” China’s stealth pride and joy is slick - until it isn’t. Its engines can’t sustain supersonic flight. It burns fuel like a frat house burns through cheap beer. And stealth? Only from the front. From the rear, it's as sneaky as a parade float. Oh, and it can’t carry bombs. Minor detail.

Their bombers? The H-6 is a retro Soviet knockoff from the 1950s. Yes, China updated it. And yes, it's still about as survivable as a paper kite in a hurricane. Its payload matches an F-15’s - except it’s slower and easier to spot.

And the pilots flying all this? Not one has seen combat. Not one. China hasn’t fought an air war since Queen was topping the charts and Iran was brand new.

You know who has flown combat missions? Pretty much every U.S. pilot in a squadron. And they don’t need to check with a political commissar before deciding whether to engage.

Meanwhile, China has all the support gear of a garage band trying to headline Coachella. A couple dozen refuelers. A handful of AWACS planes. A strategic airlift capacity that couldn't support a decent summer camp, let alone a cross-strait invasion. Want to seize Taiwan? Great. Just make sure your jets are back in time for lunch.

And let’s not ignore the rot inside. Corruption is so baked into China’s military-industrial complex, you could cut it into slices and serve it at a banquet. Defense ministers have been purged. Rocket fuel’s been swapped for water. (No, really.) And generals get promoted less for tactical brilliance and more for clapping loudest during Xi Jinping's speeches.

So what’s all this shiny junk actually for? Intimidation.

China built a war machine it doesn’t expect to use. It’s the geopolitical version of flexing in the mirror before a bar fight and hoping nobody calls your bluff. The J-20 looks scary from a distance. The bombers look big on satellite images. But if the shooting starts, that illusion burns up faster than their engines do.

So the next time Beijing rattles its sabers, ask this: is it brandishing a sword - or just waving a very shiny butter knife?

Source: Warfronts

[Kevin Dahlstrom @Camp4]

Today I turn 55.

I’m the fittest, sharpest, and happiest I’ve ever been.

If I’m an outlier, it’s not because I’m built different or discovered a secret formula. The truth is far less glamorous:

It’s a million tiny choices, compounded over decades.

Here are 55 of them:

1. Walk 15+ miles a week, even if you do other exercise. Humans are uniquely made to move slowly over long distances—it’s critical to longevity.

2. Develop a writing practice. It’s the single best way to sharpen your mind. And remember, you don’t have to be a good writer to write. Start with 10 minutes a day.

3. Swap out your toothpaste, deodorant, lotions, soap, shampoo, and other personal care products for natural versions. Here’s a rule of thumb: Don’t put anything on your skin that you couldn’t safely eat.

4. If you have a positive thought about someone, don’t keep it to yourself—share it immediately. Encouragement defies the laws of physics: When you give energy, you also receive it.

5. Wear shoes with a wide forefoot (I like Topo Athletic) and wear toe spreaders around the house (search “yoga toes” on Amazon). Spine health begins with the feet.

6. Get sunlight regularly. Moderate sun exposure (without sunscreen) is hugely important for overall health.

7. Do a 3-minute deep (“ass to grass”) squat every morning. Deep squats are often called the anti-aging exercise. It’s been said that, “It’s not that you can’t do deep squats because you’re old, it’s that you’re old because you can’t do deep squats.”

8. Explore minimalism (it’s not what you think it is).

9. Set boundaries on toxic relationships. We tend to cling to relationships past their expiration date, and it takes a bigger toll on our health than we recognize.

10. Eat real food. Not too much. Don’t eat garbage. Binge occasionally. Fast occasionally. That’s the diet.

11. Learn about FIRE. It’s a great framework for financial success.

12. Don’t take antibiotics except in emergency situations. They’re massively over-prescribed and aren’t needed in most cases. Antibiotics have done untold damage to our guts, which is where health begins. Great natural alternatives are out there.

13. Get 8 hours of quality sleep each night. To optimize sleep:
—Don’t eat after 6pm
—Get blackout shades and cover LEDs with black tape
—No screens 2 hours before bed
—Try ashwagandha (an herb) to calm the nervous system

14. Stop drinking, even in moderation. People find all sorts of ways to justify drinking, but there’s no escaping the simple fact that alcohol is a toxin and it limits your potential.

15. Travel as much as possible. Nothing expands the mind like seeing the world. And travel doesn’t have to be expensive—the best experiences happen outside of fancy resorts, when you live like a local.

16. Let go of resentment. When you forgive someone, you release the prisoner, and the prisoner isn’t them… it’s you.

17. Show up on time, every time. Poor time management limits success more than most people realize. If you struggle with punctuality, stop everything else and fix that first.

18. Spend lots of time in nature and touch the earth. Humans evolved over 300k years to live in harmony with nature, and only recently have we retreated indoors. If you don’t spend time outside, you’re fighting biology (hint: You won’t win.)

19. Stop doing dumb things. As Leo Tolstoy said, “People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing—refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.”

20. Find your happy place and (eventually) move there. Most people live where they live because... that's where they live. We are products of our environment—choose yours carefully.

21. Find a hobby and pursue mastery. You can’t have a happy life without a passionate pursuit that isn’t your vocation. Your work—even if you enjoy it—isn’t enough.

22. Avoid mainstream medicine except as a last resort. The results are in—our healthcare (or more appropriately, sick care) system is badly broken and only makes people sicker.

23. Have a mindset of abundance. There is no advantage to being a pessimist—even if you’re right, it’s a miserable way to live. In a very real way… whatever you believe, you’re right!

24. Do hard things. Choose courage over comfort. Everything you want is on the other side of fear and hard work. As Jerzy Gregorik said, “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”

25. Ignore haters. Hurt people hurt people. Negative/toxic people live in a prison of their own design. Don’t join them!

26. Say no. Protect your time and energy like it’s your most precious asset… because it is.

27. Become a water snob. As an alien said on Star Trek, humans are “ugly bags of mostly water.” You are what you drink—literally! We have Mountain Valley Spring water delivered in glass 5-gallon jugs and also have whole-house water filter (Aquasana Rhino).

28. Stop drinking sodas and sugary energy drinks. After a few weeks you won’t miss them, and a few months later they’ll seem disgusting. Refined sugar causes inflammation, which is the root of most disease.

29. If you’re over 35, find a good functional/longevity medicine doctor and start tracking your hormones. Modern life is hell on the endocrine system and restoring healthy hormone levels can change your life. As we get older, we either accept a slow decline in performance or we do something about it—choose the latter!

30. Develop a morning routine and follow it faithfully. Win the morning, win the day!

31. Invest in experiences, not things. People frequently regret buying things, but rarely regret investing in great experiences (especially when shared with loved ones). Remember, there’s nothing you can buy in a mall that you’ll remember in ten years.

32. Explore spirituality. It’s arrogant and small-minded to believe there’s nothing going on in our universe that is beyond our comprehension. We know less about our universe than an ant meandering on a sidewalk understands about this planet.

33. Have a strong bias toward action—doing rather than talking. If you ask a bunch of old people about their regrets, they’ll talk about the things they *didn't* do—the shots they didn’t take—more than the things they did do (even if it went wrong). As Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Most people don’t take enough shots.

34. Stay lean. Men in particular are obsessed with muscle mass these days, but bulk doesn’t age well. The goal is to be strong but lean. The fittest guys in their 50s and beyond aren’t meatheads, they’re lean guys who are serious about a sport.

35. Curate your inner circle carefully. Surround yourself with people you admire and who challenge you to grow. Remember, we’re the average of our 5 closest relationships.

36. Be the fittest version of yourself. Your body is your only vessel for experiencing life—so treat it as such. Fitness isn’t working out a few times a week, it’s a lifestyle. The older you get, the more time you need to devote to your health.

37. Take the time to appreciate art and beauty in all its forms.

38. Think globally, but act locally. Too many people put their energy into far-away problems they don’t understand and can’t impact, while ignoring problems right under their nose. Want to change the world? Start at home.

39. Try psychedelics. It’s one of those things everyone should do at least once, and it might be the breakthrough you’ve been looking for.

40. Limit bad habits, including unhealthy thought patterns. We all have them—practice avoidance and find substitutes. Get professional help if needed.

41. Be a lifelong learner. Your brain is just like a muscle—if you don’t feed and flex it regularly, it will atrophy.

42. Find your purpose. People with a strong sense of purpose are happier and live longer. Lack of purpose sucks energy and magnifies depression.

43. Only take advice from people who embody the traits you want to have. Talk is cheap—emulate those who have DONE it.

44. The goal is not to retire and do nothing, it’s to build a great day-to-day life that you don’t need to escape. A life of leisure is a slow death. Happiness isn’t possible without a little struggle, uncertainty, and skin in the game.

45. Have fun! Do frivolous and silly things that make you smile. As George Bernard Shaw famously said, “We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

46. Whatever you want to do or achieve in life, start NOW. Don’t fall victim to “someday thinking” because someday never comes.

47. Accumulate assets—things that grow in value over time. It’s the #1 habit of rich people, and it can be done in tiny chunks. Instead of spending $100 on an impulse purchase that has no lasting value, put that money into an index fund or Bitcoin. It becomes addictive (in a good way).

48. Don’t ignore the big 3 canaries in the coal mine for health:
—Low libido (and ED)
—Frequent sinus & respiratory issues
—Depression
These usually aren’t medical conditions in themselves, they’re symptoms of an underlying problem. Find a good doc (outside of the mainstream) and figure out the root cause.

49. Have a clear vision for your future. How can you decide which direction to go if you haven’t clearly defined the destination? It sounds obvious, but 95% of people haven’t defined their “Ideal End State” in detail and in writing. (Check out my thread on this topic.)

50. Make your own decisions. We live in an era where most of what society tells us is wrong. Don’t be afraid to break from societal norms—if people say you’re crazy, it’s a sign that you’re doing something right.

51. Get hardcore about mobility exercise. As you age, it’s usually the knees, hips, and lower back that limit physical performance. 30 min a couple times a week can spare you a lifetime of pain. YouTube is a great resource.

52. Go all in on family. Get married, stay married, have kids. Burn the boats. In the end, family is all that matters.

53. Be ruthless with your time. Money comes and goes. Time only goes. Audit your calendar ruthlessly—cut the trivial, double down on the meaningful, and spend your hours like your life depends on it. (Because it does.)

54. Have a strong bias toward action. Be curious, try things, meet people—it’s how you increase your surface area for serendipity, the most powerful unseen force in our lives.

55. Reinvent yourself every decade. Over time, we slowly drift off course from our priorities, values, and true identity. Take stock and don’t be afraid to hit the reset button. Bold, calculated moves made for the right reasons almost always pay off—usually even more than you can imagine.

🎁 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, would you give me a birthday gift? Repost or comment with the item number(s) you liked best?

[Skender Alicka @alicka_s]

@MagnusQGamez

[Caitlin Flanagan @CaitlinPacific]

Obama deported over 3 million people; Bush deported over 2 million. I don’t remember this happening.

It feels as though there’s a hunger not just for deportation but for a showdown.

[Skender Alicka @alicka_s]

@JonathanLittle Well written content

[Dan Go @CoachDanGo]

Food is medicine.

Workouts are your insurance policy.

Sleep is your perfomance enhancing drug.

[Jacob Orth @JacobsVegasLife]

Slot machines in downtown Vegas are on pace to be tighter than slots on the strip for the 6th year in a row.

[Skender Alicka @alicka_s]

@HakimuDavidson You’re killing it, back to back cashes