Rich Hoffman's Blog, page 392

Cliffhanger Research and Development: Doing the right thing even when it hurts

As I was writing The Curse of Fort Seven Mile there was an unusual opportunity to make mention of Cliffhanger Research and Development which is a name directly from my past. I Googled the name and found nothing, primarily because it was so long ago that the Internet had not yet been offered to the public, so it never had a webpage or online presence. But it did exist in reality once, and now it is still deep within me and will carry on in the story of Cliffhanger. But I thought the company deserved an online presence and an explanation for my readers which will inevitably be desired later.

I had a history all through my youth of telling those in authority how they should conduct their lives. I was bored to death in school and had no interest in it outside of the 2nd grade. Everything after that was simply a gradual withdrawal from a sick and twisted system. Occasionally I would tell a teacher how they should teach better—and I would do so just to try to stay engaged—but it never worked. So I tuned those education elements out of my life completely. I deemed them completely worthless and wasteful. The moment I could escape from them, I did and I never looked back with an ounce of regret.

 

Right out of high school I made more money as a car salesman than any of the adults I knew at the time so their constant uttering’s about college made no sense to me. I did attend the higher institution several times, but it was just as ridiculously stupid as public school was, so I eventually left to start my own company. Back then, even at 22 years of age I had a history of telling the presidents and owners of the companies I worked for how they should conduct their business. Some of these were big companies with very wealthy and arrogant owners and the last thing they wanted to hear was some young kid telling them how they could maximize their profits, and create new product lines for their future. It was a kind of running joke among the work forces that were around me at the time that I would produce these lengthy, extravagant letters telling company owners how to do their job—and I often let them have it heavily when I did such a thing. One company I had worked at for a number of years (19 to 22 years old)—was good honest factory work, but was a hard place filled with hard people. It had a terrible morale problem. I wrote the president a letter telling him that he could solve the problem by coming down out of his office and shaking hands with the people who made him money. I told him such actions were free and that he could wash his hands off when he was done—and it would do wonders for his productivity. I sent the letter through my floor supervisor who thought I was out of my mind. But he couldn’t disagree with a thing I said, just that the letter was harsh.

The president took the letter hard, and became very angry but did the things I told him to do. He thanked me a year later for an increase in profit of nearly 10%. This was a combination of a lot of things—most of which was directly attributed to decreased employee turnover. So that president sought me out often to help make key decisions in the future. This is a relationship that I would take with me at virtually every place I was ever employed in the future.

I was bold with my words because I have never in my life feared losing a job. I have always viewed employment as a kind of consultation job where my real passions resided in my personal endeavors. I never intended to hold a traditional job, so I had no concern about pissing off my bosses, just as I never cared to piss off my teachers. Compliance to authority figures is just never something I had a desire to do at any point in my life. Maybe as a small child I wanted to make my parents happy during the learning stages of reading, identifying colors, and walking, but this quickly went away. I always did intend to be self-employed as my mind was an idea factory that never shut off. And I was tapped into it 24/7.

 

At the age of 19 I filed for my first patent, a new kind of tool called a torque socket extension. I had a very negative experience working with a company that markets new inventions determining it to be a complete scam. So I started my own company called Cliffhanger Research and Development. It was to be an R&D company that would do everything from advanced machining to advanced medical breakthroughs. Instead of telling other companies how to conduct their lives and businesses, I would just let them follow the lead of Cliffhanger Research and Development. It was called Cliffhanger because the ideas were from the cutting edge of reality.

I had a whole list of projects to develop under Cliffhanger Research and Development and the start of them took me on quite an adventure. I ended up in court many times, speaking to the mayors of cities often, and running up against a lot of resistance primarily due to my age. I wasn’t yet 25 years old, so there were always mountains of skepticism that had to be overcome just in the perception of other people’s realities. I was friends with people who took $10,000 lunches daily and had many of them eager to listen to my advice. They didn’t discriminate against me for my age; they just listened as they were always on the look-out for a competitive edge.

 

One of my Cliffhanger projects took me to a trade show at the McCormick Center in Chicago. It was a funding mechanism intended to drive revenue to all the other projects on the table, so it was a big deal to me. I risked everything to show up for this convention as it was one of those pinnacle life moments. I had quit my good job in Ohio and sent my family down to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to purchase property for the move of our company headquarters there. To cover income in the mean time I picked up two jobs until revenue from the McCormick convention started paying off—I was set to be a roller coaster operator at Dollywood, and at night I was going to be a waiter at the Pigeon Forge Shoney’s. That would cover the loss in income from my day job in Cincinnati.

 

While in Chicago I learned several harsh realities that were life-changing. Even though many of the rich friends that I had warned me, I hoped that my ideas would punch through their skepticism. But youth in this case worked against me, because what worked in my mind could not be applied to a society not functioning from the same illumination. What I learned at the McCormick Center in the summer of 1994 was that what mattered more than what you knew and could invent was who you knew and what they could do for you. That was a concept that I simply rejected, and it cost me a lot of money to walk away from. I would not allow Cliffhanger Research and Development to become hen-pecked by lecherous governments, corrupt deal makers, and barnacle like lawyers. So I walked away from a deal in Chicago that could have set me up for life, but destroyed my company with an infusion of influences that were not unlike the many company presidents whom I had insulted for being complete idiots. It became clear to me that what made those company presidents idiots was their allowance of these influences into their life and biting on the temptation to sell-out their origin ideals in trade for financial security. I did not have the money to take Cliffhanger Research and Development to the next level without help, and I couldn’t accept the type of help being offered because the conditions allowed for complete louses to piggy-back off my efforts for no other reason than they brought money to the table—money obtained through political maneuvers that were very disingenuous.

 

I knew a scam when I saw it. As a car salesman right out of high school there was money laundering going on at the highest level of that company meant to disguise drug sales. I learned a lot by watching that place operate from behind the scenes and would listen with interest how the local police were all in on the deal. Most of the money being made was not through cars, it was in the sale of drugs. I saw as a very young man how the top and bottom of society fed off each other. So I quit that job in favor of an honest factory job—there I saw much the same type of thing between the company president and the local political establishment. He’d often take politicians out onto his boat on the Ohio River to schmooze for tax breaks and shelters. He wrecked that boat and got into a lot of trouble with a young woman who wasn’t much older than I was at the time causing me to loose much disrespect for the guy. And even when I wanted to file a patent for new inventions, the leeches were there to suck off the top of other people’s ideas and water them down with their infusion. Now in Chicago the deals were epic—to get the money you’d have to sign away your rights essentially to the creative process—and this was the reason I created Cliffhanger Research and Development in the first place.

My wife and I had a hard discussion in a Gatlinburg restaurant to make. Our entire lives were at risk. We had sold our house; our realtor had screwed up that deal as well leaving us in a world of hurt. To make the deal in Chicago would essentially kill the other purposes I had for Cliffhanger Research and Development. It would be absorbed by a larger conglomerate not yet even arriving to an age of its own maturity. It was like feeding a child of mine to a dirty old sex pervert for their temporary gratification and it hurt.   So we decided to abandon the Chicago deal, abandon the Gatlinburg headquarters, and go back to Cincinnati to fight it out to keep our home. That’s what we did for the next several years.

 

Coming back to Cincinnati I served as my own attorney in challenging our realtor. I served as our own attorney in covering several law suits which tried to prevent our exodus from the type of consumption being set up in Chicago and nobody understood why my wife and I were upset. All we had to do was take the money, and we’d be wealthy—which is why people went to college, built careers, and sold themselves out politically to others—was to get money.   People in the know thought that my desire to preserve my intentions for Cliffhanger Research and Development was youthful naïveté and simply didn’t understand what drove our intellectual decisions. In the realtor case and the Cliffhanger case it was ownership that I was after, the ability to retain my rights so that I could navigate them to success. And in that process were hordes of second handers who simply existed as barnacles—parasites to creative thought.

 

There hasn’t been a good second opportunity to put the name of Cliffhanger Research and Development back into the competitive marketplace. As my wife and I discussed at the Gatlinburg restaurant many years ago, I had other things I could do so I was never desperate for the money—and was never in a strategic position where I had to sell out Cliffhanger Research and Development to lesser minds. So I turned to writing because it allowed an author to make the world not necessarily as it is, but as it should be. Making Cliffhanger the main character of these future stories about a vigilante who used to be a CEO of Cliffhanger Research and Development allows me to paint the world as I think it should have been that day at the McCormick Center. It allows me to correct the mistakes that humanity has made and to put the world as it should be within the context of Cliffhanger.

 

Needless to say, there is an edge to Cliffhanger that is uncompromising. I write things there that few publishers would allow today in our politically correct world. I write Cliffhanger with the same spirit that I operated Cliffhanger Research and Development under. My wife likes that character because he is uncompromisingly good—like herself. And when we talked about what to do about the R&D company while in Gatlinburg it was her idea to put all these stories into a fictional context so people might learn from them. It has taken a while to put the proper emotional distance behind me to deal with the type of plot lines that are involved in the Cliffhanger stories—and this is what has lead to these present decisions.

Now you know a bit about my past dear reader, that I have not previously revealed. It is the reason that I write so much on this blog and elsewhere, and why there is an uncompromising approach to the material. Much stronger forces have tried to quell that self-assuredness when I was much, much, younger, so there isn’t any chance now of reaching through to my sensitivities and con me into a lighter approach.

 

As I made the decision to preserve Cliffhanger Research and Development within my own heart and soul by turning down significant amounts of money to retain my intellectual property, I will do the same with Cliffhanger and all the stories that follow—because I can. I don’t need to bend myself to the shape-shifters of the times. I think it is ironic that H.P. Lovecraft the pulp writer from the 1920s is just now obtaining a marketplace respect. He died extremely poverty stricken because there was no value for his stories in the roaring twenties by an industry concerned about other types of things. Now it is impossible to go to a Barnes and Noble book store and not see some reference to H.P. Lovecraft. I suspect that Cliffhanger will have the same type of transition—the immediacy of the political moment will find him reprehensible. But history will come to love him long after our days have extinguished. And that will be fine with me. The reason to do anything is because it’s the right thing to do, and as often has been proven—the masses do not have a clue as to what that is. I use Cliffhanger to articulate that righteousness through the hazes of confusion that have been purposely placed to consume our thoughts toward irrationality. Some things are more important than social acceptance and it is in that long view that Cliffhanger Research and Development will exist in immortality.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

The Insult to Ann Becker: Strategic disadvantages in taking the “high road”

I feel for Ann Becker, not just because she’s a friend of mine, but because of the overwhelming sense of betrayal I know she feels after being thrown out of the John Kasich rally during a campaign visit the Governor made attempting to get out the vote. CLICK HERE TO REVIEW.  Kasich in the last half of his first 4 year term has adopted many of President Obama’s big government philosophies like acceptance of Common Core as an education standard and the expansion of Medicaid to facilitate Obamacare. The golf game Kasich and John Boehner had with the President and his Vice President Joe Biden, whose son just this last week was discharged from the military because of cocaine use-had the desired effect. Kasich became a passivist hungry for a second term soon after he got a taste of life as the leader of a state. His Tea Party ideology turned to mush within a year after a few hard battles making him by year four to be almost a copy of the politician Obama himself. Obama didn’t only win the golf game that day long ago against the two staunch Republicans. He also won their soul—which was always the intention.

Three years ago in the Republican Party Ann was one of the organizers of the Kasich event in Liberty Township. She and I held valued statues within the upper echelons of Republican power. I knew then that they were using our ambitions and riding the coat tails of our activism to success which was a good strategy at the time. But what was disappointing for me was how quickly their courage went to mush as they had no heart for any kind of fight. I learned about their betrayal while I was on the air to half a million people with Scott Sloane on WLW radio. I was in the middle of a swirling controversy, all of it part of a larger strategy. It had been talked about prior to and everyone knew what they were getting involved with—but when the media pressure hit and the fists started flying, the core of that group—many of the same people who threw Ann out of the Kasich rally sent a press release to the station trying to distance themselves from the controversy I was bringing to the table. The fight itself didn’t bother me in the least—after all—that’s what I’m good at and was set to perform. It was the betrayal that stung, the lack of will to stand and fight for what they knew was right.

Three years later, Ann went through the same betrayal just the other day. As stated, three years ago she was one of the organizers of all things political in Southern Ohio. Even though she was invited out of respect to the Todd Hall organized event, she started the day as a notable outsider because of her position as a former teacher standing against Common Core. Ann’s firmness to her political beliefs has cost her dearly. She chose a school to teach in that did not require union membership because she loves the profession. However, appearing in the Cincinnati Enquirer every other week and doing a radio segment with Brian Thomas on 55 KRC every Monday morning is “controversial” for any school to accept employment from such a person. So it hasn’t worked out very well for Ann—even though she has tried. She has always put her beliefs before her own security and comfort—which is why people like Kasich need her as foot soldiers.

Cruising to an easy victory in Ohio however, Kasich doesn’t need those foot soldiers to retain office, so he feels he can afford to isolate himself from people like Ann. As Ann and many of the 200 dismal supporters who were at the Kasich rally were mostly Central Committee members, she was allowed to RSVP the event by invitation. Her personal friendship with Patti Alderson secured that much respect from the heads of the Republican Party. Those leaders have seen Ann at Patti’s parties even though they know Ann is a bit of a loose cannon, so they politely invited her. But when she showed up with a t-shirt against Common Core—which Kasich supports because of the federal funding it solicits for Ohio schools the so-called friends turned against Ann quickly actually throwing her out of the event. The Republican Party debacle was chronicled in the Cincinnati Enquirer and Journal News—who are always happy to do anti-Republican stories even if they are supportive to the Tea Party. The progressive Cox and Gannett newspaper companies don’t see the Tea Party as a real significant threat to political order, but any time they can take a jab at the Republican Party—they’ll do it in less than a second. The embarrassment and betrayal that Ann felt after her exodus left her little choice.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2014/10/14/tea-party-leader-ejected-kasich-rally/17250155/

 

http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/local/tea-party-leader-kicked-out-of-kasich-rally/nhjRD/

“I was invited to the event. I had RSVPed to the event,” Becker said. “When I came to the door, I was turned away with a lie, being told I didn’t RSVP. I was told that if I didn’t leave the premises… I would be arrested.”

Butler County GOP Executive Chairman Todd Hall said security at the governor’s rally made a judgment call regarding “a loud and caustic outside protester who suddenly wanted inside the event.”

“There must have been concern about safety or to disrupting the peaceful nature of the event itself,” Hall said. “While the Republican Party is open to all views and expressions of free speech within or even outside our party, we always stand in strong support of public safety officials and the difficult decisions they often have to make.”

Well, again I have inside knowledge of all these people and can say with certainty that what Todd said was a bullshit, ass-kissing diatribe of irrefutable, insulting nonsense. He knows well the case in West Chester where the police beat to a pulp a drunken fool just because they could—falsely saying that their lives were in “danger.” That is the common statement that most law enforcement makes when they want to justify a “judgment” call especially when it comes to appeasing political power who wants to wash their hands clean of controversy. Click here to review the disgusting West Chester police case which occurred under the flag of the Butler County Police headed by Sheriff Jones—who happened to be a featured speaker at the event. The cop who threw Ann out of the event—an officer who has obviously spent too much time at Dunkin’ Donuts sipping coffee and licking the icing off pastry treats waiting for a call to do something made up a story to justify denied entry into the rally. And Todd backed the cop over a continued alliance with Ann Becker—a foot soldier that would be useful to him at some point down the road. It was an epically stupid move—eclipsing the betrayal those same people conducted toward me. I know exactly how Ann feels.

However, on the political left, they embrace their foot soldiers. They have their Van Jones radicals, their Al Sharpton types who go on MSNBC and derail everything that Republicans do, and you never see politicians like Obama distancing themselves from their foot soldiers—because they at least understand how important trench fighters are and they treat them well. They may not hug and kiss them in public, but they do support them any way they can “off the record.”

What Todd Hall and the rest of the Republican leadership in Butler County fail to understand is that people like Ann and I are not affiliated with the party to protect our financial interests—like they are. We are in it to win it because our core philosophy is on the line. Common Core and Medicaid expansion are not just bumps in the road for us to navigate around so that we can get government contract work for our projects or ease of processing during the zoning permit portion of a development project. We really care about the direction of Ohio and our country. The Republicans who threw Ann out of the Kasich rally only care to live for tomorrow to protect their financial interests and they don’t want any controversy to come their way politically which might rock the boat. There value is not superior to our value within the party—as it is often portrayed.

 

Unlike the Democrats who often don’t have any money except what they steal from others through taxation—Republicans are always too careful about their financial stability. They know that if they hang around with radicals like Rich Hoffman and Ann Becker too closely that they may be drug into court for some bogus hearing that could cost them millions of dollars in legal fees. Or they may lose work opportunities all together like what happened to many of my No Lakota Levy friends—many who were at that same rally. What makes them weak is that the enemy knows those Republicans have something to lose. And they are even more vulnerable when foot soldiers like Ann Becker are removed from the process.   Anybody with any memory will recall when John McCain chastised Bill Cunningham on 700 WLW for his radical remarks during the 2008 campaign while in Cincinnati. MaCain thought that the best bet in winning the election was in taking the high road and showing the pubic that Republicans aren’t such mean guys after all. Well, guess what—he lost the election. And when Mitt Romney was pulled into the same defensive position during the debates of 2012—which he had been winning up until the second and third debates because of his aggression—he lost the election. Even locally when the same area Republicans wanted to take the high road with the Lakota school system—guess what—the government school won the next election. Playing nice doesn’t win elections. The reason the political enemies want Republicans to take the high road is so that it makes it easier for them to pick off because it is easy to take out political opponents when they are visible and positioned where they have no place to hide—like the high road. The high road is not a place of safety and ensured continuity—it is a strategic position that favors the enemy.

 

The pattern should be obvious, instead Todd Hall allowed a nobody rent-a-cop to fashion the public relations in a negative way against his Republican Party by throwing Ann out of a rally so she could do the good honest work of challenging Kasich on Common Core. The Governor is trying to have it both ways—he wants to pretend to be a conservative—but he wants to appeal to moderates and the poor to pave the way for a 2016 presidential run—so he is clearly putting his own political ambitions ahead of the governing of the state—or a commitment of conservative value to the foundations of that state. He simply wanted to avoid controversy so that nothing negative would come up two years from now when he attempts to run for President. His nightmare is in giving the radical teacher unions ammunition against him—more than they have now because of SB5 by taking a controversial position against federal funding. But he received the bad PR anyway because he falsely expected Ann Becker to go away quietly and pout like a child sent away from the dinner table. He is used to having that kind of control over people like Todd Hall and Patti Alderson who stand to lose a lot of money if someone other than Kasich is in the governor seat in Ohio—due to rules and regulatory policy.   Ann doesn’t come to those political events to protect her assets—she does so to fix the future for her children and that is a concept that continues to elude Butler County Republicans who are in charge of the party. The fault that Todd and his Republican leaders performed yet again is that they ran from controversial people instead of falling in behind them for the real fight that exists in politics which they continue to lose against time and time again.

I appreciate that I still get invites to these kinds of events, but it should be noticed that I don’t attend. I haven’t for a few years now because I’m not the type to break bread with people who betray me. I can make my own money—I don’t need to do it through “connections,” so there isn’t much to obtain in such events without strategic objectives being conducted. Like Ann, I care about the deeper problems and don’t have the time or patience for back-slapping. It continues to be my hope that someday Todd and his Republicans will learn the importance of maintaining alliances with people like Ann Becker—because they need her a lot more than she needs them. A dangerous place for Ann is on the political outside—she will still get her ink, her radio coverage, and her leverage within the community because she does it for the heart of the matter. Because of her motivations, she will always be inspired to be on the front lines—a place where the Republican Party desperately needs soldiers to fill the vacancies. Without those positions filled, the losses will continue to escalate. Sure, Republicans will win a few battles here and there—they may take back the Senate at the federal level and hold the House, but they will continue to lose the war against progressivism one concession at a time. They will continue to look at each other and wonder why taxes keep going up, and why police officers continue to twist their arms for more pay—because they as Republicans failed to stand strong against them when it mattered most. Ann Becker is just the latest in a long line of such failed resolutions.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

The Curse of Fort Seven Mile: Life behind the mask dedicated to justice

Adrian could think of no other response, “You do not represent the law, you are an outlaw and are responsible for the deaths of enough people to fill our courts for the next decade.”

“Thank you,” Cliffhanger said behind a mask which concealed his face. He wore the standard outback style hat and a poncho that blew in the wind like a cape as had previously been reported to his reputation. Sunglasses covered his eyes so there was no face to give away intentions to Adrian and his men. Only his words were as solidified as granite in an ancient quarry. “You have made my point for me. With the amount of crime that you alone are guilty of, courts have no time, or ability to process them all leaving the villains of the world to shower evil upon the lives of the many innocent. That is why I am here—no trial, no reports to file. And of all those villains, you are but a toe which helps it walk. Now, it is time to slow that walk down to a crawl.”

 

That is a small segment of the first chapter from my new project The Curse of Fort Seven Mile which revisits the world of the vigilante Cliffhanger first introduced in my 2004 novel The Symposium of Justice. For my readers here I am happy to provide a teaser which is seen below—a very small section of the opening chapter first draft which is going very well. As I’ve jumped back into the world of Cliffhanger much of the work I’ve done over the last decade are filling the pages easily leading to a number of very interesting chapters. The below segment is essentially the president of the local F.O.P. of Fort Seven Mile Adrian Fellini demanding more money from the mayor and city council due to the rise in violence due to the roaming vigilante behavior of Cliffhanger. The mayor in this case is a young woman who stepped into the role as the former mayor had desired an affair with her and made her vice-mayor to maintain a proximity to her. After his death in the events from The Symposium of Justice, she is now in charge and she lets the F.O.P president know her thoughts about his demands.

This is just the first step of a project that will prove to be a massive ongoing endeavor. The plan is to release these chapters one by one over the coming months, but eventually they will fill rather large books inspired by pulp fiction. As a writer I am concerned about a great number of topics and the character Cliffhanger provides for a very rich canvas to paint all those issues into a coherent storyline that is suitable to the old pulp serials of the distant past—when literature and entertainment was at a peak that I greatly respect. The following section from The Curse of Fort Seven Mile doesn’t give away any spoilers as to plot points of any destruction to the integrity of the drama, but will provide some insight into what can be expected. So please do enjoy the following selection and stay tuned for much more to come.

 

Excerpt from The Curse of Fort Seven Mile

Chapter One

 

Misty Finnegan maintained her calm and her two allies on council sat stoically amidst the animal-like chatter of the rabid police officers smelling blood in the water due to Fellini’s comments. Without anger to fuel their antics, the clapping officers subsided into murmurs then quickly lost their enthusiasm as Fellini squared his shoulders confidently toward the council members. His posture indicated that he felt his previous statement had been a check-mate against Finnegan and her council. But then Misty pushed her dainty hair behind her shoulder blades and let her tongue lose as if a knight combating a vile dragon had cast forth a lance intended for decapitation. “As you all know—those of you clapping and drumming up banter like vile baboons thumping their chests at a zoo, I am up for election next year. Of course there is a risk that the people of Fort Seven Mile may not vote for me during the next election. It is possible that they may witness my actions here before you today and remove me from office. If that were to happen it may be possible that I’ll lose the many offers of free lunches, the attempted bribes, the lecherous conduct of those looking for an advantage in their businesses with campaign donations to the candidate they put their money on, as if we were all as politicians a number on a gambling table. It is possible that these are the last months that I will be mayor of this city, or hold an office in its historic building.” Misty paused for effect. “It is possible that I may be forced to return back to my home to focus on my children and husband without a care for the outside world—that I may not feel the pressure to attend every charity event in town, every ribbon cutting, every attempt to have someone desire to have their picture taken with me only to be propped up and displayed as if I were a trophy in obtaining power. It is possible that I may be free of this burden for the rest of my life knowing that I did what was right and can sleep well at night cognoscente that I stood up for proper management and conduct of the Fort Seven Mile tax payers based on my own opinions and judgment. It is possible—all of it. And because all things are possible, here is what I have to say to you. Your police officers garner too high of a wage. There are too many of them and they pass their time too often harassing the good tax payers of Fort Seven Mile with traffic citations and cat-calling harassment—much of which I have had to suffer through myself. They are always late to a crime, and only show up to gather evidence. Their ability to stop crime is negligible at best

Fellini had heard enough, “negligible at best! How dare you make such an assertion!” The other police officer members rumbled angrily toward Misty Finnegan with red-faced utterances. “It is the thin blue line they walk, these officers of Fort Seven Mile who sacrifice their lives for the safety of our citizens.”

“The only sacrifice at play are those from the tax payers to pay their high salaries.” Misty said cutting off Fellini before he had a chance to continue. “You referred to the bandit Cliffhanger, Mr. Fellini. You spoke of him as a menace but who else has been present to stop crime before it happens, instead of after? Who else has risked their life in such an audacious manner than the masked outlaw known as Cliffhanger? Certainly nobody in this room—if so let them come forth now and make the pronouncements of valor which can eclipse the heroics of Cliffhanger.

Fellini was about to erupt with anger. “So you are a sympathizer to a known outlaw, a criminal, and a murderer? You speak highly of a menace to the fabric of society and an open violator of the law!”

“I speak as a member of the legislative body of our community to define law as our times dictate—not to carry on the mistakes of our past as they were manipulated by the likes of yourself, Mr. Fellini. Misty Finnegan sat forward and placed both of her elbows on her elevated desk. “You must remember your place, we were elected to legislate, and if that effort proves to be a failure, then the voters will remove us. We were not elected to dance from the fingertips of union presidents and allow open extortion of our tax payer dollars. If you want to see Cliffhanger off the streets of Fort Seven Mile, then be where crimes are committed before they happen and beat him to the effort. If you did such a thing, your officers may just catch him in the act. Then and only then will you be qualified to decide who is the criminal, the one who is trying to restore justice to Fort Seven Mile, or those offering to stop crime if only their pay checks would become more bolstered.”

A desperate silence filled the room as the spirits of intelligence had fled the minds of police union members upon hearing Misty’s dialogue. Adrian Fellini after many years of serving as a police officer and over a decade as the president of their labor union for the first time in his life was lost for words. He struggled to find them, but none were present causing him to stare blankly at the seat of Misty Finnegan. He wasn’t alone, not a word or murmur so much as a cough emerged from the mouths of the other officers who had gathered in solidarity believing that tonight’s ceremony would bring them wealth, not a grim reality of such audacious disrespect and contempt from an elected official. Worse yet, the rest of the council members made no show of chastising Misty Finnegan which was the worst of it. Two members of the five on council Fellini knew supported his cause, but because they were now outnumbered by the election of LaRue, they kept their mouths shut. Their finger to the wind told them that political change was coming to Fort Seven Mile and two primary figures were the cause of the sudden insurrection. Cliffhanger had embolden the population to question their authority figures disrupting the election cycle, and Misty Finnegan’s sudden acquisition of power in the wake of Mayor Goodman’s death was obviously going to her head. For three years she had hardly made a peep during public hearings and now she was giving anti-police speeches and openly supporting insurrection.

Misty Finnegan continued to speak for quite some time but Adrian Fellini had phased out her words. All he could feel now were the stares of his union members bearing holes in the back of his head looking for action. This insult could not be allowed to stand. The new mayor would have to be taught a lesson and be brought in line. Fellini didn’t like the public relation trouble that came with enforcing such punishment, but if there was ever a time for it—now was it. The F.O.P. labor unions across the nation over time had managed to maintain quite a lot of fear just through the threat of a reduced workplace presence. Always in the back of people’s minds were the early days of the union when dissidents on both sides were sometimes beaten into compliance. Without the threat of force the union was toothless, and it was obvious that Misty Finnegan did not fear that possibility. As leader of the Fort Seven Mile Fraternal Order of Police, it was up to Adrian Fellini to remind Finnegan of the implication of her actions and to fall into compliance.

He reasoned that with the recent upsurge of violence in Fort Seven Mile by the hands of Cliffhanger, that the media would be much more forgiving than they might otherwise be. A beaten mayor hospitalized for standing against the police dedicated to serving the public was a bet Fellini was willing to make in coming out on top during the court of public opinion debates that would inevitably come after.

For a brief moment he considered that a humiliating gang rape of the pretentious Misty Finnegan would be pleasurable—as she was an extremely handsome woman. Such a disgrace would mark her for life and shut her mouth forever. But, after what Cliffhanger did to “Scarface the Rapist,” the child molester Tanner who had just recently recovered from his wounds in that showdown organized by Mayor Goodman to rally support for an upcoming police levy, paving the way for the same raises that Fellini was now seeking support for—Fellini had second thoughts about the effectiveness of that strategy. A rape might make Finnegan a more sympathetic figure to the female voters of Fort Seven Mile whereas a good old-fashioned beating would be more appropriate in this case.

Of course everyone in town would know who was at fault, but would they care? Probably not, in all his years of police work, he knew the best way to make a compliant public was to bring fear to their minds. Nobody wanted to be on the wrong side of the law—and his police officers were the law. They were that thin blue line and nobody wanted to be on the wrong side of it. So Fellini rationed before Misty stopped lacerating him with her speech that tonight after the public hearing on her way to her car, she would be beaten to within inches of her life and hospitalized for insurrection. Fear would return to the minds of Fort Seven Mile which would lead to respect. Social order would then return. It was weak policy toward this type of rebellious conduct that had created Cliffhanger in the first place and now public officials were being emboldened by his antics. It was time to put a stop to it otherwise there would be no raises for his officers. Instead by the talk of Misty Finnegan, there may actually be lay-offs, and that was not going to happen on Adrian Fellini’s watch. The more he thought about it, the viler his evil deeds against Finnegan became filling his mind with excitement. As a benefit, it might even occur during this beating her cloths would be torn away in such a way to fill his nights with the sight of her innocent beauty robbed by him and his selected men. Upon such a visual saturation he would sleep soundly that night with dreams of passion released from prisons of pent-up aggression

Fellini quickly found three other rabid officers from his members willing to hide in the shadows with him dressed in black with their faces concealed waiting for Misty Finnegan to leave the council chambers for the night. As usual, she was the last to leave—all the other members had scurried to their cars and left for the day shortly after the late evening meeting had ended. When Finnegan had finally stopped talking most of the officers had left including Adrian showing their public displeasure with her words. In the end only a few curious citizens remained—none of them members of the police force. There are always pleasantries exchanged at the end of those types of meetings, but soon thereafter the other council members headed for their cars. Misty had remained in the mayor’s office for at least a half an hour after Mary Lawson had rolled out of the parking lot. A lone white GMC Yukon SUV remained parked under a lone parking lot light waiting for the mayor to occupy it.

The Finnegan’s were very wealthy—by far the wealthiest family in Fort Seven Mile. Rumors were that Misty’s husband Fletcher had won the lottery, but it had recently been revealed during a newspaper expose about Misty’s rise to power that neither of them had ever purchased a single lottery ticket in their lives. Their vast wealth had been created by her husband and his business dealings from a previous life—which was astonishing given his reputation as a simple grill cook at the popular hamburger restaurant, Republics. The couple owned a vast castle built on the outskirts of town which was the talk of every member of this rural Ohio farm community. Fort Seven Mile was considered a small town pretending to be a big city and was the battle ground between many modern controversies. But the most audacious of which was Misty’s strange husband—a supposed genius who chose to waste his time as a grill cook while his wife climbed the halls of power through politics.

There was much speculation that Misty’s flare for politics and rumored affair with Mayor Goodman was in her disapproval of her husband’s low social ambitions. For a beauty like her wanted to be seen and relished in the public light. Her wedding ring was a small little thing that showed poor taste in social delight—yet their home was certainly not part of any fashion trend ongoing anywhere in the country, let alone the world. The castle they lived in had now stood for over ten years and resembled a medieval structure that looked like a miniature version of a Crusader fortress. They held over two hundred acres yet performed almost no farming. The lifestyle within those fortress walls that Fletcher and his wife Misty conducted was the constant obsession of Adrian’s police officers. As public as Misty was, Fletcher was quite aloof and despondent toward social causes. Fellini could never remember a time that Misty was on the arm of her husband during a charity event or other political gathering deepening the mystery.

Perhaps her words in favor of Cliffhanger were that she fancied the bandit’s power. She obviously had an eye for strength and in the wake of Mayor Goodman’s life, who else could fill such an unquenchable appetite? Even the hired assassin personally brought in by police Chief Clyde and Mayor Goodman had found himself dead the night the water tower exploded. Mayor Goodman’s strange obsession with that water tower was quite another topic of speculation as strange electronic devices were found in the wreckage. But the big news story had been the hit man R.L Justice who had terrified Fellini during his brief visit. The giant hit-man ended up in the middle of the highway dead crushed by a tractor-trailer. Misty Finnegan just happened to be at the scene with her husband and their two young children. Another powerful man dead conveniently close to Misty Finnegan—there was a lot more to the young idealistic mayor than what she showed the public.

Chief Clyde had not been the same since the fight at the flooded river where most of the police officers of Fort Seven Mile had set a trap for Cliffhanger with the assassin and his personal assailants in command. Many body bags were filled that day including Mayor Goodman. Chief Clyde had been uncooperative and fearful since. Even when asked to be a part of this effort against the new mayor he refused—terrified that Cliffhanger might hunt him down in some way.

However there were three strong men—good long serving officers who were more than willing to take their batons to the skull of the dainty Mayor Finnegan. Four strong men against her would be too much as the back door opened into the parking lot and she emerged into the darkness. Adrian’s men remained concealed—they had done this type of thing before and knew how to behave. There would be no words of greeting to Finnegan, or warning. They would just overtake her and beat her into unconsciousness as quickly as possible making the whole thing look like a robbery. They wouldn’t try to kill her, but sometimes accidents happened. If she did die, there would be one less politician to deal with. On the upside there would be little future resistance from the public in providing pay increases to police officers when it wasn’t even safe for the mayor to walk to her car

Misty felt eyes bearing down upon her as she hastened her pace toward her SUV. She pulled out her keys and unlocked the doors even with a distance of thirty feet yet to travel. Evil was lurking somewhere in the shadows and the night was filled with warning—especially after all the police officers unceremoniously left the meeting without a word. Trouble was brewing and she suspected that many eyes watched from behind every window, every car, and every shadow. But she had been trained for this kind of thing and now was the time for it to reveal itself. Her role had changed and it was time to take the next step

Much to her fear, a rustle could be heard behind so she stopped and turned to face four assailants each with the police batons extended ready for action. She had just entered the light cast upon her vehicle from above by the lone light. She had almost made it, but there was no way to get to safety now. The heels she wore would not allow such swift action. She desired to run, to flee as fast as she could, but she remembered her training, and held strong. “I know that the face behind that mask is you Mr. Fellini. Your movement brings disrespect to your desire to conceal yourself.”

The body in the lead stopped and hovered with uncertainty.

“You don’t have to do this,” Misty warned as though a concerned mother. “You have not yet committed a crime.”

Three of the faces looked at the leader who stopped in their tracks with paralysis. “You know now that I cannot let you live,” Adrian muttered without even considering the words. “You have crossed the line and now there isn’t even deniability to mask these brutal necessities.”

“Mr. Fellini, if you do not put those weapons down, you may not live through the next two minutes,” Misty uttered with a frightening self-assurance.

For those who know my fiction writing, you can guess what happens next. For everyone else, you’ll be in for a treat. The action scenes such as what was in my Tail of the Dragon novel provides a good reference. Stay tuned for the rest of the story and the follow-up  chapter titled, “Latte Sipping Prostitutes,” coming soon.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Todd Hall’s John Kasich Rally: A warning and some help to a divided party

I once had the rare privilege of being called an “elitist” by Carlos Todd while speaking at a Liberty Township zoning hearing. So my comments about an event his grandson Todd Hall organized to rally Governor John Kasich at the Ronald Reagan building on Monday October 13th to a second term should be understood with clarity. I like Todd, he’s a nice fellow, but he’s running the Republican Party the way his grandfather did two decades ago, and it’s not working. The political tides are moving in a different direction and he doesn’t have the sail to those winds and this is a warning to him and those who are working with him so to save themselves before it’s too late. Todd and I have worked together before and when he listened, he had success. When he hasn’t, well things fell apart. So take this as a warning.

Early on Tuesday morning Hall sent out an email about the event citing that there was much excitement during the evening, that Cindy Carpenter, Sheriff Jones, and Bill Coley were speaking and that it was a packed house. Well, as the pictures here show, it was far from a crowded room that came out on a Monday evening to see the Governor of Ohio. I’ve seen more people show up in that building to rent boats for the lake on a Saturday afternoon. The amount of people who showed up to see the current governor was disgraceful. Just a few years ago—three to be exact—we packed the barn at Carriage Hill to welcome the Governor to Southern Ohio in support of the SB5 fight against public sector unions. But that night ended in a loss and the GOP reorganized to rally behind the moderates and push out the “right-wingers.” That was a stupid move.

So it should be no surprise that the only people at the rally, which should have filled the room with thousands—were political office holders and direct financial backers. It was an inbred event aimed at reconciliation of the party instead of addressing the differences. The first mistake was that it featured Sheriff Jones who spoke so poorly against John Kasich during the SB5 fight—but now was speaking at his rally. People see that kind of two faced opportunist as lecherous and very unattractive—and not worth the gas to put in their car to see, let alone donate money to the party. And Cindy Carpenter who is technically a liberal was there speaking as a representative of conservativism, that’s like inviting Bill Clinton to a morality conference. Most people who stand to make money off their political alliances—who were at that rally might have short memories because their livelihoods demand it. But for other people—the real conservatives who reside in Butler County, they have long memories—and they are looking for winners, not hand-shaking moderates.

For context there was much dispersion over the recent Cincinnati Bengal game which ended in a tie with the Carolina Panthers that took place just the day before the Kasich rally. Sure the Bengals didn’t lose the game, but they didn’t win it either. It is that kind of blasé political approach that guided the sparse few at the Kasich rally on Monday. People don’t get excited to see Kasich shake hands with his political Judas Sheriff Jones—they want to see Kasich body slam the union spokesman. If Kasich did that—more people would show up—not just the insiders who make money off the political process, as either office holders or business people seeking government contracts—but real people with real passions

When Carlos Todd called me an elitist it was in the context that I suggested that Liberty Township should strive to mold itself after Indian Hill—a successful and affluent community in the Cincinnati region—as opposed to a conglomeration of mixed development township with United Dairy Farmer stores every mile across the region. As much as I enjoy development and the creativity of capitalism, sometimes more is less. And when it comes to maintaining real estate values for the long haul, homes don’t need to be located near trendy endeavors. Today’s shiny new development is tomorrow’s slum—so I encouraged those leaders within the Republic Party over a decade ago to be mindful of the future and not the short-sighted development that puts money in their pockets tomorrow. Ethically, Todd’s interest in politics was not philosophically driven, but profit driven which makes him one of those crony capitalists unlike the laissez-faire capitalists that I advocate with much celebration. People are aware that there is a problem with such people and that their intentions are less than sincere. So their passions toward the cause of conservative philosophy is quelled and they are left without a spokesmen.

Political advocates and the money that comes from them want action, passion, and an adherence to a philosophy. The split in the Republican Party which took place in Butler County recently was reflected at this rally for Kasich and is the deliberate isolation that these moderate conservatives—bordering on out-right liberalism have created for themselves and the more traditional branches of the party. And unbeknownst to them they have played right into the strategy liberals have conducted against them allowing for this gradual erosion of value within the Republican Party. They listened to their critics and distanced themselves from the “radical right-wing” just as the liberal masses hoped they would. As a result, nobody of any passion showed up at the Kasich rally leaving Todd Hall to attempt to put a good spin on the event—which was embarrassing at best for a sitting governor who actually did straighten out some of the finances in Ohio

I’ll vote for Kasich but not with pleasure and pride. It will be a painful process not unlike scheduling surgery. Kasich is not what could be called a strong conservative—he is a moderate at best. For instance, he often states that he has a friendship with former Governor Strickland. I could not have such a friendship. To say such a thing indicates common values and beliefs that go beyond professional respect. Respect and friendship are not the same things. Kasich deep down inside believes some of the things that Strickland does leaving a small string of commonality that leads to friendship. In this way current Butler County Commissioner Don Dixon used to be a Democrat but converted because the politics of Butler County under Carlos Todd meant that Democrats would never get elected in such a conservative county. So he changed political parties to survive in that environment. Another Butler County Commissioner Cindy Carpenter if she lived in San Francisco or even New England would be a Democrat. Her behavior is undeniably liberal and she is Sheriff Jones’ right-hand woman in Butler County. There is nothing coming from Sheriff Jones and Cindy Carpenter that is going to excite the conservative base who lives in Butler County. They see through the haze at the reality that they have very weak representation in elected office as conservatives.

Kasich himself has spent the last couple of years seeking votes for Medicaid expansion essentially endorsing Obamacare. So there is nothing exciting there for real conservatives to invest their passions into—they will likely hold their noses and vote for Kasich, but they won’t waste their time on a Monday night to hang out with a sell-out and rally him to a victory. Sell-outs are easy to see, unique people with real passions are not—so this is why nobody showed up to the Kasich rally

It is easy to call people like me a radical elitist because the real concern is that moderate politicians like those at the Kasich rally can’t suddenly become ethical. It is easier to just isolate themselves from the competition of thought. It is more comforting for Todd Hall’s Republicans to compare themselves to their liberal rivals as opposed to their actual conservative base. Without that conservative base—and in Butler County it is the David Kern Republicans—there will continue to be eroding support for political events and the money that needs to be generated by them. The situation is quite serious as the evidence is in the event organized by Hall for the sitting Governor. In this part of the state he finds his strongest support. Just imagine the reaction in places like Toledo and Cleveland just days before the election. That is the cost of sitting in office and behaving like a liberal.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

The Ebola Conspiracies: Warnings from ‘The Hot Zone’

I first learned about the Ebola virus from the 1994 thriller The Hot Zone. The disease has been around for a while and was contained successfully for over 20 years to the African continent. For reasons that seem to be pulled straight off the pages of that best-selling book, the level of stupidity regarding the containment of the disease over the last couple of months have only fueled the conspiracy theories that a massive desire to depopulate the world with a deadly virus are true. The failure to contain travelers from the hot zone of Africa is the first give-away. Then the failures to stop contact with infected victims in the United States has been the other indicator. There seems to be more to the story than just lackadaisical stupidity on behalf of the government workers at play. Conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and musical artist Chris Brown have justifiable concerns to their active imaginations. It doesn’t take much to draw conclusions that something is array.

 

The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story is a best-selling[1] 1994 non-fiction thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebola viruses and marburgviruses. The basis of the book was Preston’s 1992 New Yorker article “Crisis in the Hot Zone“.[2]

 

The filoviruses Ebola virus (EBOV), Sudan virus (SUDV), Marburg virus (MARV), and Ravn virus (RAVV) are Biosafety Level 4 agents. Biosafety Level 4 agents are extremely dangerous to humans because they are very infectious, have a high case-fatality rate, and there are no known prophylactics, treatments, or cures. Along with describing the history of the diseases caused by these two Central African diseases, Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Marburg virus disease (MVD), Preston describes a 1989 incident in which a relative of Ebola virus named Reston virus (RESTV), was discovered at a primate quarantine facility in Reston, Virginia, less than fifteen miles (24 km) away from Washington, DC. The virus found at the facility was a mutated form of the original Ebola virus, and was initially mistaken for Simian Hemorrhagic Fever (SHV). The original Reston facility involved in the incident, located at 1946 Isaac Newton Square, was subsequently torn down sometime between 1995 and 1998.[3]

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone

With the sudden rash of cases dominating the news cycle—eclipsing all other stories including the ISIS debacles, IRS crises, the continued failures of the Obama administration at virtually everything—a bit of panic has ensued into the mainstream leaving MTV to actually discuss the issue. Below is a small article from MTV actually castigating a black artist for reckless comments about an Ebola conspiracy theory. Ironically, this is one of the few times a major progressive network has come out against the type of rhetoric that is coming out from people in the African-American communities like Louis Farrakhan.

 

“When it comes to updates on his new music, videos or graffiti, Chris Brown is a great source of information. But … if you’re looking for reliable, timely news on the Ebola epidemic, Breezy is not really your guy. See, on Monday (October 13), amid news that a second person in the U.S. had tested positive for the deadly virus after coming into contact with the nation’s first patient, who is now deceased, CB took to Twitter to spout his conspiracy theory on the spread of the disease that has killed thousands in Africa.”

http://www.mtv.com/news/1961927/chris-brown-ebola-tweet/

If Chris Brown had sent out a Tweet about the Ferguson riots, MTV would have been all over themselves in support of the celebrity—but on this case, they are oddly critical. This of course points to the kind of conspiracy that is a product of Alex Jones who is often bombastic in his predilections, but often makes some interesting observations that deserve investigation. His belief reflected on the Info Wars website seen below is that this recent outbreak of Ebola is part of a Globalist process conspiracy—meaning that the disease is being deliberately spread through bureaucratic means to depopulate the earth before medicine can possibly react to the danger—as shown in the quotes below.

“The specific object of the Globalist Ebola process conspiracy is here theorized to involve diminishing the linkage, in public consciousness, of Ebola with nationality status. Globalists have huge immigration plans for the U.S., and they do not want Ebola (or any other infectious disease, for that matter) getting in the way of those plans. That is why their Ebola policy protocols—as absurd as they are (discussed shortly)— read the way they do, that is why we have been exposed to a cloud of lies emanating from Dallas and dispersed through the MSM, and that is why Duncan was discharged with antibiotics soon after his first visit to the Emergency Room of Texas Presbyterian.

Because the theory is a process conspiracy theory and therefore rooted in subverted policy, it has application not just to Duncan, but to future Duncan’s as well. The argument proceeds as follows. First, a brief observation concerning risk is offered which, even though obvious, is necessary because without it the argument will make little sense. Second, the CDC’s Ebola Screening and Isolation polices are examined, and, on the basis of the risk observation, shown to be not only wholly inadequate to the task they were allegedly crafted to meet, but quite likely to make the Ebola contagion problem even worse. Third, evidence is provided in support of the idea that the Ebola process conspiracy theory offers a simple, and very plausible explanation, of certain important assertions of fact, and inconsistencies, emanating from Dallas that are otherwise rather difficult to explain. Throughout, the connection to the issue of nationality status will be obvious.”

http://www.infowars.com/the-dallas-ebola-case-an-immigration-related-process-conspiracy/

 

There are aspects to both conspiracy theories, whether it is a fear that there are forces who want to kill black people with the disease, or a global conspiracy by the elite banks to depopulate the earth so to save it from the thriving masses leaving mankind to begin again under the care and guidance of a rich elite—the stupidity in controlling the disease has supported those fears. But what is not a conspiracy is the reaction that Americans have had toward the disease, a shallow cowering fear that has emitted short of panic as the news coverage has intensified over the last couple of weeks. Any Jihadist terrorist who might desire to kill themselves and many others for Allah is likely already thinking of ways that they can contract the disease and catch a flight to the resort towns of Mexico where incoming customs are lax that detainment is nearly impossible. Mexican tourist towns think of only one primary objective, vacation dollars spent on their economy. They are too short-sighted in those cities to think of the implication of a world-wide Ebola outbreak. From there it is easy to walk across the American border to attend a college party or dance club at a nearby city. Two weeks infected and dripping with a feverish sweat, the terrorist could contaminant thousands of people in a single evening that would then infect many thousands more in the ensuing weeks. If someone wanted to create terror against the most successful capitalist country in the world, Ebola would be the way to do it, especially given the reaction to the few incidents already popping up in North America. Given the ease for which it was spread and the incompetence of the government to contain it the only logical conclusion would be conspiracy.

The reason that the 1994 book The Hot Zone was such a terrifying best seller is due to the theoretical proximity it has to reality through either incompetence or conspiracy. Either way, we are vulnerable to the grim realities of a devastating disease and must take caution. Part of that caution is in knowing how to avoid it. The second part is in taking action to replace the type of people who have shown such gross incompetence at their government positions to allow for Ebola to migrate from Africa to America either by purposeful design or sheer stupidity. Those responsible need to be removed from positions of decision-making so that proper managers can take their place with a level of competence that necessitates the performance expectations that Americans have in living free of such deadly diseases as those spawned in West Africa.

 

The conspiracies spawned off of this latest Ebola scare are rooted in incompetency—they are born when people suspect that they aren’t being given all the facts of the matter leaving their imaginations to fill the gaps. It is not they who are at fault—it is not Chris Brown or Alex Jones who are the nut cases in advocating conspiracies when it comes to Ebola. It is the idiots who let it leave West Africa for destinations on the continent of North America. The warnings were there from the start, but obviously those in charge had forgotten the warnings given in The Hot Zone. Now—it’s too late. Ebola has gone from a scare to a grim reality that is now non-fiction and beyond speculation.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

Mermaids at the Newport Aquarium: Thank a capitalist like Steiner for conservation awareness

Many think that because I’m a conservative that I naturally do not support conservation. These are the same types who think that the issue of slavery was only a white on black occurrence occurring in America from the 1600s until the mid 1800s. Of course slavery was a much larger social problem involving all races and sexes of that particular time period and it was America who was the first to take a moral stand against it—to such an extent that a war was fought over it—led by Republicans. The same type of manipulation has occurred to make conservatives into villains regarding conservation—and largely it has gone unchallenged. That is because the answer to the conservation question is again that it is capitalism which is the biggest spokesman for the conservation movement which is much to the frustration of the bleeding heart liberal types. So it is with some surprise that people learn of my love and support of the Newport Aquarium.

The primary reason that I am so excited about the upcoming Liberty Center development being constructed as we speak in my community of Liberty Township is because it is a Steiner project. The Steiner group twenty years ago envisioned a way to save the embattled city of Newport, Kentucky with a brilliant new development on the river built around a new state-of-the art aquarium. That aquarium was a game changer and to this day is worth an out-of-state visit just to see. Situated across from the Cincinnati skyline, it has changed life on the banks of the Ohio River for the culture of the Cincinnati region and it all started with the capitalist Steiner.

 

Years later during a week in mid October 2014 the Newport Aquarium brought in the Weeki Wachee Mermaids from the popular Florida resort to perform in an extravaganza that I thought was incredibly wonderful. To the music of the Little Mermaid from Disney thousands upon thousands of little girls lined up to meet the beautiful mermaids and see them perform in the Coral Reef tank—which was absolutely glorious. Capitalism was on display at its finest. Of all the little girls present many will find they have an appreciation of sea life because of that experience and will likely carry it with them their entire lives. Two Disney films dominate the exhibits in a subtle way at the Newport Aquarium, Finding Nemo and of course The Little Mermaid. Disney created the gateway into such stories by creating the mythology. Steiner and his group brought that mythology to reality. And the wonderful Weeki Wachee swimmers from Florida and their capitalist endeavor their brought mythology to life for profit which further intensifies the experience for countless lives touched by their endeavors.

Leaving the Newport Aquarium after seeing the exhibit of mermaids on a sunny day in October with the great Ohio River rolling by just feet away, with Mitchells, Barnes and Noble and the AMC movie theater looming above, it was the vision of the Steiner group which brought this experience to so many people and God love him for it. It took a lot of headache to bring that vision to reality and I am thankful that he did so twenty years ago. My brother is a diver at the Newport Aquarium and it has been an important place for my family for a number of years. I simply love the place, but without Steiner—the capitalist—it would have never happened. The Newport Aquarium is one of the best exhibits of its kind in the world and has maintained that status into its second decade. And it’s still going strong and is able to bring in talent like the Weeki Wachee Mermaids from such a distance to bring a bit of Disney World to the Midwest.

 

http://www.newportaquarium.com/What-to-do-in-cincinnati/Aquarium-Events/Mermaids.aspx?cid=ppc_000161

 

At the aquarium in Newport, conservation is on full display. It is evident why manufacturers would want to refrain from careless drilling, over deforestation, and a destruction of the earth’s natural resources by seeing the exhibits. Science driven by capitalism is the best conservation method that there is, and the Newport Aquarium is the perfect example of such an endeavor. I could sit in front of their exhibits for hours and just watch the animals—and appreciate the unique circumstances which made them possible as a life form. Without a profit motive however, there would be no Newport Aquarium, or a Newport Levee experience. Profit drives science and conservation. A lack of such formulas gives you the Middle East—sand, poverty, and stupidity. The Newport Aquarium is culture at its finest—it brings out the best in people and is a wonderful, magnificent creation of the Steiner group.

 

With the same epic vision the Steiner group is bringing its latest creation to Liberty Center. I expect that complex to dwarf what has occurred at the Newport on the Levee development. And because of the well-designed shopping complex the very popular outdoor store Cabela’s is moving in across the street on Liberty Way. I can’t think of any aspect of modern culture that most brings conservation to the minds of the masses than such a shopping experience at Cabela’s—an outlet dedicated to the outdoor experience and the preservation of those outdoors for future lives. Without Steiner, there would be no Cabela’s. And without Cabela’s the Bass Pro Shops down the road wouldn’t be expanding the way they are by necessity of competition. Because of those two retail outlets millions of people will become inspired to not only participate in outdoor activities, but to preserve them through the education programs that come as natural off-shoots of those shopping experiences. Because of the Steiner group and their use of capitalism to create profit driven experiences, conservation awareness will be greatly expanded dwarfing the great work done at the Newport Aquarium so many years ago even into the present.

If there are little ones in your family now is the time to see the Weekie Wachee Mermaids at the Newport Aquarium. I’ve seen the show in Florida and it was wonderful, but the Newport Aquarium provides a much more up-close and personal experience because of the tubular design of the display in the Coral Reef section. It was quite majestic. It was a brilliant move by both the Weekie Wachee crew and the Aquarium to pull those two elements together. They are playing only through this upcoming weekend, so make sure to see it. Better yet, take a day off work and visit during the day when the crowds are much less. Take your kids out of school for the experience. They’ll learn a whole lot more at the Newport Aquarium than they will in school, that’s for sure, and the experience you’ll share as a family will be unrivaled. It is that good, and is just one more reminder of how wonderful capitalism can be when it’s used properly in the hands of wonderful people in the Steiner Group. Their creativity and desire for quality has given thousands an experience in their own back yards worthy of a week-long vacation to a distant land. Only it’s right there at Newport on the Levee. So take your kids, eat at their fine restaurant, pet some sharks and thank a capitalist for the enriching experience.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

Capitalism as a Weapon: The peaceful conquest of our enemies without firing a shot

The Wall Street Journal had a wonderful little essay in their Saturday review section that sounded like something one might find at this site every day. The author Hernando De Soto wrote a nice little article titled The Capitalist Cure for Terrorism: Military might alone won’t defeat Islamic State and its ilk. The U.S. needs to promote economic empowerment. It was such a good article I place a portion of it below along with a link to the whole article for further review. In it Hernando talks about his experiences in Peru as communism was moving through South America and Central America during the 80s and 90s and how it was defeated with economic prosperity. He suggests that if the same strategy were employed in the Middle East, that it would be a lot more powerful than airstrikes and “troops on the ground.” The way to beat communism which is always floating around in between the sentences of progressive thought is to advocate capitalism. There is a lot more strength in that economic policy than in any military occupation by force of a people in a remote land. Here is some of Hernando’s article.

By 1990, a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization called Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path, had seized control of most of my home country, Peru, where I served as the president’s principal adviser. Fashionable opinion held that the people rebelling were the impoverished or underemployed wage slaves of Latin America, that capitalism couldn’t work outside the West and that Latin cultures didn’t really understand market economics.

The conventional wisdom proved to be wrong, however. Reforms in Peru gave indigenous entrepreneurs and farmers control over their assets and a new, more accessible legal framework in which to run businesses, make contracts and borrow—spurring an unprecedented rise in living standards.

Between 1980 and 1993, Peru won the only victory against a terrorist movement since the fall of communism without the intervention of foreign troops or significant outside financial support for its military. Over the next two decades, Peru’s gross national product per capita grew twice as fast as the average in the rest of Latin America, with its middle class growing four times faster.

Today we hear the same economic and cultural pessimism about the Arab world that we did about Peru in the 1980s. But we know better. Just as Shining Path was beaten in Peru, so can terrorists be defeated by reforms that create an unstoppable constituency for rising living standards in the Middle East and North Africa.

To make this agenda a reality, the only requirements are a little imagination, a hefty dose of capital (injected from the bottom up) and government leadership to build, streamline and fortify the laws and structures that let capitalism flourish. As anyone who’s walked the streets of Lima, Tunis and Cairo knows, capital isn’t the problem—it is the solution.

Here’s the Peru story in brief: Shining Path, led by a former professor named Abimael Guzmán, attempted to overthrow the Peruvian government in the 1980s. The group initially appealed to some desperately poor farmers in the countryside, who shared their profound distrust of Peru’s elites. Mr. Guzmán cast himself as the savior of proletarians who had languished for too long under Peru’s abusive capitalists.

What changed the debate, and ultimately the government’s response, was proof that the poor in Peru weren’t unemployed or underemployed laborers or farmers, as the conventional wisdom held at the time. Instead, most of them were small entrepreneurs, operating off the books in Peru’s “informal” economy. They accounted for 62% of Peru’s population and generated 34% of its gross domestic product—and they had accumulated some $70 billion worth of real-estate assets.

This new way of seeing economic reality led to major constitutional and legal reforms. Peru reduced by 75% the red tape blocking access to economic activity, provided ombudsmen and mechanisms for filing complaints against government agencies and recognized the property rights of the majority. One legislative package alone gave official recognition to 380,000 informal businesses, thus bringing above board, from 1990 to 1994, some 500,000 jobs and $8 billion in tax revenue.

 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-capitalist-cure-for-terrorism-1412973796

Of course President Obama would never consider the types of reforms which took place in Peru because as a progressive—his underlying philosophy is that of Karl Marx communism—the same brand that is behind the Muslim Brotherhood, the tyrants of South and Central America and in general the labor unions of the world. As enemies of capitalism, they are in paralysis to utilize it as a military objective and are thus forced to commit the type of imperialism that America is often criticized for. But that is entirely unnecessary—as capitalism is the best strategic mode of military conquest. Free people to their own economic success and they will have no need for a dictator. Make people wealthy in the Middle East, and they will have no desire to feed the resources of ISIS.

It is wonderful to see such strategic thinking coming out of the Wall Street Journal. New York, even though it was built by capitalism is a hard place these days comprehend such an economic philosophy. Progressivism is the ruler of that city these days. Yes capitalism still speaks loudly in Times Square, but the underpinnings of progressive philosophy are slowly destroying everything that city has meant to America which is a military objective coming from the other direction—from antagonists like ISIS and other Muslim radicals. They wish communism upon the earth and they use religion to hide it. So it is only fair to utilize the strength of the West—capitalism—to crush the enemies of our nation without firing a shot.

You’d think that Obama being the peace-loving old hippie follower that he was and is would love the idea of a peaceful solution to the world’s problems. But Obama is an enemy of capitalism, so he cannot use it to save the world, which is a shame, because it is the most effective weapon that America has against its enemies. And America has enemies not because of what it does to other nations through imperialism, but because it is always a threat to tyrannical control they wish to impose on the world. America because of its capitalism is an example to the world that tyrants hope to extinguish so that promises of a better life do not come from economic freedom, but through the support of the next rulers of a Karl Marx economy where each takes from confiscated wealth according to their need.

The solution to many of the world’s anxieties could be accomplished through the simple embrace of capitalism as an economic force. The continued desire to find the next subtle way to deliver world-wide communism is the root of much trouble that can be seen today whether it is the ISIS terrorism, or the border troubles with Mexico. At the heart of most third world economies and their hatred for America is the old relic of thought started by Karl Marx, the great destroyer. And the best counter measure to Marx and his communism is the fine essence of self-empowerment through glorious capitalism.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean and why justice comes from a bullwhip

A recent comment about my site here, Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom contemplated my use of bullwhips and attempted to associate it with slavery in the typical progressive fashion. Of course I’ve heard all this before and each time I hear it only inspires me more to expose progressivism for the destructive force that it is more intensely. One of the reasons that bullwhip work is degraded as sadomasochism and instruments of slavery is due to this progressive marketing campaign that wants to divide up everything into just a few categories, fairness for women, fairness for people of color, fairness for the poor, and fairness for other countries. Of course that fairness is always defined by a political class of elites hungry for power and inspired by the communist movement of the 20th century. But that is always ignored. Instead this is the kind of intelligence we are to contend with:

‘Justice comes with the crack of the whip,” is the tag line. And he wields bullwhips as a hobby. Naw, he’s no overseer. What connotations could I even imply?

 

The implication there of course is that as an “overman” I want to be a slave owner ruling over a flock of black slaves. The bullwhip is part of the slave master tradition to the thinking of these political marionettes. But they would be wrong, in fact, they are part of a massive cover-up which seeks to highlight the effects of slavery in America—inherited from Europe—and the type of slavery that Thomas Jefferson himself attacked when he could—which was the start of the United States Marines. That slavery started it all in the modern world and involved Muslims in North Africa. The information and statistics are staggering of how many white people were enslaved by Muslims of color and were articulated in the 2004 book Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean. Read about the study conducted in that book below:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study suggests that a million or more European Christians were enslaved by Muslims in North Africa between 1530 and 1780 – a far greater number than had ever been estimated before.

 

Robert Davis, professor of history at Ohio State University, developed a unique methodology to calculate the number of white Christians who were enslaved along Africa’s Barbary Coast, arriving at much higher slave population estimates than any previous studies had found.

 

Most other accounts of slavery along the Barbary Coast didn’t try to estimate the number of slaves, or only looked at the number of slaves in particular cities, Davis said. Most previously estimated slave counts have thus tended to be in the thousands, or at most in the tens of thousands. Davis, by contrast, has calculated that between 1 million and 1.25 million European Christians were captured and forced to work in North Africa from the 16th to 18th centuries.

 

Davis’s new estimates appear in the book Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800 (Palgrave Macmillan).

“Much of what has been written gives the impression that there were not many slaves and minimizes the impact that slavery had on Europe,” Davis said. “Most accounts only look at slavery in one place, or only for a short period of time. But when you take a broader, longer view, the massive scope of this slavery and its powerful impact become clear.”

Davis said it is useful to compare this Mediterranean slavery to the Atlantic slave trade that brought black Africans to the Americas. Over the course of four centuries, the Atlantic slave trade was much larger – about 10 to 12 million black Africans were brought to the Americas. But from 1500 to 1650, when trans-Atlantic slaving was still in its infancy, more white Christian slaves were probably taken to Barbary than black African slaves to the Americas, according to Davis.

“One of the things that both the public and many scholars have tended to take as given is that slavery was always racial in nature – that only blacks have been slaves. But that is not true,” Davis said. “We cannot think of slavery as something that only white people did to black people.”

During the time period Davis studied, it was religion and ethnicity, as much as race, that determined who became slaves.

“Enslavement was a very real possibility for anyone who traveled in the Mediterranean, or who lived along the shores in places like Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, and even as far north as England and Iceland,” he said.

Pirates (called corsairs) from cities along the Barbary Coast in north Africa – cities such as Tunis and Algiers – would raid ships in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, as well as seaside villages to capture men, women and children. The impact of these attacks were devastating – France, England, and Spain each lost thousands of ships, and long stretches of the Spanish and Italian coasts were almost completely abandoned by their inhabitants. At its peak, the destruction and depopulation of some areas probably exceeded what European slavers would later inflict on the African interior.

Although hundreds of thousands of Christian slaves were taken from Mediterranean countries, Davis noted, the effects of Muslim slave raids was felt much further away: it appears, for example, that through most of the 17th century the English lost at least 400 sailors a year to the slavers.

Even Americans were not immune. For example, one American slave reported that 130 other American seamen had been enslaved by the Algerians in the Mediterranean and Atlantic just between 1785 and 1793.

Davis said the vast scope of slavery in North Africa has been ignored and minimized, in large part because it is on no one’s agenda to discuss what happened.

The enslavement of Europeans doesn’t fit the general theme of European world conquest and colonialism that is central to scholarship on the early modern era, he said. Many of the countries that were victims of slavery, such as France and Spain, would later conquer and colonize the areas of North Africa where their citizens were once held as slaves. Maybe because of this history, Western scholars have thought of the Europeans primarily as “evil colonialists” and not as the victims they sometimes were, Davis said.

Davis said another reason that Mediterranean slavery has been ignored or minimized has been that there have not been good estimates of the total number of people enslaved. People of the time – both Europeans and the Barbary Coast slave owners – did not keep detailed, trustworthy records of the number of slaves. In contrast, there are extensive records that document the number of Africans brought to the Americas as slaves.

So Davis developed a new methodology to come up with reasonable estimates of the number of slaves along the Barbary Coast. Davis found the best records available indicating how many slaves were at a particular location at a single time. He then estimated how many new slaves it would take to replace slaves as they died, escaped or were ransomed.

“The only way I could come up with hard numbers is to turn the whole problem upside down – figure out how many slaves they would have to capture to maintain a certain level,” he said. “It is not the best way to make population estimates, but it is the only way with the limited records available.”

Putting together such sources of attrition as deaths, escapes, ransoming, and conversions, Davis calculated that about one-fourth of slaves had to be replaced each year to keep the slave population stable, as it apparently was between 1580 and 1680. That meant about 8,500 new slaves had to be captured each year. Overall, this suggests nearly a million slaves would have been taken captive during this period. Using the same methodology, Davis has estimated as many as 475,000 additional slaves were taken in the previous and following centuries.

The result is that between 1530 AD and 1780 AD there were almost certainly 1 million and quite possibly as many as 1.25 million white, European Christians enslaved by the Muslims of the Barbary Coast.

 

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htm

Of course nobody ever hears about this because under the re-education so fashionable under progressive interpretation, the slavery of whites doesn’t fit the communist motivated, anti-American imperialism that is the real target of the attack by those who want to destroy America and the capitalism that drives its economic power. So the slavery argument has been captured to only discuss the practice in America. What is ignored is that once America had freed itself during the Revolution it immediately went to work to free all men which started the Civil War. After the Civil War was a period of westward expansion which highlights the era typically rendered by the cinematic western. It is from this time that the bullwhip came into play not as a plantation guardian, but of individuals facing down the vast open spaces of the American West.

 

The tag line I use at this site is a quote from my own 2004 novel The Symposium of Justice where the main character Cliffhanger fights off modern slavery by destroying a mind control device designed to interfere with the thinking of a town’s citizens and guide them in the proper political direction. The use of bullwhips in the story has nothing to do with slavery or standing over other people—it is about freeing people so that they can think. The use of the bullwhip is to use force to punish bad guys for attempting to enslave civilization. My use of the bullwhip in that story context is to free people, not to enslave them.

Those who chose to revise history are far more dangerous than the perceived slave master who uses a bullwhip to control the black slaves at their southern plantation. The minds of these critics shown at the beginning of this article are made by modern progressives who make movies like Dajango Unchained and the ignorant masses believe wholeheartedly that the filmmaker Tarentino is a scholar who knows much about the slavery argument. But he doesn’t. For those who do know, slavery wasn’t a black or white condition, it was a product of the times, and white people were just as vulnerable to enslavement as blacks were—yet this is never discussed even though the evidence is quite extensive.

 

For my own lessons in history it is my proposal that it takes an “overman” to see past the limitations imposed on mankind through thousands of years motivated exclusively by ignorance. It takes such a position to understand why a 2004 book written about white slavery in North Africa by a professor of history at Ohio State was ignored—because it didn’t fit the progressive definitions meant to attack American imperialism. It is also meant to ignore the role that Muslims played in that slavery—as Islam is a religion that progressives are advocating as a volatile assailant against the bourgeoisie of world power, the North American continent. Those progressive definitions come straight out of the books of Karl Marx and have no other grounding in reality. To see such contradictions not only takes a student of history, but someone willing to step outside of the current human limitations of personal sensitivity and political concern to see the truth. And the truth is, America freed their slaves, but the rest of the world didn’t. Of those other places in the world that promoted slavery so intensely, it was the Muslims who then as they do now, seek to rule over mankind with an iron fist. For me, the bullwhip is a symbol of the American West and the only time in world history that a nation freed itself from a tyrannical past. That symbol needs to be propped up for the world to see so that they too can rise up against their slave masters with a projection of strength that can metaphorically come only from a bullwhip.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

The Reach Out Lakota Charity Dinner: Invasion of the “Latte Sipping Prostitutes”

When you want to know what’s wrong with politics all you have to do is pull off the masks of events like the recent Reach Out Lakota charity event to know what it is. Sponsored by the progressive oriented Chamber members it was a dinner pitched in the following manner:

Imagine having a wonderful evening out with friends including cocktails, dinner and entertainment. For dinner, you and your friends will be seated at your table of ten, decorated in the theme or motif of your choice. And, you’ll be waited on by a TV news anchor or a morning drive DJ or the Police Chief or other celebrity! Now imagine having this much fun as you raise money for Reach Out Lakota and your community! No need to imagine…it will happen on Thursday, October 9, 2014 and you can be a part of this fabulous evening at the Savannah Center in West Chester.

I know most of the “celebrities” listed below who were the waiters at the event and can report to them that this is exactly why I don’t do many public appearances any more. Just as in the past when it comes time to rise up to fight against an issue, these types of crossing of the swords events prevent clear articulation of the crises at hand—which I’ll explain in a moment.

Justin Jeffre – 98 Degrees

Adam Marshall – WCPO 9 reporter

Karin Johnson – WLWT 5 reporter

Perry Schaible – WKRC Local 12 reporter

Kristen Bitonte – Liberty Township Administrator

Judi Boyko – West Chester Township Administrator

Margie Conditt – State Representative (District 52)

Joe Hinson – President/CEO at West Chester • Liberty Chamber Alliance

Ben Dibble – Lakota Board of Education Member

Lynda O’Connor – Lakota Board of Education Member

Julie Shaffer – Lakota Board of Education Member

Tom Ferrell – Liberty Township Trustee

Joel Herzog – Assistant Chief of West Chester Police Department

Rick Prinz – Assistant Chief of West Chester Fire Department

TC Rogers – Butler County Commissioner

Roger Reynolds – Butler County Auditor

Nancy Nix – Butler County Treasurer

Mary Swain – Butler County Clerk of Courts

Steve Mayhugh – Director of West Chester Library/MidPointe

Kevin Joseph – CEO at West Chester Hospital

Tony Pike – Former UC Bearcats and NFL quarterback

Paul Heintz – MOJO Running

David Armbruster – ‘Id Man’ from 700 WLW Reds pregame

Becky Wilber – CTI Restaurants

Todd Wilber – CTI Restaurants

http://reachoutlakota.org/celebritydinner.html

What the Reach Out Lakota people are doing is a good thing, and many of the names on that list—many whom I personally like—people like Karin Johnston, T.C. Rogers, Roger Reynolds, and Todd Wilber truly mean well. Such events are nice occasions where you put your political differences away from people like Lynda O’Conner, Julie Schafer, and Ben Dibble—all from the Lakota school board, along with Joe Hinson of the Chamber Alliance and break bread with them for a good cause. However, and this is true of many people on that list—when it comes time to stand against those people and fight them on an issue, the resolve is not there later to perform the task because of these events.

Many hearing the news reports from the event would think that the Lakota school system was raising money for itself. It wasn’t well reported that the Lakota Reach Out program has nothing to do with the government school itself, but was started by a group of Lakota moms who wanted to help some of the down and out within the community with charity. But, when such events of a high-profile such as this are performed, Lakota gets the credit which is why the school board members were there—to mooch as second handers off the positive public relations generated.

During the last four tax increase attempts and of course all future attempts–the first coming in the 2016/2017 time frame–events like this take the edge away from those who don’t want tax increases imposed on them. People like Julie Schafer who ride the coat tails of success by attending such events and feel privileged to hang out with people like Todd Wilber sipping wine and eating fine food will be the first to rally her tax fanatical supporters into boycotts against Wilber’s businesses if he doesn’t come out in favor of a levy attempt. I know it, because I’ve seen it first hand. People like Wilber have no choice but to play nicely because at events like the Lakota Reach Out program charity dinners break down the barriers of differences by their very nature, which is why all the usual villains of progressive influence are at the head of the organization. The goal for them is to take the edge off those who would otherwise fight their desires.

I often make reference to these types of people—the progressive manipulators at the front of these social orders as “latte sipping prostitutes” and here’s why—because there is much evil conducted at these types of dinners hidden behind the mask of goodness which translates out into a general degradation of our political, economic, and moral social manifestation. The organizers often prostitute themselves to progressive causes in trade for second handed appeal by way of social recognition. What gets traded away is the ethical position to stand against progressive tax increases and corrosive social policies proposed through organizations like the Chamber Alliance. Just as a prostitute losses the ability to stand for moral causes because they sell their bodies for money, the latte sipping prostitutes of such events lose their moral ground when Lakota schools proposes their future tax increases because the public has seen people like Wilber, Reynolds, and Rogers breaking bread with Schafer, Dibble, and O’Conner. And how did they see it, because Karin Johnston, and Adam Marshall brought it straight to their eyes and it will always be remembered. Just as it is uncomfortable for a prostitute to see one of their customers at a shopping center with their family after the dirty act is done and payment was accepted, the realization comes often too late at how paralyzed the prostitute is in such moments. They can’t go up to the spouse of their customer and report the moral depravity of the marriage, because they have no moral ground to do so—as they were the advocates of such an illicit act from the start. What might have been an enjoyable experience turns out to be a vice later when a moral position is required. At that time the names on the above list will be in paralysis. They might give money to someone like me as a mercenary to fight on their behalf—but they will also seek to keep the whores quiet when they start demanding more money through means of extortion. When the latte sipping prostitutes howl out in anger for more money, more attention, and more respect, those who use those whores are unable to stand against them because they crossed the line and lost the ability to cast moral judgment against such social disgraces.

It is for that reason that I have not been to social functions much in 2014. It is easy to see what is going on and what the strategy of the other side desires to accomplish. What is more important than the immediate gratification of wine banging and laughs shared for the benefit of the misfortunate in our community is the ability to stand on a moral principle when all the other vagrants have been hushed into silence by the latte sipping prostitutes. Lakota the school system is one of those whore houses—and most of the people who support it are the whores. They attach themselves to good groups like Lakota Out Reach just as a whore couples with a successful customer for all the reasons one can think of—but most prominently to gain emotional leverage at a latter date that will prevent action against evil when it matters most

It is important to remember that what makes us are not the friendships we maintain through fake smiles and forced acceptance of values that are compromises at best. It is in our ability to stand for something—otherwise society will fall for anything. The reason that politics in our society is such a disgrace is that it is filled with these kinds of events populated by these types of people. Strong candidates newly elected soon find after a few years of this type of sword crossing that they lose their ability to stand against the whores who come into their life nearly by force and plop themselves into their laps with offerings of delight and friendship. But at the end of the day what is learned always too late is that there is a price for that friendship—and at that point the ability to stand against injustice is long gone—pissed away like the fine wine drank at events like the Lakota Out Reach dinner.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

Lakota’s Standards Based Report Cards: Teaching children to carry brown bags of beer and purchase lottery tickets

Lakota like many other Ohio schools is experimenting with a new progressive education standard which seeks to remove the value of a grade and replace it with a new kind of report card. The essence of this new grading system is called standards based reporting, and features a measure of whether or not a student has obtained a level of competency in a learned task. The abandonment of the traditional grading system is the removal of quality from education which is the overall intent. Since modern education cannot properly measure quality through the top down learning structure assessed by a grading system to determine exceptional results from mediocre results, government schools are moving toward this new standard. Here is what it is and how it’s measured as reported by Lakota schools in southern Ohio.

STANDARDS BASED REPORT CARD

Lakota is pilot-testing a new kind of report card in several schools this year. Although the test of the “standards-based report card” is only in third grade at Cherokee; fourth grade at Heritage and sixth grade at Woodland, we want to share information about these report cards with all parents who have children in elementary school. This is part of a continuing weekly series of information about the new reports cards and the pilot test.

What is a “standards-based report card?”

 

A traditional report card (A, B, C, etc.) shows a single grade a student earned for all the combined work done – tests, quizzes, homework, classroom work, etc. — in one subject area, such as math, science or social studies. The purpose of the new report card being tested is to instead communicate student progress toward an end goal – mastering a specific learning standard. A standards-based report card identifies specific skills and content that a student is expected to master while in a certain grade. Then it uses a 1, 2, 3 grading system to show the child’s progress toward that specific standard.  A “1” means a student has not yet mastered the skill or content. A “2” means a student is making good progress towards mastery. A “3” means a student has mastered the particular skill or content.

It’s important to understand what a standard is. One standard for fourth grade, in English/Language Arts, is: “Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.” When a student demonstrates he or she understands different points of view in story narration, and can compare and contrast those points, the student would earn a “3” grade, demonstrating mastery of that particular standard.

 

That all sounds very “educational” until it is realized that the entire education system will have to be dumbed down to allow for such acceptance gates of understanding as opposed to the traditional method of not only measuring knowledge, but the quality of that knowledge. This new standard only shows that a student has an understanding, but it ignores the quality of that knowledge. In the old method, an “A” stated that a person understood information at an exceptional level, a “B” at a moderate level, and a “C” meant one had a passable understanding. Anything less meant that a student was failing to grapple the information.

What has been abandoned is the quality of understanding during learning and therefore the expectation level of education in general. Under the cover of improvement, public education has found a way to protect itself from the increasing pressure of attaching federal money to funding based on performance when their government employees are failing to actually reach children by disguising the charade through removing the quality portion of education. They have done this by eliminating value judgment in a traditional grading system.

 

For those concerned about Common Core methods used in government schools, standards based report cards are attached directly to Common Core. The path to these teaching methods is inevitable failure in every category of human endeavor. This is why the most prudent method of combating these maniacal despots is to remove your children from all government schools and waive the free baby-sitting service. Parents who can afford to should home school their children because it is the only way to remove these progressive influences from a child’s education.

 

Government schools will continue for the next decade to reach for air in their struggle to stay relevant creating feel-good programs like these standards based report cards to repackage their failures into bright shiny boxes. But what’s at the core of Common Core is the embrace of the mediocre, the un-exceptional, and the lackluster to make the “common” the only standard that matters in a government run society infatuated with fairness for their democratic masses—the otherwise lazy, contemptuous, and the valueless.

 

Standards based report cards are the latest attempt to avoid any kind of measurement that actually expects learning to be achieved by the masses of children attending government schools. It is meant to camouflage failure with garments of success to conceal the rotten core that is at the heart of public education. It is meant to make future products of government schools even worse than they are today—thoughtless malcontents who laugh at every Beavis and Butt Head joke, but have no sense of wonder at a shooting star—other than to make a wish and pray for a winning lottery ticket.

 

I normally get gas for my vehicles during off times, when there are fewer people at the gas station during the day while the rest of the world is busy. I don’t like to get gas in the morning when most everyone is up and off to a job of some kind. But recently I had to, so I stood in line at 6:30 AM and watched ten people in front of me purchase gas, coffee, donuts and lottery tickets. If you wrapped all the minds of those ten people into a single person, you might have had enough intellectual power to generate a small pocket flashlight. But nothing else. Those are the products of public education as they stand today under the old grading system. Now, thanks to Common Core, those same types of people will only become dumber. But one thing that will increase will be lottery ticket sales. Out of those ten people seen at Mark Sennett’s UDF store in the affluent Liberty Township corner of 747 and Princeton Road, where people make reasonably high level incomes and have decent educations—relatively speaking, 4 out of 10 people bought lottery tickets hoping for a jack pot to free them of their financial bonds to productivity. Under the new standards based report cards, that future number will likely be 10 out of 10—along with a pack of cigarettes and a brown bag bottle of beer in the morning. That will be the result of these education changes.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com