How Ted Cruz Screwed the Pooch: Going the way of Mike Huckabee

Prior to the Iowa caucuses I liked Ted Cruz; I thought he’d be a good running mate to Donald Trump. But his strategy in winning there certainly raised my eyebrows. When Donald Trump first started complaining about it, I thought he sounded like a sore loser—a second place runner-up. But as more facts emerged regarding the Cruz campaign floating a CNN report about Ben Carson dropping out of the race after Iowa, and the look of the Cruz campaign literature, it was clear the supposedly honest Ted Cruz—the Christian conservative from Texas, was running a guerrilla warfare campaign designed to sway voters a few percentage points in his favor. And it worked. He needed to win Iowa and he managed to sway enough voters in his direction to pull it off. But the way his campaign purposely misled voters in the final hours is something to take notice of.

In the end, it was his Mike Huckabee moment; Ted Cruz will be remembered for his win in Iowa then his sharp drop off in the subsequent primaries. I can’t say I blame him for trying to win, but to even do so with a tinge toward deceit is not the way to do it. He should have known better and his bad judgment makes me question him as a person. I do not any longer see him as an honest option. It has changed my opinion of him as a viable vice president. The measure of a man—or a women—is how they behave under pressure. Under pressure, Ted Cruz folded and compromised his ethics—clearly. Would he have won without the little schemes—probably, but he should have trusted his ground game without the antics—his victory wouldn’t have been this tainted.

Should Trump have pointed all this out looking like a sore loser? Actually, yes, he did have a point. Republicans are too often way too conciliatory toward loss. It is refreshing to see Trump get angry and to lash out at the proposed cheating. Cruz either has scandalous characters running his campaign, or he personally knew what was happening. Either way, they are Cruz people and the boss is always responsible for the content of the people working for them—whether or not it’s fair. Cruz because his people have shown a propensity to manipulate the facts, is guilty because of them.

There were several interesting issues that emerged after the Iowa caucus. First was the overwhelming joy that the mainstream press and politicians had toward Donald Trump in “losing” in Iowa. This was a pretty baffling sentiment to me; the presidential primaries are a lot like a NASCAR racing season. You don’t always have to finish first; you just need to average consistently high marks to win the season with points. Trump got a lot of delegates in Iowa, and he’ll get a lot more in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, and Arkansas. He doesn’t have to win every one of those states outright. He just needs to finish in the top three, and he could still win the nomination. You’d think before everyone from the Cruz camp ran their mouth, they would have considered those elements.

But they didn’t, Trump gave a gracious speech congratulating Ted and he moved on to New Hampshire pretty fast. But the media and other politicians decided it was time to swipe at Trump and he got pissed off. Look, I understand Trump. The more he talks the more I think he’s a long-lost brother of mine. After a few hours of prodding, he blew up and started lashing out, and I would have done the same. Cruz won under questionable circumstances—by his own doing, and he deserved to have some bombs thrown in his direction. On the delegate count, Cruz is not poised to do well in the next couple states, so the small lead he gained from Iowa will evaporate quickly so his arrogant speech and actions after the victory were misplaced. He should have played it much smarter.

I have a general policy, when I have a great victory; I tend to play it like I’ve been there before—because I have. To get all animated over wins is to show the world that you don’t feel such things very often. I believe in the adage, act like you’ve been there before. On occasions when things don’t come out the way you want them to; don’t cry about it like a baby. Just move on. If someone gloats in your face, knock them on their ass. In my assessment, Trump was willing to be gracious. He congratulated Ted and was moving on. But Ted and his supporters gloated about their victory and it pissed off Trump. So he knocked Ted on his ass, and Cruz deserves it.

Then of course came the revelations of impropriety the following day, and many who hoped that Trump had been humanized into compliance for the first time in his life were shattered to learn that he was fighting hard at what had occurred. They called his behavior a Trumpetantrum. Cruz went so far as to call Trump more immature than his young girls. Actually, he used the words, “well-behaved.” Well, we all know what that means to a politician. Well behaved is an insult, it’s an assumption that people will do as they are told and act in accordance to the laws of orthodox. I don’t want a well-behaved president in the White House. I want an ass kicker and a rugged individualist. I’m not looking for a king to tell me what to do; I’m looking for someone who is capable of thinking like me in the Oval Office. Someone who won’t get pushed around and someone who is willing to call out misconduct. I’m not looking for even temperament in a president. Ted Cruz attempted to paint Trump as a reckless maniac who should not have his hands near a nuclear option—from what reference is the Texas senator representing? What experience does he have under duress, to stand in front of the senate and read Doctor Seuss books? Trump has actually built structures worth many hundreds of millions of dollars and he navigated a delicate minefield of politics to perform the task. In several decades of being a top dog in the real estate world, Trump never “lost it” over anything. Sure he has a temper, but he’s always in “control.” What stress has Ted Cruz experienced that dictates that he has the temperament to handle a nuclear option? Who between the two, Trump and Cruz has the best ability to out-wit a potential enemy country? Trump is a LOT more qualified if we are comparing apples to apples.

The established order loves conquered people. They like people who have faults and are aware of those follies. They are failed people themselves and it hurts them to write about and consider a person who is not a guilt riddled idiot. The world was praying for a beaten Trump, a person who had fallen on his sword and was willing to yield. Well, he was gracious, but he’s not a beaten man. And because of that, he has the authority to call out Cruz for misconduct—because he plays things straight and aggressive. Cruz should have seen the terrain and stuck to it, but instead he got power-hungry and showed his cards too early. Now he has ruined himself. Yes, he got the win, but he lost the war. He should have been loyal to a winner by acting like one himself, instead of a school kid who scored his first hockey goal. In the process of his celebration he cheapened himself in ways that are irreparable. Now he’s worthless to the freedom movement—and that is something I didn’t want to see. Yet, for all the embarrassment that is coming his way, he should have known better.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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Vote No on Issue 4 on March 15th: Taking your money back from Lebanon City Schools

Do you remember dear reader all the shenanigans a few years ago regarding the Lebanon School levy in Ohio? CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW. There was a lot of resistance to the tax increase and when it failed the district kept putting the issue on the ballot again and again until they wore down the opposition and it eventually passed. It’s the same game that every district plays over just about every issue. It doesn’t matter if it’s gambling in Ohio, or marijuana legalization. When progressive activists want money or something legalized, and that’s what school levies are, they do not respect the law of a previous vote. They are “progressives” they seek to destroy tradition and ultimately private property by taxing it so high that ownership falls eventually to the state because the cost of maintaining it is prohibitively high.

Well, the Lebanon City School Board of Education is proposing a renewal of a 5-year emergency levy that will raise $3 million a year for operating expenses on the March 15 ballot. The levy first passed on Nov. 8, 2011. A renewal would cost taxpayers the same amount they have been paying since then. The board was also scheduled to consider hirings and resignations and other staff issues.

http://cincinnatinewspost.com/warren-county-lebanon-school-voters-face-renewal-levy/

The taxpayers in the Lebanon school district should take notice. This again is a rare chance to lower their taxes. If enough people go out to vote this levy down, it could save hundreds of dollars in property taxes. Only on rare occasions do voters get a chance to lower their taxes by simply voting. You should call all your friends and neighbors dear reader and make sure they get out and vote on Issue 4 March 15^th 2016. We all love children, we just can’t afford to love them this much by dumping endless amounts of money into a babysitting service that seeks to ruin their minds with liberalized educations. You can vote down this levy and put a lot of money back in your pocket that was taken back in 2011 through coercion by the Lebanon school board.

It is a patriotic obligation to turn down school levies. It is the best way to force a district to control their costs. You cannot allow them to hide behind your children utilizing a progressive tactic to destroy private property ownership in America through taxation. The best thing you can do for yourselves is to vote to put more money back into your pockets, the kind of money you had before the levy passage in 2011. That money was stolen from you if you voted no and it went to the overpaid babysitting services of your neighbors who wanted to believe they were wealthier than actuality because they had free daycare for their children while they worded dual incomes within the household. Saving the daycare expenses for their children gave them the illusion of wealth management instead of just another welfare program designed for the middle class.

Kids aren’t learning the value of their educations. Public schools are liberalized institutions instructing kids to vote for crooks like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as opposed to a conservative GOP member. Schools teach kids to have reckless sex, to question their parent’s authority, and to experiment with drugs. So what value are they really, do they justify the enormous cost of that institutionalized instruction? Absolutely not, if children were coming out of high school pushing against Einstein’s equations or solving really complicated problems in economics and physics, I might have a different opinion of public schools. The kids coming out of public school these days are stupid at best, at worst they are diabolical idiots and menaces toward an electorate. There is nothing special about public education except that it’s free—it’s a massive wealth redistribution scam designed to liberalize children and provide free babysitting to neurotic parents.

Others reading what I have said will argue that through public schools children have access to team sports. Well, that’s not such a great thing. Whereas I love football and baseball, as well as basketball, I don’t like the team concept. I like telling people what to do, but I don’t like taking orders. I’ve always admired coaches in sports as opposed to the players, they come and go, but coaches and their strategy win the games. Public schools like team sports because it fulfils their mission of breeding nice little communists who function as a collective whole as opposed to individuals functioning from their own impulses. While there are some exceptional athletes that emerge from the public school system, most of the children raised within sports organizations turn out to be unimaginative douche bags having their individualized brains beat out of them by the team concept. Many parents wish for their children to suffer through that process because they hope it opens up scholarships for college, which gets the parents off the hook for paying for tuition. But in the process of that pursuit, children are destroyed often for life. It is good to feel the blood and battle of winning and losing, but the process of destroying minds along the way is the unfortunate byproduct. Parents of these children are bad because they seek organized sports to teach their kids about team concepts as opposed to individualized pursuits, then when their child gets a scholarship and goes to college; liberal professors destroy that youth with progressive instruction politically motivated. The parents looking for relief of responsibility in paying for college and in caring for their children during the day while both parents are out working hard to make as much money as possible only to piss that money away on high taxes on property and other consumables, have set their bright young children up for miserable unhappy lives due to their inherit laziness. So there isn’t much good about sports offerings at public schools. They may entertain the adults and give them relief of responsibility, but they philosophically destroy children for life with a focus on collective input as opposed to individualized redemption.

So don’t feel bad for not voting in favor of Issue 4 on March 15^th 2016. You have a chance to save some money and you just might save the mind of some children by limiting the liberalized influence they are being bombarded with within a public school environment. Don’t feel bad about it for even a fraction of a second. The Looters of Lebanon have already stolen your money once, now you have a chance to take some of it back. I suggest you do so and enrich your own life and let the Lebanon school board rot at their expense. By throwing more money at them you aren’t helping children, you’re hurting them. There is no good reason to do so. Vote No on Issue 4 and take back the money Lebanon city schools stole from you in 2011. If you want to teach your kid about team sports take the money you’ve saved on your taxes and buy them a PS4 and let them play Madden Football or some other sports program. Screw the real life interaction, save them from the embarrassing locker room shenanigans and the demeaning hazing rituals and just let them learn to play the game. We live in a new age and the old public education values have proven to be detrimental. It’s now our responsibility to walk back the money and defund their tyranny. You can begin that process by voting No on Issue 4. Click the links throughout this article for the history of the Lebanon levy issues. That way you can in good conscience know that by voting No you are doing the right thing. The information and radio broadcasts we did just on Lebanon were voluminous.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Sign up for Second Call Defense here: http://www.secondcalldefense.org/?affiliate=20707 Use my name to get added benefits.

Ted Cruz is like Light Beer: Donald Trump is the real thing

While I think Iowa blew it by not putting Donald Trump out in front during the recent caucus, the first of the primary season, the game is far from over. Cruz may be able to ride some momentum but in actuality he likely blew his wad. I don’t dislike Cruz. I think he would make a good president someday, but he does not have what it takes to run the dysfunctional Oval Office in 2016. Constitutional purists and other Glenn Beck conservatives are smoking crack if they think he does. A better framework of a more functional government is needed before Cruz could run the White House.

However, from the Cruz camp a lot of arrogance was exhibited after the senator came out on top of Trump in Iowa. Cruz had obviously spent a lot of time and resources in Iowa, and it paid off for him, but there are a lot of states left, and he’s a long way from first place in a lot of them. So arrogance is not the proper response—in fact it’s disingenuous. If not for Trump, Cruz would be nowhere. He would have been crushed by the very large foot of the GOP establishment right out of the gate. It is only because Cruz has been drafting in the wake of Trump that Cruz is now positioned to be a legitimate candidate. Don’t ever forget that Cruz fans. You should be licking the testicular fortitude of Donald Trump and thanking him for Cruz’s first victory in Iowa. While the GOP fought with Trump, Cruz ducked fire and lived long enough to have Trump destroy everyone else. Trump likes Cruz and purposely sissy slapped him up to this point. Consider Iowa a gift from Trump.

A failure to understand these kinds of things is the reason why Glenn Beck has stalled and Freedom Works in general has not been able to advance their position over the last five years. They did their jobs and have delivered Tea Party presidential candidates to the top three of the primary season, but really only Donald Trump is able to take the freedom movement to the next level. Trump is an Alex Jones conservative whereas Cruz is a Glenn Beck purist. One is better at combat, the other is better at crying. Cruz as president might be able to give nice speeches and appeal to America’s sentimental tradition, but he will be powerless to reform K-Street, and that’s where the real fight is. It’s nothing against Cruz, but he’s way too nice and ideological to advance that fight to a conclusion in favor of liberty.

I don’t think a lot of people really understand what is at stake and who the real enemy is. I think they are blinded by ideology and sentiment. The most important issue of this election season is the $19 trillion dollars in debt that literally just occurred as the Iowa caucus went to a vote. There are only two legitimate candidates based on the voting results, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Of those two only one is able to tackle the complicated and contentious issue of dialing back the national debt—Donald Trump. There is no other option. That issue is certainly outside of the Ted Cruz wheel house. If we were talking about issues of Constitutional law or Supreme Court nominees, Ted Cruz would be the guy. But the first priority is to organize our finances. Constitutional law will mean nothing if our economy collapses under the weight of overwhelming national debt. It’s very, very simple.

Trump would be wise to change-up his message and to focus on issues that Cruz cannot compete with, such as The Donald’s abilities with financing and international trade. In those areas Trump flourishes and no other candidate can compete. With a healthy lead in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Trump can only lose ground by getting angry at the media for not respecting his platform and his Iowa results. He comes out of Iowa with one less delegate—big deal. If he can maintain his lead after the next two primaries, it won’t even be a competition any longer. But Trump has to make sure his poll numbers translate into voters—and to do that, he needs to refine his message to the centerpiece of economic Armageddon, which is very real, the national debt.

But as for Cruz, the supporters of him should be bowing at the feet of Trump. If not for the New York billionaire, there would be no Cruz—and that includes Glenn Beck. How ungrateful have he and Stu been on their radio show on The Blaze—something that I once very much supported but can now no longer listen to. Trump paved the way for Cruz and delivered the Washington newcomer with a legitimate win in Iowa, and Beck should be grateful. When Cruz announced his presidency at Liberty University Beck was very happy, but the senator had no chance then of becoming a front-runner until Trump entered the race and forced people to look at Cruz as a “moderate,” it’s the overton window trick in the favor of Republicans for a change. Cruz supporters are simply people too chicken to vote for Trump. He is the soft version of a true outsider candidacy.

They try to hide their cowardly behavior by declaring that Trump is not a true conservative, or that he had the Clintons at his wedding. Heck, Glenn Beck worked at CNN, do people want to hold that against him in the same fashion? What they don’t tell you is that they are just too chicken to support Trump so they lean toward Cruz as an “outside” candidate that still feels to them like a traditional politician. Cruz is the safe second choice hiding in Trump’s wake as he mows down opposition toward the liberty movement. Like a NASCAR racer drafting behind a faster stronger car during a race, Cruz has hidden in the aerodynamics of the frontrunner, and now his supporters cheer as if he were always a champion. No, he was just hiding like a snake in the weeds waiting for opportunity rather than shaping it himself.

Ted Cruz is like light beer, and a lot of people like light beer. Trump though is the good stuff. The issue really comes down to what people want, but with $19 trillion in debt and rising quickly, there isn’t much time to play around. Ted Cruz just doesn’t cut it for the problems of our times. He might make people feel good, but he is a light weight. He could have never survived the primary process without Trump, but Trump could easily survive without Cruz. And that tells every voter everything they need to know.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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The Declining American Work Ethic: Pray for Donald Trump to fix this detrimental problem

Another aspect for president that nobody has really captured in the mainstream media is one that I am most concerned about—and that is addressing the deplorable American work ethic so prevalent today. So far only Donald Trump has really shown that he has some understanding of this trouble and has managed as a successful person to recruit hard-working people into his organizations that embrace his vision. In general across the nation, Americans have lost their drive to work and be productive—and this is one of the most epic crises that we have to face immediately. The next president will have to step beyond the boundaries of political correctness and address this very dire crisis quickly—before it’s too late, as if it weren’t already. Things weren’t always like this in the United States. But after years of public education failure and poorly managed governments encouraging weakness in American work forces, the effects are now quite dramatic. To see how much, just do a little bit of travel—particularly to an Asian country.

I was very concerned recently while landing in Tokyo that it would take forever to get through customs, get my bags and head to the next flight with only a few hours to spare. I was basing my experience on American work forces at airports. Up to that point the entire crew of the ANA Airlines had been top-notch. The stewardesses were attractive and attentive. After a 13 hour flight they were just as engaging as if it had just started. They were beautiful not so much in a sexual way, but in the way that a flower might catch your eye with a natural appeal that comes from unfiltered existence. Everything they did on the airplane was fast, efficient, and purposeful. I doubt any of them were over 30 and they looked in your eye when they spoke to you. The downside was that as an Asian culture, they were collectivists. Most of what they did was for the greater good of their country—so they lack the ability to really communicate on an individual level. But when it comes to focusing on a task that requires teamwork, they are the best.

Landing in Tokyo I was shocked to see that everything happened very quickly, as if the entire airport had rallied to the task of getting everyone to their next stop. Their security was extremely professional and did not want to hamper business in any way. Most of the people were attractive. Employees actually ran if they felt they needed to, to keep everything flowing. The result was that my security check and bag acquisition took all of about 45 minutes. 15 minutes after that I was at the next gate waiting for the next leg of the journey. Everyone and I mean everyone was very helpful and that attitude prevailed just about everywhere I went in the country—from restaurants to hotel staff.

Compare that to the United Airlines flight back. Most of the employees were over 40 and looked like beat up pickup trucks that had been hauling concrete for twenty years. Some of them were even guys. Let me be very politically incorrect because it’s necessary—and this is no fault of the employees of United Airlines—its just human tendency—I don’t want some dude handing me drinks or tending to me in and out of sleep during a long oversea flight. I want a female—and I think other females prefer it too most of the time. We want a maternal type not some dude covered in whiskers with hairy forearms reaching across our faces. Airplanes are tight and you really don’t want some guy’s junk touching your arm as they walk by you. A girl is fine of course, but a guy is not. The females on that United flight were however taking up way too much real-estate. They were overweight and old. For those flying into America from somewhere else, this was their first impression. Then you get to Chicago.

There the elements of progressivism were obvious—the standard unionized slugs of mixed ethnicity acting like you owed them for their lives standing around uselessly. Everything took too long and the shift of focus obviously moved to them as opposed to customer service. Security took nearly three times as long in Chicago as it did Tokyo. Tokyo is a larger city than Chicago so they are comparable examples. In Japan they don’t put up with a lot of crap from other countries. There is a reason we don’t hear about terrorist activity in Japan—that’s because they aren’t concerned with political correctness in that culture. They screen for trouble makers and they don’t allow for the disruption of productive enterprise in their society. In America, it was more important to hire minorities, handicapped people, and everyone’s grandmas to get them out of the kitchen making cookies and into the “workforce” so that they could be taxed on incomes that they probably didn’t need. They whole thing was a disaster to my eyes. It was embarrassing.

Some black guy who was obviously trying to look busy as a TSA agent singled out my bag for further evaluation wanting to look at some gifts I bought for my kids in Tokyo. I was very tort with him because I knew he was just wasting time. He wasn’t looking for anything. He just wanted to show that he had authority and could waste my time—it was strictly a power thing with the guy. Of course I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction, so my answers were disrespectful and snooty on purpose. He was wasting my time so I was going to get my worth one way or another. But I shouldn’t have even had to deal with it. The problem is cultural with an emphasis on all the wrong things.

Needless to say, being back in America was wonderful. There is nothing like the good ol’ American flag to greet you after a long trip—that and the golden arches of McDonald’s. But the American work ethic as it is today just sucks. Our young people don’t want to work and our hiring practices encourage the worst and weakest instead of the best and most attractive. I’m not saying that we should have a “Hooters” airlines, but there needs to be a conscious effort to put our best people where they are the face of whatever organization they are employed by. We don’t need a bunch of union slugs holding up productive output and acting like you owe them something for their job. They need to recognize that productive output is the measure the world judges us all on, and you either have it or you don’t, and right now, the Asian countries are beating the crap out of America with sheer work ethic. Where are the good-looking American girls who want to fly around the world for free as an airline employee? Well, they don’t make it through the screening process because those companies are encouraged to hire minorities and senior citizens due to government activism toward progressive objectives.

Worst above all, American workers these days seem all too intent to tell you what “cannot be done.” If you ask them a question, they’ll find a million reasons to tell you why it cannot be accomplished. Rather than try, they just throw up their arms in surrender from the outset. They are too lazy to try. Because our government has made it too easy to get free money from the government too many people are just fat and lazy—they invest more time in watching stupid television shows as opposed to actually accomplishing something or earning money for themselves. The good-looking girls who should be working our airlines are thirty pounds overweight and covered in body piercings. They don’t know if they are lesbians, bi-sexuals, or if they want to have kids or even get married. So they eat, make their asses fat, and they rot away into uselessness. That fault isn’t necessarily their own, it comes from a poor national strategy of putting emphasis on all the wrong things.

A President Trump knows that people like gold sinks and supermodel receptionists. He knows that men like other men who are strong and bold. A President Trump knows that the way to win in the world is to work harder and do so more often than everyone else. It also starts by hiring the best people for the best positions. If a girl wants to be a stewardess to see the world during her twenties before she marries and is a knock-out to look at, she should get the job over the 50-year-old two-time grandma who is going back to work because she’s been made to feel socially that she’s useless at home baking cookies for her family. If some gay guy is competing for an airline job over a girl who belongs on the cover of a magazine, the girl should get the job because the customers on the airline will enjoy her company on a long flight a lot more than the uncomfortable presence of a person who might accost you during a nap. And as for TSA agents, the fast guy who sees everything but is still polite and focused on getting everyone to their next destination should get the job over some thug who was given the job by a government program to keep the fatherless bastard out of a gang on the streets of Chicago. The only way to solve these problems is to first acknowledge that they exist, then to have the fortitude to do something different with an eye toward productive output. And the first step on that path is to be politically incorrect and declare that a lot of the things we do now as a nation are just stupid—and embarrassing. We need a president who will put once again an emphasis on the most productive out-put possible for all the right reasons. Then not be afraid to tell it like it is—because somebody better fast, otherwise every other country on earth will beat us because they are not politically correct. You can’t compete with a culture if you intentionally hold your hands behind your backs with political correctness. That practice has to stop for all our good, and we need a president who understands how to communicate that through the power of the Oval Office.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Sign up for Second Call Defense here: http://www.secondcalldefense.org/?affiliate=20707 Use my name to get added benefits.

Is Kobe Steak Worth It: Celebrating a moment free of nonsense

Occasionally, after a lot of hard work I enjoy indulging in a nice steak to sort of put an explanation point at the end of a sentence. It’s kind of like spiking the football after a long drive toward a touchdown. It’s the appropriate thing to do. In the normal course of things that for me involves either Jag’s Steakhouse in West Chester, or the Rodizio Grill at Liberty Center. When at Jags I typically get the Big Oscar Fillet to serve as that ceremonial spike. Executive Chef Michelle Brown at Jags knows just how to do it all right and the food quality is always consistently high, so when you are celebrating a personal victory—that’s the place to do it. But I am open to new experiences and I will give a new place a chance when the occasion provides. It just so happened that I was in the neighborhood of Mouriya Steak in Kobe, Japan as there was a reason to have a good steak so I had dinner with some very hard-working people who all deserved some fine food.

I had been hearing with an ear toward skepticism that Kobe Beef is the finest in the world—and the most expensive. My thoughts then and now were that anywhere that there is a restricted market and a gigantic supply need around the world, of course the price would be high—but that most of the mystic was generated with perception, and not actual quality. So I was impressed with the Mouriya Steak House and their very exquisite detail to the quality of the experience. The bottom line is that I had a very good steak—and I considered it a rare treat. I have had Kobe Beef at other places around the country, but learning more about it, I am convinced that they were all fakes. The real deal was quite extraordinary. The meticulousness under which the beef is purchased by each steak house was something I couldn’t help but admire, but it was the delivery of it to my plate with all the love and care of the finest specimen on earth that captured my respect. If having a steak is equivalent to a much deserved football spike in an important game, this Kobe steak was equal to scoring a touchdown, with no time on the clock, on fourth down, in the Superbowl. It was a treat to say the least.

http://www.mouriya.co.jp/en/mopr/index.html

Kobe beef (神戸ビーフ Kōbe bīfu^?) (KO-BEH) refers to beef from the Tajima strain of Wagyu cattle, raised in Japan‘s Hyogo Prefecture according to rules as set out by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association.^[1] The meat is a delicacy renowned for its flavor, tenderness, and fatty, well-marbled texture. Kobe beef can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, sashimi, and teppanyaki.

Kobe beef is also called Kobe niku (神戸肉^?, “Kobe meat”), Kobe-gyu (神戸牛^?) or Kobe-ushi (神戸牛^?, “Kobe cattle”) in Japanese.^[1]

Cattle were introduced in Japan in the second century as work animals used for rice cultivation. Because of Japan’s “difficult terrain and sparse arable land” due in part to its mountainous topography,^[2] cattle were bred in small, isolated regions, yielding herds with unique qualities in their meat.^[3]

After the Meiji Restoration, beef consumption remained low, but it has steadily increased since the end of World War II. Kobe beef grew in popularity and extended its global reach in the 1980s and 1990s.^[4]

In the late 19th century, native Japanese cattle were interbred with European breeds, including Brown Swiss, Shorthorn, and Devon.^{[citation needed]} The cattle originally recognized in 1943 as “Kobe beef” were cattle from herds in the Kobe area of Japan, and could be any of four breeds of Wagyu cattle—Akaushi (Japanese Red/Brown),Kuroushi (Japanese Black), Japanese Polled, and Japanese Shorthorn.^[5] Tajima is a strain of the Japanese Black, the most populous breed (around 90% of the four breeds).^[6][7]

In 1983, the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association was formed to define and promote the Kobe trademark. It sets standards for animals to be labeled as Kobe beef.^[8]

In 2009, the USDA placed a ban on the import of Kobe beef to prevent the Japan foot-and-mouth outbreak from reaching US shores. The ban was eventually relaxed in August, 2012 to allow limited amounts of Kobe Beef into the country but regular shipments didn’t resume until March, 2013.^[9]

Prior to 2012, Kobe beef was not exported. The first exports, in January 2012, were to Macau, then to Hong Kong in July 2012.^[15] Since then, exports have also been made to the United States, Singapore,Thailand^[16] and one chef in Canada.^[17]

The increase in popularity of Japanese beef in the United States has led to the creation of “Kobe-style” beef, taken from domestically raised Wagyu crossbred with Angus cattle, to meet the demand. Farms in the United States and Britain have attempted to replicate the Kobe traditions.^[18] From the first Wagyu cattle imported in the 1970s, 150 US ranches now raise “tens of thousands of Wagyu cattle”.^[19]

The meat produced by these cross-breeds is different from the “authentic” Kobe beef, though this is “often by design”, due to the perception that American palates do not actually want the richness of Japanese beef and would prefer a more familiar flavor profile.^[6] Some US meat producers claim any differences between their less expensive “Kobe-style” beef and true Kobe beef are largely cosmetic.^[20] Cuts of US “Kobe-style” beef tend to have darker meat and a bolder flavor.^[21]

In Europe, UK grocery retailer Asda, owned by Wal-Mart, introduced Wagyu beef at the end of 2011 under its Butcher’s Selection line using meat from a herd in Yorkshire, “bred from Holstein dairy cows impregnated with Wagyu semen“. This not only made the beef more affordable, but it also resulted in less marbled meat more familiar to UK consumers.^[2] In June 2014, the German discounter Aldi announced that it was going to introduce Wagyu beef steaks, “with every store receiving a limited number of 50 steaks, priced at a very competitive £6.99 for an 8-oz (225-g) sirloin and rib eye“. However, Aldi’s Wagyu beef was sourced from New Zealand, where the exclusively grass-fed cattle are allowed to roam, more in keeping with changing norms around animal welfare (in Japan cattle are “confined in small pens and given much more energy-dense feed”).^[2]

The proliferation of beef outside Japan marketed as Kobe beef is an issue for Kobe beef farmers. Due to a lack of legal recognition of the Kobe beef trademark in some countries, it is possible to sell meat that is incorrectly labeled as Kobe beef.^[22][23] The Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association planned to publish pamphlets about Kobe beef in foreign languages.^[24]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef

Mouriya’s Steak House Special Selection was the superior quality beef less than 32 months old. They have never given birth, and come from the bloodline of Tajima Cow that is the original family of Kobe Cow. They have been steadily reproduced without close-cross and they grow up in the Mouriya’s contractual ranch in Yabu City, Tajima Cow’s hometown, eating the same fodder that the pure blood Tajima cows eat in the same cowshed; and the taste and relish of the meat are as wonderful as the Kobe Beef. Needless to say, the taste of Kobe Beef is marvelous, but the shortcoming is high price. (Recently, the price has risen again.)

Tajima Cow is the ancestor of Kobe Cow. The name “Kobe Cow” does not mean species or category, but is the name of the brand. Original Tajima Cows that have passed the standard, i.e. those raised by the registered cattle farmers in the list of the Kobe Meat Promotion Association, those slaughtered at the specified Meat Center in Hyogo Prefecture, and those that are ranked A and B, and the BMS value (numerical value that shows marble condition of the beef) is more than 6 are called Kobe Cow.

To start with, Tajima Cow used to live in the country of Tajima (presently northern part of Hyogo Prefecture) as shown by the name eating the wild grass that grew in abundance with clear water in the clear air. The meat of Tajima Cow has been originally good quality, and has become the wonderful brand through cattle farmers’ zeal in raising them as the beef cow. Moreover, the obvious difference comparing to the brand cows in other prefectures is keeping blood line inside Hyogo Prefecture avoiding hybridizing with other ones. This system of maintaining the pure bloodline has been employed only by Hyogo Prefecture’s cattle farmers in Japan. The Kobe Cow and Tajima Cow are basically small, so the beef is fine and not fatty, as well as the relish and flavor are delicious.

While eating the Kobe Steak I couldn’t help but think of the cow and the way the beef was created. In the United States PETA would have had a fit, but they’d be unjustified. These cows were born and raised to be served to people of thought, to make hard-fought victories of economic expansion taste just a little bit better. That type of activity is far superior to just having a cow standing in a field eating grass. It reminded me yet again of how too much emphasis on the wrong type of regulation can stifle a business, whereas part of what made the Kobe Beef so good was the excessive yearning for quality that the farmers pushed for—to satisfy that market demand.

It had been a hard week so the steak was the best way to cap it off. Sometimes it’s the little things in life, sometimes it’s the big ones. And sometimes it’s just good to be surrounded by wonderful quality for a few hours and take a deep breath. Mouriya Steak House is the kind of place that gives you all three experiences at the same time, and it was certainly worth the expense. But then again, life is too valuable to waste it on nonsense—and Mouriya Steak can’t be accused of that.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

The Jealous Glenn Beck: His hatred of Trump is deeper than even he will admit

There were times when Glenn Beck was on Fox News from 5 to 6 PM where I thought he was doing his shows directly off my blog material or that he and I were intellectually tied to some cosmic root. But he was a fighter back then obviously ahead of the curve. He’s not held up well over the last five years. The constant beatings it takes to be at the front have harmed his health and eroded his intellect. I have heard him say some really dumb things over the last few weeks as it has become obvious that Donald Trump is going to remain the front-runner of the GOP. Beck has lost a lot of ground over the last year, starting with his declarations of being done with the GOP, and the NRA over endorsements, then lately turning around and saying at a Ted Cruz event that he’d rather support the socialist Bernie Sanders over Trump. I used to listen to The Blaze everyday so that I could hear my buddy Doc Thompson each morning. I’d stick around and listen to Beck afterwards sometimes, but with all the Trump hatred as the months have went on it has just turned me off to Beck. I think the hatred Beck has toward Trump runs far deeper than anybody knows and for reasons nobody would suspect. But Beck has done this to himself. It makes me sad to see, but he clearly has put himself on the wrong side of history. Here’s a little what Beck said earlier this past week in regard to Trump and Bernie Sanders while endorsing Ted Cruz for president.

BECK SAID HE HAD NEVER ENDORSED A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN HIS 40 YEARS OF BROADCASTING, BUT HE MADE AN EXCEPTION BECAUSE OF THE URGENCY OF THE MOMENT…

…HE SAID HE EVEN PREFERS SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT.), A SELF-PROCLAIMED “DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST” RUNNING IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY, TO TRUMP.

“HONESTY, FAITH AND TRUTH ARE BASIC REQUIREMENTS. AND QUITE HONESTLY, I HAVE TO TELL YOU, THIS PROBABLY ISN’T GOING TO GO OVER VERY WELL, THAT’S WHY I LIKE BERNIE SANDERS,” HE SAID. “BERNIE SANDERS IS LIKE, ‘YEP, I’M A SOCIALIST.’

“I CAN ACTUALLY SIT AT A TABLE WITH A MAN WHO SAYS, ‘YES, I’M A SOCIALIST, AND YES, I DON’T LIKE WHAT WE ARE DOING, WE SHOULD BE MORE LIKE DENMARK,’ ” HE ADDED

http://prntly.com/blog/?p=4313

http://www.glennbeck.com/2016/01/22/national-review-donald-trump-is-a-menace-to-american-conservatism/

Going back to Beck and I, there have been many times over the last five years where our paths have crossed a bit but either my reluctance or his prevented the next step. My friend Doc Thompson works for Glenn Beck. I have promoted Doc for several years now and The Blaze when it first announced its radio programming—which I think is good, especially in the beginning because I wanted Beck to find success. There were even a few phone calls about going to Dallas and working some projects at Beck’s studio there. This is all before Trump announced his presidency of course. There was something about Beck that was making me weary—almost like he was comparable to the Jim Jones cult with him as the central figure. I’d listen to Doc talk about working at The Blaze, which he loves, but something just seemed wrong about it, so I never took the next steps of discussion.

I think it’s fair to say that I have extraordinary judgment. I can read body language extremely well. I can detect tonal inflections and get to a truth behind words, and I can see way out in front of the train if you know what I mean. So I tend to trust my instincts on all things. There is a reason that I peeled back my support of The Blaze over the last six months. I listened to their Trump bashing for several months every morning and gradually I realized they were off the mark. All this Christian stuff has gone to Beck’s head and ruined his mind—likely a byproduct of his serious illnesses that he has been dealing with until last year. It has changed him and taken the fight out of him. He’s not the same person he was when he had a dominant Fox News audience that was ruffling the feathers of Bill O’Reilly. Beck was pumping out New York Times bestsellers every few months and everything was great.

I thought it was good that when he was fired from Fox, essentially for going after George Soros, that he got back on the horse and started his own network and movie studio in Dallas. But there was something missing in him that was noticeable. He had lost his will to fight, which was obvious. He had been beat down and was living off his earnings. But he wasn’t the same guy. He evolved from an Ayn Rand type of advocate to just another religious type leading a congregation. He didn’t impose his beliefs on other employees of his at The Blaze, but he certainly set a standard. What is certain is that he stopped fighting and become much more reconcilable toward the enemy.

I think the reason he and I never hit it off in spite of our mutual connections is that he’s a pacifist and I’m not. I’m all about conquering the enemy and using The Art of War to do it. I love to fight, I love aggression, and I get bored with peace. I don’t want his Christian nation. I like the values, but I love conflict and I would be bored to death in Glenn Beck’s America. I don’t want Abraham Lincoln as president, and I think George Washington was too middle of the road. I personally love people like George Patton as opposed to George Washington. I could have worked with Beck, but I don’t think he could have worked with me. He has become used to being the center of attention and that’s impossible to do around me, so I and he went in very different directions. Doc Thompson tried more than once to reconcile that, but knowing Beck was involved just robbed my ambition for an opportunity. I determined through observation that Beck was on a sinking ship. I hoped to be wrong, but of course I’m usually not because I do read situations with great clarity—no matter how controversial.

Along comes Trump and he’s all about fighting so naturally I support people like him over pacifists and obviously this has effected Beck. His audience has been split in two, some were happy to follow him and others moved in my direction for similar reasons. Beck used to do the work Trump is doing now-but the New York billionaire swept in and took that audience quickly, and maintained it since. The same type of people who showed up to Beck’s rally in 2010 in Washington has gravitated to Trump. People who loved the religious aspects of Beck’s work have stayed with him, but a lot of former Beck people have moved to Trump because they want a fighter, not a crier.

What I hear in Glenn Beck is a man jealous of Donald Trump. Beck lost a large portion of his audience to Trump and now he’s throwing a fit. When Beck was in his prime, 2010 to 2011 a lot of people were willing to overlook his past with drugs to hear the message he was speaking at that moment—and those same people are willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt. But Beck was showing the signs of wear even in Wilmington, Ohio where I was in the cold of winter just shy of Christmas. I went there to meet Beck and to post video of the event up on The Blaze website with Scott Baker. What I saw was a man running out of gas. I didn’t want him to of course, but he did a few years later. He couldn’t handle having his family harassed in New York City, he let Soros run him out-of-town and he hid among Texans hoping to recapture his former glory. I am grateful that Beck hired my friend Doc Thompson and that he started The Blaze Radio. But it is obvious that Beck lost his will to fight in the middle of a major battle, and that just isn’t forgivable. As nice as it is to think that Beck is doing the work of God—the Devil has just as soothing of a voice in the middle of a nightly dream of divine inspiration. You can’t know who to trust especially when it comes to spiritual matters, and I don’t trust a pacifist who puts down their arms in the middle of a fight–I don’t care if God gives specific instructions through revelation in a dream. I would question God 100% of the time—and Beck is instead on his knees asking for guidance. That is not my kind of guy. A warrior must be decisive and ruthless when it comes to the enemy—and be willing to use all tools available to destroy the opposition. Screw all this brotherhood crap, and understanding. The enemy must be identified and destroyed. End of story.

Trump knows what he’s doing and where he’s going. A lot of what Beck is criticizing Trump over; there were plenty of people accusing Glenn of the same kind of stuff when he was at the front of the fight. Now that Beck is doing that against Trump it comes out sounding like a jealous has-been instead of someone who is capable of winning the fight at hand. In the end, I trust my own judgment and before Trump came along I could see that Beck was in trouble over something in his head. I still like the guy, but he’s just not the kind of fighter I can support—so I felt sorry for him putting himself on the line like he did with his Cruz support. He’s just not seeing the real fight—and I really thought he was smarter than that. A lot of people think that Trump is going to turn out to be a gigantic Trojan horse of progressivism and that he’s like Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars movies. People, I’m smarter than that. I don’t fall for false prophets and spiritual utterances that come from who knows where. I can see things way out in front and I’m right most of the time, and I’m sure I understand Trump. Abraham Lincoln and George Washington are not enough for me—I want better and I don’t see many people with their hand up. Especially not Glenn Beck. Ted Cruz is a good guy, but he’s not right for this job at this point in time. As I’ve said before, I think Ted would be great in 2024 but not in 2016. For this election, we need a fighter—a vicious one. We need a George Patton not a pacifist who nearly lost the fight of the Revolution in Valley Forge during a hard winter looking for luck to come as divine providence. That makes a nice child’s story and it may happen from time to time by default. But my money goes on the guy who is willing to take on anybody at anytime and never wears down. I don’t wear down and I expect people I elect to office to reflect my work ethic. Beck is functioning from the wrong values. And it has cost him dearly. He is hiding his jealousy of Trump behind divine conviction—which is a ruse that his immediate supporters may not see—but to me it’s as plain as day at noon against a cloudless sky.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

The Deliberate Destruction of Millennial Minds: One of the greatest abuses on planet earth

The thought process of a Millennial is one of the most tragic examples of abuse that we have in the world today, and that includes sex trafficking, Islamic abuse of women, and the sexual abuse of children. If you didn’t hear it Matt Clark at WAAM in Ann Arbor, Michigan did a show on this tragic topic with a guest that was just sad—because of the truth of it. He featured the now famous clip of the young Millennial woman who demanded on the Neal Cavuto show during a student march the relief of student debt, free college education, and a $15 dollar minimum wage. Neal was gracious enough not to destroy the poor girl when he asked flatly—“who’s going to pay for it.” The girl didn’t know just as Millennials everywhere don’t know. Through their educations over their entire lives, those poor kids have been deliberately reduced intellectually—which is technically abuse. Before moving on to the next paragraph listen to this Matt Clark broadcast. It starts off by reminding people of the impending Al Gore crises which was predicted in the Academy Award winning movie, An Inconvenient Truth. Well, he was wrong, and Matt had a little fun with that. But after that segment is a truly sad story that really concerns us all because we have now an entire generation that has been raised in day cares, radicalized leftist public schools and weak American presidents with failed foreign policies. Then they went to college because everyone told them to, to further destroy their minds into liberalism mounting tremendous student debts that start them out in life owned essentially by the federal government—and they don’t know any better—which was abusive. They were deliberately abused by liberalized society for political purposes and this has robbed them of healthy adult lives and it’s a situation that should deserve prosecutions and jail time for all invovled.

If you listen to women’s rights advocates they will tell stories of the previous generation where men wouldn’t let their wives drive cars intentionally keeping them barefoot and pregnant to prevent them from having the mobility to cheat on them with other men. We all know parents who abuse their children by spoiling them to the extent that they have deliberately sheltered the children from the realities of the world and they do so not out of love but their own selfish desire to control the child and prevent them from straying too far away. By keeping the children overly dependent, they ensure themselves that they won’t have to endure the crises of having that child grow up and move away. Then of course there are the civil rights abuses where people of a different color skin couldn’t drink and eat with southern whites. Most sane people can agree that all those horrors are tragic and that many have worked hard to eradicate that kind of behavior from our society. So it should enrage everyone that we’ve given public schools our children ran by teacher unions only to have those institutions openly destroy the mind of our youth—knowingly—to achieve a target demographic voter base committed to a new interpretation of socialism so to spread that ideology against American capitalism.

This is a topic I have covered for a long time. When Matt’s guest on WAAM radio was only a teenager, I was in fact writing articles about the impending tragedy and doing a lot of radio to put a light on the potential problem. Well, the problem isn’t just a potential any longer—it’s here. The Millennials have arrived. Now we are seeing these poor kids hit the marketplace and they don’t have a leg to stand on intellectually. What has happened reminds me of primitive tribes such as the Nazca and many others who deliberately wrap their baby’s growing skulls with leather to elongate their heads into monstrosities of deformity to pay tribute to a culture rooted in mythology—not logic. Kids in public schools and colleges have deliberately had their minds destroyed and now they are functioning adults screaming for socialism because that’s all they have been taught. They were born during the Bill Clinton years, were children during the very low intellectual presidency of George W. Bush and they have been reassured by President Obama that socialism is the means for their future. I can think of a few young people in my family who have fallen for this scheme—and I have had to watch these poor kids lose their entire futures to the promises of these intellectually damaging presidential platforms.

But the fault isn’t just on modern politics—it goes all the way back to strategies uttered during the beginning of the Department of Education where communism was on the agenda of the few at the top in the know. The DOE was implemented in 1979. Ronald Reagan was supposed to eradicate it at the start of his presidency, but after his assassination attempt, he lost his backbone for that kind of thing. It was too rooted into the teacher unions and Kremlin conspiracies of that time and Reagan had his mind on outspending Russia as a means to defeat communism. The KGB on the other hand was willing to play the slow game. They planned to show the destruction of communism while at the same time spreading it to a world that had let its guard down. By the time Reagan left office it was too late. Public schools were essentially socialist training centers intent to implement several generations that would accept collectivist based management of resources. Meanwhile Russia repackaged their message and progressivism took over Europe. Two decades later a former leader of the KGB is president of Russia and they command from that massive country one of the only remaining superpower status countries with the exception of communist China. Only the United States is left to face the wrath of Socialist International which has a firm foot in every country on earth. Only in America where capitalism has been king is socialism still a bad word. But, after two decades of training our youth with tax payer funded reprogramming, the KGB has implemented their strategy and here we are. (If you’d like to fact check me, just click on any hotlink within this article. You will discover dear reader that what I’m saying is quite truthful, sadly. I’d love to be wrong—but I’m not)

Now we are left with an entire society of these young people and they have no other option intellectually in a free society but to demand socialism as a cure to their woes—which has been done to them deliberately. Every teacher who participated is guilty and they know who they are. They were highly paid by tax payers negotiated through socialist based collective bargaining agreements to shut their mouths and teach what the state told them to. Meanwhile the Department of Education from day one in 1979 was fully intent to teach communism to students within the public education system. In a lot of ways President Obama is the first of these young people to hit the scene—when he was hanging out with other Marxists at the University of Chicago they weren’t trying to figure out how to extract wealth out of a new product launched to market—they were trying to figure out how to redistribute the wealth already created under the premise of communism as defined by Karl Marx. They called it progressivism to take the edge off and hid the effort behind the mask of civil rights.

This abusive relationship is equivalent to the insecure man who will not let his wife learn to drive a car from days long past. The man may tell the wife that he’s afraid for her life and to keep her safe he doesn’t want her to drive a car. But what he really wants is to keep her home and out of the bed of some other man—or to give her the ability to check up on him while he sleeps around town. Bad politicians have embraced communism for a long time as the KGB floated it into America during the 70s and 80s, and the effects are noticeable today. You can hear it in the voice of Millennials who should know better, but they don’t. All they know is they were promised something. Their parents have been stripped away from them nearly at birth. They were mostly raised in day care and public schools and they were told that the nanny state would care for them all their lives. All they had to do is cry and someone would bring them some food. They were deliberately kept in a stupid state for political reasons and now the impact of that tragedy is beginning to reveal itself.

So now these kids are crying and nobody has any money to give them. The government has bankrupted our system—on purpose. And the kids are looking for someone with answers—like Bernie Sanders. They have not been taught math properly, so they don’t add up the facts in their minds and are defenseless toward critical thinking. Like the poor little Nazca kids, their parents and society in general made decisions for them that ruined them for their adulthoods and now they have to deal with the ramifications of it. It’s all a very sad story and for the purpose of this article, the point is to simply identify the problem in its enormity. I hate to say it, but those Millennials are ruined for the rest of their lives. We have to begin working on that follow-up generation with the right kind of thinking and we’ll have to endure the rough road ahead, which will likely last for the next 70 years. The people who did this to all these kids should all be punished for their abuse. They are now crippled for life to advance a political ideology, not through debate, but through ignorance. That is the only way the KGB working through the United States government was able to spread global socialism. And the abuse has happened right under our noses. I’ve been pointing it out for years. Some people have listened, but not enough. Now, the facts are obvious, and we as a society have to figure out what we are going to do about it. The problem is very real and it demands an answer. Time is ticking away and the debts are mounting and the Millennials don’t understand why when they cry nobody comes. Because they weren’t taught the reason.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

The Box Office Failure of ‘The Force Awakens’: One month after its release ‘Star Wars’ has lost its power

Remember where you heard it first. Before Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out while the rest of the world was predicting ridiculous box office numbers for the new-highly anticipated movie, and reviewers hungry to retouch their childhoods were pandering to the Disney machine for freebies to give their kids for Christmas to show they had industry “connections,” I predicted what would happen to the franchise if the movie turned out to be bad—or to stray off formula. (CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND LISTEN TO THE RADIO SEGMENT I DID ON THIS VERY TOPIC ALONG WITH MATT CLARK) I had said that taken by itself The Force Awakens wasn’t a bad film—it was on par with the Star Trek films and would be profitable. But it wasn’t magical—it wasn’t deep, or even loyal to the vision that George Lucas had created. It was equivalent to a child sneaking into their parents’ bedroom and wearing their cloths to feel like they were all grown up. The film makers from top to bottom were eager to make a very expensive fan film suitable for a convention showing—not a legitimate entry into the overall mythology. They loved paying a tribute to the Millennium Falcon the way they always dreamed as kids, and to see Han Solo one last time even though the aging actor wanted way too much money for the role to return soaking up a lot of the salary leaving the rest of the cast looking a little resentful. It shows in their performance on-screen. If George Lucas had been more involved, the film would have been better, more intelligent, and would have likely hit many more high marks. But Disney pushed out the original creator and made a two-hour commercial that fans quickly detected as a fake. After the initial showings the film lost steam and was nearly forgotten about only one month after its December release. Now the film is losing ground quickly and will not break all the records it could have. Even with all its success it will be considered a failure because it has now damaged the overall mythology of the ambitious Disney acquisition—because they didn’t listen—they approached the project all wrong—and now they are going to pay for it—sadly. Here is an article confirming what I’ve said from The Inquisitir.

Star Wars box office speculation has been something of a pastime around the internet since Episode VII: The Force Awakens opened in theaters on Dec. 17.

Most analysts predicted big things from the first official “canon” entry since Revenge of the Sith (and some prequels-haters would say Return of the Jedi).

Still, none expected The Force Awakens to smash through domestic box office records as quickly as it did. Naturally, when it eclipsed Avatar, many wondered if the global box office record held by James Cameron’s sci-fi epic would be next.

But as The Force Awakens continues to fizzle out, it looks like it will be lucky to take the No. 2 slot ahead of Cameron’s Titanic.

Of course, that isn’t to say that TFA has any reason for shame. It only cost around $200 million to make it, and it blew past that total in its extended opening weekend.

But there is cause for concern when it comes to the long-term prospect of Star Wars box office gold.

Now, the precursor to this conclusion should note that Star Wars box office numbers will never be in the red. For as long as they continue to make movies and budget semi-wisely, Disney should be able to turn a profit.

But prior to the release of the new film, the George Lucas-created franchise had an untouchable mystique about it that now is in question since Avatar will likely hold onto its all-time box office title (and Cameron has plans for more to come).

Here are a few indications that it could be all downhill from here for subsequent Star Wars box office performance.

Firstly, it’s a fast burn.

The daily averages per Box Office Mojo are falling by about $10 million per week. That means the likelihood of Star Wars: The Force Awakens getting a 238-day run (as Avatar did) are slim. Cameron’s beast ate the elephant one bite at a time, while Disney tried to shovel it all in during the first few weeks, so to speak. This is unlikely to change with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars Episode VIII.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/2727946/star-wars-box-office-is-it-all-downhill-from-here/#WyAkeLvrJL3jvGpr.99

Believe me; this news isn’t happy for me. I really wanted to love the new Star Wars movie. I had hoped that it would be a cultural leap for a new generation. Instead it was a political film, much the way Avatar was—an anti capitalist endeavor that speaks out of both sides of its mouth. Avatar was so visually spectacular that people went to see it at IMAX theaters in 3D paying more than usual for the ticket prices. But it didn’t hide its liberal leanings and as a result Middle America lost their ambition for the film eventually. I doubt that the second one will do so well now that the anticipation is gone. I was one of the people who loved Jim Cameron because of Titanic and the Terminator movies—so I was there to help Avatar have a strong opening. We went to an early screening just as we did for The Force Awakens. But in both cases I left the theater realizing that these modern blockbusters did not have the same punch that older films had during the 80s because their politics were off and they lacked an intelligence that would be quoted for the next 30 years. These new films were nostalgic pieces only for hungry movie goers desperately seeking meaning for something.

If The Force Awakens had stayed on course to the overall Star Wars mythology that had been built for three decades through books, comics, games and the original motion pictures rooted in experimental filmmaking it could have made $3 billion dollars and easily toppled Avatar because of the way that modern box office receipts are calculated globally. But Disney acting like a teenage boy trying to eradicate their virginity ejaculated pre-maturely—and now they have a reputation with Star Wars fans as a company that can hold their load. People will still like the future Star Wars movies, but they won’t look at them like a religion—and that is very unfortunate because people wanted to feel that way—and Disney could have made more money and still provided a better social mechanism that would endure for another century. Now, to many Star Wars fans—just as I said would happen once Han Solo was killed off and that Disney didn’t follow the expanded universe stories that hard-core fans loved—The Force Awakens is just another tooth paste commercial—not a deep dive journey into an obscure way of thinking—there is no wisdom from Yoda or Obi-Wan Kenobi about the Force. It was just Han Solo making Harrison Ford faces one last time. Now that he’s gone—now what? Are people going to strive to see the formally beautiful Princess Leia killed off? I don’t think so. Or to watch Luke suffer through guilt and anxiety after being poised to be a wonderful Jedi Master that he strove to be after the three original films? Are the new characters so compelling that people will line up to see them on their next adventure? While it’s not their fault—the answer is no. The Force Awakens was essentially a remake of A New Hope without all the newness shown in that original movie which played in theaters a year after its release and is still watched by many who have seen it hundreds of times any time it is shown on television. The Force Awakens killed Star Wars. My feelings after watching the movie were that it was time to move on to something else—because it was obvious that I had seen the end of the series with the prequels directed by George Lucas. People can say what they want about those films—but they expanded the vision and were boldly original. These Disney films cannot say the same.

While Disney executives will declare publicly that they are happy with The Force Awakens box office results I am 100% sure that they are concerned about the next five movies they have planned. I agree with The Inquisitir article, the movies will be profitable, but they won’t be so loved that they drive fans to all the peripheral material—the toys, the books, and the games. There was always more money in the merchandise than there was in the movies but to get at it, Disney had to respect the mythology and not use political activism to change the nature of the product expecting people to stick with them regardless—just to see the Millennium Falcon fly through some trees and land in the snow. As a grown man I have several Star Wars t-shirts, many of them featuring the Millennium Falcon. I am considering making them into the type of shirts that I’d wear to work on a car to get dirty instead of being carefully pressed the way they were before seeing The Force Awakens. And I didn’t want to feel that way. I just do because Disney did not respect me as a fan so they destroyed their own market share because of it. And rather than gloat about it now I can only say that I feel sorry for the kids who won’t get to experience Star Wars the way George Lucas had designed it. The franchise has died and it is painful to see, because it didn’t have to happen. If only Disney had listened. I know I certainly did my part. CLICK THE LINKS ABOVE throughout this article to learn more.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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The Premier Shooting and Training Center in West Chester, Ohio: What happens when good people are free to create

As a fine example of what I have been talking about regarding good management of a town government, no finer example could be found than in West Chester, Ohio with the opening of Premier Shooting & Training Center in just a few weeks of this writing. CLICK HERE TO REVIEW WHY. Typically projects like Premier are crushed through the zoning process where pin-headed liberal activists too often apply the worthlessness of their lives behind a façade of community interest using the power of regulation to provide meaning to their collectivist world vision. Entirely too often developers have to donate huge amounts of money to politicians just so they can have the opportunity to build something halfway decent—and usually what they end up with is a long way off from the original vision once zoning chews up a project into pieces and leaves the consumer public with an end product far less imaginative than when it was conceived. Precisely to the point, since Mark Welch has joined George Lang as a trustee in West Chester things have finally started to move in a positive direction. At the Streets of West Chester a fabulous entertainment facility is about to open called The Main Event, which is essentially a very high scale bowling facility—among many other things.
The Holiday Inn just built a wonderful hotel across from IKEA—and the steak house featured at that establishment is great for business lunches. But then there is the Premier Shooting facility which is a game changer for a target range in the Tri-State area. It’s so nice that people will drive into town just to visit it from other cities. It is a top class facility. I was happy to get an invite to a sneak peek that the owners were putting on to tour the facility behind the curtain, and all I can say is that it was extremely impressive—and that three years ago—before Mark Welch was elected as a trustee giving George Lang that critical second vote that he needed for the many previous years of struggle—that the Premier facility could have only have been built within the last year. West Chester has a lot to look forward to regarding entertainment and leisure activity—and the Premier Shooting and Training Center is just the exclamation point at the end of an extravagant pro-capitalist government culture that has been created under the guidance of George Lang. I personally like George, but too often people disappoint me because they don’t walk the talk. George talks a lot—more than most people, but he walks more than he talks—let’s put it that way.

http://www.mainevent.com/careers

http://www.premiershootingandtraining.com/

A few years ago a gun dealer and very pro Second Amendment guy named Mike Reed tried to set up shop in West Chester. The zoning people gave the prospective employer a rough way to go so he went north and essentially set up his Right 2 Arms gun shop in my backyard. He is doing well and has a great shooting simulator in the basement of his shop that can get people a concealed carry permit—among other things. I recently bought my Vaquero from Mike and was impressed to learn that it was his parents who essentially put up the money for him to manage—so it was a nice little family business that they were conducting because the family believed very strongly in the values of the NRA and specifically the Second Amendment. In my sport of Cowboy Fast Draw we call that the Cowboy Way.

I was more than a little surprised to learn at the preview of the Premier Shooting & Training Center that it was a very similar story to Mike’s, a mom and dad, Myron and Tommie Rowland had put up a very large amount of money to create a shooting establishment that their son will essentially manage. He has a background in the military and law enforcement and is the martial arts instructor.
When I spoke to him he specified to me that his mission was to provide the people least able to defend themselves against aggression the means to do so—which is a tremendous service to the people of West Chester. He could have said to me that he hoped to make enough money to break even after their first year of operating—and in the context of our conversation he could have easily have said such a thing without shame—but he was quite sincere. That’s when it became apparent that the Premier Shooting & Training Center was a dream for this family and that George Lang and Mark Welch had created a business environment that allowed that dream to actually be constructed—along with a determined and well-known developer.

You can see that the dream was easy to share for this determined family because walking into the foyer of the facility is a very proud tribute to the Second Amendment. I included pictures on this article to do the place justice because the entire facility is just a testament to very firm American values. There is nothing like the Premier Shooting & Training Center in the Tri-State area and beyond within several hundred miles.
The shooting lanes for target work are certainly on the high-end up range, but down range it is just state of the art. For me the most noticeable luxury was their air evacuation system which was moving a lot of air during my visit. As all shooters know there is a lot of lead in gun smoke so at a range where several shooters are working with their firearms smoke can fill the room quickly. That air has to be moved to keep things fresh because you don’t want to breathe too much as a shooter. It smells nice, but isn’t good for you under sustained conditions.

The first thing I thought of after touring the facility was that the owners of the Premier Shooting & Training Center had certainly taken care of their target audience. The gun retail store in the center of the action will be a place that guns of all kinds can be purchased and shot on the premises in the kind of luxury setting that shoppers would expect to find at Victoria’s Secret. It’s a nice, clean environment that provides access to their stock. For men who love to shoot, it’s a dream come true. But better than that—they can bring their wives without having to worry about the environment being too intimidating for them to feel included. The shooting range is set right off the retail area and is clean and safe. There is even an office for the range master to supervise two separate ranges by looking out a central window to ensure that no trouble occurs for the sake of safety. There is even an armourer on site to help with gun customization or troubleshooting that is equipped for minor gunsmithing duties. Everything about the shooting experience associated with a target range was on the top end.

But that wasn’t all, the facility offers a gun safe so that if you have a firearm that you want to protect while you’re out of town, or that you have purchased and are awaiting a permit for—like a machine gun—or something of that nature—it can be stored at the Premier Shooting & Training Center. I can think of a lot of times where a service like that would be valuable. There is also a combat training area with mats on the ground to protect falling bodies while learning hand to hand combat—with additional physical training equipment typically associated with a gym. Then there are conference rooms and classrooms that can be used to advance understanding of firearms and other topics. One of their meetings rooms would be ideal for renting any event where 100 people or so wanted to gather for an instructional class of some kind. It was a very nice facility.

Of course there was a lounge area designed to get people talking with one another which was a nice touch. Additionally under various membership packages there was a VIP area that was quite nice. The first thought I had was that this was an ideal place to bring business clients. Instead of taking clients out for a round of golf which takes all afternoon, a trip to the Premier Shooting & Training Center was a better option for the kind of bonding that is often required during business meetings and power lunches. The quality of the place made it fashionable especially with the VIP lounge which has the look of Teddy Roosevelt’s living room in South Dakota. There is a very nice patio that looks out over a lake and the setting is luxurious for a shooting range. It was a wonderful place to speak with people and network within the community. It was a very smart idea to include as a bonus to an otherwise fantastic shooting experience.

The Premier Shooting & Training Center was just the most recent example of what the American people can produce if you just get government out of their way and actually help them achieve their dreams. Mark and George, even though they will not take the credit—had a lot to do with making it so that such a wonderful place could actually be built-in West Chester. The owners had been shopping around and were looking at three possible sites. Zoning just a few years ago in West Chester would have forced the Rowlands to go out into a more rural location where there were less college trained leftists actively working against the Second Amendment. For West Chester to now be able to offer such a wonderful gun range within a few miles of Jags, and the Main Event is really an advantage for the entire community. I can easily see a business afternoon with VIPs dining at Jags then swinging over to the Premier Shooting & Training Center to shoot a few rounds—maybe even let them shoot a machine gun—which Premier is licensed to handle—then conduct further business in the VIP lounge before dropping them off at their hotel for the evening. Not only will the Premier Shooting & Training facility help train people how to defend themselves, and to more fully utilize the Second Amendment, but it will also facilitate even more business activity which will proportionally improve the productive output of the entire area. It is the kind of place that makes you feel safely wrapped in the American flag and to realize that we live in the greatest country on earth. And West Chester has one of the best shooting facilities in that country—right in our own back yards.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Sign up for Second Call Defense here: http://www.secondcalldefense.org/?affiliate=20707 Use my name to get added benefits.

Congratulations Mark Welch: Lee Wong thinks West Chester government is “perverted”

Many who read here think that I am anti-government. I am in fact anti-stupid and often when politicians are attracted to government positions for the healthy benefits provided, what you get are the dumbest people in our society signing up for the job because high quality people have better things to do in their life. Government to me is all about management and I expect the best managers available to do the job of government who don’t need to personally enrich themselves in the process. With that said I can say that in my hometown of West Chester, Ohio I personally like four of the five people in the below video—which is a trustee meeting for the local government. One guy, Lee Wong is not one of those four. I remember very well how he behaved for over six years, especially over a sidewalk he was working hard to extort from public funds near his home across the street from Jags—relatively speaking. CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW. He and Cathy Stoker blocked George Lang from being a part of the voting process until George worked hard to get a partner on the board to serve with him resulting in the election of Mark Welch. When Mark was elected it knocked off Cathy leaving Lee to fend for himself. Now he’s a disgruntled West Chester trustee. His partner was eliminated in an election, beaten by Welch who is now the new President. So congratulations Mark. Watch the first two minutes of this meeting to see what I’m talking about.

Lee Wong said some very interesting things in that exchange; one was that he thought the process was “perverted.” Below is the technical definition of perverted and it obviously doesn’t apply.

Medical Definition of perverted

: marked by abnormality or perversion <perverted pancreatic function> <relieve concepts or fears of perverted sexual interest—W. H. Masters & V. E. Johnson>

Where Lee is wrong about the process is that voters saw how he and Cathy had been running things so they elected somebody different in George Lang. George then went to work looking for a managing partner on the board to help him with the district—because the previous team of Wong and Stoker were functioning from a much more socialist origin position. You can hear some of that socialism coming out of Lee during the exchange at the meeting with Bruce Jones, the current fiscal officer. Lee cited that he believed the board was unfair and that he should be elected president by proper rotation. For George to agree to something like that it would assume that all the trustees were equal in value, and they obviously are not.

George obviously trusts Mark to be the president, but Lee has shown that his personal values are not aligned with either of the two other trustees. So to allow a seat of power to fall into Lee’s hands just so he could feel “equal” or “fair” is just ridiculous considering the voters just re-elected Lang doing things they way that he has now for a while. Then they voted for Welch who was operating as a companion to George. Between the two West Chester has really sprung into action bringing many exciting opportunities to an already lucrative area. A lot of the very good things currently happening in West Chester right now could be directly attributed to the four people sitting in that video—excluding Lee of course.

The world changed under Lee’s feet and he didn’t adapt to those changing circumstances. All through the last decade progressive viewpoints even among conservatives were fashionable. Now they are not—instead Lang has brought a free market flare to West Chester politics which is allowing economic growth to escalate proportionally. Lee is now a relic of the past and he doesn’t understand why. That is why there was the really awkward silence during the meeting where everyone except Lee understood what was going on. Lee Wong came out sounding like an out-of-touch grandparent demanding that people ride horses instead of cars as a mode of transportation.

Lee also invoked that he was the top vote getter over both Lang and Welch. Well, Bernie Sanders is also very popular—socialism is very popular among lazy people and there are some of those people in West Chester. Government workers and companies that suck up to government workers love socialism. That much was evident on Martin Luther King Day in January of 2016. One of the busiest roads through West Chester is 747 at the foot of Beckett Ridge. On that national holiday the roads were 2/3rds empty as too many people were off work. I couldn’t help but wonder what all those people were doing on that day off if not something productive. How could a vibrant society trying to achieve excellent GDP nationally afford to take off a day for the memory of a civil rights leader? It’s nice to recognize such people with a national day of remembrance, but to take a day off from productive enterprise seems pretty silly. The kind of people who were off on Martin Luther King’s Day are the type of people who voted for Lee Wong—they tend to be lazy, and too addicted to government services—so Lee represents their type of thinking. That does not mean that Lee should be in charge of the board. Competition and the marketplace of politics should do that and George Lang has easily outsmarted Lee to achieve what he thinks needs to happen in West Chester. The voters re-elected Lang’s vision and the businesses who are attracted to West Chester because of the vibrant economic environment that Lang has helped create along with the other four people at that trustee meeting, are a testament to his success.

Putting Lee in as president just so his feelings weren’t hurt isn’t “fair,” it’s stupid. For anyone who questions such a proposal just go back to the Beckett Ridge sidewalk story and watch Lee lecture Lang about being unethical and a whole series of slanderous comments that were certainly unfair. It’s all on tape—CLICK HERE to review. It is because of Lee’s actions that he’s now on the outside looking in. Sure, a bunch of socialist lovers voted for him but if they were in the majority, Lang and Welch would not hold the dominate seats and be able to outvote Lee 2 to 1. That happened because of what Lee himself did, not because the system is “unfair.”

I’m talking about this because I think every school board and trustee meeting in America should learn something from this form of government that George has envisioned to nurture along—with a lot of help from his friends. If all branches of our government worked as well as George and Welch have helped make West Chester function—we’d all be a lot better off. I don’t do as many local articles as I used to because honestly, I have readers in over a 170 different countries and the daily stats are quite good. The power of the written word is like water—people see it sitting there and in small amounts it looks soothing and docile. But over time it carves many of the rivers, oceans and continental barriers that we see and gives life to the entire planet. So I put an emphasis on fixing the mind of people who are broken by their educations and cultural references and it takes time for them to see the light of day. I write to eat away at what’s wrong, to propose that intelligence can imply on collective stupidity. What good is a large collective mass of rock if water can erode it away into a pebble with a constant presence and pressure to reshape it into something else over time? The written word has that kind of power. But in this case the West Chester trustees and the people behind the scenes that make it work—except for Lee Won–are examples of how all governments need to strive to be. They could take a lesson from George Lang’s playbook.

Lee Wong is lucky that everyone is so nice to him. As a functioning socialist George and Mark put up with Lee because they are respecting the voters—those same slack-jawed, lazy, losers who were off work on Martin Luther King’s Day when there were productive enterprises to embark on. And I think that’s pretty nice of them. They may not agree with Lee, but at least they let him sit at the table and aren’t ganging up on him the way Stoker and Wong used to do against George when he was still new to the board. George is a lot nicer to Lee than he needs to be. Lee’s definition of things needs to change from the kind of East Avenue activity that might actually be considered truly perverted. The government of West Chester is not an example of absolute power that corrupts. Absolute power is in working with another trustee to destroy another person while at the same time hunting for real perversions on the streets of Hamilton late at night. George and Mark aren’t doing that. Lee on the other hand can’t say the same. Yet they treat him fairly—so long as he stays out-of-the-way. West Chester is the example that other governments across the world should be copying. And before it’s too late for them they need to figure out who their functioning socialists are and brush them out-of-the-way so real people can do the real work that government should have always been doing. But they can’t allow people like Lee to be in charge just because it’s “fair.” That’s just not how things work in a capitalist society.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Sign up for Second Call Defense here: http://www.secondcalldefense.org/?affiliate=20707 Use my name to get added benefits.

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Firstly, it’s a fast burn.

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Medical Definition of perverted

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