Democrats despise him, the Republican establishment loathes him, the mainstream media abhors him - which is why Trump wins.

Many Americans love him - more than they condemn Democrats, cuss Republicans, and chastise the mainstream media - which means a “Trump President” is a go.

Contrast The Donald’s prompt presence to Louisiana’s flood(s) to the mail-it-in-no-shows-of-the-don’t-wanna-go(es), you know, the Dems and dumber: Obama and Clinton.

The orange-haired guy visited Louisiana soon after the August 19, 2016 floods, a disaster the likes of Hurricane Katrina that, folks will recall, decimated not only New Orleans’s people and property - but denigrated George W. Bush’s political persona and personal profile as well.

Obama castigated Bush then - but now, with his golf ball in the bush, or certainly in the rough, at Farm Neck Golf Club in Martha’s Vineyard, he seemingly could care less than less about 60,000 homes being damaged due to 6,900,000,000 gallons of rain pelting that land.

His administration defended his nothingness response, nattering of his phoning Governor Edwards, extolling his declaring Louisiana a disaster, applauded his airmailing underlings Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator, and Jeh Johnson, Homeland Security secretary, to check his lie – whether it be of the golf or gulf variety nobody can say...

Now in Obama’s defense – people insisting he come down there and (paraphrasing) “do something” should realize that B.O physically, isn't too manly; he could toss what, one sandbag tops? And without a teleprompter he’s pretty useless verbally too.

So give the guy a break. Let him relax, lounge around – for when he’s actually off the course and in the course of presidential duties, well, his latest good works was paying a $400 million ransom to Iran for four Americans’ freedom.

Moreover, everywhere the blowhard goes he creates a typhoon of problems – for his hosts. Back in 2014, Barack bopped into Belgium. For a night. The country still has nightmares about all of this. They were on the hook for some 10.4 million in security costs, then had to figure out where to house his gang of 900 and then had to ponder which bumper-car playground park could host, and garage his oh-so-necessary army of 45 armored vehicles.  

So perhaps Louisiana should feel blessed the great one passed on popping in. Coulda bankrupted the State...

Oops, the man visited for a around three hours on Tuesday August 23. All is well with the earth!
Oops, not exactly. Obama’s government loves to hector and pester Americans. So while Louisiana is mired in dismay, depression, and death various organizations sent out a “Guidance” saying they had better not be racists in the aftermath!

As for Hillary she phoned the governor and said to us she “stands with Louisiana” (up to the point of not getting her feet wet – which is why she called instead of came, and went to a fundraiser with Cher - instead of giving a hoot.)

Now, The Donald toured Louisiana shortly after the flooding. Folks there really appreciated it. And Trump has Clint Eastwood lending a somewhat sympathetic ear to his general mien – but CLEARLY - as, a recent Minnesota Trump rally shows, he does have boorish, thuggish detractors. And most of his detractors don’t want merely to detract him, via wiser thoughts and better theories; they want to redact him, via shutting Donald down, completely.

Sorry. No can do.

Figuratively flog him if you must, if you will, but to mute and silence him because you find his views repugnant isn’t on.

Cleveland’s the site where these Trump naysayers, including the Workers World Party, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Resurrected Students for a Democratic Society, and the (Obama approved and lionized) Black Live Matters boosters, galvanized, to go about and shout why Donald should be silenced through and throughout.

America’s divided between the ruling elites and the common citizenry.

Trump believes in Americans, which upsets globalists in both the American Democrat and Republican parties. He’s uncontrollable, which drives the mainstream media crazy – because he “gets away with it.”

CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, even Fox – don’t think American blacks will vote for him. Why? Because their narrative insists blacks are a blob-Democrat-Party-voting bloc. (And blacks have, pretty much lately, voted for Democrat presidential candidates.) But because Trump will curb illegal aliens scooting their way into America via Mexico, blacks and Hispanics, who legally live in the USA, will vote for Donald because he respects their citizenry - and will protect their legal right to search for work, or keep their jobs, without having to compete with illegals.

And, if his speech in Dimondale, Michigan August 19th is any indication of the more insightful, more analytical, yet blunt and forceful Trump – which is total catnip to legal Americans – he will take a greater percentage of the puny 5% black vote that Romney had in 2012 against Obama. Currently Trump has 14.6% support amongst blacks.

And those same Blacks and Latinos will vote for Donald because he wants to restore law and order unlike some anti-Trump, totally wacky protestors who are pushing to abolish “... Police.” The latter would work out swell, huh?

Now some folks, because their heads were screwed on right, right from the get go: when they attended college and didn’t take Gender, or Marxist, or Diversity courses – all emphasizing how much the USA is the root of all evil – are smart enough to know, like The Donald does, that a country that can’t control its borders, and can’t stop its willy-nilly-treasonously-willingly acceptance of predominantly Muslim refugees and illegal aliens from countries south of the Rio Grande - - - is doomed.
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Thus, a flood of reasons why Trump wins. 

The Spartan Race bills itself as the “World’s Best Obstacle Race. Period.” That’s gotta be true. It certainly has blossomed world-wide in popularity with races in 20 countries in 2015. It can only grow as more learn of its challenges and (theoretical) fun.

Basically the Spartan has a course for nearly every walk of life. There’s an obstacle challenge for juniors and three races for adults beginning with the Spartan Sprint, Spartan Super, and the most grueling, the 25-obstacle 20+ kilometer Spartan Beast.

Scratch that. There’s was an Ultra Beast adventure in athletic agony at Sun Peaks, Canada, last September. At 42 km, the winner would probably time in around seven hours, plus. And Mikhail Gerylo won in seven hours, two minutes (and four seconds.) The top women, who finished 15th overall, was Allison Tai completing in nine hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds – so basically, ten hours.

And scratch that. There’s a Spartan Death two-day race. That’s probably longer than the weaker-limbed entrants will live afterwards...

Let’s look at this toughest, most ornery ordeal going...First of all there’s the pressure to compete and complete this excruciating event.

And, no, we are not talking about the contestant, but about his or her shoes.

Normal running shoes need not apply, for the tough terrain will leave them a wreck. And if you’ve decided to go with a rugged trail shoe, train in them beforehand – under dry and wet conditions. Afterwards, once you are mobile, take them to the car wash and use a pressurized hose to take the gunk, mud, and crud off. Once white shoes will be forever gray, but at least they’ll be clean. Can’t have everything, sorry.

Basically, the best shoe for spring and summer, let’s not talk about winter races (for to conceive such a beast is probably illegal if not gauche) will be light in weight, with good treads, that drains water well – and dries as quick as can be.

And unlike many sports where you’d think cotton would be great for tops or underwear, for the Spartan race it’s the worst. Cotton retains water, and the extra weight and its uncomfortable feeling will leave you feeling bogged down physically and mentally.

Now, if you are a newbie to this sport, did you know that it has coaches? For example, Donald Wilkinson of Calgary is a certified Spartan Group X (SGX) Coach.

This (pun intended) movement - that then crystallized as a cult, before forming into a fad, with its burgeoning later into an almost-somewhat-mainstream endeavor – has now the icing to put on its athletic-cardiovascular cake: this brutal, testing, and exhausting fete, now produces elite male and female athletes - and world championships, albeit without the glam, fame, and fortune of sexy sports like sprinting...

Now, how about Hobie? Is he icing on the cake, la crème de la crème, that could take obstacle racing up to the next level - such as becoming an Olympic sport as its CEO, Joe De Sena, ardently hopes?
Hobie Call, considered the best man in obstacle racing events, has had unfortunately life-obstacles prevent him from continuing in such contests.

Rather sadly, he’s gone: A-B-C gotta make-me-some-money via HVAC. Yet, he knows, as do his followers, that he inspired many to get into this fitness forum.  

On the women’s best list, meet Amelia Boone, she with the glowing smile and six-pack abs, sponsored by Reebok, who actually makes a living from this sport. She has, however, come to a cross road, as do so many of us with a vocation: when does it stop being unmitigated fun and turn to drudgery...work? Despite her superhuman strength and determination she has not found an answer to the dilemma of deciding if Spartan Races are work or play. She calls the problem of balancing herself between the pull of fun and the push of competition, a tightrope.

Many of us would regard these athletes - who push themselves through waist-high mud, icy-snow, under barb wire, up mountains, while carrying logs, and throwing spears, and jumping through fire - as crazy and neurotic. And if you fail to complete an obstacle you have to do 30 burpees as punishment. Why go to such extremes when a good brisk walk and some light weight-training work might be enough to keep one healthy and sane? Why do these athletes, risk serious injury, hypothermia, shattered confidences if one decides to quit, and the loneliness and absence from friends and family while training?

In fact, for Spartan Racing, loneliness need not be a factor at all. Have you heard of the Spartan Queens? They are not a troupe in drag but are, in fact, real-live Colorado women who competed together and, as a group, in the Breckenridge Colorado course on August 18th, 2015. NBC showcased them. And thank god for that. No normal person can relate to the elite warriors that tackle such terrains. But everybody can relate to the trials they’ve endured, as they put themselves “out there” on this trail, pushing, urging the other on. For this, Spartan Races and others of their ilk may make some sense...

Finally, here’s what makes eminent sense if you are a Spartan elite athlete, an OCR (Obstacle Course Racer), like Mikhail. You need a balanced training program. He works on strengthening his grip, doing speed work, increasing his stamina, mixed in with circuit training, functional training, and something called lactic-threshold training, and the obligatory calisthenics - all with the idea that in each workout, there should be no stopping.
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Now that’s Spartan.

José Altuve is MVP material, the shortest player in the Major Leagues, but his stats say he plays as the tallest.  This 5’ 6” second baseman, has, this season, led the American League in batting average .364 (Aug 18th); hits, and on-base percentage. Small wonder his team, the Houston Astros, happily acknowledge this fireplug as its heart and soul.

Even more astounding? He’s humble, respectful, and a joy to be around - and while he knows he’s short he doesn’t need, nor want, to talk about it. He JUST plays.

And he hasn’t forgotten his roots.

His country, Venezuela, is in dire straits, but to a person they revere baseball and this hard-working, tremendously skilled athlete, from the town of Maracay - as a stellar bright light - in an otherwise dim milieu.

So how has this beacon reacted? He’s taken a sledge hammer and whacked the heck out of huge tires, and, when younger, took a stick, no thicker than one’s big toe, and whacked a swerving disc/stone/object, no bigger than one’s thumbnail...um, now why?

Well, to hone his bat-to-ball, hand-eye, skills.

Such outside-of-the-box routines, work. He’s threatening to usurp Josh Donaldson in the MVP throne.

Altuve is mainly marvelous. Since breaking into the league in 2011 he’s been a four-time All-Star. How remarkable is that? More remarkable is he being the first Houston Astro - EVER - to be batting champion. The guy is what, 26?

This max-mojo man has Hall of Fame written all over him. He would join his idol, Ken Griffey Junior, there. But with a quantitative difference: Altuve would bring “Altuves.” “Altuves” is now, you should know, a recognized measurement of distance!

We must, like the Astros executives, trot out the cliché superlatives. They ARE worth repeating.

He runs hard to first base every time. He sets an example more by deeds than by words. He’s focused. He does his homework; witness his work and rep-swings in the batting tunnel, hitting balls placed low, medium, and high off the tee. He has oodles of talent, tons of desire, makes his teammates better. He’s tough. He has great range defensively and can steal bases like nobody’s business offensively (but he may be too aggressive on the base paths when trying to stretch singles to doubles, doubles to triples, etc., and he was ejected for the first time in his major league career after arguing strikes on August 6th - but these are small potatoes admittedly...) He respects the game and willingly, or unwittingly, is changing it.

Heck, he’s changing us.

Many of us have been told we’re too small, or too short, or too this, or too that – and we’ve been jubilantly jolted by this 2015 Gold Glove and 2014 and 2015 Silver Slugger guy, who is breaking stereotypes and, in his so doing, is giving us, in all walks of life, hope and confidence.

He’s a force.

Hey, being a force, say, back in Maracay, the Garden City, a perfect place set amongst the mountains and enveloped in ideal weather, means nothing, of course, when playing pickup ball with friends and family. His team will sometimes lose. Venezuelans, friend or foe, play for keeps.

Apart from having his head screwed on right, he parts, through giving back to the old neighborhood, baseballs - for the kids to play with (and don’t think this is chintzy – it is symbolically significant for him; when he’d practice with his dad after the latter finished work, they’d often have just one ball: If he hit Dad’s pitch out of the park, they’d have to fetch it - could it be why his first major league homer was an inside-the-park-shot? If he fouled it off into the neighborhood, they’d have to figure out how to get it back) so he knows the intrinsic value of the simple, yet essential, baseball.

Undoubtedly he gives more, materially, than just baseballs, but this is for sure: he gives the most precious commodity going to his homeland, his time. 

Speaking of time, remember the movie, Field of Dreams? When Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) told ball-park creator Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) that Ty Cobb was basically a jerk, and that everybody hated his guts?

Well, put José  with Ty, not in the reviled respect, but in this esteemed regard: since the 20th century to now only these two have had “...220-plus hits, 55-plus extra-base hits, and 55-plus stolen bases in one season.”

And each season, Altuves, all of 170 pounds, proves to be a gamer, game in and game out. He could have sat out the last contest of 2014 to preserve his lead in the batting championship race BUT he told coach, Tom Lawless, no way José, he wanted to play - and prove, on the field, that he deserved the honor. He got two hits to retain his lead and reap his laurels – so small wonder he is - and was - allowed in Houston’s dressing room...to mangle, via, Karaoke: The Backstreet Boys – I Want it That Way!

And in one way, being short has one big advantage: a smaller strike zone. (Perhaps 5 foot eight Blue Jays’ pitcher, Marcus Stroman, might circle that small square – though in five at-bats, Altuves is averaging .400 against the Jay’s ace...)

Definitely Altuve and teammates want the Astros to change their defeatist ways. They lost 107 games in 2012, 111 in 2013, and 92 in 2014 - awfulness hard to ably articulate... but they did make the playoffs in 2015.

Thus, now - led by a little guy - littler than some little leaguers, with huge results (11 of his homers this season have been 400 feet or more - and he reached the 1,000 hit mark faster than any Astro before him) who shows gargantuan potential - given his regimen and discipline - and who can largely hit to all fields, and bash the ball facing either righties or lefties – has his professional team, his adopted city, and his beloved native country facing the baseball future with unrestrained optimism and expectant elation.
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Olé, José.

Tony Robbins roasted soles? Over 30 Tony wannabees went slapdash, motivational - burning with desire - thinking that walking over hot coals was not stupid, but lucid, and then while they were medically treated for burn injuries - hopefully – did a slow burn with embarrassment.

They screwed their feet and seared their souls to: “Unleash the Power Within...Turn Fear Into Power.”

That’s what Tony preaches. But some of his followers left with “...burns to their feet and lower extremities.” What we have here is: Defeat by da feet; a collapse of faculties; and WAY too much of a failure - in too much communication - leading to wacky conclusions like this:
“I could do that, walk on fire, what else could I do?”

That’s what one female fan declared. Subconsciously, and now with sexuality swapped in mere seconds with new sexual self identification techniques, she could be instantaneously – insanely – yet immutably and immortally - turned into a HE – turned into a TONY  - yet a more capable, successful, complete – more total Tony.

Where were we?

Do you know of Hugh Jackman?

He’s no quack. He’s a beautiful, multi-talented beast, available for an act. Hugh gives a testimonial to Tony. So therefore we, the great unwashed, must ask ourselves:
ARE YOUR BELIEFS HOLDING YOU BACK?

Jackman shares:
How Changing His Story Changed His Life.

Well, you, and collectively we, facetiously, should tell all and sundry that we are NASA astronauts instead of telling the truth and admitting that, in fact, we are lowly, perfunctory bureaucrats. So yes, changing one’s story, via utter BS in this case, will change one’s life. But at what cost to one’s conscience? (Probably this is not what Hugh did...)

But the elephant in the room is whether Tony is more concerned about praise from the likes of Hugh, at the expense of delivering common sense recommendations and sane advice to peoples vulnerable to his message. Undoubtedly, Tony Robbins “wins” when he gets the likes of Hugh Jackman to laud his methods and it appears Hugh won in finding his intellectual/spiritual Hercules – but those two facts don’t mean YOU SHOULD STEP OVER SCORCHING COALS!

So earnest Tony, the motivational speaker, is in the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons. He’s supposed to inspire, not incinerate.

He probably, sincerely, believes in his spiel - but no one should fork over funds to be done like dinner, burnt to a crisp.

Hey, self-help gurus have been around for ages and they aren’t going away. We, the gullible and hopeful, do aspire to better ourselves and since some of us have been raised by parents (and governments) to think we are useless without their constant tutelage and teachings, programs and preachings - why wouldn’t some of us resort to motivators?

Well, in this case, Dallas fire fighters were resorted to. 30 to 40 people suffered. Funny thing, back in 2012 at a Tony Robbins speakeasy in San Jose, 20 people burned their feet. Apparently, however, in Dallas, patients ran the show, deciding whether they’d be better actualizing themselves in being treated on scene or being taken to hospitals for further treatment. (Five people did opt for the hospital.)

ONCE YOU START DOING WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS IMPOSSIBLE YOU’LL CONQUER THE OTHER FIRES OF YOUR LIFE WITH EASE - got people in the mood to coal-char their feet.

First off, the premise to beat back, or at least defray, some of what each of us think, or thought, was impossible, is not necessarily a bad idea. We all have bugaboos and skeletons in the closet that need facing, surmounting, defeating, but let’s not describe our problems and vexations as “...OTHER FIRES...” for such terminology gives these weaknesses or shortcomings a stature undeserved, with our mistakes unduly and unjustly magnified, with our errors erroneously emblazoned. Yes we can abate and, better yet, ameliorate our problems but we don’t need coals to do so.

Let’s pause, think of our travails, and figure out a regimen to, if not cure, at least cope with our troubles and torments.

But, according to media conduit, Jennifer Connelly, 7,000 souls made the 15-foot coal walk with no harm. That’s got to count for something, but using a percentile of population to justify an untenable situation is puffery at best and BS at worst, notwithstanding her add-on that this walk across coals has been in the books for 35 YEARS.

So, again, why, after the San Jose cases, would Tony encourage volunteers to do the coal test again? There, probably, are other safer ways for people to prove their mettle.

Jennifer went on to say saying that a person (or persons) not familiar with the “process of the fire walk” (paraphrasing – PANICKED and called for help.) Ms. Connelly then praised that help for coming and curing - so all, in her books, was good. But seminar staff fellow, Tad Schinke, said walkers stopping to take selfies led to their lack of proper focusing leading to...
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But surely, deep down, Tony Robbins and we mortals know that nobody needs to walk over coals to improve and remake ourselves.

Wake up twenty minutes early. Stop with the coffee and cigarettes. Drink more water. Begin lower-back stretching. Try to be more honest. Show up, get involved, give a heck...so we don’t, instead, walk the deck, go off the deep end, do the coal cha-cha, and burn our feet – no matter what Mr. Robbins entreats.