A constant that I have spoken often about which is one of my favorite places in the world to visit with my wife is the Books A Million store at Bridgewater Falls near my home in Liberty Township, Ohio. The ideal night out for the two of us is to have dinner at Chilis, then walk over to Books A Million to buy a nice supply of books for the week. We purchase a lot of books, we buy them online, we buy them from other bookstores, such as Barnes and Nobel in West Chester, or down at Newport on the Levy, but none more than Books A Million where the gigantic pillars at the entrance make book buying such an epic event. There is nothing that makes my heart go “pitter patter” more than the purchase of a new book—it doesn’t matter if its historical, paranormal, social science, comic, philosophy, fiction, or whatever the topic—a new book in my hands or my wife’s is the best feeling in the world. In our home there are over 500 books just from the Books A Million store mentioned. Yet sadly, we were greeted this past Friday with a tragic knowledge—that Books A Million’s lease with Bridgewater Falls has expired, and now because of changes according to people close to the situation—the rates are going up and Books A Million will be closing that Bridgewater Falls location. This news was equivalent to discovering that a dear friend was about to die—the impact will be long-lasting in my family.
When I bring so much attention to the cost of school levies or high taxes in general, it is places like Books A Million who suffer the most. Only a few years ago Fairfield Schools passed a school levy, and as lease rates expire for many of the stores in a complex like Bridgewater Falls, the many apartments up and down RT 4, the various shops along the same corridor, property owners have little choice but to pass along the cost of those tax increases to leasers who then have to figure out if they can make enough money to pay a lease. In the case of Books A Million they sell books which a lot of people enjoy, but that industry has been deeply impacted by online sales, and digital downloads. Books A Million has diversified, they’ve brought in toys and other gadgets to stay relevant, and had been holding their own. But all it takes is a rate increase to mitigate their diminishing marginal return and make it no longer profitable for them to operate.
Pro tax people will state quite openly that the landlords—in this case Bridgewater Falls should absorb the higher taxes—but that’s never how things work. They have a diminishing marginal return to meet as well, and they know where their profit margins are, and what they are willing to do to perform the task. In the case of Books A Million cost increases that were applied to Bridgewater Falls two to three years ago are just now having an impact on Books A Million because this is the period that their lease is up. The cause may have occurred many years prior yet the impact is just now being felt. When stores close and vacate an area this is most of the time the primary cause. This is why there are old strip malls in towns like Middletown, and Hamilton who have long seen their better days sitting mostly empty. Taxation destroyed their ability to attract diversified businesses—and the ones they had leave.
I have had talks with people close to the new development of Liberty Center just down the road—which will be a high-end type of enterprise—and part of those talks is to bring in a Joseph and Beth bookstore—if they can manage to secure the interest. When Newport on the Levy was built, the developer worked hard to bring in the Barnes and Noble bookstore. Large developments like these require something intellectual to mix with the restaurants, the clothing stores, and other variety shops. It is psychologically refreshing to see a book store in a shopping complex—even for those who don’t read a lot of books. A bookstore presence is a cultural asset to the shopping experience. When Tri-County Mall lost their three bookstores over ten years ago, the clientele of Tri County Mall declined tremendously. The same thing happened at nearby Cincinnati Mills–they lost their large Walden book store which was replaced by a shoe store and never drew the same type of numbers again. The mall tried to appeal to a younger crowd by allowing bars and nightspots to soak up lease space, but it never worked. It destroyed the culture of Cincinnati Mills. Without a bookstore to serve as an intellectual anchor to the shopping experience the demographic shift changed unfavorably and the mall died. When Borders Books and Music left the Princeton Pike shopping center across the street from Tri-County Mall that entire strip mall died on the vine. The overall quality of the entire complex declined considerably leaving the next door restaurant of Red Squirrel alone and defenseless. I used to have breakfast at that restaurant nearly every day. Before the internet I would purchase newspapers from all over the country at Borders and go next door to the Red Squirrel to read them over a breakfast omelet. Bookstores, even for people who don’t go to them very much, raise the profile of any shopping experience and when they leave, shortly after, the mall, strip outlet, or overall shopping experience declines rapidly. Out of all the bookstores mentioned, the one at Bridgewater Falls was our favorite. We often would go to the Mexican restaurant that was in the center of the Bridgewater complex basically because I have had so many political enemies that it was nice to eat there tucked away like we were in a cave. I didn’t have to worry about stray “aggression” coming at me while we ate. The design of that Mexican restaurant afforded that could actually relax with my wife while dining out. After dinner we’d walk around the corner to Books A Millon and shop for countless hours. Well, the Mexican restaurant is gone and Bridgewater has not been able to fill the space—likely the curb appeal versus lease rates is no longer compatible. When Books A Million leaves, a giant empty building will greet visitors right at the shopping complex entrance. Bridgewater Falls may think that they can fill the space with a shoe store, or something like a Kirklands—which failed at the location right across the street just a few years ago—but likely, once Books A Million leaves Bridgewater Falls, the shopping experience at that location will begin to decline over the next decade. Books A Million was one of those stores which made Bridgewater Falls attractive from the outset—it was an anchor for that shopping complex, and it likely won’t survive the long haul.
My wife and I have been debating for months our attendance of Bridgewater Falls versus the new Liberty Center where again I have been asking for a Joseph and Beth bookseller there. She is a very loyal person and she would not abandon Bridgewater Falls because of what Books A Million has meant to her. Likely we are the extreme case, but we may not go to Bridgewater Falls again without a bookstore present. We will have to go to Liberty Center when it opens or go to the Streets of West Chester. However, the Barnes and Noble there isn’t in healthy shape either. If not for the 50 Shades of Grey popularity, Barnes and Nobel were very close to bankruptcy. My hope is that these bookstores can hold on until the new Star Wars films spike book sales in ways that bookstores require to keep brick and mortar outlets open—but there isn’t any guarantee. Bookstores can only produce so much in sales, people enjoy knowing they are there—they don’t typically buy as many books as my wife and I do, but they enjoy seeing them in shopping complexes as a psychological reassurance that they are attending a place of culture. Without a bookstore, a shopping complex takes on a nature of just a commercial center—and it quickly loses its appeal.
The high cost of doing business imposed by taxation hits hardest businesses that have low profit margins—like bookstores. While it might take longer to affect stores like Forever 21 or Target, the first retail experiences to be shaped by high costs are places like Books A Million. Once bookstores leave a shopping complex, it is usually just a matter of time before the shopping complex becomes a center of slum. People still go to the restaurants, and buy cloths, but the overall quality of the shopping experience declines rapidly—and the amount of money a place like Bridgewater Falls can command with lease rates becomes substantially less. When bookstores leave, the “dollar stores” move in, and with those a lower type of shopper comes with them—not the kind who spend a lot of money on other stores. A slow death begins.
I will miss you guys at Books A Million. My wife will miss you even more—and so will the rest of my family. If I could pick one thing that would stay the same—it would be that Books A Million could stay at Bridgewater Falls—but due to the high taxation coming to the Butler County area—the path to gradual decline is inevitable. Books A Million is simply the first casualty because it is most vulnerable with a perceived value that is less obvious.
As critics have stated recently that I “hate education, because I had a bad experience as a kid,” essentially, they are right, I do hate education as I experienced it—but they’re wrong about the whole education experience. Quite the contrary, I am a huge education guy—I love learning, I find adventure in education, and for me it is an everyday experience. I hate the current education system sponsored by governments because it is limiting—and is not advancing our society, but regressing it. However, when I see major shifts of potential that are pent-up realizations of human desire that will lead to education revolutions—I make a note of it, and that is what I’m about to reiterate. Socially, we are on a collision course with reality, our personal debts are too high, we have a militarization of our local police that is making us all very weary, we have broken families, propaganda driven education toward left-leaning politics, and a new generation that will have a lower standard of living than the generation before them for the first time in American history. The culmination of all those events are about to explode under the Disney handling of the Star Wars franchise. The company Disney undoubtedly does not have political desires to change the world—they just want to make money for their shareholders and tell stories that families enjoy. However, the property of Star Wars has always had a very subtle message of education and an understanding of history. George Lucas wanted explicitly to show how republics die and give way to empires and he used the influences of Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Castro to shape the fictional empire of the Star Wars universe. The new animated feature coming up on Disney XD will explore deeply this conversion from freedom to tyranny through the promise of social “safety” in a way that was previously unmatched. These are the concerns of the 21st Century world in a tremendous way especially with the evidence of police brutality that is emerging, and the rise of the TSA in America. The new Star Wars: Rebels will explore those very influences filling an educational void that will combine artistic fiction with an actual grim history in a way that will be greatly beneficial.
This past week Lucasfilm, the makers of the Star Wars properties put out promotional material announcing their plans for the 2014 releases of their upcoming Star Wars: Rebels television show. The art they chose to use could have been taken from any point in history in virtually any country that found themselves losing freedom to tyranny. The new television show will explore in a way that is very specific to Star Wars how freedom dies and how empires are created so that education can take place far surpassing the static learning of history from a complacent classroom teacher who has lost touch with the magic and adventure of study. Have a look at some of the art released by Lucasfilm and read the press release which accompanied them:
The Empire’s propaganda machine is in full effect.
Six pieces of Star Wars Rebels “patriotic art” were sent to 2,500 people around the globe and select media outlets, promoting the noble intentions and work of the Empire. These bold, graphic-style cards, urging galactic citizens to accept and even join the Empire, reflect the political landscape of the upcoming animated series.
When Supreme Chancellor Palpatine first declared himself Emperor, many people in the former Republic welcomed the change after the chaos of Clone Wars. As this campaign shows, the Empire continues to build upon that goodwill with glorified images of the stability and security that were ushered in by its might. It’s easy for worlds newly welcomed into the expanding Empire to be swept up with such ideas, though those citizens who have witnessed the ruthlessness of the Empire firsthand know the real story.
Thus far, the cards have appeared online at IGN.com, ETonline.com, Empire.com, Mashable.com, TheForce.net, and UOL.com. They were designed by Amy Beth Christenson, a member of the Lucasfilm Animation art department working on the series, and can be viewed in the accompanying slideshow. (But don’t be too swayed by their message.)
Star Wars Rebels is scheduled to premiere in fall 2014 as a one-hour special telecast on Disney Channel and will be followed by a series on Disney XD channels around the world.
I have said it many times; Star Wars is not just for kids. Adults can learn a lot from it—as well as all of our current politicians anywhere in the world. The wars fueled by the science fiction fantasy epic are generated exclusively by the corruption of human spirit in service of “systems” over individual initiative. Star Wars: Rebels will explore this concept from many different angles in a way that is visually entertaining, but intellectually stimulating. There is power here that will have a major impact on virtually everything we have come to understand about the world we all live in.
Education is not about a teacher standing in front of a class teaching about global warming, union solidarity rights, or progressive philosophy framed by Immanuel Kant. Education is about asking questions, and seeking answers. In the case of Star Wars the sights, sounds, and story are designed to provoke questions and encourage viewers to seek the answers thus engaging in education. I can speak first-hand how well it has worked for me, and I am absolutely delighted that a whole new generation will experience it on a much grander scale.
Just a few years from now we will all be talking the same language—as indicated by the art above. And when that happens—changes for the better will occur.
One of the most striking aspects of the 2014 Superbowl that was grotesquely obvious was the string of patriotism that permeated from the event. Usually, a month after such sporting events, most people will have long forgotten who won or lost the game. Yet advertisers spending many millions of dollars in production costs alone produce some of the most creative commercials that will be seen all year which set the pace of marketing for the following year. Most of those commercials are decided upon well in advance under the careful guidance of agencies that make their recommendations based on lots of statistical behavioral data. Patriotism was an unannounced theme at this latest Superbowl which is not an accident. It was seen in the controversial Coke multi-lingual commercial, the Bob Dylan bit for Chrysler and most obviously in the below advertisement for the upcoming movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier—which plays right into the sense of patriotic recognition that the Superbowl was trying to create.
There were many more examples especially during the pre-game ceremonies—more so than during normal Superbowls–which brought to my mind a theory. As hated as the Tea Party has been relative to the rest of the world, a lot of people not affiliated with the movement have had their American patriotism questioned. There is a desire for Michelle Obama, John Boehner and the rest of the RINOS to declare that they are patriotic too, and not statist slugs filled with apathy and corruption. There are companies who have made deals with politics to become cronies of capitalism and feel guilty about it—so they are using the Superbowl to tell 111.5 million viewers that they are not American enemies, but are as well patriotic and in love with freedom, and their country. It was a chance to react to the needle movement created by the Tea Party, and statists took advantage of it as if to answer the criticism leveled in their direction.
During the Lakota school levy fights of years past many in my community thought I unfairly kept moving the goal posts further back never accepting the concessions of negotiation that were taking place. After a few years when the attempts to reach across the aisle were slapped away—there was frustration that I did not move from my position—or that I carried my position further to the right. That is by strategy. That same strategy is at play on a larger scale by the Tea Party and the evidence could be seen rather clearly at the 2014 Superbowl. The patriotism is an appeasement by the statists, crony capitalists, diabolical socialists, and other collectivist organizations to cover themselves in the American flag even as they have built their lives around tearing it apart or disrespecting it. Their desire to prove that they too are patriotic is driven by the social pressure to answer the criticisms of the Tea Party.
Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are enormously popular on the radio dial, and Bill O’Reilly—who considers himself patriotic and was the Fox representative handling a difficult President Obama interview before the Superbowl–set the stage for the evening at 4:30 PM on a Sunday afternoon. All those characters are considered “patriotic” and have large followings. The Tea Party is certainly larger than the listening audience of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck but both commentators could be argued to provide daily sustenance for the movement. Many Tea Party types listen to both radio hosts during the day—and those numbers are upwards of 15 million.
Advertising agencies cannot ignore these hidden statistics. There is a very large demographic base that considers themselves very patriotic—who listen to Beck, Limbaugh and O’Reilly daily. There are many more who lean to the right of those entertainers like Alex Jones, Wayne Allyn Root and even writers like me who go further down the rabbit hole of conservativism—self reliance, and personal independence. Relatively few people consider themselves New York progressives or Los Angeles latte sippers—the appeal of those places is not what it used to be. Most people between those cities have an inkling of what conservativism is—and it’s not what the Grand Ol’ Party is serving up.
So the entertainment culture is on the defensive—they are trying to prove to Middle America that they are good people who want what’s best for The United States. But their actions say otherwise. That is why it is important for the Tea Party to keep moving the goal posts further to the right. Without question this will cause resentment, but it will also help make the world a better place by not allowing unchecked statists to wave American flags over their heads while they screw us all behind our backs. Their behavior is the same as the guy who cheats on his wife then tells his wife—“I love you.” If a man will cheat on his wife, he’ll cheat on his country even when he declares love for both. His actions speak more loudly than just the cosmetic appearances of patriotism. A multi-million dollar Superbowl commercial can’t make someone patriotic. Just like Robert Redford’s appearance in the new Captain America film does not erase his long past with socialist and left-leaning radicals. He’s just an actor playing a part just like most everyone else in the Superbowl, including Michelle and Barack Obama.
The Tea Party goal posts are proving effective. Public sentiment is changing for the better—ever so subtly. But that sentiment cannot be met half-way. The Tea Party does not need to come off their position to continue the progress. All that is needed is to remain steadfast and let everyone else come to the Tea Party position. There is no reason to sacrifice, negotiate, or “compromise” with those statist oriented idiots. They are in the minority, they are wrong, and they are obligated to right themselves—not for the rest of us to shed away bits of ourselves to make them feel better about their mistakes they have made in their lives. By holding true, the Tea Party may save the world yet—and a lot of the people living upon it. But compromise won’t get the job done.
Of course now that there has been an election where Lakota schools by the narrowest of margins won the ability to steal money from property owners in the form of a higher taxation, the impact is manifesting and it is time to analyze the situation. Now that we are all into the 2014 year, those taxpayers are paying the higher rate all in the name of the “children.” Thousands and thousands of dollars were spent by Lakota to diffuse the argument that I had been making—that the employees at Lakota expected too much money which was the direct cause of the tax increase—but the media, and the pro tax addicts with their East Coast mentality of tax and spend economics cried foul and pandered to the sentiments of a parade of feminist despots writhing with guilt over their life decisions primarily constituting in putting career over family. Since most in the professional world could relate and needed to feel good about their own situations—particularly news anchors on the main networks, and the radio people who live in fear of their spouses anti-sexual sentiment desired with their very heart and souls to believe the charade that Lakota was promoting. Well, the facts are the facts, and I am about to present them to you.
Below is a ten-year trend compiled by the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Taxation—along with other sources. These trend charts show how teacher salary grew compared to resident incomes who pay the taxes over the period of 2000 to 2010, when No Lakota Levy put aside some of our personal problems with each other and joined to fight Lakota’s out-of-control spending. This information has been presented previously in different forms, but not quite so concisely now that hindsight is 20/20. These charts show a devastating application of greedy Lakota employees pillaging the community for which they are employed. The salary increases at Lakota are just erroneous—and are quite clear by the evidence below.
Everyone behind the scenes knew this information—yet pro tax supporters purposely lied to the tax payers to conceal it. Lakota lied to the tax payers. The public relations professionals employed by Lakota lied to the tax payers. The media lied to the tax payers, and the politicians lied to the tax payers. They all lied because they attempted to connect out-dated arguments about real estate value, and the importance of centralized education to America’s youth to their innate—and unchecked desire to stuff their pockets with money they are clearly not worth. I said it back then and I’ll say it again–$62,000 dollars a year is too much money to pay a glorified baby sitter—which is what most of the teachers are at Lakota. The charts below show how bad the situation really is, as they also compare State of Ohio teacher pay averages—which are already high in my opinion—to Lakota teachers. Lakota compared to them are off the charts high. Have a look carefully at the data. And if you don’t believe these charts, pull Jenni Logan aside who is the treasurer at Lakota and have her confirm them. It’s not difficult. If not her………..ask Roger Reynolds. He won’t lie to you…………so ask him………go ahead media…………ask the f**king question. I dare anyone to poke holes in this data. Because nobody can.
During the election of 2013 most of the Cincinnati media had decided to ignore the cause of the problem which was teacher salaries and declare that it had been a long time since Lakota had been granted a tax increase and that the teachers had taken a “pay freeze” which expires during the summer of 2014. The district at that time wanted to throw money at those teachers to keep them happy but anyone with half a mind could look at these charts and wonder why they weren’t already happy. Lakota teachers were making quite a bit more money than even average teachers in Ohio. Some of these teachers were the same ones who were sexting their students in class, or sexually molesting elementary kids which the media also glazed over with minimum coverage so that the illusion of teacher quality could be maintained. Lakota teachers were making more money than the state average, and they should have been very happy about it. But the Pulse Journal, the Cincinnati Enquirer and even my old allies at WLW radio had decided that the “poor teachers” had taken a sacrifice for the good of the community by accepting a three-year pay freeze—which only occurred because No Lakota Levy had applied illumination to these very statistics. Now with these ODE reports, context to just how bad the situation was can be seen clearly.
If you are a tax payer in Lakota who voted for the 2013 school levy—you are clearly an idiot. Do you see now what you signed up for? You were scammed and are just plain stupid. If you voted against the levy—you have been validated. You were right and history will be on your side. If you are upset about the money you are now paying, and are against the levy, but did not vote—now you see that you should have gotten off your ass and cast a ballot. Because you didn’t these same teachers are about to get an even larger pay increase when the new LEA contract is negotiated in a few months. None of the newspapers will cover this issue—the “West Chester Buzz” won’t touch it with a 100’ pole, and the nightly television news will avoid it completely because they are as complicit as the teachers in the scam. Bill Cunningham from 700 WLW will continue to exploit the dregs of our society on his television show and hope for redemption by supporting school levies because he can’t admit to himself that he is as responsible as a typical theft who provides watch for that thief when he assists in the open looting of massive amounts of tax payer wealth into the pockets of Lakota teachers. The charts work against every one of their collective arguments and illuminate how terribly bad they have all behaved.
Of course Lakota will grumble to each other within their palatial halls of sinister left-winged intention that Rich Hoffman is cherry picking data again—because they can’t face the notion that they are looters, scum bags and deceitful, maniacal, tax payer funded dregs upon society who contribute nearly nothing to the theater of the human race but expelling carbon dioxide into the air for trees to consume for sustenance. My feelings about these people were molded by their continued insistence that reality is not what I am looking at—which is an insult—because I know better. Whenever it is advocated that things are not as they appear—when I know otherwise—that person—or people, are insulting me in a way that is not forgivable. If Lakota wanted to have a fight about the value of a teacher—that would have been a valid debate—but what they chose is to hide the information and behave in a deceitful manner—then waste even more tax money to hide the crime. That is not forgivable, and is properly listed as a crime because the deception has led directly to the theft of personal wealth—mine and yours. And that is not something to take lightly over tea and cookies.
Check the reference links mentioned to validate the information on the charts.
The reason they told so many lies, Lakota, the media, the public relations people, the unions, and the pundits is because they said that the tax increase was “for the children.” What they neglected to declare was that the real reason was to pad their pockets with voluminous amounts of money–and they USED the children to do it. The proof is above.
Do you remember just yesterday Dear Reader when I spoke about how things are changing and how a simple iPad can now do what an entire television broadcast studio used to be needed for—and that we had all that power within our reach? Of course you do. Now consider what that power could do in the hands of a couple of guys who are entertainment industry professionals and have had opened their eyes to the way the world really is—and are using their power, and ability to articulate the problem of big government and crony capitalism in a whole new way. We’re not talking about some fringe wanna’ be types—but the guys behind some of the popular Burger King commercials and the new Back to the Future ad seen frequently during 2013 football games featuring Michael J. Fox. I’m talking about of course John Papola and Josh Meyers who run Emergent Order.com and are making quite a splash on the media circuit with their new toy line called The Kronies, where their hilarious viral video has taken the world by storm for the last couple of weeks. I don’t plan to rehash their fantastic enterprise here, but in case you have not yet seen their very good work, here it is.
Josh Meyers is the head of post production and is a 12-year veteran of broadcast television production and post production, with numerous award-winning campaigns and hundreds of spots under his belt. As a senior editor and post production supervisor, Josh produced long and short form content for Spike, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, and World Wrestling Entertainment. After hours, Josh enjoys writing scripts for his dystopian science-fiction comic book series “Salsa Dawg,” which he hopes will one day be continuous with the DC Universe.
Here is an article where Glenn Beck covered their efforts at Emergent Order along with links to their work—well worth visiting.
One thing that struck me with these guys listening to their many media appearances for a very clever marketing campaign is that they could be doing just about anything they want—as far as career intentions—but they are choosing to use their power for good—not evil. While Steven Spielberg may think that he’s very clever helping President Obama market himself to the public, while producing a very good film about Abraham Lincoln where the Democrats were clearly the villains stoking the fires of the Civil War, these guys are openly making statements that would make Ayn Rand very, very proud. Their message behind The Kronies is essentially the net result of any policy that accepts Keynesian economics as a managing factor. Government cannot be in the business of regulating capitalism because the result is what is seen with The Kronies. And socialism—where the government openly controls everything—is even worse.
The kinds of people who pay attention to these kinds of things already know the message behind The Kronies. Yet, many more do not, and it is clear that John and Josh are using the same methods they have used to make Nickelodeon and MTV so popular into taking complex economic concepts and present them in a way that children can understand. Their work has massive potential and is a game changer in the world of politics.
When I write for pages and pages and pages what the importance of comic books and Star Wars in general are to modern culture I am thinking of people like John Papola and Josh Meyers. There are many people out there on the fence wondering what do to about the world they are witnessing. They listen to Glenn Beck, they read articles like the ones here at Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom—the fringe of thought–and they are measuring those messages against what they learn in comics, the media industry and realizing that they have power that is no longer centrally controlled in Hollywood. They do not have to lick the boots of some progressive scum bag in a palatial estate in Beverly Hills to gain access to studios—so they can work in the business. They are free to express their thoughts and feelings with the tools available to them—and they continue to work because they are good. Good people are always in demand—even if the industry would love to blacklist them.
Media moguls like Ted Turner two decades ago would have kept guys like John and Josh under their thumb just to work in the industry before a couple of Apple computers gave Emergent Order the ability to turn a bedroom into the kind of work space that used to take up an entire city block in Hollywood. Studio bosses could back then sit by a pool with playboy bunnies on each arm sniffing cocaine across a glass table and relish how they would help advance the kind of politics discussed in The Kronies video. They knew there were people who worked for their studios who did not adhere to progressive politics, or did not support Keynsian economics policies, but they did not care. They’d give one of those evil, maniacal laughs and declare to their blond bombshells—if they want to work—they’ll keep their mouths shut and do what we tell them. If they go “rogue” and start yapping their mouths on Entertainment Tonight, we’ll fire them.
Well, people like Steve Jobs freed these creative types and they are no longer under such thumbs. They are now free to use their imaginations any way they see fit—and they are beginning to emerge ruthlessly as they now realize that the shackles are gone from their arms and legs. What John Papola and Josh Meyers did in their Kronies cartoon short is equivalent to an entire economics text-book on Keynesian theory and the perils associated with it. That is where their idea here has power—because people who otherwise would not even try to understand Keynsian economics can now understand it as John and Josh made the concept so easy to understand that a child could wrap their mind around it. For politicians, big corrupt bankers, K-Street lobbyists and the many criminal elements dangling from those professions in the light of day—this is very bad news for them. They require that society be kept stupidly in the dark so they can work their deceit. The Kronies makes it all too obvious what is really going on in government—and that is a terrifying prospect to those attempting to hold on to the big Beverly Hills mansion with the two playboy bunnies, or the comb over politician and his mistresses in each city given to him by businessmen wanting to cut a deal who might otherwise sell their own daughters away in trade for a condo in the Bahamas. Or the union thug who is an acting communist entity spreading the message of solidarity and Keynesian economics as the European model of wealth management cheering on less personal freedom, oppressive, intrusive governments, and hairy man-hating European women.
The Kronies are signs of the times that are coming—and not a moment too soon. Somewhere deep in her grave Ayn Rand is smiling at the exploits of Emergent Order and their new cartoon parody, The Kronies. She wrote book after book after book trying to explain what these guys explained in a 2 minute 15 second video. And joining her undoubtedly is Steve Jobs who may have leaned to the political left, but deeply wanted this kind of individual power to go to people with a mind to use it. In the case of John and Josh, they certainly have—for the betterment of everyone who is touched by their work.
I remember the classes I took in my twenties at the Cincinnati cable access station learning how to edit video tape with all the style and flair of a nightly news broadcast. The editing room had dual tape feeders and a massive mixing board which made me feel like the power of my imagination was the only limit in communicating whatever I had on my mind. But there was a limit—you had to book the room by the hour—which was a real pain in the butt. I used that video room to help out the Ross Perot campaign, and the movement that came directly after called the Reform Party. Over the years that work has gotten lost in the thousands of home videos that I have of my family, and they certainly aren’t floating around on the internet because it hadn’t been invented yet—at least on the scale that we know it today. So I can state accurately that one of the greatest freedoms of our modern age is the ability to take that room full of complicated million dollar equipment and compress it down to the size of an iPad—and make it dramatically better. That is the age we are in. The imagination is the only real limit as much as government would like to think otherwise. We have all the power in the world to communicate whatever we want to whomever we want at any time of the day or night. With that said, I thought it was time to do an actual ad for this blog site of Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom celebrating the heart of it—where it was born—in my back yard practicing with bullwhips.
The philosophy that I have utilized since the Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom inception is one that is discussed in the ad—one centered around my work with bullwhips. I have practiced for many hours over several decades with bullwhips and I always think a lot while doing it. Those thoughts translate to unique concepts and strategies in dealing with complicated problems and have helped me do things that seemed impossible to other people. I have attempted to teach executives how to run their businesses better with bullwhip classes so that they could understand what I do—that the whip is a minimalist effort exerted with great force—which is how business strategy should be conducted. Too many of these businessmen are concerned about their organization charts instead of the task of executing strategies and team building with those who can help them. The bullwhip is a lesson in how to take a small amount of force and turn it into something that can cut a pop can in two with just string and leather. The same force can be applied to the neck of a villain opening the arteries of the neck wide open and killing a man within seconds. Most people, particularly government try to implement strategy the way a gun works—with great force discharged up front—which quickly dissipates the further way the bullet gets from the muzzle. This is bad, especially with large organizations. By the time an intention is expressed, the velocity of that intention gets lost down the organizational chart until the force applied is next to nothing by the time it reaches its target. This is primarily why large companies like General Motors or the Federal Government fail when large bureaucracies stand between their intended strategies and the target of their implementation.
I have learned through the bullwhip that a small force applied in the right way can turn into a mammoth force by the time it reaches its target because of the tapered design. The limits are that you are restricted to a close range, but for a melee weapon it is far superior to a club, a knife, or a sword as the reach is greater, and the force applied is much less—and far more flexible. When wielding two whips at the same time there is no group of people who will be able to close around me with just their bare hands or melee weapons. Firearms are a bit trickier, but not all that difficult to thwart, easier than it might be thought otherwise. But these are the results of three decades of whip work. I have tried to teach people how to apply these tactics to their everyday lives but mostly—if they don’t learn to master a bullwhip—the lessons are lost to them.
Needless to say that I do apply these lessons to my life—many cannot understand how I do so much—at so many levels–because they don’t understand the bullwhip. Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom is just one of my daily tasks and the reason behind this site is very similar to using a bullwhip in a combat situation. I have witnessed the need to accomplish mammoth tasks on the liberty front—but applying a strategy to those tasks cannot be done properly using weapons of diminishing marginal return—where great effort is applied at the start, but it is greatly reduced by the time it reaches its target. I know people who have spent their entire lives on the liberty front fighting the good fight only to be continuously swept away by the big waves of machine politics, so I had to approach the problem differently. I think it is quite clear now after four years of Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom what I have been up to. Go back and read the newspapers anywhere in the country and read the union talking points and compare them to today. I have not given a rat’s ass about reaching the masses—the everyday Joe’s and Mary’s. My targets have been very specific and the force of that momentum has had a great influence on the media, on radio conversation, on television, on the arts—and in politics. Now I haven’t been the only one—a lot of people have chipped away at that former power structure—but my job has been a support role to those troops on the ground while also striking at targeted cuts out there in the hidden areas—behind the curtain.
It was not an accident when I went on Doc Thompson’s radio show years ago and dared President Obama to put me on his insurgent list. I knew in doing it that The White House would read Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom every day to see if I was a threat. In reading every day, they are learning things whether or not they wish to. It forces their hands to learn what others are learning and takes them away from their game—just a bit. By seeing this action, others also dare to be so bold—and they add in mass a force sometimes more diligently applied overwhelming our foes. It is kind of a anti-Saul Alisnky—which is a very good thing.
The work at Lakota displayed on this site has forced a change in public education in general. That school wasted many hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting me to prevent the truth—and people have witnessed it. Currently Lakota is pinned down heavily. They know that anything they do will be heavily scrutinized here at Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom so they are very, very careful. This keeps them in check enormously. I don’t mind revealing that strategy now—because it is already too late. The next part of the strategy is already underway—and they can’t stop that either–and they know it. This has changed the dialogue in Columbus as many thousands of important people have learned about other education reformers through Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom. In many ways those people put a lot more work into the effort than I do—most are committed to the task day and night—but the media has excluded them from the discussion and few people know about their web sites because they are blacklisted in the newspapers. I am very proud to have changed that dialogue.
Glenn Beck is doing some of the best work in the country right now with The Blaze—but being a completely online network it is being shunned by the media. Sites like Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom, Freedomworks, and other outlets have helped that network get off the ground to what is now a powerhouse of information. I would call that strategy the way of the “whip,” a minimum up-front force applied to get explosive back-end results.
So it’s time to give Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom a bit of the credit it deserves not just as a work by me which started in my back yard, but for the very subtle path that it has paved behind the curtain the last couple of years. There are now more sites like it doing the same work and the effect is compounding nicely—just like how a bullwhip strikes a target. So given the tool availability that is out there so readily available now as opposed to back in the Reform Party days, it’s time to use them for “maximum” effect. And with that—I hope you enjoyed the first official ad for Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom and the intention I have to unfurl a strategy that has been coiled up for far too long—until just the right moment. That moment is now………………………………………..
What does Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, and Seth McFarlane all have in common even though they are all political commentators and satirists from polar opposites—a rather intense love of Star Wars that often comes out in their work. Star Wars as I have said many times has the ability to reach beyond the rhetoric of modern politics and perspective and speak to the heart of very complicated matters. I have never known of anything like it and have enjoyed the constant DAILY musings about the new film, Episode 7 coming out in 2015. Every single day there is a new story on the internet speculating about the making of that film and I have really enjoyed the debates about whether or not the Expanded Universe will be included into the new films. There is much wonderment about how much Disney and J.J. Abrams will want to make their imprint on the new saga. The belief as of now is that these new creative interests would pick and chose from the many comics, novels, and other material created before them constituting the “expanded universe” and would change names and places to suit their own input. Well, I think people who believe those kinds of things are intensely wrong as there is a cool dude who is the current protector of the intellectual Star Wars universe named Pablo Hidalgo working with Abrams and Disney as he has for years with dozens of writers and game designers to keep the story continuity of the massive Star Wars saga consistent.
My intent with this article is not to give away spoilers for the next film, or to give away details of the massive volume of books from the last thirty Star Wars novels, many of which were New York Times Best Sellers. We are not talking about a silly bit of escapist fantasy, but many of these novels are very series explorations into political science, philosophy, and psychology. For instance in the book Ascension written by Christie Golden an ancient being 100,000 years old named Abeloth seeks to make a power play against the entire galaxy while a group of political strategist look to resurrect the Empire of old by provoking a slavery revolt to create a crises for the Republic overwhelming their resources allowing the Empire to make a move. Meanwhile a group of ancient Sith are teaming up with the Abeloth to return their dominance against the long hated Jedi. The story reads like something out of a Saul Alinsky manual, but what’s different is that there is context in a story to apply the meanings too, which makes the concept of such betrayal digestible. When Ascension was released a few years ago it was #7 on the New York Times Best Seller list.
When the novel Lockdown, which came out this past week hit the shelves at our local book store my wife rushed out to snag up her copy. The book was not nestled in the distant corner hidden shamefully where nobody would see it—it was right out in front next to the front door so it was the first thing customers would see when they arrived. Stacks of them were there right next to Glenn Beck’s newest book Miracles and Massacres. My wife consumes these Star Wars books in about 3 to 4 days on average devouring them with great intensity—and she’s certainly not alone. In our house, we have well over 200 Star Wars novels, some of them junior readers, but at least 160 of them were written for adult audiences and feature a very complicated and intricate history from the Star Wars universe.
I feel extremely confident that Disney and Abrams with all their prudence would be foolish to ruin what Lucasfilm has spent decades building—but rather would tap into this vast mythology from the business side preserving the creative input by hundreds of individual minds guided to the same spot by George Lucas. Lucas provided the canvas for which many, many people painted a very elaborate picture of a vast story that explores the nature of politics, life after death, and the fundamentals of human interaction. I do not believe for a second that Disney would be so foolish as to disrupt this process. Rather, I believe with the same deductive reasoning that I have predicted many actual truths in the world here at this site of Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom, that it is the many speculations of established thought that are wrong. The new Star Wars films will pick up shortly after the novel Crucible just over 45 years after the original Star Wars film A New Hope. I believe that the villains will not be a resurrection of Darth Vader, or even the Emperor this time, but will center on instead on the story of Abeloth, the void in the galaxy left by the destruction of a place called Center Point Station, and events that took nearly 70 years prior when Anakin Skywalker refused to play his role in becoming a Keeper of the Balance upon solicitation by the Ones.
Disney has an opportunity through the intense work of Lucasfilm to create perhaps the most potent mythology ever fashioned by human minds dwarfing all the Greek myths, the symposiums of oriental culture, Hindu legacies, and Andes folktales. If Disney taps into fully the work done by the Expanded Universe there will be a tremendous wave of culture that will hit the current empty vessels of civilization with the force of a tsunami, only it won’t be a destructive force—but a positive, creative one. There will be nothing like it in the works of mankind. I’m as sure of it as the sun shines during the day and the stars can be seen at night. It is a certainty. The story of Abeloth is one that has the potential to eclipse the threat of the Emperor from the previous films and ties all these Star Wars stories into a giant complex tapestry of interwoven stories that make bold attempts to dig at the heart of evil and will sufficiently wrap up the entire point into a unifying principle worthy of all the hard work done for so many years by so many people. Only a villain of such an epic—timeless scope has the ability to justify more Star Wars films. Disney will then be free to make television adaption’s of all the novels bringing all the story lines leading into Episode 7 providing content for decades further that will plaster itself to the minds of millions. Disney will obtain a very needed revenue stream from the Expanded Universe—thousands of additional Star Wars figures instead of just hundreds, and merchandising that will eclipse the sales of all their current efforts. This will make Star Wars the most massive, and valuable cultural phenomena ever known. Finally, the Jedi and the Sith will have to decide how to unite after many thousands of years of war bringing the force into sharp focus for the first time in anyone’s memory fulfilling the attempt by the Ones to have that balance restored by Luke’s father Anakin.
I have not been shy, I am a raving lunatic when it comes to the latest Star Wars X-Wing Minatures game and the announcement of the Rebel Transport. CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS THING! Keith Ryan Kappel is a writer and employee at Fantasy Flight Games who makes X-Wing Miniatures and he recently had a posting at the official Star Wars website telling the complicated history of Centerpoint Station which was destroyed by Jacen Solo. That act by Jacen caused the rise of the Abeloth which I believe will be the focus of the new Star Wars films as the premier villain. Keith from his perspective is in a position to know things—and this article on Centerpoint Station and the Abeloth has some importance that should put things to rest and ease the minds of millions of Star Wars fans. Episode 7 and beyond won’t be about Darth Vader, the Emperor, or even a bunch of Stormtroopers. It will be about transcendence beyond pairs of opposites and will be extremely powerful philosophically. It will accomplish what no religion in the world has ever thought possible, it will unite the minds of mankind on planet earth in a way nothing else has ever been able to—and it will be very important, as well as entertaining. So enjoy Keith’s insight and history shown below and use the link at the end to visit the original article.
Throughout galactic history, Centerpoint Station has been many things to many beings. For the Killik hives, it was a religious duty. To cosmic threats, it was a prison. Colonists called it home, while criminals called it good for business. Governments have viewed it as a doomsday device, while Jedi thought it as a threat to galactic peace. For the Corellians, its power represented true independence. Centerpoint has been all of these things and more.
Centerpoint Station, the most powerful force in the galaxy, second only to the power of the Force itself, was created in February 1995 by legendary science fiction author Roger Macbride Allen for his Corellian trilogy series of novels for Bantam Spectra. The station’s power dwarfed that of previous superweapons and left an impression on fans, paving the way for the station’s return as both a setting and superweapon in future novels and role-playing games. This is its story.
(Note, there are SPOILERS ahead if you have not yet read theFate of the Jedibook series.)
Centerpoint Station is a massive 100 kilometer sphere with a pair of thick 125 kilometer poles at either end. The station is situated in the Corellian System, and sits at the exact barycenter between the planets Talus and Tralus. Xenoarcheologists have dated parts of the station at over 100,000 years old, making it four times older than the earliest known incarnation of the Galactic Republic. The purpose and mystery behind its construction has only recently been uncovered.
The Killik hives that constructed Centerpoint Station called it Qolaraloq, or The World Puller. However, the Killiks did not design the station, they were working on behalf of two Celestial architects known as the Son and Daughter of Mortis. The purpose of the station was to create a tractor beam analogue powerful enough to move planets, stars, and even black holes from across the galaxy. To accomplish this feat, the Killiks first constructed Centerpoint Station in orbit around Corel, a star with only two outlier planets.
At the same time, other Killik hives built planetary repulsors on habitable worlds. When construction was complete, Centerpoint dragged these worlds through hyperspace with its advanced tractor beam to create the Corellian System. Centerpoint itself, amplified by the additional planetary repulsors, had enough raw power enough to move black holes throughout the galaxy.
The architects had a stepmother of sorts named Abeloth, a being similar, but not quite as powerful as the Celestials. Unfortunately, Abeloth had been driven mad in a bid for power, and for the good of the galaxy, would have to be imprisoned. Since no known prison could hold beings of the architects’ power, the Son and Daughter were forced to construct one. Centerpoint Station was to be the tool that built the prison.
Centerpoint dragged dozens of black holes into a precise formation known today as the Maw Cluster near Kessel. The black holes blockaded Abeloth in exile, where she remained imprisoned for tens of thousands of years as the Architects faded from power and civilizations rose and fell.
Over millennia, the function and importance of Centerpoint Station became lost to history. By the time of the Clone Wars, any information regarding the station’s origins or function were unknown, except that the station itself was approximately 100,000 years old. While many researchers and locals had theories, most of the galaxy gave Centerpoint no thought at all. During the fledgling Republic, Centerpoint became a staging area for colonists boarding generation ships. Later, those supporting the colonization industry simply stayed.
Centerpoint itself is a part of the Federation of Double Worlds of Talus and Tralus, and is subject to their laws and taxes. The station gets by largely on trade and tourism, with additional funds generated from scientific research. Due to the station’s immense size, only a fraction is mapped or even explored, and countless orphans, homeless, and undocumented beings eke out a meager existence on Centerpoint.
The biggest area on Centerpoint Station is Hollowtown, a massive, 60-kilometer-wide spherical void at the center of the station. Hollowtown contains tourist attractions, lavish estates, and countless farms and ranches to feed the station. It is also home to two artificial mountain ranges known as the Northern and Southern Conical Mountains. Between the two mountain ranges lies the mysterious Glowpoint, a small artificial sun that lights Hollowtown at all times.
The remaining decks in the spherical portion of the station are known as the Shells, because of the way each layer outward from Hollowtown encases the next like an eggshell. These decks contain a number of living quarters, but are largely unexplored. The space where the spherical center joins either pole contains massive docking bays where most trade occurs. The northern pole contains most administrative offices and a number of university and private led research projects, while the southern pole is believed abandoned, but occupied by a growing criminal element.
The power of Centerpoint Station was rediscovered in 18 ABY by a distant cousin of Han Solo, Thrackan Sal-Solo, who was working with the Sacorrian Triad. In a scheme known as the Starbuster Plot, the Triad, after a test-firing in a vacant system to ensure the station worked, held the galaxy ransom. An unfortunate side effect of the test-firing was the unexpected consequences to Hollowtown. When the weapon switched on, the Glowpoint swelled in size, incinerating all Hollowtown’s inhabitants instantly. The entire void was actually a combustion chamber to power the hyperspace tractor beam. Centerpoint Security immediately evacuated the rest of the station, leaving the station under the control of the Triad.
The Starbuster Plot was eventually foiled by Han Solo and Princess Leia’s children, particularly Anakin Solo, who bonded with Centerpoint Station’s command center, and locked everyone else out of the system. The station was firmly under the control of the new Corellian government, which was allied with the New Republic. During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, it was proposed that Centerpoint be used as a weapon against the invaders. Thrackan Sal-Solo was brought in by the Corellian government to get the weapon operational. Eventually, after enlisting the help of Anakin Solo’s help, he did just that. However, firing the weapon during the Battle of Fondor ensured the young Jedi would never help him again, as the shot destroyed as many Hapan ships as it did Vong.
Following Anakin Solo’s death a short time later, Sal-Solo set himself to the task of rearming the station’s hyperspace tractor beam by creating an advanced droid using Anakin’s genetic material. Over a decade of work paid off, and Sal-Solo once again held the trigger to the galaxy’s most lethal weapon. With Centerpoint Station firmly within its control, the Corellian System declared its independence.”
Reactivating the most dangerous artifact in the known galaxy sparked a new galactic civil war, as the Republic sought to once again remove Centerpoint Station from being the ultimate power in the universe. The Jedi decided enough was enough, and sent a strike team, who were able to sabotage the targeting computer so Centerpoint would always target itself if fired. The slicing subroutines worked, and moments later, while trying to destroy Coruscant, the station imploded in on itself, ending the threat posed by Celestial power in mortal hands forever.
Abeloth was a being created as a servant by the three Celestials: the Father, the Daughter, and the Son. In time, Abeloth won the Father’s heart, and became known as the Mother. Nowhere near as powerful as the other members of her new family, and destined to die in what would be an eyeblink for them, Abeloth drank from the Font of Power and bathed in the Pool of Knowledge — both forbidden acts — in hopes it would make her a Celestial.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
While Abeloth did become a long-lived creature of immense power, it also corrupted her, changing her into something dark and covetous. When she was found out, the Celestials contracted the Killiks of Alderaan to construct a specialized prison of their own design for Abeloth. This prison, known as the Maw, was built by Centerpoint Station. For 100,000 years she languished in her prison, angry, terrified, and worst of all, alone.
When Centerpoint Station was destroyed in 40 ABY, it created a fissure in the Maw that allowed Abeloth to reach out into the galaxy through the Force. This led to her escape and subsequent rise to control the Galactic Federation of Free Worlds. Abeloth encountered Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker a number of times during her escape and rise to power, and she bested him handily each time. Finally, they fought on Sinkhole Station on a mental plane of the Force, where she was ultimately defeated. However, with no way to truly kill or imprison her, it is only a matter of time before she returns.
A distant cousin to famous smuggler Han Solo, Thrackan Sal-Solo was born on Tralus, and raised believing he was of an ancient royal Corellian bloodline. The two lived together a short time, cultivating a murderous hatred of each other before Thrackan betrayed Han, selling him back into slavery with pirates. Thrackan believed he was better than Han, or anyone, thanks to his privileged upbringing. This sense of entitlement would time and time again prove his undoing.
Two years after the Battle of Yavin, Sal-Solo achieved the position of Deputy to the Diktat as an Imperial administrator, but still felt he walked in the shadow of his now infamous cousin. Thrackan disappeared after the Empire was dealt a crippling blow at Endor, and formed a terrorist organization allied with criminal syndicates. By 18 ABY Thrackan gained control of Centerpoint Station, with full knowledge of its potential destructive power. Thrackan saw his chance and declared himself Diktat, but was foiled by Han Solo and his children. Thrackan was arrested, tried, and incarcerated.
After eight years in prison, Sal-Solo was released and put in charge of Centerpoint Station to use it against the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. When he used the station against the Vong, despite the massive friendly casualties, he became an overnight hero, which led to his election as Governor-General of the Corellian System a year later. Thrackan finally had everything he had ever wanted, but he didn’t get to enjoy it long. He was tried for treason after the war, but after winning his freedom, he manipulated his way into being Corellia’s Head of State.
It wasn’t long before Sal-Solo’s double-dealing and obsession with a free and powerful Corellia under the protection of an active Centerpoint Station drove the galaxy to civil war. Just after allying himself with Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya, Thrackan was assassinated by bounty hunters Mirta Gev, Boba Fett, and Han Solo.
Special thanks to Ed Erdelac, Ryan Brooks, and Sam Stewart.
Want more Centerpoint Station? Pick upFantasy Flight Games’Star Wars: Edge of the Empire: Suns of Fortune, with contributing author Keith Ryan Kappel. Available now at yourfriendly local game store!
Sources
The Corellian Trilogy: Ambush at Corellia\
The Corellian Trilogy: Assault at Selonia
The Corellian Trilogy: Showdown at Centerpoint
Star Wars: The Old Republic Codex Entry
New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
Legacy of the Force: Betrayal
Legacy of the Force: Exile
Legacy of the Force: Fury
Cracken’s Threat Dossier
The New Jedi Order Sourcebook
The Official Star Wars Fact File 37
The New Essential Chronology
Rebellion Era Campaign Guide
The Essential Atlas
Star Wars Saga Edition: Galaxy at War
Star Wars Saga Edition: The Unknown Regions
Star Wars: Edge of the Empire: Suns of Fortune
AUTHOR BIO
Keith Ryan Kappel is a freelance writer working for Fantasy Flight Games’Star Warsline of role playing games, and was a credited playtester on the Wizards of the CoastStar WarsRPG line. As aStar Warsfan, Keith co-founded, wrote, and edited forFandomComics.comfrom 2005-2012, where he has written hundreds of pages ofStar Warsfan comic and RPG material. A long time ago, Keith was also an intelligence specialist at Naval Space Command for the United States Navy. Keith can be found at KRKappel.com,Facebook, andTwitter.
I make a point to identify things to you dear Reader that is way out ahead of the curve. In four years you will read this and wonder how I knew all these things. Even though they may seem to be irrelevant trivia from fantasy, this article is far from that. The people who are shaping our society currently love Star Wars. It doesn’t matter if it’s Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart or the creator of the Family Guy cartoon on Fox—Star Wars has power and that power will shape the political and economic landscape of tomorrow. Trust me………..it will. Dear Reader, take this information and prepare yourself for that point in time, and be ready. Most of the speculation from modern-day commentators who work for entertainment are not aware of what is about to happen. They cannot see the big picture that has been taking place at Skywalker Ranch in California since the early 1980s. There is a power here that can shatter the way everything is viewed today—especially politically—and when that happens, good minds will need to be available to provide guidance to the millions upon millions who find themselves discombobulated and disenfranchised in need to rebuild their minds properly. The key is not so much how things were done in the past, but in how those events point to the future and come together in a grand fortissimo. And when that fortissimo reaches our senses, we must conduct ourselves accordingly—and without hesitation.
How do I know all this……………..I have read all the books, but more than that, I have intensely studied Joseph Campbell, who also taught George Lucas. I know exactly where this is going. And I am excited about getting there! Disney will make a lot of money, and they will do good things with that money. But more than that, society will receive insight where before there was only confusion and darkness—except for those who have taken the time to read all those fantastic Star Wars novels. They already know, and soon—so will everyone else.
The State of the Union speech was such a comedy this year—increasingly made so incrementally over time—that there was very little of it that I took seriously. The most comic parts of it are when for the whole previous year both political sides yapped negatively about each other with much rhetoric and fanfare—yet when the president arrived all those idiots from both sides lined up to shake his hand and get his autograph. When Obama finally arrived at the podium to stand in front of vice president Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner, everyone shook hands politely and with great respect before Obama basically announced himself Emperor of America. It was hilarious because the politicians were all talk spewing forth criticisms like a Pro Wrestler. But behind the scenes, which is what the State of the Union is really all about—they are friends. They are all on the same team. They are all part of the Washington D.C. beltway and are divorced from the reality of the main streets of America. They are power-hungry, unethical, and more or less scum bags. Out of all the coverage I heard about the State of the Union, only The Blaze Radio Network articulated my feelings accurately. Listen to Doc Thompson’s hilarious broadcast covering the day after the State of the Union Address. It’s well worth the time. Grab a snack, turn off the television, and turn this broadcast on in the background and enjoy the next couple of hours.
Glenn Beck, who runs The Blaze had even more fun to share about his impressions of the State of the Union. I’m not the only one who makes frequent comparisons to the fictional film Star Wars these days—Beck saw much what I did in Obama’s speech. Obama might as well have been Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars series. I remember when the film Revenge of the Sith hit theaters, many film critics from the left thought that the primary saga villain reflected George W. Bush’s constant lusting to start wars so to fill the pockets of Halliburton. That president was the one who brought us The Department of Homeland Security, and paved the way for all the NSA abuses we see today. But Obama far surpassed Bush with his 2014 State of the Union speech which was almost word for word what was said by Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith. Obama surely wasn’t even intending to copy the Star Wars villain—yet he did regardless. Obama’s power grab was driven by human innate desire—the desire to acquire power, and isn’t specific to Obama—but the people who put Obama in power. That was the point of the Star Wars films, and in the case of American politics on both political sides, fantasy reflects reality all too well. Watch Beck’s radio coverage on this topic.
The idiots looking for Obama’s autograph slobbering over themselves to shake the hand of the president knowing full well that the guy was planning to rule with Executive Orders paints the whole picture accurately. These guys are scum, they are addicted to power, and they are out to hurt us all. They aren’t legislating on behalf of the American people. They are a joke—and they really think so little of us that they will talk bad about the president to his face playing the media angle representing their side—then they turn around and slobber all over him hoping Obama rubs up against them in the hallway so they can die happy soldiers of solidarity.
The only–and I mean, only media outlet that even attempted to cover main street USA’s American perspective was The Blaze specifically Doc Thompson and Glenn Beck. Obama really thinks he’s a ruler—and his fellow politicians are perfectly willing to play the role. They are selling us out—every one of them. Every idiot who stood in line to shake the hand of an American Emperor contributed to the cause.
If I were there would I have shaken the President’s hand? I knew you were going to ask that question dear reader…………F**K NO! I might have politely shunned him and if he tried to force his hand into mine, I would have slapped it away. If I were invited to The White House under this president, I would not go—under any circumstances. I certainly would not stand in line to “touch” the dude.
This folly is not the fault of President Obama. It is a failure of the human condition, the desire to be led about and ruled which comes to us from the distant past when mankind was ruled over by a village chief who designated who made fires, who hunted for food, who had babies and when, and who would be sacrificed to the sun in order to keep it burning in the sky. One would hope that after several hundred thousand years of evolution the human being would have migrated away from such primitive thinking—but we haven’t. The slack-jawed idiots of Congress, the wishy-washy Senator, and the many guests drooling from the gallery were mostly enamored by the grace of America’s symbol of an Emperor—the one who rules them all. Very, very few of the people present were there to defend the Republic of America. Those who have defended America have been label radicals, nut-cases, and right-winged extremists by those who desire to look at Obama as the embodiment of an American Emperor.
Even Bill O’Reilly from Fox News is ga-ga over Obama. He’s actually proud that he is conducting the pre-Superbowl interview with Emperor Obama. Over the last couple of weeks O’Reilly came out in favor of Obama’s minimum wage increase of $10.10 an hour. That should make the pre-interview handshake more pleasant between O’Reilly and Obama. Both guys are wealthy beyond comprehension and are clearly out of touch. O’Reilly doesn’t care where the money comes from for the small business person. He doesn’t care that all the many workers who were making $10 an hour previously will suddenly want $12 and $13 an hour for the same work because now the minimum wage is $10 driving up all wages with inflationary value all over the country. He’s just another sell-out. I still watch him—occasionally he does some good reporting–about as good as any media outlet in the mainstream does these days, but he’s still too far to the left for me.
The White House is just a building with a bunch of bricks in it. I’ve been there and was not impressed. It is a symbol of an American Republic that no longer exists—it is a ghost of its former self and looters like Obama and most of the modern-day politicians are simply using that ghost to advance their lust for power. The White House is not sacred, it is not magical, and it is not enchanting. It is just a building and the people in it are flawed human beings corrupted by the imperfections of the flesh. They are small minded—lackluster collectivists weakened by an evolution of mankind which started in villages and is still functioning from those primal yearnings. The same dust-covered tribes of hunters and gatherers who spent all their waking moments trying to appease the king or chieftain sacrificing goats to the gods of the sun and moon are the same damn fools standing in the aisle of Congress wanting to shake the hand of a puppet in Obama. The whole event was just a ceremony designed to make human beings feel “safe.” To know that their place in the universe is protected by some symbol of authority—in this case it’s Obama. In the past it was Bush, Clinton, and Reagan. In the future it will be more watered down feel-good candidates even more useless and ceremonial as human evolution regresses further year by year until the whole thing collapses.
The humor of the situation is the declaration of dictatorship that completely went over the heads of all present—except those with a mind to notice. It was for me the funniest State of the Union yet. It was like watching Hulk Hogan standing in the center of a ring challenging all comers to a battle to the death—but knowing that off the stage, all the participants were making plans to go out to dinner and roll in the wealth of their falsehoods. Taken in that context, the entire event was quite funny—and entertaining—where it used to be just sad. There was no sadness this time—because I no longer even take it serious. It’s just entertainment by actors who aren’t even good—just cheesy marionettes of global interest.
Thank goodness yet again for The Blaze and blog sites who covered the situation for what it really was……………a travesty of justice cowering in the ghost-like mist of an American Republic.
For the Superbowl this year, even though I like and admire both teams, the defense of the Seattle Seahawks, and the offense of Payton Manning on the Broncos—it is the Broncos that I will be rooting for. During the football year of 2011, Manning was forced to sit out the entire year and watch from the booth in Indianapolis as his football career appeared to be over with a neck injury that appeared irreparable. Yet Manning, with the same resiliency he shows in all of his football games was determined to never say die even when the odds were very much against him. He calmly made arrangements to have his injury fixed with stem cells returning a year later to a new team with the Denver Broncos having a strong season. The very next year, he has taken that franchise to the Superbowl—a feat they would not have achieved without him. Payton Manning singlehandedly cared the team on his back and with leadership that is very unique. He took a team that would otherwise be average—to the most coveted sports event of the entire year—a Superbowl.
There was a wonderful article on this stem cell procedure which I thought was of interest to my readers here at Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom. As my frequent readers know, I am very excited about the cures for cancer, the regenerative growth technology that is happening in the medical industry, and other exciting developments in stem cell research that are currently underway. If Manning had followed the rules in The United States dictated by the FDA, Payton would have found his NFL career over two years ago. He would not be playing in a Superbowl, and Denver would still be struggling to find an identity after their experiments with Tim Tebow.
The entirety of that article can be found at the end of this article for cross-reference but the gist of it is this–Peyton Manning, first injured his neck in a game against the Washington Redskins on October 22nd, 2006 after his helmet was ripped off by Andre Carter. Manning played relatively pain-free the next few years but reinjured the neck in 2010 and soon found himself without his characteristic arm strength. Ultimately, Manning decided to go under the knife in May of 2011 to have surgery on a herniated disk that was thought to cause the pain and weakness. In the weeks following the operation, the NFL’s most marketable player appeared to be on the road to recovery1 but he suffered another setback in the summer of 2011 necessitating a second, far more serious operation: cervical spinal fusion.2 But before he had the procedure, Peyton Manning did something truly bizarre.
Shortly before the spinal fusion, Manning travelled to Europe to have stem cells harvested from his fat tissue so they could be injected into his injured neck. Upon learning of this unusual procedure, I had two questions: 1) Why did he do this? and 2) Why was it done in Europe?
Stem cells are those undifferentiated cells that, like Daniel Day-Lewis, can seemingly turn into anything. They can be harvested from bone marrow, the umbilical cord, blood, or fat tissue – plucking them from fat happens to be technically easy and relatively painless – and through the secretion of growth factors can aid in cartilage and bone regeneration. There’s no definitive evidence that stem cell injections actually work for the kind of neck injury Peyton Manning had, so when it was leaked that the quarterback had undergone the procedure, there were more than a few skeptics.
A professor of bioethics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine called Manning’s decision “an act of desperation” and Dr. Lawrence Goldstein, director of the stem cell program at the University of California, San Diego said, “It is impossible to know whether the ‘treatment’ will make Manning better or worse or merely financially poorer.”
Well, at age 37, Peyton Manning just had the best season for a quarterback in the history of the NFL. But was it because of the stem cells or in spite of them or unrelated entirely? It’s still unclear. Proponents of the procedure call Manning a poster child for stem cell therapy, while critics say he required a subsequent neck operation precisely because the stem cells didn’t work. (Manning has not commented.) While that argument plays out, a more interesting question remains: Why did Manning have to go to Europe for the procedure? The answer has to do with the FDA and how one defines risk.
A patient can either be consented individually (by signing a form, typically) for a medical procedure—like neck surgery—or exposed to an unconsented risk where regulatory assurances are already in place, like the FDA ensuring that your painkiller is potent, safe, and pure. But where do stem cell injections fall on the consent/risk spectrum? Is the injection of your own cells more like having a surgical procedure or more like taking a drug? Because there is no mass production or distribution involved, many doctors think the risk of stem cell injections is more like having surgery; it can only be estimated by the clinician who is providing the therapy, and it is up to the patient to weigh and ultimately accept the risk and provide consent. The FDA disagreed with this line or reasoning and in 2006 ruled that a patient’s own cells should be subject to the same regulation as mass-produced drugs. Peyton’s stem cells were essentially no different from a medication you’d pick up at the pharmacy.
The outcry from medical organizations was swift, and included critical statements from the American Red Cross and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, which objected, “in the strongest terms to FDA’s proposed regulation of stem cell transplants. This misguided proposal is unnecessary…and exceeds FDA’s legal authority…stem cell transplants are medical procedures. Their use is the practice of medicine, not the manufacturing of a drug as FDA asserts.”
The FDA’s ruling meant Peyton’s own stem cells fell under the purview of the FDA and were suddenly wrapped in red tape. To avoid any possible bureaucratic delay, he simply went to Europe to have the procedure done there. Manning didn’t have time to wait for the FDA or more testing of the procedure, he needed to get back on the field before he was too old. Now the presumptive MVP may be headed for the Super Bowl after a record-setting season. Was it because of the stem cells? Who knows, but the likelihood is that many more people—not just pro athletes, but weekend warriors—will be wanting to go to Europe to have this done, and Peyton won’t just be the face of junk pizza and DirecTV, but of an unproven medical procedure and skirting FDA regulation abroad.
The American government is killing people because of their intense regulations and causing many millions of others to be ill when they don’t need to be. The Peyton Manning story should be a lesson to us all of what kind of medical potential exists, but aren’t options because they threaten the power of the pharmaceutical lobby. As the world watches Peyton Manning in the Superbowl finalize a 2013 season remember that Manning would not be able to play that game if he had followed the recommendations of the American government and the ridiculous rules of the FDA. Look at your own aches and pains and remember the loved ones who painfully left your life through death and illness and answer your own question………………………..why?
The answer is because the FDA wants people sick—so they can stay relevant and keep everyone buying drugs at a pharmacy protecting the drug companies. The option of stem cell research threatens those drug companies by making it so that people could be healthy, instead of always sick. There is more money to be made off sick people than healthy ones.
For all those reasons……………….I am rooting for Payton Manning…………….one more time.
Dictator Obama with all his threats of using Executive Orders to bypass congress leading up to his State of the Union speech made one of the most reckless proposals a sitting president ever made. Obama proposed a mandatory minimum wage hike for all employees involved with government contracts and urged all companies everywhere no matter of economic ability to adhere to a minimum wage of $10.10. To the everyday person, more money for the same work sounds appealing—but those people have never struggled to collect payable accounts to make a payroll. What this president has just proposed is a mandatory decimation on labor margins that while have a devastating impact on the flow of business. Now, Obama has no idea why his dumb idea will be such a travesty. He thinks he’s helping people. But for a sitting president who wants to create jobs—he is clearly out of his mind—he’s just proposed a policy that will destroy them.
Of course the President and his advisers are proposing this hike in the minimum wage because of their belief in socialism. They don’t believe that the “greedy” business owner has a “right” to the profits of their endeavors. They believe that all people from the simple laborer to the CEO are “equal.” They believe that everyone should show up for work each day and play their roles at their places of business, take their pay at the end of the week, and live their “middle-class” lives under the rule of people like Obama and his government bureaucrats. But—their view of the world is severally flawed because it does not incorporate the most important ingredient into hiring a staff—potential.
Not all employees are equal. Some are better than others, and not all people are worth the same money. It doesn’t matter if people are white, black, purple, yellow, green males females or some combination in between—what does matter is whether or not employees have gumption—drive—and a sense of quality in their lives. The worker who makes silly fart jokes during an entire shift is not worth the same amount of pay as the worker who is always looking to stay busy and pushing themselves to advance by learning more. The worker who does not have the personal ambition to try to be a better person is not worth the same as the person who tries every day to go to bed at night better than they were when they woke up.
Obama’s minimum wage increase with the stroke of an Executive Order—bypassing congress ignores this basic premise in hiring practices and makes American productivity less competitive because the weak and un-ambitious are now getting a raise which they don’t deserve. This incentivizes companies who might consider doing business in America to take their endeavor to India, China or Malaysia where employees will work for very little money-making doing business in those countries much more appealing than in The United States.
Obama has artificially created value with his stupid little pin and his foreign Jakarta education that will guarantee wealth redistribution not from the rich and the poor in America but from The United States to third world countries many of them plagued by socialism and communism. China is a communist country………..in spite of Hong Kong being the freest city on earth. By forcing companies to push back against this minimum wage law, Obama wants those companies to relocate to poor economic regions where cheap labor resides. Isn’t it obvious? Government cannot create value—or jobs, yet Obama’s reckless attempt in spite of the good intentions are just further ignorance of his economic ignorance. Where value is created artificially the bad are rewarded while the good are penalized. The good is the productive worker, or the actual job creator. The bad is the lackluster human being who just wants to do the minimum in life, get their pay check, and buy a six-pack of beer. Many of those same stupid people are currently paying more taxes than they need to on their IRS forms so that they can get a $3000 check back in the spring because they are incapable of saving money. As they file their taxes they already have their money spent planning vacations, new computer purchases, and fancy dinners. Once the money is spent by May they will be broke until the following year waiting for their tax returns once again. Those are the dumb asses who will benefit from the minimum wage increase—not the frugal, diligent worker who may have worked hard every day for years and is currently making $10 to $11 an hour on a general labor position. Now Obama has given the less than efficient worker an equal status forcing an employer to decrease their margins—which many won’t be able to do—it will be easier to just take their operation out of America where labor is cheaper.
When the terrorists of 9/11 attacked the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001, they intended to attack America’s symbol of economic power. They hoped to bring down the American economy—and for the most part their act was successful. America handcuffed themselves in reaction for over a decade after. But Obama as performed a much more effective terrorist attack that was undoubtedly hatched long ago with his friendships with the American terrorists Bill Ayers and Michelle’s law office buddy, Bernadine Dorn. With the stroke of a pin, Obama has done much more to destroy the American economy than run a plane into some buildings. He has attacked American business directly—with an Executive Order—and a philosophy bred by socialism—and all the failures that follow in its wake.
This minimum wage law is not about being “fair.” It is about wealth redistribution not even from the rich to the poor but from one country to other countries suffering from economic depravity because of their commitment to social collectivism. To be a strong country, it takes work, innovation, and effort. Americans aren’t just born, they are made. By raising the minimum wage, Obama takes money from those who have worked, innovated and put forth effort and gives it to those who have not. He also destroys the next generation of Americans by rewarding the lazy incentivizing more people to be more so. Why should employees work harder if the good are paid to be bad? The answer is that they shouldn’t. Yet that is what’s happening, and the reason is more than just a thinly veiled attempt at fairness. It is a form of terrorism intended to drain the wealth of one nation into others—and that is why it’s a crime, not a good tiding designed to do good. It is sinister for all that will result and the evil was ushered in with cheers and fanfare……….as it always is.
