The Other McCain

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

In The Mailbox: 08.10.20

Posted on | August 11, 2020 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

OVER THE TRANSOM
Bacon Time: My Advice For The President
357 Magnum: Because Keeping Violent Offenders In Jail Is Unfair
EBL: Arkansas – A Review
Twitchy: Democrat Strategist, Obama Ad Maker Accuses Trump Of Staging Shooting, Tries To Delete Tweet – TOO LATE!
Louder With Crowder: David Hogg Defends Chicago Looters
Vox Popoli: No Backsies, also, Noone Wants To Go Down With Creepy Joe

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: A Short Break
American Conservative: Neocon Wolves In #NeverTrumper Sheep Clothes
American Greatness: Who Or What Exactly Is Running Against Trump? also, The Singularity Is Near
American Power: California To Empty Prisons, Dump Murderers On The Street
American Thinker: Sweden Was Right & We Were Wrong, also, Should Motorists Run Over Anarchists At Impromptu Roadblocks?
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Imprisoned Cuban Dissident Dies After 40-Day Hunger Strike, also, Cuban Slave Doctors In Venezuela Paid $4/Month
BattleSwarm: Did Anyone Have “Rabid Bat” On Their 2020 Bingo Card? also, BidenWatch For August 10
Cafe Hayek: You Did PAY For That!
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Da Tech Guy: Quick Bidenball Quips Under The Fedora, also, To Leftists Like Lori Lightfoot, They’re Not People They’re Automatons
Don Surber: Annie Gets Her Gun, Trump Gets Her Vote, also, Democrat Death Wish Explained
First Street Journal: Hold Them Accountable!
Fred On Everything: Armageddon With Pompeo
The Geller Report: Mass Looting & Mayhem Hits Chicago, also, Democrats House Homeless Sex Offenders In NYC Hotel One Block Away From School
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, And Now Chicago
Hollywood In Toto: Cut Throat City Is Spike Lee Without The Substance, also, Revenge Of The Drive-In Movie Theater
JustOneMinute: Away We Go!
The Lid: Antifa Goes To Fort Collins, Gets Their Butts Kicked
Legal Insurrection: Over 100 Arrested In Chicago During Night Of Looting & Rioting, also, Group Behind Occupy Wall Street Planning 50-Day “White House Siege” During Election Day
The PanAm Post: Maduro Lying About Coronavirus Numbers
Power Line: Barr Unbound, also, American Cities In Catastrophic Decline
Shark Tank: Laura Loomer Scores Two Huge Endorsements
Shot In The Dark: Under Bus Shoved
STUMP: Public Pension Watch – CA, IL Executive Resignations, Spiking v. California Rule, & More!
The Political Hat: 2+2 != 5
This Ain’t Hell: FSBO, Unique Fixer-Upper Opportunity, also, Two Former Green Berets Get 20 Years For Venezuelan Raid
Victory Girls: Can Congress Succeed In Lobotomizing The Civil War?
Volokh Conspiracy: The Mechanics Of President Trump’s Payroll Tax Deferral Memo
Weasel Zippers: New Information Alleges Multiple Felonies Committed By Ilhan Omar, also, Black-Owned Restaurants Trashed By Antifa During Portland Rioting
Mark Steyn: The “Blow Up Your School” Subgenre, also, Terrors & Triumphs

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Category: Linkagery

Probably Not Trump Voters: Looters Smash Stores in Downtown Chicago

Posted on | August 10, 2020 | 4 Comments

 

Democrats are all about social justice, and by “social justice,” I mean smashing windows and looting luxury stores:

Hundreds of people swept through the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown Chicago early Monday, smashing windows, looting stores, confronting police and at one point exchanging gunfire with officers, authorities said.
The officers had stopped several people on Lake Street near Michigan Avenue when shots were fired from a passing car around 4:30 a.m., nearly five hours into the widespread vandalism, according to police spokesman Tom Ahern. No officers were shot but a squad car was hit, he said. It was not known if anyone in the gunman’s car was shot.
Ahern said other officers were injured through the night. Earlier, an officer was seen slumped against a building by Grand and Wabash avenues as other other cops tended to him. It was unclear what had happened to him. Ahern had no details on the injuries.
The looting began shortly after midnight as people darted through broken store windows and doors along Michigan Avenue carrying shopping bags full of merchandise. Cars dropped off more people as the crowd grew. At least one U-Haul van was seen pulling up. . . .
The looting seemed to be centered in Streeterville and North Michigan Avenue, but some looting was reported on State Street in the Loop and on the Near North Side. By 4 a.m. police appeared to be getting things under control.
But some vandalism continued into the daylight hours, and the CTA suspended train and bus service into downtown during the morning rush, while the Illinois state police blocked off ramps from expressways. Bridges across the Chicago River were raised, except for the one on LaSalle Street for emergency vehicles. . . .
Crowds repeatedly tried to bash in the windows of the Omega watch store at Delaware Place and Michigan Avenue.
“The watch store,” one officer said. “They’re gonna get it eventually.”
A group of people went in and out through a broken window of the Louis Vuitton store along Walton Place across the street from the Drake Hotel. A squad car drove by and the group ran away.

Louis Vuitton, Omega — “social justice” is all about name-brand value. If you don’t understand why it was necessary to loot these stores, that’s probably because you’re a racist Republican:

Officers were responding to a call of a man with a firearm and when police arrived and saw someone matching the description, the suspect fled, leading to a chase. He allegedly turned around and fired shots at the police officers who returned fire and hit the suspect.
A rumor was spread that police hit a child, the Chicago Tribune reports, and a crowd gathered to face off against police. . . .
Tensions carried on throughout the night and spread across the city, resulting in widespread rioting and looting.

Got that? A suspect shoots at the police, the police shoot back, somebody starts a rumor that cops shot a child, so it’s time for looting!

John Hoge: “Chicago used to be an interesting place to visit and do business, but it is now a failing city in a failing state.”

Lots of Biden voters in Chicago, I guess.




 

Category: Chicago, Crime

Probably Not Trump Voters: 20 Shot When Gunfight Breaks Out at D.C. Party

Posted on | August 10, 2020 | 2 Comments

 

Dubois Place is a block-long street in an area of southeastern Washington, D.C., that is overwhelmingly black and, by “overwhelmingly black” I mean like Mogadishu, it’s so black. Despite the draconian COVID-19 policies imposed by the city’s mayor, some residents of the community decided to hold a massive block party Saturday night, which they advertised on social media, attracting hundreds of revelers. The risk of infection was exceeded by the risk of dying in a hail of bullets:

A 17-year-old was killed and an off-duty D.C. police officer suffered life-threatening injuries after authorities said at least 20 people were shot when a dispute broke out early Sunday at a cookout attended by hundreds of people in Southeast Washington.
D.C. police said at least three shooters opened fire from different locations about 12:30 a.m. on Dubois Place in the Greenway neighborhood, sending panicked partygoers racing for cover and others screaming for friends and relatives.
The dead teenager was identified as Christopher Brown.
“I really don’t understand how my child’s life is just gone,” said the victim’s mother, Artecka Brown, 33. She said she last spoke to her son two days ago when she hugged him and told him “I love you.”
The unidentified off-duty police officer, who apparently was at the party, was critically injured and was “fighting for her life,” D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said. Officials said the officer, who is 22 years old and has been on the force about one year, was struck in the neck.
Authorities said there was a dispute before shots were fired, and police said they think there were exchanges of gunfire. At least 11 of the victims were women. Police initially said 21 people had been shot but later determined one of the injured victims had not been struck by a bullet.
Videos posted on social media show revelers partying shoulder-to-shoulder near Dubois Place at 34th Street SE. After the shots, some victims fell while others scattered; the crime scene sprawled for blocks, with police marking 170 pieces of evidence. Police said nearly 100 bullets were fired.
The party and the tragedy that ensued revived questions about large gatherings that flout Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s order that prohibits groups larger than 50 people and requires those older than 2 to wear a mask when they leave home and are likely to come into contact with others. The mask requirement, one of the strictest in the nation, was toughened recently after cases began to spike.

Police are searching for the suspects, who were not wearing red MAGA hats. The mayor doesn’t allow public gatherings in her city, unless they’re rioters tearing down statues, or block partiers who start shooting each other after midnight. Like I said, it’s Mogadishu.

By the way, notice that the dead 17-year-old’s mother is only 33, which means she was 16 when her son, the oldest of her five children, was born. Artecka Brown is already a grandmother, since Christopher Brown became a father last year at age 16. But blame Trump for that, I guess.




 

Category: Crime

Rule 5 Sunday: Anna Kendrick

Posted on | August 10, 2020 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Happy birthday to actress Anna Kendrick, who is 34 today. Miss Kendrick rose to fame on the strength of her appearances in a couple of the Twilight movies and Pitch Perfect. Here she is where all the hot babes belong this time of year – in the pool.

ara ara…

Ninety Miles From Tyranny: Hot Pick of the Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1070, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns.

Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Election Odds Friday and the Saturday Gingermageddon.

EBL: Julie London, The Magic Flute, Les Contes d’Hoffman, Rilo Kiley, Simon Boccanegra, Madama Butterfly, Parsifal, Agrippina, Sturgis 2020, More Sturgis 2020, Don Giovanni, and Camel Tow.

A View From The Beach: Thirty Five Years of Ava Fabian, Virginia to Manage Menhaden as Fish Food, Fish Pic Friday – Sarah Melia, Thursday Tanlines, More Wednesday Wetness, Tuesday Tats, “Never See The Light” and Palm Sunday.

Proof Positive: Angelique Pettijohn

Bacon Time: Blowing In The Wind

Red Pilled Jew: Women  – Sand, Sun, & Surf

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious linkagery!

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Category: Rule 5

The Centurion, Some Collections, & A Fistful Of Manga

Posted on | August 9, 2020 | 1 Comment

— by Wombat-socho

Leonard Wibberley is best known for his hilarious Cold War comedy The Mouse That Roared, which was later made into a fine movie starring Peter Sellers, but today I want to talk about a more serious Wibberley novel, The Centurion. The novel is about the Roman centurion, Longinus, who appears at several points in the Gospel, most notably when he pleads with Jesus to save his dying servant, and again during the Passion when he bears witness to Christ’s divinity. Wibberley shows us the man behind the legend, a man with the thankless job of maintaining the peace in this troublesome province of the Roman Empire, filled with people who hate and fear the Romans only slightly less than they hate each other. Longinus has served Rome for decades, and when we meet him, he is a man without dreams or ambition, who just wants to do his job, but there’s this Jewish rabbi wandering around preaching and performing miracles…stirring up the people and making procurator Pontius Pilate worried. In addition to Longinus, we also meet Jesus and his disciples, the latter of which are a long way from being the saints and legends they’ll become. It is because Longinus seeks Jesus’ help that Pilate puts him in charge of the crucifixion detail, and ultimately, gives him charge of the detail watching the grave as well. It is not a cheerful novel; no account of the Passion could be, but it is nonetheless a novel full of hope, and one that will make you think. Recommended.

Give Me LibertyCon is an all-star anthology done as a benefit for the scholarship fund named for the late founder of LibertyCon, Tim Bolgeo. There’s a lot of Tuckerizing going on here, and I probably would have enjoyed the collection more if I knew who even half of these people were.

I’m not quite done with Noir Fatale, edited by Larry Correia and Kacey Ezell, because I can only read so much noir SF/fantasy at a time. If that’s your thing, you’ll really like Noir Fatale, and if not, you should look elsewhere. Maybe at SPOTREPS, a collection of near-future combat SF concerned with a low-intensity war between Red China and the U.S., with an expy for Antifa on the side of the Chinese and a motley crew of local police, sheriffs, and militia doing most of the fighting. Edited by Peter Nealen, SPOTREPS has stories by Larry Correia, Brad Torgerson, and my buddy Jonathan LaForce, who cleverly sneaks a romance into the middle of a militia forward observer team making the lives of the “assisting” Red Chinese miserable by reaching out and touching them with 155mm artillery. Recommended.

I’m still following Komi Can’t Communicate, whose eighth volume is due out next week, because it’s a really touching story about a girl who can’t talk to people except through her phone or by writing on her notepad. There is the usual assortment of weird high-school classmates to lighten things up, but the main plot is about her normal classmate Tadano helping Komi reach her goal of making 100 friends.

As you all know, I’m hopelessly addicted to the mobile game Fate/Grand Order. If mobile games aren’t your thing, and you don’t want to wade through the jungle of visual novels, anime, and whatnot that make up the Fate franchise, I recommend Fate/Grand Order – Mortalis: Stella, the first in a series of manga that explain how little old no-talent you and your confused kouhai got drafted to (literally) save the world.  Does a good job of pulling together some details that aren’t immediately clear in the game or are dealt with there in flashbacks. Recommended. On the other hand, Today’s Menu For The Emiya Family is a weird combination of manga and cookbook in which the many characters of Fate/Stay Night come by and help with dinner. If you like cookbooks with slice-of-life stories in between the recipes, this is the kind of manga you will like.

Next week, if all goes well, the final (maybe) novel in Tom Kratman’s Carreraverse and some other stuff.

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Category: Books

FMJRA 2.0: Who’s Gonna Drown In Your Blue Sea?

Posted on | August 8, 2020 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Who’s Gonna Drown In Your Blue Sea?

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Rule 5 Sunday: Summertime 2D Girls
Animal Magnetism
90 Miles From Tyranny
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

Implied Meanings
The Pirate’s Cove
Bacon Time
Dark Brightness
EBL

The Other Podcast Rides Again
EBL

The McCain Supremacy
EBL

Democrats vs. Suburbia: Biden Will Make ‘Magic Dirt Theory’ Federal Policy
357 Magnum
EBL

FMJRA 2.0: Gonna Teach You Tricks That’ll Blow Your Mongrel Mind
A View From The Beach
EBL

Targeted for Destruction
Pushing Rubber Downhill
Men Of The West
EBL

In The Mailbox: 08.03.20
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

Florida Man Strikes Again
Bacon Time
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 08.04.20
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

After Being Denied Tenure …
357 Magnum
EBL

Climate Scientist Explains …
Dark Brightness
EBL

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes
357 Magnum
BattleSwarm Blog
EBL

In The Mailbox: 08.06.20 (Afternoon Edition)
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

In The Mailbox: 08.06.20 (Evening Edition)
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

In The Mailbox: 08.07.20
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

Top linkers for the week ending August 7:

  1.  EBL (16)
  2.  357 Magnum (8)
  3.  A View From The Beach (7)
  4.  Proof Positive (6)

Thanks to everyone for all the linkagery!

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Category: FMJRA Award

The Other Podcast Rides Again!

Posted on | August 8, 2020 | Comments Off on The Other Podcast Rides Again!

We will discuss the weekly news with my good friends John Hoge and the Lovely Dianna™ at 7 p.m. ET on our new Podbeam account.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE!

If you miss the live show, the Podbeam archive is here.




 

Category: Talk Radio

A Musical Interlude

Posted on | August 8, 2020 | 2 Comments

So I’ve spent the past day researching, which involves viewing a lot of old YouTube videos. When I’m watching YouTube videos for my own amusement (rather than research), my preferences are fireworks, “storm chasing” and rare old Beatles sessions. Somehow, the algorithm for “suggested” videos popped up this interesting performance:

 

This fascinates me, because (a) how does someone so young discover an old Buddy Holly song? and (b) the arrangement is so simple. Besides her ukulele, the only instrumentation is a Takamine guitar and a Suzuki Omnichord, a 1980s-era electronic autoharp. New models sell for about $270, but the instrument is scarcely more sophisticated than many children’s toys you could buy for around $100 nowadays. The audio mix was done with Garageband software, and the video was recorded on her iPhone, edited with VideoLeap software. Even the microphone — a Shure 545S Series 2 Unidyne III — is rather cheap, less than $100 on Amazon.

My friend John Hoge worked as a recording engineer in Nashville back in the day, and can tell you what it would have cost to book studio time in the era of analog tape recording. Circa 1981, when I was chasing the rock-and-roll dream, the cheapest 8-track studio in Atlanta charged $25 an hour, at a time when minimum wage was $3.35 an hour. In other words, you’d have to work an 8-hour day at minimum wage to earn enough for one hour in the studio, and a full week’s wages wouldn’t pay for an eight-hour session. By the late 1980s, you could buy a 4-track cassette recorder for about $450 — about two-days’ pay[*], at minimum wage — but the audio quality was low (e.g., tape hiss) and it wasn’t until the late 1990s, by which time I’d outgrown my rock-and-roll dream, that home digital recording equipment became something affordable to the masses.

[* — see note below about this egregiously wrong estimate.]

Young people, in addition to their lack of knowledge of classic Buddy Holly tunes, generally have no idea how cheap technology has revolutionized so many things that we now take for granted.

Back in 1957, Buddy Holly had to travel to Clovis, New Mexico, to record in Norman Petty‘s studio, where “Everyday” was recorded as the B-side of “Peggy Sue.” You couldn’t just program a synthesizer (or use an Omnichord) for your backup track, either. You had to have an actual band to accompany you, or else pay studio musicians at union scale. Because the equipment needed for recording — what Marx would call “the means of production” — was so expensive, getting access to studio time usually required the support of a manager or a record company. Young musicians would generally spend years playing bar gigs and such before they could hope to get a shot at a recording contract. By the time the Beatles signed with EMI in 1962, they had been together five years, played every dance hall in northern England and done four stints as a house band in bars in Hamburg, Germany.

What the advent of cheap high-quality recording technology has done is to topple the barriers between musical talent and the audience. You don’t need a manager or an agent, you don’t need a record company, a studio, a producer, a contract — no lawyers, no paperwork, nothing — to be able to record a song, produce a video and upload it to YouTube where, potentially, you could become an instant superstar.

Allison Young has about 50,000 subscribers on YouTube, and her most popular video has gotten nearly 400,000 views:

 

Wow — “Till There Was You,” a song which was a hit for Anita Bryant in 1959, the year I was born! Think of all the old songs that might be remade for YouTube by young performers. If I could persuade Allison Young to sign a contract, I’d help her find those songs (because I know them all), but such is the nature of technology that Ms. Young probably doesn’t think my knowledge as a would-be A&R man could be helpful to her. This is something else about technology. Because everybody can look up anything on Wikipedia, young people have little respect for the possession of actual knowledge. So I reckon my career as a latter-day Colonel Parker will never happen. Sigh.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! One of the commenters points out a math error:

“$450 / $5.15 (min wage in 1997) is 87 hours of labor ( 2 weeks of pay).”

Thanks. I actually can do basic math, I just didn’t bother to do it, and so my estimate was disastrously wrong.




 

Category: Music
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