With the Fourth of July Holiday coming up Balladeer’s Blog will be making some seasonal posts, like this one, covering often-overlooked elements of America’s war for independence from Great Britain.
FIRST BATTLE OF MACHIAS – This battle took place June 11th and 12th of 1775, less than two full months after the Battles of Lexington & Concord kicked off our Revolutionary War. At this point in the 1700s Maine was still technically a Department of Massachusetts, which is why Maine is not listed as one of the original 13 colonies despite all the action that took place there.
With British forces under siege in Boston, Loyalist sellout Ichabod Jones contracted with the Brits to supply their troops there. A few of Jones’ ships plus the British war sloop Margaretta arrived in Machias, ME on June 2nd.
Initially the townspeople of Machias voted against doing business with Ichabod Jones since he intended to provide supplies for Redcoats in Boston. The Margaretta, commanded by James Moore, pulled to within bombardment distance of Machias, frightening just enough citizens to change their votes in favor of trade with Jones and his merchant ships.
Colonel Benjamin Foster, leader of the local Rebel Militia, gathered his men to fight back. Continue reading
AMAZING ADVENTURES Vol 2 # 21 (November 1973) 
I’m combining Deathlok’s story with Killraven’s in a sort of Ultimate Killraven way, since Marvel in recent years had KR, Deathlok and other figures from their canceled post-apocalypse titles get thrown together as a team due to time anomalies, etc ANYWAY. 
Instead of watching Killraven struggle against guards I would have Warlord Ryker and Carmilla Frost watching and taking notes as other Keepers subject the rebel leader to various tests – many of them painful, of course – to determine the nature and origin of his paranormal abilities called simply The Power in the first two issues. (This was 4 years BEFORE Star Wars, so The Power is NOT a ripoff of The Force.) 
THE BATTLE CRY OF FLASHMAN – Time Period: 1862-1863. How Flashman – for entirely selfish reasons while being blackmailed by President Abraham Lincoln and Alan Pinkerton – secretly prevented Great Britain from recognizing the Confederate States of America. CLICK 
FLASHMAN OF ARABIA – Time Period: 1852-1854. Harry’s exotic adventures after getting separated from Richard Burton, the famous explorer, during Burton’s covert journey to Mecca and Medina while disguised as a Muslim pilgrim. CLICK 
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) 
NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) DIVISION TWO
THANK YOU once again to all of you readers for making Balladeer’s Blog so enjoyable to write. As I always say the weird and controversial items I churn out here mean that readers have to be very secure in their own beliefs not to just take offense and leave.
JOE MAGARAC: FORGOTTEN AMERICAN FOLK HERO – The steel mill equivalent of Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed and John Henry. CLICK 
Democrats, the party of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow and the Dred Scott Decision, notoriously HATE independent-minded African-Americans who defy those Democrats. The privileged white-bread leadership of the Democrats continues to act like it owns people of color like they did on their plantations in the south long ago. (No Republicans owned plantations, or I’d be happy to say so since Balladeer’s Blog criticizes both political parties.) 
Burgess Owens pointed out what many have long stated: that the Democrat Party is the only wildly pro-slavery institution left with continuity all the way back to the slavery era. Therefore the Democrat Party organization should pay reparations. Or, as I point out, at least SHOW THE DECENCY TO CHANGE THEIR PARTY’S NAME since they push to eliminate all reminders of the Confederacy and the earlier years of their party’s beloved slavery. 
Coleman Hughes, who reminded booing racist Democrats that he is himself a Democrat, also defied the Democrat Party on reparations. He also debunked the Democrats’ frequently-stated lie that the U.S. government never apologized for slavery and Jim Crow, noting that both the House and the Senate have previously issued those apologies. 
Others weighed in on social media, like Larry Elder with this:
During the two years that Kid Russell worked for Lucky Boy, he learned all about trapping and hunting, though he never fully warmed up to either trade, however, since he preferred painting wildlife to blood-sports. He took much more enthusiastically to learning the survival lore that went hand-in-hand with them. 
NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) 
“My students are ‘woke’ and are overwhelmingly against illegal immigration after taking my class.” 
Journalist and strong female role model Kelli Ballard courageously continues to compile as comprehensive as possible a breakdown of the additional crimes committed by people in the country illegally. 
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