KODOAN

PRODUCT REVIEW FOR THE BOOMERS! ...and GENXers... ...and anyone who needs reading glasses... EYEGUARD Reading Glasses with Portable Case Slim Mini Pocket Readers for Women Men Eye Glasses on Amazon now for $15.99 for two.

Would you like to become a writer? Are you a writer but having difficulty putting your thoughts down into words on a page? Here are some tips and tricks that I've learned over decades of writing. These are not "writing formulas" but, rather, methods to be more efficient, effective and creative in YOUR style of writing. Let me know what you guys think!

PRODUCT REVIEW: NarwhalCo Set of 2 Small Pens (3.35") for Pocket, Wallet, Planner, Purse or Passport This is a "thumbs up" but with a "caveat" - a la' Paul Harrell. Just no "Shatneresque.......PAUSES."

PRODUCT REVIEW: OLIGHT Open Mini Ballpoint Pen, Replaceable EDC Black Ink Pens By Bolt Action for Office, Working, Writing, Construction Work, Special Gifts and etc (OD Green) Let us know what you think about this flashlight in the comments.

A quick overview of the fire-starting methods I've used over the years plus a product review of the: bayite Survival Drilled Ferrocerium Flint Fire Starter Rod with Keychain Ring 2 Inch Pack of 2 (on amazon for $8.99). SPOILER ALERT: Two thumbs...WAAAAYY UP!

Use the following description if you'd like to find it on amazon: ThruNite EDC Flashlight Archer Mini, 405 Lumens Tail Switch LED Flashlight, USB C Rechargeable Little Pocket Penlight for Camping, Outdoor, and Emergency - Dark Green As I've said before, I don't do "affiliate marketing" links, blah, blah blah. I have a day job. This is just to give back to the community. If you're into "EDC", then this video might have some value to you!

Another product review for accessories for your Rock Island Armory M206 .38 special snubnose. This time, it's affordable speedstrips and speedloaders.

Have you been looking for a holster that will work with your Rock Island Armory M206 snub nose .38 special revolver? I review two affordable holsters that will definitely fit for right handed AND left handed! I don't do "affiliate marketing" (I have a day job) but these holsters can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BS2BYK9D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details https://advancedtactical.com/ria-m206-revolver-holster-by-blade-tech/

Product review of my latest amazon find relating to EDC carry. I've carried a small multi-tool for many years. How does this little compare? Let's find out!

Product review! I review the Dryden Designs Fountain Pen - Medium Nib 0.5mm.

This is what my sons do for fun - better than video games. They are only allowed to handle throwing knives under my supervision. I used to own a martial arts school and taught defensive tactics to law enforcement and military so... I am very careful but try to make learning fun at the same time.

Another old video with an old Koryu technique. Originally against a sword, it is an option for a stick or baseball attack (even a skateboard or "protest sign"). THIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY! I do not condone or encourage anything immoral, unethical or illegal! Defense is against an overhead attack or baseball bat swing where your opponent is aiming for a "home run" with your head. Scenario: you've squared off - maybe they are taunting you. You may or may not have something in your hand. Anticipating a baseball bat type swing, you instigate movement with a left hand feint. As the "wind up" turns into a committed swing, jump forward, slip your head out of the way and smash into opponents rear knee cap just as they think they are smashing you in the head. If your aim is good, this pretty much ends the situation. As you look around for other protes...err...attackers, sweep available legs. Citizen's arrest and detention follows... Several versions are shown with various "timings". The most important part here is the "not getting hit" part.

Another old video. This one shows a variation on a traditional judo technique called "uchimata". Bonus points if you can accurately count just how many times I say "uchimata!"

Several (slightly) different versions of the same technique. Done slowly at first to show the fundamentals and gradually "smoothed out." Not "full speed" for clarification of the technique. First movement is an evasion (tai sabaki), then a trap and a throw. a "1,2,3" movement. The most important thing to remember is, "first, don't get hit".

What do you do if you hurt your arm in a fight? And the other guy has a stick, "protest sign", skateboard, etc? Here's one option. It's not an ideal situation and you have to act fast once you stop the power of the swing. This is a common defense in many arts. Here, you can see some crossover between eskrima and budo.

Part 2. Video quality ain't great and there's some file degradation but I figured some of you might find it useful. Techniques are slowed down for clarity and learning. Eskrima should have a "flow" to it. Some parts of this video don't "flow" in order to highlight a particular aspect or concept. At some point, I'll redo these videos with better audio and video but I hope the information in this video is still useful in it's "as is" state.

Another old video for the archives. This one is on the basic 1 thru 12 strike and defense and some Sinawali exercises.

This is an old video showing the fundamentals of Eskrima. Eskrima should have a "flow" to it. There are parts of this video where the technique has been slowed down to illustrate a concept or aspect of the technique. The video quality is bad and was starting to degrade on my computer's hard drive but I thought the information might be useful.

another woodworking Dollar Store deals and fails video - these were ALL FAILS!!!

Woodworking Dollar Store deals - NO FAILS in this one! When you need "consumable" items for woodworking such as glue, tape, pencils, etc, check the Dollar Store or clearance section first!

More Dollar Store deals and fails. All deals with this one. 2 hammers: one for a dollar, the other for a dollar-fifty ($1.50).

Dollar Store deals and fails for woodworking on the cheap

IMPEACHMENT – AN IDIOT’S GUIDE Hi! This is Kodo with Kodoan. You can find out more about me at kodoan.com. That’s K O D O A N DOT COM. If you keep hearing about Impeachment and were kinda hoping for an “idiots guide” version of what it is – heads up! this might be just what you’re looking for! When most people today here the word impeachment, they usually think of President Donald John Trump or maybe even former President William Jefferson Clinton – both of whom were impeached; the former, an unprecedented two times. However, the roots of impeachment go way back – like, 3000 years way back. Like, a thousand years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls Papyrus way back. I’m referring, of course, to an Ostracon – from which we get the word “ostracize”. Now, Ostraca, the plural form of Ostracon are basically old timey post-it notes dating to at least the time of the New Kingdom of Egypt – also known as the Egyptian Empire. That would be somewhere around 1550 B.C. to 1069 B.C. An Ostracon was something used to scratch notes, receipts, instructions or similar information on. It needed to be cheap, readily available and fairly durable. Common material for Ostraca were things like a bit of repurposed broken pottery (there was a lot of that back then), a bit of flat limestone (there was a lot of that too) and, most notably, flat shells such as oyster shells -from which the word Ostracon is derived. Right around the same time the world was going “all Lady Gaga” over Howard Carter’s discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, the ancient Egyptian workman’s villa known as Deir el-Medina was being excavated. Deir el-Medina was an ancient Egyptian workman’s village during the Egyptian Empire which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings; the location for the Tomb of Tutankhamun. The ancient name for the settlement of Deir el-Medina was Set Maat – “the place of Truth” and the workmen who lived and worked there were called “Servants in the Place of Truth”. I’m sure that modern day congressmen would absolutely LOVE it if people started referring to them that way… In any case, as much as five thousand Ostraca were uncovered at Deir el-Medina and detailed mostly mundane everyday events such as work orders, receipts, jobsite instructions, etc. The far less hardy but much more elegant Papyrus, it would seem, was reserved for far more important writings. “Ok”, you say, “I got it...Ancient Egypt, Oyster shells, Ostracon are ancient post-it notes – what the hell does that have to do with impeachment?” Settle down Princess, I’m getting to the good part, then you’ll see how it all ties together. Towards the end of the Egyptian Empire or just after it - in the old timey days of King David – you know, “David and Goliath”, “King of the Jews” and “father to Wise King Solomon” – That King David, an Ostracon was found that is believed to be the earliest known “vote” on a judgment. It contains the words, King, slave and judge. There is still debate on the artifact but, if the hypothesis holds true, it would be the oldest known use of an Ostracon as a means of passing judgment. During the seige at Masada in the year 73 A.D, when the Jewish defenders opted for mass suicide instead of capture by the invading Roman pagans, they voted (or “drew lots”) to determine who would kill their compatriots before falling on their own swords. Excavations at Masada revealed Ostraca with names on them leading scholars to believe that Ostraca were used during this “vote”. The importance of Ostraca was also visible during the time of Ancient Athens, most notably the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries B.C., where they were used in voting for the banishment of unpopular citizens and officials. Banishment was usually for a period of ten years. Ancient Athens had its own version of a congress (called a Boule’) and a senate (called the Areopagus – which means the “hill of Aries” and referred to the low hill Northwest of the Acropolis). Unfortunately, Ancient Athens was plagued with corruption and there was usually a giant, corrupt, cluster screw in the middle of everything. Things didn’t always go according to plan nor was justice fairly meted out. I guess times change but people don’t. The monkey-bonk continues... In any case, they believed that they were truly enlightened as the only other viable alternative they had to banishment (“Ostracism”) was execution; usually in the form of an assassination. In England, Impeachment was first used in 1376 against William 4th Baron Latimer and the last time they used it was in 1806 against Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. Apparently, the UK has quite moved on from “banishing” unpopular officials in favour of other means of coercion. The mechanism for impeachment in the UK is that the “house of commons” draws up articles of impeachment (which is a fancy way of accusing someone of something that they don’t like) and the house of lords “hears” the case (and decides the fate of the accused). If impeached (meaning accused of “something” – not necessarily a crime) and then convicted, the punishment can be quite severe – including steep fines, imprisonment or even a death sentence. Which is exactly what befell the Earl of Stratford, Lord deputy of Ireland, around 1639. His award for winning England’s unpopularity contest was the end of a gallows’ rope. In England, impeachment was broad in scope – applicable to anyone – not just those that held office but was primarily designed to circumvent individuals who abused power derived from holding close ties or favour with royalty. Impeachment as a part of the United States Constitution was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He noted that the traditional way of removing heads of state was by removing the head of the head of the state. In other words, execution or assassination. Franklin suggested the impeachment process as a preferable method to the barbarism of political violence. Similar to the original intent of British impeachment, the First Congress saw impeachment as a way to remove a bad officer that was sheltered by the power of the Presidency but their focus was primarily on a president who might get out of control. Never-the-less, the impeachment clause specifies any civil officer of the Executive branch as well as judges but it excludes military officers. The Impeachment clause can be found in the United States Constitution, Article 2, Section 4 where it states that the President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. The First Congress used the word “other” to connect Treason and Bribery to other miscellaneous misdeeds. The intent was, “it better be something serious”….not just “whatever you don’t like about the President is reason enough for impeachment”. However, like Ancient Athens, it is devolving into an unpopularity contest resulting in banishment. The monkey bonk continues... Impeachment is not the removal of an elected official from office. It is the first step in a two-step process that can end up in the removal of an official from office. The mechanism for impeachment in the United States is quite similar to that of the United Kingdom in that it must be initiated in the house of representatives (our version of the “house of commons”) with the passage of a resolution listing the charges or “articles of impeachment” against the official being impeached. If passed by the house of representatives, the article or articles of impeachment are then considered by the Senate (our version of the “house of lords”) in a trial. If the impeachment is of the President or Vice-President, then the Chief Justice of the supreme court must preside over the trial with 100 senators serving as the jury. A “supermajority” two thirds vote of the senate is required for a conviction necessary to remove the person from office. Punishment is limited to removal from office and possibly also disqualification from holding public office in the future. The United States legislative branch is very far removed, indeed, from the ancient settlement of Set Maat (the “place of truth”) and most people would laugh if you called congress “servants in the place of Truth”. However, there is a continuation from the first known use of an Ostracon as a method of voting on banishment to impeachment; our modern interpretation of banishment. While impeachment in the United States was supposed to be a way to reign in unruly government officials without resorting to violence, it would appear that it is going back to the days of Ancient Athens, and the banishment of the unpopular – albeit with more modern versions of Ostraca. In any case, I hope this “Idiot’s Guide to Impeachment” Helps you in some way. My advice to you will always be three fold: 1. Gather information 2. Think Critically 3. Make connections It has been said that the meaning of life is to learn and then to share. In classical martial arts, the old Masters would say, “no matter where you start, strive to always get better”. Remember…..no matter where you are in life – “Always...get better!” WAIT!!! Before you go! If you liked this video, please hit the like, subscribe and “Bell” icon buttons – it helps with those algorithms… whatever that is….seriously...does anyone really know what the deal is with the algorithms? If you do, please let me know in the comment section. Even if you don’t know but just have something to say – let us all know in the comment section! Thanks again for watching – until next time...

An idiot's guide to gamestonks: https://rumble.com/embed/varuqz/?pub=4 WHO IS BEHIND GAMESTOP? – an idiot’s guide. Hi! This is Kodo with Kodoan. You can find out more about me at kodoan.com. That’s K O D O A N DOT COM. If you keep hearing about GameStop and were kinda hoping for an “idiots guide” version of who is behind it – heads up! this might be just what you’re looking for! Three days ago, I made a video giving an overview of what GameStop is. I’ll leave a link in the description below to that video for those of you who want to brush up on your GameStonk. Today, however, I’ll explain more about “who”….exactly...Gamestop is. GameStop, the now infamous American video game retailer who was, up until a month ago, most famous for how stingy they were in paying people for their used video games, started out in life way back in 1983 in Dallas, Texas. Back then, it was called Babbage’s Inc. Babbage’s was a clever name to give a computer products store as it was named after the English genius Charles Babbage, who was credited with creating the world’s first computer. Charles Babbage was Born on December 26th 1791 and died on October 18th, 1871. Being elected a Fellow of England’s Prestigious Royal Society in 1816, Babbage was a brilliant mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer. He invented the “difference machine” – a sort of precursor to the modern calculator and then the “analytical Engine” which was basically a low-level, fully functional, general purpose computer. “OK”, you say, “I got it...Babbage...smart guy, clever name...get on with it.” Sorry, just thought that was some cool background stuff – OK, back to the Idiot’s Guide! Babbage’s the company, started out as an idea between two Harvard Business School classmates; James B. McCurry and Gary M, Kusin in the mid-1970s. They talked about going into business together but ended up going their separate ways after graduation. However, in 1982, McCurry approached Kusin with a business proposal to establish a chain of software stores that would capitalize on the growing home computer and video game industries. McCurry, who was working as a consultant for the San Francisco office of Bain & Company, believed a specialty store for computer equipment and games would be a hit. Kusin, who at the time, was a general merchandise manager for the Sanger-Harris division of Federated Department stores based in Dallas, had been watching these exact type of stores gradually take over more and more of the department store business. He jumped on board and, by the end of the year both men quit their jobs and began seeking financing for their new idea. There was no “shark tank” back then to pitch their idea and none of the venture capitalists of that time seemed interested. That is until February of 1983, when Texas billionaire and later 1996 Reform Party Presidential candidate Ross “Call Me Ross” Perot offered to provide a $3 million dollar credit line in exchange for a one-third ownership in the company. Perot, who knew Kusin’s family back in Texarkana, advised the entrepreneurs to shelve their plan for immediately opening twenty stores in favor of establishing just one outlet – which they would manage themselves until they knew the business inside and out. Taking both Perot’s money and advice, Babbage’s was filed with the Texas Secretary of State as a Domestic For-Profit Corporation on Monday, April 4, 1983 (Texas State ID: 64995100) and McCurry and Kusin opened the first Babbage’s in a Dallas regional mall on Monday, May 30th, 1983 – Memorial Day. McCurry, the company’s chairperson, managed the company’s finances, while Kusin, the company’s president, acquired software products from local distributors. Both partners took turns opening and closing the store and seeing to other administrative details. McCurry and Kusin focused on a constantly updated mix of products, a competitive pricing system, a flexible store design and an enthusiastic, non-commissioned sales staff that would not intimidate customers with technical jargon. Two months after opening the first Babbage’s store, McCurry and Kusin met their sales projections and hired their first full-time employee – Mary Evans. Evans would later go on to become vise president of stores. Between Labor Day and Thanksgiving of 1983, Evans helped open and manage four more Dallas-area stores. Babbage’s set a precedent of selling entertainment software for the most popular video game systems of that time; the Atari 2600 – featuring….count ‘em…. four-color graphics! Eventually, Atari was superseded by Nintendo and the Sega SC-1000. It took Babbage’s about three years to break even but, by July 1988, it was successful enough to “go public” and offer publicly traded stock on the NYSE. After this, Perot wisely cashed in his stake in the company. Sales were up, then down until, by early 1990, Babbage’s stock had plummeted to $5 dollars a share from its 1988 opening of $13 dollars. Opal P. Ferraro (you might want to remember that name) joined Babbage’s in 1986 as controller, was named chief financial officer in 1991, and two years later, joined McCurry and Kusin as the only other company officer on Babbage’s board of directors. 1991 saw the company in improved financial shape. Babbage’s boosted its number of stores from 178 to 204 and saw reported earnings of $5.58 million dollars on sales of $168.3 million dollars. However, just like most marriages today, this boost didn’t last forever and, by 1994, Babbage’s was forced to get into a tricky situation by merging with Software Etc. Software Etc was filed as a Foreign Business Corporation in New York on Friday, February 12, 1988. It’s President was Daniel Dematteo (you’ll definitely want to remember that name), it’s Vice President, it’s Treasurer was Opal Ferraro (sound familiar?), and one of it’s Directors was James B. McCurry (you should already know that one by now...seriously). It’s CEO was listed as Leonard Riggio (you’ll want to remember that name too). The new Babbage’s/Software Etc, merger resulted in the creation of NeoStar Retail Group. NeoStar Retail Group was filed as a Foreign For-Profit Corporation in the state of Texas on Monday, November 21, 1994. It’s President was Daniel Dematteo, it’s Treasurer was Opal Ferraro, one of it’s Directors was James B. McCurry and another of it’s Directors was Willard Mitt Romney, the current Senator from the state of Utah. NeoStar was formed as a holding company which means that it doesn’t produce goods or services but merely owns shares of other companies to form a corporate group. In effect, it functions like a single person that owns stock but with all of the advantages of a corporation. Like Willard Mitt Romney used to say, “Hey! Corporations are people too!”

IDIOTS GUIDE TO GAMESTONKS Hi! This is Kodo with Kodoan. You can find out more about me at kodoan.com. That’s K O D O A N DOT COM. If you keep hearing about the “GAME STONKS” and were kinda hoping for an “idiots guide” version – heads up! this might be just what you’re looking for! The word Gamestonks is a clever combining of two words (GameStop and Stonks) by an even clever-er-er guy named Elon Musk. Musk’s short tweet: “Gamestonks!!” shortly after the closing bell on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, added to the price of GameStop’s already soaring share prices which rose nearly 93 percent to a close of $147.98 - more than seven times its value just a month prior. By Thursday, January 28, 2021, GameStop’s share prices reached nearly $500 per share at $483 before closing at $193.60. Ok, you ask...what the hell is GameStop? GameStop is an American video game, consumer electronics and gaming merchandise retailer headquartered in Grapevine, Texas. GameStop operated over five thousand retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. As a brick-and-mortar chain, GameStop’s heydays were arguably behind it due to the rise of online video game services like Xbox Live, Playstation Network and others. Now, you could simply download a digital version of games instead of having to leave your basement and walk outside among the “normies”…..ewww! By 2016, things started to look bad. Shares of GameStop’s stock fell 16 percent throughout the year. The holiday season alone showed a 16.4 percent drop in sales. On February 28, 2017, shares dropped an additional 8 percent following Microsoft’s announcement of its Xbox Game Pass service. Afterwards, GameStop announced it would close over 150 stores by the end of the year. By late June of 2018, GameStop confirmed rumours of a possible sale. However, on January 29, 2019, GameStop said it had stopped looking for a buyer and was now looking at other ways to regain a financially solid foothold. It must not have found it because, immediately following this announcement, shares dropped 27 percent to a 14 year low. Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! Determined to out do itself, GameStop reported a record-breaking net loss of $673 million dollars for the 52 week period ending on February 2, 2019. Then, along came the “coof”...the “bug potion number 19”….the “great bug of 2020”. The government required GameStop to close its doors on all its stores from around March to May 2020. “It’s just two weeks to slow the spread! Come on people! It’s just to flatten the curve! A year from now we TOTALLY won’t be on lockdown, forced to wear a Niqab like veil on our face that doesn’t protect against airborne disease and have twenty thousand military troops in our nation’s capital!” Nope...no way THAT would happen! Like Blockbuster movies, 1 hour drive up photo booths and VHS porn, Gamestop was on a downhill spiral of the cultural toilet bowl. That is….until the internet got involved. Reddit’s “wallstreetbets” forum to be exact. Wallstreetbets, also known as WSB is a “subreddit” which basically means if reddit was a tree, then a subreddit like Wallstreetbets would be one small branch. Well, not that small. As of January, 2021, Wallstreetbets had 5 million users. On the Friday of January 22, 2021, users of wallstreetbets initiated a short squeeze on GameStop that, along with Elon Musk, ended up causing its stock price to soar as previously mentioned. Ok, you ask….what the hell is a short squeeze? Sounding more like something you’d look forward to on your prom night, a short squeeze is an abnormally rapid increase in the price of a particular stock that has nothing to do with the rest of the market. ….which still kinda sounds like a prom night euphemism if you ask me… In simple terms, there are two basic types of stock market investors: those who buy stocks for the long term and those who buy stocks for the short term. Those who buy stocks for the short term tend to be hedge funds and day traders. Day traders try to make a profit from intraday market price action – gambling whether a stock price will rise or fall from the opening to the closing bell. A hedge fund is a group of investors that use their power as a group to make money from fairly complex trades in the stock market that others normally wouldn’t be able to do alone. One of these types of complex trades is short selling. Short selling is something akin to betting that your horse will lose instead of win. In any case, If you were a stock market trader that was betting on the price of the stock to fall, the rapid increase in price would force you to “pay for the bet” quickly in order to stave off even greater losses. This mad dash to avoid losing more money tends to add upward pressure on the stock price. This, my lad’s, is known as the “short squeeze”. Just such a “short squeeze” happened with GameStop’s stock market shares and it nearly bankrupted the hedge fund known as Melvin Capital. Melvin closed its short position on Tuesday to the tune of about $3 billion dollars. Total stock market short squeeze loss are estimated to be more than $5 billion so far. Chalk one up for the little guy... “Not so fast!” said the big guy… Buying GameStop’s stock was halted several times for “intraday volatility” by the NYSE. In addition, several brokerage companies put limits on the ability of their customers to buy shares of GameStop (but not to sell)….I’m looking at you app-based Robinhood, Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade. Not only that Discord, the well known platform for online video gamers, removed Reddit’s WallStreetBets server, citing “violations of policies on hate speech” and “spreading misinformation”. Soooo….basically, it’s now “racist” for outsiders to make money on the stock market. Oh, and by the way, you’re an insurrectionist! Interesting, interesting times we’re living in now… It remains to be seen what the end game will entail but, reportedly, after all of the hedgefunds have dumped their GameStop stocks, they don’t care what you do with it. Wait a minute you say…. I get it…. Wall street is a bunch of pricks…. But you never said what a “Stonk” is? Basically, “Stonks” is a playful and deliberate misspelling of stocks. Not to be confused with a Stonk; which is an old world label for a “heavy concentration of artillery fire”, Stonks is internet slang and a meme that emerged on the facebook group “Special meme fresh” in 2017. It features the word “stonks” in white below an orange, upward-pointing arrow indicating that stock prices are on the rise. Next to that is a man in a business suit with a computer-generated generic head. The Stonk meme is considered a so-called surreal meme – some times called a dank meme. It’s characterized by being strange and absurd. That certainly fits what happened with GameStop and Elon Musk was all the more clever for using it. It has been said that the meaning of life is to learn and then share. In classical martial arts, the Masters say, “no matter where you start, strive to always get better”. Remember, no matter where you are in life – “always get better!”