Richard McDonnell

[Kevin Carpenter @kejca]

CNBC's Becky Quick offered three pieces of advice last month on The Master Investor Podcast:

(1) Investing: "Do exactly what Warren Buffett says — which is to invest in an S&P 500 [index fund]. Do it early, do it often, and let it ride. And don't worry about what's happening [in the wider world]. That will get you far."

(2) Career: "Every job you get, take it and do it for a little longer than you think you possibly can. Especially when you're starting out. I never planned to be in television — I never planned any of this — but staying and doing the job and doing it really well always led to other opportunities. Hang in there and be patient with it."

(3) Life: "Cherish every moment. Life is too short. It is too precious. I still have to talk myself through this to make sure I'm living in the moment and enjoying every moment that we get."

[Sabre76 @JamesJ52828]

@KKriegeBlog Young Washington was really good.

[Richard McDonnell @rmcdonnell7]

@spencernusbaum_ An MLB Red Card

[Chris Vannini @ChrisVannini]

High Point coach Flynn Clayman after beating Wisconsin:

"It looks obvious high-majors need to play mid-majors during the season. They said we didn't play nobody. … Nobody would play us, just like they wouldn't play Miami (Ohio). But they have to play us in this tournament."

[Celebrity Tailor @klassiqtunez]

RULES TO TEACH YOUR SON

1. Never shake a man’s hand sitting down.

2. Don’t enter a pool by the stairs.

3. The man at the BBQ grill is the closest thing to a king.

4. In a negotiation, never make the first offer.

5. Request the late check-out.

6. When entrusted with a secret, keep it.

7. Hold your heroes to a higher standard.

8. Return a borrowed car with a full tank of gas.

9. Play with passion — or don’t play at all.

10. When shaking hands, grip firmly and look them in the eye.

11. Don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.

12. If you need music on the beach, you’re missing the point.

13. Carry two handkerchiefs.
One in your back pocket is for you.
One in your breast pocket is for her.

14. You marry the girl, you marry her family.

15. Be like a duck.
Remain calm on the surface and paddle like crazy underneath.

16. Experience the serenity of traveling alone.

17. Never be afraid to ask out the best-looking girl in the room.

18. Never turn down a breath mint.

19. A sport coat is worth a thousand words.

20. Try writing your own eulogy.
Never stop revising.

21. Thank a veteran.
Then make it up to him.

22. Eat lunch with the new kid.

23. After writing an angry email, read it carefully.
Then delete it.

24. Ask your mom to play.
She won’t let you win.

25. Manners maketh the man.

26. Give credit.
Take the blame.

27. Stand up to bullies.
Protect those being bullied.

28. Write down your dreams.

29. Take time to snuggle your pets.
They love you and are always happy to see you.

30. Be confident and humble at the same time.

31. If ever in doubt, remember whose son you are —
and REFUSE to be ordinary.

32. In all things, lead by example — not explanation.

33. Dress how you want to be addressed.

34. Be blessed by being a blessing.

---

RULES ARE RULES 🫵⚠️

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

On December 25, 1983, Ronald and Nancy Reagan quietly broke presidential protocol in the most beautiful way imaginable. Before dawn, at 6 a.m., they slipped out of the White House without fanfare, drove themselves to a small suburban Virginia nursing home, and spent the morning serving breakfast to elderly residents who had no family to visit them on Christmas Day. Nancy stood at the griddle flipping pancakes, while Ronnie sat beside a 90-year-old woman with dementia who kept calling him “son.” He never corrected her. He simply held her hand and whispered, “I’m here, Mama. I’m here.”

The Secret Service was frantic—there was no full security detail, no advance planning, no press. This wasn’t a staged moment or a political gesture. It began because Nancy had read a letter from a nursing home administrator describing the crushing loneliness many residents felt during the holidays. She turned to Ronnie and said, “We have to do something. These could be our parents.”

What few people knew at the time was that this wasn’t a one-day act of kindness. It became a private tradition the Reagans repeated every Christmas throughout all eight years of the presidency. Always in secret. Always without cameras. Nancy baked cookies herself the night before. Ronnie brought letters from soldiers overseas and read them aloud to veterans whose eyes could no longer manage the words.

One Christmas, Reagan spent forty-five minutes sitting beside a dying Korean War veteran, holding his hand and praying quietly so he wouldn’t have to leave this world alone. When Nancy found them, Ronnie was crying. “No hero,” he told her, “should die without someone telling them thank you.”

These stories only surfaced years later, shared by nursing home staff after Reagan’s death. They endure because they reveal something rare and enduring—that the most meaningful acts of love and service are often the ones no one sees, done not for recognition or applause, but simply because the heart knows it must show up.

[VA Senate GOP @VASenateGOP]

Even when we disagree with many of the new Governor’s policies, our Caucus is united in praying for her and the responsibilities she now carries. We ask God to grant her wisdom, grace, courage, and steady judgment as she makes decisions that will affect every corner of our Commonwealth.

We also pray for Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi and Attorney General Jay Jones, that they would be guided by humility and a sincere desire to serve all Virginians, and for their families as they step into public life - asking for protection, peace, and strength in the days ahead.

[Athenaeum Book Club @athenaeumbc]

In 1945, Solzhenitsyn was a decorated Soviet officer who made a small, private joke about Stalin in a letter.

The state opened it, read it, and treated it as a crime. Within weeks he was arrested and stripped of rank. He was fed into the camps, and sentenced to eight years in the Gulag.

The camps were designed to teach one lesson: say nothing, remember nothing, become nothing. He shoveled frozen concrete until his hands split and bled.

Years later, Solzhenitsyn would write, “Bless you, prison, for having been in my life.” It sounds insane until you understand what he meant. Prison showed him the truth of the regime in its purest form.

After his release, the punishment did not end. He lived under constant surveillance, moving from place to place, knowing that writing a single page could mean death. So he did not write. He memorized. Whole chapters of The Gulag Archipelago lived only in his head. Friends hid scraps of text. Wives memorized passages. For years the book existed only in human memory, as fragile and dangerous as a secret prayer.

When it was finally published, it did not argue that Soviet communism had gone too far. It showed that this was exactly where it led. Solzhenitsyn had learned that systems built on lies survive only if people agree to repeat them, and that the simplest refusal… to stop saying what you know is false… is the first and most dangerous act of resistance.

[NOVA Campaigns @NoVA_Campaigns]

If you’re a restaurant server in @fairfaxcounty … 4% of YOUR likely tip now goes to the government

Because that’s what many will be deducting (we encourage customers to write it on the bill) from the normal tip (tax free now thx Trump) because you voted for @vademocrats. Enjoy

[City Journal @CityJournal]

From intellectual rigor to campus culture, see which schools are getting it right.

[Sagac Public Affairs @Sagaconline]

Facing a retirement cliff?

👉 Read Claire’s tips to keep your PAC strong: https://t.co/KXo38GpBpT

#Sagac #PublicAffairs #PACStrategy

[Richard McDonnell @rmcdonnell7]

@PrepBaseVAS @PrepBaseballVA @PrimeTimeBSBLL @heightsbaseball

[Prep Baseball VA/DC Scouting @PrepBaseVAS]

‘26 Jackson McDonnell (The Heights//@PrimeTimeBSBLL )

McDonnell is a little late but is able to keep this ball fair down the right field line for a stand up double

@PrepBaseballVA

#VAFallChamps #VA8

[Trung Phan @TrungTPhan]

wow, LEGO’s new corproate-themed build sets are hyper-realistic

[The Heights Baseball @heightsbaseball]

Congrats to John Branch, Noah Ecobar, and James Mraz on being named WCAC All-Conference, Honorable Mention. @JohnTBranch @JamesMraz9 @BrianC_2476 @WashPostHS

[The Heights Baseball @heightsbaseball]

From 2023 Varsity Rookie of the Year to Senior baseball commit, congrats to @JohnTBranch on continuing to play at @UDallasBaseball Let’s go Cavs!

[The Heights Baseball @heightsbaseball]

From a great 2024 WCAC quarterfinal showing vs PVI to Senior baseball commit, congrats to @jt35tembrina on continuing to play at @FUSBaseball Let’s go Cavs!

[The Heights Baseball @heightsbaseball]

Complete game shutout for senior John Branch who controlled The Heights 2-0 victory over Riverdale Baptist today--6 Ks and only 1 BB. The Cavs next host @OLGCHSBaseball on Wednesday at 4:30pm. @JohnTBranch

[Norman Ornstein @NormOrnstein]

There was no braggadocio. Just a matter of fact explanation of how he had used his position to organize a massive commitment to save lives. Only one of the many things he did. He was a towering figure of dignity and grace. A remarkable human being. May his memory be a blessing.