Vincent

live in the moment

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

I worked at Epic Games for two years. This is real, and the strategy behind it is smarter than most people realize.

Tim Sweeney has spent nearly two decades buying North Carolina forest land. 50,000+ acres across 15 counties. He’s now one of the largest private landowners in the state. The purchases started in 2008, right after the real estate collapse wiped out developers who had been planning golf resorts and luxury communities on biodiverse wilderness.

Sweeney paid $15 million for Box Creek Wilderness, a 7,000-acre stretch in the Blue Ridge foothills containing 130+ rare and threatened species. Developers had owned 5,000 of those acres before the crash. He bought them for conservation prices when nobody else was bidding.

He runs the acquisitions through an LLC called “130 of Chatham.” He buys the land, holds it for years, then either donates it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, sells it at a discount to state parks, or hands it to land trusts. In 2021, he donated 7,500 acres in the Roan Highlands to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. Largest private land donation in North Carolina history.

The part people miss: he told the News & Observer that since 2021, land got too expensive to keep buying. So he shifted focus to converting his existing 50,000 acres into permanent conservation status. He’s locking the land into legal structures that make development impossible regardless of who owns it in the future.

A billionaire worth roughly $6 billion is spending tens of millions acquiring wilderness specifically during economic downturns, then giving it away or placing it under permanent legal protection. The land will outlast him, Epic Games, and Fortnite.

That’s the part that separates Sweeney from billionaires who write checks to get their name on a building. The building depreciates. The forest compounds.

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like. https://t.co/uts7JpJZzN

[KG @kgallstar23]

. @Ken_Rosenthal running into the cameraman to avoid the Gatorade bath and then giving him the death glare and shaking his head in anger like it’s his fault is weird behavior

[The Instigator @Am_Blujay]

I want him in jail before 6pm today 🤧🤧

[Jesus Falcis 🇵🇭 @jesusfalcis]

HOW AND WHY SENATOR CHIZ WAS OUSTED AS SENATE PRESIDENT

Now it can be told.

Marcoleta and many DDS Senators were clueless about the ouster of Chiz Escudero.

They heard rumblings over the weekend but the minority led by Tito Sotto did not have the numbers yet.

Sotto only secured 13 or more votes today, around mid morning of September 8.

Note that Risa Hontiveros asked permission to leave from Marcoleta and left the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing around 9:30am.

She was called into an emergency caucus by the minority where it was revealed that they had secured the votes.

Sotto and the minority then told Chiz Escudero that they had the numbers to oust him.

In fairness to Chiz, he agreed to a smooth transition (that’s why wala na naging botohan during the ouster - no other candidate was nominated and no objection was raised).

While all of this was going on, Marcoleta was unaware. Todo sya mag tanong and mag chair ng Blue Ribbon NOT because he knew he would be replaced and ousted as well.

Todo lang sya mag tanong kasi bibo kid siya and clueless sa nangyayaring coup de tat sa labas ng Blue Ribbon hearing.

What were the factors that led to the ouster of Chiz? There are many factors but let me choose and spell out THREE MAJOR FACTORS.

1. Chiz’ connections to top flood control contractor Lawrence Lubiano tarnished the image of the Senate Presidency and the Senate.

The other Senators were finding it difficult to defend the reputation of the Senate if the leader himself was questionable.

Tapos may conflict of interest pa - how can you investigate a fellow Senator, much less a Senate President.

2. Aside from the legitimate issue of Chiz’ contractor connections, the other major sin he committed and continued committing was his insistence on not holding caucuses with the majority or Senators.

He said so himself way back when the Senate was convened as an impeachment court - he would prefer the debates out in the open.

But this was his demise.

Majority of Senators saw how not holding small caucuses between Senators would lead to the public seeing the clashing and confusing dynamics of Senators.

This was very evident when Joel Villanueva aka Boy Dila would make sulsol or bulong to Bato or Imee Marcos about what motion to raise or what to do.

If there were more frequent caucuse, pwede ma plantsa at mapag usapan lahat yan behind camera.

Another evidence of why no caucuses were bad?

Marcoleta as DDS Senator blindsided numerous Senators from what he was going to explode in today’s hearing - na may affidavit and revelations ang mga Discaya.

Something as big as that should be given FYI to other Senators - kahit hindi complete detail kahit sabihin lang oh sa Monday may pasabog mga Discaya.

This will empower other Senators to decide if they will attend the hearing or not and prepare in advance.

Pero wala, solo flight si Marcoleta at gusto nya sya lang bida.

The Senators who switched from Chiz to Sotto saw and compared how Sotto led the minority - they had consistent caucuses AT LEAST once a week.

This allowed the minority to be on the same page or disagree within themselves but iron out disagreements in a way where they can see where each other is coming from without all the emotions of spontaneously learning about it during a hearing.

This also allowed the minority to plan their moves as a group if they are all on the same page - tingnan nyo nung nag convene as impeachment court ang Senate, sobrang synchronized ng galaw and motions ng minority led by Sotto.

So ang layo - si Chiz may caucus lang once a year si Sotto may caucus once a week.

3. The third factor is not really about Chiz anymore but about Marcoleta.

Because the choice to make Marcoleta was mostly Chiz’ strategic calculus and trade off, how Marcoleta performed as Chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee factored in heavily in the decision to oust Chiz (so that they could also oust Marcoleta).

#Halalan2025
#SenateHearing
#FloodControlProjects

[Taylor Swift @taylorswift13]

You belong with me.
💚💛💜❤️🩵🖤

Letter on my site :)

[Around the Horn @AroundtheHorn]

All-Time Wins:

#AroundtheHorn 🔁📯🔇

[Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter]

Today is the final episode of @AroundtheHorn. It has aired more than 4,900 episodes over 23 years since its debut on Nov. 4, 2002. Heck of a run.

[Wolf of X @WolfofX]

Just humans being bros

1.

[NEXTA @nexta_tv]

One Eminem Song, 331 Movies: Viral “Lose Yourself” Mashup Stuns the Internet

The song “Lose Yourself” by Eminem has been recreated using only voice lines from 331 different movies, cartoons, and TV shows — every single word stitched together from famous characters' quotes.

Dozens flash across the screen, each delivering a part of the lyrics. The internet is loving it: “Best thing I’ve seen all year.”

What do you think — brilliant editing art or just not worth attention?

[nba paint @nba_paint]

Mikal Bridges with his game winning block.

[Chancellor Johnson @ChancellorTV]

My favorite thing on TikTok right now, is this girl who has been trying to learn how to dougie and has documented it everyday.

For the sake of time, I skipped around but peep the progress from day 1 to day 34 🤌🏾

[New York Mets @Mets]

Start your engines: Our 2025 schedule is here! 🎮🏎️

[The Culturist @the_culturist_]

You've seen this before: Mont-Saint-Michel — the Wonder of the Western World.

But did you know it has a twin, 200 miles away, also named after St. Michael?

That's where things get really strange... (thread) 🧵

[Sassington, M.C. @MissSassbox]

this is some of the best cinema I've seen all year and it's 37 seconds long

[Tampa Bay Tay @TayVictoria8]

All time #WheelOfFortune moment right here

[Daily Dose @ddofinternet]

121,000 people watching a YouTube livestream about Tornados.

Never seen numbers like this before on a weather livestream 😳

[Empire State Building Observation Deck @EmpireStateBldg]

Joel Embiid has been banned from the Empire State Building

[Merryweather Comics @Merryweatherey]

Dear Readers,

It has been almost 12 years now, since I started writing comics. First for the only publisher in Denmark willing to print a young teenagers manga, which promptly went bankrupt shortly before I could be published, and then to the internet, where site after site got shut down, until I landed on Twitter and WEBTOON.

Twitter, or now X as King Elon calls it, has always been a place for the comics I have written. You guys have shared and liked millions of times over the many years I have had this account. For that I am very grateful.

I have a lot of memories I am fond of, of running this Twitter account, getting to work with all these amazing artists from all around the world, and getting to see so many people reacting to our comics.

From the sudden rise to "fame" that came with Internet Explorer-chan, to getting dunked on and called corny due to the whole Stickbug-Chan debacle, and even that time where our studio insisted on putting out 5 comics in a row about goth girls dating chubby guys just to get a rise out of everyone.

With time, I remember everything fondly. At conventions I have often spoken about both my negative and positive experiences on this website, both with a great laugh, and with great fondness.

With time, everything I remember about this site and the people who read our comics here, will become happy memories.

I really love posting comics here, for you all to read and enjoy in your own ways, whether those ways be positive or negative. As long as you are enjoying them, I am happy!

Time passes, however. I am not the same person I was when this account started. I was once an annoying rookie who people cheered on, because I was one of you. Now, what was once my personal Twitter account where I posted comics for fun, has turned into one part of a larger studio publishing machine.

We now employ 12 artists from all over the world, from Asia to Scandinavia to North and South America. All of whom, put in their own passion and pride to their works.

I could not have wished for a better career than this. It is magical getting to do stories with so many talented artists, meeting them, experiencing their cultures.

I was once a kid failing at middle school, addicted to World of Warcraft, and now, I am a businessman who travels the world meeting my friends, and experiencing so much more than I could ever dream of.

And it is all thanks to you, dear readers.

Thank you for making my dream of being a comic writer come true.

Thank you for continuing to read my stories, even if they are often full of tropes, cliches, and corny humor.

From the bottom of my heart.

Thank you.

I will continue to do my best to write comics for you all. Truth be told, I want to write comics forever.

I feel like I am living in the golden years of my life. I wish I could stretch them out for an eternity, and live these days with you all, forever.

But that is impossible.

So instead, I will just continue to enjoy them with you, for as long as we can.

My greatest wish, when all of this is just a rose tinted memory, will very melodramatically be to have just one more day of it all.

Just one more day. Just one more day.

Sorry for being dramatic.

Love you all, Twitter. Good and bad.

I will write and produce more comics.
Please enjoy them!

With Love,
Your Corny Comic Writer,
Lucius Merryweather

💙

[El Señor De Los Memes @UltimoLegend]

🍿