Tag: Senate Bill 5

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

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

A Feather from a Mountain Temple: Manifestations of thought and culture for future generations

Temple3

Sometimes the details are not important.  To ask why I was in Japan doing something extremely important for my part of it would be to miss the internal reason for traveling there.  The mind has a way to unleash whatever it is that you most desire and it will manufacture the circumstances of your contemplation—so it is always good to mind your thoughts—even in the middle of the night in a far away land.  The products of your thoughts will manifest into reality at some point in time.  If you are skilled enough to keep your thoughts very good then eventually your mind will produce into reality whatever becomes the sum of your contemplations.  So be careful what you think about.

Temple1I have talked about it before, but I’ve spent well over two decades now studying a pretty small book written by Miyamoto Musashi called The Book of Five Rings.  I can’t say that it’s my favorite book but I can say that I don’t think a single day has went by since I first read it that I don’t draw from it.  So as fate would have necessitated I was in Japan doing Musashi types of things on a big scale, but that was not the intention of the trip for me.  Temple2There were a cast of characters who had worked very hard together to bring me to a temple atop the mountain Shosha and specifically to the statues of the Shitennō protectors within the temple Maniden.  I was doing the kind of things that were the products of my mind that were very specific to all my lifelong efforts so I was living in the moment.  There was nothing for me to pray to standing atop that mountain temple isolated from the world that resided far below in Himeji City.  I was very impressed with the Maniden structure, it was massive.  I couldn’t help but think of the time when Musashi climbed a similar mountain to confront the Buddhists gods then came down spending the rest of his days as an undefeated samurai conqueror uniquely individually based.

The Maniden temple was dedicated to the national religion of Shinto Buddhism which was an inherited mythology from the long forgotten Indus Valley as far over to the east as India. Temple4The gods Shitennō are classic examples of Indus Valley mythology which I believe is a remnant of a long lost civilization predating all known history and religion. During his early travels I believe Jesus Christ ran into aspects of Buddhism and took it back to the shores of his birth with his own spin on Zoroastrianism.  That religion would of course be Christianity which would become one of the world’s largest religions. But, it is a watered down version of what came before and there is nothing to say that Buddhism was the first thought of rationality concerning religion.  It too just as Christianity experienced, is a hand-me-down religious philosophy.  But in Japan Shinto Buddhism works and they revere their ancient heroes like Miyamoto Musashi without apology.  After spending many years reading books about all these topics it was quite refreshing to see the spirit of Miyamoto Musashi in everyone I met in Japan—literally.  From the airline stewardesses to the cooks of Kobe Beef in some of the highest end Steak Houses in the world, it was Miyamoto Musashi who used a foundation of Shinto Buddhism to become one of the greatest swordsman who ever lived and a mythological rock that all of Japan had been able to cling to empowering them to take a tiny island and make it one of the world’s most dominate economies.

Temple5So there I was in a remote Shinto temple atop a high mountain just as Musashi had visited well before me, and I had to realize that my thoughts were on my next generation.  I was looking for something very unique to bring back to my grandchildren and within the temple as is rather common at such temples around the world, there were little souvenirs that were supposed to bring good luck to those fortunate enough to have them.  The story goes that with such items that the god who protected the Buddha years ago would also protect those who made offerings within the temple.  So in full ceremony and with the help of a professional guide who said a prayer to the Shitennō on my behalf through the smoke of incense, I brought off the mountain gifts for my grandchildren.  For my two grandsons, I brought blessed arrows that will ward off and conquer Jyaki demons—whom I call ultraterrestrials.  Different names, same embodiments of corrosive spirits.  However for my granddaughter who at this time is still an infant not yet crawling I brought a specific ornament that she can hang in her bedroom for all years to come.  The ritual is that you write a wish on the back of this ornament and present it to the Shitennō statues and they will carry out the request.  So I wrote my wish on the back and my guide prayed to the Shitennō for me and even carried my items down off the mountain since he insisted that the gods would recognize me as a lord for having a servent to conduct this business between gods facilitating harmony and the fulfillment of objectives.  So this is what I wrote.

To rule the earth with grace and persuasion making everything your feet touches an addition to your kingdom without bringing harm to a single person.  Make it so Shitennō and bring justice to the world.

Temple6The Shitennō are Buddhist protectors of the four directions. They ward off evil, guard the nation, and protect the world from malicious spirits, hence the Japanese term Gose Shitennō 護世四天王, literally “four world-protecting deva kings.” Each represents a direction, season, color, virtue, and element (see below chart). They originated in India as deva generals protecting Lord Indra, but were later adopted into the Buddhist pantheon in China and Japan. Each dwells in and protects one of the four continents surrounding Mt. Shumisen 須弥山 (Skt. = Mt. Sumeru), the mythical home of the Historical Buddha and other Buddhist deities. In China and Japan, they are venerated as temple guardians and protectors of the nation. In China, statues of the four are often placed near temple entrances, but in Japan, effigies of the four are more commonly placed around the central deity on the main altar (the main dais is befittingly called the Shumidan 須弥壇). The four are commanded by Taishakuten (Skt. Indra), Lord of the Center. They are nearly always dressed in armor (yoroi 鎧), looking ferocious (funnusō 忿怒相), and carrying weapons or objects (jimotsu 持物) said to eliminate evil influences and suppress the enemies of Buddhism. They are also typically shown standing atop evil spirits (known as Jaki in Japan), symbolizing their power to repel and defeat evil. Sometimes they are depicted with a fiery halo behind them. Their attributes, however, are not rigidly prescribed and thus differ among Buddhist nations. Shitennō iconography is related to the Four Celestial Emblems (dragon, red bird, tiger, turtle) of China, who also guard the four cardinal directions. In Japanese statuary, the Shitennō are almost always portrayed in animated warrior poses rather than static postures of ease or meditation. Among the four, Tamonten (aka Bishamonten) is considered the most powerful, and over time, supplanted the other three in importance. Indeed, Bishamonten is the only member of the four worshipped independently in Japan, both as protector of Buddhist faith and as one of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods — one who brings wealth and prosperity. Bishamonten also supplanted Taishakuten (Lord of the Center) as an object of worship, but Taishakuten never enjoyed great status in Japan.Castle2

Guardians of the Four Directions, Protectors of Buddhist Law, Protectors of Human Kind, Protectors of the Bosatsu and Nyorai. Most often found standing at the corners of alters. Ferocious looking, sometimes with fiery halo behind them, often stepping on demons called Jyaki. They protect the Buddhist realm for Taishakuten (Skt. Indra), serving as his generals to guard the territories inhabited by humans. Originally from Hindu mythology, and later incorporated into Buddhism. In the Lotus Sutra, they vow to protect those who believe in the Dharma (Buddhist teachings). In Japanese artwork, especially in the mandala form, the four typically appear in a set order, starting with Jikokuten (East), followed by Zōchōten (South), Kōmokuten (West), and Tamonten (North). All four are described in Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese texts, but their attributes, colors, and names often vary.Castle5

Jaki is the name of the tiny creatures the four kings stand upon. Classified as members of the Yaksha in Japan; also referred to as the Amano Jyaku (Heaven Jyaku). In a tradition unique to Japan, the Jaki demons are sometimes represented by two creatures known as Tentōki (Tentoki) 天燈鬼 and Ryūtōki (Ryutoki) 龍燈鬼, which translate literally as Celestial-Lamp Demon and Dragon-Lamp Demon. Japanese legends say these two creatures were originally evil, but after getting trampled by the Shitennō, they repented, were saved, and now carry lanterns as offerings of light to the Buddha, or to light up the road in front of the Shaka Nyorai (Historical Buddha). The Jaki and Tentōki / Ryūtoki symbolize the power of the Shitennō to repel and defeat evil. Two wonderful sculptures of Tentōki and Ryutōki can be found at Kōfukuji Temple in Nara.

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shitenno.shtmlCastle3

We carried out the rest of the trip visiting also the nearby Himeji Castle and eating on the grounds of a former Samurai camp.  All this put my mind in the proper place to complete the objective of this particular visit.  So I have to thank all the many people who made it possible.  There were many kind people involved who took such an epic event and played a part in a stage play that had been written by my mind for many years manifesting now at a time in my life where intellect had become the author of reality.  It was for these reasons that I think anyone visiting Japan should embark—because within those two monuments is the heart of a culture and the reasons for its massive global success.  Unlike Miyamoto Musashi however, I differ in that I have a family that is getting larger by the moment, and I have expectations for them to do better than I have—and I have set the bar very high.  But it’s good to have goals so that the mind knows how to formulate reality around the desires that are most embraced in daily thinking.Castle4

I don’t believe that the Shitennō will do as the prayer to them instructed.  But what I do believe is that my granddaughter will read that wish for years to come and formulate her mind into a reality that will make it so. For that is the aspect of religion that never has quite found itself as a root of contemplation—too often the belief is that something has to give you something to make it happen.  That luck and empowerment come from somewhere else and is given based on sacrifice.  It’s not.  It comes from the strength of thought and the manifestation of those contemplations into reality by the nature of human endeavor.  As a very grown man who has read books about such things for years, I understand that the magic of the Shitennō doesn’t reside in heaven; it is within our own minds.  So if I could give my grandchildren a way to think largely early enough to still make a difference, then perhaps their lives will reach those lofty peeks with sheer ambition.  Sometimes a young, immature mind needs a feather as Dumbo did to convince him that he could fly. Humans need their religions and other emotional crutches to maneuver their thoughts to higher places.  But eventually you come to realize what Miyamoto Musashi obviously realized later in life—that we are the authors of our own fate. The story that evolves comes from what we allow ourselves to think and how that manifests into reality.  Given that knowledge, it is good to think big—as big as possible.  And it is my hope that in the future, my granddaughter will read that wish from the mountain of Shosha and use it as a feather to realize that she can really fly—as far and often as she wishes—for as long as she cares to over the millennia.

Castle1Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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El Chapo Exposes Communist Ties to Hollywood: Sean Penn’s interview for left-leaning Rolling Stone and the failure of all governments

It is absolutely disgusting that Joaquín Guzmán felt so comfortable with producers and actors of American cinema that the communist Sean Penn was invited to meet with the most wanted fugitive in the world for a Rolling Stone interview in September 2015. I seem to be calling a lot of people communists these days but it’s only because they are coming out of their shells and calling themselves that—in this case Penn who seems to represent the Hollywood leftist politics as one of their most vocal advocates says it about himself.  Penn is a talented actor and sometimes director but he might as well be a filmmaker from Venezuela, China or Russia—because there isn’t much about him that is American—and that holds true of his friends, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, and James Cameron over the last 15 years. Hollywood is a cesspool of socialism and communism hidden behind Democratic fundraisers and environmental concerns.  The motion picture industry has been taken over by extreme leftist view points to such an extent that most of what they produce is ridiculously detrimental to our society.  While I was quite impressed with The Revenant, upcoming films like Dirty Grandpa with Robert De Niro show how far American cinema has embedded itself with drug avocation and liberal view points toward most social circumstances.  The situation is so bad that the most wanted fugitive in the world was able to contact members of Hollywood to give him a private interview at his home in the jungles of Sinaloa.

Of course Mexico and most of the media are trying to paint the communist Penn as a hero for leading authorities to El Chapo after a Friday night shootout led to his recapture.  But everyone is missing the point.  The CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, and all of Mexico was looking for the drug dealer yet Penn and Rolling Stone magazine were able to have an interview with him over four months ago and nothing was done.  Guzmán supposedly had a $100 million dollar hit on an American presidential candidate in Donald Trump—who is the Republican frontrunner—yet Hollywood was able to find and correspond with the drug dealer as literally every government on planet earth failed.  Give me a break!  This is a disgusting story that shows just how corrupt everything is from the President of the United States to all our government officials supposedly supplying security.  It’s not like El Chapo was hiding in some other country.  He was in his home state of Mexico all this time surrounded by thousands of people every day-and he was talking to Hollywood producers about making a movie about his life.  Sean Penn should be thrown in jail for conspiring with an enemy of the United States.  He’s no hero for getting Guzmán captured.  He’s a communist insurgent who associates with the worst the world has to offer in an attempt to overthrow American sovereignty.  Drugs in American culture are a Trojan horse weapon meant to topple our capitalists society with an overload of excess, and Hollywood is helping losers like El Chapo do it—and they should be prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law—everyone involved.  Here’s how our pathetic media outlets reported the story with links provided—article edited for priority briefing.

Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo, started out in business not long after turning 6, selling oranges and soft drinks. By 15, he said in an interview conducted in a jungle clearing by the actor and director Sean Penn for Rolling Stone magazine, he had begun to grow marijuana and poppies because there was no other way for his impoverished family to survive.

Now, unapologetically, he said: “I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats.”

Though his fortune, estimated at $1 billion, has come with a trail of blood, he does not consider himself a violent man. “Look, all I do is defend myself, nothing more,” he told Mr. Penn. “But do I start trouble? Never.”

The seven hours Mr. Guzmán spent with Mr. Penn, and the follow-up interviews by phone and video, which began in October while he was on the run from the Mexican and American authorities, marked another surreal turn in his long-running battle to evade Mexican and American authorities. Mr. Guzmán, one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, who had twice escaped jail, was captured in his home state of Sinaloa in northwest Mexico on Friday after a gun battle with the authorities.

The interview with Rolling Stone, believed to be the first Mr. Guzmán has given in decades, was conducted over several sessions. It was scheduled to be published online Saturday night.

The interviews were held in a jungle clearing atop a mountain at an undisclosed location in Mexico. Surrounded by more than 100 cartel troops, and wearing a silk shirt and pressed black jeans, Mr. Guzmán sat down to dinner with Mr. Penn and Kate del Castillo, an actress who once played a drug kingpin in a soap opera.

Even though Mexican troops attacked his hide-out in the days after the meeting, necessitating a narrow escape, Mr. Guzmán continued the interview by BlackBerry Messenger and in a video delivered by courier to the pair later.

Mr. Penn’s account is likely to deepen the concern among the Mexican authorities already embarrassed by Mr. Guzmán’s multiple escapes, the months required to find him again and his status for some as something of a folk hero. Mr. Penn describes being waved through a military road checkpoint on his way to meet Mr. Guzmán, which Mr. Penn suggested was because the soldiers recognized Mr. Guzmán’s son. Mr. Penn said he was also told, during a leg of the journey taken in a small plane equipped with a scrambling device for ground radar only, that the cartel was informed by an insider when the military deployed a high-altitude surveillance plane that might have spotted their movements.

Mr. Penn and Mr. Guzmán spoke for seven hours, the story reports, at a compound amid dense jungle. The topics of conversation turned in unexpected directions. At one stage, Mr. Penn brought up Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate; there were some reports that Mr. Guzmán had put a $100 million bounty on Mr. Trump after he made comments offensive to Mexicans. “Ah! Mi amigo!” Mr. Guzmán responded.

He asked Mr. Penn whether people in America were interested in him and laughed when Mr. Penn told him that the Fusion channel was repeating a documentary on him, “Chasing El Chapo.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/world/americas/el-chapo-mexican-drug-lord-interview-with-sean-penn.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

It is widely considered to be against the basic principles of journalism to grant a subject such authority over a piece.

Rolling  Stone’s journalistic practices have been criticized since its publication of a now discredited gang-rape story at the University of Virginia.

A representative for Rolling Stone did not immediately reply to The Blaze’s request for comment Saturday night.

Guzman was captured by Mexican marines early Friday in a coastal city, and the attorney general says the drug boss was tracked down partly because he was making a biographical movie.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/01/09/rolling-stone-granted-el-chapo-approval-power-over-entire-exclusive-profile-on-him/

I don’t know who the hell Kate Del Castillos is, nor do I care. I want to see Mexico get Sean Penn and throw him in one of those crappy Mexican prisons. Give him a taste of what Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, Sean Penn is scum, and is the face of the progressive liberal Democrat party. Throw the book at him Mexico! Force the US to extradite him. Use the Affluenza kid as bait.

http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2016/01/09/sean-penn-under-investigation-for-meeting-el-chapo/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FireAndreaMitchell+%28Fire+Andrea+Mitchell%21+Exposing+Liberal+bias+cause+the+MSM+doesn%27t+have+to.%29

Conchita Alonso — known for her role in “The Running Man” and “Predator 2,” and who once acted in a 1988 film with Penn — had previously written an open letter criticizing him for his support for the Venezuelan dictator. Spotting the actor, who was also waiting for lost luggage, she approached him. When the “Milk” star recognized her, his smile disappeared: He told her he didn’t want to talk to her and accused her brother of trying to assassinate Chavez.

In an interview with WMAL, the actress said she told Penn, “You are in favor of Hugo Chavez and [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad.”

When Penn denied he supports Ahmadinejad and called Conchita Alonso “a pig,” she replied, “And you are a communist, Sean Penn! … You’re a communist asshole!”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/20/finally-actress-tells-sean-penn-hes-a-communist-asshole-video/#ixzz3woNTTedL

This whole story is just so terribly disgusting, it shows how embedded criminal elements are within Hollywood.   It also shows the network of priority that some of the worst that exist around the world gravitate to and why.  Then of course there is the sheer incompetence of all the governments involved in not picking up the loser Guzmán who was operating a multibillion dollar business right out in the open.  The whole thing is just pathetic.  And during the drama, Donald Trump turned out to be right about everything, including how cozy Guzmán’s relationship was with the United States.  Trump also deserves credit for staying tough even with the $100 million dollar bounty on his head.  Apparently nobody else has any toughness anymore, so it’s good to see somebody out there still does.  This whole case just exhibits why we need a wholesale change in American culture from the very top to the deepest bottom and scumbags like El Chapo and his criminal children deeply connected to Hollywood and Vegas need to be rooted out and punished for their work against American strategic objectives.

Personally for me, I don’t like drugs—in ANY form.  I don’t like drinking.  I don’t like collectivist based governments—such as communism and socialism—and I don’t like the worst scum bags of our planet using an American industry as a means of social destabilization right under the watch of all our tax payer funded governments.  Want to know why socialism and communism will never work and why in America we need guns—lots of guns?  This El Chapo story contains the very reasons with great illustration into the worst that human beings bring to the table of thought and action and exemplifies why the only sane people left in America are supporting Donald Trump for president.

This is the guy who was contacted and captured El Chapo.  What a bunch of dumb asses.

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.

Guns are the Key to American Exceptionalism: Why a crying President Obama hates them and western capitalist culture

 

I have to thank Brownells for their service over the Holidays of 2015.  I was able to perform a “trigger job” on my Ruger Vaquero largely by the fine offerings that Brownells provided and I can say that I had one of the best holiday off-periods I can ever remember having.  CLICK HERE TO REVIEW WHO BROWNELLS IS.  It was quite nice to stand at my workbench and perform the job which ran into complications until the very small hours of the morning.  Once completed I was able to test fire the gun from the same location and it was very nice to be able to do so as the clock on my garage wall indicated it was 2:30 in the morning.  As Obama unleashed his pathetic gun control executive orders shortly after the New Year crying like a an epic wimp of magnanimous proportions in front of millions of people, I couldn’t help but think what an alien concept guns were to the little kid from Indonesia’s foreign raised mind.  The idea of guns in a private residence is just something he can’t fathom because he has been taught incorrectly to his very core.  To say he’s an idiot is to curse him from the benefit of not being raised to be an American.  To be fair, he just doesn’t understand American culture and what an imposition he proposes as an inner city Chicago activist and lawyer to the freedom loving people lucky enough to be born and raised in the United States.  However, with that said and disclaimer given—he’s still an idiot.

To me Obama is an idiot because he refuses to see the superiority of American culture in relation to the rest of the world and how guns are at the center of that proper mentality which advances American Excpetionalism.  If he were smart, he’d see the writing on the wall and acknowledge cultural values appropriately.  Instead, he has bought into the progressive notion of “fairness” and “equality” without considering the root cause of either.  The gun makes the world fairer and more equal and Obama’s desire for executive orders puts too much responsibility on government management than individual effort.  If a person was smart, in spite of where they were born or raised, they should acknowledge a superior approach philosophically to politics and ethics and adjust their foundation beliefs accordingly.  Instead, Obama signed executive orders against the Second Amendment that even the AP news service thought was alarming.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s do-it-himself plan for keeping guns away from those who shouldn’t have them falls far short of what he’d hoped to accomplish through legislation after a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School shook the country in 2012.

Yet even the more modest steps Obama will announce Tuesday rely on murky interpretations of existing law that could be easily reversed by his successor.

Obama’s package of executive actions aims to curb what he’s described as a scourge of gun violence in the U.S., punctuated by appalling mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut; Charleston, South Carolina; and Tucson, Arizona, among many others. After Newtown, Obama sought far-reaching, bipartisan legislation that went beyond background checks.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/obama-initiative-on-gun-control-shows-limits-of-acting-alone/ar-AAgnxGd?ocid=spartandhp

I understand the situation clearly, and it is always made more tangible when I get to do gun jobs like the modification to my Vaquero, guns are about more than shooting other people.  In my case, I am working on Cowboy Fast Draw which is a relatively new sport born out of necessity that makes reducing the trigger pull and hammer strength a need just to be competitive.  It was very soothing to me to work on that gun, reload my ammunition, and troubleshoot my issues late at night when other people were sleeping.  I had on talk radio and was able to hear stimulating conversation and work with specialized tools to perform the task.  CLICK HERE TO REVIEW.  The last thing in the world I was thinking about was shooting somebody with my gun.  I was thinking of making it work faster and being more accurate so that I could hit a target under pressure faster than a competitor in friendly all American competition.  There was no malice or ill intention in working on my gun that night and I felt more joy out of doing it than most anything I’ve done for many years.  It was craftsmanship that was specific to our American culture.

One of my son-in-laws is from Europe as I’ve stated before.  My daughter and he just returned recently from Iceland where they vacationed, and I get from them lots of fine stories of family and friends who are shocked by their American love of guns.  In England, where he’s from, it is unfathomable that any family would own one gun, let alone many.  They have been conditioned as a culture to put their trust completely in others for their own survival, and we’re talking about a culture that was nearly taken over by the Nazis during World War II.  Many grandparents there still remember airplanes being shot down in their towns and farmlands.  In spite of those near dangers and long history of war with rival European countries, the monarchy of England seldom showed their people that they trusted them with their own firearms.  So there is always a sense that Europeans are still the subjects of an aristocratic elite, which is still very common in all European countries.  My son-in-law came to America to essentially get away from that restriction.  He shoots somewhere several weekends a month and has quite a nice collection of firearms.  Most of the people in our family do as well, and nobody we know personally are hillbilly tobacco chewing drunks—which is the stereotype that Hollywood likes to place on our Midwest culture within the United States.  Everyone is affluent and well-educated.  And everyone is armed—well armed.

There is a measure of security of having so many firearms that puts in the American mind the knowledge that nobody will barge in on our homes in the middle of the night unfettered.  It is nice to know that we can defend ourselves. But owning guns is a lot more than that.  It’s about the craftsmanship of owning them, cleaning them, shooting them into small little targets that have a majority of the appeal.  Sports like Cowboy Fast Draw are emerging with roots in war and carnage—but so is football, and soccer.  The trigger job that I performed was all about specialization and achievement.  I ran into trouble when reassembling the Vaquero which drove me nuts for quite a long time.  After replacing all my springs with the lighter ones from Brownells I found that the gun would not cock while pointed down into my holster.  When I withdrew it and pointed it up it would then work properly.  That made no reasonable sense to me whatsoever.  After taking the gun apart several times and putting it back together trying to pin point the problem, I eventually figured it out.  I thought I had lost some kind of gravity activated spring that would cause such a condition but eventually figured out that the base pin spring was not pushing up against the transfer bar properly causing it to get caught under the firing pin.  Once that situation was rectified, everything worked wonderfully, and the new springs had really sped up the cocking mechanism.

It was New Years’ Eve by the time I got the gun working right and was enjoying shooting it over and over again to make sure there were no lingering problems.  It felt great to work through a problem that seemed really hard at first, but to overcome it with logic and craftsmanship.  In a lot of ways it defined the essence of the gun debate.  People who have similar stories to tell such as mine understand the magic of gun ownership.  People who have not found a way to leave Europe to the Dark Ages, or other places in the world who have not yet discovered such a hobby do not understand.  They are the ones who seek gun control because they have not yet fully embraced being an American.  Obama is not an American because he has trouble with his birth certificate, or because he was raised in Indonesia by a second father trying to tame a restless wife.   He’s un-America because he has not embraced the art and values of the culture within the United States.  Instead, he’s always trying to change it through radicalism and executive orders.  That is why I say that he’s an idiot.  Rather than learn about the value and success of our culture, he wants to change it into something the Europeans understand which is really stupid.  CLICK HERE FOR WHY.  The type of people who most want to change America are those who still look at Europe as the dominate culture and they are in our military, our politics, and just about every high level office in corporate and entertainment America.  They typically reject American Exceptionalism because they can’t bring themselves to the truth, that other countries essentially suck, and that is largely because they don’t allow their people to own firearms—which entrusts in them the ability to act freely and with responsibility.  In Europe, even to this day—most people are considered “subjects” to an aristocracy and that is just a foreign concept in America.

At that late hour with my gun fixed, talk radio broadcasting interesting debate, I felt wonderful not just for repair job successfully performed, but because the gun as a hobby was a reminder that in America I don’t have to worship at the feet of any aristocrat or noble character of any kind.  If the President walked up to my home at that moment there wouldn’t be any bowing or pandering going on.  I’d simply look at him like some little girl selling Girl Scout cookies—since he likes to cry so much.  I’d listen to what he wanted then decide to help him or not.  But I wouldn’t be compelled to do anything—and it is the gun that gives me that freedom and keeps us sanctimonious even as radical politicians create executive orders to make America into something they are more comfortable with—because they were essentially too lazy to embrace our culture and do the work themselves of adopting its values into their lives.  That is why Obama’s executive orders are such an insult and why Brownells continues to be one of my favorite companies on planet earth.  I just love those guys!

http://www.brownells.com/

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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The Open Society of George Soros: Understanding forces at war with American sovereignty

I know long time readers here understand, but many of the gaining masses have not been thinking about the inner workings of mass global conspiracy and the desires of people like George Soros to create an “open society” meaning essentially a global population governed by a solitary socialist government—likely a spawn of the current United Nations.  But they should have.  After all, it’s the Holidays, and when it’s not this particular festive time of year, its Halloween, Thanksgiving, it’s the Superbowl, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July—it’s always something fun to distract our attention from the insurrection of jealous socialists and their designs of international tyranny.

 These global insurgents have a lot of money and there are many in the United States press and entertainment groups who want some of what they have to fall in their lap—so they do what Soros wants to get it.  Much of the politics Donald Trump is fighting against—in both parties—is a system greatly influenced by internationalists like Soros and their open society networks.  The reason that outsiders like Trump are so popular is that a large portion of the American population is learning, as people like me have said all along, that the system is broken at all levels in government, from the education system, to the Executive Branch and we need to fix it starting by getting people like Soros out of American politics for our own good.  Here is a letter from Soros to his supporters warning against supporting politicians like Trump and Cruz sent between the Christmas and New Year Holiday of 2015.CXW-ZNtUoAARsdR

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

George published the essay below in the Guardian today. He argues that we must not give into the fear created by terrorism. All best, Michael Vachon

The terrorists and demagogues want us to be scared. We mustn’t give in. The Guardian By George Soros December 28, 2015  Open societies are always endangered. This is especially true of America and Europe today, as a result of the terrorist attacks in Paris and elsewhere, and the way that America and Europe, particularly France, have reacted to them.   Jihadi terrorist groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaida have discovered the achilles heel of our western societies: the fear of death.

Through horrific attacks and macabre videos, the publicists of Isis magnify this fear, leading otherwise sensible people in hitherto open societies to abandon their reason.   Scientists have discovered that emotion is an essential component of human reasoning. That discovery explains why jihadi terrorism poses such a potent threat to our societies: the fear of death leads us and our leaders to think – and then behave – irrationally.   Science merely confirms what experience has long shown: when we are afraid for our lives, emotions take hold of our thoughts and actions, and we find it difficult to make rational judgments. Fear activates an older, more primitive part of the brain than that which formulates and sustains the abstract values and principles of open society.   The open society is thus always at risk from the threat posed by our response to fear. A generation that has inherited an open society from its parents will not understand what is required to maintain it until it has been tested and learns to keep fear from corrupting reason. Jihadi terrorism is only the latest example. The fear of nuclear war tested the last generation, and the fear of communism and fascism tested my generation.   The jihadi terrorists’ ultimate goal is to convince Muslim youth worldwide that there is no alternative to terrorism. And terrorist attacks are the way to achieve that goal, because the fear of death will awaken and magnify the latent anti-Muslim sentiments in Europe and America, inducing the non-Muslim population to treat all Muslims as potential attackers.

And that is exactly what is happening. The hysterical anti-Muslim reaction to terrorism is generating fear and resentment among Muslims living in Europe and America. The older generation reacts with fear, the younger one with resentment; the result is a breeding ground for potential terrorists. This is a mutually reinforcing, reflexive process.  

How can it be stopped and reversed? Abandoning the values and principles underlying open societies and giving in to an anti-Muslim impulse dictated by fear certainly is not the answer, though it may be difficult to resist the temptation. I experienced this personally when I watched the last Republican presidential debate; I could stop myself only by remembering that it must be irrational to follow the wishes of your enemies.   To remove the danger posed by jihadi terrorism, abstract arguments are not enough; we need a strategy for defeating it. The challenge is underscored by the fact that the jihadi phenomenon has been with us for more than a generation. Indeed, gaining a proper understanding of it may be impossible. But the attempt must be made.  

Consider the Syrian conflict, which is the root cause of the migration problem that is posing an existential threat to the European Union as we know it. If it was resolved, the world would be in better shape. It is important to recognise that Isis is operating from a position of weakness. While it is spreading fear in the world, its hold on its home ground is weakening. The United Nations security council has unanimously adopted a resolution against it, and the leaders of Isis are aware that their days in Iraq and Syria are numbered.   Of course, the outlook for Syria remains highly uncertain, and the conflict there cannot be understood or tackled in isolation. But one idea shines through crystal clear: it is an egregious mistake to do what the terrorists want us to do. That is why, as 2016 gets underway, we must reaffirm our commitment to the principles of open society and resist the siren song of the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, however hard that may be.

The intelligent person who stands for capitalism and American sovereignty should do exactly the opposite of what George Soros wants. That is the reason there is panic within the established parties, because the trend of our day is to move away from any influence these international activists might have had over American politics, which is quite an extensive network. From the push for marijuana legalization to open borders and deviant sexual practices, the strategy of Soros has always been the destruction of individual Americans and the rise of a global government. The ISIS threat was largely created by the Obama administration to help with this open border policy. You don’t see Syrian refugees fleeing to the UAE or Saudi Arabia. They are being moved into Europe and America to facilitate multiculturalism—essentially a break-down of individual sovereignty between nations to usher in a global population without distinction.  The influence of Soros can be seen in everything from the latest Star Wars film A Force Awakens, to every pot legalization initiative on each state ballot. And he’s not alone. It’s a massive movement that despises the United States and its capitalism and it is presently at every level of American culture.

Trump and Cruz are the candidates that can either intellectually withstand this corruption, or financially. I have talked about this being a true war of the billionaires in the United States, Trump and Carl Icahn against Bloomberg, Soros, Mark Zuckerberg, and Buffett—among others. To understand the scope of this battle, you have to think unconventionally. Everything in the middle, the media, entertainment, publishing, corporate American, international trade—virtually everything are pawns in the chess game between these interests, because they have the money to play the game—whereas the rest of us don’t. As older Americans with a history of interest in patriotism, I believe Carl Icahn and Donald Trump are sincerely interested in preserving America’s place as the dominate force in global markets. Everyone else—literally, has placed their bets on global unified government at the expense of American sovereignty. Those are the words of ill ease behind George Soros and his subtle letter above. If you want to hit Soros in the pocket-book and take down these global insurrections by several pegs, you must vote for Donald Trump. Nobody else stands a chance—and hopefully in his wake Ted Cruz will find a place eventually in the Executive Office. But not until Trump has cleaned house and put in place a proper management system that puts American interests above the global billionaires like George Soros and their open society push. There is nothing wrong with multiculturalism, so long as those other cultures are aspiring to be like Americans. We must not surrender our values to the insurrections paid for by George Soros.

George Soros and his alliances have created the terrorism we are all dealing with. But the American reaction in supporting Trump is not something Soros or anybody else counted on as a result. Their plan is backfiring, and it is up to us to make sure it blows up in his face—as he deserves.

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.

What Ann Becker and Donald Trump Have in Common: Why Republicans lose to inferior Democrats

Even though this is a local issue, it has significance on the larger GOP philosophy, so it’s worth a vigorous discussion.  My friend Ann Becker was harassed at a recent GOP meeting in Butler County for really the same reasons that Donald Trump has been on the national stage.  Not because she declared that Muslims should be rejected from American borders out of safety from terrorism, but because she, like him, is a political outsider—and they truly run the GOP like a mason’s lodge instead of a political representation of the conservative electorate.  I’m very sympathetic to her because I know it feels.  I’m probably the most conservative person in Butler County.  I would hardly say that I’m a radical right-winger by any means.  My type of thinking would be very much at home in John Wayne’s America.  But certainly not the type of GOP supporter the Bush family has helped create—center right leaning people who are in politics to protect their business interests only.  They are not for the philosophy of conservatism as a primary concern.  I personally like Todd Hall, who currently runs the Butler County GOP—which is arguably one of the most conservative areas in the nation.  But I learned much more than I cared to about the party and the politics of it in 2011 when area Republicans were pandering to the Tea Party types hoping to choke them off at the pass after the 2012 election.  Before getting into details of this behavior, read what happened to Ann Becker by Todd Hall at a recent meeting, which was extremely childish on behalf of the GOP.

http://www.annbecker.com/trouble-at-butler-county-gop-endorsement-vote/

I was at an event not that long ago with all the powerful local politicians and Governor John Kasich.  After a big speech we gathered outside where drinks were flowing freely and everyone was trying to convince the other about how worldly they were—essentially impressing nobody.  The words were empty and rooted in sand.  One small gust of political wind always uproots them into tumbleweeds of indecision—even at John Kasich’s level.  I was very unimpressed with these titans of Ohio politics.  Meeting him in person changed my impression of him forever.  He was weak; you could see it in his eyes and body language.  I don’t brag about it too much but I can usually tell everything I need to know about someone in about three minutes—I can completely disseminate their personality, their hopes, their fears and their strategic aims just by listing to their emphasis on words, the way they shake hands, and the way they communicate through body language.  There is nothing that anybody can hide from my analysis.  I take note of everything possible and arrive at conclusions based on those observations which are always correct, even when someone tries to throw me off the scent.  I was always good at these kinds of things, but over the last ten years, it has become so second nature to me that it’s like breathing.  Meeting Kasich in person and his immediate supporters and the donor base only caused me to lose complete confidence in their competency.  I try not to let people know what my conclusions are, because after all, those people have to live in the skin of their bodies—and most of the time it’s too late for them—so why make them feel worse.  It doesn’t accomplish anything.  But trusting them with something is off the table.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt until I was on WLW radio doing a live bit to hundreds of thousands of people and I was in a gotcha press moment. (CLICK TO REVIEW)  I was in one of those media sensation moments and was playing my part of it.  I worried that my Republican friends would bail on me under the heat of controversy—after all I was fighting on their behalf.  And they did exactly what I feared of them—while I was on the air they sent a press release to the station distancing themselves from me like a bunch of cowards.  I was of course prepared for their actions, but it still was something I hoped to be wrong about.  I wasn’t wrong.  I have not communicated with many of those people except on business since.  I’m not a let bygones be bygones type of person—I hold grudges for decades—maybe even lifetimes.  I have learned to get along with people for the sake of business, but I don’t get cozy with them—ever after they betray me in some fashion.  So it is for that reason that I don’t offer my leadership to the area GOP, even though they need it.

I don’t play in my life by bi-laws, like Todd Hall brought up to Ann Becker keeping her from videoing the event, and confiscating her personal cell phone from recording what was going on.  That’s not acceptable behavior.  The GOP is not a secret society, and there shouldn’t be any strategic secrets.   The Democrats are an open book when it comes to community organizing and they destroy Republicans at the effort because of the childish intentions of area GOP leaders.  It’s not just Todd Hall, it’s a nationwide problem.  You can hear the frustration in establishment leaders like Jeb Bush and John Kasich when they talk about Trump.  They really believe they can lean on the many thousands of Todd Halls across the country to prevent delegates from casting votes for Trump at the GOP convention at the end of the 2016 summer making him the official nominee.  They do so with the same stupid arrogance and need for power that Todd Hall confiscated Ann’s phone.  How stupid is that?

There is a lot that I could offer the GOP and Todd knows me, and what I could do for them.  The moment they tried to fight a tax increase without my help out front, they lost—for obvious reasons.  But I’m not submitting to anybody’s authority.  I am always respectful of other people’s rights, and when someone comes after me, man, woman, or whatever—I fight them hard—really hard.  I share with Trump a desire to completely destroy whoever attacks me—so those kinds of games only let “yes men” near GOP leaders instead of truly the best and brightest that each community has to offer.  The smart thing for Todd to do even if he doesn’t like Ann is to use her natural enthusiasm to carry the party forward with marketing efforts.  Ann is on 55 KRC every Monday morning with Brian Thomas and she’s great with the newspapers.  She’s a wonderful asset.  Ann and I have many differences, she was a Lakota levy supporter in 2005, she doesn’t like guns, and she’s much more libertarian than I am in regard to drug use.  But I still consider her a very good friend.  Whenever she’s convinced me to have a night out with her, I always enjoy it, and we get a lot done.  She’s good at what she does and I respect her.  That doesn’t mean she has to line up 100% with everything I believe.  Todd could have that kind of relationship with her, if he was willing, but he’s not.  Instead, he sees her as part of an opposition that is trying to take the GOP toward a more libertarian type of party—and for him; he likes the GOP to be the party of the builders and developers.  Ironically, he has a lot in common with Donald Trump, but if the party bosses say not to endorse the New York billionaire, Todd will strong-arm the party away from supporting the current front-runner.  They’ll abandon him like they did with me on WLW radio in front of hundreds of thousands of people because they essentially lack the courage to stand by a belief in anything.  That’s why they are so easy to beat.  Yes they have a Republican majority in the House and Senate and several state governors across the nation, but what are they doing with all that power?  They allow themselves to be pulled further and further left—because they won’t stand for anything.  So they lose in the big picture time and time again to left-winged radicals and name calling dissidents.

Even though I’m sure Ann was probably a little defensive while trying to set up her camera knowing that Todd would come over and condemn her for it, ultimately she is trying to make the party better.  And everyone should know that.  Every day I get emails from Democrats telling me to take action on some presidential proposal, or liberal talking point—both large and small.  They have a blogging network that the left gets behind along with a wide range of pundits that work the press actively every day.  I get emails from them because I’m politically active and my name is everywhere and on everything.  I get only a fraction of those emails from Republicans.  They are not nearly as good as Democrats at marketing their position, largely because when they do get someone who is good at that kind of stuff, they don’t stand behind them.  Liberals always stand behind their people, right, or wrong.  Republicans never do, they seek to distance themselves from controversy at every turn and collect cell phones from their most ambitious supporters only to put a cap of secrecy on everything they do, hoping the “enemy” Democrats don’t find out about it.  The cause of this behavior is that most establishment Republicans who have something to lose whereas the Democrats are largely government employees or recipients of government hand-outs in some fashion—so both sides vote with their wallets.  But people like Ann, and I—we are all about the philosophy of conservatism.  And there is no room in the Republican Party for us.  But there should be.

There are many good people out there not working with their area Republicans who are far more talented than the usual party stiffs to work the media. There’s nothing wrong with being a stiff—there’s value in it. But to market Republican values, dynamic personalities are needed.  I’m not particularly keen on dropping names to show who I know and to what extent but I recently spoke to David Kern, who just stepped down as Liberty Township trustee and was essentially removed from office as he used to run the GOP before Todd Hall took over.  I’ve known the Kern family for many, many years and have always liked them.  David Kern was a Tea Party type before there was ever such an organization, but he often walked the very fine line between establishment and maverick seamlessly.  He was very good and he will be missed because it wasn’t easy.  He’s an old man now, but he was like that for several decades and Butler County politics was better off because of it.  The party needed resistance just like a good football team needs to practice against a tough defense—to make them better.  Ideas are good.  But the establishment types made a move against Kern after they were done using him to win Tea Party support during the 2010 and 2012 elections—which ultimately helped take over the House and Senate by 2014.  The stage is always set for these things a half a decade before we ever see the results.  Anyway, Dave and his wife Katy told me the whole story as we ate at a dinner together—and it was incredibly disrespectful to him as a long time Republican.  I thanked him for his work on the Liberty Center project and he essentially rode off into the sunset.  I felt sorry for him—he gave so much to the Republican Party and was kicked aside like an old shoe—because he was one of those “free thinking undesirables” who thought the bi-laws were stupid and the party was too heavily in favor of one type of Republican—instead of the entire conservative base.

Ann Becker, David Kern, and Donald Trump all share some things in common, the GOP establishment like the one on full display at a GOP event in Butler County, want to push them out of the party.  They are all too free thinking to care about Todd Hall’s ban on cell phones and the childish games of a political party that wants to be an exclusive country club instead of a dynamic representation of southern Ohio conservatives.  If you want to be in a country club, join Four Bridges, Wetherington, or even my favorite, The Elks.  But don’t bring that crap to a political party that should be at war with liberals.  Democrats are winning because of it.  Instead of harassing Ann Becker, Todd would have been wise to listen to her, and bring her into his tent for what she could do for him.

But he didn’t and they won’t.  Donald Trump is right in front of their faces and they don’t like him because they can’t control him, which is why they continue to fail.  Ann Becker is also right in front of their faces and instead of befriending her; they harass her over her video camera and cell phone.  They are more about control than winning and that is the reason so many people are flocking to Trump.  Everybody on the outside of that GOP club has had enough.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

http://www.secondcalldefense.org/?affiliate=20707

Advice for Donald Trump in Ohio: Sheriff Jones is key to winning on Kasich’s turf–where to speak and how before the primary

So who hasn’t been threatened to be killed? Listening to Sheriff Jones talk about it, he makes it sound like it’s an exclusive thing. It’s not. Anyone who tells some faction of the collective society—whether its drug dealers, organized crime trying to dominate a specific region, or just a bunch of thugs trying to impose their will, being threatened to be killed is a common occurrence. Just because someone desires something, doesn’t mean they get it. As far as I’m concerned it’s as common as breathing air, but when you talk about it like some sissy, it diminishes the value of standing against the tide of collectivism. A real man doesn’t babble about it—because it demeans the bravery it takes to stand against such villainy. When bad guys come knocking, you just take care of it. That’s pretty much the end of the story. However, that is just one of the topics Jones talked about in the short piece on Channel 5 highlighting the Butler County Sheriff as a video bookend to a pretty decent career as a cop and sheriff willing to tackle tough national issues.  Most notably the recent attempts of the Donald Trump campaign to bring Jones to New York to encourage a partnership in the fight against illegal immigration. It is on that point that I am writing this—mainly for Trump and his handlers so they can understand the strategic importance of Sheriff Jones and why Butler County, Ohio is a key area to win over—so that they can take the steps to do so.

Sheriff Jones and I think alike on a lot of issues, particularly illegal immigration and drugs. I also like it when he wears his cowboy hat. He and I had very different opinions over the Issue 2 debate—he was completely pro union whereas I was all for the collective bargaining reforms offered by the much debated Senate Bill 5. I was with Kasich on that issue while Jones was speaking against it. Jones and I even debated publicly together on it—but we tried to keep it friendly even though I saw his position as a large contributor to the problem regarding public employee pay and compensation. We were also at odds over the last Lakota levy passage—the large public school that we both share a property tax obligation to. I was against the tax increase, he was for it. Even though we live only a few miles apart in Liberty Township, Ohio we don’t cross paths much these days. He’s been pro establishment Republican supporting Judy Shelton’s Central Committee domination while I lean much more toward Tea Party reforms. But there is a lot I do like about him. We both like John Wayne and we are both a bit extraverted when we need to be. We’ve both been frequent guests on WLW radio in the past so there is more to like than not to. Although my wife thinks he should be personally much tougher on drug busts than he is, her position on drugs is even harsher than mine—so in Jones’ defense, she is extremely hard to please on the matter.

I wasn’t going to rub it in. It’s not a coincidence that Judy Shelton decided to resign on September 14th 2015. Just a few weeks later John Boehner, the third most powerful person in the world also from Butler County who lives right across the street in West Chester, just another few miles from where Jones and I live—stepped down as Speaker of the House. The writing was on the wall, Judy had been protecting Boehner from challengers within the party and now that protection was stripped away. Everyone who knows politics knows that the way to win endorsements and therefore party support comes from the Central Committee—so Boehner had no choice as opposition toward the status queue mounted within those ranks of behind the scenes politics.

Now with Todd Hall running the GOP and the incredibly weak showing by John Kasich during his last trip to Butler County—there is a real hunger for strong candidates to support in what is likely the most conservative area of Ohio—let alone the country. Butler County isn’t just a red area within a purple state—it glows red even when the lights are turned off. It’s undeniably conservative and is currently undergoing a shift even further to the right—politically. Shelton, Boehner, and Kasich have proven not nearly conservative enough for our tastes. Sheriff Jones has taken notice and is following the trend. He has come out against Boehner’s performance—which he can do now that there is a leadership change within the Central Committee and our mutual friend Roger Reynolds is running for Boehner’s old seat. That would be an improvement particularly under a Paul Ryan led congress. Without a Paul Ryan type of House Speaker, Reynolds would be too quiet to be effective in such a boisterous town such as Washington D.C. But with Ryan and the Freedom Caucus, Roger would find friends there. Then he could use that big financial brain of his for good.

Donald Trump recognizing that Sheriff Jones is a friend who could offer testimony in favor of aggressive border control issues wanted the sheriff to come to New York to lend some credibility to the billionaires’ presidential platform. But Jones smartly declined. Trump however should not let the story die there. Rather, one way to win Ohio during the upcoming primary would be to win southern Ohio and to do that, Trump would have to get good numbers out of Butler County. So Trump’s people were sniffing in the right direction—they likely didn’t know how hot they were on the key to securing the nomination in Ohio—which is why I’m writing this. Trump needs to listen to Jones, don’t try to take the sheriff to New York, but bring the presidential campaign to Butler County and put the sheriff on the stage before Trump speaks. Then secure the nomination with Jones rowing the boat. Todd Hall is dealing with a leadership change within the party. I know him personally and think he’s a person who can be friendly to a Trump campaign. He’s a fellow developer so there is plenty of common ground with Trump. I don’t think it would take much for those two to become good friends—and I don’t mean just political friends—I mean real friends which would be useful in the future for Trump. There are plenty of people in the mix behind the scenes now in Butler County who could get behind a Donald Trump/Ted Cruz ticket. I mention Ted because he’s at least enough of an insider within the Senate to know how to dig up the needed bodies to assist Trump in getting bills through the legislative process when the going gets tough in 2018 and 2019. So if Trump wants to be president, he needs to come to Butler County several times—and he needs to make friends with Sheriff Jones. Trump needs to stick hard on the immigration issue plugging into the policy and image of the popular Butler County sheriff—who is currently the senior leadership within the Republican Party that is getting much younger and more conservative by the week.

I knew changes were amiss when I was invited to the GOP Christmas Party in Columbus, which is tempting. But I’m not sure I want to swap spit in the shower with a lot of those people just yet. For me it depends on Trump. If my local GOP could get behind Trump, I could get behind them more openly. But if they are going to support losers like Kasich, Bush or Marco Rubio, then forget it. Todd knows how I feel about things. I want a much more aggressive GOP, one that isn’t afraid to shake things up a bit and won’t dance around the press. So with that said let me name the right places for the Trump campaign to speak at, so that his people can plan accordingly knowing that their contact in Butler County needs to be Sheriff Jones.

The best place for Trump to speak would be the Ronald Reagan lodge at Voice of America Park. It’s not big enough to hold Trump’s typical crowds, but it could really show a contrast to Kasich’s latest speech there last year. It’s right in the heart of Butler County and the affluence of the area where donors are looking to bet on a winner. I would also suggest the newly developed Liberty Center. Given the cold conditions that campaigning in Ohio will entail in February and March there are some structures there that could probably do the job of hosting a Trump event. Both of those venues are indoor facilities that could hold hundreds of people not thousands. But, they would look great on television and would be strategically in the back pocket of John Kasich’s money base and support. Kasich couldn’t fill either one of those locations right now if he wanted to. So Trump could exploit that quite dramatically before the election in March.

Then of course there’s a place that would hold the largest crowd and that’s the Marriott North in West Chester, just down the street from Liberty Center. They have 15 event rooms totaling 14,905sf of event space, the largest holding 960 people by itself. If Trump wanted to come to West Chester the government there would like him—enthusiastically. Trump would be in very friendly waters. Then down the road from the Marriott is the wonderful Savannah Center, which has 11 separate event rooms that can hold easily 1700 guests with more that could spill over into other rooms. Trump could land by helicopter at the Butler County Regional Airport just a few miles to the west of the Savannah Center and arrive by motorcade with a very direct path. However, permits to land directly at the point of destination may be an option in West Chester, which is where the Ronald Reagan Lodge, the Marriott, and the Savannah Center all reside.

Trump was right to contact Jones, and the Sheriff is more politically aligned with the New York billionaire than most any other candidate. Nobody else is capable of doing what Jones wants to do with immigration, so there isn’t any downside to the arrangement. The only thing left to do is to come to Butler County and put Jones to work for Trump—and also get the rest of the Republican Party behind him. I’ll say this much. Even though Sheriff Jones is too liberal for me, I would be happy to attend a Trump event with him. And if the Butler County GOP got behind Trump, I might even go to the Christmas Party. I may even support Roger Reynolds for congress. But we are living in times that require vast amounts of courage and the best that we all bring to the table. So let’s give it our best and let the chips fall where they may. I’m ready for a good fight and maybe its time that we stop fighting each other and put a cap on the ass of all these damn Democrats—particularly, Hillary Clinton. Who else is going to beat that lunatic?

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Samurai Sword Cuts a Baseball in Half: Warnings about how gun control can destroy a country

One important thing about Japanese society is that they have maintained their connection to their samurai heritage. It shows, they treat most aspects of their life with some reverence toward that feudal period and the disciplines enacted through their history. So it came up while I was complaining to a few of them recently about their excessive necessity toward visual articulation on matters of importance that their tendency was rooted along with the disciplines connected directly to the life of a katana swordsman and the focus and concentration it takes to perform feats with it. I appreciate that discipline to a point. I spent several years studying the seemingly simple, yet philosophically detailed Japanese book on strategy called The Book of Five Rings. However, I’m an American and I have determined that the American gunfighter is much more poised as a national philosophy to release the wonders of capitalism than the sacrificial tendencies of the samurai. About that point in a recent conversation the video shown below was brought to my attention. In the video, a katana sword master cuts a baseball out of the air at 100 MPH. It looks pretty impressive but after watching it, I’m pretty sure I could do the same thing with just a little practice. I wasn’t that impressed, not as much as I am compared to the shooters in my Cowboy Fast Draw Association. Have a look for yourself.

As I pointed out to the propionates of samurai culture versus cowboy arts is that in Japan they wear flip-flop shoes and these little paper-thin robes and focus on applying everything through the sword. George Lucas has been so impressed with samurai cultures that he largely modeled the Jedi Knights after their role within Japan, including knocking away laser bolts from powerful guns. The assumption was that the samurai warriors were functioning so fast that their perception skills were superhuman. But not so much. Actually, the samurai warrior in that video stood next to the pitching machine and timed carefully the rate that the baseball was feeding through the projection unit and was able to measure the point in space and time that the target would move. So essentially the sword master only had to anticipate when the ball would travel through the space that his sword would be. Once the samurai drew his sword and placed it in the path of the ball. The momentum of the projectile carried it across the sharp blade making it appear as if the warrior cut it in half. In fact the momentum of the ball did all the work. It’s the same basic trick in the below video where a samurai warrior chops a BB out of the air. Once the sword master had the trajectory of the projectile memorized from practice and could anticipate the muzzle velocity, it’s not so difficult. I have a katana sword and I could do these tricks with a little practice right now.

That’s all fine for the Japanese. It’s nice that they have something in their culture that they value and connects their modern society with their heritage. But I’m not a big fan of all the paper walls, the thin robes, and the sandals. I prefer the heavy leather of the gunfighter, the large brimmed hats, the heavy jackets, durable pants, and the leather boots. In a fight between the gunfighter and the samurai, the gunfighter wins—100% of the time. It’s not even a contest. Those examples were given to me knowing I’m into the single action quick draw, but they really aren’t comparable. However, it did leave me thinking more about a topic that has bothered me quite a lot lately—how important guns are to American culture and why people like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want to take them away by watering down the Second Amendment.

You don’t hear much from the world in attacking the Japanese for their love of the samurai sword. Obama when traveling around Asia even wears the little paper outfits to show respect of those foreign cultures—which shouldn’t be surprising I suppose because he was raised in one of them. So he has no problem respecting the traditions of those cultures. Obama would not preach to their Emperor Akihito or the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the samurai sword is a weapon of death and that it should be eradicated from their folklore. However, which is kind of the frustration that originated the conversation; the Japanese heavily regulate the ownership of samurai swords. If you buy them, they need to be genuine Nihonto, made in Japan as knock-offs are greatly discouraged. The swords were banned during the Meiji period as the samurai were abolished. After World War II laws were written in a way to disarm the Japanese people as a conquered nation. So they Americanized themselves, but looked fondly back toward their samurai days—for which Obama wouldn’t even consider preaching against. What Obama and Clinton want to do in America is essentially take the United States on the same path. The progressives have attacked the American cowboy in the way that the Meiji period was ushered in to destroy the samurai with the fall of the Tokugawa ruler Edo in 1868.

Japan once they allowed the samurai to fall and collectively united the nation under one ruler disarming their common citizens then became an evil empire that was defeated by the United States. Then to eliminate the potential threat of restructuring back into a hostile state, the public was forced to have strict weapons confiscation and laws preventing their use. With American help, they thrived as a culture for a number of decades succeeding well in electronics and automobile manufacturing. They embraced capitalism for the most part and took a tiny island and turned it into a respectable economy at just over $4 trillion GDP. But they have their limits. Currently they are in a deep recession. At the conclusion of the third quarter of 2015 the Japanese economy shrank .8 percent. It’s not because Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered quantitative easing to jolt the economic back from the brink that is the cause, it’s likely because Japan’s unemployment is so low and there is no room to accommodate new growth to cover the debts of the past. That leaves the Japanese people looking back toward their most prosperous and structured days, before the Constitution of 1890 to their successful samurai days for pride which they apply to much of the work they perform. Only for them it has become a kind of Don Quixote story, and it shows. At least to me—cutting a baseball in half isn’t that impressive. It’s a trick, not a feat of great skill.

That is the primary reason I am moving more each day toward fighting the gun grabbers of our modern time. Obama, Hillary and their progressive infusion of maniacal anti-gun diatribes want to write a new constitution in America—one that reflects the global trend toward centralization of authority and disarming the public. Likely the goal behind the current Syrian immigration is that within those young people will be insurgents who will invoke violence within the decade that will mandate gun control in the future. Those three-year olds that Obama is talking about today will likely be like he was as a boy which is why he’s sympathetic to them. Orphans who lost their fathers to ISIS, or because they joined ISIS and were killed in an American air raid, or some other activity will be at risk of seeking revenge through jihad at some unfortunate date—then with each act of violence will be progressive activists seeking stricter gun control laws until finally the Second Amendment is abolished and progressives can get a constitution more like what Japan currently has.

That would be a mistake. They are nice people, but they are obviously disconnected from their heritage and can only touch it through daily tasks. The swords that grandparents used to keep on the walls passed from family to family are now gone and collected by a mass confiscation program started first by the Japanese government then by American occupying forces. In many ways I feel sorry for them that they think cutting a baseball in half with a samurai sword is a big deal. It’s not. America would be wise to avoid the fate of the samurai. They need to stand by their guns in the face of the gun grabbers to avoid the stalemate that Japan finds itself in, largely due to their government centralization of their micromanaged society. America really is the last place on earth that is still free, and weapons are a large reason why. When the samurai were banned, the government took control and World War II happened. And the country never really has recovered since. They have enough pride to keep trying, but they have a limit on their abilities because of their micromanaged society.

Thankfully, because of my hobbies and personal experience I can see through the haze of fascination. The sword cutting trick appeases the people of that country for their heritage by also making it look so difficult that nobody could possible achieve such a thing except for a “specialist.” But in the United States I know about two dozen people who could practice with me in an afternoon and do exactly the same thing. And that’s because we play with weapons all the time, and collect them as well. And when it comes time to solve real problems in real-time, we know how to fix things without falling for the simple tricks. We know better largely because we are an armed society and under those conditions, we are still free to think. Which is the key to all things in life—it is the Second Amendment that sits at the roots of American exceptionalism—and we better start protecting it a whole lot better than we are now. We are currently $19 trillion dollars in debt on an economy that only produces slightly over $17 trillion. The gun grabbers who have mismanaged the situation don’t want you to have guns when you realize that the only way they’ve staved off complete financial breakdowns in the United States is through quantitative easing. History tells us where all this leads and when it happens, you’ll want your guns on the wall and in your closet, because you’re going to need them. We don’t want to lose our gunfighters the way that Japan lost their samurai. Because you may never get it back again. They certainly didn’t.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

Cinebistro at Liberty Center: How it works and why you should go

imageThere isn’t even a close second in my opinion; my first movie experience at Liberty Center’s Cinebistro was the best I’ve ever had in my long movie going history. It was fabulous on all fronts. Couple that experience with the opening of one of the most wonderful James Bond intros—a several minute tracking shot from what had to be a really sophisticated drone camera system involving thousands of extras in and out-of-doors in one take and I have to thank the filmmakers and Cinebistro for the most memorable theater experience that I’ve ever had 47 years. I’ve written on these pages before of my love of the Newport on the Levee theaters by AMC. I’ve went on about the Regal in Mason. I’ve described the IMAX screen at Springdale as the best in the city of Cincinnati.   I enjoy little things from all those places, so I was eager to see just how good the Cobb group was in putting together a theater experience in my hometown, and I can only say it was a stunning example of everything I’ve ever dreamed of regarding a journey out to the movies—which is a favorite pastime of mine. So that you dear reader can experience it for yourself let me describe how it works coupled with a bit of background for context.

I have lived in the area of Liberty Township most of my life. I’ve traveled and lived in other places, but I stayed in Liberty Township because I consider it one of the best locations in the United States. I get involved in the politics of the area to some extent to protect my investment both fiscally, and philosophically. Forty years ago when I was a kid in the area the best place to see a movie was the Showcase Cinemas in Springdale. I considered it a luxury experience to go to the Dayton Mall which had a movie theater inside the mall. I also years later thought it was a luxury to see a movie inside the Kenwood Mall. Going to the movies was always and continues to be an exciting thing to do in my life. I enjoy it most of the time. Around the country there is a really nice movie theater I like at Cocoa Beach inside the mall there. One of the neatest that I’ve seen was at the Americana complex in Glendale, California which caters to the wealthy in and around the television industry which shoots a lot of footage nearby on a daily basis. It is not uncommon to see movie stars and television stars seeking downtime at the Americana, it’s where they go to get away from the public and the movie theater is naturally nice. Another great movie theater is the one at Universal Studios in Florida at the City Walk. So it is within the context of those exotic destinations that I can say that Liberty Center and the Cinebistro within it are among the best that I have ever seen—anywhere. I could go so far to say that Cinebistro is the best movie theater currently in the state of Ohio—and yes that includes theaters in Columbus and Cleveland. It was the best—here’s why, and how it works.image

Cinebistro is actually a separate theater experience from the Cobb Luxury theaters. It has its own little section off to the left of the main entrance at the top of the escalator. Tickets for both theaters are bought in the downstairs, street level ticket booth. Simply take the escalator up into the main auditorium and the Luxury theaters are off to the right with the Cinebistro off to the left. Ahead is Cobbster’s kitchen which services the Luxury theaters. Behind, to the right is the bar and restaurant which by itself is a great experience. It has a fantastic view up the street into the heart of Liberty Center from a nice balcony that protrudes off the building. It’s all very dramatic and wonderful. But things really get cool when you step into the doors to the Cinebistro. The tickets themselves look like they are for a high-class affair; they are not your normal movie ticket. When they are purchased downstairs you pick your seats for the presentation. So when you step into the doors of Cinebistro you are good to go. You should arrive about 45 minutes before your feature, but 30 minutes are recommended. At 30 minutes until the feature they call your showing and you proceed inside just as you would a normal theater, only an usher will take you to your seat the way a hostess would at a restaurant complete with a full menu of their offerings.

The reason you should arrive an additional 15 minutes to the recommended 30 minutes early is so that you can relax in their lounge which is very nice and has also its own balcony overlooking the square outside. At the bar a striking young woman was very knowledgeable about drinks and provided an assortment of exotic beers, wines and just about every other drink on the market. I brought along some of my family so we had a group of four and relaxed for a moment with some drinks. I listened to the bartender take additional orders from other customers and her manner was what you would expect at the bar of a very nice hotel. She was very professional and competent speaking without any slang—fully prepared to deal with people who are used to speaking with proper grammar and complete sentences. She and I spoke a bit about a suggestion she had on that cold November night in Ohio for a fire pit outside on the balcony for her guests to warm up next to, similar to what the Kona Grill had across the square in full few of the bar. The view was quite nice outside the windows and I couldn’t help but think of some prime location in a downtown area anywhere in the country. I actually forgot that I was in my hometown—because it felt like being on vacation someplace very expensive.

The prices however weren’t that expensive. The ticket prices for a primetime film were around $14.50 and the beers and martinis weren’t all that expensive, reasonably priced in fact. The balcony was very inviting so we spent some time there sipping drinks and looking down the street toward the other end of Liberty Center where they were assembling a Christmas Tree for their Holiday exhibit. It was very comfortable and premier. The entire staff obviously received the memo that guests were to be treated with great attention because it wasn’t just that bartender who behaved with a level of competency. When our movie was called the people working the information desk, the ticket taker, our usher, our server, and the runners were all very respectful, which was refreshing for a change. You have to be over 21 to even go to the Cinebistro so you can forget about kids of any kind. They aren’t even admitted. That might be rough if you have a family with young kids, but for them, the other theater is the best option. Cinebistro is off limits—its adults only. The biggest downside to other regional movie theaters is the kids and teenagers. Nobody wants to around a bunch of teenage kids in a movie theater, especially on a Friday and Saturday night. They are loud, they are always on their cell phones, and they are entitled. At Cinebistro, you don’t have to worry about them in any way. That was wonderful.image

When you step into the theater it’s like stepping into another world. The theaters really look like the screen rooms of a Hollywood studio. They are extremely well done and the seats are known for their comfort. I’ve personally only sat in a seat that comfortable at Brookstone or in a private home theater done with extreme luxury in mind. The Cinebistro theaters are a bit smaller than average not built to pack as many people in a theater as possible, but to make those people as comfortable as they can, even down to tiny details like pairing them up couple specific. For instance my daughter and her husband couldn’t see my face, only my wife could because the seats were arranged in a way to provide a zone of privacy for couples. That really impressed me.image

Just like in a restaurant a server comes to your seat to take your order after you’ve had a few minutes to look over the menu. That’s when you notice how much space there is between rows. The seats are arranged in a way that allow for the waitress to walk down the aisle even if the seat’s footrest is fully extended into the reclined position. If you wanted you could recline the seats back enough to sleep in. But the distance between rows of seats is more than enough for servers to attend you without having difficulty. It was a surprising distance that I’ve never seen in any movie theater, even private ones. Your server takes your order during that 30 minute seating period. The objective for them is to get all the orders into the kitchen so that the food can be delivered to a table which folds out over your seat by the time the previews start. Preview times are set at 18 minutes. The runners bring your food from the kitchen to your seat during this time. They do not want to be standing in your way when the movie starts, that is why they need to get your order as soon as possible once you sit down. It takes just a bit of planning on your part, but it is well worth it.

Gone from the Cinebistro are those stupid ads that show on the screen before a movie’s previews begin—while people are sitting. Cinebistro is like watching on the screen a fine novel as opposed to the classifieds in a newspaper. Both actions fall under the heading of “reading” but one is certainly better than the other. At Cinebistro during our film they were showing IMAX images of nature films that are available on DVD. But there was no narration, only nice sound effects of nature elements and some mild music that played continuously during the entire 30 minutes of seating, ordering, and awaiting for its arrival. When the previews began, the food started to come out. I was in the mood for a hamburger so I tried their Bistro Burger, which was very fresh and along the lines of something from the Rusty Bucket or Red Robin.     imageThey advertise that everything is made fresh each day, and from my perspective it was. My wife had the veggie burger. My daughter had a more refined taste as she had the Shrimp Mac and Cheese which was really a nice looking dish for $17. My son-in-law had the Smoked Pork Chop at $20.50. It looked like it came from Jags—which in Cincinnati is one of the premier steak houses in the Tri State. That impressed me. He ordered another martini, and my wife a beer. I had a Coke so we had a nice sampling of all their various food options at degrees of etiquette and all were quite immaculate. If I was impressed with everything up to that point, which I was, the food really put it over the top. It actually far exceeded my expectations. I assumed it would be a bit gimmicky, but it was genuinely extremely good.

Thank goodness the movie itself was really good as well, because it just put a period at the end of that sentence for the night. The sound system was fabulous. The visual quality of the picture was what you’d expect from a high-end place—everything was top shelf—which I’m finding is a theme at Liberty Center. I’m sure there are issues somewhere with all the new establishments coming on-line with all the new hires, but so far my experiences have been wonderful. I have been very happy with the Rodizio at the other end of Liberty Center—they are an extremely good dining option. Of course I had high hopes for the Cinebistro so it is not often when reality actually exceeds high hopes, but they did in this case. By the time the James Bond movie was over and we all looked at each other after the movie, we realized that it was the best film going experience we had ever had—which is saying a lot. We’ve had some good times at movies, but never anything like what we had at the Cinebistro.image

On the way out the staff was as friendly as they were on the way in. All in all, we spent $207 on four people for a prime time first run movie and a really good meal.  The tip is set at 17% and is added to your bill automatically. So you don’t have to worry about leaving one at the end of the film.  We could have spent a lot more, and we could have spent less, especially if we hadn’t had any alcohol. You don’t have to get food, but it’s almost impossible not to because the atmosphere begs for it. So I thought of it as a bargain. The couple next to my wife and I ordered a bottle of wine halfway through the film. If you want something refreshed once the movie starts there is a concession area right outside the theater that you can go to for additional items. They do that so servers don’t bother you while watching the movie. The serving team every 30 minutes travels from theater to theater which is why they have their movies timed the way they do. It’s a very slick operation. But if you want more, they have those options too. Next to us the couple sipped on wine after their dinner and were enjoying themselves quite a lot. It was a bizarre experience to me. I had to remind myself that in my wildest dreams when I was a kid that something as nice as the Cinebistro would be built on ground I used to play on. Back then all the nice, fancy stuff was downtown in Cincinnati or Dayton. Most of the time it was out-of-state. Now Liberty Township was an instant tourist destination which was fine with me. It still has many of the things I have always loved about it. But now it has some things that I used to only get while traveling to far away places. After the Cinebistro experience it became clear to me that now people would be coming from thousands of miles away to come here—and that gave me a bit of pride in my hometown that is always under the surface, but was easier for me to access.

On the way out I spoke to the bartender again and we talked about her idea for the fire pits. She was right, that was the only thing that could really improve Cinebistro. From down below on the street it would look like a temple of exotic paradise. Above it would provide warmth to romantic couples waiting for their movie while having a nice drink and enjoying the weather no matter how cold it was. It’s really the only thing that could be done to improve the place. Because otherwise, it was exquisite, extremely memorable, and much more affordable than you’d think. I’m already looking for a good excuse to see another movie just to experience the whole thing again. My only hesitation was that Spectre was so good that another movie might take away from my memory too soon.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

President Trump: Not sweating the small stuff

Based on the Saturday Night Live skit, not the Fox Business Debate that took place on November 10, 2015, Donald Trump should be president. Of course I liked a little of what most of the candidates talked about during the debate—which was much, much better than the CNBC debate. (I’m still surprised that there is such a channel as CNBC.) But the real test of a modern president was not shown during the debates, it was on Saturday Night Live which I think was far bigger of an impact on the future of politics than anybody really has put forth in an analysis. If Bill Clinton had his saxophone moment to show he was a unique politician that launched him to victory in 1992, Donald Trump had his just a few days before the big Fox Business debate on SNL. The skit where America was a few years into the Trump presidency was bold, and powerful. Then for Trump to declare that all that was a mild forecast underplayed meant that America has to give the billionaire a chance at the big chair—if for anything else but to call his bluff. Trump is thinking big—really big, and that is exactly what we all need right now after 28 years of really small-mindedness coming from the Executive Branch.

As much as I like to deal straight with things to make objectives happen, most of the time I have to use every tool in an intellectual tool box to accomplish the intended task—whatever it is. Sometimes you have to be forceful, sometimes very diplomatic. Most of the time nobody understands what you are doing because they all have their own time frame of accomplishment built around their perspective—which is often limited. I find I have to do a lot of maneuvering around people to get anything done, and I take into account the weaknesses of the people I’m dealing with to accomplish it. I often view these occurrences like I would talk to someone who does not speak English as a primary language. I talk to them nice and slow almost like a child not to be demeaning, but because they can’t possibly understand what I’m thinking or my passion to accomplish the task. So you find that you have to talk to everyone in their language on their terms so that they can understand what it is you want to accomplish. Other groups of people watch this behavior and assume that you are catering to the wishes of others over what they want to do and conflicts often ensue. However, in the end, everyone eventually sees what I saw in the beginning, and everyone ends up living happily ever after. But not without a lot of back stabbing, squabbling, and social manipulation—and this is true within family structures as well as multi-million dollar business transactions. I never worry about the small stuff because it’s the big stuff that matters and by the time we get there, the small stuff naturally aligns with the overall strategy anyway. So getting stuck on the details will only stop the objective.

We have been taught in our education systems that the “devil is in the details,” and often he is. Small things can kill big things if allowed to manifest in such a way that they sicken the intention with stagnation. But often, that devil can be killed with sheer will and speed. Most of the time an intense approach to a problem will overcome those details quickly unifying everyone under a common cause—even though their viewpoints are radically different—it’s a bit of a trick that time and experience can teach. It’s not a good idea to get stuck on the details when the overall objective is the target. I think of the process comparable to target shooting. You don’t think about the detail of the bullet, or the workings of the gun. You just aim and shoot, and the best way is to do it quickly with muscle memory the way I have learned in bullwhip work—because most of the time there is no luxury of aiming and shooting to hit a target. The marketplace of life demands speed and accuracy. Not just one or the other. Life requires both to be successful.

Out of all the candidates on that stage at the Fox Business debate, only Trump understands the process of thinking big and getting people of many different backgrounds and political approaches to buy into his overall strategic objective. Here’s why, Trump was able to walk onto a very liberal show like Saturday Night Live and get a bunch of very liberal writers to put together a skit like the one shown above, which contextually showed a potential Trump presidency which answered all the questions that people have been asking about him. Trump as a big thinker doesn’t sweat the small stuff, so he can’t answer those questions in a way that people who worry about every little thing will be satisfied with. But in the context of a popular progressive show on NBC which is very mainstream, Trump was able to bend everyone to his will. That’s the kind of president he will be, and he essentially made a promise that put the burden on America to take him up on the challenge. It was an irresistible proposal.

No other person on the debate stage has that kind of power, or confidence. There really isn’t any other competition on the Republican side. You can pick the nice guy in Ben Carson, or the overachiever in Donald Trump. Everyone else is just more of those 28 years of lackluster executive office presence, and the United States likely won’t survive. It won’t hold four more years let alone another decade. The debt clock is ticking up to nearly $20 trillion and there is no way to recover from that. America has to give Donald Trump a chance or else. There is no more time for hopes, dreams and details. The next president will have to be a person of epic personality to pull all the radical elements together to achieve a strategic objective only they can see. Trump revealed what was in his head on Saturday Night Live and he connived the writers and producers to help him sell that vision.

I can only imagine how Trump would behave if he were in the White House and were wheeling and dealing with congressman, senators, foreign dignitaries, and business leaders every hour on the hour. I honestly think he’d be in heaven and the net result of his joy might just carry over into the results joked about in the Saturday Night Live skit. It’s a dare our country must take. All the issues of theory are now out the window. The Democrats only have socialists to offer and the typical conservatives only have more of the same that has allowed under their watch $19 trillion in debt and loss after loss on the global stage. At some point a leader within the Republican ranks has to be willing to call that behavior stupid and Trump is the only one really poised to do that without losing his ability to negotiate.   If Trump can unite the entertainment community which is crazy leftist in their approach to all social problems, then he can do it with the world at large. I see no downside to a Trump as president. I only see positives.

Rich “Cliffhanger” Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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