The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

LIVE AT FIVE: 05.30.13

Posted on | May 30, 2013 | 4 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
In Calling It Quits, Bachmann Calls Her Future “Limitless”

Rep. Bachmann speaks at a press conference on the second anniversary of Obamacare's passage

Rep. Bachmann speaks at a press conference on the second anniversary of Obamacare’s passage

Announcement stuns supporters and detractors

SSG Bales To Plead Guilty In Afghan Killings
Plea deal with military prosecutors to avoid death penalty

Syrian Loyalists Take Airbase Near Qusair
One of several setbacks deal to the rebel forces



POLITICS
Obama To Name Former Bush Official As FBI Director

Then-Deputy Attorney General Comey testifying in 2005

Then-Deputy Attorney General Comey testifying in 2005

James B. Comey served from 2003-2005

Letters Threatening Mayor Bloomberg Test Positive For Ricin

Audit Says 20,000 NJ Inmates Mistakenly Paid $24 Million In State And Federal Benefits

Obama Off Fundraising In Chicago While Scandals Burn

Midwestern Rivers Rising As Heavy Rains Continue

Former RINO Lincoln Chafee Finally Stops Lying To Voters, Changes To Democratic Party

Study Claims Immigrants Net Contributors To Medicare



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Drops Sharply On (Unexpected!) Increase In US Supply; Recovers In Asian Trade On Weak Dollar: NYMEX $93.20, Brent $102.72
Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Moves West With $5.6 Billion NV Energy Purchase
RealtyTrac: Foreclosure Sales Tumble In First Quarter
China’s Appetite For Pork Spurs $4.7 Billion Smithfield Buy
Sallie Mae To Split, Names New CEO
Philippine Economy Expands 7.8% In First Quarter
NASDAQ To Pay $10 Million In Settlement Of SEC Complaints Re Facebook IPO
Dish Boosts Clearwire Offer To Top Sprint Nextel Bid
Motorola Peels Away Mystery Over “Hero Phone”
Google Rolling Out Tabbed Inbox For Gmail
Facebook Introduces Verified Pages And Profiles
Microsoft Investing $1 Billion In Games For XBox One
Sandberg Says Mobile “Top Priority” At Facebook



SPORTS
Blackhawks Beat Red Wings In OT, Will Face Kings

Blackhawks mob Brent Seabrook after he scores the winning goal

Blackhawks mob Brent Seabrook after he scores the winning goal

Blackhawks rally from 3-1 series deficit, win Game 7 2-1

Astros Rally Late, Beat Rockies 6-3

NY Rangers Fire Coach Tortorella

Navarro Clubs Three Homers As Cubs Pound White Sox 9-3

Karl Malone Returns To The Jazz

Jays Blank Braves 3-0

Seven Stolen Vehicles Found In NASCAR Driver’s Garage

Bombs Away For Giambi As Tribe Snaps Slump, Beats Reds 5-2

Hicks Fields And Slugs, Leads Twins Over Brewers 4-1

A’s Hang On For Sixth Straight Win, Top Giants 9-6

Ryan Zimmerman’s Three Homers Not Enough As O’s Feast On Nats’ Pitchers’ Mistakes



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Courtney Stodden Takes It Off

Courtney Stodden. Obviously.

Courtney Stodden. Obviously.

Plus, tips on achieving a bikini body

Larry King Joins RT With New Politics Show

Courtney Love Tells Amanda Bynes To “Pull It Together”

Justin Bieber’s Ferrari Stopped For Speeding

“Put Some Clothes On, It’s A Family Show!”

Adam Levine Does The Backdown After Popping Off On “The Voice”

“Two And A Half Men” Adding New Series Regular – Charlie Harper’s Long Lost Daughter?


Glenn Close Is Head Cop In Marvel’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy”

“Kon-Tiki” Directing Team Lands “Pirates Of The Caribbean 5”

Neil Patrick Harris To Return As Emmy Host

Arnold Schwartzenegger Sells Bodybuilding Drama “Pump” To Showtime

Chris Christie Dishes On Romance – And Real Housewives



FOREIGNERS
Russia Sends Arms To Syria
Pakistani Taliban #2 Buried After Dying In Drone Strike
Al Qaeda Leaders Lash Out At Lazy Terrorist In Ten-Page Letter
Daredevil Makes Record-Breaking Base Jump Off Everest
Suspect In Paris Soldier Attack Arrested
Venezuela Furious Over Colombia’s Meeting With Opposition Leader
World’s Oldest Torah Scroll Found At World’s Oldest University
Argentinian Prosecutor Says Iran Infiltrating South America
VP Biden Visits Brazil
Syrian Rebel Chief Accuses Hezbollah Of Invading Syria



BLOGS & STUFF
Valley Of The Shadow: Post 1100
Michelle Malkin: Obamacare “Navigators” – Another Sebelius Snitch Brigade?
Bryan Preston: Great News! Eric Holder Realizes “Things Might Have Gotten A Little Bit Out Of Balance”
Twitchy: DNC Flack Says Journalists Forfeit Their Right To Gripe If They Refuse Off-The-Record Meeting With Holder
Allahpundit: Too Dumb To Check – Holder’s Huddle With Media On Press Freedoms Will Be…Off The Record
Weasel Zippers: AP Joins NYT In Refusing Off The Record Meeting With Holder
Gateway Pundit: Ed Henry Blasts Jay Carney At White House Presser
NRO Corner: Carney Dodges Questions About Holder
NewsBusters: MSNBC’s Ratings In Free Fall
Atlas Shrugs: Sharia In Action – “Working Women Should Be Sexually Molested”
Wall Street Journal: The Emperor Creates No Jobs
JustOneMinute: Just Say No To Special Prosecutors


Quite Possibly the Most Eloquent Sentence of My Entire Journalism Career

Posted on | May 29, 2013 | 39 Comments

Twenty-seven years is a long time, and maybe I’ve forgotten a few good ones, but it would be hard to say I’ve ever done much better than this:

“To say that liberal media coverage of Hunt
has been ‘favorable’ is to say that the
Sistine Chapel ceiling depicts a favorable image of God.”

And that’s really what it’s about, y’know? Who gives a crap about a commonplace criminal procedure in Indian River County, Florida?

But the media said everybody should care about it: The Today show actually portrayed an accused sex offender as a sympathetic victim!

What was the name of the producer who approved that, huh? I would like that person to explain the half-assed background research that led them to believe that Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt (Booking #2013-00000708) was a plausible civil-rights martyr.

Did the producer not bother to read the arrest affidavit? What part of “fingered a 14-year-old in a toilet stall” is so hard to understand?

Maybe you don’t think that should be a felony, but it sure as hell is not a “civil right,” and Kate Hunt is not — repeat, not — a victim.

Look: Gay people are quitting gay-rights groups rather than go along to support this embarrassingly creepy agenda.

What is it with people who, the minute they hear words like “rights” and “equality” and “progress,” just stop thinking altogether?

COMPARING AN ACCUSED SEX OFFENDER TO ROSA PARKS?

Have you people lost your cotton-picking minds? Even if you think that, does it not occur to you that maybe you shouldn’t write it?

If there were an annual competition for Most Stupid Thing Said on Social Medai, the “Free Kate” crowd would sweep the prizes this year.

Anyway, I could rant all night — stupid people make me angry — but here’s the walk-away from my American Spectator piece:

As more facts about the case have emerged — they’ve been compiled at a site called SupportHonest.net — Kaitlyn’s family have raged online about the “hate” that they attribute to opponents and critics. Kaitlyn’s father Steven R. Hunt Jr. (who was himself arrested on a fraud charge last year) posted a Facebook message invoking the “Word of God” and lamenting that his “poor daughter is suffering tremendously.” Meanwhile, Kaitlyn’s younger sister has been invoking other words on Twitter.
Now that the false narrative of the “Free Kate” movement has unraveled, of course, the national media that celebrated the accused teenage sex offender last week have rather mysteriously lost interest in a story that no longer fits their liberal agenda. It takes a pretty powerful bias, after all, for the networks to resist a story as appealing as Teen Lesbian Bikini Fight Video.

Read the rest. Maybe I’ll come back and update with more ranting.




 

PREVIOUSLY:

 


R.S. McCain’s Thesis, That Rock Died With Bonham, Is ‘Climate Change’ For Music

Posted on | May 29, 2013 | 29 Comments

by Smitty

Watch Rush working out to “Headlong Flight” off of their recent “Clockwork Angels”. This is one merits going full screen.:

VIDEO: Saint Kate of the Blessed Finger: ‘Beat Her F–king Ass! Get That Bitch!’

Posted on | May 29, 2013 | 39 Comments

Feb. 16 mug shot of accused sex offender Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt

A week ago, the phrase “accused sex offender Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt” wasn’t something I thought about. But until last Wednesday, I’d never heard of accused sex offender Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt.

For some reason — beats me! — her supporters want accused sex offender Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt to become nationally famous, and I was minding my own business on May 22 when somebody on Twitter posted a link to Matthew Philbin’s article at Newsbusters: “Left Defends Accused Sex Offender Because She’s Lesbian.” Wow.

That got my attention, and my editorial duties at ViralRead were set aside while I began digging down on this story, discovering a myth built on lies — The Story Too Good to Be True — crafted to portray accused sex offender Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt as a symbol of victimhood:

Supporters of the “Free Kate” movement say Hunt is a victim of homophobia who “made a mistake.” Her lawyer Julia Graves says Hunt is a “model citizen,” but video surfaced over the weekend that would appear to contradict that claim.
“Beat her f–king ass, Emily! Beat her ass! Get that bitch!” the girl reported to be Kaitlyn Hunt shouts in the video showing two girls fighting on the beach. . . .
The video, which Viral Read staff were able to convert to YouTube format, was first posted Saturday at a Tumblr site by a teenager who says he is a Sebastian High classmate. The anonymous teen said “that the way the media is portraying [Hunt] is far from reality. … she is not a good person and is not ‘innocent’. She … constantly starts high school drama, gets in school suspensions, and is overall not well liked at all.” As proof that the girl yelling on the video is actually Hunt, the anonymous poster referred to the arrest record which describes her as having three tattoos, including a bird on her right shoulder. The tattoo appears briefly in the video at the 14-second mark . . .

Click the image to read the whole thing and watch the video:

“Streisand Effect” — look it up.




 

PREVIOUSLY:

 

LIVE AT FIVE: 05.29.13

Posted on | May 29, 2013 | 4 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Syrian Loyalists Accused Of New Chemical Attacks

A rebel fighter, allegedly suffering from chem weapon effects, in an Aleppo hospital

A rebel fighter, allegedly suffering from chem weapon effects, in an Aleppo hospital

Le Monde photographer suffered effects of one attack

No Injuries In Dry-Ice Disneyland “Blast”
Dry ice in a plastic bottle in a trashcan leads to Toontown evacuation


Freight Train Derails Near Baltimore
Fire, explosions ensue; one hurt, several buildings damaged



POLITICS
Issa Subpoenas State Department’s Benghazi Documents

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Accuses State Department of withholding documents

LulzSec Hacker Pleads Guilty, Could Get 10 Years

Harvard E-Mail Snoop Dean To Resign

Supreme Court Declines To Hear Indiana Planned Parenthood Appeal

Massachusetts Auditor Finds More Than 1,000 Dead People Collecting Welfare

Weiner Seizes Spotlight At Education Forum

Paula Broadwell Apologizes For Petraeus Affair

Sen. Boxer Denounces Southern California Edison, Operator Of San Onofre Nuke Plant



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Breaks $95 On Equity Rise, Mideast Tension: NYMEX $95.01, Brent $104.23
Home Price Jump More Rebound Than Bubble
Liberty Reserve Indicted In Epic Money Laundering Scheme
Walmart Fined $81 Million For Dumping Hazardous Waste
Citibank Settles US Suit Over $3.5 Billion In Mortgage Securities
Corn Trades Near Three-Week High As Rains Extend Planting Delays
Treasuries Fall Before Auctions As Traders Consider End To QE
Asian Stocks Rise On US Economic Data
Apple CEO Sees More “Gamechangers”, Hints At Wearable Devices
PC Market Hasn’t Hit Rock Bottom Yet
Facebook Gives Way To Campaign Against Hate Speech
Google Faces EU Antitrust Probe Demand
Opera Launches Chromium-Based “Next” Browser For Windows, Macs
Chrome Experiments Bring Skee Ball, Slot-Car Racing To The Browser



SPORTS
LeBron Fouls Out As Pacers Beat The Heat In Game Four

David West takes a shot

David West takes a shot

Pacers even the series with 99-92 win

Kings Win Battle Of California, Head To Finals With 2-1 Victory Against Sharks

Does Rutgers Even Know How To Run An Athletic Department?

Nike Cuts Ties With Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Brand

Indy 500 Ratings Hit Record Low

Tony Stewart Has Had It With Ricky Stenhouse And Other NASCAR Rookies

Big Three Give WNBA One Big Day

Red-Hot Reds Crush Tribe 8-2

Bucs End Pitching Duel With Dinger, Beat Tigers 1-0 In 11

Nats’ Bats Wake Up For 9-3 Flogging Of Orioles



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Apparently Justin Bieber Is The Worst Neighbor Ever

Faked but allegedly accurate

Faked but allegedly accurate

Segway riding. Pot smoking. Getting chased down in his Ferrari by a Prius-driving football player. Is there no end to his iniquity?

NYPD: No, We Didn’t Grope Amanda Bynes

Katy Perry & John Mayer Reunite And Flirt At Her Memorial Day Party

Dan Harmon Exploring Possible Return To “Community”


Adam Levine Dating Nina Agdal After Behati Prinsloo Split

Some Rapper Busted For Doing 110 In A 55 Zone

“Behind The Candelabra” Debuts With 2.4 Million Viewers

Rob Lowe Cast As JFK In National Geographic’s “Kiling Kennedy”

“Man Of Steel” Star Henry Cavill Eyes Lead In W.B.’s “Man From U.N.C.L.E.”

LeAnn Rimes Depressed, Felt Pathetic After Eddie Cibrian Affair



FOREIGNERS
Canada, EU At Odds Over Arming Syrian Rebels
Muslims, Buddhists Clash In Burma’s Shan State
Baby Rescued From Sewage Pipe In PRC
Australian MP Confirms Chicoms Hacked New ASIO HQ
EDL Rally After Woolwich Murder Attracts Estimated 2000 Marchers
Pussy Riot Member On Hunger Strike Taken To Hospital
PRC Divides EU In Fight Over solar Panel Tariffs
Online Hunt Ends In Parents’ Apology For Teen’s Egyptian Vandalism
France, Germany Seek “New Deal” For European Youth
Honduran Street Gangs Call Truce



BLOGS & STUFF
Allahpundit: House Committee Investigating Whether Holder Perjured Himself On DOJ Leak Probes
Protein Wisdom: “Did Eric Holder Lie Under Oath?”
Power Line: Mr. Holder Regrets
Jennifer Rubin: Holder In Trouble – Why Can’t They Just Tell The Truth?
Stephen Kruiser: Walter Pincus Wants To Know Why The Press Is Whining About The First Amendment
Kerry Picket: Bob Dole Has Some Nerve
Weasel Zippers: Shocking – RINO Olympia Snowe Agrees With Bob Dole
NRO Corner: White House Asks Pentagon To Prepare Syrian No-Fly Zone
Breitbart: Vatican Says 100,000 Christians Die For Their Faith Every Year
Jammie Wearing Fools: Democrat Anti-Gun Nuts Facing Recall In Colorado
Lonely Conservative: Aw, Senate Republicans Feeling Jilted By Obama


Liberal Logic™ — #FreeKate Edition

Posted on | May 28, 2013 | 42 Comments

Donald Douglas catches CNN portraying accused Florida lesbian sex offender Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt as a victim who “made a mistake.”

“Oops! Was that your 14-year-old daughter’s vagina? So sorry . . .”

Meanwhile, the #FreeKate idiots are trying a new tactic to suppress the truth: Anyone who mentions the facts of the case is a pervert.

Question: What’s the age of consent in Michigan … in dog years?

UPDATE: It’s time to play Let’s Suppress the Truth!

Yeah, I’m also worried I might get sued for quoting Ted Kaczynski’s diaries and posting the mug shots of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev . . .

Steven R. Hunt Jr. is not just a liar, but also an idiot.

UPDATE II: Insanity becomes epidemic:

I’m sure the FBI will be right on this case, just as soon as they finish wiretapping the Associated Press and Fox News . . .

 


Our Own Corner Of The Library

Posted on | May 28, 2013 | 107 Comments

— by Wombat-socho


I’ve been a science fiction reader for most of my life, starting with a copy of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time I was given in second grade and continuing on through Robert Heinlein’s juvenile novels to Asimov, Silverberg and other grand masters. I’m old enough to remember when the artsy-fartsy “New Wave” introduced annoying literary styles and gratuitous sex to the genre, and the larger cultural change that made science fiction and fantasy acceptable – no longer something to be sneered at by critics or your classmates.
We’re now at a point where, as Thomas Disch remarked, “we’ve won the culture war”, and millions of people line up to pay perfectly good money to see a movie that reboots a TV series that was originally a ratings failure – but a cult classic.


What’s interesting to me is that with occasional exceptions, SF has largely been dominated by socialist or technocratic futures, mostly because it’s been written by authors who want to write about such futures either because they’re inclined that way (Isaac Asimov) or explicitly socialists (John Brunner, Charles Stross). One subgenre of SF, though – and one publishing house in particular that specializes in that genre – tends to be dominated by conservative and libertarian writers, much as country music tends to be dominated by singers and bands unafraid to express their patriotism and love of country. I’m referring, of course, to combat SF, from which Baen Books has made a fair amount of money. One might almost consider Baen the Fox News of SF publishing: they provide a place for fiction that’s not even remotely PC enough for the other publishers.


The question I want to throw out to the readers is this: is there something about military SF that attracts conservative and libertarian authors? Does writing what you know explain why a lot of Baen’s authors who write in this subgenre are veterans? Where do technothrillers fit into this? Why doesn’t Baen have a booth at CPAC? 😉


A Definition of Insanity

Posted on | May 28, 2013 | 49 Comments

Years ago, I visited a friend’s house and watched his wife take a poll: “What do you want for breakfast?” The survey sample was quite small: Their 3-year-old son, who wasted about 45 seconds of his mother’s time before deciding which flavor of sugary cereal he wanted.

Courtesy forbade me to tell my friend’s wife she was crazy.

Sane adults do not make themselves slaves to the whims of a child.

Children are ignorant. They don’t know what kind of cereal they want for breakfast. A child is not a fit judge of what to wear to school.

A child, if left unsupervised to pursue his pleasure, is likely to spend all his time watching cartoons or playing video games, and to eat nothing but junk food. Not only is this bad for the child’s health and intellectual development, but if he is permitted to acquire such habits, he also acquires the idea that it is his right to live exactly as his chooses, without any obligation to society to make himself useful or productive.

To indulge the child in the illusion of his own competence — to surrender authority to him — is to persuade him that you, the adult, have no superiority to him in terms of knowledge or experience.

Your home cannot be a democracy; children are naturally tyrants.

Let the child have Sudetenland and next he’ll invade Poland.

People who don’t know me or my wife or our children might assume from the tone of this lecture that we are overbearing monsters and that our children are timid and fearful. In fact the exact opposite is true: Our children are confident, competent and cheerful, and my wife and I as parents are benevolent rulers, because our parental sovereignty was never in doubt — at least not to us, although the children occasionally tested us, as children naturally will do.

Well, this lecture on Successful Reactionary Parenting Methods could go on forever, but let me direct your attention to the inspiration:

“I asked my three teenage daughters what they thought.”

Good Lord! Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world . . .

 

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