Michael Ritsema

Maniacally committed to family, friends, i3, running, biking, golfing, technology & leadership excellence.

[Stephen Moore @StephenMoore]

A new McLaughlin & Associates poll shows Americans prefer free market capitalism over big government socialism by 63% to 15%.

That’s nearly 4 to 1. 

Turns out “let people decide” still beats “let the government run it” by a wide margin.

[Human Progress @HumanProgress]

Since 2006, wages in the United States have grown 12% more than prices, adding roughly an hour of purchasing power to the average workday.

[Sebastian Gorka DrG @SebGorka]

Do you know what happened in the last 24 hours?

1. Late on Thursday night @FBI agents landed at New York Stewart International Airport with Mohammad al Saadi in handcuffs. Al Saadi, the leader of an Iran-backed Iraqi terror group is allegedly responsible for more than 20 attacks across Europe and Canada and for planning attacks in the U.S..

2. Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, who goes by “Chuqui," the highest ranking Tren de Aragua leader to be extradited to the U.S., also just landed in the U.S. in shackles. Flores allegedly oversaw TdA’s drug trafficking, extortion rackets, prostitution rings and murder operations.

Then, last night, in an operation that makes any fictional representation look amateurish, American operators, working with local Nigerian forces, killed Abu-Bilal-al-Minuki, the second in command for ISIS global operations, a man with the blood of countless innocents on his hands, including many Christians.

This is just one day in the Counterterrorism operations of President @realDonaldTrump.

We salute the intelligence professionals, Law Enforcement Officers, Diplomats, Military operators and support personnel who make these operations possible 24/7.
@WhiteHouse
@DeptofWar
@TheJusticeDept
@StateDept

[Joe Rogan Podcast News @joeroganhq]

Elon Musk: "Social Security, disability, Medicaid – acts like a giant magnet pulling people from all over the world. If you pay people at a standard of living above 90% of Earth, then 90% of Earth has a reason to come here."

[Kevin Carpenter @kejca]

Charlie Munger: "In your own life, what you want is a seamless web of deserved trust. If your proposed marriage contract has 47 pages, my suggestion is you not enter."

"The highest form that civilization can reach is a seamless web of deserved trust. Not much procedure, just totally reliable people correctly trusting one another."

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Beware the empathy exploit.

Empathy is good and right when thought through (deep), but can be deadly to civilization when simply stimulus-response (shallow).

For example, releasing a repeat violent offender may feel good at first (shallow empathy for the criminal), but it is wrong to do so when that person will go on to hurt or murder innocent victims, as there should be deep empathy for future victims.

[X Freeze @XFreeze]

Woke is a death cult that executes common sense and devours anyone who tells the truth

It spreads insanity like a plague and turns mental illness into the new standard

Worst of all, it has turned pure evil into a religion and demands we worship it

[Michael Ritsema @theritzman]

Well said: Worldwide abundance America's founding including freedom, individual & property rights, and separation of power.

[Dustin @r0ck3t23]

Elon Musk just defended America better than every politician in Washington combined.

Musk: “After World War 2, the US could have basically taken over the world and any country. Like we got nukes, nobody else got nukes. We don’t even have to lose soldiers. Which country do you want?”

One nation on earth held a weapon nobody else had.

Total dominance. Zero competition. No risk of retaliation.

Every empire in history that held that kind of advantage used it.

Rome. The Mongols. The British. The Ottomans.

They conquered until they collapsed.

America had a bigger advantage than all of them combined.

And it rebuilt the countries it just defeated.

Musk: “The United States actually helped rebuild countries. So it helped rebuild Europe, it helped rebuild Japan. This is very unusual behavior, almost unprecedented.”

Almost unprecedented?

It had never happened before. Not once in 5,000 years of recorded history.

The Marshall Plan wasn’t foreign aid.

It was the most radical act of restraint any superpower ever committed.

America turned its enemies into allies. Turned rubble into economies. Turned surrender into partnership.

Germany went from ashes to the economic engine of Europe in a generation.

Japan went from unconditional surrender to the third largest economy on earth.

Three years after the war, America was flying food into Berlin.

A city in the heart of the nation that just tried to destroy it.

That’s not policy.

That’s a civilization deciding what it is at the exact moment it has the power to be anything.

You’re being told a story right now.

That America is the villain of history.

You hear it everywhere. Media. Universities. Social platforms.

Musk: “There’s always like, well America’s done bad things. Well of course America’s done bad things, but one needs to look at the whole track record.”

Every nation on earth has dark chapters. Every single one.

The difference is what a country does when nobody can stop it.

And when nobody could stop America, it fed its enemies and rebuilt their cities.

Musk: “The history of China suggests that China is not acquisitive. Meaning they’re not going to go out and invade a whole bunch of countries.”

Probably right.

China has historically built walls, not fleets.

But the real question isn’t about borders anymore.

We’re approaching a moment that mirrors 1945 in ways nobody has fully processed yet.

AI is going to give a handful of people a power advantage that makes nuclear monopoly look quaint.

If someone is going to hold that kind of power, who do you want it to be?

The country that conquered when it could? Or the one that rebuilt when it didn’t have to?

Every alliance. Every trade route. Every economy.

Billions lifted out of poverty.

All of it traces back to one act of restraint that had never been done before.

And carries no guarantee of being repeated.

The most powerful thing America ever did wasn’t building the bomb.

It was what it didn’t do after.

[Human Progress @HumanProgress]

In 1826, a ream of 500 sheets of paper cost about $5. With average wages near five cents an hour, the time price was 100 hours.

Paper was precious.

Today, 500 higher-quality sheets sell for $7.99 at Staples. With average wages around $36.86 an hour, the time price is just 13 minutes.
https://t.co/xhty0hVcjR

[Michael Ritsema @theritzman]

@i3business

[5AMPodcast @5AMPodcast1]

The Gap That Most People Never Close

Watch full episode here: https://t.co/CnOaaHVp9E

@PodMatch_com @Michael5AMHost @theritzman

#knowyourself #selfawareness #selfimprovemen

[Michael Ritsema @theritzman]

Pretty good stuff here

[5AMPodcast @5AMPodcast1]

The Gap That Most People Never Close

Watch full episode here: https://t.co/CnOaaHVp9E

@PodMatch_com @Michael5AMHost @theritzman

#knowyourself #selfawareness #selfimprovemen

[Stephen Moore @StephenMoore]

Public K–12 spending just topped $1 TRILLION.

Average cost per public school student is now higher than typical private school tuition.

Meanwhile, students are falling behind and can't read or write proficiently.

[Basil the Great @BasilTheGreat]

🚨JAVIER MILEI HAS HALVED POVERTY IN ARGENTINA

His approval ratings have skyrocketed to 64%
Poverty fell from 30% to 17%
Extreme poverty fell from 11% to 5%

Capitalism wins again

The left are in meltdown

[Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh]

🚨 IT’S OFFICIAL: Argentina’s right-wing President Javier Milei has HALVED extreme poverty from 11% to 5%, and poverty from 30% to 17%

He destroyed leftist socialism and his country is surging.

LFG! Milei is great! 🇺🇸🇦🇷

[Mike Cox 2026 @Mike_Cox]

Tonight, @GovWhitmer will deliver her final State of the State.

But we don’t need to hear from her to know what the state of Michigan is. More Government. Worse Results.

She’s grown spending by $12,000 for a family of four, and what have you gotten for it?

We have the highest utility rates in the midwest, Michigan lost the most jobs in the country last month, and our 4th grade reading scores are 48th in the country.

At next year’s State of the State, I’ll be talking about how we fix this and Make Michigan Great Again!

[Jim Craig @JimCraigUSA]

Standing on that podium, we weren’t just celebrating a win - we were honoring everyone who helped us get there: coaches who pushed us, families and friends who supported us, and teammates who gave everything on and off the ice. 🇺🇸🥇🇺🇸🥇🇺🇸

[Kimberly Ross @SouthernKeeks]

I want my two little boys to see this picture on their cereal box.

[James Woods @RealJamesWoods]

America!

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

Success begins the moment you decide not to quit.

[Chuck Hellebuyck @ChuckHellebuyck]

Thank you for all the kind words. It’s been an amazing Olympics.

I’ll move on with a fun clip from history:
4th OT of Shamrock Tournament Final in Waterford, MI.
Right after this diving save his team scored the winning goal.
He’s been training for Gold for years.