Category: Hippie Scum

Blood Drunk Apoligists: The Lost Fools of Modernism

I was on 700 WLW with Matt Patrick on August 10, 2011 indulged in the topic of whether or not Bert and Ernie of Sesame Street are in fact homosexuals. However, on a more serious note, the topic of the day was school levies and whether or not they should be passed or declined as a way to force change. Prior to my appearance Matt had received many callers that proclaimed passing a school levy is the “patriotic, and caring” thing to do if one loves their community. I argue the opposite.

Channel 9 News always in my opinion, does a fantastic job of covering topics. Brendan Keefe’s I-Team stories are great benefits to our city in the hard reporting that he does. However, and this is the nature of television versus talk radio, there isn’t much time to get into the heart of a matter, because attention is spent on the visual appeal of the stories. In an attempt to bring balance to the story of why schools are failing all over the state, Channel 9 is sitting down with various superintendents all over Cincinnati to put a face to the requests for more money. Channel 9 sat down with the new Fairfield superintendent to explore the topic of why funding was needed for his district.

As seen in that interview, the direction of the story took an emotional turn. It was never asked, why is Fairfield unable to balance its budget based on the current tax supply. It is often discussed that federal money is declining, and state money is also on a downward trend, especially in affluent school districts. So it is only natural that financial expectations must be scaled back, but that is not what’s happening.

I had an argument with family members and friends about a year ago, who are functioning along the same assumption as the school superintendents, the reporters, the teachers, the unions, the radical protestors in London, school board members, parents, protests in Greece and everywhere else, that the world will always continue on as they always believed it would, like their own educations ensured them of a continuity in social existence that was as solid as concrete. The foundations of everything they have been taught since childhood is at stake because their beliefs are failing!

One person who considers themselves “worldly” said to me, “manufacturing jobs are leaving America. That’s a fact. America has to serve “high tech” interests. We have to get used to the fact that our role is changing. We must start saving for our children’s college now, so they can compete in that marketplace!” His utterances were straight out of the union playbook. The talking points are the same everywhere, and predictable.

“But how can you save for something that the cost is raising at an insanely dramatic rate? Is college worth 50K per year? Should 4 years of college cost 200K? Should kids go into debt to go to college? Should public education that is preparing all these kids for college charge 9 to 10K per pupil to educate? Does public education need a teacher with a master’s degree to teach 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, grade? Can public education afford to pay all their teachers over 50K per year?

At this point in the conversation fury builds in the eyes of the apologists, for they do not have answers to these questions. In fact, they find themselves caught in their own dreamlike haze. “Without college a kid has no chance! If you don’t have a degree, you are doomed these days!”

“That’s what you’ve been told,” I’ll reply. “But businesses are learning the hard lesson, which over the past 20 years that a college educated person does not guarantee them a job ready employee. In fact, many young people are proving to not be mature enough to handle the rigors of life until their 30’s these days, and it is costing companies billions of dollars in lost productivity each year, to deal with the learning curve of these immature college graduates who lack common sense, because it has been “taught out of them,” during the education process.

I have a name for these types of people, the ones who argue the obvious; I call them “Blood Drunk Apologists.” The trouble with these types is that they have drunk the blood (metaphorically speaking) of left-wing education concepts and are under the spell of a social order designed to be everything to everybody. They started drinking this blood in their own education process so it is difficult for them to see the truth of the situation now as adults. They are under a kind of voodoo-like spell that prevents them from seeing the truth even when it is right in front of them, because they have built their entire lives around a preconceived notion regarding social structure.

I’ve always questioned education and the methods. When I was a younger guy I wanted to be an archeologist or an anthologist because my interests were in the “big picture” studies of civilization. But I was also interested in politics. I was also interested in other sciences. I was also interested in fiction and literature. I was also interested in fast cars. I was also interested in adventure and danger, and like I mentioned before I looked for jobs in my teens that allowed me to explore all those things at the same time. I read a lot, and it was in those books and the studies of civilization that I was insulated from the spell that was cast on the world around me. While I was reading heavily, the person who was arguing with me about the current state of education was walking around with his pants down around his ankles being paddled by his fraternity brothers in college. Others who have argued with me about this topic were stepping off a bus in boot camp and having their heads shaved and forced to do push-ups each time they answered a question wrong to their drill sergeant. These soldiers signed up for the military so they could qualify for the GI Bill, which would help them go to college, so they could grow up and get a good job!.

There are a lot of ways that people arrive at the pain of adulthood, where at some point they drink the blood of orthodoxy. It is usually brought about by pain, where the instigator of the pain is also the one who provides the relief from the pain, making the victim falsely trust their antagonist. By drinking the blood, they find the pain of life is eased.

Proudly I have advocated to those I care about that such a life of blood drinking is unnecessary, even foolish. Because all one has to do is study history, even passively to see the course of where their actions will take them. And this whole education situation is a major crisis in our country. Education is not the end all-fix all for society building. We have a whole culture of lost souls roaming around like they are under a voodoo daze, unable to think critically. And even if education did work well, it is simply too expensive. Cost controls must be put in place to reign in the out-of-control costs, because even if people determine for themselves that they do want to go to college, and do want to maintain the current direction of public education, the cost increases of 5% to 10% every year cannot continue. There isn’t money to pay for the financial expectations of education even if we taxed our citizens at 100% of their entire incomes, at some point; our society will hit that wall. Because only a very rich society can afford luxuries, and a society cannot be rich if everyone is going to school. Some people have to actually be in the trenches fighting to make something that can be sold to someone else for a profit, that’s the only way wealth is “created.”

Civilizations who forget that facts point to a right and wrong answer and pretentious arrogance that causes critical blindness find themselves extinct, and the face of the earth is a chronicle of such failures. Some of those societies fell so hard they aren’t even in our written records, but all had empires that were vast and complicated, only to be crushed by their own arrogance, because they were under the spell of the blood they had drunk all in the name of social comfort.

Debates such as this current one over education are as old as time itself on a social wheel that has spun repeated time and time again like the scratch on a turntable record. And the current direction is as predictable as a movie we’ve all seen the end of, and those who have drunk the blood and use it as sustenance are foolish enough to believe that somehow the ending of the movie will end differently because they are the current players. Such is the effect of the voodoo spell of Blood Drinking Apologists and their Ignorance of Doom.

Rich Hoffman
https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com

The Devil of Public Education: The Mask of School Pride

I was on the air with Doc Thompson of 700 WLW to discuss the meeting at the Lakota School Board from August 8, 2011 where a 4.75 mill levy was placed on the November ballot. Click below to listen to that electrifying broadcast where I reveal that many people within the school district consider me the “Devil of Public Education.” So I returned from the confines of my hellish existence to have a lively discussion about the state of public education in Ohio with Doc.

(There is about 2:40 of this recording that overlaps toward the end. It’s not your computer; it’s a defect of the original recording. Just stay with it, because it will pass.)

There has been a lot of tension at Lakota over the last couple of levy battles, and now that Lakota is attempting to pass yet another levy, that tension is returning. I spoke to quite a few people from the education side of the school district after this particular meeting and tension was the general atmosphere. The fights of the past have been contentious to say the least. That was when it was revealed to me that many of the employees in the district consider me the incantation of the devil himself because I hate public education!

Well, I’ve heard that kind of thing before. The most obvious circumstance under which I’ve heard that kind of rhetoric is at football games where the Cleveland Browns come to play at the Bengals stadium or worse yet, the Pittsburg Steelers. For me the emotion is even greater when my favorite team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers plays New Orleans or the Atlanta Falcons. In fact when I heard that Troy Evans the linebacker for the Saints was providing busing to residents of Lakota, which is an idea that I think is great, my first thought was “darn” why did it have to be a guy who played for the Saints!!!!!! I HATE THE SAINTS!!

But why do I hate the Saints or the Bengals hate the Browns or Steelers? Because emotion is what sports is all about. The drama of a sporting event is all about picking a side and rooting for your team to win.

Schools do this also. The game between Lakota East and Lakota West is always a big game. It used to be that a game against Princeton, or Colerain was always a big game. There’s always been a lot of rivalry in these games. Fights occur between players in movie theater parking lots and parents will fight with other parents from other districts in the stands. It’s an innate response to the human desire for competition.

So it is only natural that a school district will use “School Pride” to unify the students and parents to the goals of the school, and will use that same pride to pass a school levy and make those out who are against the increased spending of taxes as “The Devil.” Such relative generalizations are indicators of a frail psyche. I indulge in them for competitive events like football games, or any other type of conflict, but in the grand scheme of things, I keep focused on the “big picture,” where my counterparts cannot.

The organized labor element of public education has a cleaver little scheme going, of which they are entirely aware of, they use this “School Pride” issue to drive up the wage levels of their personal incomes, because while human beings participating in that school as employees, students and parents are functioning under the spell of “School Pride” no amount of money is too much so long as their school system WINS. Rational discussion that might otherwise occur in any other business environment are ignored in favor of the passion for the fight!

This is how school levies have migrated out of control. Organized labor has used “School Pride” to pass tax increases which has translated to exceptionally high incomes for the members of those unions. Administrators strapped by legislative rules negotiated by organized labor cannot manage the costs of the organized labor, so they resort to “School Pride” to sell the public and cover up their weakness of administrative influence.

This is the state of all schools, and “School Pride” to the people outside the functioning mechanisms of the school doesn’t work so well, and now that wage levels have reached a “diminishing marginal return” on the tax payer investment, people are turning down school levies, because they see no end in sight from schools asking for more money. That is why 85% of all school levies across the State of Ohio failed in the August elections of 2011, because “School Pride” as a spell doesn’t work when the pockets of the people supporting school are empty.

With the Cincinnati Bengals, Mike Brown has obviously taken advantage of the taxpayers and he makes no apologies for it. His contract is bankrupting the city, yet he doesn’t care. And he continues to put a terrible product on the field giving fans very little to cheer for. Yet like mindless fools, there are still fans that show up and tailgate for the Bengals when the Steelers or Browns come to town and will proclaim that the Bengals will be victorious! The facts don’t matter at that point, because the game is about emotion.

And that same emotion is at play at Lakota and schools all across Ohio. The LEA (Lakota Education Association) has negotiated a contract for itself that is bringing extreme financial hardship to the district. And they, like Mike Brown, don’t appear to care one bit because their actions prove so. And all Lakota can do is make a guy like me, appear to be the “Devil of Public Education” because they have no other card to play. The truth is too painful and admitting that they are helpless to control their costs is just embarrassing. Calling me names is far easier, so that’s what they resort to.

That is also why schools fail time and time again. Because the solution is not in the emotion of the fight, it’s in the business of the numbers. And once the game is done, the reality is difficult to deal with. So like a drug addict needing another fix, those in education who rely on emotion to manage their business find themselves always in need of more, because the reality has not been addressed properly and never will while those in charge use “School Pride” as a mask to cover the real problem.

Rich Hoffman
https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com

LAKOTA TAX INCREASE of 2011: If the superintendent wants to be paid like a CEO, act like one

On July 12th of 2011 Michael D. Clark covered the Lakota School Board meeting for the Cincinnati Enquirer about the inevitable tax increase the school district is planning to impose on the tax payers. Here is what he reported:

Voters, who in November 2010 rejected a 7.9-mill school levy, will see the 4.75-mill, continuing operating levy on the Nov. 8 ballot once the board conducts another, state-mandated vote next month.

If voters in the Lakota School System approve the 4.75-mill property tax hike, it will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $145 more in annual school taxes. That will of course be $290 per year on a $200,000 dollar home.

“The schools are the community’s schools, and it will be up to the community whether we continue to move forward or slide backward,” said Lakota Board of Education President Joan Powell.

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Here is the problem with what Joan said in that statement. Lakota has no choice but to continue to be a good school. Speaking for myself, I pay thousands of dollars a year into the school system, and I expect nothing less than an excellent district. Going backward as Joan suggests is not an option. Excellence and quality is required. It is completely expected by me as a tax payer. In other words, I am not spending a lot of money in taxes to get a crappy school system.

However, the school board is citing that a loss of state and federal revenue dictates that the district must go to the voters for more money, and if Lakota wants to maintain a great school, then the property owners of Lakota must pay the difference.

But that’s not what’s going on.

The reality goes back to an October evening in 2008 when hundreds of teachers packed the Lakota School Board Meeting with black shirts showing unity and demanding a 3% increase in pay or they were walking off the job. They were going to strike! You can see the news cast of that video here. You have to click on the link because Channel 5 has disabled the code. It is the events in that video which has caused our current financial crises at Lakota just 3 short years later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvPQPJ_F1A

Here’s another link, again this one will take you away from this page, but it’s worth the look.  Listen to Kit Andrews report that Lakota’s per pupil amount was just over $8,000 per child.  Now it’s almost $10,000 per child in just three years.  How long does anybody think this can go on?  What’s the plan to reduce the per pupil cost because that costs is almost completely driven off the labor cost of the employees, not brick and mortar costs?

http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/iframe?windows=1&va_id=726521&show_title=0&wpid=0

To demonstrate just how quickly Lakota salaries went up after the strike attempt of 2008 the No Lakota Levy group has assembled the spreadsheet below.

Now, what does all that information mean? Well…..the average teacher’s salaries by school from the time of the strike threat in 2008 to the present look like this. The year of the strike the average teacher salary was $56,633. Just two years later the average salary was $62,331. The spreadsheet above shows the average rate of pay per school and the amount of increase at those schools. In essence, there was a 10.1% increase in the cost of an employee at Lakota right after the strike.

2007-2008 $56,633
2008-2009 $59,041
2009-2010 $62,331

Lakota currently has over 600 employees who make over $65,000 per year which ties up over $47 million dollars in budget costs. CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO AND WHAT LAKOTA STAFF MADE IN 2010-2011.

The way to fix the budget at Lakota is simple. It must be decided to not have as many employees making such large sums of money, because asking the district to carry that many highly paid employees in a district simply destroys any attempt a district of any kind has of balancing its budget.

To provide an idea just how quickly these costs can migrate out of control in 2009-2010 Lakota started the year at 59K per year and ended at 62K per year. During that year the district carried 434 employees who were paid over 65K per year. However, just one year later, that number jumped to 625 employees who made over $65,000 per year. I’m sure some of those people retired, or moved on to new jobs, but they still showed up on the payroll for that fiscal year and must be counted. The amount of increase in payroll demands from one year to the next, just one year, was $15,647,689.00. (The source for that information comes straight from the Pulse Journal wages edition published each March. Add the numbers up and that’s what you get) It is that number which causes the need for school levies.

Now recently the teachers union came up with a 3 year agreement so they could avoid the effects of Senate Bill 5, which was signed by Governor Kasich early in 2011, which puts a stop to the out of control “step increases” which has caused much of the trouble, because under a step plan, even though the teachers agreed to a “wage freeze” in August of 2009, they still received a wage increase under the “Step” plan which is why the salaries of the teachers went up so much over the course of one year. The teachers union at Lakota and other unions who have negotiated similar contracts plan to get S.B.5 repealed before their current contract expires, thus allowing them to resume back to their normal spending addictions, such as in 2008.

Having teachers making 65K or more is not a big deal if they only consists of the top quarter of your workforce, and in a district like Lakota which employs over 2000 staffing positions for more than 18,000 students the costs can get out of line quickly if not watched carefully.

Lakota has managed to bring their budget under the $160 million mark consistently on their 5 year forecast, but if it doesn’t balance the budget, then it’s not enough.

Tax rates at Lakota are already too high. There are too many homes going into foreclosure and higher taxes just aren’t attractive to potential home buyers. So the task at Lakota is to maintain its excellent rating, while also bringing down their costs and providing some relief to the tax payers, not more burden. If the loss of state and federal revenue forces the budget under $120 million a year, then that means the administration at Lakota needs to tackle their expensive costs, the amount of employees they have that are exceptionally well paid, to balance the budget. If that means letting those positions move someplace else so they can make more money and replacing them with cheaper labor…….fine. That’s the way the process works. Over paying employees is not good business, and does not make a district great. It makes fools of the management to even entertain such thoughts.

But statements that Lakota will be going backwards if we don’t pay more taxes are eerily similar to the kind of nonsense Lakota went through in 2008 when the labor threatened to strike, and got their pay raised as a reward, which the cost was passed down to each and every member of the community. If we are going to have to pay our new Superintendent Mrs. Mantia $165,000 a year, and the school board will justify that cost by stating that she is operating like a CEO of a company, well then we’ll expect her to drive down the costs in the same manner as a CEO does for their shareholders. I expect Mrs. Mantia to maintain Lakota’s excellent rating and current quality while driving down the labor costs to balance the budget. If she must let go of some of the expensive labor in favor of less expensive labor, then she must do that. But raising taxes is not an option. Any fool can do that. I could put my dog in charge of the school district and he could wag his tail to proclaim taxes need to be increased to meet a budget.

In the end, the Lakota Administration has not had the heart to do the right thing. They were outsmarted when it came to the labor dispute of 2008 and they are seeking to hide their shame with tax increases. The revenue produced by the community is more than sufficient to run an “excellent” school, but it is not sufficient to pay employees 20% to 30% more than the average income of the taxpayers themselves. The math just doesn’t add up.

Tax increases are an irresponsible measure by minds that lack the wisdom to see where they have made an error. And the greatest error is in pretending that more money will somehow fix the debacle. Lakota needs a long term plan for dealing with “declining revenues” because that is the fact of our age. People will be making less, properties will be worth less, there will be less coming from government and the bubble of tremendous benefits for public workers is at an end. And during this transition Lakota has an obligation to the millions of dollars our community produces to have a great school to maintain that service. Because failure is not an option! Lakota will not go backwards, and it cannot raise taxes. It must do the hard things that balance the current budget, or step aside so people who know what they’re doing can do it for them.

Rich Hoffman
https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com

The American Ruling Class: Turning down a seat at the table

I received from Phil, a frequent visitor to this forum an article from The American Spectator by Angelo M. Codevilla written July 2010.  I had not read that article but ironically it summed up nicely many of the issues that Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom is dedicated to, the identification of, dissemination of, and understanding of what is rotting the foundation of America.  Whenever I receive evidence that independent minds have arrived at virtually the same conclusion I have in a fashion 100% separate from my personal experiences, validation of those similar conclusions is refreshing.  You can read that article here.  It is well worth the time of anyone who wants to understand what the problem is behind the picture below.  The picture of the newspaper article is an editorial from a Michigan publication and articulates the growing frustration between the two classes of people who exists in American, the ruling class, and the country class, as identified by Codevilla in The American Spectator article. 
 
American Spectator article:  CLICK BELOW

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the

Matt Clark, also from Michigan, like the articles above contemplates the bizarre behavior of Harry Reid, and Barack Obama from his radio program on WAAM.  Two weeks ago I was on the air with Matt and he asked me to predict what would happen in the debt crises.  I told him that Boehner would cave, even though I believed that Boehner had all the best intentions, he is now part of the ruling class, and he thinks in that fashion.  Any other thinking is foreign to him.  Listen to that broadcast here:  Listen to Matt’s most recent broadcast by hitting play below: 

I haven’t thought of naming these different class types by what Codevilla has.  To my mind America doesn’t need social class structures.  Such things get in the way of creativity, and have no place in society.  The desire for human class qualifications is to me, an archaic desire of an infantile mind.  Such desires are something that the human being is destined to outgrow, and America is the first step of that growth.  The idea of self-government, even though it never quite got off the ground where even the founding fathers struggled with their own European roots.  They knew how freedom should look on paper, but failed to implement it into their culture, and infantile minds craving power have occupied positions of power for two hundred years and created the classes illustrated above. 

I have dedicated thousands and thousands of words completely free of charge, with no intention at profit for myself to exposing this class structure in America. I do write books, I have written a book called The Symposium of Justice which was dedicated to exposing how the system worked at a psychological level.  You can see that book by clicking here:

I am currently working on another book that my editor is currently scrutinizing through called Tail of the Dragon.  The early comments about that book is, WOW, there is a lot of political chaos in this story, hard-hitting stuff!  My response is that the point of all the death, the billions of dollars of destruction, the violence, the love, and the adventure is to arrive at the scene inside the White House at the end of the book where the president gives a mighty speech.  Early readers have stated that it reminds them of a shorter version of the John Galt speech from Atlas Shrugged, which I consider a high compliment, because that’s the point.  Because my intention behind all this free content that I put out each day, and the intention behind my books, is to put a light on this ruling class, and once understood, for common American’s to take that power away from the ruling class by cutting the money which funds the whole enterprise. 

The path which took me to this place is a long one.  But what confirmed in me the final straw was an experience I had out in Hollywood, while working on a project with a production company.  Up until that point I had assumed that politics was a separate thing from entertainment, but when I worked on the set of a development project for a rather high-profile actor, I learned that the same politics were at play in the film industry as in politics, and this is why Hollywood and politics are often holding hands, because both believe they are part of the ruling class.  So to illustrate that story I’ll talk about my experience on the set of this project. 

This actor is a good guy.  I personally like him quite a bit, as I do the director.  So I won’t mention them here by name.  I’ve worked with entertainment types before so past reference isn’t necessary.  What is important is that even in a simple thing like entertainment, politics is very important. 

I was flown in to a job to be a stunt stand-in, so I had to be made-up to look just like the lead actor.  The lead actor was producing this production so it was his money that paid for my expenses.  He really wanted me specifically and he went out of his way to acquire my services.  When I arrived on set, I was given my trailer and the producer had accidentally not ordered the correct amount of trailers for this production.  So I was asked to share a trailer with the lead actress who wasn’t scheduled to arrive on set till after my make-up was complete.  This producer was relieved when I shrugged my shoulders and stated, I’ll dress in the parking lot, it doesn’t make any difference to me.  The director and the producer looked oddly at each other like I spoke from another planet.  They assumed I’d be very upset. 

The actor really wanted to meet me when he arrived on set and came to shake my hand.  He assumed that I would take great privilege in shaking his hand.  Now to those who know me, I make a point to treat everyone the same.  I show no special honor to anybody.  I would treat the President of the United States with the same attention as a street beggar.  To me they are all Americans.  And I like to be treated the same.  It’s a sign of respect to me.  So I shook his hand without a lot of worship.  I simply said, “Hey, what’s going on?”  He looked at me oddly, with a bit of obvious disappointment.  About two hours later he brought his family to me between takes and asked me, “Hey, Rich, do you have your whips, can you show my kids some of your stuff?” 

“Sure,” I grabbed my whips and demonstrated some single and double-handed routines and the kids loved it.  One of them had a little hat and he held it out to me.  I took it from him and put it on his head.  His mother, who was a popular television actress, said with a smile, “I think he wants your autograph.” 

I smiled at the kid and grabbed his hand.  “How about a handshake.”  I thought it was the right thing to do, since autographs seemed so presumptuous.  I don’t feel comfortable giving them.  I never enjoyed doing book signings with my book The Symposium of Justice, and I certainly didn’t think a child of two famous parents should want autographs.  If anything, I would think his parents would appreciate downplaying such a thing, since they get bombed with requests every time they go out someplace.  So by downplaying the incident I thought I was doing them a favor.  The actress looked uncomfortable at me with a smile intended for television and gathered her kids up and left the set. 

For the rest of the shoot I caught the actor looking at me oddly anytime he had a free moment.  It made me feel like an animal in a zoo the way he was examining me.  I blew it off, but the look reminded me of the many similar looks I had received over the years by politicians and company presidents who felt betrayed that they had invited me to the table and were hurt that I refused their invite by not participating in their hazing rituals.  It was at the lunch break on the set where all the technical people sat at one table, the support actors sat at another, the stunt men sat at another, the agents at another, and the director, producer and the lead actor sat at the same table closest to the catering truck.  Since it was those people who I knew the most out of everyone present I sat at their table.  The director and producer were warm to me, but the actor who had been very talkative until I arrived suddenly claimed up.  The director following his lead after a few moments stopped talking so openly.  All the people at that table finished up their food quickly and left saying they needed to get ready for the next set-ups. 

I was left at the table by myself, but the stunt coordinator who was sitting at a near-by table and had struck up several productive conversations with me came over and sat down.  “Do I stink of something” I asked him mockingly smelling my armpits. 

He laughed.  “No man, you have to understand something out here, everything is politics.  You are either in, or you’re out.” 

“So I’m out?” 

“No, you’re in, or they wouldn’t have called you.  I think they aren’t sure what to do with your Midwest like behavior.  Don’t worry about it, you’re cool.  They’ll come around.  Give them some time.” 

That conversation confirmed what I had been thinking, and it was disappointing.  I completed my tasks for that project and when it came time to break and wrap, the actor insisted on driving me back to my hotel to personally thank me for helping with the project. 

As he drove me through several neighborhoods back to my hotel there was awkwardness between us.  I realized that he did not want to drive me back, but was simply doing it because he had told the crew he planned to.  He was simply fulfilling his role in Hollywood politics.  He personally driving me back was supposed to be considered part of my payment, and to me it was expected by a friend, or potential friend.  When I stepped out of his car I wished him luck on his next project.  He said to me, “hey man, you have my email address.  Feel free to contact me anytime.”  As he drove away I felt relief of being out of that uncomfortable situation.  I was happy to be a part of the project, but glad to be away from the politics that was very evident. 

About 3 weeks later I wrote him curious to see if he’d respond. His email, which I had used dozens of times before bounced back.  He had canceled his account. 

It didn’t bother me; I was as uncomfortable as he was once we realized that we were functioning from completely different ideologies.  For me, I can deal with people who think different from me, even if I don’t like it.  But for people like him and his wife, they had looked for the signs, just like Codevilla spoke about, and I showed that I was not part of the ruling class and had no desire to learn how to be.  They were disappointed in losing a potential friend because unless I was willing to join their class, they could not associate with me.  When they realized that I wanted to stay on the outside, they stopped investing in our relationship.  It’s that simple.

This process is what school board members encounter when they get voted in by the public.  Congressional freshman also go through this process.  It is very tempting to say yes, because in saying yes, financial security is almost guaranteed.  Because it is the ruling class who has the power, and resources to give you, so when they invite you to the table, you accept it as an honor.  But for me I see shackles at that table, and I’ve always turned away from it, much to the horror of those who invited me.  To them it is a terrible insult to have their helping hand slapped away.  They become angry at themselves for ever thinking that they were willing to put their reputations behind someone who doesn’t want to play the game, which is a mere commoner, a peasant destined to be ruled by the ruling class. 

I could tell several dozen stories just like that one, and they all have in common the same pattern, an invite to the table of power, only for me to downplay the invite as worthless.  Not to slap down the value of the invite, but to display my reluctance to accept power and the game that follows.  For me the real value in life I can say I’ve felt on many occasions, and I feel sorry for those in the ruling class who grab so diligently that such concepts for which they are committed are a path of decline and they do not know it.  It is why so many politicians are corrupt and so many in Hollywood develop destructive addictions, it is the power of politics that corrupts the mind, because the pursuit of a class of any kind is like trying to fit mankind into the cloths of their youth.  The pants just don’t fit, mankind has outgrown such small-minded notions, they just don’t know how to articulate their beliefs.  So the questions come out as they do in the newspaper article from Michigan, as a frustrated rant about the way the world should be and the way it really is. 

This is the battle of our age, the reluctance of those who know better to join those who have bitten from the forbidden tree, the knowledge of good and evil, the pairs of opposites where politics ruins society from a lifetime of enchantment and understanding where the citizens do not need a ruling class, because they govern themselves. The politician uses duality to split the otherwise bright mind desiring freedom into bondage of opposites where the ruling class can conduct a psychological war to launch themselves as the peacemakers, and power holders.  It’s a game as old as time itself, and it is now outdated and worthless, for the philosophy of our time is not of Aristotle, Plato, or Socrates, but of Ayn Rand.  Time does not lie, even if the politics of power and the ruling class that resides in that power do lie.  America is at a point where we must go back to the beginning again, and start fresh with the knowledge we have now, and allow the European influence of peaking order and power grabs to leave our society under the guidance of modern philosophy which is specifically American. 

We must do this without pause, without the guidance of history, because we are writing that history right now.  The home of the brave and land of the free is alive in the hearts of those who do not seek the security of the ruling class.  That class, is the path to decline and rot and everything that is opposite of true freedom.

 

 

Rich Hoffman
https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com

Save us from Embarrassment: Mt. Healthy levy fails and like all government is asking for more

Doc Thompson covered the results of the debt ceiling increase on 700 WLW the same day that President Obama signed the bill which passed the house late in the night, the senate early in the morning and arrived on the president’s desk a half hour later.  While all this was going on Doc contemplated the winners and losers about a deal that essentially does nothing but allow the government to increase it’s debt to 16 trillion from the 14 trillion it is now, which amounts to a joke suitable for a comedy club. 

The same day the debt ceiling was increased voters went to the polls for local school districts asking for more money, Mt. Healthy being one, which went down to defeat. Before the ink was dry on the newspaper announcing the headline all over Cincinnati, Mt.Healthyadministration officials were declaring that they would try again in November of this year! 

This has left many of us scratching our heads, what don’t the Mt. Healthyofficials understand about the voters rejecting the levy?  Isn’t that a clear sign to the district that the residents have sent a clear message to cut their spending?  Yet the district like a bunch of mindless ants only know how to do one thing and that’s ask for more money. 

At Lakota we are getting ready to defend ourselves from yet another levy increase when it has been made clear that the residents do not want to increase their taxes.  It has been established that the source of the problem of all these school districts is that the teachers unions have taken way too much money from the community to pay their salaries which are extraordinarily high.  At Lakota the average teacher makes over 60K a year.  That’s the average! 

Nobody is asking teachers to make low amounts of money, but by any scale anything over 55 K per year is a good living, and a teacher should be happy with a reasonable living, especially if the tax payers are being required to pay for it off their property.  But the trouble is that the teachers unions force dues upon their teachers, and other costs are deducted from their paychecks without the teachers consent.  The NEA is taking money from its members to re-elect President Obama, and in Ohio the OEA is taking money away from teachers to help repeal S.B.5 this November.  So the real income of a teacher isn’t quite as high as their salary because they have these political deductions coming out against their will. 

More and more often I am getting notes like the one below from teachers who desperately want to see reform and they want out of their unions.  They want to see the school boards have the teeth to solve their financial problems and they don’t support the politics of their union, however, if they want to work as a teacher in the state of Ohio, they HAVE to be in the union.  And the unions continue to drive up the cost of education using their members as a shield and revenue stream to fulfill a political agenda which they place on the backs of the property owners. 

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  1.  I am a teacher, and I would give anything to not be a member of the union. I am so sick of them. They are hijacking children’s education and tying it up in endless bureaucracy, squabbling over funds that don’t exist. Unions served their purpose, but now federal labor laws have covered what rights the unions once fought to protect. Now my rights are being violated when I am forced to join (and pay, which is all they care about). It is a complete scam, a giant monopoly of power, and completely counterproductive in this period where transition to new models of education is key if we want our children to be competitive globally.

(Oh, AND SCRAP TENURE. Terrible system that stagnates positive growth.) I don’t want to secure my own job by throwing kids under the bus. If I’m not good enough, I should be fired, plain and simple. The idea of protecting yourself from hostile workplace politics is not enough of a pro to save that outdated concept.

Sara

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The trouble with schools and the trouble with the federal government are the same.  They are all built on a model of Keynesian economics which has turned out to be a scam, and the people who have supported this economic theory have egg on their faces.  They insist on more “revenue” which is just a fancy word for “taxes.”  More revenue, more TAXES is the only way the Keynesian economists which fill the rank and file labor union leaders and politicians with great abundance can save themselves from the embarrassment of financial failure. 

That’s what we’re dealing with here, it’s a complete failure of political and economic philosophy that has been tried, and has failed.  And it’s embarrassing.  That’s the sum of the entire situation. 

What tax payers at all levels are being asked to do is to save these people, who were taught and believe all the wrong things, the embarrassment of facing the music which they have played upon our culture.  By throwing money at these situations these advocates of higher taxes hope to delay the ramifications of their failure to a future time when maybe they won’t be present to accept the blame, where the burden will be transferred to some unfortunate public servant onto a generation that is still playing with toys and watching Nickelodeon on TV. 

To those of us who know better, who never believed the merits of Keynesian economics the answer is obvious.  Costs must be brought in line to live within the budget established by the community.  In the case of schools, it’s the wages that are inflated and encompass every teacher of a district and the union monopoly which have driven up those wages that are the problem.  The union middleman option is simply too costly to a district.  At the Federal level it’s the entitlement programs which were created to buy bloc voting sectors to gain political power that is causing all the trouble, and all these parties are now caught in the lie they have built their entire lives around, and it’s time for someone to face the music. 

When any school district or politician asks for more “revenue” what they are really asking is for you to bail them out of the embarrassment their own actions have created.  And they expect you to bail them out at your own expense.  How does that make any sense, when the proper thing to teach our young people is that if you make the wrong decisions in life, you must face the music and change direction?  Not look to others to bail you out of your trouble so your feelings won’t be hurt, because such a position is not only expensive, it’s detrimental to the human condition, which is evident in the ideological positions of all who want a tax increase.  

How out of touch are these people?  Listen to Harry Reed, majority leader of the Senate; ask if he can go home to care for his fig tree.  That’s the mentality we’re dealing with.

Rich Hoffman
https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com

Memories, Friends, and 8 X 10’s: The Annie Oakley Western Showcase!

The yearly meetings at the Fairlawn Steak House in Greenville, Ohio are becoming something of an American tradition, where a nearly extinct breed of human being, who do things because it puts a smile on the faces of children without ever considering money as a primary concern, gather.  The Fairlawn looms directly across from the Darke County Fairgrounds and every year during the last weekend of July the City of Greenville celebrates the life of Annie Oakley with a tribute to the western arts that made her an American treasure, and most of the western performers in the nation make the pilgrimage to Greenville each year to run their act, compete against each other, and gather at the Fairlawn at the end of the day for beer, steak, and tales of the years adventures.  See a montage of the weekend’s events here: 

The air conditioning in the Fairlawn works nicely in the little side room where this group of western arts performers gathers late into the steamy night.  Outside the setting sun fills the big sky in this part of the country in a spectacular way.  The orange neon lights that advertise the steak house to passers-by on Sweitzer St was a welcome sight to all of us who spent the day cracking whips, throwing knives, spinning guns, throwing ropes, singing, performing magic and answering questions to a curious crowd.  As we stagger up the path to the restaurant and the cool air inside greets us, nostalgia is the overwhelming emotion.  This year the bar’s television had on a Reds game, just like last year only this time as my wife and I ordered a beer, there was a news flash that came up over the bartender’s head to announce that congress and the senate is close to a debt ceiling deal. 

“Thieves,” an old man uttered over his beer looking from the TV to my wife then to the sweat soaked Australian outback hat on my head that has seen the world and looks like it.  “They’re all a bunch of crooks and thieves, every damn one of them.” 

“You’re right,” I said to him.  I noticed that old man was looking at my whip holster on my belt and he was curious.  Then behind me came the rest of our clan, all western performers openly wearing knives, whips, and guns as they wearily went to their seats in the party room where our reservations placed us away from the rest of the crowd in the main dining room. 

The old man watched them approvingly.  Then looked back at me, “You all from across the street?” 

“Yeah,” I replied as my wife smiled a bit at the man.  My wife likes older people because they no longer feel the need to engage in personal politics, and they have a life-time of wisdom to pass on to a generation who throws them away like trash.  She likes older people for all the same reasons that I like my western art friends.  There is truth in their eyes and wisdom in their hands.  And I could see the wisdom in the hands of the old man as he nursed his beer and looked over the rim at an image of President Obama talking about how people need to work together to solve this national crises.  “Damn thief,” he uttered again his eyes on the screen.   

And he’s right.  Many people have asked me how I can speak out on the tax topics the way I have, and go on TV speaking out so openly about how broken our political system is, my roots in those statements come from the type of friends I have, the people with me at the Fairlawn Steak House, who live life with honesty and perform an art form rooted in valor and goodness.

As the night wore on, there were stories from the old days, back when old Hollywood stunt men and Las Vegas performers were the guiding lights for all of us young guys, a torch that has been handed to us to preserve.  But that was a different age.  Divorces, financial hardships, and entertainment politics have put western arts on the downside of American priorities and what used to be many thousands of western art performers is down to a mere handful, many of them at Annie Oakley and eating steak at the Fairlawn.  We talked about the many personalities who have come and gone over the years, some still working in western arts, some giving it up because of financial necessity, but many of us sitting there at the end of a day of performing have the feeling that we are the end of a breed.  A kid whose mom drove him up from Alabama named Luke and was just 16 was a bright spot to the rest of us who are all 40 and older.  Having young people wanting to get involved was refreshing. 

The reason these western artists gather at The Annie Oakley Festival, and not Las Vegas or some other place like it has in the past is because of my good friend, Gery Deer who runs a bullwhip training facility in Jamestown,Ohio.  It is because of Gery, who is a western arts supplier and occasionally provides material for the film industry, has worked with me for over a decade on independent features, he has a band who performs folk music all over the Midwest by tour bus, and he has the only indoor studio in America dedicated to the training of bullwhip artists.  So as the western has declined in Hollywood, and the need for Vegas shows with a western theme declined as well, it is Gery’s studio in Jamestown that has kept that tradition alive in America, because he is the only guy around who has a studio designed to preserving that tradition, and that includes Hollywood. 

Most of the top Western Performers in the country have passed through the Annie Oakley Western Showcase at some point in the last 9 years since the event was first implemented as a supplement to the big event out in Las Vegas.  But over time, the Vegas event finally folded when the great stuntman Alex Green, who was a big part of organizing that event, passed away.  That left only The Annie Oakley Western Showcase and Gery Deer to keep the torch lit. 

Many of the most dependable participants travel the country in their motor homes and live like gypsies much of the time.  Robert Dante, a long time bull whip performer and World Record holder fits this lifestyle.  His van was parked outside of the performance area and in between acts he simply goes back to his van to catch up on sleep.  Leading up to Annie Oakley he traveled from Minnesota to South Carolina performing shows then “stopping by” Ohio to spend time with us, as he usually does.   When I asked him about his lifestyle, if he got tired of always being unsettled waking up in different cites all the time and living out of a van he said, “Variety is the spice of life.”  He said it like a seasoned Shakespearian actor knowing full well that he was part of a dying breed and he wasn’t about to apologize for if.

Kirk and Malodee Bass are also long time friends of my wife and I.  Kirk started throwing knives the same weekend I did at an Annie Oakley event about 7 years ago.  He stuck with it where I didn’t and he’s now one of the best in the country and has his own show called Bass Blades.  They are old theater veterans from the great outdoor production called Blue Jacket which went out of business almost a decade ago after its critically acclaimed performances that featured live gunfire during the show couldn’t support itself financially.  They are very dedicated parents who are home schooling their kids which impresses me greatly.  They assembled the curriculum for their children’s education based on a friend of theirs who has a master’s degree in education.  Their kids are lucky to have such interesting, and dedicated parents who happen to spend their spare time throwing knives at each other. 

Richard and Donna Best were there as usual.  Richard was hired by the Annie Oakley Committee to be the official Buffalo Bill for the week since he looks so much like Buffalo Bill.  Richard and Donna are old timers in the Western Arts and have performed everywhere, particularly in Vegas.  Their act is an archeologists dream for it is an authentic recreation to the type of entertainment that thrilled audiences in the 40’s and 50’s.  They are wonderful people and occasionally their grandchildren have come to Annie Oakley with them and participate in rope tricks and whip work.  You can’t help but look at those young children and think how lucky they are to have grandparents who travel the county, where grandpa makes a living cutting targets out of the mouth of grandma.  Such figures in a child’s life are paramount to positive adult development.

In the outside world, away from the smiling faces, the cotton candy, the hot dogs, popcorn, corn dogs, snow cones and other carnival food, the world looks down its nose at this group of aging cowboys.  For the world has become more progressive.  The art of American tradition is something the political establishment has frowned down on. 

After my trip to the Fairlawn last year it was Chris Camp who put the idea in my head about performing The Whip Trick to Save America (see that video by clicking here).  Chris is such a fantastic whip artist that he travels the country full-time and stays booked, which is why he couldn’t make it this year, because he was simply too busy.  The trick I did in that video is one that he performs in his live show, and he told me how to do it, and I put my own spin on it.  It was conceived in the dining room of the Fairlawn using cups and salad plates.  After I did that video and released it to the public it got the attention of The Cincinnati Enquirer and I used the metaphor from that video to explain why I was against higher taxes, because like the old man said to me at the bar, “they are all thieves.”  Why would we give a thief more money?  It’s easy for us to see who the thieves are at the Fairlawn in the late hours of the night as the sweat from a whole day are caked to our bodies in need of a shower, where the beer tastes good because we earned it, and even a simple salad before a steak dinner tastes like exquisite cuisine, because freedom is openly celebrated at Greenville, Ohio and everyone can feel it.  And freedom is best celebrated in the art of freedom, and that is the western arts of my friends. 

As society has moved away from freedom and those celebrations, progressives have looked down their noses at the western arts in an attempt to rewrite history with a focus on the civil rights movement of the 60’s where progressive policies really began gain acceptance.  Celebrating the arts of westward expansion was not what progressive politics desired; they simply want to move beyond those memories to more recent times. 

But I don’t.  One of those life altering decisions happened for me shortly after The Enquirer did a feature on my Whip Trick to Save America where the organized elements of the unions and other progressive groups came after me calling me a “hick,” “hillbilly,” “kook” and other derogatory terms simply because I wore a cowboy hat and used bullwhips to help explain the need to cut taxes on an over-taxed society.  (CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT IT)  The personal attacks infuriated me to the level that convinced me to create this website, Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom.  The personal attacks persuaded me that traditional arts and lifestyles needed a voice that I was in a unique position to provide, because of my background in western arts, so I started this site as a result. 

The art of a culture reflects the culture itself.  This is how anthropologist and archeologist come to understand ancient cultures.  But using the same measurement with our present culture we can see easily the state of our country in our art.  That is why the old men sit at a bar and utter “thieves” to the TV over their beer glass because their values were built by the type of arts my friends perform on a regular basis.  But the young people who were watching the Reds game, noticeably turned away from the TV when the President came on, and were indifferent to what was being said.  They were also the type who looked oddly when my friends arrived at the restaurant and eyed mysteriously at how they were dressed, because those young people have been taught to reject tradition, so traditional art is something to ridicule. 

But in the grandstands all through the day, the crowd that gathered young and old enjoyed themselves thoroughly as the politics of the age dropped away at the gates, and visitors were able to forget themselves on a stroll back through a more innocent time, where cowboys weren’t afraid to be men, women were proud to be women and a young lady named Annie Oakley set the imaginations of American’s everywhere with the values of the greatest nation on Earth by her trick shooting in the Buffalo Bill Wild West show.  A century later the same type of performers touched that same spirit in all who witnessed this unique event through smiles and bright eyes regardless of age, for the jaded judgment of the age was suspended as the crack of whips and the fire from guns ran out often across the Darke County Fairgrounds to a public hungry for substance in their art. 

For my wife and I that substance came with our dinner and the friends we shared it with as the night encroached the evening and reality returned to those western artists who faced the loneliness of an art form which transcends the greed of money, or the power of politics but is simply about memories, friends, and 8X10’s.

 

Rich Hoffman

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com

Sleeping with a Sleazy Salesman: The Path of the Obama Presidency

On July 29th 2011 President Obama said “I don’t know why the Republicans in the House are voting for their own bill, it doesn’t have a shot at becoming law.  We need to reach a consensus as a nation.”  That statement is the reason for this post.  What Obama is really saying is “play our way, or not at all.”  The Democrats have been very resistant to doing the right thing also, but are misleading the nation with this game, that America can no longer afford.  Be sure to watch every video of this one as well as read the text and take your time.  This is a history lesson from our recent past that must be remembered right now.    Now, let’s study the pattern of behavior which indicates what the true intention of this game really is about for the current President of the United States. 

 

Like many of us, Jim Garvin is trying to understand the most recent comments of President Obama about the debt ceiling. As I watched the video below I felt for Mr. Gavin, because he represents most of America right now. The bewildered look on their faces is one of betrayal, of being lied to. Most of America knows they are being lied to by politicians from one side or the other. What they don’t know is who to blame, how to determine who is lying, and what to do about it.

What Obama and the political class have done with the federal budget is evident in this video. This spending behavior has been going on for a very long time, and represents a sickness in American politics. It is not appropriate to justify this behavior as “it’s just politics.” The American people have this dangerous tendency to deduct from their overall income what they pay in taxes. If they don’t see the money come out of their wallet, if that money is already gone before they even get their pay check, then they have a tendency to not even care what happens to that money. It’s as if their frustration in not having control of how their money is spent; they remove the thought from their minds completely, which politicians are well aware of.

I once knew a black salesman who reminds me a lot of President Obama. In fact, I’d dare say we have all known someone who considers themselves a “slick” talker who can sell anything to anybody and talk a woman out of her panties without them even being aware of it. I once watched this happen when I went for a drink with this guy and watched him work the bar, “Hey baby, what’s happening you sweet thing.”

I watched and listened and rolled my eyes. What woman would ever fall for a line like that? Anyone could tell that this dude was a creepy guy, right?

The salesman slept with that girl about 15 minutes after he met her, and when I spoke to the salesman about it I asked him how he could do it, how he could have sex with that girl, leave her with a fake phone number after he did the deed, then go back home to his wife and have sex with her in the same night, then come back to brag about it at work the next day?

He was a tall, lanky guy who moved almost identical to Barrack Obama. “Do what my brother,” he said to me using his pinky equipped with a gold ring to scratch his forehead. “I did that little girl a favor. Women love what I got’s to give em’ and if I’d given her my real number she’d be callin’ for more. And I can’t have that. She was lucky she got it once.” He noticed the distress on my face so he added, “Dude, listen. Fu**ing chicks is like selling to customers. You have to convince them that what you are giving them is what they need. And by the time they realize they don’t need what you want to give them, it’s too late, because they’ve either given you the money already, or they’ve given you a piece of ass.”

“But don’t you feel guilty taking advantage of them?” I asked.
“My man,” He said. “That’s cute, that you think people should feel guilty about making money, or fu**ing women. If you want a clean conscience, then take it from me, you will die a poor man looking for your next piece of ass.”

I didn’t dislike that salesman, I learned a lot from him. I learned everything I didn’t want to be. So it isn’t some psychological impairment that makes me think of this salesman every time I hear President Obama talk. It’s just that Obama uses the same kind of manipulation that the salesman uses. It may not be for the purpose of having sex with women, but rather to get people to buy what he’s selling. For this kind of salesman, outright lies are normal. In fact, they are so normal that they can even lie to themselves. When Obama sat down with Google to give a town hall type of speech during his campaign in 2008 it reveals a lot about Obama.

In the clip below with Google, Obama talks about patriotism in a way to cover his true intentions and disarm the client, which is the audience. Just like the con artist who wishes to conceal his dishonesty he cleverly uses gifts to keep people focused on the topics he chooses. For this particular crowd, it is discussions of technology. Obama guarantees every home in America will get broadband access under his future administration, and that his administration will stand up to the light of day by putting ear marks and bills online for all to see. He also talks about saving the planet with green jobs which is appealing to progressives naturally, even if it’s impractical and warped with idealism. When I watched this speech I thought of my old salesman friend who might say, “baby, I’ll by you a diamond necklace if you’ll suck my big **** out in my Cadillac outside.” The girl hears, “Cadillac” so maybe this guy has money. She hears “diamond necklace,” so maybe she can steal this guy away from his present woman. And sucking on something appeals to a natural biological urge many women have and gives them an illusion of control over a man because such an act is an act of trust, since the genitals of a man is the most delicate part of his body. The same types of buzz words are used in this interview, except it’s not sex that is for trade.

Unfortunately for such con artists sometimes they get caught in the lies they tell and this is the case where Harry Reid and President Obama had spoken against the increase of the dept ceiling in 2006. Reid explained that it was only because he was playing politics and it was wrong, so now in 2011, he’s right and everyone should buy into a debt ceiling increase. Obama had perhaps the worst statement. He said that his perspective as a senator was basically not as enlightened as that of the President, where more aspects of the economy must be considered. Without question in some future speech Obama will say that the President of the United Nations must consider the entire world, and not just the affairs of the United States, which is a job he is openly campaigning for.

On occasion there have been people like Mr. Gavin who recognize that something is wrong and they’ve questioned Obama. Such was the case with Joe the Plumber during the 2008 campaign. All the guy did was ask a question and Obama talked the situation into a 5 minute speech trying to justify the scam. Obama would have done better to give a short answer and move to the next topic, because it made Joe the Plumber a celebrity, which the left then proceeded to destroy Joe’s character any way they could. But it was Obama who made the mistake in this exchange. He knew that Joe was seeing through his campaign rhetoric and Obama, the salesman wanted to see if he could overcome Joe’s opposition. When words failed, Obama became very touchy openly putting his hand on the shoulder and arm of Joe the Plumber. This is very similar to a man who has been confronted by a scorned woman and uses touching to take the edge off the woman’s anger, knowing that touching helps psychologically break down the barriers of mental resistance to an idea.

With many of the positions Obama has taken, Muslim radicals seem to have gotten a free pass under his administration. He behaves very strange for a guy who claims that he’s a Christian. The trouble with a man who claims he’s a Christian and not a Muslim is that in politics it is calculated that a Muslim could not be elected, because people are tense over the aggression of many fundamentalists.

Christianity has been attacked by the Obama administration mysteriously. So if Obama is pretending to be a Christian when he is in fact a Muslim then he is deliberately misleading the pubic for political gain. And if he is willing to do that, what else is he willing to mislead the public on? That is the trouble. A man should be willing and able to stand on what they believe, not what they think people want them to believe. Such people are no different from people like that salesman who lie about how much money they have to sleep with a woman. They will say anything to get into the woman’s pants. But even the best of them get caught in their own lies. Here Obama lets it slip that he’s a Muslim then corrects himself to being Christian. Was it an accident? (More on this later)

In this next clip Obama continues to ridicule Christian faith. For a guy who again claims he’s a Christian, he seems pretty angry about it. I mean I personally don’t care if he’s a Muslim, or an Alien from some other planet. My concern is why does he feel he must hide it? Why be misleading?

Glenn Beck shows the Michelle Obama clip where she stated this was the first time she was proud of America. I personally can’t ever recall any upper level politician saying something like this. To me, this clip reveals much of what type of conversations go on at the Obama dinner table, when the cameras aren’t running. Michelle, at the time being inexperienced at deceit in politics spoke her mind, and has since learned to put a softer edge on what she say’s publicly.

To know who Obama is you have to watch all his speeches, not just the ones where he attempts to appeal to all of America, the people like Mr. Gavin. Here is Obama among his people at the Campus Progress meet talking about alternative fuels. Campus Progress is a progressive organization designed to build a progressive political base which is in direct competition against people like me, who are American traditionalists. Progressives hope to erode the effectiveness of traditionalists by appealing to the naivety of young people hungry to rebel from their parents. The trouble with progressives is they attempt to undermine American Politics with a Trojan Horse mentality, by breaking through the barriers of American’s defenses and destroying that opposition from behind those defenses. That’s alarming because Progressives know that their ideas cannot compete directly with traditionalists so they seek the subversive route. Here Obama congratulates the creation of Progressive Leadership and the role of young people in the future.

Knowing that traditionalists will reject much of what Obama is trying to implement, he seeks to appeal to young people by admitting that he smoked marijuana, a lot. When Obama says that he is angry that Washington plays politics, and nothing gets done because of the grid lock, remember that the only reason Obama made this statement is that he was tapping into the same political demographic exploited by Bill Clinton when he played a saxophone on MTV. It’s all about politics.

I hate to bring it up because the relationship that President Obama has or had with Bill Ayers cannot be ignored even though a discussion about that relationship is as contentious as talking about the birth certificate issue. For those who don’t know who Bill Ayers is listen to him talk about his life in The Weather Underground. Obama launched his political career with Bill Ayers as a supporter in the living room of The Weather Underground leaders.

Here is a video with radio interviews of Bill Ayers where his life parallels Barack Obama’s rise to fame. Bill Ayers is a very manipulative and radical hater of the American way of life. He has demonstrated the extent of just what he is willing to do against the American Government. He is an open enemy to all things American, and the government knows it and has known for years exactly where he is at all times yet he’s been free to continue his radical movements with other methods instead of the radical violence of his early years. He’s a retired professor at the University of Chicago. In a new edition of the Bill Ayers memoirs called, Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War-Activist, he added a new afterword about Barack Obama describing the blogospheric characterization of their relationship as “neighbors and family friends” (“In 2008 there was a lot of chatter on the blogosphere about my relationship with Barack Obama: we had served together on the board of a foundation, knew one another as neighbors and family friends, held an initial fundraiser at my house, where I’d made a small donation to his earliest political campaign.”).

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers

Obama tried to back off the Ayers connection, but the evidence was just too overwhelming. Now this video isn’t from Fox News, it’s by CNN. Ayers is a man who is willing to do anything to accomplish his objective. When he and his wife bragged about the rise of Barack Obama as a political power in Chicago politics there is no question that Ayers at some point told Obama, “They’ll harass you for knowing me. That’s OK. It’s worth it to have one of our kind in The White House. When they ask don’t feel bad in denying you know me. I’ll understand.”

One last warning about Barack Obama, a look into his past, this video was done in 2008, well before Glenn Beck. Tony Rezko was a major fund-raiser for Barack Obama. Rezko and several others were indicted on federal charges in October 2006, for using their connections to the state boards to demand kickbacks from businesses that wanted to do business with the state. While the others pleaded guilty to the charges, Rezko pleaded not guilty and was found guilty of 16 of the 24 charges filed against him. Rezko also worked with Rod Blagojevich who was just convicted this year in late June of 17 counts of wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, conspiracy to commit extortion, and conspiracy to commit bribery, as well as trying to sell President Obama’s former Senate seat in exchange for political favors. This is the circle of associates around President Obama. All these people have displayed the ability to look straight into a camera and lie about their innocence or provide misleading information.

Source article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Rezko

I’ve said a lot on these pages about looters, people who primarily look at public service positions as a way to enrich themselves off tax money. Look at how Michelle Obama and her husband behaved before he became President of the United States. This is how Obama got some of his money that he is so proud of when he state, “people like me are willing to give back some.” Obama has been bragging about his wealth even as far back as the Joe the Plumber question, which I didn’t realize until I just recently looked at it again.

Obama has shown that he will lie, especially in politics. There is no question that he will and has been caught many times as shown above. Listen to him in this CNN investigation.

When you listen to Obama speak about the budget below look at his record. Here he lies 7 times in a 2 minute speech.

Being Muslim is not a problem, as discussed. But lying about it so that a person can get elected is a big problem. Here is convincing evidence that Obama is a Muslim which is proof that the man will lie about a seemingly insignificant issue. So what does anybody think he’d do over a really big issue?

The reason this whole Muslim issue is relevant can be shown from this statement about the condition of the flag and the Muslim faith as told to Dale Lindsborg ‘s Meet the Press from Sunday’s 07 Sept. 2008, 11:48:04 EST, Televised broadcast. The then Senator Obama was asked about his stance on the American Flag.

I had forgotten about this whole issue until a friend of mine reminded me of it after reading other stories I have stated about President Obama and his position over this recent budget battle. The text below is quite startling.

General Bill Ginn, USAF (ret.), asked Obama to explain why he doesn’t follow protocol when the National Anthem is played.

The General stated to Obama that according to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171…

During rendition of the national anthem, when the flag is displayed, all present (except those in uniform) are expected to stand at attention, facing the flag, with the right hand over the heart. Or, at the very least, “Stand and Face It”.

‘Senator’ Obama replied:

“As I’ve said about the flag pin, I don’t want to be perceived as taking sides….” “There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression….” “The anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air, and all that sort of thing.”

Obama continued:, “The National Anthem should be ‘swapped’ for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song ‘I’d Like To Teach the World To Sing.’ If that were our anthem, then I might salute it. In my opinion, we should consider reinventing our National Anthem as well as ‘redesign’ our Flag to better offer our enemies hope and love. It’s my intention, if elected, to disarm America to the level of acceptance to our Middle East Brethren. If we, as a Nation of waring people, conduct ourselves like the nations of Islam, where peace prevails – – – perhaps a state or period of mutual accord could exist between our governments ……”

“When I become President, I will seek a pact of agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity, and a freedom from disquieting oppressive thoughts . We as a Nation, have placed upon the nations of Islam, an unfair injustice, which is WHY my wife disrespects the Flag, and she and I have attended several flag burning ceremonies in the past.”

“Of course now, I have found myself about to become the President of the United States and I have put my hatred aside. I will use my power to bring CHANGE to this Nation, and offer the people a new path. My wife and I look forward to becoming our Country’s First black Family. Indeed, CHANGE is about to overwhelm the United States of America.”

Dale Lindsborg, Washington Post

This compelling story brings us to one central question, addressed by Mr.Garvin in the start of this article outlining the behavior pattern of one of the most subversive American Presidents in our history. This President was launched into politics by radicals and crooks. He is a public sector looter as defined by the work of philosophy Atlas Shrugged and gained his wealth in that fashion. He has shown that he will lie about his religion. He will lie about his associations. And he will be misleading about his true political intentions.

Just like the salesman who had slept with the girl, without question the girl felt used when she attempted to call the number and found out the smooth talking salesman had lied to her and even given a false number. She had believed everything the man had said because she wanted to. She wanted to believe that there were people who actually told the truth, especially when they spoke so wonderfully, and were pleasant to look at. Normal average everyday people like the woman in the bar, and millions of Americans of all different political affiliations want to believe that there is good in people, especially attractive people.

Sailors have told stories for generations about sirens that used their songs of seduction and elliptical attractiveness to lure those men to their deaths with enchantment upon the hidden rocks disguised below the surface. But it’s not just beautiful women who perform this seduction. Sometimes it’s fast talking salesman with gold rings. Its governors, mobsters, and senators, who use public office to enrich themselves, its radical reformers who hate America and launch a fellow board member into a path to the presidency from his living room, or it’s the President himself, who has his eye on a prize most American’s can’t even conceive, because the audacity of the deception defies credibility. That deception is the end of America as we all know it and a prized position with the United Nations heading that organization toward global concerns.

Lies are not hard for those types, and in this budget battle the fight isn’t over fixing the budget, or even the debt limit. The fight is over our ability to fix it, because the intent is to collapse America as a world power. And the fear from thousands of radicals like Bill Ayers is that their 40 year strategy to end America under the smile of a good-looking, smooth talking President is in jeopardy, because it’s no longer just the radical right, the conspiracy theorists, the Fox News junkies who see the problem. It’s the average, every day people like Jim Garvin who have the look of who just fu**ed me! And why did I let them do it!

Many women have woke up to an empty pillow on the morning after a drunken binge. Now America is about to roll over and see that there is no head in that pillow, and that while we slept the man we brought home not only took advantage of our condition, but also stole all our money, and material goods and headed home to the object of their true desire, a marriage we did not know about until it was too late and we’ll only have ourselves to blame.

Rich Hoffman

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com

Agenda 21, the March to Peace and Progress: Created by fools, losers, and sex addicts.

Why does the President insist on tax increases?  Doesn’t it seem strange that he is so insistent on raising taxes on somebody?  Who’s the stubborn one?  When you have people like the President always asking for more money, it is only out of the best interest of the country that somebody is the party of “NO,” because “Yes” is too expensive.  That is, unless the intent is to spend too much money and to keep spending money until it’s all gone.    

At the West Chester Tea Party meeting recently Sheriff Jones was asked by an audience member if he knew what Agenda 21 was.  He said he did not, but the question sparked a murmur through the large crowd of people who had gathered to hear the Sheriff speak. 

Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment.  That plan consists of major redistribution of wealth to make the playing field more level for developing countries while putting a leash on countries like the United States, to slow down their development. 

Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the Statement of principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests were adopted by more than 178 Governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janerio,Brazil, 3 to 14 June 1992.

The reason this topic came up in a question to the Sheriff is Jones is an advocate of immigration reform and he is frustrated with the lack of political will in enforcing border control.  The reason is that under Agenda 21 many of the very powerful in world politics are working toward a borderless world and that might be the reason why many in America from the current president all the way down to local officials and business leaders are working to fulfilling the resolutions adopted in Rio de Janerio in 1992. 

On that note I received the below letter recently which reminded me of the situation and I thought it would be interesting for the sake of awareness to include it below for discussion.    

_______________________________________________________________

July 19, 2011

(Interesting read )

New World Disorder: Why Geithner’s IMF SDR Plan for a Global Currency is High Treason

Some time ago, the mainstream media began covering in more detail the New World Order theory as to why our country entered into the financial crisis. Dubbed a “conspiracy theory” the New World Order hypothesis centers around the creation of a “global government-run by a few satanic bankers that are connected to the English Royal Family, the Rockefeller’s, and the Rothschild family. In case you haven’t heard of the theory, it basically states that the Council on Foreign Relations is a treasonous cabal of devil worshiping sickos that wants to move the entire world into a one currency system that issues a digital currency and is run like a global feudal dictatorship — sounds neat, right?

Well, When I first heard of this so-called right-wing conspiracy theory ten years ago I initially brushed it off as total hogwash believing that America was the best country in the world and that our elected officials had our best interests at heart. It wasn’t until I worked in the hedge fund world for 12 years that it finally became blatantly obvious that parts of this theory, if not all of it, are actually 100% true and not a conspiracy theory at all.

One of the aspects of the NWO theory that looks more and more like fact is the global currency plan. While initially this may strike readers as completely unfathomable, earlier this year Tim Geithner called for the IMF ‘s Special Drawing Rights to be issued and used more frequently. What’s so insanely scary about this, is that the IMF ‘s Special Drawing Right is essentially none other than the One World Currency which is espoused by the New World Order theorists (aka “right-wing wackos”).

The SDR will soon replace the dollar with a fixed exchange rate to all other currencies and this peg will devalue the dollar by some 50% or so from current levels according to the NWO theorists. So if you like gold now, get ready to watch it rise another 100% in the next year or two.

The fact that America would even consider a plan to peg the dollar to a basket of global currencies at a rate that would devalue the wealth of American citizens shows just how deep the corruption and treason of our elected officials runs — the men in charge of our economy, laws, and justice system are handing our nation over to overlord bankers just as the Greek nation was handed over to them at mere pennies on the dollar.

Soon our parks, roads, schools, military, and states will be auctioned off to the highest bidder to pay off debts and to appease creditors. Our policy will not be made in Washington but by the IMF (and the people who run it behind the curtain) who will be in control of our finances and therefore our politics. What do George Bush, Ben Bernanke, Barack Obama, Tim Geithner, Bill Clinton, the Google Founders, David Rockefeller, Dick Cheney, and most of the mega corporations today all have in common? They are all members of the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) and are pushing for the devaluation of the US Dollar and the creation of a One World Currency issued by the criminal IMF as the global central bank which will usher in Greek like austerity and a police state unlike anything the world has previously witnessed.

While the tenets of population control ad environmentalism are important, the rights of freedom and democracy are even more central to the American way — American’s should remember the phrase “Give me Liberty or give me death” and resist the One currency system at all costs.

The CFR and New World Order group are working day and night via “covet means” and corruption to undermine the governments of the world into their IMF SDR system. Once that happens, our rights as citizens will vanish. It will be the end of freedom as we know it and the start of a new feudalism across the globe. We must resist the 2 party system in the US and elect a third-party candidate in 2012, preferably Ron Paul although it is still unclear if anyone currently in office can be trusted…

 _______________________________________________________

 

 

Whatever it is that you personally believe, whether it is conspiracy theories or rationalize that much of the above is hog-wash, there is one thing abundantly clear, and that is the last sentence in that letter is true, that it is unclear if anyone in public office can be trusted at all.  They do not appear to represent the people the way the republic was designed.  They seem to represent “something” else.  What that “something else” is creates the debate of theories.  But everyone can agree that “something else” is the priority and not the people of the American Republic. 

There is no reason members of the United States should be meeting in a luxury city like Rio, or Cancun and using those international platforms to move the world toward a one world government. 

My protest to the global meetings is simple. America taught those commercial cities how to generate money.  For instance, in Cancun at La Isla Mall there is a restaurant there called La Madonna that has fantastic Italian food.  I like the place because of the really cool statues in the dinning room that reach all the way to the ceiling. Cancun likes to pretend that they are international, including having authentic restaurants like that fantastic Italian restaurant.  But at a closer look, the mall there which is the pinnacle of shopping in Cancun has its influence from the United States.  It’s no different really than how the United States spends the most money of any country on the United Nations, yet it seems that the United States is always the target of these summits that have UN leanings and mandates. 

Without the United States nobody meets on anything or even has a discussion about what’s good for the greater good.  And I am sick and tired of global elitists; overly educated in all the wrong topics, who insist on spewing from their mouths rhetoric that is destructive to the future of the human race.  I’m not talking about this whole global warming gimmick, or the politics of the poor and depressed, or even the sex starved losers who propel the sex slave trade, (especially in Rio, and Geneva, home of the UN) The meetings attended by these half-baked fools in an infantile attempt to wrestle for themselves some political influence in some future great society of which they are the architects do not belong in American Culture.  They do not have a right to “open” our borders, or negotiate on our behalf an ounce of freedom for the greater good because in doing so they take freedom away from those countries they are trying to help by putting out the light of example that is the United States.  (CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT THE SEX TRADE IN RIO).   

These globalists do not know anything about the “good” life or the “greater good” because they do not understand the word, “good.”  So how can they build a society around it?  They have much to learn. 

In the meantime, it is time to recognize who does what in the world of influence, and it is the United States who sets the pace for everyone.  We are the bar everyone else must reach.  Lowering that bar so others can “feel” like they are playing the same game will not work, and will not be tolerated.

Notice how Obama in this next clip blames all the spending on the Republican Congress, and the people clap, mindless to the facts. The President is openly misleading the public. He is pushing a global agenda at all costs, even at the expense of the truth.

So believe what you want, but caution yourselves against the small-minded who actually believe they have the authority to take freedom from America and give it to others who have not earned it, serving under failed political philosophies in a quest for personal power.  Such minds are the creators of Agenda 21 which sounds good in a theory concocted in an ideological, far-away land where blue waves splash against sandy beaches and women walk around topless, and the drinks are cheap.  But those theories do not live up to the reality of life, proved here in the United States under the fires of freedom, where liberty was invented and that blueprint was copyrighted by America.  Everything else is just a cheap imitation including Agenda 21. 

The debate of the day should be on what our tax money is spent on, because billions of our tax money is used on these global ideas.  Yet we have a president and a rabid group of politicians who want more……….why…….because they have an agenda and they cannot achieve that agenda without the legalized theft of our tax money.  It is not a radical idea to insist on keeping what is ours to begin with, to be used for the needs of our culture, and not some crack-pot idea concocted by those naive elitists who are marching to a different drummer all together.

Rich Hoffman

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com

Diana Frey and Fraud: The Face of the Public Sector Union

Of course it is a terrible tragedy the entire situation emerging around Diana Frey President of CODE (Cincinnati Organized and Dedicated Employees).  She is being indicted for a wire tapping charge and embezzlement of more than $750,000 from her union members.  You can hear all about the case by Doc Thompson, Scott Sloan and Tracy Jones on 700 WLW.  For people not familiar with Frey, you might remember her famous quotes during the December 2010 budget talks; “I’d rather be a laid-off municipal employee than a private sector worker.”  That comment earned the attention of several council members who later revealed, “The city unions are determined to protect its members regardless of the impact on the city’s budget.”

As I watched Sheriff Jones of Butler County speak at the recent West Chester Twp Tea Party when he told me that all union employees are not “thugs,” that many of them are good hard-working people, I was thinking of the Frey case that was breaking at the time.  The Sheriff is a spokesman for the repeal effort of S.B.5.  Jones is the spokesman for the repeal effort for a couple of reasons.  He’s outspoken, and has done a good job managing his county compared to other sheriff’s counties.   He’s one of the best in the country and by coming out against S.B.5 he gets to put a light on just how good he is at his job.  He’s also been a public sector employee his entire life.  The world of milking the system for everything its worth is part of the job culture he has grown to understand as being the only way.  So he’s hardly an impartial observer.  Without question if he was asked about his thoughts of Frey, he’d say, “That wouldn’t happen in my department,” because it wouldn’t.  But when he speaks out against S.B.5 and Governor Kasich specifically, he is sabotaging the attempts by the Kasich administration to actually do something about the corruption that is going on in the public sector unions. 

I can’t speak for Kasich, but he behaved the way I would have in his situation.  He has no desire to sit down with people like Frey and negotiate.  When union leaders make comments like what Frey did in December, there isn’t any discussion with people like that, so Kasich cut them out of the process and did what he thought he had to do. 

With Jones, I listened to him carefully and as he spoke about how he viewed the public collective bargaining system as a good system that should be preserved, my mind drifted back to the Journal News article from April 11th 2011 that was about Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer, a double-dipper working directly for Jones.  Dwyer was listed as taking a 15% pay cut to keep his job which put his current rate of pay at $90,050.48.  Dwyer had just retired at 48 years old and was receiving his pension based on his previous rate of pay of $105,941.48, so that’s a very good pension to draw along with his salary of just over 90K.  This is the same game that superintendents are playing with school districts, and this whole scam was negotiated under collective-bargaining, so of course Sheriff Jones thinks the system works.  It works for him, his family and friends who are working under him.  These are people who are making great livings off the tax payer. 

When asked about the merit of double-dipping Dwyer said “many people don’t understand the retire-rehire process.  It’s not uncommon for people to reach retirement age and take other jobs.  That was an option that was open to me and I was looking at that option, quite frankly.”

Sheriff Jones said, “He’s got his time in and was looking to draw his retirement and put his time in elsewhere.  I need him right where he is.  He’s a very valuable employee to me.”  So Sheriff Jones is perfectly fine with this whole double-dipping situation.  He’s fully aware of it and actually views Dwyer’s situation as “putting his time in.”  And like I said, Jones is one of the most responsible public employee managers in the country.

Jeff Gebhart who is the president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 101 said of the Dwyer situation, “It’s what the system allows.” 

All these high-ranking officials have the same dear-in-the-headlights look when they are questioned about how public officials are receiving extraordinary benefits from the taxpayer.  And that system Gebhart is talking about is the lobby power of the unions who have created through legislation the ability of management officials to retire at such a young age and double-dip as a specific strategy to pay-off those managers legally.  This is why superintendents of schools do not combat the teachers unions, but instead side with them in negotiations.  Because it’s all about the money, it’s about the money with teachers, and it’s about the money with cops, even the very good ones like Sheriff Jones. 

So if Jones is the best example of the public worker and Diana Frey is the worst of what public sector unions bring to the table, what does that say about the need for reforms?  It’s no wonder with all the scamming the system that is going on by these people why the need for tax increases is constantly brought to our attention. 

President Obama, who allows big labor into the White House each week won’t take a stand against this corruption in his budget battles because he needs the money extorted from union membership for his re-election campaign.  Obama and his wife have lived an extraordinarily opulent life on the tax payer dime.  Click here to see just one example of Michelle Obama’s spending habits.  But locally, the good Sheriff Jones is covering his 48-year-old second-in-command who is making nearly 200K per year with benefits with rationalizations of employee need.  Geez, no wonder it costs nearly 50K per year per prisoner in Ohio.  The labor for watching those prisoners is extraordinarily high!  But now we have the president of a union who was very vocal in the budget talks with Cincinnati who was stealing money from fish fry’s, and sucking money off her members for her personal use.  No wonder people like her want to see S.B.5 overturned.

Diana Frey appears to have been a bad person if the allegations leveled against her are true.  As of this writing she is missing and hiding out someplace with three-quarters of a million dollars stolen from her unions membership, many of which are the same simple-minded people who are screaming at anti-S.B.5 rallies “This is what democracy looks like,” and the most famous quote of all, “protect the middle-class.”  It is obvious that without a bill like S.B.5 continued abuse of the taxpayer will continue.  Because in reality what we are talking about here is a society of thieves, who are taking what does not belong to them to consume for their own selfish agenda’s.  It doesn’t matter if it’s legalized theft, like what Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer is participating in, just like most of the superintendents of most of the school districts in Ohio.  Or they are just outright stealing, like it appears Diana Frey has been doing for a long time in front of everyone to see, but nobody had the guts to question her.  It all comes back to the ultimate mistake of the Kennedy Presidency in 1963 where through an Executive Order, made public sector unions legal, enabling the people of those unions to give themselves raises and cheat the system for everything that the law would allow, and where the law didn’t allow, those same unions made it legal through hungry, greedy politicians looking for stable campaign donations.  It is the system itself that is the real thief, for it takes too much money from the public it serves and feeds an army of thieves who nourish themselves with the vast wealth consumed by the malcontents.  And when the money runs low, they just ask for more so deputies can collect two incomes for the work of one, and corrupt union bosses who give themselves lavish vacations on their theft and will steal from a fish fry to buy clothing yet continue to roam free.  That may be what democracy looks like, but it’s not what the Republic of America is supposed to be.  Anything that resembles something besides a republic should be scrapped completely because anything less is a tempting playground for looters and thieves.

Rich Hoffman

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com

Learning what a Republic is: The Continued Lessons of Star Wars

I could not help but notice at my favorite book store that many of the works that I used to only find online, are now in stock, on the shelf. Work by Thomas Paine, John Locke, and all the works of Ayn Rand are easy to find, and this is fantastic news because people are hungry for knowledge. The Federalist Papers are even now stocked on the shelf in abundance. Ten years ago it was only law students who bought copies of it, now it’s an older man in his upper 60’s as I watched him thumb through it’s pages prior to purchase.

Political discussion is often not just about the topics on the nightly news. Recently, a friend of mine gave me a copy of The Original Argument, which was endorsed by Glenn Beck as a way to explain in today’s language the meaning of The Federalist Papers. I enjoyed The Original Argument so much that I read it twice while on vacation recently, and it occurred to me that The Original Argument was not a rule book so to speak intended for lawyers, but it is a political philosophy that speaks a truth established by 4000 years of human history. It does not belong in the political science section in a book store, but in the philosophy section.

But as a friend of mine uttered in frustration the other day, “what are we to do about all this!” The frustration of thinking all their lives that everything was OK in the world, and that politicians were sleazy, but not considered downright evil, and finding out that in fact there are many things that have been going on that people are just learning about because they are reading again, can be very overwhelming. Catching up on 200 years of American history in the span of a year or two like many Tea Party enthusiast are doing can send a person to burn out quick. So it’s important that people remember to have fun along the way. It’s even better if people can learn while they are having fun. Fans of Glenn Beck will notice that Beck is an obvious Star Wars fan. It will also be noticed that there are a lot of Tea Party patriots who are increasingly creating Twitter accounts along the lines of “Jedi Patriot” and “Empire Fighter” in an obvious homage to Star Wars. In our modern age, Star Wars has become a form of modern philosophy, not just simply entertainment. Star Wars is a great way to think about all the things that are going on in the world around us, while also taking a vacation from the intensity of those revelations. After all, the film The Phantom Menace was not about a young boy who grew up and became Darth Vader. That is just one of the sub plots. The Phantom Menace was all about a senator who wants to be emperor, and he uses many people in obscure ways to create the circumstances that will allow him to grab power for himself. It’s all in good old-fashioned fun, but the sincerity behind The Phantom Menace is actually incredibly sophisticated, which is the genius of Star Wars.

The films of Star Wars consist of only 6 two-hour movies and that is what a majority of the fans think of when they hear the name of Star Wars. But for fans who wish to dig deeper, Star Wars tackles many of the problems of our modern times using the language of mythology and the latest entry to that mythology is the MMO computer game called The Old Republic due out later this year and it’s something my wife and I are looking very much forward to.

Glenn Beck uses Star Wars metaphors to explain many of the complicated topics of our day because Star Wars is the only work of art in modern times which attempts to tackle the complicated nature of human failure and evolution as a species. Star Wars is a basic tale of good and evil, but it goes much deeper. With over 100 books, the 6 movies, cartoons, video games, comic books, amusement park rides, Star Wars is a formidable aspect of modern culture which I’ve written about in detail at this article: CLICK HERE

What is even bolder within this Star Wars mythology is this whole new path the franchise is taking in exploring The Old Republic. There are now two novels and two videos games with the addition of the computer game being previewed here, which explores what life was like in The Old Republic which takes place over a thousand years before the events shown in the films most people are familiar with. The idea of the Sith, the villains in Star Wars is to explore the influence of evil and this is done not just in a spiritual way in these stories, but also in a political way. It is the first work of art that I can think of which has mass appeal that attempts to do anything like this. It does not limit itself as an examination of religious influence, or political study, but as an all-encompassing investigation through the story lines of what causes the rise and fall of civilizations.

I am a fan of the works of writers like Thomas Mann and his Magic Mountain, and Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, and I will state in that context the collected works of Star Wars are every bit as sophisticated and meaningful. In Star Wars the entire galaxy is part of a republic. Not a democracy, but a republic. This is similar to what planet Earth is facing in whose political philosophy will emerge as the world shrinks, will it be a republic like what the United States has had so much success with, or will it be various degrees of socialism similar to what Europe and many eastern countries have experimented with.

The most important contribution is that in the galactic government of Star Wars, it’s a republic that is pursued, and provides an interesting model for how Earth should proceed. It is the Republic of the United States of America that should teach the rest of the world how to be a free people, produce their goods under the umbrella of capitalism, and interact with one another with respect under that accepted philosophy.

What gives me hope is that Star Wars is the best education device that young people have to counter what they are learning in public education, and politicians who crave socialism where the philosophy of a republic is not taught to them. It is entertainment that is providing the best education to society, and because of the popularity of Star Wars it is evidence that many people are learning about it.

Glenn Beck understands that Star Wars is a modern work of political philosophy and science. When people who love freedom want to know how America is supposed to function, books like The Original Argument are fantastic. But it cannot be disputed that free life will always stay within the confines of the United States borders. As the evidence of illegal immigration have shown, millions of people all over the world want to become a part of the Republic of the United States and we owe it to those people in America to help not just open our borders to them, but to expand the freedom we experience to those far reaches of the globe so that there can be a grand Republic of Earth. And to get an idea of how to do that, Star Wars is the best work of art available to help show how that process should look, and what type of hurdles will stand in the way, so that freedom can be experienced by anything that breathes world-wide.

So before going crazy, choking on all this information that has always been there, but is being re-discovered, it is good to have a device that can give your mind a vacation. For me, it’s a love of pirates, and Star Wars. Star Wars allows the mind to swell without limits without becoming lost in the fantasy. And I look very much forward to the age when the kids who are growing up with this expanded universe of Star Wars start to run the country, because that is a time when things will dramatically change for the better, because they will understand that America is a republic and not a democracy and the only hope the entire world has for freedom.

Rich Hoffman

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
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