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Tony. J 🔴⚫️

@_aritony_nyc

a year ago

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Posted On: October 6th 2025, 11:23 pm

what a day!!!! yamaha banshee therapy session with my missing tooth 😂

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nick.pizzingrillo

a year ago

nick.pizzingrillo

💪💪

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In 2016, I took home a dog named Isis.

She was a pit bull being given away on the street by a guy who said he’d been breeding her at his grandmother’s house and needed to get rid of her now that she’d had puppies. I had no idea how to raise a dog. I was broke, pretty aimless, and living in a three-bedroom apartment with four roommates.

She was depressed because her puppies had been taken away too early, and she was terrified of other dogs, presumably because she’d been abused. On top of all that, she was named Isis, a sworn enemy of the United States.

Before adopting her, I’d never really had to take care of anyone but myself. I was in my 20s, single, and probably pretty selfish. She was the first living thing I’d ever been responsible for, and having her changed my life. We grew up together in a way, and we had a really great life.

For the last ten years, every time id arrive home, no matter how shitty a mood I was in, she’d lift her head and look at me with pure joy. It was such a simple thing, but it made me happier every single time. I’m going to miss that more than I can explain.

One of the best things about dogs is how much they seem to enjoy being alive. They get so much happiness out of the smallest things, and they share that happiness with you. And when you see that joy start to disappear, it’s heartbreaking. I guess that’s why those commercials are so sad.

In March of this year, Icey was diagnosed with a neuromuscular disorder that almost killed her. She spent a long time in the animal hospital, and when I brought her back for a follow-up appointment, some of the staff started crying when they saw how much better she was doing. They’d all worked so hard to save her, and it was incredibly moving to see how much they cared about her.

At one point, I asked her neurologist, “Medically speaking, I’d like you to be brutally honest, she is the best dog, right?”

“She really is the best dog”

yesterday we spent our last day together. I made her a steak and we went to the park. I honestly don’t want to her to go, but I know it’s her time.

She was the best dog

here’s a treat! 🍰

could say i’m the treat 💁🏼‍♀️

Mafin 😇

#martadelareina

Swap the skin color or the religion in any of these sentences and the career would be over by lunchtime. Say it about white people, Christians or the West, and you get a podcast, a seat in parliament or a Senate nomination.

You have to read these quotes through the lens of social justice, which Thomas Sowell called envy under a new name. When someone else is more successful, the easy explanation is that they must be privileged because they’re white. So the resentment grows, even toward the West that gave them more opportunity than almost anywhere else on earth.

Racism never went away. It just found a target nobody is allowed to defend.

🗽 I created Basic Optimism to bring common sense back to the West. If you want to support this work, the Buy Me a Coffee link is in bio. Thank you for reading.