Mike Nicolelo

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

I’ve just finished reading Gad Saad’s book Suicidal Empathy.

It ranks, along with Chris Rufo’s America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything and Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay’s Cynical Theories, as the best take-down of the lunacy at the heart of the wokeist philosophy.

For Saad, empathy—in itself a perfectly decent trait—has become so grossly exaggerated that it threatens truth, reality, and justice.

Cases in point abound: so they won’t feel bad about themselves, we’ll allow biological men to compete in women’s sports and crush the dreams of thousands of young women; so as not to undermine the self-esteem of minorities, we will permit unqualified candidates to have positions in universities and the corporate world; so that everyone might feel included, we will characterize the meritocracy as “white privilege,” etc.

As I was making my way through Saad’s book, I kept remarking the sharp distinction between empathy and love.

To empathize is to enter profoundly into the experience of another and to endeavor not to hurt that person’s feelings. But to love is, as Thomas Aquinas taught, “to will the good of the other.”

As I said, in itself and all things being equal, empathy is a good thing. But it is not the same as love, which, depending on circumstances, can very much involve hurting someone’s feelings.

When a professor gives a student a “C” as an honest reflection of his work, he might well be insulting him, but he’s also telling him the truth and perhaps even urging him to try harder.

When, in the Confessional, a priest tells a murderer to turn himself in to the police, he’s undoubtedly making that person’s life more uncomfortable, but he’s also willing the man’s good.

Any decent parent knows that showing real love for her children means engendering all kinds of bad feelings in them.

In light of this distinction, we can understand why Jesus didn’t say, “have empathy for one another,” but rather “love one another.” And why St. John the Evangelist didn’t say, “God is empathy,” but rather “God is love.”

It occurred to me as I was reading Saad’s book that one reason Wokeism has seized the consciousness of so many in the West is that Christianity has faded as a cultural force and Christians themselves have forgotten what stands at the heart of their faith.

[Mike Nicolelo @Mikenicolello]

@TheCinesthetic This is not true at all. The first shot of the movie is an alien space ship shooting a pod off. People are skinned (obviously by Pred) and the creature uses its vision like 15 min into the movie. It’s a survival horror movie with one big action set piece.

[LindyMan @PaulSkallas]

Most likely, true health and longevity involves periodic attempts at poisoning yourself at low dosages with lindy substances

[LindyMan @PaulSkallas]

Good thing birds don't realize how truly powerful they really are.

They could be wreaking havoc on human society if they wanted to. Swoop down, grab things, hurt people, and then fly away.

Hard to stop them. We'd have to orient our entire cities to stop bird attacks

[Nick Freitas @NickJFreitas]

I am told that as a state representative this is the moment where I'm supposed to express my heartfelt condolences and then stand in solidarity with those on the other side of the aisle as we condemn political violence and stand unified as one people.

But we aren't "one people" are we?

The truth is we haven't been for some time now, and there is really no point in pretending anymore, if there ever was.

We are two very different peoples. We may occupy the same piece of geography, but that is where the similarities seem to abruptly end.

I convinced myself for a long time that whenever the left called me a racist, a bigot, a sexist, a fascist, a "threat to democracy" for even the most innocent of disagreements, that it was simply hyperbolic rhetoric done for effect.

And now the "effect" is a widow and two orphaned children, because the left couldn’t bear the thought of a peaceful man debating them and winning.

I don’t think they realize it yet, but murdering Charlie is going to be remembered as the day where we finally woke up to what this fight really is.

It’s not a civil dispute among fellow countrymen. It’s a war between diametrically opposed worldviews which cannot peacefully coexist with one another. One side will win, and one side will lose.

Charlie tried to win that fight through argumentation, through discussion, through peaceful resolution of differences.

And the other side murdered him.

Not because he was “extreme” or “inciting violence” or any other hyperbolic slur they hurled at him. They murdered him because he was effective. Because he was unafraid. Because he inspired others and made them feel like they had a voice, that they were not alone. And he did it at the very institutions which have fomented so much hatred toward conservatives.

I don’t want to “stand in solidarity” with the other side of the aisle. I want to defeat you. I want to defeat the godless ideology that kills babies in the womb, sterilizes confused children, turns our cities into cesspools of degeneracy and lawlessness…and that murdered Charlie Kirk.

Social media is aflame right now with leftist celebration of Charlie’s death.

I wonder if any among them understand what has just happened. If there is a Yamamoto somewhere in their midst warning, that all they have done is awoken a sleeping giant.

I doubt it. I think they gave up such introspection and self-awareness long ago.

I don’t know exactly what will happen next. I just know that it won’t be the same as what has happened in the past.

There will be thoughts and prayers…Charlie would have wanted prayers. Not for himself but for those left behind and for the country that he loved.

But then there will be a reckoning.

My Christian faith requires me to love my enemies and pray for those who curse me. It does not require me to stand idly by in the midst of savagery and barbarism...quite the opposite.

So every time I feel tired, every time I feel discouraged or overwhelmed, I am going to watch the video of a good man being murdered in Utah…I will force myself to watch it…and then I will return to the work of destroying the evil ideology responsible for that and so much more.

Rest with God Charlie, your fight is over.

Ours is just beginning.

[Abier @abierkhatib]

Did I jump into a different universe 🤩

I’m clapping like a seal

[Jeremy Wayne Tate @JeremyTate41]

Paintings and drawings by J.R.R. Tolkien 🧵

1. Conversation with Smaug, 1937

[Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald]

Trump nominated 2 life-long Democrats to key Cabinet positions -- Tulsi as DNI and RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary -- and those are the two Senate Dems are most determined to destroy:

Tulsi because she questions the US Security State and RFK because he questions Big Pharma and Fauci:

[Chief Nerd @TheChiefNerd]

Absolute mic drop moment from @RobertKennedyJr

Listen to these two minutes 👇

[Chief Nerd @TheChiefNerd]

DAVE SMITH: “Bobby Kennedy, in a very unique way, inserted this obvious thing into the conversation. Just one man insisted, we're talking about this. And that has moved the needle in a pretty tangible way ... Our children are sick. How does that not come up all the time?”

Full Episode (#1161): @ComicDaveSmith

[Mike Nicolelo @Mikenicolello]

@PaulSkallas Also it kills the damn ticks! The moderate winters mean huge tick numbers in the summer. I’ll take an Ice cold winter for a tick free summer any-day.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr @RobertKennedyJr]

Thank you @realDonaldTrump for your leadership and courage. I'm committed to advancing your vision to Make America Healthy Again.

We have a generational opportunity to bring together the greatest minds in science, medicine, industry, and government to put an end to the chronic disease epidemic.

I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agencies from the smothering cloud of corporate capture so they can pursue their mission to make Americans once again the healthiest people on Earth.

Together we will clean up corruption, stop the revolving door between industry and government, and return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. I will provide Americans with transparency and access to all the data so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families.

My commitment to the American people is to be an honest public servant. Let’s go!

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr @RobertKennedyJr]

President Trump has asked me to do three things:
1. Clean up the corruption in our government health agencies.
2. Return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science.
3. Make America Healthy Again by ending the chronic disease epidemic.

[Curiosity @CuriosityonX]

The clearest picture that was ever taken of the surface of Venus...

[LindyMan @PaulSkallas]

A lot of people getting sick this summer.

not being reported on by the media much

You have to be on the ground to see it

Summer is a virus season now.

[The Culturist @the_culturist_]

Reminder that the world's largest mosaic was completed in 2020.

This is the "new Hagia Sophia" — unveiled just months after the original was converted into a mosque.

And it's the greatest church built for centuries... (thread) 🧵

[Fall of Civilizations @Fall_of_Civ_Pod]

Episode 18 is now available on video! Thanks to everyone for your patience on this one. It has been a real joy to make, and I'm very excited to share it with everyone. https://t.co/tonT7xGDMR

[Mike Nicolelo @Mikenicolello]

@terencekumar @vintagestuff4 It was actually just J, it didnt stand for anything, idk where he got Julius from.

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

Statue of Liberty towering over Paris just before it was disassembled and shipped to New York, 1884.

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

The Ancient Roman Empire employed a unique method in constructing their concrete, which possessed the remarkable ability to self-repair. Comprehensive research conducted by teams from MIT and Harvard has unveiled the ingenious approach adopted by Roman engineers.

Their investigations revealed that the Romans incorporated a calcium-rich mineral deposit known as "lime clast" into their concrete mixture. This distinct ingredient, absent in contemporary concrete structures, bestowed upon their creations the capacity to autonomously mend cracks.

To validate their hypothesis, they manufactured two concrete samples. The first was prepared by incorporating the ancient lime clast, as observed in historical constructions, while the second sample followed contemporary construction methods.

Intentionally, they induced cracks in both samples and subjected them to water exposure. After a span of two weeks, the concrete derived from the Roman mixture exhibited a remarkable self-healing ability, while the other sample remained persistently cracked.