The Other McCain

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

Career Advice for Young Men

Posted on | February 25, 2025 | Comments Off on Career Advice for Young Men

If you want to be great — not just good, mind you, but great, an all-time legend — my advice to any ambitious young man is this: Drop out of school at age 12 and go to work in a coal mine.

Such was the decisive career move of a young fellow named Johannes, one of nine children born to an immigrant family near Pittsburgh. One of the great things about being born poor — and immigrant coal miners in the late 1800s were certainly poor — is that, when you start at the bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up. For amusement, in between mining coal, young Johannes enjoyed playing baseball on local sandlots with his brothers, who were quite talented. Three of his brothers went on to play baseball professionally, but none of them were as great as Johannes. He was middling height, but stoutly built, with a barrel chest and massive hands. Despite being bowlegged, he was also astonishingly fast.

When Johannes was 21, his older brother Albert recruited him to play on a minor league team and, in his first season of pro ball, Johannes played for five different teams. He made his major league debut in 1897 at age 23, joining the Louisville Colonels in mid-season and hitting for a .338 average. During his time in the minors, Johannes had played every position in the infield and outfield, but by his second season in Louisville, he settled in at third base, where one new teammate later testified:

I’m sitting on the bench the first day I reported, and along about the third inning an opposing batter smacks a line drive down the third-base line that looked like at least a sure double. Well, this big Louisville third baseman jumped over after it like he was on steel springs, slapped it down with his bare hand, scrambled after it at least ten feet, and fired a bullet over to first base. The runner was out by two or three steps.
I’m sitting on the bench and my eyes are popping out. So I poked the guy sitting next to me, and asked him who the devil that big fellow was on third base.
“Why, that’s Wagner,” he says. “He’s the best third baseman in the league.”
And it also turned out that while Honus was the best third baseman in the league, he was also the best first baseman, the best second baseman, the best shortstop, and the best outfielder. That was in fielding. And since he led the league in batting eight times between 1900 and 1911, you know that he was the best hitter, too. As well as the best base runner.

Yes, Honus Wagner — the name “Honus” pronounced HAW-nus, being short for Johannes — was a baseball phenomenon, the most popular player of his era. He eventually settled in at shortstop and, to this day, is still recognized as the greatest shortstop ever to play the game.

After the 1899 season, the National League reduced its number of teams from 12 to eight, eliminating Louisville, and Honus Wagner became a Pittsburgh Pirate. Any fan attending a Pirates home game will pass by the statue of Wagner outside the stadium. Among other distinctions, Honus Wagner was the first player to lend his name to a signature bat, and he played in the very first World Series in 1903. He continued playing into his 40s, becoming the second player to record more than 3,000 hits, and at age 41 in 1915 became the oldest player ever to hit a grand slam home run, a record which stood for 70 years until Tony Pérez did it at age 43.

When the Baseball Hall of Fame began in 1936, Honus Wagner was one of five players — along with Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson — inducted as inaugural members. Babe Ruth called Wagner “immortal” and said he “was perhaps the greatest right-handed hitter of all time” (Ruth and Cobb both batted left-handed).

See that baseball card? If you should happen to be digging through great-grandpa’s memorabilia and find one like that, don’t throw it away — it’s a rarity worth millions of dollars. When one of those 1909 Honus Wagner cards sold at auction for $6.6 million in 2021, it was the most expensive item of sports memorabilia ever sold (although exceeded a year later by a 1952 Mickey Mantle card that went for $12.6 million).

What’s weird is that I woke up this morning after having had a dream about Honus Wagner — or rather, a dream in which somebody cited Wagner as a rival to Ty Cobb as the greatest hitter of all time. When I woke up, I grabbed my phone and checked the Wikipedia page: Johannes Peter “Honus” Wagner, born February 24, 1874.

Monday was his birthday, and I missed it! Hopefully, this belated tribute will compensate for my oversight, and I commend the example of Honus Wagner to any young fellow who hopes to achieve something in life. However far down you may start your climb to greatness, you’re not starting any lower than Honus did. Now, off to the coal mine, boy.



 

Shop Electronics at Amazon

Save on Groceries and Everyday Essentials

Shop Amazon Basics

Office & School Supplies

Rule 5 Sunday: Demure, Relaxed, & In Her Lane

Posted on | February 24, 2025 | Comments Off on Rule 5 Sunday: Demure, Relaxed, & In Her Lane

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Another fine filly courtesy of Rule 5 Texan.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Rule 5 CPAC Friday, and the Saturday Gingermageddon.

EBL: Saturday Night Girls With Guns, Nanci Griffith, Malcolm X, Make CPAC Fun Again, Nixon In China, MAGA FBI Director Kash Patel, Sanna Marin On European Defense Spending, The Barber of Seville, John Basilone RIP, Steam Skies|Airships Above Retro Future, Tony Orlando & Dawn, The Best & Worst of 2024, The White Lotus Season 3, Margaret Brennan, The Substance, and Hookup Culture & Depression

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH: Madison PettisVA to Lift Blue Catfish LimitsFish Pic Friday – Tay TayTattoo ThursdayGet Along Little DogiesThe Wednesday WetnessState Green Nude Eel Raising Electrical PricesTuesday TanlinesThe Monday Morning StimulusRandom Celebrity NewsAlmost a Month In, and Palm Sunday

BACON TIME: Rule 5 – The Weather Outside Is Frightful

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

Amazon Warehouse Deals
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software w/Bonus Refund Offer
Deals on Premium Beauty Products
Visit Amazon’s Intimate Apparel Shop
Shop Sex & Sensuality Gifts


 

FMJRA 2.0: Aspiring to Mediocrity

Posted on | February 23, 2025 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Aspiring to Mediocrity

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Took two out of three from Atlanta on Tuesday and then lost two out of three to Pete’s Brewers. Spaceman Lee got two of the wins and Charlie Hough got the other in relief against the Bravos. Picked up several good hitters in the draft, but they ain’t hitting, and meanwhile the bullpen keeps lighting itself on fire.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

The ‘Red Pill’ Remains Undefeated
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum




FMJRA 2.0: Scalped
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Radical Vegan Transgender Death Cult Gets Mainstream Media Coverage UPDATE: Finally, the KiwiFarms Thread
The Pirate’s Cove
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Rule 5 Sunday: Casual
Animal Magnetism
A View From The Beach
EBL

‘Remembrance’ for a Criminal
The Daley Gator
EBL
357 Magnum

BREAKING: Cult Leader Jack ‘Ziz’ LaSota and Michelle Zajko Arrested in Maryland UPDATE: Third Suspect Also Captured
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

MUGSHOTS: Jack ‘Ziz’ LaSota, Michelle ‘Jamie’ Zajko, Daniel ‘Hastur’ Blank
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 02.17.25
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Bail Hearing Today for Cult Suspects UPDATE: Judge Orders All Three ‘Extremists’ Held Without Bond
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

The Future of Gaza is Neu Schwabenland
EBL
357 Magnum

‘Ziz’ Misgendered and Other Highlights of Tuesday’s Court Hearing for Cult Suspects
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 02.19.25 (Morning Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

CPAC: Today Is Vice President Day
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

CPAC: Too Early to Think About 2026?
The Daley Gator
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

CPAC: New Heights of Awesomeness
A View From The Beach
EBL

CPAC Scenes
EBL
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach

In The Mailbox: 2.21.25 (Morning Edition)
EBL
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach

In The Mailbox: 02.21.25 (Evening Edition)
EBL
357 Magnum

Top linkers for the week ending February 22:

  1.  EBL (18)
  2.  357 Magnum (16)
  3.  A View From The Beach (15)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

Amazon Warehouse Deals
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software w/Bonus Refund Offer
Today’s Deals


 

Joy Reid Is Out at MSNBC

Posted on | February 23, 2025 | Comments Off on Joy Reid Is Out at MSNBC

In December, I wrote about how Trump’s victory had humiliated his media enemies. It was predictable that there would be consequences, and now the consequences come home for one of Trump’s angriest critics:

MSNBC liberal mainstay Joy Reid’s show has been canceled as part of a major overhaul by the network’s new president Rebecca Kutler, according to a report.
The 7 p.m. program hosted by Trump critic Reid, 56, will be replaced by a new panel show featuring co-hosts Alicia Menendez, Michael Steele, and Symone Sanders Townsend, the New York Times reported, citing insiders.
The final episode of Reid’s show, “The ReidOut,” will air sometime this week, ending a mainstay of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years, according to the Times.
It marks the first large-scale shake-up by MSNBC’s new president, Kutler, since she took over the liberal network earlier this month.
Reid, one of the most prominent Trump-bashers in the mainstream media, has been a long-serving anchor at the network, hosting the weekend talk show “AM Joy” since 2016 before being named anchor of the 7 p.m. slot in 2020.
She has made a series of infamous rants in recent months, including telling Trump supporters to “make your own dinner” at Thanksgiving, saying they should “suffer the consequences of your votes.” . . .
In December, Nielsen Media Research revealed that Reid had lost almost half her viewers since the election of Donald Trump, with MSNBC seeing a whopping 53% drop in primetime viewership following the Nov. 5 result.

That’s what I call Making America Great Again.



 

Shop Electronics at Amazon

Save on Groceries and Everyday Essentials

Shop Amazon Basics

Office & School Supplies

In The Mailbox: 02.21.25 (Evening Edition)

Posted on | February 22, 2025 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 02.21.25 (Evening Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

SOTD
Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
The Boss has ordained a shoutout to No Pasaran, which has been on Blogspot for 25 years.
Worth putting in the rotation? Early Warning Roundtable For 2/21/25
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

Payback is a stone-cold bitch.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: New Jersey Concealed Carry Permits Hit Record High in January
EBL: Sanna Marin on European Defense Spending, MAGA FBI Director Kash Patel, Make CPAC Fun Again, Backstabbing Zelensky, and Restroom Keys and Yosemite National Park
Twitchy: Hosts Of The View Told To Dial Back Offputting Anti-Trump Ravings, DataRepublican Sets Her Sights On David Hogg & His PAC And OH THE BRUTALITY, and Israel Releases Horrifying Results Of Bibas Childrens’ Autopsies
Louder With Crowder: Trump’s transportation chair is INVESTIGATING California waste, but how he shut down protestors is where he shined
Vox Popoli: Germany Issues a Warning, ASOIAF vs AODAL, Reading Isn’t Stealing, Kash Patel Confirmed, and The Next James Bond
According To Hoyt: Grab Your Mallet, Writers (and others) Standing For Liberty Promo Post, and Battle Fatigue
Monster Hunter Nation: Educating the Stupid on How Audits Work In Real Life
Flappr: Hooters – Fallen Empire
Toni Airaksinen: Professor Fired For Antisemitism Gets New Job At The American Anthropological Association
Upstream Reviews: Time-Marked Warlock
Jim McCoy: Any Given Doomsday

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Twilight of the Fourth Estate
American Greatness: Netanyahu Enraged After Israeli Hostage Coffins Are Paraded in Gaza Strip and Put on Macabre Display, Trump Slams Zelenskyy as ‘Modestly Successful Comedian’ Who Played Biden ‘Like a Fiddle’, IDF: Hamas Terrorists Murdered Bibas Children ‘With Their Bare Hands;’ Failed to Return Body of Mother, Trump Threatens to Yank Federal Funding From Maine After Governor Defies His Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports, and Is the DOE DOA?
American Thinker: Trillions in Graft, Kash Patel Is Poised to Lead the FBI Into a New Era, President Trump Is Wrong on Gaza, Canada at the Crossroads, and Never Again?
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Fort Knox Gold News, Animal’s Hump Day News, Animal’s Red Thursday News, and Rule Five CPAC Friday
Baldilocks: The U.S. Military Discriminates & Anyone Who Cares About Our Country Should Be Glad It Does
BattleSwarm: Paxton Argues For Free Speech Against Texas Agency, First 10 Days Of Trump = Sharp Decline In Illegal Alien Crossings, “The British Army Is Now Too Small To Effectively Perform Its Tasks.”, and LinkSwarm For February 21
Behind The Black: SpaceX launches more Starlink satellites, Airbus writes off $314 million for unnamed space program losses, New observations reduce odds of asteroid 2024 YR4’s 2032 Earth impact to practically zero, Musk says ISS should be de-orbited quickly! And he may be right, and Justice Department drops absurd Biden-era discrimination lawsuit against SpaceX
Cafe Hayek: The Spectacular Economic Ignorance of Peter Navarro, also, Gramm and Boudreaux on Trade Deficits
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Chicago Boyz: In At the Beginning, also, Trevor Noah and Brown v. Board
Da Tech Guy: Barbarians being Barbarians: Bibas family edition
Don Surber: Shut up, Mike, I just want my money back
First Street Journal: Bad causes attract bad people, also, Will any of the pro-#Hamas demonstrators rethink their positions following the brutal murders of Kfir and Ariel Bibas?
Gates Of Vienna: Open Season on First Responders in Rosengård, Don’t Use the Munich Attack to Stir up Hatred and Xenophobia, “No One Can Guarantee the Safety of Our Citizens”, Islamic School For Scandal, and The Streets Are Full of Targets!
The Geller Report: The Massive Large Scale Terror Attack in Israel That Would Have Dwarfed Oct.7 On Day Murdered Bibas Babies Returned, also, Bibas Babies Identified, They Were Brutally Murdered by Islamic Terrorists, The Mother’s Body Does Not Match, It’s The Body of An “Anonymous Woman”
Hollywood In Toto: Unbreakable Boy Puts an Imperfect Family First, Captain America: Brave New World to Sink in Week 2? UPDATE, Millers in Marriage Stalls Just When It’s Ready to Soar, The Chosen Teams with Amazon for Season 5, Last Supper, and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong Dons Palestinian Flag in Malaysia
The Lid: Wokesters Blame MAGA for Lesbian Fire Captain’s Death, Facts Prove Otherwise
Legal Insurrection: Iowa Public Universities Return to Two Sexes: ‘Basic Biological Reality’, Brown Medical School Uses DEI to Determine Faculty Promotions, SCOTUS Punts On Whether District Court Can Prevent Trump From Firing Official, Schadenfreude: SSA Fraud Expert Benched for Helping DOGE, But Then Appointed Acting Commissioner, and Is It Time to Rethink the Culling of Poultry in Response to Bird Flu?
Nebraska Energy Observer: I couldn’t, Europe’s New Reality, Scattershot Friday, and What is the biggest fault in America?
Outkick: New Robo Ump System Could End Baseball TV Broadcast Strike Zones, Roki Sasaki Announces Surprise Marriage In Instagram Post, 4 Nations Championship Ratings Were Gargantuan, ESPN and MLB Both Losers In Upcoming Divorce, and Paige Spiranac Offers To Help Save Hooters As It Faces Bankruptcy
Power Line: The missing corpse, MSNBC Settles Defamation Case, Garcia Doubles Down, and Thoughts from the ammo line
Shark Tank: Reps Jacques & Tramont Seek To Safeguard State Election Systems
Shot In The Dark: Stragegy, Auditioning For “The View”, The Buck Stops Ne’er, Handicapping, The Right Victims, and The Problem Is Families
STUMP: NYC Congestion Pricing, We Hardly Knew Ye
The Political Hat: For Whose Good: The Common vs. The Collective, Election Shenanigans In New York, Quick Takes – Academic Discrimination & The Law: Discrimination Not Prohibited On A Technicality; Anti-DEI Claimed To Be Unconstitutional; Anti-Semitism, and Firing Line Friday: The Ozone Controversy
This Ain’t Hell: Canada, Greenland and the Gulf of America, Canada, Greenland and the Gulf of America, Valor Friday, Pete Hegseth set to fire generals and senior officers, and VA Chaplain penalized for preaching Romans
Transterrestrial Musings: Gaza, Pigs Get Fed, Hogs Get Slaughtered, Britain, Clearing The Regulatory Underbrush, and Thoughts On Doge
Victory Girls: Jasmine Crockett Doesn’t Know What $5k Will Do For You, Amanda Marcotte Wants Cat Ladies To Stay Strong, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Proves The Left Can’t Troll
Watts Up With That: £62 Million From Taxpayers For Wooden Bottles, Coalition to Burgum: “Stop offshore wind!”, A$18,000 Climate Doomsday Clock Unveiled in Melbourne, and Are Climate Scientists Lying About Their Work to Secure US Research Grants?
The Federalist: Education Department Launches Investigation Into Maine After Trump Slams Governor Over Boys In Girls’ Sports, WI Supreme Court Candidate’s Rich Leftist Friends Expect Much For Their Generosity, Here’s How The Media Are Lying Right Now: ‘Rewriting’ Ukraine War History Edition, Your ‘Farm Fresh’ Produce Might Be Fertilized With Forever Chemicals And Human Waste, and Will Someone Please Explain The Birds And The Bees To The Washington Post?
Mark Steyn: Thank You and Goodnight, Honouring Thy Parents, and Too Stupid Even for CBS News?

Amazon Warehouse Deals
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software w/Bonus Refund Offer
Time-Marked Warlock
Any Given Doomsday
Kindle Paperwhite


 

In The Mailbox: 2.21.25 (Morning Edition)

Posted on | February 21, 2025 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 2.21.25 (Morning Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Yesterday was eaten by snakes and travel.
The Art & Craft of Writing Romance Kickstarter continues!
Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

Somebody in Kiev hasn’t figured out that the neocons aren’t in charge any more.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: How Old Do You Need to Be to Defend Yourself?
Director Blue: Top 20 Insanities DOGE Has Discovered – So Far
EBL: Ukrainian Beggars Can’t Be Choosers, John Basilone, RIP, Steam Skies | Airships above the Retro-Future, Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor, and The odds of a major asteroid hit just went up
Twitchy: New Democrat Primary Poll Shows They Definitely Plan To Remain Burdened By What Has Been, Mike Lee Brutally Reminds Liz Cheney Who She Is After She Tries Trolling J.D. Vance On Ukraine, and Check Out Fearmongering BS Chris Coons Thought Would Scare You About DOGE
Louder With Crowder: Here’s the latest technique to prevent being stabbed in Germany, also, Senator John Kennedy offers some of his trademark advice to Democrats: “Try harder not to suck”
Vox Popoli: Write What Thou Wilt, Bring. Them. Home., You Don’t Own Your Ebooks, Not Much Room for Complaint, and The Problem of Perspectives
Bugscuffle Gazette: Once More Into The Breach
Toni Airaksinen: Trump Promised To Fix McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines – Will He Deliver?
Stoic Observations: DevOps The Hard Way
Upstream Reviews: We All Love The HALO Franchise, also, Galen’s Way
L’Ombre de L’Olivier: NATO, RIP
Cedar Sanderson: A Con, A Child, & A Pivot

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Baldilocks: The Heist
CDR Salamander: So A SAPR Rep Who Did A Two-Week Harvard Seminar Had Some 1990s Nostalgia While Changing FITREPs? also, Diversity Thursday
Dana Loesch: Ubisoft’s Fall Should Be An Example, also, It’s Not Cool To Be Progressive Any More
Don Surber: The question unasked, also, They forgot the Forgotten Man – Trump didn’t
STUMP: A Potential Large Source Of Junk SSA Data

Amazon Warehouse Deals
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software w/Bonus Refund Offer
HALO – Master Chief Collection
Galen’s Way
Best Sellers – Snacks & Sweets
Today’s Deals


 

CPAC Scenes

Posted on | February 21, 2025 | Comments Off on CPAC Scenes

General Washington and Martha were nice.,

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland
There is nothing else on the planet like CPAC. As I’ve sometimes said, it’s basically Mardi Gras for right-wingers. You see all the earnest young College Republican types, with the boys in nice suits and the girls dolled up in dresses and heels, and you know they’re having the time of their lives. After the end of each day’s conference activities, there’s a swirl of private parties and just people hitting the night spots along Fleet Street.

Of course, you don’t even have to leave the hotel to find a good time. Over many years of attending CPAC, I’ve made the lobby bar my usually hangout to meet up with friends, or make new friends.

IWF’s Gabby Hoffman does a radio interview.

Tony Katz does his show on Radio Row.

Radio Row, outside the main ballroom, is always crowded, and it was nice to see familiar faces like popular talk-show host Tony Katz, and Gabrielle Hoffman. When I first met Gabby at CPAC 2011, she was a College Republican, and now she’s the director of the Center for Energy and Conservation at Independent Women’s Forum.

Newsmax has a big presence at CPAC this year.

Hogan Gidley (left) on a Newsmax panel discussion.

The media environment is constantly changing. Newsmax may not rival Fox News in audience size yet, but they’ve probably got more viewers than CNN in many hours, and they’re obviously pushing hard to expand their brand awareness, especially with the MAGA grassroots.

Jack Posobiec gives an interview.

The Trump Tribe of Texas

This afternoon, I went down to the exhibition hall and filled up a swag bag with freebies to take back home. Only spending two days at CPAC this year, which means I’ll miss President Trump’s speech Saturday, but I really want to get home and sleep in my own bed tonight. I’ll have to hustle to load into the car, if I want to beat the rush-hour traffic out of D.C.. It’s been a blast, and it was good to see old friends.

At the Irish Whisper on Thursday night with Mike LaChance



 

Shop Electronics at Amazon

Save on Groceries and Everyday Essentials

Shop Amazon Basics

Office & School Supplies

CPAC: New Heights of Awesomeness

Posted on | February 21, 2025 | Comments Off on CPAC: New Heights of Awesomeness

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland
Watching Vice President J.D. Vance being interviewed on the CPAC stage by Mercedes Mercedes Schlapp yesterday morning, I couldn’t help but be impressed and encouraged. Vance is very, very good as a communicator, in a way that Donald Trump never has been. Certainly, many voters have been drawn into the GOP column by Trump’s rough-and-tumble style of rhetoric, and I’m happy about that — proving my long-held belief that Republicans needed a more populist style. At the same time, I think I’m not the only conservative who laments — what shall we call it? — the imprecision of Trump’s rhetoric. Accuracy matters a lot, when discussing public policy, and Trump’s tendency to boast and to pile on with superlatives when touting his own plans and accomplishments has always been problematic. He just says too many things that are either exaggerated or plainly false, and as someone in the communications business, I find it difficult to defend some of what Trump says.

J.D. Vance, by contrast, is an absolute ace communicator, and his skills in this department make me feel very hopeful for the future. Of course it’s way too early to predict what will happen in 2028, but if Vance is the next Republican presidential candidate, you like the GOP’s chances. All those college-educated suburban women who had problems with Trump are going to be easier to get with Vance atop the Republican ticket.

We are still just one month into Trump’s second term, and there’s no way of knowing what will transpire over the next few years, but if Vance is heir apparent of MAGA, the future looks very bright.



 

Shop Electronics at Amazon

Save on Groceries and Everyday Essentials

Shop Amazon Basics

Office & School Supplies

« go backkeep looking »