Tag: education funding

How Empires are Born: Lessons to be learned from ‘Rebels’

REB_IA_1206_620x930As 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.  REB_IA_1208_620x930

 

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.

StarWars.com. All Star Wars, all the time.

 

 

http://starwars.com/news/star-wars-rebels-imperial-propaganda-posters-hit-online.htmlREB_IA_1205_620x930

 

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.  REB_IA_1207_620x930

 

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.  REB_IA_1203_620x930

 

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.  REB_IA_1204_620x930

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Why Compromise is a Dirty Word: Superbowl patriotism and the ad agencies of lately

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.

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Lakota Told Lies To Everybody: Charts that prove teachers make WAY too much money

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.TenYearTrend461104

TenYearTrend461101TenYearTrend461102TenYearTrend461103Everyone 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.

http://www.compareohioschools.org/uploads/TenYearTrend46110.pdf

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.

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

The Kronies: They’re Konnected………..someone is smiling from their grave

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.

John Papola is the CEO of Emergent Order and is an award-winning writer, producer and director with more than a decade of experience in broadcast television and marketing.  As a creative principle at MTV, Nickelodeon and Spike TV, John launched numerous new shows, developed industry-leading branding practices, and supervised the promotion of flagship events.  After the passing of his hero Steve Jobs, a grief-stricken John found solace at the bottom of an economics text-book.  You would have seen the result of that enterprise featured here at Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom.  CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW.  These are the same guys who produced the first video on that article.

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.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/27/meet-the-man-behind-the-kronies-cartoon-that-takes-aim-at-cronyism-and-big-government/

http://thekronies.com/

http://emergentorder.com/

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.

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Saying “Yes”: ‘Ian up for Whatever’ Superbowl Bud Light commercial

Obviously, I have lived a colorful life.  I have something to say about just about anything and everything and that ability was carved out of my life experience.  Hey, it’s the Superbowl time of year—I love watching that game and the ceremonial nature that America dedicates to the event, so let’s have a little fun.  I loved several commercials during the game but I particularly enjoyed the new Bud Light commercial “Ian Up for Whatever.”  I knew from the moment that the young lady asked Ian–just a normal guy sitting in a sportsbar–that if she gave him a free Bud Light would be up for anything that followed–she was playing the role of the mythic goddess figures of the past and that Ian was in for an adventure.  There have been many times when life has asked similar questions, and my typical reaction is “YES,” because you never know what kind of adventure comes next—but to get there you always have to say “YES.”

That’s the gist of things in Bud Light’s new “Ian Up For Whatever” Super Bowl commercial—a star-studded spectacle involving hidden cameras and wave after wave of celebrity cameos.

The true star of the commercial, however, is a man named “Ian” who finds himself swept up in a sequence of wild events bordering on the unimaginable, but not quite as crazy as the uninitiated might believe.

Things begin with Ian sitting alone at a bar. He’s approached by a pretty girl named Kelly, who introduces herself and takes a seat. Within moments, Ian’s new friend holds up a Bud Light and asks a single, somewhat ominous question.

“If I give this to you, are you up for whatever happens next?” Kelly asks.

“Uh, I think so,” Ian responds, obviously thinking that Kelly was coming on to him.

That’s how it starts—a night of limousines, twin parties and more Arnold Schwarzenegger ping-pong than ever conceived possible.  Actually, that was my favorite part.

Ian receives a new jacket, courtesy of Friday Night Lights star Minka Kelly.

He also finds himself with comedian-musician Reggie Watts, who has been stuffed into a DJ booth inside the Hummer stretch limo designated to chauffeur Ian about New York for the evening.

The one prevailing tie in the commercial is the presence of Bud Light bottles, which Ian and company constantly have in hand. There’s also the omnipresent eye of the commercial’s directors and coordinators, who have the entire experience planned down to the moment and wired for video and sound.

In all, “Ian Up For Whatever” is an impressive feat of planning and videography. Any number of mishaps could’ve turned this commercial into a nightmare, but judging by the final product, things went rather swimmingly.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1943450-bud-light-releases-new-super-bowl-xlviii-ian-up-for-whatever-commercial

I could tell a number of stories where similar things have happened to me.  It is often surprising how a willingness for adventure can pave the way for the unfathomable.  Those events may not happen quite in the same way as Ian’s experience—and they may not involve such New York cultural pleasure, but they are often as outrageous and cryptically elusive to the mind of a planned individual.  The human spirit often carries events beyond conception, and the real magic of life is often beyond those borders.  I have been to such places many times—so much that nothing would shock me now.  Where Ian was amazed, I would have been much more flat lined.  The limo would not have surprised me, playing “baby tennis” with Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn’t have been strange or finding oneself onstage with a major music group, relative to my personal life.   Crazy things do happen, and they often start with the word “Yes.”

A good lesson from that commercial is to say “yes,” a bit more often.  When your boss places before you a tough challenge……………..say, “yes.”  You’d be surprised what might happen.  When your car starts sputtering because you are almost out of gas, say “yes” and keep the petal depressed.  See what happens when you run out of fuel a mile short of a gas station.  Many adventures are likely to transpire.  When you pass by a restaurant that strikes your interest, say “yes” and pull in and try it out.  Stepping out of a routine can be very exciting.  Say “yes” more often and let adventure into your life, and you will discover that Ian’s experience is not that unique.

Good things don’t always happen, but I still say yes to many things, because I love adventure.  It is adventure that has filled my mind with so many opinions, and given voice to so many topics.  I have a story for everything when I talk to younger people because in my past I have said “yes” to many outrageous adventures even the ones that appeared to be kamikaze runs.  I always figured I was cleaver enough to avoid death, and I have been right more times than chance can take credit for.

Because of those adventures I love my life.  I love every day of it and I don’t have regrets.  Even bad decisions were part of the “saying yes” process, and the adventures that followed have led to tremendous amounts of experience which translates to personal wisdom.  In this life, wisdom is capital—more powerful capital than gold, or the perceived values of finance.  Wisdom can gain finances, but finances cannot gain wisdom.  Wisdom is by far more valuable, and wisdom can only be obtained by living life—and to live life, you have to “say yes,” to things.

A guy who reads here a lot will recognize this story immediately but I remember a trip to Panama City with him which nearly mirrored this Bud Light commercial.  It started by “saying yes” to a cold March evening, a complicated engineering problem, and a political stalemate that needed to be broken loose.  It ended hours later over a thousand miles away with me playing football on a beach after jumping off a pier from about 25 feet and breaking my ankle in the sand.   I wrapped the ankle and continued playing football anyway under the moonlight next to the ocean.  We slept with a tent half constructed next to a harbor, and solved our problem over breakfast at a Burger King.  We returned to Cincinnati within 48 hours of leaving for our next meeting and solved all our problems with a fresh perspective.  Adventure is good for building wisdom.

There are hundreds of those types of stories, but most don’t involve the kind of elements seen in that Bud Light commercial.  The Panama City one did, which is the reason for the reference.  But all such adventures lead to the ability to have wisdom—something young people don’t have until it is developed.  At the end of his adventure in the Bud Light commercial Ian was wiser than was when he simply agreed to a girl in a bar to accept whatever happened next.  Adventure happens all the time to many people, and adventure builds wisdom—but before either can be obtained a person has to be willing to “say yes.”  Lucky for Ian, he did.  But you too Dear Reader can experience adventure in the strangest places and times.  All you have to do is, “say yes.

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

The Mist of an American Republic: Emperor Obama’s State of the Union

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.

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Payton Manning’s Remarkable Comeback Story: Why the FDA is against stem cell research

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.

http://regressing.deadspin.com/what-the-hell-did-peyton-manning-inject-into-his-neck-1502352128

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.

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Dictator Obama’s Executive Orders: Wealth redistribution on a global scale

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.

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

BATKID Saves the Day: The power of fantasy, mythology, and hope to cure illness

I have heard for as long as I’ve interacted with people how my enjoyment of fantasy is an escape from reality brought upon by a desire to not deal with the facts of circumstance.  People who desire that the earth is only 4000 years old because thinking outside of those parameters wrecks the foundations of their very lives—do not like things that rock their boat of perceived reality.  They are often content to view the world as it has been prepared for them by politics, public relation firms, and religion—and react with disdain toward those who wish to think outside of those boundaries.  I find such people grotesquely ignorant, small-minded, and foolishly reckless to not only their lives, but those who they come in contact with.  The older I get, the more I despise those people.  They are detriments to intelligence.  Fantasy is the vehicle to take the mind out of circumstance and into places where new ideas are born.  In the context of intelligence the need for fantasy, imagination, and out-of-boundary thought is the specific human need for mythology.  Dogs, cats and gold-fish have no need for mythology—they are driven by the basic need to eat, dispose of their waste, and reproduce.  Nothing else.  The human being thinks—giving mythology a much more important role to their vivid imaginations bringing logic and fantasy together to consider “what if.”  This important process was never so brilliantly exhibited than in the Make-A-Wish Foundation story of 5-year-old Miles Scott who is currently in remission from leukemia.  Watch this!

It would be difficult to be alive and not have heard this story as the media blitz on it was ferocious.  The other day during the interview I did with Matt Clark on WAAM radio, I brought up the kind of things that unify people who appear to be radically different.  We talked about the “Tapestries of Ideology” and once they are removed from their lives, common ground can be achieved.  One of the most powerful “Tapestries of Ideology” is the power of mythology to overcome the ignorance of political boundaries.  This is often what happens in a Star Wars movie where I find I have as much enthusiasm for George Lucas’ creations as Arianna Huffington does.  She is a radical progressive, I am a staunch conservative—but we both love Star Wars for many of the same reasons.  We both love the plight of the rebellion against an evil empire.   She envisions that government should be the way that fairness is given to human kind, and I see it as the destroyer of mankind.  That is where the tapestries of ideology come into play where the color, shape, size and all other factors that go into those ornaments are shaped by society, education, and history.   But the mythology of Star Wars has the power to extend beyond those tapestries to the actual truth—which is why I always emphasis the importance of mythology in society.  It is far more important than politics, or reality as it is shaped by orthodox sources like The New York Times, The Cincinnati Enquirer, or the nightly local news.

As much as I despise President Obama, I shared with the guy a love for little Miles Scott.  As much as I think San Francisco is a haven for progressivism, I loved that much of the city turned out to help make Miles Scott’s wish to become a superhero into a reality.  Because of the little fellow’s intense desire to be a superhero like the mythical Batman—this is where fantasy can take the mind out of the grim reality of a situation to take mankind to a higher place.  Reality says to this child that he has leukemia and that he will die.  Mythology says to this child, there is hope if you can become a superhero—so the survival instinct of Miles Scott chose life over death—and to fight instead of accepting his fate.

Thank God for the Make-A-Wish Foundation showing an interest in this child.  But more than that, thank God the politicians of San Francisco joined in the effort with an army of similar volunteers.  I have never seen such a fine example of the power of myth applied to reality.  Out of all the characters that Christian Bale will ever play, none will be more important than his Batman character because none will ever obtain the ability to pull a city like San Francisco together the way that mythology did.  It started with the fantasy of Batman and his ability to overcome personal issues to fight crime in the actual comic.  Then Miles using that mythology to ask the question “what if.”  Then it took the Make-A-Wish Foundation to give the kid a chance at his dream while he is still healthy and alive—before leukemia attacks him again.  Then it took normal every day people to help make that fantasy into a reality for little Miles.  But in this case, Miles Scott was the focus—the reason for the event, and in a metaphorical way, he saved not just San Francisco—but the entire nation.

Make-A-Wish does this kind of thing all the time.  They are a great organization.   Recently they made a child in Anaheim Batman’s sidekick Robin and a Seattle child a secret agent.  But before they can organize such things Make-A-Wish needs creative people to plant the seed of hope into the mind of a child so that something greater than their circumstance can be comprehended—so that they can make a wish.  This is why superheros, comic books, fantastic movies, and big ideas expressed creatively are so important to us all.  For many kids not suffering the way that Miles Scott is, the same power holds for them as well.  Superheros like Batman are good for the healthy as well as the sick and give hope where reality provided none.

The reason I get so damn mad at those who proclaim that fantasy is an escape from reality is that they are essentially saying that the world would be better off without these influences.   They believe that reality was shaped by the politics of the Greeks and solidified by religion 2000 years ago—and that is just stupid.  Those periods were just small steps in human progress toward creating a mythology that pushed up against the limits of reality to seek something more than the world currently provides.  In the case of Miles Scott and the massive world-wide fanfare that ensued from his desire to be Batkid for a day, somewhere a scientist determined that nobody should suffer death by leukemia.  Likely long after Batkid has come and gone from this earth, there will be a cure that was inspired by Miles Scott’s Make-A-Wish dream and the saving of lives won’t just be a fantasy played out on the city streets of San Francisco.  It will become a new reality—inspired by fantasy and a new ceiling of human limitation will be revealed—and we will all be better off for it.

That is the power of myth, and the beauty of defying reality through fantasy.  Miles Scott saved society for a day by removing the “tapestries of ideology” which divide us all, and put the question on the table—why, and how can “I” fix it?

That! Is Christopher Nolan’s next film……………………..and I will be going to see it!  

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Joan Powell Was Thinking About Me: The start of a long born strategy

 

Did retired school board member Joan Powell and newly elected Lakota school board president Julie Shaffer really think that attacking me for going on WLW all the time illuminating the many mistakes made in public education—that the pressure against them would go away if I were not quoted on the mainstream radio and newspaper anymore?  Did they think that if television stations stayed away from me because I made “incendiary” comments about women and the kind of idiots who typically join PTA groups that they would gain strategic positioning?  Did they really think they’d change the dialogue using traditional tricks which I was well aware of—and used to my advantage?  Apparently—they were just that stupid and continue to be as they are apparently bewildered by the large number of conservative leaning school board members entering into the public education management of districts.  Here is a quote from Joan in a recent Michael Clark article in The Cincinnati Enquirer. 

Still, recently retired Lakota school board President Joan Powell – a 16-year board veteran and one of the most influential school officials in the region during her tenure – wonders whether the publicly stated goals of some new board members match their political agendas.

“Unfortunately some of these individuals are not just interested in reducing expenses and maintaining taxes at their current level. There are those that have a goal to destroy public education as it exists – government schools, they call them – and use anti-tax and pro-voucher issues to reduce funding to schools to help reach that goal,” she said.

“A lot of damage can be done during a four-year term. By then voters should know what they stand for and whether (board members) are working in the best interests of the school district and the voters.”

 http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20140121/NEWS0102/301210029/Fiscal-conservatives-rule-more-local-school-boards?nclick_check=1

Damage for whom—tax payers or education empire builders?  The damage Joan is talking about is for her view of education, which is corrupt and devastating for American enterprise.  So that’s a good thing when people like her are on the out. 

Here’s a news flash that they and a whole bunch of others in the mainstream media and government school gate keepers have neglected to consider—that a plan hatched many years ago by a small number of Southern Ohio education reformers is just now manifesting into reality—and what they are seeing is just the beginning.  If they think for a second that everything is going back to how public education was in the 90s and 2000s, they are sadly—and pathetically mistaken.  Labor union domination of public education is ending and they are fighting to preserve a way of life that is out-dated, and destructive to American education not just in name—but actual function. 

I know of about 80 different elected officials who visit this site—Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom about 3 times a week.  There are even more who read here that consider running for an office and use the encouragement they receive from these words to pursue those objectives. Whoever thought that I poured so much work into 1500 word daily articles to appease the fools who have the mind of an egg-shell, and the patience of a shooting star—that the kind of people who enjoy tabloid magazines and television were my target audience?  Whoever was so naive to think that each and every step over the last four years was not a carefully considered chess match where even the controversial elements were calculated to the maximum effect with deep psychological impact highlighting issues at many levels?  I’m pretty good at chess—at strategy—and managing people.  Sometimes the most important work is not in front of the camera or behind the microphone but in arranging an army of such people to do those tasks instead of just one person.  Initially, you have to lead by example so that they can see how things should be done—but once they learn—they can then take the effort and run with it independently.  Wasn’t it clear that was what was going on?

Apparently not.  When Joan said, “Unfortunately some of these individuals are not just interested in reducing expenses and maintaining taxes at their current level. There are those that have a goal to destroy public education as it exists – government schools, they call them – and use anti-tax and pro-voucher issues to reduce funding to schools to help reach that goal,” she was thinking about me.  The more I worked with Lakota, the more I hated government schools—and that is a term that I have increasingly used.  If I were to run for school board I could not sit next to Julie Shaffer to manage the district without major, major confrontations—MAJOR confrontations.  If left to me, public education would be defunded and eradicated replaced by free market options where the government was not involved at all.  But I am happy to let people who do not feel quite so strongly join school boards and fight the good fight in a more civil manner.  I have more impact with more people not being an elected representative as opposed to locking horns with someone like Julie wasting my time on something that is already dying on the vine.  In 15 years, what will any of her arguments matter?  If other people wish to engage in that argument—that is good—but I am more effective elsewhere.  The strategic position for this matter is not behind a name plate—but here. 

The kind of people like Julie who organized the media blitz with the Enquirer to come after me personally should never be involved in educating children. CLICK TO REVIEW. They are not competent and are only given that ability with a government monopoly.  I will certainly never forgive Julie for what she tried to do to me—or Joan.  They used the collective entity of Lakota to satisfy their inner desire to be relevant socially—to mask personal mistakes—and to achieve that they needed to get me out of their way so management of schools could return to the unions at the cost of children’s minds—and they’d stoop to no low to achieve it.  Did they think that I’d give up and just retreat?  Did they think that more would not join the fight with me?  Yes, that is precisely what they believed. 

The Enquirer should have seen this coming.  I explained it to Clark in great detail September of 2010.  I layed all this out for him in my back yard while I was cutting targets with my bullwhips and he had his photographer snapping away pictures.  I knew as I spoke that he was scheming to build me up so that he could take me down again the way he and others did with Arnie Engle in Fairfield.  So I let him take the bait and run with it.  My plans were different—when the moment came—more than just I would move into strategic position to affect change.  So whatever schemes Clark had in mind would be useless in the long run—and I knew that.  He didn’t understand it just as Joan, and Julie Shaffer didn’t get it.  They actually thought by pandering to their latte sipping fat ass, guilt ridden, bitchy voting base that they could continue forever the scam of public education.  Well, obviously they can’t.

Sure they won their last levy at Lakota by manipulation and wasting hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars to move the needle just a few percentage points with a wear-down tactic taught in Columbus to school board members.  But it’s a short-term victory as the ship they have fought to keep afloat is sinking.  Many of the districts mentioned in the Enquirer article, such as West Clermont—where I know quite a few of those people there—and they are readers here and have been for years now—the proof that schools waste tax money on teacher unions, and scam ridden politics will be exposed destroying the myth that higher taxes make for a better community.  And that is what people like Joan and Julie are worried about.  Ten years from now they will be shown to be wrong in their assertions about education and neurotic in their approach—and it will be embarrassing for them.

I will make damn sure of it—that everyone remembers. 

We’re just getting started folks…………this is far from a completed strategy.  But we’re only about four years into it.  Another four years will yield even more results not in their favor and bitching about it like this news is “new” won’t take away the blunt edge of reality. 

Rich Hoffman

 www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com