Michael Ritger

@ Fortuna Investors, independent advisor. Dad of 5, hobby homesteader.

[Amy Swearer @AmySwearer]

The Majority: "There's scant evidence that anyone ever disagreed with our interpretation of birthright citizenship."

Justice Thomas:

[Gary @plzbepatient]

“The heat pump is bidirectional. It can move heat from the inside to the outside, or from the outside to the inside. It’s your choice.”

“One of these is great and one is deeply evil. We should allow it only to work one way.”

[Theo Wold @RealTheoWold]

I don’t like saying this, but my best prediction is that the Supreme Court will rule in the next week that illegal aliens can give birth to American citizens. It will be the kind of opinion Chief Justice Roberts is infamous for-- an opinion that does what he thinks is fashionable and high-minded at the expense of the American people and our Constitution’s text. I wish it weren’t necessary, but if I’m right about what will happen, there is no more important matter to correct with a constitutional amendment than birthright citizenship, and the movement to do so should start yesterday.

[Lee (Greater) @shortmagsmle]

A lot of us EDC handguns. And while a gun is a good start, today’s shooting is a reminder that threats are multifaceted in public. In the event of a mass shooting, there will be female cops responding and you’ll need to get yourself and your family to safety before they arrive

[doomer @uncledoomer]

after seeing how women's instagram reels change when the algorithm gets a whiff theyre either pregnant or trying, i am now adamant that meta needs to be nationalized because it is clear that social media companies have the levers to fix declining fertility and are choosing not to

[Michael Ritger @michaelritger]

https://t.co/lp5Ql5Ytiv,,*"9f

[your dad @xmanplez]

@cwarzel You’re only allowed to say retard if you never stopped saying it, those are the rules

[Lee Kuan Yimby @LeeKuanYimby]

America must install skateboard pump tracks underneath all highways. Why is China building nice things like this and all we get is La Sombrita.

[Michael Ritger @michaelritger]

Unfollowing all accounts that post AI text while it's still easy to recognize

[RAH-66 COMANCHE @rah_66_comanche]

I met ONE Boomer on this site who had managed to dig his way out of this emotional debt, and what he had to say was fascinating: Huge swaths of their generation felt severe resentment against their fathers because they all came back as war heroes in the biggest baddest most epic war in history, and young Timmy Boomer felt he could never ever live up to that, which turned out to be true as they never got their own great war making them all heroes. So instead, they declared war on everything they could, at home. "Injustice", drugs, the environment even. They're a generation who grew up in the shadows of Achilles and Odysseus and Hector and Ajax, and given no outlet for that whatsoever, and it drove them insane.

[Michael Ritger @michaelritger]

Functionally dead religion

[Marko Jukic @mmjukic]

The real problem with organized religions today is the same problem as in any organization: they are too vulnerable to becoming ossified husks full of gerontocrats in expensive clothing who are trivially mogged and defeated by the few young moral and theological entrepreneurs.

[Michael Ritger @michaelritger]

Setting the clocks by democratic process is one of those things that makes you wish for a Napoleon.

[James Anderson White @jamesawhiite]

It’s imperative that we revert to STANDARD, not Daylight time, for two reasons, one of which you may have never considered.

You know the first: solar noon is closest to 12 o’clock all year. That means an equal number of hours before and after noon each day.

This also means earlier sunrises which are significantly better for establishing a healthy circadian rhythm.

The second reason is that nearly ONE THIRD of US counties are in the wrong timezone.

A significant swath of the country isn’t only an artificial hour ahead because of daylight time… but TWO HOURS ahead of true solar time.

Year-round daylight time, especially without recalibrating time zones, would establish this error permanently, affecting millions of Americans.

We should be letting the Sun dictate the day the way God made it. Arbitrary, artificial tampering would be worse for us all.

Fix the time zones and affix standard time.

[Lomez @L0m3z]

This is one of the most important books we've ever done. Derek Chauvin is innocent. Period. Any honest person looking at the evidence would conclude the same.

What happened to Chauvin is a national travesty. And it's long past due to correct this embarrassing episode.

[Kangmin Lee | 이강민 @kangminlee]

Survival instincts of a dodo bird

[Ethan Brooks @alt_w_v_g]

My wife mentioned a nice private school over dinner this week
She said the campus was beautiful
I asked what's the tuition
She said we should look at it as an investment in him not a cost
I made a note
She said don't make a note
I said I always make notes
She said this isn't a deal
I said everything is a deal
She closed her eyes

She said we'd discuss it Saturday
I agreed

Saturday 7:02am
She came downstairs in her Saturday robe
Coffee in hand
I had my cargo shorts on

The dining room had been cleared
The projector was on
The analyst was at the head of the table
Quarter zip on, three iced coffees, a legal pad, and two laptops
He had been there since 6:44am

I texted him at 11:14pm Friday
The text said dining room 6:45am bring the model
He sent a thumbs up

My wife stopped in the doorway
She said what is this
I said you said you wanted to discuss it
She said this is not a discussion
I did not respond
She sat down anyway

The analyst stood
He said good morning ma'am
She did not respond
He sat back down
A printed deck in front of each seat
A fourth copy in case

Slide 1 Tuition Schedule
$38,500 per year
Thirteen years
$500,500 nominal
Before escalators
The school has raised tuition 4.2% per year for a decade
With escalators $648,000
My wife said okay
I said I'm not done

Slide 2 Opportunity Cost
Even before escalators
$38,500 invested annually
10% nominal return
S&P long-run average since 1928
By his eighteenth birthday $944,000
My wife said we can afford it
I said I know that's not the slide

Slide 3 Terminal Value at Age 65
$83 million
She was quiet

The analyst slid the sensitivity tables across the table
8% return $31 million
10% return $83 million
12% return $222 million
She did not look

She said this isn't about money
I said it's always about money
She said no it isn't
I said then what is it about
She did not answer

She said you can't put a dollar value on his teachers his classmates his environment
I said I can the analyst already did slide 6
He flipped to slide 6
She did not look

She said the school is the best in the city
I said best is a feeling
She said it produces the best students
I said the students were already the best before they got there

She said our son deserves it
I said our son deserves $83 million

My son walked in
He is five
Dinosaur pajamas
He looked at the projector
He looked at the open deck on the table
He looked at slide 3
He said are we modeling pre-tax or after-tax
The analyst opened a new tab
My wife looked at the ceiling

He said what's the discount rate
The analyst set down his pen
She closed her eyes

He said is this the same return assumption from the 529 conversation
The analyst stopped typing
He looked at me
I did not say anything

She stood up
Sat back down

He said dad can I help
I said yes
He pulled up a chair
The analyst handed him a printout
He started reading

My wife watched him read
She watched him for a long time

She said his name
He looked up
She said do you like school
He said the work is too easy and the kids don't ask questions

She did not respond
She looked at the ceiling
She walked out of the room

The analyst started packing up
He said should I follow up Monday sir
I said no follow up needed

He'll be fine

Sent from my iPhone

[BROTHER LOBO 🐺⚔️ @ellobosalvaje]

The most energetic people I've met consistently live the simplest lives. Consistent sleep time, natural light, daily walks, time in nature, meaningful hobbies, real food, physical work, true friendship, time in silence. No complicated protocol. No stack of supplements. Just the basic requirements of the human organism met without substitution. Most people are running complex systems to compensate for ignoring simple ones. Get the basics right first.

[Marty Bent @MartyBent]

The average work day when AGI takes all of the cubicle jobs.

[Coddled Affluent Professional @feelsdesperate]

When it comes to billionaires my take is the opposite of Leftists:

Billionaires SHOULD consume all their wealth: megayachts, English castles, mountains of cocaine, own a dozen homes and 30 cars - do it! Spend it all!

The worst thing that can happen is for a billionaire to try to ‘do good in the world’ and shovel money to NGOs for some cause they get excited about. That’s the worst thing that can happen. Charitable donations should be taxed at 500%. A billionaire’s lavish lifestyle poses no threat to me but their misguided ‘good intent’ is absolutely cancerous and potentially civilization ending.