Tag: overmanwarrior

The Need for American Exceptionalism: How the political left has killed thousands and made life miserable for millions

Now you know dear reader why American Exceptionalism is so important. For all you peace lovers, only now do you understand that the wars in the Middle East that took place in recent years were not about oil. They were about stabilized government and the opportunity to live life for the indigenous people of those lands. The so-called American Imperialism that the political left is always talking about is very good for the world. American capitalism is also very good for the world. Wherever America has a military base or business influence, the cultures in those regions prosper. Where America does not have influence, there is war, death, and corruption. What should that tell the United Nations? And what would the United Nations be without the United States?   Nothing. So where does that leave us?

Worldwide presently there are 59.5 million people on the move as refugees within their home countries, victims of tyrannical regimes, poverty-stricken economies, abusive thugs, and environmental disaster. There have never been more people looking to leave where they were hoping to get refuge somewhere else. That is the cause of the problem on the American border with Mexico. Mexico is an impoverished nation collapsing economically under its 100 year commitment toward socialist oriented policies and now they are impoverished. The only real money they have is from American businesses fleeing the high taxation and union demands within the United States, and tourism. The political left is at fault for all those issues, the high taxes, the open border push, the drives toward socialism—yet they take no responsibility for any of it leaving the world a mismanaged mess that is killing many hundreds of thousands of people and leaving millions without hope and opportunity.

The latest crises in Syria has 4.1 million refugees registered fleeing the war-torn area of the Middle East destroyed by ISIS for destinations in Europe hoping for sanctuary somewhere that radicals won’t cut off their heads, rape their women, and corrupt their children. They leave for countries that will allow them to live on welfare—which is why so many are primarily fleeing to Germany. Greece doesn’t have any money to deal with even more people seeking social benefits from a socialist economic system. Obama blew the deal in Syria with Bashar al-Assad when he failed to enforce his “line in the sand” then refused to help that same dictator when indirectly America gave arms to his enemies which rose up to become ISIS—an even greater threat. The cause of that increase of aggression was the power vacuum left behind when America left Iraq, as telegraphed by Barack Obama—who ran for president on the platform of leaving the unpopular war.

As politicians like Rand Paul and his father Ron were technically and Constitutionally correct that America needs to take care of our own borders and not be the police of the entire world, the world actually needs the cowboy heroism of America to save them from mismanagement, religious zealots, and the ugly claws of communism that still seek to spread across the world with a vengeful effort at mass collectivism. So long as the world is rife with communism, socialism and religious fanatics, America is the only country responsible enough to provide peace and shelter to a world literally on fire. The global migrations happening right now are because America has pulled up its global influence and went home to drown in its 19 trillion-dollar deficit.

To any sane mind all these problems, again caused by the political left and their armies of progressives in virtually every field of endeavor. You could further trace much of this trouble back to billionaires like George Soros. His money goes into programs like open border societies, marijuana legalization, and extreme political left progressive candidates. What do all those things have in common? Well, drugs soften the minds of indigenous people while open borders destroy nationalism, creating new voting blocks with socialist foundations to elect progressives to manage the countries while people like hedge fund investors make money on the chaos. There’s no conspiracy there, it’s happening right in front of our faces and nobody is really denying it. Meanwhile, Republicans are more concerned with “playing nice” as millions of young people are killed in China and elsewhere under socialist, communist, and religious administrations. Planned Parenthood is a perfect example of this crises—abortion isn’t just about political and theological debate anymore. Practitioners under tax payer funding are deliberately killing children to sell their body parts. That is a crisis of epic proportions—and again the avocation of the evil is a strategy of the political left. So isn’t it explicitly clear what’s happening and why people are being made to suffer?

One of the terms used to disgrace American occupation of foreign lands is to refer to the act as “cowboy diplomacy” and the concept of the Wild, Wild, West where the naive concept of good guys shooting bad guys is considered reprehensible. America feeling guilt about that accusation stopped making westerns, stopped shipping its values abroad, and avoided the finger-pointing of American Imperialism that has so long loomed like a cloud over the freest capitalist nation on earth. Well, now we see the results of that avoidance. The world was so much better when it made westerns, and kids played cowboys and Indians as opposed to Miley Cyrus grinding on some teddy bears and passing around joints at a press conference. Miley was shaped by progressive politics whereas conservativism was shaped by American westerns and their values.   Turn a cowboy loose in the Middle East and there will be lot fewer refugees fleeing to Germany. I promise. Punish the bad guys so good people can live free. To a liberal that’s an overly simplified statement, because to their minds, evil has a seat at the table of debate. Liberals created all the problems, and the world is suffering under their mismanagement.

The question we have to solve now is what to do about all this. Just blindly taking in refugees and putting them on government assistance won’t solve the problem. They need real help in places like Syria, and Mexico. Those regions do need a return to cowboy diplomacy and a sense of honor typically associated with American westerns. They need capitalism and the opportunities that come with that economic system. The Greek isles depend nearly exclusively on tourism to sustain livelihoods for their inhabitants. They don’t make cars, or even brew beer there, not in any quantities to provide economical means toward social sustainability. They need tourists to visit to provide income to the families who live there. But tourists won’t come if dead bodies continue to wash up on the beach from failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East by families fleeing the terrorism of ISIS and the caliphate of Islamic extremism. Nobody wants to go on vacation only to see dead bodies on the beach. Yet the United Nations is in complete paralysis as to what to do about it all. They are totally clueless trying to deal with the problem, not the cause of the problem.

The cause of most of the world’s problems is a lack of capitalism and the American bravado to promote it. The reluctance to spread “cowboy diplomacy” throughout the world has been catastrophic. The world needs our help, and we have instead run like chickens—which progressives have told two generations now is a noble cause. Progressives would rather support abortion deaths; rainbow-colored transvestites, and legalized marijuana, than to allow America to feel good about its traditions and responsibility. Saving the world is the responsibility of those most able to do it. If a victim is in distress and a strong personality is nearby to do something about it, the responsibility for action is on those capable of solving the problem. America is the only nation capable of such a thing. And because we are not performing that job now, the world is suffering. The blame for that suffering is not only on the liberals who have caused the mess, but in those of us who have failed to act correctly in the face of danger and opposition. The world needs a little “cowboy justice” and it’s about time we stop apologizing and start giving it to them. Once the world learns to be more like Americans, then maybe the United States can be the way Rand Paul wishes. But not until then.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

Vote No on Issue 3 in Ohio: Why marijuana and the people who use it are the scum of the earth

Two of the most prominent Tea Parties in Butler County, Ohio had a meeting at one of my favorite places, the Elk’s Club which overlooks Trenton to discuss the pros and cons of the upcoming marijuana legalization vote in November. I couldn’t make it as I had another engagement, but I wanted to go. Sheriff Jones was there along with others and I would have liked to been there to express my opinion. So I’ll give it now for posterity–for those who wonder where I stand on the issue. I am dead-set against the legalization of marijuana for any use—even for a rope. I hate the product in every form possible. I hate the shape of the leaves, I will not buy anything with hemp in it, and I hate the smell. More than once I have been in physical confrontations with people just for smoking it near me, which I promise will happen more often if it becomes legal. I hate the stuff in every form that it was created.

I do not support medical marijuana. If I was in pain and needed some chemical from marijuana to have relief from the pain, then it is time to die. I say that as I have had a broken wrist and ankle for the last two months, still competed in my summer bullwhip competitions, rode a bicycle for exercise 24 miles most of those days and I have not once taken an aspirin for the pain. So I sure as hell won’t be smoking or injecting anything from marijuana into my body ever for any reason. Pain I can deal with. A corrupt substance that brings out the worst of the human race I want nothing to do with. I HATE POT. And I hate people who use pot, who think about pot, or justify pot. There are better scientific methods for dealing with illness; medical marijuana is not one of them. It is a pathetic ingredient for weak people.

I have managed to get along ok with people who have used marijuana in the past. People make mistakes. I never used it. I have always had a hard-line against it all through my high school years. I had girl friends that used it, I lost friends to it, but they never, ever, ever consumed marijuana in my presence—ever. It was always a major no, no as a predicate for my friendship, and those who forced me to pick between friendship with them and marijuana learned quickly that I meant it when I said I would never speak to them again if they used it after knowing me. And I did not compromise on that prerequisite at any point in my life. There are a lot of people who are stupid when they are teenagers. They grow up a bit by their late twenties. In their thirties they start to regret being so stupid. And by the time they are in their forties, they are alright; I can begin to forgive them for their past transgressions involving pot. But I always look at them as a bit tainted. I don’t hold it against them in the fashion that they can’t erase their past mistakes, but because they chose to do it at some point in their life, it does have an impact on my assessment of their personal value.

For that reason, most of my best friends are well of 60 years of age. That is because most people my own age have at least tried pot at some point in their life. I get along plenty well with younger people, but I don’t have very many close associates because of my feelings toward pot. I can be friendly with people who are users—especially business friendly—but anyone who uses marijuana even for medical reasons I have little respect for. Some people grow up and mature away from pot and I treat them fairly. But always in the back of my mind look at them as a personality that was susceptible to its use—and that is an alarm flag to me.

I don’t care that the Indians (Native Americans) used pot. To my mind, that’s why they were so easily defeated by a bunch of people who came from Europe and stole their land from them. Smoking pot, peace pipes, and their entire drug induced shaman tricks are some of the reasons their culture has failed. Their foundations of earth worship and tribal nonsense centering on collectivism is disgusting to me. Dances with Wolves was a great movie by Kevin Costner, but the premise of it is rather ridiculous. The Sioux were slaughtered because they were a collectivist culture and pot is the chosen recreation among those types of people, because it turns off the individual mind, lowers the walls of personal sanctity, and introduces collective consciousness.

When I learned that Ayn Rand was willing to smoke pot to prove she was open-minded, it had an impact on how much I was willing to take her work seriously. I think she did great work, which eventually led to the basic foundations of the current libertarian political philosophy, but her comments about pot limit how seriously I regard her. And the same is true of libertarians. I am not one. When I hear the name I think of pot, so I could never be a libertarian. I don’t want my neighbor smoking pot in their back yard because I don’t want to smell the shit blowing around in the air anywhere near me.

Now the typical pot user would tell me, as they have for over four decades, that I need to “mellow” out, that I’m twisted up too tightly about too many topics—that I need to “loosen up.” Well, it’s not going to happen. I like who I am, and part of that is that I have never used pot, I’ve stood against it, and I am completely clean to have such an opinion. I have nieces and nephews who have used it and I don’t compromise on their behalf. It does change the way I see them. It saddens me to know that the bright little kids that they used to be were crushed into oblivion by the peer pressure use of pot. I still care for them, but I don’t respect them. That is the cost of using pot, and me finding out about it.

Many would say that I have an impossibly high standard. That may be. But I’m fine with that. When my wife and I were younger we knew a couple who were newly married who got severely stoned on their honeymoon, and I was a serious stick in the mud over the issue, which put a tremendous amount of pressure on our relationship at home, because I was virtually the only person who felt so strongly about such things that my wife knew. Everyone else, parents included were much more accepting of it. My position was that I’d rather be single and alone for the rest of my life than to ever try marijuana. In other wedding parties while everyone else was relishing in drunkenness and drug induced stupor I have always been the square one that didn’t partake in the mindless orthodox of collective numbness. And I am very proud of that.

With all that known, it should be clear what my position on legalizing pot in Ohio is. I’m not a live and let live type of person like libertarians are advocating. I’m not one who proposes more laws either. But in regard to marijuana, it is illegal now, and I’m fine with keeping it that way. It is a drug that I have observed makes people stupid. It destroys minds before they are fully grown—by the age of 25—and handicaps them for life. I don’t care what a government study group says in support of hemp, pot, marijuana, or even medial use of the THCs in the pot plant. I hate pot, I don’t find anything funny about Cheech and Chong’s movies. Pot is just bad. It’s stupid to smoke it, it’s weak to want it, and it’s a huge negative to a culture of any kind that uses it in any form. People should love to think, to be aware, and to live freely under their own ambitions. They should not want to numb themselves for any reason even under sickness. Life is meant to be lived and drugs alter that life. The Indians were wrong in their use. Every musician, actor, or pop culture idol is wrong in their avocation of it. There is nothing good that comes from pot and I’ve watched the behavior for a long time. Since I’ve been free of its use, I can speak clearly, and with certainty as to its evils. Pot has no place in a culture that anticipates that it should be ambitious, and forwarding thinking. Being comfortably numb, as the Pink Floyd song has advocated for years is not an honorable position. It’s the position of a weak and self-destructive personality that has little to offer existence except for excuses.

VOTE NO against the vile, despicable marijuana use in Ohio, in any and all forms. Vote HELL NO!

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

The Iran Nuclear Deal: What you need to know

Without question the Iran nuclear deal that the Obama administration signed with that top sponsor of terrorism was detrimental not only to world security, but to American’s credibility as a nation. That’s why it was so refreshing to see Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Glenn Beck, along with others gathered in front of the capital building in Washington D.C. to protest the ridiculous deal. For coverage of the speakers at the event, watch the clips below. To understand the basics of the deal, continue reading.

The Iran nuclear deal framework was a preliminary framework agreement reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and a group of world powers: the P5+1 (the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council–the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China plus Germany), plus the European Union.

Negotiations for a framework deal over the nuclear program of Iran took place between the foreign ministers of the countries at a series of meetings held from 26 March to 2 April 2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland. On 2 April the talks came to a conclusion and a press conference was held by Federica Mogherini, (High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs) and Mohammad Javad Zarif (Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran) to announce that the eight nations had reached an agreement on a framework deal. The parties announced that “Today, we have taken a decisive step: we have reached solutions on key parameters of a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”[1] with a goal of working out this final deal by 30 June 2015.[2][3][4] Announcing the framework, Foreign Minister Zarif stated: “No agreement has been reached so we do not have any obligation yet. Nobody has obligations now other than obligations that we already undertook under the Joint Plan of Action that we adopted in Geneva in November 2013.”[5]

The framework deal was embodied in a document published by the EU’s European External Action Service titled Joint Statement by EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif Switzerland.[1] and in a document published by the U.S. Department of State titled Parameters for a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Nuclear Program.[6]

On 14 July 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between Iran and the P5+1 and EU, a comprehensive agreement based on the April 2015 framework, was announced.

According to the joint statement in Switzerland, the E3+3 countries and Iran agreed on a framework for a deal. According to this framework, Iran would redesign, convert, and reduce its nuclear facilities and accept the Additional Protocol (with provisional application) in order to lift all nuclear-related economic sanctions.[7] In addition to the joint statement, the United States and Iran issued fact sheets of their own.[8]

The joint statement outlines the following:[7]

Enrichment

  • Iran’s enrichment capacity, enrichment level and stockpile will be limited for specified durations.
  • There will be no enrichment facilities other than Natanz.
  • Iran is allowed to conduct research and development on centrifuges with an agreed scope and schedule.
  • Fordow, the underground enrichment center,[9] will be converted to a “nuclear, physics and technology centre”.

Reprocessing

  • The Heavy Water facility in Arak with help of international venture will be redesigned and modernized to “Heavy Water Research Reactor” with no weapon grade plutonium byproducts.
  • The spent fuel will be exported, there will be no reprocessing.

Monitoring

  • Implementation of the modified Code 3.1 and provisional application of the Additional Protocol.
  • Iran agreed IAEA procedure which enhanced access by modern technologies to clarify past and present issues.

Sanctions

When the IAEA verifies Iran’s implementation of its key nuclear commitments:

  • The EU will terminate all nuclear-related economic sanctions.
  • The United States will cease the application of all nuclear-related secondary economic and financial sanctions.
  • The UN Security Council will endorse this agreement with a resolution which terminates all previous nuclear-related resolutions and incorporate certain restrictive measures for a mutually agreed period of time.

In addition to the final statement, both the United States and Iran have made public more detailed descriptions of their agreement. Officials of both sides acknowledged that they have different narratives on this draft.[8] The U.S. government has published a fact sheet summarizing the main points of the deal.[10] Shortly after it was published, top Iranian officials, including the Iranian supreme leader and the Iranian minister of defense have disputed the document on key points which remain unresolved.[11][12][13]

According to details of the deal published by the US government, Iran has accepted to not build any new facilities for the aim of enrichment and reduce its current stockpile to 300 kg of 3.67 percent low-enriched uranium during 15 years and limit the enriched uranium to 3.67 percent for at least this duration, restrict to 6,104 installed centrifuges under the deal, with only 5,060 of these enriching uranium for 10 years.[14] This amount of enrichment – namely 3.67% – would be enough just for peaceful and civil use to power parts of country and therefore is not sufficient for building a nuclear bomb.[15]

According to press TV report based on Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran’s extra centrifuges and the related infrastructure in the Natanz facility will be collected by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order to be replaced by new machines consistent with the allowed standards. Iran will be allowed to allocate the current stockpile of enriched materials for the purpose of producing nuclear fuel or swapping it with uranium in the international markets. These comprehensive solutions permit Iran to continue its enrichment program inside its territory and also allowed to continue its production of nuclear fuel for running its nuclear power plants.[16]

According to the U.S. State Department fact sheet, Iran has agreed to convert its Fordow facility into a nuclear physics, technology research center, and to not conduct research and development associated with uranium enrichment at Fordow for 15 years.[14] According to the joint statement by Iran and the EU, the Fordow nuclear facility will be turned into a research center for nuclear science and physics and about half of the Fordow facility would be dedicated to advanced nuclear research and production of stable isotopes which have important applications in industry, agriculture and medicine. Iran would maintain more than 1,000 centrifuges for this purpose.[16]

According to Press TV, the implementation of JCPOA followed by lifting of all the UN Security Council sanctions as well as all economic and financial embargoes by the US and the European Union imposed on Iran’s banks, insurance, investment, and all other related services in different fields, including petrochemical, oil, gas and automobile industries will be immediately lifted all at once.[16] However, according to the fact sheet which is published by the US government, U.S. and E.U. nuclear-related sanctions will be suspended after the IAEA has verified the implementation of the key nuclear-related steps by Iran.[14]

Iran will be required to provide the International Atomic Energy Agency access to all of its declared facilities so that the agency can ensure about peaceful nuclear program.[15] According to published details of the deal which is published by the U.S. government, IAEA inspectors would have access to all of the nuclear facilities including enrichment facilities, the supply chain that supports the nuclear program and uranium mines as well as continuous surveillance at uranium mills, centrifuge rotors and bellows production and storage facilities. Iran will be required to grant access to the IAEA to investigate suspicious sites or allegations of a covert enrichment facility, conversion facility, centrifuge production facility, or yellowcake production facility anywhere in the country. Iran will implement an agreed set of measures to address the IAEA’s concerns regarding the Possible Military Dimensions (PMD) of its program.[14]

According to the Iranian fact sheet, Iran will implement the Additional Protocol temporarily and voluntarily in line with its confidence-building measures and after that the protocol will be ratified in a time frame by the Iranian government and parliament (Majlis).[16]

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

No deal of any kind is worth the paper it’s printed on if there isn’t respect for both parties making the deal. In regard to American’s view toward Iran, there is no trust except for the blind assumption by progressives that there can be foundationless trust between the two countries. Iran has sponsored terror and caused a lot of trouble. So trusting them is difficult under perfect conditions. Then of course there is Iran. What values do they stand to lose if they violate the deal? What implication against their honor would there be? What holds them to honor? Nothing. So for all the hoopla, the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by John Kerry is purely political theater that empowered an enemy of capitalism. That made it quite relevant, and historic that a few presidential candidates and some talk show pundits protested the farce on Capital Hill. And within that protest there was just a grain of hope that the world had not gone insane.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

Why America Should Abolish Labor Day: The Marxist roots of a national holiday

It was a disgusting Labor Day Holiday in 2015. I have never liked Labor Day because the premise of it speaks of unionized activity. And of course the premise of organized labor is a bad one, collective bargaining, collective adversarial relationships with management, and the greatest insult of all, the expectation that a job is an entitlement that should not be connected to performance. Entertainment unions aren’t as bad as manufacturing and government sector unions because there is still a bit of free market capitalism present in those fields. If a star football player or movie star doesn’t put butts in seats, their value goes way down. But in almost every case, labor unions do not connect productive work to their efforts at solidarity and their efforts are criminal viewed through the proper lens of capitalism.

Even more sickening are the number of times during Labor Day that employees were termed as “workers” in the mode used commonly in Karl Mark’s Communist Manifesto.   Such as the term at the end of the book, “workers of the world, unite.” Democrats and labor union leaders use the term “worker” in precisely the same fashion and every time I hear it I am reminded of just how much communism has penetrated the capitalist culture of America much to all of our detriment. When President Obama or VP Joe Biden say “worker” they are using communist terms to describe people. Their vantage point is clearly framed by Karl Marx—and that is the general spirit of Labor Day—to me it’s a communist recognition holiday—so I don’t like it.

Of course from a communist perspective the White House thought it appropriate to issue a new executive order on Labor Day—this one was one of the most disgusting that I can remember in recent history. Here’s how The Blaze reported the story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Showing solidarity with workers on Labor Day, President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Monday requiring paid sick leave for employees of federal contractors, including 300,000 who currently receive none.

The White House wouldn’t specify the cost to federal contractors to implement the executive order, which Obama was to address at a major union rally and breakfast in Boston. The Labor Department said any costs would be offset by savings that contractors would see as a result of lower attrition rates and increased worker loyalty, but produced nothing to back that up.

Under the executive order, employees working on federal contracts gain the right to a minimum of one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours they work. Stretched out over 12 months, that’s up to seven days per year. The order will allow employees to use the leave to care for sick relatives as well, and will affect contracts starting in 2017 — just as Obama leaves office.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/07/heres-how-obama-will-mark-labor-day/

Here’s the problem with this ridiculous executive order and the Labor Day that it was signed on—it celebrates “not working,” non productivity. It is a celebration of staying home and doing leisurely activities as opposed to actually working. The premise is a bad one rooted in laziness. When Marx says “workers of the world unit” in the Communist Manifesto and Barack Obama tells those workers to stay home more often, they are both building a sense of entitlement toward the endeavor of work that is unhealthy, and detrimental for a capitalist nation. Marx says to unite so that through collectivism they gain leveraging power to deprive an employer of their labor so that they can make ridiculous mandates as to the allocation of their effort toward productive enterprise.

Just before Labor Day a middle-aged male uttered happiness at their ability to have a four-day weekend. They had Friday off, but would also have Monday off due to the national holiday. They were quite happy to be free of work for four consecutive days. The statement to me was troubling because it indicated that the work the young man was doing was so far from what he’d rather be doing that he considered the opportunity for freedom from that expectation enough to proclaim joy. Now I’m sure a lot of people feel that way toward their jobs, but that doesn’t make it right. If you feel that way about something you work at, I feel sorry for you. Working is a joy. When I do it, it is part of my life in every way. I work while I’m at Disney World. I work at 4 am—I work all the time, even during holidays, weekends, all hours of the day because I see work as a creative endeavor and it feels good to make things. I enjoy making things. It is a joy to bring things to life that did not exist before. The thoughts of that middle-aged man were not something I could understand, or sympathize with. What would that person be doing besides working, playing video games, watching a movie, or just talking with friends? Those might be fun exercises, but they are often spectator sports. In the case of video games and other entertainment, the programmers did the work; the players just enjoy the productivity that brought the product to life. Enjoying entertainment is not in and of itself productive—its leisure. Productivity is when you bring something to life and the effort creates economic energy. Being productive is quite rewarding. You feel good after a hard day of work.

Yet the president is instigating a quandary that does not make sense. On one hand he is saying that workers are valuable, then on the other that they aren’t needed, because if they can afford to take off one hour of paid leave for every thirty hours they work, clearly they aren’t being paid for productive enterprise—but are relegated to the type of work typically associated with the government office worker—a butt in a seat that does very little but browse the internet all day while being paid extraordinary amounts of money for nothing. Obama clearly doesn’t understand the value of hard work and is clearly aligned with the referred middle-aged guy who was happy to have four days off for Labor Day. They don’t want to work; they simply want a job that pays them so they can do what they want in their leisure time. Obama has shown that his value in a job is not in productive output, but in time off work. That is an important distinction. It is a false assumption based on Karl Marx, not any capitalist philosopher. The failure is in the basic premise established on a college campus with Marxist pot smokers ignorant to the benefits of real productivity.

I would be alright with getting rid of the Labor Day Holiday completely. America doesn’t need to spend less time at work; it needs to work more, and harder. That may not be a popular sentiment, but you don’t get to be a great nation sitting around playing games all day. You have to do things that are productive, even if it’s fixing something around the house, or getting groceries. Productive output is the measure we have in life to gauge success. For those who couldn’t wait to have four days off, what did any of them achieve in those four days besides some extra sleep and more time to perform leisurely tasks? How productive was that long weekend, really? Not much, because the American government promotes that lazy, lackluster communist mentality that is so common around Washington D.C. They promote the entire nation to think the way they do—and to them Labor Day means spending time on their boats, eating out, or having more time to socialize with others—all acts that require the productivity of someone. To them they care not a bit—so long as it’s not them.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

The Leadership of Jameis Winston: A commodity more important than gold

Leadership is likely the most valuable commodity that an individual can offer any organization. When leadership is natural, it elevates everyone to perform at a higher level and can sustain enthusiasm under difficult circumstances. When my favorite football team drafted Jameis Winston, I was a little disappointed because I was rooting for Marcus Mariota. I thought the Mariota athleticism would be a better fit in Tampa Bay than a pocket passer like Winston. Considering that the Tampa Bay coaches had watched a lot more film on Winston than I had I trusted their judgment to take the Florida State Heisman Trophy winner. After watching Winston in practice and in three of four pre-season games, I am happy with the decision and would like to welcome Winston to the Buccaneer family. CLICK HERE TO REVIEW WHY I LIKE THE BUCS. It is obvious that Tampa Bay wasn’t just looking for an arm at quarterback, they were looking for a leader and between Winston and Mariota, it was certainly Jameis who was the better natural leader. That will be important years from now when both kids are older and less physically agile. Leadership always trumps skill, and after watching this segment of Jon Gruden’s QB Camp it is obvious that Winston is oozing with leadership.

Football for a lot of people is a way of life. There are times during the business week where talk about football becomes quite animated. For me it’s just a game, not much different from a game of X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games. In my world they are all just as important. Football is just one of my entertainment options. The purpose of the game is to get a football to move across the field of play to score points. It’s a game invented by capitalism for the purpose of referencing American lifestyles in a game format. But what is more interesting to me is the displays of leadership that come out in exceptional athletes under pressure. That pressure would not exist but for the rules of the game, a last-minute touchdown throw as time runs out to win the game. Throwing a 22 yard bomb on a 4th and 14 in the fourth quarter. Or a sack on a 3rd and 2 to stop a drive and protect a lead. Leadership under pressure is what I enjoy most about football.

As many know I have been a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team for quite a long time. I enjoy watching them even during bad seasons because the organization is always trying to win. The Glazer organization is constantly changing things to find the right ingredients to make a winning team. Last year they only won two games, but I paid attention to every one of them, and enjoyed them for the entertainment they provided to me. I knew the Buccaneers blew the last game of the season last year with the Saints on purpose to get Winston in the draft, so I trusted they knew what they were doing. Their season was already over, but they had a chance to pick their quarterback, and they picked Jameis Winston because of his excellent leadership ability.

I became sold on Winston watching him in the pre-season fight through some tough times. He won me over when he stated to Jon Gruden that he always felt like he could win a game even if the score was 50-0 against him. I understand that thought process as I also am the same way. To my way of thinking there is never a “surrender,” there is never a problem that can’t be overcome, and in the game of football, that is a more valuable attribute than having the ability to scramble out of the pocket to buy four more seconds of play. In the long run, Winston’s leadership will be much more valuable to fans of the Buccaneers organization and that was obvious after the pre-season concluded.

When it is natural for a young person to understand that he needs to look other people in the eye and elevate their personal performance on an individual level, it is a trait that cannot be taught. Charisma under pressure is a value that is more valuable than all the gold in the world, because such leadership ability is rarer. The tenacity to never get down when ominous forces are present is far more important than any physical ability. And that is what Tampa Bay has decided to invest in. Not just a football player, but a charismatic leader who can elevate those around him even when the bright lights are off in the stadium. A real leader is one even when they are alone and think nobody is looking.

I’ve been known to have large doses of that leadership ability. It’s not like it’s a secret. It has come natural all my life. My natural optimism for life is something that most people don’t understand. They believe that its contorted enthusiasm rooted in false bravado. They think that because they don’t possess it themselves. What I have and obviously Jameis Winston has, is the ability to never see defeat even when the world is collapsing around observation. And people respond to that type of tenacity because behind such people, even though their methods may appear reckless, is safety and opportunity.   Tampa Bay will go to another Superbowl behind Jameis Winston not because of his arm or physical abilities—but because of his leadership.

So I’d like Jameis to know that at least I’m happy he’s a Tampa Bay Buc. I will be a fan of his even if he doesn’t win a single game this year. He will eventually. I am a fan of the Bucs because of their character, not necessarily the points on the board, because to me football is just a game. But the type of men that the game makes is more important than what happens between four quarters of play on a Sunday afternoon. For me watching Jameis under pressure and exhibiting great leadership will be more fun than what ends up in the win/loss column. Which is the reason I’m happy that the Buccaneers picked him as their top draft selection—they didn’t just get a great player—they acquired a leader, and that will help the entire city of Tampa be just a bit better as a result.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

Communist Infiltration of the Catholic Church: Faith and religion are not conducive to the moral value of a capitalist culture

One of the problems I have with religion is the basic premise of it, which is rooted in “faith.” The quandary of populism is to say that a person of “faith” is the same as assuming that the person is a “good” human being such as, “he’s a man of faith,” which automatically congers up thoughts of a value system rooted in religious belief so he would therefore be assumed to be a good person. Yet, statements like that are idiotic and are clearly false. Faith is a stupid word because it implies that there isn’t thought given to an action. Faith is lazy; it says that a person has surrendered thought to fate without doing the work of inputting intelligence to the conditions of our times. It is not enough to have “faith” in an afterlife when many decisions made every day must be considered with thoughtful input to maintain the values associated with goodness.

Religion therefore becomes tricky to the capitalist government reformer because government often grows most when it appeals to people’s faith. Once a government official or even a branch of government can appeal to the “faith” of the people in their ranks, trouble begins. This is particularly troublesome in the United States where the people are free to think and do as they please until they get to church and are supposed to live by rules established not by a deity whom speaks to them on Sunday mornings, but the interpretations of that deity translated over thousands of years to mold behavior in the present. You can’t really be a free-thinker and self driven person Monday through Saturday, except to pray to a deity whom we’ve never met, then give Sunday to that same deity—and expect to be considered a rational human being. Notions of “faith” and “sacrifice” to that faith are just stupid. Any rational mind would think so.

Yet religion has benefits. It does introduce social values rooted in kindness. And that’s where things get really tricky, because there is value in religion which opens the door to the stupidity of blind faith. When Manning R Johnson testified before the House of Un-American Activities on the subversive activities of the Kremlin within the Catholic Church in 1953 he did so as a former member of the Communist Party. He wasn’t some pundit speculating, he was actually from the Communist Party in the United States and provided oral testimony to the facts of strategy being introduced at the time. Here is a bit of that testimony.

“Once the tactic of infiltration of religious organizations was set by the Kremlin … the Communists discovered that the destruction of religion could proceed much faster through infiltration of the (Catholic) Church by Communists operating within the Church itself. The Communist leadership in the United States realized that the infiltration tactic in this country would have to adapt itself to American conditions (Europe also had its cells) and the religious make-up peculiar to this country. In the earliest stages it was determined that with only small forces available to them, it would be necessary to concentrate Communist agents in the seminaries. The practical conclusion drawn by the Red leaders was that these institutions would make it possible for a small Communist minority to influence the ideology of future clergymen in the paths conducive to Communist purposes. This policy of infiltrating seminaries was successful beyond even our Communist expectations.”

http://patriotupdate.com/global-warming-and-communist-infiltration-of-the-church/

Anytime you have an organization that is collectivist in nature full of people who subject themselves to thoughtless “faith” you have an opportunity to mold those people into any shape a charismatic leader might desire. For the communists advancing their thoughts into the Christian church was easy as many thoughts of Jesus could easily be considered socialist in their nature. A religion reflecting the morality of capitalism has not yet been introduced effectively, and the communists knew that if they could infiltrate the Catholic Church, they could easily steer away people from capitalism to socialism as a military endeavor designed to change a nation without firing a single shot.

Fast forward to the present, an actual Pope from the Catholic Church is planning to address the American congress on September 24th to press them into saving planet earth with green policies. As anybody with intelligence knows, communism has changed its name from the harsh policies of the past to a New Age type of religion called the “green movement.” To accept global warming and other far left policies requires “faith” in “leaders” to do our thinking for us. This was always the plan for communists who changed their names to environmental conservationists. To spread communism they effectively sought to appeal to the weaknesses of the religious right and to push anti-capitalist thinking under the door of resistance by disguising itself as a religion based on faith. Once faith is used to make decisions; it becomes easy to apply it to everything. That Pope whom we’re supposed to accept that the Catholic Church put into power because of some divine smoke came from a chimney, is an actual socialist from Argentina who does not like or understand the capitalism of America. But millions of Americans will listen to the guy because they have faith in the Catholic Church and that the guy dressed in white is a “man of God.” See how the communist infiltration of the Catholic Church as described by Manning R. Johnson works.

Global warming is simply another name for communism. Environmentalists are thus indicated because they have faith in the deity Mother Earth and will make decisions against capitalism in favor of that New Age religion centered on the planet—just like some raw primitive out of a hunter and gatherer tribe. Yet the logic of a free thinking republic such as what America is supposed to be, would dictate that capitalism take mankind away from earth to the reaches of space to advance our culture away from Mother Earth, not deeper into its bosom. The old communists know that if they lose the appeal of sacrifice to invisible deities and thoughtless sentiment based on “faith” that their movement of collectivist infiltration will finally die—as it should have many years ago. So the Catholic Church put in place an activist Pope to hide socialist policies behind a white robe and expects to sell little “C” communism to a typically conservative country through their religion. For me, upon realizing this, I simply stepped away and said, “no thanks.” I stopped going to church because “faith” is not a governing principle in my life, and it shouldn’t be for anyone. It is good to believe in goodness, and to have trust in other people. But blind, lazy, faith is dangerous as it opens the mind to thoughtless action. And religion is filled with such thoughtless enterprise which is not conducive in any way to logic and observable decision-making. For freedom to work and capitalism to flourish, thought is needed—and that is not what the Catholic Church is selling to its congregations. And now dear reader, you know why.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

Air Hog’s Millennium Falcon: Another step closer to Moller’s Skycar

imageLately, I have had enough pressure and stress to kill a man nine times over. But I do enjoy life in the pressure cooker, so my participation was not reluctant. However, I do know how to manage that stress, and part of that is to put my mind some place fun to give it needed vacations from time to time. It was a perfect opportunity for Star Wars to have their Force Friday launch of the new toy lines Disney was unleashing for the Force Awakens film coming up this Christmas of 2015. My brother and kids did what millions of other people did and that was hit the stores at midnight on Thursday to get access to the first stuff. They began sending me pictures of merchandise at around 12:25 am through text messages and I was living the fun with them through their inputs. I chose to enjoy the rituals at home watching the live stream from Disney that took place nearly 20 straight hours from spots all across the world unboxing these new toys and demonstrating them. I wrote about the significance of this Star Wars ritual in yesterday’s article. CLICK HERE to review.

Star Wars toys are something that I have always enjoyed. I still have mine from when I was a kid and my grandson now plays with them when he comes over. I have always been impressed with the artistic detail of Star Wars toys. I still get them from time to time when I see something really cool. Typically my rule is that if the toy is a Millennium Falcon, I typically buy it. There are too many Star Wars toys to collect them all, so I stick to Millennium Falcons the famous pirate vessel from the original movies. I have a special relationship with the Millennium Falcon. CLICK HERE TO REVIEW.

So I was relaxing at home on Friday watching the live stream from Toronto, Canada. I thought the toys up to that point were cool, fun, and worth collecting at some point after I validated that the new movie justified it. But there was nothing I had to rush out to get, until the commentators in Toronto showed off the new line of Star Wars related products from Air Hogs—the miniature remote control helicopter company who is always well stocked at Target. I have been impressed with Air Hogs as a company as they have taken really expensive remote control technology and driven the prices down so that non professional RC users could enjoy them indoors. Some of the smartest engineers I know are members locally of The Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club that actually has their own airfield across the river from my house in Trenton, Ohio. They have some really wonderful model airplanes that were recently on full display at the Butler County Regional Airport “Flying Circus.” Those planes cost several thousand dollars each and are quite sophisticated. Air Hogs has taken similar technology and advanced it to the level of indoor flight, which really requires light weight, but durable materials, powerful engines and unmatched control to keep from running into everything. I have one of the first Air Hog helicopters that pretty much went up and down, but had little control regarding pitch and yaw, and I was impressed with it—for something that only cost about $30. But I hadn’t flown some of the most recent models, which I knew had come a long way. That’s when I saw the new love of my life, the Toronto presenters brought out on the stage the new Air Hog Millennium Falcon, a quad engine drone essentially complete with flood lights and engine indicators. My next thought was to get to the store to buy it.

imageSince I wasn’t at the stores during the midnight rush, I doubted that I’d find such a wonderful device several hours after the great release. My wife was hopeful so we went to Walmart to see if we could find one. As I suspected, the shelves had been plucked through and there certainly wasn’t an Air Hog Millennium Falcon left. I even prodded the employees asking them if they had any hidden anywhere—which they said they hadn’t. The tornado of Star Wars fans had already ransacked everything until their next shipment—a week away—had left their shelves mostly empty. So we started to head for home, but before that we decided to stop by Target—just in case.

Again, what I have been saying about the cultural significance of Star Wars was beginning to be evident at Target. Stormtroopers were on the front doors of the Bridgewater location and a massive Chewbacca loomed to great guests as they came through the door. Space ship battles were on display hanging from the ceiling as even I was a bit surprised at the level of Target’s commitment to the Force Friday event. My hopes went up that they just might just have my Air Hog Millennium Falcon in stock, even though I knew it was unlikely. We made our way back to the Star Wars toy section and there it was. Target had three of them. I grabbed one. Additionally Target had the whole back corner of the store dedicated to Star Wars complete with Halloween costumes and more toys including two very vicious looking Huffy Star Wars bicycles. Customers were happy, people had smiles on their faces as they looked through the various Star Wars products and the enthusiasm was palatable. These weren’t the hard-core fans from the night before. These were just average people, and they were feeling the Force. I shuddered a bit at witnessing all this. The new movie hadn’t even hit theaters yet and already there was this much enthusiasm. I wondered if I had understated the importance of my previous article already indicated. I had written it while watching the day long podcast and as enthusiastic for the future as I was, I may have not captured the true potential of the upcoming Star Wars influence.image

Regardless, my wife and I rushed home, forgot to eat dinner and I played around with the Air Hog Millennium Falcon until the late hours of that night. The first thing I did the next day upon waking was play with it some more. The Air Hog Falcon is truly remarkable to me for several reasons. It’s pretty easy to fly; it has a wonderful gyrostabilization system controlling all four quad engines. The Falcon is a large odd-shaped vehicle not typically suited for aerodynamic flight. I had seen a very cleaver Millennium Falcon drone recently that was very expensive and very technical, as it had been hand-built. But this was a commercial craft and the Air Hog engineers had nailed a pretty difficult task—making a flat non-aerodynamic disk–fly—very well. Extremely well. I couldn’t stop flying it. It took about an hour to charge the vessel for about 7 minutes of flight. The internal Lithium Polymer battery had to be large enough to power the four quad engines, but small enough to keep the weight down. So Air Hogs elected to have a smaller battery to capture the proper performance. That is a bit frustrating because you can’t fly the ship long between charging, but the performance is worth the effort. It’s kind of like a drag racing car, fully fueled, it’s out of gas by the end of a quarter-mile. To get the performance you have to sacrifice storage capacity.

However I couldn’t help but think of how well the gyroscopic system worked on the Air Hogs Falcon. The small little toy was a perfect example of how Paul Moller’s Skycar will operate once people accept the technology as viable. The Air Hog Millennium Falcon was a perfect example of how those future flying cars will work. Each quad engine working independently controlled by computer input to add thrust or decrease it based on the needs of the vehicles gyrostablization sensors. For a toy, it was extremely sophisticated, and was certainly a hint of a mode of transportation that is coming fast. I couldn’t help but think that there were thousands of people just like me playing with some of these new Star Wars toys thinking the same thing. Once the film hits and everything escalates to a fevered pitch intellectually, the desire to have real Star Wars technology functioning in our actual lives will increase dramatically. The toys and films introduce the idea of possibly to us. Science finds ways to deliver those ideas, and Air Hogs simply nailed it with their Millennium Falcon. A remarkable device simply put.

I closed out Force Friday playing with my remote control Falcon hopeful for the world. All this fun of course is the work of unadulterated capitalism. Without capitalism the joy I witnessed across the world from Japan, China, Australia, France, England, Brazil, Canada and of course the United States would not have been possible. I wasn’t the only one excited that day to purchase a new Star Wars item. Capitalism is what put so much joy on people’s faces and introduced new technical inventions to a hungry public. The whole endeavor started with imagination and the capital investment to make them possible. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who stopped by the local convenience store on the way home to buy a twenty pack of AA batteries, and also some more Mello Yello in the process. Life is good and we have capitalism to thank for it. Because at the heart of the Star Wars universe, particularly under Disney’s direction is capitalism—which is the source of joy so many people felt as a result of Force Friday. And it gave me a wonderful, much-needed distraction when I most needed it—and a cool new Millennium Falcon to add to my collection.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

‘High Plains Drifter’: A Clint Eastwood western that advanced American philosophy

I watched High Plains Drifter as one of the very first movies I saw when I was newly moved out of my parent’s house. I rented it because of the cover art on the VHS tape, Clint Eastwood holding a gun and a bullwhip. I had seen at that time most of Eastwood’s movies, so I wanted to see them all and this one was on the list. I didn’t expect much, but was very surprised to see that the film was a masterpiece—a sheer work of unapologetic authenticity. It may very well be my favorite western of all time and is the summation of a span of westerns by Clint Eastwood starting with A Fistful of Dollars and ending with Pale Rider that defined the genre forever. Eastwood’s westerns were Ayn Rand tales set on the frontier of America and were very much a part of my childhood. I loved westerns, all westerns, but Clint Eastwood westerns were uniquely special to me. I could identify with them immensely. At the time that I first saw High Plains Drifter I was living a very similar life and I didn’t feel a bit of guilt about it. The established order of things said that I should. Until I saw that director Clint Eastwood understood my vantage point in High Plains Drifter, I had nothing but gut instinct to tell me I was on the right path.

I will never forget the Friday before I saw High Plains Drifter. I drove my friends to Miami University for a bit of ruckus activity which ended up in a bar and a fight with the first stringers of the football team. The fight evolved into the back alley where I and one other friend literally took on the football team until the police came and arrested everyone—but me. The reason the police left me alone was strange. I was so mad at the time that I would have punched anybody who came near me, and they seemed to understand that. Instead of feeding their aggression, they backed off and arrested everyone else starting with the outside of the pile working inward. When it was just me and the rest of the police left with blood and pieces of clothing all over the place, I spoke calmly to them realizing and feeling quite satisfied that I had just done something that seemed impossible. My friends were arrested and carted off to jail and I had to find a way to get them out. But otherwise, I was the last one standing even though I was one of the first in the fray. It was a good feeling.

I managed to work things out with the police which ended up at the jail eventually and I had my friends released. I spoke to everyone in charge intelligently, which gained respect and leverage allowing me to get my friends out without a court appearance, which I didn’t think would be possible. My friends were baffled as to how I walked away from the incident without being arrested, and how I managed to get them out of jail. I didn’t know how to explain it myself. But on the next evening we decided to stay home and rent a movie, and that movie was High Plains Drifter. I had my answer at the start of the third act when a woman who Clint Eastwood had just slept with told him to be careful because he was a man who made other people afraid. From that Eastwood explained, “People are only afraid of what they know about themselves inside.” I knew somewhere in that exchange of dialogue was an answer that I would carry with me for the rest of my life. And the woman was right. Confident people—excessively confident people—scare the meager types like those who were in the fictional western town of Lago—from the film. And those meager types were easy to control once you looked them in the eye. That is what many of Eastwood’s westerns from that period were about—but specifically High Plains Drifter.

After watching that movie I felt like a much more focused person. I understood much more about myself—which might be troubling if not for the fact that Clint Eastwood was playing a ghost of some kind in the film—a vengeful spirit from Hell set to cast justice on the small mining town and all the guilty people within it. I thought Clint Eastwood was the greatest director on earth for capturing all the controversial topics he explored in that story with such effortless mastery. High Plains Drifter was a 1973 American supernatural western film produced by Robert Daley for Malpaso Company and Universal Studios, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, and written by Ernest Tidyman (who also wrote the novelization). Eastwood plays an enigmatic wraith, who metes out justice in a corrupt frontier mining town, where he arrives as a stranger.[3] The film was influenced by the work of Eastwood’s two major collaborators, film directors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel.[4]

The film was shot on location on the shores of Mono Lake, California. Dee Barton wrote the eerie film score. The film was critically acclaimed at the time of its initial release and remains popular today, holding a score of 96% at the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.

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

As I have been thinking about the significance of American gunfighters of late, this film keeps returning to me in a revelatory way. It is important, and specific to the American experience. I didn’t know it when I first watched it, but it is clearly in hindsight a masterpiece. It has within it an element that Ayn Rand brought out in her novels—an overman quality that is so needed. There was an evolution of human thinking that was occurring in that movie that as inescapable. There was honesty to the type of independence specific to American culture that Eastwood had tapped in to.

John Wayne was not a fan of High Plains Drifter. His westerns were about honor, sacrifice, loyalty and courage. While those are appealing attributes, High Plains Drifter was about something else. And I decided that I would commit my life to that something else. I had a taste of it at that campus fight. I had touched on it many times, but Clint Eastwood had fleshed it out and put it on the screen for all to see. His gunfighter character in the film was more than just a man—literally. But that made it even that much more appealing to me. High Plains Drifter is an American movie classic that is in a category all by itself. It is a western—the best of its kind. But it’s more than that, its philosophy—a thinking which is fresh and unique to the individual experience with an unequivocal desire for justice. Justice at every level possible, one that started with the gun, but ultimately enacted with a superior mind and unshakable confidence changed philosophic perspective for the better. It is good to keep the mind on the high plains of life and to face those tribulations alone. For that is the path toward something new, and specific to America. And freedom rides in its wake.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

Cracker Barrel: Memories of an America yet to be

I was visiting a whip maker friend of mine in Middletown, Ohio who is working on a special project for me. It was Sunday around lunch time and we were early. So my wife and I elected to stop by the local Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast. Many people find it humorous that I often refer to Cracker Barrel as fine dinning, because for me it is. Now I have dined in many great restaurants, but I prefer Cracker Barrel, especially on a long trip because of the country setting and general store. The food and service to my experience has always been great and I love the “old west” feel of them when I step inside.image

My very first exposure to a Cracker Barrel was in Northern Kentucky. My grandfather who was the son of an active moonshiner from the sticks of coal country invited me as a very young boy to go shooting with the men in the family at his childhood home. His father at the time had long been dead, but as a boy he ran the hills from the law smuggling moonshine during prohibition. Their home was about the size of a modern bedroom and it was back in a valley about 30 miles northwest of Buckhorn Lake—a pretty remote location, especially when I was a kid. Back then there wasn’t much development between Lexington and Cincinnati, so if you didn’t gas up in Northern Kentucky, you might run out of fuel before Lexington. It was winter and I rode in the back of a pickup truck with some older cousins, some of whom were already men. I was by far the youngest. It was the day after Christmas and all the men were going shooting. It was my first time firing powerful weapons like a .38 special and a 30-30 rifle.

Cracker Barrel had one of their very first national stores in Northern Kentucky and it looked a lot like they do now. It was 6 AM, the sun wouldn’t be up for at least another hour and it was cold. We were all dressed in gun holsters, long hunting knives and day packs when we stepped inside to have some breakfast next to a roaring fireplace. It set in my mind for life a love for the place. It was the nearest thing I’d ever get to an authentic cowboy experience, wandering in off the open range, armed to the teeth to stop into a saloon/general store for some grub. It was a testosterone driven occurrence that shaped me for life. The waitress and manager could have turned us away at the door because we looked like we were there to rob a bank. I have worn a cowboy hat since I was in the fourth grade, so I had mine on feeling like a western drifter—and I loved the feeling as snow rushed in behind us as we stepped inside. They could have told us to leave the guns and packs in our car, but instead they asked if we wanted coffee next to a roaring fire. Years later when I saw the Clint Eastwood western The Unforgiven, the first saloon scene reminded me explicitly of that moment in my time—and it stayed with me forever. That was America. Cracker Barrel for me would always represent the best that America had to offer.

Most of the people on that shooting trip with me are dead now. Some died of old age, some from not meeting high expectations in life, some by personal destructive behavior. I could see much of it back then on that shooting trip. In the back of that truck where it was so cold ice formed on our noses, the older men passed around a whiskey flask. They offered it to me even though I was way too young to drink it. I turned it down. And if you traced their lives with mine and noticed how far apart they are now, you could trace it back to those types of decisions on a shooting trip on a cold December morning. They looked down at me a bit for not wanting to share the whisky, but my grandfather thought it took guts, which is all I really cared about. Once we started shooting, nobody thought anything about who drank what, or who said a curse word. Guns made all men equal and respect was derived by that realization. When I showed I could fire the 30-30 without being knocked down due to my small stature there was respect, and I would carry that lesson with me for life. The whole experience started with a Cracker Barrel.

My wife had never been to such a place as a Cracker Barrel before meeting me. But we went to one just north of Knoxville on our honeymoon as we traveled back from Gatlinburg. For her it summed up everything we had experienced on our first days together as a married couple and she fell in love with it for life. For years we would take our children there while vacationing and make a big deal about each visit, no matter where we were. One time we were on our way to a Star Wars convention in Indianapolis and my kids were dressed up as Jedi. We stopped at one about 45 minutes outside of Indianapolis. My kids had the experience I had as a young man, stepping in dressed as warriors. They had some unique looks, but everyone was friendly and it was a fun experience. They never forgot it. Then there was a time while traveling by motorcycle to a film festival in northern Ohio. My oldest daughter had never ridden a motorcycle before and this was her first experience—on a long road trip up north. Cracker Barrel just north of Columbus on an early summer morning in the middle of the week was an oasis of pleasure—a cozy place that always said “home” as you step into its doors.

One thing about Cracker Barrels is that they are almost always busy, especially in the noon time hours. People are often willing to wait for 30 minutes to get something they could get at McDonald’s in a fraction of the time. The reason is that most people have a special relationship to Cracker Barrel similar to mine. The restaurant chain has built their brand around American tradition for decades and people respect it enough to wait.   That was the situation my wife and I found ourselves in on a Sunday afternoon in late August, 2015, before we met on business with our whip making friend David Crain for a “special project.”

I have been thinking about guns a lot these days. The Obama administration has caused great unrest and unsettled the most rational by unleashing the insane, corrupt, and perpetually dependent to collect what the president promised during his campaigns, redistributed wealth in trade for a vote. And the results have been menacing. Police are being executed all around the country. Border violence is disturbingly common. And religious fanatics are going on holy wars against infidels with the apparent support of the American media. Long gone are the days of the Saturday morning westerns, and heroes of tradition. Those wonderful attributes are missing during our nightly news, but they are quite alive and flourishing at Cracker Barrel’s across the country, and that is what my wife and I were seeking.

As I waited for my breakfast I looked around the room at all the unique paraphernalia that they customarily have lining the walls. Most of it looked like the kind of items you might find at garage sales, but typically they speak of traditional American items, old Coke signs, early gas station markers, looms, spindles, scrubbing boards. However on this particular visit, I noted how many guns were displayed on the wall. Above my head was a Winchester lever-action and around the dining room where several musket style weapons from what looked like the pre-Civil War period. Then my attention was pulled toward an advertisement from perhaps the 50s from a drink called NEHI. It said, “What’s getting into kids these days.” Around the picture of a girl drinking what looked to be a healthy beverage alternative were kids playing. Of note was one kid dressed as a frontiersman another as a cowboy complete with a six-gun. Then another picture was of an Indian. It reminded me of the days when kids actually played cowboys and Indians and it wasn’t considered an act of insanity requiring counseling at school for wanting to play with weapons. I realized looking at that picture that the magic of Cracker Barrel was essentially represented in that picture. The family restaurant was a timeless portrayal of the type of America that many in the core of the country still love, and desire desperately to behold. That’s why many of the customers on a Sunday afternoon after church were willing to wait up to an hour to have some eggs and bacon—something they could easily get at home. But what they couldn’t get was the essence of Americana that Cracker Barrel truly is—and will always remain.

The meeting with the whip maker David Crain went well. He is very crafty and during our business dealing he showed me a little side project he was working on. He had been using his wood lathe to make some really marvelous wooden ink pens, the kind of items you might find at Kenwood Mall for $55. He sells them for $20 dollars, which I think is too cheap, but it’s his business. So I picked one up, since that kind of thing is sometimes important to me. If anybody else wants some, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with him. It’s a really good deal. Meeting with David reminds me of the kind of Americans we used to be. Behind his house David has a wood shop, and in it he makes lots of really neat crafts—the kind of things that will probably someday be on the wall of a Cracker Barrel. But with David, we are living tradition in the present, and that made that particular Sunday one that I will not long forget. It was a reminder of what we fight for and why. Much of it can be summed up in the advertisement by NEHL from a time long forgotten–except on the wall of a Cracker Barrel in Middletown, Ohio looming over eggs, bacon, and good memories.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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It Will Always Be Mt. McKinley: The hidden reason behind a mountain name change

Consider that I am from Ohio and that President Mckinley was from that state, I will always think of Mt. McKinley in Alaska as the name it was before Obama and his progressive activists sought to change it to Denali. I don’t really care that since 1975 radical tree hugging hippies and pot smoking losers wanted to rename the highest mountain peak in North America after some “Great One” known by “native” language. If Obama wants to get technical, the Indians of the pre-Columbian era were just as guilty of migration as the European settlers—as the original story of the “Native American” are still being pieced together. Likely it was primarily the Chinese who were the real “Native Americans.” That story does not match the premise of the modern progressive who wants to use Indians as a springboard against American colonialism—and indirectly—capitalism. Here’s how the story was reported by USA Today:

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s three-day trip to Alaska this week will literally change the map of the nation’s 49th state.

Mount McKinley — the 20,237-foot mountain and the tallest in North America — has been renamed Denali, as it was originally known by Alaska Natives before it was renamed to honor President William McKinley.

The mountain, which sits in the 6 million-acre Denali national park, has been known as Denali in Alaska since 1975. Under an order signed by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, the Denali name will also take effect for all federal usage and, therefore, on all official maps.

The order was signed Friday, but the White House asked that it be announced Monday as part of Obama’s trip to Alaska to highlight the effects of climate change in the Arctic. The White House said the name change “recognizes the sacred status of Denali to generations of Alaska Natives.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/08/30/obama-rename-nations-tallest-mountain/71426656/

Denali (/dɨˈnɑːli/), officially called Mount McKinley from 1917 until it was formally renamed in 2015, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20,237 feet (6,168 m) above sea level. At some 18,000 feet (5,500 m), the base-to-peak rise is considered the largest of any mountain situated entirely above sea level.[6] Measured by topographic prominence, it is the third most prominent peak after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Located in the Alaska Range in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska, Denali is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.

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

I have been to the top of peaks a third of that. I understand the cold and loss of oxygen at those altitudes, but as a statement of natural achievement, I’m not that impressed. I could climb to the top of McKinley right now, in my current health without any conditioning, so I’m not impressed with it. Sure it’s pretty to look at, but I wouldn’t be crying to reach the summit like some climbers do. McKinley has been conquered many times, and it’s no longer a big deal. And from space, it doesn’t look like much. However, to a bunch of primitives wearing animal skins in the hard winter months, climbing to the top of Mount McKinley was an ominous task, not really feasible to them. So from their perspective, it was a “great one.” But to a culture that routinely sends satellites into earth orbit and has settlers on the International Space Station all days of the year looking down from space—and has airplanes that travel at twice that altitude on routine flights across the country, McKinley is no longer a “Great One.”

The reason for the name change now is to incite among the American people a love for nature and a reversion back from the gains made through capitalism back to the primitive focus of indigenous people who function best from tribes always in need of a leader. That is why progressives are trying so hard to make a religion out of the “green movement” and why they think of the Indian as something of our national sacred history.

In 1896, a gold prospector named the mountain McKinley as political support for then-presidential candidate William McKinley, who became president the following year. The United States formally recognized the name Mount McKinley after President Wilson signed the Mount McKinley National Park Act of February 26, 1917.[22] The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali, which is how it is referred to locally. However, a 1975 request by the Alaska state legislature to the United States Board on Geographic Names to do the same was blocked by Ohio congressman Ralph Regula, whose district included McKinley’s hometown of Canton.[23]

To progressives like Obama, money and the creation of it is a bad thing. Money represents value and progressives hate value, or any identification of it. So of course Obama and his greenie weenies are against gold prospecting and everything that the Old West stood for regarding westward expansion. Alaska and the settling of it by the United States to him are all about oil and gold at the exploitation of Eskimos. But without the development of capitalism, Alaska today would be nearly as useless of a terrain as Siberia is right across the Bering Straight. Without gold prospecting or oil drilling Alaska would just be more earthly land not being applied to any productive task. To conservationists who are against human invention and development, that is a grand crusade worthy of sacrificing many to the gods of Mother Earth. But to capitalists who use free enterprise to improve the conditions of human existence, the gold from Alaska, and the wealth discovered through westward expansion set up the United States as an economic powerhouse throughout the world during the Twentieth Century. Of course Obama wants to erase that history—which he has been trying to undo through his economic policies, his EPA activism, and his desires to openly revert North America back to the times of the primitive.

Denali is the name of a primitive group of people who held the mountain in high regard due to their perspective victimization witnessed from their village huts. There’s nothing miraculous about pointing to a big rock on the horizon and declaring that it’s so large that man cannot climb it. But the wealth extracted from Alaska gold mining and oil drilling have created an economy that took mankind well off planet earth to look down on that small rock from space and point out Mount McKinley—a Republican that didn’t last long in office, but was reminiscent of a time when wealth was built and mankind stepped out of the shadows of their village huts. Mount McKinley isn’t a “great one.” It’s just a rock in the middle of Alaska, a state defined by its economic wealth and individualism. That extracted wealth is what sets Alaska apart from Siberia and makes all the difference between a great one and a mere rock on the horizon. And that’s what Obama and his gang of lost tribes are really desiring, a regression back to the time of the village living under the shadows of “Denali.” What they fail to understand is that mankind has overtaken the mountain and their limited perspective. And there is no going back now.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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