Shane Bonnot

[Silence Dogood 🌲 @silencedoesgood]

Me looking at all the other millennials that didn’t make it through the tattoo trend unscathed.

[Interesting World @_fluxfeeds]

A mid-flight scratch, then an effortless roll to face the pursuing raven. Apex predator aura.

[Athenaeum Book Club @athenaeumbc]

"I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news."

— John Muir

[Echoes of War @EchoesofWarYT]

The richest man in America signed a document that could have gotten him hanged, and when someone sneered that he was safe because no one would know which Charles Carroll to come for, he picked up the pen and told the British exactly where to find him.

His name was Charles Carroll, and the colonies were crawling with men who shared it. His own father was Charles Carroll of Annapolis. So when the Declaration of Independence came to him for signing in 1776, a delegate made a cruel little joke. He said Carroll risked nothing by signing. There were so many Charles Carrolls that the King's men would never know which one to hang.

Carroll didn't argue. He leaned over the page and added three words to his signature: "of Carrollton." The name of his estate. His address. He was the only signer in the entire room who wrote down where he lived, and he did it on purpose, so that if the British wanted to come hang the traitor, they would know exactly which door to knock on.

That is who Charles Carroll of Carrollton was.

Here is what makes the moment even sharper. He was not a man with little to lose. He was the single wealthiest man in the thirteen colonies and the largest private landowner among them. While George Washington and John Hancock get talked about as rich men, it was Carroll who topped them all. When he signed, he was wagering the biggest personal fortune in America against a noose.

And he was the last man anyone would have expected to be there at all. Carroll was Catholic. In colonial Maryland, a colony founded as a Catholic refuge that had since turned on its own, Catholics could not vote. They could not hold public office. They could not worship in public. The most educated, wealthiest man in America was, in the eyes of the law, a second-class subject barred from the very government he was helping to create. He had spent seventeen years being educated by Jesuits in France and spoke five languages fluently, and back home he still could not legally cast a ballot.

So he became the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence, putting his name on a revolution that he hoped would build a country with room for men like him. That was its own enormous bet, made by a man the existing system had already shut out.

Then he simply outlived everyone.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same astonishing day, July 4, 1826, exactly fifty years after the Declaration. When they were gone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton was the last living signer left on earth. For six more years he was the final human link to that room in Philadelphia, the last hand that had signed, a living relic of the founding that ordinary Americans traveled to see and shake.

He finally died in November 1832 at the age of ninety-five, fifty-six years after he wrote his address on a treason document and dared the empire to come find him.

The richest man in America. The only Catholic. The last one standing. He had more to lose than any of them, every legal reason to stay quiet, and he signed his full address anyway.

We remember the names we were handed in school. We forget the man who made sure his couldn't be mistaken for anyone else's.

Which Founding Father do you think history shortchanged the most?

[Texas State Parks @TPWDparks]

Meet our newest addition: Silver Lake State Park. 🥳

Just two hours west of San Antonio, this incredible landscape will expand recreational opportunities for Texans and generations to come.

📲 Learn more about this acquisition: https://t.co/YCYmogJKBZ

[Chris Nelson 🏝️🇺🇸 @ReOpenChris]

🚨Governor DeSantis says some asshole judge in Washington DC ruled recreational anglers cannot fish for Red Snapper in federal waters.

The lawsuit was brought by commercial fishermen who want the fish ALL FOR THEMSELVES!

DeSantis says he will NOT enforce the ruling!

[Midas @DeFiMidas]

🚨BREAKING:

BLACKROCK CEO LARRY FINK SAYS TRILLIONS FOR AI DATA CENTERS AND POWER GRIDS WILL HAVE TO COME FROM AMERICANS’ SAVINGS AND PENSION FUNDS

SAYS “AMERICANS NEED TO THINK ABOUT GROWING WITH THE UNITED STATES”

[Alex Becker 🍊🏆🥇 @ZssBecker]

Okay. I'm ready to talk about this.

It was the worst month of my life. Also ironically the greatest blessing god has ever given me.

Last month I was held in the Cayman Islands facing 15 years in prison.

The charge: illegal firearm importation. Here's what happened. More importantly what I learned.

Short answer: no. I haven't been smuggling guns.

In the States I legally carry a gun on me at almost all times for self defense. Part of this is ensuring I am trained.

Hence why I routinely go to the range to shoot. When I do I pack the firearm I intend to use in in a backpack.

Last month I was in a giant rush to make a private flight and didn't fully check my backpack before leaving. In it was a small firearm I missed.

It was discovered when I went through immigration.

At first I assumed I'd just be sent home.

Then my wife did some quick research. She pointed out the minimum sentence for importing a gun is 15 years. The police who showed up confirmed it.

To say I nearly pissed my pants is an understatement.

This was completely my fault. I'm an idiot. The point of this post isn't to blame or complain about anything. The laws there are fair. I'm a grown man capable of checking his bag before flying.

The point is: for three weeks on the island (on bail), I got to take a long hard look at my life.

I've built a high net worth and a company I love, with people I love working with. I have a beautiful wife who is my best friend. I do whatever I want all day every day. My parents are alive and I get to see them almost every week.

Still, despite all this, I often wake up annoyed I haven't done enough with my life. Asking myself "is this it?" In fact I'm pissed half the time, feeling I can do better.

Which is ironic. I made $20,000 a year in the military. If you'd told me then I'd achieve a 9 figure net worth and all the above, I would've assumed I'd consider my life a dream.

The twist truly hit me on the island as I watched everything I worked hard for in my life held at "gunpoint". Pun intended. Everything I worked so hard to get — poof. Didn't matter for shit.

The way the law works there are simple : if you can't prove it was an accident, the minimum is 15 years.

It became glaringly obvious. Not only was I an absolute idiot who couldn't pack his own bag. I'd also become a fool who couldn't enjoy the blessings I already had.

I'd taken all the people in my life and the success totally for granted. Blind. Blind. Blind.

Nothing like a 20-year potential sentence to make you realize: waking up with fun stuff to work on, then chilling on the couch reading with your wife at the end of the day — that's about as good as it gets.

I should be euphoric 24/7.

To go from having it all, to potentially not even having the option to piss and shit when you want — that's a wake up call if there ever was one.

Luckily, the Caymans is a fair place. I was found under exceptional circumstances during my trial. AKA the judge and the courts reviewed the case and agreed it was an accident.

I still love the island. It's probably my favorite place to vacation. Just check your luggage before you go. Ha.

My point is this: be present. Enjoy your life. One day something could happen — even by complete accident — and yoink it all away.

I have so many friends who'll read this and by all definition live a "dream life" — and yet are dissatisfied just like I was. If anything this is the default for most successful men. Not the exception.

I'm writing this to help you stop.

It took god slapping me across the face with my own ignorance to see it. It was painful and scary. Dark.

But honestly, it was the greatest blessing I've ever received. I'm writing this from my office at home, giddy as absolute fuck about my life and everything I have the option to do today.

If anything, I'm sad about how much time I wasted feeling otherwise.

Don't be ignorant and stupid like me. You might not get the blessing of a 15-year prison threat in a foreign country to wake you up.

Wake up. Appreciate what you have now.

[J.P. Hovey @jhovey34]

Honestly was not expecting Eric Church to give one of the best commencement speeches of all time.

Chief CRUSHED this 🫡

[Bryan Johnson @bryan_johnson]

This is it.
Everything learned spending millions on longevity.

From: Your Immortal Unc and Auntie.
To: Our Immortal nieces and nephews.

0. Sleep is the world's most powerful drug.
1. Be in your bed for 8 hours
2. Same bedtime every night, any time before midnight
3. Don’t eat right before bed
4. Calm foods for dinner
5. No screens 1 hour before bed
6. Avoid added sugar (be aware it’s in everything)
7. Avoid all things in an American convenience store
8. Avoid fried foods
9. Shoes off at the door
10. Eat whole foods, particularly veggies fruits nuts legumes berries
11. Walk a little after meals or air squats
12. Get your heart rate high routinely
13. Lift heavy things
14. Stretch daily
15. Water pik, floss, brush, tongue scrape, morning and night
16. Make an effort to drink water
17. Get sunlight when you wake up (UV is low)
18. Protect skin in midday sun
19. Stand up straight
20. See at least one friend once a week
21. Avoid plastic where you can (in all things)
22. Circulate air in rooms
23. When stressed, breathe, learn to calm your body
24. Go to the dentist
25. Avoid sitting for long times
26. Protect your hearing, the world is too loud
27. Alcohol is bad for you
28. Finish coffee before noon
29. Avoid bright lights after sunset
30. If obese, look into a GLP
31. Sleep in a cold room
32. Texting while driving is dangerous
33. Turn off all notifications
34. Limit social media use
35. Don’t smoke anything
36. If you struggle to sleep, read a physical book before bed
37. 1 hour before bed have a calm wind down routine: bath, read, light walk, listen to music
38. The body is a clock and loves routine. Have a daily morning and evening schedule.
39. Avoid long distance travel where you can
40. Baby steps first: incorporate new things slowly
41. Do less… most things don’t work.

Bonus points if you get your blood checked.

Start here, it will change your life.

[Alan Couzens @Alan_Couzens]

Worth noting that top endurance athletes (e.g. Ironman competitors) training ~20 hours per week in their 70's will have the same VO2max as a typical 20-29 yo in their "peak performance" years.

Frailty is a choice.

[Shane Bonnot @shanebonnot]

@Magpul @CCA_Texas Appreciate the support!!!

[Shane Bonnot @shanebonnot]

@MarioNawfal Is that a redacted UFO?

[TPWD Fishing @TPWDfish]

Lake Conroe received over 100,000 Lone Star Bass today (April 30)! These fish will maximize the size potential of the Largemouth Bass population in Lake Conroe by instilling the genetics of bass that have proven to grow to 13+ lbs in Texas reservoirs.

[SPIN @SPIN]

Band of Horses unleashes a wave of emotion on 'The Funeral.'

(📹 via @bandofhorses, @letterman)

[TraderSZ @trader1sz]

Stop what you are doing and watch this

[South Dallas Foodie @SouthDallasFood]

Petsmart can handle this one of two ways let’s hope they don’t blow it

[Shane Bonnot @shanebonnot]

@Cernovich Thank you 🙏

[BeatinTheBookie.com®️ @BeatinTheBookie]

You think you’re going thru some shit? Watch Eric Dane give his final words to his kids and the reevaluate how much of a chance you got since you’re still on this planet. God bless