Ken Padgett

  In the past few years, the prominent use of flags by Trump fans has ranged from the “Don’t Tread On Me” Gadsden flag to the Confederate Battle flag to basic Trump or MAGA banners to “Blue Lives Matter” flags. Now they have a new flag to rally around. On October 13, 2021, at a rally held for Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin that was organized by Steve Bannon, members of the crowd recited the Pledge of Allegiance to an American flag that they were told was present at the Capitol during the 1/6 insurrection.  The symbolism is obvious to any student of fascist political movements. In Germany in the 1920s and ‘30s, members of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party venerated the so-called blood flag, or blutfahne, that was said to have been carried in Hitler’s failed 1923 “beer hall putsch” in Munich and soaked with the blood of a party member who was killed in that failed coup attempt. The Blood Flag became a totemic relic for the Nazi party and Hitler used it to consecr...

  Is Muama Ryoko a Scam? The short answer is yes. Although the product does function as a mobile 4G WiFi router, many of the manufacturer's claims about free and unlimited internet are dishonest and there are a mountain of fake reviews for this device on the internet -- paid for and put there by the manufacturer. The Muama Ryoko Wifi does not do anything that cannot be done via your mobile phone's hotspot. Muama Ryoko's claims that you can get free, unlimited internet in over 139 countries around the world, is total nonsense. Muama Ryoko claims with this device you can get your own Wifi anytime, anywhere with no contract or hidden fees. The device is just a wifi hotspot or mobile tethering device and it requires a sim. It comes with a sim that has only 500 MB bandwidth that you will quickly exceed and it will expire in 30 days regardless. Then you will need a data plan with Muama Ryoko or a contract with a wireless carrier and their sim to make it work.  Before com...

  You would think that with all the turmoil in the Republican Party, they wouldn't be in any shape to take control of Congress in the next election. Think again!  Many of the voters who rejected Trump in 2020 will not reject the GOP in 2022.  The House will be gone for sure and even if somehow the Dems manage to preserve a slim majority in the Senate, the gridlock will remain. Why are the Dems going to lose? Because they have failed to communicate effectively on these issues: 1     Identity Politics 2.    BLM 3.    1619 Project 4.    Critical race theory 5.    Systemic Racism 6.    Defund the Police 7.    Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City… 8.    “Bipartisanship” failures 9.     Failure to stop Cyber attacks 10.   The Border 11.   Voter suppression 12.   Gerrymandering 13....

    As we watch the GOP try to "cancel" anyone who isn't 100% on board with "Trump's Big Lie" it might be a good time to reflect on just how intolerant some on the Left have become. It’s quite tiresome to see the same script play out over and over again on social media over some real or imagined injustice that also attracts a lot of comment. There are always a few who feel the need to attack others. Typically, it's not even what someone actually said that bothers the keyboard warriors so much. It's what  they think was meant, because they "interpret" what was actually said in order to shoehorn it into their agenda.  They decide you are the enemy and they are quick to attack with wild accusations about your motives or moral failings. Their wrong perceptions are often motivated by irrational fear and distrust, which causes them to lash out in anger and resort to childish name-calling, often with exhortations to “sit down and shut up.”...

    Repaired polycarbonate roof on a Gazebo Damage to twin-wall polycarbonate roof on a Gazebo The roof on our Gazebo was covered with small holes and quite a few cracks. I searched the internet in vain for instructions on how to repair the panels and finally decided to come up with my own repair. I have no idea how long this will last, but at least it's repairable, if necessary. And of course it will be probably necessary again at some point.  List of materials: Gorilla Black Duct Tape, 1.88" Gorilla Crystal Clear Duct Tape, 1.88” White, water-based primer 5 Gal Liquid Rubber Color Waterproof Sealant  Total cost approximately $325 Step 1 Clean the panels with soap and water, dry and then clean again with alcohol   Step 2  Tape the panels with clear duct tape I used clear duct tape because I didn't want to block all the light coming through the panels Step 3 Tape the joints with black duct tape   You'll note that I completely covered the lo...

  "There was absolutely nothing wrong or illegal about anything that was happening on the part of the army of small investors." Wrong. While many jumped on the bandwagon after it got going, many others coordinated to get it started. Colluding to manipulate the price of a publicly traded stock is securities fraud. It is being investigated and will be prosecuted by the SEC.   And this is not, as it's being portrayed, a victory for the little guy over Wall Street fat cats. Whenever the stock market is gamed, it's the little guys who always get hurt the most. In addition to small time investors investing directly in stocks, many of the institutional investors are investing the money of thousands of small investors.   Some hedge funds will be hurt, but hedge fund managers don't lose any of their money when their funds go down. They share in profits, but they don't share the losses. They don't pay any price for losing their investor's money. If the fund ...

  Contrast the way Americans responded to calls for sacrifice during World War 2 with how they've acted during COVID. It has become painfully obvious that selfishness is now the cause of much of America’s political and economic problems. And worse, mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing have been weaponized by Right-Wing politicians and pundits as partisan issues. Many Americans become enraged at any suggestion that they should take other people’s welfare into consideration. They claim it's a love of freedom, but what they call “freedom” is actually a refusal to accept any responsibility for the negative consequences their actions have on others.  These same people are the ones who elected Donald Trump, who declared in March 2020, “I don’t take responsibility at all,” in reference to the coronavirus .  Will the people who refused to do anything to keep others safe while hundreds of thousands of Americans died miserably and without the comfort of their loved one...